Roster
Brennan Girard G (P -5))
Michael Jaymez G (P+15)
Nina Morales G (P -1 )
Delilah Maddox R (P+5)
Devlin Matthews R (P -5)
Wesley Maddalena R (P-5 )
Walker Nolan R (P+18)
Michael Stone R (P -5)
Fauna Blake H (P+5)
Adelia Delacroix H (P+5)
Ava Grosvenor S (P- 5)
Atticus Pennyapple S (P+5)
Alexander Snark S (P -5)
Gavin Snark S (P+5)

 Mainwaring sighed as he waited for the sixth years to arrive, as he contemplated the lesson ahead. What utter nonsense it was he had to teach this drivel when there were valuable skills that he could be instilling in his pupils instead. Still if some fool at the Educational Standards Committee had thought it necessary for pupils to discuss the morality of doing what had to be done to fight dark wizards, he would have to do it and try to make it as interesting as he could.

 Unusually patient by his own standards, due to his lack of enthusiasm for the subject he was about to broach, he waited for the class to take their seats and to settle by themselves before beginning.

 “There have been some changes to the syllabus this year so we are going to discuss a topic that your predecessors have not studied. That topic is ‘Moral Quandaries in the Use of Defensive Magic’. This subject is quite a broad one but the gist of it surrounds the issue of whether Ministry officials and others who are battling against dark wizards, should be legally constrained in the actions that they can take in protecting themselves and others or whether any action is acceptable, provided that the ends justify the means.

 Some of you may question why you need to spend time a lecture on this subject rather than learning how to better utilise defensive magic however you will be tested on it so we do need to spend a certain amount of time on it in order to prepare you for your NEWTs.

 I had asked you to read chapter four of Fergus Slinkheart’s book, ‘The Rise of Fall of Voldemort’. In this Slinkheart, in his discourse on the late Rufus Scrimgeour’s time in office, succinctly gives both sides of the argument.  You may or may not agree with Slinkheart’s conclusions but for your exam whether you do or not will not matter, only that you can effectively argue your standpoint from a position of evidence.

 To see whether or not you can do this we will have a debate ourselves on this topic.  I will ask one, or two of you if we have time, to present each side of the argument. After they have finished the rest of you will have the opportunity to ask questions of the speakers and then we will put the matter to the vote to see which side has been more successful.  Those who speak will have the chance of earning their houses points.

 I would prefer volunteers but if there are none I will nominate some of you instead. Are there any takers?”

Michael was, as usual, one of the first students to arrive to class, this was one of his favorite subjects so he usually made it a point to sit in or near the front row of the classroom, so that he didn't miss anything.  He took a seat to the right of the teacher's desk and in the front row, sat his bag down, pulled out his wand, as they usually would need them and sat patiently until the rest of the class had arrived.  He noticed that Professor Mainwaring seemed unusually unentheuastic today, which was odd for him, he hoped that the professor wasn't coming down with somthing, and hoped that he to would not get it if the professor was.

Michael listened to the professor and sat back, he waited for a second before raising his hand and saying, "I'll argue for restricting the use of extreme force, Professor."  Michael didn't particularly like the conclusions in the slinkhart book but he could understand why the use of extreme force should be restricted unless left with no other obvious choice.

  Theobald nodded, looking moderately pleased for the first time that morning,

 "Excellent Mr Jaymez, take five points for Gryffindor for volunteering. Now is there anyone prepared to argue against Mr Jaymez and make the case that  the use of extreme force can be justified when the circumstances demand it?"

When Fauna walked into the classroom she knew immediately that there would be a lecture this morning. The neat rows of desks told her so. She quickly took her usual seat next to Adelia and glanced at the professor to gauge his mood. He seemed surprisingly somber, with his drooping mustache-frown and the worry line between his brows. Fauna wondered if he felt strongly about today’s topic, and tried to remember the reading assignment in vain.

