So they wouldn't be talking about the history of Halloween. Sad. Halloween excited Maddie, because of all the free candy, but she could deal with talking about the Battle of Hogwarts. It was a really big important part of their history, and of course she'd grown up hearing all about it. "There were over fifty people that died, some of them children!" she said, raising her hand and looking at the professor with a horrified expression. No matter how many times she thought about children her age fighting and dying in a war, it still freaked her out.

Also...

"Wasn't there a Battle of Hogwarts, because Voldemort figured out Harry Potter was in the castle to destroy the last of his horcruxes?" she asked. "What's inevitable mean, Professor?" Was she asking if they thought the battle HAD to happen or not? Maybe had heard the word, but she hadn't used it much at all. Maybe not even once in her life.

Hmm. Katy didn't want to talk about any stinking old battle when the stars were out and the night was... okay, it wasn't night. And those weren't stars. And the stone floor was cold and hard on her bum. She wriggled around before giving in and raising her hand. FINE. Participation.

"Professor, I think we're taking for granted the idea that Hogwarts was anyone's end game in the last Wizarding War. Voldemort was scouring the countryside for Potter, and Hogwarts happened to be the place where he pinned him down. I suspect that Harry Potter very much regretted that fact for the rest of his life. I mean, sure, it was a good place to act as a rallying call for those willing to stand against the Death Eaters, and some may have shown up just by nature of it being a school, but he unintentionally brought death and destruction to the one place in Britain where children should have been safe. I don't blame him... the death and destruction was caused by the Death Eaters, but he's down in history as a highly moral person, and I think it would have bothered him."

Listening to her classmates guesses about the topic of the day was quite interesting. However, at last it was revealed that they would be studying about the Battle of Hogwarts. And then came the barrage of questions. It seemed that they could pick and choose the questions that they wanted to answer. Shay thought about it for a minute and then raised her hand.

"There was a Battle of Hogwarts because witches and wizards wanted to put an end to the evil that was Voldemort. They were living in constant fear of the madness that he and his followers were responsible for. They wanted their lives back and the only way to accomplish that was to stand up to him. Voldemort had to be eliminated once and for all. I think a battle was inevitable because Voldemort would have continued to terrorize, kill and basically wreak havoc on the world. The battle may not have needed to be at Hogwarts, but some kind of all out battle would have been necessary to accomplish the ultimate goal. Voldemort did not exactly seem like the compromising type."

SPOILER!!: Facts about the Battle of Hogwarts/Why did it happen?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ginevra

Daisy raised her hand, having recently read about the battle. "The Battle of Hogwarts occurred on May 2nd, 1998 inside the castle at Hogwarts which resulted in the end of Lord Voldemort's terror-filled reign."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steelsheen

Whoah he nailed it? Well whaddya know, call him psychic. Just nobody ask him what the next lottery numbers are. He returned the grin of the girlfriend with a beamy one of his own. #Inspiration

Ok so what did he remember about the Battle of Hogwarts. He looked around the room and this occurred to him "Professor, I could guess that the reason why our room is night-themed is because its related to Voldermort's ultimatum, he wanted Harry Potter to surrender to him by midnight in exchange for him not killing everybody at Hogwarts. But Harry couldnt leave just like that because he was on a mission to recover and destroy all the Horcruxes, one of which is located somewhere in Hogwarts castle. The destruction of the Horcruxes is the only real way to defeat the Dark Lord." Kinda like a Catch 22 there for 'ol Potter.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bone_baud10

The Ravenclaw raised his arm, "Well, the battle occurred at summer almost a century ago. I think the importance of the Battle of Hogwarts resembles the one of D-day in Muggle history." Although he was a pureblood and knew sparsely about Muggle 'anything', some historical events are too great to be ignored. "Meaning it was a turning point in the war that was happening in Britain. The war was between two pacts. The first, Voldemort's pact, which fought for Magic and Pureblood supremacy over Muggles and Muggle-borns. The second pact, Dumbledore's Army and The Order of the Pheonix, which fought for freedom and justice in the Wizarding World as well as peace with the Muggle community." Merlin, he was talking a lot. "Basically what happened was Harry Potter defeated Voldemort resulting in an immediate victory to Dumbledore's Army and The Order."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kimothy

But yes, Professor Newton... err, Marchand... had the prefect's attention for this lesson. Vivian raised her hand to share her thoughts. "The Battle of Hogwarts is the climactic ending of the Second Wizarding War, Professor, where Harry Potter defeated Lord Voldemort once and for all," the blond said, nodding along.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lady of Light

Ahem. Anyway, back to history. Etta had done some reading about this, of course.. if only she could remember properly. “To add something new to what other have said, I think it’s the final battle in which the elder wand took part..

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie

"C-Conflict of beliefs," he stated simply, eyes somewhat unfocused as he stared ahead at no where in particular. "One side believed our world...wizardingkind needed to be purified ... and that meant killing muggles, muggle-borns, and blood traitors...so that Voldemort...and his followers...could achieve a global dictatorship under their magical regime...while the other side fought against all this...with a different belief system. A belief in...a free wizarding world..."

