Jake raised his hand. "Ooh! The part with the dog, Sabre, where he's dead, and they make the king try and bring him back," Jake answered. "I think it's, like, interesting, because it shows in... I don't know, a simple way?... that magic isn't the answer to all problems. It made me cry, reading that part, but it's, like, my favourite part."

Okay, I did not just admit that I cried... FAIL.

Cela raised her hand, "It has been suggested that Babbity Rabbitty was modeled after Lisette de Lapin who vanished after being tried for witchraft in 1422. It is suggested that she was a Rabbit animagus, like Babbity Rabbity." Celandine commented, "And that same rabbit was seen in a cauldron with a sail, trying to cross the English channel and then a similar Rabbit was seen as an advisor to the court of King Henry VI."

Chris raised his hand. "This story i feel shows how magic cant be taught to others, it must be aqquired from birth and fine tuned throughout their lives."

Raiden raised his hand. "I think it's interesting that Babbity Rabbity was one of the few stories in which Beedle stayed really close to magical law." He thought for a second. "But the part where Babbity talked while she was a rabbit wasn't really possible, was it? Because... I don't think Animaguses can talk..." He couldn't know for sure, as he'd never actually tried to talk to one. In fact, he wasn't even sure he'd ever met one...

Hmmm. Upon hearing the professor's question, Willow began gnaw on her bottom lip, her expression turning thoughtful. A few moments later, though, she raised her hand, "Um, well, it known that the story was written before the use of Unforgivable Curses was made illegal, sir." She shuddered.

"Certainly I believe that is how muggles view magic; as something free of consequences."

"Thats right." Ethan agreed.

"A particularly nasty example of greed. Coveting something that you do not have that someone else has and doing everything in your power to keep that something for yourself without havin to share."

"True, there were a few liberties taken, and yet several laws of magic were still followed. Perhaps those which Beedle thought were inconsequential were ignored, while those he believed important were included.' Truebridge commented.

"That's right, Evangeline." Ethan nodded.

Truebridge waited....

"Inw which ways?"

"It does." Ethan agreed.

"Wanting everything and ending up with nothing. Sometimes it is better to be patient and aim to understand something than to jump in with both feet and take what isn't yours when you don't really know what consequences might result from your greed."

"Good point. Yes it does illustrate these differences quite nicely." Zan agreed.

"That is right. Necromancy does not work... generally."

"Very good." Truebridge responded.

"Well... magic can be taught to those who have a natural ability for it."

"Right. But it is a liberty that Beedle took that has no great consequence, or perhaps he was unfamilar with animagi. They cannot talk when in their animal form." Truebridge explained, stroking the cat in his lap as he did so.


"Ah yes. Good point. Can anyone relate that to the story?"

"Near to the end of the tale, Babitty tells the King that by cutting a witch in half, he had caused a great curse to fall upon his people. Should they hurt any of her magic fellow, a feeling she described it as if axes were cutting into their bodies, until they wished to be dead would invade them all. Or something like that." Evangeline said after giving it some thought. Surely, he meant that. "Some people claim that is the feeling the Cruciatus curse produces." Thankfully, she couldn't confirm it herself.

"Well," Started Willow once more, one her hands in the air, "There's a point in the story in which Babbity says that there's a curse to perform magic that would cause a great amount of pain if they hurt a wizard or witch. So, I'm guessing she was referring to the Cruciatus Curse, Professor? Had those kind of curses been illegal during her time, she might have not use that as a threat. Maybe." Or maybe she would have, even if she was sure she would do it? Hmm.

Raiden's hand went up again. "It's believed that when Babbity talked about the King feeling pain whenever a witch or wizard was attacked by his anti-magic squad thing, she could have been referring to using the Cruciatus Curse... because the curse would prolly make the king feel exactly what Babbity was describing."

Chris raised his hand. "Maybe Professor, since back then they didnt understand the ways of muggles as much as we do now. That pain the King felt was the forerunner of the Cruciatus Curse. It is the same thing today but people have abused the once seldom used spell for the pain of others."

