"The Deatheaters by fear and Slytherin by power." Ethan repeated and made a few adjustments to the list.

"We are talking about Fear and Power as motivators, please pay attention." Truebridge raised one eyebrow at the Gryffindor prefect when he'd finished speaking. It wasn't that he was wrong it was just that he clearly hadn't been paying attention.

"So Bellatrix Lestrange was motivated by both? Very well." Ethan added that to the list.

"That's all very well and good, Abby but just like Chris, the motivators that we are supposed to be talking about are fear and power." Ethan moved on, expressionless.

"The Lestranges, and Dolohov by power and fear." Ethan added that to the list.

"Power. And. Fear." Ethan repeated loudly, though his voice remained a monotone.

"Excellent point. Not just fear of Voldemort, there are many different kinds of fair if you look closer. And Morgan Le Fay for Power." Truebridge added to the list.

Truebridge listened carefully and took the list from Raiden.
"I'll just add these to the list, then shall I? Did you want to elaborate on some of your reasoning behind these?"

Ethan nodded along at the 'both' comments.

"Ah. Power for Regulus Black. I think that is some good reasoning." Truebridge nodded.

"I like to hear generalisations justified." Truebridge nodded in appreciation and added the suggested answers to the list.


"Any thoughts on the Gaunt Family? On Merwyn the Malicious? Any up there that you don't agree with? We're almost done here and most of you are doing well. At least... those of you that are paying attention." Ethan shook his head once and tapped the chalk against the board.

Kiri put aside her quill and flexed her aching hand. She'd been scribbling at top speed to get everything down. Not an easy feat, considering she was sitting on a squashy pillow on the floor with no table to put her parchment down upon. In the end, she had settled for placing it, supported by her notebook, on her lap. The quill had tickled her face as she wrote.

Now she could finally do something else, even if it meant having to do thinking that was up to Professor Truebridge's standards. She raised her hand. "There's not much known about Merwyn the Malicious," she told the professor. At least I don't know much about him, she added silently. "But as he's said to have invented Dark hexes and jinxes, I think it looks as if he was more motivated by power than fear. He wanted to control his enemies' fear, though, by making up all that Dark magic."

Kiri scratched her head, trying to remember what she'd read about the Gaunts. She longed to uncross her legs, too, her feet were numb. "Er... Marvolo Gaunt, I'd say he was doing it for power as well. I mean, he was really proud to be Pureblood, even if it meant living in poverty. His son," she continued, ticking them off on her fingers, "I'd say power as well, but mainly because he was taught by his father. That's why he hated Muggles and non-Purebloods. Maybe there was an element of fear, too, though," she added as an afterthought, "seeing as he usually attacked Muggles who couldn't defend themselves against magic. And er, Merope..." Kiri gave a shrug. "I think she doesn't fit into this pattern of fear and power. She wasn't a Dark witch, anyway."

"I would say Marvolo Gaunt was obsessed with pride at being a descendant of Salazar Slytheran. You would call it power. Marvolo did use his power to dominate his children. He bullied them excessively."

"Morfin Gaunt was a combination of power and fear. He was afraid of his father, but at the same time defied him. Morfin liked to use his magical abilities to frighten the muggle- one muggle in particular Tom Riddle, Sr."

"At first I would say Merope was totally fear, but after describing her brother, I think she would be power and fear too. She feared her father to the point she could not perform magic. After her father and brother were sentenced to Azkaban, Merope discovered her own power. She used a love potion to force Tom Riddle to marry her. Merope became pregnant with his son. When Riddle deserted her, Merope's fear returned. She was so devastated Merope lost not only her magical abilities again, but her will to live."

"I'm sorry about not paying closer attention to what you said earlier, Professor Truebridge. I will try to stay more focused in the future." What is it with this teacher? I don't have a problem staying focused in any other class. Why do I let Truebridge intimidate me?

Copernicus glanced up from his notes (which he had been working on intensely... clearly NOT distracted. Nope. Not this one) with his brow wrinkled. So that left... Merwyn? The one who sounded like Merlin's lispy cousin?

He raised his hand. "I would say anyone who seeks to invent something that clearly causes harm most likely has a seated desire to invoke harm on people in a completely new and unknown way in order to better instill fear. If you can't understand what causes your suffering, it makes the suffering more severe. For that reason, I would suspect Merwyn the Malicious was primarily motivated by a hunger for power."

He rubbed his hand across his hair, sending it into disarray. "But without knowing more full details on the man, its hard to say. Afterall, maybe he was bullied and wanted the means to keep from being picked on. Maybe he was diminutive. Maybe something of both."

"I don't agree with Barty Crouch, Sr. He was driven by more than just fear. In his day Barty Crouch, Sr. was a very ambitious man. He wanted to be Minister of Magic, and he didn't care what he had to do to achieve that goal. During Voldemort's first rise to power, Crouch put a number of suspected deatheaters in Azkaban without the benefit of a trial. Sirius Black was among his victims. Crouch was so determined to save what was left of his career after it came out that his son was also a deatheater, Barty didn't bat an eyelash when he sentenced his own son to Azkaban also without a trial."

"Couldn't part of that link back to fear though?" Reid asked Abby. "I mean you say he was desperate and put suspected Death Eaters into Azkaban without a trial so couldn't that be because he was afraid of what would happen to his career if he didn't sentence them to Azkaban, especially after his son was named a Death Eater. He could have been afraid that he would be suspected of being sympathetic towards Voldemort if he didn't place them in Azkaban." Reid theorized. Really if you looked at it nearly everything could be linked back to fear.

"I don't disagree with fear. I just feel that it isn't the only reason Barty Crouch, Sr. should be considered a dark wizard. I agree with you that his fear did start after his son was discovered to be a deatheater."

