Note: I do not own any of the characters and such, those are entirely JK Rowling's.
14. First classes
Mere seconds after Stephanie woke, she started to feel anxious. Today was the day of her first classes. She hadn't been this nervous since, well… ages. She felt silly to feel this way. What could go wrong? She had all the knowledge she needed, she had prepared everything, the classroom was all set up and so had awoken two hours before her first class would start.
Still she worried, what if the students were being nasty to her? What if they were awfully prejudiced about her, about muggles? She could be strict but fair and on multiple occasions she had been told she was a natural leader. But that had been before she had come to Hogwarts, when she had been a muggle.
Trying to ignore her nervous feelings, she got ready for the day. She wore robes today, as a statement that she was indeed a witch and would dress as such. Not that there was anything wrong with being a muggle, but she knew how some students felt about muggles. She just wanted to make it easier for herself on her first day. Once she had earned most student's respect, she would be able to confidently behave more muggle when she wanted.
At breakfast she sat down next to Minerva, who was already drinking some tea that looked so dark and strong, Stephanie could have been convinced it was actually coffee. 'Good morning.' She greeted the transfiguration professor, and noticed the headmaster wasn't present yet.
'Good morning to you too,' Minerva replied, 'Nervous?' she asked. Was she already so observant in the morning or was it that obvious that Stephanie was nervous? She had tried not to show it. 'Is it that obvious?' Stephanie asked.
'Well, not per se but most professors are nervous on their first day. Nothing strange about it.' Minerva replied. She then asked Stephanie about which years she would teach that day and what she would discuss during the class. They talked for a while about her classes and Stephanie told Minerva a bit about what she had planned.
'You sound well prepared. I wouldn't worry too much if I were you. Who was the muggle studies professor in your, eh… world?' Minerva asked. Stephanie was a bit surprised by this question. This was the first time anyone actually asked her about what she knew from the books. Funnily enough, she didn't know the answer. She knew Quirrell had been the muggle studies teacher before, and that at some point Charity Burbage had taken the position, but she had no idea who had been the professor between those two.
'I don't know actually, it wasn't relevant enough to be mentioned.' she answered. Stephanie had fantasized how she could surprise others here with her knowledge, so she was pretty disappointed that she didn't know the answer to the first question.
'I must say that I'm surprised you asked though,' Stephanie added, 'you must want to know more but you haven't asked anything yet. What changed?' She hoped this wouldn't scare the older witch off. Stephanie actually wanted to share her knowledge, but hadn't decided yet how to do so. She wanted to be smart about it, but found that she had been a little disappointed that no one had asked her anything yet.
As Stephanie had feared, Minerva looked at her with regret written on her face. 'I shouldn't have asked,'she answered. Stephanie couldn't leave it at that. 'I don't mind if you ask, really. I was just curious..' she explained.
Minerva seemed to think about what to say for a few seconds. 'I thought this was a quite innocent question. However, the headmaster specifically asked us not to talk about it, so maybe we shouldn't.'
Stephanie wanted to tell Minerva that the headmaster didn't know everything, and didn't always have everyone's best interest at heart, and that we all should think for ourselves what seems best, but she didn't. Even though she was perfectly friendly with Minerva, she still doubted if the woman could keep a secret from the headmaster. Stephanie realized that Minerva was extremely loyal to him...for now. Maybe one day, she could confess her intentions to the older woman.
They didn't say any more about the topic and just made some small talk while they had breakfast. Stephanie took an extra strong cup of coffee as she could use the boost from it for her first class.
At a quarter to nine, Stephanie started making her way towards her classroom on the fifth floor. Her first class would be social studies with the first year Slytherins and Ravenclaws. She feared the Slytherin students a bit, especially Malfoy. She knew how prejudiced and annoying he could be. On the other hand, if she could teach him, all others would be a piece of cake.
She was going to be strict at first in all classes, strict but fair. She could become more friendly later, once she had earned a little respect. She would start each new class with explaining the rules. She wanted the students to know what to expect and how to behave.
Time flew by and before she knew it her first class sat in front of her. 'Good morning class, my name is professor Saxton and I will be your social studies professor for this year. We will start this class with some important rules you will all have to follow.' she explained and already heard some mumbling while she was talking.
'You will all make notes of these rules now.' she said and gave the students some time to take out some parchment and their quills and ink. She noticed some students not moving to get their stationary from their bags. 'Everybody!' she said clearly while she looked these students in the eyes.
Once they all had their quills in hand she started quoting the rules:
'One: you will never interrupt anyone in this class.
Two: you will respect your fellow classmates. This means not attacking each other in any way for any reason whatsoever.
Three: everything you will learn in this class is based on facts. There is no room here for unproven statements.
Four: we will debate in this class, you will do this with critical thinking, logic and reason.
Five: there will be absolutely no discrimination in this class, in any form.
Six: you will actively participate in all assignments.
