Carl had been listening to everybody and reading his textbook, without participating in the ongoing discussions. He looked up every now and then to find some of his classmates doing strange things and repeating weird words. Just exactly why they had to find spell books, eggs and moonstones, he had no idea. He turned his attention to Professor Finch and tried to focus on the lesson.

Ooh, Wizarding laws. The Hufflepuff did not know too much about the rules signed by governments throughout the years, but he had done some reading on the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy. He raised his hand and waited for his turn.

"There is a specific clause in the Statute of Secrecy that talks about the dress guidelines for witches and wizards when they are with Muggles. I don't think this is really needed because the Wizarding community is not exposed just because we dress differently. Muggles nowadays value unique styles of fashion." Carl said.

Char liked the professor well enough but truthfully her attention span did not mesh well with this sort of thing. It was, to her, just plain boring, and SO HARD to pay attention to everything everyone was saying. They were saying SO MUCH. And they were all talking about so many different things at once that she couldn't even follow which or what and she knew tons of this stuff anyways so it was even MORE boring and became a general blah blah blah and hum of voices to her.

She DID manage to pay a bit of attention to what Olly was saying though. It was easier when it was your friend, to actually listen. Selectively anyways.

Unforgivable curses.

She sort of stuck her hand up and waved it around a bit then tacked on to the end of his comment: "The unforgivable ones aren't even the baddest ones though, like I know about way worse spells," And she'd seen several of 'em, "And its sort of weird that someone political decided to focus just on those three." Which, what she was sort of getting at was that the choice of which three spells to actually legislate as unforgivable was kind of arbitrary. "And besides, even spells that are for good things can hurt people if they're used with that intent, and spells that people say are dark can be used to protect the people you care about most of all."

Sit. . .

Mason can't sit if Mason need find Moonstone. . . and stone wasn't in class. . . clearly. . .

Mason need go look for stone. . . Mason wasting time. . . Mason need go. . .

Starring blankly at the Professor-Man, Mason got up from the seat that he had said she needed to take and shoved away from the table. . . "Mason go now. . . Mason need go find stone. . ." And with that she headed towards the door. . . she needed to find stone. . . and if Professor-Man wasn't going to help Mason. . . she was going. . .

. . .

With her arms still hanging limply from her sides, Mason shuffled out of the classroom, continuing her quest for Lulla's Moonstone. . .

find, find, find, find. . .

So Janelle's answer was sorta right, sorta wrong. Oh well. She listened and took notes, as the rest of her classmates gave their opinions. The writing continued, when Professor Finch began to speak again. It was time for another question and this time, Janelle listened for a while before responding. Finally, she raised her hand.

"I agree with Dot about the Wand Ban. I mean the council........who were they to say that elves and goblins didn't deserve to use wands? It's pretty clear that they felt that they........wizards.... were superior to everyone else. The ban seems like a kind of control tactic to me.". It was kind of like saying, we're better than you and we have cool toys that you can't play with. Just saying.

Right! Right. Notes. Notes will help. Except all Cal did was scribble on his parchment as if he was taking notes. Scribble Scribble Scribble. Oh, and a doodle there. A doodle of an owl pooping on Dax. Hehehehehe.

Wait, a law? Maybe he knows a law. Cal scratched his head, "Ain't there a law about treating werewolves, vampires, and the lot as magical beings and not beasts or something like that?"

As the discussion had moved on from the premise of the Wizards' Council to the actual discussion of laws that they or the Ministry of Magic were responsible for, Daxton had managed to completely disengage himself.

Any talk of laws, much like talk of morality or of good and bad, tended to elicit an atypical response from Daxton. In the past year or so, he had become more self-aware in how he differed from those around him when it came to such things. Finch had asked them to perhaps give an opinion or explain their stance on a law, but Daxton knew, without a doubt, that doing so would be a bad idea. Even giving an example was, he felt, sure to stir up unwanted trouble; choosing one might somehow give away something about the thoughts he chose not to broadcast, and maybe even arouse suspicion. In the name of self-preservation, he decided to ignore the question and the entire topic for now, glazing his eyes over and keeping his arms folded over on his notebook, still listening to everyone else, and keeping his thoughts safely to himself.

Juno didn't have much to contribute to this question. Everyone already said what she was thinking about saying. So she quietly took notes of everyone elses answers. She knew they would be important for possibly her OWL's and NEWT's so she didn't want to miss anything.