Quote:

Originally Posted by NifflerFan

As for the questions, the Gryffindor raised her hand and added: "Professor, the Battle of Hogwarts was kinda different from most battles 'cause kids fought in it too, not just the adults. Loads of students fought and made a biiig difference.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daydreamer11

"There was a Battle of Hogwarts because witches and wizards wanted to put an end to the evil that was Voldemort. They were living in constant fear of the madness that he and his followers were responsible for. They wanted their lives back and the only way to accomplish that was to stand up to him. Voldemort had to be eliminated once and for all."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anna Banana

So they wouldn't be talking about the history of Halloween. Sad. Halloween excited Maddie, because of all the free candy, but she could deal with talking about the Battle of Hogwarts. It was a really big important part of their history, and of course she'd grown up hearing all about it. "There were over fifty people that died, some of them children!" she said, raising her hand and looking at the professor with a horrified expression. No matter how many times she thought about children her age fighting and dying in a war, it still freaked her out.

Also...

"Wasn't there a Battle of Hogwarts, because Voldemort figured out Harry Potter was in the castle to destroy the last of his horcruxes?" she asked.

There were quite a few answers coming in, and Rosalyn was very pleased with her students! She had expected that they would be quite knowledgeable when it came to such a huge historical event; this had marked the end of the Second Wizarding War as well as the death of Voldemort.

"Wonderful job, everyone!" Rosalyn smiled at the class. "There is a lot of background details that come into play as far as the battle is concerned, but we will be focusing more on the Battle of Hogwarts itself as opposed to lots and lots of other details." Basically she knew that they would get bored listening to her going on and on about the entire horcrux hunt and the history of Snape. The deathly hallows as well. "Mr Salander and Miss Kemp are spot on in saying that the battle happened at Hogwarts because Voldemort knew that Harry Potter had made his way to Hogwarts in order to destroy a horcrux that was housed there." At that point multiple ones had already been destroyed and Voldemort had been losing more and more strength. "Very good, Mr Willis, Mr Ashburry-Hawthorne and Miss Morrison! Voldemort's main focus - beyond killing Harry Potter, of course - was an attempt at 'purifying', Rosalyn used air quotes, "the wizarding world. As far as he was concerned muggles, muggleborns, and blood traitors needed to be eliminated. Hence all of the horrible things that he and his death eaters did." Rosalyn wasn't going to go into too much detail with that, because it could be rather upsetting. "The battle was the Death Eaters against the Order of the Phoenix and because it happened at Hogwarts, the school took part in defense as well." She paused for a moment before continuing. "As some of you probably know, Lord Voldemort - formally known as Tom Riddle -was actually a Half-blood. His mother was a witch and his father was a muggle. His mother, Merope fell in love with Tom Riddle Sr and used a love potion on him so that she would win his affections. She stopped using the potion on him while she was pregnant in the hopes that he loved her, but he left. Tom Riddle was born in an orphanage and his mother died soon after. So Voldemort himself wasn't a Pureblood." A fact that she found rather interesting, though she wasn't adding in the fact that he had been horrible to other kids at the orphanage and had killed his father.

"There certainly can be comparisons made between the Battle of Hogwarts and D-Day. Wonderful observation, Mr Willis!' Call her impressed. "There are actually similarities between both the Second Wizarding War and World War Two, but I am not going to get into that right now, as we need to move on with the lesson, but it's definitely something fascinating to think about." Maybe for another class, she could focus entirely on that... "That most definitely IS why I chose to have the lesson decorated with a night sky, Mr Salander.. Harry Potter sacrificed his life at that time so that another of the horcruxes could be destroyed. Despite the fact that he came back, the fact of the matter is that he gave his life for the wizarding world." And that was no small matter. "As Miss Swann and Miss Fairfield both point out, the battle took place on May 2nd, 1998, and Voldemort and his Death Eaters were defeated. The battle was fought both inside the castle and outside it. Many people fought for the school, including students, as both Miss Sparkes and Miss Kemp have pointed out. And Harry Potter DID use the Elder Wand, very good, Miss Kramer! He managed to master all of the deathly hallows, meaning he mastered death." Another accomplishment he had made.

SPOILER!!: Was the Battle of Hogwarts inevitable?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ginevra

"I personally think that bloodshed was always going to happen, no matter what. Lord Voldemort wasn't going to go down without as much destruction and death as possible. Voldemort couldn't kill Harry Potter when Harry was an infant so he wanted to finish the job no matter the cost."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Watson

Vi raised her hand to the Professor's question. "I think it was inevitable given Lord Voldemort's personality or what we know of it.... Well if Harry Potter had turned himself in, surely Lord Voldemort still would have killed the people who stood with Harry... So yes... I think the battle was inevitable." There would be casualties on both sides. People didn't just believe in Harry as a person. He had represented so much more. All of Dumbledore's army had. It had given people hope of a better world.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steelsheen

"I'm not sure if anything can be done avoiding bloodshed by that point-- I mean theres a whole lot of cruelty and bloodshed even before the actual Battle took place. If Wizards had wanted to avoid all that, then maybe they shouldve listened to the clues and the signs that led to Voldemort's return and prevented that from happening. Nip the problem at the bud my folks always say."

