SnitchSeeker.com - History of Magic Lesson One

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- Term 37: May - August 2014 (https://www.snitchseeker.com/term-37-may-august-2014/)

- - History of Magic Lesson One (https://www.snitchseeker.com/term-37-may-august-2014/history-of-magic-lesson-one-97874/)

Notes! So much notes to make! Adi wrote furiously, his left hand darting back and forth on his notebook. This incident was a very interesting one though. He looked up when the Professor said they were going to re-enact the event. Cool! She did know how to make this boring class exciting. Adi grinned over at Benny. Was he going to be a dragon?

The Hufflepuff eyed the costumes. He liked the wizarding robes. They were old fashioned but okay looking. He decided he'd be a wizard so he grabbed one and pulled it over his uniform. True to the words of the Professor, they adjusted comfortably over it. "I'd like to be Thomas if that's okay, Professor.''

SPOILER!!: Professor Glendower

Quote:

Originally Posted by emjay (Post 11625565)

The boy who had mentioned their very topic of discussion seemed to grow silent again. Nessa looked over at him as he seemed deep in thought and she gave him an encouraging smile. If he had nothing else to share, perhaps he was trying to get into the mind of someone who had been present there that day. He’d need that perspective.

Professor Glendower turned to the board and filled in a few spaces and gaps, making sure they had all the information they needed before they were to begin. "As you can see, we have our characters of the story, our scenes, and our basic plot. It's now time to begin and re-enact history!" She waved her wand at the back of the room, taking off the disillusionment charm on the boxes of costumes. "First, I need you all to decide which character you'd like to portray. Then, get into costume. They are charmed to fit right over your school uniform." There was a dragon costume, olde tyme beach outfits, and wizarding robes of the past. "Once you've done that, we are going to do some warm-up exercises. Watch very closely." Nessa took a step into the center of the room, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. "Close your eyes, start breathing deeply, focusing on relaxing each part of your body from the top of your head down to the tips of your toes." She took another deep breath. "While you are doing that, think about the character you have chosen to portray. What is his or her motivation? Use that to decide your interpretation.. be your character!"

OOC - For this part of the activity, please have your character choose a character from this moment in history to portray and put on the costume over his/her uniform. It's charmed to fit and look appropriate once on. If the main characters are gone or your character has some stage fright, feel free to choose a Muggle character, they are numerous. Then have your character do the breathing activity. You need at least two posts for this part. Nessa and I will be around to keep track of characters.

Wait. They were going to be putting on costumes and actually physically acting it out? That sounded kind of like fun. Simon didn't mind the stage. He didn't have to be himself. He could be anyone else. He found that being someone else was much easier than being himself. As students had begun raising their hands to ask which character they could be, Simon thought about the remaining characters left over. He would've rather been a muggle or the dragon, but then, he saw that he could be the Minister. OOH! Yes. Yes. All of a sudden, he raised his hand high into the air. "Could I please be the Minister of Magic?"

Then he picked up the old wizarding robes and put them on. Before he could worry about adjusting them to himself, they had already done the job themselves. Merlin. Magic was awesome. What was the next thing they had to do?

Right- breathing exercises were next.

Text Cut: Jeremiah

Text Cut: Glendower #2

Quote:

Originally Posted by emjay (Post 11625136)

SPOILER!!: so many replies! *loves everyone*

As answers poured in from such eager students, Nessa turned her full attention on them. Nodding to the Gryffindor boy, she paused upon hearing his answer. “Well.. I am looking for more specific events from history, but that’s a good example of Muggles being exposed to magical entities. Even if they don’t exactly know what it is..” Good try.. and Professor Glendower smiled at him encouragingly.

Oh, this was even more generalized. Perhaps Nessa should have been more specific in her instructions to be.. well, specific. But she was pleased that the Slytherin girl was willing to give an answer and didn’t want to discourage her. “Sometimes Muggles are witness to that, yes,” she confirmed with a smile. But they wouldn’t be talking about that exactly today.

Nessa’s eyes fell for a moment on the Gryffindor prefect as she looked interested in the discussion.. was she going to add something as well? Something on the tip of her tongue? No? Professor Glendower still smiled at the girl encouragingly. It was alright if she couldn’t think of anything just yet. They’d all get a chance to participate in a few minutes.

Oh goodness, now that was a very specific answer! Down to the number and everything. Nessa thought a moment. That particular World Cup was rather memorable, wasn’t it? It was likely that number would stick in people’s minds.. even if it had been nearly 100 years ago. Did anyone remember what happened at the 423rd? Probably not. “Yes, you’re right,” she nodded solemnly. “Those Death Eaters did awful, awful things to those poor Muggles.” Frown. At least they were ok in the end though. “Very good example.”

Even though this girl did not look like she was ready to offer an answer when Nessa’s eyes swept over her, she still got an approving smile. She must be so interested in the discussion to jot it all down like that. Which made her certain that she’d enjoy the activity.

Oh, another silent one. That was alright for now. He could listen, observe, and absorb. Nothing at all wrong with that.. though participation later was a must! And Nessa was sure the boy would get even more out of that then just listening to answers!

Well, that wasn’t exactly specific, more of a general answer, but he wasn’t wrong! “That’s a good point,” Nessa nodded to the Slytherin boy. “Sometimes Muggles like to make up explanations from what they see or experience that fits into their views of life.” It just seemed to make more sense to them that way or something. And she supposed it saved some busy Obliviators from doing extra, unnecessary work.