Hopefully she would have a good answer for the next question.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ameh

"I don't feel like the Statute of Secrecy is... really needed like it used to be. Not anymore." He bit his bottom lip, a bit self-conscious. "People used to kill other people for being different, but that doesn't happen anymore, right?"

Ansley called on Jaemin first who seemed almost reluctant to offer an opinion, but maybe not, since he was the first to raise his hand. “Okay,” he nodded. “The Statute is one that can be controversial at times. Many people felt it was necessary at the time, though there were also some that opposed it then as well. There are still two schools of thought on it though. Sometimes when a law has been enforced for a long period of time, it seems like it is no longer necessary because the reason for it seems to disappear. But how do you know if the law was dissolved if the reason for needing it would be returned?” Ansley wasn’t saying that he necessarily agreed with that thought or didn’t, he just wanted his students to think about both sides of the argument. “But some laws are archaic and do need to be reviewed or revised after time.”

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cassirin

It wasn't that Dot didn't expect to be challenged, but most professors didn't engage in higher thinking when someone had a controversial opinion. This professor did, and Dot appreciated being pushed a little. Was big government bad, or was she just parroting her father's opinions? "I don't think complex is inherently bad, sir. I think the laws that were enacted were important to protect our society, but I also think we have to be thoughtful when a law is created. If you can't enforce it, then you either show that your government has no bite to enforce any laws on the books or you become overly punitive because you have to treat every infraction like the worst kind of infraction."

Or that's what she thought. Was it stupid? Probably. Dot was no Ravenclaw. "I just think you have to leave the people you hire to do a job free to do it. Like, keep people safe and within the laws, but don't tie them down with red tape."

Anyway. Cough cough. Dot flipped open her book again. "What about the Wand Ban, in the Code of Wand Use, sir? It seems to me that defining who was allowed to carry a wand, we unintentionally..." She paused. "Or intentionally, perhaps. But by defining who could carry a wand, the Wizards' Council created a hierarchy of Being vs Beast. Intelligent, sentient beings against dumb animals. It's rude to arbitrarily decide who was worthy of being-ship."

Ansley agreed with what Dot was essentially saying, but he would figure most to say the same. He just wasn’t sure if she was providing an alternative to what existed or stating an ideal. “I think many would argue that governments should run that way – to protect and serve society, contributing to the betterment of the people. Do you feel that the Wizard’s Council or the current Ministry of Magic is flawed in those aspects?” He was sure that many did. Politics especially seemed to cause much discord as it was difficult to please everyone at all times. Certainly no system would ever be perfect.

Calling on Dot again as she offered her opinion on one of the regulations, Ansley nodded as he was quite familiar with the one she named. “Yes, another very controversial law put into action. There were, of course, quite a few people at the time who would agree with your thoughts, even if ultimately it was decided that only wizards and witches were allowed to carry wands. Maybe still, even if I’d guess many people take this law for granted now.” And he’d guess that many laws that have been around for years were also taken for granted.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MadMadamMalfoy

Fiyero skimmed through his book before answering the next question. He wanted to make an extra effort to give an intelligent answer this time, hopefully one what would please Professor Finch. He raised his hand. "The Wizard's Council passed the Werewolf Code of Conduct in..." What was that year again? His eyes fell to his book. "1637." He remembered one of his classmates bringing up that law earlier; he hoped no one would mind him expanding on it. "It was a bunch of rules for werewolves, like they were supposed to lock themselves up every month to keep from attacking people. It turned out to be pretty much pointless, though, since nobody would admit to being a werewolf by signing it."

He thought for a minute. "It sounds to me like that law was geared more toward persecuting werewolves than actually ensuring anyone's safety," he added. He hoped Professor Finch wouldn't be angry that he spoke his mind; he did say they could offer their opinion, right? "I mean, there wasn't a code of conduct for other dangerous creatures like giants or vampires, was there? Why should werewolves be singled out? It's not their fault they're the way they are."

Ansley thought Fiyero was on the right track with his thoughts about the Quidditch law. He wasn’t much a fan himself, but he knew the basics of it and he knew that it needed to stay out of sight of muggles. He listened as he then had another answer to contribute to the discussion. The Werewolf Code of Conduct… yes someone had mentioned this one earlier and he stopped to listen to what the first year had to say. “Right… and it certainly seemed that way, though I’m not sure if that was the point of it at the time. It remains one of the more controversial decisions made by the council.” Though there were probably quite a few that could fall under that umbrella.

