Choluna was thinking it was the Ministry, but she couldn't be sure. She thought it might be best just to give it a shot so the teacher knew she cared and was listening. Choluna raised her hand, hoping she had the right answer!

Elisabeta hated the fact the she was the first desk in plain view of the professor as she wrote notes as fast as she could and didnt want to look up from her parchment

"The Ministry of Magic does have some influence, yes. But they are not the ultimate authority. The Ministry of Magic is worried more about enforcing the law than it is about making it," Professor Duskurked grinned a private grin as he turned around and then he frowned.

"If you are unsure of your answer please keep your assumptions to yourself," Professor Duskurk chided the girl who put forth assumptions in the form of a question instead of giving a confident answer.

He walked over to his clipboard and make a mark, then turned back around.

"If only it were so," he responded with an evil grin which he quickly hid before moving on.

"No, he or she does not."

"If everyone made up their own rules as to what is dark and what is not then we would have no need for Azkaban because there would be no law to condemn them."

"Even the simplest and most benign spells can be used for evil, so does that make them dark?" he asked and thought that would make an excellent homework question.

"Society does, to some extent, have some influence, but specifically what august body decides right and wrong for the witches and wizards of Britain?"

Bella watched as all the other students raizing there hands and answering the question. "the ministry?" she thought. everyone else was saying that is was the ministry but Bella truley didn't know and she didn't feel like taking chances so she just kept listening to the class and taking notes

Ooooooh. Miranda's eyes were big like saucers as she listened to the Professor, who, in her mind, was making DADA very intriguing.

Aurors! Oh, yes, this is what Miranda wanted to be when she graduated.
She raised her hand. "Sir, we do." She said, and then took a breath to elaborate. "The people decide, if they get scared, they say its dangerous. So, The Ministry has taken it into their hands to classify whatever creature, being or object is more fearful to others."

....did that make sense? Miranda was way to concentrated on the idea of Dark Arts to try and go over what she just said, in her mind.

Becca listened to everyone else's answers and thought and then raised her hand, just guessing, but perhaps it was right, "The Wizengamet, sir."

Elisabeta looked around at her fellow students who were answering wrong but she was too shy to give up the right answer

A totally wild guess. That was what he wanted to do. Mmmmmhm. He raised his hand again, but became unsure straight away.

"The Wuhh-wizengamot," he tried, wondering if it was the one he hadn't decided to pick that would be just his luck, right? "Or muhh-maybe... the huhhh-headmmmm... mmmm... headtuh-teacher of Huhhh-hogwarts..."

Stupid EVIL STUTTER.

Kiri raised her hand. "The Wizengamot, Professor," she said, making a mental note to always add "Professor" or "Sir" to her answers. Professor Duskurk did not look as if he took cheek from anyone.

OOC: Kiri Starstalker, fifth year, Slytherin.

Allison hoped to Merlin she didn't regret this later. Calming herself with one deep breath Allison rose her hand and spoke, "Professor, one decides what is good or bad in this world. In my eyes, if someone were to be being kind to me they would be good. However if that same person went up to you and stole your...wand per say, then he wouldn't be acting on good actions. Thus he would be ultimately be bad. What if the noblest of wizards helped save children in a catastrophe? And then he went over to my house and killed my owl. I would think he was evil, even though he was most kind to others. It all depends on a person's perspective. Whether we like it or not, it is ultimately up to a person to decide."

This guy was sending shivers down her back - and not in the cute scared way that Kazimeriz did it but in the ACTUAL creepy sort of way. Hastily scribing everything the Professor was saying while keeping her personal comments to herself. Maybe she'd rant and complain to her friends later about him but she'd need to be in a REALLY brave mood -or an angry one- for her to start voicing her thoughts.

Good and bad, huh? Dark and light... Well she, as the niece of the person who is a diplomat as well as an education fellow, was DEFINITELY going to abstain from answering that question. She'd just look pretty and write down everything people were saying.

