Arya thought about the question as she twirled her quill and came up with nothing. Obviously it wasn't how long the duel lasted and he said it wasn't who lost...so what was it?

And then she heard crazy 'claw. Of all the places to start this up why did it have to be in class?

Sighing inwardly she turned to the girl who insited on making her life miserable, speaking in a low tone. "It wasn't your drink...it was mine." Really, how many times was she gonna have to say it? And why couldn't she just get over it, after all she deserved what she got.

She turned back around without looking at the professor, thinking about what crazy 'claw had said. Raiden and Kellen would never duel her over somthing that was a lie. Besides, they both were her friends. Her eyes flickered over to Raiden, nope he always helped her, never harmed. Neptune was just crazy.

"Gold Laksh, sir," Gold said politely. It was sort of new that the professor did not know her name, because most of the staff did, and she had never really told any of the professors.

She raised her hand again, when he asked a question. "Professor, a second is basically a representative of a party in a duel," she said quietly. "Someone that party really trusts. The seconds settle the time and place of the duel, and check the wands, to ensure fair play."

"So.... a second makes sure that rules are followed, in the course of a duel. Steps in to continue the duel, too, when the party he or she represents, is killed, or no longer able to duel."

Jack had been so fascinated by all the accounts of duels in his history book, that he had kind of spaced out and completely missed the next question. EEEP! He looked around and gathered from the other answers that they were describing seconds...that was not a hard question at all! He raised his hand, even though numerous other students had already answered.

"A second is the person who is there to take over in case you can't duel anymore. Not all people have seconds in their duels though, right? Especially if it's not something you plan," he added.

The original the role of the second was to find a suitable place for the duel to take place, to make sure the wands were of equal ability, and to make sure the duel was fair. In the 16th and 17th centuries it was a common practice for the seconds to fight too. Later on the role of the second became to make sure the rules were followed and to try to bring about a reconcilation between the duelers."*

*Information found at Duel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Miranda's eyes had started to go into glaze over mode, her thumb nail still between her teeth, when the voice of the Professor made her blink. Huh? The Professor had said something!
"Ah, yessir. Sorry, sir." Er. What had she apologized for? She wasn't sure, which showed in her expression, but Truebridge had probably seen her and thought she wasn't paying attention - which she wasn't really, but how did he know she hadn't just drifted off thinking of something he said?

Seconds. Right. Miranda shifted in her seat and tried not to fidget. But the suspence was sort of making her want to... "Sir," Miranda raised her hand, "Are we going to be learning new defensive and..." attacking? "...other useful spells? With all due respect, I don't think whoever is attacking the students is going to care about proper dueling rules." Miranda hesitated, slightly surprised she had even spoken to a professor like that.

But really, she needed to learn if she was to help catching the villain. Right?

"In some ways, yes." Truebridge nodded at Mina.

"If the Code Duello indicates it, then yes that can indeed be the case."

"Alright Oliver. A second may serve in that capacity." Ethan answered, still looking for more.

"Good. Thank you Raiden. Checking the weapons and also the arena where the duel is taking place are responsibilities of the second."

Truebridge nodded once. "As I said, a Second can serve in that capacity and certainly it is not required to have one."

"If you die, what? You can do better than that Jake." Truebridge frowned slightly, not noticing the stutter, just that the answer seemed... incomplete.

"A second can be a back up, yes."

Ethan nodded, still looking for more.

What? Ethan was not following this spitting business, he shot a somewhat puzzled look at Neptune, picking out the part of her response that made sense to him.

"Yes, a second might serve in that capacity."

"They do serve as your support team of sorts, and that can be in several capacities."

"I do not believe that has anything to do with the subject at hand." He frowned slightly at the Hufflepuff. "Both of you, I do not know anything of drinks and spit and I do not care to." He eyed Neptune as well. "Any more on the matter will result in point reduction and detention."

"Yes Gold. A Second makes sure the rules are followed, settles the time and location of a duel and checks the wands." Ethan agreed. There was still more... he looked toward the next student to answer.

"Yes. Right." Truebridge nodded. More?

