“I wonder who’s going to be worse at teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts, Umbridge or Snape? I can’t quite decide,” Ron was saying as he poked at his cereal.
It was their first morning back at Hogwarts and the Gryffindors were sulking over the appointment of their new D.A.D.A. professor.
“Well, if he drives us mad we’ll have the D.A. to fall back onto,” Ginny smirked. The Gryffindors within earshot gave her sly grins in return. She looked to Harry for any comment, but he remained silent with the palm of his hand covering his nose as though noxious fumes were threatening to get in. His free hand was thumbing through The Daily Prophet.
“Alright there, Harry?” Ginny asked.
Harry merely nodded. He’d been acting a bit strange since yesterday. She wasn’t sure what had happened, but Harry had walked into the beginning of term feast with dried blood on his face. Although his face looked fine this morning, he appeared to still be self-conscious about it. Ginny knew Ron and Hermione had been informed of what had occurred, but as usual, she’d been left in the dark.
Her relationship with Harry had been awkward since the first time she’d met him. Her girl crush on him had waned considerably, but she still cared for him. She convinced herself it was for a brother, like she did for Ron, and allowed herself to develop feelings for other boys.
She felt sudden warmth at her side as Dean Thomas sat down next to her.
“Morning, Gin,” he smiled warmly at her.
“Morning, Dean,” she smiled back at him, taking in his handsome face.
A loud cough interrupted their moment. The two of them turned to stare at Ron. “Sorry, had something caught in my throat,” he said.
“What class do you have first?” Dean asked her.
“Muggle Studies,” she said.
Dean leaned in closer to her and whispered, “I’m Muggle-born. Do you think you could study me?”
The color rose in Ginny’s cheeks as she was suddenly aware of Ron’s scowl. Harry finally removed his hand from his face and stared at Dean blankly.
The awkward silence was broken when Dennis Creevey tapped Harry on the arm.
“This is for you, Harry,” he reddened, handing Harry a sealed envelope.
“Thanks, Dennis,” Harry said.
“Who’s it from? And why didn’t it come by owl?” Ron asked.
“It’s from Dumbledore,” Hermione said simply.
Ron narrowed his eyes at her. “And how would you know that?”
“It’s got Dumbledore’s seal on it,” Hermione responded, pointing at the red wax seal with a phoenix insignia imprinted on it.
Ginny watched Harry stare at the letter for a moment before pocketing it in his robes.
“Open it, Harry!” Ron urged, staring at Harry’s pocket.
“No, not right now,” he said, his eyes avoiding Dean and Ginny’s direction. Ginny stiffened. Dean was chatting animatedly with Seamus Finnigan next to him and hadn’t noticed a thing.
Well, she certainly didn’t want to be an unwanted presence among the trio. “Dean, I’m going to start heading down to class.” She rose to her feet without looking at her brother and friends.
“Coming,” Dean jumped to his feet, nodding to his housemates before following her out the Great Hall.
Ginny was fuming. She should be used to being excluded by now. Sure, she was their buddy over the summer when they needed an even number for Quidditch or a helping hand to attack a group of Death Eaters. But in school she was invisible. Ron only took notice of her when her boyfriend did.
“All right, love?” Dean asked, taking her hand in his.
Her eyes suddenly glinted mischievously. Maybe her friends didn’t want her, but Dean certainly did. She held onto his hand and swung him into a narrow corridor before pushing him roughly up against the cold, stone wall.
“Glad I asked,” he smirked before her lips met his hungrily.
Her detour in the hallway made her just barely on time to Muggle Studies.
Ginny had always enjoyed this class. The classroom was arranged quite differently from the rest of the rooms in Hogwarts. They didn’t sit at long tables for students to share, but individualized desks. Apparently these were found in Muggle classrooms on a daily basis. Hogwarts students only saw them during examinations.
Each desk came equipped with a pencil case that included Muggle writing instruments and a notebook bound with a piece of wire. At first it had been difficult for Ginny to write with pencils on paper instead of the traditional quill and piece of parchment.
“Good morning, class,” Professor Burbage welcomed them brightly. She was a slender witch with a pointed nose and beady eyes. Her grey hair was lank and lusterless, but she had a certain warmth that glowed from her face.
“I see that we have lost some old students and gained some new.”
Ginny looked around the room. Some of her classmates had opted to drop out of the course to focus on core requirements during their fifth year O.W.L.S. The new students were mostly older than her, having signed up for the course to fill space in their schedule after they’d been dropped from the core courses. Pity to be them, Ginny thought.
