Taking his seat down Tag listened to the Professor. So they were going to be reviewing things? Or so it seemed? Either way he would be learning something- so that was the main point. First she wanted to know what the definition of a beast was.

Hmmm.

Raising his hand after thinking for a few seconds Tag said, "Tag Kildare, Professor. A beast is a creature that doesn't listen to the law and are classified by the Ministry." Right? Then he added, "But isn't there debates between what is a beast or a magical creature. Such as goblins? Like- they don't want to be classified as magical creatures for particular reasons." That made things a bit more tricky for the Ministry and the actual creature, of course. So, how does that get figured out?

With a sigh, Adrienne dramatically slid down from the bench and onto a mat, landing in a sort of crumpled heap before sitting back up properly and adjusting her jeans so the pockets were actually in the right place. She hated sitting on the floor, but she diligently pulled out her notebook, an eagle quill and a bottle of dark blue ink. She didn't want to miss anything on her first lesson, after all, so she opened up her ink bottle (which was surprisingly hard,) dipped her quill in, and copied down what Professor Roman had written on the board. She put her quill down and looked up, her hand already raised.

"Beasts are creatures that either cannot understand or cannot abide by Wizarding laws, I believe." Actually, Adrienne was 99.9% certain, but she didn't want to sound too presumptuous, so she just tacked that last bit on to sound... humbler? Well, whatever. She could add some stuff on about the first two attempts at having a 'beings only' meeting (yes, she had read Fantastic Beasts, thank you very much), but that wasn't actually a part of the question, so she refrained.

Kace sat down at his desk and it was quite easy to see the board like she mentioned. He didn't have to crank his neck or move left and right in front of the student he was sitting in front of.

Then he heard the professor wanted the definition of a beast? Well his own definition anyway. He thought of it for a bit and then raised his hand....

"Professor...I'm Kace Lecium...and a beast is a really scary creature that resorts to violence when threatened." Yup that is all he came up with, the little second year he was.

Nigel like lessons that were not repetitive. They were always nice. Not for first years. But to a fifth year. of Course. Now they were discussing beasts. Pretty vague question because humans can be considers beasts also.

"One definition of A Beast is just an unusual animal."

Though unusual is pretty vague also. Could be violent or gentle. Who knows

Beasts? Oooh, Caleb wanted to know what they were studying today! Anything but Lethifolds, he hoped. Those were SCARY. He raised his hand to answer the lady's question. "Hello Professor, I'm Caleb Newell. And I believe a beast is a magical creature, any magical creature, that is more feral like than human and cannot follow the same rules as the rest of society," he explained. It was hard to sum up what a beast was, really.

"West Odessa." West offered his name as he managed to fold himself in the space between benches. Taking up lots of room over here with legs and all.Hand up.

"Beast is a classification which is kind of arbitrary really. I think its wrong to say that just on account of something is classified by the Ministry as a beast that it means they aren't intelligent or that they're automatically dangerous. Plenty of beings are also dangerous, and there are plenty of beasts what you could have a conversation with before they kill you. I think beast really is a classification what was created to further the concepts of the superiority of Wizardkind... which is why some folk have it in their heads to campaign for Muggles to be considered beasts even." Obviously West knew the textbook definition and all, but it just wasn't clean cut enough to make sense to him really. The being definition was more clear that beast one, at least to West.

Adi was quite enjoying the seating arrangements for this class. He found it really comfortable. Beast. What was a beast?

He raised his hand. "Aditya Rehman, Professor,'' he began. He had told her his name before but might as well follow instructions. "A beast is an animal that can get rather scary and hurt someone if it feel it is in danger.''

Professor Roman was pretty, did she know? Once more, her mind wandered to Professor Fuller. He was very nice looking himself, did he know? Somehow, it just didn't seem appropriate to tell them so herself. Cat wondered about this as she settled herself on the mat. Interesting class already, right? Mats. They reminded her of yoga. Yoga reminded her of yogurt. Cat liked yoga and yogurt.

Cue raised hand. "Caterina Moretti, professor." That was indeed her name. Minus the professor bit, of course. "Beasts are creatures who may or may not be intelligent, some decide not to use their intelligence to do their part in bettering our world. Just because they're beasts doesn't mean they don't know anything. Like mermaids." Mermaids were beasts, technically, yes? But they were not unintelligent. Surely Nigel could back her up with that one.

