SMIIIIIIRK.

He saw her. Out of the corner of his eyes. She was heading his way and, even better, sitting right down next to him. Grayson cleared his throat and tried to look as cool and neutral as possible. Maybe she had a reason for doing this. Maybe this had a liiiiitle something to do with the fact that Domingo had said that this girl right here improved him and that he should work with her more often.

Regardless of the reason, it was VERY nice to see you, Sophie Newell. Very nice indeed. A smile and a wink was sent her way from the fourth year.

"'Sup, Simon!" Hat tip for you. And what was with the smirk, eh?

He had no time to ponder on that since the class was getting started. No distractions, mkay Whitty? Not when they were talking about Cinco de Mayo. This was about the French vs the Mecicans. LOOOOOL. Part Frenchie sitting right here. This wasn't a subject they would talk about a lot back in France. Nuh uh. It was taught, sure, but the teacher was always bitter over one tiny little fact that Grayson was going to go on to mention.

So, his hand went up in the air. "One of the reasons is because the French army had more men and better equipment," he said, "But the Mexicans still won. Pretty remarkable feat, if you ask me." Smart, they were. And what had the Frenchies been DOING?!

Oh look! Domingo was here! Heeeeeeey.

Relaxing in her sombrero, Jasmine listened as the Professor began to talk about Cinco de Mayo and the Battle of Puebla. She wrote down some notes as the information was being given and then it was question time. What was significant about the battle?

Jasmine raised her hand to share her thoughts. "No one expected the Mexicans to win the battle. It was very inspirational to the Mexican people when they did win." They always celebrated Cinco de Mayo when Jasmine lived in California, but many people really didn't know what the holiday was all about.

"Me? Lose my way?" The woman clicked her tongue and shook her head. She knew that her friend would understand that was almost exactly what had happened. It was good of Fina to play along with her comment on fashion, since it was not as much a passion of hers. "And such lovely boots they are," she replied, glancing down. Lolita merely nodded her assent to starting the lesson.

Part of the reason she had been looking forward to this class was to see how the students behaved with other professors. Jasmine and Grayson being the two to answer the question did not leave her surprised. So far nothing was different, but their time had barely begun.

Simon didn't have time to tell Ethan to stop with the maracas for Cutty. He'd been to busy staring in awe at him, trying to register what was actually happening before him. By the time he opened his mouth, Professor Hadley and Domingo had started the lesson.

Oh they were learning about Cinco de Mayo? He'd heard about that. Maybe it was good of Ethan to keep playing with those maracas and singing to celebrate Mexico's unlikely win over the French army. He listened to Hadley's question about the Battle of Puebla and then raised his answer. "Well the battle was a huge boost in popularity for both Benito Juarez and his government. During this time of upheaval and chaos, it was very likely for people to overthrow their government."

What did Mexico have to do with muggle studies... Or Arithmancy for that matter? There were wizards in Mexico too. How were they supposed to know if the Cinco de Mayo battle wasn't fought by the wizards hmmmm? But either way Zander had absolutely no clue. None. Nada- for that matter. So instead of answering the question, he just diligently took notes because Mr. Group Leader Grayson sounded like he was on to something and Professor Domingo didn't have anything to argue with their answers so Jasmine and Grayson were probably right about something or another.

Instead, he just looked over at the Slytherin boys sitting next to them and gave them weirded out looks. Because this lesson had just begun and it was already really strange.... Were they going to make mexican food? And again... Why did any of this relate to Arithmancy? The muggle studies bit, okay that was a long shot, but if they were cooking then it could be there. But Arithmancy.. Were they going to figure out the significance of the day Cinco de Maywhatever? Because wasn't that what they spent last lesson doing? A little redundant...

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhoenixRising

Josephina stood by the door patiently waiting, resisting the urge to tap her boot on the stone floor. Not that she was impatient, just that the sound was so enticing.

SPOILER!!: Greetings!

And first one to enter was the gryffindor twin ... or she was a triplet actually? Except Josephina had still not met the third of the trio, so for now, in her mind, there was just AJ and Angel. "Afternoon dear! Welcome!" she beamed happily when the girl took one of the hats and donned it. Well at least it wasn't worthless having them there.

ooc: by hats we mean sombreros, so you know. there's not both hats and sombreros. we were just translating for those who don't know that sombrero is a hat =]



One of the first to arrive was one of her favorite Hufflepuffs! Beaming when he said she looked lovely she nodded politely at him. Of course she was looking lovely; castle exercise did wonders for working off the weight gain from her pregnancy. "Hello there Adi! Thank you!" She nodded when he took a sombrero.



well that was one explanation for the two lessons she held in the kitchens this year. Or it was simply just - get all the cooking stuff out of the way in one year. Themed years were good, weren't they? And didn't they say they wanted to learn to cook more stuff?

