31 Aug 2023, 08:16
Sunday Debates
“Sunday Debates” - 10th September 2023 - 10AM - Outfit:
Reducio
For once, Damian wasn’t in the library nor in the study room: he was in the empty classroom of History of Magic, one of his favourite subjects there. He was very aware that not many students liked it, and he preferred to revise alone anyways, so he took all his notes and his textbook and went to the classroom to see if it was free. His plan was once again to revise what he had been studying during those first weeks and see how much he could remember.
He entered the room and walked towards the blackboard; he placed his leather bag containing all the materials on the first surface he could find and took his notes taken during the classes and a few extra sheets with a summary and historical events. Stepping in front of the blackboard, he started writing on it a series of dates and corresponding events, writing also a short summary of the event below. He was rather proud of his work, he managed to write a good pinboard of everything he had to know.
After spending nearly half an hour correcting and adding information to the blackboard and seeing that he was still alone in the classroom, he started to repeat everything at loud, trying to create a good speech that could connect all the information linearly. He helped himself with the information written on the blackboard, but most of what he was saying was already in his mind. In particular, he was really focused on the reason why certain events had occurred; it was something that wasn’t written in the textbook, Damian had reached some conclusion based on the knowledge he had for that historical period, but he was pretty convinced he was right.
He kept talking loud to himself for quite a while, it was a good study method and helped much to fix the information in mind, the only problem was that he had to be alone.
Last edited by Damian Hills on 17 Sep 2023, 16:53, edited 1 time in total.
✿ Damian Christopher Hills ✿
31 Aug 2023, 12:02
Sunday Debates
Mentioning: N/A
Overcame by her curiosity, she doubled-checked the surroundings to make sure that there isn’t going to be a class taking place here anytime soon before entering. Acting as if she’s only trying to find somewhere to study quietly, she placed her school bag on the ground and took a seat at the back.
Although appearing to be reading, Sylvia constantly looked up briefly to find out what this boy is doing. After a while, she concluded that he is most likely trying out make a story out of all the historical events the learned in class. So that means he’s in first year too. Sylvia suddenly realized.
Giving his words more attention, Sylvia noticed that most of the contents that he is talking about wasn’t taught in class, and is probably made up by himself. In fact, she remembered reading about something opposite of the boy’s words inside the school library, though she isn’t sure. Finally raising her head to look directly at the boy, she said: “Are you certain that you’re correct? Seems like it’s just something you came up with yourself. Shouldn’t you check the books in the library first?”
Sylvia knows that she has probably sounded a bit over-confident, but she’s sure that there’s at least one mistake in all the things that the boy was speaking of just now.
Dreams make good stories. But everything important happens when we're awake.
31 Aug 2023, 19:08
Sunday Debates
“Sunday Debates” - 10th September 2023 - 10AM - Outfit:
Reducio
Damian was getting very invested in his speech and nearly forgot where he was: in fact, he didn’t even notice or hear his classmate entering the room. He didn’t remember how he got there with his speech as what he was talking about in that moment was way too out of topic, he had probably drifted away, and maybe he let his imagination flow just a little bit for once.
He was always so pragmatic and always stuck to what he was reading or learning, and it was very difficult to see him make up something slightly illogical. In his mind what he was saying made perfect sense, but probably for someone who had just entered the room and didn’t hear most of his speech seeing what he had written on the blackboard and hearing what he was saying those words could appear as a random rambling.
He stood in front of the blackboard and faced it when the other student entered the room: he didn’t even see her and continued his speech until she spoke. He quickly turned to see who was talking, but most of all who was disagreeing with his logic: he wasn’t embarrassed at all, in fact he liked a good public; he looked at her with a slightly annoyed face, certainly not happy to be contradicted.
“Hm? Of course I came up with myself. I analysed these events, the causes and the consequences and thought about that. It’s the best way to learn, instead of learning everything by heart.” he replied with a bit of pride in his voice to sustain his opinion. “Why, do you disagree? We have to use our brains, not passively stick to the book.” he added, turning again to face the blackboard and add with a chalk some new dates and relative events.
✿ Damian Christopher Hills ✿
1 Sep 2023, 14:23
Sunday Debates
Mentioning: N/A
Can’t he understand what I’m trying to say? Feeling both annoyed that the boy took her words wrong completely, and slightly irritated of being called as someone who doesn’t think for themselves, she retorted: “Of course not, and that’s not what I was suggesting in the first place either. I’m merely saying that if you reached all these conclusions purely by your speculation, the odds are that you’ll at least be wrong about a few points. Although they might help you memorize the facts better, even a small mistake during a test could lead to terrible consequences.”
