"Professor Anthony, why do Muggles build ships out of steel?" a student asked. "Is wood too expensive for them?"
"Before steel, people did use lots and lots of wood to build ships," Anthony said. "Any guesses on why that changed?"
"Because steel is stronger?" another student offered. "Maybe Muggles use it for defense… you know, against sea monsters, sirens, giant kraken, that sort of thing."
A student in the corner sounded doubtful. "I heard the International Confederation of Wizards monitors most of the magic-revealing sea creatures. Like they do with dragons."
"Yeah, but some still slip out now and then," the sea monster defense advocate defended himself. "And last field trip, I saw books about it in the Muggle bookshop!"
As the conversation veered toward Bermuda and aliens, Anthony quickly steered it back. "Yes, I'd say strength is one reason. On the other hand, steel is easier to shape than wood—more malleable—so it's better for building things like cruise liners."
"Makes sense," the first student mused. "And steel doesn't burn like wood."
His deskmate scoffed. "Why would you want fire on a ship?"
"Muggles don't have Aguamenti—"
"You want to sail on fire? They're surrounded by water!" the student argued. "Muggles just need to use their… uh… pumps. Suck the water up and hose the ship down. Like a shower."
"Actually, ships do need fire safety," Anthony said. "So that's probably another advantage. If you check the 'Transportation' chapter…" He glanced at the open textbooks below. "Right, there. You can see Muggles get heavy ships to float, not with some advanced magic, but by cleverly designing the ship's structure."
"I heard Durmstrang has a big ship," a student said thoughtfully. "Do they use Muggle principles too?"
"Probably not," the student beside him said, tone laced with distaste. "Isn't that a school for Dark wizards? Slytherins are always going on about Durmstrang this, Durmstrang that…"
"Krum goes to Durmstrang," a voice muttered. Anthony looked. Cormac Bragge. Devoted follower of Wood's training regimen (despite not being on the Gryffindor team).
"Who?"
"Viktor Krum! Last year's Quidditch rookie of the year! He's at Durmstrang."
"He's on a pro team while still in school?"
Anthony leaned on the lectern, watching his class suddenly buzz with life. He couldn't help a faint, resigned smile. Since hitting their fifth year, the academic pressure on these students had skyrocketed. Nearly every professor hammered home that this was their O.W.L. year, their first major exam at Hogwarts—perhaps even more important than their N.E.W.T.s.
Professor McGonagall would never tolerate classroom disruptions. Neither would Snape—for Gryffindors, Snape was arguably worse. Professor Sprout would drown them in herb names, uses, and busy practical work, leaving no room for distraction. And Anthony had just heard Professor Flitwick's stories about managing classroom chaos.
For these students, electives like his were probably a form of relaxation. A legitimate break from worrying about their core subjects, with less exam anxiety thanks to simpler tests.
He shook the jar of coconut ice. Good. It caught their attention.
"Sorry, Professor Anthony," Cormac mumbled.
"No matter," Anthony said, flipping his lesson plan a page ahead. He'd skip the review for now. Something new. "So, Mr. Bragge, what do you know about Muggle geography?"
Cormac scratched his head. "Er…"
"No worries, I don't think I've covered it in depth. Let's try another. Does anyone know what shape Muggles think the Earth is?"
"A sphere!" Cormac declared loudly, looking relieved. "Like a Quaffle! Or a Bludger!"
"Correct. A sphere." Anthony nodded approvingly. "Anyone know how Muggles proved it?"
"With airplanes?" Cormac ventured, still riding his participation high. "Ah, and rockets! They saw it with their own eyes!"
Anthony smiled. "I imagine rockets could. But I wouldn't be too confident about airplanes seeing the spherical Earth. Their altitude might not be enough. A risky answer, Mr. Bragge. Also, Muggles can see it's a sphere now. But long before they could fly, someone suggested it might be round. And someone else proved it before anyone left the planet."
He looked out. His class watched him, curious.
Anthony held up a finger. "Three guesses. Winner gets two pieces of coconut ice."
"Hmm… they asked wizards for help? I mean, we have brooms. Maybe they could be taken above the Earth."
"Let me repeat a point from earlier," Anthony said. "Generally speaking, airplanes fly higher than brooms. Rockets fly higher than airplanes." He nodded, cutting off another student. "I know, I know. There was that wizard who got drunk and chased a plane on his broom." A few students snickered. "Classic breach of the Statute, right? But we're talking generally…" Seeing their grins, he added a concerned note. "From what I hear, exam questions mostly test the general case. I won't stop you from mentioning exceptions, but for Merlin's sake, state which is more common."
