Given her response to the previous question, Dahlia wasn't entirely sure how she felt about the situation as a whole. No one knew exactly what Dumbledore was thinking or how he felt about the secrets in which he had been meant to bear. Would Harry Potter have wanted to know about it all from the very start. These were things no one could answer except the two men in question... and answers weren't going to be coming from them anymore.

As a small eleven year old first year herself, would she want to know if she HAD to die to save everyone else? Truthfully, no. She really didn't think she would. Knowing you're going to HAVE to die... that's scary. It's a burden too big to carry... and to place that upon the shoulders of a boy that had no clue about anything in this magical world of theirs. Maybe Dumbledore was right in not telling him. At least when he was young.

Lia chewed at her lip, slowly raising her hand. "This is a hard decision to make. I feel like both sides are equally valid in their own right, when looked at a certain way. Right now, at eleven years old... I personally think knowing that I HAD to die in order to save everyone else... I don't think I could handle it. It should be a choice to make on one's own." Or maybe not. Given the time to consider it, if she had to choose between herself and her family, she would choose them. Without a doubt she knew she would do anything she had to do, if it meant they were safe.

He had heard all the opinions on right and on wrong and on neither so far. All good points but there would be no budging from William on his original statement. But he had to explain his reasoning for the answer he was about to make? The second year didn't really want to talk much more in the class, but it seemed he had no choice, much like the whole rest of this year.

When it came his turn to stand up he did so. "I think He was right to not do it. Like I said before. Putting a kid anyone near our age through that kind of emotional trauma of learning they must die. It's not right. Even if Dumbledore was going to I'm sure he struggled with the decision telling Potter."

He moved over from his desk and didn't go far taking a spot beside Kinsay's Older Sister.

Everyone was giving great answers! Gabi was pleased with how many students thought outside the box - there wasn't an overwhelming majority on either side, which was just lovely. She nodded and smiled at each student as they stood up and stated their case, picking a few answers to ask follow up questions on and hopefully get a bit more discussion going on.

SPOILER!!: hey, thats cheating!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Felixir

Not in a bad mood so much as in no mood at all, the revelation that they were supposed to move around was not irritating, not like it might have been on another window-watching day. When it was their turn, Nem let their chair fall forwards again, slamming back down onto four legs, then scraped it back and stood. They hadn't decided which side of the room they were going to walk to until that moment, but once they were up on their feet, they knew where they were going.

Nem made as though to cross the room, but came to a stop in the centre and faced their Head of House again. Given two options and taking a third; sort of entirely on brand. "I don't have an opinion either way," they said simply. I don't care. I don't care. Right. Wrong. I don't care. "Wouldn't want to make that call anyway, on the subject of right and wrong. I wasn't there. I wasn't in his head." Nem threw that crumb of morality in as an afterthought, it being second nature by this point to provide themselves with some kind of... cover.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BanaBatGirl

Bernadette had been, of course, on the "wrong" side of the room. When was she not in the wrong in this school. She heaved a sigh and moved to pick herself up, to move to the other side, to the right side. Yes. Dumbledore was r---



Oh, what? There was a third option? Trust her friend or whatever Nem to find another way. Bernie paused in her passing by and considered Nem's points.

Naturally, she was going to stick by their side to see what happened, adding a simple, "I agree with Nemesis." She also found it difficult to care about ancient history from the twentieth century, but she'd entertain the thought for the professor's sake. Because she was just that nice of a student. And because Dumbledore was cool, or so she'd read.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19

There was something about attending Reccard’s lesson that made her feel better. Perhaps it was the fact that the Healer was so encouraging about the responses Claudine had given so far. She found that throwing herself into lessons helped to forget about her anger about the current state of the school. But hmmm… Wasn’t this an interesting activity? The girl sat there as she pondered on the question. Wasn’t there an option for those who felt indifferent to Dumbledore’s choice? Like remaining in their seats?

It certainly seemed that she wasn’t the only student thinking along these lines. Up went one of Claudine’s hands as she remained sitting in her seat. “As an outsider to the situation, I feel indifferent to the situation.’’ Hey, it was one hundred percent honesty.

Under normal circumstances, Gabi would have sighed heavily, rolled her eyes, and massaged her temples as a group of students who couldn't follow a simple instruction decided to NOT participate. Despite her eyes narrowing in obvious annoyance, she held back considering the fact that they were ALL going through it right now - she wasn't about to make a HUGE scene about them abstaining from the question. But that didn't mean she was pleased.

"I appreciate your honesty, but the point of this exercise is to push yourselves to make a decision based on what we know about Dumbledore and the prophecy. If you simply cannot make a decision either way - I'm going to need you to elaborate on WHY. Simply saying you weren't there so you don't know defeats the entire purpose of historical debate," she reminded them gently.

That was also her way of saying that she would NOT be asking them again.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlwaysSnapesGirl

There had been a lot of good answers, and Ivy could see the merit in both sides to some extent - and a third side that Nemesis and Bernie were claiming? - but ultimately...she slipped out of her seat and moved over to the left side.

"I don't think Dumbeldore was wrong to not tell Harry the second he came to Hogwarts." It wasn't something you just dropped on an eleven year old kid. It just wasn't. "But," she continued, "I do think he was wrong in not telling him later at some point. Especially when Dumbledore knew he would have to die himself. The whole plan could've fallen apart if Harry didn't coincidentally happen to be there just in time to see Voldemort kill Severus Snape and get the memories from him before he died too." Because if Harry hadn't been there...then what? Why would Dumbledore leave such a big part of his plan to chance?

