Intermediate Level Homework on Defense Against the Dark Arts

Professor Levy

December 05, 2009 11:58 AM

Homework by Professor Levy

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Advanced Level Homework by Professor Levy with Helena Layne

Intermediate Level Homework by Professor Levy with Daniel Nash II

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Professor Levy

December 05, 2009 12:10 PM

Intermediate Level Homework by Professor Levy

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Chapter Fifteen Homework

1. Are jinxes and hexes dangerous? Why or why not?

2. Are jinxes and hexes considered dark magic? Why or why not?

3. Name three jinxes or hexes that were not covered in the lecture and their effects.

4. Essay: What did you learn from today’s lecture and practical? Do you think that there is ever a good reason to use jinxes or hexes? Why or why not?

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Daniel Nash II

December 08, 2009 5:05 PM

Homework 15 by Daniel Nash II

Name: Daniel Nash II
House: Aladren
Year: 3

Chapter Fifteen Homework

1. Are jinxes and hexes dangerous? Why or why not?
Any spell has the potential to be dangerous, and hexes and jinxes are particularly prone to be so since they usually have their base in an intent to do harm. Most, however, are not precisely dangerous in the traditional sense, as they are meant primarily to be annoying or embarrassing, rather than actually hurtful. Even so, they are formed by malicious intent, and a poorly cast hex or jinx may have more dire effects than intended.

2. Are jinxes and hexes considered dark magic? Why or why not?
Hexes and jinxes are not quite dark magic, though they cannot be classified as light magic either. They are more like a misdemeanor while dark magic can be compared to a felony. They have their roots in anger and vengefulness, which is not the case for light magic. However, they are not as serious as truly dark magic.

3. Name three jinxes or hexes that were not covered in the lecture and their effects.

Bedazzling Hex - as it's name suggests, this hex bedazzles a person enough to make them become blinded or confused.

Hurling Hex - this hex causes an object like a broom or chair to attempt to unseat a person sitting on it (hurl them off).

Stretching Jinx - this a jinx that sort of stretches a person, kind of like on the Rack, but evidently not as painful since it's a jinx and not a curse.

4. Essay: What did you learn from today’s lecture and practical? Do you think that there is ever a good reason to use jinxes or hexes? Why or why not?

This lesson demonstrated that a jinx or hex can be defended against, but you have to be fast about getting the counter up, and even if you do, it is not guaranteed to completely protect you if your opponent is strong enough.

Under ordinary circumstances, I don't know that there is call to use a hex or jinx, but if you are being threatened, they can be very useful in stopping or impeding a person or creature from its pursuit of you.

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Helena Layne

December 08, 2009 9:12 PM

Homework by Helena Layne

Name: Helena Layne
House: Crotalus
Year: 7th

Chapter Twenty-One Homework

1. What are the differences between jinxes/hexes and curses?

Jinxes and hexes are typically milder than true curses, which arise from exclusively malicious intent, may require active feelings of malice in the caster to work correctly, and are aimed at causing damage. Jinxes and hexes are also more frequently legal, if discouraged. In general, many of the standard hexes are intended to stop or annoy a target, but a curse is typically meant to seriously injure or kill the target.

2. Why are curses so dangerous?

Apart from their inherently harmful nature, curses are also often fueled by the desire of those who cast them to cause harm; for example, those who are skilled casters of the Cruciatus Curse tend to enjoy seeing their victims in pain, and seeing pain in general. A common aim of curses, regardless of the user, is, however, destruction. Destruction typically involves danger to those it is aimed at and often nearby parties.

3. Name three higher-level curses (other than Unforgivables) and their effects.

- Blasting Curse (Confringo): Causes an explosion, the exact strength of which may vary from magician to magician. They all tend to cause quite a bit of damage, especially in enclosed spaces.

- Entrail-Expelling Curse: Causes the intestines to vacate the body in a sudden, violent manner. High risk of fatality to the target.

- Flagrante Curse: Causes an object, which will appear normal, to become very hot and burn any who touches it, sometimes severely.

4. What are the three Unforgivable curses and what do they do?

- The Imperius Curse (Imperio): This curse allows the caster to completely control the target; when done correctly, individuals may be forced to perform actions, even atrocities, completely against their moral character and then to forget doing so.

- The Cruciatus Curse (Crucio): This curse causes extreme pain in the target, acting as a completely bloodless form of torture. Sufficient exposure can severely damage a target, leaving the individual insane.

- The Killing Curse (Avada Kedavra): This curse causes near-instantaneous death in the target when it hits and cannot be blocked or countered; the only way to avoid it is to get out of the way physically, which is not always possible.

5. Essay: What do you think are some of the ethical and legal concerns that come into play when using the Unforgivables? Do you think that they should ever be used? Why or why not?

In terms of legal concerns associated with the curses commonly referred to as the Unforgivables, one leaps to mind at once: anyone who casts them will spend the rest of his or her life in prison unless given special authorization by the government, as is sometimes done for Aurors in times of war. Ethically, the spells share a will to erase the will of another; when enough force is behind the curse, the victim is usually unable to escape the mind control of the Imperius and never able to escape the pain of the Cruciatus or death of the Killing Curse. Victims of Imperius have no free will, those under the Cruciatus for extended periods of time may be driven permanently insane or reduced to doing anything to avoid more pain, and dead people don't make decisions. There may also be some question if the third should be even more forbidden than the first two; the damage caused by them, with physical and mental medical attention, may or may not be curable, but death never is.

I dislike making and find it difficult to make ethical judgments on matters, as far wiser heads than mine have invariably tackled them before and written full dissertations, rendering my opinion likely obsolete and naive and certainly irrelevant. Since, however, I am asked, I will state that what evidence I have does not, in my opinion, support the existence of a good reason to use the Cruciatus. Torture is seldom effective as a means of getting the truth out of anyone as people will lie and say what the torturer wants to hear to end the pain, it's as likely as not to damage the information-carrier so badly that he or she will cease to be of any use whatsoever, and there are a variety of potions and other spells which are far more likely to produce the desired effect. The one exception is when the desired effect is pain, and that is usually a sign of mental illness in the caster.

Imperius and Avada Kedavra are more complex issues. There might be circumstances in which being able to control one of the 'bad guys' could prove essential to an operation of some kind, or serve to keep someone from doing others harm. The problem, however, is that power may corrupt its wielder; I found a case study asserting that use of this spell may become addictive, in a sense, to those who use it as they become more and more accustomed to having complete domination over others. Avada Kedavra has similar issues; as a very fast-acting curse that cannot be countered or blocked, it will stop, say, the Dark Wizard right on the brink of killing someone or who is killing a number of someones laying about him with his wand if only because he has to duck to avoid it, but there are other curses and restrictive spells which some would argue should be at least attempted first. In any case, no matter what the caster's intentions, there are immense ethical issues and possible psychological baggage associated with the prospect of using the curse due to its automatically and invariably fatal nature.

In short: I don't know. Both sides have reasonable arguments for and against them, and I've never been in such a bind as to make the use of one or more plausible or even remotely ethically defensible. It's not my place to say much on the subject until I have been, and as I don't plan to go on life-or-death missions on a regular basis in my professional career, I think I have at least an even chance of never doing so. I certainly hope it never comes to having to find out what I think on the matter.

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