”Oh, yes! That’s a good one!” Nessa exclaimed with a clap of her hands. “When I was at WADA, my class put on a show and that particular event was included. So much fun!” Unfortunately, she didn’t get to ride in the replica of the flying car.. she played one of the Muggle witnesses, but it was still a good time and oh so memorable.

Nessa simply loved young, inquisitive minds and this one had such an adorable accent to go along with it. She beamed at him and gave him an agreeing nod. “They certainly would have, you’re right. Many Dark Wizards simply don’t care about the Secrecy Statute or trying to keep magic away from a Muggle’s witness. And as I told..” She glanced over to the other Slytherin boy who had mentioned kelpies. What was his name? She probably should have had them say when they answered, but she had been far too excited to get started to think of it. Anyway, they were both Slytherins and about the same age. They probably knew each other. “Often Muggles come up with their own explanations for things beyond their understanding. Memory modifications aren’t always necessary.. what do you think the difference is?” As in why sometimes they are used and sometimes they are not.

Oh this was another more general one, but how fun this one could be as an improvisational exercise. She’d have to keep that one in mind! Nessa didn’t know as much about creatures and such and she felt that this fell under that category, but she knew the gist of it enough to know the girl was correct. “Another good example.” She got an approving smile.

Peter.. Peter.. Nessa tapped her finger on her chin thoughtfully as she tried to work out just which Peter, Angel - or was it Aubrey? – was meaning. The first Peter that came to her mind was a certain ~~very good-looking~~ Gryffindor that had been a few years ahead of her in school. “You don’t mean Peter Montgomery, do you?” Professor Glendower let out a little gasp and looked at her rather suspiciously. Faking deaths, hmm? She had some owling to do.

”Yes, that is quite a common occurrence, Muggles witnessing the unintentional magic performed by young children,” Nessa agreed with a nod. She wasn’t sure she’d necessarily count it as an event either, but she appreciated the attempt.

Nessa nodded at the girl. True, it wasn’t a specific example from history like she had asked, but she appreciated her contribution to the discussion all the same. “It is a time when a Muggle becomes aware of magic, yes.. and it is important. Though we are going to focus on a specific event for today.” She gave her an encouraging smile all the same.

Nessa nodded. This was a specific example, yet a general one as well. “More often than not, Muggleborns – or those raised in Muggle homes..” As Harry Potter was.. “Often expose their magic to their Muggle families. It can’t often be helped.” Especially to their parents and they find out about the magical world that way.

Another silent one, but one that seemed to be an avid learner. Nessa gave her an approving smile and nod as she observed the girl taking notes that coincided with the discussion. The next part would be more fun though.

Still smiling at the other twin sister, Nessa nodded slowly, sort of waiting for her to add more. That was very generalized.. but it was ok! What counted was that she put forth effort. “We are looking for specific examples,” she started, still using an encouraging tone. “But that would indeed cause suspicion. Things that look out of the ordinary often do.”

Tapping her chin lightly with her finger, Nessa thought over this boy’s answer. Which Quidditch World Cup was he talking about? The most recent one? Or perhaps the 422nd one that had been mentioned, that one was rather famous. Or maybe he just meant generally. “Oh no, the coordinators of that event take such care that Muggles are not aware.. charms and such.. but if they didn’t, they certainly would see something magical.” With such a large event as that, they had to take rather lengthy precautions.

”I think that’s another good example of how Muggles would see something magical and come up with their own explanations..” They celebrated things too, of course! And while that was a little more specific, not exactly what she was looking for. Good try though!

Nessa nodded lightly. She had just mentioned something similar to.. er, another student. “Yes, Muggleborns often expose their own Muggle relations to magic. Something that can’t really be helped.” But that was still generalized even if she did mention specific names.

Another example of wizards in Muggle families.. she touched on that a few times. “Yes.. and since he was part of his family, he was aware of magic.” But good contribution and Nessa gave him an approving nod.

Now there was an important name in history and another of her favorite improv subjects. “Oh, very good,” Nessa nodded at the boy. Not exactly any specific events right there, but not really a general answer either.. somewhere in between. “Not as much of what she did do was documented, mostly because there was so much of it, basically everything she did was out in the open.” She half wondered if she was more imprisoned because she was on everyone’s nerves from trying to gain some restraint over her near-constant antics. Poor free-spirited soul.

Oh this was a very specific event, had it been that well-documented? Or maybe the boy just liked to pick out obscure facts from history.. how interesting! And Nessa couldn't help but chuckle along with the boy's laughter. That had to be a funny sight, even if it probably had been rather frightening for the woman. "That would be an example," she nodded. "Do you know what the ramifications of such magic on a Muggle would be?" Sort of related to what they'd be doing, she supposed.

Nessa's eyes fell on the boy grooving in his seat to the music that was apparently still playing in his head. It almost made her want to continue dancing to the music that was playing in her head. But she supposed she had a class to conduct and she called on him as he raised his hand. "Exactly!" she beamed, nodding at the boy. "Certain things prompted that Statute to be written and put into place, many magical events that Muggles saw happened before then.. though some happened afterwards as well. Once the Statute was enacted, those events became fewer - and illegal for the most part - so they're more well-known and documented." Otherwise it would be more commonplace. And she wouldn't go into some of the events that prompted that particular Statute. They were kind of scary.

And this little Ravenclaw girl made the next connection, expanding on what she just told the last Ravenclaw. Aww, Ravenclaws were so cute when they were making logical conclusions. It was almost as if you could see gears turning in their heads. She beamed at the girl and nodded happily. "That is why we do stuff, yes. Sometimes something has to happen for us to realize that action needs to taken to prevent it." That was just life though, she supposed. Oh wait.. they were meant to be looking for specific examples. Nessa was getting off track.