Hoping that the boy would be able to see the logic behind her suggestion this time, she also noticed how obstinate he is about backing up his argument as well. Giving a further explanation, Sylvia added: “Look, I dislike blindly believing that the textbooks cover everything as much as you do, but I don’t think you were making much sense just now. If you don’t mind explaining what you’ve just said again with a more coherent structure, maybe I could give a more accurate judgement of your view this time.”
Sylvia stood up and walked closer to the blackboard, which the boy is currently standing in front of. Folding her arms, she waited for the boy to begin explaining his thoughts. And if he couldn’t state it well enough, maybe she’ll be able to come with a better possibility of why this event occurred.
Dreams make good stories. But everything important happens when we're awake.
3 Sep 2023, 12:54
Sunday Debates
“Sunday Debates” - 10th September 2023 - 10AM - Outfit:
Reducio
Damian couldn’t decide if he was annoyed by having been interrupted during his study session or if he should have used that opportunity to actually back up his logic and test his knowledge in a proper debate. His flow of thoughts was going just fine but he was so used to thinking by himself that he had never experienced a real discussion about something he was studying. Yes, that was definitely a good scenario.
He turned again to the girl who was talking and stopped writing on the blackboard. “Yes, it’s a possibility indeed. But, you see, I don’t claim to be right at all costs, but rather to go beyond what the professor taught us in class. I didn’t simply study to get an O, but I tried to understand the historical period and the minds of those who were there.” he stopped for a second to look at his notes and compare them to what was written on the blackboard.
“I will talk with the professor and share my thoughts before writing them down on a test, of course. But with that being said, I think my logic makes sense.” he continued facing the girl. He wasn’t capable of saying he was sorry, even if he had realised that she wasn’t criticising his method and had probably just skipped most of his speech because she entered the room a lot later than him.
“Alright, I suppose starting from the beginning might be useful to revise a bit more.” he stated, and started again his speech from the beginning, helping himself once again with the blackboard and his notes.
✿ Damian Christopher Hills ✿
4 Sep 2023, 11:36
Sunday Debates
Mentioning: N/A
To Sylvia’s surprise, despite how illogical the boy’s words had seemed before, she has barely found any mistakes or inconsistencies this time when he actually made an effort to be coherent. Moments later, while the boy was talking about the correlations between two events, Sylvia suddenly recalled reading about another incident that happened in between, which might have been a slightly more accurate cause for the latter event.
Not intending to interrupt the boy’s thoughts, she walked back to her seat as quietly as possible, took out a book she had previously borrowed from the school library, and flipped to the page that she was thinking about. After the boy has finished speaking, she contemplated for a while to come up with an accurate and inclusive comment: “I have to admit, most of your deductions does seem to make sense, even though they weren’t mentioned in any of our textbooks. However…” She held out the right page for the boy to see before continuing, “I do believe that this would be a more direct cause to what you’ve just mentioned. What do you think?”
Sylvia waited in silence as the words on that page sank in, wondering whether the boy would approve of her point of view, or still stick to his own. But either way, she couldn’t really blame him, since neither of them could be certain about their theories.
Dreams make good stories. But everything important happens when we're awake.
5 Sep 2023, 12:00
Sunday Debates
“Sunday Debates” - 10th September 2023 - 10AM - Interacting with @Sylvia Nightingale - Outfit:
Reducio
He unravelled his speech with even more confidence and strength than before, probably a combination of having someone listening and that it was the second time already; everything seemed to be right and reasonable, or at least in Damian’s mind everything was going smoothly. Helping himself once again with the blackboard, he was revising everything with an impeccable order and precision.
He noticed the girl walking away and browsing through one of her books, but continued his talking, as he thought she was probably checking something and that monologue was probably about to turn into a proper debate. He usually didn’t like when people wanted to share the spotlight, but after all he loved talking about History of Magic, and for once was almost happy to have an opportunity like that.
Most of his classmates hated the subject, they all studied the bare minimum to get an A and pass and preferred to dedicate their time to other subjects or to their friends, and Damian was used to studying by himself and spending much time alone in the library. He liked other people’s company, he was actually very extroverted, but everyone simply didn’t share his love for History in general.
He finished his speech, and it was the girl’s turn to talk and intervene. The praise at the beginning of her talk had put Damian in a good mood, favourable to critics, and therefore accepted her theory quite well. “Hmm.” he started thinking, and came to her to check the book for himself. “You know, it makes sense.” he admitted for once. He couldn’t deny it, what she was saying could have actually been true. “Maybe it can be a combination of the two. It seems reasonable.” he stated at the end, and nodded.