Lorcan's frown deepened as he listen to the response. He raised his hand again and then took a deep breath. "Well then, it's what you intend the spell to do then, isn't it? If you want to kill someone or hurt them or control them or whatever, the that's what makes it dark?" He really didn't like this new bloke. He was creepy. "It's the Wizengamot, I think sir." It had been the Wizengamot who had fined his father anyway.

Kita frowned. The professor had now said that the Ministry wasn't the ones who made up these laws. She racked her brains for a moment and came up with a solution. The Wizengamot? She took a deep breath and raised her hand, saying, "Professor. Is it the Wizengamot?" For once she didn't care whether she got the question right or wrong, she needed to know...

"But sir, then wouldn't it be something like the Wizengamot that makes the laws?" Avery asked.

Carter listened full of interest. It was moments like this that made him realize how truly behind he was in certain things being a muggle-born. What in the world was a Wizengamot?

Allison slapped her hand to her head. The Wizengamot. Of course. Angry with herself she grabbed a quill and began writing furiously ten times...

Allison had been putting so much pressure onto her quill than she made a hole in her parchment. Reassuring herself that it didn't matter she continued. One silly mistake after another, what was becoming of her brain?

Quote:

6.) The Wizengamot is the one who makes laws. You may decide what is good and bad, but what they say is much more important!!!

Hmm, well she definitely didn't explain herself properly, but he did have a point there. It would be like, a rule free world! Wouldn't that be fun...and utterly boring after awhile. Opening her notebook to the first page, she dipped her quill in the ink, waiting for the actual answer. She heard a few people say something about the Wizengamot, so perhaps that was the big picture she was missing? Who cares who says what is dark or good?

Squeezing her eyes shut for a moment, she opened them and started writing a few things down. Pretty much random things, like what homework she still had to do and dates that Hogsmeade may open up. Or was it open right now? Huuuuh...something to look into.

Aaron had been sitting quiet through much of the lesson thus far. It wasn't that he didn't know the answers, but all the kids seemed so much older and more advanced, Aaron was scared to say something that might embarrass himself. Okay, partially true. The truth was that he just didn't really know what to say AT ALL. And the fact that he was entranced by the small table with the black cloth. Peculiar, though it was, he also knew that they would soon find out.

It didn't even phase him who he was sitting next to; he didn't know the person and there were more pressing concerns like this dark man and the dark cloth covering the table. The Professor seemed content to accept only confident answers; no guesses were allowed. That wasn't bad though; Aaron did want to make sure he was getting the correct information. It was actually also the SCARY clipboard that the professor was marking notes on too. Sigh... Scary clipboard that could be the pass or fail mark of the term.

August body deciding the rights and wrongs for the witches and wizards of Britain? Not the Ministry, but more specific.

"Magical Law Enforcement Squad, sir." Aaron suggested quietly after raising his hand. Everyone else guessed Wizengamot, so why not him offer a different answer. Couldn't hurt, right? Hopefully not.



OOC: Aaron Rose, Hufflepuff 1st year

Sabel frowned deeply, tapping his quill against his paper as he thought. To him, none of this made sense. He put up his hand, not exactly sure where his words were going to go, but none-the-less confident in their meaning. "Sir, a body is generally defined as a group of people; a group of people that make up rules and laws. If you say that no one can make up their own rules about what is right and wrong because then there would be no Azkaban, then no group of people should be able to do it for everyone else.

Everyone has their own ends and agendas. How can we not be sure that those in this governing body are not saying that something is dark when it is really light? As you said good spells can be used for evil. Thus good can be labelled evil.

How are we to know that those in power, those in this council, aren't making up their own rules with their own personal interests at hand. Surely we would say it must be the people that decide, that this body rules on behalf of, but how many times in history have the people been wrong, have they held belief that something light is instead dark?

