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Brandon felt a little better when the professor said his answer was excellent. He tried not to be so focused on verbal reward and verbal disappointment, but he had suffered from a severe lack of attention and praise, so he strived towards it more now. For the activity, Brandon preferred to work alone. It seemed as if he wasn't doing anything, but he was actually thinking quite hard. By the end of the ten minutes, he had come up with several ideas. SPOILER!!: Brandon's thoughts He had some questions, suggestions, and complaints about the world- in this case, the wizarding world- for quite some time. To be honest, he hadn't even considered smaller scale stuff to ask about- he was serious by nature, and the classroom design today made him feel even more serious than usual. |
Now came the fun part of class. They were getting ready for a debate. Having been tasked with coming up with different topics, Archie would closely and slyly listen in to those around him to hear what they were coming up with; discreetly of course. He wasn't about to make an obvious show with it, potential eavesdropping could be seen as unwanted. Although, it was still to say, for starters, he wasn't doing it to copy them and be the first to propose the ideas by placing them in the Goblet of Fire. It was actually for the opposite. To ensure he wasn't about to give the same as others. Then there was also, this task wasn't necessarily a lucrative one to begin with. While some of his peers would simply and quietly jot down their thoughts and offer them to the grand chalice to possibly be chosen, others were discussing amongst their friends. From what he could gather, they were all good ideas for debate topics. All had their fair share of being up for an immense amount of questioning and back-and-forth bantering. Which is what made things like this very activity, fun. But. Archie believed some of them didn't push the envelope enough. Most could be considered 'hot button topics', that was to say the very least, at least. But given this great opportunity to do so, why not take it even further? Why not discuss the things in which they normally wouldn't get the chance to otherwise for whatever reason(s). Whether it be out of fear over personal opinion on the subject to the subject in question itself just being generally considered taboo to speak upon. In this case, what was currently being written down on a small torn out piece of paper from the Slytherin's notebook was the latter. But why not offer up something that was assuredly going to stir the pot and possibly even ruffle some feathers with it simply being asked. When the third year was finished writing the idea down, the young O'Brien would casually saunter up to the podium and cast it into the goblet, promptly returning to his seat upon the deed being done. SPOILER!!: The Paper |
Debate 1: The Statute of Secrecy is still relevant today The clock ticked and hit the ten minute mark before Fergersnout halted the activity. From behind her desk she produced a gavel which she knocked on the hardwood to gain the attention of the students. “Welcome to the annual International Confederation of Wizards conference. Thank you for your attendance. On today’s agenda..” She turned to the goblet and caught the piece of paper that flew out, unfolding and reading it over before rewording slightly for the purpose of the debate. “The Statute of Secrecy still has a place in today’s society” An interesting statement considering the statute came from a time where the magical folk were persecuted for their innate abilities. “On the left hand side we have those that agree and on the right we have those that disagree.” Hence why she had asked them at the beginning of the lesson to sit on opposing sides. “It doesn’t matter if you agree or disagree with the statement personally, the object of the activity is to explore both sides of the argument thoroughly with one another. Once this has come to its conclusion, we’ll try another topic and switch over sides.” She paused for a second for the students to take all the information in. “Please remember to be respectful with one another, this is just for fun and although I appreciate passion we don’t want anyone leaving in tears. If you’re all ready, let’s begin.” OOC: Time for the main activity! I used a random number generator for the goblet to decide which topics we shall be discussing in the essence of fairness. Those that sat on the left will have to argue in agreement of the statement and those on the right against the statement. You have around 48 hours for the first debate and then we’ll switch over. Please keep to SS rules and be kind to one another. |
right side- disagreeing Brandon knew being on a side meant something! His suspicious instincts had been right the whole time. Luckily, this was just a class debate, and it had two sides that could be argued, so he was okay with being forced to sit on a random side. He was on the right- that meant disagree. So he had to disagree with the statute of secrecy. He personally believed that it made sense as a law, but he saw reasons to argue against it... Here goes. "The statute was intended to protect magical beings from harm, which makes sense, but it's pretty strict. You aren't supposed to tell anyone outside of a spouse and kids and your parents. But I think that... it's a very narrow view of what an important relationship is, and it discourages making close friendships with non-magical people if you have to spend your whole life hiding your true nature from them." He paused. "There have been several recent wars that put m- non-magical people in danger, and it seems dangerous not to warn close friends that they may be at risk." He paused again for a second, thinking the question over. "Additionally, it seems unethical to obliviate people because they found out about magic in one way or another, if they're not doing anything harmful. Taking someone's memories away from them is so violative, and it's not their fault that a witch or wizard chose to break the law." Nobody would believe what they saw, anyways, so he didn't see how damaging it could be except for in a small subset of cases, like a dragon attack. It was cruel and wrong to erase somebody's memories without their permission, in his opinion at least. Basically, he thought that the idea of the statute made sense, but he thought it was too strict, and it didn't consider the rights and interests of non-magical people enough. |