Quote:

Originally Posted by bone_baud10

Aymeric paused. A lot of information spilling was going on right now, and he wasn't a very talkative person. "In my opinion the Battle was necessary and inevitable because Voldemort had to be defeated eventually. Otherwise half of the students at the school wouldn't exist." Frightening yet true fact. "But I do think some of the bloodshed at the battle itself on both sides could of been prevented." Some people might disagree with his opinion, but he was simply answering the question as honest as he could be.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kimothy

"And I think it was inevitable, Professor, considering Voldemort didn't seem like the kind of person to put up a fight on his own." He wasn't sorted into Gryffindor, after all... right? "Whether there was a Battle of Hogwarts or not, Voldemort would have done whatever he wanted just so he could lay a finger on Harry." Because, apparently, Voldemort was just one of the many fangirls who liked the Chosen One, of course. Why would he be so obsessed with a teenage boy, after all?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lady of Light

"..and even though I wish that there had been a way to avoid the battle, it was inevitable because Voldemort and his allies, who were way beyond evil, needed to be stopped.” To put it simply.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Goblinfrog

She raised her hand as soon as she had an opportunity. "Technically the Battle of Hogwarts could have been stopped, but bloodshed was inevitable." What did she mean? She continued: "Voldemort was a despicably evil bigot who had to be stopped one way or another, there was no way to end that war without killing him and several of his followers. The battle would have happened somewhere, and Hogwarts always seemed like the place it would happen - if you consider that it was under Voldemort's control, that several hocruxes came from there, and that the founders of the Order of the Phoenix all had their start at Hogwarts. Theoretically the battle to stop Voldemort could have taken place somewhere else, like the Ministry of Magic, but we don't know how it would have played out. Perhaps Voldemort would have won, and we'd all be enslaved." Shudder.

Quote:

Originally Posted by natekka

"No. I don't think it could've been avoided. The sheer number of followers he had meant that, in order for good to win, people had to fight. They," - they being the good side - "did try and prevent the attack, but their defences were broken through. And... from what I've heard, Voldemort wasn't someone who could be easily reasoned with." Though he did offer to let everyone live if they gave Harry Potter up and joined his side, right? "It could've been held elsewhere, if it wasn't for the fact that Harry Potter needed a horcrux that was hidden inside the castle." Her answers were basically along the same lines as her fellow classmates' but, you know, they weren't wrong, so....

Quote:

Originally Posted by SarcasticStrawberry

So she had her opinion ... and lots of them. But she also listened to others opinions before raising her hand and speaking out. "I think that things can be sorted out in a diplomatic manner. But in the case when there are no diplomatic solution, war is inevitable. But with Voldmort he wanted be the most powerful wizard and would stop at noting to get there bloodshed on both sides I really don't think there was any other way to defeat him."

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie

He paused to swallow, palms sweating nervously. He didn't really like thinking about this stuff...and in light of what had happened with the rumored Thunderbird...it made Derf nervous. There HAD been a lot of upset last term after the first and third tasks specifically because of muggle (false or otherwise) involvement. "W-War...between two sides like that...one being driven by a leader who...didn't posses a soul himself really since he had split it into seven pieces...is inevitable..."

Quote:

Originally Posted by NifflerFan

"And and I don't think they could've avoided the Battle 'cause Voldemort wasn't gonna give up without a huge fight. He wanted loads of power wayyy too much, mhm. And battles always mean bloodshed AND I think Voldemort kinda enjoyed the killing and violence by that time too. Since his soul was all mangled and stuff." The Battle was kind of a dark time, mhm.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daydreamer11

"I think a battle was inevitable because Voldemort would have continued to terrorize, kill and basically wreak havoc on the world. The battle may not have needed to be at Hogwarts, but some kind of all out battle would have been necessary to accomplish the ultimate goal. Voldemort did not exactly seem like the compromising type."

It came as no surprise that most of the students seemed to be in the opinion of thinking the Battle of Hogwarts was inevitable. The fact that it was Voldemort certainly increased the chances of that, but still she had wanted to ask on more of a hypothetical basis in order to get them thinking about things a little more. "When dealing with people like Lord Voldemort and his followers, it is certainly harder to deal with diplomacy. I agree with everyone who has said that. The Death Eaters were terrorizing many people and would not be stopped." Rosalyn paused again before going on. "You are certainly correct about using diplomacy whenever possible, Miss Primeaux. Unfortunately that wouldn't have worked out, though it has in many other situations." Ones where war had been avoided or stopped before it could get worse. "Very true, Miss Valentine. The battle could have easily taken place somewhere like the Ministry of Magic if Harry Potter hadn't been at Hogwarts to destroy the horcux hidden there."