Ivy had brought up a very interesting point. "Good thinking, Miss Grimm. Albus essentially died not knowing whether or not Harry would EVER learn the truth about being a Horcrux. In a way, it fell on Snape to deliver that news - and you're right. If Harry hadn't been there the moment he died, he may have never known and things would have played out differently. By NOT telling him, it could be argued that Albus was taking a big risk."

Quote:

Originally Posted by PatInTheHat

Surprise surprise, professor. If there was something Octavia had mastered years ago it was simultaneously paying attention to a lesson while also focusing on her friends. Or people she found fascinating. And Nem was a very fascinating distraction. They were much more interesting than talking about Dumbledore, to say the least. Or thinking about the heavy stuff that plagued her mind.

There was something triggering about the question posed to them and the instructions given. Something that made her think about the current situation, past situations, and the parents who so haphazardly continued to send their kids to Hogwarts despite the decades of threats and death that plagued the school.

Her thoughts were everywhere and she couldn't bring herself to either side when she noticed Nem and Bernie choosing a third option. Octavia considered all three... and then went over to the third option.

"It's not that simple." Sadly her staring at Nem took a back burner while she processed the questioned. "Harry Potter had to die. He had to die at the time he did. It was to save the world. I'm not justifying what Dumbledore did, but I am saying that his decision was a heavy burden to bear. We don't really know how he felt about it. I don't know what I would have done in his place." There were too many variables and her Ravenclaw brain was working in overdrive. Something that was more common now than when the term had started.

While Gabi wasn't pleased that Tavie went over and joined the small group who had made their own option to the question - she was the only one who elaborated on her decision. It was a rather RAVENCLAW answer of her, of course, but still - she'd at least given a reason.

"Interesting point Miss Stark, and thank you for elaborating," she responded. She did understand WHY the small group of students had decided to remain impartial to the moral question at hand, but she was the only one to point out the complexity of the issue. "You bring up an excellent point that it is an extreme burden to bear - and a position that we will likely NEVER find ourselves in, thankfully," she gave a small head nod to the girl.

See? If Tavie could successfully give an answer to the question while remaining in the middle, the other three certainly could as well!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tegz

Oh, class had started.

Flynn had legitimately not noticed and it could have been seconds or minutes or almost all done for all he could tell, except that the list of information on the board suggested that it had been a while already. He blinked a bit, realising that people had... moved. He hadn't moved. Flynn had stayed where he was, only just noticing anything was going on when Kale's hand disappeared from his own.

Apparently they were talking about.... Albus Dumbledore? Flynn read the stuff on the board. He wasn't exactly sure what the topic was beyond that or why people were moving or why Bernie and Nem were hovering in the middle, but he heard his bff's voice ring out and he turned a little in his seat, looking at Tavie as she spoke and then he blinked again. Something about Harry Potter having to die. Yeah he was still none the wiser about what the task was here. Fifi spoke up next and there was something about this, Tavie and then Fifi giving an answer, that brought back a sense of comfort, since they had all been at school together before Hogwarts and it had often gone exactly that way back then. Something about a secret though....? He still wasn't piecing together whatever the question was. Then a second year said something about a horcrux. Ummm...

Yeah no, Flynn still wasn't sure.

But honestly? He didn't care enough to ask, so he stayed sitting where he was, a slight frown on his face. Focusing in HoM had been rough even before all this, but now? Not a chance.

Flynn was...not moving, and Gabi couldn't be 100% sure, but she didn't think it was because he was having trouble making a decision on the matter. He seemed...lost? "Are you ok, Mister Whitlock?" she asked, raising an eyebrow in concern.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kolyander

Given her response to the previous question, Dahlia wasn't entirely sure how she felt about the situation as a whole. No one knew exactly what Dumbledore was thinking or how he felt about the secrets in which he had been meant to bear. Would Harry Potter have wanted to know about it all from the very start. These were things no one could answer except the two men in question... and answers weren't going to be coming from them anymore.

As a small eleven year old first year herself, would she want to know if she HAD to die to save everyone else? Truthfully, no. She really didn't think she would. Knowing you're going to HAVE to die... that's scary. It's a burden too big to carry... and to place that upon the shoulders of a boy that had no clue about anything in this magical world of theirs. Maybe Dumbledore was right in not telling him. At least when he was young.

Lia chewed at her lip, slowly raising her hand. "This is a hard decision to make. I feel like both sides are equally valid in their own right, when looked at a certain way. Right now, at eleven years old... I personally think knowing that I HAD to die in order to save everyone else... I don't think I could handle it. It should be a choice to make on one's own." Or maybe not. Given the time to consider it, if she had to choose between herself and her family, she would choose them. Without a doubt she knew she would do anything she had to do, if it meant they were safe.

"Good point! Many times when debating this subject, we often forget about the person who had the most to gain or lose from Dumbledore's decision - Harry himself. That burden is an enormous one to bear - especially for a child - and I think we can reasonably assume that this played a part in Dumbledore's decision," she concluded.

They still had a few who had yet to make their decision, so she paused and waited for he remaining students to make their cases.

OOC: Thanks for replying everyone! Sorry replies have been so on and off. I'm recovering from a cold/flu/something or another that has made me exhausted. You still have about 24 hours to reply to the mini activity if you haven't already - and feel free to chime in and comment on other answers to your peers if you want to get a discussion going!

Violet was standing dully on the right side of the room. Professor Recard hadn't responded to her answer, which normally would have bothered her, but she didn't care. Frankly, after being banished to the room in the depths of the underground, Violet found it hard to care about any of her classes. She didn't know why they were even bothering to take them to classes anymore--it's not like they were concerned about their education. In fact, if not for her regard for Recard, Violet would not have bothered to do any work in class at all. She used to be full of ambition, but now there just didn't seem to be any point in it all.