Nessa nodded at the boy as he provided his answer. Hadn't someone else said the same thing.. or was she experiencing deja vu? She was pretty sure it was the former. "Yes, they did do that to a couple of Muggles who lived nearby.." she still answered him with an encouraging smile. Sometimes repetition was important for learning.

Goodness.. maybe she actually was experiencing deja vu today. Her thoughts distracted for a moment, she soon nodded at the Ravenclaw prefect. "Yes.. yes, really any sighting of a magical creature or being by a Muggle would count as an example." Though really she was looking for something a little more specific.

The deja vu feeling was growing stronger, and, while she always found it to be an interesting phenomenon, it was making her lose focus. Maybe she should just move on from this question. Even if it was so difficult when the eager little students were so willing to contribute their answers! But she was sure a few people had mentioned this particular instance. "Yes.. good example of magic used in the presence of Muggles," she agreed with a slightly dimer smile, her thoughts growing distracted now. "Somewhat out of the ordinary, but they were easily able to pass it off as something more mundane."

Alright.. so no deja vu, Nessa was certain this time since she had just heard this one, just students repeating answers. And while she appreciated the effort, she would rather they attempt for something different. Still, she wasn't one to discourage anyone's efforts. "They got suspicious, I believe.. but they quickly came up with their own explanations for things," she said with a smile. As Muggles were often wont to do.

Another quiet one, though Nessa was certain he would absorb something from the discussion.. maybe. If not, definitely with their activity. Which led her to the idea that he sort of reminded her of a slightly younger version of Brad Montague, the lead in last summer's revival of The Fountain of Fair Fortune. She vaguely wondered what this boy's acting skills were like before moving on to the next student with his hand raised.

Oh good, something that hadn't been said already and Nessa's face lit up a little more. "That is a good example of Muggles witnessing magic, even if they didn't realize it. And not realizing what was going on, they'd have to come up with their own explanations." Otherwise they'd probably have some memory modification coming their way.

Nessa squinted a bit as she looked at this young Ravenclaw, trying to figure out what he was talking about. Because no, she did not know which Muggle guy he was talking about. She nodded very slowly as if to work things out for herself before answering. "I'm not sure I have ever heard about that particular instance.. but I suppose if it did happen, it would certainly be an example of Muggles witnessing magic." And that was a big if, because she wasn't completely sold on it. Very inventive though.. she had did give him credit for that.

Oh! This girl had been so thoughtfully silent the last time Nessa had set her eyes on her bur now she seemed to be willing to speak. Turning her brown eyes on her intently, she nodded a bit when she was finished. "Oh I had heard about that. That was a couple years after I graduated, but that's when the Cult of Walpurgis came into a lot of power and tried to remove the Statute of Secrecy." Her features clouded over a moment as she grew lost in thought before moving on. A different discussion for a different day perhaps.

Whoa.. wait.. what? Nessa stared at the girl for a moment after her little outburst. While she could certainly appreciate such passion, it was perhaps ill-placed. Especially when she seemed to misunderstand. "Oh I didn't say you wouldn't be learning things such as dates, I said you wouldn't be simply memorizing." Did everyone misunderstand her words? Or just this one girl? Of course they wouldn't all be aware of her teaching style, but maybe she should clear that up at least for this girl if not for everyone. "Instead, my objectives for this class are that students immerse themselves in the stories of the past," she said a bit dramatically. "That way it's almost like it's happening to you or you are there in the moment, thereby enriching your understanding of those events. Of course you would learn about the people and places, the when, where, and why. This just makes history come to life!" The setting was always an important part of the story. And honestly, it wouldn't be much of a class if they didn't actually learn something. What did this girl think they were going to do? No wonder she was so concerned! Nessa gave her a reassuring smile.

And now, on to the girl's contribution. "Yes," she nodded. "Good example. Actions often have to be taken to cover up either unintentional or malicious acts of magic to give Muggles reasonable explanations for their occurrences." Not the one they'd be going into more in-depth today though.

Ah, yes.. another still moving to the beat of her own music. Such creative spirits she surely had in this class, how wonderful! Of course Nessa was willing to let this girl express herself through dance, she wouldn't have minded her continuing to do the macarena while providing her answer, if that was what she was so called to do. But.. oh.. finished? Alright.. Her eyes widened a bit as she contributed, then she nodded excitedly. "Yes! I love dragons, they always add such an element of excitement to a story. IN FACT.." Pause for dramatic effect. "A dragon will be the antagonist in today's story." Because..
Professor Glendower could not be more delighted that this Slytherin boy brought up this event. The very event that she had in mind for today's lesson. "It absolutely is an acceptable answer," she beamed at the boy. "That is the very piece of history that we are going to delve into further today." How fun that he had guessed it!

Turning to the entire class to address them as a whole, Professor Glendower began quite enthusiastically. "So.. The Ilfacrombe Incident. Let's set the scene.. create a cast of characters.. what can you tell us at all about this moment in history?" Sure, the one boy mentioned it, but what else did they know? They needed to fill in a few more details before they could begin. "You can use your books again for this part if you need to."

OOC - Please name one fact, detail, whatever about this event (even something that had just been mentioned above). Feel free to make something up if you can rationalize it fitting in. But please, just one thing to give everyone a chance ;)

The Ilfacromble Incident. She KNEW that one. It involved a DRAGON, of course she'd know about that one. The simple discussion about that certain event was enough to bring Beverly's full attention back.

Having read about this incident plenty of times before, Beverly settled for taking notes and underlining things she thought would come in handy.

