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It was a pleasant (though muddy outside) Monday morning. The sun was out and a pleasant warmth hung over the castle grounds.
That warmth may not have been inwardly felt by your history of magic professor, though. Alice's demeanor had become more irritable ever since Dolly was eaten by mutants. No longer would you find her meditating at the start of every class. Closing her eyes when she didn't have to made her nervous, even though the meditating would have helped.
Your chairs and desks are arranged in their usual places. There is nothing to indicate what today's lesson will be about. Alice greets you as you come in.
Rhibear ~ Madam Solo ~ Dark Brooding Girl ~ Accio Jedi ~ Gryffinclaw ~ Just a doll
Tina was exhausted! Between keeping up with schoolwork, quidditch, and studying for her impending OWL exams (not to mention the school's puffy pink pest control problem), it felt like she was playing a never-ending game of catch up. She didn't even have any time to herself anymore; she gave up all the hobbies she enjoyed months ago to make more time for her studies. Every day was just the same: eat, study, quidditch, sleep, then do it all again. She was beginning to wonder what was the point of running herself ragged to be on top in every class (except DADA because, let's face it... no amount of studying was going to help her with that subject). It's the only way you'll get any recognition in this school, she reminded herself... but was the recognition worth the trouble anymore?
Running on three hours' sleep and just as many cups of coffee, Tina took deep breath to calm herself as she entered the classroom. Normally, she liked History of Magic, but the constant stress she was under made it hard to like much of anything. Still, she managed a small smile for the professor. It wasn't O'Hara's fault that she was so grumpy today! "Good morning, Professor," she greeted politely. She took her usual seat in one of the middle rows, close enough to pay attention but not right under the teacher's nose, and arranged her book, quiil, and parchment neatly on her desk.
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Old voices I had thought long since dead whisper of another life I might have led If I could take that second chance, If I could make my life anew, If only dreams came true...
Skyler was a bit on edge about all the mutants. After hearing that one litterally ate a teacher, yeah. No. She walked into HoM and smiled at professor O'Hera. Hopefully her greeting made her feel better.
"Goodmorning Professor," she said the verbal greeting. She was still not used to the verbal greetings.
Sassenach | RAVENPUFF | Sing me a song of a lass that is gone | bookDRAGON | #awkwardturtle<#
With her bag slung on her back, full of all the things she needed, Hanna entered the classroom. Gone were any of the paraphernalia indicating the content of the lesson for the day. No boxes, items, or handouts. And no O'Hara meditating at the front of the classroom. It was understandable, everyone was a bit on edge following the chaos from the small, pink, fluffy creatures.
"Good morning, Professor," Hanna greeted as she glanced around the room. Spotting a desk, and heading towards it, she unhooked her bag from her back and placed it on the ground. Her needed items were placed on the desk, set up and ready for the lesson.
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EVASIVE | RESTLESS | MISUNDERSTOOD always on the move
Shoe!Girl │ Rebel Ravie │ Confundus Queen │ RP Addict
Things had definitely tipped over into permanently tense around the castle. Even Stasya was able to notice it, but then it didn’t hurt that there had been more necessary patrols and such since the mutants had first been noticed. Namely, after they’d suddenly been given yet another ghost in the castle, and she still wondered about the status of Professor Dopple’s most-likely-deceased kneazle. Maybe there was a ghost kneazle roaming around the corridors, even. It was something to wonder about, and honestly she’d begun feeling like sixth year wasn’t actually much of a relief after OWLs last term.
Plus, she’d noticed the change in Professor O’Hara, too. Even the History of Magic classroom felt more on edge, as if they were waiting for something to happen. “Good morning, Professor O’Hara,” she greeted the woman with a smile, making her way to her usual seat. Minus having to navigate around boxes or any of the usual hints regarding the lesson to come. Things were definitely not normal anymore.
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♥♥♥♥ It's me, hi, I'm the problem, it's me, at tea time, everybody agrees
...It must be exhausting, always rooting for the anti-hero ♥♥♥
Had History of Magic become Anna's favourite subject? No. Had she taken it slightly more seriously since her detention last year? Yep. She definite had.