"I see someone is a student of history." Truebridge commented. "Often in the past the seconds did indeed fight one another and often this had to do with class differences. Seconds were responsible for ensuring fairplay and indeed for attempting to reconcile where perceived offence or slights of honour were the basis for the duel. They could step in where the primary duelist was unable to participate and the Code Duello indicated the duties of the second and whether or not they were to also participate."

Ethan turned to face Miranda and spoke quite expressionlessly. "If you do not wish to be here and learn you are more than welcome to leave. This is a theory class and, as with all things, the best place to begin is at the beginning. Knowing why we do things is often a fundamental component in doing things well and aids in understanding any opponent one is up against." He paused and looked around the class.

"Lost knowledge is lost skill. If you do not have the basic knowledge in which to anchor your skills, you will never truly master them. And knowledge never gained? It amounts to skill never gained. So I would appreciate your patience and your attention." He looked to Miranda again as he finished talking in his quiet tone, which somehow carried throughout the arena all the same.

Quote:

"I do not believe that has anything to do with the subject at hand." He frowned slightly at the Hufflepuff. "Both of you, I do not know anything of drinks and spit and I do not care to." He eyed Neptune as well. "Any more on the matter will result in point reduction and detention."

Well. Someone was grumpy. Neptune turned towards the side wall and made nasty faces. All this talk of understanding WHY people did things, yet Mr. Jail-Time didn't care to know WHY Evil!Puff spit in her drink. Hmph.

In her world, it was all relevant. Real world. An excellent example.

But then another Hufflepuff got in trouble, thus overshadowing Neptune's own reprimand. NOT that Neptune would forget Mr. Truebridge's less than empathetic response to her past anguish.

Neptune raised her hand and turned back to face Professor GrumpyBritches, "I'm paying attention." Just to be sure he knew. Hmph.

Gold! Professor Truebridge called her Gold! Not that it did not feel nice to be called 'Prefect Laksh' but, sometimes, it felt a lot warmer and fuzzier to have a professor treat you like a familiar student, and not an authority figure. Of course, Prefect Laksh felt awesome, too.

Hehe.

She noted down what Professor Truebridge was saying, then laid down her quill and waited for him to continue.

Why does he have to look at me that way when I give a correct answer like he's pleased with me? I don't want to like him. Why do I like him? He went to Azkaban without even wanting a trial. Innocent people don't do things like that. Everytime he looks at me I see the pictures in the Daily Prophet of those three students- those three dead Hufflepuff students. Could Headmaster Tate be correct? Could Professor Truebridge be innocent? Can I risk letting my guard down?

Raiden had been busily making notes, even though he had almost everything about this written down within a few seconds of the first answerers, when he heard what the Hufflepuff Quidditch captain said.

The prefect's green eyes watched Professor Truebridge as the man explained exactly why they were learning these things now, and... well it made perfect sense to him.

"You don't get where you want to go if you don't know where to start," he said quietly, before wishing that he were next to Neptune so he could make her be QUIET. He wasn't going to duel Arya over... spit? Spit? Huh? Either way, it wasn't going to happen.

"Oh, so that's why Neptune was under the professor's robes..." she pondered quietly.

Lina raised a little hand, tilting her head slightly. "We learned a little of that in Arithmancy, professor. Due to lack of use, one of the negative arrows in the Arrows of Pythagoras has an unknown meaning. That knowledge has probably been lost for at least a thousand years, if not more. It leaves us having to guess at it, and make assumptions, and it's difficult to try and research since it's not like we can do a study on individuals who have that negative arrow. Much like that, time is the enemy of knowledge. Or following the old phrase: use it or lose it."

"Uh-uh," Jake shook his head, twirling his hair slightly with the end of his quill. If he'd have opened his mouth to speak it would have sounded more like 'Nuh-uh'.

But he did have something to add. And he shifted around, not knowing if he could still add to the answers... and not really wanting to anyway.

Instead, the boy just continued the hair twirling and looked pointedly out of the window.

Truebridge scared him when he spoke like that, in the big explanation. Jake didn't really want to be here. But he chose to try and hide the panic and still he stared out the window.

"My thoughts exactly." Truebridge murmured.

"Thats a good example, Lina. Thank you." Ethan spoke gravely, almost pleased that some of the students had grasped the concept of which he had been speaking.