Quote:

Originally Posted by littledhampir

"There are some laws about the specific kinds of spells that can be used. Like the unforgivable curses, for example. They're illegal so if you use them you go to jail." He agreed with that law, definitely. Those curses hurt people so they definitely should not be used and needed to be regulated by the ministry.

”Yes, of course,” Ansley said with a nod. That was a very basic law in their community and one that was expected to be adhered to. “And.. you agree with the law?” The boy hadn’t said one way or another, just simply stated the fact. He’d figure him to think so, but he was also interested in thoughts or opinions of the students when they brought one up.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tegz

She sort of stuck her hand up and waved it around a bit then tacked on to the end of his comment: "The unforgivable ones aren't even the baddest ones though, like I know about way worse spells," And she'd seen several of 'em, "And its sort of weird that someone political decided to focus just on those three." Which, what she was sort of getting at was that the choice of which three spells to actually legislate as unforgivable was kind of arbitrary. "And besides, even spells that are for good things can hurt people if they're used with that intent, and spells that people say are dark can be used to protect the people you care about most of all."

But this third year did give him an opinion on that same topic and Ansley turned his attention to her. “Yes, there are plenty of harmful spells known to exist,” he said with a nod. “And maybe it is interesting that just those three were singled out, but perhaps it’s a good compromise rather than police all spells. Though intent with any spell can be taken into consideration if someone does something bad.” Or at least he thought. He wasn’t MLE.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gissel

And then there was Professor Finch, telling Oliver exactly what he had just told himself. He did indeed know better. And not only that, but he also pointed out how Ollie had 'changed' his mind based on Dot's answer. In reality, he just hadn't been listening before but whatever. Oliver simply mumbled a sorry under his breath and stared hard at his paper. There was no way he was going to let himself answer the next question. He was just gonna keep his mouth shut for a bit to make up for how loud he had been. Maybe by doing that, he would actually listen to everyone.

Sigh. Ansley would hope that a slight embarrassment wouldn’t stop students from speaking up in class. He knew it was this kid’s OWL year and he wanted him to push for some higher level thinking, not just basic recitation of names and dates. But some kids were sensitive. If nothing else, he’d need to push himself a little more with the activity for the day.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grrr..Meow

"one law is that you need a licence to apparate... I agree with this like 100 percent, ive heard and actually seen people do it incorrectly and it can be harmful and could shock a lot of people on the returning end, the Ministry should know if you can apparate properly."

Ah, okay, it was also good to hear a student agree with one of the current laws as well, include give reasons for why she supported it. “Those are definitely good reasons for having such a law,” Ansley said. “Safety of the community is something the government often takes into consideration when creating laws.” He was sure that there would be people who would oppose it for one reason or another too though as it happened with any rule.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steelsheen

Hand up "Sir, theres the 'Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery' …." everybody in this room should be familiar with that eh? "I don’t like it. Because….its unreasonable." boom simple. He was pretty sure he could find fellow students who would agree with him right? Need he have to explain more? Fine here's more "I mean look, we go to school, we go home for vacation-- and we cant even apply what we learned outside of the school in real life situations until we're 17? I mean whut?? Makes no sense."

Alright, good, Tenacius had a contribution to the discussion and Ansley turned his attention to him next. “I’m sure there is good reason for having such a decree,” Ansley began, not saying that he agreed or disagreed. Just commenting. “Perhaps safety reasons or reasons attributed to the Secrecy Statute.” He didn’t know exactly why, but he was sure those were factors. “I’m sure you are not the only one who feels the same way. There are sure to be solid reasons for opposing that restriction.” Of course, when he was younger, he knew some of his pureblood friends were allowed to practice magic at home. There were ways around that rule. Not the case for him as he was muggleborn however.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jean Granger

"There is a specific clause in the Statute of Secrecy that talks about the dress guidelines for witches and wizards when they are with Muggles. I don't think this is really needed because the Wizarding community is not exposed just because we dress differently. Muggles nowadays value unique styles of fashion." Carl said.

Ansley nodded. “That might be the case nowadays, but who’s to say that it isn’t because of the clause,” he said with a knowing look. Okay, maybe he was joking, but it could be true. “Some things that are necessary at one point of time eventually can be seen as outdated.” It was just the way time worked.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nc.Ap.

