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Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Ferrix: GMT-6
Posts: 56,908
Hogwarts RPG Name:
Moritz Schultz (#0f667e)
Ravenclaw Seventh Year
Hogwarts RPG Name:
Nancy Schultz (#ac6f77)
Hufflepuff Fourth Year  x11  x1
|  curly haired prefect - "sometimes I get angry!" - 30/90 - *chicken emoji* - probably @ Disney - I speak dog
The air in the room was...tense, of course, and Gabi wasn't surprised. After the events of last term she had expected everyone to be a bit on edge whenever bloodlines were mentioned, but she thought she had done a pretty good job of leveling the tension - hopefully. It was hard to remain down in the dumps, though, when she knew she had a delicious slice of watermelon bread waiting for her after she went over the answers and released them to the main activity!
"A quick segway before we go into the history of the Gaunt's - here are the answers to the mini activity! As you can see, some of them are related by blood that you might not have expected," she said with a pause - who would have thought Bellatrix Lestrange and Terry Boot of all people?? "And some are NOT related but have some sort of connection via marriage or distant DISTANT cousins," she added.
Quote: Terry Boot -- Bellatrix Lestrange (RELATED)
Neville Longbottom -- Ron Weasley (NOT RELATED)
James Potter -- Marvolo Gaunt (RELATED)
Sirius Black -- Arthur Weasley (RELATED)
Lucius Malfoy -- Albus Potter (NOT RELATED) "The point, as I'm sure many of you have guessed, is to show that all purebloods have, for the most part, ended up being connected in some way. It really doesn't matter where you come from, but what you DO with your life that makes you important." No one was better than anyone else just because of their bloodline. That much had hopefully been obvious after the events of the past year.
Now, back to the Gaunts! Quote:
Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19  Claudine sat there kind of bewildered. Had she been the only one, perhaps with the exception of Nem, who hadn’t misunderstood Emmerson? [i]Whatever.[i/] This wasn’t her problem, especially since Reccard seemed miffed by Emmerson’s lack of tact. She ducked her head into her textbook, searching for something interesting to read. Not that she actually did any reading then. Her hand almost immediately raised at the question.
“Tom Riddle’s relation to them. Merope Riddle was Tom Riddle’s mother.” The Snakette sat back, her thoughts drifting to Merope. If she’d been in the woman’s position, she’d have been glad to have died before she ever saw what her son turned out to be. Quote:
Originally Posted by emjay Morgan wasn't sure if History of Magic was more of a snore than usual today or if he was just more full of restless energy than usual, but Merlin, was he fidgety. And he wasn't exactly paying attention, allowing his mind to wander during the discussion on pureblood families. He half-wondered if any of his family was part of the Sacred Twenty-whatever or if they were related to anyone on it. But that was as far as his interest went, sorry professor.
The argument between Emmerson and the professor was a little more interesting and watched idly for a moment before turning his eyes to the board and the assignment they were supposed to do. He had been a little surprised by Recard's response as it seemed like Emmerson was just talking about how certain families were, but he hadn't really been paying attention to what started all that, so he couldn't speak on it himself. It was a little distracting from their assignment though, not that he wasn't already distracted. So, more distracting.
Wait, did they have to do all the names, or just choose one? Because some of them he didn't even recognize. Like, who the heck was Terry Boot? And what a terrible name to be saddled with. But he had heard of Sirius Black before and decided he'd start there because that dude was cool. He even had a motorcycle. Wicked! Now... how was he meant to figure out if he was related to this Weasley guy? Morgan quickly flipped through his book to see if anything useful caught his eye.
He vaguely heard the next question and his classmates answers as he did his research. Gaunt sounded familiar, uh... oh. When Claudine answered, Morgan nodded without looking up from his book. "So basically Voldemort's mum." That sounded pretty significant to him. "Correct!" Gabi nodded at Claudine and Morgan when they brought up Voldemort's mum, Merope. "Merope Gaunt had a son with a muggle, Tom Riddle, and of course passed along that name to her son," she explained. Voldemort had had some FEELINGS about that, of course, and had quickly changed his name. Obviously. Quote:
Originally Posted by MadMadamMalfoy Just when Heath thought he couldn't be any more disgusted with that Gryffindor girl, she said that. Had she just shut up after Recard scolded her, he could've chalked it up to a case of misspeaking, but no. It took every bit of restraint he had not to point out to her that it wasn't what she said that was wrong but how she said it, but he resisted. It wouldn't be fair to Professor Recard or his other, less annoying classmates to cause further disruption. Besides, if she was willing to argue with Recard, she'd probably just argue with him too, and what was the point in that? Anyway, he didn't have to say anything because Recard had already done that.
