Professor Butler was deep in thought as the third year class entered. He was in an unusually  maudlin mood. Despite the long years, despite the many months he had spent researching and writing his book on the subject he could never think of the First Wizarding War without getting emotional. His thoughts turned as they often did to his parents and especially to Alexandra. As he saw the children coming in he thought about what might have been; about what life they might have made together; about what family they might have had.

 He brushed such introspection aside. He had a job to do.

 "Settle down! Settle down! So we have finished covering Gellert Grindelwald's rise to power, his reign of terror and his fall at the hands of Albus Dumbledore.  We  now turn our attention to more modern events starting with the First Wizarding War. A word of caution before we proceed. While all of you are thankfully too young to have witnessed the terrible events of the First and Second Wizarding Wars many students in this school lost family members in these conflicts.  Please be mindful of such sensibilities when discussion these subjects.

 Let us start with an easy question.  Who can tell me which wizard's desire for power led to the First and Second Wizarding Wars?"

History was one of Tim's more favoured subjects. The whole Pepper family studied it, and he'd be expected to complete a NEWT in it too. Professor Butler was a fairly nice teacher so far, (Ambrose had declared him his favourite the week after Juni had returned to school, which was high praise) and Tim was personally enjoying his lessons. Butler asked good questions and didn't lecture for so long that they wanted to sleep on their desks.

At the Professor's question, the Ravenclaw raised his hand, and when eye contact was made, spoke up:
"Tom Riddle, sir."

 "Well done Mr Pepper. Take five points for Ravenclaw. Yes it was Tom Riddle or to give him his full name Tom Marvolo Riddle who was responsible for the First and Seconding Wizarding Wars. Riddle as we all know went by the alias 'Lord Voldemort' to enhance his mystique and reputation amongst other reasons.

 Riddle and his followers used divisions in wizarding society to their advantage to gain support and power. Indeed they held beliefs that some wizards should have greater influence and rights than others.  For another easy question can anyone tell me which witches and wizards Riddle and his followers believed should rule wizardkind."

“Purebloods, sir…. Uhm, Eta Pepper sir.”[1] Tim’s red-brown haired, Hufflepuff cousin raised her hand, encouraged by Professor Butler’s kind approach to her classmates. She had read cards furiously when their history of magic teacher had arrived at the unfortunate junction of missing classmates and the death of Professor Smyth. However, as Tim understood, she had read good things of his character in her divining results.

Tim nodded in agreement at her response. He’d have raised his hand to give the same answer, but he felt as if he might answer all the questions if he did. Tim and Ambrose’s father, Francis, and grandfather, Filius, held history as an essential subject at Hogwarts given the family trade in making and fixing time turners for the Ministry. Tim’s uncle, Monty, had been sent back two decades just before Christmas - confirming that a distant relative in America was in fact himself all along.

1.	There’s not really many third year writers, but Eta’s an NPC

Mairead's perspective on History of Magic was quite mixed.  In theory, it stood the chance of being one of her favorite - and best - subjects.  She'd grown up on oral history, after all.  Every night had been spent listening to old ballads or hearing Oisin tell one of his old stories.  When class focused on history as some story or recollection of the past, it was one of the few times Mairead could sit quietly in class and listen with rapt attention. 

Now, when the class shifted to useless nonsense like memorizing dates and boring facts, it was a very different story.  History wasn't about facts - it was about what happened! 

Slouched in her chair, Mairead glanced from the professor to Pepper to Pepper number two and back to the professor.  Though crossed arms and a slight scowl suggested impartial cooperation on the part of the Gryffindor, Mairead was still and listening.  The day's topic had long been a touchy one.  Mairead was not only muggleborn but poor and Pavee.  She'd learned her lesson about the perspectives of purebloods even before she'd purchased her (used) school robes. 

"Can anyone tell me which witches and wizards Riddle and his followers believed should rule wizardkind."  "Purebloods, sir…. Uhm, Eta Pepper sir."

