Fifth Years, Lesson Four

James waited for his fifth year students to arrive for their latest lesson, they would be going over another curse as part of their wider review in preparation for their O.W.Ls at the end of the year, he didn't envy them, James remembered how stressful O.W.Ls were when he had been a student at Hogwarts and nothing would be worth going through that again...well maybe one thing.

Once he was sure every one of his students was in the classroom and had taken their seats he closed the classroom door and turned his attention to them. "Today we will be discussing two curses, the Jelly Fingers curse and the Sponge Knees curse. Now the effects of these curses are pretty self-explanatory, one causes your fingers to become like jelly and the other makes your knees sponge like making it hard to walk, I'll let you figure out which is which," The chalk behind him wrote his words, more or less, furiously on the blackboard behind him for the benefit of the students taking notes.

"Now some of you might be wondering something I did when I was in your shoes, not that long ago I might add, why are these two spells considered curses rather than jinxes? Whereas a similar spell such as the jelly-legs jinx is just that, a jinx. There doesn't seem to be a consistent answer, not one that I'd be comfortable sharing with you as a definitive one at least, as our favourite resident grouch Professor Styx once said when he was sitting at my desk a few years ago, a spell is a spell and their effects are the same, so does it matter if the jelly fingers curse is a curse or a jinx? I'll let you ponder on that in lieu of actual homework and feel free to submit your answers to me for a little extra credit otherwise, class dismissed,"

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Assignment: RP the lesson. Extra credit for anyone who completes the assignment.

 

[Morrie Ayre]

Morrie needed more spells under her belt for dueling and that's where DADA came to be very useful indeed. She took her seat and listened to Professor Cade. Morrie rolled her eyes at the mention of Professor Styx, he'd retired ages ago so who cares what he had to say. Morrie was relieved when the lesson ended and she could leave.

 

[Kyousuke Kurosawa]

Kyousuke came to the class, taking his spot and getting out his supplies. He took down notes as the professor spoke, finding the subject actually a bit interesting. Were the categories arbitrary? Did they mean anything or were they just words? Kyousuke decided he would do the homework on it (as if there were any other option) and took note a few reminders to himself about how he'd structure it before the lesson wrapped up for good. Kyousuke packed away his things and got ready for the next class on his agenda.

Spoiler: Homework

The categories of jinx and curse are, for the most part, useful markers on the severity of a spell. However, they are not always definitive. It could be argued that a spell's status is decided not by a majority but by the evolution of society and society's values. Or it could originate from a single person's opinion. Neither produce inherently rational categories. Ultimately, the title of jinx or curse are useful but not always an indicator of its severity or level of dehibilitation.

 

[Aroha Blenheim]

Aroha settled into class, waiting to see what this one would have in store, but not having high hopes. They learnt about two curses but didn't get the opportunity to use them - probably because they were curses. Then the professor continued to talk in a way that confused Aroha. Why have meanings for words if you aren't going to stick with them? She didn't get it. It almost tingled her curiosity, but alas, Aroha found herself lacking in that department in the end. Too much thought, too much thinking.

 

[Violet Owens-Rosemary]

Violet was halfway through the semester now and she was happy about this. As much as she was excited for classes during the first week, she was definitely not excited for them now and was counting down the days until the completion of the semester. Classes soon became tiring, and also repetitive, and she just hoped the professors had some variety this week as she began heading to her classes.

Violet entered the Defence Against The Dark Arts classroom, wondering which new spell they would be learning about and probably not able to perform. The professor started the lesson by talking about the jelly fingers curse and the sponge knees curse. Neither spell sounded pleasant to be under, and perhaps it was a good thing that they weren't actually being taught how to cast them. After all, there were way too many bullies in the school for those spells to never go out of hand. The Ravenclaw wrote down as many notes as she could before the class came to an end and she was able to leave.

 

[Apolline Fontaine]

Apolline walked into the defence against the dark arts classroom and took his usual spot in the room. His gaze moved to the professor at the front of the class as the man got started. She took her notes and pulled them to be in front of her so that she could take notes from what the professor began telling them about the two spells they were covering. She made sure to get them down and make sure to get down what the professor said about the spells being jinxes not curses, and making sure that she wrote a quick line about why it might matter. She then packed up her things and headed out of the room.