Ethan fixed his gaze on the Hufflepuff boy. Fine, yes, he cared about the kid but not to the point where he'd have the lesson interrupted or railroaded while trying to get him to participate, not at the exception of the other students who were not only participating and paying attention, but actually volunteering insightful answers.

So he wasn't going to call him out now. If after all this time Jake still felt the need to act out around Truebridge and was not comfortable fully participating when Ethan made an effort to involve him and encourage him, that was his business and Ethan wouldn't tolerate any selfish behaviour from the boy. So he ignored him and addressed the class.




"We will take a break here, anyone who wishes to stretch their legs or fetch a drink of water may do so. When you return we will discuss a few topics which may have a more practical use." He glanced at the Hufflepuff Quidditch Captain.

"And if anyone wishes to ask questions on what we have discussed so far, I will be right here. The first part of your homework will be to create your own Code Duello, including any limits and completion points that you think would be good to include. It is useful, in creating a Code Duello, to model it on duels you have witnessed or studied. I would like for you to choose between a Code Duello for use in the arena here at Hogwarts while you are learning, and one for an official dueling competition amongst adult witches and wizards. You may begin working on this in class now if you wish and feel free to discuss it with others."


ooc: I'll be opening a new thread for the continuation of the lesson in about 12 hours or so. This one will stay open and you guys are more than welcome to start on that homework and work on it in the thread. HOWEVER... please wait until the entire assignment is posted before submitting it to me. Points can be earned from beginning to do this in the thread and it is up to you whether you wish to RP with others or work on it individually.

Glancing out of the corner of his eye, Jake watched Truebridge beginning to talk. He bit his lip hard and fought with himself not to slap himself round the face.

Still... despite everything (the tree, the day he'd seen the man arrested, the fact that he was suddenly back), Jake really... well... he didn't want Truebridge mad at him.

So confusing.

So, when the man allowed the others to go and stretch their legs and stuff, Jake scooted right forwards so he was near Truebridge.

"Ssssorry," was all he said in his soft voice, but he tried to make eye contact for the first time and his gaze was sincere. "Sorry."

Ethan looked up and met the boy's eyes. He nodded once. It was fine.

"Apology accepted." He answered, equally as quiet and equally as sincere. "I am sorry also, Jake. I am not sure what that is worth to you but it is all I have to give. An explanation is not something I am able to give, not yet, not until Hogwarts is safe."

He cleared his throat.

"I hope you were paying attention." His voice went right on back to his usual tone, very little inflection or emotion at all.

Searching the man's face for some reason unknown by Jake, since he couldn't really understand that many facial expressions, the boy nodded back. Then he kind of stared for a moment.

This was why he liked Truebridge and all the teachers who apologised for stuff and were just... nice.

"Acc... accep... a-acc..." Okay, that word wasn't on the agenda for today. "Okay."

Hogwarts... wasn't safe. That there was some real proof.

And, at the last statement: "... Errr... yuhh-yeah."

But inside, Jake was just thinking; I hope so too.

Oooh!

This sounded fun.

Gold knew this was not meant to be entertainment, but pretty serious business; but even then, she could not deny that this assignment had that special something that homework could sometimes lack -- the feeling that it wasn't just a bunch of words you were going to hand in, to be graded; but something that gave you a new direction.

Opened a door to good knowledge.

She decided to get herself a cool drink - winter had certainly fled - and, when she returned, sat down in an empty chair, and took out parchment, quill and, of course, her favourite pot of pink ink.

Setting the inkpot down, she dipped her quill in it, and wrote down a neat heading at the top of page one of that notebook she had purchased, only last week. She hadn't touched it, until now, but it looked like it was finally time to put it to good use.

Well, that was a start.

Rawr.

Uh oh.
Miranda's little defiance was wavering as she watched and listened toTruebride speaking. Oh, a 'theory' class, well why didn't I see that. Pffft... Clenching her jaw, she tried not to fidget as he reprimanded her with his knowledge stuff. She knew he was right, but she really... Sigh.

She kept her mouth shut and simply watched the man, crossing her arms infront of her chest. She should really apologize, but she still felt like she was right about evil duelers not caring about the stupid rules. Something was nagging at her, making her realise how unlike her this whole thing was. But come on, while they were in her talking about manners, whoever or whatever was still making students bleed and hurt. And she was set to find the responsible thing that broke her arm and nose, and almost making Oliver bleed to death.