Starring blankly at the Professor-Man, Mason got up from the seat that he had said she needed to take and shoved away from the table. . . "Mason go now. . . Mason need go find stone. . ." And with that she headed towards the door. . . she needed to find stone. . . and if Professor-Man wasn't going to help Mason. . . she was going. . .
With her arms still hanging limply from her sides, Mason shuffled out of the classroom, continuing her quest for Lulla's Moonstone. . .

This nonsense again?

Ansley watched, unimpressed, as Mason got up from her seat. He opened his mouth to say something but she was out the door before he could. Well, if she was just going to be disruptive and contribute at all anyway, then no big loss. Though he wasn’t sure she’d say the same about the points she’d lose for ditching class without permission.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daydreamer11

"I agree with Dot about the Wand Ban. I mean the council........who were they to say that elves and goblins didn't deserve to use wands? It's pretty clear that they felt that they........wizards.... were superior to everyone else. The ban seems like a kind of control tactic to me.". It was kind of like saying, we're better than you and we have cool toys that you can't play with. Just saying.

”Alright, another person with the opinion that maybe it shouldn’t just be wizards to hold a wand,” Ansley nodded at her. “Perhaps they did feel that way, though maybe they were looking for the collective best interest. Decisions can be difficult and they need to weigh out the pros and cons.” He wasn’t saying either was right or wrong, just that there were pros and cons, and that would be something that they’d need to consider next.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Awarlesta Black

Wait, a law? Maybe he knows a law. Cal scratched his head, "Ain't there a law about treating werewolves, vampires, and the lot as magical beings and not beasts or something like that?"

”Well, you’re on the right track,” Ansley said in response. “It was more a classification system that said who could contribute to the making of laws. Did you have an opinion or any thoughts on that?” That was something that he was looking for in this discussion.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Felixir

Any talk of laws, much like talk of morality or of good and bad, tended to elicit an atypical response from Daxton. In the past year or so, he had become more self-aware in how he differed from those around him when it came to such things. Finch had asked them to perhaps give an opinion or explain their stance on a law, but Daxton knew, without a doubt, that doing so would be a bad idea. Even giving an example was, he felt, sure to stir up unwanted trouble; choosing one might somehow give away something about the thoughts he chose not to broadcast, and maybe even arouse suspicion. In the name of self-preservation, he decided to ignore the question and the entire topic for now, glazing his eyes over and keeping his arms folded over on his notebook, still listening to everyone else, and keeping his thoughts safely to himself.

Again, Ansley did not expect Daxton to speak up but he did want to see some sort of participation from him. As far as he could tell, it didn’t appear that he was taking notes, though maybe he was paying attention. Time would tell.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Suziella

Juno didn't have much to contribute to this question. Everyone already said what she was thinking about saying. So she quietly took notes of everyone elses answers. She knew they would be important for possibly her OWL's and NEWT's so she didn't want to miss anything.

At least the Darcy girl was taking notes, though he’d prefer to hear her voice as well. This was a discussion after all.



He supposed that was enough discussion before they could move on and get started with their activity for the day. “As you can see, there are many opinions on laws, both for and against them. That is also often the case when laws are being put into action. There are typically people for and against a proposed law, and in ideal situations everything is weighed out to decide what is best for everyone before the final decision is made.” It didn’t always work out that way, but if it was fair it would.

“Today, we are going to pretend that you are proposing a new rule or law. It can be really anything that you’d like, but you are going to present an argument for or against it. You must choose three points to support your argument. Here are some examples, but remember, you can choose anything – Keeping school uniforms, Lifting of the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery, Allowing students to leave school for lunch, Students should be required to take arts classes.” Or they could even choose an existing law to argue against it. “You can do this on your own or in groups of no more than four. I’ll give you some time to write up your arguments, then we’ll present them for the class.”

Notes notes and more notes.

Obviously Oliver wasn't in the right mind set for class...or OWLs...and since he was still so embarrassed, he just was gonna focus on his notes and read them over a few times before talking about any of them to anyone. There was no point in embarassing himself all over again.

Luckily, the next thing the class was doing was brainstorming a law, which Ollie was so sure he could do. He would surprise Professor Finch! Or at least...unannoy him. Oliver was fine with both. Setting down his pen, he looked up at the ceiling and tried his hardest to think of a really good law to make. He figured a partner would be nice to have too...but he was still kind of too embarassed so he was just going to let people come to him of they wanted for reasons unbeknownst to him.

