SPOILER!!: you know the drill, folks

SPOILER!!: Anna

Quote:

Originally Posted by Syd

Anna smiled at the enthusiastic response from Professor Schmoe. She was very proud of her answer. And of the fact that she had an answer to the next question. Muggle Studies was great, wasn’t it? And it was even better that she had an advantage. Sure, she wasn’t a muggle and neither were her parents or the rest of her family, but she knew muggles and had been in their houses and stuff so she knew things.

Her hand flew up again. “Muggles can’t use magic to make their rooms bigger on the inside than they’re made to be. So their furniture has to fit or else it looks cluttered.” And no one wanted that. She grinned behind her desk.

First to raise her hand was the small Ravenclaw he couldn't see! Excellent, he pointed at her and called her name. "Precisely!" He exclaimed with utmost enthusiasm, turning to chalk it up on the board. "Spacing is very important, they have to work with what they have because it's often costly and impractical to do room renovations for size!" Good, good, good.

SPOILER!!: Jillian

Quote:

Originally Posted by hjhm

Her face scrunched up from the sound of that chalk was making. PLLLLUSSS there is chalk all over his hands. Is he playing with chalk while everyone wasn't looking or what? This is definitely one odd professor. Jillian moved her focus toward the chalk board and the list that the professor has written. Fun class so far, everyone were throwing ideas where to get furniture from. Muggles are rather creative people with like cool sounding ideas. Internet, apps, furniture being passed on like heirlooms, endless possibilities there.

What is important for a muggle to take into consideration when browsing for furniture and for furnishing the space itself?

At the top of her head, the only answer she can come up with is "Comfort and design" she said after raising her hand up. "Muggles always see if whatever they're buying will be comfortable and at the same time nice looking." she added. That's why if you're into the weird amazon app thingy there's over 500 results just for (let's say) couch designs.

Does it matter that much, perhaps? Who knows. Maybe to muggles, yes.

Anywaaay...

As for the second question, "With design, muggles get to express their individuality." and they get to boast about it when they have guests.

"Wonderful, Jillian," he nodded. These kids were STARS. It made him want to nervous blink less. Only. He didn't. "Changing colors and styles doesn't come easy without the flick of a wand, so there are always multiple varieties and options available." Choices made him nervous. Good thing he wasn't a muggle, eh?

SPOILER!!: Bernadette

Quote:

Originally Posted by BanaBatGirl

Bernadette was NOT going to write this stuff down because she already KNEW IT ALL on account of being a Muggle for the first ten years of her life. Was this just a make-fun-of-Muggles class? And how was their professor qualified? Was HE. A. MUGGLE?!

She crossed her arms and stared him down, not sure she was buying him. The question, though, that was easy.

"Muggles have to consider transporting their furniture, like if they move from a house to a flat, will they be able to carry it up three flights of stairs and pivot it around corners? Will there be a lift they can use? Will they need movers? Will the movers break their furniture? Is it going to be good quality if they have to assemble it themselves, like flat pack furniture from Ikea?"

Bernadette was no Muggle expert yes, yes she was but she well remembered the arduous struggle of moving her brother into his own flat last year. They'd nearly had to saw his couch in half.

The next student seemed to be very unhappy for some reason or another, it was making Finneas very antsy. The way she stared. Anyway, anyway, anyway. "Precisely!" His finger shot up in the air to emphasize the point.

SPOILER!!: chompy, i mean, Odaline

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shanners

Odaline did not appreciate being invited to sit with someone else. She narrowed her eyes at the girl she had seen at Stemp House this summer and resisted the urge to take a chunk out of her arm for talking to her. Even more resisting when she touched her arm. Not enough resisting that she didn't flash her teeth, but she also turned away so she didn't have to look at the bench idiot. Her focus went back to their Professor (who was very close to being bitten if he carried on with the personality thing he was doing) and stared him down. Normal chair, please? Normal chair. She wanted a normal chair.