That didn't mean she was bouncing off the walls in excitement to be learning about old witches and wizards' ways once again, but Anna's face didn't have 'boooored' written on it this morning as she walked into the classroom. WHICH was a massive deal since it was a Monday morning. See. Improvement!
"Good morning, professor O'Hara." She greeted the woman with a small smile and a nod of her head because the Captain felt she knew a bit more of their professor than her average classmate. Aaalright, they weren't BFFs - it'd be very weird to be best friends with a teacher, to be honest - but still, Anna now kind of liked the woman, even in her little quirkiness.
Taking a random seat, the Gryffindor got her stuff ready. Ollie would be proud if he could see her, as Anna was getting ready to - GASP - take notes!!!
The things imminent OWLs did to a fifth year.
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AT THE HOGWARTS YULE BALL, YOU'LL BE HANGING OUT WITH....__________________ Maybe you'll dance, scour the buffet, or end up gossiping talking amongst yourselves!
You're happy to go with the flow and see where the Yule Ball takes you!
"Good morning, Tina," she said to the first arrival in as pleasant a voice as she could muster. The Ravenclaw looked exhausted. Alice could relate. "Good morning, Skyler," she said, giving a small nod to the hopeful Slytherin. Hannah and Stasya also got a nod and greeting. "Morning, Hannah. Morning, Stasya. I hope you are well." It was somewhere around this point that she realized she was calling the students by their first or middle names rather than their surnames. Too late to change that now. She'd remember next lesson, when hopefully she wouldn't be so distracted. "Good morning, Anna. I hope you are well." She gave a small smile to the Gryffindor who had she had placed in detention last year. It was because (not in spite) of this experience that Alice found herself rather liking the Gryffindor. She was genuinely glad to have her in her class.
Alice manually closed the door when the last of the students had filtered in. "Good morning, class," she said as made her way back to the front of the class. She whirled on the spot to face them. "Take out your notebooks and open them to a blank page. You'll need to take notes, but I promise I won't talk long." That might come as a relief to some of the class. Alice knew how easily bored students were by long talks. "I have an activity that you'll all have to participate in, but first I want to gauge your knowledge on human-goblin relations. What interesting facts or stories can you share with us about goblins? Any little fact will do."
Only Anna knew she was part goblin, and that was good. Alice would rather her class not know this fact about her heritage until after the lesson was over. "All right, a show of hands so I can call you to answer in an orderly fashion." She pointed randomly to one of the raised hands.
ooc: Thank you for coming, you guys are amazing! We should be ready to move on to the activity sometime tomorrow.
curly haired prefect - "sometimes I get angry!" - 30/90 - *chicken emoji* - probably @ Disney - I speak dog
After her last lesson, with all the acting and everything, Nettie found herself enjoying this subject a little bit more. Key word being LITTLE. She was still trying to find a real interest in it. She'd always thought she was a fan of just reading and taking notes, the classic, old fashioned way of learning - but maybe she really DID like the hands on stuff?
Hmmm.
She raised her hand as the lesson began and O'Hara asked the first question. "Well, they speak their own type of language, in addition to English. It's called Gobbledegook," she said. She'd always thought that it was an expression, but when she found out it was an actual language, it stuck in her brain.
__________________
I'm still standin'________________________________________ better than I ever did
Lookin' like a true survivor_________________________________feelin' like a little kid
Sassenach | RAVENPUFF | Sing me a song of a lass that is gone | bookDRAGON | #awkwardturtle<#
Hanna pulled out one of her flattened sheets of parchment from a folder she had, and unscrewed her pot of black ink, dipped her quill in to get it ready, and wrote a simple heading of 'History of Magic' on the top of the parchment. But she really wasn't fussed if it was an entire lesson of note-taking, really. She was interested in theory-only lessons, too. And the overhaul of information was something she rather enjoyed.
