The first answer that she heard came from a Ravenclaw, the little Nigel boy that had introduced himself upon arrivial, and it was the one she had been most expecting to hear. "Yes, that is a great idea of what to do before practiving the noble art."

Callie had been watching all of the students after asking the question but she noticed Kurumi who seemed to be thinking particularily hard, she began to wiggle one of her crossed feet as she waited for the Prefect to spit out what she had been working so hard on.

"Clearing your mind is a definate necessity and also being prepared with any items you may need. Good." She gave the girl a small smile.

Another mind clearer, they were certainly right. "Yes, I have the same problem if I'm worried about something else or too stressed, most readings just won't turn out correctly." Calista nodded at the studdent.

Oooh a good one!

"Yes meditation would work wonderfully! I hear Professor Romanos is very big on the stuff, perhaps I will have to ask her to help us out before a lesson one of these days. Great thought." The Ravenclaw girl certainly had been thinking on the right track if she was going to do some Divining.

"Yes, clearing your mind is one of the best things you can do. Good." The professor nodded kindly to the Hufflepuff.

Hmmm...nice accent. He must be from up here in Scotland, you didn't hear too many of those in London.

"Yes, if you are focussed on something else rather than your reading you won't likely be able to see anything of importance. Very good."

"Supplies and mind, yes." The Divination Professor nodded at the girl.

The open mind part of her question was like the others but the second was different.

"Oh yes dear, you bring up a great point. Although the majority of Divination practices are pretty 'user friendly', just putting it lightly, however there are some types that usually render much easier for Seers or other Divine-thinkers." Prophecy making was for sure one of those things, something Callie herself had once dabbled in.

"Yes, that's is quite important. Good." The students seemed to understand her question pretty well.

Different but good just the same.

"Ooh definately a good idea to be properly rested and have eaten a good meal before trying to do a reading. Although you shouldn't gorge yourself too much or you may become sleepy and pass out during whatever it is you are doing." And that wouldn't be good at all.

"Excellent Miss Fanster! That is probably one of the most limiting factors on a person who tries to perform Divinational practices. When one goes into their work with the notion that whatever they are supposed to do is stupid or boring they've already set themselves up for disaster. It is very important we don't allow this to impeade on our abilities, right?" This slytherin was more than ok in her book. Too true.

"Yes, very good. An open mind is different than a clear one and it would do everyone to remember that." She nodded at the other students. "There are times when, during your reading, that you may come across something that you think would never happen to you or the subject that very well could. Never limit yourself or the Beyond."

Because you didn't want to mess with or ignore fate.

"Clearing of the mind and atmosphere are both great ideas when preparing for a reading. Good." Callie obviously had the atmosphere one down, look at her fabulous classroom. All the windows were closed and covered as to not invite distractions and the incense were burning away. Good divination room if you asked her.


"Yes, good, good." Callie nodded to the Slytherin girl kindly.

She didn't mean any disrespect?

That almost ALWAYS meant the person was about to say something absolutely horrible to you. Calista took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a second. She then reopened them and offered for the girl to press on.

"Oh." She had been expecting the first part, the girl's tone allowed for Callie to sense she was a non-believer and critic but the girl's admition of wanting to give it a shot was suprising. "Well Prefect Greingoth," Yeah, that was her name, she had had to check the roster though, "your patience to try this subject based on your prior feelings towards it is admirable. Thank you." She seemed like she could be alright.

Her auora was already becoming lighter. Hmm.

She mentioned the Inner Eye! She did!

Professor Elwood was giddy all of a sudden, she didn't know the centaur had told them about the Inner Eye. "Yes the Inner Eye is something you should always be connected and open to when practicing Divination. Good answer."

A nice answer from the Ravenclaw girl.

"Discipline is a good thing to have when practicing ALL types of magic but definately Divination. You have to, like you said, force yourself to not be distracted but you also must discipline yourself to follow through the entire reading, even it it is taking too long or the message is a dark or bleak one. The Beyond is trying to connect with us and we must listen."

The last bit Professor Elwood said with her eyes closed and a hand pressed to her chest. Yes, it was that dramatic.

"Gathering items that you will need and a clear mind are both good things to have. Good job." Professor nodded at the Gryffindor.

Another slightly different idea.

"You're absolutely right. Often times some of us are more easily distracted than others." Mainly the students sitting in the room at the moment since Callie had heard that most children had an attention span of about 5 minutes at a time, "so it would often times be better to practice your readings in rooms where others won't bother you."

"Great answer dear." The Divination Professor nodded kindly to the young Ravenclaw and then turned to the next raised hand.

This girl was a reader too? Calista used to read all the time back when she worked at the bookstore during the summers in between her last two years of school.

"Yes, symbol books and other reference type tombs are great to have at hand when doing readings but also if they create personal comfort for you, then by all means always have them around." They didn't even have to be books. Pets, furnature, even food could work to help a person feel more comfortable and relax in order to do a reading.

Uh-oh. Astronomy, had this one been corrupted by the centaur?

"Well clearing you mind is a great idea but often times many people get confused with the border between Astronomy and Divination. There are some branches of Divination that have Astronomical ties worked into them but those are only a few. But still a good answer dear."

Please don't talk to a Centaur again. Thanks.

"Limiting distractions and clearing one's mind are both great ideas. Good." Professor Elwood gave the Ravenclaw a kind nod.

"All very good ideas. Yes we want to limit distractions and clear our minds the best we can. Also reading up on a type of Divination before doing it would be a good idea aswell. We just need to be sure that we don't give ourselve precursing ideas of what we SHOULD get in our readings and mess up what we are supposed to get." Yes, those were all good things that the little Gryffindor should keep in mind.

"Intuition and listening to you heart and spirit are both wonderful things, and I do hope you already do this in any readings you've done before." Professor Elwood nodded at the Hufflpuff as she looked around the room to catch any other raised hands.