Tobi raised his hand, "I don't know if I relate to it as such, but I think everyone aspires to be more than they are. Not everyone goes to the lengths the king does, most people, especially in their childhood, wish to become something they consider exciting. They king, who was very immature wanted to be a wizard, the only wizard even. Babbity on the other hand represents a kind of maturity, she was content to live as a washerwoman, though she was capable of so much more. It's a story that is easy to relate to on a universal level in that sense. When we grow up, we tend to let go of our 'shoulda, coulda, wouldas' and count what blessings we have.

"I know my parents like the story because it shows that people can outsmart corrupt people in power, a sort of 'good will overcome' type of thing. They're not overly fond of many of the Ministry's Rules and Regulations," Tobi paused, making a sour face, or their Statutes, he thought. "And moreover, how they go about implementing them, but like Babbity, they chose to live under the proverbial radar rather than come back and scream in their faces after they had untangled their own mess."

Quote:

Originally Posted by DanialRadFAN01

Chris raised his hand. "Maybe Professor, since back then they didnt understand the ways of muggles as much as we do now. That pain the King felt was the forerunner of the Cruciatus Curse. It is the same thing today but people have abused the once seldom used spell for the pain of others."

Raiden had been making notes in his book when he heard a boy nearby answer the question... and his quill stopped dead mid-word. What? He looked at the boy, confused. What had he just said?

"Uhm... could... you repeat that?" he asked the boy quietly. "I didn't quite... understand what you were getting at?"

He'd been noting down points from everyone's answers, and this was the only one that had stopped him and confused him...

Anna raised her hand and said, "At the end of the story, as soon as both the muggle and the King are exposed as being phony magicians, Bappity appears and says that the King is cursed, and he'll wish for death everytime a witch or wizard is harmed. That sounds pretty much like the Cruciatus Curse to me. If the situation occured during a time when this curse was legal, then Bappity could have openly referred to its use and also used it as a means to punish the King without partaking in anything illegal," Anna said.

"The Cruciatus Curse is known to cause great amounts of pain, and I can imagine its victims wishing for sudden death rather then the effects of the Cruuciatus Curse. It could be that Bappity cursed the King by having him always feel the effects of this curse each and every time a witch or wizard was harmed," she finished.

"Right. Cruciatus and so on and so forth." Truebridge agreed.

"While... your answer is insightful, I think you misheard the question. But, I'd still like everyone to make notes on what Tobi just said because he makes some very good points."

Ethan blinked and was highly tempted to point at Raiden and say 'what he said' but instead he tried to clarify and explain.

"I believe they understood the ways of muggles equally well if not better. It has been a long time since we have been open about our magic, and even if during the time Babbitty Rabbitty is set, Witches and Wizards were hiding from muggles; the muggles still 'knew' about the existance of magic. The king was merely threatened with pain, and you have reverse the last part of your answer, Chris. Cruciatus is seldom used today, and was far more common before the law was passed to make it unforgivable."

Phew.


"That's right." Ethan agreed.

"So you all know what's coming: summarise the story and the lessons we can learn from it please, and I'll choose two of you to add your notes to the board."

Kayla raised her hand, "Okay this story is baasically about a king who wanted to learn the art of magic, not realising that you are actually born with magic and could not simply learn it. He asked for a witch or wizard to come forward and teach him magic. So a sneaky charlatan stepped forward and claimed that he was a wizard with enormous skill and that he would teach the king magic but he only knew a few simple tricks himself. So they set forth and began to practice but nothing really happened for the king and he grew quite angry when the washerwoman by the name of Babbitty laughed at their efforts. So the king decided to show his magic tricks to all the townsfolk and the charlatan grew quite nervous at this and decided to flee but the king forbade him to go. The charlatan spotted Babbitty polishing her wand and knew that she was a real witch and so he basically blackmailed her into helping the king perform his magic tricks in front of the townsfolk. So Babbitty consented to helping the king but of course when he was asked to bring back the dead, she could not perform that spell because as we know, no spell can awaken the dead. The charlatan pointed out Babbitty hiding in the bush and set the Witch-Hunters after her. Babbitty being the smart little cookie that she was hid inside a tree and began to speak from it. The charlatan thought she had turned herself into a tree and so he ordered them to cut the tree down but alas the tree stump still continued to talk. It claimed that by cutting the witch in half it had placed a terrible curse upon the town and that every time they hunted down a witch or wizard it will feel as though they themselves have been cut. And so the king vowed never to harm another witch or wizard and he had a statue of Babbitty erected upon the stump. The moral of this story is too never meddle in anything you do not truly understand and leave those alone who are different from yourself."