The subject right now was on human-goblin relations, which Hanna knew a little of but certainly had big gaps she wanted to fill with information. Hanna raised her hand to offer her little tidbit on Goblins, and waited for Professor O'Hara to call on her. "They're wonderful metalsmiths. They make all sorts of things out of metals, but my family have a Goblin made silver dish that's incredibly beautiful." It was her great-grandmothers, and she'd seen it every year at Christmas dinners. It was perhaps one of the only pieces of goblin made metalwork that she'd seen closely, but her great-grandmother did like to talk about it.
__________________
EVASIVE | RESTLESS | MISUNDERSTOOD always on the move
"You too, professor." Anna replied to the woman's greeting as she continued to sort out her supplies.
The fifth year was already ready to take said notes when class started. No need to write awful long paragraphs, Anna was just going to do bullet points. Law of least effort, y'know. As she prepared her ink and parchment, she heard professor O'Hara saying there would be an activity afterwards in which they would all 'have to' participate. Her choice of words made Anna chuckle under her breath, as usual, but she started taking notes of what her classmates were saying.
Raising her hand, the Gryffindor waited for her turn to speak. "Some people seem to think Goblins and humans don't get along, but that's not true." She continued, measuring her words. "We just have different... ways of looking at the world. But we can definitely get along." She finished with a firm nod. She didn't want to point out professor O'Hara herself was proof that Goblins and humans could get along just fine, but that wasn't her secret to share.
__________________
AT THE HOGWARTS YULE BALL, YOU'LL BE HANGING OUT WITH....__________________ Maybe you'll dance, scour the buffet, or end up gossiping talking amongst yourselves!
You're happy to go with the flow and see where the Yule Ball takes you!
Rhibear ~ Madam Solo ~ Dark Brooding Girl ~ Accio Jedi ~ Gryffinclaw ~ Just a doll
Tina shook her head, trying to stave off the wave of tiredness that threatened to overwhelm her.
Nope, she was not going to fall asleep in class! It would be humiliating to get scolded in front of everybody, and besides, this information could turn up on her OWL. She sat up a little straighter as Professor O'Hara spoke, hoping that would help her focus.
Her notebook was already open and ready to go, even before she heard the professor's instructions. Note-taking was fine with her. Call her a nerd, but Tina actually enjoyed taking notes, sometimes even more than the hands-on activities! It was quiet, predictable work with little chance of mistakes or social interaction, just what Tina needed to hold her attention today. She gripped her quill in her right hand, poised to take notes on... goblin relations. Okay, then.
So what did she know about goblins? Uh... not much in her current state. She may not be sleeping, but her mind was working slower than normal! She wracked her brains,
struggling to recall something about goblins. Let's see...
she knew that goblins and wizards had a history of strained relations. She knew the goblins believed (and not entirely wrongfully) that they faced discrimination, and it led to a lot of fighting in the past. That was it! Tina's hand went up, and when she was called on, she said, "There have been a number of goblin rebellions throughout history, particularly in the 17th and 18th centuries. If I remember correctly, one of them took place near Hogsmeade." Though she couldn't recall the exact year it happened to save her life!
__________________
Old voices I had thought long since dead whisper of another life I might have led If I could take that second chance, If I could make my life anew, If only dreams came true...
After her last lesson, with all the acting and everything, Nettie found herself enjoying this subject a little bit more. Key word being LITTLE. She was still trying to find a real interest in it. She'd always thought she was a fan of just reading and taking notes, the classic, old fashioned way of learning - but maybe she really DID like the hands on stuff?
Hmmm.
She raised her hand as the lesson began and O'Hara asked the first question. "Well, they speak their own type of language, in addition to English. It's called Gobbledegook," she said. She'd always thought that it was an expression, but when she found out it was an actual language, it stuck in her brain.
Alice nodded approvingly. "That's right. Gobbledegook is the official goblin language. It's a trough language, but the syllables are more pronounced than they are in most human languages." And Alice would know, as she had to learn both Gobbledegook and English as a child.
SPOILER!!: Hanna
Hanna pulled out one of her flattened sheets of parchment from a folder she had, and unscrewed her pot of black ink, dipped her quill in to get it ready, and wrote a simple heading of 'History of Magic' on the top of the parchment. But she really wasn't fussed if it was an entire lesson of note-taking, really. She was interested in theory-only lessons, too. And the overhaul of information was something she rather enjoyed.