left side (been here all along!) - agreeing Hope had arrived at History of Magic class just in time and had taken one of the few empty places on the left side, since that one seemed like it had less people than the right. She felt it to be a bit ironic that they would be debating this particular topic, which had a lot of relevance to her. Because her home village in Virginia had chosen not only to keep itself secret from Muggles, but from everyone else, too, even other wizards. In fact, there had been a lot of debate at home over whether she would be allowed to come over to England and go to school at Hogwarts (and she herself was not sure if that had been a good idea or not). Anyway, she felt qualified to speak for keeping the Statute of Secrecy when it was her turn to stand up and speak. "The Statute of Secrecy was set up for good reasons and, even though at the personal level it may seem restrictive, many of those reasons still exist today. It's been said that some recent events in the wizarding world put Muggles at risk, but the same can be said for some events in the Muggle world. Even though Muggles no longer hunt out witches to burn them at the stake out of fear and superstition, they have developed a lot of other weapons and technology thanks to modern science that could be a threat. Wizarding folk tend to discount Muggles because they have no magic, but think what could be done with some of the modern Muggle weapons that exist--even against wizards. People fear what they don't understand, and if Muggles knew that such a thing as magic really existed and that some people had it and the rest didn't, many of them would become so alarmed that they might try to get rid of what they saw as a threat at any cost. Wizards are still greatly outnumbered by Muggles--could magic really protect a small group of wizards from something like a nuclear bomb? And the Muggles might harm themselves as well in their panic to get rid of magical people. No, until people of all kinds, Wizard and Muggle, gain a lot more maturity in the way they think and act, the Statute of Secrecy should remain in place." There. Thank goodness that was over. Hope couldn't believe she'd managed to make such a long speech in front of all these people--three years ago when she was a first year, she'd probably have fainted with anxiety before she managed to get out a few sentences. |
slight catch-up + left side, agreeing Once the topic of the ICW was revealed, Ezra found himself remaining quiet as other students offered more answers about the organization. Most of them quickly covered any answer he might've given, but even so, he jotted down a note here and there. It was more out of habit than any effort to take real notes for study purposes, and it was even moreso just for something to do. Something to help keep himself preoccupied. And then came the reveal he'd suspected for the classroom layout, though he wouldn't have guessed the specific inspiration. They'd get to provide debate topics themselves, hm? That certainly kept it interesting. The only problem was...he couldn't think of anything to submit. There were so many options out there, and yet his mind was drawing a blank. He absentmindedly tapped the end of his quill against the desk, trying to come up with something that would actually be an interesting debate. But everything was made much more difficult when he heard Anna speaking her thoughts aloud. His resolve not to look in her direction crumbled quickly. His eyes were finally drawn in that direction, curious about the topic of ghost professors too. But then...he couldn't be quite certain from his angle, but were she and Solomon holding hands now? Ezra turned back to frown down at his parchment again. Merlin, if it had been difficult to think of a topic before, it was twice as much now. Unless it was something like, students should sit at least five meters away from each other during class. He started to write something, then proceeded to scribble it out. It was a relief when the rest of the agonizingly slow ten minutes were up. He hadn't submitted anything, but hopefully it wouldn't count against him. But if it did...oh well. At least with the actual debate of sorts kicking off, Ezra had something to focus on. The first topic was on the Statute of Secrecy, and he was on the side that agreed with the statement. Seemed straightforward enough. Especially since that Ravenclaw fourth year covered a lot of points really well. "I think Hope makes a lot of great points," he said. And really, he could leave it there, but that didn't seem right in the spirit of debate and discussion and what-not. "Even though there are a lot of Muggles that are welcoming to magical people, there are also a lot who aren't and who wouldn't be no matter what. That was true back then, and it's still true today. And with the technology that has been developed over the years since the Statute was implemented, even just a small group could wreak a lot of havoc and destruction against both magical and non-magical people alike. Keeping the Statute in place helps prevent that from happening. In that way, it protects not only us, but Muggles too." |
Left side {Agreeing} Back at his seat, Ary waited with slight anxiety for the first debate topic. See, he was anxious because he wasn’t sure if he would have to agree or oppose. What if he opposed a topic truly but had to agree to it in class? And vice versa? Would he be able to bring himself to do what was expected? Then the topic was revealed and Ary was on the agreeing side. For this, he could breathe a sigh of relief. Kinda. On this Statute issue, he was sorta on the fence about it but he was ready to agree to it with some fair points. He thought that, so far, the agreeing side had made some excellent points. A hand was raised to offer his opinions. “Things have improved a great deal from say… the fifteenth century with more muggles becoming open minded and accepting. Still, I’d like to think there are a great number who are close minded. For example, if the true presence of magical creatures were to be brought to light in the Muggle world, it would create confusion and fear. I’m sure that the majority of Muggles would call for the creatures to be hunted down and Merlin knows what else. That could lead to many of our creatures becoming extinct.” That was a scary thought for Aryan as he loved creatures immensely. Not for the first time was he grateful for all the precautions his fathers and the staff on Atreyu-Rehman Hippogriff/Dragon Reserve took to ensure the safety of the creatures. |
