But by saying that VH is like life, we unfortunately end up with the bad as well as the good. We have breakups, goodbyes, crimes, failures, etc. While no one enjoys these things, it is an inevitable part of life, and thus our time at VH, that these things will occur. While we may not want to acknowledge this fact, ignoring the problem does not make things better. It in fact makes them worse.

Success in life can often times be measured by how well someone deals with these setbacks. And this is what we are faced with currently at VH… setbacks. We have a rift amongst our Professors, amongst our students, and between the two groups, and while a little bit of such hostility can be a good thing to keep us on our toes, too much can cause severe problems. I feel that we are headed down that road unless some steps are taken to help heal the rifts.

I personally am just as guilty as the next party, if not more so. I have done several things throughout the past few months that have done much to lead to the current tension. I have been hesitant to give up any of my power to others because I tend to be very exacting in the way that I want things done, and I know that as long as I do things, they will get done the way that I want them to. I haven’t trusted the other professors to do their jobs, and for this I am sorry. It is not unusual for the professors to seem as though they are walking around with their heads in the clouds because they simply do not know what it is they are supposed to be doing.

This needs to change. We need to get everybody on the same page so we can all work to make this the best school that it can be. And when I say all, I mean all of the students, teachers, shopkeepers, house ghosts, house elves, and anyone else who calls VH their home. Currently there are great restructuring projects in progress amongst the teaching staff to ensure that everyone will have a duty to do, and that they will always know what to do in a given situation. Duties will be distributed and charts will be drawn up to make your life as a student easier and our jobs as professors less stressful.

Every effort is going to be made to make VH as fair as possible to people of every age, nationality, and house. A grading policy is being developed that will enable everyone to make a substantial contribution to their house’s effort. Those houses with fewer students will find themselves on equal footing with those that have more than twice their number. People will realize the importance of fulfilling their responsibilities in helping to lead their house to victory.

When you signed up for this great experiment we call VH, I don’t think that most of you knew that you were in for the ride of your life. Neither did I. But Virtual Hogwarts is my life, and that makes all of you my family. The time commitment has been great, the stress even greater, but I do not regret for a moment agreeing to help out Dumbledore with his grand scheme. I do anything for family. I love doing this just as much as all of you love coming to the site. But I know that we can do better. And we will.

With all the love I have,

-Hagrid