Post by Sparky Cobalt on Jun 29, 2012 22:11:38 GMT -5
The wizarding world is amazing. Even here, in Spain where we are rather detached from the center of wizarding activity, magic is a convenience that we use every single day. We use magic here in the school even without thinking about it. Telling a password to a painting, coming back to your dormitory to find your beds folded, summoning someones 'private' clothing to you, no matter what, it has a hint of magic to it. It's a wonderful word that we live in, and too often we take it for granted.
Muggles, on the other hand, must survive without magic. The most outrageous part here, of course, is the fact that somehow, they do. Everything that Muggles have come up with has had something to do with being able to do something easier. This doesn't mean that they are lazy, of course. Wizards have it easier by far, and it's only human nature to want to do something an easier, faster, more efficient way. To this extent, muggles have come up with ridiculous contraptions called 'machines' to do things for them, 'electronics' to communicate faster, and so on. Wizards borrow more from the muggle world than they think, simply because of how efficient some of their inventions end up being.
Wizards and muggles coexist, and without each other both would surely fail to keep going. Without wizards, who would protect muggles from dragons, from giants, from the things of muggle horror stories that we deal with on a regular basis? Without muggles, how would we continue to receive inventions like the 'radio', like the 'lock', like the 'wheel'! It's a give and take relationship, but it is one that revolves entirely around them having no knowledge of us.
This is where Muggle Studies comes in. Rather than glorifying Muggle society or Wizard society, Muggle Studies is meant to simply increase our knowledge of how they work. How can you live with, and hide from, a society you know nothing about?
Our focus this class will be blending into muggle society.
The first thing to keep in mind, of course, is magic. Under no circumstances (besides, of course, if you are about to die, or something else equally grave) are you allowed to use magic in the presence of a muggle. The closer you are, the worse it is. Muggles must, at all costs, not know of our existence, and there are thousands of people working to maintain this secrecy every minute of every day.
Besides not using magic, there are a few things to keep in mind when venturing out into the muggle world. The main thing is appearance. Despite what certain sub-cultures of muggle societies may wish to believe, colored hair and ridiculous tattoos or piercings are not the norm in muggle day-to-day life. As such, care should be taken to obscure any physical properties that would scream out 'witch!' to a passing muggle.
Clothing is a big part of blending into a crowd, whether it be muggle or magical. In the muggle world, it is not normal for someone to be wearing a full-body length cloak or robe. Nor is it normal to wear a pointy witch's hat. The youth recently seem to have the best grasp of this, with children even in our school wearing muggle clothing instead of or even under their school uniform. Older witches and wizards have more trouble with blending in, of course, and whether this is because of a rise in half-blood families or muggle-born families is something to be discussed in a future class.
1-4th years: Do some research on how muggles dress, and how it differs from both traditional wizard clothing as well as the more 'modern' approach that many students take at our school. What should you wear if you wish to stay inconspicuous? What should you not wear? How important is it to avoid being noticed?
Assignment: Create an outfit on this website. Write a one to two page report (In character) on why you chose what you did. For extra points, write a thread where your character wears the outfit you chose (You may say that Muggle Studies class provided the means of obtaining the outfit), with a focus on how your character feels about it. If your character is a muggle born,why are they taking this class? try and interact with someone who would be unsettled by the outfit in some way or another. Do not go into the actual muggle world for this assignment.
5-7th years: What does it take to blend into a crowd?
Assignment: Post in the board for 'Muggle Madrid'.
Rules for this assignment:
1. Do not do magic.
2. Do not reveal magic, or anything related to it, to a muggle.
3. Do not get arrested.
4. Wear something appropriate.
Additional notes:
Feel free to also use this site to build yourself an outfit and wear it into town. Additional points will be given.
Due to the language barrier, each student will be given a simple grey bracelet. The bracelet will allow you to speak and understand Spanish as if it were your own language without you doing anything extra. These bracelets must be returned to the Professor at the end of this class and will not be allowed for recreational use.
You will be given muggle money to use as you see fit. Each student will get a predetermined amount and once they have spent it, they are done.
Magical activity will be heavily monitored for this assignment. Anyone using magic will immediately fail the assignment and be apparated back to Drakborough. Any large infractions may end up with the offending student facing criminal charges and owing for the cost of having a team coming in for memory wiping.