"... undoubtedly you probably did." Fina answered simply, even though Alexa's question didn't really require a response.



Well someone just seemed .... to be taking it all in. Smiling briefly at the third year, she was tempted to jam one of the sombreros onto his head but decided against it. Besides, it might break his focus and he seemed very focused.



"Hello Lux! I'm quite well, thank you!" she beamed at the third year as she happily took the sombrero.




"Hello Ben!" Hadley greeted back to the Gryffindor, as he took a seat near Adi.



Well then wasn't someone trying to get on her good terms? Not that she hated the Slytherin fourth year, but she needless to say, hadn't been thus far impressed by him and his smirks. But he seemed genuinely polite today. "Hello Grayson," she greeted back, but then what? He asked her how he looked in the sombrero? "You look ... festive," she nodded at him. It was true.



Ah now that was the spirit! "Hola Ethan!" she beamed back at him. So someone was practicing basic greetings in other languages! Excellent! Not that 'hola' or 'mi amigos' were difficult words to know....



"Hello Jasmine, welcome and thank you! We definitely tried." So mission accomplished, yes?



Ah someone was observant and brave enough to speak and ask on the whereabouts of the other professor. She could only assume that some of the kids who were fourth years and older, upon not seeing Lolita, probably assumed she was teaching both portions today. But Zander would not remember her as Arithmancy professor, so alas it made sense for him to ask about the other professor. "It seems, Professor Domingo might be running late. But not to worry, she'll be here."



"Hello there, Sophie," Hadley greeted to the female Newell next.



"Hayden! Hello! Glad to see you again!" Hadley beamed at the young first year.



"Hello there, Angel," Fina greeted back to the other half of the Gryffindor duo. "I've been alright thanks."



"Hello there, Nigel!" and then Fina just sighed as she took a lasting look at the ravenclaw prefect, when realization slowly began to set in that next year she wouldn't see him here. "Ah good call, but it seems a little one stole my cowboy hat. He looked all too adorable in it too." She couldn't bear to take it from her son. Not with that little expression he was wearing. "... no worries, the sombreros have been charmed to not mess up hairdos."



And another seventh year. Sigh. She was getting too old to deal with this heartbreak. "Hi Penelope! Welcome!"



Ah another Spanish speaking slytherin! Excellent! "Hola, Simon! I'm quite well, thank you!" she beamed at him as he joined some of his classmates.



"Hello Layla!" Josephina greeted of the seventh year.



"Hello, Lucy! Welcome back!" Hadley greeted to the first year.



Ah there was someone she missed last lesson. Or not. She wasn't sure who's smirking irked her more: Grayson or Ascanius. But Ascanius was graduating so soon she would have to only deal with one snarky Slytherin soon.

"Well thank you, Ascanius. right back at you." Yup. Or not. Who could tell with her smile?



Now why couldn't all Slytherins be like Beverly Wayne? Genuine and polite. Not sarcastic (at least not from what Fina could see)

"Hello Beverly," Fina greeted back, offering a grin of her own at the fourth year.



Just when Fina was about to close the door and start without her friend, Lolita showed up and found her way to her. "Ah! I was worried you've lost your way! Buenos días!" She greeted the Latina cheerfully. "Quite. Though I'm good with just my boots." No sombrero for her. "Shall I?" she glanced towards Lolita but didn't bother waiting for a response before she turned to address the students. They could talk more while the students were working. And she DID have to speak to her.

Once everyone had filed in, Josephina waited for them to get settled - get the singing out of their system (Ethan) - or whatever else they were doing before she started. "So its a very festive today and yes we will be enjoying some delicious food soon, but before we do anything with food, we need to go over some history stuff to lead us into the arithmancy portion." Sound good? Good. "The festival we're learning about today is called Cinco de Mayo, which commemorates the Mexican's army unlikely victory over the French army at the Battle of Puebla. It is NOT to be confused with Mexico's Independence day, which takes place in September. The are two main reasons why this battle is significant, which I've already somewhat alluded to one. Any idea what these reasons might be?"

