Jordan had a basic idea of what Dark Arts really was. Although, most of his classmates should have some idea of what Dark Arts, so he raised his hand and waited to be called upon. "Dark Arts, to me, is the Practice of Evil or Dark, Magic. For magic to be considered, Dark, the magic must be intended for harm, destruction, or evil. For Example, the Killing Curse, is meant to kill. The Cruciatus Curse is meant to Torture, and the Imperio Curse, is meant to control, most likely for dangerous and evil things. But, also, anything can be Dark or Evil Magic, it's just how we perceive and use our magic."

Jordan thought he understood Dark Magic very well, although, he would prefer not to look back. The only way he knew of Dark Magic was from his Mother and Father's deaths. He, indeed, couldn't remember the tragic accident, but lately, he's been dreaming of visions of his Father and Mother. He knew that it was his family, and not just a dream, because it was always the same vision, even during the day, he may be able to see his mom or dad. But, what he really wanted is, to remember everything, and that was all.

Sierra studied this woman as she spoke. She reminded her of someone, though she couldn't put her finger on who. Seemed like someone she knew very well, though...

Once all the 'hello's and how are you's' were over, thank Merlin, Sierra turned her full attention to what the woman was saying. With her hand raised, she said, "It's when magic is used for harmful purposes," she said. Lowering her hand, she added, "Evil intentions and the such."

Yaay! Finally a real lesson! And the professor is asking about the Dark Arts first. How cool is that? Aiden has always been fascinated on studyig about the Dark Arts since before entering Hogwarts.

Afraid that they'd lose more house points, the pale skin Slytherin raises her hand before answering. It won't be difficult for her to explain her answer since Aiden is raised by and around Dark Arts practioners herself. "As it comes to my understanding, professor, the Dark Arts is magic that is used to generally harm others," she pauses taking a deep breath. "There are consequences by using the Dark Arts. You could get in trouble with the Laws, and if it involves killing, our souls will be damaged."

"However, there are times when even Light wizards would have to use the Dark Arts like in battlefields. So I think it depends on our intentions," that was all she has to say. She spoke quite a lot this time.

There were so many things that could be considered dark arts. There was the actual magic performed, dark creatures and beings, dark potions, dark objects, and such, so what would all of those have in common? Eino's hand went up. "I think that one common trait of all dark arts, including curses, potions, objects, beings and creatures is that they are primarily used to harm or their nature and or purpose is to harm. The Killing Curse, for example, is a perfect example of something that can only be used for one purpose and that is to harm. As for creatures there are dementors, which are often used as weapons to harm, but that is really all their natures permit them to do. Potions like the Drink of Despair are intended to make the drinker suffer." Okay, those were enough examples, now back to the main point. "In this case, something that only has the purpose of harming can be considered Dark Magic. However, there are other types of magic which I think can only be defined as dark by how its used. The Slashing Curse (OOC: I am talking about Sectumsempra but it's not officially known as that and I don't want Eino to be familiar with the incantation) is consider dark magic, but I have heard that some people use it to shred parchment and slash fruit into small pieces. Another example is animagi, which is something that isn't considered as dark arts by the ministry but can certainly be used for evil." Most people weren't even registered so who knows what they would do. Why wouldn't they register? Only if they are up to no good. So basically, some things he considered dark arts because all they could do was harm, and others it was subjective. They could be used in different occasions but were still very dangerous. "It is complicated, but that is why we have classes like this." And with that he finally shut up. Jeez, he had never talked so much at once, but he was somehow eager to speak in regards to and against dark magic.

Maddy tried to think of a rigid definition, there had to be one cause the dark arts was a subject! "When a witch or wizard, preforms magic that is evil or against the law?" That sounded pretty rigid.

Oh goodie, a house other than Slytherin had points taken away from them. Kimalia rose her hand and spoke when it was her turn to the question, "Well, I believe dark arts refer to the evil, basically spells, charms, and lots of other things that could do more harm than good to someone.." Kimalia wanted to add something to it, but she wasn't sure what else. "I guess you could say, those who participate in dark arts feel it will help make them powerful knowing something labeled forbidden." Hopefully that was enough, she sat still patiently afterward, allowing others to contribute answers.

