SPOILER!!: catchup
Christmas had always been special for Heath, but the holiday took on s different meaning over the past few years. This Christmas marked two years since he started dating Claudine and three since he fell in love with her. Seeing the festive decorations instantly brightened his mood, but it was the photo studio setup that piqued his curiosity. Were they doing a Christmas photo shoot? That sounded fun… also sort of sounded like something his brother would set up for the family to do.
He was already reminiscing about Christmas before Professor Varma mentioned nostalgia, and as he thought, he realized he didn't have any bad Christmas memories, not really. The worst that had happened to him was not getting the present he wanted or doing something awkward in front of the family, like accidentally breaking an ornament or singing the wrong lyrics to a Christmas carol. Even last Christmas stuck here at Hogwarts wasn't completely terrible! Thinking of the holidays with his family hit a bit different now that his experiences last term and the war in general changed the dynamic of his family relationship. What was Christmas going to be like now?
Pushing the thought out of his mind, he focused on the question. Judging by the classroom setup, photography seemed the most obvious answer… maybe a bit too obvious. He also thought of things like pensieves, art and journaling, but those had been said. Maybe he needed to look at the question from a different angle. He considered what he himself did to preserve memories, and his thoughts turned to the collection of theatre programs he kept from every play he was ever in and every play he saw with his dad. His hand went up, and he said, "Some people preserve memories by keeping objects associated with specific memories."
Heath was not the slightest bit surprised when Professor Varma zeroed in on photography. With a setup like this, where else could the lesson possibly go? With the next question in mind, he considered how pictures were taken. Having grown up with a brother who dabbled in photography, he'd picked up a few tidbits of information along the way. He knew photo development was done through a series of chemical baths. He knew there were multiple methods, and each one involved different chemicals and steps, though he didn't understand the process enough to come up with any specific examples. Ugh! He hated no knowing what to say in class! If only Fiyero was here to help him with this question!
As Heath's thoughts turned to his brother, he remembered a specific camera he once used. Not a digital or a magical camera. It was a big boxy-looking one that spit the photos out when it took them. What did Fiyero say about that camera again? Raising his hand, he said,
"There's the instant camera, a type of muggle camera that, as the name suggests, develops photos instantly. It uses a special film with the chemicals needed for development already included, and the camera develops the pictures itself. I don't know how it works exactly."