Chace smiled at Abby, unable to actually return her hello since the Professor had started speaking. Oh good...they were actually going to get things moving.

Or not.

Chace couldn't help the look of skepticism that came across his face. They were going to sit her in lotus form? God...it was like being back in his Aunt's house. Chace shot a look at Abby that had all kinds of implications in it, before attempting to get his limbs to go the way that the Professor had hers. Chace was strong and athletic, but flexibility was definitely not his strong suit. He managed to get himself to look like she did though after some encouraging of his limbs.



Chace was right along with the others that had asked why they were sitting like this, but he guessed that her answer made sense. Having more than one plan was always a good idea, especially since people and things could be unpredictable. But he still wasn't sure why it was necessary to be in an atmosphere like this to do that. He could give you an answer different than the first one he thought of without the mood lighting and the funky yoga position.

What did he know about the dark arts? Chace thought of the obvious answer, but pushed it aside. Well...not really because it wasn't like he could just push that knowledge away and forget about it. It was still right and made sense, and he was going to keep it so whatever. Something that he didn't initially first think. "Dark magic is magic that goes against certain moral and ethical codes that people practicing magic go by. In some respects it even touches on things that most would consider to be unnatural," Chace offered after being called on.

Nigel began to wonder if they called painting that had plenty of black and grey in them. Dark Art. It made sense because those colors are dark. He was getting very uncomfortable in this lotus position. He decided to get up and start jogging like West was doing. Everybody else's answer would be better than his on this question. So Nigel said.

"It's Dark"

It was simple and Nigel thought it was right.

Something Alice knew about the dark arts? Uhm.. well.. Professor Romanos taught the children how to defend them. .. Did that count as an answer? No? The Gryffindor closed her eyes and tried to think of a different answer like the Professor had suggested. Finally, she raised her hand. "Well.. Professor.. I know that the Dark Arts are a category of magic. Any magic that is used to cause harm falls into that category, yes?" Hmph. She had liked her first answer much better. Much more to the point. She didn't like spouting out useless definitions in class; stating the obvious was much more fun. It was much more Alice. This change-your-answer-and-spout-a-different-one Romanos way of thinking wasn't doing her any favours. She sounded like a dictionary. Yuck.

"Dark magic isn't evil magic, but some dark spells require the person to.. erm.. have mean thoughts.. or something.." Malicious intent, wasn't it? Alice thought so. She was mainly drawing on a bunch of things that she recalled Professor Romanos explaining last year. "And it's not technically against the law. People don't like it, but it's not.. er.. prohibited or anything. I think." Had the laws changed? Huh. There would have been something in the Prophet about that if it had.. right?

Lotus Position. Jake nodded to himself, eyeing the professor for a moment before maneuvering his legs into the position everyone else was in. Once his legs were all pretzel-ed around each other, he smiled to himself. There. Now, was this supposed to help them in some way? Relax them? Help them concentrate?

Hopefully not, because all Jake could think about how his leg was starting to hurt.

He could, however, listen to the question. Dark Arts. Usually, they were used for evil, with something of not-good intent in mind. But... that's what he thought of at first. So, raising his hand, he said, "They're bad. That's why we have to learn to defend outselves against them." And he was really curious what yoga had to do with that.

Aidan struggled to get into the lotus position. And even when he succeeded, his foot kept slipping off his knee. ...Did the professor let that one kid jog? ...Could he? 'Least he wouldn't have to sit for so long. Especially without a desk, he couldn't even swing his feet.

To answer the professor's first question....no. He didn't understand. They weren't supposed to answer the question with their answers? And how would the professor know that their answer wasn't their first answer anyway. And Aidan hardly knew anything about this class anyway, so he was already at a disadvantage.

So he was going with his first answer, regardless of the professor's instructions. "Dark Arts is stuff like hexes and jinxes and curses." All things that sounded fun to Aidan.

Alyssa was in a relaxed lotus position when Professor Romonos asked her first question. Alyssa first inclination was to give her textbook answer but she remembered what the Professor had asked them to about not answering the first question that entered their mind, to clear it and give another answer.

So Alyssa raised her hand and did what the Professor had instructed them to do.

"Professor the Dart Arts is something nasty which causes lots of pain and suffering and we shouldn't attempt to do it without considering the consequences of our actions." Alyssa hoped that didn't sound to textbooky.

