Classroom & Curriculum

OOC Reminders:
>>Assume your character is on time and present. If you have story reasons for a character being late, tell me via PM.

>>If you are a new member/student, assume your character has been present in the seminar if you wish. Don't be afraid to post!

>>There are NPC students but YOU are the stars of the show!

>>Be courteous to everyone's availability. Allow at least three posts between yours, at minimum. If the scene advances too quickly others may have difficulty catching up.

>>Above all, FUN!! (and don't destroy the classroom)

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5 PM

Given the nature of the first Task Gerard had been asked to postpone his seminar until the start of the next month. He had obliged without complaint, as the champions especially had been through quite an ordeal fighting acromantulas. The loss of time was not of great importance to learning the skill as long as they began in October.

He addressed the students seated above him. Classrooms such as this were always humbling for a teacher, young minds stretched above him like the fruits of a tree and he below knew when to pick them. For the time he could only marvel at them.

"Good evening. For those of you who do not know me my name is Gerard Gries. I work at Beauxbatons Academy but before that I spent many years of research into the Mind for the French Ministry. But I am not here to list my titles."

He paced purposefully, hands clasped behind his back. "This evening serves to introduce you to some of the most challenging, mysterious, and subtle magic of all and how we will approach it. The Mind is a complex organ that operates successfully only at a delicate equilibrium. Magic is but one of many influences that can alter its operation. Within this area of study there are two closely linked tools. Occlumency, to shield the mind from penetrations, and Legilimency, to peer into the thoughts of another. Both are very difficult to learn but anyone could potentially try. Progression when using these tools require considerable effort and dedication."

"In the future we will be practicing these skills in class. Professor Bai Li Yang," he gestured to woman beside him, "of the Salem Witches Institute of Magic and I will be assisting you with your technique during these sessions. The use of Occlumency and Legilimency has sparked controversies in years past but I want to assure you that this seminar will be a safe harbor for analyzing these techniques."

"What questions do you have? For some of you this may not be your first time hearing of this knowledge."

Heinrich raised his hand.  "How interconnected are the two skills?" he asked.  "Is it possible to become an Occlumencer without also becoming a Legilimencer and vice versa or are the two effectively opposite sides of the same coin?  You learn them together, rather than seperately."

The subject wasn't new to him.  His father had some skill at Legilimency (or at least all his sons thought he did) but Heinrich wasn't sure if his father possessed any ability in the opposite direction.  The subject had just never come up between them.

Figaro had entered one of the bigger and less frequently used lecture halls with the same flippant casualness as he often did, even in a new situation, but the tone of the gathering was distinctly heavy and quieted him somewhat.  The Professor who began to talk was towering in height and craggy in the face, and his deep voice boomed of things very important.  Thee was also the very pretty teacher from Salem down there as well, looking likewise as imposing.

He turned his head when he recognized Heinrich Faust's voice - it was that boy from Durmstrang who'd gotten Sophie's knit in a bunch.  Figaro could understand why.  They both were opinionated and spoke their mind.  The question was a good one.  Figaro was roughly familiar with the idea of Occlumency and Legilimancy, but he often confused which was which.  He'd been told and believed about himself that he personally lacked the... personal insight to ever have a chance at mastering these skills, so why had he come?

To see what the fuss was about? Genuine curiosity? Spirit of the Tournament? He didn't rightfully know.  He did know he wasn't going to be do any extra homework...

He raised his hand and followed up with his own question, although it was less sophisticated than Heinrich's.  "So are you reading our minds right now?"

Sasha hadn't been to many of these seminars; he had to try to draw the line somewhere when it came to adding things to his schedule.  He'd come to rely on that daily hour in his schedule to get some solid studying in before evening classes.  But, he was making an exception for this topic.  All things considered, investigating the art of occlumency and legilimency seemed worth considering.  He strongly suspected Kronos would agree. 

There was an appeal to the idea of controlling one's mind.  And, perhaps, learning to to control ones mind in one way would spill over to disciplines.  He could remember back in January when he'd accidentally dragged his dormmates into one of his nightmares; perhaps, keeping a tighter grip on his thoughts would prevent such things.  And, perhaps, it was something he could ask Mr. Morgan about. 

With a nod of greeting in Figaro's direction, Sasha took a seat next to Faust.  The question was a valid one and Sasha turned his attention towards the guest professor, prepared to take dutiful notes on the response. 

It had been a long day of lessons, as every Friday often felt, and there was still another class to attend after this seminar by the Beauxbatons teacher. Raine was beginning to wonder if Astronomy was worth sacrificing the opportunity to collapse into bed after dinner; but she waved the trivial thought aside as Professor Gries began to speak.

The Gryffindor dropped lithely into her seat a couple of gaps away from Sasha, gaze intent on the two adults below. She sat straight and alertly.

