SPOILER!!: individual replies

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhoenixRising

Also, why the Healer was present. Yes, she'd noticed him slipping in. And she guessed it wasn't by accident he was present for this lesson.
"Shooting arrows might be of assistance if other divining methods weren't effective and you wanted to try something else. Or perhaps wanting confirmation on a particular destiny of the future..."

"Interesting thoughts Skylar," Laurel praised. "Belomancy can be used together with other divination methods to confirm particular destinies of your immediate future."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Govoni

What was Divination usually used for? For people to find their way. Even if that wasn't specific to the Belomancy method, it was still true. In fact, Olivia had never heard of shooting arrows to divine anything. That sounded seriously a little ridiculous, but of course, she was keeping that thought to herself.

"When you're traveling, Professor? Maybe if someone was trying to figure out the road ahead? What paths to take...."

Looking over at Olivia she nodded "Yes, very good Olivia. Belomancy is often used by lost travellers to find the right path to take to safety or just to get out of a forest."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saz Hale

Kimi thought about the answer to the professors question and raised his hand and said "Whenever one is travelling it may come in handy" Kimi wasn't sure if it was correct but it was worth a try

"Good Kimi, belomancy is definitley handy when one is travelling and doesn't have a compass to guide what direction or path to take forward." Professor Vance answered with a smile.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lissy Longbottom

He raised his hand. "Well, I think it would be good if you were looking to try and figure out what path you need to take in life. You know, like you're shooting towards your future and letting the arrow tell you which way to go," he explained.

Kane seemed to be on a similar train of thought as his peers but he focused more on how it could impact a persons life. Smiling over at him Laurel answered "Yes, belomancy can assist with life path to take guidance but it matters what you think and feel too."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crayola

Look, Daisy had heard some pretty weird stuff in the Divination classroom but this probably took the cake. Arrows. Honestly. She only hoped that this meant that they were going to be shooting arrows later.
Which honestly sounded AWESOME.
"Professor, could it be useful before a battle?" Y'know, because arrows were battle weapons, right? Why everybody was talking about paths and lost people she did not know. CLEARLY, it was the battle. Yup.

Daisy raised her hand next. Looking over at the snakette with a smile Prof Vance replied. "Yes, arrows can be useful before a battle to predict its outcome, but they are also used in battle as weapons and should be handled with caution and care."

Quote:

Originally Posted by griffin

"Belomancy might be useful when you are trying to decide if you should do something or not." Was this the sort of thing where you focused on a question and depending on where the arrow went it gave you a yes or no answer? Given all of the different factors involved in archery, Isa wasn't sure that she would want to base important life decisions on her archery skills. Like what if you decided not to do something just because of where the arrow went but really the only reason that the arrow landed there was because of her form and aiming.

Isa raised her hand after Daisy and Laurel turned her attention in the badger girl's direction. Nodding she responded "Yes, belomancy can aid you in making desicions on if you should do something or not. Its most accurate when you ask yes or no questions like if you should or shouldn't eat an apple or go or not go to a party. More complicated the less accurate the answers will be."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lady of Light

"Uh... maybe before making a big life decision, to know whether you're doing the right thing or not." Etta answered, raising a hand. She didn't know anything about arrows used for future guidance so she really couldn't come up with something a bit more interesting but heh. At least she tried and that's what counts, right?! RIGHT.

Henrietta sounded her voice next. Turning to the badgerette Laurel nodded "Yes, good Henrietta! Belomancy can be of assistance in big life desicions if you ask yes or no questions but ultimatley of course its up to you if you follow the outcome of the reading."

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie

"Can can can...the arrows-s-s work kiiiiiiiind of like muggle magic 8 balls-s-s?" he asked, not knowing at all how humans used bows and arrows for this sort of thing. "Like...you write down 'yes', 'no', 'maybe', 'try again later' sorts of fings and then you s-s-shoot the arrows-s-s and the one fat flies-s-s the farthes-st is the ans-swer? Or the arrow you draw first from the...er...arrow backpack?"

