Name: Michael Watson
House: Ravenclaw
Year: Sixth
Lessons Missed: 1, 2 & 3
Lesson One
Michael liked History of Magic, it was based on facts and analysis of the past as opposed to speculating on the future so naturally it was something he gravitated to more. Professor Borisyuk was pretty intimidating, but Michael had realized pretty quickly that it was the kind of intimidating that was more in the vein of 'totally fine unless you give him a reason to be mad', and Michael was not the sort of person to go about making anyone mad. He really didn't like confrontation, after all. Which was funny considering that the topic of this year of study was very confrontational. He knew a bit about Lord Voldemort from Defence class, but he was quite curious to know more, to understand how he came to power and how such a thing could be avoided in the future. He noted down the term 'horcrux', not sure if he'd ask more about it but definitely keeping a note of it for reference, before leaving the classroom.
Lesson Two
Michael had come prepared for a lecture, which was always the play with History classes. They were pretty lecture heavy, but Michael didn't mind. He immediately set to taking notes, though sometimes his eyebrows raised or his face unintentionally reacted to something the professor said. Like the fact that Voldemort's mother spiked his father with a love potion. Or that he tortured other orphans. Or that he came across as a perfect model student despite the aforementioned orphan torture. Really, Michael was amazed he managed to write as many notes as he did as he found the topic completely wild and interesting. He wondered if anyone would dare to try and rise up in such a manner in the future, if something like that would come up in the walls of this very school. Michael certainly hoped not, he figured most people knew better. He made sure to note down the homework before leaving, still thinking about the lecture.
Lesson Three
War was never a pleasant subject to learn about, but it was an interesting one. There were so many facets to it, all sorts of little details and chains of events that lead up to war. Strategies that were employed, the way different governments reacted, the way it was sold to people...all of it was really interesting, as much as it was also a cautionary tale. It was wild to Michael that Voldemort had managed to raise himself up from 'school bully' to 'notable terrorist' to 'threat to the wizarding way of life'.
He wondered how many people agreed with the anti-muggle sentiment, and had to raise an eyebrow at the comment about Voldemort's muggle father. His own birth was not dissimilar, except his mother had survived and done her best to raise him. And probably hadn't spiked his father with a love potion. And even if all that had happened, Michael still didn't think he'd ever be able to understand why Voldemort had turned out the way he did. He wondered how the Ministry couldn't stop any of the killings earlier and it had come down to some renegade mercenaries to do the job, but maybe it was just corruption. Governments were pretty corrupt, Michael thought. There was a lot to mull over from this lecture, and Michael was relieved there was no homework as he was still running through the facts in his brain, intending to go read more out of interest.