Having already seated, Wade's eyes when they weren't on the very pretty Professor Roman were set on the extremely pretty bird in the cage. Assuming it was safe, he would very much like to pet it, but perhaps that would be another time. Especially as class began. It was no surprise that the first lesson would require note taking, since he was prepared and all.

Now then, they were asked on the classification on beasts, Wade raised his hand, "Wade.. Potter" He figured on saving her tongue the grief on adding in his full surname that had gave many others difficulty. "Beasts is a term that loosely refers to magical creatures that are supposedly unable just as intelligently to comprehend and blend in with the magical community and its laws." Quite vague, given the exceptions like the Centaurs and Merpeople who had chosen to be classified as such.

Cassia sat back on her heels and rested her elbows on the bench as she listened to the woman. Good, organizing, that was a very nice thing to know. The fifth-year nodded her head at all the words then came the question. She listened to others' answers before raising her hand. "Cassia Somerlad," Because names were important.

Now came the answer , "Magical Creatures are split into three categories, being, spirit and beast. Those that are dangerous and seem to cause serious harm are considered beasts. I guess the reason could be the level of intelligence or for those that are intelligent it's being brutal."

A very simple way to begin the class, okay, she could roll with that and even if the first lesson was all about the bird thing in the cage, it was fine. Know why? Because she fully expected something irrevocably vicious by the end of the term. Ahem. Yes. Moving on.

Lex raised her hand to offer her definition. "Alexa Cambridge." They were doing the name thing first yes? "It's got a pretty sketchy meaning to it, if I'm understanding right Professor." The whole being vs beast thing was all kinds of mixed up, with beings wanting to be beasts and some beast once as being....eh. "According to the Ministry it's a magical creature that isn't intelligent enough and can't participate in proper wizarding society or contribute to the rules or running of it."

Which kinda got her wondering. Before someone got the brilliant idea to classify acromantulas like beasts how in merlin's beard did they ever build up the society??? They did quite the opposite; they reduced the numbers!

Sophie got good and situated on her mat and prepared to take notes. NOTES. But...what happened to taking care of wild creatures, riding an Abraxan, or...feeding a Flobberworm at the very least? Those were all things she'd imagined in her first Care of Magical Creatures class.

At least there was hope that there might be some exciting beast hanging out in the shadows waiting to jump out and grace them with its presence. Speaking of which... She raised her hand. "A beast is a wild creature. It doesn't really think and act like we do," she said. It was just...well, WILD.

Back to basics again? This is why the firsties should have their own classes. So that the older students wouldn't get bored. She stuck her hand up in air, though. "Sky Carter-Hope and I agree with West." And she would add that the ones who campaign for Muggles to be considered beasts deserved to be thrown off the planet. Just create a nice community for them somewhere in the center of Jupiter's Giant Red Storm Spot. Mmmmhmmmm.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Team ronmione

Taking his seat down Tag listened to the Professor. So they were going to be reviewing things? Or so it seemed? Either way he would be learning something- so that was the main point. First she wanted to know what the definition of a beast was.

Hmmm.

Raising his hand after thinking for a few seconds Tag said, "Tag Kildare, Professor. A beast is a creature that doesn't listen to the law and are classified by the Ministry." Right? Then he added, "But isn't there debates between what is a beast or a magical creature. Such as goblins? Like- they don't want to be classified as magical creatures for particular reasons." That made things a bit more tricky for the Ministry and the actual creature, of course. So, how does that get figured out?

"Thank you for bringing that up, Tag. Yes, when the definition of 'beast' was decided upon in 1811, many creatures who, by that definition, would be classified as a 'being', decided to remain in the 'beast' category. These include Centaurs and Merpeople, who could actively participate in matters of Wizarding Law. Goblins, however, fall into the 'being' definition and have remained there." To clear that up. But Roman was truly glad that was brought up, especially in the first lesson, and glad that she decided to start the lesson with the background information. As she suspected, they must not have gotten everything sorted terms prior.

Many students, Tag and the first few who answered among them, answered exactly as Melanie was expecting. Then the younger students, who may just not know, and Melanie noted their participation and attempt. However, there were a few that sparked excellent points.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tegz

"West Odessa." West offered his name as he managed to fold himself in the space between benches. Taking up lots of room over here with legs and all.Hand up.

