She'd been prepared to tune out the rest of the lesson, book raised slightly off the table and the world around her effectively kept at bay.....until the man addressed her again.

Dark shadowed eyes, a tell tale sign of limited sleep, lifted from the dusty pages of the old book to rest on the Professor who had no idea what he was truly asking of her. For what seemed like several long minutes--but in fact may have only been a few seconds--Jessa simply stared up at him. Did she humour him with a response? Did she turn her gaze back to her book and pretend he hadn't spoken at all? Which would've been the lesser evil?

Deciding the badge currently on her chest--and the grief it would cause Hirsch--were reason enough to remain on the right side of things, she would respond. "I'll pass, thank you." She said simply. "They're not for the ears of just anyone and we've got many impressionable young minds present." So yeah....he was welcome.

That being decided and as she'd been given the option of not responding to the second question, she naturally opted to go silent again in favour of continued reading. She'd read many fictional books that contained some amount of magic, but he wouldn't know that, leaving her at liberty to pretend she hadn't. By this point, she was going to assume she was at liberty to ignore it all because Professor Curtain had surely walked himself into a mini-disaster if Abra's dejected expression, Zoryn's and Ronan's reactions and that statement he'd thought was a good idea to say in the first place was any indication to go off of.

Suffice to say she didn't wanna be tuned in when everything went to hell.

Bel..... couldn't think of any sort of answer. Fiction books were rare enough for her, but ones with muggle magic in them? The only ones that sprung to mind were fairy tales, but all the ones she could think of were the ones that were actually magical that muggles didn't realise were magical, but she hadn't read anything like that since she was a little kid.

She was impressed by Max's answer about superheroes because it was true but also nobody else had said it. The ceiling was being distracting again though, even with all the 'evil' talk around her.

Yeahhh she knew she wasn't evil for not being a reader. No big deal. Nothing to get up in arms about.

So if he got all of this right, people who didn't read were most likely to turn out evil? Dorian wasn't sure if he agreed to this. He didn't read and he didn't feel evil at all. How did one even know they are evil in the first place? Because most of the evildoers think they are doing the right thing. He didn't want to get involved in the discussions though so he kept quite.

He also did not answer the next question as he could not answer it. He did not read. Well, he did read but mostly textbooks and the occasional comic books. He wanted to read to actually learn and not be trapped in a authors fantasy world and that was exactly what fiction was wasn't it? He prefered real over fiction. And he could have said an example about comic book hero's and their magical abilities but Max had already said something about it and what was the point of repeating a thing.

And with that, the Ravenclaw opened up his textbook and flipped the pages until he got where he had left off previously. The witch hint and about Wendelin the Weird.

Wow. Listening to the others rambling and questioning back the professor ...merlin. Kids these days were so...annoyingly inquisitive. But there were some who preferred to keep their lips tight. Thank youuu Jessaaa. Although, he might be curious to hear some of the books she read. Very interesting...he heard rumours about her that she still secretly experimenting on zombie pets during her free time. Why did it intrigued him so much? He has no idea.

As much as he like to participate in this debatable subject. Nathan Hale much rather spend his time, napping. Please wake him up, when reallll magic happening.....Thanks.

As usual, Cam paid little attention to Derf so naturally also missed the fact that he'd turned away when Cam had sat down. Not that he would have cared too much about what the Hufflepuff thought of him either way. Perhaps if he knew why but since he was neither aware of the reasons nor that the Prefect apparently disliked him in the first place, it didn't matter.

With the lesson starting, Cameron merely listened to everyone listing authors, briefly wondering if he was supposed to take notes. No, right? That was clearly an ice-breaker question. He also personally couldn't decide on a favorite author so he kept quiet for that question entirely. Others had very interesting things to say after all, no need for him to add anything.

As for what the professor said next... "I think it's mostly about what you read, Sir. Not about how much." Quality over quantity, yeah? He also didn't agree with calling someone evil because that was just such a simplified term for something very complex. Not getting into a philosophical discussion with the man, though. Besides, others - kudos to Zoryn - were already on that. "And the book Matilda has magic in it. It's by Roald Dahl. And the girl in it has...some sort of telekinetic powers."

Daisy wasn't a reader of fiction so she just sat back and let the other students give their answers. Some of the works that were being listed sounded vaguely familiar but not familiar enough for her to say anything.

