After New Year, Hogwarts reopened. Students returned from everywhere and the castle grew lively again. Peeves gleefully chased fleeing students. Filch chased Peeves. Up and down the staircases they ran.
Perhaps because they'd played so much at home during the holiday, students remained lazily immersed in Christmas and New Year atmosphere. Professors all complained their minds weren't on studying yet.
Professor Sprout worried returning students would make mistakes in practicals and assigned four theory lessons in one go, teaching students to distinguish between Christmas cacti, Devil's Snare, and Venomous Tentacula.
"I have to say, I'm regretting it a bit," she said in the staff room. A thick stack of essays sat beside her teacup. "Theory essays are much longer than practical ones." She sighed, drew an A on the scrawled, barely legible parchment, and pulled out another to read.
Professor Flitwick said, "Three students told me today their essays burned up. Said they were reviewing previous lessons—flames everywhere." He tapped the teapot and it poured tea for Professor Sprout and Anthony. "No essays makes teaching much easier, Professor Anthony. You made a good decision."
Anthony thanked him and sipped his tea. "Thank the Examination Authority. After looking at past exam questions, I couldn't think why I'd make them write essays."
"Essays are still important for Charms," Professor Flitwick said. "Defense Against the Dark Arts should be the same... I hope students realize that."
Professor Sprout sighed. "Oh, Quirinus."
Professor Quirrell's classes had become almost a joke, his reputation trending toward surpassing Professor Trelawney's. Some students, for fun, submitted Divination essays to Professor Quirrell.
They were supposed to write about identifying and countering vampires, but Quirrell received several Divination essays vividly describing prophetic dreams proving Snape would stuff them into cauldrons to boil out concentrated blood, then use it to make beef stew. Judging by quantity, they'd covered Snape's meals for three days.
When Anthony entered the classroom, several students were still yawning absentmindedly.
"Wake up. Class time." Anthony closed the door and returned the pre-holiday tests to students. "First—Merry Christmas, Happy New Year. I'm pleased to announce your midterm pass rate reached ninety-one percent. I knew you'd be fine."
The two students who hadn't passed stared stonily at their papers.
"What I didn't expect was the excellence rate reaching fifty-five percent. Thank you for my Christmas present," Anthony smiled. "Students who didn't pass, don't be discouraged. Like I said, this still doesn't count toward final grades."
"But good performance gets rewards?" Roger Davies reminded. He was a Ravenclaw Quidditch Chaser reserve.
Anthony nodded. "Yes, rewards. The school approved my teaching funds application, so if all goes well, we'll have a major practical activity at year's end—"
Everyone perked up and looked at him expectantly.
"—We'll spend a day in the Muggle world together." Anthony watched their expressions, smiling. "Of course, when telling others, remember to say it's to personally experience Muggle life and apply classroom learning to reality."
"Similar to the fourth-year practical before, there are several options. Choose what you like," Anthony said. "Since all classes are participating, we won't worry about year or house, all right? We'll group by destination, not class. Though some projects have participant limits, so I can't guarantee everyone gets their first choice."
Students listened intently. Davies flushed with excitement and turned to whisper to his seatmate.
Anthony remembered he'd said he chose Muggle Studies to one day walk naturally on Muggle streets—as a child, not understanding the difference between sidewalks and roads, he'd accidentally walked onto a Muggle street. The angry driver rolled down his window and yelled at him. Davies desperately wanted to know what he'd done to provoke such fury.
Anthony smiled and pulled out the pre-holiday test. "Now we'll review the questions. Stay focused. The faster we finish reviewing, the sooner we learn the destinations."
Aside from restless chair-scraping, students were quite cooperative throughout the review. Anthony was pleased to find nobody gazing at students having flying lessons outside.
He finished the last question and methodically collected the papers. Finally he laughed at students' silent accusatory looks. "All right, let's discuss the itinerary."
"Group One: We depart from Hogwarts, take a train from a nearby Muggle town, final destination is Edinburgh's Royal Botanic Garden. Without magic, Muggles effectively simulate different environments, growing plants from around the world on a small plot of land."
Professor Sprout had recommended this botanical garden, and Anthony trusted professional judgment.
"Group Two: From Hogsmeade village through cargo routes to Diagon Alley, walk through London's Muggle districts to a pet rescue shelter. I've noticed many of you don't have pets yet, and Muggles happen to have a complete pet rescue process. Students interested in adoption can register with me after the learning visit. We'll figure out adoption qualification issues together."
He loved this about Hogwarts—it generously allowed students to bring pets to school. From personal experience, Anthony strongly supported students having pets. Sometimes he even thought if they could forcibly give every Slytherin and Gryffindor student a Puffskein, inter-house relations would improve considerably.
"Group Three is farthest, limited to six people. We'll go directly via Portkey to Wiltshire. I've rented a car there. We'll drive into a zoo. Vehicle size limits numbers. A zoo is... well, Muggles gather many animals together, raise them—including some quite dangerous to Muggles—and enjoy watching them live."
Students clearly realized this group's numbers were ridiculously small. Some began looking around the classroom, trying to judge their competition.
"Group Four: We still go to London first, then take a train to Birmingham to visit a chocolate factory. Understanding industrialization, students, is crucial to understanding Muggle production and life."
Understanding chocolate was also crucial to a happy student life.
"Specific timing isn't confirmed yet. After the roster's set, we'll arrange based on everyone's schedules. If that doesn't work, probably a weekend. That's basically it. Any questions?"
Cedric immediately asked, "Professor, if signups exceed limits, how do we decide who goes?"
"Good question." Anthony nodded. "After discussion with the school, we jointly decided to use a fair method Muggles commonly use... drawing lots."
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