History of Police Stop and Search Powers in the UK

History of Police Stop and Search Powers in the UK This dissertation charts the history of the stop and search powers of the British police from the old days of the notorious Brixham riots, the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry up to the modern day. Throughout this journey we will examine the use of stop and search under various statutes, concentrating on the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 and culminating in a discussion of the Terrorism Act 2000. The effect of the enforcement of the stop and search powers on the community will be examined. 1.0 Chapter I 1.1 Police Use of Discretion and Stop and Search The use of discretion is at the centre of the debates on police powers; that is the ability of police officers to make what are essentially subjective judgements in legal situations and still be operating within the boundaries of law. In fact, the use of discretion covers almost every aspect of police work, so the initial decision to stop and search a suspect to the decision to charge and prosecute for an offence in court. Discretion can take the form of whether or not to pursue an action, for example, whether or not to make an arrest, even where the grounds for arrest are evident. The law allows the police a wide range of lawful possibilities, to make a decision based on their own individual professional judgement about particular situations. In whatever decision a police officer makes, he or she is accountable to the law and not to his or her superiors. Police officers cannot be given orders by their superiors on how they should; for example, whether to arrest one person and not another. Thus, unlike in most hierarchical organisations, the greatest power in terms of law enforcement lies with the officers on the beat and not their superiors. The area of stop and search has aroused much academic research because it is an area where the officer on the beat has wide and often unsupervised discretion to enforce the law. More importantly, this is an area wherein a police officer can deprive someone of their freedom of movement even though there is may be no evidence that the person is committing, has committed or is about to commit an offence. Research evidence points to allegations that the police are unfairly targeting certain sectors of the community, in particular black and Asian people, with regard to their use of stop and search. It is extremely difficult to monitor an individual officers use of discretion in this area of police work. There are provisions for supervision by superiors and some training is usually provided for officers but there is more to be done in terms of monitoring the use of stop and search. In addition, there are Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) regulations on how stop and search is to be used in a non-discriminatory manner. However, it is still difficult to control the use of discretion in the use of stop and search. The discretionary and discriminatory use of stop and search powers (then the Stop and Search (SUS) law) by the Metropolitan Police (MET) was one of the major causes of the Brixton riots in 1981. The METs public pronouncement that Black people were in the majority amongst the muggers in London and the emerging labelling of Black communities as criminal and drug infested provided the legitimate backing for a militaristic policing of Brixton and the justification of the indiscriminate use of SUS on the residents of the area. This was an example of where public perceptions and politics give support to the use of discretion in policing, in this regard, the use of stop and search. The same scenario can be seen in the current use of stop and search in the UK (and presumably the USA) post-9:11. The scope for the use of discretion in stop and search has been significantly expanded in recent criminal justice, public order and anti-terrorism legislation whereby the reasonable suspicion element appears to have been pushed to the limit. The result has been very high figures of stop and search of the Asian Muslim population in the UK under a variety of anti-terror legislation. The use of discretion in police use of stop and search is still seriously being debated in academic and political circles, especially in relation to the issue of police racism. Minority ethnic people are not the only ones apparently discriminated against because of police use of discretion in stop and search. Young people are also believed to experience discrimination. In addition, variables of place (i.e. geographical area) and time of day or night come into play in understanding police use of discretion in stop and search (Clancy, Hough, Aust and Kershaw 2001). The use of police powers is important in the academic discourse about how the state rules through the law and its apparatuses. Police-citizenship relationship is essentially a power relationship at the micro-level. This relationship is often seen as an expression of how the state treats certain sectors of society at the macro-level. In other words, police powers are often seen as the personification of state power. 1.2 Monitoring It is apparent that until recent years, most police forces did not have information systems in place for monitoring stop and search. Even with the requirement to provide data on the ethnic breakdown of searches, some forces relied on counting stop and search by hand. This laborious paper exercise simply allowed forces to provide a breakdown of search by ethnic group to fulfil the requirements of Sec. 95 of the Criminal Justice Act 1991 which requires that the Home Office publish ethnic monitoring data (Quinton and Bland 1999, p2) When it comes to monitoring the use of the stop and search powers, different constabularies record different information. This makes comparisons difficult and the question of proportionality more complex. The main point however, is that constabularies must be able to monitor the use of these powers and to thoroughly and proficiently able to analyse the data. In order to achieve this, the police or external staff who are carrying out such analyses must have appropriate monitoring skills. Fair use of police stop and search powers has the potential for raising public confidence in the police. In December 2004 South Yorkshire police said in its Statement of Agreed Policy (South Yorkshire Statement 2004); the use of stop and search powers directly impacts upon our relationship with the public. Historically, the use of stop and search has sparked much debate, as well as causing friction between the police and the public, particularly following publication of statistics showing apparent disproportionate use with regard to minority ethnic groups. Our use of this power must be fair and open to scrutiny, balancing the rights of individuals with the safety of the public, whilst at the same time increasing public confidence. It is an area where we will always come under scrutiny for evidence of unfairness or discrimination. The manner and approach an officer takes should at all times be sensitive, lawful, and effective in order to ensure public confidence and reassurance. (Appendix p2) Current national data on the use of stop and search power (e.g. Sec.95 Criminal Justice Act 1991) demonstrate considerable variation between constabularies which, when aggregated, indicate that black people and, increasingly Asians are more likely to be stopped and searched than their white counterparts, even in regions where the black and minority ethnic population is extremely small. In 1997-98, for example, Home Office figures revealed that one million stops and searches were carried out by the police under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) of which 11% were of black people, 5% Asian and 1% other non-white origin (Home Office, 1998, p. 5). The explanation for differential use of stop and search powers is complex. Rates of stops and searches differ between geographical areas and between ethnic minorities, more so if one applies the 16+1 ethnic categories. However, most statistics are still recorded in the 3+1 ethnic classification White, Black Asian and other. This has made it difficult to assess the use of stop and search powers on the smaller minorities such as Chinese people, people of mixed heritage and refugees. In addition, most records of stop and search are likely to be an undercount. Home Office research has suggested that most constabularies are presently not equipped to undertake the required, detailed analysis of stop and search or any other relevant data (Fitzgerald, 1997). The result of this state of affairs is that senior officers cannot identify precisely which of their divisions have staff who are using the powers in a biased way and, therefore, the individual officers who should be made accountable for their actions. Also, it is very doubtful if lower ranked supervisory staff, sergeants and inspectors in particular, have the skills to understand the analyses undertaken and to manage their officers appropriately if a biased use of stop and search (or any other powers for that matter) is identified This is, indeed, a serious issue (Holdaway S.1999 para.6 (v)) As indicated above in relation to the smaller minorities, another important issue, especially in relation to disproportionality, is how ethnic monitoring is done. A Home Office research about ethnic monitoring identified a police ambivalence about and, sometimes, hostility towards ethnic monitoring. The researchers summarized their findings in the following way; The research found that most police officers appeared to view ethnic monitoring as irrelevant at best; at worst, it was resented and/or feared as a stick deliberately designed to beat them with. . . . . . Those in senior management positions who were most actively supportive of monitoring were, nonetheless, wary of