Umm...was that...to him? Josh was not sure, it might not have been at all, but he turned back and looked and blinked at Lexi anyway and listened to her as she spoke. ''I know. That's right. I already mentioned the importance of intent. But that rule goes for any magic. You can't cast anything properly if you don't mean it anyway. Can you? What you are talking about the way a Dark Wizard or Witch might be thinking. But the professor asked about the Dark Arts and our ideas about it not of or about those who perform it.''

Eh...he hoped that was clear. ''We need to focus on the purpose of the magic. Assume you gave a wand to a kid who has never heard of Unforgivables and told him to cast it. Successfull or not, well performed or not. Since its purpose is dark, that spell is still dark though the caster knows nothing of it so can't have the intention of being bad. It is not the same for the others you have mentioned''

...she didn't understand ONE word, did she?

Marcelo blinked for a moment, unable to decide whether to cry or laugh. He decided to do neither, at last, and just went on to explain his point even clearer, as if that was possible, to this older girl.

"That is doing some THING dark, NOT magic," he said as a first step, before going on after a breath. "What I tried to say before was this: The magic ITSELF isn't dark. So it is NOT dark arts. You are not causing harm with magic, so it isn't considered 'practising dark arts'. The most, it is being a psycho."

... Um no. "Children perform magic without meaning to all the time, actually. And to be a bit clearer on this subject: Professor Glass asked if there is a rigid definition for Dark Arts. And also asked what it is that we understand. Well I am merely proving my point here; I do not think there is a rigid definition BECAUSE there is so much grey area. Meaning there are harmless spells that can be cast with the intent to harm. And I never mentioned a Dark Witch or Wizard... I used myself as an example here. If I were to use a harmless spell would for malicious intent would it be considered Dark. I am fairly certain debate on this subject matter will be ever going and for that matter each and every person in this room may have differing opinions on the matter... there is too much grey area when it comes to Dark Arts," she said evenly, clearly, and slower than normal because in her opinion... she was making perfect sense, but apparently some people couldn't grasp the simple concept.

Awww how cute was HE? Lexi wanted to poke his little nose with the end of her finger just for being so darn PRECIOUS.

"I merely asked the PROFESSOR her opinion on that matter... you are entitled to your own, of course," she said with a little nose wrinkle in his direction.

Debate was so much FUN. It seemed no matter what Lexi said in her OPINION... or even when she used cold hard facts people loved to argue and debate with her... so be it. She could argue either side of a subject all day long.

Chelsea raised her hand. "The dark arts are mainly used to harm others. But it can also be used as protection as well. The magic its self isn't dark its what the wizard casting it chooses to do with it that makes it dark. The dark arts is also more than just spells it can be potions or objects or creatures as well. The practice of the dark arts is also generally illegal with a few exceptions. The use for the three unforgivable curses will lead to a life sentence in Azkaban though. The three categories of dark spells are jinxes, hexes, and curses. With curses being the worst. The last thing I will mention is sometimes the ministry will even encourage aurors to use dark magic against their enemies" she said. Chelsea didn't want to get into a debate she simply just wanted to state her opinion.

Marcelo died to smirk at her as she seemed to have got at last that HE was right, but of course he didn't do that. Instead, as if he didn't see her condescending wrinkle, he nodded his his head politely and turned back at the professor.

Hopefully, she had seen that all about her future favourite student.

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeh...hey hey hey. What was making this lioness so...harsh with the subject? Josh hoped she had no dark mind hidden inside her head somewhere or something like that. ''Geez. Girl. I do know children perform magic unintentionally.'' Was that really what she understood from what he had said? The hoped not. ''By using the word 'kid' i just tried to make it sound like 'a person with an innocent mind' not children who has no idea of their magic. But maybe i used the wrong word. Maybe.''

Apparently he needed to be more careful with words while talking to her since she seemed to keep misunderstanding him. ''I do understand your idea of there no being a rigid definition and grey areas and stuff and i do respect it though i don't think it works that way anyway. It's your opinion, though, not a fact. And i did not say you mentioned those. I merely gave an example and said it was probably similar to the ideas of a dark witch or wizard.'' Yes. He needed use words more carefully. ''But you still don't understand what i try to tell you. I am not talking about your thoughts or being against it...completely. I am just talking about the spell itself being created for dark purposes. And for whatever intent it is used, for example, Aguamenti is NOT a dark spell. If you kill someone with it. It is the work of a bad intention. But do you think everything bad is considered dark? I think that can be discussed as well. It is like the the difference between a dementor and a bad mannered unicorn horning you to kill. See it?''

Kourt raised her hand as her friend made a point about neutral spells. "But isn't every bit of magic considered neutral? When the caster of the spell intends to cause harm to someone else; intends to use the spell for evil, then it would be considered, in that particular situation, a bit of dark magic. The spell itself isn't dark; but the intention of the person casting the spell makes it dark." She thought that was correct. At least she hoped so.

Nodding at the older students' discussion, Michelle raised her hand. "Since we're learning defense against the dark arts, dark arts here must mean spells that causes serious harm and even death. I don't think this covers physical injuries caused by a hex or jinx, as I don't need dark arts to cast a jelly-leg jinx."