The first activity had almost stumped Charlie, and he'd spent a fair amount of time sat at his desk, looking around the room at the others for some kind of inspiration. He supposed that was the sort of thing that was better if you were the type of person to believe in a cause, and who saw things as needing to be changed. Charlie was, quelle qurprise, not one of those people - he just didn't care enough to make a fuss about things - but knew also the importance of not just coming out and saying so. He was just holding out for the debate at this point - the funny thing was, it was this aspect of his personality that made him enjoy arguing on either side of a topic. Eventually, after a lot of mulling things over, casual eavesdropping, and doodling in the corners of his parchment, he'd simply listed three vague things down and left it at that. It was technically cheating, as he didn't really think any of them should be discussed with any real change in mind. Quote:
When Professor Snout banged the gavel, Charlie gave a small snort of laughter which almost immediately turned into a small coughing fit. Annoying as heck, because this was about to be his favourite part of the lesson. He dealt with that, and then sat back just a little longer, taking a bottle of water from his bag that he sipped on while listening to the others. Because his lungs did not want him to speak much today, but Charlie was not about to let them call the shots. When, finally, he deemed himself as ready as he was liable to be to chip in, he replaced the bottle in his bag, slipped his mask back up over his face, and stood up to say his bit. "Muggles make up most of the world, which makes us the minority. Different. People - and I mean 'people', it's not just because they're muggles - might like to think they want to be special, but there are some kinds of 'different' that will never be accepted, even if people pretend to tolerate it." Already his throat was getting hoarse, and he was getting out of breath, but Charlie forged on. "Sometimes that's from hate or fear or whatever, and sometimes jealousy. People will start to say we have unfair advantages, and try to limit us and monitor us. We don't want to be vulnerable, and that's what removing the statute would do. It's alright for people in magical communities, or who can do magic really well, but the almost-squibs or the loners who can't defend themselves would-" And that was it, the coughing seized him again. Charlie sat back down, banging on his chest, ready to go back to sipping water. Kind of peeved, he waved a hand to indicate he was done. Annoying. There was so much more he'd have argued, had he not needed to try and make it so short, and been cut off nevertheless. |
Right side opinion Well, this was a fine debate to start with. Kion personally agreed with those wanting to keep it secret. There was a reason for it, and he was at the Wizard Primary School when the last war broke out and that was just from Wizards rallying against muggles. But he had to think about the other side, sure, there was a more sympathetic route he could take. "The Statue of Secrecy mainly protects muggles from the harm we could impose on them," Kion started, "Even though there are more muggles, as already stated, all it takes is one wizard to conquer them. But it also doesn't take into account the positive relationships formed between muggles and wizards. Half-bloods are created and the Statue of Secrecy often breaks relationships when witches and wizards are forced to keep their magic secret with their partner leaving them at the discovery of the hidden secret." Is it relevant today? "It's outdated and should be reformed to take into account measures where relationships are formed. There are measures already in place to modify muggles with ill intentions. The Muggle Prime Minister is aware of our existence proving partnerships are possible. So keeping it only segregates us and we can't progress into unity without more leniency on what's kept secret." Maybe he rambled a bit, but his mind did open a little for the sake of the topic. |
(Right side) The statute of secrecy? That was an interesting discussion topic. If Alissa was picking her own opinion, she would probably say that it was still useful, at least in some form even if not in the exact same state as it existed today. But she could thinking of several pros and cons on each side of the debate, so she didn't mind having to argue against it. It was kind of a fun mental exercise. She listened to the arguments of a few of her classmates who came before her before it was her turn. "The Wizarding World has a lot of benefits that could be extremely useful for muggles, and by continuing to hide ourselves from them we are denying them those benefits. Like healing spells and potions. There are a lot of sick muggles, and right now we just leave them on their own while we know that we have tools that could help them if we were allowed to share some of our secrets." |
{Right} And now the debate was starting. Emma sat quietly just listening as some of peers (mostly those on the left side) started to speak up about why it was good to keep the statute of secrecy in place. It definitely made a lot of sense, but she was meant to argue the alternative for disbanding it. Of course Ary managed to include protection of creatures as part of the reason for keeping the statute. She liked what those on her side, Brandon had said about it discouraged from making close friendships and hiding your true nature. And Kion mentioning about the positive relationships that were formed between muggles and wizards. Alissa mentioning about the benefits of helping muggles with the healing and potions aspect. "Knowledge is power. Knowledge is tolerance and acceptance. As witches and wizards, we're in the minority and we've been persecuted because of it for far too long. Isn't it time we take the stance on a new approach? We can't expect to be accepted unless we show our true colours and reveal to the world the absolute wonder that is magic." She bit her lower lip. "Yes there are ugly bits to the magical world, and those are generally the snippets that the muggle world sees. Wouldn't it be miraculous if we showed them all the good too? And how much the good outweighs the bad. I think only after we reveal our true selves, can true tolerance happen." Will there be risks? Of course. But there were risks were keeping their world a secret and that has gotten them nowhere. |
