As the first set of hands began to rise, Calvin's gaze momentarily fell on those who'd been silent during the last round of questioning. He was taking mental notes, even as he listened to the Hufflepuff Captain offer her input. As it turned out, he didn't hate her answer. On the contrary. "You're perfectly right, Ms. Macindoe. Practices and materials do differ depending on what part of the world you happen to be in but it doesn't change the fact that the fire will need to be sustained." He nodded his approval.

"I like that you've also mentioned it doesn't have to be a purely physical source of fuel." The man hoped the others were still diligently taking notes. "Depending on the sort of fire you're tending and the purpose of the session, the diviner's intent may be one of the most crucial element."



Ah, one of those that had been silent on the last question. It was wise of her to choose to speak up. "Mostly correct." He said, pleased to know some of them at least had gotten through the readings. "One picture standing out more than the others is the expected outcome, it's the prophecy of the future you are trying to uncover. If no such image appears, the session ends and another begins in another 24 hours. That's common place. It's having the coals themselves glow that brings the good fortune."

A point it sounded like the Head Girl was bringing up.



Calvin nodded, turning now to face the blonde who was essentially reiterating what he'd just explained to the young Gryffindor. "Yes, glowing coals as the pyromancy session draws to a close is known to bring good fortune." For all the trouble he thought he'd get out of her, at least she was keeping up with the lesson and not one of the reasons he'd need a a potion by the end of the night.



He may have pointed out that not having an opinion--something that came quite naturally to most even without much thought meant her brain was, in fact, not functioning to its full ability but her next statement side tracked him completely.

First of all, this was the second question this one wasn't answering and it didn't bode well for her. Second, "At some point in your life, Ms. Calavarez, I suggest you invest in a dictionary. Ignorance, by definition, is a lack of knowledge. Not being educated in the ways of magic, being none the wiser to the fact it exists does imply that muggles do lack knowledge--on this particular topic. So yes, I can call them ignorant where magic is concerned and their portrayal of it. As you're so passionate about it, I would like a 2000 word essay, handed in by the end of this week on ignorance, why it applies to muggles and its impact on muggle society and culture. You will hand it in no later than midday, on Friday." If she knew what was good for you. "Now I suggest you stick to the topics actually being discussed unless you'd like another essay."



While the answer (inappropriate to the topic as it was) could've fit in with the first question, it had nothing to do with the question he'd just asked. The man's eyes narrowed dangerously. Mr. Carden had remained silent through the first and had now set out to provoke him. "Are you intentionally trying my patience, Mr. Carden? I wouldn't recommend it. The question was on the practices, elements and methods of pyromancy. The time for silly stories is passed." In case he hadn't noticed.

"Go ahead. Keep it up. You're working for it." He continued, none at all impressed. First the lack of greeting then the refusal to answer and now jabbering on about nonsense as a means of distracting others from the topic.

These student leaders were something else.



He would need to calm down again. Calvin took a small breath before turning to the next student. "Very good, Ms. Swann. There is, indeed, a method that involves the burning of laurel leaves." Just breathe, Calvin.



He stared at Dorian, expecting an answer as he'd raised his hand. In truth, he'd have expected one even if he hadn't lifted his hand. Surely the boy had heard the warnings he gave to those who'd been silent during the last round. "I suggest you find something to say, Mr. Katharos."



.............................."Alright. Sure." He conceded, unwilling to make an issue out of the girl stating the painfully obvious. "You're correct, Ms. Newton. It would be good practice to not have yourself become too integrated in the session. That would throw off your concentration and there's no telling what sort of reading you would end up with."

It was an answer and it wasn't inherently wrong. He was ready to move on. It was important to know how to choose your battles--something some of these students had yet to learn.



"Yes, very good." After Ms. Newton's response, the man felt like he would take whatever he could get. The fact this wasn't SUCH obvious knowledge was enough for him.




"Another good point." He said for the benefit of those who may have been more selective with their note taking. "Eagerness is to the avoided. Not only can it be dangerous when working with fire, but it can also interfered with the accuracy of the reading."

He had no worries these students would get themselves burned tonight....but if he was honest, he wasn't expecting much from their readings either.



This one....this student here. If there was a golden ticket, he would've won it. "An even better point." Than the one Ms. Chosen had made. "A clear mind is crucial no matter the form of divination you are practising." This was one of several reasons for his rule on not being a disruption during lessons. The divine arts required absolute concentration.

"One way to achieve this is through meditation. Training the mind. This of course calls for a certain level of discipline as well." In case that escaped many of them.

Hopefully they'd written that down.



While he didn't blame the boy's silence--why risk saying something stupid twice?--he didn't agree with it. Calvin gave the boy a hard look. "You are here to participate in the lesson, Mr. Choi, not sit there warming the log til it's time to head back inside."

Sitting there blankly would not be doing him any favours.



It was a shame, a real shame. What was the shame might you ask? The Gryffindor had finally said something intelligent...and she was ruining it all with her actions.

Calvin scowled as she rose from her seat. He said sit. She decided to stand. An open act of defiance; a growing trend tonight it seemed.

The man took a small breath, willing himself to remain as calm as he'd been before she too decided to test his patience. "Sit down, Ms. Spinnet. I'll only ask you this one time." There was something in his tone.....something that spoke to action he was prepared to take but for now, he would allow her to redeem herself.



Still trying to remain calm in the wake of the Gryffindor, Calvin nodded at the young Slytherin, having heard perhaps only half of what she said. Thankfully, what he did hear sounded solid in his book leaving him no further reason to be worked up. "Very good, Ms. Blackwell."