"Dark arts must be spells which are undoubtedly evil intent-driven, like the horcruxes," she added.

Simon sat there he was glad the Professor wasn't asking him any questions, so now he could just sit and listen to what everyone else says and take notes and hopefully the Professor wouldn't realise he was just sitting there, saying that he was to scared to speak so it was only the Professors fault he wasn't replying.

Amethyst raised her hand. "Professor, to me, the Dark Arts are a collection or area of magic that heal to deal with evil. There might be a rigid definition, but I do not know what it is, Mam'. Something could be classified or not classified as a Dark art by it's intention, in my opinion, Professor." She half smiled softly, unsure of whether Professor Glass would like that or not.

Harvey had read books that had the term 'Black Magic' so he assumed that they were similar but he decided to answer anyways. "I think Dark Magic is an evil/bad type of magic, I think people who wish to kill, steal, injure or cause destruction may use this type of magic. People may also use this type of magic for personal gain."

There was a question here somewhere right?

The Slytherin lad cannot avoid hearing the debate even if he wanted nothing else but to just zone out the confusion. Lexi was right next to him, Josh and gang not far away. He has learned long ago that once the Lions starts roaring its pretty hard to ignore them. He glanced back down at the self writing quill to see what its taken down so far. Seems like the magical item got confused too because it stopped right at the Professor's question

He finally raised his hand "Dark Arts generally mean the practice of magic meant to either cause harm or gain some kind of advantage in devious ways. It true that there have been some magic created specifically with the intention to maximize dealing out pain and suffering, but I think its also clear from history that Dark Arts practitioners can use any kind of magic to accomplish their goal. Which means Dark Arts really doesnt have a 'rigid definition'. The thing is most Dark Wizards and Witches favor the use of the dark curses because you gotta admit-- they're pretty darn effective in getting the job done." Better tools equals better outcome so to speak.

"Ultimately its always about the intent of the caster-- do they use this spell to protect or to harm?"

"Lets say a family man is struggling to fight off a foe far more powerful than him. If he gets the chance to use the Killing Curse on the other guy to protect his loved ones, does that make that family man an evil person? Its true that the dark curse may have some effect on his soul, but ultimately he saves his family while sacrificing a bit of his own welfare. To me that is by far more noble than refusing to use a dark curse point blank just because of how its classified in the books."

"And ultimately, being one of noble heart separates them from the rest of pack of dark arts practitioners-- who by and large engage in these out of their own selfish ends. Case in point-- Severus Snape."

Kat sat and listened to the older students' discussions and tried to formulate a decent answer. The first answer she came up with was apparently wrong. When she heard dark arts she thought of going to see an art exhibit with her parents where there were paintings with very little color and subjects that weren't very happy, but apparently this wasn't art class.

Once Kat finally sorted out her answer, she raised her hand. "I do believe there is a rigid definition of 'dark arts.' I think I'm going to have to agree with Josh on some of his points. Dark arts are spells that are created with the specific intent to harm, and can't really be used any other way. The very properties of the spell make it a dark art, not the way in which it is cast, or the intent of the caster himself."

Woohoo! I'm really channelling my inner Ravenclaw today! Kat sat back in her chair, pleased with herself for coming up with a halfway decent answer and avoiding all talk of art galleries.

Ashley thought about the question, watching his classmates for a while, but trying to focus on coming up with an answer. Once he had something in mind, he went ahead and raised his hand to share, even if it was totally wrong. "Dark Arts involve magic created only for harmful intent? If something is a dark art, it's a dark art, and it can't be anything else. Also, just because a spell can be used for harmful intent, that doesn't make it dark. You can harm someone with lots of usually good spells, but they're still not dark. But you can use a dark spell to counter a dark spell, which would mean you had a good intent, but the magic itself is still dark. ...So, I guess it depends on what the original purpose of the spell is that decides if it's dark or not," was what he said, shutting up because he realized he was starting to ramble.

Determined to make up for all of the Gryffindor's who were losingf points Auggie made a point of listening to the Professor's questions and thinking of an answer before speaking.

Dark Arts? Well he assumed that was what the bad people used against the good, that there were bad witches and wizards just like there were bad and good Muggles. He rose his hand and then spoke. "Professor Glass, the dark arts are the things and magic used for evil or for unright or unjust reasons and to cause an effect that is wrong." And for the second part. "Somethings that might not be technically 'Dark' can be made dark by the way the caster intends to use it."

Ariella thought for a few moments about her answer. Everyone was saying generally the same thing - she wanted her answer to be unique. But what else was there really to say about the dark arts? "Well, I suppose that the dark arts has a different meaning for anyone - depending on how the dark arts has affected them as a person. For me, the dark arts is a dark type of magic used to generally or intentionally harm or hurt others. It can include unforgivable curses or poisons."

She paused for a moment to collect her thoughts. "Professor, I've heard that the practicing of the dark arts is generally illegal. What is that supposed to mean? Does it mean that some forms are legal to practice?"