There are general rules, morals, values that this council, the Wizengamot, upholds to satisfy the people, to make people humane but in the end Sir, I would have to agree with my classmates. Each wizard and witch has rules to follow, has laws to obey set down by the Wizengamot, but it is up to them to decide what they know is right or wrong. Not for someone to decide for them. For what are we but sheep if we follow blindy our shepards?"

"Yes," he said to all of those who answered correctly. He reached into his pocket and withdrew two slips of paper. He handed one to each of the two students with good answers: Miss Latrowski of Ravenclaw and Miss Hudonson of Slytherin.
"Do not answer a question with a question," he chided. One more time and he'd have to take points.


"Now, let us move on. The Wizengamot are the primary body from which laws are made and so-called justice is served. The Ministry of Magic and its Minister, of course play their own role. Society drives these two bodies and elects the Minister and so is the primary source of morals. Majority rules," Professor Duskurk sneered. "And they have declared that there are three. And only three curses are so heinous as to be called unforgivable. I will not ask what the curses are because you should already know them from your reading prior to attending class."

Professor Duskurk turned abruptly and strode to the front of the class. He whisked the black cloth off the table and as his arm moved back, the cloth disappeared. Revealed were a stack of small, clear, boxes containing spiders. Enough for the entire class. Moody-Crouch had a good idea with these. A wave of his black wand and the boxes disappeared from the table at the front and reappeared on the student desks, one on each.

"You cannot hope to defend yourself against something you know nothing about so for the practical portion of this class we will be practicing the Unforgivable Curses on these spiders. I do not expect any of you to be successful, but that does not mean you cannot attempt them. We will start with the easiest of the three to perform. Now, clear your books and take out your wands. If you are squeamish then I suggest you leave the classroom now and switch out of my class and into something more to your speed: muggle studies."

He paused to give the students time to prepare or leave.

Since half the other students in the class had all answered, most of them speaking about the Wizengamot, Adrienne simply continued taking notes. Something told her Professor Duskurk wasn't the type to look well on repetition, so she wasn't going to simply say what everyone else was. Although she agreed with the idea that the Wizengamot were the ones who determined if someone was guilty of dark magic. When the person in question got caught. Part of her had always been happy her father wasn't connected to the law enforcement part of the Ministry, even though he still was generally too busy to pay attention to her and her brothers. There had to be some point where she'd be able to chime in with something. Even though she still missed having Professor Lawson as DADA professor

Waiting for what was going to happen next, the next road the discussion was going to go down, she kept her quill at the ready for more notes, although part of her mind was thinking about leading tryouts soon, and what she was going to plan for the Ravenclaws who'd signed up. But she still managed to keep enough attention on class so she wouldn't be left behind. Which was good since it seemed they were moving on to practical.

Alexa narrowed her eyes at the Professor while his back was turned and she directed her eyes to the parchment in front of herself. He was a piece of work. Wasn't it the Professor's job to TEACH... so an assumption or a question would in fact help wit the learning process. Grrrr. Oh her auntie Dora would be hearing about this man, oh yes indeed.

Elisabeta put her books away and took out her wand she didnt want to perform the unforgivables but her teacher wanted them to learn it and learn it she will

Emily looked up from where she had been sitting quietly. She cleared her desk and took out her wand. Ew, spiders, but she wasn't going to leave. Oh, no, she had been looking forward to this class ever since...forever.

Satine took down every word the professor said. He def seemed like the type that would want you to know all of his opinions as well as facts. Then he mentioned the pratical part of the class. Her head flicked up when he said they would be practicing unforgivable curses on spiders. She thought it through for a minute and decided there was no harm in learning that so that she knew how to defend against them....plus spiders deserved to be tortured in her mind...there were useless...their only use was to scare her. Plus, the Professor had to have had permission to teach this way, so technically their version of unforgivable curse would be forgivable...right?

She flicked her right wrist and wand came flying out of it's holster ready for the next step.