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Children of the Moon	By : aidoneuskiss Category: Harry Potter Crossovers > Slash - Male/Male Views: 11161 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ or Harry Potter they and any similiarities are owned by their respective authors and I make not a cent off this fic

Chapter List
- 8
- 9
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War usually has the effect of speeding up the process of history. –Pieter Geyl

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Trunks casually made his way to the History of Magic classroom, skillfully winding and weaving through the sea of students while carefully making sure not to lose a drop of his precious coffee. His classroom was set up exactly as he’d requested, with desks forming a semi-circle, which descended into a stage, and each step containing a row of seats, very much like a theater. The flat expanse of wall opposite the seats was charmed to have a whiteboard-like quality in order for it to be written on, rather than Trunks having to bother wheeling in a blackboard. Which he knew could be easily “misplaced” by the resident poltergeist.

The only personal touch Trunks had added was an immense globe that hovered near the ceiling and would be used in later lesson plans that dealt with other cultures. For whatever reason, English Wizardkind tended to ostracize itself and believe themselves to be superior to others. Trunks hoped to instill some humility into their thick skulls by rubbing in the fact that they were the only nation to not have adapted with the times. Tradition was something to be respected but willful blindness was something not to be ignored, let alone tolerated, and definitely not to be synonymous with the other.

Leaning against the wall facing the doorway, Trunks watched over the rim of his coffee mug as the students filed in, blue eyes narrowing slightly with the realization that they were much more rowdy than they would be, were their teacher an older man. He’d have to deal with that immediately before they started taking liberties.

Unlike his colleagues, Trunks had opted for all four houses to take his course together rather than splitting the years into groups of two. Interaction was the best way to overcome these stupid house rivalries. Once they realized those “evil” Snakes, “push-over” Puffs, “brainy” Book birds, and “brave” Lions were just human, they’d hopefully tone it down long enough to get through partnering outside of class when he assigned group projects. And if not, well, detention would give them a healthy attitude adjustment, especially if they were unfortunate to serve it with him.

When the bell rang, signaling the start of class, the door slammed shut causing most, if not all, of the students to jump and turn round to gape at it. Smirking, Trunks unfurled his tail from his waist and after directing enough ki into the appendage so it wouldn’t break with the following action, he slapped it against the wall behind him. The resulting crack, much like that of a whip, drew screams from a few and the desired silence as his students searched wildly for the source with frantic eyes.

“Eyes up front and mouths closed. When the bell sounds I expect you all in your seats, your desktops arranged with your books, notebooks, quills and inks and whatever else you decide necessary to excel in my subject. You will hand in all homework first thing. If you’ve forgotten it, not done it, or are late getting to class, you will get no credit for the day. I will not coddle you. I am not your friend. I am your teacher and unfortunately for you I’m young enough to actually remember what I was like at your age. I know what you’re capable of and I also know what kind of bullshit lazy or entitled kids pull to get out of things.

I will NOT accept sloppy work. Other teachers may be willing to decipher chicken scratch but I have a life other than what I do in this room and I expect that to be respected and not have you wasting my time. Shitty work doesn’t only mean you did a half-ass job, it also means you don’t give a damn about your future. Even if your family is extremely well-off there will always be paperwork stacking up waiting to drown you. Make a habit of doing it well now and not only will your teachers appreciate it, I won’t mark you down, and in the future it may just be the deciding factor for you when you’re getting a job.”

Trunks took a moment to let this sink in, though he noticed the amusement in the eyes of some of those from influential families and almost looked forward to proving the fact that his warning applied to “all” students not just those without connections.

“While we’re on the subject of paperwork, everything you turn in will be by word count not by length. Why? Because I know that some of you take advantage of that and write as big as possible. Also, if you copy someone’s work, I will know about it, and the both of you will fail. No negotiations, no excuses, no tears. I won’t spend my time figuring out who wrote the original work and give them leniency. You were eager enough to help them break the rules; you can enjoy the consequences with their company.

Your house does not matter to me. Your family name does NOT matter to me. All that matters is that you do what I say, when I say it, and how I say it. Deviate from that, we’ll have problems. Understood?”

Nods all around, some sitting a bit straighter when piercing blue eyes fell on their person, others hastily hiding glares as he looked their way. Good. He didn’t want to be liked, he wanted to be feared. To a certain extent, at least, since fear was such a good motivator. They would apply themselves if they feared him, actually read the book rather than go off what everyone else was writing or what an older student remembered.

“Any questions?”

A tentative hand from the blue –trimmed crowd, followed by a hesitant inquiry when Trunks motioned for the student to continue, “What are the notebooks for?”

Trunks smiled at this, watching as the class redirected their attention to the two notebooks and the folder that had appeared before each individual when they sat down.

“Those are from me. The two notebooks are mirrors of two that I have for each student. I keep those and you keep these others. For every lesson you will take notes in one of these books and what you write will show up in the brother notebook I possess. Along with your notes taken, will also be the time of when it was written. Anything written outside of class will not count as part of your grade because more than likely you’re copying someone else’s lecture notes.

