The Chinese Matriarch's class was every bit as easy to find as Nodoka's, seeing as how there was a bright purple carpet that unrolled from the great hall's door to the entry of her classroom an hour before it was time, with trumpets sounding twenty minutes before each period to start and fireworks at the entrance.
There were enough classes that were hard to find. Whatever purpose there was in that was served. The new teachers wanted their students focused on the course material.
Cologne was their only other teacher who'd use a class-sized pensieve. Part of the reason for that was cost, another was that they did not apply to every subject as well as they did to these two. Watching someone cast a charm or transfigure a desk was the same in person or in a pensieve, so those two classes couldn't really benefit. Neither did Herbology or Potion courses. Astronomy could have used one a bit, but not enough to justify the expense.
In Defense they'd already realized what a treasure it was to go and see someone's recalled experience meeting dark creatures, as the class could not be touched yet gained what was effectively first hand encounters, with narration no less.
In History the device turned out to be no less useful.
Cologne had also arranged to have a double period, and also insisted on mandatory class periods for every year to make up for some of the harm that Binns had done.
"Now class," Cologne walked out wearing a gown every bit as beautiful as the trio's. "This summer Nodoka Malfoy got a rare privilege for preserving some of the most important facts of recent history. She successfully petitioned the Ministry of Magic for permission to visit Azkaban Prison, specifically to barter among the Death Eaters captured during the last war, offering a clean death in exchange for pensieve memories regarding their acts during Voldemort's reign of terror. Because conditions there are so... unpleasant, nine of every ten took her up on her offer. We now enjoy a priceless record showing details never before suspected. A large part of that Professor Malfoy will be using in her Defense class, but we will being seeing even more of it here, as these are events that shaped the world in which we now live. Many of you lost family or family friends in those battles, relatives you may have never known. During my class you may even see some of them die. That'll give you perspective when we start viewing later history and you realize those who fell in the battles back then had families and friends, too."
Cologne came to the front of the class and addressed them all directly. "Because history comes from something. It gets shaped. Understand why it happened and how, and you have a chance to do things right if events ever start to go that way again. The Greeks, the Romans, Persians, Egyptians and many others were at the tops of their heaps during their day. None of them are there now, and if you want to know why, that's history."
With a swirl of her skirts, she turned back to face the pensieve and began to pour a bottle of fluid into it. Her voice still could be heard clearly as she instructed, "History gets shaped by three things. Other stuff may factor in, but it's those three who do 90% of it. Those are wars, religion, and technology in no particular order. So for your first three years here at Hogwarts we are going to discuss wars. Luckily, I've talked to Dumbledore and some very ancient people he knows and gotten absolutely priceless memories covering about six centuries of battles here on the European continent; some of which I'm sure none of you had ever heard of, like when Sweden and the Netherlands were world powers. So we'll have alot to cover and there's no chance of growing bored."
She shot a glance over her shoulder to the class. "The ancient stuff I've heard you already have alot of knowledge about." She watched the class start as if pricked, and smiled. "This course should help you get a handle on it."
Stepping aside she motioned for them to form a ring around the pensieve. "For now we'll start with the era of Voldemort, something close to home. All of you dip your finger in when I count three. One, Two, Three!"
Cologne's style was different from Nodoka's. After viewing a battle, thankfully bloodless, a mere skirmish where both sides had fired to no effect, she quizzed them on who did what, probable reasons why, what effect it had, and forced the students to really observe and think about it as she ran them through that same memory once again. Then she had them analyze it again, and once she was satisfied they'd seen something other than colored lights whizzing about they all opened up boxes that had been listed among this years required materials.
Each student had a set of about two hundred and fifty inch high miniatures, charmed with most of the same spells that animated pieces for Wizard's Chess. Since they were all new to this Cologne went about casting charms on about two dozen of those figures each, and explained while she did so that she'd expect them to handle the necessary spells no later than halfway through the year.
Her charms did nothing more or less than dress eleven miniatures as Death Eaters, and a group of twelve as Aurors, with three figures dressed as the family in the house both sides had been fighting over. She had her pupils place them as they'd seen the battle start, then told them to replay the action as best they could remember it.
Naturally, they got it all wrong. But by the end of class they had a much better idea of how and what to watch for to have any true idea of what was going on.
That was enough for the first day, she released them at the end of two hours, telling them they'd be replaying those battles soon as commanders. And some of those battles they'd be doing would have certain changes to learn how it could have gone differently.
Like Nodoka, she gave them no essays, reports or homework to do, just demanded that they get the ideas she'd taught in one lesson by the next time, however they ended up doing it. And, like Nodoka, she had a list of extra credit reading to offer those who were interested. Most were, and dove into those recommended books with relish and added History to Defense as a subject that the library would be adding more books on.
It was soon a very popular course. Indeed, it fell second rank only to Magical Defense, and that was because the other had a little more glamour and taught them useful spells more often.
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(Posted Wed, 10 Aug 2005 06:02)
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