"Mmmhmm..." She really was trying to pay attention, but it was starting to sound like a third-rate punk rock band was warming up in her head. Pressing a hand to her temple, Professor Blaylock quickly went on to the next question she had prepared. Best to just finish the lesson as quickly as possible, that way she could take a potion or something to get rid of this incessant pounding.

"There are four categories in the study of divination, can anyone tell me what those categories are?" She asked, looking around at the students and hoping that they did not notice anything was wrong.

"Umm, omens, cleromancy, augury and spontaneous," Excelsior said. He was a little concerned, the professor did not look well at all.

Ryan noticed that something was wrong with the Professor, who seemed eager to carry on with the lesson and quickly. Ryan decided to hazard a guess.
'Erm...tea-leaf reading, fortunetelling, Astrology and the "Real Thing"?' she asked, shrugging her shoulders.

"Yes, that's correct. Take 2 points."


"Not quite, dear...those are methods of divination which fall under the different categories that Mr. Black mentioned."

Giving herself a mental shake, she sat up straighter, "So it's all well and good that you know the categories...but what exactly does the Omens category apply to?"

"The four categories of divination are Omens; Cleromancy, which is also Sortilege; Augury; and Spontaneous. However, there are forms of divination with the spontaneous category, which include reading auras and New Age methods." Amelia responded rather clearly, but hesitantly, as she noticed the Professor did not look well at all. "Er, Professor? Would you like me to get you some medication or something? You don't look well at all."

"Well, it's simply the recording of sequences of unusual or important events. It's actually the most basic form of Divination," Excelsior answered.

The Professor really didn't look well, she looked like her mind wasn't really on her subject and like she was experiencing some great personal ordeal. Excelsior sensed that it had something to do with all the problems which had been happening at Hogwarts lately.

"An omen, or portent, is a phenomenon that is believed to foretell the future, often signifying the advent of change.Interpretation of omens and prophetic signs is a form of divination.Omens may be considered "good" or "bad", but the term is more often used in a foreboding sense, as with the word "ominous".In the field of astrology, solar and lunar eclipses (along with the appearance of comets and to some extent the Full Moon) have often been considered omens of notable births, deaths, or other significant events throughout history in many societies".



.

Amelia quickly realized she had responded to the previous question a bit too late, and took the opportunity to respond to the next question as quickly as possible. "The omen category refers to the most primitive and clumsy, but enduring method, which is the simple recording of sequences of unusual or important events. Chinese history offers scrupulously documented occurrences of strange births, the tracking of natural phenomena, and other data."

"Yes, you're both correct. Take 2 points each."

Natasha shook her head and smiled softly at the students, "Don't worry, dearlings, it's nothing I can't live with. Best thing to do is just muddle through it."

"So we've covered Omens...What about the other 3 categories? Who can explain what Sortilege, Augury and Spontaneous divination are?"

Excelsior took a breath. "Sortilage, or cleromancy, consists of the casting of lots whether with sticks, stones, bones, beans, or some other item. Modern playing cards and board games developed from this type of divination.

Augury is Divination that ranks a set of given possibilities. It can be qualitative (such as shapes, proximities, etc.): for example, dowsing (a form of rhabdomancy) developed from this type of divination. The Romans in classical times used Etruscan methods of augury such as hepatoscopy (actually a form of extispicy). Haruspices examined the livers of sacrificed animals.

Spontaneous is an unconstrained form of divination, free from any particular medium, and actually a generalization of all types of divination. The answer comes from whatever object the diviner happens to see or hear. Some Christians and members of other religions use a form of bibliomancy: they ask a question, riffle the pages of their holy book, and take as their answer the first passage their eyes light upon. The Bible itself expresses mixed opinions on divination; see e.g. Cleromancy.

Other forms of spontaneous divination include reading auras and New Age methods of Feng Shui such as "intuitive" and Fuzion."

Excelsior finished, relieved to have finished that mouthful.

"Sortilege (cleromancy). This consists of the casting of lots whether with sticks, stones, bones, beans, or some other item. Modern playing cards and board games developed from this type of divination.
Augury. Divination that ranks a set of given possibilities. It can be qualitative (such as shapes, proximities, etc.): for example, dowsing (a form of rhabdomancy) developed from this type of divination. The Romans in classical times used Etruscan methods of augury such as hepatoscopy (actually a form of extispicy). Haruspices examined the livers of sacrificed animals.
Spontaneous. An unconstrained form of divination, free from any particular medium, and actually a generalization of all types of divination. The answer comes from whatever object the diviner happens to see or hear. Some Christians and members of other religions use a form of bibliomancy."Ray explained.

Amelia frowned slightly for the professor ignoring her response, but just shook it off and ruffled through her textbook to answer the question about the other three categories. She raised her hand and spoke clearly and somewhat softer than usual, "Sortilege consists of the casting of lots whether with sticks, stones, bones, beans, or some other item. Modern playing cards and board games developed from this type of divination. Augury is a form that ranks a set of given possibilities. It can be qualitative such as shapes or proximities; for example, dowsing, a form of rhabdomancy, developed from this type of divination. The Romans in classical times used Etruscan methods of augury such as hepatoscopy. Haruspices examined the livers of sacrificed animals.