Oh.

Were they going to talk about the dark arts, instead of learning how to defend themselves against them? Or maybe... maybe they should know something about 'the enemy', shouldn't they?

Nora raised her hand. "The dark arts mean dark magic, purposely used to harm someone" or something? "else."

Her smile widening at the Professor, Ivory sat up straighter. Oh, she was going to like this class.

Raising her hand, she piped up with her own two cents. " I think if we look back on past occurrences with magic that is in fact considered “dark,” we'd find that at times it is not the spells themselves that mean harm and are labeled as such but the wizards behind them." Nodding, with what a few other people said she continued. " With the wrong intentions, any incantation no matter how small may be used in ‘dark’ ways. Take for instance, the simple spell, aguamenti. One could easily, merely direct the stream of water forcefully in the direction of another’s face. In the worst possible case, this act could result in death by drowning or as a means of torture. It is because of this that I believe it is not the spell but the wizards that make a spell ‘dark.’"

Lexi raised her hand once more and said to the professor, "Dark magic has been said to be, by others, magic used to purposefully harm another... but I could just as easily levitate that table and use it to bash someone's head in. Wingardium Leviosa is not a Dark Spell, but if my intention is to harm someone would that, essentially, be an example of ME practicing Dark Arts?" She was genuinely interested in the Professor's answer so she waited patiently and with her hands placed in her lap, all thoughts of those around her forgotten.

Thinking for a while Nessie raised her hand. "Well..Um the Dark Arts are Dark objects are creatures that can generally be dangerous" She answered hoping what she said sounded right. She didn't know too much about the Dark Arts but she was keen to learn about them or at least how to defend herself against them. She found this class to be quite interesting. She knew it had only just started properly now, but it was still interesting.

She paused, before speaking again. "You are all here to learn defense against the dark arts. What are the dark arts? Is there a rigid definition? Could something be or not be a "dark" art, depending on how and why it is used? What do you understand?"[/COLOR]


OOC: Feel free to tell what your character thinks are dark arts. Discussion is fine. Chatter is not.

[/QUOTE]

justin raised his hand, " Professor, I do think that it depends on what the spell is used for. I know that some spells are Dark and are used for Dark purposes, but at the same time there is both Light and Dark in everything that we do. So, that's why I think it could be a subjective subject."
He knew that he could be terribly wrong, but his mum always told him the bes way to learn was to ask plenty of questions and participate in as much as he could. If he was wrong he would be corrected and therefore learn.

Sarah let her hair fall in front of her face grimacing as the professor, naturally, had to make a snarky comment about her naivete about most things that went on around here.

The dark arts? That was what Professor Glass was made of. Yup. Instead of sugar, spice, and everything nice, this professor was made up of sharp implements, severed baby heads, and stepped on puppies.

She raised her hand silently, not entirely willing to talk to this woman much, but wanting to see if she was right or cold possibly earn points for her poor house. "Dark arts are spells intended to harm something or something, sometimes used in defense." I think.

She knew pretty much nothing about the dark arts, but if they're dark then they're probably used for harming things, right?

Indya paused before answering the professor. She had a bit to say on this subject so she didn't want to fluff her words.
"I believe that there isn't a rigid definition of the dark arts, at least not now. There used to be of course, when our grandparents were young. But things changed. There is no longer a 'leader' of the dark side." She stopped and took a quick look around the room before continuing.
"I believe that every person had 'light' and 'dark' inside them, it's been that way since the beginning of time. It's our thoughts and actions that 'define' what side we choose. But why should we choose a side? Do we have to choose a side?"
Indya quickly shut up, fearing she'd answered the question all wrong and gone off on a tangent.

Listening to one of the older students Indiana thought for a moment. She did have a point actually. But...Indiana opened her textbook, and read about it for a minute. Then she looked back up, before raising your hand. "Lexi...." She smiled at the older student, before looking back at the professor. "I think what Lexi is saying is kind of true. But that spell is probably what the textbook calls a neutral spell, it can be used for good or bad." She motioned down to the textbook before continuing. "But...a spell that is used with the dark arts, does not come under this bracket, the intention of a dark spell can only be evil....or so that is what I understand from reading the textbook." Because she was a nerd like that.

