History of Magic: When Magic and History Collide- 4th-7th Years

[Declan Murphy]

Declan stood outside the Room of Requirement, which had taken on the look of almost a stone slab of a door behind him- fitting considering what lay on the other side. He had asked the students to meet him there, which he knew was going to get some interesting responses.

He had read over the curriculum that was usually used for the History of Magic, buuut he also remembered almost falling asleep when taking the class himself. So. He wanted to shake things up a bit and add as much real-world experience as he could to the subject. And what better way to do that than to use some of his experiences from out and about in the world to help with that? All those expeditions were going to certainly come in handy. It had certainly helped him to envision what they needed today in the Room behind him.

He glanced at his watch before putting his hands in his pockets. He was never the patient type before, not when something exciting was on the horizon and their responses to today were going to be nothing short of. He forced himself to wait as very confused students started to gather in the halls around him, whispering to themselves about what the new professor was up to. They'd still had that old ghost teaching the subject, used to this being a time to doze at their desks, but they were about to get a wake-up call.

Once it seemed like he had a decent number of students before him, he pulled his hands from his pockets and clapped them together, getting their attention, "Alright, ladies and gents, welcome to History of Magic. Now, I know basically all of you are confused, after all, I gave zero indications as to what was going to happen today, just that you needed to meet me here," he smiled as some of them made faces that made it very clear he hit the nail on the head, "Well. To the uninitiated, this room behind me is the Room of Requirement. It sounds mystical, but it's a room that changes into whatever is needed at the time. In this case, it's going to be the location of our class today," this certainly got some of their attention, knowing now that the room was not just a basic room.

"Now. Some of you may be aware of who I am, but for those of you who don't this is useful information to help you understand what's about to happen. My name is Professor Declan Murphy. I have taken over the class for History of Magic. I am not the kind of person who greatly enjoys a lecture unless there's something valuable to learn that cannot be gained any other way. Prior to coming here, I was traveling abroad, going to different expedition sites, and learning about ancient secrets of both the magical and Muggle variety. You'd be surprised how often they can be found side by side," he chuckled a little, "So today, I want you to be able to get a hands-on experience with the thrill of making those discoveries, of making those connections, and the curiosity that fills you about the unknown," he said.

He held up his hands as people started to chatter, "When we go into the room, do not touch any of the tools just yet. I will give you a quick tutorial on how each thing works and then I will have you split off in pairs. Preferably, I'd like to see some cooperation between houses and years, but let's see what we can do, hm?" he smiled a bit at that, "Alright. Follow me!" he said before turning and pushing the door open.

The room inside was bright and as students would make their way in, they'd find it... hot...and sandy? As they passed through what seemed like flaps of a canvas tent, they'd find themselves standing in the middle of an excavation site in a desert ruin, equipment set up at various locations. As soon as they were all in, Declan began to go through the different tools, demonstrating how to use them properly, making sure to tell them all the things needed for safety, such as wearing gloves, watching their hands when using the chisel, so on and so forth. Once he finished, he motioned around them, "There are more than enough mock spots to give everyone a chance to explore and find their own treasures, go ahead and spread out and try to find a partner that isn't in your house or year unless its unavoidable!" he said, clapping his hands once more as a signal to go.

[Colette Descoteaux]

History of Magic had never been a particular favourite of Colette's, that and her attention tended to wander to the matters mysterious and ethereal. With the ghost professor this proved to be a useful talent and no one tended to disturb her disappearance mentally as she viewed things with her inner eye. The Ravenclaw student was among one of the first to arrive at a seemingly normal stretch of corridor, facing what appeared to be little more than a wall. Despite her being one of the first to be here, almost instantly, her attention started to wander off. Colette lost herself to a vision, for she was a seer. The only thing which provided a semblance of her paying attention came in the form of a friend, who kept nudging her every so often, bringing her attention back to what were mere physical matters.

Such trifles were important, in spite of what she personally believed. Colette had found herself disappearing more often into visions these days. Whilst she did not understand all she perceived, she attempted to find out the meaning in them. But as with all such visions, interpretations were difficult and what someone interpreted varied from individual to individual.

The mention of Muggles snapped her attention back to the realm material. It was not even remotely secret that Colette possessed an incredible fascination with Muggles. Life in the non magical world always interested her, any of the students who she found out were Muggle born often found themselves bombarded with questions. None of these were meant maliciously, but rather out of curiosity.

She winced at the bright light which emerged from the room of requirement, it reminded her all too much of the light that tended to led onto migraines. Inside, it was hot and sandy, it reminded her of the trip she and her father took to Greece the other year. It made her regret being in the school uniform, the order of the day demanded shorts and a t-shirt. Colette unfortunately missed the tool demonstrations, she had slipped into the realm ethereal only the professor clapping brought her attention back around to present matters. The small figure of Colette blinked in some supplies to find herself back in the room, her confusion obvious and visible on her face, rather than the usual dreamlike serenity expression commonly worn on her face.