You're My Destiny↣ Harmione

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter 22 - Rogue

The three new 'professors' stood nervously as their first class entered the classroom. Even the trio knowing some of the students didn't help those nerves, neither did seeing the headmaster make an appearance and sit at the back of the class. They all knew why he was there however, to ensure none of the more disruptive students made an attempt to sabotage their inaugural lesson.

The headmaster was also aware that, should the likes of Draco Malfoy try to pull anything like that in this classroom, Hermione and Harry would instantly retaliate. Minerva would only smile when he asked exactly what would be taught here, so Albus was also looking forward to the lesson.

Dan was one of those people who liked to tackle things straight on, and did so here. "Good morning everyone, and welcome to your first ever class of Cultural Studies. Your professors of this new subject have all spent the last few months studying the differences between our cultures, so we could perhaps understand what best to teach you. Wherever and whatever we looked at the problem, the answer was obvious - and also the same - Magic! This led us to the question, what is magic?"

With Hermione, Harry and Neville deliberately keeping their hands down, it was left to a few others to try and answer that. They didn't get far.

"Every one of those explanations were examples of what magic can do, not what it actually is. Our scientists believe that everything in the universe is made up of energy - that would therefore have to include magic too. There is also a law of nature that says energy can neither be created nor destroyed, just converted into one form from another."

It was here Emma took over. "Magic would then become an energy possessed by witches and wizards, an energy they attend Hogwarts to learn how to control and use. This energy resource grows within each of you, settling down as you mature." Looking to Dumbledore, Emma decided to ask his opinion on their theory.

"I have to say I've never thought about magic like that, and I can't fault your conclusions."

"Professor, would I be right in saying it's been some time since you sat your OWL and NEWT exams? The reason I'm asking is not to discover your age, rather how much the exams have changed since those days?"

With his smile showing he understood what Emma was really asking, Albus answered the question. "I can indeed confirm it has been some time since I sat those exams. I suspect you already know those exams have hardly changed since those far off days too."

"Thank you, Headmaster. Suspected, yes, but it's nice to have that confirmed."

It was now Petunia's turn to present the next part of their well rehearsed lesson. "While the magical community has hardly changed in that timeframe either, the non magical one has evolved practically beyond recognition. While we may not have magic as a source of energy available to us, many more sources have been harnessed to meet our ever growing needs. How to show this was a major problem though, since almost all of our electronic devices won't work within the castle's walls. While sitting discussing this, we had something of a breakthrough. Harry, Hermione, Neville, Parvati, Padma and Madam Longbottom were all in the Grangers' house, yet their devices still worked. Trying a few devices in the Longbottoms' home, and finding they worked too, led us to believe it's the high concentration of magic within the castle that stops electronic devices working inside Hogwarts."

Dan was now taking an odd looking thing out of a large box. "We bought a very old film projector, one built before modern electronics were invented, and discovered the magic of Hogwarts didn't affect it. We're going to power it using a charged lead / acid battery - something magic shouldn't affect either. Getting old films for this device was rather easy, it was making new ones that were the problem. Luckily we found someone who could develop the films we could now shoot, allowing us to bring everything up to date. This should also allow us to show you just how much things have changed."