In all honesty, Nem hadn't expected anyone to join them, and yet they weren't remotely surprised when Bernadette Grantham also stopped in the middle of the room. They cast a sideways glance at her as she spoke, but did nothing further. Stark had picked the non-option as well, and Blaze, who'd not actually bothered to get up.

Nem had already looked back at Recard when she responded, and met her cajoling with a dispassionate stare. "I understood the exercise, professor," they said, in the same flat tone. "Like I said, I can't make a decision because I don't have an opinion either way. I don't think his actions were right or wrong. They just were. Not everything is one thing or the other, and I think it's unwise to encourage thinking in extremes when life is so complex and grey. It's restricting, and damaging, and leads to conflict."

Whether any of that was true was neither here nor there; it was ultimately a load of waffle where their personal opinion was concerned. This really was just a matter of apathy, but Nem still exercised some restraint in circumventing the all-out 'I don't care' response. At least in so many words. At least for now.

Whatever. "It's a more useful skill to not let emotions or moral judgements influence this stuff anyway, so I'm happy with my choice." Yes. Happy. Really, just so thrilled.

Wow.

Talk about a professor forcing a student to see things their way instead of allowing students to exercise the freedom to put forth their own thoughts and opinions. Claudine’s gaze hardened, her earlier warmth for Reccard evaporating. She refused to change her stance on the subject, not only because she was stubborn but because she was firm in her earlier answer.

“I can’t make a decision because I also cannot decide whether Dumbledore did the right thing by keeping Harry in the dark or not. Keeping him in the dark would mean that Harry would not be distracted in his search for the other Horcruxes since he wouldn’t be focusing on his fate as one. However, not keeping it a secret meant that Harry would not grow as a person. His deduction and reasoning skills, his maturity and belief in himself, his determination to continue doing what was right... all of that could have been affected negatively.''

Was she even making sense? Claudine was one of those persons who knew what to say in her head but when this introvert opened her mouth, sometimes she surprised herself with uttering the wrong things.

Bernie's mouth twitched at Nem's answer to Recard, and then Claudine's, though the latter's response was far less thrilling. Tavie had had a total thoughtful response as well. Hmm. How did Bernadette feel about all this? No, it didn't matter what she felt. She had too many feelings most days, so she was trying (and failing) to set them aside in this moment.

"I just don't think we should be putting value judgments on these things," she shrugged out a response when it was her turn. "Dumbledore is clearly in some kind of moral gray area, as Nem said. Why do we have to project our morals onto him, in saying his decision was RIGHT or WRONG?"

She eyed Recard, thinking suddenly of their encounter at the Portraits, and feeling the fire within her starting up again. Bernie could feel the temper flaring, her blood pulsing, her pupils constricting, she really could, but she also didn't feel much like trying to control herself these days. Maybe this was because of how the adults in this school had failed to act time and time again. And again. And again. Too much caution could be a problem, couldn't it? Wasn't it the fault of adults like Recard that had Bernie and many, many other students in this very situation? And then, like their situation, there was this whole Dumbledore and the Muggles and the horcruxes thing. Could Dumbledore really be blamed for keeping things from Harry? The old man didn't know for certain about the Horcruxes, Bernie had thought.... and anyway, this whole bloody discussion meant next to nothing in light of Rosier's greater good game they were all pawns in. Why weren't they discussing that instead? There were obvious connections here between the two times and yet they were faffing around the room as though RIGHT and WRONG really mattered. The least Recard could do was not force them to take sides. After all, the professor-healer was hardly an example of perfectly moral and chivalrous behavior, or at least to Bernie she wasn't.

After all of these thoughts, some of which showed on her face in the form of microexpressions and clenched teeth, and some of which did not, Bernadette almost spat her final comment.

"Is the point of historical debate make value judgments about historical figures' decisions, Professor, or is it to learn from the consequences of their actions."

No pepperup potion needed over here, Healer. Bernie was hot headed enough already.

Well, this debate had escalated quickly. Louise hesitated as she tried to pick a side to stand on, but ultimately she decided to move to the left side of the room. She did think keeping Harry in the dark was rather unfair. To be honest, that was all the thought and reason she could muster behind her decision.

And while Bernie, Nemesis and Claudine fought back at Professor Recard's response to their "middle" option, Louise side-eyed the three and quietly stepped off to the left side of the room. She wasn't going to get in the middle of that. Louise had dragged Bernie out of the line of fire with Rosier, but she wasn't going to do it this time. One, because Recard wasn't going to kill Bernie, but two, because Louise was just... tired.

A tiny smile was given for a brief moment and than was gone. This time Dahlia's hand was back up in the air before she had even given herself time to process the response, let alone think of her own. "Personally I would like to think that was Dumbledore's reason for not telling Harry. Or at least one of the reasons. What if he had told Harry before he had been ready?" Not that one could ever truly be ready for news such as that. "Things could have taken a terrible turn. Maybe Harry wouldn't have wanted to be the savior of the wizarding world and he could've given up fighting." Then what. Nothing would've turned out like it had. Every action has a reaction, whether it be positive or negative. One little change could cause a huge rippling effect in any situation.

Kinsay would be lying if she said she was engaged in the class. Usually she would be. She'd be looking back and forth from Nemesis to Bernadette. She'd be concerned for Flynn. She'd be all sorts of things. But at the moment, Kinsay James was just tired. She was tired and sad and her legs were carrying her over to the left side of the room before she could put any real thought into the question.

And once she got there, she looked around at the people standing nearby, before pointing to Cece. Hi. She gave the older girl a quick hug (were those allowed?), before looking back up at Professor Recard. Why was she standing on this side? Because. Um. "I agree with what Cece said." It was true! Kinsay always agreed with what Cece said. Cece is so smart and so nice and the best ever. So it wasn't even lying. She really did agree. Even... if she hadn't taken the time to give the question any real thought herself.