Left side The debate had started and Drake's pen was scrawling furiously across a blank piece of parchment as he tried to capture each idea that was being offered from both sides. Those who had already spoken from the left side had offered a lot of really good arguments - even if he did not still actually agree with the their assigned point to the debate, they'd brought up some good thinking points. To the point where he really couldn't think of anything additional to offer as a new perspective. So instead, he was trying to listen to the right side carefully to offer counter points. But all of his peers were such eloquent speakers and had thought out there responses, he was having a hard time finding anything there either. At least, until there was a kernel he attached to from one of the older Gryffindor boys, Kion. Raising his hand, Drake tentatively offered his own sickle to the debate. "Um, well... Kion mentioned all it takes is one wizard to conquer the non-magical. But being magical is not what inherently makes wizarding kind more dangerous than non-magical. While magic may give us a leg up, there are other ways to conquer outside of it's use. Or... even someone who does not have the ability to cast on their own could still use charisma or manipulation to find a wizard and charm them into using their magic to help them conquer over the rest of the mundane world. Having the statute of secrecy still in tact removes the majority, like Charlie pointed out, of people from being a threat on that front." It was a weak argument and Drake knew it but... he was hoping he'd get points at least for contributing and showing he was actively listening to everyone. |
*in pain* So...Anna was not good at debating because she tended to just agree with everything people said because she could typically position herself on the other side of the same coin. Of course, as with all things in life, there were exceptions and some coins only had one face despite them having two sides but still only one face (best she got off this train of thought before she got herself all in a twist). Truth be told...she had not given this particular issue much thought at all and that caused some pause to reflect on WHY that was for her. It was just a simple status quo that she had accepted...and why? Because her parents and grandparents and ancestors had said it was that way. Which seemed...rather silly when you put it that way. But, rather than attempt to come up with her own points...the Hufflepuffle decided to listen to what those on the left side of the room had to say about why the Statute was still necessary and react to that. It was like Drama Club with the Action-Reaction Technique! "While Hope brings up some REALLY good points about the dangers wizardingkind and mugglekind, it doesn't change the fact that these conflicts and risks exist in spite of the Statute. In our, wizardingkind's, recent history with the Third Wizarding War, muggles were still causalities too. They still felt the impact of the devastation and only their Prime Minister privy to the reason WHY...which must have been torturous for him, you know? To not be able to properly advise his people on ways to protect themselves and have to jump through so many hoops and all that to try and protect them while upholding wizardingkind's laws. Seems to me that the Statute creates plenty of risks by existing and in a pretty inhumane way too by making them suffer consequences of our world in unawareness or Obliviate them to cover it up and hide ... maybe from shame ... that our conflicts hurt people...but then their conflicts can hurt us too and you even said so yourself. The Statute doesn't eliminate risks, they exist in spite of it all and like...how do you protect yourself from a dementor or a boggart without knowing how to do so. The Statute just makes boggarts of us all and the muggles we co-exist with liiiiiiiiterally helpless with out to protect themselves from these wizarding conflicts you mentioned." There was a point somewhere in that fruit salad of words she had thrown out. "And I...I don't know what this New Clear Bomb is you are speaking too...but if it is SO big like you say, then why would muggles want to wipe out their own people and decimate the entire population? Seems pretty counterintuitive to survival which IS a trait that we all share as inhabitants of this world. And how do you even build maturity by HIDING? I mean...isn't that just avoiding conflict and when you avoid something and don't face it ... you aren't going to actually learn or grow soooo it does seem like the Statute being in place IS just setting both sides up for failure." Anna quickly shifted to tugging on and twirling some of her curls around her finger as she continued to listen and attempted to keep her thoughts from spinning too too tooo fast...but once she had tickled opened the doors in response to Hope, who Anna had always found to be brilliant and wise so it had been REALLY HARD to try and counter her arguments, then the floodgates were all open. But who was going to be even harder to react to than Hope? Ezra. Her little heart raced in panic and confusion as to why he was behaving so peculiarly BUT she had a role to play and she was doing her best to commit to it! And maybe...since his thoughts and those of little Aryan overlapped a bit...maybe lumping them together would selfishly take out the sting of providing a counterargument to theirs. "You both also bring up some good points...Ezra and Aryan...but your thoughts also villianfy muggles...which seems to maybe kind of sort of imply that the prejudice of wizardingkind being superior is in fact alive and well even in our modern society and and it is in fact systematic thanks to the existence of the Statute. The Statute only protects us from maybe kind of sort of not be hunted down our OUR resources, but it does not protect muggles from the same and that's kind of oppressive! " This was hard this was hard this was hard...could she just please please pleaaaaaaaaaase go give him a hug?! "And...I dunno but...it seems like the Statute was reinvigorated during eras where the whole purebloood supremacy and wizarding superiority thrived so I guess wizardingkind doesn't actually want to learn from its mistakes or evolve. I MEAN...GOSH...you mention technology...and like...LIKE...just IMAGINE the intellectual renaissance that could be possible were muggle and magical minds to meet. Keeping our two peoples separate is denying immense intellectual and cultural growth! " There...that...hadn't been...so bad...maybe? Anna paused to take a breath and rub her now very rosy cheeks before tearing her lingering gaze away from Ezra especially and to her hands that were now resting on her stomach. She was just going to take a moment to count the freckles on the backs of her hands to see if a refocus of her attention could encourage her heart to calm