The battle of WHAT? Caleb blinked cluelessly and then started to flip through the pages of his textbook. History was so BORING, he had no idea why anyone in their right mind would want to make a living off of this.

Finally, he found the answer to Hadley's question and raised his hand. "Well, the first reason it was important is because that was the last time any European nation had control over a territory in the Americas," he explained. Yeah, those ancestors of theirs were like, ALWAYS in everyone's business. "The second is that they were SUPER outnumbered. Like that battle in Ancient Greece with only 300 guys. Except the Mexicans won and didn't get horribly slaughtered," he pointed out.

The best friend had finally landed. "Hey, Dragon. I should make Angel drag you to class seeing as you take so long to reach them.'' Hehe. The boy enjoyed teasing his bestie. Benny should be used to that by now. Oh, look. Lux! And Jasmine! Heeeey, guys!
.................................

And Professor Domingo had made her arrival so now the lesson was on its way. Cinco de Mayo. Adi knew a bit about that. But he didn't know the second reason as to why the battle was significant. Nope. So, he just sat there quietly.

Ah, Cinco de Mayo. That explained the Sombreros and everything.

And two reasons why this battle was important. Okay. Everyone seemed to be focused on the one, Mexico being outnumbered. But it looked like her status as an American was going to help her out here, as she knew of one that no one had mentioned yet. "It prevented the French from moving any further north and providing aid to the Confederate Army in the American Civil War and without their help, the Confederates eventually lost. Which kept the U.S. together." Stupid meddling Frenchies.

Leah straightened her hat as she listened. Cinco what? What about mayonnaise? Oh a festival commemorating Mexico's victory over French. History all over again. And again, the kitchen. Were they going to cook? Because cooking was getting boring. Eating though, Mexican food.. yum.

If you told Leah the date of that festival, she could figure out the significance of that date. But history aargh nope. She listened to the older students speaking instead.

Angel looked at the Professor and raised her hand. "Professor is it because no one gave the Mexican's a chance to win the battle and they showed everyone how good they were?" Angel had no idea what else to say so she decided just to go with it.

Lucy thought a lot and she said:" I know that there was a torrential rain that transformed the land in mud blocking the French troops"
Bad weather can be a good ally!!!

Adi was sitting beside her in a lesson. It seemed like ages since this had taken place. She was beaming from ear to ear, and tipped her hat back to him. "Sup Adi." Not long after Benny joined them. It had been quite some time since she had spoken to him, and she couldn't help but to be curious as to how he was doing. "Hey Ben." For some reason AJ still didn't call him Benny. Then she noticed that the other professor arrived. The lion only hoped that this lesson wasn't going to be hard since muggle studies was attached to it.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Erm... she didn't really have a clue as to why it was important, but she was going to venture a guess anyways. AJ wasn't one to just sit back and be quiet especially since she was in an exceptional mood now that all was well again between her and Adi. "Maybe because once they won they were able to celebrate with food, and who doesn't get happy about that?" No seriously, she wanted to know. Plus, a confirmation that they would be making something delicious this lesson would be nice.


OOC: HAHA...I promise I knew that. My mind was reading pancho for some reason.

Ohh, hi, Professor Domingo! Sophie really looked up to the Arithmancy professor. She kind of hoped the woman would stick around and wouldn't be one of those guest professors that came and went within a year. She grinned her way as sort of a silent way of saying hello, then turned her attention to Hadley, who was asking a question.

Sophie raised her hand. "I think it's significant, because it reminds of us that we shouldn't sell ourselves short," she said. "We should always keep trying no matter how other people see us or how we see ourselves. Nobody expected the Mexicans to win, but they did anyway."

That's really all Sophie had to offer on the battle.

Class had only just started and Lux was already confused. Why did everything associated with Arithmancy have to be so hard? Not having any knowledge about this holiday, she decided to remain quest and let the other students answer the question.

Kace was hearing what the professor was going over today. He heard the Arthimancy professor was here. He wondered why? But he heard they were learning about Cinco De Mayo and it made sense. Professor Hadley wanted to know what he knew about it? Hmm...what did he know? He looked through his book and raised his hand,

" Professor the 8,000-strong French army attacked the much smaller and poorly equipped Mexican army of 4,500 but yet the the Mexicans managed to decisively crush the French army." It seemed even though the Mexican army was smaller they managed to kick butt.