Talking about books was right up Rylee's alley. She could sit right here for hours upon hours with the right company and happily talk about the stories she's read both good and bad and all the ones in between. Fiction, non-fiction, textbooks, picture books, comics. It didn't really matter. When it came to reading it was all about timing, see she had to be in the mood for it. It could be the best book in the universe but if she wasn't in the right mood it just wouldn't happen and the book would sit there unread.. now catch her on a day where she wanted she read and that same book could be finished in a matter of just a couple of hours.

There was quite the list of authors being named and without even realizing it she had reached for her quill and began scrawling down these names in a neat list down one side of her parchment. It never hurt to broaden her reading spectrum a little wider.

A look of confusion began fill her blue eyes as Professor Curtains moved the lesson on. Huh? Those who didn't read as much as others were more likely to turn out to be evil? What in the world was this? That was the most preposterous thing she had ever heard! She knew several people that weren't avid readers such as herself... or well readers at all really and she wouldn't call them 'evil' at all. Not even close to such a word. Everything else the professor had said everything that had gone over the young girls head as she was still trying to make sense out this on her own.

Quinn blinked uncertainly at the Professor. It was feeling increasingly like this lesson was written just for her. It was silly, of course, but as serendipity went, this was a bit on the nose. Beth thankfully pulled her attention away, and Quinn rolled her eyes at Ewan. "Yes it is." And then because she couldn't resist, added, "Someone's crushing hard on you..." Quinn bit her lip, listening to the other students answer for a bit. Well, those that were answering.

Honestly, between the responses to this question and the previous, she was starting to lose what little respect had left for her generation. Reading was a singular joy, people.

"Peter Pan," she said finally. It was hard for her, choosing just one to book to respond with, but of course it was going to be Peter Pan. "The magic in that is easy. It's the imagination and power of belief that only children have. Neverland is built by the imagination and dreams of children, and shaped by it. Peter Pan flies because he believes it so, believes that his happy thoughts simply lift him in the air. It's also how he never grows old, he simply believes he won't and he doesn't." It was everyone else that needed fairy dust to fly, and even then, only because J.M. Barrie edited it after children where hurting themselves trying to fly. But Peter was unique. He was Neverland's heart. "In Neverland, the dreams and pretend play of children are reality. It's a simple and beautiful view of magic, I think."

Reese had turned his full attention to the answers everyone was giving.. And yay for them for being into fiction and all, but this kid was all about facts... Dates, details... Stuff of substance.. Not make believe.. Just wasn't his bag, that's all..

So, naturally his eyes swept over to his sister and he was sure she was able to see the udder boredom that now plagued his face.. And he didn't even try to hide the insane huge yawn he allowed to take up the space of his face for a moment..

" Excuse me, Professor, but it seems as if you're being a tad accusatorial... Don't you?.. There are some people who struggle to read.. Or don't like to read about the fantastical.. Like, me.. Are ya callin' me evil because I don't like to read rubbish?.. ", he inquired quite forcefully.." I know lots of folks that don't read.. Does that mean yur callin' 'em evil too?!".. Truthfully he was shocked and disappointed that the school could think to hire such a person to teach and mold the young minds of witches and wizards..

Quinn's head snapped around to look at Reese so fast it almost looked painful. Her glare bored into him. "Rubbish? Fiction is rubbish, now is it?" She looked away, returning focus on the Professor in such a way that it seemed to utter the hmmph! sound for her. Perhaps, she had misjudged Reese all this time. Rubbish! Ha! Facts were facts, and important yes. Facts gave you information. Fiction gave you truth, of yourself, of others, of the world and universe. Fiction gave you understanding at a deeper level of cognition than memorizing facts ever could.

It was far from rubbish!

Reese's gasp was audible when his best friend turned on him that way.. He glared right back at her.. " It is in my opinion, Quinn!.. What truth is found in it?.. Nothin' but make believe nonsense.. Ya can't learn nothin' from fake details and made up stories like ya can from a biography or history book!", he argued his point just as forcefully.. He'd defend his position til he was blue in the face... And if Quinn couldn't accept his opinion as it was then that was on her.. He hoped she could see that they too would have differences in opinion and that it didn't mean that they couldn't be friends..

Lydia absorbed Professor Curtain's speech about reading with avid interest. When he got to the quote by Lemony Snicket, she almost glowed with pleasure and satisfaction. Of course people who read a lot were less likely to be evil! It made perfect sense to her. Reading opened you up to experiences and perspectives outside of your own. It made you more empathetic and open-minded. Not evil!