The debate wasn’t over yet, but Damian made a short digression before continuing. “Why don’t you join the History of Magic club?” he asked, thinking that she might have been a good addition to the club. “By the way, I’m Damian.” he added, realising that they had been talking for a while without introducing themselves. And after the introduction, he continued with his speech. “I wanted to zoom in here. I think this is what happened.” he stated, pointing at one specific event written on the blackboard, and started again to explain his theories.
✿ Damian Christopher Hills ✿
5 Sep 2023, 12:38
Sunday Debates
Mentioning: N/A
However, unlike what she had expected the boy to do, which is to continue on with his speech, he recommended her to join a History of Magic club. There’s a club for students who like History of Magic? In her opinion, most of her classmates seemed on the brink of falling asleep during class, so she really couldn’t imagine anyone who would like to create a club about it. But again, this boy in front of her seems like a history enthusiast, so why couldn’t there be others of his kind?
Despite the fact that she herself doesn’t dislike History of Magic, she has never taken it as her favorite subject so far. Yet she does enjoy browsing through some books related to how their castle and the wizarding world became what it is right now when she has some free time to spend.
“Sure, but what is it about?” Although interested in what this club could hold, she still didn’t want to act without even knowing what it really is. After the boy introduced himself as Damian, she told the boy her name as well: “Mine’s Sylvia. Sylvia Nightingale.”
Launching into an explanation of his point of view once again, Sylvia can’t help but marvel at how obsessed Damian is with this subject. When he finally finished, Sylvia again tried to state her opinion, though their beliefs aren’t really that contradictory with each other’s. “Of course, I know you have full proof about why you think your view is correct, but over here…” She pointed to a place on the blackboard and wrote something down as well, “Including this into your explanation might make it more complete, don’t you think?”
Dreams make good stories. But everything important happens when we're awake.
5 Sep 2023, 20:38
Sunday Debates
“Sunday Debates” - 10th September 2023 - 10AM - Interacting with @Sylvia Nightingale - Outfit:
Reducio
Apparently she was actually interested in the club and its activities, curious. Usually when people found out there was really a club of History of Magic the most common reaction was to either laugh or ask why, so it was good for once to see a different reaction. He thought she might have been interested since she showed such interest in their little debate, but still it was cool to confirm it.
“We meet once a week and discuss various topics, and if someone has trouble with the homeworks they can ask for help.” he explained, returning near the blackboard and browsing his notes again. “If you are curious, I suggest you join one of the meetings and see for yourself.” he added. She would have probably been a good addition, their debate was being productive after all.
He was writing some of the things they were saying and adding some information that were missing, marking those they weren’t sure about with a small dot; maybe they could have revised those later. “You were here to revise too?” he asked between scribbles: his words were still elegantly written, even if the blackboard was starting to look quite full. After writing everything down, he turned his head in Sylvia’s direction.
He looked at what she had written and stopped for a few seconds to think more about it. “Mmh... It can work, yes. But I think I will actually ask the professor about it.” he said finally, nodding. He didn’t want to admit it, but he was really enjoying that moment, to just talk about something he liked that much and that was also useful to his preparation. “Don’t you think this part of the course is really fascinating?” he asked at some point, pausing their debate. “Especially from this event on.” he added, pointing at one of them that was basically the centre of his whole speech.
✿ Damian Christopher Hills ✿
7 Sep 2023, 12:40
Sunday Debates
Mentioning: N/A
Although she doubted that she would ever require any help with her first year homework, according to Damian’s description, the club seemed rather worthwhile. After all, it would be helpful to have some acquaintances whom she could hold an intellectual discussion with.
Lost in her thoughts, Sylvia imagined almost every possible way that the club could turn out to be, until she realized, all of a sudden, that an important question has been left out. “Anyway, who’s the founder of the club? Should I just with him or her first?” She inquired, curious about who would have such a strong passion in History of Magic.
When been asked if she came here to revise for her tests too, Sylvia considered for a while before replying, not sure whether she should speak the truth or not: “Umm… Not exactly. I simply heard someone speaking loudly all by himself and wanted to see what that person was doing.” Eventually, Sylvia still decided to be honest, since she sees no reason to lie to Damian.
Taking another look at the event in the center of the boy’s mind map, she answered half-jokingly: “Of course it is, yet our textbooks always seems to have the miraculous effect of making everything sound extremely dull, don’t they?”
Dreams make good stories. But everything important happens when we're awake.