Barbarism to Decadence.

The week went by fairly sedately, one day melding with the next until the weekend came with a surge of excitement. The sign-up sheet that had been outside of the Potions classroom disappeared on Friday morning, and a note took it's place.

To the students who have signed up for Understanding Muggles Through Muggle Literature,

I am delighted to note that there have been well over thirty pupils signed up for the class, so the examinations for admittance will be held tomorrow afternoon in place of a class. We will meet in the Great Hall at two o'clock, please bring quill and ink, but parchment will be provided. I am pleased by the enthusiasm being shown for the subject, and look forward to this year with great anticipation.

Sincerely, Vancelot Price.

"see, I told you he'd have more than thirty sign up." Hermione pointed her fork at Harry and Ron, grinning smugly. Ever since she'd visited Professor Price's room, she'd been taking more care with her appearance and smiling a great deal more. Seeing how pretty her soul was gave her a tremendous confidence boost.

"Malfoy even signed up, though I can't figure out why." Harry muttered as he glanced back to peer toward the platinum blond head one table over. His words drew a curse from Ron and a gasp from Hermione, and he looked back with a quirked brow. "What?"

"Harry, how did you know Draco had signed up?" He shifted a bit at the stern look from Hermione and looked down at his food, poking it with his fork. "Well, I was...sort of...following him." He winced at the second curse from Ron and ducked the swat Hermione tried to lay across his shoulder.

"Harry! What did I tell you about obsessing over Draco? Though...it is a bit strange that he would sign up for a class about Muggles, since he thinks they're basically useless." Her voice grew thoughtful and she peeked around Harry to Draco, chewing her lower lip. Harry was glad she'd latched onto the mystery so he could avoid getting lectured, and he shrugged. "I have no idea. Probably wants to check out the new teacher, did you hear he's been living in Muggle society for almost twenty years? Isn't that weird?"

Ron took a long swallow of his pumpkin juice and wiped his mouth with his sleeve before leaning in to whisper to the two of them. "Asked my Dad about him, and he said that something terrible happened to his mum and dad, so he took his inheritance from them and went off to a Muggle boarding school. Dad wouldn't tell me anything else, but he implied it had something to do with You-Know-Who."

Harry blinked, looking up toward the teacher's table and peering at the new Potion's professor, who was eating a Danish and sipping coffee. He frowned a bit and shook his head, looking back to Ron. "It must be someone else your Dad's thinking of, Ron. Price looks like he hasn't had a problem his whole life."

Hermione shook her head furiously and poked at Harry's hand with her fork. "Don't you remember what he said the first day in class? He said he had had problems and grieved, but didn't let it get him down forever. I think it's very impressive that he can be so happy after losing his parents so young."

She sighed and studied the young professor, wondering idly if he ever felt lonely. "Either that, or he just didn't care about them at all and he's pretending to be a nice guy, but underneath he's a cold, heartless bastard." Harry muttered, glaring up toward the teacher with suspicion in his eyes.

"Harry! You saw his soul the same as all of us. If he were as unfeeling as you imply, his soul's face would have looked as cold as ice. Like Lucius Malfoy, or something." Hermione glowered at him, folding her arms across her chest.

"Yeah, yeah. We don't know that that stuff actually shows someone's soul. It could just cast some glamour or...Hermione!? Where are you going?" Harry half stood as Hermione suddenly jumped up and rushed out, then he dropped back to his seat, looking stunned and confused by her reaction. "What'd I say?"

------

Vance peered over the seventy plus students who had signed up for his course, noting the abundance of female faces in comparison to male students and finding himself little surprised by the ratio. Boys simply did not seem to take to learning in the same manner that girls did, and the thought of giving up a Saturday afternoon for a class they didn't have to take probably never even crossed most of their minds.

"The parchments before you are enchanted to allow only truthful answers, so if any of you had plans to lie in response to the questions, you might as well leave now. If you do not wish to answer one of the questions, feel free to skip it, but know that no answer may be as telling as the truth would have been, if not more so. You may take as long as you like to answer, and I ask that you thoroughly think about your responses before you begin to write. Are there any questions?"

He watched a few students stand and shuffle out, then nodded to Miss Granger when her arm shot into the air. "Yes, Miss Granger?" He noticed the shadows under her eyes, and wondered what had happened to worry her, having noted the marked improvement since she'd taken the potion the week before.

"When will we know if we've been accepted or not, sir?" He heard a stiffness in her tone, curious over what he might have done to make her react to him in such a manner.

"I will be going over the exams tonight, and tomorrow morning following breakfast, those who have been accepted will find the first book on our reading list on their beds along with information about where we will be meeting and how much of the book should be read before next Saturday. Any other questions?"

He glanced around, then nodded, taking a seat on the teacher's table and motioning to the expectant students. "You may begin." The parchments before them filled with the questions, and there was a sudden flurry of movement and soft murmurs as they began their tests.

------

Name:
Year:
House:

1. If you found yourself in a situation where you had to kill in order to save a life, could you do so? If so, how difficult would you find it?

1a. What if the life you had to take was that of a Muggle, and the one you were saving was a witch or wizard?

1b. What if the Muggle in question was evil and the wizard or witch was good?

1c. Would you kill a witch or wizard to save the life of a Muggle? How would the role reversal effect your difficulty in deciding?

2. If you suddenly lost your ability to use magic, how would you cope with the situation? How do you think your friends would react? Your family?

3. Have you ever read Muggle literature? If so, what is your favorite Muggle story?

4. Approximately how often in a day do you use magic to make your life easier? (I.E. house-elves, Apparition, cleaning charms, healing charms, potions, brooms, etc.)

5. How much more important to you are societal morals and ethics in relation to the morals and ethics of the self? Explain.

6. If the Ministry passed a law allowing for the use of magic to save the lives of Muggles in danger, how would you react?

6a. Given the scenario above, if you were to see a Muggle house ablaze and knew there were innocent people inside, would you use magic to save them?

6b. Would you save the Muggles even if no such law existed to allow it?

7. Do you have Muggle friends?

8. Do you believe that wizards and witches are somehow better than Muggles? Explain your reasoning.

9. Have you ever played Muggle games? If so, what games have you played? How recently have you played them?

10. Do you believe Muggleborn are inferior to 'blooded' witches and wizards? Explain.

11. Why do you wish to join my Understanding Muggles Through Muggle Literature class?

Once your exam is completed, please bring it to the box on the podium and place it inside face-down. If you decide not to complete the exam, or you no longer want me to see it, place it in the box face-up.

------

Hermione stared at her exam in something akin to horror, realizing that there was no way to figure out what answer was right or wrong, on any of the questions. She had grown accustomed to always knowing the correct answer, but here there wasn't any clear-cut correct answers, only ones that were truthful. She had to admit the questions were devilishly clever, and being forced to answer them honestly would probably make many of the students squirm.

She sighed and began her test, shooting a glance around and noting quite a lot of anxious faces and shifting bodies, though she was surprised to note Draco Malfoy seemed quite calm. Actually, it wasn't that surprising, since he probably didn't care that his answers would reveal him for the bigoted, cold-hearted git he truly was. She highly doubted he'd be accepted to the class.

When she finally finished, she stared at her answers, smiling as they revealed what she'd always known about herself, that she was brave, good and just. Though, she wondered if knowing that was a version of vanity. A frown flickered across her face as she picked up the parchment and carried it up to slide into the slotted box on the podium face-down. She'd never taken a test that made her question herself as much as this one had, and she wondered if that was the point.

With a final glance at the Potions professor, which was answered with a bright smile, she turned and left the Great Hall, already anxious for the next morning when she'd learn if she'd been accepted or not.