Muggle Studies ((All years))

[Professor Amaryllis Hardy]

Amaryllis was looking forward to teaching her Muggle Studies class. Work was the easiest excuse to keep Roger at bay, but she was hoping that a nice group of students would assemble. It was a Friday, and just before lunch when certain students might be hungry, but she expected that they'd be attentive. She was known to be a fairly strict teacher, so in general students didn't mess around in her lessons. Even in the middle-age that she was all too painfully aware that she'd reached nowadays, she could still sense any mischief or inattention in one of her classes (she'd only really come to teaching in middle-age anyway, much as she might like to tell herself she had only just reached that stage) and always sought to remedy it first with a warning glance, so as not to embarrass the miscreant too much, and then a stern reprimand if they persisted or overstepped the line. She was also hoping that a reasonable number of students would turn up to her class. Self-protection related courses had become very popular in the past few years with Death Eaters running rampant throughout Britain - and no wonder - and she hadn't dared to compare her class roster for this year with that of the previous year, for fear it might be significantly less populated. She still had a gut feeling it was though.

Amaryllis knew that some students saw Muggle Studies as 'next-to-useless', 'a soft option', 'a doss', 'not really relevant' or other such terms that disspirited her more than she would ever admit. She knew just how rich Muggle culture was - when she was younger she'd spent her time reconstructing important features of it which irresponsible wizards and Death Eaters had seen fit to destroy. She also knew how destructive Muggle culture itself could be, and that was in a way the theme of this lesson. Nowadays she spent her time trying to pass that knowledge and enthusiasm on to her students. She worked very much by visual methods, and today a huge globe hung in the middle of the classroom, rotating so slowly that it was almost imperceptible. A scale model of the Earth, it was a rather sophisticated object. Fresh water rivers flowed from their sources in rocky mountains into salty oceans, and not onto the floor as you might have expected. All the objects on it ignored the gravity of the real Earth and instead obeyed the laws of their own globe, thanks to a specialised spell that Amaryllis had never attempted to master but had needed to coax an old colleague to come and perform for her. She'd only added on miniature cities, towns and landmarks which were dotted all over it in their relevant positions.

The scale of the globe was still so big that anyone sitting underneath it could have expected to bump their head on it even while they were sitting down, so Amaryllis, worried about the safety of the precious globe and of course her students (who really she was quite certain were sensible enough to look after themselves) had moved all the desks that had occupied that area into more extreme corners of the room. As a result, the Muggle Studies classroom looked a little more squashed than usual, but she was confident everyone would fit. She hovered anxiously next to the model, adding well known wizard landmarks to it as well as those of Muggles (which some of the less-knowledgable Purebloods she taught might not be aware of) as she waited for the first students to start arriving after their breaktime. Her own had been spent making these final preparations, so she hoped the class would be well recieved.

((Remember that this is a classroom, not the Student Lounge! No excessive chatting, please. )

[Ariane Chan]

Ariane shoved her lighter-than-usual bag onto her shoulder, taking a brief glance at the mirror sitting on the wall between her four-poster bed and the one to her left. Shaking her hair out a little in an attempt to make it look neater (Ariane knew this didn’t make any sense, but still did it anyhow because she felt like it), she refrained from giving a pleased smile, and headed out of her dormitory. It wasn’t like she was trying to impress anyone, neither had she ever been conscious of her image, especially in front of boys, but when she felt like looking in the mirror, she did. Some may have thought that she never used her mirror. Untrue. Though she cared not what she looked like to others, that didn’t mean she couldn’t look good for her benefit. Did she have female hormones? Yes. Was she attracted to any of the boys here? No. Glad she was looking presentable for her next lesson, Muggle Studies, Ariane trudged slowly down the spiral of stairs. She wasn’t in a rush, as usual; her break time had consisted of her returning from her last lesson to her empty dormitory and packing her bag for her next lesson, and nothing else. By her calculations Ariane would arrive at the designated classroom five minutes early at least, but she had decided to set off anyhow. It wasn’t rare that she was the earliest student, as, like today, she had nothing better to do to occupy herself with. At least she always had first choice of seating.