Oh yeah, he should have included his opinion on the law as part of his answer. "I think it's a good law. These curses can really only do bad so they definitely should not be legal." He heard what Char was saying about how any curse can be used for bad, but they can be good too. But these ones weren't really like that. In his opinion, anyway. There's no way torture or murder could be made good.

The activity for the day sounded pretty fun. They just had to argue in favor or against a law. And they could do it in groups. Olly immediately wanted to do that because it would be more fun than having to do it by himself. His first thought was Char, because she had just added on to his answer of the curses. It would be fun to work with her so he made his way closer.

"Hey Char, want to work together?"

"Yeah of course!" Char scooted over and rearranged her things. Of COURSE she would work with Olly. And MAYBE they could also DISCUSS more IMPORTANT THINGS. Crush THINGS.

Don't think she had forgotten!

But oh yeah, probably should TRY and stay on task for just a while at least.

"What do you want to debate about?"

Brian swiveled around in his seat and grinned widely at the bro!friend. Propping his head on an elbow propped on the table, he read Ollie's notes slooooooowly and for a good while before he said anything. If he was going to do this thing, at least he was about to be doing it with someone whose company he enjoyed.

Because this was really not his favourite subject.

"So. Let's do this." Because obviously, the hufflepuff had just invited himself to join him for a discussion. So deal. Also, yawn. YAAAAWN. OWLs were hard and he was sleepy and not sure why classes were even really necessary. Yeah. Let's just... try to stay awake.

Briiiiaaan. It was Brian! He liked Brian. Brian was good peeps.

Oliver immediately smiled when he saw his bro!friend's face and waved (like the dork he was). He hadn't seen Brian in quite some time, so this was kind of a double surprise. Friend plus someone who didn't even care that Oliver had just embarrassed himself. It was a win-win situation really. Also, Brian was smart, and studied more than Oliver, so surely their law debate thing would be really good...fairly good at the least!

"Ooookay. Ummmm..." Ollie looked back down at his notes to see if anything inspired him. And then something actually popped out at him. "I liked what the professor said about requiring students to take an art class...but maybe more specific, like a music class? ......but also, he might want us to do something he didn't suggest." He really did thing requiring music classes would be cool because Ollie was musically impaired and maybe taking a class would help him. Also, Brian played an instrument, he knew a lot about music. It seemed like a pretty solid thing to debate but...again...he didn't want to completely disappoint Prodessor Finch today.

"What do you think? Try something else?" Brian was smart. He was good. He was a Hufflepuff. He would know best.

Yay Char did want to work with him! They could work in groups of up to four, according to the professor, but no one else had immediately came to mind. It would be fun just partnering with Char for this. What if Rooney wanted to work with her too? Oh no Olly hadn't even thought of that. Oh well, everything was fine for now.

Except now it was time to actually choose a topic. He hadn't thought about that at all yet. Yes he knew they could choose anything really, but his mind was focusing on the examples the professor gave, because that would be easiest. He wouldn't have to come up with anything new. "The underage sorcery thing?" He suggested. It sounded interesting to debate. "I don't care, do you have a preference? Would it be easiest to choose something where we're on the same side, or do we want to be on opposite sides so we can debate?"

Hmmm....

Kye scribbled some notes and ideas on her parchment. She was pro-uniform, pro-Under Age Laws... Should she try to make her own new law?? She was sure if she had a law book she would find plenty to dispute in it, but she didn't come that prepared for History! Tapping her quill to her nose, she pondered. She looked around to see if anyone was willing to pair up with her for this one. Calling all creative types!

Well...

"Muggles didn't really have hard laws and stuff about treating other people well back then, I think," he whispered. "You could get away with lots of stuff, cause there weren't really things like police, were there? So people could do whatever they wanted, and it was up to the town to say 'you can't do that', which meant people got hurt when towns were full of mean people..."

Now even if there were mean people, there were laws that were country-wide, so if anyone hurt someone else, they'd get in lots of trouble for it. There were anti-discrimination laws that got talked about every day to protect people, and there were lots of people who were Muggleborn, or half, like him. So it wasn't like there weren't a lot of Muggles who knew about them anyway, right?

