SnitchSeeker.com - View Single Post

emjay · 01-18-2016, 09:45 PM

Allowing time for a few more stragglers to come in, Ansley offered a few more hellos and good mornings in return greeting, then glanced up at the clock. Seemed to be just about time to begin class, although there appeared to still be a few empty seats. Still though.. what a full room.

"Good morning, class!" he greeted them brightly, slowly walking past the tables to look at each one of them. "Personal conversations should now come to an end as it is now time for this lesson to begin." He certainly didn't mind some talking between classmates, but once class started he expected them all to be focused. "If you did not already know, I am your teacher, Professor Ansley Finch, and this is History of Magic." Everyone in the right place? Good.

"History - or herstory, whichever the case may be - is, as I'm sure you all know, the study of past events. In its most basic sense, it's the retelling of stories," he began, though he'd expect them to at least figure this already. "Of course, there are many, many stories throughout history - everyone has a story to tell - but which ones get told, which ones are remembered, and why?"

There were certainly reasons to be theorized, but he let that rhetorical question sit for a moment before he continued. "Often, historical stories are dependent on who was there to witness the events. It's best to get accounts from more than one person so as to get the most accurate story. In the past, stories were sometimes handed down for years before they were written down, and that can affect the accuracy too, especially as things get forgotten or even changed." Luckily record-keeping was better in recent times, though people's perspectives still gave way to bias at times.

"This year, I'd like us to explore past events as well as more recent ones, and major events as well as lesser-known ones. Even though I am your teacher, clearly I don't know everything." And he had no issue in admitting that. Ansley knew plenty, but students didn't expect him or anyone else here to be omniscient, did they? It would be impossible for him to know every story in the history of wizardkind. "And while your textbook as well as many of the books located in the library are great resources for learning history, even they don't hold every story as there are always new ones to explore."

"Many of what we will be learning this term will come from your textbook, but today we will be doing something a little differently. Another way to learn about history is to talk to people who have been a part of it." And this castle had a great resource for that. He wondered how many of them utilized it. "While they are not the actual people who have lived, the magical portraits found all over the castle are paintings of many people who have been a part of history. They even have some of the thoughts and memories of those people.."

Ansley knew that once he started talking about them, the portraits under his sheets would murmur even louder. "Almost time," he mumbled as his eyes lifted towards that end of the room. Turning back to his class, he addressed them once more. "How many of you have held a conversation with a magical portrait to find out their story?" He looked around the room, holding some gazes for a moment before moving on.

"Even if it's minimal, I want each of you to talk about an interaction you've had with a portrait either at Hogwarts, or anywhere else. Name, if you know it, and anything they told you.. Let's go around the room, starting here." He gestured to one end of the room. At the very least, some of the portraits held secret passwords, but he hoped that most of them had more than that to offer.

01-18-2016, 09:45 PM	#69 (permalink)
emjay Pygmy Puff Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: working Posts: 18,281 Hogwarts RPG Name: Phoenix Marchbanks Ravenclaw Fourth Year Hogwarts RPG Name: Wiley Whittebrook Hufflepuff Second Year x12 x5	Unforgivably Cursed \| adultescent Allowing time for a few more stragglers to come in, Ansley offered a few more hellos and good mornings in return greeting, then glanced up at the clock. Seemed to be just about time to begin class, although there appeared to still be a few empty seats. Still though.. what a full room. "Good morning, class!" he greeted them brightly, slowly walking past the tables to look at each one of them. "Personal conversations should now come to an end as it is now time for this lesson to begin." He certainly didn't mind some talking between classmates, but once class started he expected them all to be focused. "If you did not already know, I am your teacher, Professor Ansley Finch, and this is History of Magic." Everyone in the right place? Good. *"History - or herstory, whichever the case may be - is, as I'm sure you all know, the study of past events. In its most basic sense, it's the retelling of stories,"* he began, though he'd expect them to at least figure this already. "Of course, there are many, many stories throughout history - everyone has a story to tell - but which ones get told, which ones are remembered, and why?" There were certainly reasons to be theorized, but he let that rhetorical question sit for a moment before he continued. "Often, historical stories are dependent on who was there to witness the events. It's best to get accounts from more than one person so as to get the most accurate story. In the past, stories were sometimes handed down for years before they were written down, and that can affect the accuracy too, especially as things get forgotten or even changed." Luckily record-keeping was better in recent times, though people's perspectives still gave way to bias at times. *"This year, I'd like us to explore past events as well as more recent ones, and major events as well as lesser-known ones. Even though I am your teacher, clearly I don't know everything."* And he had no issue in admitting that. Ansley knew plenty, but students didn't expect him or anyone else here to be omniscient, did they? It would be impossible for him to know every story in the history of wizardkind. "And while your textbook as well as many of the books located in the library are great resources for learning history, even they don't hold every story as there are always new ones to explore." "Many of what we will be learning this term will come from your textbook, but today we will be doing something a little differently. Another way to learn about history is to talk to people who have been a part of it." And this castle had a great resource for that. He wondered how many of them utilized it. "While they are not the actual people who have lived, the magical portraits found all over the castle are paintings of many people who have been a part of history. They even have some of the thoughts and memories of those people.." Ansley knew that once he started talking about them, the portraits under his sheets would murmur even louder. "Almost time," he mumbled as his eyes lifted towards that end of the room. Turning back to his class, he addressed them once more. "How many of you have held a conversation with a magical portrait to find out their story?" He looked around the room, holding some gazes for a moment before moving on. "Even if it's minimal, I want each of you to talk about an interaction you've had with a portrait either at Hogwarts, or anywhere else. Name, if you know it, and anything they told you.. Let's go around the room, starting here." He gestured to one end of the room. At the very least, some of the portraits held secret passwords, but he hoped that most of them had more than that to offer. __________________ started like a knight in a fairytale_______________________________________________ ended like a moth in flames______________________ ______________________don't you worry I'll be fine _________________________________________________you were good for the plot line