Io threw his bag over his shoulder, he had immensely enjoyed it, but it had been a tiring day. He set off quickly for lunch, after which he would have his first Muggle Studies class for the year. He hurriedly swallowed down scrambled eggs and toast, and then scurried off to Muggle Studies. On the way up the stairs to the classroom on the third floor, he ran into Arthur Weasley. Arthur was a lanky Gryffindor with flaming orange hair, which he cropped quite short. His face was mud splattered and he was still wearing his protective dragon hide gloves, evidently, he'd just returned from Herbology, but he was smiling broadly at Io.
'Had a good holiday Io?' He inquired brightly, waving a mud splattered hand.
'Been alright, how was yours?'
'Good, good, I visited a fireleg's museum in the holidays,' seeing Io's look of confusion he nodded sagely and added, 'firelegs, they're a metal wand that muggles use to kill each other, fascinating stuff.' His eyes were bright as he explained the workings to Io, who was, admittedly, impressed, despite the goriness of their intended use. '-spring mechanism see, it thrusts the metal bit- a bullet - forward, then bob's your uncle.'
When they filed into Muggle studies, a cheery looking man in sleek black robes was sitting behind a polished black desk; he had mousy coloured curly hair and stubble and was engrossed in reading an immense turquoise leather bound book. When he looked up and saw them waiting outside, he smiled broadly and beckoned them inside. They sat on the comfortable chairs in front of his desk. He cheerily asked them about their holidays while they waited for the others to arrive. When Arthur mentioned his trip to the museum, Professor Callaghan smiled brightly, gently correcting Arthur 'firearms, not legs Arthur,' with a chuckle. When everyone had arrived, he nodded for quiet, and then addressed them in his lilting Irish accent.
'Welcome back to Muggle studies. OWLs, as you must have heard by now, are quite important. Due to their importance, I will push on with the syllabus, unless anyone has any specific questions regarding OWLs.' He gazed at the class for a short while, and then went on. 'We have now studied Muggle past times, occupations, methods of transport and have covered the basics of their political systems- which as you will remember, are very similar to our own. This year we will foray into a more overarching study of Muggle affairs and analyse their effect on magical society. The first section will be muggle political theory.' Io sat up straighter in his seat, this sounded like nothing he had any knowledge of. As always in this class, he was being introduced to a totally novel world. He looked across at Arthur, who looked even more awed than he was, '-of most importance to us are the impacts of Muggle superstitions and introduced rituals on the witch hunts – most notable of which were the Salem witch trials-, the impact of Mahatma Ghandi's notion of peaceful protest on magical communities and the impact of the inauguration of Margaret Thatcher as the first prime minister and its impact on wizarding women's rights in ministry. We will also cover the main great muggle thinkers, which laid the foundation of civilisation. The thinkers studied will be limited to the following, due only to the time constraint, to: Aristotle, Plato, Epicurus, Zeno of Citium, Avicenna (whose actual name was Latinised from Ibn Sina), Thomas Aquinas, René Descartes, Paul of Tarsus, Al Khawarizmi and Confucius. I would recommend further reading on other muggle thinkers, as it is quite an interesting topic. The utter impact of these thinkers on magical theory and political organisation, I cannot begin to explain to you. We will be covering thinkers up till the 17th century or so.' Here he paused, looking as though he could tell they needed time to absorb everything he had just said. 'I understand this is a lot,' he murmured with a grin and looked at his watch, 'How about...I'll give you 15 minutes to mull it over and ask questions as you see fit, then I'll carry on with the description of the course.' Many had raised their hands, including Arthur. Io felt as though he was the only one without his hand in the air, but he couldn't think of anything he wanted to ask. Professor Callaghan pointed at a girl sitting behind him, whose hand had shot into the air nervously.
'Uh, Sir...we haven't been set a textbook. How are we meant to find out about all this?' Io hadn't realised this until now and now turned his attention to Professor Callaghan. He could understand why she'd been nervous now, he didn't think he'd be able to write down enough notes during class to cover all that, and that was only the first two sections of the course. Professor Callaghan raised his hands open palmed at the class, and moved them slightly back and forth at them in a steadying gesture. A chattering had broken out when the girl, Vera, had asked her question.
'Thank you Vera. Now, I am fully aware that I did not set a text book. This is simply due to the fact that the syllabus is not covered by one textbook, but requires snippets from a multitude of textbooks. As it would've been sheer insanity to set you all of those textbooks, my plan is to provide you with copies of the relevant pages from the textbooks I have in my study. I will make sure you are provided with enough information to gain an excellent understanding of the topics. If anyone wishes to read further, I am happy to lend them my books.' He finished with a smile, and turned his attention to a boy sitting across the room from Io.
'Will we have any field trips this year Sir?'
'Ah, thank you Brian. As it so happens, I've arranged a trip to the museum of political science in Kent. I believe this will help us understand the work of the great muggle thinkers in a muggle context, which is quite important. But we must all behave as muggles; I do not want any incidents that might require Obliviators. I will try to organise others as time permits, but many safety precautions must be taken in these dark times...'
When they had exhausted all questions, he walked around his desk, and sat on his desktop, scratching his chin.
'Hmmm...where was I?' he murmured quietly, looking slightly lost, 'Ah, yes...As the timeframe we cover in dealing with the great muggle thinkers overlaps with that studied in History of magic. I expect you to pay close attention to Professor. Binns, as much of what he teaches affected, or was affected by, events in muggle history, and therefore, details in his subject are examinable in this one too...and I suspect, a bit of my subject is examinable in History of magic. Now the final, and perhaps most interesting topic, involves an overview of the advances in subjects of study exclusive to muggles. You will all remember what muggles define as science, technology and medicine. We will now go beyond rudimentary definitions and inspect how they have done so without the use of magic.' He paused, a wide grin overtaking his face again, 'it's really quite extraordinary.' The bell rang outside, and Professor Callaghan started, looking at his watch again.
'Oh, well I'm sorry everyone, I'd gotten carried away with the time. That is all from me; enjoy the rest of your day!'
As Io packed up his things, he was certain of one thing, Muggle studies seemed like one of the most interesting subjects this year. He always wondered how muggles could live without magic, and it seemed like he was about to find out. He waited for Arthur to pack his things, and then they strode outside.
'It all sounds amazing doesn't it?' Breathed Arthur, his eyes wide, 'I've always thought the things muggles could do were incredible. The stuff we learn has gotten a whole lot more interesting all of a sudden!'
'I know. I'm really looking forward to it, what do you think we'll learn about the superstitions? Sounds weird...'
'Hmm, yeah, I have no idea to be honest...And what about all those names, they sound like they're foreign...where do you reckon they're from? We know Aristotle and Plato from last year, but who're all the rest?' Io shrugged, he couldn't wait for the next muggle studies lesson, of that he was certain.