some of the possible repercussions of examining the statistics, both inside and outside the force; and most, in any case, had other, more pressing demands on them (Fitzgerald, 1997 pp viii-ix). The Home Office researchers also found that many officers thought that ethnic monitoring was primarily about documenting the crime patterns of ethnic minorities. If they had another view it was that monitoring was imposed to accuse them of bias. The attitudinal context within which ethnic monitoring undertaken is very unsatisfactory. The reasons why ethnic monitoring was introduced are controversial. Whatever the reasons, it has highlighted rather than explained Black criminality. Police use of stop and search is currently under much more scrutiny than ever before. A simple explanation is that the police have abused their stop and search powers in the past and so they have invited this close scrutiny and bridges of trust and respect have to be built with the local community. It is interesting that after Macpherson, when new guidelines were introduced on police use of stop and search in order to dispel allegations of discriminatory use of the law, the statistics show an increase instead of a decrease in police use of stop and search against Black people. However, it is reasonable to assume that ethnic monitoring has had some effect on police use of discretion in stop and search, no matter how small. The police are aware of possible accusations of racism when they use their powers of stop and search. Thus, the use of discretion by the police in this regard is constrained by the political climate within which policing takes place. Finally, it should be noted that the collection of ethnic monitoring data is designed mainly to analyse differential outcomes of the use of stop and search and arrest powers. However, these standard data have a very limited use. They are the record of the outcome of an action not of the actions that led to the outcome. Local police managers therefore need to be able to analyse ethnic monitoring data to identify the processes that led to differential outcomes. Unless these data are used to identify the processes that have led to racial discrimination for example, effective change cannot be realised and achieved. A great deal of work has to be done by the police if the differential use of stop and search, or any other powers, is to be identified and appropriate action taken. The Home Office should prepare a standard monitoring system, used by officers with demonstrable skills in the analysis of data, and its use within all constabularies should be required and assessed by HMIC (Her Majestys Inspectorate of Constabulary). Thought needs to be given to placing the ability to analyse data as a core skill for promotion to supervisory rank. The development of analytical skills should be assessed routinely in staff appraisals. Officers need training in data analysis; in moving from a reliance on outcome data, to identifying the processes that have resulted in particular outcomes. On the issue of monitoring, the Home Secretary did appoint an implementation group to ensure that the Lawrence Inquiry action plan was realized within the police. Although the membership of this group was not finalised, it was mostly made up of members of the police representative associations and other interested parties. The implementation group did not have members who were experts in the monitoring of policy implementation. Indeed, it was dominated by the representatives of various police staff and other associations, who have proved themselves to be less competent than in the very task they are supposed to be monitoring police policy implementation. The reason for this membership is probably that the Home Secretary felt that he would have to retain the confidence and support of the police as policies developed. This is understandable, but not sufficient for the stated purpose of the implementation group. It is now critical for organisations like the Runnymede Trust to ensure that the implementation group considers adequate monitoring information and that their work is effective. The suggestion that a monitoring group should be monitored sounds cumbersome and monotonous. However it would appear to be necessary if progress is to be made ( Holdaway, 1999 para 6 ( xi to xii) ). Discussion of police use of discretion is often linked with the academic discussion of police occupational subcultures. Although most elements of police culture are universal, each agency possesses its own personal and distinctive organisational culture. Therefore it is quite difficult to find an uncomplicated definition of police culture. There are several varied definitions, some being more complex than others. According to McDonald (1997): The concept of police culture is comprised of the merging of two major components, (a) the image of impartial and professional crime fighters that the police have of themselves, and (b) a system of beliefs and behaviour not described in published manuals or agency value statements. (McDonald et al, 1997). This definition, whilst not obviously identifying a compelling positive element, does recognise more than just the negative. The public demands all professionals to be held at high standard, but for obvious reasons, policing has an even higher threshold to meet and all police officers must accept this higher standard. An integral part of the process of police acceptance of this higher standard is to understand the police culture, while retaining the resilience to both resist the negative and champion the positive. The police are the first step in the justice process, and the first rung on the ladder in the climb to dispensing justice in the hierarchy. If the police do not inspire confidence, then the whole justice system is viewed with disparagement and suspicion. If the police who are at the forefront of initiating the justice system is viewed with unease, then anything that emanates from their behaviour is similarly seen as tainted. In order for the public to have faith in the justice system and view it with respect and confidence, then it needs to be functioning properly in an unbiased manner from the start, namely the role of the police. However, the apparent unfair use of the law by the police is often linked to the culture of police officers. Authors have argued that racism, sexism, homophobic and anti-working class feelings exist within the culture of rank and file police officers and that it affects how they enforce the law or use their discretion in enforcing the law (Holdaway, 1983 and Chan, 1997). This argument has been used in explaining police use of stop and search and arrests, and the disproportionality question. Considerable research informs us about the contours and power of the rank-and-file occupational culture, (Holdaway, 1983 and Chan, 1997). In terms of minority ethnic people, it is argued that this culture mediates wider racial categorisations and stereotypes black youths as criminal. It moulds these categorisations within the context of routine police work and affects police use of discretion. The Macpherson Report (Macpherson 1999) has introduced a new dimension in the debate by asserting that the police forces as a whole are institutionally racist. In the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry, the oral evidence of the three representatives of the MPS Black Police Association was illuminating. As rightly quoted in Inspector Paul Wilsons evidence; The term institutional racism should be understood to refer to the way the institution or the organisation may systematically or repeatedly treat, or tend to treat, people differentially because of their race. So, in effect, we are not talking about the individuals within the service who may be unconscious as to the nature of what they are doing, but it is the net effect of what they do. (Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Part 2, Day 2, p. 209) A second source of institutional racism is our culture, our culture within the police service. Much has been said about our culture, the canteen culture, and the occupational culture. How and why does that impact on individuals, black individuals on the street? Well, we would say the occupational culture within the police service, given the fact that the majority of police officers are white, tends to be the white experience, the white beliefs, the white values. Given the fact that these predominantly white officers only meet members of the black community in confrontational situations, they tend to stereotype black people in general. This can lead to all sorts of negative views and assumptions about black people, so we should not underestimate the occupational culture within the police service as being a primary source of institutional racism in the way that we differentially treat black people. Interestingly I say we because there is no marked difference between black and white in the force essentially. We are all consumed by this occupational culture. Some of us may think we rise above it on some occasions, but, generally speaking, we tend to conform to the norms of this occupational culture, which we say is all powerful in shaping our views and perceptions of a particular community. (Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Part 2 Day 2, p. 211). Macpherson (1999) drew attention to these and other similar comments noting; We believe that it is essential that the views of these officers should be closely heeded and respected (Macpherson 1999, p. 25) The study in one local constabulary (South Yorkshire Police), by analysing 1998 samples, it was found that young black males between ages 15 and 25 had a 1 in 3 chance of being stopped per year, Asians a 1 in 6 chance, and whites a 1 in 10 chance. Blacks formed 0.8% of the countrys population and Asians just over 3% (Holdaway, 2003). Ethnic minorities and