Heath showed no reaction to Recard's response. It didn't matter if she praised or agreed with his answer.* He'd answered the question asked, and it was his honest opinion. The activity, on the other hand… It took every ounce of restraint he had not to slow clap and roll his eyes. A debate, just perfect., he thought. More division, more conflict. That's exactly what Hogwarts needs now! #sarcasm

As pointless and badly timed as he thought this activity was, it wasn't hard for Heath to pick a side. He got up and moved as far to the left side of the room as he could go. Maybe in another time, he could've given Dumbledore the benefit of the doubt, but now he knew how it felt to be in Harry Potter's shoes. He knew what it was like to be used as a pawn for a cause, and he knew what it as like to be kept in the dark about his chances of survival. There was no other way of looking at it; Dumbledore was wrong!

After taking a moment to gather his thoughts, he said, "Asking someone to sacrifice their life for your cause is a massive deal, especially when that person is a child, so the least Dumbledore could do in return was be honest about it." He remembered a point Ivy made and added, "Maybe not right away, but definitely near the start of Voldemort's return to power. By not hiding the truth, Dumbledore gave Harry Potter false hope…" Just like Rosier gave Heath false hope when.he said no one had to get hurt if they complied. Well, he did comply, and he still got hurt!

"And to live with false hope for as long as he did, to dream of a better future, only to learn that you were never meant to be part of it…" His voice broke, but he pretended not to notice. "I can't imagine much worse." There, he'd said his piece. Others could take or leave it. He was done talking.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Felixir

In all honesty, Nem hadn't expected anyone to join them, and yet they weren't remotely surprised when Bernadette Grantham also stopped in the middle of the room. They cast a sideways glance at her as she spoke, but did nothing further. Stark had picked the non-option as well, and Blaze, who'd not actually bothered to get up.

Nem had already looked back at Recard when she responded, and met her cajoling with a dispassionate stare. "I understood the exercise, professor," they said, in the same flat tone. "Like I said, I can't make a decision because I don't have an opinion either way. I don't think his actions were right or wrong. They just were. Not everything is one thing or the other, and I think it's unwise to encourage thinking in extremes when life is so complex and grey. It's restricting, and damaging, and leads to conflict."

Whether any of that was true was neither here nor there; it was ultimately a load of waffle where their personal opinion was concerned. This really was just a matter of apathy, but Nem still exercised some restraint in circumventing the all-out 'I don't care' response. At least in so many words. At least for now.

Whatever. "It's a more useful skill to not let emotions or moral judgements influence this stuff anyway, so I'm happy with my choice." Yes. Happy. Really, just so thrilled.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19

Wow.

Talk about a professor forcing a student to see things their way instead of allowing students to exercise the freedom to put forth their own thoughts and opinions. Claudine’s gaze hardened, her earlier warmth for Reccard evaporating. She refused to change her stance on the subject, not only because she was stubborn but because she was firm in her earlier answer.

“I can’t make a decision because I also cannot decide whether Dumbledore did the right thing by keeping Harry in the dark or not. Keeping him in the dark would mean that Harry would not be distracted in his search for the other Horcruxes since he wouldn’t be focusing on his fate as one. However, not keeping it a secret meant that Harry would not grow as a person. His deduction and reasoning skills, his maturity and belief in himself, his determination to continue doing what was right... all of that could have been affected negatively.''

Was she even making sense? Claudine was one of those persons who knew what to say in her head but when this introvert opened her mouth, sometimes she surprised herself with uttering the wrong things.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BanaBatGirl

Bernie's mouth twitched at Nem's answer to Recard, and then Claudine's, though the latter's response was far less thrilling. Tavie had had a total thoughtful response as well. Hmm. How did Bernadette feel about all this? No, it didn't matter what she felt. She had too many feelings most days, so she was trying (and failing) to set them aside in this moment.

"I just don't think we should be putting value judgments on these things," she shrugged out a response when it was her turn. "Dumbledore is clearly in some kind of moral gray area, as Nem said. Why do we have to project our morals onto him, in saying his decision was RIGHT or WRONG?"

She eyed Recard, thinking suddenly of their encounter at the Portraits, and feeling the fire within her starting up again. Bernie could feel the temper flaring, her blood pulsing, her pupils constricting, she really could, but she also didn't feel much like trying to control herself these days. Maybe this was because of how the adults in this school had failed to act time and time again. And again. And again. Too much caution could be a problem, couldn't it? Wasn't it the fault of adults like Recard that had Bernie and many, many other students in this very situation? And then, like their situation, there was this whole Dumbledore and the Muggles and the horcruxes thing. Could Dumbledore really be blamed for keeping things from Harry? The old man didn't know for certain about the Horcruxes, Bernie had thought.... and anyway, this whole bloody discussion meant next to nothing in light of Rosier's greater good game they were all pawns in. Why weren't they discussing that instead? There were obvious connections here between the two times and yet they were faffing around the room as though RIGHT and WRONG really mattered. The least Recard could do was not force them to take sides. After all, the professor-healer was hardly an example of perfectly moral and chivalrous behavior, or at least to Bernie she wasn't.

After all of these thoughts, some of which showed on her face in the form of microexpressions and clenched teeth, and some of which did not, Bernadette almost spat her final comment.

"Is the point of historical debate make value judgments about historical figures' decisions, Professor, or is it to learn from the consequences of their actions."

No pepperup potion needed over here, Healer. Bernie was hot headed enough already.

