Muggle Studies Lesson One

Eliza settled down in the chair behind her new desk. This was her first teaching job and she was a little nervous, but she knew that she would be able to do it. This subject was her speciality.

She checked the clock on the wall; the lesson was due to begin any moment now.

"Come in," she called.

Please post your arrivals below, thank you.

Expected students
Kyra Henderson
Liz McCutney
Pierre Korsten
Jenn Black
Sami Criss
Leighton Vladimir
Danielle Valencia
Lavender Parkinson
Alli Walker
James Wilson
Thomas Celare

Jenn walked into Muggle Studies, the class was vacant, no one in there, except the teacher, Professor . . . Johnson she believed. She took a seat near the middle, ready for class. She grew up in Muggle London, with a Muggleborn mother, but she did still grow up in a magical household. So, she's known about magic her entire life, yet known so very little, minus what her mother had told her, about Muggles themselves. Therefore, she was eager to begin this class.

Liz ducked into the classroom, face slightly red but still, thankfully, only the second one there. She had gotten a head-start to class but had run directly into Peeves on the way, which had cost her a few mintues of class. Brushing a few more raspberries out of her hair, she took a seat and beamed at Professor...Professor...

Er...

Professor. That was all she needed to know.

Lavender entered the classroom, this was one of the lessons she most looked forward to. Mainly because it was the one her mother and father hadn't wanted her to take. They saw muggles as inferior, well, they saw most people not in their family as inferior. Lavender didn't agree, she hardly agreed on anything her parents said. She took a seat closer to the front, glancing round to see two girls were already present. Neither of which she knew. Lavender got her things from her bag, wondering whether Hester had taken this lesson. Then she remembered Hester had taken everything, plus she was a muggleborn, so would do well in this class.

Pierre entered the classroom, taking in the Professor and three girls, eyes widening with dismay as he realized he might be the only male in the class.....again. Falling into a desk in the back, he got out his book, thumped it on desk and hung his head back over chair back, eyes closed as he silently hoped for any boy to come.

Alli pinned back her hair as she entered the room, though she stopped and looked around at the measly looking bunch that had gathered for the lesson. She could tell that this was going to be painful. The only person who looked semi-tolerable was Korsten, but she still wasn't exactly dying to sit with him either. She took a seat at her own table and crossed one leg over the other as she waited for the new professor to start their lesson.

James was late for class. He seemed to be making a habit of this. He slipped into the classroom, sincerely hoping that the professor wouldn't pick him to answer a question or something. He didn't know the first thing about Muggles, and that would be obvious as soon as he opened his mouth.

James looked around the room and saw familiar faces, Sami being one of them. He scoffed at the thought of siting next to her, and then saw Alli. He breathed a sigh of relief and sat down next to the Slytherin.

"Thank Wizard God. I thought I'd have to sit next to Sami and that would be reason enough to make me run from the class," James whispered. He wondered how much he'd seriously learn from this class and whether or not all the knowledge would fly straight over his head or in one ear and out the other.

Thomas walked into the Muggle Studies class, he knew he was late, but he supposed things could've been worse. He was pretty sure he wasn't that late though, seeing as not much seemed to have happened. He looked around the classroom, trying to figure out who wouldn't mind him sitting next to them. Allison. he decided quickly. She was a Slytherin, and she didn't seem to hate him too much. He murmered a quick. "Sorry I'm late professor." Before moving over to there, slightly uncertain. But then, it was that or put up with the idiotic Pierre who he'd met at the Leaky Cauldron that one time. "Sorry if I get in the way." He muttered to both Allison and the other boy sitting there before sitting down himself.

Lavender glanced at the door as more students walked in, still no Hester. When the professor spoke and asked a question she began to think up an answer. After a minute she raised her hand.

"Lavender Parkinson," She announced before continuing. "I think it's important because us wizards still have to live among muggles and keep our world secret from them, therefore we have to learn about them in order to fit in," Lavender wasn't so sure of her answer once she had said it but hoped it was satisfactory.