The final form, spontaneous, is an unconstrained form of divination, free from any particular medium, and actually a generalization of all types of divination. The answer comes from whatever object the diviner happens to see or hear."

Ryan raised her hand, her eyes narrowed in confusion.
'Professor, I thought an Augury was a type of magical creature....' she mused, yawning widely. She seriously needed to sleep.

Finally a real smile was seen on the Professor's face at the student's keen answers. "Indeed! Take 2 points each, dearies and with that...you've brought us to the next part of our lesson."

"We will be studying Bibliomancy today. I remember teaching this method a few years ago, and the students had quite a lot of fun with it. Mr. Black has already mentioned what Bibliomancy is, but allow me to repeat it."

She cleared her throat a bit, wishing that she had a cup of tea but not daring to conjure one up. Not after what had happened during the last lesson.

"Bibliomancy is the use of books for divination. It's often lumped together with Stichomancy and Libromancy, which is a form of divination that seeks to know the future by randomly selecting a passage from a text."

Ray smiled he was kine to study this branch of Divination. "Cool" He said to the professor, "Professor when you say Stichomancy do you mean Libromancy do you mean to seek the knowlege of the future by randomly selecting a passage from a book, frequently a sacred text? right?"

Excelsior was excited, he had never actually seen Bibliomancy done but was anxious to learn.

"Well, usually people use religious texts as they believe these books to hold all answers...but any type of book will do actually. Wouldn't you agree with me when I say that all books hold answers?"

She smiled at the students and gestured at the books surrounding her, "Bibliomancy is one of the easiest methods of divination, and it is also one of my favourites. There is very little to it, and it is very fun to do."

Picking up a random book from the pile (a classical novel) she grinned at the class, "Who has any idea how to do this? Before I explain the steps to you...anyone care to take a whack at it?"

"Yes me professor" Ray said.

"Very good." Natasha waved him over to where she sat so that the whole class could watch. "Well, Bibliomancy is easy enough. You just select a book at random, ask a question then balance the book on it's spine."

She set the book down on the table, balancing it on the spine, "Then you just let it fall open."

She did that, too, "And the final step is to choose a passage or sentence with your eyes closed. Just stop when you feel like it."

She closed her eyes, and ran her finger down the page, stopping about three quarters of the way down. "The sentence you chose is the answer to your question. It may not always make sense, but nothing is ever so simple."

"Now, why don't you all try it?"

That sounded pretty easy, Excelsior thought. He took out the book he had been reading and let it fall open on the table. Hesitantly, he closed his eyes and placed his finger on one of the pages of the book. He looked down to see what his fortune would be.

Okey Ray said after he picked a book from the teacher pile. He thought what to ask and it quickly came to him, "Is my Half-sister doing well?" He asked while balancing the book on his spine. He closed his eyes and let the book fall open, he pointed his finger on the page to the left and opened his eyes and read. "Health is what you seek and health is what you picked!"
"I think I got the answer I want I asked him if my sister was okey and this is what I have picked, I like this way of divination easy and typical" He said while adressing the professor.

"Let's try it another time...for those of you who didn't quite catch that." Natasha announced to the class. "Alright, so my question is...Will my headache go away soon?"

She chuckled as she selected a book and let it balance on it's spine and fall open. With her eyes closed, she ran a finger down the page and picked a passage.

"The answer according to this reading is...It seemed as if it would."

Smiling, Natasha put the book back down and stood up so she could go around and watch how the students were doing.


She stopped to pat the child's back lightly, "Yes, exactly. Divination shouldn't be difficult and filled with pomp. You can also do it as many times as you want very easily."

Excelsior tried again, asking the first question that came to mind. "Am I ever going to be able to prove myself to my parents?", he mused. He looked in astonishment at the sentence in the open book, "Things don't always work out as you want." Well, that figures, he thought.

Natasha walked around the classroom, looking over the students shoulders as they attempted to do a reading (ooc: really, just do this as many times as you want, or even just once...). It was quite a simple method, and she didn't expect anyone to have any problems with this one.

OOC: It's 3.30 am and I really need to get some sleep or else I'll end up drooling all over my laptop. I'm leaving the thread open for everyone to RP doing the reading. You may talk to each other while you're doing the reading, but please don't let me come back to 3 full pages of chatter. My character is still in the classroom, but I am not online, so don't get angry when I don't reply immediately.

Amelia nodded and pulled a random book out of her bag: The Tales of Beedle the Bard. She hadn't had a chance to read up on this subject, as she had borrowed a copy from the library for some light reading on wizarding fairy tales over the weekend.

Amelia whispered the question to the book, "Will Professor Rae ever see her kids again?" and then she balanced the book on its spine, and let it fall open. It fell to a page near the beginning of the book. She closed her eyes and her hand skimmed over the smooth pages, as it stopped about halfway down on the right page. She looked curiously at the line which her hand had stopped at.