Before she could ask any of her classmates, the professor launched into his lecture with the delightful announcement of a debate. A debate! All color drained from Fauna’s face and she resorted to her typical avoidance tactics: slinking down in her seat, averting her eyes from the professor, and sending panicked glances to Adelia. After six years of classes together, her friend knew her fear of public speaking very well, but unfortunately, so did Professor Mainwaring.

Fergus Slinkheart. The bane of her existence. She uttered his last name like a curse every time she had to read one of his chapters. Last night had been no different, but she’d only been able to get through half of chapter four. And she had no idea what the word ‘Quandaries’ even meant.

Waker would probably know. Then again, Fauna had an inkling that Waker had actually read the whole chapter, too.

She slunk lower in her seat, marveled at Michael for his bravery, and pretended to be very interested in the bright checkered pattern on her shoe.


(OOC: Feel free to nominate her if no one else replies!)

 The Professor noticed Miss Blake's attempts to avoid his attention. These were totally counter-productive of course as it marked her out in his eyes as someone with something to hide. More skilled criminals soon learned that the best way to avoid detection was to behave normally.

  She probably had not done her homework, he thought angrily. On another day he might have asked her a question to elucidate this but today he decided to be merciful. He did not want the correct side of the argument to be presented poorly, otherwise he might have to step in himself, and if he did he might reveal more of his actions in the war to the class than he wanted to. A little fear in a class was healthy, too much would be counter-productive.

 Miss Blake had a problem with public speaking as well, he remembered. Perhaps he was being too harsh on her, although he doubted it. Maybe that was the reason for her attempts at evasion. It was though something that the girl needed to be encouraged to get over. Could asking her to speak now help her?. After a few moments musing he decided that forcing her to make an unprepared speech would be counter-productive, especially if she had not done her homework as he suspected, as failure would only exacerbate her lack of self-confidence in this regard. He did make a mental note though to ensure that Miss Blake had the opportunity to give a prepared talk later in the year.

Waker stared at the first volunteer, the Gryffindor Michael Jaymez. He seemed to have a penchant for Defense Against the Dark Arts, and his willingness to participate sent a jolt of competitiveness through Waker's bloodstream. She resisted it for the moment, not wanting to seem too eager, and instead waited for Mainwaring's reaction. She saw the professor's eyes fall on Fauna, of all people, who seemed exceedingly uncomfortable at the idea of being nominated against her will.

Straightening her spine needlessly, so that she sat even taller than usual, Waker raised her fingers as if hailing a muggle cab. "I'll do it, Professor," she announced. "I'll argue in favor of extreme defensive force." Her tone was more resonating than it might have been outside of the classroom, but Waker knew that commanding voices were crucial to presentations-- especially those that required persuading the audience. She also hoped to divert the man's attention from poor Fauna.

Waker lowered her hand again, gingerly closing the cover of 'The Rise and Fall of Voldemort' to obscure the neatly-scribed outline she'd made and stuck directly in the middle of the fourth chapter. She had memorized it, as well as nearly the entire chapter itself, and decided that she would offer it to Fauna after class.

It was ironic, Waker thought, that she should take the position that ignored laws and employed the extremes, while a Gryffindor, who was undoubtedly bold in nature, would argue in favor of the legal restrictions. Even odder was the fact that Waker actually felt there were legitimate reasons to break such laws. She brushed the wand on her desk to set it exactly parallel to her text book, shifted in her seat again, and waited with a rather tranquil expression for Michael to begin.

Addie had been drumming her fingers lightly against the wooden frame of the desk as she sat there, transfixed into listening to the professor's words. It was only when he suggested who would take up sides that she seemed slightly more than interested. However, she knew as well that the subject matter seemed a little more than just deep for this session and for that matter, she really wouldn't mind to question authority.

