Professor Van Herdeen, a former Hufflepuff, is our new Muggle Studies professor this year, and I was very fortunate that he agreed to an interview with me. When I met with him, I was running late from Frog Choir practice, toad in hand, but he assured me that he welcomes creatures, big and small, provided that they do not cause too much mischief, and it appeared that he had been using the time to grade some homework while he waited.
The professor summoned a chair for me to join him by his desk, and we began by discussing what fuelled his love of Muggle Studies and his desire to teach that subject in particular. He attributed his passion for the subject with him being a Muggleborn, while his wish to teach was influenced by both of his own parents being teachers themselves. I am sure that many of us have been influenced in some way or another by our own parents, so it made sense to me that Professor Van Herdeen became a teacher here at Hogwarts when I heard about his parents.
To the amusement of the professor, Amadeus (my choir toad) was busy croaking on a nearby desk as if he wished to add some music to our conversation, while we delved a little deeper into the challenges and highlights of teaching at Hogwarts, particularly on the subject of Muggle Studies. For Professor Van Herdeen, his favourite part of teaching this subject is that he is afforded the opportunity to broaden the minds of his students when it comes to the non-magical world around them, especially as some students come to school with little to no knowledge of how things work outside of the magical world. His reasoning for wishing all of us to learn about the world beyond magic resonated with me, as I am sure that it will with many of you, stating that he wished for everyone to be able to know what to do if they became stranded in a muggle city or town and, “To communicate, to understand your neighbours, is the best way to get along with them.” I agree whole-heartedly with this as this is what my own parents taught me from a young age, and it is something for which, I believe, we should all strive.
As for challenges, Professor Van Herdeen emphasised that students not taking his subject matter seriously can be very difficult, but not only for himself. Students who do not take their own learning seriously often have a tendency to become disruptive, which impacts not only themselves but all the other students within the classroom, and the professor made it very clear to me that he believes this to be disrespectful to all of the other students. After all, we come to school to learn and, even if we do not enjoy a particular topic or already have knowledge on it, we need to be mindful that others around us do not have exactly the same experiences as ourselves.
With such a serious matter of discussion behind us, Professor Van Herdeen seemed only too happy to regale me with a light-hearted, and somewhat cautionary, tale of his own youth here at Hogwarts. In his first year of school, he declared that he was “being a bit cheeky” and snuck down into the kitchens after curfew to grab himself some pudding. Who among us has not been hungry for something sweet after hours at least once in their life? The story does not end there, though! Our resident poltergeist, Jeeves, discovered the young professor in the kitchen. Frustrated by being caught, the professor threw some bulbs of garlic at Jeeves, only to find himself being tossed into a large copper cauldron and shut inside it! Luckily for Professor Van Herdeen, the cauldron was empty but, unfortunately, it had most recently been used for the brewing of a very odorous soup. Such a scent lingered in the cauldron and, after sleeping in there all night due to being unable to get the lid off by himself, on the professor for quite some time. Fortunately for Professor Van Herdeen, he was found fast asleep in the cauldron the next morning.
Alex J. Halsey