When an older girl started remarking that maybe reading made you more evil, Lydia chanced a cold look in her direction. Suddenly she realized it was the girl from the courtyard who had been trying to sell pool passes. And the girl was a Gryffindor? Lydia shook her head. Weren't Gryffindors supposed to be noble and all that? How could anyone not like to read? It was beyond her.

Lydia heard Quinn's voice and swiveled around. She was telling off a young boy who had dared to describe fiction as rubbish. Lydia resisted the urge to go and give Quinn a high five. Instead, she merely gave her fellow first year a radiant smile. Wow, this first lesson was turning out to be more exciting than she had anticipated. All this debate. It was actually rather fun.

Lydia almost didn't hear the next part of Professor Curtains' question about magic systems. Unfortunately, she was stumped. Maybe she should talk about the magic in Narnia, but hadn't someone else already mentioned it? Hmm, maybe she'd take a pass on this question and just sit quietly and attentively.

Frowning now slightly, he turned back to the front and focused on Professor Curtains again. “Can’t a guy mention a fictional piece of writing in this place without getting judged?” he whispered under his breath. Hesitating slightly, he continued to stare at the front, contemplating if he’d been wrong about Quinn and Beth. It was true that she did share a name with one of the characters in the book but still... it wasn’t even like she was anything like the character in the book.

Despite his annoyance with Quinn, he couldn’t help but smile at Reese’s comment about fiction, knowing Quinn would be all but thrilled to hear it. Not. Turning now at her reply, eyes raised slightly, he couldn’t help but watch the both of them, head shooting between the both of them as if it were a tennis match. Despite his love of fiction, he resisted the urge to jump in. Quinn didn’t need his help. She was more than capable of this battle.

Now her mouth hung open in shock, for just a second, but it was enough. He'd chipped away at her carefully maintained stoic shell. "No truth in fiction!?" Unbelievable. There was more truth in fiction than in his precious facts. Anyone could write down bare details about anything, and call them facts, or manipulate them to suit their own agendas. Context mattered. And in that way, facts could be just as fictitious as fiction.

"Fiction shows us truths we can't get from facts; truths about ourselves, about humanity, about magic, about the world and universe. It shows us our nature. Fiction," she spoke very carefully and very calmly right now, "contains more truth than your tardigrade-sized brain could ever fathom." Fiction was not rubbish, but she was starting to consider the possibility that he might be. "Dilate your brain, Reese Prichard."

Nettie's mouth was slowly opening in shock as she watched the discussion unfold. First it started with that girl who tried to sell her a pool pass in the courtyard - then it moved on to the Head Boy getting involved. Why was everyone so SASSY today? Had everyone woken up on the wrong side of the bed? Perhaps. Either way, it was getting interesting, that was for sure. And she thought SHE had caused a disruption earlier with that Slytherin girl...

OOOOOOH, and now Ewan and Quinn were getting involved. She knew she should be worried about house points and all that - they could very well lose a huge chunk of them from Quinn's name calling - but she really did not care about all that. A few house points were nothing compared to the enjoyment she was getting out of this show. Where was the popcorn?!

She had the desire to jump in and help her housemates but honestly? They seemed to have this all under control. She just continued to smirk, chin resting happily on her palm as she watched all the drama. Hehehe.

Right, so normally Anna wasn't up to participating - that meant listening - to History of Magic lessons, but lots of students today seemed to be in a salty mood and that got her attention.

The Gryffindor went from staring at the enchanted ceiling, daydreaming about flying up in that sky to actively listening, chuckling and reacting with 'ohh's and 'ha's to every other comment some students were throwing about.

She didn't take part in the debate - apart from encouraging some of the most outrageous comments with her reactions just to feed the ~drama~ -, because she wasn't exactly a fiction reader and... well, the professor's opinion on well-read people being less likely to be evil didn't necessarily mean all those who didn't read were likely to be evil, it just meant that the guy believed evil people were probably non-readers.

Eh. Anna wasn't bothered. If he wanted to believe that, whaaaaaatever. There were lots of things people chose to believe that didn't make sense, and she wasn't about to go arguing with half the world to try and change their minds. She had more important things to do and to think about.

Like flying. The third year sat back and relaxed looked up at the sky again and pictured herself having a good time flying up there on her NEW BROOM!

It would be a lie to say that he was surprised that that particular Lemony Snicket quote had gotten such a reaction from the class. Lemony Snicket (also known as Daniel Handler) had been a controversial children's book author in his lifetime. A lot of his ideas rubbed people the wrong way. But Charles found wisdom in his work and believed many of his most controversial quotes were taken out of context.