Her eyes caught the familiar white blond head of Draco Malfoy. Malfoy? In Muggle Studies? Ginny shuddered.
“For many of you, this is where Muggle Studies becomes serious,” Professor Burbage began.
She heard Malfoy let out a low snicker. Ginny frowned at him.
Professor Burbage didn’t appear to have heard him. “We begin to apply all that we have studied about Muggles. It is not just about memorizing facts, but walking in their shoes.”
“And why on earth would we want to do that?” Malfoy called out rudely.
This time Professor Burbage didn’t let him go. “Mr. Malfoy, I suggest that you allow me to go over something as simple as a course overview without having a sixth year student that was just recently dropped from one of his core classes berating me every minute.”
The class broke into laughter. Someone said cruelly, “What class was it, Malfoy? Defense Against the Dark Arts?”
Malfoy opened his mouth to retort something, but instead clamped his mouth shut. He looked as though he was restraining himself from hexing the entire class into oblivion.
Professor Burbage lifted a hand to signal silence before continuing. “Part of your final examination will be a practical. You will be required to tour a specific Muggle city and as they say, ‘when in Rome, do as the Romans do’. This means – no wands.”
There were quiet groans throughout the room. Malfoy scowled.
Ginny grinned wickedly.
Professor Burbage moved on. “In today’s lesson we will discuss Muggle modes of transportation. Just as witches and wizards use apparition, brooms, and the floo network, Muggles have their own conveniences. Can anyone name a few?”
“Cars?” a peaky Ravenclaw boy answered.
“Yes, cars are generally considered the primary mode of transportation. This enables Muggles to travel short and long distances. We use larger forms of this for public transportation ourselves, such as the Knight Bus and Hogwarts Express.”
“Arrow-play?” a black haired Hufflepuff girl tried.
“Good try, Miss. Summers, but the correct pronunciation is airplane. In some sense, this is very similar to a car, but flies, just as our brooms do. While the car usually carries up to five passengers, the airplane can carry several hundred.”
The students appeared to be impressed by this. Ginny, of course, had heard of airplanes before. Her father had mentioned them on numerous occasions. However, she always found it fascinating how several dozen people could fit into a single compartment and fly without any magical charms placed on it.
“Do the Muggles use airplanes to travel over bodies of water?” Melinda Bobbin asked.
“I’m glad you asked that,” Professor Burbage beamed. “Yes, Muggles use airplanes to cross over large bodies of water. However, if the lake or sea is small enough, they can use something entirely different known as a boat or ship. We’ve seen this before when we welcomed out guests from Durmstrang. They came via a charmed ship. Of course, their ship could travel under water, whereas Muggle ships do not have this luxury. In this case, they use another type of boat known as a submarine that enables them to travel under water.”
Students were attempting to furiously scribble these new words into to Muggle notebooks.
“You will be accustomed to these modes of transportation in due time.” Professor Burbage assured them. For homework, I would like you to give me a five inch length description of how a Muggle car functions.”
Ginny was actually looking forward to the assignment. She knew quite a bit about Muggle cars from the secret one her father had kept until Ron had released it into the Forbidden Forest during Ginny’s first year at Hogwarts. She gathered her things and made her way towards the door.
“Don’t try to enjoy the assignment too much, Weaselette,” Malfoy sneered at, coming into step with her through the doorway.
“And why don’t you try to mind your own business, Ferret Face,” Ginny glared at him, hurrying her pace.
“Figures you’d take this class with your Muggle-loving ways.” Ginny was well ahead of him but she could hear the sneer on his face.
She slowly turned around. “Yeah Malfoy, it’s no wonder why I would take this class, but why are you in here? Did you get a Troll in a class?”
Malfoy’s expression iced over. Ginny knew she’d shut him up and didn’t want to provoke him any further. She shrugged and left Malfoy standing alone in the hallway outside of Muggle Studies.
Later that evening, Ginny sat in the Gryffindor common room with her housemates as they all griped about their homework load on the first day back.
“When does your new Potions book come in, Harry?” Hermione asked Harry, her knees tucked up against her chest, holding up an Ancient Runes book.
“Not sure,” Harry vaguely mumbled as he thumbed through a ratty old Potions textbook.
Hermione eyed him warily before returning her gaze to her own reading.
“This assignment on Muggle cars is actually a bit difficult,” Ginny sighed. “I’ve got most of the essential parts, but I’m not really sure what makes them run.” She looked at Hermione hopefully.
“Sorry, Ginny, I really don’t know a whole lot about cars,” Hermione said apologetically.
