Text Cut: Hadley #1
Quote:
Originally Posted by
PumpkinRising 
Of course Josephina had not expected every student to know the incantation she was talking about, but a fair few of the older kids did remember, which pleased her. "Excellent. Yes, the spell to reveal the numbers associated with a curse is indeed Arithmos Revealo!"
"So in numerology, there are 10 single-digit numbers that have individual meanings when they stand alone, but when it comes to Curse-Breaking, we have to pay attention to compound numbers." Something that after the chaldean method last term, they'd surely get now, right?
"But instead of us learning the parts of spell numerization like some of you remember from a few years ago, we're going to discuss another, more basic form of curse-breaking which comes in the form of solving cryptograms!" Hadley explained, glad things were moving along finally. "Cryptograms are important to curse-breaking too, which is because .... well, first, what is a cryptogram?"
He had already scribbled down the incantation, so he simply circled it when his aunt indicated it was correct. Then, underneath, he wrote COMPOUND NUMBERS. But...
Why is she talking about cryptograms? I want to see some curse breaking! The first year was unsettled by this. She was fooling him and he didn't like it.
Text Cut: Hadley #2
Quote:
Originally Posted by
PumpkinRising "Not pieces of puzzles, but technically a cryptogram is a puzzle itself," Hadley nodded. Well that was true too, in the broadest of perspectives. "I'd buy that, yes. Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, even Divination. Anything that involves interpreting patterns of some sort, is indeed a cryptogram." "Cryptograms are definitely used by Military services! And props to you for mentioning its use in history!" Yay for random history knowledge of events that happened decades ago. "So there's a few things to keep in mind when solving cryptic messages, which include to pay attention to how common letters or symbols occur. One letter words. Sentence structure."
"I have books available for you to borrow on more expansive history of Cryptograms, as well as more details and hints on solving them, but for now, I have one for you."
Hadley flicked her wand as the following appeared on the board:
XOBWEIXSDZ DXS CQ AOXDWBDXP!
"Write it down in your notes as you work through solving it and let me know when you get it. A hint to get you started is that the D in the puzzle equals C."
Wait.
Did she just say.. props? As in, his Auntie Faith? He put his hand over his eyes and sunk a bit lower in his seat. How embarrassing.
But thankfully it appeared that hardly any students had noticed.
Ooo, research books! He would definitely see if he could snag one after the lesson was over. But for now, it was time to try to solve this cypher!
His first step was to copy the text into his notes. Then, he wrote D-->C and replaced each D with a C.
Er... now what?
He stared at his parchment, the ink constantly shifting colors. Slightly distracting...
Focus! What do you know about Aunt Fina? She would probably make this about Arithmancy, no? He counted the letters in the words.
Well, Arithmancy fits for the first word, plus the D goes to C clue works. Where does that leave me with the rest?
He filled in the rest of what he could based on the letters in the first word.
Well, that last word has to be 'practical,' I think. Auntie is always harping on about how her topic is useful in the real word, not just some abstract theory. He filled in the P and L.
And.. the only word that fits in the last spot... It's 'be,' I think. Yeah, and that Q isn't used anywhere else, so it has to be the vowel E, O, or U!
He wrote the word above the symbol CQ. "
Done!" he exclaimed excitedly, circling the answer and putting his quill down. So what if he hadn't done it the way he was supposed to? She hadn't given them rules, right?