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. At least, not this group as much. In some classes she'd had to step in, but she liked to hope that the students were old enough now to behave themselves in a classroom. "For those of you who do not know me for some reason such as developing convenient amnesia to block out your school work, I'm Professor Moncrieffe, and you're in History of Magic class. We don't need to stand on too much 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 as we go through the semester. 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." 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 wouldn't necessarily entice too many people, 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.

 

[Winnie Calida]

Winnie walked into the history of magic classroom and greeted the professor with a little smile and wave, to be sure that the professor spotted and recognised her. She glanced at the front of the room as the professor got started on what they be covering which seemed to be major figures. This wasn’t something bad really, Winnie was sure it would be interesting, but she didn’t love that, and she didn’t love that the professor then moved on with the lesson not to teach them anything but just to let them talk, instead of doing that she opened her books and read over what they’d done in the previous year and then approached the professor. ”Professor, who is your favourite historical figure? Is it someone we’ll cover?” she figured that this would be a good time to continue to be known to the professor and to try to gain favour.

 

[Primrose Kaster]

Most of the classes Prim was doing this semester were incidental as the only one she really cared about was Herbology and then through that, Potions. Despite that, she was trying to get decent grades so as not to disappoint Sam and Hazel. History of Magic, for example, she found to be quite daunting because she’d always been more of a hands on learner than someone who learnt through lectures and books. Reading a set of instructions and not immediately then performing the task wasn’t going to easily help her to learn, she just didn’t really get it. She understood it was an important subject, but that didn’t mean she was any more interested in it than in Astronomy or whatever other classes she needed to take this year. She knew what she liked she she didn’t learn well in this kind of an environment - not that she knew how she could really learn better her way with History of magic - maybe a trip to a museum? As the lesson came to an end, she tucked her heavy notes away and got ready to head out, offering the professor a polite nod as she did so. There was some research topics she could think of to try, but it wasn’t going to be her best work, she could already tell.​

 

[Daiki Saito]

Daiki walked into the history of magic classroom and took his usual spot in the room. He glanced towards the profesor as the woman introduced herself and then introduced them to what they would be doing within this classroom. He nodded along and then they were just allowed to do anything, so he turned to Kairi and just struck up a conversation with her, instead of doing anything that might be seen as more productive. He did that until the lesson was wrapped up and he then headed out the room.

 

[Lumos Walden-Cade]

Lumos could generally appreciate a Professor who didn’t take themselves too seriously, and it was why he didn’t hate Professor Moncrieffe despite not being the biggest fan of History. It wasn’t that he didn’t think it was important, because he did think it was - mostly - he didn’t think he had to learn it. Not like this anyway. She was sharp-tongued and he would rather not have to deal with that today. As she spoke about essay writing and improving their structure over time, he mentally prepared himself for the inevitable workload, already wondering which historical figures they’d be studying this year. He didn’t want to have to do the research so he knew he would probably mostly only do the bare minimum, but that was just him. When the professor wrapped up the short lesson, Lumos stretched, rolling his wrist dramatically as if already suffering from the dreaded hand cramps she mentioned. He left the classroom quickly after that, he didn’t see much point in staying.​

 

[Sayuri Edogawa]

Sayuri entered the History of Magic classroom and took her seat. Last year, she would have preferred not to sit with both Eurydice and Jonah, but the pair of them had been acting funky for a while and she was not having it. She grabbed Jonah and made sure that their cousin sat close by as well before she started to focus on the lesson. The professor's sense of humor was just a little bit amusing and the expectations for the year wasn't entirely daunting. She noted most of what was being mentioned and thought that she would decide later if any seemed particularly intriguing. She did scrunch her nose at the thought of gossiping over the holidays, she didn't really have anyone to do that with, not that she had any intention to either. As the lesson wrapped up, she stood and gathered her things before walking out, pulling her brother and cousin in tow.​

 

[Eurydice Nightray]

