The Department of Magical History

There has always been a degree of controversy as to the place of magical history within the university. Modernisers and reformers within the faculty occasionally pipe up with the argument that the young mages of the future have much better things to do than learn about the past, especially as the department doesn't teach any practical magic. However, they are always rapidly shouted down by older, more distinguished faculty members, who maintain that it is vital for the new generation to learn about the triumphs and mistakes of the past. The fact that their own deeds often feature heavily in the courses has, of course, nothing to do with this.

Unlike other departments, this one operates as a single unit. However, for first years, they offer three different introductory lecture courses, each one lasting a term.

Cataclysms Caused and Disasters Diverted: Great Magical Events

A course covering some of the most notable events in which magic played a part. This course focuses on events which many students will at least have some inkling of when they arrive – The Battle of Cartisk, where the powers unleashed by the two sides rent the sky itself asunder, the Phael Wave, where a desperate, cornered villain unleashed a tidal wave on the coastal town that gave the event its name, although some less grim subjects are also broached. Many students who are not, in theory, taking the course attempt to make time for the lecture on the Inkheath Event, where an ill-advised attempt to use a magic sword to channel agricultural magic lead to every individual for hundreds of miles around the epicentre being turned into an extremely confused sheep.

Students who have taken this course will have a better insight into large scale magic than normal, and may be better able to predict when combining certain spells or Implements will have terrifyingly appalling consequences. Occasionally even when they will have good ones.

Heroes, Villains and Those In Between: A study of great magical people.

This course concerns ten of the most notable individuals from recent magical history (lectures on characters from the more distant past await second years who stick with the department). Of the ten, seven are current members of the university faculty, and two of these are audacious enough to present the lectures on their own lives (Professors Carpenter and Arit). The lectures tend to be energetic and enjoyable, though often lack a certain…academic rigour. However, for some inexplicable reason, no motion raised to the faculty to replace it has ever gathered sufficient momentum to be passed.

Students who have taken the course will have some insight into the pasts of some notable faculty members. They might recall a crucial fact about a certain professor at a critical juncture.

Magic Swords, and Where We Found Them: The Notable Artefacts of the University Collection

A course in the histories of the greatest magical artefacts possessed by the university, their powers and their history. While it is, undeniably, a chance for the establishment to show off it's collection of fancy treasures to first years, the explanations of their theorised workings, and comparisons with similar items do actually provide a solid foundation in any future study of the uses of magical items.

Students who have taken this course will have some knowledge of a few of the magical treasures kept around the University and, perhaps more importantly, the security measures around them. They may also have a slightly higher chance of working out the function of an unknown magical item.

uni/history_of_magic.txt · Last modified: 2011/02/09 15:19 by jamesi
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