The subject right now was on human-goblin relations, which Hanna knew a little of but certainly had big gaps she wanted to fill with information. Hanna raised her hand to offer her little tidbit on Goblins, and waited for Professor O'Hara to call on her. "They're wonderful metalsmiths. They make all sorts of things out of metals, but my family have a Goblin made silver dish that's incredibly beautiful." It was her great-grandmothers, and she'd seen it every year at Christmas dinners. It was perhaps one of the only pieces of goblin made metalwork that she'd seen closely, but her great-grandmother did like to talk about it.
"Your family has Goblin silverware? How nice. I also have a set, they're lovely. Goblins are wonderful metalsmiths. The Sword of Gryfindor is just one of their many artworks." She almost said "our" instead of "their", but caught herself just in time. No need to reveal she was part goblin just now, right?
SPOILER!!: Anna
"You too, professor." Anna replied to the woman's greeting as she continued to sort out her supplies.
The fifth year was already ready to take said notes when class started. No need to write awful long paragraphs, Anna was just going to do bullet points. Law of least effort, y'know. As she prepared her ink and parchment, she heard professor O'Hara saying there would be an activity afterwards in which they would all 'have to' participate. Her choice of words made Anna chuckle under her breath, as usual, but she started taking notes of what her classmates were saying.
Raising her hand, the Gryffindor waited for her turn to speak. "Some people seem to think Goblins and humans don't get along, but that's not true." She continued, measuring her words. "We just have different... ways of looking at the world. But we can definitely get along." She finished with a firm nod. She didn't want to point out professor O'Hara herself was proof that Goblins and humans could get along just fine, but that wasn't her secret to share.
"Beautifully put. Goblins and humans can get along with each other just as often as they can sometimes be hostile. It depends on the individual goblin and human." She gave an approving (knowing?) smile and nod to her favorite student. Her own family had goblins and humans, and they usually got along - even when they fought. Alice appreciated that Anna didn't mention her goblin heritage.
SPOILER!!: Tina
Tina shook her head, trying to stave off the wave of tiredness that threatened to overwhelm her.
Nope, she was not going to fall asleep in class! It would be humiliating to get scolded in front of everybody, and besides, this information could turn up on her OWL. She sat up a little straighter as Professor O'Hara spoke, hoping that would help her focus.
Her notebook was already open and ready to go, even before she heard the professor's instructions. Note-taking was fine with her. Call her a nerd, but Tina actually enjoyed taking notes, sometimes even more than the hands-on activities! It was quiet, predictable work with little chance of mistakes or social interaction, just what Tina needed to hold her attention today. She gripped her quill in her right hand, poised to take notes on... goblin relations. Okay, then.
So what did she know about goblins? Uh... not much in her current state. She may not be sleeping, but her mind was working slower than normal! She wracked her brains,
struggling to recall something about goblins. Let's see...
she knew that goblins and wizards had a history of strained relations. She knew the goblins believed (and not entirely wrongfully) that they faced discrimination, and it led to a lot of fighting in the past. That was it! Tina's hand went up, and when she was called on, she said, "There have been a number of goblin rebellions throughout history, particularly in the 17th and 18th centuries. If I remember correctly, one of them took place near Hogsmeade." Though she couldn't recall the exact year it happened to save her life!
Yup, the goblin rebellions. "I think you are referring to the 1612 goblin rebellion," she said with a small nod to the rather tired looking Ravenclaw. "That was one of the earlies and most brutal of the rebellions. We'll be discussing these rebellions in today's lesson."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It turned out that most of her class were really informed about goblins. They were definitely making her proud. Now it was time to move on to the activity portion of the lesson.
She crossed her arms and paced a slow circle around her class as she talked."You have all listed some nice and fascinating facts about goblins. Today we are going to be talking about the darker side of human-goblin relations - specifically the goblin rebellions. While today there is relative peace between our people's, there have been several bloody and unfortunate wars that still cast a shadow over the way many of us feel about each other even today. These are called 'rebellions' instead of just 'wars' because humans are the ones who have set the laws for all other magical races and because the humans won each one of these rebellions. There have been several complaints which have been levelled by goblins against wizardkind, but the central argument has been about the laws prohibiting the use of wands by non-humans."
