Chapter 7: Muggle Studies
The next morning, Anthony went downstairs, finished breakfast, and then returned to his room to organize the various subject books into categories. His room now looks like it belongs to a fifth grader on the eve of his O.W.Ls exam: Notes are spread out on the table, required readings are stacked high on the floor, and a fully scheduled study schedule is posted on the wall.
He found "The Life and Social Habits of Muggle Families in Britain" which Professor Burbage enthusiastically recommended. This will also be his textbook for this school year. He didn't plan to change the textbooks. He had no experience when he came here - not just when he came to Hogwarts, but also the entire wizarding world. Since there were already classic textbooks, he might as well stick with them.
This textbook is 90% new. The first half of the book still had some signs of being read, but the second half was as clean as if it had never been opened by the previous owner. Anthony flipped through it hastily. Most of the notes in the book were the key points that were hastily underlined before the exam. The underlines could fly out of the book. The unknown well-meaning student just bought it and let it collect dust, and finally asked Anthony to pick it up on a second-hand bookshelf.
He turned to the place where the other party had put the bookmark. This page is probably the most note-taken page in the book—its owner filled it with doodles.
Anthony hopes that there will be a profession of painter in the wizarding world. Given the other party's attitude toward Muggle Studies classes, he couldn't imagine the wizard going to the Muggle world to hold an art exhibition.
"In recent years, a new technological means has appeared in Muggle society, which they call 'electricity'. Electricity is no less to modern Muggles than magic is to us. Using electricity, Muggles have changed their way of life , creating a series of convenient tools that we thought were only possible through magic, such as the telephone.
"This is a device invented by Muggles that uses electricity for long-distance real-time communication. It is partially similar to the Floo Network. However, unlike the Floo Network, the phone can only transmit sound (and usually distort it), but it cannot allows people to communicate face to face, let alone transportation.…"
The student was bored and drew a fireplace next to the "floo network" and a sealed fireplace next to the "telephone". A man stood in the sealed fireplace, knocking on the wooden board and talking in the room.
The students circled the board covering the fireplace and labeled it: "Electricity."
"Oh my god, I totally got it wrong." Anthony said to himself. He looked at the figurative fireplace and thought of the toad-like woman's head that suddenly appeared in the Ministry of Magic.
I still prefer phone calls, at least I can reject them. he thinks.
Anthony spent the next few weeks immersed in books, and when tired of reading, he would go downstairs to chat with the guests in the tavern. Tom also became familiar with him and began to call him by his name. By the way, he taught him a few kitchen magic tricks such as automatically washing dishes and directing the dishes to stack themselves according to size.
The wizarding world was much more interesting than he imagined. The guests who came to drink more or less told him some things about the magical world.
He also learned about the four houses of Hogwarts.
"Be careful of Slytherin students, Professor." The man drank so much that his tongue was a little big, "There are a bunch of bad boys and girls there."
But when the man heard that he taught Muggle studies, he shrugged: "Then you don't have to worry."
"Why?" Anthony asked curiously.
"Because no Slytherin will choose your class." The other party said, waving his hands drunkenly, sounding quite confident, "and they are usually not stupid enough to provoke you in their spare time. You can deduct points, that's why."
After the guest left, Tom told him that the other person was a Slytherin graduate.
…
After carefully reading "The Life and Social Habits of Muggle Families in Britain", Anthony decided to go to Flourish and Blotts Bookstore again to buy some additional Muggle studies materials.
He also wanted to buy a few more books on charms. He has finished studying the fifth-grade textbooks and is ready to work towards the N.E.W.Ts level. In fact, he was also quite interested in Defense Against the Dark Arts, but the textbooks for this course kept changing, so he didn't buy them. People at the Leaky Cauldron say it's because the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor changes every year.
"All the Defense Against the Dark Arts masters in the UK are about to be hired out of Hogwarts." They said, "There is a guarantee that they will be rehired in the hospital bed of St. Mungo's next year."
