The students found their seats and some checked their pockets for their shrunken pillows. Could history class ever be anything other than a good place to snore? Some of the students hoped the new professor would be better than Binns. Others hoped they wouldn't lose their nap time.

On the board were scrawled the words:

History
The purpose of this course is to learn of the mistakes and successes of those that came before us, so that we can mimic their successes and avoid their failures.

Well that was different. Most of them had been positive that the purpose of history class was to memorize boring facts.

"Welcome. My name is Professor Stewart. What is history but a series of stories? This year you will be hearing those stories and analyzing what can be learned from them and used by you in the future."

Attendance was taken by the tall, bald wizard, then he continued with the lesson. "The disillusioned archer crept through the woods. The plan, if it worked, would make his clan, the Erksdales, very wealthy. The fortress in front of him was well protected by magical wards and at all times three sentries stood guard over the domain. The archer notched an arrow on the bow string and aimed for a sentry. The poisoned arrow took flight and planted deep in the sentry's heart. His body tumbled forward, off the wall. Silencing spells prevented others from hearing the body fall and a disillusionment charm made the body vanish. The archer, heart racing with the thrill of success, continued his trek around the grey stone and took out the remaining two sentries."

The professor half performed, half strolled as he wove the tale, "The Erksdales clan emerged from the wood, canceling their disillusionment charms. The castle may be magically protected, but the brewery outside the castle wall was protected by only the most basic of charms that any twelve year old could surpass."

Ron, Harry and Hermione glanced at each other and grinned in remembrance of what they surpassed when they were 11 and 12.

"The barrels of valuable ale were levitated from their stances and floated across the pasture, and then several more miles back to the Erksdale's stronghold. With the heist complete the clan celebrated with a great feast, nearly depleting the castle's supplies." Professor Stewart held his hand high as though lifting a goblet in salutè.

"The Erksdales and the Flinwoods had been enemies for centuries and so knew retaliation would be likely. The back of the Erksdales' castle was built into a mountain. The fortress had but one entrance, the front gate. The wards had been improved in preparation of retaliation. Apparition was impossible. Flooing had yet to be invented. And the new wards protected against muggle as well as magical means so their own tactics couldn't be used against them."

"The Flinwoods were not a violent people by nature and they were a far cry from the conquering sort. But they were also not ones to lay down quietly and accept an attack and theft. They gathered their forces and set into motion a plan that had been laying in wait for just such an occasion. The members of the two clans were known well to each other. So it was a shock to the Erksdales when on the rise they spied 50 of the weakest members of the Flinwoods' clan, a bagpiper, an accordion player and a flutest."

The professor flicked his wand at the Victrola and the students slammed their hands over their ears as a horrid noise blasted through the room. It seemed to go on forever, though it was only thirty seconds before the professor relented. "Magnification charms amplified the music, but instead of the beautiful tones usually admitted by these instruments horrible, disjointed sounds emerged and blasted through the air. The Erksdales couldn't escape the awful noise. By design they had made their home so no enemy could enter, but it also meant no one was able to exit. The archer shot an arrow at the accordion player, but the arrow bounced off the castle's wards. No spells or mundane weaponry could penetrate the barriers in either direction. The music played on giving headaches to all, except to the Flinwoods whose ears were stuffed with wool."

"Finally, the Erksdales, were irked enough to send out a ban of warriors to defeat the weaklings sent by the Flinwoods. The two groups flung spells at each other and the Flinwoods were forced back several meters, but oddly, it was the bodies of the Erksdales that lay dead or dying on the ground." The Victrola sprang to life and the students again covered their ears and silently cursed this new, strange teacher. Thankfully, he cast a second spell and lowered the volume. They could still hear the screeching notes, but the sound was muted. "The musicians continued to blast their tune and more Erksdales came out to battle. Again the Flinwoods retreated, but yet again the Erksdales lost more of their people. Irked beyond belief the Erksdales sent all abled bodied witches and wizards out to defeat this small force of weaklings. As the last of them took after the Flinwoods who continued to back away the music suddenly changed." Professor Stewart flicked his wand and the strong noble tunes of the bagpipes and flute, played gracefully, floated from the Victrola. "This was the cue to the Flinwoods that all of their strongest witches and wizards, who had been disillusioned both within the weaklings ranks and to the far left and right of the weaklings, cancelled their disillusionment spells, surrounded their enemy and attacked with full force. The Erksdales were unprepared for a battle that came from all sides, but they still did their best to defend themselves, flinging spells at their enemy. Two hours later many lay dead, but only Flinwoods were left standing. They regrouped and the horrid notes again blasted the air." The Victrola was switched back to the awful tunes.

"Those inside the Erksdales stronghold were beside themselves. They were devastated by the loss of so many of their clan members. Their supplies were running thin due to the great feast celebrating the success of the heist. The awful screeching noises pounded in their heads. There was no way out except the front gate and the Flinwoods were prepared to attack anyone who exited that gate. It took but three days of grief, headaches and lack of food for those inside to conclude that the Flinwoods had no intention of leaving and that it was time to relinquish their bounty. The barrels of ale were levitated from the storage rooms and glided out the front door, with a paper attached: Please accept our truce. We no longer wish to fight each other. It was signed by the Erksdales clan leader. The leader of the Flinwoods signed the document. That was the last day the two clans battled. Their truce continues to this day."

