Post by xiulan zhou on Dec 27, 2021 14:20:11 GMT -7
Mid-June 2026
After having read that the students who had attended Hogwarts would have to attend other schools or be educated at home for the year, Xiulan knew inside of herself that she needed to do something. She couldn't simply wave her wand and rebuild Hogwarts, though, nor did she really care to have her name plastered on a building for a donation to the school. Much of her charitable giving since arriving in London had been to the magical orphanage—an outdated institution in itself yet still, unfortunately, needed—and much of it had been done anonymously. Not knowing if the orphanage needed anything in particular, though, she arranged a meeting with its director at her flat and came to know that they had only a few residents old enough to attend Hogwarts.
Discussing the orphanage's needs wasn't a difficult conversation. Their first preference would be for any students who could to attend Beauxbatons, given its proximity to England in case anything were to happen and because of the fact that the school, unlike Durmstrang, didn't teach the Dark Arts to its students. The costs weren't unreasonable, but they were more than what the orphanage could easily afford without making cuts elsewhere. Wanting to do what she could, Xiulan didn't hesitate to offer to pay for the expenses to send a child to Beauxbatons for the year—for school fees, uniforms, books, and anything else they might require. Anything to keep someone from going through the pain that she had in school after she and her parents had been sold false promises of illustriousness.
Xiulan intended to maintain her anonymity, but she also wanted to give the child who would be benefitting from that donation the option of knowing who she was. As long as her donation wasn't publicized, she had no problem with it; she just didn't care to be asked to give money to this, that, and the other person or cause just because she'd donated to the orphanage. She made it clear that she didn't want or need anything in return for the money. She wasn't looking for letters of gratitude or whatever else to know that her donation was being spent as planned. It wasn't a grant or being dangled in front of an orphan just to be snatched away; it was a gift.
It made her miss Aloysius a little bit more, too. If he were still alive, Xiulan had to wonder, would they have tried to adopt a child themselves? With her fits, she knew that she wouldn't have been able to parent a child alone with any success. That wasn't to say that she thought that she would make a bad mother, but it wasn't fair to expect a child to care for her when she was in a bad way. Providing for a child's material needs for a year was the least she could do, especially considering how much more it would have taken to raise a child from infancy.
As it turned out, the director of the orphanage seemed to imply that there was one child in their care in particular who would be a good candidate to benefit from her donation. Xiulan didn't inquire further. The children in the orphanage deserved their privacy, too. If they wanted to write a letter to her to thank her, that needed to be their decision.
OOC: nessa abigael byrne , for reference.
Discussing the orphanage's needs wasn't a difficult conversation. Their first preference would be for any students who could to attend Beauxbatons, given its proximity to England in case anything were to happen and because of the fact that the school, unlike Durmstrang, didn't teach the Dark Arts to its students. The costs weren't unreasonable, but they were more than what the orphanage could easily afford without making cuts elsewhere. Wanting to do what she could, Xiulan didn't hesitate to offer to pay for the expenses to send a child to Beauxbatons for the year—for school fees, uniforms, books, and anything else they might require. Anything to keep someone from going through the pain that she had in school after she and her parents had been sold false promises of illustriousness.
Xiulan intended to maintain her anonymity, but she also wanted to give the child who would be benefitting from that donation the option of knowing who she was. As long as her donation wasn't publicized, she had no problem with it; she just didn't care to be asked to give money to this, that, and the other person or cause just because she'd donated to the orphanage. She made it clear that she didn't want or need anything in return for the money. She wasn't looking for letters of gratitude or whatever else to know that her donation was being spent as planned. It wasn't a grant or being dangled in front of an orphan just to be snatched away; it was a gift.
It made her miss Aloysius a little bit more, too. If he were still alive, Xiulan had to wonder, would they have tried to adopt a child themselves? With her fits, she knew that she wouldn't have been able to parent a child alone with any success. That wasn't to say that she thought that she would make a bad mother, but it wasn't fair to expect a child to care for her when she was in a bad way. Providing for a child's material needs for a year was the least she could do, especially considering how much more it would have taken to raise a child from infancy.
As it turned out, the director of the orphanage seemed to imply that there was one child in their care in particular who would be a good candidate to benefit from her donation. Xiulan didn't inquire further. The children in the orphanage deserved their privacy, too. If they wanted to write a letter to her to thank her, that needed to be their decision.
OOC: nessa abigael byrne , for reference.