Sarah went in the lotus positions, although her hands had to help her guide her feet at first. She did quite understand the teacher's instructions, as she had failed to comprehend if a question was asked and if so what question? So she was silent, obidiently complying with instructions.


Sarah was about to say that it was bad magic that one was not meant to do and one was in the teacher's class in order to learn how to defend themselves, yet then she remembered that she had to follow instructions so she changed her answer. Raising her hand she said, "It is the things that Voldemort practiced. It is evil magic that can be either hexes, curses or jinxes"

Right. Well, Sutton didn't really know too much about the dark arts. Instead of having an answer, though, she had a question, so she supposed that qualified as thinking of the question different. I mean, her first instinct was that she didn't know anything... this was her second instinct. That worked, right? From where she sat on her mat... in this lotus position thing, she raised her hand. "Professor, does it have to be something that a wizard does? I mean... are there things that just EXIST that fall under the title of Dark Arts?"

Anya, with her eyes closed (because she was definitely finding her center and concentrating and definitely not sleeping), waved one of her hands lazily above her head.

What did she know about the dark arts? Easy. She'd already been asked this question two times in her life. And she had a perfectly good answer about dark magic and dark creatures prepared.

But then she remembered the other instruction. About saying something she didn't immediately think of.

And so, after allowing herself a half second thought, she began speaking.

"The dark arts are not necessarily evil. It... kind of depends on the frame of mind I guess." Like, how in times of war, death was necessary. It was not something Anya approved of at all, but then again, she had no desire to be an auror.

"But they're things that have an intent to harm... like spells, jinxes, curses, or even creatures." she added.

Except that really didn't complete her thought either. "And I think classes like this one, are to prevent naivety when dealing with the subject. Physically, mentally, and ethically."

There. Now her thought was complete. She lowered her hand back down to her lap and continued not sleeping.

Well, Elliot thought the whole 'think of a new answer thing' made sense. It would keep people from seeing stupid things...

...Or perhaps not. because Elliot still heard a LOT of STUUUPID answers. Mostly from first years. Duffers.

But the blonde seriously considered the question...what was the dark arts...the first thing that popped into her mind was anything that caused harm to people.

But she couldn't say that...so she began to speak...she raised her hand. "Dark arts...well, it's really hard to get out of them once you're there." Her heart was beating a little faster now. This class always made her nervous, talking about dark magic as if it were...evil.

Well, some of it was.

But Elliot just couldn't forget some of the things that people said...it hit too close to home..and her mind was immediately on her father. She didn't know what to think, and his job was really confusing. And HE was really confusing.

Elliot's head whipped around at...that Sierra girl's answer. For some reason, it made her blood boil. Arrgh.

She raised her hand, again,..."But the Dark Arts can't be pinned down to one thing...or the other. It's not merely black or white. Sometime's it's in that grey area. Just like good magic." There.

It sounded nice. Ish. And she shot that Sierra girl a glare before looking back at the Professor.

And hopefully, her father, wherever he was, was all right. Because now Elliot was all thinking about him and stuff....

She shifted a litt,e beginning to be uncomfortable in this STUPID position. And Elliot suddenly didn't want to be here anymore. She shot a glance at Hannah, wondering what her friend was thinking about all this...

Something Ariella knew about the dark arts....Hmm Ari hadn't really known much to begin with, her father didn't like talking about those thing. Let's see...they were dark right? In an evil sort a way. "Aren't they kinda like all the bad and evil spells?" Not that she should be the one to judge a spell's character but they were supposed to be evil...

Her gut response was to spout off some official-sounding definition. A text book answer, especially in front of this professor and in this classroom... where she already felt so proficient. Vivi shifted her arms slightly and stretched forward to keep her bum from going to sleep.

Not the first response... so Vivi would go with the emotional response instead. "Dark Arts can be confusing, Professor. We hear that Dark magic makes a Dark wizard, that practice of Dark magic is the sort that is bad regardless of intention... but there have also been examples in history of undeniably good wizards using Dark spells. And history doesn't condemn them for it..."

Vee thought about this, ignoring the cramp creeping up her left calf. What did she really know about the Dark Arts?

"Isn't what we know largely speculation? I mean, the dark arts are generally seen as having a negative influence on the wizards who study it, because it is potentially harmful magic, and you can't really study magic in theory, can you, so if one studies it it means one would practise it... and so become a dark wizard, right? In which case people wouldn't learn from him or her because the wizard or witch in question would be seen as being a bad influence... and if you don't study something, you can only assume what it really is, you can't really know. I mean, even here, this class is Defense Against the Dark Arts, not Dark Arts... although how do we know what we're meant to be defending ourselves from?"