predominantly black youth are stopped for the suspected possession of drugs, often, small amounts of cannabis that do not lead to a court appearance. In this study it was found that black youths were more likely to be stopped for the possession of drugs, while white youths were most likely to be stopped for suspected possession of stolen goods or being equipped to steal. However, there is no available evidence to suggest that black youths use drugs more than any other ethnic group (Graham and Bowling, 1996). Although in his study, Holdaway found that the actual number of young blacks and Asians stopped and searched were small and the legal power used fairly infrequently. It cannot be assumed that its impact on the views of ethnic minorities has been proportionate. Holdaway maintains that suspicions about the disproportionate use of stop-and-search powers have fuelled a sense of discrimination among ethnic minorities. The Macpherson Inquiry 1999 into the death of Stephen Lawrence re-emphasised the need for the police services to scrutinise stop and search powers in the context of wider community relations. The Inquiry pointed to discrimination at an operational level as fuelling and leading to the publics loss of trust in the police services. The recording of self-defined ethnicity forms part of Macpherson Recommendation 61, but until 1999 several forces had to date, based ethnic monitoring on officers visual perception. Concerns have been raised about the use of self defined ethical classification as required by the Macpherson Inquiry. Police forces were themselves apprehensive about the way the public might respond and how such responses ought to be used as management information. After all, some ethnic minorities might describe themselves as British, which would make ethnic monitoring more problematic. Also the actual raising of the issue of ethnicity might make stop and search more confrontational and lead to criticisms of differential treatment which in turn would fuel the allegations of discrimination. If communities in general have no confidence in the police then they will not assist the police by providing valuable information about possible criminal activity within the communities. It is a basic fact that the police need the public in order to prevent, investigate and control crime. 2.0 Chapter II This chapter will look at the variation in the manner in which various police forces used stop and search and how the P A C E Codes of Practice of stop and search can be interpreted. Since the early nineteenth century, the police have had wide ranging local powers to stop and search individuals whom they suspect of criminal intent. This Chapter will trace the history of stop and search powers and in particular their development and utilisation under PACE. 2.1 Police Powers of Stop and Search Under The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) Police powers to carry out stop and search dates back to the Vagrancy Act of 1824. This was the old SUS. Under sections 4 and 6 of this law, the police are empowered to stop any person found loitering in a public place on suspicion of intent to commit a cognizable offence. In addition, in London, section 66 of the Metropolitan Police Act (1839) allowed MET police officers to stop and search in London, where there was reasonable suspicion that a person was carrying anything stolen or unlawfully obtained. Interestingly, an internal record was kept not only of the searches but also of all stops under these powers. These were recorded divisionally and the figures collated centrally. Even before the advents of PACE there were concerns regarding police use of the stop and search powers. Reports produced by Willis (1983) and Smith (1983) showed that officers frequently abused the reasonable suspicion requirements attached to the powers. The reports also revealed that these powers were applied disproportionately towards members of the black community. In fact, during the 1970s, there were public concerns about police discrimination in the use of SUS and these anxieties were publicised by various organisations such as the Scrap Sus Campaign (1979) and there were calls for the stop and search powers to be regulated or even scrapped. As mentioned in chapter one, it was the indiscriminate and heavy-handed approach to the use of the SUS law in London that led to the Brixton disturbances in 1981. The mounting complaints led to SUS being a major issue reviewed by Lord Scarman. The subsequent report (The Scarman Report) recommended the replacement of SUS. SUS was repealed and then replaced with a new power of stop and search (SAS) in the Police and criminal Evidence Act (PACE) of 1984. Section 1 of PACE allows the police to stop and search any person or vehicle when the officer has reasonable grounds for suspecting that stolen or prohibited articles will be found. The police are permitted to carry out a full search of the person including anything they may be carrying or any vehicle they are in. PACE was implemented in order to clarify the circumstances in which people could be stopped and searched as well as building in safeguards for the individuals concerned. The introduction of PACE was the first time legislation that had been introduced to properly consolidate what had become a disparate range of powers in respect of the use of stop and search by British police officers. In addition the introduction of PACE could have been accelerated by the report of the Royal Commission on Criminal Procedures (1981) which had recommended improved stop and search powers. Also the Scarman Inquiry specifically said that the way in which stop and search had been carried out had contributed towards the level of tension in Brixton. In Lord Scarmans concluding comment he quoted that; The state of law is, however, a mess, as the Royal Commission on Criminal Procedure has shown The PACE powers allow for searches to be carried out on the basis of reasonable suspicion. Additionally, police officers retain the ability to carry out voluntary or non-statutory searches. As Bland, Miller and Quinton (Home Office: 2000) remarked: In practice this (PACE) was an extension of powers. The Royal Commission on Criminal Procedure recognised the need to balance this extension with safeguards to protect the public from random, arbitrary and discriminatory searches (p 6) Stop and searches carried out under PACE must be carried out in accordance with the Codes of Practice, Code A. From April 2006, following Section 61 of the Macpherson Report, the recording of stops became a requirement for all police forces. In a recent report by the National Implementation for the Recording of Stops, Michael Shiner with the assistance of Nisrine Mansour, Eleanor Stokes and Athina Vlachantoni (Home Office, 2006) suggest that the implementation of compulsory recording of all stops will improve police accountability to the public and will protect the officer from false allegations and misrepresentation from public encounters. It is hoped by the Police Federation that the recording of stops will promote better two-way communications between the police and the public. The National Implementation for the Recording of Stops commissioned by the Stop and Search Action Team undertook valuable research into police attitudes, training, leadership, data capture, community engagement, accountability and engagement (Police Federation 2006, p 3). The report was an honest but blunt appraisal of how many within the force feel about stop and search. One of the big concerns was the slur officers felt on the reputation of the force being linked with institutional racism. A common strand throughout was the issue of disproportionality and officers attitudes towards it. Quite evident was the lack of common understanding at all levels of this term except that it is feared. However, officers are keen to emphasise the value of stop and search as a policing tool needed for communitys safety and protection from crime and anti social behaviour. It is one of the best examples of intelligence led policing and the easiest way of targeting persistent offenders and infiltrating crime hot spots. However studies have shown that many stops are not recorded at all. This is only a breach of the law if the PACE powers are actually exercised and if the suspect is searched or arrested (Sanders Young, 2000; ch.2) 2.2 The Code of Practice (Code A) The most controversial area of stop and search law (or even police law generally) is the definition of reasonable suspicion. Code of practice (Code A) defined what reasonable suspicion should mean in the practical sense of the use of stop and search. In para 2.2, the Code states: Reasonable suspicion can never be supported on the basis of personal factors alone without reliable supporting intelligence or information or some specific behaviour by the person concerned. For example, a persons race, age, appearance, or the fact that the person is known to have a previous conviction, cannot be used alone or in combination with each other as the reason for searching that person. Reasonable suspicion cannot be based on generalisations or stereotypical images of certain groups or categories of people as more likely to be involved in criminal activity, (Code A para.2.2). (The latest version of the Codes of Practice came into effect on February 1, 2008, (SI 2008/167) but it does not make major changes to the existing Code A). The term disproportionate is used in the Code (Code A, par. 5.3). This is unfortunate as it has negative connotations and is synonymous with mistrust. The Codes (Code A Section 5) introduce a responsibility on supervisors to monitor and detect any disproportionality in the searches their officers conduct. The Home Office and Chief Officers readily admit they do not understand the term and yet are determined to judge police officers by it. The term proportionate