Some might argue that 7:30 on a Saturday morning is too early for anything, much less an Astronomy class. But with time zones being a thing, the early wake-up call was a necessity. What am I talking about? Why, the field trip Professor Sandhu had planned, of course! But before we were whisked off to Addis Ababa University, we had to sit through a short lesson. Topic: the sun. More specifically, what happens when the Earth, Sun and Moon become aligned. An eclipse, as Claudine Blaze, Ewan Jones, Blake Ryan and others correctly pointed out. Which was exactly the reason we were going to Ethiopia. We were going to see a solar eclipse!
Once we reached the university (via portkey, of course), it was time to settle into the pile of pillows that had been thoughtfully arranged, slip-on the special glasses that had been provided and enjoy the show. Such an eerily beautiful show it was.
Our next Astronomy class took place at the usual time, which is to say, late. If you consider 9:00 in the evening late. Which it’s not, but it is kind of late for a class. Then, we also had those stupid ‘babies’ to care for Muggle Studies class….. Anyway, long story short, some people were tired when they reached the classroom. Unfortunately, there was no sympathy to be had from Professor Sandhu, who made everyone do laps. This actually made Ravenclaw prefect Ewan Jones blow his top, in a manner of speaking and walk right out of the classroom. Overaction? Probably, but it wasn’t like the exercise was exactly reasonable either.
Anyway, once all the drama over a simple human feeling was over, the topic of the lesson was revealed: birth charts. Those tricky little things gifted to us by the Babylonians and perfected by the ancient Greeks. Also, not exactly easy to draw, it turns out. Even harder to read. Let’s leave this one to the pros, shall we?
All drama aside, Professor Sandhu will be greatly missed here at Hogwarts, as she is moving on to greater things. Good luck in your future endeavors, professor!
Care of Magical Creatures
It’s not unusual to bring back souvenirs from trips abroad, but it was certainly a pleasant surprise this year to find that the chiselled Care of Magical Creatures Professor, Mathys de Nostredame, had decided that greener pastures lay on this side of the Channel. Last September, he made the trip north from Beauxbatons to join us at Hogwarts Castle - clearly we didn’t make too bad an impression on him, gargoyles aside.
In a truly awe-inspiring lesson, we learnt about aging in two avian creatures: the jobberknolls and phoenix. Reminiscent of the jobberknoll’s last cry, however, is the sad news that Professor de Nostredame won’t be returning to us, thanks to a certain wayward portrait with a sword. He’s still currently recuperating in hospital, so I caught up with him via owl.
Bonjour, monsieur! Je parle un peu de francais depuis j’ai etudé à la Beauxbatons! …and I’m going to stop with that, before I embarrass myself. First of all, thanks for taking the time out from your recovery to chat with me. I hope you’re feeling better…I know a lot of us have been concerned by your long absence.
I’m curious, what made you want to move to Hogwarts this year? Was it because we Hogwartians are just too awesome? Bonjour. I have nothing but time here in the hospital so it is no nuisance at all. My decision had absolutely nothing to do with the calibre of students here at Hogwarts and everything to do with how my headmistress conducted herself. Last term, I was always willing to give you all the benefit of the doubt much to her dismay. The unjust trial of your peers against out own was deplorable and I could not continue to teach under her.
So, what did really you make of seeing us in our natural habitat? Hogwarts was...quaint and the majority of you much louder than you were at Beauxbatons, which I did not know to be possible.
And, talking of habitats…Hogwarts was quite the mess when we got back this year. What was it like settling the creatures back in? It was a bit of a challenge as I to had to find my own place among the Hogwarts grounds as well as establish a relationship with those dwelling in the Forbidden Forest. It was feral and unsteady at first and many of the creatures, in particular the winged horses, were nervous and required additional care and rehabilitation becoming acclimated. We settled in together. I regret not being able to finish out the term for their sakes but your school had other ideas in mind.
