Third Years, Lesson Three

Gabrielle gave her students a sympathetic look as they entered the classroom, pouring herself more water from her carafe. She'd put some lemon slices in it to try and freshen it up a bit, mildly bemused that this was the excitement in her life now. At least it was a job she was enjoying, even if not all the students were thrilled by it. "Morning, everyone," she greeted, sliding up onto her desk to sit and deliver her lecture. "Another lecture today, I'm afraid. But," she quickly added, smiling at the class a little conspiratorially, "we get through this one and we'll celebrate next lesson." She'd elaborate further at the end of the lecture.

"So, let's talk about Stonehenge today. Surely you're somewhat aware of it - it's a ring of stones located in England, to put it bluntly. It's a source of great speculation, a monument that nobody is entirely sure of the origins of. After all, it's suggested the stones back date to somewhere between 2000 and 3000 BC. So, it's not as though we have very much in the way of records to go off of, unfortunately." There were some prevailing theories, and some mythologies surrounding it. "Now, the prevailing understanding of Stonehenge is that it is a burial ground of sorts. You will note that it is lined up to the sunrise on midsummer, as well, suggesting some ritualistic use of the monument." Gabrielle paused, realizing she was getting off track. "However, those are merely observations of what, but today we're discussing how, and some suggestions of who built Stonehenge and why."

She looked down at her notes, raising an eyebrow before looking back to the class. "One suggestion is that the stones are actually giants who danced in a circle, transfigured into stone. Or perhaps that these giants carried these stones from Africa to England. It is believed that these stones had healing powers of sorts." Even as a witch herself, Gabrielle was a little dubious on some of these theories, but that was the point, they were theories, and this was more of an exercise in considering all options available.

"Then of course, our good friend Merlin is theorized to have levitated the stones all the way from the Irish mountains to England, where they lie now. He arranged them as they are and that is how they have been left." Gabrielle gave a small smirk at that. "Just when you thought you'd get through a year of History of Magic without bringing it back to Merlin, there he is again. We can never escape." She was teasing, of course - Gabrielle had a respect for Merlin, though she did wish the coursework wasn't so heavily focused on him at times.

"One last suggestion is a belief the Devil himself put the stones where they are. The story goes that the stones were growing in the backyard of an old woman in Ireland, and the devil wanted them for himself. He disguised himself as an ordinary human and offered the woman a very large sack of gold in exchange for the stones. She agreed to sell them, thinking he would take years to move them and he'd made a bad deal. Of course, this is the devil we're talking about here - he spirited those stones right away to where they are now."

Gabrielle looked around, taking a drink of water while the students finished writing. "Or we could just say it was aliens." She added as a joke, hoping they didn't actually write that part down. "They're all interesting stories, of course, though their accuracy is debatable. And speaking of stories of dubious truth, I'd like to hear your theories on how you think Stonehenge came to be for homework." She gave a small laugh, slipping off the desk to stand up properly. "Or if you can't think of one, tell me which one of the ones I mentioned you like the sound of most. And as for next week...make sure you all come dressed in muggle clothes. I'll give you three guesses as to where we're going, and the first two don't count." It was pretty obvious, really, given today's lecture. "As ever, if you're struggling, or need anything, please feel free to come and see me. But that's all for today. Have a great week!"

Homework
RP the lesson. Extra credit for the homework in the lesson. A single paragraph is fine, creativity is always welcomed. Yes, you can say it was aliens, as long as you word it in a way that makes me laugh.

 

[Marley Owens-Lee]

Marley was enjoying her history of magic lessons so far. She happily walked to her history of magic classroom. Once she arrived at her class, she took a seat in her usual spot, took out the things she needed for the lesson and placed them on the desk in front of her.

Marley moved her attention towards the professor as the professor got started with the lesson. She was a bit bummed that it was only going to be a lecture lesson, but she didn't mind it. It looked like they were learning about Stonehenge. What was being said so far, was interesting to her. Marley paid attention to what the professor was saying. She made sure to take as many notes as she could, not wanting to miss out on anything. She nodded her head from time to time throughout the lesson to show the professor that she understood the content that was being told to them.

It wasn't long before the lesson had come to an end and they were dismissed. Marley was a bit bummed that they had homework, but she made sure to take note of the homework that had to be done. She then packed up her things, as well as tidied up her area. Marley says a appreciative thanks and goodbye to the professor, before heading out of the classroom with the rest of her friends and classmates.

