Blaylock paused to think about the question, "Well, not really, no, but if you must do it a certain way, I think you should do it clockwise."

She looked into her teacup and raised an eyebrow at what she thought she saw in the clumps of tea leaves. With a small smile, she looked back up to the students, "Now...here comes the exciting bit: We try to identify the symbols in the wet lumps of tea leaves!"

She chuckled before she went on, "According to our textbook, you should start reading the symbols at the handle and go clockwise from there. Also, we will go from the rim of the cup to the base."

She picked up a quill she'd placed on the small table beside her armchair and noted something down, "Jot down the symbols you see in the order I told you to read them."

OOC: Lol, this is the best part...be creative with what you see. And make fun of the symbols ala Ron Weasley if you want to. Have some fun at this part of the class.

Joe looked down at her cup. She bit her lip trying to see some kind of symbols. She took out her rainbow ink and her quill and started to write down the symbols as she muttered them to herself.

"Ancor..." She first said to herself as she wrote it down. Joe looked at her cup and tried to see the next symbol which looked like a cat "Cat... Leaf... and a..." It was defently a symbol but she didn't really know what it could be. "Maybe a beetle or something." She wrote down bug.

Joe looked down at her piece of paper now with random words it seemed to be written on them. Ancor,Cat, Leaf, Bug, Nail, Heart.

She took out her book and hoped it would make some sense.

Katelyn tilted her head to the side. She saw...a falcon. Hmph, she flipped through the pages in her book.
"A deadly enemy? Well, i know grandfather has many of those," she said, rolling her eyes. Then, she turned the cup around again, and saw...a cross. "Trials and suffering...well no duh, hes a werewolf now!" she said, clicking her tongue impatiently. She could have figured this out herself. Then, she saw a sun?!?! "Great happiness? What?!?!" she asked out loud, actually laughing. People were starting to stare, so she quickly stopped, and scribbled down the symbols. She was greatly confused.

Ponessa nodded and scribbled it down. She swirled the remaining tea and turned it onto her saucer.
She lifted the cup and peered down into it. She began to write down the symbols in a particular order: She chuckled as she scribbled, hoping the symbols were what she thought they were and looked them up in her book. The cane meant that it would be hard. The hat meant that I would want to cover it up. The lightning meant, roughtly, that it would be quick. The knot, she found odd. According to the book, the knot meant it would help the situation. She took confidence in this, but doubted herself, as she thought of not going through with it. She gave herself a soft smile and put her cup down.

Belle blinked and looked down in her cup. "Uhhmm...okay. There's a Bell looking thing, a..bear..I think, a cat, and a...heart?" She shrugged and wrote down the symbols. She put her cup down and opened her book.

Kimberly looked through her wet clump "well that looks like a chair, no more like a bird-yes a bird" glancing through her book she thought "well I hope this means I learn how to fly or something..."she scribbled it down and then continued looking "wow this looks like a marshmellow, come to think of it I do feel a bit peaky-hopefully this stands for a great dessert in my future" she giggled to herself and kept looking.

Qaz was supprised by Katelyns outburst, as she was usually very quiet. 'Did you find something good in yours? Mine has me a bit stumped.'

Katelyn put down her quill, and pondered her symbols. The 'cup' hadnt really answered her question. But she wondered how she got happiness out of trials and suffering? The thought made her laugh even more. She looked over at Qaz and Ponessa and smiled. "Stumped? Mine makes no sense whatsoever! Thats why im laughing..." she replied to Qaz

Sam looked at the Professor and looked at his teacup as he picked up his quill. With a flick of his wrist, he had his textbook open and a foot of parchment before him. Dull work. Sam cocked an eyebrow and squinted at the tea leaves. Nothing. He moved in close until his nose was almost inside his cup, he still couldn't work it out. From afar he couldn't separate the clumps of tea leaves into images.

Sam slumped onto the table he was sitting at, massaging his temples. Then suddenly he saw something, a pig? What? He thought staring at the small ball that resembled a snout. Quickly Sam grabbed his quill and noted down: a pig-like snout.

With new enthusiasm, Sam stared at the next tea clump. A broom, a Chimaera, a turtle, a...a butterfly? Sam looked again. A butterfly! Now he felt more like a girl! Sam continued with his searching finding only a flat area that resembled pizza. Sam smirked at the teacup.

Blaylock walked around the classroom, occasionally stopping at some tables to check on a student's progress. "Remember," she said, "It does not matter that what you see to be a bird may look like a spoon to someone else."

She chuckled, "The identification of symbols is a highly subjective process. It's very personal, so don't worry that we may see different things when we look at the same spot."

She made her way back to her spot and called for the students' attention, "Now that I believe you have identified most of the symbols, we should begin the final step of tea-leaf reading: creating the tea-leaf reading."

"Turn to page one hundred and sixty seven of your textbook for the directory of tea leaf symbols and jot down the meaning of the symbols you've identified."

Joe looked at her list and then started to write down what she read in her book. Anchor: Voyage, rest, a lucky sign, Success in business and love. She smiled to herself and felt a bit hopeful. Cat: Wisdom, intellectualism, aloofness, difficulties caused by treachery. She would lie, that one made her a bit uneasy.