Shrugging and jotting down what Professor Truebridge had just said, he immediately raised his hand.

"In this story, there's a king who decides that he should be the only one who gets to do magic... and he makes a Brigade of Witchhunters to hunt down anyone who can do magic. He also puts out that he needs a Grand Wizard to teach him magic... and a regular Muggle decides that he can make money off this and goes to the castle to get the King to hire him for the job. He does some cheap Muggle magic tricks and the King hires him. The lying guy asks for a sack of gold, some rubies, and silver chalicey things so he can buy wants, perform spells, and make potions. He hides all this stuff in his house, and he's walking back to castle and stops to break two twigs off a tree to pretend that he's bought wands. The washerwoman, Babbity, she sees him doing this as he walks back into the castle." He paused, thinking. "The guy tells the King that the twig is a wand that's really powerful, but it won't work until he's worthy of it, so he takes him out to the Palace Grounds every day to practice 'magic', while all the while making sure to do silly tricks so the King will still believe his power. And one day, the King and the... what's the word they use for him.. oh, Charlatan. The King and the charlatan hear Babbity laughing at them... and the King gets all bothered, and he says he's gonna perform his magic the next day in front of people. The charlatan tries to explain himself out of it, and leave, but the King says that if he leaves, his Witchhunters will get him. So the charlatan is in big trouble now, because he's gonna get caught in his lies, and he goes to yell at Babbity... but when he looks through her window, he sees her doing magic and recognizes that she's a witch. And he tells her if she doesn't help him by making the king's 'spells' happen, he'll reveal her for a witch and the dogs will eat her. So Babbity goes along with it, but she says 'what do I do if I can't perform one of the spells he tries?'. The charlatan laughs at her and says that he's sure anything the King can imagine up is well within Babbity's skill range..."

He tapped his chin for a second and then continued.

"The next day, the King gathers people and starts his magic show. First he tries to disappear a woman's hat, and Babbity makes it happen, cos she's hiding in the bushes where they won't see her. Then, the King levitates a horse in the air, but it's really Babbity doing that too. And then, one of his Witchhunters comes forward and says that the King should bring their dog back to life, cos he ate a poisonous something earlier that day and died. Well, the King tries, but Babbity just smirks in her hiding place because she knows that no spell can bring back the dead... and the charlatan's gonna get in trouble because the King's spell isn't working, so he points at Babbity and calls her a wicked witch. And the people chase her, and when she gets over a hedge she disappears. And the witch hunting dogs are after this old tree nearby, so the charlatan yells that Babbity's disguised herself as a tree and they cut the tree down, thinking they're gonna kill her... but she's not the tree at all, and the next thing they know, they're hearing her voice saying that they can't kill a witch by cutting them in half, and they should try on the charlatan... who immediately admits that he's not magical at all, so they won't cut him in half. And as he gets dragged off to the dungeons, Babbity says that by cutting her in half, they've put a curse on the kingdom and every time a witch or wizard is killed by the Hunters, the king will feel pain in his side like an axe and he's gonna want to die. And then she says that he has to build a statue of her on the stump of the tree, which they do, and when all's said and done and they leave, a rabbit comes out from under the stump with a wand in her teeth and disappears. Because Babbity wasn't the tree, she was under the tree. And because of her, no witch or wizard was ever prosecuted in that kingdom ever again."

Summarize the story. Right. After bending down to reach for her school bag -that was on the floor- and taking out a fresh parchement, Willow dipped the tip of her quill inside her bottle of ink, and started to write her summary, chuckling a bit as she wrote certain parts of it.