Gabi narrowed her blue eyes at the three, who clearly hadn't listened to the last part of her question. You'd have thought she'd asked them to pick which student they thought should be on the top of Rosier's hit list, rather than a simple historical debate, the way they were carrying on about it. "As I said - if you feel you cannot make a decision either way, I wanted you to AT LEAST explain WHY you felt it was a grey area. Which you all did - albeit with a bit more attitude than I would like. Especially when, if you'd just WAITED and participated as I instructed, you would have seen that this exercise is going in that exact direction - that it ISN'T a black and white answer." For their sake, they better cut that attitude and fast. Despite the situation they were all currently in, she wasn't above giving out detentions or taking house points if they insisted on having smart mouths.

She turned to the rest of the class. "You may all return to your seats now." she motioned for them to sit back down as she headed back to the front of the class. "As I just said - the point of this is for you all to listen to the different sides of the argument and realize that the answer as to whether or not Dumbledore was RIGHT or WRONG isn't as easy as it seems. You all made great points in your arguments. However, as some of your other peers pointed out, it's nearly impossible to say exactly what he should have done. Especially when we were not there, nor able to have access to his thoughts and emotions."

As for Bernie's question..."Historical debate serves many purposes. Critical thinking skills need to be practiced, and attempting to figure out WHY things happened the way they did, or speculating what might have happened if things had gone another way, is a fabulous way to do so. Dumbledore is the perfect specimen for this kind of exercise. Regardless of your feelings on the matter concerning Harry Potter...it's quite clear that Dumbledore made an extreme impact on the wizarding world in more ways than one. But it's good to also remember that he was human, just as the rest of us, and faced moral decisions we cannot possibly begin to comprehend."

Now that all THAT was out of the way - it was time for the fun part! "Now, one thing you may have heard about Dumbledore - he was quite the fashion icon. Particularly when it came to his hats. Fashion is a great way to express one's personality - so today you'll be making your own Dumbledore inspired hats," she said with a grin. Nothing like some arts and crafts to hopefully take their minds off the cult takeover for five or ten minutes, yes?

She waved her wand and each student had a drawing of a hat in front of them. "Your task is to decorate your wizarding hat to represent yourselves! At the bottom of the parchment, once you have designed your hat, write a quick sentence or two as to WHY the hat represents you. For example - my hat would probably be Slytherin colored, but would also be covered in runes to represent my previous job as a cursebreaker, which got me in to history!"

Quote:

She reached below her desk and pulled out a couple of boxes of crafting materials as well - construction paper, pipe cleaners, glitter glue, the whole works! "Feel free to use these materials in your design. You have the rest of the class to work on it! Once you're done, bring it up to my desk here."

OOC: We made it to the main activity everyone! Time to make some arts and crafts! Now, for our graphically inclined members, feel free to use Photoshop - or even Paint! - to decorate your hat for your character. If graphics are not your thing, don't fret! Simply describe how your character would decorate it (like the example Gabi gave of her own Slytherin hat). If you choose to submit a graphic for your assignment the answer to the question - how does this represent your personality? - only needs to be 1-2 sentences. If you do NOT submit a graphic, describe your hat and answer the personality question in 3-4 sentences. Make sense?

You have at LEAST 48 hours to work on this! Let me know if you have any other questions!

Kale thought it was CRAZY hypocritical that Recard was lecturing his peers on tough decisions, when the Professor (heck, all of the Professors) had all but abandoned their students to the horrors of the Hoods™. Someone that taught history ought to notice when they were living through a magical historical event. She didn't like his peers attitudes? Fine. But then do better for the kids. Do better than a Dumbledore.

His Dad would have. His Dad woulda done a lot of things.

And the annoying thing was he couldn't even say any of this cuz he was, like, under the constant watch of the Hoods. And also cuz it was rude. Kale was so far gone that he wanted to wound the teachers here.

But he wasn't so much himself that doing something FABULOUS like bedazzling a hat gave him joy. Not right now. Still, he quietly collected the items he needed to make a hat and went to work.

Nemesis did not react straight away - another useful skill, while they were on the topic - even when Recard seemed to get herself more and more wound up. No, they stood silently and waited, no arguments, no hint of return fire, nothing. More than the professor, they were suddenly acutely aware of Bernadette Grantham beside them, and the state she was managing to work herself into as well. Without looking directly at her, Nem shifted a miniscule amount to one side, as though shifting the weight of their feet, just enough for the outside of their arm to brush against hers.

She'd made some good points too, objectively speaking, even if they were evidently born of feeling. It was part of what had made her interesting after all, though now, at a time when those feelings might have been running rampant, Nem was deprived of the opportunity to dig into them. It was making no small contribution to this utter, utter ennui. As Nem turned to head back to their desk, they made a blink-and-you'll-miss-it attempt to catch her eye, but then the moment passed and they were back across the room.

In their seat again, Nem remained silent a little longer, though with every second that passed, they checked out more and more. On a good day, this activity might have even enough to provoke some kind of irritation, though ultimately it was hard to say. Three guesses on their reaction today.

Once Recard was done talking, Nem immediately raised a hand.

"I'm sorry, professor, but you've lost me. You tricked the class into thinking there were only two possible opposing choices, but some of us didn't fall for it." It was less than a question, and more than a statement, but any nuance was lost in the way they continued to deliver the words entirely without expression or affect. "I don't understand why you would be upset at those of us who reached the point of the exercise right away, unless the real point wasn't for us to understand, but to be deceived yet again."

Deception. A lot of that going around at the moment. Adults trying to get the best of a bunch of kids. Nem didn't actually believe that that was what Recard was trying to do here, or really that she'd even considered that. They certainly didn't rank her in even the same league as the Big Man, the most capable person they'd met, but they didn't shy away from the prospect of letting these other students think that they spoke a personal truth. Nem knew their words carried a heavy implication for those who cared enough to pay attention, and if they sowed some doubt, well... just another win for Rosier, wasn't it. Which meant another win for Nem.