SPOILER!!: Derfael

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie

Derf stopped there to look at his hands, thinking a bit more before pressing onward.

"Professor...is...what happened at Hogwarts..." he paused to bite his lip, thoughts drifting back towards the insecurity he felt back in first year with the portal and the Monster. With that as his impression of Hogwarts, it was impossible not to...feel frightened by recent happenings. "...the blood...with the bird of prey...is that a warning message that...you know...conflict is coming? Like...when the Chamber of Secrets had been opened...and there was...bloodonthewallsthentoo.." Thunderbird or hawk or whatever it had been...there was something there, you know? Soaring above Hogwarts...keen eyesight...watching them... "Especially if, you know, the rumor is true and it was a Thunderbird...those LIKE to fight...and...er...are highly sensitive to danger..."

Sure felt like a warning or message to him.

Rosalyn suddenly understood why Derfael had seemed so distressed. Poor child! Never in a million years would she ever want to see students upset like this in her lessons. It had just been a rather unfortunate circumstance that the hawk thing had happened right before this subject had come up. But she had already planned this lesson in advance and it needed to happen. "I admit that I don't really know much about what had happened - as far as I don't know what the purpose of the bird has been... Who placed it or what their reasoning was, but whatever happens, we staff will be there to protect you all." Hopefully that response would be at least a little reassuring. Maybe the entire thing had been a really sick joke meant to scare people. Though where had the hawk came from? "Will you be okay, or do you want to leave the lesson?" It was more than perfectly fine if he wanted to leave, she just wanted to make sure that he was okay.

SPOILER!!: Maddie

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anna Banana

"What's inevitable mean, Professor?" Was she asking if they thought the battle HAD to happen or not? Maybe had heard the word, but she hadn't used it much at all. Maybe not even once in her life.

Rosalyn smiled when Maddie asked her what inevitable meant. It was nice to see students who were keen to learn things! "Inevitable means something that is unavoidable." And if there were more questions like that, she would gladly answer them.

SPOILER!!: Katherine

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cassirin

"Professor, I think we're taking for granted the idea that Hogwarts was anyone's end game in the last Wizarding War. Voldemort was scouring the countryside for Potter, and Hogwarts happened to be the place where he pinned him down. I suspect that Harry Potter very much regretted that fact for the rest of his life. I mean, sure, it was a good place to act as a rallying call for those willing to stand against the Death Eaters, and some may have shown up just by nature of it being a school, but he unintentionally brought death and destruction to the one place in Britain where children should have been safe. I don't blame him... the death and destruction was caused by the Death Eaters, but he's down in history as a highly moral person, and I think it would have bothered him."

Katherine definitely had a good point, and Rosalyn was rather impressed with the girl for adding this to the discussion. "Very well said, Miss Toussaint! While the Battle WAS inevitable, it certainly could have happened in another location. He certainly would have felt guilty for the deaths that had occurred. Above all Hogwarts is supposed to be a safe place." Though of course there was still a lot of dangerous things that occurred; it just was that nothing else that happened at Hogwarts was on the same scale as the battle had been. "There WERE two horcruxes destroyed at Hogwarts, but if the diadem had been destroyed by Dumbledore before he died, and the cup had been destroyed without needing the Basilisk's fang... it wouldn't have had to happen at the school."

...

Anyway it was time for them to move on with the lesson! "Today I have decided that we are going to play a little game of war. It will be rather simple, and I will explain everything in further detail shortly. For now I would like for you to divide into two groups: Death Eaters and Order of the Phoenix/Hogwarts defenders." Made sense since this was the Battle of Hogwarts, no? "Try to divide yourselves up more or less equally for this." As she spoke, Rosalyn got up and collected a box, placing it at the front of the room near the students. "In here I have a bunch of arm bands, some are white and some are black. Everyone can take one to wear, making sure that they are on full display. Black is for the Death Eater side, and White is for Order of the Phoenix and Hogwarts." Pretty simple.

OOC: Thanks for all the awesome replies everyone! I've moved things around to make things easier for my headspace, but I am sure that I didn't miss anything. Moving on in the lesson we are going to play a game of war (will explain things further a bit later on). For now you just need to choose a side to fight on and grab an arm band and put it on.

Please make sure to title your post with the colour of arm band you are choosing to make things easier for me. We will be moving on in approximately 48 hours, but I will be looking over the thread and answering any questions etc if needed.

Zoryn grinned at Cameron when he came to sit down nearby, before turning her "focus" back to their Professor as she began to speak. Man. This was TOO much information and Zoryn hated it. A group nap definitely would've been a better idea for the lesson today. Like uh, no offense or anything, but Professor Newton just used WAY too many words. Zoryn Spinnet was not a fan.

