Riley sat up in his chair, more alert now that the boring introductions were over. He listened to the other student question, noticing that he was a new student too, and then raised his hand after a bit of thought.

"Professor of course it is possible to do those things without being classified as "dark". Just because the invention becomes evil or dark doesn't always mean that was the intention. What if someone tried to create a living scarecrow to scare away pests from their feilds and it turned against them and attacked the town, they didn't mean for it to be evil." Riley finished and lowered his hand, a smile playing across his face slightly, he was beginning to like this class.

Kellen raised his hand, "Well yes, because it depends on what you classify as a Dark Spell. Some 'Light' spells can have dark uses, and vice versa. The vanishing spell is all well and good until you use it to make someone's nose disappear."

Oh, another raise of the hand.

"I think it would depend on the final purpose for these inventions, were creature or spell" he nodded, "Perhaps the one who invented them didn't mean for them to be used for bad, by anyone" another nod, because in the end did the inventor know who was going to put his inventions to work?

Most likely not.

Iris smiled a little as Tate said her answer was excellent, although she frowned a little when he said that she was dissmissive about them.

She wasn't though! Really! ... Just .... kinda worded her sentence wrong. Heh.

When the Headteacher then went on to ask them another question... Or well, the question of some other student, Iris raised her hand again. "It would depend, Sir. If the person made the spell or creature intending for it to do harm, and actually using the spell or creature, then they'd be a Dark Wizard." Iris nodded a little. "However, if someone created the creature or spell by accident, and never used it, then they would not be a Dark Wizard. Because they didn't create the Dark creature and/or spell with the want to do harm."

Feeling happy with her answer, the Prefect put her hand back down.

What made Unforgiveables so bad? Raiden had to think about that for a second. There were certain situations... were at least one of them wouldn't be completely unforgivable. But nobody really used it that way.

"Well in the case of the Cruciatus... that can cause such pain that the person never recovers, mentally or physically. It's just... wrong." He paused. "The Killing Curse is... well it's obvious, innit? Killing is the ultimate unforgivable sin."

This last one was a bit tricky.

"The Imperius Curse, in theory, is just as bad as the other two. As..." his voice caught for a moment, and he became suddenly aware of the presence of a few of the students in the room. "As we've previously been shown. Taking control of a person and forcing them to do what you want... affecting their mind and their body like that, is unforgivable."

The other question... hmm.

"There are cases where someone can... er... accidentally stumble across or create such things, isn't there? Such as a basilisk... The original intention of the creator was malicious, but who's to say that nobody's accidentally created one while experimenting?" Sure, it was an odd experiment, but it was possible. "Developing spells is a trickier one because... well there's intention there. If you've bad intentions, you're likely to get something to match."

Enya raised her hand. "Professor a Horcrux is any everyday object. The thing that makes it dark is that the person that makes it has to kill someone. It splits their soul and they out it in the object to keeep themselves from dying. For instance He who must not be named used Slytherin's ring." What makes it dark is that you have to kill someone to create one.

Lyra was breaking her own rules, but it had happened before. Lyra raised her hand slightly and began talking, "Well, I would personally say that any spell could be used with malicious intent and it could be considered dark magic, but the witch or wizard would have to do significant, lasting damage to a living thing for it to be considered dark magic. Me casting Wingardium Leviosa to float a book and drop it on your head wouldn't be considered dark magic unless I were to drop a very large book on your head from a substantial height with intent to do you serious harm, like say to drop the book from the Astronomy tower with you standing on the lawn, and hoping it would cause severe brain damage, or break your neck." Lyra smiled innocently at the professor, as if she hadn't just mentioned injuring him. " Professor." Lyra added the Professor on as an after-thought. She still wasn't used to having to be polite.

Lyra felt quite confident in her answer, and felt that it was just as satisfactory, if not more so, than the majority of the answers the other students provided.

Sabel had to frown at some of the answers. While they were generally the textbook definitions of Dark Arts with a few more in-depth thoughts thrown in, he couldn't help but think back to what Danika had told him about their school. By no means would he give an excuse for a Dark Art practice, and it being taught in schools astounded him, but the portrayal of creatures as Dark seemed a bit odd, and of poison.

"Sir, if I may, anything can be considered a poison if it is taken in excess or given without consent. Even sugar can be poisoning if consumed too much, leading to such physical problems as diabetes. But that is a natural process of itself, as are many poisons in life, such as the venom from a Black Widow spider. If we called poison a Dark Art, would we not have to call half of life a Dark Art as well? And since Good Wizards seek to eradicate the Dark Arts, does that not mean we would have to eradicate half of life, thus becoming murderers in and of our own good intentions? Becoming Dark in and of our own desire to do good? And because we have within our race, Dark Wizards, would that not make us Dark Creatures then as well?"

A small frown pulled at his brow as he considered the points of view presented. "I would have to say the Dark Arts are based on intention, but then, when as a spider bites with the intention to survive, so does a Dark Wizard cast with the same intention at times. Maybe I am at a strange road of perception, but perhaps another way to define would be by the heart."

"I say yes.. poison weather it be natural or made is dark,the end result is pain,and death i will conceed some poision in the correct dose is medicine but given incorrectly is leathal"




"yes like all things in life it is in shades of Grey it is not dark and white

Sophia raised her hand. "Yes sir, I believe you can." she said. "Maybe they created the dark creature or spell to help defend themselves from Dark Wizards." she said. "On the other hand, if you use the newly created dark spells on other people for discriminatory reasons, or no reason whatsoever, then you would be a dark wizard." she said. She gave a very long answer, and in her thick Italian tounge, she hopes he could understand her.

