Wizarding Studies and Blood Status

While Muggle Studies started with an interesting topic regarding the space race and space exploration, the Wizarding Studies were more subdued and too formal. Wizarding studies are relatively new in Hogwarts as nobody thought about the importance of such a subject. While the focus is on understanding the culture and how those who are muggle-borns and muggle raised have to integrate into magical society there really wasn't a clear standard on what the subject should entail. If you ask the muggle-borns, they were a little bit like the sociology class. However, due to the concepts and information shared being closer to history, the teacher that was hired must have a background in magical history.

The teacher for this class is Professor Elanora Tripe, though as a wife of a noble lord she would have been referred to as Madam. She is over 50 years old and the widower of the noble house of Tripe. She is a thin woman but she looked like a typical governess you see who takes care of the children of the wealthy during the 1800s. Her hair is always tied in a neat brown bun and she has deep brown eyes. Professor Tripe is a Slytherin graduate and has a mastery of magical history which always surprises people as it is incredibly rare for most to even continue with the subject with Binns as the teacher let alone get a mastery of it.

She was not exactly the one person that Dumbledore wanted to be part of this subject. In fact, during the process, he was against it. Dumbledore still has some hiring power regarding which teachers should be hired but he couldn't say no when Lord Peverell recommended this woman. The reason Dumbledore didn't want her is that she is known in the pure blood society circle and she in the past was a popular teacher hired to teach the many old and dark pureblood families regarding etiquette. The last thing he wanted is for the muggle-borns to be bullied or to be felt inferior.

Madam Tripe is also the teacher that many rich wizarding families reached out to teach their children etiquette so she is very familiar with the old wizarding families like the Malfoy's, Parkinson's, and so on. Her classroom is neat, tidy, and well organized. The furniture looked old but also expensive which screams class when a student enters the room. A typical pureblood noble would feel at home here, and others would feel intimidated. They don't have a desk just a long elegant table in the middle where they all sit together as if they are in a conference with Madam Tripe at the other end of the table. The only thing missing to fit this atmosphere is if the woman would drink a glass of wine. The only students who did not feel uneasy with the atmosphere of the classroom were Harry, Iris, and surprisingly, Justin.

Harry is the only Slytherin in the class and he sat next to his sister at the table. In Hufflepuff, there is Iris, Justin Finch-Fletchley a muggle-born, and Megan Jones, a half-blood. Megan mumbled about how she didn't think she needed this class as she grew up in the wizarding world but having a muggle mother meant she has to take this. The Jones is a noble house but they are not an ancient one and Megan's family isn't exactly the main family just one of the branches.

In the Ravenclaws, Anthony Goldstein is a half-blood and his father is a muggle. This surprises Harry as the Goldsteins were a famous wizarding family back in the United States so there are muggle and magical branches in this family it would seem. Anthony grew up with his father since his mother died when he was young and while his father is aware of magic, he has magical grandparents to help with his magic. The other two are Lisa Turpin, a muggle-born, and Sue Li, who is another half-blood who has a muggle mother. Sue Li was raised in the wizarding world but grew up most of her life in China before moving to Great Britain. The Gryffindors are Hermione Granger and Dean Thomas, both muggle-born, and Seamus Finnegan, who has a muggle father. Seamus didn't expect to like this class mostly because when his mother read the curriculum, she almost got mad at it. That's when he learned that most of the curriculum is related to "all things those dark and old pure-blood families learn!" as his mother said.

"Welcome to Wizarding Studies." Madam Tripe greeted them. "In this class, you will learn about our culture and its importance for you to understand and integrate into it. As many of you are muggle-borns (she said it with a slight disdain voice that most of the students noticed) a lot of the things in the wizarding world will be different from where you come from some of them can feel insulting, and some of them can feel outdated by your muggle standards. So, in this class, you have to let go of what you think are the values of a muggle and embrace the values of the wizarding world." She said it with such a strict and a little bit condescending tone that some of the muggle-borns felt conflicted, and the one who felt a little wary about it is Hermione.

"It is very important that the muggle-borns be aware of the differences because it is important for you not to combine the cultures you were raised with the culture you will be entering. The purpose of it, aside from the statute of secrecy, is to protect the culture we already have. As you may or may not know, many of our traditions have to be changed to accommodate the hard-headedness of muggle-borns."

This surprised the muggle-borns in the class. "Hardheadedness?" Lisa Turpin's blue eyes under her glasses looked confused.

"Yes, hardheadedness."

Harry raised his hand. "Yes, Mr. Potter?"

"Why did the government change many of the magical traditions to accommodate the muggle-borns? That doesn't seem fair considering there are not a lot of muggle-borns compared to the purebloods and half-bloods."

