Getting to know… Professor Araújo De León
An interview, written by Taran O’Mordha
Age: 29
House: Ravenclaw
Favorite Colour: Black and red
Favorite Sweets: Apple Tart with ‘dulce de leche’, or vanilla ice-cream
Favorite Magical Candy: Chocolate Frogs
As I entered the Ancient Studies Classroom I was greeted with the scent of old books and wood and the sound of heels on wood and a gently handled typewriter. Waiting for me was Professor María Fiorella Araújo De León is a 29 year old Ravenclaw Alumni. She currently teaches Arithmancy at Hogwarts.
I asked the Professor to tell us a bit about herself
Her name is María Fiorella Araújo De León. If you wonder which of all these names you are supposed to use, don’t fret, I asked. It is either Professor Araújo De León or Professor Araújo. There, easy as pie.
She is twenty-nine years old, and graduated from Hogwarts, eleven years ago as a Ravenclaw. During the conversation I learned that some people thought she should be a Gryffindor though. I don’t mind making the Professor an honorary one. Any objections?
Her family comes from Uruguay in South America and other than her they all attended Castelobruxo. Her mother actually was a professor there before she had a chance to teach at Hogwarts and moved to Scotland, kid in tow. While dad and siblings stayed in South America Professor Araújo grew up in Scotland and received the invitation letter to Hogwarts when time came.
Pretty sure I was not the only one who wondered about the mismatch of her name and strong Scottish accent, so this is how that happened. Professor Araújo De León has been living in Gretna Green for 25 years now. She did utter a little warning though, that her Latina side is still alive and well and to not awaken it.
Are you curious what she did after graduation? I was for sure!!
So I asked, duh. This is an interview after all. After graduation she studied even more. No idea why people said she is a Gryffindor, that sounds to me as Ravenclaw as they come. Young Professor Araúijo thought that Arithmancy is quite enigmatic so she went around to find things in the Muggle world that would fit the subject. She traveled around the word to research it, too. If you know where to look for them you might be able to read some essays she wrote about those studies. They caught some attention too. Good? Bad? She didn’t say. But it helped her to end up in Hogwarts again to teach us.
Arithmancy can be enigmatic? How so?
Contrary to many people -it’s me I am many people- she doesn’t think that math is all that for Arithmancy. That’s a huge relief for ‘many people’. Like yeah, you got numbers and have to do a little math to get results, but it’s mostly about understanding the numbers themselves. Now this is news to me so listen up. All these numbers have different meanings. There even is some relationship between numbers and spell-crafting. The Professor did not say more about that but we’ll learn about that in class. She took the subject while she was a student and said it was a life-changing experience that also helped her in subjects like charms and the ways it can be connected to the Muggle world. She does find it entertaining though that Muggles think Arithmancy is ‘occult’.
Since I met us all before, I really wanted to know what made her want to teach, because I heard being our Professors is like herding cats.
The answer was that it runs in her family, does that mean we all have to do what people in our family did?
Her mother was a Potions Professor and her father is an Herbologist dedicated to research and study of flora in South America. She believes that the passion to learn and gather knowledge comes from him and the urge to pass it on to others from her mother. She then said something about flying chancla which seems to be some kind of sandal but not sure what she meant with that. Anyway, look out for flying shoes.
What would she teach if Arithmancy had not been an option?
The surprising answer to that question was: Muggle Studies. The professor figures that learning and exploring that world alongside the students would be fun. I don’t know, having a Professor who knows these things we ask about is also nice, you know? But yeah, it’s either that or Potions.
Nobody can work all the time. Does the Professor have hobbies?
The Professor is doing a lot of reading and writing and enjoys literature. She goes as far as saying that if she wasn’t a professor she’d focus completely on writing Nouvelle Essays, which according to Araújo means ‘new essays’ about things that have not been written before. I mean, I do hope so, otherwise it would be plagiarism, right?
You will be happy to hear that she also likes Quidditch! Her brothers are even professional players, have some of you out there heard of them? Then she started to talk about long walks on the beach and keeping active with running and such. So if you try to run from her, good luck. She’s gonna get you!
The connection to the Muggle world was brought up a few times. Do you think she has experience with it?
Nope! Professor Araújo wasn’t always aware of the Muggle world and how it worked, which I can relate to. I just started to learn more about it and much like myself, she owes it to a friend. Her friend Danna is a Muggleborn witch. They were inseparable since their first year, other than the Common Rooms because Danna was a Hufflepuff, and she always explained things to Araújo and made her aware of things step by step. Thanks to her friend Professor Araújo can now move around without causing catastrophes or breaches of the Statue of Secrecy.
And for those of you who are curious, yes the Professor and Danna still hang out whenever they can! Who doesn’t want a friendship like that?
And lastly I asked her for any words of wisdom or advice. Many adults seem to have plenty of that laying around.
Professor Araújo said she isn’t the wisest person, but she said the following:
“Enjoy your life as a student. Enjoy your achievements, your mistakes, your ups and your downs. Don’t discard your disappointments, instead learn from them, because everything in life can give you precious knowledge to move on in life. Don’t be afraid to listen, neither to speak up. Trust your instincts, and never let anyone tell you what you are able or not able to do. Try things, enjoy your life, and learn and discover about yourself. Life is a trip you all should experience at its fullest. Oh and remember, not all math puns are bad, just ‘sum’.“
