Botros raised his eyebrows gladly and nodded at the two, "Oh yes, decoration is one of the recent uses of runes. In the Swedish province, that we spoke of earlier, they continued using the symbols of runes on furniture, boxes, buildings, kitchen blocks, bowls, etc."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tegz

Whyyy would people just repeat what he'd said, West wondered, when there were plenty of other things a person could say? He shook his head slightly and put his hand up to answer the next questions.

"A lot of them are used as symbols still, for organisations, like as an insignia on flags and stuff like that." Did he need to give specific examples? West figured it was probably best not to because for some people it might be a sensitive topic right? "Which is the sort of point of a rune, since they're all symbols anyway. So their symbolic use has lasted from their origins to now."

"Oh, yes. Definitely. There's a wide range of cults and organizations who opted to use runes, even bindrunes, as a symbol to their movement or cause. It goes to the fact, as I assume, that runes have highly individual value in all runic alphabets." Smiling at the Slytherin, Botros nodded his head affirmatively. "Very good answer." Thinking out of the box and using the obvious to his favor.

SPOILER!!: Charms (omens)

Quote:

Originally Posted by TakemetotheBurrow

Ella was listening and scribbling notes and doodling on all kinds of things about runes and ancient runic alphabets and when they happened and more. There was a lot of information floating around and it was good, yeah? Especially because a lot of it was stuff she hadn't known previously. She liked learning new things. Especially new things about runes.

Then another question was posed and Ella considered it for a minute or two before speaking. There were lots of uses for runes, yeah? They could be used as a form of writing, or for magic and divination purposes too. She supposed using them as a form of communicating wasn't exactly as common anymore but it was still definitely used for magical purposes. They did that lots at school, actually. "Professor, people used to use the runes for charms. For instance, in the form of tattoos or pendants. This is still something people do today...keeping symbols that they believe will bring them luck or strength with them."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steelsheen

Aquila beamed back at the Professor. A new bit of info wasn’t it? Like anything else she have mentioned or brought to Hogwarts, she felt quite happy sharing a something from her neck of the woods.

She scribbled down all the other Runes mentioned, interesting bits, but difficult to remember for her and she found herself staring at the diagram on the board before remembering to take that down too.

Now what did they use their runes for back home? The young Claw squeezed her eyes shut and tried to recall those instances when the Priestesses used them for. It was many and varied, but there was something that clearly stuck in her memory. Lifting her gaze she raised another shy hand “Uhm Professor... in some smaller cultures like our own there are still beliefs and traditions where we inscribe Runes on a person as a kind of blessing and protection, not always for fighting--” because the Priestesses never ever approved that “—but moreso like when someone is sick or someone would be travelling.”

Quote:

Originally Posted by DecemberMoon

She hadn't thought they would count as runes, and she was correct about that - so maybe that counted for something at least. She still would like to learn more about the celestial runes. It intrigued her that people thought they had to use a special set of symbols to communicate with them. It made her wonder what else their culture believed...

Eliza thought the answer to this next question was fairly obvious, but maybe that just meant she wasn't looking at it the right way. She raised her hand and basically recapped what others had said. "Well when the runes were first used, they were the main form of written communication and appeared everywhere in the cultures. But as time went by, like we've heard said, they faded out, until now - when people use them as embellishments on things like clothing, staffs, or pendants. They believe using these runes can still bring some benefit to them, that the original meanings of the runes still hold power." She paused. "They are especially interesting to some of us in the modern day because the letters in our own alphabet have no individual meaning like they used to." And that was kind of sad, to be a culture with a hollow language. That's sort of how she viewed it. At the moment anyway.

Quote:

Originally Posted by THE Govoni

HA! Score ONE for Dylan.

Professor Botros had mentioned him by name...and YES! If the grin on his face was any indication, the Slytherin was rather pleased with himself. Merlin, he'd been so BOSS at Runes since Botros.

As his hand flew over the parchment, quickly writing all the things the Professor was mentioning, he heard the next question. Naturally, the Captain answered...but his tone was distracted and sorta far away as his hand continued to write. "Protection, sir?..."

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19

Jory knew there were many uses for runes bu the decided to go with the basic one. The one which they were all familiar with. He raised his hand. "They were used as Protection,'' he said. "And they are still are.''

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bazinga

Minerva half listened to everyone talk about the runes. She knew this was the first lesson and they had to go over the basics, but she was just so sleepy, that the basics were really giving her a hard focusing time. Opening her eyes wide so they wouldn't shut she sat up straight in fear of dozing. She would really need to go to bed earlier tonight.

When the professor asked what runes were used for she put up her hand, [b] "Professor, we have in other classes put two runes together to make a stronger protection or even made them to help make us better at something."[b] She thought of her exam last term and how she had to put the two together and why they would work to make someone better.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charely Potter

Cool, least the Gothic runes counted. Wade then rose his hand during the next question. "Other than protection," Wade started. "They are believed to give the wearer a certain power and strength depending on the rune."

