Chapter 64: Chapter - 64 : Unveiling Prejudice
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Professor Footswitch ignored her and carried on talking. "It is almost always the case that when a Muggle finds out about magic they begin to fear the power we wizards hold and that fear inevitably leads to hatred. Their loathing of all things magical has been shown again and again throughout history and has instigated atrocities such as the Spanish Inquisition and the Witch Burnings. Fully trained witches and wizards are of course able to defend themselves against even relatively large groups of Muggles and if necessary can always apparate away to safety. Unfortunately, untrained magical children without the protection of an adult wizard are left vulnerable to attack. Accidental magic is not always enough to keep a child safe, and throughout the centuries many magical children have been captured and brutally killed by the Muggles hunting them."
"Yes, but sir!" Hermione was unable to keep silent any longer. "That was ages ago. The muggle world has changed a lot since then."
"Five points from Slytherin for speaking without permission. But I will say that a few hundred years isn't long at all," Professor Footswitch told her sternly. "It is the span of only two or three wizard lifetimes. Many wizards and witches alive today have grandparents who lived through those violent times. In any case, while muggle society may have changed, their underlying nature has not. They are greedy, violent, brutish and treacherous."
Hermione tried to protest. "You're wrong, they -"
"That's enough," Professor Footswitch ordered. "Another five points from Slytherin for contradicting a teacher."
A few of the more competitive Slytherins – Draco, Pansy and Nott – glared at Hermione, angry that she had lost them so many points while defending mere muggles. Hermione caught their glances, as well as Harry's fervent shushing motions, and reluctantly subsided. Instead of continuing to argue she leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms, stubbornly refusing to take any notes while Professor Footswitch carried on speaking.
He lectured the class on what to do if they were ever under threat in the muggle world (send up sparks, cast a simple jellylegs jinx or bodybind curse at their attackers, and call for help) and detailed exactly what circumstances counted as self-defence under the Statute of Secrecy and Underage Magic laws. Then he went on to tell them that the best defence was to avoid danger in the first place and so if they absolutely had to be among muggles they should keep an eye on their surroundings, arrange a meeting place in case they became separated from their parents, and look out for any younger siblings.
Harry supposed this was rather reasonable advice as such, except that throughout his lecture Footswitch made it clear he considered Muggles little better than animals and made several snide comments about muggleborns and half-bloods as well. In this he was egged on by questions from the Purebloods in the class.
"Professor, is it true muggle healers actually cut people open?" Samantha Fawcett questioned.
"Professor, how do muggles keep things clean without using magic?" Padma Patil sounded honestly curious. "They must be really unhygienic."
"Professor, I heard that muggles eat their own faeces. You know, like dogs do," Draco announced. Harry was pretty certain the blond didn't actually believe what he was saying and was just trying to mock the Ravenclaws while also insulting the muggleborns in the room.
Professor Footswitch welcomed all of these comments, even Draco's downright outrageous one, and pointedly ignored the muggleborns when they tried to offer explanations or contradictions.
The pureblood Ravenclaws seemed fascinated by the lesson and asked lots of questions while scribbling down everything the Professor said word-for-word. The Slytherins generally appeared to be enjoying themselves immensely, while Hermione was becoming more and more enraged and poor Lisa Turpin looked to be near tears. Harry was shocked, hardly able to believe that Dumbledore would actually hire a Blood-Purist to teach impressionable school-children. There had probably been very few applicants for the job, but Harry almost thought the Voldemort-possessed Quirrell would have been a better choice of professor since he would at least have made an effort to hide his opinions.
"Homework!" Professor Footswitch announced as the bell rang signalling the end of class. "Three feet of parchment analysing at least five cases of muggles harming magical children over the past two centuries. Due this time next week."
"Argh! I can't believe that man!" Hermione raged as soon as the Slytherins had left the classroom. "What would he know about muggles anyway? My parents were really supportive when they found out I was a witch and they'd never dream of harming me or anyone else. I admit some muggles might be scared of magic, but it's really just human nature to dislike what you don't understand. Case in point, Footswitch just spent a whole hour spouting complete nonsense about muggles and making them out to be little more than mindless animals. Never mind that he doesn't actually seem to know anything about them! He's utterly insufferable!"
"I know." Harry nodded, completely agreeing with her.
Nott turned to look at them curiously. "Is what he said really not true? Professor Footswitch was pretty convincing and muggles have caused a lot of problems..."
"If wizards just made more of an effort to fit in they wouldn't run into trouble in the first place!" Hermione looked completely enraged, her eyes glinting dangerously and her hair bushier than ever. "And as for calling muggles violent, hah! That's utterly hypocritical. Muggle England hasn't had a civil war in centuries, while the Wizarding World had Voldemort to deal with as little as a decade ago! How many wizards and witches died at the hands of other wizards, how many magical families on both sides were completely wiped out? How many, hmm?" Hermione looked around at her fellow Slytherins. "Well?" she said impatiently when no one answered.
"Lots," Nott said while Draco and Crabbe just scowled.
Hermione scoffed loudly. "And Footswitch says muggles are the bloodthirsty ones?"
"Must you continue to belabour the point, Granger," Daphne spoke up from where she was walking beside Tracy. "It's unbecoming for a witch to become so agitated."
"What would Astoria say to that?" Harry asked her, managing to get a small smile from the pureblood girl. Hermione refused to be at all side-tracked, however.
"I don't care what's unbecoming or what's not. I care about what's right," she insisted. "I care about the truth."
"I agree," Tracy said, blushing as everyone turned to look at her. "I mean… the muggles aren't that bad. My dad's a muggleborn and I've visited my grandparents in the muggle world a few times. It's quite nice there, really."
Draco sneered at her. "You would think that. You're half-muggle yourself. You're basically one of them."
"Shut up, Draco!" Daphne glared at the boy, all ladylike composure forgotten. "Don't you dare insult Tracy!"
"He was just telling the truth," Pansy told her, tossing her glossy black hair over her shoulder and moving closer to Draco. "Honestly, I don't know why you associate with such low-born riffraff."
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