I don't know what to expect. I certainly can't forget or start fresh again. But I believe in "Yippee Mistakes." I proved to myself that I really believe it. I believe that people can change, and, though wrongs cannot be erased, I believe people can try to make amends and make some things right. This may not happen, but I believe in the possibility.
I learned some things about myself today. I am an essentially hopeful person. I am more like Professor X than like Magneto. I think that people can make mistakes and then learn to do things differently. I aspire to be like Dumbledore--to give people the chance to prove that they are no longer on the side of the dark magic, to believe that they can try to make things right. I may never want to give them the Defense Against the Dark Arts job (to trust them completely), but I can open myself to the possibility that they can use their free will to do the right thing. I can hope even for my enemies to choose to do right. I can wish that the potential I see in a person can come to fruition, even if we can never be friends again, even though that potential cannot erase the past. And I learned that I like this hopeful person that I am, that I don't want ever to be closed and decided and beyond the reach of the possibility of a changed life.