Walking at a leisurely pace along the Hogwarts corridors, Ariane wondered what Professor Hardy would be teaching today. She liked Muggle Studies, one reason being because she used to live a muggle life anyway. The subject came quite easily to her, and she didn’t find it particularly boring. It was an advancement in what she used to learn in primary school. Although it wasn’t always the most fascinating subject, like Transfiguration, it had its qualities. Ariane knew how amazing things like Transfiguration and Charms were to someone like her, having experienced it first hand a couple of years ago upon entering Hogwarts and the wizarding world for the first time. The subjects had intrigued her – being able to create magic by her own hand. Topics like History of Magic and Muggle Studies could hardly compare. But after a while, the paranormal early shine of doing magic wore off a little, though Ariane still loved to cast spells at any opportunity. She threw herself into all her subjects, save for Divination, and liked them all equally. The plus side to Muggle Studies was Professor Hardy. Ariane liked her. Not that she ever communicated with any of the teachers (she rarely spoke in lessons, hence why she didn’t have much of a relationship with any of them), but Professor Hardy’s attitude and way of teaching suited Ariane perfectly. She admittedly didn’t like Professor Snape and vice versa, but only probably because she was a Gryffindor, not a Slytherin. Ariane couldn’t care less about his affections. She didn’t care for anyone’s affections, really.

An upside of the Muggle Studies lesson was that Harmony would also be attending. That, obviously, pleased Ariane to no end. They actually had one lesson together, despite being in completely different years, and she would be able to watch over her easily. However, Ariane had no intention of sitting beside her younger sister (she probably had friends to be with anyway), as she preferred to be alone in lessons, concentrating on learning as much as she could. That didn’t mean she was reluctant to help Harmony, as she would happily do so, but that also meant showing her closeness to her sister, and Ariane liked to keep their personal relationship away from teachers. Well, from most people, really. Ariane didn’t want to mar the impression she gave to other people that she was antisocial, because that kept them at bay from trying to get close to her. She liked to maintain an image of… well, scariness.

Finally arriving at the classroom for Muggle Studies, Ariane entered silently, looking around for Professor Hardy, who would no doubt be here by now. The teacher was standing in the centre of the classroom, where a huge globe was dangling precariously from. Ariane raised an eyebrow at the construction, noticing the landmarks dotted on it even from where she was standing. Moving her eyes aside, Ariane noticed that, as she had suspected, no other students had turned up yet. As per usual, she was the early bird, in literally every aspect of her life. Suppressing rolling her dark eyes to show what she was thinking (”Typical.”), Ariane walked boldly forward into the room. “Good morning, Professor Hardy.” Ariane gave a short nod at the teacher with a blank face. Although Ariane was an antisocial little thing, she was always quietly polite and respectful to the right people (with the exception of Professor Snape, there wasn’t really any point in trying in that area, and Ariane had better people to direct her rare civility to). However, she rarely smiled at anyone, and that included the professors. Scanning the room with interest, Ariane took a seat a row or two from the front, like she usually did. Having seen the globe, she would normally have gone for a back row view, but she didn’t like to sit beside many people, and most made a beeline for the back, instead of the front. Typical. Sitting down and beginning to remove her materials from her bag, Ariane positioned herself purposefully at a safe distance from the globe creation, which, although fascinating, looked rather dangerous. Wary of it, Ariane had chosen this seat purposefully to stay away, and she had rather a good view of it at the same time. Watching it mesmerisingly, Ariane waited with patience for the lesson to begin, wandering when Harmony would arrive. Her interest was stoked a little already, and she was looking forward to the lesson ahead.

[Celia Richmond]

Celia sighed, as she noticed that the end of break was now over. Ticking Hobnob, the cat she'd had since day 1 of Hogwarts, under the chin briefly-just how he liked it-she swung her legs over the side of the bed, and carefully placed the book she had been reading in her bag, folding over the corner of the page she was on, so she didn't lose her place. From what she remembered, her next class was Muggle Studies, which she enjoyed, as it made a change from all of the other, predominantely magic-based subject. And it was a vast improvement on History of Magic, which she had just had, before the mid-morning break. Muggle Studies was just...different. It was also fun, there was so much in the Muggle World to learn about, so each lesson was unpredicatble, and never followed the same pattern. And that's why she never regretted choosing it at the beginning of her 3rd year, even though she would have liked any of the subjects.