"Because muggle-borns are dangerous." Madam Tripe said straightforwardly without even flinching on what she said. The muggle-borns were surprised with Hermione Granger looking insulted. "Now why do you think that is?"

Reluctantly, Iris raised her hand. "Yes, Ms. Potter?"

"Um, because the muggle-borns lived in the muggle society and run the risks of breaching the statute of secrecy and it is very important for the muggle-borns to be in the magical world to be much safer and because some muggle-borns have some issues with the traditions of the magical world, they have to be changed to accommodate them so they can be more willing to integrate into the magical society and not stay in the muggle world where they are a risk?" Iris answered.

"That is correct, Ms. Potter. 5 points to Hufflepuff."

Harry raised his hand. "Yes, Mr. Potter?"

"I just think that this is the fault of the government and the lack of education about our culture."

"You are also correct, Mr. Potter. 5 points to Slytherin. This is why we have this class. Our head on the board of directors was the one who pushes for this class. We have him to thank for granting it allowing the muggle-borns and the muggle-raised students to understand and hopefully integrate with the magical culture and embraced it instead of fighting it because it seems contradictory to the world, they used to live in."

The entire class was very standard with the focus on an introduction to the magical world. Their first lesson was about the government more particularly the government of the wizarding Great Britain. The Ministry of Magic and the functions of Wizengamot. This is when Hermione noticed that the governing power of magical Britain is ruled by nobles. Basically, similar to the muggle Britain's government but without the House of Commons.

"This doesn't seem fair!" Hermione pointed out. "Why are the ones who make the laws belonging to a small class of people who don't know what it might feel like to be a commoner?"

"A commoner?" Professor Tripe asked in confusion. "Please raise your hand when you have a question next time Ms. Granger. 2 points from Gryffindor."

Hermione looked like she would protest but Harry raised his hand. "Yes, Mr. Potter?"

"A commoner is a muggle term to describe the common people or the masses. Basically, those who don't belong to the rich and noble households." Harry said. "Like the muggle-borns and most of the half-bloods and purebloods from non-noble homes."

"Thank you for the clarification, Mr. Potter. 2 points to Slytherin." Professor Tripe said nonchalantly as she continues to proceed to discuss the governing system of wizarding Great Britain. It was mostly about history and the different houses such as the ancient and noble houses, the noble houses, and the representative classes, and how they vote on certain laws and situations. The information was mostly pretty basic.

Hermione rose her hand. "Yes, Ms. Granger?"

"You mean to tell me that as a muggle-born I don't have a say on what goes on with the government?" She asked looking very miffed.

"Yes, Mr. Potter?" Professor Tripe ignored Ms. Granger's question and looked at Harry who rose his hand.

"I can answer Ms. Granger's question, professor."

"Proceed."

"Well, Ms. Granger. You can do so if you can get one of the houses to sponsor the bill you wanted to push or you can get a job that allows you to work closer in the Wizengamot. However, that's not going to be an easy one but if you can build a rapport, you can help create and influence the laws through those lords and ladies in Wizengamot."

"Thank you, Mr. Potter. 2 points to Slytherin."

"Yes, Ms. Potter?" Professor Tripe looked at Iris who rose her hand.

"I would like to add?"

"Proceed."

Iris also turned to Hermione. "Although you can, it is not going to be easy for you Ms. Granger. As the ministry despite its position to accommodate you as much as possible, there are still some biases towards muggle-borns even in the hiring process. I heard some department heads still hire people based on their blood status."

"What?!" Hermione looked aghast.

"I heard about it too," Dean said with Lisa agreeing. Justin just looked blank.

"So, I have to work harder than the rest just to prove my place in this world?"

"I know it's not fair. I don't even agree with it, but it's kind of the reality we live in." Megan piped up.

"Yeah, there was once a muggle-born minister of magic but he didn't last long. He resigned because the purist faction protested and walked out, and with most of them part of the Wizengamot it's going to be difficult for him to gain traction in the ministry," Harry muttered.

"And also, lots of muggle-borns are brilliant. They just struggle mostly in entering the government." Sue Li added. "They have more employment opportunities elsewhere."

The class ended with homework to research how they could create a law and how they could communicate and establish rapport to get it passed their current status. This also includes how they could establish their image allowing them to have short research about fashion in Wizengamot. Harry got a different homework because he was the heir to the ancient and noble house of Potter. His was based on how he could sponsor and pass the law effectively as head of the house.

"It isn't fair," Hermione mumbled. The entire class is in the library since Wizarding Studies usually end 30 minutes early which gives them time to do their homework. "Don't think I don't notice that she seems to favor you two!" She pointed at Harry and Iris.

"That's because of the blood hierarchy." Lisa Turpin answered, "Remember the talk about blood purists in the class?"