Cinco de Mayo? Yeah, Penelope didn't really know a whole lot about that festival, though she'd heard of it at some point. But from what Hadley had said about it, she'd thought along the lines that a lot of the others were answering. And for now, she felt like answering with it anyway, so she raised her hand. "Yeah, I agree with what a lot of them are saying. It sounds like Mexican army wasn't supposed to win against the French, but they still did anyway, which is pretty awesome. It's kinda like Quidditch, where sometimes one team seems to be 'better' than the other one, but then the other one wins and catches the snitch." Those were fun games to watch.

Battle of what? And...what was Simon talking about?! Ethan was pretty clueless as to what is exactly being celebrated, but based on his classmates' answer, this battle can be classified as epic. 8,000 men against 4,000?! Wowzers.

Hand up.

"It's the perfect example for teamwork and unity, professor." And upon reaching the goal, you go celebrate. With nothing more to add, Ethan wrote down his notes and waited for the 'celebration' part of the joint class.

Hold the snitch.

For a moment Lex just sat there staring. Could this day get any stranger? They....were in the kitchen to focus on muggles and numbers....but had slipped into a History lesson.....? History of all things. What battle were they on about and why did no one think Mexico would win? You'd think any place with spicy food could whip up a good army, what were the French thinking??

"Maybe it's important to teach you not to pick on the little guys because the little guys have more fire power?" Had no one else ever SEEN a firstie rant about something? They went on and on like no other. She didn't even KNOW where they got that energy when half of them promised they hadn't had candy in a few hours.

The NEWTs studying must have been getting to Benjy. He could have sworn that he was in the kitchen for a combined Muggle Studies and Arithmancy lesson, not a lesson on the history of...Mexico?! And for that matter, why would he confuse Cinco de Mayo (surely, the fifth of May?) with some day in September?

A frown flickered across his face, and he glanced across to Lex, clearly bewildered. He was pretty sure he'd eaten today, and he'd gone skateboarding in the corridors too. And yet his brain still seemed completely mangled. Huh.

"Because there was an awesome feast afterwards?" Benjy answered Professor Hadley hopefully. There had to be a link to the kitchens in the lesson somewhere, right?

You can certainly have fun on Cinco De Mayo. Not sure about the Independence Day though. That was Nigel's knowledge on the subject. He had no knowledge in this battle. He knew about The Alamo. But that was a different country and war.

Right?

Well, he would just listened to everyone's answer. The Mexicans are pretty cool for winning a battle which appeared that they were out numbered.

Not Bad

Pfft.

They got lucky. That was the truth. No one else wanted to say it, yeah? But Ascanius knew it 'cause of LUCK. Nothing else. In history a lot of it was just luck because for all intensive purposes they SHOULD have lost.

In both cases.

History never talked about the Revolutions that lost. And there were loads of them.

But he kept his mouth shut.

Oooh! Cinco de Mayo. Beverly was fairly familiar with that date because of Kennedy and his heritage. She still has that picture of him dressed up as a mariachi in his fourth year at Hogwarts. It's the most silly thing.

The Slytherin wrinkled her nose when the thing she was going to say was mentioned.

Boo, you guys, boo.

She raised her hand either way. "Could it be because Mexico over came the incredible odds that were stacked against them?" she said. Maybe some Arithmancy stuff had to do with it?

Cinco de Mayo. That was a lot of fives already. A number for rebellion if Cutty had ever seen one.



That was worth it. Definitely worth calculating the numerical odds via Arithmancy. Merlin would you look at Beverly Wayne. She was..."Joost full of good ideas today, Wayne!". He was proud of her.

Hand in the air to address their Professor now, Cutty offered this, "Building off of Beverly's point, Professor, could the other reason the battle is significant to our class be due to the numerical values achieved by evaluating the dates of the event. I mean, the fifth day of the fifth moonth. That's sort of asking for it, isn't it?"

Heh, Sophie Newell at it again. Seriously, that Whitlock boy ought to just get ON with things and ask her out. It was so painfully obvious that he had a thing for the girl with the gorgeous hair. And of course Lolita took all the credit for that bit. Ay ay ay, too bad knocking boys upside the head was frowned upon, or that Slytherin would have a burrito-sized red spot on the back of his head already.

But on a more academic note, she was pleasantly surprised at how many students were so knowledgeable about Latin history, and Muggle Latin history at that. Her friend had done well with this bunch, that much was clear. And then there was Cutty Mordaunt, who seemed to have some sixth sense about Arithmancy. She nodded in approval toward the boy, though refrained from speaking. This was Fina's part of the lesson, not hers.

