Lesson Three

Ashton went inside the classroom quietly. This is about to be her third time to teach the subject and he was surprisingly loving the job. He unlocked the entrance doors to let the students inside, then, having it as a tradition already, he went back to his faculty room. He doesn't like the feeling of watching the students enter and the students watching him do nothing. He decided to enter the history of magic room when the lesson will really begin.

Wade entered the classroom a bit shameful. He had started his homework, but had not been able to finish it, and had later decided to not turn it in. As soon as he entered the room he realized that Professor Clark was in his office, as usual, and not in the classroom, and he couldn't help but feel relief. He wouldn't have to deal with the shame for a while.
I'm a poor excuse for a Slytherin, he quietly told himself.
Wade was the only student in the room, and he didn't like to be there alone, but he patiently waited for anyone else to show up and took a seat at the back of the room.

Lucy was surprised to find Wade already in the class.
"Hey Wade. You're early." she said with a smile, taking a seat next to him. She hadn't finished the homework, but it wasn't something she was worry about, and she could see Wade's frustration at not having done his work.
"It's okay. I'm sure he'll forget about it soon. He's not gonna hold it against you for the rest of your school life."
she told him, trying to comfort him.

Kim entered the room and saw that the two Malfoys are already there. She knew that she was not that close to them. Finally, she figured out that maybe, she needs to reach out. She sat down near them and tried to start a conversation. "Hi guys!" she said.

"Hey Wade. You're early." Lucy said with a smile, interrupting Wade's thoughts.
He gave her a small smile, trying to hide his frustration. He never understood how she could get away with not doing some things, and not feel bad about them.
"It's okay. I'm sure he'll forget about it soon. He's not gonna hold it against you for the rest of your school life." she told him, and he could see she was just trying to make him feel better and he liked that.
"I hope he doesn't." Wade admitted, finally letting go of it.
Suddenly Kim entered the room, a bit shy at first, but then she spoke out to them.
"Hi guys!" she said while taking a seat close to him and Lucy.
"Hey Kim" Wade said with his usual mischievous smile. "How are you?"

Ella walked into the classroom and saw three Slytherins were there already. She took a seat behind Lucy and stayed quiet for a bit. She looked to each one and nodded, "Lucy, Kim, Wade.."

"How are you?" Wade asked Kim. "I'm fine. How about you?"

Kim scanned the whole room for a while and noticed that Professor Clark was not around. "It seems that Professor doesn't want to witness our entrance."

"That's good. I'm okay, I guess. And it seems reasonable for him to not want to see us walk in. I mean, he's preetty strict, and I guess it's better and less frustrating for him." Wade answered her, trying to make sense of Professor Clark's actions.
"I do wish he'd try to connect with us. Make us feel more like he actually cares, you know?" He said outloud, although he didn't really mean to for fear that Professor Clark might hear and take it wrongly.
It was then that Ella came in, and she seemed tense. She barely spoke to them and Wade decided to simply smile and leave her with her thoughts, until she was feeling less tense.

"I do wish he'd try to connect with us. Make us feel more like he actually cares, you know?" Wade said out loud.
Kim was not surprised to hear it from Wade. She knows that Wade is the type of student who says everything he thinks is right, no matter what the consequence is, and she admires this characteristic of him. But then, the thought of her and Professor Clark talking together came into her mind. "Actually, he is really a nice guy. I met him last Sunday in the Gamekeeper's hut. He really knows how to talk to students, especially at that time, when I.." Kim paused for a while, deciding whether to share her problems to others. "I had some problems on my own. He even have me some advice on how to deal with it and to be honest, I would have dropped out of school if I didn't hear the words he said."

Kim looked at the door again to see if someone is coming or Professor Clark is to enter but there was no sign of anyone.

