Second Years, Lesson One

"Hello, everyone," Gabrielle greeted, giving the class a small smile and nod as they took their seats. She didn't really mind where they sat too much, as long as they didn't start chattering and disturbing the class. "For those of you who do not know me for some reason or have developed convenient amnesia over the holidays, I'm Professor Moncrieffe, and I am your professor for first through fourth year History of Magic. We don't need to stand on formality, but please do address me respectfully and not rudely." It was important to set ground rules for the class, and maintain them. "Makes it easier for me to do the same back." She hoped that would lighten the mood a little. There were plenty of teachers she'd come across who didn't respect their students. They were usually the worst kind.

"This year we'll be looking at a couple of major figures in history, and we'll be writing a few essays as well. I'll go over essay writing in class if you would like. I'm not looking for perfect structure at this stage, but we'll work up towards improving your writing over time." She gave a sympathetic smile to the class. It wasn't the most thrilling subject to talk about, but it was important for all their subjects, not just History of Magic. "You'll thank me when you get to your OWLs and NEWTs."

"Just a short lesson today. I won't keep you too long, as I'm sure you have plenty of gossiping about your holidays to do," Gabrielle joked, raising an eyebrow at the class. "If you are struggling with History, or with any of your classes, especially in the theoretical side of things, please come see me. I can promise you a cup of tea and no judgement. Unless you're coming to tell me how much you hate history. I might judge you then. But I can't help you if you don't say anything. We're here to help, but I'm not a mind reader and I can't necessarily help you unless you tell me you need help. Remember what the Headmaster said at the feast." Gabrielle gave a pointed look, smoothing down her robes again. "And if you're finding it easy, and want to learn some more unique and interesting things, I can help you out. I'm sure there's plenty of more exciting research projects out there that are so fascinating you might not even think of them as work." That might at least work for the Ravenclaws. Especially since she wasn't really offering house points for it. Knowledge was a greater reward, at least so Gabrielle thought. "Anyway, that's all for today. Go on and get fresh air and make the most of not getting hand cramps."

Homework
RP the lesson.

 

[Victoria de Lacey]

Tori was at a loss, entering the classroom slowly and sitting in a seat near the middle. It simultaneously felt like it had been just yesterday that Rory had graduated and yet three years ago as well. The time had gone really fast until she'd gone to meet her new siblings at her dad's request and hadn't that gone rather poorly? She sort of appreciated the professor trying to uplift the class a little with some dry humour about history, but that was part of the problem for her, she liked history well enough, she certainly didn't hate it but she sometimes found the learning it and memorising dates and names and things like that just weren't sticking with her, not to mention she didn't think she really knew how to study properly, but she was so worried people were going to judge her mum for her lack of knowledge that she didn't know how to tell anyone she was struggling. Everyone always blamed her mum for something, and that was one of the reasons why Kanako got on her nerves so much, because Tori felt like she was blaming her mum in some way. Tori was very protective of her mum. By the end of the class, Tori felt a flicker of determination. She might not be the best at essays yet, but she was excited to dive into the more "unique and interesting" research the professor mentioned. Packing her things, she tried to leave the classroom before anyone decided to talk to her, she had a couple of things to think about and she didn't want to risk anyone disrupting her from those thoughts.​

 

[Elijah Edogawa]

He really thought that he'd managed to get enough rest, but after the absolute chaos that was his holiday and the way that his siblings didn't seem to have calmed down or matured over that time (nor had he so not sure why he was thinking any differently) he had realised that he was just genuinely pretty exhausted. He needed things to calm down and to calm down quickly because he didn't think he could deal with things not being more calm than they were. he slipped into his usual seat near the back, quill poised, ready to take down any notes from Professor Moncreiffe's opening lecture. He generally appreciated her approach, straightforward, no nonsense. Unlike professor Grayveson who kept calling them Darlings and acting all sweet. He just didn't think it was necessary for an adult woman to behave the way she did, and it annoyed him to no end because he didn't like be addressed by a nickname, even if she was only addressing the group as a whole it always managed to set his teeth on edge. As she outlined the year ahead, he forced his focus back to what she was saying, listing out the notes by headings. He didn't mind the mention of an essay as he'd always rather enjoyed doing them, they were easier than studying a lot of the time he found. At the joke about judging students who hated history, his lips twitched into a small smile; Professor Moncrieffe’s candid style was growing on him. The lesson soon ended and Eli packed up quickly, he noted with some annoyance again that Rose wasn't present. Was she just going to skip the whole class this year? He wouldn't have put it past her.​