Penny thought about that for a moment before raising her hand..

Professor, I think the dark Arts is any type of magic that can cause harm, pain, injury or death - whether it be spells, poisonous potions or dangerous creatures"

Penny lowered her hand again... hoping she was right, or at least not wrong - she didn't want to lose points for answering incorrectly.

Dark Arts....Faven had never heard of that before her ride on the Express. She supposed that Voldemort and his Death Eaters had been users of the Dark Arts...But that was really all that Faven knew of the subject. She decided to try out her best guesses, no hurt in that right....right????? "Professor, I would say that the dark arts are spells and incantations used with an evil intention. So with that said, purhaps the intention is what makes it a dark art, though there are probably some spells that could pretty much only be used for bad. I'm new to the Wizarding World, so all I really know is that Voldemort, his death eaters, and his followers were heavy users of the dark arts." Faven said hesitantly, she wasn't sure about anything she had said.

Dark arts? His FAVOURITE! Marcelo nearly--almost--beamed, but he contained himself. If he wanted to be the favourite of this dark angel, he had to act sensibly; he had long understood that. Thus, raising his hand, he said "It is intentional magic to harm someone... some spells are always dark, because there is no way you can do a good with, for example, Cruciatus Curse, since it causes unbearable pain and is essentially a way to torture, regardless of the subject's previous acts. I don't think every charm can be considered as 'dark' either. Some spells can be used for both sides, yes, but there is a line there, even though it isn't that definite."

Eyeing an older girl there (Lexi Kennedy), he sighed to HIMSELF. People got distracted so easily in such matters. Looking at her directly, he said "I don't think it's practising dark magic. It is practising combating skills. Dark magic is what causes harm by magic in itself, as I understand it, not use some table to hit someone."

Point delivered. Hopefully the professor would see he was discussing too.

Dark Arts?

Freya raised her hand before she speak "Dark Arts are all of those magical spells and practices that are used to evil purposed like causing pain or lasting harm to another." right?

Dark Arts? Wasn't that just magic used for evil intentions? Lana thought to herself.

If it wasn't that Lana would sure learn what it is this term anyway. She listened to all the other answers that students were giving and waited for the professor to proceed.

Lexi quirked an eyebrow and looked at the boy that had just chosen to spout off his mouth and look at her in such a way. "Well if my intention is to maliciously harm someone NOT in a combative situation...if I took a fancy to bashing someone's head in for sport, which is what I meant with that scenario, then my INTENTION was to harm, not practice combat, that could, essentially, be an example of me doing something Dark," she said with a smile. Had she not been clear before? Hmmm. Oh well...

Glancing over to Josh, she smiled a little, though Professor Glass had a point. Heels really wasn't the best option to protect her if that was his goal. Hehe...protect her. GIGGLE!

Turning her attention back to the Professor as she continued on, the whole points loss and gain flew right over her head since she was focused on Josh for those few moments, but she had heard the question. Or questions more like it. Questions that have been asked so many times in the past. "I think it kinda depends on the circumstances, but in a way, it really doesn't at the same time." she said after raising her hand of course. "Some things, like spells and artifacts, have really no choice in whether they are labeled as dark magic or not. They are part of the dark arts no matter what they're used for or their intentions such as the unforgivable curses or...perhaps cursed books. Yet there are other circumstances where the intention behind the event can reflect that of the light instead of the dark, but in my opinion, it doesn't change the fact that it is dark arts. Perhaps in that one moment, whatever it was was used for the greater good, yet that automatically doesn't change it's category." If that made any sense. "There is obviously a reason certain spells, creatures, potions, and objects are considered dark arts."

He intended doing....huh? What??

Could not the woman see that the girls made him wear the heels? It had nothing to do with that particular class...except that, now he thought over it, wearing heels could be regarded 'dark' too ask they did hurt and he could not see any other reasonable purpose behind it. Whatever.

''I don't professor.''