would be more appropriate and implies a considered and necessary uses of stop and search powers. Furthermore, it seems that additional research should be commissioned into the many complex issues surrounding analysis of stop and search, in particular of street populations. In the aftermath of the Macpherson Report and following recent changes to PACE one would expect the service to provide additional and focussed training. It is apparent that the new safeguards introduced by PACE have failed to fulfil their goals of preventing the misuse of the concept of reasonable suspicion and the abuse of the stop and search power (McLaughlin and Muncie, 2001). Bland, Miller and Quinton ( Home Office, 2000 ) noted that : Research has pointed to the difficulty, in practice, of making a clear distinction between PACE searches and those involving consent. An early evaluation of the impact of PACE in one force highlighted confusion about the distinction at both policy and operational level. There was evidence that some officers used consent to avoid the requirements of PACE for reasonable suspicion and that public consent was often given when ignorant of the right to refuse ( p 7) The Metropolitan Police Authority commissioned a community evaluation of the implementation of Recommendation 61 of the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry in Hackney (Stop and Search, 2004). The evaluation was carried out by a black-led community organisation, the 1990 Trust. In this study, the police were told to record all stops and searches whether consensual or not, but not include those carried out under the terrorism legislation. A major concern of respondents in the study is that of not being given reasonable reasons for a stop. Existing research has shown that being given a reason for a stop is important to the public. In the Hackney study, over 86% of the respondents said that they had been told or had found out the reasons for the stop or stop and search. However, and more importantly, on further examination, over half (57%) of the respondents thought that the reason given for the stop was false. Being given an unconvincing reason for a stop was potentially as frustrating as being given no reason at all. For some respondents, it was tantamount to an insult to the intelligence of the person being stopped. The re

Causes and Effects of Cheating Essay

School systems today are so indulgent in their rules, guidelines and consequences; thus causing cheating, copying or forgeries to be regularly used. Students take advantage of copying someone else’s work whenever they are given the chance, because they abhor doing their own work. Other times, students will have someone else do their work and turn it in as their own, not realizing the aftermath this can create. This creates a lack of creativity, no sense of responsibility and the students will never acquire new knowledge. This type of behavior should be discussed academically by the school administration. Thus, the school teachers should try to abolish and try to amend this type of cheating. These practices of cheating, copying and forgery by students are unethical and should be brought to the surface whenever possible. Students that copy other student’s work are hurting themselves in the long run. Their creativity altitude plunges every time they copy or have someone el se do their work. After a while of copying and forging, the student’s ability to think creatively and successfully becomes almost nothing. In order for people to keep their minds as functional as possible, they need to do their own work. Students also accommodate others in school work,and don’t acknowledge what they are doing is amiss. When teachers catch students cheating they shouldn’t grant amnesty to the student and also chasten him/her. It is easy for students to buy a student’s paper that had the same class the year before, modify it a little, and turn it in as their own. Students are no longer able to do their own work like writing essays by themselves because someone else can do it for them. Students also begin to lose the sense of responsibility when they have other people do their work. Some losses of responsibility comprise the following: they feel that they have to do nothing to pass a class, only that as long as they turn in a paper, their thoughts or not, they will receive grades for the assignment. This creates the feeling that life will always be a handed to them easily. Beside with losing their responsibility, the students that copy other’s work never get to feel that sense of accomplishment that comes when the paper you have been working on is finally complete. They don’t get the inspiring feeling when they get their paper back if their grade is good. The feeling isn’t there because the work isn’t their own. They use other people to receive the grade, but they feel nothing, and this is very wrong. If they never have that feeling, there is nothing to motivate these people  to do better the next time around. This is why cheating is catastrophe. Up till now, there may be one thing that is the worst of all when people pass off someone else’s work as their own. That would be that the faker doesn’t gain any knowledge. Teachers should censor the person who did the paper for the student. People can only learn from the things they do, and if someone else is doing their work, they are never going to learn anything. Making mistakes and learning from them may be one of the most effective methods of learning. For instance, if a student performs extremely poorly on a very important assignment, some chances are that student will always remember what they did wrong and what would have been better. If people donâ€⠄¢t do the work themselves, they can never learn from their mistakes. These people that cheat will go through life expecting someone else to always be there to do their work. When the time comes that they will actually have to do the work themselves, they aren’t going to have a clue on what to do or where to start from. They will be so used to simply taking someone else’s work. These people need to be stopped not only for their sake but because it is not fair to the people whose work they are always stealing. People work hard and should receive credit for the things they do, the people that don’t work hard, should not receive any credit. In conclusion, it is very consequential for each student to do their own work without anyone’s help. If a student doesn’t do his own work he won’t gain anything and the he won’t care for the grade because he didn’t do any work. These students that cheat will always think there will be someone to help them. In the future, these students will regret what they used to do because they will come to one point in life and will be stuck and won’t know what to do.

Chapter 12 Triwizard Tournament

Through the gates, flanked with statues of winged boars, and up the sweeping drive the carriages trundled, swaying dangerously in what was fast becoming a gale. Leaning against the window, Harry could see Hogwarts coming nearer, its many lighted windows blurred and shimmering behind the thick curtain of rain. Lightning flashed across the sky as their carriage came to a halt before the great oak front doors, which stood at the top of a flight of stone steps. People who had occupied the carriages in front were already hurrying up the stone steps into the castle. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville jumped down from their carriage and dashed up the steps too, looking up only when they were safely inside the cavernous, torch-lit entrance hall, with its magnificent marble staircase. â€Å"Blimey,† said Ron, shaking his head and sending water everywhere, â€Å"if that keeps up the lake's going to overflow. I'm soak – ARRGH!† A large, red, water-filled balloon had dropped from out of the ceiling onto Ron's head and exploded. Drenched and sputtering, Ron staggered sideways into Harry, just as a second water bomb dropped – narrowly missing Hermione, it burst at Harry's feet, sending a wave of cold water over his sneakers into his socks. People all around them shrieked and started pushing one another in their efforts to get out of the line of fire. Harry looked up and saw, floating twenty feet above them, Peeves the Poltergeist, a little man in a bell-covered hat and orange bow tie, his wide, malicious face contorted with concentration as he took aim again. â€Å"PEEVES!† yelled an angry voice. â€Å"Peeves, come down here at ONCE!† Professor McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress and head of Gryffindor House, had come dashing out of the Great Hall; she skidded on the wet floor and grabbed Hermione around the neck to stop herself from falling. â€Å"Ouch – sorry, Miss Granger -â€Å" â€Å"That's all right, Professor!† Hermione gasped, massaging her throat. â€Å"Peeves, get down here NOW!† barked Professor McGonagall, straightening her pointed hat and glaring upward through her square-rimmed spectacles. â€Å"Not doing nothing!† cackled Peeves, lobbing a water bomb at several fifth-year girls, who screamed and dived into the Great Hall. â€Å"Already wet, aren't they? Little squirts! Wheeeeeeeeee!† And he aimed another bomb at a group of second years who had just arrived. â€Å"I shall call the headmaster!† shouted Professor McGonagall. â€Å"I'm warning you, Peeves -â€Å" Peeves stuck out his tongue, threw the last of his water bombs into the air, and zoomed off up the marble staircase, cackling insanely. â€Å"Well, move along, then!† said Professor McGonagall sharply to the bedraggled crowd. â€Å"Into the Great Hall, come on!