Yet, it seemed Fauna was more than distressed by this class setting for this particular lesson and she simply nodded her head to the fellow Hufflepuff to reassure her sister that she was here for her if need be. Addie was not too surprised to see Michael shoot off like a rocket to take one side but that when she was planning on taking the other, Waker chose to speak up. So much for the effort, but that didn't mean she'd simply sit there and doodle on scrap parchment (as was her mood at times). She'd actually speak up on her own behalf.

After all, didn't her own family find to use extremities in various times of both wizarding wars? Naturally, they didn't use the curses freely, but of course, she had never asked her Uncle Augustin or her grandfather about it. It was a closed discussion and Adelia figured perhaps in a few years she could. Her eyes glanced back down at Slinkheart's words, reviewing what she had read. Sure, she had finished it but even found him to be highly confusing, almost rambling incessantly, causing her confusion and doubt.

 Mainwaring was pleased to see Walker raise her hand. She was one of the better students and hopefully could be relied upon to present the sensible side of the argument well.

"Thank you, Miss Nolan. Five points for Ravenclaw.

 Now that we have our two volunteers we can begin. Mr Jaymez, as you offered first, you can speak first. Come up to the front of the class and present your case. After you have spoken, we will hear what Miss Nolan has to say. Then the floor will be opened to questions and to any others who wish to weigh in on either side of the debate."

Just in time; Gavin made it to class before it was too late. He settled himself in the back row like always and dropped whatever was in his bad on the desk, causing a disturbance around him. A girl in front glared at Gavin, but that didn't bother him. He just winked at her and went back to what he was doing. Like every other class, Gavin was bored. Defense Against the Dark Arts was one of Gavin’s favorite subjects. He couldn’t deny the fact that every once in a while his head would turn to the front of the room and actually pay attention to what was going on. It was even worse that he had Dev in the classroom to encourage the bad behavior. But other than that Gavin was mostly quiet.

Where was that book that he had to read? He could've sworn he put that book in his book bag. He looked in front of the room to see the professor talking about a debate and Gavin went back to work. The information that the professor was speaking wasn't as important as that book.

His eyes stopped when he saw the girl in front -- waving the book in his face. He snatched it from her hands and winked. "Thanks..." Gavin said. She was rather ugly and for that reason Gavin had no idea who she was.

After getting settled he looked back up to the front of the room and heard Waker volunteer. This was going to be interesting. Waker was too smart for her own good and always showed off, that was Gavin's opinion. Anyone against her would probably sound like a two year old. She was going against Michael, Gavin laughed and tried to turn it into a cough. He didn't sound successful though.

Michael stood up and started heading towards the front of the class.  His forehead felt a little cool now.  He had hoped that he would be able to have the debate from his desk.  Moving up to the front of the classroom ment that he would feel like the center of attention, as opposed to being one from his desk, which he would probably have been able to ignore.  He took a second to compose his thoughts. Clearing his throat he decided all he could do now was begin.

"Let me start by saying that I don't particularly like most of Slinkhart's opinons, but I do think that he makes a good arguement against using the unforgivable curses in the course of apprehending dark wizards.  He states that they are 1 reason that most dark wizards are headed to Azkabahn in the first place.  They are against the law to use in the first place in other words.  Essentially if an unforgivable curse was used in the course of apprehending an dark wizard, by an Auror that Auror would be as guilty as the Dark Wizard.  I understand why people would want to use them to apprehend criminals, especially if the curses were being used against them, but our laws have to apply to everyone at all times to be worth anything.  We cant afford to overlook a crime that is committed in the course of delivering justice.  There is also a moral reason we shouldn't use them.  Should we sink to their level to capture them, because I for one don't think that we should, because once we do, they have won weather justice is delt or not.

Michael cleared his throat and looked around the classroom, he wasn't sure that he had worded his arguement very well, he wasn't really sure what he felt on that matter, he can see merits of both sides but he did think that in the long term, the total banning of the unforgivable curses was best, maybe one day all knowledge of them could be forgotten.

