Mythology can refer either to the collected myths of a group of people—their body of stories which they tell to explain nature, history, and customs—or to the study of such myths. As a collection of such stories, mythology is an important feature of every culture. Various origins for myths have been proposed, ranging from personification of natural phenomena to truthful or hyperbolic accounts of historical events, to explanations of existing ritual. Although the term is complicated by its implicit condescension, mythologizing is not just an ancient or primitive practice, as shown by contemporary mythopoeia such as urban legends and the expansive fictional mythoi created by fantasy novels and Japanese manga. A culture's collective mythology helps convey belonging, shared and religious experience, behavioral models, and moral and practical lessons. As the study of myth, mythology dates back to antiquity. Mythology is taught as an elective subject from the third year on at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
xxxx× × ×xxxxThe Classroomxxxx× × ×xxxx
The Mythology classroom is a small, comfortable space, bathed in the soft purple and golden glow. The light emanates from the center of several large tiger and stargazer lillies, which float about the room's ceiling. There are no desks, but rather serveral low tables, covered in purple table cloths with silver and gold patterns. These are surrounded, not by chairs, but several large, soft satin pillows in tones matching the cloths. The walls are covered in various tapestries depicting scenes from both muggle and wizard myth, all in a monochromatic sepia tone with purple accents. Any space not covered in the tapestries is taken up by bookshelves. Two shelves closest to the back of the room have several copies of the various texts used in the class for students who chose to take it at the last minute. In front of these two shelves are a table, slightly higher than the others, with only one pillow directly behind it, which serves as Professor Harlowe's desk. The desk is covered in stacks of books and papers with various notes and lesson plans written across them. There is no manner of organization, the papers are simply stacked wherever she could find room. To the left of the desk is a small board, where any notes for the students to copy are written.
x× × × Notice to Roleplayers × × ×x
Classroom Interaction: × Each lesson has "discussion prompt" which poses a question or topic of debate for students × × To "participate" in this class, you may post your character responding to either one of the prompts, or a fellow student who has already posted × × Please specify in your post which lesson you are responding to × × If you want professor input, tag MJ Spooks× × If the discussion in class gets heated/would require professor intervention, tag MJ Spooks× × Participation in lessons will earn house points; starting fights will lose them × × You may also use this space as a "free roleplay" space to chat with friends, but be warned: × × The professor may give you detention or take house points for failing to take the lesson seriously × × Detentions will be served and homework should be turned in at Professor Harlowe's Office ×
Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2012 10:18 pm
xxxx× × ×xxxxTHIRD Y E A R LESSONS A N D HOMEWORKxxxx× × ×xxxx
× Lesson One × Beedle the Bard
The Man: × Born in Yorkshire in the 15th century. × Author of many of the wizarding world’s most well-known and famous folktales. × Little is known of the man or his personal life. × Many of his tales sparked controversy due to his apparently high opinion of non-magical folk and treatment of wizards who valued pure bloodlines or ambitious designs. × He mistrusted all forms of Dark Magic and believed that wizards were far from immune to the lure of those worst traits of humankind. × His stories were unusual in that in them, the heroes were rarely those with the strongest magic, but rather those who possessed traits such as kindness, common sense, and ingenuity. × There are various parallels between Beedle and the famous muggle playwright William Shakespeare, both of whom are referred to as ‘The Bard.’ Less informed readers are often of the incorrect belief that they were actually one and the same person.
Detractors: × Many people at the time believed that the Bard's tales were dangerous. × Some saw them as pro-muggle, anti-wizard propaganda, that was meant to teach magical children that muggles were better than them. × In reality, the purpose of the stories was to teach children to place value, not on their magical heritage or prowess, but on how good of a person they were. × Interestingly, there was one notable opponent to Beedle the Bard who was not offended by his stories themselves, but rather the 'violent' and 'unsettling' way they were presented. × Beatrix Bloxam adapted his stories into the infamous 'Toadstool Tales', a series meant to make the stories more appropriate and palatable for young children. Instead, it made them vomit.