down. And then Charlie was coughing and she patted her pockets to see if she had maybe brought some of her collection of handkerchiefs with her. She had not...but she did have a cute little pouch of pocket tissues with her! Unopened still but also very wonky from the roll in the gross across the grounds she had taken earlier - they were offered to the Gryffindor nonetheless by way of elaborate stretch forward. "Doesn't like...muggle pop culture really really REALLY celebrate what makes people different though?" she asked in response to Charlie's answer - he seemed just as grumpy about this internally as she was feeling. Conflict was hard, okay, and especially so when people were making such fantastic points that she agreed with. "Your points sound more like a human nature kind of problem rather than a purely muggle kind of problem." Anna did not actually know the boy who was responding to Kion all that well, but his response tickled another thought. "It kind of sort of seems like your arguments...and a lot of the ones I hear about threats and stuff are kind of implying that the reveal of the wizarding world and removal of the Statute would create one in which everything went unchecked...as if our already existing laws would be erased. Unforgiveables would still be Unforgiveable and transparency about our laws with...I dunno...maybe like a whole new Muggle Relations department in Ministries around the world could work closing with those governing bodies or something. I mean...SURELY if we elected a Minister who was later proven to have used a charisma potion or charm or something to get into office...we wouldn't let THAT go and there would be repercussions. Any witch or wizard of malicious intent could do the same and conquer our world too, you know? The Statute being in place doesn't prevent that from happening." And that was, maybe, all she had to say in rebuttal. This was hard...could she just go around and give everyone a high five for their contributions because her peers were all amazing! |
right side Eliza ever-so-slightly jumped when the gavel knocked against the hardwood. Was it really that loud in the classroom? Or was the professor just being dramatic? Eliza was silently voting for the second option. Anyway... The Statute of Secrecy. Of COURSE it still had a place in today's society. What kind of weirdo suggested this one? Wait a second. HOLD UP. She was on the right side of the room. She had to disagree?! No way. Nope. Not going to happen. "May I switch sides?" she asked, her hand shooting into the air. Eliza had been raised in Hogsmeade. There was literally nothing muggle about her life. But then her question had unintentionally been answered with the professor's next statement. Well, BAH HUMBUG. Also, why was the professor worried about someone leaving in tears? If the HUFFLEPUFFS were that sensitive, they should just go on home. With a frown on her face, and a slump in her posture, Eliza listened to the debate. Sigh. BRANDON. What a Hufflepuff thing to say! It gave Eliza a few ideas, though, so there's that. She nodded along with what Hope and Ezra were saying. Why couldn't she have chosen the left side of the room?! There were a few others with good points, as well, but now it was Eliza's turn. Reluctantly, she cleared her throat. "Okay, so here's the thing. Somebody else said something about the Statute maybe not being so strict. Maybe they should be a little more lenient on us using magic away from school. I mean, if I get attacked or find myself in danger, I'm going to want to defend myself the best way I know how," she pointed out. That meant using magic. "So maybe they should lighten up a little bit." So there was her roundabout way of supposedly disagreeing with the Statute. She said what she needed to say, but she didn't come right out and force herself to disagree either. |
Catching Up -= Right Side Against Nadia had been paying attention to the entire lesson…and the other students’ responses. She would swear. At least her notes could also prove that as her quill had been scratching away as she listened to what was being said around her since taking her seat. The fourth year just hadn’t been coming up with anything she herself could contribute. Not without duplicating answers and feeling silly anyway. Though when the actual debate was about to begin, she made the decision to actually actively participate. Only to get some bad news. Oh crud… Nadia thought to herself as the professor mentioned the right side. where she had put herself, was on the side of disagreeing with the usefulness of the Statute of Secrecy in today’s world. Something which was the exact opposite of how she felt. Why the creatures under her family’s care…and all magical creatures for that matter…were in danger if measures to keep them out of muggle notice weren’t followed. Not to mention she could only imagine what muggle would think of being introduced to her beloved quidditch. She wracked her brain for something to say while listening to the others speak up for either side. At least Ary got to share their shared views about protecting creatures. And while leaning more for than against the statute, she did have to admit her teammate Brandon had some point on how strict it could be. Not to mention some of the other points. Think…Nadia…think. “Fear of the unknown can be a powerful thing,” she finally remarked and gaining her voice. “Perhaps less mystery could lead to less chance of the troubles that the Statute was originally meant to protect against. Today is far from the same as it was back then and all things that have lasted over time should be evaluated for the improvement for the better.” |
