Closed What a Shame My Tongue’s Not Tied

[Celia Vuong]

By now, Celia had a pretty good idea of who called the shots when it came to Hogwarts' curriculum. So she had been surprised to hear that Professor Borisyuk was making changes for the lower years. Was the Ministry finally doing something? Or was Professor Borisyuk going rogue? Had he gotten permission from the Ministry? Celia wasn't completely sure how that process worked, but she was under the assumption that it was difficult. Either that, or all the professors were too lazy to do anything to improve their ridiculous lesson plans.

A not small part of Celia was also curious to know if her Hogwarts Monthly columns had had any effect. She'd written plenty about the lack of standards at this school, and she had always assumed her articles fell on deaf ears. But maybe someone was reading them (even if Professor Borisyuk didn't strike her as much of a reader). There was only one way to find out, and Professor Borisyuk had told her to meet him in his office if she wanted to learn more about the new curriculum. Celia arrived exactly on time though she paused a little when she saw the door-within-the-door setup. She wondered if the administration had had to renovate the room just for him. (And if they did, then surely they could do renovations in the dorms and make them bigger and more private.) Celia knocked on the inner door.

 

[Professor Killian Borisyuk]

Killian did not think anyone would actually take him up on the offer to learn what the new curriculum was, but low and behold, the Head Girl seemed interested. He might have understood why if he had bothered to read the Hogwarts Monthly, but he didn't like leaving his office because running over people was a real possibility. And, he preferred his privacy. He was standing near his shelf where he had his notes over the fifth and sixth years before and after his change when he heard a knock on his door. He made sure that the parchments were stacked crisscross so that he knew what was what in one hand, and motioned toward the door with the other for it to open. Since he was in his office, he didn't bother having his robes on. Just casual jeans and a tee-shirt. He felt the robes were too restricting anyway.

"Have a seat, miss Vuong." Killian motioned toward one of the chairs as he doubled checked his parchment. This would have been easier if he had an outline - oh, he did, at the desk. He put the stacks up to head to his desk, and opened the drawer to grab the parchment with the outlines. "I honestly didn't expect anyone to bother checking in with the changes, so I am not exactly prepared." Killian doubted that many would care about his subject, but it was needed for several positions in the Ministry. He held the outline in one hand as he sat down. It was in Russian, so he didn't hand it over for her to have a look.​

 

[Celia Vuong]

The door opened, and Celia tried to subtly look around the office as she walked towards the chairs. At 5'3'', Celia knew she was technically considered short in this country, but she didn't usually feel short. Well, she definitely felt her height now. It was as if she'd taken the Drink Me potion from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Even the books were bigger. (It seemed she'd been wrong about Professor Borisyuk not being a reader.) Thankfully, the chairs were a normal size, and she took a seat, glancing curiously at the medals on display while Professor Borisyuk finished rifling through his files.

At his comment, Celia glanced up. "I was curious," she said with a shrug, answering his unspoken question. "I've heard that getting changes approved is difficult. Most professors don't bother." That was a bit of an educated guess, but if half the professors at the school couldn't be bothered to show up to all their classes, then she assumed they weren't willing to do any work to improve their lesson plans. "Are you still planning on devoting sixth year to the Hogwarts Scotland founders?" In Celia's opinion, that was probably the most egregious part of the History of Magic curriculum (and there were a lot of them). Her gaze drifted to the massive parchment in his hand, but she couldn't see anything from this angle.

 

[Professor Killian Borisyuk]

Killian shifted his stare to her when she said that she was curious. Although, he could not fault her for that. His brother, Kieran, was like that. Curious to a fault. Might have been why he was in alchemy. Killian would never understand because he felt it was a waste of time. He did have to agree. He worked hard, many hours and even neglected his girlfriend to get the lesson plans perfected. It took him a few tries before it was finally approved. "From what I hear, most aren't here long enough to even attempt to change the curriculum," Killian set his notes on the desk since it would be rather rude to talk with a piece of parchment blocking her view. He might have grown up in an unorthodox manner, but even he knew some manners.

"No. I did try to do away with it altogether, but they insisted that I teach the founders. So, I put it in fifth years along with the history of the Triwizard tournament. Sixth years now learn about the Wizarding Wars in the 1900s. Seventh years learn about the Giants War, Goblins Rebellion, and the Scitorari. The rest is revision." Killian glanced over his sheet to make sure he remembered everything, which he did. He hated teaching the founders, but alas, the higher ups wanted him to keep it. "Gabri-er, Professor Moncrieffe is working on her part as well. All of it was a pain, the curriculum itself."​

 

[Celia Vuong]

Celia couldn't help the snort that left her at Professor Borisyuk's comment. "That's an understatement." Some professors didn't even last an entire year. In fact, judging by how often some of the substitutes taught, she wouldn't have been surprised if there were professors who didn't make it an entire semester. "But even the ones who've been here a while don't try. A lot of professors barely even teach." Before today, she would've put Professor Borisyuk in that category, based purely on the fact that he planned on doing review for most of the semester. But it seemed he was at least trying to change things.