You’ve had quite the display of robes at various point this last term, and a little bird told me that you get some of them custom made! Ooh la la! You got any fashion tips for our budding style icons out there? Your little bird is absolutely correct. Many of my custom pieces are seen in my boots, however I do have several pairs of dress robes custom designed to fit my aesthetic. Which is my own advice to you, if you are seeking to be a style icon or simple more fashionable...one must first know yourself. If you do not know yourself on the inside, you cannot project yourself nor express yourself on the outside.
…and finally, what’s next? That will depend entirely on when I am released from the hospital, but I do not believe I will be returning to Beauxbatons to teach in any immediate future. I am presently mulling over the idea of working for The Ministère des Affaires Magiques de la France.
charms
Constant vigilance might traditionally be the watch words of Defense Against the Dark Arts, but they’ve quickly become appropriate for Charms with Professor Fuller-Thompson at the helm. Turns out, the Hogwarts veteran still has plenty of surprises up his formidable sleeves. Case in point: buckets of unknown liquid looming ominously above our desks.
Not unnerving. Not unnerving at all.
Still, we’re getting ahead of ourselves, since the first class found us waiting outside the kitchens bright and early on a Friday morning. Anyone who thought they might be able to sneak a second breakfast (ahem, Phoebe James), or, for the oversleepers amongst us, a first breakfast, was quickly disappointed. With the house elves apparently otherwise engaged, we were there in the name of household chores, which, it bears reiterating, aren’t just for mothers. All genders can do household work, for the record! And domestic bliss lava patina certainly was not, with a slippery plate soon causing Nina Castillo to break with her usual silent treatment (or maybe that’s just me?). Some ice on the bumped forehead later courtesy of Carsyn Rose, and we were left to tackle the entire kitchen. While we might have gotten there in the end, and without too many broken dishes, we’re pretty sure the elves would prefer we just leave them to it next time.
So...back to those ominous buckets. Apparently there’s no better incentive to learn the water repelling charm than to practice on a glove with a bucket of water dangling above your head. Frankly, a hat would have been much more practical, given that after an entirely too brief warning countdown, those buckets were tipped over and unleashed upon us. And what use is one waterproof glove anyway? One flooded carpet later, and most of us had survived unscathed...and a hot air charm quickly sought by those who hadn’t.
Defense Against the Dark Arts
Starting off this term was Defense Against the Dark Arts with Headmaster Trent. Nothing really seemed out of place upon entering the classroom, aside from the dust and the sign telling us not to mess with the dummies lined along each side of the room. Of course, the dummies were there because the topic of the lesson was to be dueling, which would be totally irresponsible to allow us to practice on each other.
Anyway, while Headmaster Trent was going over why, exactly, dueling was banned in the hallways of Hogwarts (outside of official lessons such as his and dueling club, of course), one Curtis Fuller gave a demonstration of why one simply does not arrive late to DADA lessons. Seriously, those hands were creepy.
First up in the practical part of the lesson was practicing bows. Yes, we had to bow in front of the dummies. What happened if we didn’t do it properly? Our dummy rammed us backward! Thankfully, yours truly avoided this fate, but still: how rude! Once everyone had properly bowed, it was time to move on to more of the basics: expelliarmus (the disarming spell) and protego (the shield spell). It was each of us against our own personal dummies and whoever gave up first won! Spoiler alert: the dummies all won.
The next lesson was a proper duel. Not to the death, of course, since that was completely prohibited. But a good proper duel, nonetheless. Unfortunately, the class was interrupted by one Salazar Slytherin. Who could focus on the lesson one of the founders of Hogwarts was standing right there in the……flesh? Or when the appearance of said founder caused Slytherin Blake Ryan to fall over in a dead faint? Or when Slytherin was followed by Godric Gryffindor, teasing Slytherin about the state of the aforementioned fainting student. Anyway, the whole thing spiraled into Headmaster Trent ordering us all onto the dueling stage for some kind of free-for-all…? Yeah, I was too distracted by the whole founders situation to be quite clear on what happened next. All I know is that class ended in some sort of free-for-all duel.