...... BATTLE OF HOGWARTS WAR????


THEY WERE GONNA FIGHT PEOPLE!!!!

HECK YEAH!!!!

The third year was one of the first to jump up and she immediately went to grab a black armband. HOW COOL WAS IT GONNA BE TO BE A DEATH EATER???? Totally AWESOME!!

Actually wait, "Who's gonna be Voldemort? 'Cause I'll volunteer,"

Her classmates always had LOADS of good answers in this class, but... Emmeline didn't really want to know the gory details of the battle itself, nope! So she didn't really tune back in to what people were saying until Professor Marchand took the lecture back over and did LOADS of talking. Thankfully, the professor wasn't obsessed with getting into the death part of the battle, but her lecture made Emmeline super confused about a topic that she thought she sort of knew? At least knew better than most history stuff, which admittedly wasn't saying much. Still, the second year's hand shot in the air as soon as Professor Marchand had dismissed them and she asked tentatively: "Uhhh, Professor... If people KNEW that Voldemort was a half-blood, how come all his crazy Death Eaters still followed him and thought that only purebloods were good?" 'Cause that made NO sense whatsoever to the Gryffindor.

She also noticed how their professor sort of skirted Derf's question about the blood bird at the bulletin board. Professor Marchand said that the staff would keep them safe, but that hadn't worked during Harry Potter's many years at school, had it? And and, she knew allll about the monster that had attacked Hogwarts just the year before she'd started here -- and the staff hadn't protected Abey and another boy then, either. What made this term any different, really?

It was thoughts of blood birds and students defending Hogwarts that made Emmeline get up and pull a white arm band out of one of the boxes without questioning the assignment further. Normally she would want to know exactly what was going to be involved in this "game of war" 'cause war wasn't a game, you know? But she figured that if they were going to have to defend themselves for real, she might as well get in some more practice defending herself whenever she could. She was super active in dueling club, but she wasn't very good at dueling yet; she was actually pretty terrible at it. Still, she had gotten okay at physically dodging spells AND she was doing way better with the Disarming Charm by now. It had even worked on one of the fake gnomes in DADA a while back! After she'd grabbed her arm band, the second year flopped back down in her spot next to Stasya. She hoped that both of her best friends -- Stasya AND Derf -- were going to be okay during this lesson. Derf had actually been a first year during that whole monster business, so Emmeline imagined that even playacting any kind of conflict or battle might be kind of hard for him. She shot the slightly older Hufflepuff an encouraging smile from her seat.

The Curly Top nodded his head as he followed the discussion. That was the bleeding irony isnt it? Tom Riddle valuing magical purism to the point that it makes him a hypocrite. Then again Ace also understood that Riddle was incredibly misguided, abandoned and even somewhat certifiably crazy. The kid needed help at an early age, but he thought even the great Dumbledore just came to the rescue a tad bit too late.

But oh now they're gonna be a-playin. War games! Ohboyohboyohboy he was so down for this! He bounced up on his feet and approached the box with the armbands, hesitating for a moment on which armband to get-- because the aesthetics of Death Eaters are so cool yknow? What with their masks and their dark marks-- but eventually his Gryffindor nature won out and he picked up a white armband.

Well, that was a lot of information to take in. Etta tried to take notes but gave up soon enough, realising that she just couldn’t catch up. Instead, she paid attention to what was being said, making sure she was absorbing all the relevant information. Wait, what? Two groups? Were they going to play a game of sorts?

She stood up and headed over to the box with the armbands, hesitating for a moment. What side did she want to pick? She eventually went with the white armband because let’s face it, she’d rather fight for her school. The girl made her way back over to her desk, absently played with the armband for a while before finally putting it on. Heh, now what?!

A GAME of war?

Cameron wasn't sure how he felt about that but he supposed that learning by doing was an efficient way of remembering facts. Which was what they were going to do, right? Learn about the Battle of Hogwarts. Would they be talking about the reasons behind why each of the sides fought for what they believed in? Was that even what happened? Why DID all those Death Eaters fight for Voldemort anyway? Were they scared? Or did they really believe that they were doing the right thing?

Hopefully they'd be discussing all this today.

Seeing as most people before had taken a white band, Cameron picked out a black one and put it onto his arm before sitting down next to Zoryn again. Who had also picked black. And not just that...who apparently wanted to play Voldemort in this game. Huh. Why?

No Magical Architecture? Shucks. But what about the battle of Hogwarts? Was it something prudent to today's world? They always say to not repeat history and the Battle of Hogwarts, the second wizarding world, was one of the worst in bloodshed.

Everyone pretty much answered the question well enough about why there was a battle of Hogwarts. As for her answer though, Skylar jotted it down in notes first: The Battle of Hogwarts was inevitable to take place at Hogwarts specifically, because Hogwarts was a place of welcoming. A home away from home. In order to have the most effect, it was necessary to take place at someplace that spoke deep to the heart, of Voldemort included, or he wouldn't have hidden horcruxes here

And she was about to speak that aloud, but then they were moving on and it seemed as though they were going to be reenacting the Battle of Hogwarts.