† Harry, Ron, and Hermione slipped and slid across the entrance hall and through the double doors on the right, Ron muttering furiously under his breath as he pushed his sopping hair off his face. The Great Hall looked its usual splendid self, decorated for the start-of-term feast. Golden plates and goblets gleamed by the light of hundreds and hundreds of candles, floating over the tables in midair. The four long House tables were packed with chattering students; at the top of the Hall, the staff sat along one side of a fifth table, facing their pupils. It was much warmer in here. Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked past the Slytherins, the Ravenclaws, and the Hufflepuffs, and sat down with the rest of the Gryffindors at the far side of the Hall, next to Nearly Headless Nick, the Gryffindor ghost. Pearly white and semitransparent, Nick was dressed tonight in his usual doublet, but with a particularly large ruff, which served the dual purpose of looking extra-festive, and insuring that his head didn't wobble too much on his partially severed neck. â€Å"Good evening,† he said, beaming at them. â€Å"Says who?† said Harry, taking off his sneakers and emptying them of water. â€Å"Hope they hurry up with the Sorting. I'm starving.† The Sorting of the new students into Houses took place at the start of every school year, but by an unlucky combination of circumstances, Harry hadn't been present at one since his own. He was quite looking forward to it. Just then, a highly excited, breathless voice called down the table. â€Å"Hiya, Harry!† It was Colin Creevey, a third year to whom Harry was something of a hero. â€Å"Hi, Colin,† said Harry warily. â€Å"Harry, guess what? Guess what, Harry? My brother's starting! My brother Dennis!† â€Å"Er – good,† said Harry. â€Å"He's really excited!† said Colin, practically bouncing up and down in his seat. â€Å"I just hope he's in Gryffindor! Keep your fingers crossed, eh, Harry?† â€Å"Er – yeah, all right,† said Harry. He turned back to Hermione, Ron, and Nearly Headless Nick. â€Å"Brothers and sisters usually go in the same Houses, don't they?† he said. He was judging by the Weasleys, all seven of whom had been put into Gryffindor. â€Å"Oh no, not necessarily,† said Hermione. â€Å"Parvati Patil's twin's in Ravenclaw, and they're identical. You'd think they'd be together, wouldn't you?† Harry looked up at the staff table. There seemed to be rather more empty seats there than usual. Hagrid, of course, was still fighting his way across the lake with the first years; Professor McGonagall was presumably supervising the drying of the entrance hall floor, but there was another empty chair too, and Harry couldn't think who else was missing. â€Å"Where's the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?† said Hermione, who was also looking up at the teachers. They had never yet had a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher who had lasted more than three terms. Harry's favorite by far had been Professor Lupin, who had resigned last year. He looked up and down the staff table. There was definitely no new face there. â€Å"Maybe they couldn't get anyone!† said Hermione, looking anxious. Harry scanned the table more carefully. Tiny little Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher, was sitting on a large pile of cushions beside Professor Sprout, the Herbology teacher, whose hat was askew over her flyaway gray hair. She was talking to Professor Sinistra of the Astronomy department. On Professor Sinistra's other side was the sallow-faced, hook-nosed, greasy-haired Potions master, Snape – Harry's least favorite person at Hogwarts. Harry's loathing of Snape was matched only by Snape's hatred of him, a hatred which had, if possible, intensified last year, when Harry had helped Sirius escape right under Snape's overlarge nose – Snape and Sirius had been enemies since their own school days. On Snape's other side was an empty seat, which Harry guessed was Professor McGonagall's. Next to it, and in the very center of the table, sat Professor Dumbledore, the headmaster, his sweeping silver hair and beard shining in the candlelight, his magnificent deep green robes embroidered with many stars and moons. The tips of Dumbledore's long, thin fingers were together and he was resting his chin upon them, staring up at the ceiling through his half-moon spectacles as though lost in thought. Harry glanced up at the ceiling too. It was enchanted to look like the sky outside, and he had never seen it look this stormy. Black and purple clouds were swirling across it, and as another thunderclap sounded outside, a fork of lightning flashed across it. â€Å"Oh hurry up,† Ron moaned, beside Harry, â€Å"I could eat a hippogriff.† The words were no sooner out of his mouth than the doors of the Great Hall opened and silence fell. Professor McGonagall was leading a long line of first years up to the top of the Hall. If Harry, Ron, and Hermione were wet, it was nothing to how these first years looked. They appeared to have swum across the lake rather than sailed. All of them were shivering with a combination of cold and nerves as they filed along the staff table and came to a halt in a line facing the rest of the school – all of them except the smallest of the lot, a boy with mousy hair, who was wrapped in what Harry recognized as Hagrid's moleskin overcoat. The coat was so big for him that it hooked as though he were draped in a furry black circus tent. His small face protruded from over the collar, looking almost painfully excited. When he had lined up with his terrified-looking peers, he caught Colin Creevey's eye, gave a double thumbs-up, and mouthed, I fell in the lake! He looked positively delighted about it. Professor McGonagall now placed a three-legged stool on the ground before the first years and, on top of it, an extremely old, dirty patched wizard's hat. The first years stared at it. So did everyone else. For a moment, there was silence. Then a long tear near the brim opened wide like a mouth, and the hat broke into song: A thousand years or more ago, When I was newly sewn,There lived four wizards of renown, Whose names are still well known: Bold Gryffindor, from wild moor, Fair Ravenclaw, from glen, Sweet Hufflepuff, from valley broad, Shrewd Slytherin, from fin. They shared a wish, a hope, a dream, They hatched a daring plan To educate young sorcerers Thus Hogwarts School began. Now each of these four founders Formed their own house, for each Did value different virtues In the ones they had to teach. By Gryffindor, the bravest were Prized far beyond the rest; For Ravenclaw, the cleverest Would always be the best; For Hufflepuff, hard workers were Most worthy of admission; And power-hungry Slytherin Loved those of great ambition. While still alive they did divide Their favorites from the throng, Yet how to pick the worthy ones When they were dead and gone? Twas Gryffindor who found the way, He whipped me off his head The founders put some brains in me So I could choose instead! Now slip me snug about your ears, I've never yet been wrong, I'll have a look inside your mind And tell where you belong! The Great Hall rang with applause as the Sorting Hat finished. â€Å"That's not the song it sang when it Sorted us,† said Harry, clapping along with everyone else. â€Å"Sings a different one every year,† said Ron. â€Å"It's got to be a pretty boring life, hasn't it, being a hat? I suppose it spends all year making up the next one.† Professor McGonagall was now unrolling a large scroll of parchment. â€Å"When I call out your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool,† she told the first years. â€Å"When the hat announces your House, you will go and sit at the appropriate table. â€Å"Ackerley, Stewart!† A boy walked forward, visibly trembling from head to foot, picked up the Sorting Hat, put it on, and sat down on the stool. â€Å"RAVENCLAW!† shouted the hat. Stewart Ackerley took off the hat and hurried into a seat at the Ravenclaw table, where everyone was applauding him. Harry caught a glimpse of Cho, the Ravenclaw Seeker, cheering Stewart Ackerley as he sat down. For a fleeting second, Harry had a strange desire to join the Ravenclaw table too. â€Å"Baddock, Malcolm!† â€Å"SLYTHERIN!† The table on the other side of the hall erupted with cheers; Harry could see Malfoy clapping as Baddock joined the Slytherins. Harry wondered whether Baddock knew that Slytherin House had turned out more Dark witches and wizards than any other. Fred and George hissed Malcolm Baddock as he sat down. â€Å"Branstone, Eleanor!† â€Å"HUFFLEPUFF!† â€Å"Cauldwell, Owen!† â€Å"HUFFLEPUFF!† â€Å"Creevey, Dennis!† Tiny Dennis Creevey staggered forward, tripping over Hagrid's moleskin, just as Hagrid himself sidled into the Hall through a door behind the teachers' table. About twice as tall as a normal man, and at least three times as broad, Hagrid, with his long, wild, tangled black hair and beard, looked slightly alarming – a misleading impression, for Harry, Ron, and Hermione knew Hagrid to possess a very kind nature. He winked at them as he sat down at the end of the staff table and watched Dennis Creevey putting on the Sorting Hat. The rip at the brim opened wide – â€Å"GRYFFINDOR!† the hat shouted. Hagrid clapped along with the Gryffindors as Dennis Creevey, beaming widely, took off the hat, placed it back on the stool, and hurried over to join his brother. â€Å"Colin, I fell in!† he said shrilly, throwing himself into an empty seat. â€Å"It was brilliant! And something in the water grabbed me and pushed me back in the boat!† â€Å"Cool!† said Colin, just as excitedly. â€Å"It was probably the giant squid, Dennis!† â€Å"Wow!† said Dennis, as though nobody in their wildest dreams could hope for more than being thrown into a storm-tossed, fathoms-deep lake, and pushed out of it again by a giant sea monster. â€Å"Dennis! Dennis! See that boy down there? The one with the black hair and glasses? See him? Know who he is, Dennis?† Harry looked away, staring very hard at the Sorting Hat, now Sorting Emma Dobbs. The Sorting continued; boys and girls with varying degrees of fright on their faces moving one by one to the three-legged stool, the line dwindling slowly as Professor McGonagall passed the L's. â€Å"Oh hurry up,† Ron moaned, massaging his stomach. â€Å"Now, Ron, the Sorting's much more important than food,† said Nearly Headless Nick as â€Å"Madley, Laura!