By now she had made a complete circle around the class and was back to her usual frontal position. "Clause Three of the Code of Wand Use was passed by the Wizard's council in 1631, and it here wherein the controversy lies. It should be interesting to note that though races such as vampires, hags, and elves are included in the wand ban, only goblins have rebelled in an organized fashion against it." This made her feel rather proud. Of course, she did her best to hide her feelings on the subject from the class, it would have been improper if they knew what her opinions were.
"This is likely to continue being a source of tension between our people's, though hopefully the bloody wars are over. Today, we are going to be debating the merits of the wand ban." Debates were an interesting activity, yes? They were to Alice when she was in school, so hopefully her class would share some of that enthusiasm. "The subject is whether we should repeal the wand ban. I considered assigning you which positions you will argue, but in the spirit of freedom I have been convinced to let you each decide for yourselves whether you'll be arguing in the affirmative or negative. Please keep in mind that you do not have to personally share the opinion of the side you choose. You can debate how you feel or you can play devil's advocate. Whichever you prefer is fine."
All she wanted was a good debate attempt from everyone. Effort was always rewarded in her class, so everything would be great just as long as the teams had generally the same number of people in each. She had a backup plan if the teams weren't evenly matched, though, so this wasn't a problem.
ooc: So basically, just have your student pick a side. The debate will take place in the main activity.
Last edited by Goblinfrog; 03-23-2019 at 09:56 PM.
Sassenach | RAVENPUFF | Sing me a song of a lass that is gone | bookDRAGON | #awkwardturtle<#
Hanna listened to the information, jotting a few things down. Debating wasn't something Hanna enjoyed doing, but listening to it was a different story. She just didn't like to point out her own opinions on touchy subjects, and didn't like having to defend her beliefs. But for the sake of being an involved classmate, she figured it was best to be involved.
To get started Hanna raised her hand, not really knowing the etiquette of debating. "Um I think it's not just a matter of repealing a ban or keeping it in place. I'd like to see all creatures, not just humans, given the opportunity to delve into the magic Wandlore, and the right to own and use a wand, but I don't think it's that easy." She looked up to Professor O'Hara. "I think one has to learn to use a wand, and have an understanding of the Wizarding law before they're able to use the wand. And that's what happens here, kind of. We have to be of-age, and until then we're only permitted to cast magic here. With other creatures who are..." what word to use? "Well... intelligent enough to understand, they should have every right to hold and use a wand. It might just take some kind of education of the wand and law."
She took a pause. How long was she allowed to prattle on for? She didn't like speaking to everyone, and was starting to get a little more nervous. "Goblins are very intelligent, they're able to use their own kind of magic, but as they say it's not fair to take away a chance of learning Wandlore, and extending their own powers through the wand." Hmm... "S-so yes, essentially I think we should repeal the wand band. But we Wizards must negotiate such things with the other creatures. Speak to Goblins, negotiate laws and policies with them, and not just decide for them how they will be allowed to use the wand."
__________________
EVASIVE | RESTLESS | MISUNDERSTOOD always on the move
Alice waited a little while to give students time to pick which side they would be arguing. She didn't actually expect them to start debating at this point, so it came as a bit of a surprise when Hanna offered her stance. Things like this happened, though, and the professor quickly adapted.
"All right, that was a clear, concise argument in the affirmative's favor," she said, rearranging the lesson order a bit in her mind."Is there anyone who would like to counter Ms. Newton's argument in favor of repealing the Wand Ban and opening a dialogue with the other sentient races? If you agree with Ms. Newton, I ask that you offer your own arguments (even if just to acknowledge your assent) in support of hers."
Now she wasn't going to force anyone to argue a position that they really did not want to argue - even if she had stressed earlier that just because they argued a position did not mean that they themselves had to personally believe it. It may have been tempting to force the students to debate one another, but she had another plan which could work even better.
