Helena Lovecraft Tue Jun 14, 2011 11:12 am
She looked over the class and felt her mind spin off in a dozen directions instantly. You know what to do, she thought. That’s why you agreed to come here; that’s why you agreed to do this.
With a loud, relaxing sight, Helena addressed the students. “Good afternoon, Class, and welcome to… well, for want of a better word, ‘Defense of the Dark Arts’.” Her slight, off-side grin could almost be mistaken for a grimace. “Though it’s much more than that, I assure you.”
She walked slowly from her desk to the case standing along the wall to the left of the class, her brown slacks swishing softly against her legs while her low heels clicked upon the old wooden floor. Standing next to the case—which was made up of a number of square nooks with name labels beneath each one—Helena smoothed down her long, black leather duster, then pulled her wand from an inner pocket. “Before we begin, I would like everyone to come up here and put their wand in their designated slot.” She leaned against the case, eyeing everyone with a very apprising stare. “For your own safe keeping, I assure you.”
OOC—Everyone comes up and puts their wand away. Sound strange? Sure. This is a strange class. After all wands are put away, Helena waves her wand over the class; anyone who didn’t put their wand in the case will let out a loud yelp as their wand suddenly gets very, very warm. Anyone who does that gets the Helena “wand wave” and they will come up and put their wand in the case. No exceptions. Yes, it’s a godmod. Talk to the Headmistress—end OOC.
Returning to the front of the class, Helena began walking about slowly from one side of the room to the other. “Everyone knows what the Dark Arts are; you ask any wizard or witch and you’ll get any number of responses. But what are they? What are they truly? Are they really so foreign from what we normally practice?
“The actual answer is ‘no’.” She looked around the room for reaction then moved on. “You all had charms this morning: everyone knows what charms are. It’s probably the most popular and commonly used form of magic in the wizarding world. And yet… there is very little difference between the charms you learned in class today and some of the more—“ Helena searched for a word. “—esoteric spells and curses you’ll see in this class.”
As she spoke her motions became more animated, her arms moving about, her wand rising and dropping as if it were being used to tick off items on an invisible list. “Spells, charms, curses—these are all manifestations of a wizard’s or witch’s will. You know what you want to do—“ She touched the breast of her red blouse. “You us a foci to channel that intention—“ She raised her wand and showed it. “And you bring it all together by control of the foci powered through incantation.” Helena pointed her wand at a student’s book. “Wingardium Leviosa.” The book effortlessly rose from the desk, hovered for maybe 5 seconds, then returned to the desk.
“But what did we leave out?” she asked. “There was something else at play that wasn’t mentioned.” She didn’t wait for anyone to raise their hand. “Intent. Professor Palmescoff spoke of this the other day in her class—where…” She stretched the word out as she looked about the room, a broad smile on her face, “she stole a bit of my thunder for this class, but that’s okay, she means no harm… Intent is needed for every spell, for every charm, for every potion, for every curse. Without your intent there is no magic. The possibility is always there, but the wizard’s intent drives everything. Intent is magic.
“So what is it that makes the Dark Arts so dangerous? We know what they can do against another person, so let me rephrase: what is it that makes the Dark Arts so dangerous to their advocate? Why do people become so twisted by them?” She stopped pacing and turned toward the class, her tone becoming ominous. “Why do people who immerse themselves in the Dark Arts always seem to turn… evil?
“It’s not so much that people become evil when they delve into the Dark Arts—“ Helena held up her hands and waves them slowly over her body. “I’ve used the Dark Arts for many, many years—do I look ‘evil’? Am I truly a ‘Dark Witch’?” She gave a small chuckle. “I’m sure there are many of you who, before long, will think of me that way, but, really: am I an evil, Dark Witch because I’ve used the Dark Arts—“ She turned her gaze upon Annie in the front row. “Effectively?”
Helena turned to her right and paced over to the wand cupboard. “Questions?” she asked, leaning against the cabinet. “Opinions? Remarks?”