"Beast is a classification which is kind of arbitrary really. I think its wrong to say that just on account of something is classified by the Ministry as a beast that it means they aren't intelligent or that they're automatically dangerous. Plenty of beings are also dangerous, and there are plenty of beasts what you could have a conversation with before they kill you. I think beast really is a classification what was created to further the concepts of the superiority of Wizardkind... which is why some folk have it in their heads to campaign for Muggles to be considered beasts even." Obviously West knew the textbook definition and all, but it just wasn't clean cut enough to make sense to him really. The being definition was more clear that beast one, at least to West.

West's answer stood out to her the most, and lit her eyes with excitement. Her nervousness from earlier completely vanished as the class took this interesting turn, which Roman was more than eager to run with.

"While I wanted the textbook definition from you all, as Alexa put it, the meaning is indeed sketchy, and West raised an excellent point on Wizard superiority. So let's take just a moment on this aside," she addressed the class, "Do you think the textbook definition of 'beast' or 'being' is correct? Fair? Just? What would you define 'beast' as?

Feel free to start up a small debate, if you feel the need to add onto someone's point." This....wasn't in her lesson plan, but things happened, and Melanie was excited to hear and participate in what the students came up with.

As they got the ball rolling, she added to the board.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chalkboard

Care of Magical Creatures

Beast: A creature who cannot participate in lawmaking or understanding laws of Wizardkind, or are of extreme brutal nature.

OOC: Feel free to debate among classmates. Professor Roman may post and participate. The lesson will officially move off this topic around 1:30pm EST / 6:30pm GMT October 2nd.

Tora raised her hand for the first time all of class. "Well I think that a beast is anyone or anything that cannot think for themselves." she said, just to start off the debate. Normally she didn't particularly enjoy Care of Magical Creatures, but she did like debates. She got to ask so many questions! She sat back and waited for someone else to give input on the matter so she could fire a response right back. Might as well make this fun!

Hmm. This was an interesting topic, and it was one that Mo often had with himself. Y'know, because talking to oneself was totally normal. He settled with his legs outstretched under the bench and his elbows propped up on it, and he tried not to watch the bird instead of the professor.

Animals were just more interesting sometimes. And he had his camera, and that bird was super photogenic.

"I think that Tora has a point, in so far as the traditional definition of beasts included those that were not sentient. Or... those that couldn't think for themselves or speak up for their rights. But my opinion is that we're limiting beasts to our understanding of what thinking and speaking should look like. Under the broadest definition, a beast is a living creature, and we are included in that category. I could do without beast/being distinctions." So says Mo.

Adrienne smiled at the idea of a debate. These were always fun, and she could be quite good at arguing, if she was supporting a good point. And since she was arguing her own beliefs, of course that meant it was a good point. One older boy was saying something that didn't make much sense to her.

"But if we don't get into semantics about the literal meaning of beast and such, I think that beast/being distinctions are actually incredibly important." Adrienne took a deep breath and leaned forward slightly before continuing. "How else would we decide who to allow input on Wizarding laws and who should be left to self-govern? What would we do if every creature were considered completely equal and allowed to function independently? That would be complete and total chaos. Don't you remember what happened during the first two attempted gatherings of beings?" Lots of questions, sure, but they were all important ones. And yes, maybe she'd read Fantastic Beasts more than once. Or twice.

Minerva listened to the others discuss what a beast was. She knew the meaning and she knew how wizards looked at it. To her there were a difference. "I agree they should have definitions and they should be classified, but we should be in that classification as well. We are as Mo said a beast by definition so we should be like the others. I feel that some of the creatures that can think for themselves get bad reactions from some wizards because of this standard rule to classify them. When they should be fairly treated."

She had always felt awkward about this topic really. Maybe it was her muggle upbringing and the fact they didn't have elves, mermaids, or centaurs that could think for themselves, but it was odd to think they considered them creatures to be classified when they were human like by talking and some actions.

"Alice Fischer." Hand up.

The sixth year had been sitting crosslegged on the ground, quietly listening to everyone else's answers before offering up her own. "Some so called beasts, like Acromantulas and Sphinxes, qualified for being status, as they're capable of human speech. But since they were deemed vicious, dangerous, and bloodthirsty, they were identified as beasts instead." Paaaause.

"I don't understand that. They fit being criteria, but because of a few other traits, they were denied that status? Are the supposedly beastly characteristics more dominant in them?"

She rocked and forth a bit and watched the professor. Observed. Hi lady. We see you.