Left side (she's only agreeing because she has to! xD) The more Desiree thought about it, the more self-conscious she felt about the topics she’d submitted. Half of them seemed too silly; the other half seemed too vague. She was more than a little relieved when someone else’s idea was chosen for the first debate. She listened as the first topic was revealed: The Statute of Secrecy. Desiree had never had a strong opinion on the subject, but the more she thought about it, the more she thought it was a bad idea. There were too many historical examples of people, many of them children, being persecuted by muggles who had incorrect or incomplete knowledge of the magical world. Her own father and brother were among them; their families didn’t understand what was happening when their magical powers showed themselves and punished them for acting out. Maybe if the muggles had accurate knowledge of magic, those situations wouldn’t happen! And speaking of wrongfully punishing people, the Statue of Secrecy had a track record of doing exactly that. How about the time the Ministry reprimanded Harry Potter for a Hover Charm that he didn’t do (a house elf did)? What about the kind muggles of the world, like Jacob Kowalski? Poor guy was nothing but accepting and supportive to the wizarding community, and how did MACUSA thank him? By trying to Obliviate him and keep him away from the love of his life… which also had the intended consequence of driving Queenie Goldstein to Gellert Grindelwald! Unfortunately, Desiree was seated on the left side of the room, which meant she had to argue for the Statute. Ugh, this was going to be hard! Arguing against her beliefs made her feel like she was lying to herself and her classmates. She supposed the easiest way to approach the debate was to turn her reasoning against the Stature into an argument for it. Desiree squirmed in her seat as she listened to her classmates’ arguments. Why did they have to call people out by name? Rude! She would definitely not be putting anyone on the spot in her argument, and she really hoped no one would put her on the spot in theirs! Taking a deep breath, she said her piece before she could lose her nerve, “What about the many examples of Muggles vilifying wizards? Witch-hunts, burnings, executions… Some groups of muggles, such as the Puritans, were so prejudiced against the magical community that they falsely accused and executed their own people for witchcraft. The Statute of Secrecy reduced such incidents of persecution, but they didn’t stop completely. What about Ariana Dumbledore, so traumatized after being attacked by muggles that she developed an Obscurus? Or her nephew Aurelius, raised in a cruel environment by a woman with a family history of anti-magic prejudice going back centuries, until he suffered the same fate as his aunt?” “All of the aforementioned incidents have one thing in common: they stemmed from muggles’ incomplete or incorrect knowledge of magic. If partial knowledge can cause that much damage, maybe it’s better for all involved if muggles have no knowledge of the wizarding community at all. So the Statute of Secrecy should stay.” Sorry, everyone! Her heart was not in that argument at all, but at least it was done! |
Oh dear. Fergersnout was no Healer but poor Charlie’s cough was sounding pretty awful over there. “Do you need a cough potion Mr Upstead?” she asked the second year, a hint of concern taking over from her usual chipper expression. Miss Bellrose spoke up and Fergersnout immediately shook her head. “It doesn’t matter if you personally agree or disagree, the point is that you are able to extract reasoning from both sides. We’ll be switching over positions for the next debate anyway.” It was admittedly taking an awful lot of effort to not interject herself into the debate. It wasn’t that she felt particularly strong about either side of the argument but because there was nothing more exciting than a good old-fashioned chin wag. Thankfully the students were channeling their passions through well thought out words rather than it becoming all out war in the classroom. With that being said there was a lack of back and forth, no counter arguments apart from Mandrake’s who received a quick encouraging nod from the Professor and Anna who had wonderfully taken it upon herself to study each of the left side's points. “Feel free to counteract one another’s arguments. You are all making fantastic points but I’m sure that you can find reasons to pick apart what others have said. Think about how these topics might be handled at a conference full of powerful and hot-headed Wizards and Witches” It was all very civilised. Too civilised. Don’t tell the Headmaster but this Professor somewhat enjoyed the chaos of Hogwarts. But the interactions began to lull and when the moment felt right, she pounded on the gavel again and waited for silence to wash over. “I thank you all for the food for thought. Let’s have a quick vote, those in favour of the statute remaining in place raise your hand and say aye.” She waited a minute for the students to do so before moving on. “Our next subject on our agenda is..” The paper flew out of the goblet with a rather dramatic flare whizzing around the classroom, the flames flickered upwards almost singeing Fergersnout’s eyebrows off as she stood too close. She stumbled back a little, blinking to regain her composure and clearing her throat. Remind her to never purchase from a strange man on a street corner again. “Where was I? Oh yes.” She unfolded the paper. Aha! There were the hard pressing issues for a bunch of teenagers that she was expecting. With a little revision she was able to reinterpret it into a debate subject. “School uniforms are outdated and should not exist. Right side agreeing this time and left side disagreeing.” It would be interesting to see how a more trivial subject matter would incite passion in the group. “This time really listen to each other's points and counteract them with your own. Just please keep your wands to yourselves” She chuckled. History might have been full of battles but she didn’t want to have to clean the classroom up afterwards. OOC: Such a fun first debate, thank you all for participating! Onto debate number two. You have around 48 hours for this one too. |
Right side= agreeing on this subject Maria had stayed silent during the first debate not sure what she could add to the disagreeing side when it came to the statue of secrecy. She gave Kion's hand a quick, but light squeeze to show that she thought he had made a good inpass in the debate. The next debate subject that Professor Fergersnout announced was easier to debate about she thought since it was more easy to talk about. It didn't take long before Maria raised her hand to say slowly choosing her words with care and thought. "I agree that the required school uniforms are outdated because they don't allow us students any room to choose or show our own personal style of dress or allow us to wear something other than what we are supposed to in classes or in other parts of the school. It'd be nice if we could wear jeans, and a flowery blouse sometimes, and not always our house uniforms." It wasn't that Maria didn't like her badger uniform or saw its uses when it came to avoiding teasing and other issues it was just that the lesson the required her to agree with the statement even if she might want to say the opposite. |