She also wasn't going to say please. He knew that, right?

For this lesson? No. This very chair was going to come with him to every single class and she was going to sit on it. It was no longer his chair. It had never been this chair. And were he to continue teaching upon their return to Hogwarts... then he needed to take the chair with him. Did he understand that? Was her stare conveying that well enough? "My chair." She said simply, sitting down on it and unpacking her things onto the desk. Her desk. And her chair. None of that bench or bucket stuff.

Oda chose not to make a 'name tent' because they weren't camping and it would be a waste of paper. Was the Professor going to be planting a tree or twelve? Because if they were doing things the 'muggle' way then paper was coming from trees and trees created oxygen and people needed oxygen. He needed oxygen. And did he want to end up without oxygen? Tree or other reasons. She could help him...

The first question didn't deserve her interest, but she could agree with all of the given answers. Some were stupid. But that was expected of her peers. The second, however, gave her chance to make a dig at their new Professor and the chair situation. She was going to be scarred for life about this all. If he wanted to be emotionally blackmailed, Oda was his girl. Raising her hand, she smiled. Smiles looked wholly unnatural on her. Sly. Sneaky. Snide. Unnatural.

"Taste, Professor. If they don't have taste they shouldn't furniture a classroom themselves. Don't you agree?" Words were also unnatural for Oda.

Yikes.

................ Well.

This was a disaster. And no, Finneas did not understand that his chair was now hers forever. Just like he did not quite understand that she was making fun of him and his classroom. "Well..." he wanted to be careful with his words for this one. She made him the most nervous, beady-eyed of them all. "Taste is a matter of opinion.................? Subjective... You know?" Ha. Ha. Ha. Ho. Ho. Ho. ANYWAY.

He'd still write the answer down on the board, as he was afraid she'd bite off his head if he didn't.

SPOILER!!: claudine

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19

Claudine was glad that she chose a seat at the back of the class and made a mental note to continue doing so for as long as Schmoe taught the subject. Did he never ever realise how off- putting he could be. Seeking to distract herself, she made notes in her book. She had never heard of Amazon in her life and still was unclear about what it was. What was a website? Confused. She was confused. But at least she was able to focus on the questions.

After she was able to get over that horrible screech the chalk made against the board, she began to ponder. Claudine absently watched the weird Schmoe get his hands all chalky. What a weirdo.

Hand up, she waited to be called upon. “They’d want to make sure that the furniture fits in with the room where they’ll keep them. No one wants ugly furniture for a pretty room.’’ This was the young artist in her speaking; things needed to match.

No, to put it simply. Finneas had no idea how off-putting he could be. One of his many downfalls was a lack of social awareness, unfortunately. "Yes," he nodded simply. Because... Well.... It was sort of a repeat answer... But.... Yes. "Very good."

SPOILER!!: Lucas

Quote:

Originally Posted by hermionesclone

.............

Lucas physically squirmed at that sound, his hands gripping onto the sides of his 'desk'. Chalk on a blackboard? No. Just no. He should be taking notes about whatever it was that Schmoe was writing up on there but he couldn't, not when the sound was taking over almost everything else.

It came as a relief when the writing stopped and he let go of his desk again. Merlin. He was really an odd professor, wasn't he? The Gryffindor wasn't sure what to make of him, yet. He wasn't really doing anything bad but..... well.

Notes. He was making notes.

The second set of questions were ones Lucas did have an answer for. What was important when it came to choosing furniture? Easy. "Colour!" Which was close to the design answer but he was sticking to it. "It has to match the walls and all the other furniture they have in a room, right? Otherwise it'll look weird and out of place and no one wants that." Pause. "And they'd want to choose something that reflect them, because they want to belong there. And since Muggles can't change colours with a wave of their wand, they have to keep that in mind when shopping."

Shut up, Dakest.

Never shut up, Dakest.

