Matt was feeling good, today would be another lesson with his Sixth years and he was eager to talk to them. It was a bit of an odd year, in between two big tests, but he wanted to keep it filled with interesting lessons and information that would help them with their NEWTs later on. He waited for everyone to take their seats and readied himself for a lecture. He hoped he wouldn't get bored of the sound of his own voice at the end of this, and started to talk.
"Alright, class. I want everyone to take out whatever it is you use to take notes with. I don't care whether you want to use the old parchment and quill, a muggle notebook, or the back of your hand. As long as you're getting down all the information." He grinned and shook his head slightly at the one or two students that thought it was funny to pretend to start writing on the back of their hands.
"Salazar Slytherin." He said, pausing after the name. "One of the four founders of Hogwarts, and as you probably guessed, the founder of the Slytherin House." Matt slid his hands into his pockets and relaxed against the desk. "This name is either spoken of with honour or with fear and hate, depending on who you talk to. The fact that there are so many mixed feelings about the guy isn't all that odd if you consider what he stood for." He smiled a little at his students. "I assume you all have an idea of what I'm talking about. Many Dark Wizards have come from his house, but that doesn't mean Slytherins are bad, or even that their founder was bad. I know it's often a hotly debated subject, but I've known enough Slytherins in my lifetime to know for a fact some of the best people come from that house as well." He paused and then remembered to add some information, though he assumed most of them knew. "The colours of his house are green and silver, and the mascot is the serpent."
He started to pace the front of the room, looking at his students in turn. "Salazar Slytherin grew up in the fen, most sources agree on that. This is the name generally used to refer to the Eastern Portion of England. He was gifted with the ability of being a Parselmouth." He paused. "Does anyone know what that is?" He pointed at someone and nodded when they gave the right answer. "Exactly." He nodded. "He also was an accomplished Leglimens."
"Salazar wanted to found a school along with the other three founders. A school where young wizards and witches like you," he nodded at a few people in the front row, "could learn magic and train to become functional adult wizards and witches. As you can see around you, this dream was accomplished. But things didn't smoothly. Salazar Slytherin and Godric Gryffindor just couldn't see eye to eye. I'm sure that's not a big surprise." That rivalry still echoed through the school with each new generation, though Matt was glad to see there were many friendships between the houses as well. "The rift between them split up the Hogwarts Four. The reason for their fight was that Salazar believed only children with blood he considered 'pure' should be allowed to attend the school. Godric, being reasonable, disagreed." Matt wasn't going to hide the fact that he disagreed with pure blood prejudice during this lesson. It might be more professional to be impartial, but he felt like that sort of thinking should be discouraged from as early an age as possible. Though if any students in this class didn't agree, it may already be too late. "Because of this, Salazar left the school."
He paused to see how the class was reacting, before going on. "He didn't leave without making his mark on the school, though. We didn't know this for sure until a certain student called Harry Potter came along, but Slytherin left behind a little surprise gift for everyone in the form of a secret chamber. Appropriated called 'The Chamber of Secrets', though perhaps 'The Chamber of Giant Snakes' would have been even more appropriate, because a Basilisk was kept inside it. The monster had the purpose of killing off all muggleborn students at the school, and it almost succeeded twice." He paused to let that sink in. "Tom Riddle, Salazar's descendant, was able to open the Chamber. You might know him better as Lord Voldemort."
"As far as we know, monster inside the chamber had been let loose twice. Once in the early twentieth century and then again in the 1990s. The basilisk killed a young student the first time. Tom Riddle wasn't caught, he framed another student and got away with it. The second time it opened during the nineties, the only victims were petrified instead of killed. Indirectly, Tom Riddle was the culprit again this time, though I won't go into the details of that. Harry Potter defeated the basilisk inside the chamber at the age of twelve, an amazing feat that I don't have time to do justice right now. Be assured, plenty of people have written about it and I'm sure you can find an account of this battle if you look for it." Matt wanted to encourage his students to find things out on their own, and he hoped this would be one of those things.