Left {Disagreeing} Ary hadn’t any intention of making the Muggles out to be the bad guys but after some thought, he saw what Anna meant. “Humans - Muggles and Wizards - can be narrow minded. My argument is based on that.” Which he should have admittedly specified. “Humans fear what they can’t understand so…” He lifted his thin shoulders in a shrug. “Muggles in general haven’t exactly the best track record with protecting what is different from them.” Again, he shot a concerned look at Charlie. Please don’t die, his mind automatically went. It seemed that they were done discussing this particular topic? At least during the lesson because the Slytherin was certain that it would continue at some point among his peers after the lesson’s dismissal. He watched as the goblet spat another slip of parchment shot out from among the flames. Er… Fergersnout needed to be careful there. Now, this was a topic that Ary could fully get behind… if he were sitting on the right side. Siiigh. Aryan dragged a hand through his hair, effectively making it messy, as he mentally made some points on the topic. Only after he was satisfied with them did he venture his words. “Uniforms help in keeping students looking neat, organised and can give a sense of belonging. For example, if a group of Hogwartians were to interact with students from other magical schools, everyone gathered should be able to look at each group in their respective uniforms and be like, ‘that group is from Hogwarts’ or ‘that group is from Durmstrang’. Ary also had the point that uniforms kept students from being unkind to others about their sense of fashion but he was only interested in sharing one argument. |
Left side While the entire point of a debate was to listen to each side and counter points offered, it did nothing to make Drake feel a little small when the intelligent Hufflepuff on the other side was able to counteract each of the arguments from their side, particularly his own. He was unable to stop himself from slinking a little bit in his seat as his cheeks burned a little and he shot a glance towards Fergersnout. He caught the slight encouraging smile and it did make him feel a little better, but it did nothing to change the fact that he was just not made for these type of situations. He could cross the debate team from his list of potential future clubs to join. With a spit of flame, a new topic was introduced. One that Drake was far more inclined to speak on. Not because of any particular interest in the subject, but certainly more interest than the previous. And he didn't necessarily need to know anything about a particular subject to be able to offer an answer here. Although, he was a bit disappointed to be on the less favorable argument. Though... he supposed that was a matter of opinion. Listening to the points offered so far, and giving Ary a slight smile of encouragement too as he threw in his two knuts, Drake raised his hand as well. Once it was his turn, he gave a slight nod towards Maria. "While it's true no uniforms would give students their own individuality, Hogwarts is a melting pot of not only personalities but different cultures and backgrounds as well. One item that might be something fashionable to one person, perhaps with imagery or words, could very well offend someone else in the same room. And yes, we could combat that with rules on what is and what isn't allowed, but they would have to be very specific because we don't know what would offend other people in the room as us. And then the more you have to restrict items anyways on what can and can't be worn, the more you're stripping away individuality still to begin with. And you're wasting people's times with punishments and lost house points because of more violations of dress code." |
You have GOT to be kidding me! So the professor switched up the whole agree/disagree side, and Eliza still somehow ended up on the wrong side! She still found herself wanting to switch to the left side. Bad mood incoming! Not only that, the professor had kind of killed any hope of her allowing them to switch sides. Uniforms allowed them to showcase their house pride, though! She couldn't speak for the others, but it was nice to look around and be able to differentiate one house from another. It allowed for a little friendly But she was supposed to be arguing against that, wasn't she? "Maybe I want to show pride for my favorite Quidditch team or something?" she suggested, her hand in the air. That's about all she could think of. She still thought they needed school uniforms. "It'd be kind of cool to walk around wearing something like that." |
Right side Brandon had a lot of things on his mind after the debate. He felt like his own side was sometimes speaking as though non-magical people were incapable of doing serious harm. But the other side sometimes spoke as though non-magical people were inherently dangerous! He had known a lot of non-magical people, being a muggleborn... and they could be really nice, selfless people. They could also be evil. They were just as human as wizards, and humans could be evil OR good. When the professor did the voting, he raised his hand to keep the statute in place. But just so she knew, he wanted to modify it. School uniforms... seemed much less serious, which relieved Brandon a bit. He didn't feel like there were lives on the line because of the school's dress code or lack thereof. So it was a lot less stressful to talk about. "Some people struggle to afford their uniforms, and then they might get in trouble or feel singled out because they don't have the right clothes or their uniform doesn't fit as they grow. If the school let people wear their own clothes, people would be more comfortable and spend a lot less money. Also, we would save time, because professors and students wouldn't be arguing about wearing the uniform. And..." he hesitated. "I... um. I think the robes are impractical and hot. And a bit of a tripping and fire risk." If they were going to keep the uniform, they should totally get rid of the robes. In Brandon's opinion. He felt a little bit awkward saying that. Was that against the rules to say? |