Michael walked around the podium he had been behind and went back to his seat, now would be Waker's turn.

[Hey folks, I totally did not notice this thread at all. My bad!]

Whoever thought 9 a.m. classes was a good idea had taken one two many bludgers to the head, in Nina's humble opinion. They should either be earlier or later, as Nina always seemed to be really early or really late. She took her runs very early and then showered and ate a quick breakfast, but she occasionally fell asleep at the House table or, more commonly, would take her broom out and get some practice time in. Today the latter had occurred, and before she had realized it it was 9:15, and her Defense class had all ready begun.

"Damn," she cursed to herself, running to the classroom. She skidded to a halt outside the door and made a half-hearted attempt to fix herself. She realized as she entered her skirt was on backwards and she still wore her running top, but she hoped her robes wouldn't allow anyone to see her wardrobe errors.

"Sorry, Professor," Nina said, trying to make it seem like she cared that she was late and did not offer an excuse. She hoped they weren't doing anything that regarded their homework assignment. She had started it, but the book they had been asked to read was so very, very dull. The topic of the War fascinated her, but the writing had been absolutely atrocious, and she had fallen asleep after reading only four pages. Hopefully she would not be asked to speak about what they had read, or else she would have to make something up in a hurry that sounded semi-decent.

When Michael finished and seated himself, Waker stood and took his place at the podium. Her eyes swept the classroom solemnly, but not without confidence. She recalled the chapter outline stuffed in the book on her desk, and the counterarguments she could logically make with each of Slinkheart's major points. While refraining from blatantly staring daggers at Nina for her irksome interruption, Waker let her eyes linger an extra second on the Gryffindor, of whose tardiness the Ravenclaw wholly disapproved.

With a polite nod at the professor, the girl began to speak.

"Michael pointed out that laws must apply to everyone at all times. While idealistically that is true, when the enforcement of laws inhibit the government from fulfilling its oath and responsibility to the people, those laws are no longer effective. In such instances, it is not only morally acceptable for people to break those laws, but sometimes ethically necessary. To give a specific example relating to The Rise and Fall of Voldemort, many witches and wizards who fought against Death Eater forces in the Battle of Hogwarts used Unforgiveables. If they had not taken the initiative to combat Voldemort's regime using the same sinister spells employed by the terrorists, how many more people would have died?" She paused for effectiveness.

"Interviews with Harry Potter reveal that he used the Imperius Curse in his quest to defeat Voldemort. Many of us probably would not be sitting in this classroom today if he had not used such magic to evade capture. There are also recorded eyewitness accounts of former Headmaster Albus Dumbledore having resisted arrest, presumably in order to protect his school and students. In hindsight, those are legal violations which contributed to the defeat of a tyrant."

As she spoke, Waker's eyes swept from cluster to cluster of her peers, never staying too long in one area of the classroom. She gestured pointedly to the open chapters on desktops when she spoke of things explicitly mentioned in the book. She tried to keep her voice up, her movements natural, and her stare engaging-- ironically all things learned from other books, titles on formal debate.

"The existence of free will alone means that societal laws are susceptible to change and exception. Government cannot predict what individuals will do, but a good government can still be prepared. The difference between a dark witch or wizard casting a Killing Curse, and a trained Auror casting a Killing Curse as a defense mechanism is much greater than Slinkheart's purist philosophy seems to imply. As stated by Olav Draper in An Auror's Account: Gellert Grindelwald's Aims for Wizarding Domination, 'intention is everything'. Most Aurors do not consciously decide to go through years of rigorous training because they have a sick desire to use dark magic. I daresay most have the desire, as well as the means to protect. And once they are certified government officials, they have a responsibility to protect. This means knowing what the enemy knows, and being able and willing to do everything that the enemy can and will do. The Unforgiveables have no countercurse, so it's not always a matter of combating fire with water. There are rare instances when the only way to fight fire is with fire. If the only way to defend against a wizard using the Killing Curse is to use the same curse in return, the auror has a duty to use it."

