First Years, Lesson One

“Good morning, everyone,” Gabrielle greeted as the first years finally settled into their seats after a couple of minutes of rabble at the start of the lesson. She looked around the room, taking in the faces of the students. Gabrielle was determined to keep a sharp eye out, try and ensure that any bullying got nipped in the bud early. “Welcome to History of Magic. I'm Professor Moncrieffe, I was born in Bermuda, and I’ll be your teacher until fifth year. So, I’m going to go through the roll. When I call your name, if you could please just raise your hand, tell me if you have something you’d prefer me to call you, like a nickname or if you go by your middle name or something like that, and tell me where you’re from." She paused for a second. "Yes, I know you all hate these exercises, I do too, but it’ll help me put faces to names.”

She went through the list, making a couple of notes as she went before finally reaching the end. “Thank heavens that won’t take nearly as long next time. Alright, so this year we’ll go over some beginner topics - Merlin, witch trials, and so on. For some of you, this will all be completely new, for others, don’t discount it, you may actually still learn something if you bother to listen.” She gave a wry smirk, knowing some students from wizarding families would probably think they knew everything already. “Sure, we may not be doing any spells, but you won’t be doing yourself any favours if you tune out just because of that. If you come into any of your classes expecting to be bored from the outset, you're setting yourself up for failure. Besides, there’s more to magic than just wand waving and incantations, or huddling over cauldrons. You may find that understanding where we come from and knowing more about the world around you is far more useful than being able to turn a beetle into a button, just quietly.”

"But for now, since we've got a bit of time left...why don't you take the opportunity to chat amongst yourselves for a bit? Talk to people not in your house, make friends. You know, socialize and what not." With that, she left the students to it, wandering around the classroom to keep an eye on things and talk to any students who had any questions or asking them a little more about themselves, before they were eventually dismissed.

Homework
RP the lesson. Feel free to tag me if you want me to interact being nosy about your character! You are also welcome to godmod Gabrielle asking more about where you’re from. Don't forget to read over the Classroom Policy!

 

[Daisuke Kaster]

Daisuke wanted to skip this class if only this weren't the class he was most looking forward to. He probably should've made friends within his house for this specific reason. So that he'd have someone to walk with and sit with in this specific class. Now why was he worried about this specific class? This was one of two classes he had this semester with Slytherin. Slytherin meant Hachiro. And Hachiro meant trouble. He sat quietly near the edge of the classroom - big mistake, for as soon as his twin came in, he took the only seat left beside him before another Hufflepuff could. Thankfully, class started quite quickly after that and Daisuke was able to ignore his brother in favor of listening to the professor. She was intimidating for sure. But at least the first lesson was only roll call and introductions. When his name came up, he raised his hand timidly. “Here… Daisuke Kaster. Just Daisuke is fine. I’m from Australia.” His voice was soft, and quickly drowned out by his brother's loud announcement, "His name is Daisy." Daisuke face burst into colour then, blushing from the tip of his ears as he hunched in, willing the ground to just open up and swallow him whole. He should have known there was just no chance of enjoying a class if Hachiro was around. He didn't even manage to listen to the rest of the lecture, too focused on making himself as small as possible and just generally elbowing Hachiro to please leave him alone. There was no use in socializing with anyone either. His twin would just take over and speak over him. He wished this class would just be over.

@Hachiro Kaster ​

 

[Hachiro Kaster]

Chiro sat beside Daisy, who had no choice in the matter because he'd purposefully entered the class after his brother so he could sit next to him. He knew that if given the chance Daisy would have tried to sit somewhere else and Chiro wasn't having that. He leaned back in his chair, twirling a quill in his fingers as Professor Moncrieffe droned on about names and nicknames and whatever. He couldn't believe how Daisy was introducing himself. "His name is Daisy." When his turn came, he raised his hand lazily. "Hachiro Kaster, Chiro if ya like. Or 'Your Majesty,’ whichever works for you. I'm from just outside Perth - Australia in case you're geographically challenged. Nothing ever happens there." He flashed a smirk and leaned forward, his voice dripping with mock enthusiasm. “Can’t wait to dive into the thrilling world of history. Merlin and witch trials, eh? Sounds riveting. Might even stay awake for the whole class. Who knows, miracles happen.” he looked over to his brother, he certainly hoped this lot were ready for the riveting saga of how witches routinely avoided becoming toast. When the professor told them to socialise, Hachiro didn’t waste a moment. He slouched toward a cluster of Hufflepuffs, his tone still laced with sarcasm. "So, anyone here already planning to write the definitive essay on Merlin’s beard? No? What a missed opportunity."​

 

[Professor Gabrielle Moncrieffe]

Gabrielle narrowed her eyes at the twins - why were there so many twins all the time - and scowled at the raucous Slytherin boy. "Thank you, Hachiro, for volunteering to demonstrate what happens when we don't respect others in our classroom - that'll be five points from Slytherin already." It was harsh, but Gabrielle had to set ground rules early. "Let that be a warning, ladies and gentlemen, now, please, let us continue" she said, getting back to her list. She'd have to check in and see if Daisuke was alright later, perhaps organise a seating plan to keep them apart. Ugh, the extra work already.

