Week Two - Task #04. “Expand the Circle”

[Prof. Sindor Aloyarc]

The next step moves us into less familiar territory. A neutral person.

This is someone you may see in passing or know only peripherally. A classmate you have not spoken to, a cashier, someone who exists in your awareness but not in your emotional center.

It can be easy to reserve our compassion for the people we know best. Our loved ones, our friends, the people whose stories we understand. Yet every stranger we pass carries an inner world just as vivid and complicated as our own. Behind every face is a collection of hopes, fears, memories, worries, joys, and unseen struggles.

Muggles often overlook these individuals entirely, not out of malice, but out of habit. This step asks us to gently interrupt that habit.

You might try extending:
May they be well.
May their days be easeful.

Directing kindness toward a neutral person can feel different from the previous steps. There may be less emotional response, less connection, or even a sense of distance. That is not a problem to solve, it’s part of what makes this an expansion of the practice.

Here, the magic lies in widening the circle. In recognizing that our capacity for goodwill does not need to be limited to those we already feel connected to.

Task:
Solve the following Cryptogram puzzle and Send Me Your Solution through a private message. As you work through the puzzle, you may find yourself pausing briefly to consider the lives behind the people we pass each day. There is nothing you need to do with that thought, just noticing it is enough.


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Alternatively, you may submit a Creative Writing piece below, sharing 100 words or more for full credit. Write about a brief interaction with someone you (or your HOL persona) barely knows. This could be a classmate, traveler, portrait, shopkeeper, ghost, librarian, or another passing acquaintance. Through the interaction, you come to realize something unexpected about that person’s inner life, emotions, or experiences. The moment may be heartwarming, reflective, bittersweet, funny, or otherwise casually meaningful to you.

10 beans/sapphires are available for this task, with an extra 20 for completing all Week Two tasks by end of activity. Deadline is 11:59pm (HOL time) on Thursday May 14th.

[Prof. Sindor Aloyarc]

Solved by:
River Fenwick

[Janne Halla]

I was studying late in the Hogwarts library when I noticed the librarian’s assistant, an older wizard I’d only seen a few times before. He always looked serious and usually only spoke to tell students to stay quiet. That night, I accidentally dropped a heavy pile of books, and I imagined that the loud noise filled the room.

I thought he’d be angry, so I quickly apologized and started picking the books up. But instead of getting upset, he knelt down to help me. He picked up one old book about magical creatures and smiled a little. He told me it used to be his daughter’s favourite book before she left to travel around the world and study dragons.

He said he still reads the stories sometimes because they remind him of reading to her when she was young. I didn’t know much about him before that night, but after that, whenever I saw him organizing shelves or carrying books, I remembered that small part of his life.