In the wizarding world, there is a blood hierarchy that mainly favors those who are of pureblood heritage. This is why the old and noble houses possess power because they can prove their blood is pure throughout the generations while most non-noble wizards don't usually bother with tracking their bloodline. A wizard is considered a pureblood when both sides of their grandparents are magical and both their parents are magical too. Even if the ancestor is half-blood or muggle-born as long as they are magical.

Though this is not as prominent in some countries like America for example (while they are biased towards muggles they are not against marriage with anybody regarding blood status as long as the person is magical), this blood purity is much more rampant in Great Britain and Europe in general. The purebloods are divided into two with the old and noble families ranking higher, followed by the purebloods of non-noble parentage. The half-bloods also have their hierarchy. The half-bloods with one muggle parent were ranked lower than the ones with a muggle-born or half-blood parent mostly because there is a preference for having both parents to be magical in the wizarding world. And the ones at the bottom are the muggle-borns, the ones who have both parents are muggles.

So, in the class, Harry and Iris have a muggle-born parent as the other half which gave them some privilege in the class. Harry noticed that the professor has demonstrate this bias during the lesson though she could have a reason for it. Harry didn't think she was biased against the muggle-borns. Harry just has a different feeling about her. It didn't help that their other parent is the head of the ancient and noble house of Potter. This would explain why in every effort they do; Madam Tripe gave them more praise and compliments.

"Being a pureblood isn't exactly what it meant to be. I heard that inbreeding is a common problem for them. Marrying cousins and whatnot." Anthony Goldstein said.

"They don't have much to go on," Megan added. "Ever since Grindelwald and then You-Know-Who there are getting fewer and fewer noble families left. They just refuse to diversify their bloodline."

"That's because if they do, they'll lose the privilege and power they possess," Harry said. "I for one am a son and heir of an ancient and noble household and yet I still have to fight for respect in my house just because I'm a half-blood. I have to deal with bullies ruining my stuff in my dorm."

"Wait, what?" Iris looked at Harry angrily. "Why didn't you tell me that? Who are they? Is this why you have been wearing your glasses lately? Have they given you grief for your contacts? Give me their names!"

"Calm down, Iris." Harry chastised his sister. "I still haven't found out who it is. This is Slytherin we are talking about. They are sneaky."

"You do seem to know a lot about the magical world despite being muggle raised though." Seamus who has been quiet all the time pointed it out.

"We already said this once. We grew up in the magical world just not in Great Britain but we are in the custody of our muggle aunt. So, we have some insights about it." Iris said.

"Plus, I'm the heir of an important house. I have to crash course myself about the Wizengamot and the noble families which is not easy since James doesn't seem to follow tradition and protocol and rebels against anything pureblood related and labeled it dark like a typical Gryffindor."

"Hey!" Dean and Seamus look at him.

"It's not an insult," Harry said.

"It's just that Gryffindors tend to rebel against traditions and whatnot," Iris added.

"Which is not always a bad case."

"Change is important."

"Culture isn't fixed."

"It may be bad today, but that doesn't mean we can't change it in the future."

There was a short pause. "That was weird," Justin commented. Iris just smiled at him.

Hermione closed the book she was reading. "I do feel a little sad about it though." She was so excited to learn about magic and the magical world but didn't realize some of the issues she will be facing.

"Hermione, we're eleven. What exactly do you think we could do?" Dean asked.

"You can build rapport, Ms. Granger," Harry said. "You are in a school with a lot of heirs to those noble houses. If you can build rapport with them so that in the future you might be able to gain some influence when you try to get sponsorship to laws you wanted to pass or concerns to be addressed."

"Like you?" Hermione grinned.

"Took you long enough." Harry smiled.

"You can call me Hermione you know."

"Yeah, you call us by our surnames. Just use our first names. We don't mind." Anthony said. The rest of the group nodded.

"I'm still mad you didn't tell me about the bullying. I have half a mind to go in there and feed them ghost peppers." Iris mumbled with a pout.

"Iris, you are too overprotective of your brother," Justin said.

"I find that a compliment," Iris said.

"You can be annoying about it sometimes," Harry commented earning a pout from Iris.

"Weren't you the one who keep saying you'll throw an apple on Godric Potter's head if he and his friend goes out of line?" Lisa asked.

"Yes," Iris muttered.

"Why apples though? You could have thrown anything?"

"Because Isaac Newton got an idea when an apple dropped on his head. I thought an apple getting thrown in his head would make him smarter."

This made the group laugh.

"There is no evidence to prove that an apple fell on Isaac Newton's head by the way." Hermione piped up.

Everyone in the group groaned.

"C'mon Hermione. Really?" Dean sighed.