"Yes, but," Eino raised his hand and joined their conversation in a polite manner. "There are three elements that create magic: the wand movement, the incantation, and the intent. Of the three, the intent is the only one that must always be present. Experienced wizards and witches can cast spells nonverbally, that is, without the incantation, and they often find shortcuts to the wand movement. Not to mention that certain wizards and witches can even cast spells without a wand. However, they must always use intent to create the magic." The way children discovered they were magical was by creating magic solely with intent, and without the present of a wand and incantation. "So, you can cause harm with the magic, because it is born," for a lack of a better word "from intent, but should that make all spells that can harm dark? That is what we are trying to define." Eino didn't think so. He still believed that dark arts were types of magic that only had one purpose, which was to harm.

Lexi did not for one moment think HE was right. In fact she thought he was just being plain silly trying to catch a poor attitude with her. She simply waved her little fingers at him and moved on.

"Lexi... my name is Lexi, not Girl. The point is this; There is a Grey area, no matter how you spin it, people can use harmless spells for Dark purposes. That which defines Dark Arts as stated in the textbook is this: The Dark Arts, also known as Dark magic, refers to any type of magic that is mainly used to cause harm.* Any kind of magic used to cause harm... Now I do respect your opinion on things, but that states very clearly that anything used to cause harm is considered Dark. Yes?" she said neutrally.

Then Lexi hushed for a moment as she listened to Sal and some little Gryffie say something QUITE similar to what she had been saying all along and waited to see if anyone would argue with them... Hmmm. No? Funny how that happened wasn't it?

*ooc: Harry Potter Wiki was the source for the definition up there. Here

Angelina thought of her answer for a few moments, then raised her hand, "Professor, to me I think dark arts has to do with evil spells. Evil spells to the point were someone could get injured very bad, almost permanet, or evil were ther die. I also think dark arts are used for a witch or wizard uses to get someone out of there way the don't want to deal with or don't like."
Angelina paused for a moment, " 'Dark' arts, all depends on how it is used, and how high or low the spell is, and what it caused. People may classify many under dark arts, and others may not classify many at all." Once Angelina was done, she softly smiled.

Adam had to think about the question for a while.Coming up with a decent answer,so he slowly raised his hand,as he was not used to answering much in any of his classes.

"I think everyone defines dark magic in their own perspective.Meaning,I think dark magic is causing physical or emotional pain to someone by using a curse,or torture or just injuring someone on purpose is dark magic.But someone whom could've grown up practicing an thinking that Dark Magic is acceptible could not be dark magic for them but rather normal magic.Everyone has a different view point on it,so in my eyes there is no clear definition of what dark magic can be-though I am leaning on harming or hurting someone,something can be considered dark."

He looked around some more an heard other students discuss the subject of matter with one another.

Evelyn had been somewhat following this debate with Lexi and Josh, but while she would been perfectly happy to stay out of it, she couldn't help but glance over to the Gryffindor girl. "Mainly is the big word there isn't it?" she asked, taking a quick peak to the Professor. Meep. "Mainly used to cause harm...Would that mean that any type of magic that's sole purpose is to be used to cause harm? Because that is mainly it's purpose? Or would that mean any type of magic in that particular moment that it is being used would be considered dark magic, because it mainly was used to cause harm?"

Well fine. Tori slumped lower in her seat and folded her arms. Perhaps she didn't want to take stupid Defense Against the Dark Arts anyway.

....

Only she really, really did, since this seemed like it would be one of the more practical, exciting classes. That is, IF they ever got started and stopped LOSING stupid POINTS.

"The Dark Arts," Tori answered, raising her hand, "are evil spells and curses designed with the intent to cause pain, injury, death, or other evil in the world. There are certain spells, like the three Unforgivable Curses, with no purpose other than to make bad things happen to those unfortunate enough to be victims.

"The Dark Arts can also include dark potions, like poisons, or even Dark Creatures, like the Basilisk. A lot of Dark Arts are illegal and using them on another human is usually considered unethical. They also generally leave traces wherever they have been cast. The worst Dark Arts I can think of are encompassed in the creation of a Horcrux."

Tori put down her hand and shivered at mention of that volatile term. "Horcruxed are evillllllllllllll."

Daniel raised his hand, no one he knew was here so it should be fine. "I believe that the dark arts are magic that are commonly used to do bad. However this magic is not always used for bad things. I believe many good wizards including Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Albus Dumbledore all used dark magic and in the end it was for a good reason"

"Do you not agree that mundane spells can be used to cause harm... that is totally up to the caster what any spell is MAINLY used to do? Does that not mean that there is a grey area when discussing Dark Arts and intent?" asked Lexi. She was genuinely interested in all sides of this discussion, but the fact was that there are many different ethical discussions one could breach when discussing what constitutes Dark and Light.

Wist Ebony replied without the least bit of hesitation "The Dark Arts are dark magic, such as the Unforgivable Curses and other dark spells. Technically, the dark arts could also be defined as any spell meant to harm a person, because of course you would need to be protected from them."