Text Cut: Glendower #3

Quote:

Originally Posted by emjay (Post 11625565)

SPOILER!!: I know it's a lot, but you should probably read it all ;)

They were even closer to, in Professor Glendower’s opinion, the best part of the class. They just had to lay a little more groundwork before they could begin. With excitement bubbling just under the surface, she looked out at all the students, expectantly awaiting their continued contribution. The first came from an eager Slytherin girl. “Mhmm,” Nessa nodded happily. “The Muggle, Dodgy Dirk, was one of the main people in the story.” She flicked her wand to the board to begin a list, starting with the information just given. “And see, he came up with an explanation to satisfy his own mind.” Sort of. But seriously, she was pretty sure dragons were in Muggle books, even if they were fictional ones. And she didn’t know how dirty it was. That was kind of rude.

SPOILER!!: Maddie and Kyroh

Nessa listened to the two young Ravenclaws – first the girl, then the boy – as they began to discuss the dragon at the scene. “Perhaps.. perhaps..” Professor Glendower began thoughtfully as she lightly tapped her chin, thinking over their rationales. “WHAT motivated that dragon to attack those sunbathing Muggles that day?” Here she addressed the entire class. “Could he have simply gone “nutso” or perhaps he had a difficult childhood shaping him into an aggressive adult or maybe he had a splinter in his big toe that had gotten so infected that it left him very cranky. We don’t know. But it’s very important to consider motivation when looking at one’s actions.” Nessa simply beamed at the two Ravenclaws. How smart they were to bring up the concept of motivation!

“Because we don’t know precisely the reason for this particular dragon’s attack, it will be up to the INTERPRETATION of the individual praying our dragon today. WHO…” She looked around at the class and gestured dramatically. “Will be our dragon today?” Quick wand swish at the board to display a bit more information.

Was she thinking about how she’d portray the dragon? Or perhaps she was thinking more about motivation or interpretation in general? Either way, Nessa could tell this girl was deep in thought. That would always prove useful later.

Or maybe this girl, one so passionate about dragons herself, would be best suited to interpret and portray him today. Nessa eyed her up a little as she listened to her contribution, then her eyes widened a bit. “Were they on fire? Just.. not from a dragon?” How dreadful for Seren! But she had to admit if they had to be on fire, it would be much more exciting if it was because of a dragon. “An element of danger always seems to make a story more interesting, doesn’t it?” As long as everyone was ok in the end, she thought.

Nessa nodded approvingly to the boy once he had given his answer. “Yes, very good..” She flicked her wand at the board again to add some information about the Toke family. “This is one instance that memory modification was found to be necessary rather than allow Muggles to come up with their own explanations.”

SPOILER!!: conspiracy theorists

Publicity stunt…? Nessa looked between each of the three students discussing some sort of conspiracy theory. That was certainly.. an interesting take on the story. Not one she had ever heard before though. “That’s some creative thinking,” she said, nodding slowly. “I honestly don’t think that was the case, however. First of all, with the Statute of Secrecy firmly in place at that time, it would have been highly illegal. Not to mention all the lives they would have had to put at risk – their own, the Muggles.. there were children there too.” It was very fortunate that no one was seriously hurt or worse. She’d hate to think about what could have happened to the youngest of them.

“But like the dragon, we can think of things like motivation and the portrayer’s interpretation… Did you all know that Tilly Tokes’ portrait hangs on this floor’s wall, just down the corridor from here? You could ask her for more details sometime after class if you’d like. But please be respectful.” She might get offended if someone actually asked her if she and her family purposely set a dragon on a group of Muggles. But a witness’s first-hand account of the event could prove valuable.

”That certainly seems to be true,” she nodded, musing aloud. It would be bad luck for anyone, she supposed.. Muggle or otherwise.

What a thoughtful question. Nessa mulled this over a minute before answering. “That certainly would be a useful skill to have in case of an emergency, but it is very important to be quite skilled in order to perform it correctly.” She, for one, would never attempt it for fear of damaging someone’s memory. “It is possible that some of them were professionally trained.. though it’s more likely that because it was so large a crowd affected they were afraid it was necessary to act quickly so no one was lost.”

Nessa smiled at the Hufflepuff upon hearing his answer. “They certainly were.” She added that bit of information to the board as well.

Another quiet student. That was perfectly okay for the time being. She was certain that he was ingesting that information being given, perhaps even trying to find best how to get into character. She gave him an approving smile, seeing him so diligently jotting down his thoughts on the matter.

”That would be correct,” she nodded. The location was very important and she added that to the information on the board.

”It is?” Nessa raised an eyebrow as she considered this Hufflepuff’s answer. Sure, the idea of it would be exciting, but very dangerous as well. “It sounds a bit chaotic to me,” she smiled. Perhaps she would think differently having lived through something like that.

”It is a fairly famous story,” she nodded, “Found in that book as well..” Nessa had to read it for class a long time ago. They wouldn’t be using that bit of information for class, but good contribution.

The boy who had mentioned their very topic of discussion seemed to grow silent again. Nessa looked over at him as he seemed deep in thought and she gave him an encouraging smile. If he had nothing else to share, perhaps he was trying to get into the mind of someone who had been present there that day. He’d need that perspective.

”YES!” Nessa grinned at the boy. “Costuming is very important as well.. We will see that very shortly.” Eeep, so exciting! Period clothing was the best and yes, skeptical Slytherin girl from earlier in the class, Nessa knew exactly how important the context of dates were to events in history. Otherwise, how would she know what exactly they wore.. replications in the disillusioned boxes at the back of the room.. hehe.