Derf had been reading in his textbook it seemed but he sorta confused her when he pulled in a muggle 8 ball referance. Professor Vance focused on the the belomancy aspect in her kind response. "Yes you're right Derf, in one version of the method you can attach yes, no, maybe and try again papers to the arrows and think of a question as you shoot your arrows. The arrow that lands the farthest away holds the answer to your asked question. "You can close your eyes, think of a question and draw an arrow blindly and the one you choose will have the answer to your question.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anna Banana

...and there was another question. He didn't know the answer to this one either, but at least it was one of those questions that kind of sounded like the professor was just looking for thoughts. "Well, I'd say the accuracy part of it is probably obvious," he said, raising his hand. "Maybe how likely something is to happen is determined by how your arrow flies." Brent could just picture himself asking a question about his future then shooting the arrow to see how well it flew. An arrow that missed altogether and didn't even reach the target might be a no, and a bullseye would be a definite yes.

Brent got her attention next. She listened and then replied kindly. "Yes an arrows flight is important, but not as important as where the arrow lands on a target or if it misses all together since where it hits can determine how things will go in a quidditch match or even on a date."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Suziella

Juno raised her hand and waited to be called on. Once she was, she replied, "Well, in order to shoot an arrow, you have to be completely focused on your target. If you are not completely focused your arrow will either be slightly off or miss the intended target completely. So I think Belomancy could be guidance in your life on what you should do as well as which way you should go direction wise. Because if you chose the wrong path or lose focus you could not only lose yourself mentally but you could also mortally harm yourself." Was that too deep? Some times Juno got too deep with her answers.

Gazing over at Juno Professor Vance beamed "Good Juno, you touched on an very important point! You need to be focused and not be afraid to look for guidance in belomancy for example when you need it because taking wrong paths/desicions can lead to you getting yourself into mortal danger." Like with that strange portal...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steelsheen

Well he remembers a story from one of mom's books and so goes his hand raised up high "Professor, I remember a Muggle story from this book my mom has, this guys named Robin Hood. Its said that he climbed the highest tree and shot an arrow across Sherwood forest. He told his Merry Men that wherever that arrow falls on the ground, thats the spot where he should be buried. So I guess people can use arrows to make certain decisions, sorta like allowing fate or chance to determine things for you."

Tenacious unexpectedly brought up a muggle story that actually could be related to belomancy. Professor Vance smiled over at the lion prefect. "Interesting, I've not read Robin Hood, but it can definitley be associated with belomancy since people have used the method for centuries to make life decisions and/or determine if something is good or not for them."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daydreamer11

She remembered reading something about the use of arrows and raised her hand. Whether this was the answer the professor was looking for, she did not know. Janelle took a whack at it anyway. "I know that arrows were sometimes used to answer questions. People would attach different answers to different arrows and then shoot them. The one that went the farthest would contain the answer to the question. So........you could pretty much Belomancy in any situation where you unsure of something and needed a question answered." Did that answer the professor's question? Janelle wasn't quite sure, but......oh well.

Janelle was the last one to raise her hand. Looking over at her Professor Vance smiled encouragingly. "Very good Jannelle, people usually think of a question and then attach yes, or no feathers to arrows and then shoot their arrows up into the air. The arrow that lands farthest away would be the answer to their question."

After Janelle had quieted down and Laurel had responded to her she deemed that it was high time to move on with the lesson, but a summarization was of course in order first. "Belomancy can as many of you have touched on be of assistance in everyday life desicions you make about what to do or not do. Something to remember though is that belomancy is most accurate when you ask yes or no questions. More complicated questions will lead to less accurate answers."

"Lost forest travellers have often used belomancy to find what path/direction to take to get out to safety and it has also been used on the eve of a battle to get a prediction of what side will win." Laurel finished to let that sink in for a moment.

"Before we get to our main activity i think it's wise that you all got to familiarize yourself with the arrows. Everyone please come forth and grab a quiver full of arrows to take with you back to your desks. When you've gotten your quivers i want you take a few parchments and teer them up into pieces.

On the parchment pieces you write 'yes', 'no', 'maybe', 'try again' and then you attach the parchment pieces with string that you should find on your desks to the arrows in your quivers. When you've done that i want you to close your eyes, jumble the arrows around in the quiver, think of a yes or no question and then draw an arrow from your quiver that will be the answer to your question."

OOC: Mini activity time! No post minimum. Do what Laurel instructed, take an arrow quiver, attach (yes,no,maybe, try again) parchment pieces to the arrows, jumble the arrows and then have your characters ask at least 3 yes/no questions that they draw an arrow answer to for full credit. I'll move on around 7-8pm GMT+1 tomorrow night. Have fun with it! Be creative!