So she picked up her bag, being followed by Hobnob, and walked out of the dormitory, and then through the school, wondering what this lesson would entail. Maybe a lesson about some muggle technology-she was thinking back to the lesson on sewing machines-or maybe about some Muggle theory, which the lessons were sometimes about. Or maybe just some element of Muggle culture. Well, whatever it was going to be, she was sure that it would be fun, as usual. So reaching the classroom, she opened up the door, prepapred for whatever she would end up seeing.

She saw as she entered the desks all around the sides of the room, leaving a gap in the middle, where hanging from the ceiling was a model of the Earth, complete with it's own flowing water (defying the laws of gravity, probably by some spell), and miniature cities. She could even see miniarure sky scrapers where New York was, a miniature River Thames in London...even a minature Sydney Opera House, as well as some wizarding landmarks she recognised, and some she didn't. There was only 1 other girl in there, a Gryfffindor in the year below her, so she decided to look for a desk on her own, waiting perhaps for someone she knew to turn up. So with a polite and cheery "good morning, Professor", she sat down at a desk near the front, with a good view of the model Earth, wondering what it was all about.

[Hebe Bang-Bala R7]

Believe it or not, Hebe was in a good mood. It didn't happen all that often, because without a huge number of friends she was rarely able to shake off her cares and the knowledge that she would inevitably have to return home, and that the time loomed nearer every day. But even she had difficulties maintaining a sullen expression on such a bright day. There were some clouds around, and the sun retreated behind them periodically, but when it was out glorious rays spread their warmth and comfort over the newly-blossoming trees and the vibrant green grass you only got at this time of year. There wasn't much nature around where Hebe had grown up, but Melody had the luck to live a little way outside of Leeds where there was slightly more greenery, and she'd passed her respect for living things onto Hebe so that she pined for outdoor spaces when she was anywhere they were unattainable. For Hebe, spring was the time when the world was most alive, and summer with all its fancy garish flowers was just an anti-climax after the pinnacle of fresh life in spring.

The weather didn't always have such a profound effect on her, but her first lesson on Friday mornings was Care Of Magical Creatures, so she'd had plenty of opportunity to revel in the knowledge that her favourite season was finally unfolding around her. It had been obvious the moment she stepped outside to begin her trek to Professor Hagrid's hut where they usually gathered before a lesson - the first breath of fresh air she took refreshingly cool but not biting. It was a physically based lesson and Hebe had felt up to the challenge today. Having taken a jog after the lesson and only heading indoors when she knew she needed to in order to get to Muggle Studies on time, her cheeks still had a healthy glow to them and her long ponytail swung slightly behind her as she walked with a hint of the exuberance of her cousin's hair in accordance with the almost unnoticeable bounce in her step. She'd still be jogging if she wasn't indoors and in a corridor where she was liable to lose Ravenclaw points for doing so.

Hebe glanced curiously at the large object that was obvious from the second that you walked into the Muggle Studies classroom. It soon became clear to her that it would seem to be a model of the Earth. Quite a clever one, though. That water looked real. Nodding to Professor Hardy in greeting, she glanced around for somewhere to sit, and decided to sit next to a Chinese girl who was sitting on her own near to the front of the classroom. A glance at the other girl's face told her that she was a little bit younger than Hebe, and a glance at the her house crest told her that she was a Gryffindor. Hebe slipped into the seat beside her and took out the few books that she was carrying around with her. She followed the girl's gaze to the globe, examined the work that Professor Hardy was doing on it herself for a moment, and then looked back at the girl and gave her as much of a smile as Hebe ever gave anyone (for once it wasn't a begrudging one). "Hebe," she said quietly by way of introduction, her expression frank. Turning back to her notebook, she tore out a piece of parchment and began to fold it into a small box as she waited for the rest of the students to arrive so that they could begin the lesson.