They had to think of a law to debate? Jaemin squirmed a bit in his seat, considering what he might make a law if he had the chance... absently he pulled at his white-blond hair, staring at his book. There were lots of guidelines for kids, for students, for schools... but there was one thing that he knew Hogwarts didn't offer, a thing he felt it probably should, and he picked up a quill and started scribbling things down.

Janelle didn't envy the rule/lawmakers. It had to be hard coming up with what you thought was best for everyone. You would always have someone who would oppose the rule or law. There would always be someone who would push the limits and test or break the rules and laws. Thinking about it, there were many things that she agreed with and quite a few that she thought were stupid. You couldn't please everyone. That was just impossible.

Janelle groaned when she heard what their assignment of the day would be. They had to come up with a new rule or law. Didn't she just say how hard that was? How it was impossible to please everyone? Well apparently that didn't matter because they had to craft an argument to present to the class. The big question was, find a partner or go it alone? Hearing the professor's suggestions, Janelle already knew what she wanted to focus on.......or......... should she come up with something completely new?

Looking around the room, Janelle saw some students already paired up. Then there were the zombie kids searching for their missing things.......they might be a bit preoccupied during the lesson. Decision made. Janelle was going to go this one alone. So she was going to take the, students should be required to take art class topic and run with it. She took out her quill and began to write the first thoughts that came to her mind. She would make sense of the madness later.

Brian was sleepy. Very very sleepy. And when one was sleepy, one generally did not function properly. So no, he had no idea what else he was going to talk about other than going along with whatever it was that the bro!friend!dork was going with. Because Ollie was smart. And Brian was sleepy and hated History.

"I think it's great," he nodded. And yawned a little. "Okay so we mandate musical education. Do you want to be ON your side or against?" Because let it be known that Brian had no idea how this thingy thing worked. He just wanted class to end so he could take a well-deserved nap.

And he knew things about music, he'd only been doing it since he was three. So he could probably come up with reasons why they would have to do the music thing. But he was not very functional. So he needed this thing explained properly before he could do a thing. At all. Because YAWN.

Katerina was either daydreaming or not paying attention. Or both. What were they doing? Oh, new laws and changing them, right she knew that. Did they need to find partners? She looked around people were partnering off. She seen a first year who might be in need of a partner. "Do you need a partner still?

Ok, it was decided. Janelle was going to argue that students should be required to take classes in the arts. She knew that this would probably be a bit controversial. The arts weren't for everyone, but she knew that everyone could get some benefit out of the classes.........whether they liked it or not. After all, the arts could include many things, music, dance, theater, painting. The list went on and on. Surely a student could find something under the "arts" umbrella that they could like. Janelle would have to make a good really good case to get people on her side.

Quill hovering over her parchment, Janelle thought about the benefits one could get from studying the arts. She would make a list of everything positive she could think of and then choose the best three things. She would have to craft her argument from that. And so the list began to grow, as Janelle scribbled down her thoughts. When she thought of something more detailed, she wrote that down too.



Janelle stopped writing and looked over what she had written. Not bad, at least she didn't think so. The only problem was, she had listed more than three points. Well hopefully that wouldn't be a problem. Anyway, she still had time to add, subtract or modify her notes. She would think about it some more.

It was becoming ever clearer to Daxton that sharing his own opinions or personal thoughts was to be unavoidable in this lesson... that was, if he were to participate honestly. There were plenty of reasons that Daxton did not want to share such information, with the main reason that he simply did not want anyone to know how, or what, he thought.

There was, of course, the option of making up an opinion that he did not actually agree with, which might be almost as difficult as sifting through his own thoughts to find something innocuous and inconsequential to bring up. It was not like he would agree to the presentation aspect of the class, but even if he was just dealing with Finch, Daxton preferred to keep his own thoughts and opinions totally private.

But could he convincingly think up an opinion and give the impression that he agreed with it? Did the people in this class - or just the professors in this school - know enough about him to know when he was lying about what laws Daxton wanted to enforce or remove? There was at least one such knowledgeable person - at least one - at Hogwarts, so it was tricky business.

For the time being, Daxton made no progress with the task. He simply sat where he was, still, in silence, with his arms folded on top of his notebook, mentally running through as many ideas for laws - or thinking about existing laws - as he could. As he did so, he attempted to eavesdrop on the conversations around him, to get ideas on what to say, on what was normal to say.