Passionate debates were healthy, which was why he said nothing as Quinn and Reese debated the merits of fictional literature. This was exactly what he had hoped would happen. It was all good just so long as everyone was respectful. He was going to let this go on without comment for now. Privately he agreed with Quinn (as everyone would probably guess) but it would be unfair to take a side since he was in a position of power.

Instead he would move on to Zoryn, whose reaction was one of the best things that had happened in his class for months. She really was upset about that quote - upset enough to challenge the premise with well reasoned arguments. It was only the second time he had ever seen her riled up in class, the first time being when she discovered Umbridge banned Gryffindor from playing sports. "None taken," he responded first to her saying no offense. He then listened as she made his argument with a neutral expression on his face and arms crossed over her chest. "You are correct that an evil genius is more likely to read books than the average person. But note that Lemony Snicket did not say that no evil people read books, or that only good people read books. He simply said you are more likely to be wicked if you don't read. Most evil people are not geniuses, just as most good people are not geniuses. The average wicked person does not have grand conspiracies to take over the world or rob a bank or become immortal. The average wicked person is wicked simply by being cruel to his or her neighbors. But let me say now that I agree with you that most people who do not read books are not evil."

"Many of you disagree with Lemony Snicket," he said, now addressing his speech to the class in general. "I myself do not know if it is true that wicked people are less likely to read than good people. But I believe some of you may be misunderstanding what Mr. Snicket actually said. He never said all people who do not read are evil, nor that all who read are good. He simply said well read people are less likely to be evil. I think this may very well be true. Of course we all know that no one in this room is evil." Although Hogwarts did have a reputation for every once in awhile churning out Death Eaters and Cultists and other assorted villains. Topic for another class! "But you can completely disagree with Mr. Snicket. He had other quotes that would seem to contradict it. For instance: 'People aren't either wicked or noble. They're like chef's salads, with good things and bad things chopped and mixed together in a vinaigrette of confusion and conflict.' You don't have to agree with a writer, but it is best to know what he or she actually meant before deciding that you disagree."

Very soon they would be moving on to the activity portion of the lesson, but first there was another matter to address. "I heard it said in this classroom that no truth is found in fiction, that it is all make believe nonsense. Anyone who has read a good book knows the problems with this line of thinking. Books contain fundamental truths about nature, about love, kindness, hatred, and ignorance. Author Philip Pullman once said 'Thou Shalt Not' reaches the mind, but 'Once Upon A Time' reaches the heart. I believe this is a big part of the appeal of fiction." Philip Pullman was also a strong critic of C.S.Lewis, another great fantasy writer with different ideas. They were both powerful voices who deserved to be read. "Sometimes a story or a moral within a story will make us uncomfortable." And here he looked at Jessa, who seemed very displeased with this lesson. "But I propose (and you are free to disagree) that it is better to be made uncomfortable than to not feel anything at all."

That would be all for now on that topic. Unless of course there were further questions or disagreements, in which case he would be happy to continue the dialogue. For now, though, it was time to move on to the lesson. The only unfortunate thing about this debate was how it had overshadowed all the students answers about how magic worked in fantasy.

"All right, now we are going to be getting ready for an activity. A lot of you have a very knowledgeable understanding of different systems of magic in these wonderful fantasies. It will come in useful in what you are about to do. Those who do not can rely on on those who do for help, but I know that each and everyone of you has a good imagination. Divide into three or four teams and take out your writing material. When you have all divided yourselves neatly I shall give further instructions. " Hopefully the debate hadn't tired anyone out. They would be needing their imaginations for what was up ahead!

OOC: Awesome job everyone.We will be moving along in about 36 hours!

"See?" Quinn said. Even the Professor knew truth could be found in fiction. She had never heard that quote from Philip Pullman before, but had now filed it away.

Oh....group activity. This was never appealing to Quinn. She prefer, to no one's surprise, to work alone. Since that wasn't an option today, Quinn glanced over at Beth. She was certain they'd team up, as usual, so nothing needed to be said. But, Reese...

"Come on, Tardigrade. You're with Beth and me, since you clearly will need my help on this."

As for who else would join them, that was up to the rest of them.

As Nettie suspected, the professor wasn't REALLY trying to single anyone out or call anyone evil or anything like that. Although she still wasn't exactly sure what any of this had to do with History of Magic. She was starting to get bored of all the drama too, since she herself wasn't really involved, and was happy to finally be moving on with the lesson and also happy that no one lost points thank goodness. She was never a big fan of working in groups - she knew she could trust herself to get things done, groups not so much - but still, it was an opportunity to get up and move around and socialize, which Nettie was ALWAYS a fan of.