[Harmony Chan H6]

Harmony was unsure whether or not any of her friends were attending Muggle Studies with her, but she was extremely happy to know Ari was. This occurrence was rare, as they rarely saw each other in lesson times and other such events, Ari being a Gryffindor fourth year, Harmony a Hufflepuff second. Smiling at the thought of seeing her sister, Harmony placed her books into her bag quickly before jogging briskly out of the room to head for Professor Hardy’s classroom. She wasn’t going to be late, but knowing Ari, she’d be early, and Harmony wanted to have a word with her before the lesson started. She doubted she’ll be able to sit beside her sister, because it seemed Ari liked to be left along during lesson time. Harmony enjoyed Muggle Studies, and was looking forward to then lesson anyway whether or not Ari would be there. And she quite liked Professor Hardy, though was rather intimated by the teacher, as she could be strict.

Pushing through a crowd of roaming students probably heading to their lesson from catching a few wisps of their loud conversation, Harmony found herself in front of the Muggle Studies classroom soon enough. A smile set on her face, Harmony pushed open the door and entered. The first thing she noticed was a large 3D globe spinning around in the middle of the classroom, eye-catchingly bright and filled with marked out places. Gazing at it with interest and wonderment, it took a while for Harmony to finally notice the people in the room. Professor Hardy was beside the contraption, concentrating hard on what she was doing. As Harmony had guessed, Ari was already present, and as usual was sitting near the front. Beside her was a brown haired girl in Ravenclaw, and from the looks of it, she appeared to be one of the older students; probably sixth or seventh year. Trying not to raise a questioning eyebrow in surprise at Ari, who had soon noticed her with her observant eye, Harmony grinned at her sister, “Hi.” Giving a shy nod to the Ravenclaw beside her, she walked past them and settled comfortably behind Ari, beginning to extract her books. Scouring the rest of the room, Harmony also observed another Ravenclaw, though younger, sitting close by. She turned back to the back of Ari, and decided against talking to her. She knew Ari didn’t like her talking intimately in front of others, though she didn’t understand why. Resting her hands on her books, Harmony flashed Ari another smile before glancing back at the globe, and shyly said “Good morning, Professor Hardy.”

[Charles Driscoll H7]

It was the best time of day for Charles to take a class, in the early morning he found it hard to focus and by the end of day he was so tired that he was prone to fall into his old habit of day-dreaming and give his work very little attention. But just before lunch was the time at which he was usually most attentive and focused, so he entered the Muggle Studies class with a slight spring in his step and a smile on his face, ready to learn something about Muggles that he probably didn’t know because of his background. He had a genuine interest in Muggles, their cultures and their inventions, and Professor Hardy kept things interesting and always included practical activities in her class, which was more than enough to keep Charles interested.

He felt a wave of memories rush over him as he entered the class quite unexpectedly. He remembered the first time he’d taken Muggle Studies and his first teacher. Never in the world could he have imagined that Julius Foxcroft, formerly the teacher of Muggle Studies and now the teacher of DADA, would one day become his father. He was still getting used to the idea of having a real father that loved him unconditionally – not that Charles had yet tested Julius’ unconditional love by committing a crime or doing anything that would rouse a normal parent’s anger, but after so many years of not caring about his parents’ opinions of what he did it wasn’t an easy adjustment. He worried at times that Julius might regret his decision. He never once felt restricted by now having someone he was accountable to, if anything, he was extremely grateful. He was at an awkward stage of his life right now, fourteen-going-on-fifteen, and it gave him a warm secure feeling to know someone was there for him, for the only other person who was family was Samantha, and it was she who needed him at the moment.

The suspended globe brought his attention back to the present time as he walked to the front of the class and sat down beside the other fifth year in the classroom. He greeted the Professor and then looked back at it in interest. There was quite a lot to learn from it Charles could see, for Professor Hardy was adding more and more information to it in the few moments before class started, and Charles saw one or two landmarks he recognised but most that he did not.