The Stories: × The Fountain of Fair Fortune: Enclosed in a magical garden lays The Fountain of Fair Fortune, a magical fountain whose waters are believed to cure the aliment of any bathe in its waters. Three witches, suffering from poverty, illness and heartbreak, travel with an unfortunate knight to seek its blessing. × The Wizard and the Hopping Pot: A kindly old wizard, who uses his magic to help the non-magical folk of a nearby village, passes away, leaving his blood purist son as their only assistance in times of trouble. The son, however, has little interest in helping the muggles. He is punished for his hard headedness by a magical pot, which his father enchanted to become afflicted with anything those in the village are afflicted with. × The Warlock's Hairy Heart: A warlock becomes convinced that love is a true weakness, and seeking to become powerful and without any weaknesses, locks his heart away so that he can never fall in love.
Discussion Prompt: One of the most important things to know about the Bard is that he was a controversial figure in his time, and is still considered to be one by some. His views were ahead of their time, radical for the period. Can anyone tell me why, or offer up any interesting information on the Bard? Or, if you have a question, feel free to ask.
Homework:Write a short essay on Beedle and how public opinion of muggles during his lifetime may have led to controversy concerning his stories. Offer your opinion on the perspectives of both the Bard and his peers.
× Lesson Two × The Fountain of Fair Fortune
Summary: × Enclosed in a magical garden lays The Fountain of Fair Fortune, a magical fountain whose waters are believed to cure the aliment of any bathe in its waters. Three witches, suffering from poverty, illness and heartbreak, travel with an unfortunate knight to seek its blessing. As they travel, each witch faced a trial which helped her to overcome her woes, so that when they came across the fountain, each forsook the right to bathe in its waters, offering it instead to the knight.
Controversy: × This tale has long been discounted and discredited by blood purists, who attack it for its depiction of romance between a witch and a muggle. Over the years, there have been many petitions started to have it removed from the library of Hogwarts and to cease its inclusion in publications of the Bard’s tales.
Discussion Prompt: This story has all the makings of your classic fairy tale. It had trials and tribulations, characters with tragic backstories rising above their troubles, romance, and an ending meant to inspire. In spite of being by and large a positive story, it has often been attacked by certain subsets of the magical community. Can anyone guess why?
Homework: Write a short essay on the idea of the Fountain and why you think it worked, despite the fact that its waters held no true enchantment.
× Lesson Three × The Wizard and the Hopping Pot
Summary: × A kindly old wizard, who uses his magic to help the non-magical folk of a nearby village, passes away, leaving his blood purist son as their only assistance in times of trouble. The son, however, has little interest in helping the muggles. He is punished for his hard headedness by a magical pot, which his father enchanted to become afflicted with anything those in the village are afflicted with.
Controversy: × This particular tale has been subject to two rewrites, for different reasons. Beatrix Bloxam rewrote the tale to make it more appropriate for children, believing that the depiction of the pot was too gruesome for children. On the other hand, blood purists rewrote the tale to completely change the depictions of the father and son. In the original tale, the father is depicted as a kindly old man, and much cleverer than his son. The son, a blood purist, is shown to be cruel and selfish. In the Bard’s tale, the Hopping Pot is a device created by the father, meant to force the son out of his selfish ways and teach him to help the muggles who live in the nearby village as he had in his life. But, in the revised version, the Pot instead is meant to protect the son from the muggles, who attack him for practicing magic. In this version, the Pot gulps most of the villagers, and the wizard tells the muggles that if they leave him alone, they will be safe. Copies of the original story were destroyed to such an extent that it was considered a miracle that any child has heard it. Many wizard children still grow up hearing only the revised edition.
Discussion Prompt: The controversial nature of this particular story abounds; it has been written and rewritten time and time again by people who did not agree with its message and wished to bastardize it for their own gains. Can anyone tell me what about this story offended so many people?
