Chapter Five
Ginny frowned as she went to get another canvas from a cabinet in a corner of the room. How had Oliver been able to figure out her painting so easily when she didn't even know quite what was going on? It was a blue sky and sand, for God's sake. It could easily have just meant that she wanted to go to the beach. What the hell did he even know about her life? Ginny felt much less enthusiastic about the whole painting process now that she knew there wouldn't be any kind of mystery to her work.
"Ginny," whispered Hermione from behind her, making Ginny jump, "what on earth was that about?"
"What are you talking about?" Ginny asked, absentmindedly flipping through canvases as if there would be a difference between them- to her, anyway. She had no doubt that Oliver could probably detect all kinds of variation between them.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about," Hermione replied somewhat irritably. "I want to know what is already going on between you and Oliver. How on earth do you manage to cause disturbances wherever you go?"
"I didn't think anything was 'going on,'" Ginny said, emphasizing her statement with sardonic air quotes. "I guess he's just really good at figuring things out. Whatever, it doesn't really matter that much."
"No, not really," Hermione agreed, "but I can tell when you're mad and lying to pretend you're not because something that doesn't really matter matters to you. Come on, you hate it when people actually know anything about you."
"That's not true," argued Ginny. "You and Harry know a lot about me."
Hermione's mouth twisted in skepticism as she reached over Ginny to get her own canvas. "Harry told me less than a week ago that you wanted to keep your favorite color a secret from him so he wouldn't buy everything in that color from now on."
"That makes sense!" Ginny said, outraged. "You know Harry, he's so-"
"Thoughtful," Hermione interjected. "Yes, I know. He tries to do things for people that they would like, but you make it really difficult for him."
"This is not a discussion about my relationship," Ginny whispered fiercely, and she grabbed a canvas and walked back to her easel. Wonderful, now she was fuming.
"Is everything okay?" called Oliver to the class as the three of them finished setting up their easels. "Are you all ready to start learning?"
"We're not a kindergarten, for fuck's sake," Ginny snapped before she could even think about it. Then she clapped her hand over her mouth, eyes wide. "Sorry," she squeaked from under her fingers.
Oliver looked at her for a second. "I don't really mind if you guys express your opinions in here," he said slowly. "We're all adults. I don't want this to be a dictatorship where I tell you what to think and what to do. But I really would appreciate if you all would have a certain amount of respect for me, as your teacher, and for each other as classmates and peers. If we hang out outside the classroom and you want to really express yourself to me, feel free. I'm not kidding, I want your honest opinions all the time, but outside the classroom would be the place for your uncensored thoughts. I think here should be a place we feel a little more secure that we won't be made fun of or viciously shouted down. Does that make sense to you?"
Ginny nodded rapidly. Hermione said, "Yes," quietly and Roger didn't do anything, he just stood there twirling his wand idly.
"Okay, I'm glad we've figured that out," Oliver said, an easy smile returning to his face. "So, I guess what we're going to do now- well, more what you're going to do- is listen to me give a bit of a lecture on wizard painting history."
"Really?" asked Roger skeptically. "I had imagined this class as being more hands-on, you know."
"I know, Roger, and I promise the vast majority of my talking will be during this class," Oliver said reassuringly. "Now that you guys have had a try at painting like this I want you to understand where it all came from. Does that make sense? I mean," he added, "even if it doesn't make sense, you're pretty much stuck with it, but it would improve student-teacher relations if you all understood that I have a point to the things I do."
Hermione nodded. Ginny tried to maintain a neutral expression since she was pretty sure scowling wouldn't make anything easier for her. Roger just rolled his eyes but remained silent.
"Okay then," Oliver said. "Well, 'wizard painting' as my five-year old nephew calls it, probably had its forerunner in a witch I'm sure you've all heard of- Circe." Hermione nodded intently, but Roger and Ginny chose to keep their knowledge or ignorance to themselves. "Circe used her magic to weave beautiful tapestries which she hung in her house or paraded in the streets. She was very proud of her magic and wasn't ashamed of telling other people. Back then, in ancient Greece, it was okay for people to be open about their magic. It was the time of gods and goddesses, and magic was just one kind of add-on to all that. Circe was the greatest witch of her time, and the gods noticed that. Her tapestries were at least equal to, if not better than, those of the goddesses, and they were enraged with her. They offered her a deal, as she was too powerful to just attempt to destroy, and she agreed to confine herself to one island as long as she could do what she liked there and have everything she needed. The gods agreed, and as you all know, she wreaked havoc there for the rest of her life. But I'm guessing you'd rather know about the actual first wizard painter, right?"