All that was left was to see if these wins would all amount to something they could actually feel.

As for the attitude, sure, Recard could have that one. Nem didn't exactly feel capable of having an attitude in that moment, but were self-aware enough to know that it was essentially their default setting. When everything else shut down, not only did antagonism remain, but it became almost impossible to resist. And when there was no reason to want to resist it, well...

Nem looked down at the empty drawing of the hat in front of them, but their glance lasted less than a second before they nudged it away, and they turned their attention instead to the view outside the window once again. The hat could remain untouched, and it could still be considered a completed assignment, as far as Nem was concerned. If Recard wanted to try point deductions or detentions, she could certainly try, for all the impact it would have.

This was stupid. They wanted her to decorate the hat- oh, she would decorate it all right. She colored the hat in blue. Then she wrote 'mudblood' across the front in red, with a red handprint above. She gave the professor the evil eye. Of course she could be more artistic, but she liked this better.

Blue on this hat represents water, and calm, and flexibility, and intelligence, and blood with no oxygen.
Red is for blood, bravery, fire, destructiveness, and phoenixes.
And it says mudblood on the front with a handprint.
If you think about it, I wear this psychological hat every day.
-Ash

She looked up and gave the professor another evil eye. It was beyond her why they wanted her to represent her life on paper. It sucked. And she was still reminded of the cult takeover. Drawing a hat couldn't make her forget. And yes, she was going to make her hat a statement. She was angry. She quickly copied the hat down on a separate piece of paper. She was going to hang it up.

Most of this discussion went straight over the first years head. Not that it mattered much really. No one had called her out on her response, so there was no real need to get into it at all. Which was more than fine with her. As was returning to her seat so the lesson could move on.

The more Recard spoke however, the deeper Dahlia's confusion became. Huh? Could everyone see the confusion in her eyes? What was the point in the discussion about Dumbledore and Potter... if they were going to be... creating their own hat? Nothing against doing some art but it didn't blend together?

Oh, well. Whatever.

If creating a hat that represented herself got her out of talking or thinking about anyone else dying, she was all in. Without any hesitation at all, the Ravenclaw rose to her feet and made her way to Recard's desk. It was time to gather up some materials. Crayons and glitter glue. That was all she really needed. And the sheet of parchment with the hat on it of course.

Returning to her desk, all her lesson materials pushed aside, the parchment was set down. At first she simply started at it not sure where to even began. After some quiet deliberation a regular pencil was picked up to start on some small sketch work first.

The first thing she drew was what looked like a vine that wove it's way from the bottom section of the hat in almost a wavy zig-zag motion up to the top hat, stopping at where the star would meet the hat. A few little thorns were added along the vine and then several different types of flowers working up the vine as well (Lilies, Venus Fly Trap and Dahlia's). Then she sporadically drew a couple of different creatures pygmy puff, bowtruckle, crup, kneazle, unicorn, eagle, cockatrice and a dragon. The creatures represented her love of them all and how her family was very big into learning about and caring for them. The vine was for her struggles but how she hoped to rise to the top of them. As for the flowers, well those represented her Trio since she was a triplet. Everything was then outlined in black colored pencil before being colored in with many other colors. Last but not least the hat itself was colored. The top and bottom section were colored sky blue and the middle section and star were finished in a bronze.

Once she had finished she signed her name neatly in the bottom right-hand corner along with her year and house.

Oh. Hmm. Hello, Nemesis. Bernadette swore she felt something else when they touched her arm, but she was so busy trying not to yell or scream that she hardly had any energy left to devote to her friend. So when they were dismissed back to their seats, Bernie threw herself into hers, trying her best to not get caught up in the professor's strict attitude and tendency to create ultimatums in her room. She just.... she didn't like that answer, Professor-Healer. In fact, it felt like the woman was talking down to her and to her peers. And then, after all of that, they were just going to color?

She looked down at her paper and thought about it, actually thought about doing something with it for a sec, because she normally LOVED arts and crafts but then thought better of it and put her head down in her arms. This was dumb. She wasn't going to be convinced to participate. In fact, Bernie only raised her head a tiny bit to peep at Nem over there, asking good questions for the... heck of it? She stared at them for a moment and then went back to burrowing her head in her arms for a nap.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Felixir

Nemesis did not react straight away - another useful skill, while they were on the topic - even when Recard seemed to get herself more and more wound up. No, they stood silently and waited, no arguments, no hint of return fire, nothing. More than the professor, they were suddenly acutely aware of Bernadette Grantham beside them, and the state she was managing to work herself into as well. Without looking directly at her, Nem shifted a miniscule amount to one side, as though shifting the weight of their feet, just enough for the outside of their arm to brush against hers.

She'd made some good points too, objectively speaking, even if they were evidently born of feeling. It was part of what had made her interesting after all, though now, at a time when those feelings might have been running rampant, Nem was deprived of the opportunity to dig into them. It was making no small contribution to this utter, utter ennui. As Nem turned to head back to their desk, they made a blink-and-you'll-miss-it attempt to catch her eye, but then the moment passed and they were back across the room.

In their seat again, Nem remained silent a little longer, though with every second that passed, they checked out more and more. On a good day, this activity might have even enough to provoke some kind of irritation, though ultimately it was hard to say. Three guesses on their reaction today.

Once Recard was done talking, Nem immediately raised a hand.

"I'm sorry, professor, but you've lost me. You tricked the class into thinking there were only two possible opposing choices, but some of us didn't fall for it." It was less than a question, and more than a statement, but any nuance was lost in the way they continued to deliver the words entirely without expression or affect. "I don't understand why you would be upset at those of us who reached the point of the exercise right away, unless the real point wasn't for us to understand, but to be deceived yet again."