She had relaized that she quickly mistaken the leaf shape for an actual leaf. Joe chuckled to herself as she saw a wolf and searched that up. Wolf: beware of jealous intrigues. Spider: Very good fortune, cunning, secrecy, hidden things, a sign of money coming. She too mistkaed that one. Nail: Pain, anguish. That one too made her nervous but then she was quickly happy again. Heart: Love, pleasures to come

Daphne looked into her teacup. Her father hated this class, and joked with her prior to Hogwarts about being creative. Daphne didn't know what to think about it, but gazing into her tea cup, she was beginning to understand her father's advice.

All she saw were clumps of soggy tea leaves, certainly no ominous omens. She saw a stringy sort of clump, and wrote down on her parchment "Worms..." but couldn't figure any meaning to it. "possible signs of rain..." she added, using her creativity. Next to the worm shape was a wonky-shaped thing. "Socks..." she wrote, then paused. She twirled her quill trying to figure out a way to relate worms to socks. She looked over to some of the other students to see if they were doing any better.

Belle flipped to the right page in the book and started jotting down the meanings of the symbols.

As soon as she was done, she set her quill down and looked back up at the professor.

Qaz turned to the page in the text as the instructor had instructed. Neither the mug or pipe were listed in this text. Back to the cup. She turned it Anti-clockwise a quarter turn again, and peered in the cup. The Mug turned into a Purse....the pipe now looked like like an axe. She went back to the text again. Purse...that signified money....Axe...You have the power to overcome difficulties. Money certainly sounded good, but she'd rather not have any difficulties at all. Nice to know that she could over come them, though. She smiled to herself.

She turned to Katelyn and asked 'Having better luck?'

Sam looked at his textbook, flipping through the pages, trying to find everything. Soon enough, Sam had a list in front of him that read:

PIG - a greedy or jealous person.
BROOM - new home; new era in your life.
Chimaera- ?
TORTOISE OR TURTLE - lasting success through slow, determined and patient efforts.
BUTTERFLY - overdue happiness.

Sam was baffled. What was all of it supposed to mean? And he couldn't even find what a Chimaera stood for. Sam raised his hand and asked the professor, "Urm, professor...What does a Chimaera stand for?" and he waited for the answer while he worked out the rest in his head.

Blaylock walked over to the baffled looking boy and looked down at what he'd jotted down. The corners of her mouth twitched slightly as she fought back the uncharacteristic giggle, "Well, dearling, the Chimaera represents the triumph of good over evil..."

She blinked before taking a step back to give the boy a good look, "Just what is tickling your mind, young man?"

Mystie looked down in her cup, first all she say is lines and blobs. She looked at it for a bit. It looked like to her the Japanese symbols of the word cat, kanji of mountain and snake or serpent. So she took note of what she saw.

Katelyn frowned when she looked up the bird...it was a crow. Ill omen...she began to worry about her grandfather. She made a mental note to write to him as soon as possible. Next, she looked up the cross. Another warning.
"Jeeze, things arent looking good for him," she muttered to herself, and scribbled down the meaning. Next, the sun.
"New beginning? Not looking forward to this..." she muttered to herself, frowning. She turned to Qaz. "No, not much luck. Future looks pretty bad," she said, pointing to her paper. "My grandfathers, not mine. I asked how he would do," she explained, and tucked some hair behind her ear.

Sam was trying to read the expression on the professor's face when she explained the sign. Sam quickly updated his list with the words and he cocked an eyebrow as the professor asked a question which seemed almost accusing him of something. "Quidditch," he said honestly to the professor and a cloud came up over his face. "Oh! You think-?!" Sam exclaimed and he became nervous. "It's not anything like that! Just quidditch!" Sam said quickly, his eyes letting on how much he was panicking.

Qaz knew how much Katelyn loved her Grandfather. 'Maybe if you tried turning your cup. I had to do two quarter turns before mine made any sense.' She hoped that she sounded reassuring.

Mystie now looked up what these meant and wrote it all down.

Quote:

CAT - deceit; an untrustworthy friend.
MOUNTAIN - a difficult, but possible, goal.
SNAKE - someone who does not deserve your trust.

Ponessa looked over to Katelyn, "I'm sure he'll be alright." She tried to comfort her before turning back to her notebook. "I find divination quite facinating." She was unsure just who she was talking to, and wrote as she talked, "Yet, it is quite strange, I must admit. Even to those who take heed to every potential sign, still," She shifted in her chair, "When one asks, sometimes they tell about themselves more than they wish to expose." She looked up and shook her head slightly, "But facinating nonetheless."

Katelyn still looked worried.
"Im going to write to him as soon as possible..." she said, biting her lip. She almost had the urge to start writing to him, but decided against it.

Blaylock chuckled and waved the boy's worries away, "Now, now, there's no need to panic, child. It was merely an innocent question." She winked before turning back to the rest of the class.

"Now, I thank you all for showing up and co-operating today, students, but I believe it is time for lunch." She looked at her watch, noticing that she'd kept the students a few minutes longer than their timetable required.

"Your homework will be posted on the announcement boards in the next few days. Class dismissed."

She waved her wand to clear the teapots and cups away, leaving the class spotless.

OOC: I know it seems rushed, but we've already run through the steps of tea leaf reading and it's 5 am for me. lol

Katelyn jumped at the sound of the professor's voice, and quickly put her tea cup back on the shelf. She packed up her books, and swung her bag over her shoulder.
"Im going to the owlry, Qaz, Ponessa, see you around," she said softly before running out to go write a letter to her grandfather.