So yeah, the older students were a bit intimidating. But Adrienne was determined to argue her point with everyone who was willing to talk to her, and also prove to Professor Roman that she was the most dedicated student in the whole class- no, in the whole school! She was the Care of Magical Creatures MASTER!

Ahem. She cleared her throat before raising her hand to respond to the Gryffindor. "Well, an acromantula for example, is capable of having an intelligent discussion of someone, but... ninety-nine percent of the time, it ends up eating the person who was trying to talk to it. So I don't exactly see how one would expect it to be able to overcome its own beastly instinct enough to contribute something to Wizarding discussions." Besides, both of them were mostly left to themselves, as long as they didn't kill too many wandering muggles or anything. It's not like they were being maltreated, they were just sanctioned off to sections of uninhabited forest.

"Careful there," Professor Roman smiled, "That can lead to what is considered thinking? All beasts can think about catching prey when they're hungry, building their nests, or simply moving from one end of a field to another. That all takes thought." Of course, it was easy to understand what the girl meant, but for the sake of debate, specificity was preferred.

"Beasts? she inquired, "Or scientifically defined animals. This exercise is to come up with a definition, not assume that we already fall under one. Beast, being, and spirit weren't defined until the Council made it so, after all." Therefore, 'definition' couldn't be used as an argument.

Melanie was liking Adrienne's position most of all at this point. Yet, "So Wizarding law input should remain across species? Why not each species, human, knarl, merperson, each establish their own goverment?" That was a bit of a ludicrous idea, yeah, or knarls to create a government? Would that be because they should have a species of higher intelligence look out for them?

"Are you saying some creatures should be included in the currently established 'being' category, where they can participate in matters of Wizarding law?" Professor Roman asked, steering Minerva towards specificity, as with Tora.

Melanie opened her mouth to speak, only to close it a few moments later, as Adrienne stepped in. All was fine, as Roman was trying to promote the class discussion. "Adrienne said it very well. It seems like those who established the definitions felt that the beastly instinct, to hunt and prey and harm, was too severe to have them regularly interact with other 'beings'. I'd like to add that this probably also leads into the participation of making and abiding by Wizarding laws, where those who instinctively harm others, probably wouldn't do so well crammed into a room with other beings."

Uhhhh....

Sophie couldn't really think of anything debatable to say. She was really just learning about all this 'beast' stuff and probably had more questions than points to make. She sat there like a bump on a log for a few minutes and watched her classmates like they were ping pong balls going back and forth.

"Question," she said, raising her hand. "Oh, and I'm Sophie Newell, by the way." Just in case the professor didn't know her name, which was likely the case. Anyway... "So why are we worried about laws and law-making when it comes to creatures anyway? I mean, aren't they just...creatures? Do they even care about those kinds of things?"

Nobody throw anything at her, mmkay? Just an innocent question here.

West was listening to other people -mostly Ravenclaws who apparently got all twitchy and eager when the mere hint of a debate was possible let alone when it was actually encouraged- but he'd said his opinion pretty clearly already. Alice got a sort of nod smile since he agreed with her and also she was pretty.

"I think the statute is the important factor in all of this. If a magical non-wizard." or witch, West throwing his own term out there to cover beasts and beings, "Is able to choose to hide from Muggles and regulate their own protection when it comes to passing undetected, then why do we need to get involved? If left to their own devices they'd be seen and may pose a risk to Muggles, or reveal the existence of the Magical World at large, then maybe that's the only time that the Ministry really needs to step in or get involved." And then none of that definition junk, just base it on behaviour, just like with witches and wizards.

Mmmmmkay.

Toby was playing it safe on this one. He didn't like being in classes where there were debates, because eventually there were bad vibes, and Toby didn't LIKE those. Who DID?

So instead, he just kind of sat there, taking notes and having to kneel on the ground rather than sit because those benches were just a bit of a stretch to reach for someone who hadn't hit his growth spurt yet.

And... that was it. Just taking notes on what everyone was saying and waiting to see what creature meant they had to sit on the floor.

And avoiding giving any input because he didn't want to cause any negative feelings or bad vibes.

Adi sat there listening to everyone talk, having offered his own definition for a beast the first time around. He did not usually give text book definitions, just the ones off the top of his head. It was quite interesting, this debate was. Until he heard Sophie's question. And that made him stare at her in disbelief. Why would she think that? Creatures were living beings too, just like everyone of them.