Adrienne listened to one of the Hufflepuffs speak about the Gaunt family, then raised her hand again. "I'd have to say, in a way, both Marvolo and Morfin seemed to be motivated by their power to instill fear in others. As Abby said, Marvolo found power in intimidating his children, but also other wizards. He saw way more power in what he saw as Salazar Slytherin's crest on his ring than almost was necessary, especially since we all know it wasn't Slytherin's crest on his ring at all. And Morfin liked tormenting pretty much everyone, just because he could. Except for his father.

And Merope, I don't think, really saw it as power she was being motivated by when she sought out to get Tom Riddle for her own. She did fear her father, so yes, part of her motivation could be said to be fear. But then, can love potions, in general, be considered as Dark magic? Since that's really all we've talked about her doing. I mean, I think love potions definitely would be misguided magic, but Dark?" She honestly wasn't sure.

Er. The list on the board... Raiden stared at it for a moment before speaking up.

"Sir, I think... that Salazar Slytherin was motivated by fear, not power. In my opinion, the things he did were done out of the fear that Muggles and Muggleborns would take over Wizarding Society, pollute the bloodlines, and bring an end to magic as a whole. I don't believe he was seeking power, but searching for a way to preemptively halt that which he found threatening." Hmmm. "And Fenrir Greyback, I believe he was motivated solely by power, because... well he used his werewolf illness to inspire fear in others. He used fear, but I don't think he himself was motivated by it. I think it was all about power over others for him." Nod. "And The Gaunt Family, they were motivated by fear. At least, I believe that. Their actions seemed to be along the same lines as Salazar Slytherin's: they kinda came off like they feared their bloodlines being tainted by Muggles or Muggleborns."

Maybe. Possibly. Raiden was done talking now though; his face turned a little pink and he sank down in his chair ever so slightly. A few of his opinions seemed to be the opposite of his classmates'.

LouAnn took a deep breath and blew it out in a quiet huff, causing a few pieces of her bangs to blow straight up in the process. History of Magic was turning out to be far more difficult than LouAnn imagined. It would help if she paid closer attention, though. "Right, sir. Power and fear. Got it," she half-mumbled.

She supposed she should tackle the Gaunt Family question now, seeing as she had no clue who Merwyn the Whatever was. Slowly---inch by inch by inch by inch---she raised her hand into the air once again. "Alrighty, let's go with power for the Gaunt Family. They're heirs of Salazar Slytherin's, so the need for more and more power has probably been handed down to their family from generation to generation," she said. That answer was a little too broad, though, so maybe she should break it down person by person.

"Marvolo Gaunt...let's see---power and fear. I say power, because he once attacked people from the Ministry of Magic who tried to arrest Morfin. I think that shows he thought he family was more powerful than the average and could defeat the law," she said. "I say fear, because he was known to have had a snake nailed to the front door of his home, probably as a means to show his heritage---Salazar Slytherin, I mean---and to instill fear in anyone coming to his doorstep."

"Erm, his wife, Merope---power, definitely. She used a love potion to trick this muggle, Tom Riddle, into marrying her. I think that shows that she thought she could control others by using various means---love potion, in that instance," she continued. "I think she had a hint of goodness in her, though, because she loved a muggle, which is something her ancestors were against, and she allowed the love potion she'd given Tom Riddle to eventually wear off."

"Okay, so who do we have left here? Morfin Gaunt---ummm, power, but only because he's known for hexing a man. Tom Riddle, even. I think that shows that to some extent, he sought ways to defeat others," she suggested. "Maybe even fear, too, since he's a Parselmouth. Parselmouth's control snakes, and maybe he used that talent to make people afraid of him, too."

"Merwyn for fear, Gaunts for power?" Ethan asked and gave Kiri an encouraging little nod.

"It's quite alright Abby. Sounds like we want to divide the Gaunt family up." Ethan seperated them on the list. "Marvolo-Power, Merope - power and fear."

"We'll go with power by your reasoning, I think." Ethan answered, offering Copernicus a wink.

"So Power and Fear for Crouch Sr? You make an excellent point, Abby, as do you Reid."

"They often are dark magic. Messing with the free will of others is generall considered an act of dark magic. With Merope, it is more that she is a product of dark magic than a Dark Witch herself. However, that contrast is interesting enough that I am going to leave her on the list." Ethan nodded at the bright young Ravenclaw.

"Possibly Slytherin believed he had already obtained power and therefore he was motivated out of fear of losing it." Ethan answered, nodding at the logic and switching it on the board.

"Some more interesting and contrasting Logic." Ethan answered with a nod. Hmmm." He made a few adjustments to the board.

"Strangely," Though Ethan's tone indicated he didn't think of it as strange in the slightest, "All the Dark Artists listed here seem to be motivated by power and fear, sometimes in a higher degree in one than the other and sometimes the evidence in history only provides us with support of one though circumstance indicates the other. Some of them mastered fear and in the mastering of it gained power, others aimed for power and were so desperate to get it at any cost, that their desperation became fear."

He nodded around the classroom, meeting the eyes of each student who contributed to the discussions and activities.

"There are many different ways to link power and fear, much of it is a matter of opinion, but I am hoping that you are all growing to learn that your opinion is something that I value.

I am aware that the lesson has not been the easiest one, so I am thankful that you all acted in a mature and respectful manner of one another. I am aware we only touched very lightly on the 'Elitism' aspect of the class, but it is enough to tie in to your next lesson."

Ethan tapped the board.

"Your homework comes in two parts and you get to choose which witch or wizard on this list you wish to focus on."

"Any questions, feel free to stay behind. Thank you everyone."