 

[Teddy Pirrip]

Teddy arrived in History of Magic and took his usual seat for the lecture. He took notes on Stonehenge and listened to the theories about how they got there. He decided that the most likely theory was magic given that this was History of Magic class. With magic, it would be pretty easy to levitate the giant boulders and arrange them in a certain way with the right spell. Then there was Teddy's theory, which he would write about for homework. At the end of the lesson he packed up his belongings and looked forward to a school trip next week to a mystery location.

Spoiler: Teddy's Stonehenge Theory

I think there was a freak event, a giant explosion at the quarry, that blew these boulders to their current location, scattering them across the field. Annoyed by the mess, the locals decided, with great difficulty, to arrange them into a perfect circle. However, it was really hard to move the boulders, and they died before they got them exactly as they wanted. These abandoned boulders were just left, and rather than remove them, the local community integrated them into their lives and held meetings there because the views were good. When people asked where the boulders came from, they just shrugged and said, "Dunno, they've always been like this," and carried on. And there the mystery was born.

 

[Callie Cardoso]

Callie walked into the history of magic classroom and took the same spot in the room as the week before. She glanced up at the professor as the woman got started but wasn’t too bothered about it being another lecture. She took out her quill and parchment and began getting down what the professor was telling them about stonehenge. Trying her best to keep up with what the professor was saying about it. She knew of stonehenge, but hadn’t really given it all that much thought. The teen was trying to get down all of the theories which the professor was saying surrounded it. It was pretty interesting really how varied they were. The teen was interested by the homework, and headed to the library to work on it.

 

[Enoch Goldewyn]

Enoch walked into the history of magic classroom and took his usual spot in the room. The teen glanced at the professor as the woman got started. He had thought the professor had promised lots of excursions during this semester but it certainly seemed like they were doing a lot of lectures. Enoch just took out his notes and his quill and vaguely began writing down what the professor was saying, trying his best to follow along, to take good notes and to not get lost in what was being said, because who knew of all this what would come up in the exam. But he didn’t really have to. The exam surely wouldn’t cover the theories like these. He was glad when the lesson was wrapped up and Enoch was able to pack up and head out of the room.

 

[Millie Walden-Cade]

After what she could only describe as the ‘trauma’ of being dragged to the south pole in Astronomy, Millie was grateful to see History of Magic on her schedule where she could rely on Professor Moncrieffe to give her a nice calm lecture. She made her way into the woman’s classroom and took her seat.

As expected, and hoped, they had a lecture on Stonehenge, an ancient monument in England that muggles at least seemed to have no concrete idea of what it actually was built for. Maybe wizards had a better idea? Unfortunately Professor Moncrieffe didn’t have a solid answer though she did posit some interesting theories, Merlin seemed like a good guess, he usually did in History of magic, as the professor said it always seemed to come back to Merlin.

Unfortunately, Professor Moncrieffe’s closing request to come in muggle clothing the following lesson suggested they would have a field trip. Millie was a little disappointed but hopefully it would be an interesting visit and a lot warmer than the south pole. Once the lessons was over Millie packed up her things and made her way out of the classroom one they had been dismissed.

 

[Veronica Walden-Cade]

Veronica sat in the classroom, listening intently to Professor Moncrieffe as she greeted the students and poured herself more water from a carafe, complete with lemon slices. Veronica smiled at the professor's promise of a celebration in the next lesson, intrigued by the prospect.

As the lecture on Stonehenge began, Veronica took out her parchment and quill, ready to take notes. She jotted down key points about the monument's age and alignment with the midsummer sunrise, her interest piqued by the various theories surrounding its construction. The idea of giants, Merlin, and even the Devil being involved in the monument's creation seemed fascinating, if a bit far-fetched but it proved to be more interesting than what history of magic usually had to offer.

Veronica found herself chuckling at Professor Moncrieffe's comment about Merlin always appearing in their lessons. The light-hearted approach made the history lesson more engaging, which she appriciated as she wasn’t as much of a history buff as her sister. When the professor jokingly mentioned aliens, Veronica rolled her eyes playfully, amused by the idea but knowing better than to take it seriously.

As Professor Moncrieffe assigned the homework to come up with their own theories about Stonehenge, Veronica started brainstorming ideas but she doubted she be able to come up with something as creative as Merlin dropping the stones into place. The mention of wearing muggle clothes for the next lesson suggested they would be going on a field trip, no doubt to the aforementioned Stonehenge.

After the lecture, Veronica packed her things, feeling inspired and looking forward to the next lesson. She appreciated Professor Moncrieffe's open invitation for help, knowing she could always seek guidance if needed. With a smile, she wished her friends a good week and headed to her next class, already contemplating her theory on the origins of Stonehenge.