History of Magic -1-

[Remus Lupin]

Remus was late for his very first lesson at Hogwarts for the new term. He felt slightly guilty when he walked into the classroom to find it packed. The pupils appeared too engulfed in each other's lives, exchanging horror stories of summer adventures and the like, to notice his presence. So he walked to the front of the class and patiently waved his wand, words appearing instantly on the blackboard.

History of Magic: The Ancient Egyptians

The general discussion and noisy chatter did not die down so he purposefully dropped a rather heavy leather-bound volume of The Goblin Wars and Their Effects Thereafter. The loud crash fulfilled its purpose and the noise level gradually dimmed. He smiled encouragingly at the class, well aware that everyone was likely to know his name. After all, he was the Minister of Magic. "Welcome to your first class in History of Magic for the autumn term. My name is Professor Lupin." He could have said that he was Minister Lupin, but he chose not to. He was determined to keep his other job and politics out of his students' life. He was only going to be a professor for them, not the Minister of Magic.

"Today we shall be focusing on the magic of the Ancient Egyptians." He could see several students casting rather disdainful looks at their volumes of A History of Magic: The Ancient Times and suppressed a chuckle. Truth be told, History of Magic was one of the less exciting classes, though he wanted to make it less so this year. Maybe he could arrange a field trip to Egypt with Professor McGonagall? "Over the course of the year we will analyze the ever breaching gap between Muggles and Witches and Wizards and discover how this distrust came about." He smiled once more at the class, feeling remarkably calm, far calmer than he usually felt when working as Minister.

"Now, can anyone tell me what they know about Ancient Egyptians? Any knowledge of Muggle legends is also strongly encouraged."

[Claire Lunette]

This class was a drag. History wasn't her thing. Although some parts in history were very interesting, not a lot of what is taught inspires or entertains Claire. But she knew that she had to take this course in order to graduate from Hogwarts in three years. Claire walked in to the classroom. It was extremely full. And she knew that it had to be for it to be the main core class. She looked around to find a seat. The back and middle rows were nearly taking. She looked for one in the front and saw one that was legitimately in the front row next to the Professors desk. She hesitated whether sitting there was a good idea. She looked around again and decided that she would sit in the front. The students were chatty, and she didn't want to sit in the back and have the professor's lectures drowned out.

Claire sat down and got all of her things ready. She waited for the teacher to appear but he didn't come on time. "Hey," said a voice that was behind her. Claire turned around and saw Peter, a fourth year Hufflepuff, greet her with a wave. Claire gave a small smile. "Hi," she said. "How was your summer?" he asked, keeping the conversation going. "My summer was fine. Yours?" she asked. Immediately the sound of a book slammed to the ground. Claire jumped and looked over. It was the loudest thing she's heard during the day that it made her heart jump as well as her ears feeling a sense of relief.

It seemed that the lecture was starting. She looked on the board and saw what they were learning for this unit. Ancient Egyptians... she read to herself. She remembered reading a book that contained them as well as legends and facts about them that her father had told her. Her father was definitely into the histories. She wondered why she didn't get into it when it was influenced around her while she grew older.

Claire looked around the room and saw that not a lot of hands were up. She did know something, but would she say it? She hesitated at first but then raised her hand. "Ancient Egyptians were extremely organized in their culture. They had their own language, transportation, religion and myths, and even traditions," she said. Claire wondered what other people would say next.