Anthony knocked off the bricks and stepped onto the narrow cobbled streets of Diagon Alley.
Perhaps because he has mastered more formal magic knowledge (rather than the bone-based gameplay he fumbled by himself), he is now a little more familiar with Diagon Alley compared to the rush and cold feeling of strangeness when he first came here.
I'm a wizard, Anthony thought.
The air is filled with the aroma of freshly baked pastries, the strange smell of magic potions, and the smell of exotic spices from faraway lands. Shops are decorated with colorful signs and sparkling magic, displaying a variety of magic items, spellbooks, cauldrons, robes or broomsticks in the windows.
He walked through the bustling crowd, bypassing their cheerful laughter and chatter, and walked straight towards Flourish and Blotts Bookstore.
The clerk behind the counter often went to the Leaky Cauldron and was familiar with him. Anthony said hello from a distance, waved his hand to indicate that he should be ignored, and turned his attention to the bookshelf.
Perhaps because the textbook list for this school year has been finalized, there are many new books on the most conspicuous shelves of the bookstore. Several children in wizard robes stood under the shelves, looking up seriously for books.
Anthony walked quietly behind them and walked to the second-hand book section.
"I really don't understand why we have to buy a textbook every time we change professors." The witch standing in front of the second-hand bookshelf complained, "Put it down, Fred! We don't buy that!"
"Mom, I found it!" Another red-haired boy shouted, waving the book. He looked at the cover again, "Oh, it's not this..."
Anthony stood behind the noisy family and studied the cluttered books on the shelves. The witch seemed to feel that she was blocking him, so she stepped aside and smiled apologetically at him, and Anthony returned her smile.
"School is about to start," she said. "The Defense Against the Dark Arts books are changed every year, and their brother's books can no longer be used."
Anthony nodded understandingly: "That's really expensive."
"Yes." She shook her head, "What about you, what are you here to buy?"
"Find some Muggle-related information."
"Are you also interested in Muggles?" the witch asked enthusiastically. "My husband is a Muggle fan. He talks about switches and engines at the dinner table every day... He will be able to chat with you. You know, We don't understand that stuff - oh, I'm Molly Weasley - and he's obsessed with Muggle stuff. Well, he's got a few of those." She pointed out the books in the corner for Anthony.
Anthony said happily: "Then I will buy these."
He accompanied Mrs. Weasley to find several Defense Against the Dark Arts textbooks, and booked a pen pal when saying goodbye: Arthur Weasley. ("The new Muggle Studies professor? Merlin, Arthur will be delighted! Professor Burbage never replies to his letters. I'll make sure he doesn't send too much nonsense, Professor Anthony.")
After coming out of Flourish and Blotts Bookstore, Anthony was originally going to go back to the Leaky Cauldron, but when he passed by the Magical Beasts store, he changed his mind and decided to go in to see if there was any magic cat food.
While living on Holly Street, Skeleton Cat disdained all the food he bought. Only when Anthony was poured white wine would he walk over to the bowl and dip his head in the wine. The soul fire in its eye sockets ignited the white wine, and when the wine in the bowl is dried, it will jump back to the sofa contentedly.
Since Anthony came out of Azkaban and repaired the Skeleton Cat's skeleton, it has become much more docile, but it hasn't eaten much.
Maybe cats in the magical world will eat some magical food that can enrich his cat's diet.
He entered into the Beasts Shop. The crowded store is filled with the flutter of wings and the gentle rustle of fur, as owls perch or on windowsills survey visitors majestically; cats of all colors prowl along the shelves, their tails drawn with curiosity. And swing.
"Do you want to buy a pet, sir?" the clerk asked enthusiastically. "Owls and cats are the most popular among children. They are smart and clean. We also have smaller pets. Here, mice and toads are common in Hogwarts. Pets, velvet, and deformed rabbits are very suitable and interesting magical pets..."
"No, no, I just want to see the cat food." Anthony refused. He has no plans to get another pet.
