Macadrian hadn't been expecting Saylie to come back with a clever comment, so when she did, Macadrian nearly choked on her cocoa from snorting into laughter. As she tried to regain control of her breathing, Shackleton levitated some peppermint extract to the table and added two drops to Saylie's mug. She then added two drops to her own and rested the extract on the table.

Once the cocoa was settled, Professor Shackleton asked curiously, "Are you studying Ancient Runes and Divination in addition to Arithmancy?"

Shackleton was pleased that Xana appeared to be satisfied with her explanation and was more pleased that Xana was becoming aware of the true benefits of Arithmancy. "You are understanding quite right! After all, what is the point of learning and studying anything if not for personal growth, right? Everything I get from the numbers, I apply to my conception of who I am now and who I want to become. I use the information as a guide to help me get to where I want to be and who I want to be. Personally, I find it a rather useful tool. Perhaps you will too as you advance your understanding and acceptance of the subject."

Xana smiled warmly at the professor, glad that at last she felt like she was understanding. "I appreciate this so much... I hope that I'll be able to comprehend it and use it as a tool much as you do. Thank you so much for your listening and for your wisdom, professor... If I run into further trouble or have questions, may I visit you again?"

Professor Shackleton blushed ever so slightly when Xana thanked her for her wisdom and replied with a smile, "You are very welcome. I'm very pleased that I've put your worries at ease. Your ability to think critically is an asset to you, important in critical thinking and problem solving. Make sure you foster that type of thinking because it will aid you in many areas of your life. And you should absolutely visit me again with any questions you may have. I'm more than happy to help."

"Thank you so much, Professor..." she smiled. "I'll be certain to do so, and I'm sure I'll visit you again soon-- this has been enlightening, and I really appreciate your time. I hope you have a wonderful afternoon... if you'll excuse me I have some numbers to calculate. For homework. Thank you!" She smiled as she rose and left.

Saylie nodded, "Yes, Professor. Ancient Runes is another favorite of mine, but Divination eludes me." Saylie knew that Divination would probably aid both Arithmancy and Ancient Runes, to be able to find a deeper meaning in both, but she couldn't see it. "Divination requires too much..." she paused, searching for the right word, "Too much...abstract." She didn't know if that made any sense; she was trying to convey the fact that Divination didn't seem to have a set pattern to follow. "To me it is as if it is all pulled from the air, open to complete interpretation with no founding in a solid base. Like every person could interpret it differently and they are all still correct. Does that make sense?" she added, hoping that it did.

Shackleton nodded. She had often heard this complaint about Divination before and understood it well. Her own sister felt the exact same way as Saylie, in fact, and dropped Divination after her OWLs in fifth year. Macadrian experienced the same resistance initially, but soon grew to enjoy Divination as a subject that challenged her mind to consider situations from various angles and perspectives, something which aided her understanding of Arithmancy significantly. She responded to Saylie, "Perhaps you just haven't found an area of Divination that truly suits you yet. There are so many methods beyond the usual Tarot, tea leaves, and crystal ball, many of which with strong roots and the solid foundation you seek. Everything from thunder and lightning to navels to old shoes! And actually, you seem to enjoy Floriography quite a bit and that's another area of Divination. I think you may just need to find your niche, and you may find that you enjoy Divination after all. And though it is a bit abstract, there are ways to make your understanding of such things concrete. You do it in Arithmancy any time you apply what our textbook says to your own life. You just need to find your own way to wrap your head around it."

Quote:

Originally Posted by lemondrop13

Shackleton nodded. She had often heard this complaint about Divination before and understood it well. Her own sister felt the exact same way as Saylie, in fact, and dropped Divination after her OWLs in fifth year. Macadrian experienced the same resistance initially, but soon grew to enjoy Divination as a subject that challenged her mind to consider situations from various angles and perspectives, something which aided her understanding of Arithmancy significantly. She responded to Saylie, "Perhaps you just haven't found an area of Divination that truly suits you yet. There are so many methods beyond the usual Tarot, tea leaves, and crystal ball, many of which with strong roots and the solid foundation you seek. Everything from thunder and lightning to navels to old shoes! And actually, you seem to enjoy Floriography quite a bit and that's another area of Divination. I think you may just need to find your niche, and you may find that you enjoy Divination after all. And though it is a bit abstract, there are ways to make your understanding of such things concrete. You do it in Arithmancy any time you apply what our textbook says to your own life. You just need to find your own way to wrap your head around it."

Saylie nodded, seeing that she had missed some areas of Divination, or at least she hadn't been exposed to them yet. "Florigraphy is a branch of Divination?" she asked, not expecting that. "You're right, I do truly enjoy that, but I've never connected it to Divination, I just always saw it as something separate. I think that is maybe because it isn't the most common branch of Divination, do you think so?"

Ray knocked at the door of the arithmancy class... He wanted to talk to everyone in the staff... He wanted to know what happened to Monica and Charlie. He entered the office.
"Hello professor, I'm Ray James Hufflepuff... And I was wondering if I can ask you a couple of questions?" Ray asked.

Professor Shackleton nodded and replied, "Indeed it is a branch of Divination and I suppose it is one of the less commonly used methods, when you compare it to tasseomancy and the others. Perhaps it might be beneficial for you to head up to the library and look for some texts on some of the lesser known methods that may strike your fancy. Perhaps you'll enjoy Divination more? It couldn't hurt, anyway!"

Professor Shackleton began to feel a bit light headed as she expressed her opinion to Saylie. As the room began to spin, Macadrian began to see bright spots and she became a bit nauseous. