Skylar was listening and jotting down a few notes. Only a few, because most of this stuff so far that the Professor had mentioned was facts that she already knew thanks to parents and siblings and other older friends and family.

Next question was regarding what they know of each of the four founders, and well Sky was rather amused because before the Professor asked the question, she prefaced it with a description of what each founder valued. Well cross that off the list for things she knew about the founders. She smiled though when Hattie listed something about her house founder, rather than Helga Hufflepuff. Slowly but surely, she might have been converting Hattie to an honorary Slytherin. Doubtful, but Skylar could hope. Although technically it was she who messed things up by not being sorted as a Hufflepuff, but what could she say? She'd found Slytherin wasn't too terrible and her dormmates were pretty awesome

Though Salazar Slytherin did have lots of interesting facts to say. Sticking her hand in the air, Skylar added onto what Hattie and Nat started. "Within that Chamber of Secrets, there lived a basilisk, which Salazar was able to control, because he was a parselmouth. Parselmouths is the rare ability that gives wizards the ability to talk to snakes."

Making a face she sighed, if she had known that the lesson was going to be about the founders of Hogwarts then she would have done some more research about them because… Well… there wasn’t much she knew about the other founders besides the one she had mentioned during the last question. When the professor had told everybody about the other founders she had heard their names for the first time so… Hmm, what to do? Making a face she tried really hard to remember what she had read about Salazar Slytherin while reading a book in the common room… Oh! Suddenly smiling because she remembered something she raised her hand again and spoke, “Salazar Slytherin was able to talk with snakes” she told the professor while sounding impressed because… It really sounded cool! She herself wished that she could talk to snakes but sadly she wasn’t able to do so…

So many people were giving interesting answers to the first question that Kitty decided to just sit back and listen in interest. But for the second one she raised her hand and said, 'I have a fact, but I hope it doesn't offend any of my Slytherin friends." Actually, most of her Slytherin friends weren't at Hogwarts anymore, Hady had graduated last year and Mason transferred to another school. Still, she loved everyone here and didn't want to annoy any of them. "But Slytherin was the only evil founder. The other ones certainly had flaws, but Salathar Slytherin was the only one capable of cold-blooded murder and he was the only bigot. The other three we'd probably if we met them, but Slytherin would only belong in Azkaban. I know he would despise me, for instance, because I'm a half-blood and because I am pro-Muggle."

She turned to regard the Slytherins in the room, especially at Natalia. "You're all very kind, wonderful people and I know you don't share Slytherin's views on Muggles and Muggle borns. I don't think anyone at Hogwarts shares his views. But it is an interesting thing how he's the only founder whose house have to distance themselves from him. Again, I'm not trying to be offensive."

"Personally, I don't think we should honor Salathar with a portrait at this school, when he embodies hatred and bigotry."

Looking up from making notes she shot the Ravenlcaw prefect a angry look because, because...! A BIGOT??? Wow! Who thought this prefect that she was to say such a thing? She couldn't know for sure that the founder of her house could be a murderer! Not all Slytherins were murderers or criminals! Folding her arms she eyed the prefect coldly but kept her mouth shut, not wanting to loose house points by doing something stupid. But, there was only one thing the second year old Slytherin couldn't be angry about and that was the muggle thing because... Well... She herself was a Muggle born too so she couldn't be offended because of that...

Alright, then, if Daisy didn't want the shortbread, Matt would have 'em ALL. Not a problem. Omnomnomnomnom.

He grinned with a mouthful of shortbread and gave the professor a THUMBS UP! when the woman said he was right on both counts. 'Couse he was! Hogwarts WAS cold and mental, everyone knew that.

However, his grin quickly faded when Daisy gave her answer of something she knew about Hogwarts. A flood?? Matt had never heard about THAT and he thought he was happier when he hadn't known about it. The professor's additional information didn't help ONE BIT. In fact, it made him feel sick.

'...a lot of our castle WAS under water at that point.'

Matt went pale as he imaged the school being underwater and he didn't hear a word of what the professor was now talking about. He sunk into his seat and became unusually quiet.

Now to get that image off his mind...

Olivia had been rather quiet throughout History of Magic, she had been paying attention to the Professor's questions and the other student's answers. Something about the four founders? Upon hearing Kitty Valentine's response, Olivia froze momentarily. Well that was something. She cast her gaze towards some of the Slytherins in the class, wondering what they thought of that. What had been some facts that she had enjoyed learning from her brother about the founders? Oh yes! Godric Gryffindor! The founder of her house was really cool because he knew how to duel with a sword and with magic. Talk about being super skilled. "I believe that I read somewhere that Godric Gryffindor was a skilled duelist with both a wand and a sword!" Merlin. Now she had to follow in his footsteps and learn how to wield a sword... Err.. Being clumsy and all that would be something... That sounded a lot more difficult than learning how to use her wand.

A girl could dream though, right?

She'd been thinking through lots of nice tame facts to say- there was plenty on record about the Hogwarts founders, after all, and they were pretty interesting to read about- when the female Ravenclaw prefect came out and just slated her house right in front of her! The things she said were true, okay, but she clearly wasn't looking at the whole picture. And right now, Sinead was still pretty high on the victory of house points. Yeah, did everyone hear that? She earned points. For her house. They could all thank her later. First, she had some business to attend to, dispensing some more of her fabulous wisdom: she leaned forwards over her desk so she could look the Ravenclaw in the eye.

"You can't just say something like that. It's stupid. He was a bad man in lots of ways, but he was a really great wizard. He helped make Hogwarts which does amazing things. He was a Parseltongue and they're almost gone now. He was amazing at magic because he did things like make the Chamber of Secrets and I bet he passed on loads of those skills to Slytherins which is magic we only know now because of him. So you have to remember that too. And if you do stuff like take down his portrait, that's like you're trying to pretend he never existed which is bad because you should always remember so you can learn from him, the good and bad things he did. And anyway, he's not the only founder who had bad parts. Gryffindors always feel really pressured to be brave and stuff. And Rowena Ravenclaw was really proud and thought she was better than everyone. Everyone has good and bad parts. So even if you're not saying we're all evil, don't say stupid stuff like that Slytherin was so much worse because his house chose all of us so even if you say that it's something bad about us. And we're not evil. We just work hard for what we want."

