Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter franchise, nor anything affiliated with it.
Hermione's POV
"Hello, if everyone could please have a seat and stop talking, that would be great. Remember, as a Head I do have the authority to take away, and give, house points."
I look around as the students sit down and push in their chairs. I feel out of place standing in front of my eighth year peers. This is the first lesson that Draco and I will be 'teaching' for muggle studies and we're both pretty nervous. It's so awkward and Draco and I will be present for all the first classes to help the prefects who have to do this as well so we aren't anywhere close to being done. Once people have stopped shuffling around I pull out a folder of handouts for the project.
"Alright if I could have your attention. As most of you know by now, we have not been able to find a replacement muggle studies professor, though we are still looking for one. I personally didn't want to let an entire course go to waste, so I proposed a way for us to gain our credit and NEWT with minimal work for everyone." Most people are listening and some of them, like Blaise and Neville, look intrigued. I take a breath and then continue.
"You may have noticed the tabby cat near the door with a quill and some papers. For those who don't know, that is our Headmistress McGonagall and she has graciously accepted the role of supervising all the muggle studies classes while the Prefects, Draco, and I teach. Draco and I will be responsible for marking all the assignments, though McGonagall will have the final say in your grades." I pull out the handouts of the folder in my arms and start to hand out the packages.
"This is a copy of the project outline as well as a rubric for marking that Draco wrote up for us yesterday. Make sure that you don't lose it, or we'll have to make you another copy and it will waste paper and ink. The project itself is essentially this; you will partner with someone of your choice and choose a unit in the muggle studies curriculum. Depending on how many kids there are total in relation to the number of units, you may have up to 3 students per unit. Draco will now present to you the specifics and examples of potential presentations as well as answer any questions you have."
He then gets up and moves his walker to the front of the class, with his laptop, and sits down on it again. I can see a lot of people staring at his walker and I'm sure many of them are curious to know what happened to him. Draco ignores the stares and starts up his presentation. He started working on it yesterday, but I'm pretty sure he did most of it this morning. He said that he woke up early and couldn't fall asleep again. As I look back at the presentation I realize that he's gotten pretty good at using the internet and Google Drive, it definitely shows in the quality of his work.
"Alright, just to give you time to think about it, I will reiterate the units for you. They are communication, pop-culture and basic entertainment, household appliances, transportation, specific recreational activities and hobbies, work and jobs, politics and government, and muggle world history. We have already covered communication, pop-culture/basic entertainment, and household appliances in class, but the rest were not. They are fairly simple topics and don't have to be completely in depth with the exception of history. Are there any questions so far?"
Neville raises his hand and Draco nods at him. "Are we able to cover a topic that isn't in the curriculum but has a difference in the muggle and wizarding worlds? For example, would I be able to research muggle plants and compare them to wizarding plants?"
"That is an excellent question, you'll have to give me some time to talk it over with Hermione first. In the meantime, think about another unit you may be interested in, just in case we decide against it." Neville nods and returns to reading over the outline.
"Are there any more questions? ...In that case I'll move on with the lesson. You will be doing all of your research for your project online to ensure a basic use of muggle technology. Hermione and I will be giving lessons over the next week on different parts of the project, but other that it's pretty free form. You will have to hand in at least 2 and a half pages of jot notes via Google Docs along with your presentation when this is due. For those notes I will teach you how to cite your sources properly, it is slightly different from when we do so in our essays." I'm surprised by his level of thoroughness. There are a lot of things he's talking about that I didn't even think of myself.
"There are many different ways to present your information in a technological way. They include slide presentations, which we've already learned, but can also include designing websites, shooting a film, and creating a quiz game. Depending on what you choose to do, I have provided links on how to go about executing it. We'd prefer it if you could include some interactive component as most people are hands on learners, but make sure that not all of it is interactive. It'll make it easier to mark if you have both. If you have any other presentation ideas, feel free to run them by either Hermione or me. We'll most likely approve them as long as they're safe and not beyond your resources."
He continues on for a little bit longer and shows them small examples of each type of presentation. Most of them are examples from other people, but some of the simpler ones like website building were created by him. I can't believe that he actually had the time to do all of this, even if he woke up early this morning. He seems to have really good spacing skills in his presentation and, as was proven during the Halloween Ball, a good eye for colour.
When he's finished he looks at me and signals that it's my turn to talk again. I walk back in front of the desk and face the class once again. Draco gets up and slowly makes his way back to his spot from earlier. I smile in sympathy at him and he shoots a mock glare at me. I turn back to my peers and begin to talk once more.
"If you guys have an idea of what unit you want to do, take out your electronic devices and search for Google Classroom. When you reach the website, click the plus sign in the top right corner. Enter to following code: M4rb3. That will take you to a virtual classroom that Draco and I created for this project. It is shared with all of the muggle studies students and is an easy way for us to give you resources and post assignments for you guys. There should already be a post on it. If you click the link on it, it will direct you to a Google Doc that you can use to sign up for the different units. It's on a first come first serve basis, but if it's ful and you want to be on a waitlist, you can write your name in italics."
I leave the class to do this task by themselves and walk over to Draco.
"Hey, how are you doing so far? Your legs giving you a lot of trouble?" He looks up from his notebook and closes it quickly, but smoothly.
"Oh, they're okay but it still isn't great when I walk around."
"Your presentation was amazing by the way. It was very thorough and well articulated. I think the examples were great."