”It sure did,” Nessa nodded approvingly at the young girl before adding that piece to the growing list of information on the board.

Nessa listened and listened as this girl went on and on about the Ilfracombe Incident. Or a version of it. Something didn’t see quite right.. not with what she, a history professor, knew and had listened to her own eyewitness account. “That’s quite the story,” she said with a small smile once she had finished. “But is it accurate or did you make it up? Because we do need to remember that this is an actual event in history not fiction.” And while they were going to be putting their own take on things, they still needed to know the accuracies.. and she would not be lied to.

Another silent one, certain to be deep in thought. He also got an approving smile and nod before she oved on to the next student.

Nessa blinked as this boy shouted out his answer. Right.. that had been said and surely he could do better than that. “Remember to raise your hand, dear.” She appreciated his enthusiasm, but gosh.. even with her relaxed classroom, there had to be some rules.

Still nothing from the Gryffindor prefect? Nessa was certain that she was listening intently though and forming her own interpretations on the motivations of the “characters” in the story. She got an approving smile as well.

SPOILER!!: Claw Drama! ZOMG!!

Whoa.. hold on a second.. just what was going on here? While Nessa was answering questions and casting information to the board, she became distinctly aware of some quite berating words. She turned her head in that direction and stared in shock for a moment at the scene that was unfolding. Such drama! Honestly, if it were an actual performance, she might have applauded the scene.. but as it were, it was real life with real and tender feelings involved. "Young lady!" Nessa started at the girl, rather appalled at what she had heard. "Do you hear yourself? You are doing to this boy exactly what you accuse of him.. and that is to not respect the answer he has given as a valid thought. And telling him to use his brain is rather belittling." She looked over at the boy, frowning a bit to see his spirit so crushed and to hear him say he didn't want to be in Ravenclaw. She looked up, about to tell the girl she expected an apology, when she did it herself before running out of the room. Unacceptable.. but she would deal with it later.

Turning to the boy, she placed a hand gently on his shoulder and offered him an encouraging smile. "Ravenclaw is a dignified and splendid house. So many creative souls come from there." When she was at WADA, she knew a few former Ravenclaws, always the most dramatic and imaginative. She looked around for the Ravenclaw prefect sitting nearby and addressed him, "I'm certain that you can express to him what a wonderful house Ravenclaw is." As in right now so they could move on and channel that emotion in a useful way. And they counted on their prefects to take leadership of their respective houses. She'd love to dote on the boy some more, but she had a class to conduct.

Nessa was still rather distracted by recent events to really hear Angel's response about Peter but she did shake her head in the negative as she asked about going after the girl. "No.. no.. no one else needs to leave." For Merlin's sake, she was holding class right now! "I will speak to her after class."

"I'm fairly certain that it probably breathed fire," she nodded, rather distracted and deep in thought at this point. "Roared even.. scared all the Muggles silly.." It was a wonder no one seriously got hurt. "The rest will be up to interpretation," she added, smiling a bit bigger now. It was time to begin!

Professor Glendower turned to the board and filled in a few spaces and gaps, making sure they had all the information they needed before they were to begin. "As you can see, we have our characters of the story, our scenes, and our basic plot. It's now time to begin and re-enact history!" She waved her wand at the back of the room, taking off the disillusionment charm on the boxes of costumes. "First, I need you all to decide which character you'd like to portray. Then, get into costume. They are charmed to fit right over your school uniform." There was a dragon costume, olde tyme beach outfits, and wizarding robes of the past. "Once you've done that, we are going to do some warm-up exercises. Watch very closely." Nessa took a step into the center of the room, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. "Close your eyes, start breathing deeply, focusing on relaxing each part of your body from the top of your head down to the tips of your toes." She took another deep breath. "While you are doing that, think about the character you have chosen to portray. What is his or her motivation? Use that to decide your interpretation.. be your character!"

OOC - For this part of the activity, please have your character choose a character from this moment in history to portray and put on the costume over his/her uniform. It's charmed to fit and look appropriate once on. If the main characters are gone or your character has some stage fright, feel free to choose a Muggle character, they are numerous. Then have your character do the breathing activity. You need at least two posts for this part. Nessa and I will be around to keep track of characters.

They seemed to have some sort of script down. Beverly held in a groan. Acting, she only did that when she was in the pursue of something she wanted. Like giving Kennedy The Eyes that made him surrender his will to her. Or when she pretended to be extremely sad and her dad would cave in to whatever she wished. That was excellent acting, but this...she didn't was too enthused about it.

While she'd normally want to be the dragon, Beverly figured the attention would be on that character the most and she didn't like attention. So she decided to got for one of the Toke family members.

She raised her hand. "I'll take Virginia." Yeah?

Cris was glad when Professor Glendower took charge of the first year situation. It was saddening to hear the Kyroh didn't feel at home on Ravenclaw. Cris occasionally still felt that way sometimes.

But it was time for him to pay attention to the lesson proper. They were going to reenact the events that happened at the beach? Cris immediately cheered up. Initially, he wanted to volunteer for the dragon's role, but eventually decided to stick with being a human.

Raising his hand, he told their History of Magic a Professor who he would portray. "Professor, I would like to play one of the Toke family members. I'll take Ellis." Cris volunteered silently wondering whether they would also be allowed to cast the memory charm. The scene that had enfolded earlier during question and answer time was something he was willing to have erased from his memories.

Quote:

Originally Posted by emjay (Post 11625565)

Nessa listened and listened as this girl went on and on about the Ilfracombe Incident. Or a version of it. Something didn’t see quite right.. not with what she, a history professor, knew and had listened to her own eyewitness account. “That’s quite the story,” she said with a small smile once she had finished. “But is it accurate or did you make it up? Because we do need to remember that this is an actual event in history not fiction.” And while they were going to be putting their own take on things, they still needed to know the accuracies.. and she would not be lied to.

