“What's the name of the Muggle Studies professor again?” Fred asked his brother.

They had just been released from Potions class. This semester, Snape's temper was terrible; when Angelina had added just two ounces less of moonstone powder, he had exploded in rage and deducted ten points from Gryffindor.

If it hadn’t been for Fred’s perfect imitation of Snape's reprimanding expression, Angelina might have argued with Snape on the spot. But when the enraged professor had a Weasley standing behind him with a look that mirrored his own scowl, the furious professor suddenly became amusing.

“Five more points off Gryffindor,” Snape warned, glancing at her desk partner, who was trying to suppress a laugh, and without turning around, said, “Detention, Weasley.”

“But Professor, I didn’t do anything!” George protested.

A student behind him gasped. Snape turned around and glared at George.

Fred had already sat down before Snape turned. The Slytherin Chaser shot him a furious look, and he provocatively returned it, brandishing an imaginary bat as if giving him an air bludger.

“I meant the other Mr. Weasley,” Snape hissed, “but you’ve successfully earned yourself a detention too, Weasley. Five points off Gryffindor!”

Fred and George high-fived under the desk.

...

George looked at his schedule. “Anthony, Henry Anthony. We’re late, but he seemed pretty easygoing at the welcome feast.”

“Muggle Studies,” Fred shrugged, strolling down the castle corridor with his brother. “I mean, it’s just an elective, poor Professor Henry Anthony… Odd, I don’t remember seeing him before the feast, but his name sounds familiar.”

“I was wondering the same,” George said. “Let me think… wait… Mom! He’s the pen pal Mom found for Dad!”

Fred suddenly realized. They took off running.

The Muggle Studies classroom was on the first floor. They bounded up the stairs two at a time, knocked on the ajar door of the classroom, and popped their out-of-breath heads in. “Professor, sorry we’re late.”

“We were held back by Professor Snape,” George looked particularly anxious and guilty.

“Come in, Mr. Weasley,” Anthony smiled as he watched them find seats in the back row of the classroom. “By the way, remember to pretend you haven’t caught your breath yet next time you sit down.”

Someone snorted with laughter.

“Okay, Professor,” Fred replied graciously.

“Now that everyone is here, let’s continue our previous topic. I’ve introduced myself; now it’s your turn,” Anthony thought for a moment, then stepped down from the podium to sit in an empty seat in the front row. “Let’s do a little survey since there are more of you in this class than I expected. Why did you choose Muggle Studies?”

He encouragingly looked at a freckled girl sitting nearby.

“I… I’m a half-blood, and I want to learn how to communicate with my grandmother…” the girl said softly, her face turning red.

“Very good, having the willingness to understand is the most crucial first step,” Anthony said gently. “What about the others?”

“I’m really interested in Muggle sports! They don’t use flying broomsticks; a bunch of people run on the ground, and I heard there’s only one ball!” a tall student chimed in eagerly.

“I know nothing about Muggles, so I thought taking an elective might help…”

“I was brought along by him.”

“I was persuaded by a friend to take this class,” Angelina said.

“I find Muggle music very interesting. My grandmother was a witch of Muggle descent, and when she was alive, we would play Muggle Christmas songs every year at Christmas.”

“We think Muggle inventions are quite interesting—” Fred said.

“—Dad insisted we take this course—” George added.

“—and we need a roughly equal number of O.W.L.s certificates,” Fred supplemented.

“My roommate is Muggle-born; she invited me to her house for Christmas,” a girl said. “I need to prepare for that.”

...

After everyone had shared, Anthony clapped his hands to draw the students’ attention back to him. “Great, let me summarize. Interest, persuasion from friends, and the ease of obtaining an O.W.L.s certificate, right?”

Low laughter and murmurs of agreement spread among the students.

He stood up and walked back to the podium, writing these three reasons on the blackboard.

“What would you think if I said your reasons have already been predicted by Muggles?”

He put down the pen and looked at the students. “Our class is called Muggle Studies. Wizards study Muggles, and Muggles study themselves. For our first class, let’s look at a theory that Muggles developed about human behavior as an example. By the end of this class, I hope you find that Muggles and wizards aren’t so different after all. That’s the key point of this course.”

“This theory is Muggle research on human behavior—students who don’t understand what ‘human’ means in a Muggle context can refer to Chapter 9 of the textbook, ‘Muggle Terminology,’ and Appendix II at the end of the book.”

Anthony wrote in capital letters above the three reasons for choosing the class: “Muggle Theory: Theory of Planned Behavior.”

“Like magical theorists, Muggles have developed various theories to explain their behavior. This theory is one of them. Just as magical theorists refine their theories, Muggles revise theirs based on real-world situations. Therefore, I don’t know if this theory will be corrected into something else in the future or if it will be falsified, but for now…”

He wrote “attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control” underneath “interest, persuasion from friends, ease of obtaining a certificate.”

“Attitude refers to your own feelings about doing this thing. Because you’re interested in Muggle studies, you have a positive attitude towards taking the course, which promotes the behavior of choosing this class.”

Several students began to nod.

“Subjective norm refers to what you think people who are important to you would think about this matter. Friends want you to take the course, and since he or she is important to you, that also promotes the behavior of choosing this class—cough, some of you, why are you blushing?”

“Perceived behavioral control refers to how difficult you think it is to do this thing. Choosing an easy class and passing the exam easily means you don’t think it’s very difficult, so you’re confident you can do it, which promotes the behavior of choosing the course.”

“Through the combination of these three factors, you all ended up sitting here,” Anthony concluded. “Welcome.”

Fred whispered to George, “It seems like we’ve covered all bases.”

“We’re interested,” George counted off on his fingers. “Dad strongly urged us to take this class, and half the Quidditch team is here. We also think this certificate is easy to get—think about Charlie.”

“Oh, Professor, it’s just an accessory to Muggle clothing.” Fred mimicked Charlie’s tone. “It’s similar to cufflinks. Muggles display the price of their clothes to show off their wealth and status.”

They both burst into laughter.

Anthony looked in that direction several times, hesitating whether to establish the authority of the new professor or to let go of the Weasley twins, who were already much quieter than expected.

The tall student interested in Muggle sports scratched his head and interrupted Anthony’s gaze toward the corner. “But Professor, that doesn’t make sense. Even if I have all three reasons, if the class schedule conflicts with Quidditch practice, I would definitely give up Muggle Studies.” Angelina elbowed him sharply, and he suddenly realized, “Uh, they actually don’t conflict. I mean, I signed up for the class; what I meant was… Sorry.”

Anthony smiled and told him not to mind. “Interest, friends, and the ease of exams are just examples of three factors. Muggles are very flexible; they strive to make their theories encompass as much as possible, so when you try to pick a fault, you’ll get dizzy.”

“For example, if the class schedule conflicts with practice, it will impact all three factors. For instance, from the subjective norm perspective, your teammates don’t want you to take the class, which hinders the behavior of choosing the class.

“Even if other friends persuade you to take the class at that time, you can tell your friends that if I take the class, my teammates will kill me, right? These three factors are all multi-faceted combinations.”

He nodded.

Anthony added five points to the enthusiastic and participative Gryffindor and raised his voice. “Alright, that’s it for the theoretical part. Let’s perk up, lads and ladies; next, we’ll do a bit of practical exercise.”