Seven: anyone who fails to follow these rules, will at least have house points taken.
Any questions?' she concluded. A few hands went up. 'Say your name before you ask your question please' she said before she pointed towards the first student.
'Padma Patil, professor,' the girl said. Stephanie nodded towards her to go ahead and ask her question. 'Why do we need to follow this class, as it never existed before?' Stephanie had expected a question like this.
Excellent question Miss Patil. Is there anyone who has an idea?' It stayed quiet for a while before a Ravenclaw boy raised his hand. Stephanie nodded at him'. 'Anthony Goldstein, professor. I think we follow this class so we can learn more about society, both magical and muggle.'
Stephanie nodded in agreement. 'Indeed mister Goldstein. Students who come from a muggle household are finding it sometimes hard to figure out how the magical society works. Other way around, some students from magical households don't know how the muggle society works. You will learn in this class that these societies are more entwined than you might think.' she added.
'What about those who already know about both?' she heard coming from the back of the class. 'What is your name?' Stephanie asked. 'Boot, Terry Boot.' the boy answered. 'Well mister Boot, those students will be most valuable in these classes. They will be able to provide insight from both muggle and magical point of view. I expect these students to put in great effort to elevate our debates to the next level. They will also help their fellow classmates who haven't been that fortunate to have experienced both societies already.'
She heard someone snort from the Slytherin side of the room. There we go, it had been too easy until now, they were too quiet. She looked at the Slytherins, she didn;t know for sure who had made the sound but she suspected one. 'Anyone of you that would like to add something?'
'I wouldn't call it fortunate.' she heard Malfoy say. Of course it was Malfoy. She knew his name but she wanted to play this game with him. 'Your name?' She asked with raised eyebrows. 'Draco Malfoy.' he said with a proud smirk.
'Alright mister Malfoy, why wouldn't you call that fortunate?' she challenged him. She could already guess what the boy was going to say. Probably something along the lines of "muggles are disgusting".
'We are better than muggles. Studying them is a waste of time.' he said and looked satisfied at the professor, as if he thought he had actually made a fair point.
'That is your opinion mister Malfoy, but please take a look at rule number three and four. I'm all ears if you can support that statement with facts and reason.' she replied, which earned her a grumpy "hmpf" from the boy,
'My father wouldn't want me to study muggles!' he said. Of course he would involve his father in the discussion. Stephanie had to choose her next words carefully. She didn't really care about Malfoy senior but he was on the board of Governors, and that was a position to take seriously.
'Your father is entitled to his own opinion, as are you. However, I do not see your father in this class, but I do see you. So you get to decide if this class is worth your time. If not, you are free to leave as soon as you have written me an essay of at least two feet on why muggles aren't worth your time to study with facts to prove your point. Let me remind you as well that this class isn't muggle studies, this is social studies. We will also discuss the magical society as much as the muggle one, maybe even more. I'm sure you know a lot about that and you might even be able to help us all learn about it.'
The last statement seemed to appeal to Malfoy. He could be of importance in the class, he was given the chance to teach the others. How could he refuse that? He seemed to think about everything Stephanie had just said for a minute after which he nodded in agreement.
This short discussion had seemed to calm all students so now Stephanie could finally start with the actual lesson. She started explaining in which areas muggle and magical society could be compared and in which situations they could entwine. She gave a few examples about politics, science, education, day to day life and traditions.
The end of the class was nearing so Stephanie addressed them all: 'Alright class for next week I want you all to write down what you think might be a situation you could find yourself in, in which it would be convenient to have knowledge about both the muggle and the magical societies and how you could use that knowledge. Use facts and logic to support your example. Make it at least ten inches!' she explained and they all took quick notes of their first assignment.
'Oh and five points for both Ravenclaw and Slytherin for good participation.' she added which earned her some happy smiles from the students. The bell rang and just like that, Stephanie had survived her first class.
She thought she had handled the Malfoy situation pretty well. She had stayed respectful, hadn't insulted the boy's father and even managed to convince him to see the positive side of this class. She was curious to see how the boy would develop in her class during the year.
Her afternoon class was much easier. She was pleasantly surprised to see that Fred and George Weasley were among the few third years who had chosen the elective. She guessed it was partly their father's influence, but also their own curiosity to see how they could use everything they would learn about muggles in their pranking.
She started this class as well with explaining the rules first, after which she started talking about the importance of a good understanding of muggles. In the muggle studies classes she would also discuss the overlap with the magical community, but the focus would be mainly on the muggle one.
The hours flew by and before she knew it, classes were done for the day and she was on her way to dinner. She felt relieved, satisfied and tired at the same time. But she had done it, she had survived her first day of teaching, and had even done so pretty well. With a big smile on her face she sat down at the head table for dinner, scooping potatoes onto her plate. She felt good, she felt confident, she could do this and she couldn't wait to see what the school year would bring her.