 

[Lilith Ilves]

The lessons of her second year had finally started and Lilith was more than excited. Holidays were fun and all but she would be lying if she said she didn't miss the structure studying brought or the opportunities to challenge herself. Lilith walked into the History of Magic classroom with a smile and took place near the front, that was her preferred seating. Somewhere where she could easily see the professor or if anything was written on the board. Listening to Professor Moncrieffe was always sort of entertaining, she had this witty take on her lessons that the second year quite enjoyed. It made things fun and interesting at the very least. Lilith took mental note to the fact that they'd be practicing essay writing this year, which could go either way. It could be extremely fun or terrible, knowing herself she had no doubt the first option would apply to her. As the Professor concluded the lesson Lilith got up and gave a quick 'thank you' and a smile to the woman before exiting the room, excited for the semester ahead.

 

[Jasper Beese]

Jasper strolled into History of Magic and quickly realised he’d managed to forget his quill, his parchment, and, impressively, his entire bag back in the Gryffindor common room. He didn't have time to go back and decided he’d just sit through the lesson and maybe borrow notes from Tori later if necessary. Luckily for him, the class was only an introduction, so there wasn’t much to note down anyway. Jasper nodded along as Professor Moncrieffe spoke, doing his best to look engaged despite having nothing in front of him. When the lesson finished, Jasper felt a bit weird just leaving the classroom without anything to pack up, but it was to be expected.

 

[Forrest Kaster]

Professor Moncrieffe, like many of his professors so far in the new year, reintroduced herself in case anyone had forgotten. Forrest wondered if anyone really did come back for a new school year having forgotten who their professors were. It didn’t matter as the professor quickly moved on to discussing what they would be learning about during the coming semester and it would be major figures in history, which wasn’t all that surprising. It meant essays and lectures which were the backbone of history of magic and one of the reasons Forrest didn’t enjoy the class all that much. He took a couple of notes on what they could expect during the semester but he kept it brief, once the lesson was over and Professor Moncrieffe had finished her introduction, Forrest packed up his things and made his way out of the classroom.

 

[Eoghan Blyth]

While it was strange to the second years the professor reintroduced herself, Eoghan supposed it was a good thing to those who had transferred. He didn't think many students would have transferred in their second year, but what did he know, he hadn't even known he was magical until a year ago. Taking his usual seat in his first History of Magic lesson of the year, the Ravenclaw got out his belongings and started to make some notes on what they'd be doing for the semester. The blond didn't mind making notes and doing essays, and while it may not have been the most thrilling thing for him to do, he still appreciated that History was one of those subjects that would carry through to different classes, and they could use the skills learned here in others especially when they were older. They had a good while yet anyway until they had to pick and choose which lessons to do and classes to take, so Eoghan thought he may as well make the most of it now it was here. Glancing to Jasper, he wondered how someone could manage to forget their entire set up, although perhaps it was just the stress of getting back into a routine. At the end of the class, the Ravenclaw picked up his things and headed out the room behind Tori.​

 

[Vikram Bakshi]

Back to school for his second year, Vikram was ready to get back into the swing of things. He'd set up his dorm the way he'd liked (or at least, his space in it) and he'd settled into a routine he liked. Morning runs with Winnie, reading a bit of his book, a shoer and some yoga to start the day. It was just a really nice, relaxing way to start his days.

Ready to start class, Vikram made his way and found a seat. This wasn't a class with Winnie, sadly, so he found a seat relatively near one of his roommates. He offered them a small smile as he pulled out his parchments. He listened to the Professor go on. There wasn't a lot to really note down, but he decided he'd pop in to see Professor Moncrieffe later. See if she had any recommended extra study guides or the like. He packed his things back up and headed out again, humming under his breath.

 

[Esme Styx-Cade]

Esme paid little attention to Professor Moncrieffe when she introduced herself as she remembered her quite well from the previous year. She switched on when she began to talk about what they would be covering during the year, namely major figures in history and as Professor Moncrieffe didn’t give them any examples she would have to wait until their next lesson to find out who they would be learning about. Esme didn’t love the idea of writing lots of essays but it did beat getting her hands dirty in Herbology. There wasn’t much detail in the lesson so Esme didn’t take any notes, her parchment sat on her desk blank and she rolled it up at the end of the lesson and put it back in her bag. Once they’d been dismissed by Professor Moncrieffe she grabbed her things and made her way out of the classroom.