Oops. She hadn't really meant to get so impassioned there, but... well, eleven-year-olds aren't exactly known for their self-restraint.

Yup, a lot of the castle had been under water, according to her parents. Daisy nodded at the Professor as she confirmed her answer. It had sounded scary, especially when the story was told by her Dad. The man still was awful at dealing with water.

Wait, Matt was unusually quiet.

Daisy looked at the boy sat at her side and frowned at the look on his face. SEEEEE!!! She knew the cookies were poisoned!! "Hey, are you okay?" She quietly asked, the hand that wasn't twirling her quill around moving to his arm. "It was the cookies, wasn't it"? ALERT ALERT EVERYONE!!! Professor Newton was poisoning the students!

The Slytherin girl threw one suspicious look at the offending cookies laying on the desks. Would it be too rude to throw them off the table?

It seemed like a Ravenclaw girl didn't care about seeming rude or creating drama, though. Strangely, considering the subject matter, Daisy grinned widely at her words. Oooooh, please let someone be offended at that and create some drama. And someone send Daisy some popcorn, too.

Look, the girl wasn't wrong. Salazar Slytherin wasn't a very nice man and he did have some pretty horrendous opinions about Muggles. So yeah, of course some Slytherins distanced themselves from their founder. "Not that I wish to defend him, or whatever, but Salazar's opinions don't really define Slytherins anymore." She offered the Ravenclaw girl with a smile and a shrug of her shoulders with a raised hand.

And since her hand was raised... "Slytherin and Gryffindor apparently were best friends, before Gryffindor left the school due to Slytherin's stance on Muggleborns." Or something like that, she wasn't perfectly sure.

There was a lot of talking and answers, and not for the first time, Olivia grumped about forgetting the Quick Quotes Blaise Bellaire had gifted her. True, the notes would've been embellished beyond belief, but her hand was starting to ache. Perhaps she'd decided to jump back into lessons too soon. She'd only been released that morning. Also, the blonde was extremely proud of Rooney and that well-earned five points. Her look a touch besotted, Liv absentmindedly traced his name at the top of her notebook page.

...with little hearts all around it, too.

...What was her boyfriend's co-prefect talking about?

Clearing her throat, which was still a bit sore, Olivia leaned forward. "Hatred is a learned behavior, and I don't think anyone is ever truly evil." It was simply hard to see anyone in that condemning light when, once upon a time, everyone had been a child. With a mother and father to care for and love them. Wouldn't a person experiences in life shape who they are? "It was a different time." This was said as an afterthought, as she continued to scribble hearts around Rooney's name. Also, it'd been a sign of the time's, that most things were decidedly barbaric and crude. She personally chose to believe that if Salazar Slytherin had lived in today's world, that he'd have been more accepting as an individual. Plus, her cousin was a Slytherin. Yes, Phillip was an idiot, but not evil. "Hold individuals accountable. Not entire Houses."

Not that the Ravenclaw was implying that. Kitty had just mentioned that she thought no one shared this particular Founding Father's blood views. But still, Liv thought others might feel attacked, which was often the case with sensitive subject matter.

Anyway.

"Rowena Ravenclaw chose both the location and name of Hogwarts due to a dream she'd had, according to legend... So, I'm going to venture a guess and say that her dreams were most likely prophetic." That wasn't on the books, but it logically made sense. Logic. It went against her Gryffindor sensibilities, but alas.

Well. All of a sudden there was a lot of chatter about people he didn't know anything about. He recognized their names though!

Wait... Slytherin was evil?

Carlton suddenly felt a lump in his throat as he listened to the Ravenclaw prefect Kitty, who had saved him from Peeves and Miffy earlier in the term. If his house was evil, did that mean Carlton was? He didn't feel evil though! Suddenly his house with the pretty silver and green colors didn't seem so pretty anymore. He hung his head and doodled a bit in his notes, he really didn't want to note down that the founder of his house was an evil wizard. What would his family think?!

There were big words getting thrown around, he didn't actually get all of them but he understood the ones that mattered. Hatred, evil, murder. His excitement for the class had slowly disappeared. Could they change the subject, please? He'd been really proud to be in Slytherin. They seemed cool. They had nice colors and their common room was in the dungeons. Only brave people dared to enter the dungeons. But now, it didn't feel so cool anymore.

He looked over his shoulder at the far back of the class where Liv sat and defended Slytherin. Carlton loved Liv. He wish he sat next to her instead of in the front of the class. Wearing his house colors suddenly made him feel very exposed. He hadn't known there had been rivalry between the founders. It did not settle well with him.

Carlton raised his hand. "I don't know anything about the founders other than that they're... The founders. But professor... If Slytherin was evil, and I'm a Slytherin." Lip Wibble. "Does this make me evil?" Because he wasn't! He just wasn't!

Katerina watched as Olivia, that was her name right? Like her cousin Olivia who was also a Gryffindor, and in the same year. She smiled as at the girl when she joined them sitting on the other side of Etta. She would have grabbed her a cookie too if she knew that Olivia was going to be joining them. Giving Etta a smile. "No problem." It was a well known fact that Kat didn't mind sharing her sweet treats.

Turning her head, toward the front of the classroom when professor Newton started to speak. Listening to the question and the others answers, she couldn't remember but she thought she might have heard this one already. 'Hogwarts is located somewhere in Scotland." That really explained why it was so cold right? Like she thought she may have heard someone else say that.

Katty blinked, their was nothing wrong with Slyertins or its founder. He was only misguided by the way things were at the time. Yes she was sad to admit that there was a time ago when purebloods were highly favored. She was sure that if Mr. Slytherin was around now that his views on muggleborns would be different. Besides, not all Slytherins these days were pure bloods.

Anyway, Kat was going for facts about her own house founder Miss Helga Hufflepuff. Insert beamy eyes here. She raised her hand. "Helga Huffflepuff was skilled in charms.... Food related charms. Maybe that's why she had her common room by the kitchens." Katerina laught slightly. No wonder why Kat had ended up in Hufflepuff. Thank Merlin, Helga put the common room near the kitchens.

....And that's exactly what she'd meant. Someone would always misconstrue the meaning of things when talks of hate and evil were brought up. At Hogwarts, your House was such a fundamental part of your person that any associations to your House became equally as important. Kitty had been perhaps too abrasive with that statement.

Ignoring everyone else, Olivia zeroed in on Carlton. "You are kind and loving. Don't listen to that." Anyone who knew Carlton Lewis would agree.... And he was more than welcome to come sit with her anytime.

Kane blushed and looked around the room. It wasn't often that Kane felt like he was at a disadvantage being from America...but this was one of those times. His knowledge on the founders was minimal at best, having only read a bit about them when he was trying to figure out which house he might be sorted in to.

Still, he wanted to contribute SOMETHING and raised his hand. "Well, there were two male founders and two female founders. My house was founded by Helga Hufflepuff," he explained.

There, he'd contributed!

Kitty wasn't surprised that her answer provoked a strong reaction, this was exactly the kind of debate she'd been hoping to have. One Slytherin, (Leesha)just glared angrily at her. Kitty stared right back at her for a few moments without glaring, though her attention was diverted by Sinead.

The first person to respond (and very forcefully) was Sinead, a first year Slytherin. Kitty's eyes widened in slight surprise at the passion of the Slytherin, though it kind of made sense. She waited until she was done before replying. "Yes, he was a 'great' wizard, if by great you mean powerful. So was Voldemort. If Voldemort had started a school before he died, would it be off limits for students to criticize him, or to not want to be affiliated with him? Voldemort and Salathar were two peas in a pod, they both hated Muggles and Muggleborns and they both were willing to kill innocents to get what they wanted. The only difference is Vodemort started a war and made Hocruxes. Also, Gryffindor's trying to hard to be brave or Rowena Ravenclaw being a little vain can't really be compared to a man who raised a giant serpent to kill children he didn't like. Please don't think I'm saying this applies to you, because I'm not. There is nothing wrong with being ambitious or cunning, so I would never say Slytherins are evil. I like and respect all the houses, but I hate the man who formed one of them."

Not everyone was offended with her though, Daisy basically endorsed her statements. "And I agree with that completely, you're entirely right," Kitty said in reply to the Slytherin girl, smiling back at her. "There's no way I'd ever say that Slytherins today are anything like Salathar. I admire your guys ambition and cunning." Of course Ravenclaw was her favorite, but she appreciated all the houses.

On the other hand, Olivia's response was completely bewildering to her. "It was a different time, but none of the other founders hated Muggleborns. Voldemort also lived in another time, are we going to excuse him too?" She paused to recollect her thoughts, not wanting to go into an angry rant. "And I WAS judging the individual, not the house. I even said I liked Slytherins today, my criticism was only against the founder. Just because he founded a house shouldn't make him immune to criticism."

She felt a little guilty though when Carlton asked if he was evil. That wasn't what she had been saying and it pained her to realize she'd hurt his feelings. "Of course you're not evil, Carlton," she said in what she hoped was a comforting tone. "I only meant to criticize the founder, you have nothing to do with him. For the record, I think you're a very sweet, good person and I know you'll never grow up to be evil. You're good." The "you're good" she said with extra firmness, hoping that everyone else in the room heard and didn't think she was calling Slytherins evil.

Olivia was a little confused that Kitty thought her entire statement had been directed solely at her. They were in a classroom filled with an assortment of their peers, so... What she'd said had been for everyone's benefit. As an aside, her head was really starting to throb. Whatever class she had next was definitely getting skipped.

"Actually, not everything I said was to you. The entirety of that was truthfully for others who..." The blonde took a moment to gesture around the classroom at everyone who had, INDEED, taken offense. "...maybe felt attacked, offended, or confused at the comments you made against the Founder of their house." Also, she was annoyed at being made to talk this much, but didn't allow that annoyance to color her tone of voice. It was good conversation, even if Kitty probably felt on the defensive now.....Also, maybe Healer Reed had been correct. Liv wasn't ready to return to lessons. "I was telling them, not you, that their own actions would define who they are. If they decide to be evil and maliciously hurt others, that will be because THEY decided to do so, and not because of whatever Salazar Slytherin did." Pause. PAUSE. "Also, it's pretty misguided to say that his portrait should be removed. As Sinead said, we learn from those who have come before us, whether they're bad or good. We're made aware of the past, so that we may be better informed for the sake of our future. He's a permanent reminder that we should never regress back to that point." What was the saying? Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. "To many people, their House expresses core, fundamental values about themselves. Though, that's a bit misguided, as well. No one is inherently good or bad simply depending on their House."

Also, in regards to Voldemort, that went for him, too. They needed to learn from his bigotry. It didn't work then. It wouldn't work now... type thing.

Leaning forward again, the blonde Gryffindor rested her cheek in the palm of her hand, staring at the Ravenclaw Prefect, prepared for a rebuttal. She could pull out receipts, too, you realize.

Aw yeah, five points! Knowing things was a sure big help right now. Rooney thanked Professor Newton and settled back into his seat and uh...took in what was uh....happening. Uh.. With a sigh in the direction of his co-prefect, he looked back at Carlton and offered a soft and supportive smile. Kid knew how much this Ravenclaw thought he was awesome. Kitty however, apparently didn't know when was a good time to stop. Which was probably a trait that he shared with her, but wasn't going to acknowledge. Before turning back to the Professor, Rooney shot his girlfriend a smile and may have winked. Or maybe he got some dust in his eye.

Heh.

Back to the topic at hand, though... Rooney's hand went up into the air. "Rowena Ravenclaw had a daughter, Helena. She's one of the ghosts here!" Of course, his answer was kind of lost in the Kitty and Olivia exchange and he too just watched between the two girls as it went back and forth.

Wow... Listening to Liv get passionate about something was music to his ears. Actually just hearing her talk was throwing a spring into his step. Wow wow wow. He had missed her voice. He has missed her debates. He had missed hearing her school people like the girl he had asked to be his girlfriend. Oh, Miss Olivia Lynn Phillips was a fantastic being and he was so in love with her right now. Plssssss. "THAT'S MY GIRLFRIEND, GUYZZZZ." AHEM.

Yup. It wasn't a History of Magic lesson unless a debate started. Poor Carlton. The Slytherin looked like he was having a mental breakdown because of Kitty's words about his House and the Founder. The kid was strange but in an endearing way.

He had listened to his Prefect's words and he had to admit that he did agree with some of what she said. And had to disagree with some of the others. He kept his mouth shut though because in no time the other students, mainly Slytherins jumped to the defence. Naturally. If she had something about Ravenclaw he'd probably have opened his mouth as well.