Also, Emmeline had a VERY intelligent question, one that she kind of wanted to jump in and weigh on the discussion. "In response to what Emmeline asked, I think some of it was in part denial. Blood purity is a funny thing, because even the most purest of families have some speck of impurity and I think it maybe has to just do more with supremacy than necessarily good versus evil. Seeking power. Voldemort was effective in rallying death eaters and trickery into thinking they were the best and that eradicating muggles would help prove that they were more powerful. It's not about fairness or truth, but power, only power."

As far as which band she grabbed, black, because she was curious to see things from the death eater perspective. Except she almost put it back when she saw Zoryn also grabbed black; eh, too late now. Besides, black needed more people, it seemed.

They were talking about the battle of Hogwarts today. Isa had never spent too much time studying that particular moment in history because she hated to see how some people could be so evil and want to hurt or kill other people. Ideally there would never be bloodshed, but Isa was beginning to see that it was not always possible for everything to end without bloodshed because there were some really bad people out there who wouldn't listen to reason and genuinely wanted to hurt people. It was sad, but true. Violence should never have to happen, but it seemed like in the case of the Battle of Hogwarts conflict had been unavoidable because Hogwarts was being violently attacked. Voldemort and his followers were really evil. It was terrible that Voldemort and the death eaters thought they were better than everyone else and needed to purify the blood. Voldemort wasn't even a pureblood! It was nothing more than pure evil and genocide, really. All those poor people who had lost their lives to the death eaters.

Ohhh no, they were going to be playing a game of WAR. Isa could feel her heart beating faster in her chest. With her pacifist views Isa believed that violence was never a justified way of solving conflicts. This wasn't a real war, but Isa was still uncomfortable with the thought of fighting. She wouldn't even participate in dueling club because of her opposition to violence. Isa grabbed a white arm band, because if she was going to have to choose a side she was going to go with the side that wasn't discriminatory and evil. She was using her moral judgement here. "Um, Professor? What exactly is involved in a "war game?" Is there, um, going to be actual fighting? Do we have to do it?" Isa was feeling a little panicked about this. Breathe Isa, breathe. Breathe in through the nose... And out through the mouth. In through the nose... Out through the mouth. Isa counted the seconds as she took deep breaths in for four seconds and breathed out for four seconds. She would be okay, no need to panic, everything was going to be okay. Just stay clam. Breathe.

Well hello class that he was actually going to pay attention in. He sat and listened as the battle was brought up. Did he care about the room and the first part of the discussion, nope, could care less,
did he want the candy that was offered, nope, but did he like the talk of a war, oh yes he did. He listened and didn't agree with many things, but he wasn't truly on the side of Hogwarts when it came down to it either. So he stayed quiet knowing better than to bring up the points that if the dark lord would have done this or that they would have won and history would be very different now. Those were things he would just keep in his notes as what not to do when he got to be in power.

Were they going to have a war in class?


Eddie's eyes lit up at these words, but soon he realized it would be something very lame and not spells against each other. Cotton Candy fluff was probably the choice of what would be thrown at each other.


Standing he couldn't help but the grin on his face as he saw Cameron grab a black, maybe there was at least one dormmate that wasn't so bad after all. He grabbed the black and moved to the death eater side.

White armbands were for the good guys and black armbands for death eaters? Huh. Well the death eaters did wear black back in the day, so it made sense. Kitty was annoyed how most villains seemed to share her style preferences. ARGH!

Surveying the field, she decided she'd go with white. She casually walked over to the white armbands and picked one up. "Guess I'm a hero now," she said, flourishing the band before putting it on. And she was on the same team as Tenacius, which was pretty cool.

She wondered what team Katy would pick. Skylar was already on the opposing team, so Katy probably would be too...

Maddie was torn. On one hand, she wanted to stand up for what was right and be on the "good side"--aka, Team Hogwarts. On the other hand, she thought it might be fun to do something different for a change. She was lingering between getting a white band or a black band, and she was having trouble choosing one or the other. She watched as a few people starting choosing sides. It looked to be about equal right now, so choosing the side with less people wouldn't help.

Maddie approached the box of bands with hesitation. She still had no idea what to do. In the end, she decided to blindly choose a band. Whatever she drew out with her eyes closed, that'd be the side she'd be on. Maddie closed her eyes, turned around two times, and then held her hand out. When it came down on a box, she opened her eyes. THE BLACK BANDS. Maddie hadn't really wanted to be a Death Eater, but she'd chosen the black bands, so the Death Eaters it would be. She picked up a band, glanced at the white bands with sadness, and then took her side.

They had to pick a side? OOOOH fun! Generally, Scarlett would pick the good guys - but she was feeling adventurous today. She was going with the Death Eaters. Hehe.