Heh. Miranda glanced at Truebridge through her lashes. Practical, that sounded good. Atleast they'd be doing something else than just raising their hands.

She needed a break, some fresh air might do her good. As soon as the Professor finished talking, Miranda stood up and towards the dooe, hoping to somewhow get some air and clear her head before the next part of the lesson started. But she'd come back before to get the homework started. Maybe she could borrow a chocolate frog from someone. Hehe.

Brant took out his quill after the Professor told them what to do. Even though Brant gave answers to the Professor, each time its like he wanted more?. Brant didn't feel confindant any more because this "teacher" didn't give him a straight answer of, "Yes Brant thats right" Nothing of the sort so Brant didn't say anything.

He didn't know what else to write. Brant was waiting on further instructions.

Mina bit her lip as she pulled out some parchment. She was getting that strange feeling in her stomach again. Was it because of the thought she would have to duel again or was it because something else was bothering her. She couldn't distinguish which and oddly felt she was forgetting something.

Shaking her head of her silly worries, she took her quill and started to scribble down the starting of her homework.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mina's Parchment

Code Duello
For use in official dueling competitions.
Used to regulate and oversee that rules are followed and duels are fought fairly.

Limits

-

Completions Points

-

Glancing at her parchment, she shrugged. It was a start at least.

The topic was serious, and Wesley was trying to be serious. But it was so hard to be serious when Professor Truebridge was standing right in front of her.

RIGHT IN FRONT OF HER!

Mouth hurting from smiling, the Hufflepuff had to place a considerable amount of effort into turning her focus to the parchment before her, which was completely void of any notes.

Taking quill in hand (which was covered in nail marks from having been pinched several times) and dipping it into her ink, Wesley had just scratched out:

before she peeked back up to stare at the professor some more.

Arya's eyes flickered over to Neptune, it was her fault she was getting scolded. But she wouldn't dare risk losing points and detention over the claw so she turned back to Truebridge with a apologetic before continuing her doodling.

Finally, a break! Arya slid out of her chair and stretched her muscles that had fallen asleep during the discussion. Once they were all awaken she skipped out the class for a sip of water before returning to her seat and poping a piece of gum in her mouth. Twirling her quill she mused over a few rules that would go on her own Code Duello and began writing down a few until the class started back up.

Blehhhh. Jack was feeling a bit lazy today, so he stretched as much as he could in his desk before pulling out a piece of parchment. He tapped his quill on his chin. Hmmmmm...what would be his Code Duello? He decided it would probably be easier to pick a professional duel, but he wanted to make it unique for HIM. What would HE want in a duel that he was in?

Quote:

Fritzera Code Duello

For use in official duels.

Limits
*No Unforgiveables
*Seconds are REQUIRED
*No spells that might cause death to the opponent

Completition Points
*Opponent passes out
*Opponent gives up gracefully (by conjuring a white flag)
*Opponent is disarmed or unable to retaliate

Eh...he needed more. But his brain was half asleep at the moment and the ideas were just NOT coming to him.

Watching as some of her classmates went to get drinks or use the loo, she started writing down some ideas able dueling rules. She grab to different parchments, as she need to different sits of rules. The first would be her official one and the other would be for school.

After writing all of her thought on Official duel, Kay went on with what she would need for the school one.

Writing this part down Kay couldn't think of what else to write. Come her Completitions be the same for both. or should she think of new one for her school one. Oh, to much thinking. Maybe she did need to go get a drink and think a little.

After having stood outside for a moment, trying to clear her head, Miranda walked back inside and into the classroom to continue with the class. She wandered over to her seat and started to scribble on a piece of parchment. Code duello... Right.

Uh...
What else. Something else. Yeah, she'd have to work on this. Later.

She looked up around her to see the others at work. The Professor was standing over there and Miranda decided it would be best to go apologize to the Professor. She got up and wandered over to him.

"Sir," Her gaze was downcast as she spoke, "I wanted to apologize for before... it wasn't my intention to be rude. " Uuuuuuh. "I'm just really eager to...learn." That sounded not dorky at all.