[Sadie Rivers H6]

Sadie hurried through most of the morning, hardly even taking time to pay attention to the way she looked as she pulled on her black pleated skirt and a soft plush daffodil colored sweater. Her shoes simple and black with chunky heels that clicked against the floor with every step she took. Pulling her hair up into a ponytail, and quickly stuffing everything she needed for Muggle Studies into her favorite black and yellow Hufflepuff messenger bag, Sadie rushed off toward class hoping that she wouldn't be late. She had been running late almost all morning, almost missing breakfast, and managing to slip into her other classes just before the teacher started the class. She didn't want that to happen in what was her favorite class. Sure it was a bit easy for her, as she spent the first eleven years of her life not even knowing magic truly existed but that wasn't the reason Sadie took the class.

Sadie tended to be fascinated with finding out things that she didn't already know, and Muggle Studies gave her just that option. Sadie rushed through the castle trying to get to Professor Hardy's classroom before she started class. Turning the corner of the hallway, Sadie spotted the door that she was trying so to reach. Hope for not being late was in sight. Sadie picked up the speed of her walking and reached the doorway in what seemed like a moment's time. Sadie peered into the classroom, glad that she wasn't hearing Professor Hardy teaching yet. She calmly made her way through to her favorite seat which was luckily still empty. It was in the middle of some people that she knew, as she waved to Harmony and to Charles as she sat down.

"Hello Professor." Sadie said softly, as she took her books out of her bag to prepare for class.

[aryasillhouette]

Arya growled as she stalked back to her dorm to prepare for the stupid class she had agreed to take this term. Her parents had really forced her into the class with that stupid deal of theirs. How could she have fallen for something that would put her in the middle of a muggle loving classroom. She had grumbled and complained about it all that morning, while Hester just looked at her amazed. Arya had never let herself get caught up in some stupid agreement like this before, she couldn't believe that she had let them to it to her this time. It was fairly stupid of her but it was done and over with.

Arya sighed heavily as she left the dorm and made her way to the class. As she arrived, she peeked around the corner and saw very few students there, but one third year that looked a bit familiar, and an open desk in the corner near the third year Hufflepuff. If I have to get to know one of these bloaks, it might as well be someone who looks a bit familiar Arya thought to herself as she made her way to the corner desk. Sitting down, she prepared for class quietly looking at the Hufflepuff. She smiled when she noticed that the younger Hufflepuff glanced back at her. How was Arya going to do this.

[Sita Mehadi H7]

Sita knew that much as her parents pretended to be proud of her performance in exams they were secretly disappointed. She'd have to be an all-rounder to please her mum, and to impress her dad it wouldn't do just to be good at the things he was good at. She knew he was gratified by the fact she was enthused by the same things as him, but at the same time she knew he'd never be wowed. Sita never wowed anyone. She never would. That was Ingy's job - to outshine the people around her, to be brilliant and cheerful. She had never even been aware of how volatile her friend's cheerfulness was until this year. But even though the things she was good at might never be enough for her parents' liking, Sita felt that she'd just carry on trying to excel in the things that she was capable in, like Herbology, Potions and of course Muggle Studies, and if those weren't good enough for them, it was up to them to cope, not her.

Such harsh thoughts were uncharacteristic for Sita. But then that would be the Sita that hadn't spent the whole of the past year running after a friend who maybe wanted to see her, probably didn't, and then giving up and letting her go off with another boy who was supposed to be her friend too but with whom she found it hard to overcome the feelings of rejection caused not so much by him, but by her lifelong friend. Her lifelong friend for whom spending time with him was more important. Him. She'd even stopped thinking of him by his name. How childish - and that was exactly what would always be wrong with her in Ingy's eyes now she'd gone all grown up, even if the other girl would never admit it mattered. Aaron, that was his name, she told herself firmly as she entered the Muggle Studies classroom, and he was her friend despite how frustratingly he got distracted from the people who called him friends in return to go off and bother people who considered him little more than a fly on the wall for all they cared about his attention.

