Author's Notes: The letter/main body of the text is the allegory. Really, the rest of it is just sap, and it was meant to come out completely differently (perhaps I'll write that version at some later date), but clearly it came out as it did, and I want to know what you think at my first stab at extended metaphor. Brought on by insomnia, written on a lap-top, my hand cramped by a quill – that's all the warning you get.
Disclaimers: I don't own Harry Potter, I don't own Draco Malfoy, I don't own the concept of Houses, Owl Delivery, or Hogwarts' breakfasts, or the word Muggle. I do however own my own quill (it's so pretty) and a series of pens so I DO know the difference. I also own the story/idea, feel free to reference or steal (so long as you give me some credit) ^_~.
Writing with Quills
Draco Malfoy received a thick, unmarked letter from an unfamiliar owl at breakfast. Amongst the confused stares of his peers, Draco cautiously opened the letter, half expecting it to blow up in his face. Instead, a piece of parchment with a hand written message fell into his lap, it read:
"Writing with quills is a difficult business. Honestly, it is. Wizards have been using quills for centuries and thousands of Galleons in gold have been lost to major companies such as "Quick Quotes Quills" that specialize in making writing easier for wizards. Quills are the traditional writing implement; their origin can be traced through the generations to some of the oldest wizarding families, and have been the staple utensil of the most important works since Merlin's Grimoire, but they're just pens. It is equally clear to me that the use of quills causes difficulty for many wizards, they break, they require excess paraphernalia, and the product of the quills use is often unclear whereas muggle pens cause none of these problems.
"Quills are spectacularly difficult to write with, they require a certain amount of angling and pressure that most human beings find uncomfortable. Not unlike yourself, quills consistently force me to fight them as they scrape across the parchment to violently make their mark. What's more, constantly re-aligning your quill causes discomfort, cramping, and eventual arthritis in the writer's hand.
"At times I believe it would be significantly less painful for everyone to simply write with a muggle-style ball-point and have done with it, but you would never accept that. It is with a certain stubbornness that wizards retain their love necessity of quills, tradition mandates that all wizards write with quills, and while some break away from this pattern for the sake of convenience. I find that you are increasingly more difficult to convince. Of course, the sentiments that keep quills in business may have, at one point in time, been good for the wizarding community, keeping purity and tradition alive is important as well, however, quill maintenance has become violent and unnecessary. Surely you must see now that, despite the teachings of former generations, quills are not a good thing.
"It is not difficult to break a quill nib. In fact, it is merely a matter of panic, pressing too hard on the parchment during exams. The elegant façade of the quill is belied by their tendency to shatter. Their nibs break and need to be replaced; slowly a person's faith in the durability of quills dies until it becomes mere habit to use them. Delicacy is a must for writing with quills, and in such a world as we live in today delicacy is a difficult thing to come by. If handled without precision, the quill can quite easily injure its owner. Muggle pens, however, do not cause such injury, and it is difficult to break a muggle pen unless it is being abused.
"Quills require ink. Quills require spare nibs in the likely event of an accident, and quills require a certain amount of space that pens simply do not. One must learn to use this paraphernalia with great aplomb or risk spattering ones self with ink. Often, the spatter of ink occurs no matter how delicate and practiced the wizard is. One must learn exactly when to freshen the ink, and with a quill, one must know how to manipulate the ink just so. There are tricks that are unnecessary to human knowledge that are required with the use of quills. I know for a fact that more valuable, less harmful information can be obtained and stored using the very same brain power that a practiced quill technique might. Muggle pens do not require such stress, the ink is contained within the body of the pen, and writing with them is a simple matter of moving the pen against the paper, no preamble is necessary. While many wizards find this lack of preparation, graceless and sloppy, grace and aplomb are of little consequence when concerning safety, cleanliness, and speed.
"Lastly and most unfortunately, quills are messy and the clarity of work written is often poor. The ink smears, droplets and residue build up on the nib of the quill and it transfers to the parchment. The ink taints everything, it sinks into your skin it is very difficult if not impossible to regain your natural coloring. This unofficial tattooing can be dangerous as your blood absorbs the ink, whereas when writing with muggle pens, the risk of ink absorption is minimal.
"While the use of a quill may reinforce a wizard's confidence in himself, and while it may be traditionally appropriate, the risks far outweigh the benefits of using quills. Therefore, wizards should cease to use quills unless it is absolutely necessary.
"But more than that… I would hate to see you hurt. So be careful"
Signed
~Harry Potter
The letter could have been misaddressed to Draco, meaning instead to go to Percy Weasley, but Draco held onto it. At first glance, it seemed nothing more than a rather strange letter, but Draco was used to decoding such things, and he smiled.
***
At breakfast the next morning, Harry Potter received an unmarked letter from a strange owl. Consequently, it landed in his cereal, so when he opened it, the parchment was a bit soggy, but the message was worth it.
"Potter,
"Your essay was amateur and not well expounded. I would have expected the same caliber out of a fouth year, but that is only to be expected of mediocrity such as you. However… thank you, perhaps not all muggle inventions are worthless."
Signed
~Draco Malfoy.
Harry smiled.
Post Author's Notes: You're going to let me explain myself aren't you? I mean, I don't want to completely give up the gag, I'll leave some mystery, after all, it is an allegory to be deciphered however you see fit. Things will move from the realm of metaphor into abstractivism when you simply replace the word/concept of Quill with the word/concept of Dark Magic/Voldemort, and when you then think of Muggle in the terms of Dumbledore, fighting for muggles, using "good" magic. And yes, the sentiments concerning Harry's essay in Draco's letter were genuine. It really was horrible. Remember, an R&R a day keeps my sanity at bay (a good thing I assure you).