Patroclus raised his hand,
"Sir, I think it's a tad hard to categorise Dark Magic, or Dark Wizard sometimes." Unsure as to whether he was structuring his response properly, the boy tried to rephrase, "What I mean is, all magic can be used to an evil or Dark effect, as Josh said, it all comes down to intentions. A simple spell such as Wingardium Leviosa, could be seen as as Dark Magic, if being used for Dark Purposes, such as torture or somethng along those lines."
Talking heed of the next question, Patroclus continued, "So in my opinion it's hard to say someone is a Dark Wizard, based soley on the evidence that they have created a spell that is used in an evil way."

It may have just been his up bringing, but Patroclus tried to see the good in everyone.

Scribbling down a few last minute notes, she looked up from her parchment and tilted her head to the side, considering her response. "Isn't it all based on the spell's creator's intent? You can create a new spell with the intentions of it being used for good, but someone else can come along and use the same spell for dark purposes, causing the spell to become a dark one. And dark creatures can be made by mistake.....they might not even be intending to create a new creature." She paused. "Like with the Quintaped was created. There was not intention of creating any creature. Just a feud that got out of hand; it doesn't make them Dark Wizards." Not to her it didn't.

Keefer mused over these things in his head, listening to classmates' responses. After awhile, he decided to enter his own opinion into the conversation. As per his custom, he raised both hands into the air.

"Professor, I think the Unforgiveables are so bad for different reasons. Avada Kedavra ends life. There is no chance to defend yourself, so someone is forcibly taking away from you the most basic of your rights--the right to life. As for the Imperius Curse, it takes away your right to independent thought and motion. You know, if someone else can control your actions, then you are essentially a slave. Except this is worse, because again, they can make you take your own life if they want to. Or even cause harm to others." He shuddered to think of being controlled. What kind of life would that be?

"As for the Cruciatus Curse, that one's a bit more iffy in my opinion. It seems like other things are just as bad, but spells like Sectumsempra could theoretically be used for something other than causing a slow and painful death. For instance, if you were performing an autopsy like they do in the Muggle world, it would easily break open the body." How morbid. This was not a fun topic, but very necessary so they could understand the morality behind the law. "However, the Cruciatus Curse cannot really have any other conceivable purpose that is not unending pain and suffering to an individual. I think that's what makes it Dark and Unforgiveable. You can't really have good intentions when you use it."

She was...sort of proud she'd met that boy. He was rather clever and his mind seemed to work rather impressively. She nudge Sandra to see the boy who'd made the comments (Sabel).

Danika knew she had to raise her hand, and she did, deciding there was something she'd like to share, finally. "But then, Headmaster Tate, excuse my interruption" she said, as she straightened herself in her seat, "The vord here is perception if it is of dark creatures you talk avout..." a nod came to her dark red head, "...for they do not think as 'dark' of themselfs, do they? It is only their survival method" another nod, "As for vizards..." she eyed Sabel in this one, "...there alvays has to be a valance, some good and evil in every action, and I velieve it to ve equally dark the use of pover for vrong as the eradication of evil at all costs" because then the world would be unbalanced, and would most likely not survive.

"As for the curses, I velieve them to ve dark as long as they are used that vay" another nod, and she rested her back in the seat.

He was listening to everything that was being said and actually taking some notes. The howler from his mom about his OWL really shook him up. Diggy raised his hand, "I think what makes Unforgivables so bad is that they require intent from the caster. I mean casting a levitating spell will work weather you intend for it to work or not as long as its casted correctly. But for the cruiatus curse to work you have to intend to cause great harm to your victim. You have to want them to suffer unbearable pain. And wanting to hurt another person that badly should be illegal." he said. Well that's how he felt about it.

what was it he had read in the history of hogwarts one of the prof. had a theory "Is that the basis for the school of thought on For the Greater Good?

Sophia beamed. She would bring a unique perspective to the class. She made a little note about that amongst the other notes she'd been taking. Then, she drew a little cloud around the note and then began embellishing the doodle as her classmates continued the discussion.

She had been listening to everything so far, but Emmaleigh decided to finally speak up. She raised her hand and said. "I, Um dont think that the poison its self is c-considered bad. I mean, You could use the poison for pest or s-something. And what if you are making the poison to figure out the antidote? It must be the i-intentions that causes it to be dark arts."

Jenny tried her best to put in everything she could hear on her parchment. Whoa, she couldn't think of an answer. Did she really not know much about the Dark Arts besides the Unforgivable Curses? Oh well...she tried to pay more attention to the Headmaster as he went on with his lesson.

So much for doing well in her first class of the year already.

Keefer noticed the first year Hufflepuff speak up. That's right, don't be shy! he thought. Hufflepuff needed some first years who weren't afraid to answer questions. He turned toward her and nodded his approval, smiling his encouragement to her.

Enya had been taking notes and hopped that the professor liked her answer.

And now, a tapping.

She would've entirely dismiss this by making a rude remark, but what he said next got him out of trouble. She smiled.

And who was that boy, anyway? They were in a class, weren't they? So shhh.

Danika turned around to a little boy who seemed to be asking a question after something she said, "Not really, the Greater Good has many connotations" she replied, with a nod, and it was true, "Vhat may be the Greater Good to some may not ve for the rest" she continued, but still didn't understand the question.

She remember something she'd recently heard, "There are lines dravn, though, and I only mention valance" she didn't want to go into a further discussion, because she didn't know where Headmaster Tate was going with this.