He twirled his quill between his fingers, scribbling notes every now and then. Actual notes. Nothing toDora. He was slightly surprised when it wasn't a Slytherin who came up with a pretty decent defence but a Gryffindor, (Olivia) but not that it mattered.

The sudden outburst of Rooney caused him to jump slightly in his seat and he dropped his quill on to his parchment. A dark ink blob formed on it. He rolled his eyes and then sighed. Thanks a lot, Prefect

OH OH OH! Derf could talk loooooooooooads about this and HAD already started talking about the Founders specifically in his first bit when just talking about Hogwarts itself. Thus his hand went up eagerly into the air to spew off some more facts...when all THAT started happening.

The...debate...er...conversation...er...whatever it was that was going on right now exactly made the Hufflepuff's insides all sorts of uncomfortable...so his hand quickly went back down and he nonchalantly knocked his quill to the floor with his elbow. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOPS! Guess he was just going to have to bend over and pick that up then....

La de da de daaaaa.

Just...looking for our quill over here and pretending to be an ostrich.

La de da de da.

Skylar had just been listening to what other interesting facts were offered up when well, all of sudden the female Ravenclaw Prefect was making some PRETTY BOLD accusations about Salazar Slytherin. And while they might have been true and while she also said she didn't mean to offend her Slytherin friends, somehow by prefacing her 'facts' which that statement made everything else out of the girl's mouth even more bold and offensive than had it been if she hadn't said anything.

And everything just escalated from there. BUT Olivia Phillips was being awesome at coming to the defense of Slytherins and then the new first year, Carlton, ugh, could she just hug him? Seriously, she wanted to go give him all the cuddles right now, because of his innocent wonder.

"Criticizing the Slytherin founder IS criticizing those who are part of his house though. And though he might have been misguided, without him, we wouldn't have a Slytherin House. And Slytherin House embodies much more than just evilness, but like you said, it's about ambition and perseverance. It's about standing up for each other and protecting our brothers. And yes while the founder might have been evil, it's not fair to say that his portrait should be removed because it represents hatred and bigotry, because that, as Olivia pointed out, is very misguided. The portrait of Salazar Slytherin represents the honorable and greatness and ambition that comes with being a Slytherin. History is filled with timeless tales of both good and bad. Erasing the bad is like forgetting it and when we forget, that's when mistakes and history repeats itself. And thus, we must never forget."

Skylar didn't mean to get involved, but somehow the words just flowed out of her mouth automatically. She was done though.

So now they were charged with telling what they knew about the four founders of Hogwarts. Janelle had her quill ready to write down any information that was new to her. At the same time, she thought about what she would say in her answer. Of course she wanted to share a fact about the founder related to her house.

Before Janelle could reply, the conversation became a little tense. Some Slytherins (and others) took exception to her prefect's description of Salazar Slytherin. And once again, there was controversy in the classroom. Janelle tried to see things from both sides and both sides made valid points. But ............. Slytherin did have a few negative qualities.

Finally, Janelle raised her hand. Maybe she could ease the tension by changing the focus of the conversation to her favorite founder. "Rowena Ravenclaw was thought to be the most brilliant witch of her time. Her lost diadem, that Noelle mentioned, was supposed to make the wearer more wise. It was inscribed with the words, Wit beyond measure, is man's greatest treasure."

SNORT

Natalia couldn't do anything else but snort laugh at the Ravenclaw prefect. Did she just use the word bigot? Really? Did people even use that word anymore? There was a huge eye roll from her as she sat amused and let the other's go after the Ravenclaw. "Like someone else said it was a different time. Wizards didn't know how muggles would respond to them. We still don't fully know to be honest. Which is why we can't just be ourselves everywhere. We have to keep charms up to keep muggles out and keep our secrets in. He was just going off his knowledge and he was protecting his own people. It's great to help others, but you have to protect your own as well. So he was wanting to keep things pureblood to protect magic and wizards, because during that time he felt that was best."

She fully agreed with Liv in all her comments and the others, "Yes you are right Kitty, Voldemort lived in a different time. He was teased by muggles, his father was a muggle that was horrible to him. So he lived through hell because of muggles. He was a horrible person, but he had his reasons. Everyone has their reasons for what they do or how they feel. Comparing both Salzar and Voldemort is starting to lump Slytherins into one group. So if Slytherins are evil then Ravenclaws are nerd, is that correct?" She didn't think that, but she was amused enough to irritate the Ravenclaw.

Her eyes rolled again at Rooney's outburst, really was that really needed? "I get what you are saying Kitty I really do, but calling someone a bigot and basically throwing out all the good he did for this school and as a wizard just because of his view on one thing is kind of being closed minded and only seeing the bad. You have to look to both sides of every story and see why he truly felt that way before throwing out things like you have."

Interesting fact, interesting facts. She knew STUFF about the founders, but Katy was fully distracted by the ignorance of her classmate. Ignorance, rudeness, and general idiocy. Did they let just anyone into Hogwarts these days?

"I am offended, actually. Slytherin was a product of the times, and not in some wishy-washy excuse to permit bad behavior. Wizarding kind was literally being hunted by Muggles, and Slytherin was terrified that opening the school to their children would put society itself in peril. Was he excessive? Yes. Was he guilty of the same sort of prejudices that the Muggles were? Definitely. But he was scared and people do really stupid things when they're scared. It helps to try to understand them instead of just calling people names. He wasn't evil. In his way, he was really brave. He stood against his friends and made a safe space for people like us." He wasn't a hero, but he didn't deserve to be the villain. Merlin. Idiot.

"If it helps, though, I kind of despise you right now. You're as mean as the man you're mocking. You are offensive, and you're being that way on purpose." She nodded. Yes. Cow.

Quote:

Originally Posted by potterobsessionist

Carlton raised his hand. "I don't know anything about the founders other than that they're... The founders. But professor... If Slytherin was evil, and I'm a Slytherin." Lip Wibble. "Does this make me evil?" Because he wasn't! He just wasn't!