"And, he was a bloody arse hypocrite," Mairead piped up without raising her hand, shifting in her chair uncomfortably.  "He wasn't even a pureblood himself, was he?  Just like bloody shades ... er coppers who break the laws they claim t' protect."   

 The Professor successfully stifled a smile and least he thought he did. He was somewhat successful. The young Gryffindor would be a handful. Whether she would be an enjoyable handful to teach or a nuisance he would discover in time. Regardless she would be one to watch.

 "You are both correct. Five points to both Hufflepuff and Gryffindor though 2 points off Gryffindor for language.

 There are certain witches and wizards throughout history who believe in what is called the "purity of blood". They believe that only those born to two magical parents or purebloods deserve to rule wizardkind. In general they would rank 'half-bloods' with one magical parent below 'purebloods' but still part of the magical community. Muggleborn witches and wizards (those with no magical parents) they either rank as the lowest caste in our society or not properly part of it at all.

 This is not a new phenomenon. One of the founders of this school, Salazar Slytherin, held such beliefs and refused to accept muggleborns within his house. When the other founders refused to agree with him and accept similar rules throughout the school  he left it. 

 Riddle held to similar views. Under his regime muggleborns had their wands removed. Many were sent to Azkaban for 'stealing magic'. Others were tortured, maimed or killed."

 The Professor's voice took on a harder edge as he said this last statement as he remembered those he had lost though it soon returned to normal.

 "As the young lady from Gryffindor has rightly said Riddle was indeed a hypocrite. He was a half-blood like most of our population. Some have speculated that he merely used pre-existing bigotry to his advantage. Such would not be unusual.  Where people have strong beliefs there are always those who will exploit them for their own advantage even if they do not believe them. There are numerous electoral campaigns in both the muggle and magical worlds where such has occurred. One of  the most blatant example  was Dunstan Kennilworth's campaign for Minister of Magic in the late 1800s when he played on anti-goblin prejudices to get elected but who betrayed his followers in the political battles that followed and ended up signing a settlement that enhanced goblin control of the banking sector. That he was later found to have accepted vast bribes from goblins did not enhance his reputation.

 Most however believe that Riddle had other motivations in addition to a desire for power. He hated muggles due to events in his childhood. He was descended from Salazar Slytherin and believed himself the heir to a great bloodline. He was aware of his mixed heritage though so he was a utter hypocrite.

  Riddle of course did not fight alone. His most loyal followers were his 'Death Eaters', witches and wizards, mostly but not exclusively purebloods though all pretended to be such as he did, pledged to his service. He had other assistance though."

 He turned to Mairead,

 "Young lady could you be so kind as to give me your name and name me any of the other supporters that Riddle had."

 

 

Maxen, at this point, was used to professors being slanted in their teaching habits. History was the absolute worst. It was more difficult to be biased when teaching how to transfigure a teacup or stir a bubbling brew – but history was almost always taught in a way that the teacher believed, rather than stating the facts. With a good professor, this could be quite the enjoyable lesson – one filled with discussion and revelations and epiphanies. With a professor that believes quite differently from what you feel to be true, such a lesson normally resulted in detentions and point loss for the young Slytherin.

Of course the Peppers would be the first to speak up, and of course they’d be given points. It was always that way, it seemed to Maxen. Every other house was looked upon gloriously but Slytherin was always the unwanted child, the squib of the family. It was infuriating, because Salazar Slytherin obviously had some pretty darn good ideas, or he wouldn’t have been a founder of Hogwarts – a school most claimed to be the greatest in the land.

When the fiery Gryffindor spoke up, Maxen almost laughed. She had a point, and even Maxen’s traditionalist views didn’t go as far as to agree with Voldemort. Then again, when the professor began his long tirade again, the young snake was tempted to shoot her in the back of the head with a spit wad. After Professor Butler finished speaking, Maxen was red in the face and hopping mad. Though he had addressed Mairead, Maxen spoke up before she had a chance to.