Homework: Write a short essay on the differences between the original story and either of the revised versions. Discuss your opinions on the validity of these alterations.
× Lesson Four × The Warlock's Hairy Heart
Summary: × A warlock becomes convinced that love is a true weakness, and seeking to become powerful and without any weaknesses, locks his heart away so that he can never fall in love. After overhearing his servants mocking him for failing to attract a wife despite all his wealth and power, he resolves to find the perfect witch to be his bride. He finds such a witch and attempts to court her, but she is able to sense his coldness, and says she would marry him, if only he had a heart. He takes her to the deepest dungeon of his castle and shows her his heart, which has grown hairy and shriveled through years of remaining untouched. He attempts to place it back in his chest, but the years of seclusion have perverted it and made it dark. He kills the witch and take her heart in an attempt to replace the one in his chest with it, but the heart is too powerful, and the warlock and witch are both found dead.
Controversy: × Unlike many of the Bard’s tales, this particular story has never been subject to criticism for pro-muggle sentiments, as there are none to be found. However, it is the darkest and most disturbing of the stories, making it an interesting fact that, of all the Bard’s stories, it is the most prevalent and well known, at least in regards to the original story. Professor Albus Dumbledore believed that this is because the tale speaks to the darkest parts of the human soul and as such was regarded as an important lesson for young witches and wizards, teaching them not to seek power by meddling in the dark arts. Parallels have been drawn between the warlock’s act of removing his heart and the creation of a Horcrux. The story has had such an impact that the phrase 'To have a hairy heart' was often heard in years past to describe a person who was unfeeling.
Discussion Prompt: This story is, in a word, horrifying. It was meant to evoke feelings of fear and shock. This is a far cry from the Bard's other stories, which are typically considered to be much more light-hearted. It has been suggested that the rather graphic nature of the story was intentional; the Bard meant to shock his readers so that they would always remember the story, to ensure that the lesson it held stuck with them. Can anyone tell me what the purpose of this particular story is?
Homework: Write a short essay on the phrase 'to have a hairy heart' and why you believe the heart became so cold and twisted in its years of seclusion.
Amata Harlowe Professor of Mythology//Classroom: Mythology I//Wearing CURRENTLY WITH//No one CURRENTLY FEELING//Excited CURRENTLY THINKING//'I hope I have a few students...' ═════════════════════════════════
Professor Amata Harlowe entered the classroom, a smile on her face, humming quietly to herself. She glanced around the room, her eyes sparkling.'It's so wonderful to be back within these halls... I wish they'd offered this class when I attended as a student!'When Amata had heard that Hogwarts was adding new classes to its curriculum, she'd been surprised. Not for nothing, but those classes had been all they'd offered for as far back as anyone could remember. She'd actually met a few old wizards scoffing the idea of new classes and their pointlessness of them. 'No point in new classes,' one rather ancient looking man had said, 'we got along just find with the classes they had when we attended.' Of course, the same old man had ended his point by saying if they were going to change things, they should be getting rid of certain classes, specifically Divination. Which she couldn't agree with; she'd found her old professor absolutely delightful, if a little eccentric. Apparently, most Divinations professors were. But, she had been on the fence about the point of adding new classes. That is, until she'd heard about the Mythology class being added. When she'd found out about that, she'd jumped on the opportunity to teach the subject she'd loved so much as a child, even if she'd learned it at home and not in school. She glanced at the board and waved her wand, the Lesson Plan, Rules and Supplies lists appearing on it for the students to copy down. She glanced around the room. No one here yet. But, it was early still. She hoped the class would have a few takers. There were rules and supplies on the board for the students to copy down, as well as the classes lesson plan. On her desk, there was a stack of paper with a few small questions for the students to answer for her so that she could assess their knowledge.
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Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2012 9:36 pm
Tristain took a seat in the class and readied herself for the day's lesson. The professor appeared kind, and she was eager to make a good impression. Immediately, she dove into the introduction sheet designed to give the teacher a bit of knowledge about herself.