Katy absolutely had to jump in and agree with her classmates, even if her point was useless on top of theirs. How dare that mean mean girl make this ickle feel bad about himself. Slytherin was bad? Ravenclaws were the worst. "Of course you aren't evil. You're adorable and magnificent and clever. You're all the good things in the world and I feel bad for anyone who isn't you today." And she blew him kisses.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Govoni

"Actually, not everything I said was to you. The entirety of that was truthfully for others who..." The blonde took a moment to gesture around the classroom at everyone who had, INDEED, taken offense. "...maybe felt attacked, offended, or confused at the comments you made against the Founder of their house." Also, she was annoyed at being made to talk this much, but didn't allow that annoyance to color her tone of voice. It was good conversation, even if Kitty probably felt on the defensive now.....Also, maybe Healer Reed had been correct. Liv wasn't ready to return to lessons. "I was telling them, not you, that their own actions would define who they are. If they decide to be evil and maliciously hurt others, that will be because THEY decided to do so, and not because of whatever Salazar Slytherin did." Pause. PAUSE. "Also, it's pretty misguided to say that his portrait should be removed. As Sinead said, we learn from those who have come before us, whether they're bad or good. We're made aware of the past, so that we may be better informed for the sake of our future. He's a permanent reminder that we should never regress back to that point." What was the saying? Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. "To many people, their House expresses core, fundamental values about themselves. Though, that's a bit misguided, as well. No one is inherently good or bad simply depending on their House."

Hmm. The pastel marshmallow had some grit. Interesting. Perhaps she wasn't a total loss after all. Katy would have to let Roo know the good news later. Newsflash to Roo: your girlfriend isn't a hopeless case.

She did raise her hand, though. "Professor, I just think it's kind of awesome that there were amazing witches involved in the founding of Hogwarts. And they were vital, not just peripheral. It's so different from how women were treated at the time, and it makes me really proud." The end.

So she had misunderstood Olivia's earlier comment, thinking it was directed at her when in reality she had been directing it as general advice to everyone. "Okay, I understand what you're saying. Of course we shouldn't judge anyone based on their founder. On the same token, you should also agree that criticizing the founder of a school is not the same as criticizing the students." Simple enough concept to understand, no? "And I'll back off calling for Salathar's portrait to be removed. There, truce?"

Apparently not. Just when she thought the debate was drawing to a close, Skylar said something which truly confused her. "I disagree completely," she said, turning to face the girl. "First you said that criticizing the founder IS the same as criticizing the entire house, but then you admitted he may have been evil, and then you say we need to learn from history. How can we possibly learn from history if we aren't even allowed to criticize a child murderer, just because he founded a house? If we are so shallow that we can't criticize historical people, then we may as well give up the subject of history altogether, as it would consist of nothing more than fluff pieces and timelines."

Then both Katie and Natalia jumped in, offering a full fledged defense of Salathar Slytherin. Kitty was so overwhelmed by their comments that at first she just stammered. "Wh-what?! You HAVE to be joking." Okay, calm down Kitty. She forced herself to take deep breaths (without making it look like that's what she was doing) before commenting. Not even Rooney's outburst distracted her. She felt angrier at these two than she had felt in years towards anyone. "Okay," she said at last. "Natalia, you said, and I quote: 'He was just going off his knowledge and he was protecting his own people. It's great to help others, but you have to protect your own as well.' Do you realize that you've just defended child murder? That was what Salathar was all about. If he had his way, half the students in this school would NEVER even have been born. 'Defending his people' is a sick and twisted line used by tyrants throughout history to justify monstrous deeds. I don't know how much you know about Muggle history. Have you studied Germany in the 1930's? I suggest you check it out. You see, Muggles and us aren't really that different after all, no matter what idiots like Salathar would have you believe. Muggleborn children were never a threat to the great Salathar, and if he thought so then he must not have been as mart as people describe him. He was a monster and to justify what he did in any way, shape, or form is also monstrous. And no, I do not think Slytherins are evil." Saying so again and again was frustrating.

"So Katy, you think Salathar was BRAVE to attack children, do you? You think the great and powerful Slytherin was just defending his people?" Kitty was not a happy kitten now, her voice and expression was full of barely contained rage, directed towards Katy. "Yes, I suppose you think I would have gotten exactly what I deserved if his giant snake killed me, right? And you think that because I do not worship at his feet just because he founded a house, then I'm just as bad? I've never harmed anyone. So you are saying my words make me as bad as a murderous monster. Well guess what, Katy? I despise you too!"


And with that, she slammed her book in her bag and stormed off towards the exit.

Juno stared at Kitty with such confusion. Where was she getting her facts? She was obviously misinformed about something somewhere. When Kitty stalked out of the classroom she quickly rolled her eyes and raised her hand. When she was called on she replied with, "Obviously Prefect Valentine has missed some information about SalaZar Slytherin," she accented the Z because Kitty kept saying it with a TH sound where the Z should be, "Though, yes, he did create the chamber and hid the basilisk down there, he never RELEASED the basilisk into the school. He never killed any children. The INTENT was there but the action was never produced. Because the other founders disagreed with him, he locked the door of the chamber, left the school FOREVER, and the only way to open the door was with the snake language. No one discovered the chamber until hundreds of years later when VOLDEMORT opened it and killed muggleborns. Therefore she has no right to say that Slytherin was a child killer when he never killed any students, Voldemort did. TWICE. So she has either not done her research properly or has been misinformed." At this point her face was so red with anger she looked like a stop sign.

Juno flipped her hair before continuing, "With that said, putting a stigma on the Slytherins even though 'you don't mean to offend anyone' is offensive. Putting a stigma or label or stereotype on any house when you 'don't mean to offend anyone' is offensive." She paused, taking a deep breath, and continued with, "Also, Helga Hufflepuff was the person that arranged for House Elves to work at Hogwarts so they wouldn't be mistreated or abused." She sat back down, folding her arms across her chest, realizing at some point in her rant that she had stood up.

Kitty was a nice person....but she was clearly misinformed and shouldn't have been speaking about this at all.

SPOILER!!: Individual replies

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lady of Light

Oh. So, they WERE going to be talking about the founders of the school. Interesting. Etta wrote down all the important points before pausing for a moment to think. Anything about the founders... OHHH! Yes, she could think of something. The girl had done some reading for this class, thankfully.

She raised a hand. "Helga Hufflepuff was supposed to have been very good with food-related charms. Many of her recipes are used even today, I think. " She answered cheerfully, glad to have known something about the founder of her house.