Deception. A lot of that going around at the moment. Adults trying to get the best of a bunch of kids. Nem didn't actually believe that that was what Recard was trying to do here, or really that she'd even considered that. They certainly didn't rank her in even the same league as the Big Man, the most capable person they'd met, but they didn't shy away from the prospect of letting these other students think that they spoke a personal truth. Nem knew their words carried a heavy implication for those who cared enough to pay attention, and if they sowed some doubt, well... just another win for Rosier, wasn't it. Which meant another win for Nem.

All that was left was to see if these wins would all amount to something they could actually feel.

As for the attitude, sure, Recard could have that one. Nem didn't exactly feel capable of having an attitude in that moment, but were self-aware enough to know that it was essentially their default setting. When everything else shut down, not only did antagonism remain, but it became almost impossible to resist. And when there was no reason to want to resist it, well...

Nem looked down at the empty drawing of the hat in front of them, but their glance lasted less than a second before they nudged it away, and they turned their attention instead to the view outside the window once again. The hat could remain untouched, and it could still be considered a completed assignment, as far as Nem was concerned. If Recard wanted to try point deductions or detentions, she could certainly try, for all the impact it would have.

If Nem and Bernie didn't want to do their assignments - well, that was fine with her. She had always been of the belief that if they didn't want to participate, and knew they wouldn't receive full marks for their work, that was fine, as long as they didn't disrupt the rest of the class. Bernie could sit there and sulk if she wanted as long as she kept quiet and didn't bother anyone who truly wanted to do their project.

As for Mister Upstead...well, so much for them not poking the bear like they'd discussed earlier in the term, hmm?

"There was no trickery involved, Mister Upstead. The point of the assignment was to try and challenge yourself to pick a side - and ultimately, the many reasons we all came up with as a class would prove that it's hard to say whether or not he was right. Those of you who DID come to the conclusion that you couldn't decide were asked to elaborate on that if you TRULY couldn't pick a side - and instead of doing so, you chose to present me with an attitude and make it all about YOU being misunderstood. I don't think asking for your reasoning is that difficult of a request. Didn't Miss Stark answer my question adequately while remaining unable to choose a side?" she asked.

She hated putting Tavie on the spot like that, but it just further proved her point that they'd failed to notice the professor had accepted her answer without argument, because she'd given her a reason WHY she wouldn't choose. It was entirely possible to remain in the middle but also explain WHY you thought that way, and it was a simple task she'd asked. Instead, they'd chosen the poor misunderstood martyr right. HEAVY SIGH.

"I would be more than happy to discuss the point of the assignment further AFTER class if you would like. For now, I'd like you to please focus on the assignment at hand," she added. Normally this would be when she would dock house points, and certainly if they kept pushing that was what was going to come next. But he'd asked for an explanation -and she'd answered. The subject was closed as far as she was concerned.

Octavia was getting a small amount of enjoyment from back and forth of Nem and Recard. Sure there was a hat that needed coloring... or something, but this was much more enjoyable. It allowed her both to gaze at Nem while also being entertained without the fear of someone being locked up.

That was, she was enjoying it right up until her name was mentioned.

UuuugggGGHghhhh.

Why? why.

Was it her fault she was able to play within the confines of the rules while still not picking a side? Was it her fault this whole thing really was ridiculous and ironic? She had been doing such a good job staying out of anyone's primary line of vision. She would like to keep that up.

Tavie tried not to look irritated and instead focused on her paper hat.

Violet sighed. She was terrible at art and therefore didn't like to do arts and crafts, and right now she didn't feel like doing anything much, but she supposed this assignment was easier than some, and she might as well try to keep some of her grades up. Not that it mattered much any more.

She reached over and randomly grabbed some kind of marker, then noticed that she'd gotten a black one. She chuckled grimly to herself--good, that pretty much summed up her mood. She ought to make a hat that was just one big, black, depressing cloud over her head. But she supposed that would not do for Recard, who she felt she could never impress.

After attempting to concentrate for a while and try to get some sort of idea, the hat she wound up with was shaped like an alchemical retort, like the one her governess used to have: retort. She had painted the hat black all over, and used some metallic strands of something that looked like streamers to make it look like green and red smoke was coming out of the end of it.

Then at the bottom she wrote, This hat is shaped like an alchemical retort, because I have become a notorious famous alchemist and potion-maker. The red and green fumes represent the active and passive stages of the working, joined together in the final operation.

There, that would have to be good enough. Rising, she walked up to Recard's desk and tried to muster up enough energy to greet her as she turned it in. "Here, Professor Recard, that's the best I could do." But the smile didn't quite reach Violet's eyes, so she quickly turned away from her teacher, not wanting her to see Violet looking weak or anything.

It was a testament to everything that although this was the most Nem had really faced off with a teacher since their primary school days - quips and pseudo-innocent remarks here and there didn't count - it wasn't remotely fun, or invigorating. Like they'd claimed about the Dumbledore situation, it simply was. They stared unflinchingly at the professor again.

"I gave you plenty of reasoning. You won't accept it." Nem knew that what Recard had really wanted was a simple argument that called in facts or speculation from the specific context of Dumbledore, Potter, and the prophecy. The point remained, however, that they were just not interested in picking apart those details and injecting morals to provide that. The general observations had been valid, and all they were willing to muster up, so Recard's comparison between themselves and Stark had about as much of an effect in stirring them up as the claim that they had been acting like a misunderstood teenager. Merlin only knew where she'd pulled that one from.

There was one more thing, though, while they had the opportunity to slip it in.

