CORE
Astronomy ~ A
- Galen loved the night sky. He had a tendency to say things like “Humans are so cute! We study the sky through glass tubes!” as he waxed philosophical about things. He had some trouble keeping all the planets and facts straight, but his real struggle was any calculations. He put in a solid effort, but was a little overwhelmed by other classes at OWLs. Despite many “Astronomy study sessions” with the Metafecta, Galen was mostly around for the fun banter and kind gossip, and this showed in his relationships, but also unfortunately in his Astronomy grade.
Charms ~ E
- Charms were useful and helpful, and Galen always kept a healthy respect for how charms made everyday chores easier. He worked charms practice into an everyday kind of thing, and made sure to appreciate how life was changed by even the simpler spells. Such respect led to a thorough understanding of each charm.
Defense Against the Dark Arts ~ A
- Ever the optimist, Galen wanted to befriend most of the dark creatures encountered in Defense. This strategy didn’t quite work in practice, but it served him well on any theoretical examinations. Ironically, perhaps if he had failed once or twice he would have actually dived deeper into DADA and considered continuing it.
Herbology ~ E
- Galen might not have remembered his birthmother working in a flower shop and his birthfather operating a greenhouse, but he had his own fond memories of working in the gardens and orchards of the Saylor farm with his parents. His sister, Vera, worked at an apothecary for many years and would harp on him for mixing up ingredients, which --while annoying--was effective at making sure he kept things straight even over the summers. And after he got better at herbology, Galen found he quite enjoyed it.
History of Magic ~ A
- History was great inspiration for DnD campaigns, comic strips, and art appreciation! And that was about it. Galen was always an exactly adequate student of history. He knew the broad strokes of events, always did the homework, and always did acceptably on exams, but really he cared more about what people wanted to be than what had happened before.
Potions ~ E
- Magical Soup Class had so many uses and was where he got to do lots of mixing, mashing, and sticking things in a stew. Learning about Soup properties—potions theory— helped with cooking, and cooking helped with potions. It was great!
Transfiguration ~ A
- As a meta, Galen had a lifetime of anecdotal experience with transfiguration. Galen struggled with the mathematical aspects of transfiguration, but understanding transfiguration theory helped him better understand his own abilities and how to control them.
After a discussion with his friends in the Metafecta and his parents, Galen went to Professor Drage to request permission to continue Transfiguration. He wanted to do better. Even if he wasn't mastering the more complex Transfiguration, it was useful for his metamorphmagus control.
ELECTIVES
Art ~ O
- Galen learned to read from comic books and the Dungeons and Dragons Player Handbook. Before he was writing campaigns, he was doodling his ideas. After being adopted by Aileas, an artist, he took art much more seriously-- art was suddenly everywhere, and it was the connective tissue that made everything else make sense. Even if he wasn’t the best artist himself, Galen very much appreciated art and enjoyed it. This passion and in-depth knowledge of artistic history and techniques and the associated magic earned him the O despite not being as conventionally as skilled an artist as others in his class.
Care of Magical Creatures~ E
- Galen took Creatures because, as he explained, “Hogwarts doesn’t have draconic studies” and this was the closest he had. Through the class he grew to be interested in more than just dragons and found he enjoyed the whimsicalness of magical creatures—and all animals—very much. He learned a lot about caring for his puffle—aptly named Dragon— and for the most part had a good grasp of all creatures. His “befriend all creatures” attitude from DADA actually worked when it came to CoMC!
Healing ~ A
- Galen initially thought healing sounded useful and his parent Nova agreed healing was a practical skill. He also thought everything else sounded super fun and that he should have at least one serious elective. The theory and specifics of healing sometimes went over Galen’s head. He wasn’t the best student to begin with, and Healing tended to get very complicated very fast. But resilient as always, Galen put his best effort into understanding the practical aspects and being able to administer first aid. His potions were adequate, and his spellcasting was careful at least. Ultimately, it was his fantastic bedside manner–able to explain things kindly and comfortingly with good cheer, which secured him the A.
After a discussion with his parents, Galen decided against continuing healing. He was satisfied with what he had learned, and could realistically diagnose if an injury was something he could mend or something that required professional attention. That would be enough.
Muggle Studies ~ E
- Galen had never had a chance to experience everyday life in muggle society as his uncontrolled meta changes didn’t fit in unless he was bundled to the point of lunacy. He took Muggle Studies out of interest but found the ideas presented disconnected from the bits of reality he saw.
Mythology ~ O
- Galen took Mythology because everything he heard about the class sounded like something he’d read in a comic book and he thought Comic Class would be rad. The class was not exactly comic class, but he was intrigued anyways, and always piped up with a reference to a comic. He found plenty of opportunities for crossovers with Art and indeed did some of his best work as part of a Mythology crossover.
Wizard Law~ E
- Galen took Wizard law because his parent, Nova, was a lawyer and owned their own firm. Galen was determined to do well at Wizard law, and loved being able to go to the Saylor Firm and understand at least a little of what was being said. He wasn’t quite great at the details, but he studied and practiced doggedly: the summer after third year, he followed Nova around, taking notes so at the end of the day he could ask for explanations and look things up in his textbooks. While he wasn’t always the best at the specifics, he did adopt and focus on Professor Li’s core skills of understanding legal concepts, adapting to arguments, and communicating clearly.