Occlumency and legilimency were not subjects that she had considered pertinent to her interests until her sister's passing the summer before last. That was the start of her hallucinations and nightmares and the dreamwalking; like a door inside her mind had been left slightly ajar.

And so now the subjects were most certainly pertinent. Raine glanced towards Faust and then Figaro at the questions asked, smirking at the latter but not feeling entirely confident that their minds weren't being read. Who knew what manner of etiquette these skills abided by? On the other hand, she liked to think that they would feel some sort of indication in their minds, if that were the case.

Alex trailed behind Raine, moving with a determination not usually seen in students on Friday afternoon. But this was a special afternoon, because she would finally be hearing more about Legilimency and Occlumency. Of course, Alex had read everything she could about the two skills, but she wanted to hear something from someone who practiced them. And she did want to be better at Legilimency, which her Father had only gone over briefly.

Sitting next to Raine, Alex tried to make herself unobtrusive, but then rolled her eyes at the questions asked. Not her mind, that was certain. She would know if someone tried to break in, even if she couldn't prevent it.

Although Figaro was expected to be cheerful and ask ridiculous questions, she would have hoped that Faust would have done some research before coming here. Maybe this wasn't the best way to learn to improve her skills? But it was still a way, and this way she would at least retain some obscurity- after all, everyone else was also planning on learning about them.

"I was curious about the law related to the two, Legilimency in particular," she volunteered.

Jimmy Hart considered the whole art- legilimency and occlumency- to be kinda nerdy. It seemed like wishy-washy hippie magic to Jimmy, who didn't put much stock into anything that didn't explode or grow huge fangs. Going into somebody else's brain... well, what was the point? Other people's thoughts were boring. The second someone started explaining their feelings to him, he would begin to desperately look for a way out. His motto that had served him faithfully since birth was 'less talk, more rock.' And this seminar was decidedly heavy on the talk and slim-to-nil on the rock.

Despite his misgivings, Jimmy had seen Bai's name affiliated with the event, and what would have been a dull, quiet evening re-applying grip tape to Quodpot brooms was cast aside in favor of more childish pursuits.

He sat allllll the way in the back, his muscular arms resting on the top of the chair behind him, his olive drab t-shirt emblazoned with 'ARMY' stretched tight across his chest. God, these kids were smart. He figured that most of them would be the more intelligent, sensitive students, as opposed to the loudmouthed jocks he preferred to associate with. Save Figaro, anyway. Jimmy had seen him around and got a kick out of him.

He didn't think that Bai had seen him yet, but he was dying for her to start talking. He knew full well that the mere sight of him was enough to annoy her badly enough that she wouldn't be able to focus. Jimmy was giddy.

Ananke had always been quite curious about legilimency and occlumency, but never from a professional standpoint--just an academic one. She had entered the room wearing a long subdued purple cowl-necked sweater and some flowing dress slacks, momentarily forgetting there was a group of students at Hogwarts that capitalized on the color purple. Oh well.

The heavily-curved professor took her seat in the back, by a man wearing an "ARMY" shirt, laid back, lazy, and casual--she hardly though the man was ready to indulge himself in any academic thought, let alone try his hand at these mental arts. Ananke then crossed her legs and let her steely blue gaze fall over the room, inspecting the students present, a respectful collection of a Gryffindor and a few Ravenclaws, as well as a curious Durmstrang student, and the infamous Figaro Sellaphix. After Ananke's joint class with her past-mentor Austerlitz, she could hardly forget the easily excitable boy.

Finally, the witch shook her red mane back and turned her attention down to the two professors giving the lecture. She then hugged her hands to her knees and then, without turning her gaze away from the front of the room, she casually and quietly said, "I'm afraid it doesn't take a legilimens to know you're not here for these engaging mental pursuits."

A question from Durmstrang. One part of Gerard had expected that the students from the Northern European school would be vocal about present knowledge with the discipline but this student did not appear to know. "You are correct with the analogy of the two skills being opposite sides of the same coin. In the crudest sense they are opposites, of offensive and defensive capabilities. For an individual witch or wizard, one is never expected to learn both. However, the two are tied to a shared body of knowledge. To defend your mind you need to know how it can be attacked and to bypass another's defenses. Commonly any practitioner will grow in equal knowledge of the two skills although that isn't to say that one's practice of the skill is the same as their knowledge of it."

A question from Hufflepuff. "No, I am not." A wry smile appeared on Gerard's face with dry humor. "Although that is not much of an exaggeration of my capabilities. But to read the minds of all of you at once, wandless, and given our placement with each other it would be very difficult indeed. The strongest of Legilimency will always require a pathway to the brain. Eye contact is such a connection, for the phrase 'the eyes are the windows to the soul' is not too far off with Legilimency. There have also been cases of a shared, magical trauma between two people that could achieve a pathway for Legilimency where eye contact is not required."