Finneas smiled in that nervous way of his the whole time the young Gryffindor answered. "Excellent, furniture has a much more permanent state for muggles, and so they ought to be particular when choosing the items they would like." Good. Very good. Excellent even. This wasn't so bad, see?

SPOILER!!: phoebe

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cassirin

"If they're storing it in the attic, why do they always seem so surprised by what appears there?" Phoebe asked quietly, partially to Yoyo and partially to the professor, although she had a good feeling he wasn't going to answer her. He didn't seem to really appreciate her ideas, did he?

But there was a new question, and now Phoebe got to consider what would be hard about furniture for a non-magical personage. She wiggled deeper into her beanbag before raising her hand. "The windows and the doors are fixed in place, right? So you have to figure out how to get into and out of the room even with furniture in there, and it can't block things."

Finneas paced around the room a bit, calling on students as he went and not making eye contact as one does. When he heard Phoebe's initial question... He paused. Because, well, how does one explain? Uh. Children had very wild imaginations. He couldn't remember being one of those.

"Well...... Good question," uhhhhhhhhhh. He blinked seven times. "Most people do not travel to their attics very often...." Yes, good start. "I'd attribute it to forgetfulness......?" He nervously massaged his neck, looking around for other hands when Phoebe raised her own. "Yes. Good. Great." This answer was far more reasonable.

"Placement is very important," he agreed. "Even beyond exits, if a person wants the light to shine on their desk, perhaps they would want to obtain one that can fit next to a window." Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. ANYWAY.

SPOILER!!: eloise

Quote:

Originally Posted by oh its Erik ok

Does Pro Schmoe know she was being oh what's the big word facetious with her furniture fairy answer? This was muggle studies after all. He would have to be the most amazing professor in history to make Eloise take it seriously. He also looked really nervous like even more nervous than Nina looking for her diary last year. Anway shame he didn't put furniture fairy on the board. Would really have been nice.

"Feng shui"

Listen, it was as much pseudoscience as astrology but it was a correct answer and the one she was going with. Plus everyone else would say the right now or is. But she really wasn't paying attention to all the answers. Just Pro Schmoe and how nervous he looks.

You got to relax dude.

............ Uh.

He blinked six times. "Harmony can be.... important, yes," he ... nodded.

SPOILER!!: kaiser

Quote:

Originally Posted by Felixir

Was there judgement happening? Kaiser thought he could feel judgement. Maybe that was the lack of sleep giving him some kind of extra-sensory perception, but he was fairly certain it was judgement. Not that being judged ever really bothered him, and he'd had a lot of experience of it.

Kaiser just kept looking expectantly at the professor as he took an unnecessarily long pause between listening to his answer and responding to it. Eventually words came, though Kaiser could sense the reluctance behind them. He ended up shrugging off Schmoe's words too. "As long as you can sit on it or sleep on it, the furniture will be fine."

Okay, but actually definitely shutting up now.

At the brutal sound of chalk on a chalkboard, Kaiser did a sort of one-eye-wince, raising his eyebrows and holding back a shudder. It seemed to go on for an age, but finally Schmoe lowered the chalk again, and Kaiser let out a tiny sigh of relief. He wasn't generally bothered by sounds, but that had been impossible to ignore.

Right. Okay. So. Another question. It looked like he wasn't shutting up now after all, because his hand was already in the air. "Nothing," Kaiser said simply, before deciding he should probably elaborate. "It does not matter; you take what you can get. Furniture, it is a luxury. You do not need it, but it is nice to have. It does not matter if it looks right or matches or anything like that." However, what that one first year said, about getting the furniture where it needed to be, that did have merit, and he supposed the same could be said for the plant-licker's answer about making sure you could get into a room. Only they had both already voiced the ideas so there was no real point in saying them again. Although... "And this is all assuming you have a space to put the furniture." Not everyone did, just saying.

Also, all of that applied to muggles and wizards both, so Kaiser couldn't really expand on his answer in that sense.