Annabeth giggled nervously. "I have always suspected that it was my great-grandma's big lie. She often does thing like that, she confuses real life with fiction to tell us a good story... Um... Anyway. Sorry for that. I'll check her stories before talking loudly about them." I mean, I promise myself I'll read the text book before open my big mouth the next time.

Text Cut: professor Glendower

So it has to do with Muggles in a beach. Interesting. The stupid dragon should have blown them all. The muggles and the wizarding family. Yeah! opening the barbecue season!! Non, non, non. The dragon found it funny leaving traces. And now I have to wear these ridiculous costumes. - Anna thought while taking a beach outfit. She put on the costume and looked at herself. She looked ridiculous, definitively.
"Hey, dragon! Kill me, please!" she whispered.

There didn't seem to be any objections--not that she would have listened if anyone else had wanted the loony guy (first come first serve, yeah?) so Lex went to get herself into costume. Seeing as the man was muggle she'd need one of the old bathing suits...that had her wrinkling her nose. Did people really used to dress like this at the beach? Merlin with all this fabric how didn't they drown????

Questions for a sane mind. As it stood, she was playing a nut so it wasn't something she could question until after she'd gotten back out of character. For now, it was slipping into one of these.

The Professor wasn't kidding when she said they fit over your uniforms. This was almost snug but then by design it wasn't really. Weird old dead people and their funny way of dressing. After changing Lex got back to her desk and tried the exercise the Professor had mentioned. Eyes closed and slow breathing....trying to interpret the charrie's reasons...

Maybe....maybe he wasn't a determined nut job, maybe he just didn't know it was called a dragon....which would make him stupid? Was that it?

Merlin, muggles were odd.

WELP.

Maddie was still confused about what had gone down and still thinking things over as Professor Glendower began giving them instructions. One thing was for sure, the small brunette didn't WANT TO or FEEL LIKE acting ~~even though she'd be crazy good at it~~ so she decided to take on the role of a muggle. Seemed like the best choice considering she'd probably just have to hang back and scream or whatever. She could handle that. Plus maybe she wouldn't have to be around a sad Kyroh this way. NOT that she didn't like him because she DID, she just didn't know what to say to him right now. Not after THINGS.

Taking one of the muggle swimsuits, the twelve year old EYED it curiously. People actually wore this on the beach? She GUESSED it was better than those skimpy bikini things but STILL. Talk about awkward tan-lines.

ANYWAY.

Slipping on the rather large costume, she was surprised when it shrunk to fit her tiny frame. "Cool." Magic was SO cool. Unlike the breathing exercise thing happening. Yeah, that didn't look so cool.

Simon closed his eyes and started to take several deep breaths in. Inhale. And exhale. Inhaaaale and exhaaale. He tried his hard to picture the kind of man the Minister would be. He imagined that the Minister would've been someone in their late fifties who had started greying ever so slightly. His Minister would be awesome. He'd be cunning and very savvy when it came to dealing with people. As the minister, he'd also have to be very serious and play by the rules.. Well... seem to play by the rules. On a side note, Simon would have to lower his voice for the role.. He got the sudden urge to yawn.. Oh no! This time when he inhaled, his exhale turned into a yawn. He couldn't resist it. All of a sudden, he heard a voice in his head. Can't fall asleep on the job, man! You're the Ministry of Magic! Have to stay awake. You have awards to give out. Pull yourself together, man! he told himself as he took another breath in.

Anyway. Refocusing now...

The Minister must've been very grateful to the Toke's for protecting the muggles from the dragon. No one had lost their lives and they had managed to fix the memories of the majority of muggles that had been present at the beach.

He straightened his posture, readying himself for the next exercise.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ArianaBlack (Post 11625570)

Zander looked around and blinked a few times. Raising his hand this time, he looked towards his professor. "Uh, Professor... Do we... Do we have to... you know... be a character?" Couldn't he just be a scribe and take notes or something? Of course there were the muggle roles, if not taking a part wasn't an option. But, it was worth a shot?

Oh good, everyone was getting right into it and Nessa couldn't be more pleased. She looked around at them all with a beaming smile as they went to get costumes. What was this? Nessa called on the boy with his hand raised, looking at him a bit confused as he began to question her. Aww, stage fright? Nessa bestowed a warm smile on him.

"Well, of course you do! That's how we are going to experience history!" And they were all doing it, so no need to feel shy or embarrassed. No one would actually be watching. "If you'd like a smaller part, consider being one of the Muggle sunbathers." There wasn't much speaking and he could be part of an ensemble.. maybe less daunting.

"Of course.. of course.." she said to all of the students asking for one part or another.

Quote:

Characters
Dodgy Dirk - DaniDiNardo
Common Welsh Green Dragon - Cassirin ; tail - Squishy
Toke family

Tilly - HeyJu
Thomas - FearlessLeader19
Ellis - FireboltAvis88
Virginia - Deezerz
several children - PhoenixStar, Luna_Midnight,

Beach-going Muggles

Ivana R
TakemetotheBurrow
Meizzner
Harry174
Daydreamer11
ArianaBlack
hermionesclone
Kaos.Doodles
Expecto-Penguin
Anna Banana
Lissy Longbottom
Chiara
Yusrieee
OwlEcho63
lemon
unclaimed

Minister of Magic - Emms

"Sure" Like he had another choice. Though that was a pretty easy task. They were the craziest house. All this information was pretty interesting and her reaction to the drama was very amusing. Up to the point where he got involved. Still fun.