Well duh, of course they were lovely. And she was donning them quite well, thank you very much. But no need to continue that conversation, unless it would lead into conversation about the weather because that was something she wanted to discuss with Lolita. Once the kiddos started on some assignment anyway. For now though, her attention was on the young ones.


"Ah yes, the French had more men and better equipment." Hadley restated, confirming Grayson's ideas.

"Inspirational yes. Exactly that. Who could ever expect the underdogs to win?" Much like the house cup race. Even though her badgers weren't in the lead this term, they had still snatched the cup for seven straight terms which was a remarkable and unexpected feat, if you asked her.

"Ah yes, funny how unexpected wins, even if its nothing to do with politics, it becomes something to do with politics."

"AH there's the other reason I was looking for! The last time any European nation had control over an American territory. Or subsequently been invaded." Someone had been reading.

"Yes, true points." Hadley nodded. Not the main significance to the battle, but definitely true points.

"Not that no one gave the Mexicans a chance... and they weren't really that good. But it was just unexpected, their win. They were vastly outnumbered in both soldiers and equipment."

"History says nothing in regards to bad weather, but not that it wasn't a deterrent...." Hadley said thoughtfully, "But there's nothing noted that there was bad weather affecting the outcome." Nor is anything noted in regards to magic influences. This battle was pure muggle studies.

"Ah yes they did celebrate or at least commemorate the holiday with food, but I'm not sure back in 1862 when the battle took place, the soldiers were thinking about the celebrations. They were probably more focused on staying alive." At least that's what she would be thinking about in battle. Even if food was good.

Ooh very good and original way to state things! "Excellent, Sophie! Very good take home message there for not just referring to this particular topic but life in general. Don't sell yourself short because you never know."

"Yes very factual statements, but true enough." Even if the counts were off slightly, it was the emphasis that the French army was like double the size of the Mexican army.

"Yes, it kind of is like Quidditch, or any sporting game for that matter. When someone wins who is the underdog. Some might even call it 'sheer dumb luck', which I reckon could be attributed to some scenarios in history." Yes she did just call the Mexicans out for being lucky. Because in a sense it was just that, wasn't it? OR was there more to it?

"Ah yes, teamwork and unity and actually pride too. Good." Because had the Mexican army not been united and prideful of their land, they wouldn't have fought for the win in the first place.

Uh what? OH was Alexa trying to imply that her five foot four self had more fire power than the students who outgrew her (which was usually by fourth or fifth year)? Because that was actually true. She had plenty of fire power, when she chose to execute it.

"Not necessarily, but yes, the little guys may or may not have more fire power."

Another one with the food. Honestly and they said all Hufflepuffs thought about was food; yet neither of these students was in Hufflepuff. "They didn't know that there would be a feast after they won. The feast was because they won." See. Difference.

"Ah yes. Odds. Predictability. They're a funny thing, aren't they?" Or sheer dumb luck as aforementioned to Penelope.

And look at these Slytherin kiddos jumping ahead of the game!!! First Sophie and her not selling yourself short, now Beverly and Cutty looking ahead to odds and predictability and dates! But that was all Lolita's portion of the lesson. Before they got to reviewing any of that, she had a couple more things to go over. "Yes, the battle could very well be significant due to the numerical values of the date of the event. We'll look at those numbers later though...." For now though, she had other stuff to go over.


"So the Battle of Puebla which took place in 1862, was significant because - as many of you mentioned - the outnumbered Mexican army defeated a better equipped French Army. And because, as Caleb mentioned, it was the last time any European nation would invade an American nation." Hadley reiterated, in case anyone missed what their classmates had said. "After the battle, however, a year later, the French troops did invade and capture Mexico City. The French victory too was short lived, only lasting three years as the United States provided more political and military assistance to Mexico to drive the French out. Which was successful starting 1866 and the Mexicans then recaptured Mexico City. June 5, 1867, Benito Juarez entered Mexico City and implemented a legitimate government and administration. That is a very short explanation of the events taking place post-battle." She paused. "The main take home messages that you need to know though is that the Battle took place in 1862, that you should never underestimate yourself because you never know, and that the victory symbolized unity and pride."

"So now that you have some brief background knowledge of the events, lets talk briefly on festivities. What celebration activities are tied with the holiday? We know food is one, but if you're going to discuss that, then what types of food are associated with the festivities?"