He cleared his throat. "Well, I think I have talked enough. I see none of you have fallen asleep, which I count as an accomplishment. See you all next week." He grinned at them and watched them gather their things.
Homework Assignment:
Full Marks: RP Lesson
First student to answer the question will receive extra credit.
"Alright, class. I want everyone to take out whatever it is you use to take notes with. I don't care whether you want to use the old parchment and quill, a muggle notebook, or the back of your hand. As long as you're getting down all the information." He grinned and shook his head slightly at the one or two students that thought it was funny to pretend to start writing on the back of their hands.
"Salazar Slytherin." He said, pausing after the name. "One of the four founders of Hogwarts, and as you probably guessed, the founder of the Slytherin House." Matt slid his hands into his pockets and relaxed against the desk. "This name is either spoken of with honour or with fear and hate, depending on who you talk to. The fact that there are so many mixed feelings about the guy isn't all that odd if you consider what he stood for." He smiled a little at his students. "I assume you all have an idea of what I'm talking about. Many Dark Wizards have come from his house, but that doesn't mean Slytherins are bad, or even that their founder was bad. I know it's often a hotly debated subject, but I've known enough Slytherins in my lifetime to know for a fact some of the best people come from that house as well." He paused and then remembered to add some information, though he assumed most of them knew. "The colours of his house are green and silver, and the mascot is the serpent."
He started to pace the front of the room, looking at his students in turn. "Salazar Slytherin grew up in the fen, most sources agree on that. This is the name generally used to refer to the Eastern Portion of England. He was gifted with the ability of being a Parselmouth." He paused. "Does anyone know what that is?" He pointed at someone and nodded when they gave the right answer. "Exactly." He nodded. "He also was an accomplished Leglimens."
"Salazar wanted to found a school along with the other three founders. A school where young wizards and witches like you," he nodded at a few people in the front row, "could learn magic and train to become functional adult wizards and witches. As you can see around you, this dream was accomplished. But things didn't smoothly. Salazar Slytherin and Godric Gryffindor just couldn't see eye to eye. I'm sure that's not a big surprise." That rivalry still echoed through the school with each new generation, though Matt was glad to see there were many friendships between the houses as well. "The rift between them split up the Hogwarts Four. The reason for their fight was that Salazar believed only children with blood he considered 'pure' should be allowed to attend the school. Godric, being reasonable, disagreed." Matt wasn't going to hide the fact that he disagreed with pure blood prejudice during this lesson. It might be more professional to be impartial, but he felt like that sort of thinking should be discouraged from as early an age as possible. Though if any students in this class didn't agree, it may already be too late. "Because of this, Salazar left the school."
He paused to see how the class was reacting, before going on. "He didn't leave without making his mark on the school, though. We didn't know this for sure until a certain student called Harry Potter came along, but Slytherin left behind a little surprise gift for everyone in the form of a secret chamber. Appropriated called 'The Chamber of Secrets', though perhaps 'The Chamber of Giant Snakes' would have been even more appropriate, because a Basilisk was kept inside it. The monster had the purpose of killing off all muggleborn students at the school, and it almost succeeded twice." He paused to let that sink in. "Tom Riddle, Salazar's descendant, was able to open the Chamber. You might know him better as Lord Voldemort."
"As far as we know, monster inside the chamber had been let loose twice. Once in the early twentieth century and then again in the 1990s. The basilisk killed a young student the first time. Tom Riddle wasn't caught, he framed another student and got away with it. The second time it opened during the nineties, the only victims were petrified instead of killed. Indirectly, Tom Riddle was the culprit again this time, though I won't go into the details of that. Harry Potter defeated the basilisk inside the chamber at the age of twelve, an amazing feat that I don't have time to do justice right now. Be assured, plenty of people have written about it and I'm sure you can find an account of this battle if you look for it." Matt wanted to encourage his students to find things out on their own, and he hoped this would be one of those things.
He cleared his throat. "Well, I think I have talked enough. I see none of you have fallen asleep, which I count as an accomplishment. See you all next week." He grinned at them and watched them gather their things.
Homework Assignment:
Full Marks: RP Lesson
First student to answer the question will receive extra credit.