Now this was the easiest choice to have to make. He would rock that muggle swimwear and look good going to. Hair or not.

"Muggle Sunbather, Please"

Nigel said as he went up to get one and put it on.

He looked fantastic and totally looked amazing in 1900's muggle swimwear. This was the most fun part out of this theater thing.

Angel looked at the Professor as she said about the items. "Okay, Professor, so if I want to be a beach going person, I have to get into a costume right?" Angel was a bit confused as to what the Professor meant, she wanted to be a beach person but she didn't know what they were supposed to do and she didn't want to get into trouble.

Angel was also wondering what the Professor was doing, she also wondered what the Professor is doing because the professor had asked about a Peter but then ignored her which wasn't very good because she had tried to tell her she had no idea.

Post #1 :: putting on costume

So she got the part. Okay. Now time to suit up and get it over with. Honestly, Bevelry was only doing this because house points. She wanted them all, and if it took some acting to get them, then act she would.

Standing up and heading to grab wizarding robes that seemed like the ones her ancestors used, she took some plum-looking ones. They fit once she put them on. Not bad. Lifting her hair from under the robes, she let it fall around her shoulders.

She was ready for the breathing activity, but...was it really necessary?

Oh, a FAKE dragon. That was better.

Agatha wanted to be one of the COOL people, so she raised her hand before claiming a character. "I'll be Virg--" She EYED Beverly as she spoke up before she did. Hm. "I'm Tilly then." She got up and went to retrieve a costume before anyone else took that one.

Post 2 and Professor?

Not really knowing who was who in the Toke family, Cris raises his hand to ask the Professor.

"Professor, who is Thomas, Tilly, Ellis and Virginia. What is their role in the family?" Cris asked wanting to know more about the character he would be playing, even as he walked over to pick out his Wizarding folk costume.

It smelt a little of mothballs and Cris wondered to whom these belonged to before concluding that the Professor most likely had procured them from the Wizarding Academy of Dramatic Arts.

Quickly slipping the costume over his school robes, Cris smiled appreciatively when the costume immediately adjusted itself over his form. Neat trick. Walking back to where the Professor was waiting with the rest of the class, Cris found a spot where he could prepare himself for the role.

Sitting down, he stretched out his legs. Closing his eyes, he began the relaxing process. He slowly breathed in and out, and as he did so, he allowed his body to relax. He relaxed the muscles on his face...no more frowning...then he allowed his head to slowly drop to his chest, relaxing his neck and shoulder muscles, feeling the tension slowly dissipate.

Next were his arms and hands, allowing them to fall relaxed on his lap. As Cris continued to slowly breath in and out, he could the rest of his body relax with each breath he took. When he was finally in a place of total relaxation, Crus began to think about the character he would be portraying. Ellis Toke.

Oh look, Prefect Nigel was going to be a sunbather TOO. He got a head nod and a small smile cause he was cool, she'd decided. It was a VERY big deal to be on her list of COOL people. UH-HUH.

So time to do the deep breathing nonsense, yeah? The small brunette closed her eyes and took a deep breath in, letting it out slowly. So her character was a muggle. Probably a really cool one who was stuck vacationing with her family. And she was struggling to get a good tan while rocking her swimsuit AND avoiding her annoying brothers who insisted on bothering her. Deep breath in, let it out slowly. And she was just at the wrong place at the wrong time, essentially. And she was smart so she probably would have tried to hide or dive into the water when the dragon appeared cause dragons meant fire and the water would protect her, yeah? Only her brothers were dumb-- Deep breath in, let it out slowly. -so she'd stuck around the beach just to make sure they didn't get eaten by this creature who she'd only read about in books.

Peeking one eye open, Maddie looked around and then decided she'd had enough time to prepare. She was relaxed as she needed to be to sit there looking pretty so yeah, she was good.

Were they going to "act" now or what?

...Was Kyroh okay?

#2 and haaaai Simon minister of Magic :3

Agatha had the costume in NO TIME because she wanted to be one the ones playing the awesome family but whoa, those robes were odd.

She'd seen worse, though, so she quickly put them on and didn't think they looked that strange on her then it looked when she first got it.

Cool. She was cool. She looked around and saw that Simon had chosen to be Minister of Magic! Coooooool. That was an important role as well. Agatha looked around and saw where he was standing and walked over there.

Now Agatha was one of the important characters AND was standing next to the Minister of Magic. No need to say she was smiling smugly and all that.

People were doing odd stuff, though. Oh yeah, the teacher had said something about that. She closed her eyes - partially, because she wanted to keep watching everybody else - and breeeathed. Still watching everyone.

The ickles were being naughty, and Mo was glad that the Professor was looking to Nigel and Dora to take it up with them. It had been ages since they'd had acting out in class the way Gryffindors did regularly, and yet the firsties this term were all over it.

Mo raised his hand after his classmates had been given quite a while to claim characters. It was obvious which one he wanted, and so he'd ask for it. "Professor, can I play the dragon? Maybe another student can help me by being the tail?" Teamwork, y'know?

Nigel nodded back at Maddie. His fellow sunbathing claw. It was the best part to pick after all. Besides the dragon and Mo got that. Now the easy part. Prof said to be zen and Nigel was already zen. When wasn't he, was a better question to ask. So now he had to think about his motivations. Which was again easy as eating a slice of cake. He wanted to get a tan and have people watch him and his amazing looks. Why else sunbath on a beach.

Surely people in 1900's had the same thought process. Just imagine his hair was a lot shorter. Like when he was an ickle.