Honestly--trying to do magic with a regular twig? Willow could not blame Babbity for having laughed at that, for she would have done it, too.

Done with it, she proceed to re-read it to see if she had forgotten to mention something important about it.

After adding the part of the rabbit leaving the kingdom with a wand on his mouth -ew-, Willow started to write about the lessons that could be learned from the story.

Done with writing her notes, Willow proceed to listen to Winters and a young Slytherin boy tell a summary of the story to the class.

Anna raised her hand and said, "The story begins with a King in a faraway land deciding that he wants to keep all the world's magic for himself. Of course it begins with selfish...don't they all? I don't know when these people will ever learn!" Anna playfully rolled her eyes and shook her head at the King's nonsense. Whoever thought they could keep all the world's magic for themselves? Hmpf. "So this King devises a plan to gather all the witches and wizards of the world by forming a Brigade of Witch Hunters. The Witch Hunters have packs of wild dogs that he...I guess...feels will help capture the magical population. If you ask me, though, I don't think he knew what he was getting himself into. I mean, would you allow yourself to be captured by a pack of wild dogs? I don't think so!"

"The King then calls upon a real witch or wizard to assist him in learning magic. Only, no real magical people respond. He only hears from a muggle who claims to know magic. Of course he really doesn't, though. Muggles only know tricks that they believe to be magic!" Anna said. "The King is forced to give this Muggle money and treasures for his services, items which the muggle hides away in his small house. One day, Babbity, a woman who does the King's laundry, spies the muggle tearing limbs from a tree and using them as 'wands'. She knows then that he is definitely a fake, and she even laughs at the King and the muggle as they attempt to learn what they consider to be magic. Whoever heard of a wand looking like a limb, though?" Anna asked, shaking her head once again.

"In a fit of anger, the King demands that the muggle perform in front of the King's subjects to allow the King to show off his new magical abilities. The muggle tries to back out, of course, but the King threatens him with the Brigade, causing him to give in. Shortly thereafter, a few muggles go to Babbity's house to spy on her, and they find out that she is a real witch. They demand help from her and tell her that if she refuses, they'll turn her in.," Anna continued. Babbity agrees to hide in a bush to make it seem as if the King is doing the magic himself, when really it's going to be Babbity's magic being displayed."

"Trouble begins when a member of the Brigade asks the King to bring his dead dog back to life. Of course the King, nor Babbity, can do this, as it is impossible to use magic to bring back the dead. The crowd laughs at the King, who wonders why the spell isn't working. The muggle points to the bush, where Bappity is hiding, and tells the King that Babbity is blocking the magic. Babbity runs from the bush with the dogs from the Brigade right behind her, then finally disappears," Anna said.

"In the end, Babbity begins cackling, letting the crowd know she is alive and well, and she tells them that a real witch or wizard can not be cut in half. You see, the muggles thought she was inside a tree, so they cut it in half, thinking the could kill her. Babbity tells them to try and cut the muggle in half to prove her point. Of course the muggle then confesses that he is a phony, but by the time, Babbity has cursed the King. She tells him that he'll wish for death everytime a witch or wizard if harmed. Babbity finished by demanding a statue of her be made and put up to remind everyone of what they've done. She then reveals she is an animagus by coming out of the tree in her rabbit form, her wand in her mouth. She then leaves the kingdom, but her statue remained on the stump," Anna finished.

Anna took a deep breath and continued. "Of course we can learn not to be selfish, and not to wish for things which are out of our control. The King wa selfish in that he wanted all the magic in the world for himself, and he was willing to pay any price to get that magic. He should have just taken delight in what he was naturally given and tried to be a fair ruler of his kingdom," she said. "He would have gotten far more respect that way. The story also shows us that those telling the truth and living fairly will always outwit those who try and cunningly meet their needs."