That backup plan was waiting in her office at this very moment...
"A show of hands, if you would kindly." She pointed at the next raised hand.
OOC: This is the start of the main activity. You can have your student argue whichever argument they want. Don't worry - we have a backup plan if there aren't enough debate participants.
curly haired prefect - "sometimes I get angry!" - 30/90 - *chicken emoji* - probably @ Disney - I speak dog
They had to do a debate? Well, it wasn't acting, but Nettie could handle that. She immediately started to scribble down some notes on her parchment, making a pros and cons list. As the other students started to declare what their preferences were, she tried to evenly come up with arguments for both sides before she decided on a stance.
She raised her hand. "I think I will play devil's advocate to Hanna and go against repelling the wand ban. I think it should stay in place," she said. Although personally she felt she probably leaned the other way, she felt confident that she could argue for keeping the ban. That was probably what the main goal of the activity was, right? To show your debate skills, not necessarily whether or not you agreed with it.
"Goblins have their own form of magic. They are able to perform magic without a wand, so what is the purpose of allowing them to have one?" she argued.
__________________
I'm still standin'________________________________________ better than I ever did
Lookin' like a true survivor_________________________________feelin' like a little kid
Last edited by Lissy Longbottom; 03-24-2019 at 02:52 AM.
They had to do a debate? Well, it wasn't acting, but Nettie could handle that. She immediately started to scribble down some notes on her parchment, making a pros and cons list. As the other students started to declare what their preferences were, she tried to evenly come up with arguments for both sides before she decided on a stance.
She raised her hand. "I think I will play devil's advocate to Hanna and go against repelling the wand ban. I think it should stay in place," she said. Although personally she felt she probably leaned the other way, she felt confident that she could argue for keeping the ban. That was probably what the main goal of the activity was, right? To show your debate skills, not necessarily whether or not you agreed with it.
"Goblins have their own form of magic. They are able to perform magic without a wand, so what is the purpose of allowing them to have one?" she argued.
Skyler shook her head and raised her hand. "I don't really agree," she said. "Goblins are as intelligent as humans, maybe smarter, they take care of Greengots so why should they not be allowed to posses a wand?"
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Valencia considered for a moment. "There's not really a reason to keep wands from goblins." she decided. "After all, wands are just used to hone our natural abilities. So if goblins have natural abilities, like we witches and wizards do, then all we're doing is keeping them from schooling and from enhancing their talents."
Which was cruel in her opinion.
"It seems like it was just the judgment of scared wizards that made that decision."
__________________
I'll Spend Forever Wondering If You Knew__________________________________ _____________________________________________I Was Enchanted To Meet You
Sassenach | RAVENPUFF | Sing me a song of a lass that is gone | bookDRAGON | #awkwardturtle<#
Hanna felt her cheeks warm once she realised she'd spoken too soon, but was thankful Professor O'Hara moved with it. Turning to Nettie, who was debating against repealing the law, and listened to what she said. And of course Goblins had their own, very powerful source of magic.
Kayla and Viv seemed to also share the opinion that the law should be repealed against, but Valencia really summed it up. It wasn't a reason. Not a fair reason. Raising her hand she said, "It can of course be summed up that Goblins have their own magic that doesn't require a wand, but to what Valencia said, there's probably an entire branch of magic they can't explore without a wand. To take that away from them is... well it's denying them an opportunity to explore their own magic." And she could understand that some humans would believe that allowing Goblins to explore their own very powerful magic with a wand might show them to have magic more powerful than Wizards, but then having rules and consequences, exactly as Wizards have, to regulate the magic would be an appropriate way around that.
__________________
EVASIVE | RESTLESS | MISUNDERSTOOD always on the move
Skyler listened to the others and listeneed to what they had to say. She nodded. "Couldn't they just regulate the usage like with humans? I mean, there will still be rule breaking but..." Shs trailed off unsure of her answer.