† became a Hufflepuff. â€Å"Course it is, if you're dead,† snapped Ron. â€Å"I do hope this year's batch of Gryffindors are up to scratch,† said Nearly Headless Nick, applauding as â€Å"McDonald, Natalie!† joined the Gryffindor table. â€Å"We don't want to break our winning streak, do we?† Gryffindor had won the Inter-House Championship for the last three years in a row. â€Å"Pritchard, Graham!† â€Å"SLYTHERIN!† â€Å"Quirke, Orla!† â€Å"RAVENCLAW!† And finally, with â€Å"Whitby, Kevin!† (â€Å"HUFFLEPUFF!†), the Sorting ended. Professor McGonagall picked up the hat and the stool and carried them away. â€Å"About time,† said Ron, seizing his knife and fork and looking expectantly at his golden plate. Professor Dumbledore had gotten to his feet. He was smiling around at the students, his arms opened wide in welcome. â€Å"I have only two words to say to you,† he told them, his deep voice echoing around the Hall. â€Å"Tuck in.† â€Å"Hear, hear!† said Harry and Ron loudly as the empty dishes filled magically before their eyes. Nearly Headless Nick watched mournfully as Harry, Ron, and Hermione loaded their own plates. â€Å"Aaah, ‘at's be'er,† said Ron, with his mouth full of mashed potato. â€Å"You're lucky there's a feast at all tonight, you know,† said Nearly Headless Nick. â€Å"There was trouble in the kitchens earlier.† â€Å"Why? Wha' ‘appened?† said Harry, through a sizable chunk of steak. â€Å"Peeves, of course,† said Nearly Headless Nick, shaking his head, which wobbled dangerously. He pulled his ruff a little higher up on his neck. â€Å"The usual argument, you know. He wanted to attend the feast – well, it's quite out of the question, you know what he's like, utterly uncivilized, can't see a plate of food without throwing it. We held a ghost's council – the Fat Friar was all for giving him the chance – but most wisely, in my opinion, the Bloody Baron put his foot down.† The Bloody Baron was the Slytherin ghost, a gaunt and silent specter covered in silver bloodstains. He was the only person at Hogwarts who could really control Peeves. â€Å"Yeah, we thought Peeves seemed hacked off about something,† said Ron darkly. â€Å"So what did he do in the kitchens?† â€Å"Oh the usual,† said Nearly Headless Nick, shrugging. â€Å"Wreaked havoc and mayhem. Pots and pans everywhere. Place swimming in soup. Terrified the house-elves out of their wits -â€Å" Clang. Hermione had knocked over her golden goblet. Pumpkin juice spread steadily over the tablecloth, staining several feet of white linen orange, but Hermione paid no attention. â€Å"There are house-elves here?† she said, staring, horror-struck, at Nearly Headless Nick. â€Å"Here at Hogwarts?† â€Å"Certainly,† said Nearly Headless Nick, looking surprised at her reaction. â€Å"The largest number in any dwelling in Britain, I believe. Over a hundred.† â€Å"I've never seen one!† said Hermione. â€Å"Well, they hardly ever leave the kitchen by day, do they?† said Nearly Headless Nick. â€Å"They come out at night to do a bit of cleaning†¦see to the fires and so on†¦.I mean, you're not supposed to see them, are you? That's the mark of a good house-elf, isn't it, that you don't know it's there?† Hermione stared at him. â€Å"But they get paid?† she said. â€Å"They get holidays, don't they? And – and sick leave, and pensions, and everything?† Nearly Headless Nick chortled so much that his ruff slipped and his head flopped off, dangling on the inch or so of ghostly skin and muscle that still attached it to his neck. â€Å"Sick leave and pensions?† he said, pushing his head back onto his shoulders and securing it once more with his ruff. â€Å"House-elves don't want sick leave and pensions!† Hermione looked down at her hardly touched plate of food, then put her knife and fork down upon it and pushed it away from her. â€Å"Oh c'mon, ‘Er-my-knee,† said Ron, accidentally spraying Harry with bits of Yorkshire pudding. â€Å"Oops – sorry, ‘Arry -† He swallowed. â€Å"You won't get them sick leave by starving yourself!† â€Å"Slave labor,† said Hermione, breathing hard through her nose. â€Å"That's what made this dinner. Slave labor.† And she refused to eat another bite. The rain was still drumming heavily against the high, dark glass. Another clap of thunder shook the windows, and the stormy ceiling flashed, illuminating the golden plates as the remains of the first course vanished and were replaced, instantly, with puddings. â€Å"Treacle tart, Hermione!† said Ron, deliberately wafting its smell toward her. â€Å"Spotted dick, look! Chocolate gateau!† But Hermione gave him a look so reminiscent of Professor McGonagall that he gave up. When the puddings too had been demolished, and the last crumbs had faded off the plates, leaving them sparkling clean, Albus Dumbledore got to his feet again. The buzz of chatter filling the Hall ceased almost at once, so that only the howling wind and pounding rain could be heard. â€Å"So!† said Dumbledore, smiling around at them all. â€Å"Now that we are all fed and watered,† (â€Å"Hmph!† said Hermione) â€Å"I must once more ask for your attention, while I give out a few notices. â€Å"Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me to tell you that the list of objects forbidden inside the castle has this year been extended to include Screaming Yo-yos, Fanged Frisbees, and Ever-Bashing Boomerangs. The full list comprises some four hundred and thirty-seven items, I believe, and can be viewed in Mr. Filch's office, if anybody would like to check it.† The corners of Dumbledore's mouth twitched. He continued, â€Å"As ever, I would like to remind you all that the forest on the grounds is out-of-bounds to students, as is the village of Hogsmeade to all below third year. â€Å"It is also my painful duty to inform you that the Inter-House Quidditch Cup will not take place this year.† â€Å"What?† Harry gasped. He looked around at Fred and George, his fellow members of the Quidditch team. They were mouthing soundlessly at Dumbledore, apparently too appalled to speak. Dumbhedore went on, â€Å"This is due to an event that will be starting in October, and continuing throughout the school year, taking up much of the teachers' time and energy – but I am sure you will all enjoy it immensely. I have great pleasure in announcing that this year at Hogwarts -â€Å" But at that moment, there was a deafening rumble of thunder and the doors of the Great Hall banged open. A man stood in the doorway, leaning upon a long staff, shrouded in a black traveling cloak. Every head in the Great Hall swiveled toward the stranger, suddenly brightly illuminated by a fork of lightning that flashed across the ceiling. He lowered his hood, shook out a long mane of grizzled, dark gray hair, then began to walk up toward the teachers' table. A dull clunk echoed through the Hall on his every other step. He reached the end of the top table, turned right, and limped heavily toward Dumbledore. Another flash of lightning crossed the ceiling. Hermione gasped. The lightning had thrown the man's face into sharp relief, and it was a face unlike any Harry had ever seen.It looked as though it had been carved out of weathered wood by someone who had only the vaguest idea of what human faces are supposed to look like, and was none too skilled with a chisel. Every inch of skin seemed to be scarred. The mouth looked like a diagonal gash, and a large chunk of the nose was missing. But it was the man's eyes that made him frightening. One of them was small, dark, and beady. The other was large, round as a coin, and a vivid, electric blue. The blue eye was moving ceaselessly, without blinking, and was rolling up, down, and from side to side, quite independently of the normal eye – and then it rolled right over, pointing into the back of the man's head, so that all they could see was whiteness. The stranger reached Dumbledore. He stretched out a hand that was as badly scarred as his face, and Dumbhedore shook it, muttering words Harry couldn't hear. He seemed to be making some inquiry of the stranger, who shook his head unsmilingly and replied in an undertone. Dumbledore nodded and gestured the man to the empty seat on his right-hand side. The stranger sat down, shook his mane of dark gray hair out of his face, pulled a plate of sausages toward him, raised it to what was left of his nose, and sniffed it. He then took a small knife out of his pocket, speared a sausage on the end of it, and began to eat. His normal eye was fixed upon the sausages, but the blue eye was still darting restlessly around in its socket, taking in the Hall and the students. â€Å"May I introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?† said Dumbledore brightly into the silence. â€Å"Professor Moody.† It was usual for new staff members to be greeted with applause, but none of the staff or students chapped except Dumbledore and Hagrid, who both put their hands together and applauded, but the sound echoed dismally into the silence, and they stopped fairly quickly. Everyone else seemed too transfixed by Moody's bizarre appearance to do more than stare at him. â€Å"Moody?† Harry muttered to Ron. â€Å"Mad-Eye Moody? The one your dad went to help this morning?† â€Å"Must be,† said Ron in a low, awed voice. â€Å"What happened to him?† Hermione whispered. â€Å"What happened to his face?† â€Å"Dunno,† Ron whispered back, watching Moody with fascination. Moody seemed totally indifferent to his less-than-warm welcome. Ignoring the jug of pumpkin juice in front of him, he reached again into his traveling cloak, pulled out a hip flask, and took a long draught from it. As he lifted his arm to drink, his cloak was pulled a few inches from the ground, and Harry saw, below the table, several inches of carved wooden leg, ending in a clawed foot. Dumbledore cleared his throat. â€Å"As I was saying,† he said, smiling at the sea of students before him, all of whom were still gazing transfixed at Mad-Eye Moody, â€Å"we are to have the honor of hosting a very exciting event over the coming months, an event that has not been held for over a century. It is my very great pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year.