Chapter 17: A historian's point of view I
I got this idea from a comment, so thank you. Read it, as if you were reading an old history book, cause that's what it is. Also thanks to OverSimplified, gold mine that one.
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Professor Binns usually opened his notes and began to read in a flat drone like an old vacuum cleaner until nearly everyone in the class was in a deep stupor, occasionally coming round long enough to copy down a name or date, then falling asleep again. But today was going to be different. Today someone from a special house, had a mission and was actually looking forward to the history lesson.
The reason?
He had come across a name. A strange one no doubt, one that his Care of Magical Creatures Professor mentioned to him about. They were discussing how to approach a Hippogriff the day before and Newt as usual aced that. He loved magical creatures and couldn't fathom, why many disliked them. The Professor dropped a name that Newt hadn't heard before.
"Wonderful Newt. You continue like this and I'll have to call you the second coming of the Collector.", the Professor says in jest but also a bit seriousness in his voice.
"The Collector? Who is that?", Newt asks.
"Hm? The Collector? Well, the Collector is a rumoured and almost revered figure in the circles of Magical Creatures. No one knows for sure whether he is still alive or if all his 'supposed' achievements are true, but what is known is that he has to be ancient and there is no magical creature that he can't or hasn't tamed."
"So why is he called the Collector? Is it because he captured so many?"
"No no no, he is called the Collector, because he has tamed so many, collected. At least that's what the rumours say."
This made Newt very interested and he decided to ask the one person who might know about it, since he was also ancient, Professor Binns. So during the lecture today, Newt will ask the Ghost about the Collector.
.
"As my father always used to say, zzzzzz...", Professor Binns fell asleep. How that's possible is a mystery.
"Professor? Professor Binns?", the usual rather timid voice of Newt sounded through the classroom. This woke up the Professor and he looked around the classroom only to find Newt holding up his hand.
"Cough, yes, Mr. Scamander?", he asks.
"Professor, I was wondering ... could it be possible to just for today ... learn something about 'the Collector'?"
"The Collector? Hm, the Collector, there are many collectors out there, which one are you referring to?", Binns asked.
"I was talking about the one who collected many magical creatures."
...
Professor Binns stopped for a moment. For the first time in his career as a teacher, he looked awake and attentive and ... scared? He was surprised about Newt's request. He didn't think that a child would know about 'that' particular person. He shrugged his shoulders and went to his shelf and looked for a book, which had many papers with notes hanging around. He found it and took it to his table. It was a rather thick book and the dust on it, told everyone, that this wasn't the newest edition, or maybe there wasn't a newer edition available.
He opened the book somewhere in the middle.
"Ah yes, here. The Collector as you know him, is not just an enthusiast for magical creatures. He has defined what we know about them to this day. He travelled around the world apparently and documented them, there is no full book about what he has seen, but there is a history book ... this one here, that many believe has been written by the Collector himself, or as he was rumoured to be called ... Anathema.", Binns said with a voice that didn't make everyone fall asleep.
On the contrary, Professor Binns was seemingly full of energy and enthusiasm. What no one knew, was that this topic also fascinated him in his youth, but his failure to uncover more about the supposed 'Emperor', left him depressed and lifeless.
"... which leads us to the Second Punic War. History books of the mundane tell about the Second Punic War and about how Hannibal and his army of Carthages, crossed the Alps to attack the Romans from the north. It-"
"Professor?", the hand of a slithering girl was raised and stopped Binns from continuing reading.
"Yes, Ms. Lestrange?"
"Why does the book say, 'mundane'? What are those?"
"Mundane, in this context is used to describe the muggles, or non-magicals."
"Aha! So the author also looks down on the muggles. I like it.", a Slytherin student says.
"On the contrary. Mundane here is not used in the sense of dull but in the sense of secular or worldly. He sees them as normal, while the wizards and witches have seemingly lost track of what's important and think of themselves as above the muggles.", Professor Binns explains. This was explained in detail at the start of the book, so he had to tell them.
"How so?"
"Well to tell you that now, would take too much time, so let us start with this here and I will fill in the blanks whenever necessary.", Binns said and the students nodded their heads. No one was sleeping anymore. They were caught in the atmosphere of the book. Something strange was happening, everyone was interested now. This was unprecedented.
"As I was saying ... History books of the mundane tell about the Second Punic War and about how Hannibal and his army of Carthages, crossed the Alps to attack the Romans from the north. It tells us how Hannibal's forces suffered greatly when they crossed the Alps because it was already autumn at the time. They fell off the sides of icy cliffs, starved and had to eat their pack animals and would finish off dying comrades in order to take their clothes for extra warmth.", Binns read the first page to them and already there was shock seen in all of the students faces.
"Muggles are animals."