Eurydice hadn't really expected Sayuri to come and grab her and choose a seat for her in History of Magic class. Still, she sat at her desk and brought out her things so she could take notes while Professor Moncrieffe discussed the lesson. She didn't particularly mind History of Magic. It certainly had its discussions, but there weren't any spells being flung about at least so it felt a little like Eury could just keep herself calm. The professor's humor was closer to her brothers', which was what amused her more than the actual joke. Eurydice wasn't really one for long lectures, but she supposed that recently, she was finding them more tolerable than the Defense classes last semester. When the lesson ended, she stood and stretched a little before leaving the classroom and deciding to go to the library to do some advanced reading.​

 

[Jonah Edogawa]

Jonah hadn't really been looking forward to History of Magic. While it had been the class that he had the highest grades in last year, he had practically slaved away in the class and ignored every other subject then. Besides, the professor scared him. The mention of essays - countless essays - made him sigh quietly beside Sayuri. Those were the worst. Well, he supposed memorization was the worst but the essays weren't that far behind either. What made him pause was when the professor said that she was available to help if the students were struggling. He wasn't sure if it was directed at him but the mention of it made him feel uneasy. He wanted to claim that he wasn't struggling. His grades weren't great but he was working on it so it was okay right? Besides, he had been doing a bit better with his spellwork since Lumos started helping him, and History of Magic didn't have spellwork. When the professor dismissed them, Jonah packed up his things quickly and made sure to avoid contact with the professor as he shuffled out of the classroom.​

 

[Nox Walden-Cade]

Nox settled into his seat and listened as Professor Moncrieffe introduced herself for the benefit of anyone new, though Nox couldn’t imagine anyone fit that description. He didn’t much enjoy history of magic but he did like Professor Moncrieffe so that made the lessons more bearable. He didn’t like the sound of more essays and lectures but it shouldn’t have surprised him, it was pretty much what history of magic was known for. The first lesson back proved to be a short one as it was just a chance for the professor to welcome them back and prepare them for the new semester. Nox made note of Professor Moncrieffe’s offer to help struggling students, it was a good thing to know if he fell behind which was always a possibility. Once then lesson was over Nox packed up his things and made his way out of the classroom.

 

[Kanako Kurosawa]

Kanako honestly didn't like this class and was going to drop it as soon as she could. It was her brother's thing, not hers. She almost rolled her eyes at the teacher but the fact of the matter was she actually liked Professor Moncrieffe. Not really paying attention, but sort of doing so at the same time, Kanako felt the lesson go by reasonably fast. Essay writing though...that was going to be a bummer.

 

[Professor Gabrielle Moncrieffe]

Gabrielle gave a thoughtful noise at Winnie's question, it not having been one she often heard. "My favourites? Hm...probably Scáthach, and you'll get to look at her a little bit when we study the Celts next year," she explained, tapping her chin thoughtfully. It was more blurring the line between clear history and mythology, but what was mythology if not a window into historical beliefs? "Paracelsus is interesting, and we will talk about him this year, we sadly won't get to talk about Aleister Crowley and Dion Fortune," she continued, wincing for a moment. "Don't look her up until you're older. And Rasputin - probably wasn't actually a wizard at all, but he wormed his way into the Russian royal family with the promise of magical knowledge and healing ability, allegedly survived assassination several times, really fascinating entry point into the history of magic's close relationship with muggle leaders." Gabrielle coughed lightly, knowing she'd droned on a bit. "Sorry, more than you needed to know."

@Winnie Calida

 

[Susie Lagowski]

Susie was determined to try a bit harder this semester. Acceptable wasnt a terrible grade, according to her uncle, but she knew she had it in her to get at least an EE, especially in History of Magic, which was a fun subject because it involved a lot of Susie’s favourite thing - writing. She took her seat in the same place as last year and got out her notebook. It might have been an introductory lesson, but it wouldn’t hurt her to take some notes and get ahead. After all, her enthusiasm probably wouldn’t last. The harder she worked now, the less hard she’d have to work leading up to her exams. That was how it worked, right? Worth a try.