As Ollie watched Brian, waiting for an answer, he was slowly starting to realize how tired his friend looked. It wasn't surprising really, because of everything the boy was dealing with, but Ollie just....really wished Brian didn't feel so badly. BRIAN WAS A NICE GREAT PERSON OKAY. Maybe Oliver still wasn't over Brian maybekindadyingwhatever.

"Oh...wait...we debate against each other???" Now not only was Ollie dumb, he was confused too. He really thought all they had to do make a law and debate/answer with the class...not each other. Because he was all for taking music classes and wasn't really sure how to go against his own idea. Honestly, what did debating even have to do with the OWLs??? Nothing, is what.

Oliver's hand shot up in the air and searched the room for Finch. He needed an answer and if he was going to do decently in today's class, he'd have to get over the embarrassment from earlier. He was just hoping he didn't get embarrassed all over again... "Professor, when you say we have to debate our law thing...are we debating against our partner or against the class?" THIS WAS IMPORTANT.

He hears ya Prof. Thing is, its Grown-Up logic. And to him, Grown Ups can no longer feel the annoyance and the pressure of having to do things mano-a-mano, therefore why would they care about some decree that no longer applies to them? Anyway that’s 12 year old logic for ya.

So here they are proposing or opposing new or existing laws.... Hmm should he make his case about the Underage Sorcery absurdity? He grabbed a parchment and was about to start a tirade on that when-- oh wait a minute. IDEA. Maybe his efforts today is better spent on something closer to home? Meaning where he was at right now, which is Hogwarts, as a 12-almost-13 year old with five more years to go roaming these hallowed halls.

So he flipped to a fresh side of the parchment and decided to quill this down:

SPOILER!!:

Proposal Title: Mi Casa Es Su Casa Week

I am proposing a NEW Hogwarts rule: One week out of the school year will be dedicated to 'Mi Casa Es Su Casa Week'. It will be the week where Common Rooms of each of the houses would be open for other students to visit. The points that supports this proposal are as follows:

• Promote understanding and appreciation of other houses: Other students from other Houses are different from each other, and sometimes interacting in classes and around the school isnt enough to understand why they are the way they are. So being able to visit the place they call home for ten months out of the year will hopefully help with this.

• Promote understanding and appreciation for one's own house: Sometimes we need to see/ feel/ hear what doesn’t suit us to appreciate what we have. Sometime there are doubts or unease on the Sorting Hat's decision, so being exposed to other houses will hopefully provide deeper insight to the wisdom of the Sorting.

• Promote school unity: Having a deeper understanding of each other and of ourselves will hopefully strengthen the bond that makes us Hogwartians.

• The Professors should also participate in this by opening their Faculty room / Living quarters to students. Just sayin'

Proposal submitted by:

Tenacius Astor Salander
2nd year Gryffindor

Kye was trying to think of an idea still when a girl nearby asked about partnering up. "Yea that'd be great actually," Kye admitted thankfully. She hadn't realized the girl was daydreaming moments prior.

"Was there anything you had in mind particularly? We could talk about going off grounds for lunch maybe? Which I would be for... if people don't come back for their class, that's their grade not mine! Or, underage magic... I'm for that decree, actually. Hmm, what do you think?"

Once he assigned the activity for the day, Ansley spent some time walking through the classroom, listening to discussions as students started to group up and decide what topic to choose. Though it seemed as some were a little on the slow side to get started. And they didn't have much time left, especially if they were going to present their arguments to the class. He really needed to light a fire under them.

But before he could say anything to the class, he noticed Oliver's hand in the air and he headed over towards him as he called on him. He had actually thought about having a formal debate in class today but ultimately decided on this alternate activity. "You are just presenting your argument, or your side, to the class. It won't be an actual debate today." That could be for another time now that they had the basics down. "You need to have three solid points for your argument." Hopefully that clarified things.

"Just a few more minutes to finish up, class!" he called out to get everyone's attention. "Finish writing up the arguments for your topic, then take your turn to present them to the class. Once you're finished, please put your writings on my desk. Make sure the names of everyone in your group is on it." And then they could call it a day. Or a class. They likely had other lessons to attend today.


OOC - Thanks so much to everyone posting so far <3 We do need to wrap up this class, so I'm going to close it in about 24 hours. Please finish up creating the topic and argument for your character, including at least three reasons why that argument is valid/needed. You can RP presenting it to the class as well, or just write it out to leave for Finch. Thanks! <3