Danni walked into class, knowing she was just a little bit late. She gave the professor a slightly apologetic look before looking around the classroom for somewhere to sit. She glanced over at the nearest Slytherins, but that included Miss Alli Walker, whom she had met on the train. She wasn't exactly sure what the Slytherin girl had thought of her, but she also noted that everyone over there was older than her. She chose a seat near the back, where a Hufflepuff boy also sat. She seated herself a few seats over, though.

With a neutral expression, she looked towards the professor as she waited for the class to continue. Her parents had wanted her to take the class, seeing as she would one day help in the family business, which involved the Muggle world and the magic world. She knew quite a lot about the different worldly cultures of Muggles, but she wouldn't call herself an expert exactly. That was one of the main reasons she was taking the class.

Pierre groaned mentally as the rest of the class filtered in. Really, how hard was it to get to class on time? He hadn't had a problem getting to classes all three years of his Hogwarts career so far.

Raising his hand at the question, Pierre smirked. "Pierre Korsten. And it's important to learn about Muggles because if they somehow learn about us, then we'll know how to defend ourselves from their guns and nukes."

At least, that's what his father said- Pierre just edited it a bit.

Sami cautiously sat down in a chair, right as the professor began talking. She tooks out her parchment and quills as silently as possible, as so she would hear exactly what she was telling the class. She brushed her hair aside, and arranged everything on her desk so that it was nice and organized. Her quill tapped on her Muggle Studies book, as she listened to Professor Johnson's speech which couldn't really be considered a speech. She raised her hand after the question was asked, but then immediately put it down.

She had decided from the moment that she had signed up, that she wouldn't speak unless asked to, wanting to get as much information in her head as possible. She wasn't here to socialize and make as many friends as possible, unlike some Hufflepuffs, so she felt it necessary to just take notes and learn as her main objectives. The Ravenclaw could hang out with Terry and Adreis occasionally, but her studies were her priority.

Liz frowned. She felt like she should have answered in some ways, but found it impossible to think of an original response to the woman's question. Her eyes brightened, though, as she heard the next two questions. She knew the first answer by heart. She hastily took out a piece of parchment and a quill, beginning to write.

1. Which villages do you know of which contain only wizards?
Hogsmeade
2. When in history have muggles fought wizards before?
She paused, sucking on the quill out of nervous habit. When had muggles fought wizards? She had never taken history of magic. Nervously, she filled in her best guess.
In the 1800s, when muggles tried to burn those accused of performing magic.

She quickly strode to the front of the room, put her paper on the teacher's desk, smiled nervously, and walked back to her seat.

As soon as the professor gave them instructions, Sami quickly wrote the questions down and began answering the questions in her head, then on parchment. The first was easy, she could name a few in Ireland alone. But her professor didn't look or sound Irish, so she decided to name the one that everyone, even the Muggleborns, would know the answer to.

1. Which villages do you know of which contain only wizards?
Hogsmeade
2. When in history have muggles fought wizards before?
Sami stopped to re-evaluate the question. Was it referring to a war? If it did, she had no clue. But upon thinking about witches, as well, she remembered the Salem Witch Trials.
Around the 15 1600's, in America they had the Salem Witch Trials. If you were suspected to be a witch, you would be burned at the steak staek.

She didn't know if she had spelt stake right, but shrugged it off. Professor Johnson could probably quess what she had meant to write, anyways. The Ravenclaw scrawled her name on the top, and took the paper in her hand. She walked silently up to the professor's desk, gave her a small smile, and sat back down.

Lavender took her quill and wrote down the first question, thinking hard for the answer as she did so. If she remember correctly her father and brother had spoken to her about that, well, spoken about it while she was there. Not exactly to her, her father rarely spoke to her.

Which villages do you know of which contain only wizards?
There is only one village in Britain that is fully populated by wizards, and that is Hogsmeade.

Lavender paused to think about the second question before writing it down underneath the first. Her brother had told her ghost stories of witch hunts, she could remember every detail he'd included.