Professor Stewart turned the Victrola off and looked about the room.

A student raised their hand and asked, "So what lesson are we supposed to learn?"

Professor Stewart shrugged, "You tell me."

"But aren't you supposed to tell us?"

A different student called out, "Well isn't it obvious? The lesson is don't own valuable things, they'll just get stolen and that will lead to conflict."

Another student responded, "Well that's absurd. You think people should never attempt to own anything nice because it will attract thieves? The real lesson was protect your valuables. Can you teach us warding spells Professor?"

Professor Stewart nodded. "For our next class, everyone bring something not valuable that you can practice warding spells on."

A Ravenclaw called out, "But this is history class. We're supposed to be learning facts."

"Ms. Williams, please read the purpose of this class."

"The purpose of this course is to learn of the mistakes and successes of those that came before us, so that we can mimic their successes and avoid their failures."

Professor Stewart responded, "So far we have learned to not leave valuable things out in the open, which is why you will be bringing non-valuable items to our next class and we've learned that valuable items should be protected, so you will be learning warding spells."

Another student who had been agitatedly tapping his quill on the desk finally blurted out, "But that wasn't even the point of the story! The lesson was that you can draw out an enemy by putting the weaklings on the front line."

Then various other voices piped up.

A deep voice boomed, "You've got to be kidding me! The lesson was surround your enemy."

Someone near the window called out, "It was don't barricade yourself in so thoroughly that there is no way to escape!"

A boy with a red tie said, "I thought it was things may not always be as they seem."

A girl with a raven crest responded, "It was always have plenty of supplies on hand."

"Well it can't be all of them!" Finally, a frustrated Gryfindor looked over at the professor who was casually leaning against his desk. "Professor, who's right? What was the lesson?"

The professor lifted one shoulder and let it fall. "Everyone was right."

"But that can't be! There is always a right and a wrong answer," the same student responded.

"What is the purpose of this course?" replied Professor Stewart.

The student gave a slight huff, but paraphrased the line. "To learn of the mistakes and successes of those that came before us, so that we can mimic their successes and avoid their failures."

"Each of us may learn a different lesson and choose to apply it in a different way. By discussing each of those lessons you'll each gain ideas from each other that you can then apply to events in your life. Someone mentioned don't barricade yourself in. How can you apply that lesson to your life?"

Harry was tempted to raise his hand, but kept his thoughts to himself instead, "If my parents had had another escape route they might still be a live."

Other students raised their hands.

"You could build secret passages in your home."

Another suggested, "It could be taken less literal, like don't get so focused on one facet of something or one project that you forget everything else that is important." The student looked over at a cute Ravenclaw, "For example, some of the Ravenclaws barricade themselves in the library and forget the benefits of relationships. I can help you with that Dorbet. Would you like to join me for a stroll by the lake?"

Dorbet blushed.

"Ah," Professor Stewart interrupted, "Another lesson to be learned. Never ask someone out in front of others." The class giggled. "It leaves too many people around to judge their decision, which will often result in them making no decision at all or the opposite one of what you wish. Some of you had other insights from the story, but our time grows short. Please remember to bring your non-valuable item to our next class. Your homework is to write a minimum of 6 and maximum of 12 inches on a specific aspect of the story, what you learned from it, and how you intend to apply that lesson in your life."

Hermione frowned, "Why are you limiting the length?"

"You are more likely to apply a single lesson than a dozen. Does anyone else have a question?"

"Professor Stewart, when did this incident take place?"

"What does it matter?"

The Ravenclaw's brain froze, he could hardly speak, "Wh.. what does it matter?" Then his brain jumped into action, "This is a history course! One event in history may effect another you need to know when each happens so you know how they relate to each other."

"Well argued, and there may be stories told this year that will relate in such a way. But that is not this day. Everyone have a lovely afternoon and we will see you on Wednesday."

By Tuesday evening everyone had attended at least one of Professor Stewart's classes. The Ravenclaw's were befuddled by the lack of book work and facts to look up, but found the debates very engaging. The Slythern's had a new glow in their eye. This new history class was meant for them; it was a class on how to be cunning! The Hufflepuffs identified with the characters that achieved their goals through loyalty and hard work and enjoyed that the brief assignments left them with ample time to work on other projects. The Gryfindor's (with the exception of Hermione) were ecstatic about the short assignments and were excited to be learning spells in history class!

Pillows were left forgotten on beds, never again to be shrunken to take to class, at least not to Professor Stewart's history course.

Historical background information:
The battle tactics used in the Flinwoods/Erksdales tale were loosely based off real tactics I've seen on documentaries or in the news.

Hannibal was a great general. He once won a battle against the Romans by putting his weakest forces in the middle and having them slowly retreat. The Roman's thinking they were winning, pushed forward and continued to attack the weaker force. Then at just the right moment, Hannibal's cavalry, whom the Romans had thought had permanently fled the field, returned and surrounded the Romans on all sides.

In 1989 the U.S. used heavy metal music against their enemy in Panama. More recently, pop music has been used against Somali pirates.

Instruments like the bagpipes and drums have been used in many battles to signal to the troops of when to implement various tactics.