“Harry?” Ginny asked.
“Mm?” Harry responded without looking up.
“Cars?” she asked, already knowing he wouldn’t help her much either.
“As if the Dursleys would let me near theirs. They’d run me over before allowing that. Try the library,” he said.
“That’s Hermione’s line,” Ron grinned at Hermione. He was lounging on the opposite end of the sofa Hermione was sitting on. She scowled at him.
Ginny packed her bag, shoving scrolls of parchment and quills into it.
The library would be closing in a bit, so Ginny wasn’t sure how much she’d get accomplished. She found a dimly lit lamp next to an armchair and spread out her research there. She found a book titled Muggle Curiosities: The Automobile and Airplane by Serafina Hopkins. Ginny was about to crack it open when she heard a soft creak followed by shuffling footsteps.
“Anyone there?” Ginny called out.
“Don’t we sound frightened,” Blaise Zabini’s voice laughed bitterly.
“What are you doing sneaking around the library, Zabini? Awfully suspicious, don’t you think?” she rounded on him.
“I hardly think that’s any of your concern,” he lowered his eyes.
“Zabini, what’s keeping you?” Ginny recognized Malfoy’s voice. Was it just her, or were there Slytherins everywhere lately?
Malfoy’s white blond hair caught the dimly lit candlelight by Ginny’s armchair.
“I found some scum, that’s all,” Zabini didn’t look at Ginny as he began to disappear.
Malfoy peered around the corner of a bookshelf before stiffening when he noticed Ginny.
“Can I help you?” she asked bitterly.
“No, but I can help you, that book isn’t worth looking at,” he said simply.
“Why, because it has to do with Muggles?” she was getting annoyed with Malfoy’s incessant anti-Muggle bantering.
“The writer leaves out several essential components of cars and bases most of her research on myth.”
Ginny raised an eyebrow at him, an amused expression playing on her lips.
Malfoy looked offended. “I don’t have to like a class to do well in one.”
“Clearly,” Ginny mused. “Do you have any suggestions on what book may help me?”
He pulled a single book out of the shelf he was leaning against and tossed it at her.
Ginny stared at the front cover. A History of Magical Nutters by Cato Blasius.
“That should solve all your problems,” he drawled.
Ginny glared at him as he disappeared, a smirk on his face.
It was their first morning back at Hogwarts and the Gryffindors were sulking over the appointment of their new D.A.D.A. professor.
“Well, if he drives us mad we’ll have the D.A. to fall back onto,” Ginny smirked. The Gryffindors within earshot gave her sly grins in return. She looked to Harry for any comment, but he remained silent with the palm of his hand covering his nose as though noxious fumes were threatening to get in. His free hand was thumbing through The Daily Prophet.
“Alright there, Harry?” Ginny asked.
Harry merely nodded. He’d been acting a bit strange since yesterday. She wasn’t sure what had happened, but Harry had walked into the beginning of term feast with dried blood on his face. Although his face looked fine this morning, he appeared to still be self-conscious about it. Ginny knew Ron and Hermione had been informed of what had occurred, but as usual, she’d been left in the dark.
Her relationship with Harry had been awkward since the first time she’d met him. Her girl crush on him had waned considerably, but she still cared for him. She convinced herself it was for a brother, like she did for Ron, and allowed herself to develop feelings for other boys.
She felt sudden warmth at her side as Dean Thomas sat down next to her.
“Morning, Gin,” he smiled warmly at her.
“Morning, Dean,” she smiled back at him, taking in his handsome face.
A loud cough interrupted their moment. The two of them turned to stare at Ron. “Sorry, had something caught in my throat,” he said.
“What class do you have first?” Dean asked her.
“Muggle Studies,” she said.
Dean leaned in closer to her and whispered, “I’m Muggle-born. Do you think you could study me?”
The color rose in Ginny’s cheeks as she was suddenly aware of Ron’s scowl. Harry finally removed his hand from his face and stared at Dean blankly.
The awkward silence was broken when Dennis Creevey tapped Harry on the arm.
“This is for you, Harry,” he reddened, handing Harry a sealed envelope.
“Thanks, Dennis,” Harry said.
“Who’s it from? And why didn’t it come by owl?” Ron asked.
“It’s from Dumbledore,” Hermione said simply.
Ron narrowed his eyes at her. “And how would you know that?”
“It’s got Dumbledore’s seal on it,” Hermione responded, pointing at the red wax seal with a phoenix insignia imprinted on it.