† â€Å"You're JOKING!† said Fred Weasley loudly. The tension that had filled the Hall ever since Moody's arrival suddenly broke. Nearly everyone laughed, and Dumbledore chuckled appreciatively. â€Å"I am not joking, Mr. Weasley,† he said, â€Å"though now that you mention it, I did hear an excellent one over the summer about a troll, a hag, and a leprechaun who all go into a bar.† Professor McGonagall cleared her throat loudly. â€Å"Er – but maybe this is not the time†¦no†¦Ã¢â‚¬  said Dumbledore, â€Å"where was I? Ah yes, the Triwizard Tournament†¦well, some of you will not know what this tournament involves, so I hope those who do know will forgive me for giving a short explanation, and allow their attention to wander freely. â€Å"The Triwizard Tournament was first established some seven hundred years ago as a friendly competition between the three largest European schools of wizardry: Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang. A champion was selected to represent each school, and the three champions competed in three magical tasks. The schools took it in turns to host the tournament once every five years, and it was generally agreed to be a most excellent way of establishing ties between young witches and wizards of different nationalities – until, that is, the death toll mounted so high that the tournament was discontinued.† â€Å"Death toll?† Hermione whispered, looking alarmed. But her anxiety did not seem to be shared by the majority of students in the Hall; many of them were whispering excitedly to one another, and Harry himself was far more interested in hearing about the tournament than in worrying about deaths that had happened hundreds of years ago. â€Å"There have been several attempts over the centuries to reinstate the tournament,† Dumbledore continued, â€Å"none of which has been very successful. However, our own departments of International Magical Cooperation and Magical Games and Sports have decided the time is ripe for another attempt. We have worked hard over the summer to ensure that this time, no champion will find himself or herself in mortal danger. â€Å"The heads of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving with their short-listed contenders in October, and the selection of the three champions will take place at Halloween. An impartial judge will decide which students are most worthy to compete for the Triwizard Cup, the glory of their school, and a thousand Galleons personal prize money.† â€Å"I'm going for it!† Fred Weasley hissed down the table, his face lit with enthusiasm at the prospect of such glory and riches. He was not the only person who seemed to be visualizing himself as the Hogwarts champion. At every House table, Harry could see people either gazing raptly at Dumbledore, or else whispering fervently to their neighbors. But then Dumbledore spoke again, and the Hall quieted once more. â€Å"Eager though I know all of you will be to bring the Triwizard Cup to Hogwarts,† he said, â€Å"the heads of the participating schools, along with the Ministry of Magic, have agreed to impose an age restriction on contenders this year. Only students who are of age – that is to say, seventeen years or older – will be allowed to put forward their names for consideration. This -† Dumbledore raised his voice slightly, for several people had made noises of outrage at these words, and the Weasley twins were suddenly looking furious – â€Å"is a measure we feel is necessary, given that the tournament tasks will still be difficult and dangerous, whatever precautions we take, and it is highly unlikely that students below sixth and seventh year will be able to cope with them. I will personally be ensuring that no underage student hoodwinks our impartial judge into making them Hogwarts champion.† His light blue eyes twinkled as they flickered over Fred's and George's mutinous faces. â€Å"I therefore beg you not to waste your time submitting yourself if you are under seventeen. â€Å"The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving in October and remaining with us for the greater part of this year. I know that you will all extend every courtesy to our foreign guests while they are with us, and will give your whole-hearted support to the Hogwarts champion when he or she is selected. And now, it is late, and I know how important it is to you all to be alert and rested as you enter your lessons tomorrow morning. Bedtime! Chop chop!† Dumbledore sat down again and turned to talk to Mad-Eye Moody. There was a great scraping and banging as all the students got to their feet and swarmed toward the double doors into the entrance hall. â€Å"They can't do that!† said George Weasley, who had not joined the crowd moving toward the door, but was standing up and glaring at Dumbledore. â€Å"We're seventeen in April, why can't we have a shot?† â€Å"They're not stopping me entering,† said Fred stubbornly, also scowling at the top table. â€Å"The champions'll get to do all sorts of stuff you'd never be allowed to do normally. And a thousand Galleons prize money!† â€Å"Yeah,† said Ron, a faraway look on his face. â€Å"Yeah, a thousand Galleons†¦.† â€Å"Come on,† said Hermione, â€Å"we'll be the only ones left here if you don't move.† Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred, and George set off for the entrance hall, Fred and George debating the ways in which Dumbledore might stop those who were under seventeen from entering the tournament. â€Å"Who's this impartial judge who's going to decide who the champions are?† said Harry. â€Å"Dunno,† said Fred, â€Å"but it's them we'll have to fool. I reckon a couple of drops of Aging Potion might do it, George†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Dumbledore knows you're not of age, though,† said Ron. â€Å"Yeah, but he's not the one who decides who the champion is, is he?† said Fred shrewdly. â€Å"Sounds to me like once this judge knows who wants to enter, he'll choose the best from each school and never mind how old they are. Dumbledore's trying to stop us giving our names.† â€Å"People have died, though!† said Hermione in a worried voice as they walked through a door concealed behind a tapestry and started up another, narrower staircase. â€Å"Yeah,† said Fred airily, â€Å"but that was years ago, wasn't it? Anyway, where's the fun without a bit of risk? Hey, Ron, what if we find out how to get 'round Dumbledore? Fancy entering?† â€Å"What d'you reckon?† Ron asked Harry. â€Å"Be cool to enter, wouldn't it? But I s'pose they might want someone older†¦.Dunno if we've learned enough†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"I definitely haven't,† came Neville's gloomy voice from behind Fred and George. â€Å"I expect my gran'd want me to try, though. She's always going on about how I should be upholding the family honor. I'll just have to – oops†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Neville's foot had sunk right through a step halfway up the staircase. There were many of these trick stairs at Hogwarts; it was second nature to most of the older students to jump this particular step, but Neville's memory was notoriously poor. Harry and Ron seized him under the armpits and pulled him out, while a suit of armor at the top of the stairs creaked and clanked, laughing wheezily. â€Å"Shut it, you,† said Ron, banging down its visor as they passed. They made their way up to the entrance to Gryffindor Tower, which was concealed behind a large portrait of a fat lady in a pink silk dress. â€Å"Password?† she said as they approached. â€Å"Balderdash,† said George, â€Å"a prefect downstairs told me.† The portrait swung forward to reveal a hole in the wall through which they all climbed. A crackling fire warmed the circular common room, which was full of squashy armchairs and tables. Hermione cast the merrily dancing flames a dark look, and Harry distinctly heard her mutter â€Å"Slave labor† before bidding them good night and disappearing through the doorway to the girls' dormitory. Harry, Ron, and Neville climbed up the last, spiral staircase until they reached their own dormitory, which was situated at the top of the tower. Five four-poster beds with deep crimson hangings stood against the walls, each with its owner's trunk at the foot. Dean and Seamus were already getting into bed; Seamus had pinned his Ireland rosette to his headboard, and Dean had tacked up a poster of Viktor Krum over his bedside table. His old poster of the West Ham football team was pinned right next to it. â€Å"Mental,† Ron sighed, shaking his head at the completely stationary soccer players. Harry, Ron, and Neville got into their pajamas and into bed. Someone – a house-elf, no doubt – had placed warming pans between the sheets. It was extremely comfortable, lying there in bed and listening to the storm raging outside. â€Å"I might go in for it, you know,† Ron said sleepily through the darkness, â€Å"if Fred and George find out how to†¦the tournament†¦.you never know, do you?† â€Å"S'pose not†¦.† Harry rolled over in bed, a series of dazzling new pictures forming in his mind's eye†¦.He had hoodwinked the impartial judge into believing he was seventeen†¦.he had become Hogwarts champion†¦he was standing on the grounds, his arms raised in triumph in front of the whole school, all of whom were applauding and screaming†¦he had just won the Triwizard Tournament. Cho's face stood out particularly clearly in the blurred crowd, her face glowing with admiration†¦. Harry grinned into his pillow, exceptionally glad that Ron couldn't see what he could.