Summarise the story? Oh Merlin. That was the biggest of them all, and Evangeline really didnt know that much about it. Strangely enough, she had never found it that funny. Eh. Silly ickle her. She didnt know it'd be useful! "There is this foolish, greedy king who wants all the magic for himself. But giving the fact he doesnt know any magic at all and that there were true magical people on his kingdom, he needs to learn magic and get rid of all the wizards." Silly little King. Greedy people were nasty. "So he gets himself a teacher. Only that .. his teacher doesnt really know anything about magic and it's only there for the money." The sixth year stopped talking and grew thoughtful for a moment before sheepishly smiling, her cheeks getting warmer. "I don't really remember how, but there's this witch Babbitty's ... who someone is forced to help the fake wizard. Yes, because the King wants to do a live performance of his magic and he'll kill the charlatan if he cant." Why would Babbitty help him, she was sure though. "During the performance, someone asks the king to revive a .. hound, I believe and obviously, Babbitty can't help with that, because .. well, magic can't revive the dead. The charlatan told her on and she ran away to the woods, where she flees into an old tree, and the fake wizard says she has turn into the tree and they cut the tree down .. I think. In the end, the charlatan confesses and the stump makes the king agree that he shall build a statue of Babbitty in that same place. Then, a old rabbit is seen leaving the stump with a wand on its teeth"

Okay. That should do it, no? Even if she had forgotten parts of it. Hehe.

"This tale teaches us that lying doesnt take us anywhere, and that greediness is usually trouble." The Prefect said, scratching her chin. Surely there was more. "Oh ... and manipulation aint good either." Haha.

Clifford threw his arm excitedly in the air. YAY for BABBITY RABBITTY!

"Basically there's this King dude who's a wizard wannabe, yeah? And he goes about waving twigs around thinking he's totally cool." HAH! "BABBITTY finds it hilarious obviously and starts cackling like a mad woman.. but then he blackmails her cos he's a bully and she helps him do this performance thing." Poor Babbitty. "Erm.. someone wants him to bring their dog from the dead, but obviously he cant do that cos he's a big fat fake and magic cant do that." Big breath. "But then there's a nice happy ending with Babbitty's statue." Hmm.

"It teaches us that twigs don't make good magic wands and that some people like Babbitty Rabbitty have really awesome names." There.

Raiden put his hand in the air again, having totally forgotten to add the lessons learned in the story.

"The lessons in this story are pretty clear. Lying can get you into really bad situations. And trying to make it so you're the only one who has something will backfire too. Like, the King wanted to be the only one with magic, but because of this, Babbity told him she'd put a curse on him so he'd feel pain if he tried to go after magic people again." He thought for a moment, then continued. "Also... I think another lesson is 'don't mess with things you don't know or understand', because the king tries to mess with magic and he gets himself into trouble...And that magic can't bring anything or anyone back from the dead."

"It's a good story with a good moral." Truebridge commented. "Kayla, if you would come up to the board and summarise in bullet form."

"Wow." Truebridge listened and blinked a few times, "That... yeah, that's the story alright."

"What you got there, Willow?" Truebridge saw the Ravenclaw was busy writing notes, "How bout you come up and list the lessons we learn from the story on the board."

"Thank you, Anna." Truebridge nodded.

"Manipulation ain't good... if you suck at it." Truebridge commented, "Thank you, Evangeline. Good answer."

'Good, Clifford." Truebridge nodded, lifting the cat up to nuzzle it before setting it back in his lap.

"That's right, Raiden. Someone likes stories , eh?"

Ethan nodded, "Phew! That was a long one, huh? But you are all doing wonderfully.

"Alright, so it's probably time to cover.... which tale is left?"

Heheheee. Clifford raised his hand in the air again, "That would beeeeeee, The Tale of the Three Brothers right, Sir?" He said confidently with a nod.

Anna raised her hand and said, "The last tale is 'The Tale of the Three Brothers'," she said. This one was her favorite, because she once read that the tale was a turning point in the war against the evil Voldemort. This story was monumental!!

Raiden bounced in his seat and his hand shot up. "Oooh Oooh Mr. Professor Truebridge, the last one is the Tale of the Three Brothers!" Right after The Warlock's Hairy Heart, The Three Brothers tale was his favourite. "And yes. I like faerie tales... I got to listen to and read a lot of them when I was littler."