Ginny watched Harry stare at the letter for a moment before pocketing it in his robes.
“Open it, Harry!” Ron urged, staring at Harry’s pocket.
“No, not right now,” he said, his eyes avoiding Dean and Ginny’s direction. Ginny stiffened. Dean was chatting animatedly with Seamus Finnigan next to him and hadn’t noticed a thing.
Well, she certainly didn’t want to be an unwanted presence among the trio. “Dean, I’m going to start heading down to class.” She rose to her feet without looking at her brother and friends.
“Coming,” Dean jumped to his feet, nodding to his housemates before following her out the Great Hall.
Ginny was fuming. She should be used to being excluded by now. Sure, she was their buddy over the summer when they needed an even number for Quidditch or a helping hand to attack a group of Death Eaters. But in school she was invisible. Ron only took notice of her when her boyfriend did.
“All right, love?” Dean asked, taking her hand in his.
Her eyes suddenly glinted mischievously. Maybe her friends didn’t want her, but Dean certainly did. She held onto his hand and swung him into a narrow corridor before pushing him roughly up against the cold, stone wall.
“Glad I asked,” he smirked before her lips met his hungrily.
Her detour in the hallway made her just barely on time to Muggle Studies.
Ginny had always enjoyed this class. The classroom was arranged quite differently from the rest of the rooms in Hogwarts. They didn’t sit at long tables for students to share, but individualized desks. Apparently these were found in Muggle classrooms on a daily basis. Hogwarts students only saw them during examinations.
Each desk came equipped with a pencil case that included Muggle writing instruments and a notebook bound with a piece of wire. At first it had been difficult for Ginny to write with pencils on paper instead of the traditional quill and piece of parchment.
“Good morning, class,” Professor Burbage welcomed them brightly. She was a slender witch with a pointed nose and beady eyes. Her grey hair was lank and lusterless, but she had a certain warmth that glowed from her face.
“I see that we have lost some old students and gained some new.”
Ginny looked around the room. Some of her classmates had opted to drop out of the course to focus on core requirements during their fifth year O.W.L.S. The new students were mostly older than her, having signed up for the course to fill space in their schedule after they’d been dropped from the core courses. Pity to be them, Ginny thought.
Her eyes caught the familiar white blond head of Draco Malfoy. Malfoy? In Muggle Studies? Ginny shuddered.
“For many of you, this is where Muggle Studies becomes serious,” Professor Burbage began.
She heard Malfoy let out a low snicker. Ginny frowned at him.
Professor Burbage didn’t appear to have heard him. “We begin to apply all that we have studied about Muggles. It is not just about memorizing facts, but walking in their shoes.”
“And why on earth would we want to do that?” Malfoy called out rudely.
This time Professor Burbage didn’t let him go. “Mr. Malfoy, I suggest that you allow me to go over something as simple as a course overview without having a sixth year student that was just recently dropped from one of his core classes berating me every minute.”
The class broke into laughter. Someone said cruelly, “What class was it, Malfoy? Defense Against the Dark Arts?”
Malfoy opened his mouth to retort something, but instead clamped his mouth shut. He looked as though he was restraining himself from hexing the entire class into oblivion.
Professor Burbage lifted a hand to signal silence before continuing. “Part of your final examination will be a practical. You will be required to tour a specific Muggle city and as they say, ‘when in Rome, do as the Romans do’. This means – no wands.”
There were quiet groans throughout the room. Malfoy scowled.
Ginny grinned wickedly.
Professor Burbage moved on. “In today’s lesson we will discuss Muggle modes of transportation. Just as witches and wizards use apparition, brooms, and the floo network, Muggles have their own conveniences. Can anyone name a few?”
“Cars?” a peaky Ravenclaw boy answered.
“Yes, cars are generally considered the primary mode of transportation. This enables Muggles to travel short and long distances. We use larger forms of this for public transportation ourselves, such as the Knight Bus and Hogwarts Express.”
“Arrow-play?” a black haired Hufflepuff girl tried.
“Good try, Miss. Summers, but the correct pronunciation is airplane. In some sense, this is very similar to a car, but flies, just as our brooms do. While the car usually carries up to five passengers, the airplane can carry several hundred.”
The students appeared to be impressed by this. Ginny, of course, had heard of airplanes before. Her father had mentioned them on numerous occasions. However, she always found it fascinating how several dozen people could fit into a single compartment and fly without any magical charms placed on it.
“Do the Muggles use airplanes to travel over bodies of water?” Melinda Bobbin asked.