Well..... To an extent. Because what if it was infested with tics or fleas? What if it had deadly mold? What if an owl laid it's eggs between the cushions? WHAT IF WHAT IF WHAT IF. ANyway.

"Well...." he blinked thrice. "There is truth behind the statement..." Sure. "I can see how one may, uh, consider furniture as a luxury." He, uh, nodded.

SPOILER!!: Gemma

Quote:

Originally Posted by malfoygrl

Why did this man look so nervous all time? Did he drink too much coffee? Gemma had heard that drinking too much coffee sometimes made you jittery.

She had to resist the urge to cover her ears listening to the chalk against the board. Muggles sure did take a lot of things inconsideration with their homes. Gemma never really thought about furniture and what makes a house. She was only 11. Her parents did those things.

After taking a few seconds to think of an answer she finally raised her hand. "Muggles have people who go to school for this stuff. They basically pick out what someone wants based on aesthetic." Pause. "I've also heard sometimes Muggles live in vans? But I don't know how you'd have furniture in there..."

Finneas moved on to the next student because he couldn't come up with much else to say to Kaiser. "Yes, Alessandro also touched upon this as well... Interior designers," he nodded. Though he wasn't entirely sure where the connection was between this answer and the question. He didn't point that out, however because AnYwAy.

SPOILER!!: eiji

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie

Sniggering a bit to himself, and trying (but failing) not to look too pleased with himself at Professor S'more's nervous outburst. Which there were plenty of in various contexts but mostly the Slytherin was pleased he had pulled it off. Eiji was beginning to realize how crafty he could be, though his biggest heist had been over the summer with a bit of Liquid Luck and his grandfather's pensieve. Perhaps it was all resonating a bit with that Gryffindor blood buried deep inside him, but Eiji was beginning to be a bit more keen on pushing limits and boundaries.

Settling on his MUCH more comfortable bucket, he only half paid attention to the answers being offered up around him. Though his personal favorite had to go to Odaline and her jab at this man's aesthetic. Surely there was a purpose to it all that went beyond irritating the senses. Speaking of those, it genuinely seemed like the professor was hell bent on assaulting theirs. Couldn't he find chalk that was more docile and less...THAT? Eiji was tempted to retrieve his wand again to silence the chalk, but that was too bold a move. Maybe next lesson he would just stick some cotton in his ears to mute it all out.

Not like he needed to listen to any of this anyway.

He couldn't even refrain from the eyeroll that came when Eloise mentioned fung shui aloud because...no. And if that was what they were doing, Eiji was walking. He could remember mum going on about that during her nesting phase before Rebecca had been born and, back then, Eiji had been more hospitable than he was now and far more willing to help move the sofa across the room five times over to find the perfect pocket for it. Once the triplets were on their way though...not so much.

Even less now.

Eiji was still going to bank on this putting furniture together option. That sounded appealing and not a waste of his time. Learning some practical skills would be an improvement from lessons on super heroes and sports as far as he was concerned.

And since he was feeling a bit too cheeky for his own good in his triumph with a Cushioning Charm, the fifth year decided to raise his hand. "Comfort," he answered simply. "Beds, sofas, chairs in particular. Testing each out like Goldilocks until you found one that was just right for your taste. At least for those who lack the magical ability to alter the object themselves."

If there was cheek, Schmoe had no idea. "Excellent," he nodded. As far as Finneas was concerned, Eiji was a star student. Answering questions. Thoughtful observation. All good and fun.

SPOILER!!: cecelia

Quote:

Originally Posted by TakemetotheBurrow

Cecelia had decided she very much liked the name Schmoe and she got a LITTLE lost thinking up funny ways to add the name into things she already said every day. LIKE, well, Schmoe doubt about it! Also, in winter time, let it Schmoe. If you don't know, now you Schmoe. There was just SO much OPPORTUNITY with a name like that. Professor Schmoe was lucky.

ALSO, Cecelia wasn't EXACTLY sure what the LEGIT definition of innovation was, but she KNEW it was good and meant her answer had been REAL smart, so that was good.