"Correct. One of the main uses of runes, maybe even the most common, is charms. Carving them on wooden beads, chains of magicked jewelries, or tattoos. This also is due to their valuable individuality, each rune holds a power, an energy which can be evoked and used to our favor. Such as, protection, enlightenment, healing." They all were right, yes.

SPOILER!!: Communication

Quote:

Originally Posted by Team ronmione

Tag would probably be giving the most generic simple answer in the world. "Runes are used for... communications?" Gosh. He really needed to read his stuff some more. He really half guessed his answers in most classes while everyone else, mostly, seemed more sure. Tag wasn't quite sure what the professor meant by the second question so he kept quiet on that part.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hermionesclone

OH! Diagram! Alec opened his journal and started scribbling down the information up on the blackboard. When it was put up like that in a diagram, it was actually easier to see how each of the different runes linked to one another. And it was a good way to remember... things. Things for OWLs which, speaking of, how awesome would it be if they had to smash a box as part of the Ancient Runes OWL?

...

Moving on... another question? A use for runes... "Professor?" he started, raising his hand in the air, "Since they're a set of alphabet, would they have had similar writing purposes to the ones we have?" Yeah... he was supposed to be answering the question, not answering with a question. "What I'm trying to say is, the runes were considered to be sacred, see. Something from the gods and Norse gods. So legends and sagas would be carved in stone... runestones... and they'd be preserved. And maybe the stories would be passed onto the following generations from the runestones. It would be... well... our equivalent of books, maybe. ... Except on stone."

... Also... "It's not really used now... but I guess you can still find a runestone and translate the runes and find out what the text says." ... Find a runestone... FIND a runestone... it sounded so easy.

... And did he even answer the question? And was this even correct?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meizzner

Nigel was a liking all this runes knowledge and tried to absorb as much of it as he could. He did know some history of them. He likes to read and picks thing up along the way.

"They were used as language and law making. For example The Codex Runicus"

That was such a cool name for a book of laws

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sonea

Making notes was a good idea, she wrote all the answers she heard on her parchment and she copied the things from the blackboard. She listened to the professor if the answers were good, and if not than she would remove the answer from her parchment so that she only had the good answers. She had been a little worried because she hasn’t answered the question but the professor didn’t mind it, he nodded to her and a other student and she felt immediately better!

She hoped that she would knew the next question and listened careful to what the professor was telling the class. His next question was not as difficult as his previous question but it was still not something she was sure of. But… she wanted to try it and raised her hand. “I think that they were used as a alphabet” Sonea paused for a moment and realized that she had really no idea how she could answer his other question. “And that is all what I know, professor” said Sonea and felt how her cheeks colored pink. She quickly sat back down and grabbed her quill, ready to make more notes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hpfan18

Kace was learning so much in this class. He copied down all the notes the professor had on the board. Then he realized his hand was cramping, so he stopped and moved his wrists around to make sure he could not get carpal tunnel. After he finished his notes, he heard the professor ask the question. What were runes used for?

He flipped through his textbook and scanned it till he came to an answer. He raised his hand and pipped up, "Professor i know runes were used for basic form of communication. Runes were also used for writing, to help people understand symbols and other things."

Yeah that is what he could come up with so far. He was having difficulty finding how runes were used today.

"Aha! Bravo! The earliest use of runes, which form the runic alphabets, is communication. It is a language after all, like Ms. Dawnsel and have explained. Communicating with the people at the time, like Mr. Barrington have given an example of the law codex, and then -perhaps unintentionally- communicating with their descendants, like Mr. Summers have suggested."

SPOILER!!: Divinatory purposes

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlwaysSnapesGirl

Penelope didn't offer any answers for the alphabet question because...well she didn't have any. Answers, that is. None that wouldn't just be repeating someone else's answer. So she kept quiet and just waited for the next question to come.

And there it was. She thought about it for a moment then raised her hand. "Weren't some kinda used as like...divination? As another method to try and tell the future and all that. And I guess some people might still use it as that today?" Since some people still believed in and used divination - they had a class on it and everything - so it would make sense for some to still use runes as a part of it, right?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eriin

Raising his hand Garrick smiled slightly to the professor and said, "Divination is also one of the uses of Runes through history." Yep, yep. He was not simply sitting there paying no attention... he merely opted to keep his mouth shut when he had nothing to say. Simple really.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harry174

Laura looked at the Professor and smiled. "They have recently been used for divination, I think sir." Laura wasn't 100% sure but she was fairly sure she had heard it somewhere, at least she wasn't giving a silly answer like last year right.