“You know, Professor,” he said with a sarcastic tone, “If you want to be courteous of those who lost people in the war, maybe it’s not such a great idea to bring up names from the losing side. Some of us had family on both, you know,” Sure, he was bound to lose some points for Slytherin, but by this point the rest of his house was rather used to it. Plus, it didn’t matter if he was a professor or not, when you’re being an insensitive grindylow turd, someone has to let you know.

The Gryffindor dismissed the two lost points with an indifferent shrug; anytime her house point totals were in the positives was a success.  Her arms remained crossed across her chest, but she continued to listen as the professor spoke. 

There had always been a few recurring themes in most of the old ballads: love was both exciting and dangerous and people would vie for power whenever possible.  Sometimes, those two themes were connected.  In the quest for power, there were always underdogs and scape goats.  But, their history tale of the day had turned to a request for details and, unfortunately, she’d already called attention to herself.  Names, like dates, were exactly the type of minutia Mairead rarely had the patience to remember. 

She’d started to shrug and offer her own name, while trying to think of some way to avoid the unpleasant task of (again) displaying her ignorance in front of the class when Whitman came to the rescue. 

At least she knew one name to include. 

One arm unfolded from her chest and pointed across the room in Whitman’s direction.  “‘Suppose there were one or two of his lot,” she said, feigning a studious answer.  “One thing I learned from me history lessons is that it's hard t'feel sorry for the bad guys.  Me guess is fewer of ‘em would’ave snuffed it if they didn’t start the bloody war in the first place.” 

She rolled her head to glower over at Whitman.  “Hard’ta feel sorry for the hunter when the stag turns and gets 'im in the gullet.”   

“And, he was a bloody arse hypocrite, he wasn’t even a pureblood himself, was he? Just like the bloody shades… er coppers, who break the laws they claim t’protect.” Mairead chipped in. Tim glanced round, acknowledging his classmate’s observations. Having been at a Muggle school before Hogwarts, he’d studied the Muggle second world war, and could see an additional comparison of master race.

Professor Butler was kind with the points, though he did deduct for Mairead’s impolite language. That was kinder than what some of their teachers did. The third years fell quiet, listening to the Professor’s explanation. Tim took notes, quill neatly dashing across his parchment before Butler posed a question back to Mairead.

“… name me any of the other supporters that Riddle had.” But before Mairead could get a word in, Maxen jumped in,
“You know, Professor, if you want to be courteous of those who lost people in the war, maybe it’s not such a great idea to bring up names from the losing side. Some of us had family on both, you know.”
“Suppose there were one of two of his lot, one thing I learned from me history lessons is that it’s hard t’feel sorry for the bad guys. Me guess is fewer of ‘em would’ave snuffed it if they didn’t start the bloody war in the first place.” Tim and Eta exchanged a tentative look. “Hard’ta feel sorry for the hunter when the stag turns and get ‘im in the gullet.” Eta flinched at the description.

Tim, not enjoying too much of a lesson hijack at the best of times due to his studious nature, spoke out, raising a tentative hand by way of seeking permission without actually waiting for it.
“He got some ‘support’ I suppose, Sir, from the Ministry workers once he took it over, because they had little choice to oblige or resist and risk their lives.” Tim thought to the wedding party photo from 1989 in his uncle’s house. Not everyone had lived through the years that followed, or stayed out of Azkaban for their actions.

End

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Due to inactivity of professor and timeline moving on, points awarded:

Gryffindor Total Points: (+5)

• Ó FEARGHAIL, Mairead +2 - participation, +5 - from Prof. Butler for answer, -2 - from Prof. Butler for language

Hufflepuff Total Points: (+5)

• PEPPER, Eta +5 - from Prof. Butler for answer

Ravenclaw Total Points: (+8)

• PEPPER, Timothy +3 - participation, +5 - from Prof. Butler for answer

Slytherin Total Points: (+1)

• WHITMAN, Maxen +1 - participation