The second will be what you write all your homework in. It has a word counting charm on it so that you know how much more you’ll need to write in order for your assignment to be acceptable to me. I can also write back in this one, after every lesson, if you weren’t paying attention or weren’t present, the homework assignment will appear on the top of the next available blank page. Also, the grades and corrections for all your homework will appear in this book as well.

The folder will eventually contain all the quizzes, pop tests, practice tests, midterms and finals you receive. Basically, anything that I do require you to use parchment for will end up in here. This keeps everything organized and simpler for your parents to understand.

Oh yes.” Trunks smirked, enjoying the shocked looks at that revelation. “Unlike your other teachers, I’m a firm believer in parent/teacher communication. At the end of every month, your parchment folders will be owled home with a letter from me about you. Your parent or guardian will be requested to sign any graded work below an acceptable and send it back with a note agreeing or not to a discussion between parent/teacher and child on how best to improve the situation. So I suggest you be on your best behaviors, not only in my classroom but everywhere, it’s high time your parents knew exactly what you did to other students in order to get those detentions.”

Another pause for affect, Trunks thoroughly enjoying the nervous shifting and uneasy swallows, since the Headmaster’s rise to his current post, parents had been kept out of the loop unless the situations were life-threatening. Even then, the Headmaster would keep mum if the situation worked out favorably as he’d done with Severus Snape and the werewolf, Remus Lupin. Trunks only knew about that one because the werewolf was the only of his kind to ever attend Hogwarts in the last century.

“So, for your first assignment, you’re to write your name, House affiliation and year on the front of each notebook and the folder. They should then turn the color of your House and sport the crest of it on the front. When this has happened raise your hand and I will come and collect the folder from you, then we shall begin our first lesson.”

Ten minutes later, having collected and then vanished the folders to his office, Trunks turned to the whiteboard wall and drew a dry erase marker from his pocket. He wrote a single word:

HISTORY

Turning back to the class, he inquired, “Can anyone tell me the origin of this word?”

Silence.

Trunks sighed and ran a hand over his face in annoyance. “It means His story. Stories were how people used to tell their kids about what happened in the past. The way that history was recorded in the past, before writing it down, was simply by telling it. People would gather round and a storyteller would entertain and educate. (1)

Now, can someone tell me what may be wrong with this tradition?

No? Well, first of all, let me inform you that class participation IS mandatory and not solely graded on the content of your lecture notes but also the raising of hands. And don’t think it will only be those hands that wave at me that I call on. If you’re present, I assume you’re here prepared and know the material and are thus fair game.

As for my question, what’s wrong with this is that human beings, well… any species really, embellish stories to make themselves, their ancestors or their people, look better and the longer a story is in circulation, the more likely the truth is severely distorted. The same can be said for the written word as well. For example:

We have a war.

Two sides and however many allies they have.

All sides keep a written account of their wins, losses, etcetera.

When the war is over, whose words are published?

The victors. The victorious write the History books. The conquered accounts are hidden, overlooked, destroyed. The atrocities done to them by the victorious are swept under the rug if even acknowledged. To the victors, the ends justify the means.

What does that mean to you?” Trunks held up their History of Magic book. “It means that this cannot be trusted as a sole source of information. There is a reason why this room has always been directly across the hall from the library. My predecessor may not have had his students utilize it but you damn well will as long as I’m here. All your homework will have at least two other sources beside your history book. That’s THREE sources in total.

The main focus of this class is to learn history, find the truth in the history we think of as fact. In order to do this you must question EVERYTHING.

Now, if everyone will please gather their belongings and put them away we’ll be heading across the hall to the library. I think it’s best that I show you how to use the card catalogue system and familiarize you with the historical section so that no one will attempt the excuse of ‘I didn’t know where to find it’ with me. The library will be your second home by the time your through with this year. Every month you will have a research paper due and every semester a project. One will be a group project due before Christmas break, the other an individual one. Details are in the syllabi I will hand out once we get to the library. There will be no excuse for them being incomplete as I’ve given you plenty of notice and time to complete them. Now form a line. QUIETLY. Ready?

Good. Lets go.”

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Tbc

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1. This comes from the movie School of Life. It’s hilarious if a bit sad at the end. Gotta love Ryan Reynolds.
Authors note: I’m pretty proud of this chapter, it flowed for me much easier than some of the others but maybe because it’s more familiar in real life. Trunks’ teaching persona is based on two of my teachers. My fifth grade teacher who was very into history and loved research papers and my Psychology Professor at college, who was all about sources. I made his first class indistinguishable simply because I didn’t want his speech to seem “year” oriented. I’m a firm believer that children are underestimated and can do a lot more academically than parents, teachers, and the school system give them credit for. Having gone from private school to public school I can tell you from experience our tax dollars are being wasted. I was a C-average student in algebra in private school and when I transferred I was put in Algebra Honors. Puts things in a bad light doesn’t it.

Anyway, the kids have to rise to Trunks’ expectations, he’s not going hold them to the mediocre level that Binns had. And the folder thing is based on the Friday folders I had all through primary and middle school. Teachers would always write notes on which papers you did bad on so you couldn’t pretend not to know about it. It sucked but at the same time really made me work hard so I didn’t get grounded.
- 8
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Children of the Moon