Oh, wonderful! Rosalyn was pleased that the first reply was about Helga Hufflepuff. She had a soft spot for the female founders. "Wonderful! Yes, she most certainly invented recipes." Good job!

Quote:

Originally Posted by RachieRu

And now the founders? This was actually a really interesting lesson. Okay so she wasn't really learning anything that she couldn't get out of a book right now, but it was always interesting to learn new facts about Hogwarts! They wet to a great school, and it was always good to know the history of the school she attended. But now she needed to think about something she knew about the founders. She knew a lot about Helga Hufflepuff, of course she did. She was the woman that had founded her own house, but she wanted to say something a little more interesting. She thought for a few more moments before raising her hand into the air.

"Salazar Slytherin built a secret chamber that nobody else knew about. Nobody thought it even existed until Lord Voldermort opened it when he was at the school. Imagine nobody knowing about it!" It was kind of scary really. Could there be more chambers nobody knew about?

Not surprising that the Chamber of Secrets was brought up almost immediately; Rosalyn had expected it actually. "Very good. A rather scary thought when you think about everything that happened, but yes. For a long time everyone thought the Chamber was a myth." Until Harry Potter, of course.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steelsheen

They be talking about the Hogwarts founders? Oh oh oh here's one of his own House's Founder "Godric Gryffindor was the best duellist of his time-- but he wasnt just skilled with wand duelling, he was really really good with the sword too! And he always fights fair because he refuses to duel Muggles with magic, he always wants both duellist to start out on equal footing."

"Yes, very good. It just shows just how much he believed in the qualities he expected from Gryffindors." Of course said students wouldn't be expected to do the same sort of thing NOW, but during that time period things were different.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChanceCoeur

Noelle had been munching on her shortbread, unable to answer any questions due to her mouth full of yum! She nodded in agreement to some of the answers. One or two she didn't actually know.

She did know about the founders though. Each one made each house. Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff.

"The Ravenclaw founder, Rowena Ravenclaw had a long lost diadem. " That was something right? She couldn't remember if her daughter had stolen it or what. She really needed to brush up on her history.
Noelle brushed off the crumbs from her uniform before pulling out a self-inking quill and started taking notes on what the other classmates said.

Aah, yes. The lost diadem. "Correct! And of course that diadem came into play again much later." Of course referring to Tom Riddle using it as one of his Horcruxes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by slytherus

Nero grinned, satisfied that his question since even before he came to Hogwarts had been answered. However, it wasn't the end of it. So, his hand slowly raised. "But, professor, what if muggles get into Hogwarts area? Will they see all the magic or will they still see it as something... Muggle normal?" He knew there are rules on keeping the wizarding world secret from the muggles and exposing it is a crime, but what if muggles unknowingly walked into a wizarding place or encountered a magical creature?

Of course... It wouldn't be History of Magic if the school founders weren't brought up. Unfortunately, Nero knew nothing about them other than their names. Well, he obviously knew Salazar Slytherin a little bit more since it is his house, but he remained quiet instead.

Aah, good. A question. Rosalyn liked when her students asked things. Wanting more knowledge about things was a GOOD thing. "Given the extent of charms put in place, they would see a muggle ruin. To my knowledge that hasn't happened, however, because from their perspective Hogwarts is such a ruin that they would deem it too dangerous to try." At least unless they were risk takers she supposed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ginevra

Zelena was nervous. This was one of her weak subjects. She could only think of one piece of information and it was making her feel incredibly low on the intelligence scale. She decided to release this insignificant piece of information.

Raising her hand, Zelena said rather shyly which was very unlike her, "Salazar Slytherin was apparently a very highly skilled Legimens."

After she said her answer, her shoulders slumped slightly as she bit her lip.

"Very good!" Rosalyn said with a smile. It seemed that Zelena was rather unsure of herself, but she had done a great job.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Felixir

Oh boy. She was talking about the houses. Abey made a face at that, because his house was still QUITE a sore subject. Just BY THE WAY, it still didn't make sense that he was put in Gryffindor, not at all. There was NO GOOD REASON that Hufflepuff wouldn't have been perfect for him. That stupid Hat.

But oooooh, it sounded like the focus was more on the FOUNDERS than the HOUSES. And actually this next question was super actually easy actually. Abey knew the answer. What did he know about the four founders?

This time he remembered to raise his hand before talking, and waved it around a little bit to properly call attention to himself.

"Nothing."

That was his answer. Abey didn't know anything about them. Literally actually nothing. In fact, the today was the first time he had heard the founders' first names. What? The topic of the origins of Hogwarts didn't often come up in everyday conversation in the Botros household. Or maybe it did, and Abey had just never listened. Either way, his answer was still the same. Nothing.

Rosalyn gave Abey a smile of encouragement. There was nothing wrong with that, and he had admitted as much. This was why they were in the class; to learn things.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bazinga

Natalia finally started listening and was starting to think her thoughts were more interesting. Could she make time to go to the record label over break and intern a bit more? He did offer her that if she wanted it. She was going to have to decide on her out of the country auditions or interning over break. Decisions, decisions...


Hearing the professor say about the founders Nat was just about to raise her hand to answer the question with the Chamber when that Hufflepuff that was at the portal said the answer. Well she had something she could say to go with.

"Professor if I'm not mistaken and maybe I am, the founders didn't quite agree on the muggleborns being part of Hogwarts and that was the possible reason for the chamber being built by Salazar. He was not wanting anyone but purebloods to attend ." Not that she agreed with it, Natalia highly liked muggles from her experiences with them and muggleborns for that matter, but it was what she had read.

Oh good. Someone brought up the whole muggle thing. "You are correct, Miss Franks-Mundie. Salazar Slytherin was very pro-Pureblood and didn't want muggleborns admitted. The other founders disagreed with him on this point." Not to say that Slytherin was a horrible and evil person, that was just how things were. "The Chamber was created as a result of this, and it is also the reason why Slytherin eventually left the school." It was a sad thing to think of the Basilisk that had been kept in the chamber to attack poor muggleborn students.

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhoenixRising

Skylar was listening and jotting down a few notes. Only a few, because most of this stuff so far that the Professor had mentioned was facts that she already knew thanks to parents and siblings and other older friends and family.