"Who wants to group up with me?!" she asked, standing on her tip toes and waving an arm (as it was the only way her tiny self would be seen amongst the moving students) and waited for people to come clamoring towards her.

Blue eyes rolled (Merlin, he hoped they didn't get stuck like that by the end of the year) at the Professor. "Actually, being cruel to ones neighbors merely makes them a giant jerk. Like, for example, Flynn Kowalski is rude to, well, pretty much everyone, but I don't think anyone here would call him wicked. Hitler, on the other hand, is pretty much widely accepted as the perfect example of a wicked person." Was he asking for it with that remark? Quite possibly. Did he care? Not really.

And group work? Was this going to another one of those terms where every professor was pushing this on them? He hoped not, because he worked better alone. He didn't need his grades suffering just because of some arbitrary thing that he couldn't control.

Anyway, he was just going to sit here and see how everything fell.

The comments flying back and forth around the classroom were mind-boggling, to say the least. Some attacking fiction, others defending - and while he wasn't one to read fiction just yet, professor Curtains' lesson made him gain an interest in it. Unless the practical part would be something torturous, which already became so the moment the professor told them to pair up.

He'd always been shy. Too shy for his own good, always preferring to work alone in such situations. He worked best alone, so why wasn't that option out there for people like him?

Glancing around the classroom and watching people already form groups, he spotted a small first year up on her tip toes, looking for a group as well. So, shaking off the nervousness, he moved over to her, his cheeks already flushed at the idea of initiating a conversation with someone he didn't know. "Hey, can I join you?" he asked, nervously chewing on his lower lip.

... it was mind wrecking for him.

Beth looked over toward Netting the idea of asking her to join their group now moot as it seemed Daniel had already done so. He got a kind smile of course, before the blue eyed girl turned her attention back to the dramatic duo of Reese and Quinn. ”okay, guys…lets do this…” she muttered before simply turning toward Daniel and Nettie again.

”do you two want to join us?” she asked the girl she had obviously offended earlier. This was an olive branch, and the smile on her face was as genuine as anyone would get right now in class.

Aaaand, none of their answers that weren’t part of the debate hadn’t gotten responded to. Therefore, Stasya was left to continue to be confused as to if the stories she’d grew up on even qualified for the topic of the lesson today. That and the confusion that still was lingering from even before the lesson had started were only making her wonder if she’d actually learn anything. Maybe whenever they found out what they’d be doing things would make more sense.

At least she sort of felt like she hadn’t been wrong, as she did actually understand how the magic in the stories she knew worked. She just didn’t know if they were part of the lesson. They weren’t written by any of the people that had been mentioned, but she decided not to worry. Instead, there was the matter of finding a group. The easiest would have been to just make a group out of the people around her, but with the weirdness between Derf and Cam, plus Jessa’s obvious feelings about the class topic he wasn’t sure how that would work.

In any case, she still turned to the people in question. “Did you want to just make a group with all of us?” Derf and Jessa and Chloe and Cam and whoever else wanted to join them?

Dorian had been so absorbed in the chapter of the Witch Hunt he was reading that he had not even realised that the class had been walking around until he had looked up. With a frown, the Ravenclaw closed his book and scratched the back of his head in confusion. What was he supposed to do?

He wasn't stupid though and instead of asking what was going on, he listened and watched. They were all asking and making groups so he figured they were going to do some kind of activity. Pushing his chair back, Dorian stood up and looked at the groups slowly forming. "Any group want one more?" he asked.

...

.....

She disagreed.

Jessa Susanna Cambridge sorely and strongly disagreed with the man's comment on it being better to be uncomfortable than to feel nothing at all but you could never tell by the blank stare she gave him, eyes hollow of even the faintest feeling. Her guess was, he hadn't been uncomfortable for too long a period of time. Maybe if he was, he'd understand that not feeling anything was far better than the alternative.

For now, she would look passed his ignorance, in much the same way she was ignoring everything else that was happening around her.

Or well...she WAS ignoring until Stasya turned and asked about group work. Groups? They were getting into those now? The 6th Year suppressed what would otherwise have been an exasperated sigh, choosing instead to turn to those around her. Oh, when had Cam gotten there? "Sure. Yeah. We can be a group." She said, resting her book in her lap as she turned in her seat to face them a little better.

No, she wouldn't be putting it away. Why should she?