“I’m glad you asked that,” Professor Burbage beamed. “Yes, Muggles use airplanes to cross over large bodies of water. However, if the lake or sea is small enough, they can use something entirely different known as a boat or ship. We’ve seen this before when we welcomed out guests from Durmstrang. They came via a charmed ship. Of course, their ship could travel under water, whereas Muggle ships do not have this luxury. In this case, they use another type of boat known as a submarine that enables them to travel under water.”
Students were attempting to furiously scribble these new words into to Muggle notebooks.
“You will be accustomed to these modes of transportation in due time.” Professor Burbage assured them. For homework, I would like you to give me a five inch length description of how a Muggle car functions.”
Ginny was actually looking forward to the assignment. She knew quite a bit about Muggle cars from the secret one her father had kept until Ron had released it into the Forbidden Forest during Ginny’s first year at Hogwarts. She gathered her things and made her way towards the door.
“Don’t try to enjoy the assignment too much, Weaselette,” Malfoy sneered at, coming into step with her through the doorway.
“And why don’t you try to mind your own business, Ferret Face,” Ginny glared at him, hurrying her pace.
“Figures you’d take this class with your Muggle-loving ways.” Ginny was well ahead of him but she could hear the sneer on his face.
She slowly turned around. “Yeah Malfoy, it’s no wonder why I would take this class, but why are you in here? Did you get a Troll in a class?”
Malfoy’s expression iced over. Ginny knew she’d shut him up and didn’t want to provoke him any further. She shrugged and left Malfoy standing alone in the hallway outside of Muggle Studies.
Later that evening, Ginny sat in the Gryffindor common room with her housemates as they all griped about their homework load on the first day back.
“When does your new Potions book come in, Harry?” Hermione asked Harry, her knees tucked up against her chest, holding up an Ancient Runes book.
“Not sure,” Harry vaguely mumbled as he thumbed through a ratty old Potions textbook.
Hermione eyed him warily before returning her gaze to her own reading.
“This assignment on Muggle cars is actually a bit difficult,” Ginny sighed. “I’ve got most of the essential parts, but I’m not really sure what makes them run.” She looked at Hermione hopefully.
“Sorry, Ginny, I really don’t know a whole lot about cars,” Hermione said apologetically.
“Harry?” Ginny asked.
“Mm?” Harry responded without looking up.
“Cars?” she asked, already knowing he wouldn’t help her much either.
“As if the Dursleys would let me near theirs. They’d run me over before allowing that. Try the library,” he said.
“That’s Hermione’s line,” Ron grinned at Hermione. He was lounging on the opposite end of the sofa Hermione was sitting on. She scowled at him.
Ginny packed her bag, shoving scrolls of parchment and quills into it.
The library would be closing in a bit, so Ginny wasn’t sure how much she’d get accomplished. She found a dimly lit lamp next to an armchair and spread out her research there. She found a book titled Muggle Curiosities: The Automobile and Airplane by Serafina Hopkins. Ginny was about to crack it open when she heard a soft creak followed by shuffling footsteps.
“Anyone there?” Ginny called out.
“Don’t we sound frightened,” Blaise Zabini’s voice laughed bitterly.
“What are you doing sneaking around the library, Zabini? Awfully suspicious, don’t you think?” she rounded on him.
“I hardly think that’s any of your concern,” he lowered his eyes.
“Zabini, what’s keeping you?” Ginny recognized Malfoy’s voice. Was it just her, or were there Slytherins everywhere lately?
Malfoy’s white blond hair caught the dimly lit candlelight by Ginny’s armchair.
“I found some scum, that’s all,” Zabini didn’t look at Ginny as he began to disappear.
Malfoy peered around the corner of a bookshelf before stiffening when he noticed Ginny.
“Can I help you?” she asked bitterly.
“No, but I can help you, that book isn’t worth looking at,” he said simply.
“Why, because it has to do with Muggles?” she was getting annoyed with Malfoy’s incessant anti-Muggle bantering.
“The writer leaves out several essential components of cars and bases most of her research on myth.”
Ginny raised an eyebrow at him, an amused expression playing on her lips.
Malfoy looked offended. “I don’t have to like a class to do well in one.”
“Clearly,” Ginny mused. “Do you have any suggestions on what book may help me?”
He pulled a single book out of the shelf he was leaning against and tossed it at her.
Ginny stared at the front cover. A History of Magical Nutters by Cato Blasius.
“That should solve all your problems,” he drawled.
Ginny glared at him as he disappeared, a smirk on his face.
Leave a Review