Sita was immediately converted from such discontented thoughts as her curiosity bubbled up on sighting the globe that Professor Hardy was making modifications to. It was huge, complex and pretty, she decided on first appraisal. Sita liked pretty things. She called a cheerful greeting to the Professor and then scanned the classroom for people that she knew. There were a few other Hufflepuffs actually - Sadie Rivers who she'd noticed as a diligent student in other classes and some older boy that she didn't know except for as a Hufflepuff prefect were a couple of them - but there was only one that she was going to sit next to. Harmony Chan was in her own year, and even though Sita didn't know what the other girl's opinion of her was, she wasn't going to let that daunt her. She plonked herself down in the seat next to her dormmate, smiled at her brightly, turned round to smile at the couple of people sitting behind them, and then applied herself to smoothing the pink feather of the quill she'd taken out of her shoulder bag in the couple of minutes left before Professor Hardy would start the class.

[Lenora Byers]

It was a Friday and things seemed to be going rather well for Lenora that morning. Her run when she woke up had certainly done it’s trick, as usual, energized her and made her feel good about the coming day. It was not even that cold out… well it was cold, but not too bad. Having grown up in Britain and spent the last nearly 6 years in Scotland at Hogwarts Lenora was more than used to the chill of winter, and it never really bothered her. In fact, had she had a friend out there Lenora would gladly have partaken in a snowball fight. But, unfortunately, the down side of taking a morning run before the rest of the school even got up was that there never was anyone. The upside was that, well there never was anyone, Lenora got some peace and was able to focus and get herself ready for the day.

Early morning was long gone, though, but it’s effects still had Lenora flying high. It was almost lunch, but first Lenora had muggle studies to attend. She rather enjoyed the class, and it made her feel connected to her father who was a muggle. Lenora had been raised in both worlds, with her mother keeping her children in touch with magic, and her father sending her to muggle school until it was time to enrol in Hogwarts. She pulled on her long blond ponytail to make it tighter as she walked briskly through the hallways. She didn’t think she was late, but she didn’t want to dawdle or take time out just to check her reflection in case. Sure, as an actress it was her job to make sure she looked presentable in a way that was identifiable to her audience, but as a student it was also her obligation to make sure she got to class on time. Besides, she knew she looked fine, even if her hair had gone slightly messy that could just be the look she was going for. Lenora had certainly not gained her title as prefect by worrying about her make-up.

As Lenora stepped into the classroom she noticed a huge globe hanging in the centre of the room. It looked fascinatingly realistic and Lenora took a moment before she could look away and observe who else was in the room with her. “Hello, all.” She said in a cheery voice to the room at large, “Professor” she added with a small nod. She noticed Arya, Celia, and Charles, fellow prefects, were there, as well as Sita who was a friend of her brother Aaron, Hebe who was in her year, and Ariane who she only knew by name, and that only because she made sure she knew the names of everyone in her house. So, besides two younger students Lenora knew everyone in the class. The most interesting thing, though, was still the globe, so Lenora went and took a seat right beside it where she could see the professor but mostly so she could focus on the globe and see how many landmarks she knew. Distractedly Lenora pulled out her things and placed them on her desk as she looked for all the cities and landmarks she recognized, as well as guess at the ones she didn’t.

[kyra]

Kyra pulled her robes closer to her skin as she walked. Why did the castle have to feel so cold? Kyra literally felt as if the whole place was an iceberg, but of course, the castle had always had that effect on her. Kyra was frequently known to create simple heating charms under her robes to keep her legs warm. Maybe she was just used to the warmth? After all, Blade didn't bother with heating charms or anything like that back at the house. Blade didn't bother with anything at all, but Kyra didn't blame him. She never had blamed him. She feared him. Kyra eyes the stares from the students that passed her in the corridor. She wasn't exactly a popular student. A reject? Well, she wasn't exactly rejected. No, more like forced rejection. Kyra had never bothered to make herself likable because she didn't want to be. No, she was much more content this way. Well, at least for the moment. Kyra ignored the glances. She didn't know why she always felt like she was being stared at. Kyra was pretty sure that she wasn't making it up, but was she? Kyra sighed to herself as she pulled her black leg warmers up. They were barely noticeable under her long skirt and Kyra needed the extra warmth. Kyra looked around at the students as she did this. She sighed. Alone was best. They think so. Kyra told herself.