Next question was regarding what they know of each of the four founders, and well Sky was rather amused because before the Professor asked the question, she prefaced it with a description of what each founder valued. Well cross that off the list for things she knew about the founders. She smiled though when Hattie listed something about her house founder, rather than Helga Hufflepuff. Slowly but surely, she might have been converting Hattie to an honorary Slytherin. Doubtful, but Skylar could hope. Although technically it was she who messed things up by not being sorted as a Hufflepuff, but what could she say? She'd found Slytherin wasn't too terrible and her dormmates were pretty awesome

Though Salazar Slytherin did have lots of interesting facts to say. Sticking her hand in the air, Skylar added onto what Hattie and Nat started. "Within that Chamber of Secrets, there lived a basilisk, which Salazar was able to control, because he was a parselmouth. Parselmouths is the rare ability that gives wizards the ability to talk to snakes."

Seemed that Skylar was sharing Rosalyn's thoughts, because she mentioned the very same creature. "Yes, indeed! And Tom Riddle made use of the Basilisk when he was a student." One of the school ghosts was actually a victim of said creature. "Slytherin, Tom Riddle, and Harry Potter are all famous parselmouths.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sonea

Making a face she sighed, if she had known that the lesson was going to be about the founders of Hogwarts then she would have done some more research about them because… Well… there wasn’t much she knew about the other founders besides the one she had mentioned during the last question. When the professor had told everybody about the other founders she had heard their names for the first time so… Hmm, what to do? Making a face she tried really hard to remember what she had read about Salazar Slytherin while reading a book in the common room… Oh! Suddenly smiling because she remembered something she raised her hand again and spoke, “Salazar Slytherin was able to talk with snakes” she told the professor while sounding impressed because… It really sounded cool! She herself wished that she could talk to snakes but sadly she wasn’t able to do so…

Nod. "Yes. A VERY rare ability." As miss Diggory had mentioned but Rosalyn wanted to reinforce.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hey Ju

Alright, then, if Daisy didn't want the shortbread, Matt would have 'em ALL. Not a problem. Omnomnomnomnom.

He grinned with a mouthful of shortbread and gave the professor a THUMBS UP! when the woman said he was right on both counts. 'Couse he was! Hogwarts WAS cold and mental, everyone knew that.

However, his grin quickly faded when Daisy gave her answer of something she knew about Hogwarts. A flood?? Matt had never heard about THAT and he thought he was happier when he hadn't known about it. The professor's additional information didn't help ONE BIT. In fact, it made him feel sick.

'...a lot of our castle WAS under water at that point.'

Matt went pale as he imaged the school being underwater and he didn't hear a word of what the professor was now talking about. He sunk into his seat and became unusually quiet.

Now to get that image off his mind...

An encouraging smile was sent towards Mr Meriwether. It was okay that he didn't have an answer to the question; not everyone was knowledgeable of the founders. So long as he listened and learned.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Watson

Olivia had been rather quiet throughout History of Magic, she had been paying attention to the Professor's questions and the other student's answers. Something about the four founders? Upon hearing Kitty Valentine's response, Olivia froze momentarily. Well that was something. She cast her gaze towards some of the Slytherins in the class, wondering what they thought of that. What had been some facts that she had enjoyed learning from her brother about the founders? Oh yes! Godric Gryffindor! The founder of her house was really cool because he knew how to duel with a sword and with magic. Talk about being super skilled. "I believe that I read somewhere that Godric Gryffindor was a skilled duelist with both a wand and a sword!" Merlin. Now she had to follow in his footsteps and learn how to wield a sword... Err.. Being clumsy and all that would be something... sounded a lot more difficult than learning how to use her wand.

A girl could dream though, right?

A smile was sent towards Olivia. "He most certainly was, though he preferred dueling in the muggle way using a sword, fighting against muggles." But yes, he was skilled in both types.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crayola

And since her hand was raised... "Slytherin and Gryffindor apparently were best friends, before Gryffindor left the school due to Slytherin's stance on Muggleborns." Or something like that, she wasn't perfectly sure.

Rosalyn smiled as the mention of Slytherin and Gryffindor's friendship was mentioned. "Very good! They were the best of friends before everything got out of hand. That's when Salazar Slytherin left the school." The two founders had been mixed up, but that was okay. Everyone made mistakes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Govoni

"Rowena Ravenclaw chose both the location and name of Hogwarts due to a dream she'd had, according to legend... So, I'm going to venture a guess and say that her dreams were most likely prophetic." That wasn't on the books, but it logically made sense. Logic. It went against her Gryffindor sensibilities, but alas.

Oh wonderful! Roslayn had been waiting for someone to bring up Rowena Ravenclaw's dream. "Very good! Yes, I would make that assumption as well, even though it hasn't been proven." It was just something that she liked to imagine. "I will add that she also came up with the idea for the ever changing floor plan." Just another bit of trivia for them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SarcasticStrawberry

Turning her head, toward the front of the classroom when professor Newton started to speak. Listening to the question and the others answers, she couldn't remember but she thought she might have heard this one already. 'Hogwarts is located somewhere in Scotland." That really explained why it was so cold right? Like she thought she may have heard someone else say that.

Katty blinked, their was nothing wrong with Slyertins or its founder. He was only misguided by the way things were at the time. Yes she was sad to admit that there was a time ago when purebloods were highly favored. She was sure that if Mr. Slytherin was around now that his views on muggleborns would be different. Besides, not all Slytherins these days were pure bloods.

Anyway, Kat was going for facts about her own house founder Miss Helga Hufflepuff. Insert beamy eyes here. She raised her hand. "Helga Huffflepuff was skilled in charms.... Food related charms. Maybe that's why she had her common room by the kitchens." Katerina laught slightly. No wonder why Kat had ended up in Hufflepuff. Thank Merlin, Helga put the common room near the kitchens.

"Correct!" Rosalyn said with a smile when Kat answered both questions. That was definitely why the castle got so cold during the winter. "I think so too. She also arranged the house elves working in the kitchens and made sure that they were given a safe place to work where they couldn't be abused or mistreated." Wonderful woman, Helga Hufflepuff.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lissy Longbottom

Kane blushed and looked around the room. It wasn't often that Kane felt like he was at a disadvantage being from America...but this was one of those times. His knowledge on the founders was minimal at best, having only read a bit about them when he was trying to figure out which house he might be sorted in to.

Still, he wanted to contribute SOMETHING and raised his hand. "Well, there were two male founders and two female founders. My house was founded by Helga Hufflepuff," he explained.