Ginny didn't really care what she heard about. Oliver had a nice voice; it fell, rose, and rolled with his story and made Ginny feel like she was effortlessly floating through the story. She reluctantly stirred herself on the stool at the pause in the story. Hermione raised her hand.
"Go on, Hermione," Oliver laughed. "We're not at Hogwarts anymore, you can just talk. Think of this classroom as a big conversation between the four of us."
"I just wanted to point out that the 'gods' of Circe's time were actually just very powerful wizards, like today's Wizengamot," Hermione said breathlessly, and Ginny frowned at her. Did she have to make everyone aware of the fact that she knew everything? "Their behavior, which appears selfish and silly today, was merely a reflection of the modes of the time."
"Yeah, Hermione, but that makes the story a lot more boring," Oliver replied, and Hermione's face fell slightly. Ginny felt a nasty twinge of satisfaction and pushed it down. She loved Hermione more than she hated her know-it-all tendencies. "I like to think of it all in terms of those myths that we all grew up on about Zeus and Hera, Aphrodite, Hermes, Apollo…"
"Wouldn't it be better to just deal with the facts since we're in a class?" Roger asked irritably. Oliver just frowned at him, and he sighed and returned his gaze to his own smeared canvas.
"Well, if we're ready to continue, I can stick to the facts from now on," Oliver said, winking at Hermione. "After Circe, witches and wizards kept making art and using their magic creatively for thousands of years, but they didn't really tap into their human emotion until one very famous wizard that I'm absolutely certain you've all heard of: Michelangelo."
Hermione almost fell out of her chair. The history of famous wizards in the art world wasn't often taught in classes, more by wizard parents, so Ginny had known about Michelangelo but she guessed Hermione hadn't. She certainly seemed surprised enough, and started to raise her hand again before controlling herself and speaking without waiting for permission.
"Michelangelo was a wizard?" she squeaked. "He can't have been a wizard, he was an artist."
"Really?" Oliver asked, a look of amusement crossing his face. "So you think it's not possible to be both, then?"
Hermione frowned. "Well, no, of course not. I mean, we're all here, right?"
"I don't think any of us are artists yet," Oliver said seriously. "We have a long way to go but maybe before this class is over we'll all be able to understand a little bit what Michelangelo went through as both a person of magic and a person of absurd creativity."
"So what do you think David was really meant to represent, then?" asked Roger.
Oliver rolled his eyes. "I'm sure even your heathen ears have heard the story of David and Goliath as made famous by the Bible, Roger," he said. "I think David is meant to represent that figure of David as he stands for the underdog, as it were. I think David might have represented to Michelangelo the beauty of magic against the strength of persecution against those with magical powers that had developed since the days of Circe on her island. Do you guys have any ideas about what kind of thoughts Michelangelo might have had while sculpting his famous David?"
"Homosexual ones?" Ginny whispered appreciatively, remembering the finely sculpted contours of David's physique. Hermione and Roger laughed, but Oliver seemed to take her quip seriously.
"It was thought, and probably still is in some circles, that Michelangelo was homosexual," he said thoughtfully. "I think a lot of his temper, social incompatibility, and disagreements with various religious figures and patrons can be explained by the fact that a part of him didn't feel welcome or even wanted by these same people who clamored for his work."
"Were any of his paintings or sculptures given to wizards?" asked Roger.
"There is a kind of legend about a painting done by Michelangelo and given to a wizarding family that had a magical theme to it," Oliver said. "Unfortunately, that family was a small offset of the Medicis called the Malfoys, so no one has ever seen it. Nor will they ever, most likely."
Hermione and Ginny rolled their eyes at each other. Of course it was the Malfoys who had the famous painting. It was probably locked up in a vault being forgotten by the people who owned it and remembered and reverenced by anyone denied the opportunity to see it. Oliver had looked so wistful when speaking of the painting that sympathetic Hermione's eyes had become glossy with secondhand emotion.
"Anyway, I don't want to bore you with one topic for too long," Oliver continued, snapping out of his momentary reverie and glancing again around the classroom. "Let's keep moving."