And had she just told him to take them off? Well...she did not need to repeat it as Evelyn told him to do before and it seemed to be the most reasonable act to do. The only problem was that; he did not have a pair proper shoes with him right now. But eh...who cared?

After struggling with them for two or three minutes, the Gryffindor finally managed to take them off and placed them under the desk.

Now to answer that questions. Dark Arts, heh!! Nasty stuff, was not it? He was not completely sure yet he knew one thing; he despised it with all his heart.

''The Dark Arts...'' Josh began right after raising a hand and jumping on his bare feet at the same time once he found the opportunity to speak after all those people who seemed to be very interested in the topic. Eh. ''...can roughly be defined as magic performed to harm. But i would like to call it 'magic performed by for only selfish purposes' as no dark spell, potion, object or creature is the work of a mind who loves people or any other living being anyway. All selfish purposes like gaining power or eternal life, such corrupted desires which can never be satisfied so the perfoming of dark arts has no end or boundaries.''

He could remember there were people who mentioned stuff like that it could be used for good purposes too. That was a huge NO NO NO for Josh Carter. ''I don't think using them against bad for a good purpose is...a good purpose at all. That even goes for the simplest curses and jinxes. Instead, in my opinion, we should be quick to think and find a way to both protect ourselves against it, stop it, prevent it and make sure it'd never be performed again. But also i won't deny the fact that we need to examine, examine i say not perform, and understand Dark Arts itself in order to find out proper defense against it. Using them has no excuses. Laws do change but justice is justice and it remains.''

Then people were mentioning using some innocent spells being used for bad purposes and if that could be regarded performing something dark. Hmmm... ''I think, guys, the intention there is being misunderstood. While intent is very important to cast any magic, as you need to mean it, the intention mentioned there is the intention is the spell that is called dark, not your intention. The Unforgivable Curses, as we all know, are producitons of dark work and none of them have any other purposes than harming others and being selfish. Wingardium Leviosa and Aguamenti, on the other hand, have no such prior causes.''

"I always thought..." Aurora began, "That the Dark Arts referred to any sort of magic or potion used with bad intent." she said. "And then there's the creatures... I suppose there are a lot of creatures that we would need defense from. Like Kappas or even Werewolves."

That was right wasn't it? Because their text books had sections about creatures in.

Louisa's jaw dropped open. THIRTY POINTS? As in… the number thirty? Wow. This teacher was not to be messed with. The girl made a decision to keep her mouth shut and eyes glued to the board during the lesson – she didn't want to lost any points now that she was a fourth year student, that'd be so childish. When the students went on with their names, Louisa waited until it was her turn. "Hello. I'm Louisa Carter. Fourth year." Did that sound like she was getting into a new school? Meh. Whatever, the professor might as well start the lesson that wasn't going to be an easy one for the Carter girl.

And speaking of Carters, was that Gryffindor the Carter? WHO LOST HIS HOUSE POINTS? That was…pure shame. Louisa glared at the boy for a minute before going back to look at the board. His face was carved into her mind; he was the one to save Adam at the Rubbish Bins, he was the one who shared her last name, and he was the first one to lose points in the first five minutes of a class. Really… he was nothing like her. At all. Interesting.

Raising her hand Louisa spoke, "I believe dark magic is called on anything that was found or invented to cause harm." She paused for a few seconds realizing the flaw in her answer, and elaborated, "Regular spells can cause harm but that'd be unintentional. Dark magic is mainly used to harm." Was she repeating herself? Gulp. "Dark magic, however, doesn't always resemble evil. It can be used for good - like the Reductor spell which could be used for self defense." Was that a good answer? Meh, it was all she got.

Lexi was shaking her head before she raised her hand. "I can see the misunderstanding... but Dark Magic, such as the Cruciatus Curse, require the caster to indeed have a malicious intent to be successfully... meaning one must cast with the INTENT to cause pain or it won't work at all," Lexi pointed out. Taking a breath she continued, "So if one MUST have the intention to cause pain to successfully cast a harmful spell, can't one cast a spell that is typically not used for harm... with the SOLE intention to cause harm...and it be deemed just as Dark as something we KNOW to be Dark?"

...

Had any of that made sense? It did to her... and really wasn't that all that mattered?