Vee stopped talking, confused. She had a feeling she might have contradicted herself somewhere there, but she hadn't been really sure of what she meant to say anyway.

Besides, she did what the Professor had asked, and had responded with what hadn't first come to mind... along with what had first come to mind, but at least the second part of her answer sort of complied with the previous instructions. Perhaps.

If only they could sit normally again...

Zzzz..

Yes, Renesmee was sleeping and now even snoring too. She couldn't help herself the atmosphere in the room was just perfect for sleeping and she was pretty tired after all the quidditch this week. She continued difting off untill...

Creeeeeaaaak! The loud sound of the doors woke her up.

She blinked and then looked up, to see the Professor talking now. Shaking her head she sat up too, in hope that she would actually pay attention. The lotus position. Uh...okay. Yoga...odd. Very odd. Still Renesmee copied the Professor and crossed her legs sitting in what she now knew at the lotus position.

Sleepily she raised her hand as a simple answer entered her mind."The Dark arts is.." she paused and thought of a new answer like the Professor had said.This thinking process didn't last very long though. "...sleepy." With that Nessie's eyes closed again and slowly she started fading back into lala land.

Something about the dark arts? Well, this sounded familiar. Almost like... last term. And every other Dark Arts lesson he'd had before. Booooringgggg. Milton yaaaawned again and closed his eyes. This lotus position was actually kind of comfortable, now that his leg muscles were used to the stretch.

"They don't have to be dark," Milton said, opening his eyes so he wouldn't fall asleep. "It just depends on your intention."

Annabelle pondered about what the Dark Arts meant. Belle gave her best answer and said, "Professor, i think the dark arts would mean to defend yourself against creatures that scare you personally. Everyone has different fears than others right?" That was the best answer she could give.

Tag was not particularly enjoying this broaden your mind talk. That means he had to use twice the energy to think of an answer. Twice the work, you know how much that required more effort?

Slowly he raised his hand to try and answer the question with a bigger thought, "There's two ways to dark arts and how the wizard or witch sees it. Maybe the environment you were brought into as the family affects how one classifies the darks arts as a negative or positive style of defense." That's the best he could give. Tag lowered his hand and slowly began to close his eyes again.

Yoga and giving different answers than our original ones? This class was crazy. "The dark arts are...scary" Kai thought to himself.

No Kai, broaden your horizons. He needed a different answer and he needed it fast. "Professor, are the dark arts not subjective? Depending on the way you perceive them, is it not possible for dark arts to be used with the brightest of intentions? Even the darkest of curses can be used to help, to save, to protect...". That's all he could give, as he sat swaying to the music - yoga was sort of fun after all.

Nigel wondered if there was such a thing as art that is dark. Paintings that have blacks and grey would be dark art. Hmm.. Nigel had to think about that. He was getting pretty uncomfortable in the lotus position. So Nigel decided to do what West did and get up and start jogging in place.

Now back to the question. "Professor, I don't think the dark arts are really dark. It is the person's intent that make them dark.and Professor. If there are dark arts is there Light Arts as well?

Oakey didn't need to think on this one.
This was clearly a review class and he had reviewed DADA so much that a lot of it's basics were fresh and ready for him to answer.

"Professor, Dark Arts are always used with the intent of causing harm to someone or something else." Oakey adjusted his legs a bit because he could feel one of them falling asleep. "this can be done with either Jinxes hexes or curses."

Maybe he should just sit crisscross before his other leg decided to fall asleep on him too.

Once again, a smile stretched across Ashten's face. How convenient was it that the first real person he's talked to since arriving at Hogwarts turned out to be an American as well? He followed Vicker's gaze back to the Gryffindor Prefect who had awkwardly waved at the older Ravenclaw.
"Ah, well she is prefect, right?" he asked. He wondered if most Prefects were popular at Hogwarts. They didn't have any at the Magical School he went to in the United States.

But before he could ask Vickers where he was from, the Professor had begun the lesson. Eyebrows arched, Ashten wondered why Yoga, which he knew was more of a Muggle activity (his sister was all about Yoga and Pilates), would be implemented in a Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson. Nevertheless, he made a sad attempt to bend his legs into the Lotus position. It didn't help that he had relatively shorter legs. After a few shameful attempts, he managed to keep his legs bent in a slightly painful manner. But the dull pain didn't even compare to his utter bewilderment from Professor Romano's instructions.