Quotes Of My Love For Linton - 996 Words

Quotes Socratic 1. â€Å"It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff now; so he shall never know how I love him: and that, not because he s handsome, Nelly, but because he s more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same; and Linton s is as different as a moonbeam from lightning, or frost from fire.† ( Brontà «, ch.9) 2. â€Å"My love for Linton is like the foliage in the woods: time will change it, I m well aware, as winter changes the trees. My love for Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks beneath: a source of little visible delight, but necessary. Nelly, I am Heathcliff! He s always, always in my mind: not as a pleasure, any more than I am always a pleasure to myself, but as my own being. So don t talk of our†¦show more content†¦12-14) 8. â€Å"Where we almost, nay more than married are.This flea is you and I, and this Our marriage bed, and marriage temple is;† ( Donne ln.11-13) 9. â€Å"My face in thine eye, thine in mine appears, And true plain hearts do in the faces rest;† (Donne ln.15-16) Dennis 1 10. â€Å" Meet in her aspect and her eyes; Thus mellowed to that tender light Which heaven to gaudy day denies.† (Byron ln. 4-6) Questions 1. Does Heathcliff show strength or weakness in his actions throughout the novel, beginning in childhood and who does he blame for his situation? 2. What does each home represent? How do the characteristics of the homes relate to the characters that live in them? 3. How do you think the story would be different if it was from Catherine, Heathcliff, or Edgar’s perspectives? 4. Do you think Catherine II a better woman than her mother? 5. Do you think the moors are a character in some way? 6. How do Mr. Lockwood and Nelly Dean effect the story as narrators? 7. Do you think they are completely reliable and trustworthy narrators? 8. At the end of the novel, which has proved to be stronger, love or hate? 9. How do you think love effects people their actions? 10. What is the them for â€Å" My Last Duchess†? 11. What is the theme for â€Å" Sonnet 29†? 12. What is the theme for â€Å" Sonnet 130†? 13. What is the them for â€Å" The Good Morrow†? 14. What is the theme for â€Å" TheShow MoreRelated Heathcliff: Made A Villain By Love Essay1050 Words   |  5 Pages Love is a two way street. In order for love to work it must be given and returned. If love is left unfulfilled it can lead a person to be spiteful, vengeful, and at the extreme villainous. In Emily Brontes novel, Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff is the villain because he is frustrated about his unrequited love for Cathy. Heathcliffs villainy is apparent in how he treats the Earnshaws, degrading Hindley and Hareton just as Hindley did him. This is also shown in his actions against the Lintons. HeathcliffRead MoreLiterary Analysis Of Wuthering Heights1354 Words   |  6 PagesHeathcliff would speak to his fellow acquaintances, some examples are: selfish, disagreeable, suffer, and hate. Heathcliff’s other half is shown in his feelings and words pronounced to Catherine Linton, the love of his life. Heathcliff’s words represent happiness and love whenever he is in the presence of Mrs. Linton. The author’s word choice and use of complex syntax allows the novel to be interestingly vivid. At the conclusion of the book, the reader feels he or she can visualize the dreadful thoughtsRead MoreSocial Class In Wuthering Heights Essay870 Words   |  4 Pagescaused great conflict between them. Hindley was very bitter toward Healthcliff and treated him with much hatred just because, he was of lower class. â€Å"Take my colt, Gipsy then! said young Earnshaw. And I pray that he may break your neck: take him, and he damned, you beggarly interloper! and wheedle my father out of all he has† (Bronte ). This quote was said by Hindley to Heathcliff. It shows the way Hindley treated Heathcliff close to a servant. This ultimately lead to Heathcliff’s wanted revenge onRead MoreWuthering Height by Emily Bronte1188 Words   |  5 PagesAre love, power and wealth essential elements in the perfect soul mate in life? These rudiments are very critical in the novel Wuthering Heights. When looking at the portrayal of love in this novel, there is a great distinction between the loves we show to others presently versus the love shown in the novel. When considering Catherine and Heathcliff in the novel, they both love each other dearly, but when it comes down to it, Catherine cannot marry Heathcliff. Why can’t their love ever be? This isRead MoreComparison Of Vladimir Nabokov s Lolita And Emily Bronte s Wuthering Heights808 Words   |  4 Pagesobsessive love. Heathcliff, the disturbed main character in Wuthering Heights is so immensely in love with Catherine that it turns him into a monster. The main character in Lolita is inappropriately in love with a young girl that causes him to commit destructive actions. In both of these novels the authors demonstrate how something as joyful as love, can morph into an obsession, lead to insanity, and destroy a character. Throughtout Wuthering Heights, Healthcliff is destroyed by his love for CatherineRead MoreHeathcliff the Byronic Hero Essay1333 Words   |  6 Pageshim and Catherine to end up together, but it doesn’t happen. This causes Heathcliff to get progressively, more and more alienated by the people around him. He only wants what he can’t have and this is why he is referred to as a Byronic Hero. It is my intention to prove Heathcliff as a Byronic Hero by classifying him under the six attributes of the archetype. The first major sign of a Byronic Hero is he is often alienated from humanity. In the beginning of the story Heathcliff is adopted by EarnshawRead MoreEmily Bronte s Wuthering Heights1144 Words   |  5 Pagesvengeful, sullen, brought in by Mr. Earnshaw. Treated badly by Hindley, Catherine’s brother. He falls in love with Catherine and loves her after her death. Catherine nee Earnshaw Linton: protagonist of the story. She’s childish, immature, spiteful, ignorant and arrogant. Beautiful, free spirited, mischievous. In love with Heathcliff and she dies halfway through the book haunting him. She marries Linton more based on his position and breeding instead of Heathcliff whom she views as a brother. Nelly Dean:Read MoreHeathcliff The Byronic Hero in Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte1337 Words   |  6 Pageshim and Catherine to end up together, but it doesn’t happen. This causes Heathcliff to get progressively, more and more alienated by the people around him. He only wants what he can’t have and this is why he is referred to as a Byronic Hero. It is my intention to prove Heathcliff as a Byronic Hero by classifying him under the six attributes of the archetype. The first major sign of a Byronic Hero is he is often alienatedRead MoreAnalysis Of Emily Bronte s Wuthering Heights Essay891 Words   |  4 PagesThere is truly nothing better than a love story with a perfect ending. Unfortunately that is not the case in Emily BrontÃ'ԉ۪s Wuthering Heights. The love shared between Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff is definitely not hidden. The two are practically the same person, they even say they share the same soul. The only problem is one is a part of a nobility and the other adopted and forced to be a servant. Due to this, Catherine and Heathcliff never get their happily ever after. Or do they? One ofRead MoreAn Analysis Of Wuthering Heights 1688 Words   |  7 PagesHeights, Heathcliff’s quest and desire for love and revenge encompass and affect nearly every female character that the reader is introduced to. One of the most prominent cases of a woman suffering under the will of Heathcliff is that of Isabella Linton. The official marital union of Heathcliff and Isabella was never really romantic in any sense as Heathcliff married Isabella with the sole intention of punishing and hurting her in order to get to Edgar Linton. However, regardless of this, Isabella sporadically