When in history have muggles fought wizards before?
From the 1400s to the 1700s witch hunts took place, with an estimated 90,000 deaths. The last ever executions took place in the 1800s, because witchcraft ceased to be an act punishable by law with the Witchcraft Act of 1735.

It was written almost word for word from what her brother had told her, she could remember it like it was yesterday.

Danni took out some parchment along with her dark green ink and her black feather quill, feeling slightly confident about what she would write. She knew of quite the number of all wizarding villages around the world, but she decided she wouldn't write all of them. As for the second question.. Well, she disliked History of Magic (unless it was interesting historical events) so she had only a vague idea, and that was only from what she had heard while abroad. Quickly writing up her answers, Danni hoped she wasn't totally wrong in her answers.

Quote :

Danielle Valencia

1. A couple of villages inhabited only by wizards (of the ones I know of) include the village Pendellum (in Australia) and Britain's own Hogsmeade.

2. Muggles have fought wizards/witches during the Middle Ages, when being a witch or wizard was a perilous thing. The Salim Witch Trials took place during that time in history.

She knew a few more villages than that, but didn't want to take a risk of being wrong about one of them At least Pendellum and Hogsmeade she was positive of. After a moment's more thought, Danni stood up and walked up to the professor's desk, where she placed her parchment on top of another's. She walked back to her desk in the back and sat down again. She kept her quill and ink out, and she took out another piece of parchment, just in case there would be any more writing to do.

Which villages do you know of which contain only wizards?
Hogsmeade, Diagon Alley, Queerditch Marsh

When in history have muggles fought wizards before?
From 100 AD to 1600 AD witch burning was common. The most notable cases are the Salem Witch Trials in New England. Though I doubt this was qualified as 'fighting' since no combat took place.

Pierre smiled at his answers as he wrote them down. This was too easy. But the second question seemed to be a trick question....

Standing, he placed it on the Professor's desk before sitting back down, back to playing with his quill.

Which villages do you know of which contain only wizards?
Hogsmeade is the only town in Britain to contain purely wizards, however Godric's hollow is one that contains many wizards, as well as Muggles.

When in history have muggles fought wizards before?
There have been many times in which wizards and muggles fought... Like during the Medieval times.

He looked at the piece of parchment. He knew next to nothing on it, but he supposed it could've been worse. He walked over and put his attempt at answering the questions on the teachers desk.

Alli sighed. She took this class because she thought it would be easy and because they might get to mess around with muggle objects, not to take some pointless quiz thing.

Quote :

Allison Walker

Which villages do you know of which contain only wizards?
Obviously there's Hogsmeade, as well as a few others that are a majority populated by magical people.

Alli failed to see what this had to do with Muggle Studies. Why did it matter where Muggles didn't live? Shouldn't they be learning about where they did live?

Quote :

When in history have muggles fought wizards before?
Wizards and Muggles have been engaged in fighting essentially since the beginning of time so it wouldn't be entirely accurate to point to one particular period in history. Presumably they would still be fighting if muggles knew of our continued existence.

She poked James in the hand with her quill, just for the fun of it, before she took her paper up to the teacher's desk and dropped it with the others. She sat back down in her seat and laid her head down with her cheek on the desk and closed her eyes. Classes were too early in the morning. "Wake me up when we're moving on," she whispered to James.

Liz's hand immediately hit the air. Living with a muggle mother, she had learned at least a few things about muggles in her time at home. "Muggles use natural resources, mainly electricity," she declared, looking the teacher in the eyes. She loved learning, and she loved being the first to answer a question she was sure of the question to. She grinned at the woman, the thrill of being taught taking ahold of her face. This was one of those moments where she knew, for sure, that she was a Ravenclaw.

Alli regretfully dragged herself out of her chair and went up to the front of the classroom. A perfectly good nap, ruined. She groaned. What the hell was a plug? In a rare moment of kindness, she grabbed three plugs. When she got back to her seat, she dropped one in front of Tom and another in front of James, keeping the third for herself. "Don't say I never did anything nice for you," she told them both as she sat down again.