"Actually, he is really a nice guy. I met him last Sunday in the Gamekeeper's hut. He really knows how to talk to students, especially at that time, when I.." Kim said confidently and then paused. This surprised Wade because she seemed to have trouble talking about this, and it was then that he realized that it may be too personal for her to share with him and Lucy.
"I had some problems on my own. He even have me some advice on how to deal with it and to be honest, I would have dropped out of school if I didn't hear the words he said." she finished.
"I don't think I would've liked to see you dropping out of Hogwarts." He admitted. He barely knew Kim, but she seemed honest and real, unlike some of the other people he had met back in America, and it was something that he liked about mostly everyone at Hogwarts, that they were true to themselves. In all honesty, he wanted to get to know Kim more; she was interesting.

Daisee rushed into the History of Magic classroom, hoping that she wasn't late. How she was supposed to memorize the castle so fast, she didn't know. She stopped short as she noticed the other four students who had already arrived. She saw that all of them wore the same green badge, indicating that they were Slytherins.

After doing that essay on her House's founder, she knew that he and the founder of Slytherin didn't part well, and that had reflected on the two Houses relations ever since. What if it was still like that? She shook her head at herself, knowing if she started out treating them like enemies, that's all they'd ever be. Besides, Gryffindor and Slytherin were friends once, so there HAD to be something good between them once.

So she strolled confidently over to the others and sat down near them. "Hey, I'm not late, am I?" She asked them, in a far more casual manner than she felt. She scanned the room for Professor Clark, but didn't see him anywhere . "By the way, my name is Daisee."

She smiled at them all in a friendly way, hoping they would respond in kind.

Lucy had stayed quiet while the conversation between Wade and Kim unfolded; she seemed troubled at the mention of her possible dropping out of Hogwarts and Wade looked woeeied. Lucy realized that loosing anyone would be devastating to all, regardless of how close everyone is to each other.
"I'm also glad that you didn't drop out Kim." She admitted, remembering that she had been the first person she had talked to on her first day at Hogwarts. Out of a sudden a Gryffindor girl walked in; she seemed afraid in the beginning, hesitant, and Lucy didn't see a reason to be afraid. She smiled at the girl, who finally built up the courage to sit down with them and speak.
"Hi Daisee. I'm Lucy. Lucy Malfoy."
Lucy put her arm around Wade and smiled again. "This is Wade, my cousin."
Turning towards KIm, she said with a smile, hoping she wouldn't mind, "And this is Kim Frey, our friend."
"You're not late Daisee, but try not to be. Professor Clark doesn't like it when his students are late, but I'm sure you'll like him."

Daisee smiled in relief as one of the girls responded in a friendly manner and introduced herself and her friends.

"Hi Daisee. I'm Lucy. Lucy Malfoy." The girl named Lucy put her arm around the guy next to her. "This is Wade, my cousin." Lucy turned toward the other girl and finished, "And this is Kim Frey, our friend."

Daisee grinned back. "It's nice to meet you all!" She listened with relief as Lucy answered her question. "You're not late Daisee, but try not to be. Professor Clark doesn't like it when his students are late, but I'm sure you'll like him."

Daisee hadn't offically met the man yet, but she had seen him around the castle. Professor Clark did NOT look like a guy that put up with nonsense.

"Thanks! I was trying not to be, but I got caught on a moving staircase, and it took me forever after that to find my way here!" She chuckled at herself. "Does finding your way to the classrooms ever get any easier?" Daisee asked jokingly.

Suddenly, the bell rang, letting him know that it was already time to teach students. He exited his room and went to his History of Magic class. There, he saw his students, ready to listen to another lesson. Behind him, he waved his wand, making the two doors shut and lock closed. Some students were used to it now and it didn't surprise him.

"Welcome all of you to the third lesson for History of Magic class. I do remember that I asked all of you to do a homework. Please pass them now and put them in my table."

OOC: I noticed that there are a lot of new users registering. For lesson three, late will be fine, as long as you registered a few days back. Just RP as if you were in the room the whole time. For those users who are already registered long time ago. I think you know which rule you belong. :OOC

After Lucy had introduced everyone, Daisee, the girl they had just met, spoke again.