Name: Tristain Raines House: Ravenclaw Year: Third Blood status: Half-blood. Curriculum: I have heard of all of these topics, but am most learned in the subjects of Beedle the Bard and The Wizard and the Hopping Pot. Despite the fact that my dad is a muggle, I am part of a very large wizarding family with many wizard-based traditions. Not to mention that reading is my favorite hobby. Something interesting about me: I am Ravenclaw's quidditch seeker, I love to learn, and I am quite interested in inventing things—both magical and non.
"Love to faults is always blind, always is to joy inclined. Lawless, winged, and unconfined, and breaks all chains from every mind." - William Shakespeare
Amata Harlowe Professor of Mythology//Classroom: Mythology I//Wearing CURRENTLY WITH//No one CURRENTLY FEELING//Excited CURRENTLY THINKING//'Well, one is better than none...' ═════════════════════════════════
When the young girl arrived, Amata smiled warmly at her, glad to see that she had a student. One child to teach was certainly better than none. She waited patiently for the girl to fill out the introduction sheet, eager to read it and see what all the girl knew. Since it would likely be just the two of them, she was sure they'd have plenty of time to get to know one another, and they could speak fairly openly about the subject and about themselves. When the girl... Tristain, Amata noted, sure she'd manage to remember one name, turned in the paper, she looked it over quickly. Beedle and the Bard, and the Wizard and the Hopping Pot... It was unsurprising. She knew that it was one of the most commonly told stories, although she was curious as to what version of the tale the girl had been told. She looked at her, smiling again."Hello, Tristain. I'm Professor Amata Harlowe. You can call me whatever you like, provided you include the title 'Professor.'"She wrinkled her nose a little. She didn't really care for the title, would rather students just called her 'Amata,' but she didn't want the staff to think her students didn't take her seriously. Perhaps after she'd been here a while, was a little more established, she would drop the formality."This says you know a fair bit about The Bard. Would you care to give me a brief summary of what you know, so that I know what you should be taught?"If she'd had more students, she'd have just given the entire lecture, but as Tristain was the only one, she felt like it made more sense for her to simply teach the girl things she didn't already know.
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(( OOC: )) Homework is due AFTER the lesson, when I'm teaching the next one. You can post it to Amata's office then... I meant to link that -_-` I'll fix that after this post.
EDIT: So, I changed the information in the OOC section of the Information post, is that more clear on the Homework assignment information? Also, Amata's office has been linked so that you can turn in the homework.
Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2012 6:32 pm
Tristain smiled as the kind woman offered freedom towards addressing her, though she knew she would simply stick to "Professor Harlowe"—a product of how her father had raised her. Sitting up straight, a bit uncomfortable now that she realized she would be the only student taking this class, the Ravenclaw paid close attention to the teacher's words, then tried to ask herself what she didn't know about Beedle the Bard.
"Well, nothing formal, really. My father is a muggle, so when my mum introduced The Tales of Beedle the Bard to him, he found himself intrigued. He had always had a tendency to stress the idea that, even though I'm a witch, I shouldn't take advantage of that, nor forget that I am also human. In a way, I think that's kind of what the Bard is trying to get across in his stories—that wizard life is not how most muggles perceive it. You know—fairy dust and happy endings, and all that. And at the same time he seems to try and put an emphasis on the similarities between wizards and muggles, as not to make them seem inferior to us."When Tristain realized she had nothing left to say, she gave the Professor a light smile and folded her hands on top of her desk in front of her.
[[OOC: Yep! Sorry for the misunderstanding—totally my fault!]]