He was trying to keep an open mind, but he still didn't understand how this topic showed that they were all connected. Okay, technically that wasn't true. He understood that part; what he didn't understand was how this topic better lent itself to that than one that was slightly less divisive. All he could do was hope it made more sense soon and focus on the activity in the meantime.
He copied down the names written on the board, his eyes shifting between the parchment and his textbook as he consulted the latter. Two pairs of names jumped out at him right off the bat. James Potter and Marvolo Gaunt… that one was easy! Both families were descended from the Peverells. As for Sirius Black and Arthur Weasley, wasn't Arthur's mum a Black? He cross-referenced his book. Yes!*
The other three sets of names were more difficult. Terry Boot and Bellatrix Lestrange? He didn't think those two were related, unless there was a marriage somewhere between a Boot and a Black that he didn't remember, but he'd leave that one blank for now. Neville Longbottom and Ron Weasley? He knew both the Longbottom and Weasley families were related to the Blacks through marriage, but was that enough to make them related to each other? Lucius Malfoy and Albus Potter… that one was even harder! Albus Potter was probably related to Charlus Potter. who married Dorea Black. and he knew Lucius's wife was also a Black… but he couldn't recall any marriages between the Malfoys and Potters themselves.
Making his best guesses, he jotted down:
It was only after he finished writing that Heath registered Professor Recard's question, and that uncomfortable feeling in the pit of his stomach was back as he thought of the Gaunts and their pureblood fanaticism. No. that wasn't fair. Surely they can't all have been evil, right? As he thought, he remembered a kernel of information and decided to take his answer in a more positive direction. "The creation of Ilvermorny," he said after raising his hand. "Isolt Sayre, the school's founder, was the daughter of Rionach Gaunt and William Sayre." "Ah, a good point that is often forgotten! Yes, the Gaunt's have a connection to our friends at Ilvemorny is one often overlooked for their...more nefarious impact on our history," she said with a small frown. More on that in a minute... Quote:
Originally Posted by kayquilz V wiiiiilted slightly, listening to Professor Recard talk. Wah wah, wah wah-wah, wah. Emmerson also made some good points....who WOULD want to marry a muggle? It seemed like a lot of work and a LOT of hassle. But then she remembered Lisa was a muggleborn, and Lisa's parents, though she hadn't met them, seemed very nice and kind and great. Better than her parents, even, in some ways.
Maybe it wasn't ALL bad, yeah?
But the assignment was totally not something V felt like doing, so she wrote all the names down in her notebook and began to doodle next to them, soon getting lost in the doodles and forgetting the assignment. It was only when she heard some mumbling from classmates nearby that she decided she ought to TRY to do the assignment.
So she opened her book and began to search for the answers. So many words. SO little time. SO little time...ugh. She wasn't done when Recard moved on, and it made her stomach flutter a little, in that "oh no, I'm getting lost" kind of way. Breath breath breath breath brea-
The Gaunt family? V was lucky she had seen that name in her book, and she knew the name from growing up with magical families, luckily. "They're related to Slytherin, right?" Quote:
Originally Posted by Watson “Sorry,” she said quietly. She still thought historical purebloods were du- a little silly. Hopefully the genetics would play it’s part… she thought but decided not to say anything more as she had said her peace. Saying more would mean trouble which is evident by what happened next.
So Lisa heeded the Professor’s request to remain civil. She folded her arms and remained silent, listening to Emerson’s response and then the Professor’s later response. She bit her lip and tapped her foot lightly on the ground. She glanced at her notebook with the written names, and then began her guesswork. Now that Emmerson had phrased it that way- she did feel a little bit bad about her outburst. It was just triggering. She did write the name Rosier down for research purposes to be done at a later point in time.
Terry Boot -- Bellatrix Lestrange <—- Hopefully not related for Terry Boot’s sake. Wouldn’t personally wish to be related to Lestrange OR a Malfoy
Neville Longbottom -- Ron Weasley <— Not Related?