Kyra's braids moved as she picked up her pace. True, Kyra wasn't exactly the most dedicated student, but she didn't want to be late. She liked Muggle Studies, actually. Even though she grew up in Hogsmeade, she wasn't exposed to much magic at home. After all, Chloe was the only member of the Stone clan that had actually attended Hogwarts and received any kind of education. So, mainly while at home, muggle ways seemed to fit the Stone clan. Her mother could do little magic without a wand or any proper education, but Kyra did help out a good deal while at home. Kyra twirled one of her braids as she moved through the halls. Kyra always had looked so much like a muggle girl. She didn't really have one trace of any item with magic near her with the exception of her wand. No, she was more like a muggle than Kyra cared to realize. But, after all, her father was a muggle. Or, he could be, Kyra didn't know. And she liked it that way.

Kyra entered the classroom before the lesson began. She eyed the very large globe that took up a good chunk of the room. Kyra eyed it carefully for a moment. It really was a new sight for her eyes. Kyra gave a slight nod to Professor Hardy and then searched for a seat. Did she know any of these people? Kyra wasn't exactly a people person to begin with so she didn't even know too many faces at school. She searched the students for a second. Kyra only noticed a girl in her house in year, Celia. Was that right? Kyra nodded to herself. Yes, yes. Kyra wasn't exactly talkative with her dormmates, but of course, she had never really tried to be. Kyra then noticed an older Ravenclaw girl that she didn't know at all. She sighed. Where to sit? All the seats were basically in the corners which was where Kyra usually tried to fin a seat near, alone. Kyra sighed as she moved to a seat near some older Slytherin girl as far near a corner as she possibly could be seated. She pulled out her old, black and pink bag with all her materials on it. She rested it on her lap waiting to see if she would need to pull out any items.

[Professor Amaryllis Hardy]

Amaryllis looked up at the clock as her first student entered, to find that it was not that the rest of the class were late, but that Miss Chan was early. She tried not to laugh at the blank expression presented to her, and to remember that of course she was a teacher and not a person. "And to you, Miss Chan," she said, a slight quirk of the lips all that could betray her amusement. She wasn't about to start teasing one of her students, even though she had to laugh internally. She returned each of her students' greetings as they arrived, feeling pleased as she saw a reasonable size of class accumulate around her. Finally satisfied with the accurate architecture of the mini Canadian Quidditch World Cup Stadium that now rose impressively alongside the two snowy mountain peaks, Amaryllis strode towards the door and closed it with a loud snap which took away the necessity for her to clap her hands to alert the class to the fact she was about to start. Nobody would enter her classes late without her knowing about it.

Amaryllis perched on her desk and smiled at the assembled group of students. "Good morning to you all," she said. "As you can see, today's lesson will not be entirely note-taking, but I do suggest you take some. I always think revising from your own words is much easier than from the textbook, no matter how humorous Edgar Witte may consider himself to be." She glanced down at the very same author's name emblazoned on the front of their Muggle Studies textbook and flipped open her own annotated copy to a marked page. "Parchment, anyone?" A pile of parchment on her desk levitated itself into the air and distributed itself to those who put their hands up. "All right," she said, once the mundane but busy occupations of the beginning of a lesson were done with. "Give me a show of hands - how many of you here have heard of 'global warming'?" A piece of orange chalk flung itself at the blackboard and wrote the phrase as she said it. She looked around and nodded in grudging satisfaction. More than she might perhaps have expected - while global warming was something that would affect wizards too, they didn't tend to pay much attention to it. Not that Muggles really paid enough attention either.
"Well, you all have now," she said, showing her usual love for stating the humorous obvious. "Can anyone explain what global warming is, and what causes it?"

((I'm not asking for a huge amount of detail to answer this question - a simple explanation will be quite sufficient. Do a Google search for the answer if you're stuck but want to answer, and feel free to PM me if you're getting nowhere.))

[Celia Richmond]

Celia listened as Professor Hardy started the lesson. Today it was about Global Warming...something which, by the lack of raised hands, many wizards didn't know much about. But the environment and current affairs were subjects Celia was interested in, so this was bound to be a fun lesson. And despite the lack of knowledge on the subject from her classmates, Celia knew a fair amount on the subject, and so she felt confident about answering the question, and confidently raised her hand, waiting for Professor Hardy to acknowledge her.