Perhaps due to the influence of undead magic, his cat did not want to see any living creature on its territory...except Anthony reluctantly.
Having said that, Anthony may not be considered a living creature now. According to the history of magic, with the study of necromancy, necromancers seem to gradually be in a state of limbo between life and death. Some radical classification methods will even refuse to recognize necromancers as human beings and classify them as dark creatures along with grindylows, vampires, werewolves, etc.
Anthony put back his divergent thoughts and listened attentively to the clerk at the Magical Creatures Store passionately introducing to him the cat food in the store: this one can make the fur smooth, this one can reduce hair loss, that one is a powerful version specifically for long-haired cats, and that one can also With this, you can temporarily change the color of your cat's fur and add some fun to your life...
Very tempting, especially if you have a skeleton cat.
"Is there anything that has nothing to do with fur?" He finally couldn't help but ask.
The clerk was stunned: "For example?"
"Like, um, preventing osteoporosis?"
…
The dumbfounded clerk told him that if his cat had osteoporosis, he only needed to feed it some diluted bone spirit.
Anthony thanked him and planned to go to an ordinary store to buy some undiluted white wine for the cat.
Just outside the Leaky Cauldron is Charing Cross Street. He took a few more steps outside and suddenly found himself among a familiar crowd. His wizard robe was incompatible with the traffic around him. The once narrow cobbled streets became wider streets, filled with the energy of non-magical life. The honking of car horns, the sounds of people talking and the sound of footsteps blend together, resonating harmoniously with the rhythm of the city.
Anthony hurried back and changed his clothes.
"Sooner or later I'll learn how to quickly change clothes." He said to himself, "I bet someone must have figured it out. They even use the refilling charm to add wine."
The feeling of walking into a supermarket is very subtle.
He was once part of this world. Seeing those neat and quiet shelves, he felt a warm sense of belonging from the bottom of his heart, almost like a wanderer returning home.
He caressed the simple commodities: a dish sponge, a calculator, a pen... and something great struck him. The soft electric lights, large promotional labels, and customers carrying heavy shopping baskets in this non-magical ordinary supermarket have their own unique magic, an ordinary, civilized, and vibrant magic.
He handed the drink to the cashier and paid in pounds.
"Have a nice day!" the young cashier smiled at him.
Anthony said seriously: "Thank you, you too. Goodbye."
After walking out of the store, he stared at the sign above his head for a while, took a deep breath, and turned back towards the Leaky Cauldron.
I just can't live here or work here anymore, he thought optimistically. A magical life is not bad, and Muggle Studies classes seem easy.
…
Muggle Studies classes may not be so easy. Anthony thought.
The skeleton cat was contentedly burning the wine in the bowl beside him. He was lying on the bed, looking at the book he bought today on the recommendation of Mrs. Weasley. She said that her husband was full of praise for the book. Anthony originally planned to use this as a bedtime reading.
"As wizards, we are often drawn to the mystery and wonder of the magical world. However, it is just as important for us to understand and appreciate the lives of those who do not possess magical abilities. In this book, we embark on a journey to explore the magical world. A journey through the intricate lives of muggles and reveals their unique way of life."
"Magic is not included in the daily life of Muggles." The author writes enthusiastically in the preface. "The magic we use every day, such as fluorescent lights, restoration, cleaning, flying around, etc., is not for them. Quite difficult. If they needed to light a fireplace, they would use tools called 'flints' and 'firesteels', rather than a simple blazing flame. If the light was needed at night, they could not light up wands with fluorescent flashes, instead, It's a candle. Muggles put the candle on a beautiful tray, surrounded by glass to prevent the candle flame from being extinguished by the wind."
Anthony turned back to the title page in surprise.
"Everyday Muggles: A book that takes you through all the details"
Date of publication: November 1753.
"That makes sense..." he muttered, writing matches and lighters in the space next to the ignition method, and a flashlight next to the lighting.
If Mr. Weasley is already the most interested in Muggles in the wizarding world, Anthony really doesn't know what Hogwarts teaches.
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