When he'd seen the hand from Miss Moony he had been hopeful that the question would get them back on track, but he didn't know why he'd thought that. Maybe just that he recognized her from Quidditch practices and was thinking a familiar face was a friendly face. Her question absolutely didn't get them back on track, though, and Ben's face lost a touch of color. His first (entirely irrational) thought was that someone who knew about his duel with Macmillan had put her up to this, to put him on the spot — get him to say something incriminating and lose the job before he'd even been here a month.
"I have not," he said definitively, but then he wondered if some students would see his answer as a lack of experience rather than an affirmation of his good character, so he added before he'd had a chance to think it through: "Muggles don't duel for fun or in tournaments, when they duel they mostly end up dead."
Then he realized that he'd started talking about death to a room full of students whose last professor was not yet buried, and mentally kicked himself. By the end of class he was probably going to end up escorting another inconsolable girl to the hospital wing for a calming draught.
"Anyway!" he said, clapping his hands together to prevent any further questions. "If no one has questions about the assignment let's move on to the topic for the day. Over on this table there's a collection of books, articles, and short stories written by Muggles about magic. Or what they think is magic. The exercise for today is to read through one and determine whether what they're describing is the work of a witch or wizard, a magical creature, or was more likely another Muggle." The selection of resources was fully the work of the school librarian; Ben hadn't read most of them himself. He probably owed her a drink, if she drank.
"You can work alone or in small groups," he continued. "And flag me down if you have questions." (About the assignment, about the assignment, about the assignment.)
"I have not," he said definitively, but then he wondered if some students would see his answer as a lack of experience rather than an affirmation of his good character, so he added before he'd had a chance to think it through: "Muggles don't duel for fun or in tournaments, when they duel they mostly end up dead."
Then he realized that he'd started talking about death to a room full of students whose last professor was not yet buried, and mentally kicked himself. By the end of class he was probably going to end up escorting another inconsolable girl to the hospital wing for a calming draught.
"Anyway!" he said, clapping his hands together to prevent any further questions. "If no one has questions about the assignment let's move on to the topic for the day. Over on this table there's a collection of books, articles, and short stories written by Muggles about magic. Or what they think is magic. The exercise for today is to read through one and determine whether what they're describing is the work of a witch or wizard, a magical creature, or was more likely another Muggle." The selection of resources was fully the work of the school librarian; Ben hadn't read most of them himself. He probably owed her a drink, if she drank.
"You can work alone or in small groups," he continued. "And flag me down if you have questions." (About the assignment, about the assignment, about the assignment.)
MJ made this <3