"Vermins."
"Before you judge their actions, you have to understand the situation. Imagine an army of 50'000 men with all their horses, supplies and 37 elephants trying to navigate the hostile mountain range in Europe. And it wasn't just nature they were up against. Tribes people lived in the mountains. But you should have listened a little longer.", Binns said to them.
"Why?"
"The book says 'the mundane tell about ...', telling us that this wasn't the case.", Newt says. He was at first shocked to the core, when he heard the muggles eat their own pack animals, but then remembered the first sentence.
"Mr. Scamander is correct. You only have to listen further.", Binns says and continues reading.
"... The mundane write in the history books that Hannibal had to fight Tribes to finally get to the summit. But the descent was just as deadly as the climb up, with the cold really starting to set in. Sources say that by the time Hannibal left Spain, he had about 100'000 men. By the time he reached the Italian plains, his numbers had dwindled to about 26'000. It is said, that they were now trapped in enemy territory, without a supply line or a source of reinforcements. So what did Hannibal do in that situation?
Well, the muggles claim that he was a supposed military genius who had just led a starving and weakened army right into enemy territory. While Hannibal may not have planned on losing quite so many men, he certainly expected considerable losses, and he always had a plan for how to replace them. But how did he do that then?
Sources say that Northern Italy was full of men, big burly Celtic men, who would gladly agree to fight Rome. The Celts were angry because they were only recently conquered by Rome. Hannibal hoped to be seen as a liberator and convince the Celts to cut ties with Rome. And instead, join him in crushing Rome.
But things ... were so much different.", Binns said with excitement in his voice. He began to really get into the topic again, just like he had in his youth.
"So we will know how it truly was?", someone asked, sharing Professor Binns' excitement.
"Yes. Now listen. When Hannibal and his forces managed to slip through the Roman Consul Scipio's fingers, they met a very small force when they reached the Alps. The force was so small, that any threat they would make, might be seen as a bad joke. Only roughly 100 men stood there and awaited Hannibal and his forces. But this was different. The 100 men weren't normal soldiers and the one leading them was also not normal in the slightest.
Standing there, was the Anathema himself and his very first Spartan unit. The Anathema awaited Hannibal and made it clear that should he want to cross the Alps, then only under conditions, that he would state. Hannibal was said to have been a military genius by muggles and the Romans, but the truth is that he wasn't. Hannibal had a force of over 50'000 men at his beck and call, so why would he ever be afraid of 100 men and their leader?
The threat of the Anathema was not taken seriously but as an insult. Hannibal ordered his men to attack. And attack, they did. Hannibal was very brave and loved by his men because he was usually the first one to run into battle and didn't see himself as more than he was. But this time ... it was a mistake.
Hannibal and his men rushed to attack the Anathema and his 'measly' 100 men. But what happened then, is best forgotten, as it is an embarrassment for the Carthages. Hannibal was taken out of the fight, immediately, leaving the rest of his army without their leader. But that didn't stop their advance. The 100 Spartans were super soldiers even to these times' standards. But that wasn't all. They were equipped with stronger armour and weapons.
The Spartan-I unit cut down the approaching horde of Hannibal's army by the thousands. And in the front was none other than the Anathema himself. Wielding a flaming sword, he cleaved through the enemy lines like a hot knife through butter. The Imperium, which was in its infancy by that point, consisting of only 100 men, killed 24'000 soldiers in the span of a few hours. The Spartans were faster than any human before and even after them, if we don't count the men of the Imperium. They wielded their giant swords with ease and cut the Carthage soldiers down with each swing.
While the Anathema himself was mowing through the men and ripping them apart with nothing but brute force. The blood that flowed that day, saturated the earth and would never be forgotten by them. Today this history was falsely documented as the Anathema is ... a wizard.", Professor Binns drops that bomb and everyone gasps.
"..."
"WHAT?!
"No way!"
"A wizard? And he used a sword?"
"So it was really a flaming sword?"
"Imperium ... I feel like I heard that already once."
"Professor, what happened after that?", a Slytherin asked. They were getting into it. For the first time since Binns was teaching at Hogwarts, the students were not only all awake, but they wanted more.
"Sadly, we don't have any more time.", Binns said.
"Wait! Can't you at least tell us whether this ... Ana .. ani?"
"Anathema."
"Yeah, whether he killed all of them?"
"He didn't. He only killed 24'000 of them. After that, Hannibal's army was said to be so scared that they didn't want to fight anymore. What happened after that, we can discuss later, if you are truly interested. But for now, class is over. So until next time everyone.", Binns says and dismisses the class.
"Ah, man. That was the best history lesson and now we have to go."
"True, we'll see where it leads next time though."
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If you want more of this style (from a history books POV) then tell me.
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