"Thanks, but the idea of the project came from you in the first place. I think this will be a great project. Our classmates are pretty creative, they should do well with this."
"I hope so. I don't want all of this work to be for naught. I really hope that they'll all do well on the exams." The whole aim of the project is to help them study for the final exams. If most of them don't pass, then my project failed.
"What do you think about letting Neville research plants? I think it's an okay idea, but it's a little off topic."
"Neville seems pretty excited to study muggle plants and I don't think it'll do any harm. Just add an extra box for muggle plants on the list."
"Okay… and it's done."
We chat a little bit more about the project before he pulls out his laptop to check on the list. It seems that everyone has chosen their unit and its worked out pretty well. There just happens to be a free unit that no one's signed up for, so we both sign up for it. Our project won't be marked by us, but by McGonagall. He then projects it up on the smartboard and I go up again to clarify the list with the class.
"So it looks like you've all chosen your units. I'm just going to review the list and who you're working with. For communication we have Blaise and Dean. For pop-culture and basic entertainment we have Amalie and Justin. For household appliances we have Anthony and Hannah. For transportation we have Draco and I. For specific recreational activities and hobbies we have Cho and Terry. For work and jobs we have Padma and Tracy. For politics and government we have Zacharias and Michael. For muggle world history we have Pansy and Millicent. For muggle plants we have Neville and Ernie."
"Is everyone okay with that listing?" They respond with a chorus of 'yes's and a couple nodding heads. It's so weird to command the attention of people my own age. It just feels wrong.
"Okay, feel free to start your research. We have about 10 minutes left of class so you probably won't get much done. However, you can still start while of this is fresh in your mind. Make sure you record the URLs of the websites you use, even if you don't know how to cite them yet."
I then turn off the smartboard, pack my papers into my folder, and sit down next to Draco.
"Well that went relatively smoothly. What did you think of it all?" I ask.
He takes a moment to respond. "I thought it went rather well, but their stares were quite annoying. Other than that, it was kind of nice to talk and actually have the class listen to you." I know what he's talking about. Whenever we present stuff in class, half the class doesn't pay attention, and most of them whisper while you're talking.
"Agreed." Just then the bell rings and everyone packs up their stuff to head out. I help Draco place his folders and laptop in his bag while he gets up and walks with the walker. We make our way to the back and McGonagall turns back into human form.
"That was wonderful. I think you both did a wonderful job teaching today. Draco, your handle on technology is excellent and you seem very well versed in it. I'm very pleased with both of your work for this school and its students. Just remember to come back after lunch to help teach the sixth and seventh year students. Hopefully both groups will be as good as the one we just had."
"Thanks Headmistress. We'll try our best." I say. Draco nods and gives a small smile to her.
"I know you will." She responds. "See you soon." She then returns to her work, so Draco and I walk out to the hallway. We walk down to the Great Hall immediately since we don't need to switch out our books. We sit with our friends like usual and they make room for us. Draco takes a bit of time to sit down, but we know he's too prideful to let us help him.
"Hey guys how are you doing?" I ask them.
"We're good." says Blaise.
"You guys did amazing this morning, the examples in the presentation we great! I have lots of ideas on what to do already." says Neville. I'm glad he's so excited.
"Yeah, I didn't know you could make websites Draco." Blaise adds. He actually looks pretty impressed.
"Well if you're good at figuring stuff out, it's not that hard. Especially if you use a good program with templates and you know what you want or need.
"Wait, Ferret is teaching? And he did well? How come I didn't hear about this?" says Ginny. She has an incredulous expression on her face and I feel like laughing at it. She hasn't been here that much the last few days since she had to finish some last minute projects, and when she was here we didn't really talk much about it.
"Yes, and his knowledge of muggle presentation techniques is really cool. I didn't think that he knew that much about it." says Blaise.
"Well I did look up most of the stuff this morning and used some templates for the harder stuff like making a movie. Other than that though, I did most of my research while in the hospital wing. But yes I am teaching... Weaselette" responds Draco. That all makes a lot more sense seeing as how he had a lot of time there, though he didn't spend too much time in that area. I can't help but roll my eyes at Draco and Ginny teasing each other with the usual insults.
"Right. Speaking of which, what happened to you? I'm pretty confused and no one knows anything except you two, Madame Pomfrey, and McGonagall. Ginny knows a little bit, but refuses to tell me what she knows." Blaise seems really confused but I hold my tongue since I don't want to divulge too much.
"Well, Ron basically attacked me and the curse that was previously just affecting my knees and ankles spread to my hips as well. The injuries from him must have lowered my body's defences and allowed the curse to progress further. My only options to help get around were this or a wheelchair. I took the least obvious one, though I still get stares."
"Wow. That is most impressive. I'm sorry the curse spread. If you need, the moon is bright tonight and the window in the corridors should be clear." says Luna. I'm confused by what she says, but I think it's a reference only Draco and her will get.
I check the time and see that it's almost the end of lunch so I tell them and we all pack up for our next classes. Luna, Ginny, Draco, and I travel back to muggle studies together and walk into class. Draco and I ready to teach the next bunch of kids.
Author's Note: This is a bit of a boring chapter, but such is life. Thanks for the reviews and feedback, it's nice to hear from you guys. Thank you all for your continual support of my work, it means a lot. Just 12 more days till Christmas, yay! Please review. Have a great week guys, till next time.