But what if the first answer that came to mind was correct? Would rewording the initial response count?

So then she asked them what was the Dark Arts. Well, Ashten first thought of Death Eaters, whom he had read about in a book on Wizarding History. Well, since that was his first thought, he continued to think.
"The Dark Arts. . . " he muttered. Before opening his mouth again, however, he snorted with laughter from the response he heard from Vickers. Trying to pass it off as a cough, he looked at the seventh-year, grinning. "Nice one." He said.

Turning back to the Professor, and trying to ignore his legs, which were very well asleep, he thought about the Dark Arts. "The Dark Arts is magic that is used for ill-hearted intentions. Extremely powerful. Incredibly dangerous." He nodded as if to agree with himself. Satisfied, he began massaging his legs in order to bring back some kind of feeling in them. So far he was unsuccessful.

What was the connection between the lotus sitting position and Dark Arts? Hmmmm... nothing really. But that was just part of the lesson and Kat can't do anything about it. Heh.

When Professor Romanos mentioned Dark Arts, Kat's attention immediately went to her. She wasn't involved in the Dark Arts, no, but it's just curiosity that made her interest spark. The Dark Arts... yes, this was Defense AGAINST the Dark Arts, but not the Dark Arts itself... But what was the Dark Arts?

Kat struggled. She remember her older sister Di tell her about it. Maybe Kat was just half-asleep when Di was discussing. Hmmph. But she tried anyway, to remember and refresh her memory. "Dark Arts, also known as Dark or Black magic, is anything that can cause harm which may include spells or maybe even potions. In short, practicing the Dark Arts isn't allowed or is illegal," Thank you, stocked memory.

Something she knows about the dark arts? Well not much really but she does know a thing or two about it. "It is the act or the use of dark magic." dark arts is a dangerous field for wizards and witches to even think about of doing. "But i don't think that EVERYONE who uses dark magic are considered awful people. Some of which may have something to do with their line of work" such as selling stuffs and most specifically Knocturn alley, "... or just basically self defense against another dark magic" she shrugged.

"That you no doubt should." she agreed. "But, and I do hope you hear me out, not everything is about the magic itself. Be patient, Miss Hastings. You'll be able to practice spells soon enough."

That was an, interesting, plan. Possibly not entirely doable though.

"You should bring up your plan with Professor Magnus." she smiled a little. "I'm sure she'd love to hear it. Details and all."

This was a good question. "No, Miss Piatek. There are few other topics that fall under the Dark Arts that just exist, as you've put it. Very few though. We'll be getting to at least one of them today."

Medea had to think about this one before speaking up. "Studying dark magic in theory...you are partly correct, Miss Dartry. The dark arts is a very complicated and unstable part of magic that needs to be tread around careful, or we just end up losing ourselves. However, I think you may be mixing the theoretical and practical definitions? When one studies magic in theory, it is studying the written word, not practicing the spells themselves which is where most of the corruption comes from. Honestly, it is no happy reading, but...as you've said, this is indeed defense against the dark arts. If you think about it, are you not learning about the dark arts in theory as well?"



Medea listened and nodded to a few more replies before speaking again. Most of them seemed to be getting the hang of the instructions, or at least she hoped they did. Not exactly reading their every thought to know if they were. "That was a very good round of information. Some of you though..." She eyed a few students. Good. Miss Dixon was awake. "I'm sorry to say, artwork and dark paints or colors was not quite the topic I was going for here."

Laughing quietly, she took a deep breath before continuing, becoming a little more serious. "We're going to be taking a small step back for a moment. Miss Dartry had a good question: How do you know what you're meant to be defending yourself from? You guys learn a lot during your school years and will continue to learn in later years to come; especially perfecting your common sense." Ahem.

"So, how do you know what to defend yourself from? And what are some things you should defend yourselves from or that may be too much in grey area to even know?"

West's first thought was to defend yourself from bad things and people that attacked you FIRST. Buuuut he tried again, rejigged his answer, and after a moment of reflection, put his hand up as he jooooogged on the spot. "It feels wrong. Like lots of Dark Arts stuff feels bad. Um, makes you scared or sad or other bad feelings. Wrong feelings. Especially dark creatures. Its like um... emotional attacks and things."

Errr? Yes? Jogjogjogjogjog.