James Potter -- Marvolo Gaunt <— Related
Sirius Black -- Arthur Weasley <— Related by Marriage????
Lucius Malfoy -- Albus Potter <— Hopefully not Related
She listened to the next question and refrained from adding a reference to incest in her answer. “They were Parsletongues?” Quote:
Originally Posted by MadAlice "The Gaunt family--they were known for the ability to speak Parseltongue, weren't they? I hear somewhere that they tried to breed the trait in their line, marrying their cousins and such, but that would probably just introduce genetic instability into their line." Violet savoured the new word -- genetic instability -- which she'd picked up from her ex-governess in their conversations following the battle last year. Violet was not sure she entirely understood it, but what she did understand led her to believe that being totally Pureblood was more of a liability than something to be proud of. "Very good, all three of you!" Gabi smiled at Violet, Victoria and Lisa in turn as they all brought up the Gaunt's being descended from Slytherin - and by extension, being parseltongues. Probably the best known fact about them...aside from the Voldemort connection. "In addition to being descendants of Salazar Slytherin and inheriting his ability to speak parseltongue, they were also descended from the Peverell family." "Many of you brought up most of the big things the Gaunts are remembered for. Nearly everyone in our history knows the sad tale of Merope Gaunt and her unrequented love for Tom Riddle - and eventually marrying him under the guise of a love potion, and having a child with him. The Gaunt obsession with status had caused them to spend all their money years prior to that, however, and by the time Merope fled with Tom Riddle Sr. the family was living in poverty," she explained. "Aside from that, however, the Gaunts have popped up in various ways throughout our history. Mister Jones brought up the interesting tale of Isolt Gaunt, who fled to what would eventually become The United States to open Ilvermorny with her husband. There is also Corvinus Gaunt, who helped design the bathroom that currently houses the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets. He knew it existed - since they were descended from Salazar Slytherin - and used his design to conceal the entrance when the school decided to put in plumbing," she said. Who knew something as simple as putting in bathrooms actually had a bit of an interesting past?! "Just about everything the Gaunt family did in our past revolves around one thing - blood purity. The Gaunts were obsessed with it. They took great pride in their ancestry to both the Slytherin family and the Peverell family, and spent all their money trying to uphold their social status," she told the class. "Based on this information, for our main activity today, YOU will pick someone from the Gaunt family and try and determine how they would react to the following events that have happened since their downfall," she explained before pausing to put a list of events on the board. "You can pick ANYONE from the Gaunt family, and using your textbooks, read up a bit on their personality and their attitude. Some of the Gaunt family might surprise in their attitude towards muggleborns and might not be what you expect!" she said with a grin. Even Voldemort himself was an option! "For example - Marvolo Gaunt would have 100% been on board with the Neo-Alliance. In fact, he likely would have come to the Battle at Hogwarts to try and gain some street cred for the Gaunt family! Naturally, he would have been unsuccessful, and probably just made the Gaunt family more unpopular in the wizarding community," she told them all her fantastical scenario with a small chuckle to give them an idea of what she was expecting. "You can work alone and write out a synopsis of what you think might have happened and turn it in at the end of class, OR if you'd like to work with a partner, you can brainstorm together to write a scenario out featuring two characters - or you can even do some roleplaying in front of the class! Whatever really gets those creative juices flowing!" she encouraged them all with a small clap before popping another small bite of watermelon bread in her mouth. Normally her activities would have a bit more structure but...why not let them run wild with this and have FUN?! "You have the rest of the class to work on this. Have fun!" she told them all with one final clap of her hands, and they were officially free to begin! OOC: Main activity time! As Gabi said, you really can get creative with this as long as you present her with the following - pick a Gaunt family member, and tell her how they would have reacted to the historical events provided. Those are all SS RPG historical events! Obviously I am a dinosaur and have been here forever but I know most of y'all haven't which is why I linked to the archives for those events so you can read up on them you might some a familiar woman popping up in the Ministry cough cough. You can also utilize the SnitchseekerRPG Wiki which may also have some helpful information! You have until July 10th at roughly 8 PM CDT to finish up the main activity before I close it up. If you have any questions, please let me know!
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