"Love to faults is always blind, always is to joy inclined. Lawless, winged, and unconfined, and breaks all chains from every mind." - William Shakespeare
Amata Harlowe Professor of Mythology//Classroom: Mythology I//Wearing CURRENTLY WITH//No one CURRENTLY FEELING//Excited CURRENTLY THINKING//'Well, one is better than none...' ═════════════════════════════════
Amata smiled warmly at the girl. She'd really meant more about the Bard's historical information, facts about his life and such, but it was nice that the girl was starting the lesson off with a discussion topic instead. It made Amata hope that she would prove to be a good student, that they would have a lot to discuss in the coming year."A very nice thought. I think, though, that, since muggles are wholly unaware of our fairy tales, a more accurate thought might be that they are intended to teach us that we are more like muggles than we personally believe. As I'm sure you're aware, the wizarding world during the time of Beedle'e life placed a lot of emphasis on bloodlines and on the superiority of wizards over muggles. Beedle was something of a controversial figure, one of a very small number of people who believed wizards were merely different from muggles, rather than better than them."She paused then, allowing Tristain a moment to soak that in, before turning to the board and bespelling several pieces of chalk to write out a few notes on the board.
Quote:
Lesson One: Beedle the Bard
The Man:
• Born in Yorkshire in the 15th century. • Author of many of the wizarding world’s most well-known and famous folktales. • Little is known of the man or his personal life. • Many of his tales sparked controversy due to his apparently high opinion of non-magical folk and treatment of wizards who valued pure bloodlines or ambitious designs. • He mistrusted all forms of Dark Magic and believed that wizards were far from immune to the lure of those worst traits of humankind. • His stories were unusual in that in them, the heroes were rarely those with the strongest magic, but rather those who possessed traits such as kindness, common sense, ingenuity. • There are various parallels between Beedle and the famous muggle playwright William Shakespeare, both of whom are referred to as ‘The Bard.’ Less informed readers are often of the incorrect belief that they were actually one and the same person.
After the notes were up on the board, she turned back to Tristain, smiling."Now, Beedle the Bard was born sometime in the 15th century, presumably around the mid-1400's. He was born in a small mixed community in Yorkshire. At the time, the general climate between wizards and muggles was very delicate. Muggles had become more fearful of their magical counterparts, and fear tends to make people lash out. It was during this time period that the muggles of Britain began to hunt down and burn suspected witches and wizards. Magic was dangerous, something they couldn't comprehend, and so they set out to destroy it. Because of this animosity and mistrust, the amount of anti-muggle propaganda among wizards became much more widespread. Prior to this period, wizarding folk and muggles tended to simply leave each other alone, but now they were outright attacking one another. It was into this dark and trying period that the Bard was born. This has led to a lot of speculation concerning why, when one reads the original versions of his various tales, they place so much emphasis on equality between the two and on treating each other with respect. The most prevalent theory is that the Bard was a halfblood, and therefore could not choose a side in the so called war. He instead sought to bridge the gap of trust with his stories of wizards and muggles living in peace and working together. Not much is known about his personal life; all we know for sure of him are his stories and the approximate time and location of his birth, and that he was obviously pro-muggle."Amata stopped then, aware that she'd been rambling a bit, giving Tristain time to take notes.
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(( OOC: )) ...
Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2012 7:51 pm
As the professor dove into the lecture, Tristain quickly jumped into her notes, writing down the teacher's words nearly word for word while still trying to nod along and consider what was being said, being greatly interested in the details of Beedle the Bard's life.
When the words stopped rolling in, Tristain hurried to catch up to that point on her paper, then slowly laid her quill down. Shyly, she smiled up at the teacher and crossed her hands atop her desk to show that she had finished her notes.