Another question on the duality of the skills, this time from Ravenclaw. "Occlumency and Legilimency have always, from their origin, been skills that co-evolve with each other. Some may say Legilimency is the stronger skill but this is not true. There may be a stronger Occlumens, or the most confident Occlumens may be breeched by a better Legilimens."

"But there is more that can be applied with these skills than the most commonly known methods. From the onset an antagonistic view of these magics are seen, almost to stereotype. There is a universal flexibility to both of them that many do not recognize. Even non-magical aspects that a user can understand from the exhaustive training and attention to detail involved."

"Legilimency does not need to tell me that you," he gestured to Figaro, "might find this a laugh but would not likely put the effort into trying for yourself." Such a lack of interest did not bother Gerard as he was not here to grade. Even if the Sellaphix boy skipped out any time they worked on a demonstration, a theoretical knowledge was an almost equal experience to testing the magic out practically.

"And then you two," pointing to Sasha and Raine, "are particularly interested in the defensive capabilities but have yet to ask questions."

"Many of you might be wondering how I could know these things if you didn't feel the influence of magic. Truthfully I have not used magic. My years of experience with Legilimency have heightened the precision of my senses to secure information." Like exceptional hearing to catch the unusual conversation of the other professors observing from the back, even for the design of the room. Though they had yet to be a distraction in their whispered tones. "Combine with that knowledge of human behavior and I can tell, from observation, where your interest was during my lecture."

Gerard paused. The next part could be difficult. "Does anyone have a certain goal they wish to achieve through this seminar? You do not have to explain why if you are willing to share. I want everyone to know that this will not be a classroom for exposing anyones secrets or fears, nor should you be encouraged to treat this as a source for your rumor mills. The greatest privacy everyone has are their own minds. We must honor what a person chooses or chooses not to say."

So not only was Gries a legimencer, he was also a keen observer.  It would make a potent combination when facing an unknown opponent.  It might also explain his father's supposed master of the art.

Heinrich raised his hand again.  "Is it possible to learn to communicate with someone who is unconscious through legimency?  For example, would it be possible for a healer who is skilled at legimency to contact a patient who is unconscious or in a coma?  It could be used in cases of accidental injuries, where there is not sufficient evidence to determine what happened.  It could speed treatment and prevent incorrect treatments, which in some cases could make things worse."

Heinrich's interest in healing wasn't common knowledge but he'd spent the majority of his summers volunteering at a clinic near his family's estate.  He'd seen too many people come in where there was no real idea as to what had happened to them.

Figaro smiled back at Professor Gries when he told them that no, he was not, at present reading their minds.  But Figaro jolted in his seat when a few moments later, the wizard from Beauxbaton's 'read' him, and what he observed would not normally be taken so casually by a Professor.  So at first, Figaro sank into his chair with a cheeky sort of cringe.

And he grinned even more when Gries 'pegged'  Sasha and Alex.  He was dead on, at least in Figaro's opinion.

Amazingly that little parlor trick was enough to grab Fig's attention back.  The lecture had kind of lost him, and with the man's French accent, it had kind of faded into the background like music.  But he was back in now, keyed in.

He turned to listen to Faust again, who had a pretty good question. 

"Wouldn't you just get their dream or whatever?" he offered.

This wasn't a formal class and, as such, there'd be no official exams or evaluations so Sasha's notes were nowhere near as thorough as they would have been if he were in class.  But, there were segments of the discussion that Sasha paid careful, meticulous attention to.  Mind reading required a pathway to the brain, such as through eye contact.  So, avoiding eye contact or shielding other direct pathways to the mind seemed a good first defense. 

As usual, a list of questions raised by the initial information was growing on the side of the page.  But, halfway through scribbling down a note, Sasha noticed the visiting French professor pointing in his direction.  Sasha glanced up and blinked, flushing slightly though he was well aware he hadn't been the only one indicated. 

Sasha shrugged, glancing down at his growing list of questions but, before he could voice one, Heinrich spoke up.  "I'd assume it would depend on the nature of the loss of consciousness."  Sasha looked over his notes once more before shaking his head.  "It doesn't really make sense that a legilimens would see dreams, unless the person was in a really light coma and there was a fair amount of brain activity."

He turned back towards Professor Gries and shook his head, again.  "It seems finding the pathway to the brain would be the biggest obstacle in practicing legilimency on an unconscious individual.  From what I understand, there's a significant disconnect between the brain and the senses so ... I suppose it depends on how much that pathway is a conscious or passive thing." 

"Unless there are other ways to establish that contact.  You mentioned eye contact but are there other avenues?  Would, you know, shaded glasses provide some level of defense?"  Professor Gries was correct, though.  Sasha's interests were, primarily, defensive in nature and he was willing to admit that.  But, it was more than that.  The idea of being able to exert some degree of control over one's mind and thoughts was immensely appealing.  "I do want to learn about how to protect my thoughts and memories.  And, control them, if possible.  But, I am also curious about the skill, itself."