Sparky will be waiting at a bus stop to take you home at the end of the day, so when you are done frolicking around, head there.
You can make out if you really want to, Sparky will not be taking off points for that, unlike some teachers around here.
TL;DR: Spend a day as a muggle teenager. Don't fuck it up.
Muggles, on the other hand, must survive without magic. The most outrageous part here, of course, is the fact that somehow, they do. Everything that Muggles have come up with has had something to do with being able to do something easier. This doesn't mean that they are lazy, of course. Wizards have it easier by far, and it's only human nature to want to do something an easier, faster, more efficient way. To this extent, muggles have come up with ridiculous contraptions called 'machines' to do things for them, 'electronics' to communicate faster, and so on. Wizards borrow more from the muggle world than they think, simply because of how efficient some of their inventions end up being.
Wizards and muggles coexist, and without each other both would surely fail to keep going. Without wizards, who would protect muggles from dragons, from giants, from the things of muggle horror stories that we deal with on a regular basis? Without muggles, how would we continue to receive inventions like the 'radio', like the 'lock', like the 'wheel'! It's a give and take relationship, but it is one that revolves entirely around them having no knowledge of us.
This is where Muggle Studies comes in. Rather than glorifying Muggle society or Wizard society, Muggle Studies is meant to simply increase our knowledge of how they work. How can you live with, and hide from, a society you know nothing about?
Our focus this class will be blending into muggle society.
The first thing to keep in mind, of course, is magic. Under no circumstances (besides, of course, if you are about to die, or something else equally grave) are you allowed to use magic in the presence of a muggle. The closer you are, the worse it is. Muggles must, at all costs, not know of our existence, and there are thousands of people working to maintain this secrecy every minute of every day.
Besides not using magic, there are a few things to keep in mind when venturing out into the muggle world. The main thing is appearance. Despite what certain sub-cultures of muggle societies may wish to believe, colored hair and ridiculous tattoos or piercings are not the norm in muggle day-to-day life. As such, care should be taken to obscure any physical properties that would scream out 'witch!' to a passing muggle.
Clothing is a big part of blending into a crowd, whether it be muggle or magical. In the muggle world, it is not normal for someone to be wearing a full-body length cloak or robe. Nor is it normal to wear a pointy witch's hat. The youth recently seem to have the best grasp of this, with children even in our school wearing muggle clothing instead of or even under their school uniform. Older witches and wizards have more trouble with blending in, of course, and whether this is because of a rise in half-blood families or muggle-born families is something to be discussed in a future class.
1-4th years: Do some research on how muggles dress, and how it differs from both traditional wizard clothing as well as the more 'modern' approach that many students take at our school. What should you wear if you wish to stay inconspicuous? What should you not wear? How important is it to avoid being noticed?
Assignment: Create an outfit on this website. Write a one to two page report (In character) on why you chose what you did. For extra points, write a thread where your character wears the outfit you chose (You may say that Muggle Studies class provided the means of obtaining the outfit), with a focus on how your character feels about it. If your character is a muggle born,
5-7th years: What does it take to blend into a crowd?
Assignment: Post in the board for 'Muggle Madrid'.
Rules for this assignment:
1. Do not do magic.
2. Do not reveal magic, or anything related to it, to a muggle.
3. Do not get arrested.
4. Wear something appropriate.
Additional notes:
Feel free to also use this site to build yourself an outfit and wear it into town. Additional points will be given.
Due to the language barrier, each student will be given a simple grey bracelet. The bracelet will allow you to speak and understand Spanish as if it were your own language without you doing anything extra. These bracelets must be returned to the Professor at the end of this class and will not be allowed for recreational use.
You will be given muggle money to use as you see fit. Each student will get a predetermined amount and once they have spent it, they are done.
Magical activity will be heavily monitored for this assignment. Anyone using magic will immediately fail the assignment and be apparated back to Drakborough. Any large infractions may end up with the offending student facing criminal charges and owing for the cost of having a team coming in for memory wiping.
Sparky will be waiting at a bus stop to take you home at the end of the day, so when you are done frolicking around, head there.
You can make out if you really want to, Sparky will not be taking off points for that, unlike some teachers around here.
TL;DR: Spend a day as a muggle teenager. Don't fuck it up.