"Love to faults is always blind, always is to joy inclined. Lawless, winged, and unconfined, and breaks all chains from every mind." - William Shakespeare
Professor of Mythology//Classroom: Mythology I//Wearing CURRENTLY WITH//Tristain CURRENTLY FEELING//Excited CURRENTLY THINKING//'I think I shall enjoy this... perhaps a small class isn't something to be worried over.' ═════════════════════════════════
Amata gave Tristain a warm smile. She was aware that she'd just dropped a rather large chunk of information on the girl, and noticed her writing rather quickly to try and keep up. She'd have to not say so much at once, she decided then. It wouldn't do to give the poor child carpal tunnel, even if such things were easily remedied. So she waited patiently for the girl to finish before going into the next bit, keeping in mind that she must take things slower."Now, there are several reoccurring themes throughout his work. We'll start with the most well noted of these, the heavy influence of his pro-muggle mentality. At the time of his writing, and for many decades after, there was a fair bit of animosity towards muggles. So, many of his tales were rewritten, to put a more 'wizard friendly' spin on them, to exemplify and glorify the preservation of bloodlines. But, somehow, despite the efforts to change these tales and stomp all the pro-muggle parts out, a few have remained. One of the prime examples of this is The Wizard and the Hopping Pot, which we will of course talk about later in the year. So, tell me, what are your thoughts on the attempts to remove the more muggle friendly aspects of the books?"Amata wanted there to be discussion, particularly since Tristain was her only student. She was curious about what the young girl would have to say about the subjects, about the controversy and the history.
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(( OOC: )) I'm going to post the next lesson next week since we started this one late.
Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2012 7:22 pm
Tristain smiled as the teacher continued with the lesson, and she immediately put her quill back to the parchment and continued on with her notes. The question about her thoughts on the rewriting of the Bard's stories as a means of making them less muggle-friendly and more appropriate for the common wizard supremacist caught the girl by surpise.
"Well, of course I think was ridiculous—not only that Beedle couldn't put his own opinion into his own writing, but that wizards were so unfriendly to muggles back then. I also find it somewhat bewildering that there are many wizards still out there today that continue to act and feel this way. But, I suppose that's just my own opinion,"she explained, stopping herself before she got too far into the topic.
"Love to faults is always blind, always is to joy inclined. Lawless, winged, and unconfined, and breaks all chains from every mind." - William Shakespeare
Professor of Mythology//Classroom: Mythology I//Wearing CURRENTLY WITH//Tristain CURRENTLY FEELING//Excited CURRENTLY THINKING//'I think I shall enjoy this... perhaps a small class isn't something to be worried over.' ═════════════════════════════════
Amata smiled and nodded at Tristain's opinion. She, too, found it rather pointless that there were still so many wizards who looked down on muggles for their lack of magic."Of course, that is a very mature opinion. Unfortunately, it is also a fairly modern one. Many people aren't very capable of change, and it's hard to slowly chip away at 'blood pride.' Even if every generation of those people were to let go of one single, tiny aspect of their prejudice, I think it would still be a century before we were living without."She sighed a little. The thought was a sad one indeed. She wished that there wasn't so much intolerance. Then, before she let it get to her too much, she gave herself a mental shake, and smiled, clapping her hands together."Anyway. That's probably a conversation more suited to another class. So, on to the next, and my favorite, aspect of the Beedle's tales, another thing that was in glaring contrast to the other writings of its days; If you were to pick up an old book of fairy tales, written by any author but the Bard, from his time period, you would find that the stories placed a lot of emphasis on things like cunning, a thirst for power, strong magic. Beedle, however, instead wrote protagonists were weren't necessarily as smart or as strong, but they had a certain pureness of their hearts. In one of his more popular tales, The Tale of Three Brothers, it is not the first brother, a skilled duelist, or the second brother, a brilliant mind, but rather, the third brother who is shown to be the wisest and most worthy of praise. In his other stories, those characters who fail to live up to the standards of good heartedness that the Beedle so idolized are either portrayed as having to change their ways or having something horrible happen as a result of their wickedness. In The Wizard and the Hopping Pot, the young son is not freed from his torture until he learns compassion for the muggles, and in The Warlock's Hairy Heart, the man so disfigured himself in his quest for immortality that he ended up making himself something less than human. Beedle made it very clear that no matter how clever, or strong, or cunning or powerful one is, it is compassion and kindness that truly make one worthy of praise."She stopped again, so that Tristain could catch up. This was turning out to be a marvelous experience. She only hoped her students was enjoying their time as much as she was.
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(( OOC: )) ...
Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2012 12:19 pm
Tristain's gaze saddened for a moment as the professor discussed the majority opinion of wizards these days, and the fact that only time could heal the often unnecessary pride they had for their blood status.
When the teacher continued on with the lecture, Tristain listened eagerly as she continued to scribble down notes, now onto her second page of parchment. A small smile found its way onto her face as she listened to the facts about the Bard, and realized that he was an even more respectable wizard than she had initially thought him to be.
This time, the Ravenclaw was able to finish her stretch of notes just moments after the professor quit talking, which somewhat boosted her confidence in regards to her note taking capabilities. She set down her quill and smiled expectantly up at the woman, waiting for further lecture or instruction.
"Love to faults is always blind, always is to joy inclined. Lawless, winged, and unconfined, and breaks all chains from every mind." - William Shakespeare
Professor of Mythology//Classroom: Mythology I//Wearing CURRENTLY WITH//Tristain CURRENTLY FEELING//Excited CURRENTLY THINKING//'I think I shall enjoy this... perhaps a small class isn't something to be worried over.' ═════════════════════════════════
Amata noted when Tristain completed her notes for that segment of the lesson, and tapped her chin a little, glancing at the notes she's written before class. She found she'd gotten a bit lost. When she found her place, she wanted to slap herself in the forehead. She shook her head a little before continuing."The next point, one that goes hand in hand with the previous, is his obvious mistrust of any kind of dark magic. There is no story in which this is more evident than that of The Warlock's Hairy Heart. A man, much like many of the more dark characters in our own, real history, has a desire to be free of weakness, in his case, specifically love. Love is, of course, arguably one of our most important emotions, something that truly separates us from all other life. It is what drives us to do good for others, to aspire to greatness. Instead of being inspired by love, the Warlock feared it, and sought to rid himself of it. In order to free himself from what he perceived as weakness, he used dark magic, something that ultimately led to his demise. This is a recurring theme, although not one many make note of."She paused for a moment, and glanced back at her notes. She was forgetting something again... this point was one that, while she appreciated it, she didn't much care to discuss often. There really weren't many stories that placed a lot of emphasis on the dark magic, using it as a plot device rather than the core lesson. As she looked over her notes, she finally found what she was looking for."Similarly, he was one of few who believed that wizards were just as weak as muggles in regards to the evils of the world. He believed that, in some cases, we are perhaps even worse than they. Our magic makes us arrogant, makes us believe we either need not concern ourselves with so-called lesser creatures But, in reality, this is a weakness in and of itself, one which makes us susceptible to other weaknesses. The Warlock believed himself to be so powerful that he needn't ever worry about himself if he could only make himself immune from love. The eldest of the Three Brothers believed that because he had outsmarted Death, he was more powerful than any living being. The middle brother held a similar belief, attributing his superiority to his intellect. This is our fatal flaw, much like the leaders of muggle kingdoms."She glanced at the clock, noting that it was about time for her to wrap things up. So, she waited patiently for Tristain to catch up writing her notes, and tilted her head to the side. When the girl finished writing, Amata clapped her hands together, smiling brightly."That's all we have time for today, I'm afraid. Next week we'll start studying the Beedle's actual stories, starting with my personal favorite, The Fountain of Fair Fortune. In the meantime, you have a bit of homework."Amata waved her wand one final time, and the homework assignment wrote itself out on the board. She then excused herself and left the classroom, humming happily to herself. The first lesson had gone rather well, she thought.
Quote:
Unit 1 Homework: Write a short essay on Beedle and how public opinion of muggles during his lifetime may have led to controversy concerning his stories. Offer your opinion on the perspectives of both the Bard and his peers.
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(( OOC: )) ...
Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2012 8:50 pm
Lesson 1: Beedle the Bard
Lesson completed and closed.
Homework: Write a short essay on Beedle and how public opinion of muggles during his lifetime may have led to controversy concerning his stories. Offer your opinion on the perspectives of both the Bard and his peers.