He could only assume that all of her answer made the same amount of sense as the portion he'd heard.



Fine.

Another one he would accept.

Calvin could tell the boy was still somewhat shaken but was pleased to see he'd attempted at all. "More or less....yes. That's the basic gist of it. An object is burned, symbols deciphered, future uncovered." He could've berated him for stating the obvious but having let Ms. Newton's answer slide, there really was no reason to keep pressuring this first year. He nodded. "Good."



Hufflepuff again. Calvin wiped his face as the boy took a seat on the log, finding his patience nowhere near where it had been when he'd first walked down to the lake to prepare for the lesson. Forget that he hadn't answered the question, his head was likely full of nothing but hot air with the way he was behaving tonight.

"Are you hard of hearing or difficult to instruct?" He asked through gritted teeth. "I said you were to REMAIN standing for the DURATION of the lesson and you plop your bum down on a log like you own the place? 5 points from HUfflepuff, I want another 25 push ups. When you're done, you will remain on your feet. I won't be telling you a third time."



"Correct." He said, almost too quickly. The man was still coming down from the agitation Mr. Prichard had brought on, and it may have left his tone a little more gruff than he intended but he did nod at the girl after another moment. "Good." Even if he was no longer feeling good.



He nodded to this student too. By this point, the man was in real danger of getting whiplash from the behaviour of the students in his lesson. One minute they were answering questions and behaving how they should, they next they were forcing his hand.

He was going straight to bed when this was over.

"Very good, Ms. Primeaux. Thank you for the example."



While some of her points had already been touched upon, Calvin nodded along all the same while the first year rattled off her answer. One point did stand out for him however, and he would make note of it for the benefit of the note takers.

"A good point, Ms. Destler. If no image can be seen, it does become necessary to begin a new session at a later point."



It took a bit more breathing but the man finally found himself calming down by some degree. "Yes, Ms. Livingston, there does exist a form of pyromancy that involves the flames of a candle." He was almost sure someone had mentioned something about candles earlier but right now he couldn't be sure about anything. "I confess I'm not familiar with that particular practice," The card and flames, "but I can look into it at another time."



For now, it seemed he would be busy taking care of the escalating Hufflepuff problem. They were working hard to shake those stereotypes tonight.

"That ultimately doesn't affect anything." He replied, his tone flat and quite frankly over this boy. "I am the Professor in this setting. The fact she chose to listen to her Prefect over the actual Professor speaks to poor decision making on her part. Just as she chose to sit, she could've chosen to ignore your negative influence and remain standing as the rest of the class was." She had eyes, she could've seen for herself that they were frankly the only two around the entire fire sitting, so no, he would not accept this attempt at martyrdom.

But it was the next sentence that really took the cake.

It took him several silent moments in which he played the boy's words over and over in his head. The man had had it up to here. Running further than instructed to, sitting when he wasn't instructed to, causing others to follow and now this.

Some example he was setting. First Years present, all seeing that it's entirely okay to just mouth off to a Professor. The cheeky gall of this one. "Hand over your badge." His words were delivered with an icy chill to them. "I will be having words with your Head of House about your behaviour and your inability to set a good example for those you were asked to help lead. Not another peep, unless it relates specifically to the task at hand. You will stop disrupting my lesson or you will be asked to leave."



After dealing with the Hufflepuff Ex-Prefect, Calvin felt he had very little patience left which wouldn't go over well for the young girl.

"Have you suddenly forgotten how to speak?" He demanded.



Like Ms. Macindoe, Mr. Dooley also had an example from another part of the world. Professor Fletcher nodded. "It is interesting how something like that works out, yes. These are trained seers with years of experience under their belt. Many of them do possess the sight and there is some amount of discussion about the images they see before a name is agreed on."

Certain things did require consensus.



But this right here was what he was talking about. The Hufflepuffs were on a ROLL.

"Oh for the love of Merlin." Calvin stood stiffly watching the girl create her own scene on the ground, not bothering to hide the roll of his eyes. All the people doing push ups and she has to decide it's the end of the bloody world. He really would be needing a word with Noble. This was getting out of hand. "Hurry it up or you'll have another set of 25, Ms. Goodman." He said sternly. Her tears would not sway him in the slightest. "And you will complete them here or in detention. That choice I leave to you. Pull yourself together and stop this unseemly behaviour. You are not the only one to have been asked to do push ups and you're making a rather large spectacle of yourself." Drama Queen. "Circe, even the first years did this without fuss."

This was disrupting his lesson and that was a clear violation of the rules. In its own right, it deserved another set of punishment but he would settle for her composing herself and getting it over without before he had to take further action.



This was yet another disruption. Calvin's head whipped around in the direction of....OF COURSE it was another Hufflepuff. Of. Course. Ms. Calrissian had effectively pulled his attention away from the dramatic Ms. Goodman with her sudden outburst.

If he had hair he'd been pulling on it by now.

"Up, Ms. Calrissian. You will begin running the perimeter of this class until I tell you to stop. Outbursts are not allowed in my class."



His scowl transferred next to the young Ravenclaw, finding he no longer had the patience for obvious answers.

"Don't you think, Mr. Park, that in the time it took you to spout all that, you could have just given information about a specific branch of pyromancy?" Circe, the boy went on about there being different kinds and the practices being different depending on which was done. Well. DUH. Did he actually plan to contribute to the discussion or not?



Her answer, while also obvious, was not quite so painfully obvious and vague as Mr. Park's had been, so the man decides to accept it. "Yes, it would do you a world of good to ensure the right safety measures are in place before you begin any sort of work with fire. It can not only save you having to begin the session again but a lot more in the long run."