Angel wasn't sure of her answer but she gave it a shot. "There are three sources on divination that give vague descriptions to runes. They are Tacitus' Germania, Snorri Sturluson's Ynglinga saga and Rimbert's Vita Ansgari. No one is sure though if they have anything in common. Are any of us even close Professor?" Angel asked.

Jordana raised her hand, "Professor, isn't writing something in runes a spell in itself? Because you are bringing the statement into concrete reality. A way of using the runes for magic is to write out rune rows, or rune scripts." she was probably wrong but it didn't matter, she was there to learn.

"Don't you need to figure out what it means first?" Jackie asked. She had been sitting in the back of the classroom, "Something bad is likely to happen if you don't translate it correctly." she said, pretty sure it was a good answer

Ariana put her head on the desk and groaned. She knew she had been dead wrong, she felt liek a fool for even trying. She was better at DADA and Diviniation then anything. She sighed and put her head back up, waiting patiently.

Kay had no idea what the correct answer was, so she poised her quill over her notebook and prepared to write the answer down when it was given.

Alicia writ these notes down in her notebook, then pen poised she raised her hand "Runes, are a mixture of Ancient symbols, Heirogliphs and texts, a single, or a group of them forms clues, and Ancient History" Alicia said, hoping that it was correct.

"you may have to do a ritual.i've seen someone trace runes on a floor with chalk ,light candles and say a sort of chant." eliza said,remembering the time she saw that,it sent shivers up her spine.

"Yes, all of the above are required--casting a spell on runes written or engraved on a surface, such as wood or stone--and then an incantation. Five points each to all of you."



"Not necessarily, but it would enhance the effect. What you write or carve the runes on usually depends on how long you want the spell to last. For example, the entrance to Platform 9 3/4 relies somewhat on runes carved in stone around the entrace, though you normally can't see them as you pass through."







"Well, what you've described is how runes are used for Divination purposes, which case the runes do not necessarily have to be spelled--however, they must be carved on a specific medium and undergo a certain ritual to ready them for Divination use. I suggest you refer to the Divination Professor for more information on that.



"Yes and no--five points for bringing this up. As far as we know Muggles used the runic script to write messages, and those have no magical value whatsoever. Only a few samples of runic writing have been found to have some magical connotation to them, but, as they were made hundreds of years ago, the magic they contained has faded. Activating runes is done differently, depending on the wizard or witch, and so attempting to re-activate another wizard's runic script is not advisable unless you really know what you're doing. Otherwise, there might be a magical misfire."



Professor Opteryx nodded. "That's why Ancient Runes is a difficult subject to master and put into practice. The more runes a runic script or rune string contains, the more complicated it is to translate it as the runes will work to change or cancel out each other. You can think of it like brewing a potion--the more ingredients there are in the cauldron and the more steps there are, the more complex the potion is and the chance of failure increases."

"So," he said, after a pause as students scribbled down notes, "Are there any questions before we move on to a small activity?"

Sean nodded his head and waited for the professor to continue.

Kay shook her head that she had no questions and prepared for the activity.

Jewil looked around. She really didn't understand but she would write everything down and study her notes and if she still dident understand she would ask. She was ready for the small activity what ever it was.

Siriana wrote on her parchment everything that was said by the Professor and her classmates. She was happy Ravens earned some points and more happy her friend Jordana did. She was listening attentively, having no idea about Ancient Runes it sounded fascinating to her.

Cassandra was so pleased with herself. She was gaining house points! She pulled her book out of her bag and listened.

Rose sat back absorbing every word. In muggle school she was always eager to respond and was always correct. Here she found herself a metaphorical fish out of water. What used to come easily took a little more effort, and Rose was not used to effort. Instead she just tried her best to keep up with the topics and lessons and classes.

Nicole was pretty sure she understood this, but it was a bit confusing. She decided to look over her notes again when the class was over. She owuld probably need to, anyway.

"There are a few materials that are commonly used--usually wood or stone, though sometimes clay or crystal is used. For divination purposes, wood is usually preferred--wood from windfall branches, specifically, and not wood cut straight from a living tree. Also, runes have been found carved on the blades of weapons, possibly to infuse magical power into it. There are also incidences of runes being drawn on the ground in a circle with a wizard's wand, however I haven't seen one of those myself."

Prancie nodded, "Thank you."

Kay raised her hand slowly and ventured, "What kind of activity will we be doing, Professor?"

Jewil looked at the girl who had asked the qusition thinking. 'that girl is brave I would of never been able to ask that qustion and not get in troble with my luck.' She smiled at the girl and turnded back to the prof waiting for the answer.

Nate found this class fascinating; he looked up from his notes as he heard a girl ask 'What kind of activity will be be doing professor?'. He was very anxious to hear the Professor's reply.

"Something fairly simple. Everyone take out a piece of parchment and write your first name on it." Professor Opteryx turned to the blackboard and did the same:

Quote:

ZEPHYR

"Once you've done that, look through your textbook for the conversion chart (ooc: http://www.runemaker.com/bindrune.shtml ) and convert your name into runic script (ooc: The runes are here.) Make note of the names of the runes as you do so. Once everyone's done that, we'll move on to the next step."

Quote:

Z http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g1..._runes/alg.gif E http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g1..._runes/ehw.gif P http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g1..._runes/per.gif H http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g1..._runes/hag.gif Y http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g1..._runes/ihw.gif R http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g1..._runes/rad.gif