When she had been acknowledged, Celia answered the question. "Global warming is, as you may have guessed, the process of the Earth gradually warming up. It is caused by what is called "the Greenhouse effect", which is when certain gases in the atmosphere, for example Carbon Dioxide, trap energy from the sun, and then release it as heat to the Earth." Celia waited patiently for Hardy to respond to her answer.

[Ariane Chan]

Ariane had just laid her books out onto the desk when the second student entered, a brown haired Ravenclaw probably in the year above. Ariane had an inkling that this girl was a prefect, and she turned away as she took a seat nearby. Moments later another pupil came in, yet another Ravenclaw, though she looked to be older. To Ariane’s surprise she took a seat beside her; blinking repeatedly in surprise, she refrained from frowning in annoyance. She wasn’t exactly happy about company, but she wasn’t about to chase away the girl either – not because she was older and was secretly afraid, but because she wasn’t that mean. If people were adamant about sitting beside her, she wasn’t going to complain. They’d have to live with her antisocial ways. Hopefully this Ravenclaw would leave her to herself. Giving her a brief curt nod as a way of greeting, Ariane turned back to watch the centred globe. Suddenly she heard the Ravenclaw speak, and introduce herself. Glancing over, Ariane attempted a ghost of a polite smile, “Ariane.” She nodded at her companion again, before adding her surname as an afterthought. “Chan.” There was something about Hebe that reminded Ariane of someone, though she couldn’t place her finger on who. Disregarding her suspicions, Ariane watched with hidden fascination as Hebe began to fold some paper into a box. Ariane was glad that this older girl seemed to the silent type and not particularly open and friendly; Hebe was obviously not shy, but she wasn’t talkative, and that suited Ariane just fine. Her origami reminded her of the time she had taught Harmony how to make a paper flower, and tried not to smile at the fond memory.

Speaking of Harmony, the little Hufflepuff second year sauntered in moments later. Absorbing her bright greeting, Ariane sent a small return smile mutely, and watched as she took a seat behind her. Contented with this arrangement, Ariane scanned the classroom again as more students began to slowly filter in. A girl Ariane recognised as Sita Mehadi took a seat beside Harmony; she was one of the people she knew shared a dormitory with her sister, though they weren’t close, but Ariane was glad she’d have company. She didn’t really recognise the other students. From what Ariane could see, there were quite a few older pupils – a Slytherin girl, a Hufflepuff prefect, two Ravenclaws beside Hebe, and a Gryffindor sixth year who Ariane identified as one of the prefects she saw sometimes in the Common Room. The only younger students, with the exception of Harmony and Sita, was another Hufflepuff girl.

Ariane was suddenly alerted out of her observations with a click of the door. Glancing over, she saw Professor Hardy getting ready, obviously indicating that the lesson was beginning. Alert at once, Ariane looked ahead at the board. Hearing that there would be note taking, she obediently delved into her bag and extracted some parchment whilst everyone else received some from the professor. Ariane proceeded to raise her hand at the mention of global warming, and wrote the words onto her parchment whilst Professor Hardy mirrored this on the blackboard. Whilst many would assume she knew little about the political topic, Ariane was on the contrary secretly very enthusiastic about it. She had always been passionate about preventing the human decaying of the natural world. She thought adults as idiots for not coming to terms with how much they were damaging the planet and ultimately changing the lives of the future generations of the human race. She knew that perhaps she over exaggerated in her mind when concerning this issue, and she had never been a crazy lover of plants and animals, but to her it was an important topic anyway.

Looking at the orange writing on the board, Ariane swiftly extracted her hand again when Professor Hardy asked the obvious question, not keen on answering in class. She definitely knew the answer, as although she was not a television addict, she watched the daily news whilst spending her holidays at home, and caught up with the latest political and social events occurring. Global warming was often discussed, but Ariane wished they would stop delaying and get on with trying to make things better for the environment. Her eyes jumping to the hand of the Ravenclaw girl who obviously wanted to answer, Ariane began to make notes as she listened to her description, adding in a little of her own detailed knowledge, and waited for Professor Hardy to proceed.

((A pointless post, but I was given permission to be pointless. ))