Yeah, imagine that.

So now that Adi had secured the role of Thomas, he was ready to start the warm up exercises. He pictured what the Professor had done. First things first. Close the yes. The third year did just that. Deep breaths followed. No problems there for him. What he did have problem with was relaxing. How was he supposed to relax when he was excited about the acting thing?

Adi continued to take deep breaths, trying to calm himself down. After several moments, he felt he had done this. He continued to focus on relaxing his entire body. Now to focus on his character- Thomas. Thomas's motivation? A dragon.

Oooh, they were going to play parts in a play thing? That was rather exciting because Lux had never acted in anything before. For a total extrovert like her, this was a fun and new experience and hopefully she would do a good job of it.

About to volunteer to be the dragon. An older student beat her to the punch. But that was okay, because he was totally willing to have someone play the tail. Flailing her hands in the air, she said, "I want to be the tail. I want to be a dragon part." Maybe she was just a tail, but she would STILL be part of a DRAGON.

How cool was that?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harry174 (Post 11625597)

"Yes, dear," Nessa nodded and smiled at the Gryffindor as she tried to clarify what she needed to do next. "Try one of those old time bathing suits." They looked odd, but that was the style of the period, she supposed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FireboltAvis88 (Post 11625601)

"Good question," Professor Glendower noted with a smile. Perfect for really trying to get behind the character. "Tilly was about 30 years old or so at the time of this event. Thomas was her husband. Ellis was his younger brother and Virginia was the mother of the two boys. Tilly and Thomas also had several children." Only the adults cast the memory charms, of course.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cassirin (Post 11625609)

Mo raised his hand after his classmates had been given quite a while to claim characters. It was obvious which one he wanted, and so he'd ask for it. "Professor, can I play the dragon? Maybe another student can help me by being the tail?" Teamwork, y'know?

Oh she was just waiting for someone to volunteer the part of the dragon! And she quickly rushed behind her podium to get a small vial of potion that was stored on the shelf there. "Absolutely, you can play the dragon!" she responded with much excitement. "And.. if you'd like to simulate breathing fire.." Which she highly recommended for effect. "Here is some fire-breathing potion." She thrust the vial into the boy's hands. "If you choose to use it, just hold it in your mouth, don't swallow it. And you'll be able to breathe out what looks like fire, but it's not hot enough to burn."

And she nodded at the follow-up question. "Certainly.. if you could use some assistance, we could use someone for the tail.." Dragons were awfully large after all. Her eyes flickered over to a voice requesting that very part. "You got it!"

As she was just stainding there, waiting for the time to go 'on stage', Agatha heard the professor explaining who her character was. And that she had a husband. Ohhh, eww.

She tried to see who had claimed the character that was her character's husband and saw a Hufflepuff. A Hufflepuff. She had never interacted with one of those and didn't know what to expect of him.

At least he wasn't a Ravenclaw.

Post 1 Muggle sunbather

Jasmine couldn't believe the verbal altercation between her Ravenclaw housemates. She was very surprised at Penelope's outburst. She had always seemed rather quiet and nonconfrontational. Jasmine hoped that the involved parties would be able to work things out among themselves. Anyway, the Professor seemed to have things under control.

So they would be reenacting the Ilfracombe Incident. Jasmine decided that she would like to be a beach-going Muggle. It was a good thing that she wanted that role because all of the major parts were taken anyway.

Jasmine got a sunbathing costume and proceeded to put it on. It was amazing how the bathing suit magically transformed so that it fit her perfectly. Looking down at herself in the old timey getup, Jasmine couldn't help but laugh. She looked ridiculous, but she wasn't alone.

Post 2 if you count the 1st one with the stage fright stuff

SPOILER!!: Professor

Zander let out a small sigh. Not a rude one, just an "awh-man-i-thought-so" one. He nodded his head as he listened to his professors explanation. BU-BU-BUT HE COULD TOTALLY EXPERIENCE IT BY WATCHING. That's what he did with television! Yeah. Definitely experienced all 6 seasons of that old television show he found online. He EXPERIENCED being trapped on that island AND even the plan crash. MHM. If he hadn't experienced it, then his fear of planes would not be in exsistence. SEE he can totally watch AND experience all at the same time.

It's a talent.

But either way, he wasn't going to argue. Because he liked Gryffindor House and wanted to stay in the lead. So yep. Being a good kid now. "I-I guess I'll be a sunbather," he was practically a muggle after all, so the acting shouldn't be that bad. He then walked over to grab a costume and SHUDDERED at how ugly they were. EW. Did people actually wear those wretched things.

After putting it on, he felt more like a prisoner in jail, than he did a sunbather. The striped suit was practically covering all his skin. There's no way he'd get any sun in this getup. Hmph.

Post #1; sunbather!

What?

WHAT?!

They were going to be ACTING?!

An incredulous look crossed Grayson's face as he forgot ALL about his textbook and the activity in general and stared at the board. Sweet Merlin, they really were going to be acting. Could he act? NO. Not even a tiny sliver. They had had plays in primary school but the part-Frenchie had never taken part in those. He much rather preferred to watch, and maaaaaaybe distract his friends up on the stage. And laugh at the people that fell over. That was always fun. But THIS?! No. Never.

And it turned out that if you snoozed, you lose. Look at all the great roles that had been taken away already! MAN. What was he going to be left with? A stinkin' sunbather, that's what. Though, he reminded himself, that was a MUCH better role to play than one of the children. He didn't want those. Nuh uh.

"I'll be a Muggle sunbather as well!" he called out, his hand in the air.