Walking up, she grabbed one of the darker armbands and put it on, marking herself as one of the bad guys for what was probably the first time in her life. WOOOO! Bring it ON, Order!

Katy chewed on her thumb and considered the turmoil that proposed activity was causing inside her. She didn't like it, and she wasn't used to being driven by conscience. Was that even what it was? Her conscience?

"Professor? I don't think I feel right play-acting a scenario where people actually lost their lives. Can I sit out as a conscientious objector? Or perhaps be a Healer in this game? Tag people back in?" Because she didn't want to glorify the baddies nor stand in the shoes of the fallen.

As the professor shared more information about the Battle of Hogwarts, Shay tried to keep her notes up to date. While she was writing, she heard what their activity would be. They were going to play Order vs. Death Eaters. Oh this was going to be interesting. Shay wondered what they would have to do to score points in this game.

Now the bigger question was, would she be on the side of good or evil? Shay thought about it for a moment. Her natural inclination was to join the good guys. However, as she looked around, she noticed that there were slightly more good guys than bad guys. In order to make things more even, the seventh year decided to take one for the team. She went up to the front of the room to get a black arm band from the box. Before she could get it though, she realized that the black team had added a few more members. So it was back to the good side, as Shay got a white arm band. Placing the band on her arm, she looked around for her fellow Order members and headed over to join them. Let the battle begin.

Sam had been quietly taking notes of what people had been saying, and adding her own thoughts in the margins. It was a lot of information, although not all of it new.

Anyways, she was rather relieved that it seemed it was going to be a practical activity today, even if she had to decide what side to take. Funny how the good versus evil, dark versus light, thing kept coming up. She couldn't how be think about how darkness was truly a spectrum, and it was all to easy to be divisive. Not that it made her choice any different - she chose a while band, and pulled it up on to her arm.

Being on the dark side might feel a little too close to home.

Play acting war? The Gryffindor was intrigued by what was going to be happening next but first she had to pick a coloured band.

A white band or a black band.....? Hmmm.....

Olivia had to debate the thought very quickly in her mind. While it would be fun to play a deatheater alongside Skylar and... Zoryn's offer to be... Voldemort? Merlin. Now that just sounded fun to play along with. Her eyes flicked to the other side that was growing too. Hmm... But Tenacius and Etta had chosen white bands. And Kitty too. Besides the black bands needed another member.... And this would be fun. Heh. It'd also be an interesting angle to look at the whole scenario from.

Vi gave Zoryn a bow of her head... because why not? She reached in, picking up a black band, and made her way over to Skylar. "Hey there. You ready for this?" she asked before turning to glance over at the white bands.

The students were jumping to it, and Rosalyn was pleased to see that they were selecting sides to that things were going to be equal. Even if it wasn't a completely even mix, so long as things were as fair as possible things would be great; there was no need to give one side an unfair advantage over the other.

Emmeline got a smile. "Very good question, Miss Sparkes." This was something very curious indeed. "Well, for one thing we need to keep in mind is that it's probable that only some Death Eaters knew about his blood status at the time. The ones who attended Hogwarts with him would almost certainly know, but they wouldn't have dared say anything about it at all." For obvious reasons seeing as he was Lord Voldemort. "Add to that he was very smart AND the heir of Slytherin. Not getting into anything about the founders, but that would have carried a lot of weight with them; he was a descendant of one of the school founders." Something that was commonly known by now seeing as he had been the one to open the Chamber of Secrets and then used Ginny Weasley to do the very same thing while a student. "Miss Diggory also makes a sound point." She got a nod of approval. "At the end of the day we must remember that ultimately Lord Voldemort was fighting for something that they believed in. Even those who DID know about his blood status could easily ignore it for that very reason. There are a few factors that can be involved here."

Another question. "It isn't a violent game at all, I assure you. Think of it as a water-balloon fight but using balloons filled with confetti instead of water." Because otherwise they would get soaking wet. "It's harmless, but anyone who doesn't want to play is free not to." And she would explain things further shortly. Hopefully Miss Wright would feel reassured now, but it was perfectly fine if she still didn't want to participate. "You certainly can sit it out, Miss Toussaint." That was more than okay.

OOC: Awesome job, everyone! We will be moving on to the activity in approximately 25.5 hours.

A game of war? Eloise looked up from her note taking with a raised eyebrow. She certainly thought the Battle of Hogwarts was a very important part of history for students to know and learn about, but she was not sure about turning that into what she presumed would be a "fun" activity. Learning by doing was often an approved method, at least in her opinion, but this seemed to be making light of something very serious.

This BoG member was somewhat surprised that students were asked to volunteer to be death eaters, though she supposed she was even more surprised that many were eager to be on that side. Hmm. Her eyes fell on a couple students who opted to sit out and she wondered if they'd be provided an alternative activity. She thought for a moment to speak with them to get their opinions, but quickly decided against it, reminding herself that she was simply here to observe and write her report.