Rhibear ~ Madam Solo ~ Dark Brooding Girl ~ Accio Jedi ~ Gryffinclaw ~ Just a doll
Professor O'Hara's reply immediately jogged Tina's memory. 1612, of course! How could she have forgotten? She was going to chalk that one up to too much stress and not enough sleep. Still, she was glad her answer hadn't been wrong, even though she couldn't remember the exact year of the goblin rebellion. So that's what they were covering today? Again with the rebellions… first sasquatches, *now goblins. Tina was beginning to sense a pattern. Were they going to be reenacting the goblin rebellion of 1612?
Tina listened to the professor's lecture, taking careful notes, but her face fell when she heard what the activity was. She wished they were reenacting one of the rebellions! Even improv was better than debating! Tina had her own opinions about goblins having wands, and other people had theirs. She didn't see the point of arguing about it. Nothing she said was likely to change anyone's minds. The only thing a debate would do was stir up a bunch of unnecessary negative emotions.
Tina wanted no part of this, but she knew it was useless to challenge a professor. She took out a fresh piece of parchment to record her points and considered both sides of the issue. She personally didn't see the harm in allowing goblin to have wands, as long as they handled them responsibly, but her reasoning behind it was mostly based on emotion… and therefore easier for an opponent to counter. She needed something objective, something concrete to back her up! While she was trying to come up with points, Hanna's voice jerked her out of her thoughts. What? Were they supposed to start debating already? She hadn't even picked a side yet!
Listening to her classmate's argument helped her make up her mind. There was nothing new she could think of to add to Hanna's reasoning, and it would look bad if all she said was, “I agree.” She decided to play devil's advocate and argue in the negative. Now she had to come up with her points and word them in an acceptable way- and fast! Some people were already starting to debate. She picked up her quill and wrote as quickly as she could:
Text Cut: Tina's argument
Should goblins be allowed to have wands? My answer is no for three main reasons: the goblins’ ability to perform wandless magic, the longstanding history of goblin rebellions, and the potential for violent beings (hags, vampires) to demand wands.
Goblins have the ability to perform magic without the use of a wand. Wandless magic is said to require more skill to perform than magic with a wand, therefore one could argue that goblins’ mastery of the skill makes them more powerful than wizards. For a creature with that much magical power, a wand seems superfluous.
While some goblin rebellions can be attributed to the wand ban, tensions between goblins and wizards existed long before that. One of the bloodier goblin rebellions took place in 1612, 19 years before the wand ban was established. Even in the era of the Hogwarts founders, relations between goblins and wizards were strained. History states that goblin king Ragnuk the First coveted the Sword of Gryffindor so much that he sent a group of his subjects to steal it from its rightful owner. Gryffindor bewitched the culprits and sent them back with a warning that he would use the sword against them should they try to steal from him again. Given that such violent encounters happened before the wand ban, it stands to reason that lifting the ban would not stop them. If anything, it would potentially lead to further loss of life on both sides by providing a new weapon for goblins’ uss in future rebellions.
Goblins were not the only creatures prohibited from owning wands in the decree of 1631; it also applies to elves, vampires, and hags. While a goblin may handle a wand responsibly, a hag or a vampire would not. Lifting the restrictions on wands for goblins would pave the way for hags and vampires to demand access to wands as well, which presents dangerous implications. Imagine a hag using a wand to confound an unsuspecting child or a vampire using one to disillusion itself to sneak up on an unsuspecting victim.
In conclusion, the wand ban should remain in effect for the safety of both wizards and goblins alike.
Tina looked over her points. She felt confident when she wrote them, but she began to doubt herself as she heard more of her classmates’ arguments. What if her points got dismissed or nitpicked? What if everybody thought she actually believed the argument she made and called her a bigot? So far, only one person has spoken against lifting the ban. If she spoke now, her argument was going to get ripped to shreds in front of everyone! She tried to force herself to raise her hand, but her fear of humiliation was too much! Speak and be embarrassed or keep quiet and fail the assignment… there was no way she could win! She slumped in her chair, trying to make herself as small as possible to avoid being called on. Maybe she could talk to Professor O'Hara about her discomfort after class? Maybe she'd understand and let her turn in her points as a mini essay for partial credit? It was worth a try!