Ooooh, Botros was excited to explain this one! He cane!walked to the blackboard and with a big smile started, "Very good, yes. But beware and do not make the mistake that everyone seems to fall in. Divination, as in consulting the runes about a decision, a situation that we're facing some time during our life path. Divinatory purposes does not predict future events like other Divination means." Pause. "There are some runic methods that offer enlightenment and guidance for our future, however, that is not the same thing as prediction." Professor Elwood could go into details about this. They should hold that combined lesson soon, Botros thought.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJ ExpelliarMOOSE

notes notes notes, Oakey had been too quiet just taking down note notes notes. Different types of Runes and all that stuff. What else were runes used for? Oakey was hearing a lot of others saying body art and protection.
"Runes are used as inspiration for muggle Authors, most notibly J.R.R Tolkien. He used Elder Furthark in his book The Hobbit." Oakey knew more about this than that silly old Star Trek cult Professor Flamsteed lead with an iron fist. He also didn't have to write a paper on it either...yet. "Then took it a step further and created his own fictional set for his Lord of the Rings Trilogy, the Cirth Runes." but Tolkien isn't really considered modern anymore so... "A lot of modern authors have followed suit since Tolkien found inspiration in the Elder Furthark Runes, and have done the same."
Can he make uo his own set too! Oh BOY that'd be neat!

Hmm. "Creative answer, Mr. Gunter, Myth Master." As his name tag suggested. "I'd say we can say this falls under cultural inspiration." He did chuckle at the examples the boy provided, too. This was one of the reasons why preferred teaching younger kids than those at universities who seemed to always wear an uptight attitude in class.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Princesspower

Sarah raised her hand, "unfortunately in the earlier times of runes, people useed to write and use and therefore there was vandalism in runes as well. Like people etching things on stones like 'Rolf was here' it is pretty disgusting and it shows that even back then there were people who did not respect the property of others." It was great to air her views in a forum with teenagers they ought to hear that.

.... oh. Well. Botros actually paused for a moment trying to get a runic idea off the little girl. He leaned slightly on his desk and nodded slowly, "Vandalism exists everywhere and since the beginning of time. Humans were and still are the same beings driven by the same instincts." But this was irrelevant to his question, unless she meant this was why there were so little runic inscriptions, which still was irrelevant to his question. He still gave her a small smile, though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaniDiNardo

That...that was all a lot of information to take in and she was most sure she wouldn't remember even half of it once the class was over unless she did something about it, so while the Professor spoke, she was busily scribbling away at her parchment, trying to catch a sentence or two.

She was so focused on the writing that she didn't notice that the last thing he said, wasn't in fact another fact but more of a question.

She had an answer toooo. Ahem.

I don't knoooow

But she wasn't going to say that out loud now was she? Nope. Not especially since everyone else just seemed to be raising their hands and producing answers all over. It'd only make her look bad with the old guy. Not something she was going to chance.

Lex put her quill down and just smiled at the Professor as she waited for something else to be said or asked.

Mhhmmm. Gryffindors were growing impatient, it seemed. He watched the loud one expectantly for a few seconds before turning to the rest of the class.

"So, today, we won't be learning about any one individual rune. Today we will learn about two things." He raised his hand, counting, "One how do we carve runes into wood, saving their energy and magic." Not decorational carving. "Two, we're going to learn the whole Elder Futhark alphabet." Waiting for the groans or cheers to die down, Botros cleaned the blackboard with his cane and wrote the following.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blackboard

Rune Carving Spell

Incantation: Intaglio "name of rune"
Wand Movement: Point your wand where you want to cut.

"To carve the runes in order to use their energy and magic, we need to use this spell. That is one method of carving the runes right. Another method uses a special tool in addition to chanting the Galdr of the chosen rune, but that is not for today." Botros gestured for them to copy what was written on the board and explained further, "You need to remember to keep your intent strongly present in your mind when you use this spell. Concentrate on the meaning and the name of the rune you desire to carve, repeating it over and over until the shape of the rune is perfectly carved onto the surface." He bent down behind his desk where his chair was, and fished out a small box. "You're going to have to share some of the equipment today, I'm afraid. Share those goggles and gloves with the person sitting next to you before you carve any rune you want on your desk." He'd placed an extra wood plank on top of their desks before class, he didn't want them worrying about holding the wood piece while pointing their wand recklessly all around the place.

While the goggles and the gloves floated around the classroom, Botros held out a single circular wood piece. "Now watch me as I carve on this piece of wood." Paaaaaaaaaause.

The professor pointed his wand at the woody piece, raising it high for everyone to see, and said in a dramatic slow tone, "Intaglio Kenaz Kenaz Kenaz Kenaz...." On the previously blank wood piece a perfect shape of Kenaz was perfectly carved, giving a faint beating glow. "The incantation is easy, but still try it on your tongue a few times before practicing the spell on your desk. Choose any rune you like. And don't hesitate to ask questions if you need, we'll be needing this spell essentially when we go out in a bit." He beamed at them oh-so-mysteriously.