She jotted down a few more notes but waited to make any real judgments. She was rather interested in what this activity would entail and just how educational it would actually be.

Quote:

Originally Posted by WhittyBitty

Rosalyn suddenly understood why Derfael had seemed so distressed. Poor child! Never in a million years would she ever want to see students upset like this in her lessons. It had just been a rather unfortunate circumstance that the hawk thing had happened right before this subject had come up. But she had already planned this lesson in advance and it needed to happen. "I admit that I don't really know much about what had happened - as far as I don't know what the purpose of the bird has been... Who placed it or what their reasoning was, but whatever happens, we staff will be there to protect you all." Hopefully that response would be at least a little reassuring. Maybe the entire thing had been a really sick joke meant to scare people. Though where had the hawk came from? "Will you be okay, or do you want to leave the lesson?" It was more than perfectly fine if he wanted to leave, she just wanted to make sure that he was okay.

Derf was...struggling...and he didn't feel like he could say his honest opinion here (or with most Hogwarts staff for that matter) because each time he raised the subject he was primarily greeted with a 'heartfelt' "get over it" tone from adults. It had happened at the Healing seminar from not one but TWO professor sorts...and it would surely happen here as well.

The Monster...the stories he had heard about what had been beyond the portal...Abey being taken....thinking he and Simon and Henry and Etta and the others would be gone and devoured...images of his dog being massacred by that flesh eater...the blood eagle and stains by the bulletin board that never seemed to be coming off....yeah, sure. He could 'get over it'.

So when the professor asked him if he was okay he merely forced a tooth grin on his face. "I'm okay." Because that was what he was supposed to say, wasn't it? It was what adults were expecting of him.

Quote:

Originally Posted by WhittyBitty

"Today I have decided that we are going to play a little game of war....."

..................................

And then Derf broke.

He heard nothing that the professor said after these words, therefore missing the lighthearted nature of the activity. Perhaps under other circumstances and if his entire first year had not happened THEN the Hufflepuff could have handled playing along...but no. Alas. No earwax. This Hufflepuff more certainly could not handle this but he had to say he was okay, didn't he?

That was until his attention refocused and he heard other classmates voicing how uncomfortable they were with the activity. ESPECIALLY the words of one Katherine Toussaint and Derf found himself moving riiiiiiiiight on over to her side while everyone else (mostly) went picking up armbands and the like. He didn't feel like a 13-year-old at the moment and he barely felt like a first year. But in either case...he was riiiiiiiight up along side the older Slytherin as though she were a magnet and he a piece of metal.

WOULD there be something that they could do? He really didn't just...want to sit and watch...while his friends play fought the battle the defined their freedom.

Having petted her cousin's head a few times as they sat on the grass eyeing up the wall and listening to the professor say stuff about the Battle of Hogwarts, Charlotte noted that Katy was chewing on her thumb and lifted her head a little to look at her. Probably she should have been trying to answer the questions and everything but honestly? The soft grass? The fake stars? It was all quite restful and her mind was a happy wanderer at the best of times in History of Magic. ALSO if she was being honest, some of that stuff, about blood purity and everything, made her a BIT uncomfortable. Just a bit. Because people thought certain things and.... and it was polarizing. It was safer not to be in the discussion at all sometimes?

While she'd usually be all about any activity proposed and jump up in a second to join in, her cousin's question gave Char pause. So too did the professor's response. She gave Derf a smile when the Hufflepuff came over and then stuck her hand up, wanting to support Katy.

For reasons.

Because maybe her coming over all.... whatever this was, had something to do with summer things? And they were friends again, so she was going to be supportive. She put her hand up.

"Professor, I think I read or someone told me, I don't know, that there was like... a triage area after the battle? Where the wounded were? Maybe we can make believe doing that? Team healer?" Yes, her too, could they have armbands as well? Got yo back, Katy.

Miranda had purposefully stayed quiet during the next portion of the class... Not because she had guessed wrong... But because the subject made her uncomfortable for more than one reason. So, she had decided to remain silent and just listen to what answers were given and which were confirmed by Professor Marchand.

When they were given the order to divide themselves into one group of Deatheaters and one of Aurors and do gooders she wanted to throw up...
She knew where she was expected to sort herself and where her heart would place her... She would always follow her heart, but by doing that today she'd be risking her brothers would tell their parents just where her loyalties truly lied..


She would be expected to choose the Dark Arts group , but her feet carried her over to the side that would work for hope and equality.

Patrick listened to everyone's answers around him, he hadn't really learned much about the Battle of Hogwarts. He knew that it had happened and that it was bad, but he hadn't know many of the things his friends had told him. His parents figured he would learn about it eventually, regardless of where he went. He watched many of the people walking over toward the good side and decided that the bad guys might need someone on their side otherwise this activity would be a waste of time.

He stood on the death eater side and decided to watch where the other people would end up for the next portion of class.