Celia wasn't sure what she had been expecting from Professor Borisyuk's new curriculum, but it wasn't this. This actually sounded interesting. Perhaps not as focused as she would've preferred, but that was to be expected in a three-year (two, if you didn't count the year devoted to Hogwarts founders, which Celia didn't), world history survey course. "That sounds really interesting," she admitted, perhaps a little more surprised than was polite. "Founders aside, that all sounds more useful and relevant than the old myths." Celia actually enjoyed mythology — she just didn't want to learn about it in her history classes. She was less surprised to hear that Professor Moncrieffe was also making updates to her lessons plans. "She told me once that she'd been battling the Ministry over curriculum changes, but I never found out if she got anywhere with it," Celia said, thinking about their conversation in the library a few years ago. She paused. "I know none of this will be on our NEWT, but why don't you start teaching it anyways? I'd rather learn about any of those topics than just do review."

 

[Professor Killian Borisyuk]

Killian did wonder who was around that had been for years. There were just a handful, and the rest - not so much. One that had been here since the near start of the school did a false retirement and returned. Killian had not had the misfortune to knowing him. He raised an eyebrow when Celia revealed that a lot of professors don't even teach. "Is that so?" Killian pondered, wondering if the problem was the professor in her eyes, or the curriculum itself. He did notice how she seemed surprised over his new curriculum. Should he feel insulted by it? He folded his arms across his chest and tapped his arm with his finger. "Myths should be an elective or just personal option for studying, not in the core class, which is why I dropped it. I hated every minute of it, which probably reflected in how I taught it." Killian was not sure if Gabrielle would keep some of it, but that was majority of it before he came along, and he was not sure how far along Gabrielle was with her years. She did teach more than he did. He had more time. Plus, he also rarely socialized so he had more time to work on it.

"Unfortunately, writing out NEWTs and OWLs to reflect changes need time to get approved, so there wasn't enough by the time it was implemented for your year. The NEWT you will take is completely different from the fifth year up than the NEWT that will be in place next year. If I did not do revision, then you all will have more issues with the old test in the end." Plus, he was just doing the part of preparing. Whether or not they followed through was on the seventh years. "That's why I offered what I did. Even if it is outside of regular time."​

 

[Celia Vuong]

It seemed Professor Borisyuk had not read her latest Monthly column. Not that Celia was surprised. Sometimes she wondered if the paper's co-editors even read her pieces (and not just because she wasn't completely convinced one of them could read English). "Yes. I had a professor last semester who didn't teach us anything. She canceled half the classes and the other half was spent practicing concepts we'd already learned and been tested on." Apparently, that was the kind of work ethic the school liked to reward because somehow, Professor Josephs had been made a head of house.

Celia was barely able to conceal her surprised delight when Professor Borisyuk revealed that he'd hated teaching the myths. It was refreshing to hear a professor speak so candidly against the Ministry-approved curriculum. "I never noticed," she said politely, which was kind of true. She'd just assumed the gruff demeanor was part of the whole vibe Professor Borisyuk was going for, along with his tattoos and piercings. "But I completely agree. Myths by themselves aren't history, and I never understood why the Ministry wanted us to spend so much time on something that by definition is false."

She knew that the new material would never appear on her NEWT, but she still thought it would be more interesting to learn about it than to sit through revision. "I understand that my year's NEWT will be different, but respectfully, I don't see why we can't learn about other things anyway," Celia said, trying to be as polite as possible. She wasn't upset by Professor Borisyuk's stance. She just didn't understand it. Had the school forbidden the professors from mentioning anything in class that wouldn't be on the exam? "If you ask me, any seventh year who is incapable of studying for the exams on their own deserves to fail," she said with a shrug. It wasn't even that Celia had some deep love of learning for learning's sake. She just didn't want to be bored.

 

[Professor Killian Borisyuk]

Should he be surprised that some professors actually don't teach? Killian was not sure how to process that since it might be a matter of opinion. It was not like he went around talking to other professors and asking them questions over their curriculum. So, he could not comment on it without hearing the other side of the story - which he likely was not going to do without a reason to do so (such as his own kids attending school but during this time he was unaware of the bun in Amethyst's oven). Killian wondered if she was lying when she said that she never noticed. Then again, overall, he was a cold person in general. Even his siblings wanted him to loosen up from time to time. Drinking didn't change it either. He just loses his filter. "Probably want to hide the darker side of history, though myths themselves can be bloody with incest in Greek gods, and human sacrifices in others."

Killian himself didn't trust the Ministry. He was always skeptical about them due to their history with giants and the like. It was not a fun subject to learn. No, it was harsh reality. "They were pretty strict on it. Have to follow the out dated curriculum for your year. Disagree with it or not, it was outside of my hands." Killian ran his fingers through his hair to keep it slicked back, just in case. "Honestly, I agree with you. But, the future seventh years will not have it so easy." A little smirk rested on his face. ​