There, he'd contributed!

"Very good, Mr Westwood!" The boy seemed rather put off, but that was probably because he was from another continent. She gave him a reassuring smile.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shanners

Back to the topic at hand, though... Rooney's hand went up into the air. "Rowena Ravenclaw had a daughter, Helena. She's one of the ghosts here!" Of course, his answer was kind of lost in the Kitty and Olivia exchange and he too just watched between the two girls as it went back and forth.

Rosalyn smiled as Rooney thanked her, and the smile only grew as he mentioned Helena Ravenclaw. "Excellent! Yes, not everyone knows but the Grey Lady is Rowena's daughter." The Bloody Baron played a part in Helena's history, but they were not going to get into that today.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daydreamer11

So now they were charged with telling what they knew about the four founders of Hogwarts. Janelle had her quill ready to write down any information that was new to her. At the same time, she thought about what she would say in her answer. Of course she wanted to share a fact about the founder related to her house.

Before Janelle could reply, the conversation became a little tense. Some Slytherins (and others) took exception to her prefect's description of Salazar Slytherin. And once again, there was controversy in the classroom. Janelle tried to see things from both sides and both sides made valid points. But ............. Slytherin did have a few negative qualities.

Finally, Janelle raised her hand. Maybe she could ease the tension by changing the focus of the conversation to her favorite founder. "Rowena Ravenclaw was thought to be the most brilliant witch of her time. Her lost diadem, that Noelle mentioned, was supposed to make the wearer more wise. It was inscribed with the words, Wit beyond measure, is man's greatest treasure."

"Very good, Miss Guidry! Rowena Ravenclaw was definitely an incredibly brilliant witch." Was it showing that Rosalyn admired both her and Helga Hufflepuff? "Her diadem definitely was considered as such. Makes it even sadder what Tom Riddle did to it." That was all in the past, but still rather tragic.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cassirin

She did raise her hand, though. "Professor, I just think it's kind of awesome that there were amazing witches involved in the founding of Hogwarts. And they were vital, not just peripheral. It's so different from how women were treated at the time, and it makes me really proud." The end.

Rosalyn could not help beaming as Katy brought up a great point. "Excellent, Miss Toussaint! Definitely two of the greatest witches not just during their time, but ours as well. Great rolemodels for female witches." There were several of them throughout history.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Suziella

Juno flipped her hair before continuing, "With that said, putting a stigma on the Slytherins even though 'you don't mean to offend anyone' is offensive. Putting a stigma or label or stereotype on any house when you 'don't mean to offend anyone' is offensive." She paused, taking a deep breath, and continued with, "Also, Helga Hufflepuff was the person that arranged for House Elves to work at Hogwarts so they wouldn't be mistreated or abused." She sat back down, folding her arms across her chest, realizing at some point in her rant that she had stood up.

A smile was sent towards Miss Darcy. "Yes, indeed! Helga Hufflepuff was a wonderful witch." So much admiration.

...

Whoa.

Whoa.

Whoa.

Rosalyn's eyes widened and she stood there in shock as drama suddenly unfolded around her, students getting heated and not very nice things being said. Conflict was something that made her want to run and hide which was DEFINITELY not something that she could do during class. Nope, she was going to be in charge of here even if on the inside she wasn't feeling it in the least.

"That is enough, everyone." Her tone was not severe, but harsh enough to get their attention she hoped. "Now, I always encourage people to express their opinions in my class..." Something that she wanted to reinforce because she was not in any way trying to discourage it. Miss Valentine was entitled to speak her mind and she wanted the girl to know that. That said... "No one is completely evil, and Salazar Slytherin played an important part in the founding of our school." That was something that should NOT be forgotten. "That is why his portrait hangs in the school, and will continue to do so."

Her expression became said as Mr Lewis became worried that he was evil. Despite classmates jumping in to reassure him, Rosalyn needed to say her piece. "You are not evil. No one in Slytherin is evil." Something that no one in that House needed to feel. "As has been stated, just because Salazar Slytherin had evil intentions towards muggleborns should NOT taint the House. Does not taint the House." True there were some bad wizards and witches from Slytherin, but the same could be said about the other Houses, and that was all down to the person. "You are a wonderful person and should be proud to be a Slytherin. Embrace your House." That went for the entire class, no matter where they had been sorted.

Her eyes widened again before she could say more. "While it's good to see you being supportive Mr Bronwyn, please remember that we are in class." She was not mad at the boy, in fact sending him a smile because really it was sweet how much he loved his girlfriend. That didn't mean he could yell, however.

Anyway... "Let's move on to more-" Before Rosalyn could finish her thought, she was greeted with another tyraid, one resulting in Miss Valentine shouting and storming outside of the classroom. Normally she would have gone after the girl, but given her current mood it was probably best to let her cool down a bit first.

"Time for the activity!" Yes, they were moving on. Forgetting that there had been more that she wanted to share with the class because it probably was best to just move on.

Yes, she DID expect her students to do their work. "I would like for you all to pretend that you are one of the founders of Hogwarts. The fifth founder." It didn't matter that one didn't exist because they were to use their imagination. "As a founder, it is your job to create a House. This House can be anything that you want it to be. The House would need a name, animal, colours, and characteristics of its members." Hopefully they were following along with what she was saying. "The characteristics don't have to be personality traits if you don't want them to be. For instance, it could be a House for people who love Unicorns." Basically she wanted them to go with whatever they wanted to.

"Once you have recorded the information, I would like you to make a crest for the House." Just like the ones for the four existing ones. "If you have a hard time doing this on your own, you may work with a partner but no more than TWO people for this." The assignment wasn't THAT difficult.

OOC: So sorry if I missed anything, guys! I tried my best to get everything in that I could. Anyway, for the assignment your character is required to come up with their own Hogwarts House. As Rosalyn stated, they need to come up with a name for the House, an animal to represent it, House colours, and characteristics for the members. This is to be written down to be handed in. Once that is done, all that is needed is to draw a crest for said House. You CAN include an image if you want to, but that is not required. It's enough if the process of drawing is RPed out.

There is NO post requirement for this and characters are free to work with a partner if they choose so. You have until 11:59 pm EST on February 7th to complete the assignment. If there are any questions, feel free to ask me or Rosalyn.