Things were beginning to grow a little interesting. Raine had raised her fiery eyebrows in wry astonishment when the visiting professor had, rather aptly, pointed out her vague motivations behind attending his seminar. It was unnerving. He wasn't... trespassing, she knew, but it felt like he was looking into their property from afar, distinguishing notions or ideas.

But she had nothing to hide and the uneasy feeling settled as the other students began to volunteer their questions and personal inducements to the art of occlumency or leglimency. The Gryffindor leaned forward in her seat, glancing briefly at Alex as Sasha extrapolated from Figaro's proposal at answering Faust. Comas, perhaps not: but what of those sleeping? Could you invade their dreams?

"I do want to learn about how to protect my thoughts and memories.  And, control them, if possible.  But, I am also curious about the skill, itself." The Ravenclaw finished on his usual, Schlawkward note.

Raine looked down at the lecturers, indicating Sasha with a sidelong nod. "What he said, in regard protecting thoughts," she spoke with an earnest expression. "And I was curious to see if... if, ah, the connection between twins has any affect on the mind. I mean, how a blood connection might have an influence."

It was difficult not to make things personal, when discussing the mind, but Raine extracted herself from her own issues when she talked. The prefect didn't have anything to hide but she had no intention of laying out private ruminations infront of some people she hardly knew.

As Gerard had expected, Legilimency was becoming the topic of interest. It was the force that defined the other, although he was pleased that the students' questions were not narrowed to the specifics of mind penetration for seemingly personal gain.

He answered Faust's question. "You bring up two important points to the broadness of Legilimency. One for medical use, the other for the analysis of an unconscious subject. Legilimency can be used if a healer is trained for conditions against the mind, beffudlements and lost memories, things of that sort. Amongst France and Belgium our Legilimens healers have taken great strides towards magical assistance though parts of the practices are still new. I am not familiar with how or if the service is administered here."

"But to the point of the unconscious mind and establishing a connection," Gerard continued, as more questions were asked of that topic. "For a legilimens it is extremely difficult to peer into an unconscious mind. The simplest route for success in legilimency is using the subject's own mind processes to aid your search. A conscious mind will always be easier to navigate for the legilimens is guided by the subject's mind as well. This is how an occlumens can misguide the probe of a legilimens."

There was a chalkboard arced behind the lector's pit. Gerard waved his wand simply and a diagram was drawn on the board. "The mind is made of billions of neural pathways. There are synapses that fire off for each thought, and then there are dendrites that strengthen pathways in the mind. Each mind is different for dendrites adapt to what we most think about. So, to relate to the question of the unconscious subject, to the accomplished legilimens they may be able to peer across these lines. The active mind is always better to discover these pathways."

"A person's dreams might also be viewed, depending on the state of their subconscious. Altogether, the most challenging mind to peer is not always going to be the better legilimens, but the unconscious mind that has suffered brain damage. Two times have I assisted with such minds at a French clinic; both patients had suffered significant trauma from magical sources. The sessions of mapping their minds required hours of silent, secluded work with no external distractions." There was an indefinite pause before he continued on a different subject.

"Physical disruptions, such as shaded glasses can disrupt novice legilimens, who would need a greater effort and closeness to the subject to peer into the mind. At advanced levels, it may not matter, for once the skilled legilimens makes even a moment's connection of eye contact, with considerable focus they can linger in the thoughts of another for a brief time afterwards, though they would not get far beyond the subject's immediate thoughts."

The queries were coming around to the defensive, occlumency. A redhead surprised him with a particular inquiry, which suggested that she herself had a twin, though not one interested in this subject. Or.... "Magical twins have been known to have very deep connections. Non magical twins suggest a phenomena of feeling very empathetic towards their sibling. This increases over tenfold for magical twins or triplets, further if they are identical. Though this doesn't mean that their personalities have to be the same, not all sets are like the the more infamous of twins you would know, behind one of the biggest joke shops of wizarding Britain." Another brief smile.

"But yes, the bond of identical siblings can be like an innate version of Legilimency, a connection only for them. Some may not realize what is at work when they are able to sense the well being of their twin."

"Can you use that skill to guide a mentally awake and aware but physically unresponsive patient back to consciousness?"  Heinrich asked, sitting a little further forward on his chair.  "Or was your investigation in the French clinic intended to discover which parts of the brain were damaged and how badly?"

He almost asked if the program was accepting apprenticeship applications but realized this was not the correct venue to try asking for a job.  He'd need to discover if he had any talent along this line of magic just to see if there was any point in taking it further.  If he'd realized the potential benefits of Legilimancy to the field of medicine he would have focused more attention on it earlier.