"Thanks! I was trying not to be, but I got caught on a moving staircase, and it took me forever after that to find my way here!. Does finding your way to the classrooms ever get any easier?" Daisee asked.

"Well, you get used to it, I guess. I don't think it gets necessarily easier, just becomes part of the routine." Wade answered with his usual half smirk half smile. As he finished speaking, Professor Clark appeared from his office and Wade automatically tried to hide behind Lucy.

"Welcome all of you to the third lesson for History of Magic class. I do remember that I asked all of you to do a homework. Please pass them now and put them in my table." He said, his voice deep and stern as usual.
Wade just stayed where he was, not moving at all.

"Hello Daisee. Nice to meet you," Kim greeted the Gryffindor girl upon being introduced by Lucy. "The revolving staircase is annoying, especially when you are going to attend any Professor Clark's subjects," she added.

Suddenly, the door burst open, revealing their teacher. As usual, he closed the door and locked it to avoid any disturbances from the late comers. "Welcome all of you to the third lesson for History of Magic class. I do remember that I asked all of you to do a homework. Please pass them now and put them in my table," he instructed. Kim took her parchment and placed it on the table. Waiting for the other students to pass theirs, she noticed that only few of them made the homework.

Only two of his students passed the requirement. Realizing the situation, Ashton tried to calm himself. "Only two? I gave many students but only two of you did the homework that I gave? Unacceptable. Five points will be deducted from those who do not treat this course seriously."

Ashton immediately shifted his attention to the current lesson. He waved his wand lightly at the board and it revealed letters that formed the words 'Lesson Three: Witch Burnings'. He turned his face at them and started discussing. "Lesson three will be all about witch burnings. As you all know, the war between muggles and magical people was still alive at this time, approximately 1300s. The muggles, who discovered the magic that we are capable of doing, were scared of their lives. Their solution is to kill our kind. The only and great weakness of muggles about this solution of them is that they can't recognize who among them can perform magic and who among them can't." Ashton paused for a while, scanning his students whether they pay attention.

"Putting all the logic that I just stated, especially for the muggles' weakness, what do you think is the implication of this in their lives? Anyone?" Ashton questioned them to test for their analysis.

Wade raised his hand and after getting aproval to speak, he said, "I'm not sure if I'm correct, but there could be two things, either fear or jealousy."
Pausing to collect his thoughts a little bit better, he took a deep breath.
"Humans have been known to fear the unknown, even us wizards fear it, and maybe fear drove them to do what they did. Jealousy is also an option, because they could have wanted to have been able to do magic and taken out their anger on us." he finished, hoping he had at least gotten something right.

Lucy though about this one for a while, but then Wade spoke up.
"I'm not sure if I'm correct, but there could be two things, either fear or jealousy. Humans have been known to fear the unknown, even us wizards fear it, and maybe fear drove them to do what they did. Jealousy is also an option, because they could have wanted to have been able to do magic and taken out their anger on us." he answered.
She agreed with what he'd said; it sounded reasonable. Muggles were in fact known for their fear of the unknown, so it made sense that they would try to hurt what they didn't understand.
Lucy nodded her head in agreement and smiled at Wade.

Wade answered the question thrown by Professor Clark. "I'm not sure if I'm correct, but there could be two things, either fear or jealousy," he said. After a few seconds of hesitations, he realized that there are more words that he needed to say. "Humans have been known to fear the unknown, even us wizards fear it, and maybe fear drove them to do what they did. Jealousy is also an option, because they could have wanted to have been able to do magic and taken out their anger on us," he concluded.

Kim listened to his answer carefully. She was still thinking of what her answer should be but for now, her mind was totally blank.

Daisee was too caught up in the introductions of Kim, Lucy, and Wade when Professor Clark barreled into the room and barked that he wanted the assignment that was due on his desk. By the time Daisee's mind processed that, everyone who did their assignments (a grand total of two, according to the professor) had already turned theirs in. Was she counted in that two? She knew the professor was aware that she had finished hers; she had received an owl from him about it.