Upon finishing, the girl stood in place to let her final words sink in. With another nod toward the professor, she moved back to her place and sat down again. Arguing with such vigor was easier with a plan in mind, and Waker felt this one had been executed decently. Despite the fact that this particular speech had been much longer than the one she gave in History of Magic, she was more confident about its impact.

 Mainwaring paid close attention to the arguments presented. He had been right about Miss Nolan. She had reasoned her case with aplomb. Mr Jaymez had also done well although his job had been the tougher, given the inherent weakness of the position he was advocating.

 "Well done Mr Jaymez. Take another five points for Gryffindor.

 Unfortunately thanks to one of your housemates, Gryffindor House will not be keeping those points for long. Miss Morales! Such tardiness is not acceptable in this class or indeed in any other class. Six points off Gryffindor and you will write me a foot on this subject to show me that you understand what you have missed.

 Miss Nolan, that was an excellent presentation. Eight points to Ravenclaw.

 Now the floor is open to any and all who wish to speak."

Delilah had been sitting in class with the clear desire not to be picked on for discussion. Normally she would be happy to debate away on a subject, but only if she felt confident she knew a lot about it. She liked to pick obscure notes about subjects and place them on the table as part of her debate, but she couldn't do that with todays subject. Like always she had slacked of with some of her homework and not completed all the reading. Normally she was alright with reading but she just had not wanted to do this particular reading. At the last minute last night she had started to read and fallen with her head on her book. She had woken sore and wit a crook in her neck, which was still brothering her as she sat in her desk. Her eyes were down watching as she rolled her quill over the tabletop. Rolling her neck she hoped it hear the crack that her neck so desperately needed.

The only sound that had caused any sort of reaction from Delilah was the sound of Waker’s voice. Of course her dear friend Waker was prepared she would never have doubted her preparedness. Had she had the chance to finish the reading herself she might have stood a chancing in comparing to how prepared Waker was, but of her Delilah’s drive to test the waters with procrastination left her with half the reading done and a sore neck. She deserved the pain she currently felt, her father would say it was God’s way of hoping to direct her on the right path. Delilah was not sure she believed it but it made her smirk at the idea of hearing her father say something like that with her mother behind him rolling her eyes. How the two were married was beyond Delilah but she wasn’t about to question it or encourage divorce.

Delilah’s thoughts had definitely drifted from the class and the topic at hand. She stifled a yawn as best she could, sure she was looking quite odd making a face the way she was. She was not going to draw attention by letting her mouth open wide in a yawn, and be polite by covering her face as that would be far to noticeable, so in result she decided to look a little strange as she pulled her face to stop that yawn.

Rubbing her neck as she shifted in position she rubbed the back of her neck. She let her eyes dart around to see if anyone was going to pipe for discussion, she really hoped they did and the professor didn’t have to start picking people. Delilah was sure she could pull something out of her mind if she put enough thought into it though.

Atticus was sitting behind a couple of students who were by far larger than him. It was his intention to practice his impression of a potted plant. It wasn't that he didn't do the reading.  Well technically he didn't really give that much effort in classes even though this was one of his preferred ones. He didn't enjoy class on the whole and was avoiding being seen by the professor.

His eyes caught the look on one of the girls who seemed interesting to him. It was his usual mode of operation. Find someone who sparks his interest, keep an eye on them and draw. His quill scratched aimlessly as he kept his eyes keyed in on her. Why was she interesting? There was nothing outwardly eye catching, or at least that is what he would say if anyone caught him staring again. It seemed that he was usually seen as bizarre when he did that.

Moving awkwardly in his chair he looked back towards the girl who just spoke. If he attempted to give it his all he might very well open his mouth but Atticus would rather keep ducked down and listen to the other students. He wasn't much of a talker unless the situation was one that required his attention.