"I had hoped a professor would be able to handle students who can think critically, without getting all worked up about it. But then what can we expect from a teacher who can't protect her students, or her colleagues. Or maybe just won't." Nem cast a split-second glance towards the other side of the room, to Bernadette Grantham and the majority of the other kids who had been taken away. "Or maybe just doesn't want to. Your advice makes a lot more sense now."

Anyway. Back to the window again, Nem propped their head in their hand, and studied the view once more. "I'm done." One hundred percent. With the assignment too; it didn't need anything else.

Reccard wasn’t winning any more nice points from Claudine. So, the Snakette did one of the things she was good at: simply ignoring the person annoying her. Mhmm. Why waste her breath trying to defend herself? She had expected better from Reccard but was disappointed. Anyway. Having not left her seat, the girl simply cast her glance elsewhere. Could this lesson be over now? The Room was a lot more welcoming than being here. Even though Nem had provided some entertainment by adding a few more choice words.

But wait.

They were getting creative? Ooh. Claudine liked the sound of that! She suddenly found herself looking down at the drawing of a hat before her. How could she not enjoy a good art activity? Without hesitation, the fifth year went ahead to collect some materials. Once back at her desk, she began.

On the top part of the hat, just below the star, she took her time in drawing a few creatures: a hippogriff, a kneazle, a dragon and a flobberworn. They were coloured in appropriate colours using her wooden crayons.

The rectangle below was coloured in green and silver.

So far, so good. Art always eased her mind; she was presently in her own little world.

Gabi smiled up at Violet, who timidly approached her desk to turn in her project. "Thank you, Miss Blackthorne, it looks wonderful," she assured her with a smile that it was perfectly up to her standards. Any sort of encouragement she could give right now would probably be very wel...

Merlins BEARD. Did Upstead ever stop??

That's it. She was done. She stood up, eyes narrowed in on Nemesis as she let them get their little speech out of the way. Despite the pit of anger and irritation she felt growing at her core, she reminded herself that she did not owe a teenager an explanation as to her behavior. None of them did. None of the students knew that she had been threatened to be trapped in a mirror by Rosier - or that he'd threatened to put an Azkaban escapee in charge of the hospital wing. No one would be there to heal them or watch out for them. She'd literally stopped him from MURDERING students, and they continued to argue with her and insist she was doing nothing. Despite it all, she wasn't going to ramble on about all the terrible things she'd witnessed this term just to get a couple of angsty kids to think differently. They'd all clearly made up their minds. The only thing that would solve all this - Gabi knew very logically in her mind - was to finally get rid of the Alliance.

And if any of the students had hoped the staff would make their plans known to them by showing them disrespect, they were SADLY mistaken. In fact, their continued erratic behavior only enforced the idea that they were all too immature to know what was going on behind the scenes.

"Detention, Mister Upstead, for utter disrespect to your professor," she said simply. She could argue with them until she was red in the face about the art of critical thinking, but their insinuation that they weren't doing anything to try and protect them was the final straw. Under normal circumstances she would have dismissed them from their classroom as well, but that would mean sending them out to the hall to sit with the hooded cult member or Azkaban criminal that was waiting to escort them to their next class. It would be like throwing a medium rare steak at a wolf. It would be inviting Nemesis to be harassed by their "guard" until it was time for them to leave and it was far safer in here.

"Does anyone else have anything to contribute to the conversation?" she asked, raising her voice slightly as she addressed the class, the anger clearly evident on her face. Even those who had been there since Gabi's first term would have realized she'd never been this irritated in class. She wasn't yelling, as she didn't yell at children, but she had that LOOK about her - that look that clearly told them she was NOT going to go easy on anyone who continued to question her loyalty to them. There was plenty of room in detention with Nem, if anyone wanted to join the party.

Mamie’s eyes got wide as Bernadette, and her lil not little Slytherin friend, and others, refused to do the assignment. Why were they so grumpy?? Bernadette, she could understand, because she’d been in The Room too. But that Slytherin? Why were they so grumpy??

She did not understand the logic of them refusing to pick a side, either. Or maybe she did? She frowned, thinking as hard as she could. She had just put herself in the shoes of one of the historical figures. Why couldn’t they? Recard seemed really upset, too. Mamie was way too distracted by this drama to decorate any paper hat. She liked the idea of decorating the paper hat, but...she didn’t know anymore what represented her.

Also, this back and forth of Bernie and Nemesis (okay, mostly the Nemesis person) and Professor Recard. Nemesis had GOOD POINTS once they moved on past being annoyed by the assignment. Why couldn’t the professors protect them? At least before the extra adults camped out in the castle and grounds showed up. Why didn’t the professors care?! If Mamie hadn’t been a Muggleborn (and twelve), she would have stood up and agreed with the fifth year. They were totally right! Williamson had been upset about her critical thinking too!

She nodded once, mostly to herself, hoping anybody who saw would assume she was agreeing with Recard and not Upstead, but then that Upstead was getting detention??? Recard must be really upset. More upset than she'd been when Rosier and his Squad caught them at the portraits. Mamie quickly looked away and started filling in her hat with...brown. Because brooms were brown. And also mud was brown, for her…”dirty” blood.

Alright, fine, Bernadette was listening more than she'd previously wanted to admit. Her blue eyes were in fact visible over the top of her arms, much like a crocodile's eyes and snout peeking above a saltwater bay. She was staring ONLY at Nem during this whole exchange, and was 100% liking what she was hearing. Recard could go have butterbeers in Hogsmeade with her friends, for all Bernie knew about the staff's situation.

"Detention's better than Room," she muttered, certainly loud enough for anyone to hear, really. She gave Nem a cool nod of approval for the whole exchange, and then put her head down again.