He waited for nods all around before continuing. "Other guesses?" His eyes flicked to the still-unerased chalkboard behind him.
"Ships?" a student guessed, watching his face. "…Really? Ships?"
"Yes. Ships," Anthony confirmed. "But not the steel liners we mentioned. Wooden sailing ships." He unscrewed the coconut ice jar. Two pieces floated out onto a blank parchment and drifted over to the student. "After people suspected the Earth was round, they came up with a clever plan. And about four hundred years ago, if I remember right, they proved it."
He pulled the world map from his notes, enlarged it, and hung it before the blackboard.
"We are… approximately here," he said, pointing to a spot on northern Britain. "Hogwarts itself is Unplottable, but Muggle Britain isn't. At a certain scale, everything becomes a dot. So, ladies and gentlemen, here we are. Anyone seen a map like this before?"
A student hesitated. "I tried to read a map of Britain… thought about taking my family to the Muggle world last holiday."
Anthony brightened. "Excellent. What did you think?"
"Muggles make a right mess of their rail system," the student stated firmly.
Anthony laughed. "Besides that? For instance, do you understand how to read this map?"
"Blue is water. Green and yellow are land. That thing in the corner is the scale. Muggles use it to measure distance. The compass rose in the top left shows direction. It means north is at the top of the map."
"I couldn't have said it better myself," Anthony said, impressed. "Very good, Miss Sangster. Would you like the whole jar?"
Miss Sangster shook her head violently, her twin braids nearly whipping her neighbor.
"Alright," Anthony said, a little regretfully. "Back to the map. This is a world map. Or at least, the map of the entire Earth as Muggles observe it. As Miss Sangster said, green and yellow are land. Where we live.
"But over four hundred years ago, with an ocean this vast, someone living here wouldn't know what was on the other side. Some thought there was nothing. Or a giant waterfall where all the water poured off the edge.
"After someone suggested the Earth might be a sphere, like the moon or sun, the 'sphere' people and the 'flat plate' people argued. So, someone proposed: if you followed a compass, sailing stubbornly in one direction—"
Anthony moved his finger down, starting from Spain and moving left.
"—you might go a bit south or north, but you refused to go east—"
Left again. Skirting South America.
"—you kept sailing west. Across the ocean, with your fleet, pushing on—"
His finger reached the map's edge. He paused, lifted it, and placed it on the far right edge.
"—still sailing west…" He hesitated briefly, skipping the part about the expedition leader getting killed in a local dispute. "…always west… and you found yourself back where you started. What did you prove?"
A student murmured, "The Earth is a sphere."
Another student frowned. "But, Professor, what if the Earth is a cylinder? Or a cone? Like an ice cream cone?" He mimed rolling the map. "Just coming back to the start doesn't prove it's a sphere."
The student in front of him said, "It at least proves it's not flat?"
"What if he was just caught in the Floo Network? What if they were about to fall off the waterfall, and something—or some creature—Apparated the whole fleet?"
"They were Muggles!" his deskmate retorted. "Muggles can't Side-Along Apparate!"
"Can Muggles use Floo powder?"
"I dunno," a student said glumly. "Never had a Muggle friend. Never invited one over."
Anthony had to admit, after the initial sluggishness, Gryffindors were still his most… energetic class. Which was another word for 'noisiest.'
…
It took Anthony a while to convince his class the Earth probably wasn't an ice cream cone—or at least, examiners weren't likely to mark it as one. Unsurprisingly, little time remained.
He sped through a lightning explanation of Muggle continents, oceans, and tectonic plates. His eager students erupted with questions the moment he stopped.
"If all the oceans are connected, why give them different names?"
"What does 'drifting' mean? Are we drifting right now?"
Anthony checked the time again. The review section was abandoned.
"Yes. Yes, we are drifting right now," Anthony said. "The plate carrying us, the ground under our feet, is slowly moving on top of soft rock. In that sense, you could say we're all on a ship. Sailing on an ocean of magma."
A student opened their mouth, but the bell rang. Anthony gathered his things. "If anyone's still interested, my office is open. Also, next class, there will be a short quiz on basic Muggle geography and transportation methods."
The class groaned. "What?"
Anthony beamed. "Good luck. I'll reference Professor Burbage's old tests. The difficulty should be… perfectly reasonable."
He'd borrow from the experts. Professor McGonagall's pop-quiz method was excellent. Especially as a threat to encourage revision. Especially for Gryffindors.
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