As Professor Clark began the lesson, Daisee thought she knew a good answer, so she raised her hand. Wade was called on first, but he had said something different (but just as good, in Daisee's opinion). She kept her hand raised until she was called on.

"It might also have been ignorance on their part, right?" Daisee offered. "I mean, unless they were related or married to a witch or wizard, all they had to go on was their own legends about magic." She paused, then asked, "You got my assignment, didn't you Professor?" She didn't want her hard work on that assignment to go to waste, after all.

Ashton waited for his students to say their answers. Then, one boy raised his hand in confidence. After Ashton gave him the permission to speak, he began. "I'm not sure if I'm correct, but there could be two things, either fear or jealousy. Humans have been known to fear the unknown, even us wizards fear it, and maybe fear drove them to do what they did. Jealousy is also an option, because they could have wanted to have been able to do magic and taken out their anger on us." he answered. Before Ashton can comment to the boy's answer, another student raised her hand. Ashton called upon her and she stated hers. "It might also have been ignorance on their part, right? I mean, unless they were related or married to a witch or wizard, all they had to go on was their own legends about magic." The girl paused and then asked, "You got my assignment, didn't you Professor?"

"Yes, I received your assignment, giving me a total of two. That will be you and Ms. Frey, actually," Ashton answered her with his rationally low voice. "Yes, jealousy, fear and ignorance might be the answer but I am looking for a more specific thing that they did. It is actually more of their physical doings and implication rather than mental torture to them."

Wade thought about Professor Clark's question, still unsure of what he was looking for. A few minutes later, he raised his hand and said, "Well, if you want some physical punishment...then I think I can answer that. I mean, like you said, there were witch burning and all, and I think they would burn them at the stake and didn't they use the guillotine also? Anyway, as far as punishments go, that's all I know." He answered, quite sorry that he still didn't know exactly what Professor Clark was looking for. He knew it wasn't something emotional, but something physical, he just didn't know anything other than the burnings.

"Well, if you want some physical punishment...then I think I can answer that. I mean, like you said, there were witch burning and all, and I think they would burn them at the stake and didn't they use the guillotine also? Anyway, as far as punishments go, that's all I know," the boy said. Ashton realized that his question was a bit confusing. Lazy to find the right words to say, he hesitated to look for more answer. "Somewhat correct. Burnings is the thing that muggles did to eliminate our kind. Actually, I was looking for the word 'killing', so the burning will come in it."

"Muggles never hated us, really. They were just, as you said a while back, afraid that we might do something to them, to erase their race. The solution that they did is to eliminate and kill the ones with magic through magic. The only problem is, muggles have another weakness. They can't point the person or people who can do magic. This caused chaos. How? Well, it is really simple. Since they do not know which is which, majority of the people that they killed are also their like. Most victims are also muggles.

In that time, of course, they do not have enough justice system. Once someone accuse the other, there are no more questioning on the accused side. Automatically, fire will talk to them." Ashton stopped for a while to let the students breath their brains in. Too much information can be really stressful, especially when the person is just sitting down and, obviously, bored. "There are very few wizards and witches were actually killed. Well, I think there is none. Some of them are accused, of course, but they know magic. They can escape. Here is another question: what is the spell that wizards and witches perform in order to escape the fire that muggles threw at them?"

Daisee nodded to herself as she understood what Professor Clark was trying to say. Although Muggles never hated them per se, the only solution they could come up with was to eliminate- to kill- in order to alleviate their fears. And the sad part is, they killed each other way more than they killed actual magical beings like them, because they didn't know how to spot one.

Daisee perked up as Professor Clark asked the next question. "Here is another question: what is the spell that wizards and witches perform in order to escape the fire that Muggles threw at them?" She raised her hand excitedly as she remembered this bit of information from her occasional studying.

"Wouldn't that be the Flame-Freezing Charm, sir?" Daisee volunteered.