AS for what muggles should consider, the blonde tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Bet they'd have to consider things like pets and kids when picking out furniture. Like, if it's going to be SUPER hard to keep clean and still look nice when the kids and pets have been jumping and cuddling and eating on the couches and chairs and stuff."

"Excellent point," he blinked a couple of times. "Muggles cannot place protective spells on furniture and cleaning becomes a much more tedious task without the use of magic... So durability is important."

SPOILER!!: tina

Quote:

Originally Posted by MadMadamMalfoy

Tina paid no mind to the sound of chalk scraping across the board. There were plenty of things the Hogwarts professors did that annoyed her, but making chalkboard noises was not one of them. She looked at the board, copying the list into her notes. Not that she particularly needed them. She knew how non magiques acquired furniture, seeing as she'd lived with one for half her life, but Tina was nothing if not a diligent note taker.

The second question took a bit more thinking than the first. Tina's thoughts first went to budgets. One would want to consider how much money they had to spend on furniture… but that wasn't unique to non magiques, was it? Wizards had budgets too. That was no good! Schmoe specifically asked for something that applied to non magiques. She remained lost in thought until someone else's (Cecilia) answer jogged her mind. If non magiques couldn't clean furniture with a spell, they couldn't fix it with one either!

Tina raised her hand and said, "Durability is something non mag- I mean muggles - might consider. They can't use spells to fix a ripped sofa or a chair with a missing leg, so they'd want to choose furniture made of sturdy materials that will last a long time."

"An excellent point, falling in conjunction with the issue Cecelia raised," he nodded, fidgeting with his bowtie and blinking a few times more than necessary.

SPOILER!!: siobhán

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lislchen

Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesh.

Oda was a piece of work. Not that Siobhán was particularly surprised by the other girl's reaction. So she simply shrugged it off. "Fiiiine. You do you." That's what her daddy always said and she thought it sounded cool. And mature. Very mature. Even if she thought that Odaline was in no way acting maturely. She was way more mature than that girl. She could learn from her.

Maybe she should offer to give her maturity lessons. Hmm.

After plopping down on the bench (by HERSELF), Shivvy kind of lost track of what the class was talking about. That is, until the sound of chalk against a chalkboard SCREEEECHING brought her back to the classroom. What was- why??? She rubbed her forehead before aimlessly writing down a couple of the things Professor Schmoe had so LOUDLY written down on the blackboard.

"That they fit through the door, Sir." That was handy advice, was it not?

"GOOD," it was a simple point. But important all the same. "How can one use the furniture if it cannot be brought into the room?!" Good, good, great, great, AnYwAy. Moving on.

SPOILER!!: alessandro

Quote:

Originally Posted by pundantic

The longer the lesson stretched, the more suspicious Alessandro became of the subject matter. Yes, he knew that Muggle Studies often investigated things unique to the Muggle World, but magical people also designed their spaces. They bought nice things and filled their spaces with it. He could not come up with an alternative reason as to why they were talking about interior design beyond his first inclination-- Hogwarts students were going to be put to work.

Alessandro was not a designer. He had impeccable taste, sure, but he was not going to roll up his sleeves and make-over Beauxbatons. The French did not endure the mist. If they were looking for a face lift, they could do it on their own.

With an inscrutable expression, he said, "Storage."

And finally, the last raised hand. Finneas blinked a few times, blissfully unaware of the boy's suspicions.

Well..................................... Uh. Storage. That.... Was an answer. Yes.

"A matter of whether or not they have the space to store items , seeing as it is not a matter of shrinking them. Yes."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chalkboard

Considerations a muggle may make when looking for furniture:

• Size: must fit in the space to avoid clutter, fit as to not block exits
• Colors, styles
• Transporting the furniture
• Taste
• Comfort
• Durability: in the face of children and pets, long-lasting
• Does it fit through the door?
• Storage