@Hachiro Kaster

 

[Henri Fontaine]

Henri had completely lost track of time, it had only been when he’d stepped back into the common room, that one of the other students had flagged to him that he had a class. He tookt he time to look at what the schedule said he had and then decided based on that whether he was actually going to bother going. He wasn’t going to go if it wasn’t interesting. He knew that the first classes would just be introductions, but perhaps that was worse. He haphazardly put on his uniform and then headed out to class.

Henri had never been that interested in history, but it was his mother’s favourite subject and he was willing to give it a try. He walked into the room and took a seat, the professor got started and unfortunately had them introduce themselves one after the other. He was one of the first to go ”I’m Henri and New Zealand,” he said, he was utterly bored of the lesson by the end of the roll call, he didn’t need to know who was from where. THey were all here now. That was all that mattered. He wasn’t listening to what the professor went on to say, he didn’t take the opportunity to talk to anyone as the professor let them, he just headed out of the room. If the professor was done teaching, then he was done sticking around.

 

[Angelo Dela Cruz]

Angelo slid into his seat near the middle of the classroom, gripping his pen nervously as he took in the surroundings. The room was warm and inviting, so he thinks it'll be quite a nice class. Moving from one class to the other still needed some getting used to. As the teacher addressed the class and called themselves "Professor Moncrieffe", Angelo's attention snapped to the front of the room. Calling the teachers "professor" was definitely going to take some getting used to. At least roll call was something he was familiar with, they did it every day back home, but he supposed it wasn't much of a thing here. He felt bad for one of the boys though, Daisuke. Maybe he should talk to him later since they were in the same section. When his name was called, he raised his hand, "My nickname is Buboy and I'm from the Philippines," he said with a shy smile. After the roll call, the teacher launched into an overview of the year’s topics, mentioning Merlin and the witch trials. He smiled faintly when she warned students not to underestimate the subject. It was perhaps a little interesting but also a bit intimidating since Angelo had only known about magic a few months ago and magic had such a long, long, long History. He already got a headache studying Philippine history and he'd lived there all his life. Now he needed to study more history. He didn't really talk to anyone in the class, too intimidated by the prospect of speaking English in a full conversation. When class was dismissed, Angelo packed up his things and left with a relieved sigh.​

 

[Lincoln Cade]

Lincoln didn’t dislike learning about history, some of it could be interesting but he did think there were more important things to be learning about. As he didn’t have a choice in which classes he attended yet, he made his way into the classroom that belonged to the woman who introduced herself as Professor Moncrieffe. He made brief notes about the major historical events she mentioned in passing, Merlin, witch trials etc and did his best to ignore the disturbance from another student as his brother? Probably, was introducing himself in line with the professors instructions. Once it was his turn Lincoln stood up, “My name is Lincoln, I’m from New Zealand and I don’t really have a nickname,” He took his seat and resumed finishing off his notes. Once it got to the socialising portion of the lesson he talked to some of the familiar faces in the room and when the lesson was over he made his way out of the classroom.

 

[Heemi Blenheim]

Hēmi didn't know about history of magic. He thought the professor looked a little bit strict, and he was a bit nervous when he took his spot. But then the lesson started and she actually seemed alright. Hēmi loosened up a bit, and paid attention as people in the class introduced themselves. He noted someone got a bit cheeky and got in trouble, Hēmi a little intimidated by the professor again once she reprimanded him. Whoa. Intense. Reminded him of his mum when he got in trouble, to be honest. Hēmi's turn came eventually. "Kia ora katoa*, uh, my name's Hēmi, and I'm from Aotearoa, or uh, New Zealand, I guess is the colonial name. I don't actually know what colonial means, my mum just says it a lot." Hēmi stopped there, scared of getting in trouble for maybe saying something he shouldn't have. The lesson was over soon after that and Hēmi went on his way.

*hello everyone in te reo Māori

 

[Sage Misaki]

Sage wasn't sure what she thought about this school, its classes, but she was determined she was going to do well at this. She walked to class, also determined that she would keep to herself and stay out of the way. Unfortunately this was a class she shared with the idiot kid. She took a seat in the back, purposely away from him. She listened to the Professor, but didn't bother with notes. She'd have liked to not answer any questions, but she wasn't looking to fight over something so silly. She sighed. "My name is Sage, and I'm from here." Sage decided not to say more and instead just left back to her dorm as they were dismissed.

 

[Brynn Brightsong]

Brynn was a little curious about what the school had to offer. She spent the morning getting ready, braiding her hair in actually three separate braids that were tied into one larger fishtail braid. Happy, she hummed as she walked to class, her bag tucked against her side. She took her seat, looking to the Professor. She liked the woman, she seemed nice. "My name is Brynn Brightsong, I grew up in Arrowtown," She offered gently. She tried to talk to a few of her classmates- unsure if she was very successful with it, before gathering her things and heading out again.