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Old voices I had thought long since dead whisper of another life I might have led If I could take that second chance, If I could make my life anew, If only dreams came true...
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"Shouldn't goblins have to not only learn but respect wizard law before they are allowed wands?" Archer chimed in. "And I'm sorry, but I just don't see that happening." Any goblin she'd ever encountered or even heard about didn't seem to have much respect for witches and wizards as people, much less the laws. "Besides, aren't goblins known for being bloodthirsty?" she added with her trademark humor. And there were people that really wanted to give bloodthirsty creatures access to a wand?
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While Nettie thought it was a little blunt to call the goblins BLOODTHIRSTY, that older Hufflepuff girl did have a point. This was hard. Nettie was totally on the side of letting goblins have wands, because it didn't seem fair that magical creatures that had human intelligence couldn't use wands, especially if they had magic. But she'd challenged herself to argue for the other side - and that's what she was gonna do.
She raised her hand again, out of politeness for the rest of the class. Gotta wait your turn in a civil debate! "Many wizards across history have been able to do wandless magic just as well as magic with their wands. Goblins could be given an opportunity to learn how to use their magic in that same sense. The wands simply add a vessel to our magic, and help us direct it. If Goblins just bypass that, and learn how to control their magic and use it like wandless magic, there's no need for the wands to be issued," she explained. She tried to act confident and sure in her answer, despite the fact that she wasn't sure how strong that argument was. But she kept thinking of Voldemort and Grindelwald, who could use wandless magic. Sure, the wand HELPED, but they were still extremely powerful without it.
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I'm still standin'________________________________________ better than I ever did
Lookin' like a true survivor_________________________________feelin' like a little kid
Alice mainly stayed out of the debate. The only times she interfered were moments when it looked like students might be about to start interrupting each other (but her class was way too behaved for that) or when a student seemed like they wanted to participate but were unable to. One in particular caught her attention. Ms. Dantes was looking rather dejected, despite having written what seemed like a very long answer. Hmm...
Walking over to where Dantes was sitting, Alice peered down at the essay she had just written. Alice was relieved to see that she had indeed been writing something related to class. "This looks like a well thought out argument," she said softly (while everyone else was still debating) so that only Tina could hear her. "Would you like to read it out, or would you rather I take it now and grade it later?" Although she had only skimmed the essay, she understood that Tina was arguing against repealing the wand ban. Perhaps she didn't want to say anything for fear of being in the minority opinion? If that was the case, then Alice would certainly be happy to spare her any embarrassment she might feel and simply give her feedback in private before the next lesson.
Walking back up to the front of the class, Alice waited until the final student had finished speaking at least once. "The debate portion of our lesson is over. Thank you for answering in an orderly fashion and for respecting your colleagues opinions. This is an important discipline that every good debater should have." Although she had involuntarily winced upon hearing the Hufflepuff's comment/joke about goblins being bloodthirsty.
"For our final questions in today's lesson, I would like to ask you if you have learned anything interesting today. Was a point raised in the debate that you hadn't considered before?" Another question came to her at the last minute, something she hadn't planned on asking. "I am also curious about your firsthand experience with goblins. Aside from Gringotts, have any of you had dealings with a goblin or part goblin?" She gave a brief look to Anna. This look was her way of showing that she didn't mind if the Gryffindor revealed her secret. The debate was over so it was okay.
Sassenach | RAVENPUFF | Sing me a song of a lass that is gone | bookDRAGON | #awkwardturtle<#
Perhaps it was slightly closed minded of Hanna, but as she reflected on the final question, and the content of the debate, she didn't think she had learnt anything new. She could absolutely see both sides of the argument, but her heart tended to want equal rights for all. And that included Goblins. But she could see the validity of the other side, even though none of the arguments were ones that hadn't crossed her mind yet. So, rather than say no, she remained quiet.
With the second question came a shake of Hanna's head. She hadn't, besides at Gringott's, had any firsthand experiences with Goblins, and had nothing to put in.
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EVASIVE | RESTLESS | MISUNDERSTOOD always on the move
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History of Magic - lesson 2 
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