She did offer a small smile to Aryan when he addressed her counter argument and despite the professor encouraging them to continue to debate with one another...she was feeling rather exhausted in the brain. But he HAD confirmed, again, in a roundabout way that wizardingkind held those prejudices and were likewise narrowminded and hitherto the Statute only continued to serve those! At least that was the narrative she was telling herself while maintaining the role and position she had been temporarily asked to play. It was a good and important exercise, you know? Being able to look at both sides of an issue and discuss things thoroughly. Intellectual empathy! The fifth year nodded in acknowledgement and then turned her attention back to the professor who was blessedly moving things along. And could she please give the one younger Slytherin a hug or at least one of her painted rocks? She loathed that she was making him sink into his seat like that and look so trounced and dejected. She, truly, was not built for this kind of activity. To say Anna was RELIEVED that they they were putting topic number one to rest and moving on to the next was an understatement. There was a reason why Magical Debate had never made it to her excessive list of extracurriculars. It had been interesting though and, again, she was truly in awe at the minds of her peers. Like...like like like liiiiiiiiiiiiiiike everyone's perspectives and reasonings were truly fascinating, even the people who very obviously were displeased with the stance they were asked to take for the sake of the exercise and for analytical growth. She always had something to say, but she was really feeling the intellectual strain this go around despite the prompt being a much smaller issue by comparison. Uniforms were, again, something she hardly considered and had just accepted as a norm - neither a big deal that they wore them nor would it be a big deal if they did not have them. She really did not feel very strongly either way but did disagree with Maria wholeheartedly about uniforms stifling her personal style and self expression. Uniforms were like a blank canvas which meant that everything else about her was be the paint...except she was meant to be AGREEING with her peer and not disagreeing since they were on the same side of the room soooooo she was going to need to take another moment to think. ....but first... "...professor...are you okay?" she stage whispered while glancing nervously back and forth between her, the sleeve of her majestic purple robes, and the Goblet that had burped out the latest piece of paper in a very explosive way. She was a little to focused on the Goblet and wondering it it was going to burp out flames again to really pay much heed to anything else being said. Oops. |
The debate/discussion was going along just fine with various students adding their points of agreement and disagreement, with Ezra even allowing himself to glance in the direction of some of them as he listened. And then Anna chimed in. Instead of turning his attention elsewhere, he did look in her general direction - progress? - as he listened to her points. But when she mentioned him specifically, his eyes couldn't help but settle on her, his brow furrowed. He felt himself bristle just a little at the idea that he was vilifying Muggles with his point. That hadn't been what he said at all, or at least he didn't think so as he looked away and tried to review in his mind what he and others had said. It was true that there were groups of people who didn't like, to put it mildly, other people who were different from them, and who could be dangerous to those they feared, and obviously it wasn't only true of Muggles. Wizards were no better. History was full of examples, even very recent history. And it didn't even need to be just the large-scale examples that impacted everyone. Sometimes these differences played out on a family level, like his. Not that he had experienced any of it first-hand, but even though his dad didn't talk about it much, Ezra had gathered that at least one of the reasons he hadn't ever met his dad's father was because the man didn't approve of magic. Where was he even going with this? It wasn't even like this was a personal argument. It was just a debate with assigned sides, not something he had chosen himself. But his thoughts were getting jumbled, wanting to go every which way, and he couldn't get a grasp on what he wanted to say further. Anna had made good points - and others had too, but he was scarcely taking in anything else that was being said now. And it was frustrating. He didn't normally get like this during the actual extracurricular activity. Normally it was fun and interesting to delve into different arguments on a topic. But suddenly it was just...everything was annoying him. It was a small relief that, finally, they were moving on to something else, even if he wished that class was actually over. He needed to get some fresh air or something, hoping it would help with how off he had felt since he'd arrived. Anyway, at least the topic of uniforms was a lot more low-stakes. It also wasn't something he'd thought much about before now, so he didn't care that he was assigned the side that supported uniforms. "Uniforms mean one less thing to take your focus off lessons," Ezra said. "Not a guarantee that everyone will focus, obviously, but at least you don't have to worry about what you're gonna wear every day since it's already decided." Not the most compelling argument, but that was all he had at this point. |
Left side (disagreeing) Desiree was relieved when the first debate ended. As she focused on Professor Fergersnout, two things concerned her. One was the burst of flames coming from the replica goblet; the other was what the professor said about a conference full of hot headed wizards and witches and picking apart others’ arguments. Sorry, but no! She would take part in this debate. She’d even argue a position that went against her beliefs, but she would not hurt or humiliate her classmates to do it. And frankly, she thought that anyone too hot-headed to express their thoughts in a kind way shouldn’t be in power at all! She had to fight the urge to roll her eyes when she heard the next topic. Once again, she was on the wrong side of the debate. She really should’ve sat on the right side of the room! At least this topic seemed less likely to turn ugly than the other one. Desiree sat quietly, considering her argument. While she personally felt that school uniforms were rather boring, she didn’t find them outright harmful either. She thought of the little touches she added to make her uniform a little less boring, like her hair clip, her nail polish, and her jewelry. Sometimes it took a bit of creativity to express her style without breaking the rules, but she made it work. That gave her an idea for the debate! When her turn came, she said, “Uniforms don’t necessarily take away people’s freedom of expression. They encourage people to get creative in the ways they express themselves, like adding personal touches and accessories to their uniforms or finding other creative outlets that don’t involve fashion.” |
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