We have to talk about Les Amis & Co. as high school teachers.
Enjolras as the government teacher. He, of course, has half the students swooning. (Courf’s ringtone for his is Don’t Stand So Close to Me by the Police. Enjolras does not find this funny). The other half of the students loathe him. He is strict beyond compare and by far the toughest grader. But he is also unbelievable supportive. If a kid seems to be having trouble, he always goes out of his way to help them out. He also has a mural of Liberty Leading the People on his wall curtesy of an all-too-willing Grantaire.
Combferre as the strict but nurturing philosophy teacher. All his students really like him, but are secretly terrified of him. There are rumors that he is actually omnipotent. He sees everything. Don’t ever try to cheat in his class. Ever. You will fail and you will die.
Courfeyrac is an amazing ethics teachers. All his students adore him. During his lectures, he constantly flip-flops between rants on social justice and terrible puns. He also sponsors the school’s LGBTQ+ club. He always has his door open to talk to students. HE and Jehan are locked in a perennial battle for the title of “Favourite Teacher.” His tactics involve innumerable amounts of chocolate.
Jehan as the eccentric langauge arts teacher. Every one loves hims. He introduces his students to both classic and obscure, underrated authors. He enthusiastically advocates for his students to write more, even offering to edit work that’s not for class. He is incredibly kind and gentle in class, but all his students know about his dark side. One time, a kid called John Keats lame. That day will haunt the school for years to come.
Bahorel as the boisterous chemistry teacher. Okay wait, just hear me out. Explosions.
Marius as the terribly nerdy calculus teacher. Before he met Cosette, he professed in a grand speech in the teacher’s lounge that Lady Math was his one true love. Actually, that’s how they met. Cosette was laughing her head off in the back. But seriously. He does math for fun. He has a tattoo of the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus.
Cosette as the always cheerful choir teacher. She sings like a lark and has a smile unmatched, but once her father came to visit her while she was teaching. She left to make some copies, leaving him alone with the kids, and ever since they’ve never dared to make any trouble. She uses this to her advantage. When she asked Marius out on their first date, she did it by bursting in on one of his classes and having her kids sing to him. He was red for a week.
Musichetta as the Home Ec. teacher. She can do everything. It’s fucking amazing. But unfortunately, one of her boyfriends is not allowed in her classroom ever again. Let’s just say that after the wounds he suffered, stitches would have been redundant.
Bossuet as the clumsy French teacher. He absolutely loves it. He was born in Toulouse, but his mother’s job took his family to the States when he was five. He always wished he had more of chance to explore his home country, so exploring his heritage is a dream job. The only problem is that after speaking in French all day to his students, he sometimes forgets to switch to English around his friends. (Not Chetta or Joly mind. They think it’s trés attirant).
Joly as the weird-ass biology teacher. In his classroom, he has a human skeleton he calls Molly, (“Good morning, Molly!” Joly says every morning. ”Good morning to you too, Joly!” says Joly in a weird voice). No one knows if Molly is a real skeleton or not. Whenever someone asks Joly, he just laughs. Molly has been featured in many a prank. He also teaches the Anatomy and Physiology elective. There are many rumors about that class. There are often loud sounds coming from the room, but whenever the students are asked about it, they just laugh. They truly have learned well.
Feuilly teaches World History and shop class. His style is the very definition of tough love. A lot of his students want to hate him for being so hard on them, but they can’t. He is a terribly kind and helpful person and they all know his hard-edged style really makes them better students and people.
Montparnasse (yes, I’m counting him. He is one of my babies) teaches orchestra. He loves music and he gets to wear a tux. He would teach band, but then he’d have to lead the marching band. Parnasse doesn’t sweat.
Eponine is the menacing P.E. teacher with the glint of murder in her eye. Do not cross her. The punishment: Pirate Dodge Ball from New Jersey Hell.
And finally, Grantaire. Art teacher and resident nihilist. Despite his cynicism about humanity as a whole, he is incredibly optimistic about each of his students individually. His kids are what keep him going. The light he sees in their eyes when they accomplish something in his class makes him forget- just for a second- all the pain and shit he’s suffered in his life. His classroom is a bit of a safe haven for many students. When kids are having problems with any type of substance abuse, they come to R. He doesn’t feed them the feel-good crap that they’d get from the counselor. He’s been through the same stuff they have and came out the other side. He’s been sober since the year before he started teaching and he knows how to really help his kids out.
