"My subject is History of Magic. I deal with facts, not myths and legends."
-Professor Binns, to Hermione (CS9)
Consists of lectures on various aspects of magical history. It is extremely boring, but this is due to the teacher, Professor Binns’, teaching style, not the material itself, which seems to emphasize vicious goblin riots, goblin rebellions, and giant wars.
The textbook for the class in A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot (PA1).
At least during the 1990s, this class was taught by (the ghost of) Cuthbert Binns; he was the only non-living faculty member at Hogwarts.
Commentary
Notes
The bits of History of Magic curriculum of which we know tend to focus on non-humans challenging the Wizard supremacy outright or otherwise not meeting expectations set by those at the top of magical society. If these glimpses of the curriculum are representative of it as a whole, it contributes to the systemic oppression on non-wizards, which is seen throughout the books. Consider how Ron was raised to believe certain things about House-Elves or the fact that Muggle Studies under Amycus Carrow was focused on portraying Muggles negatively. -BB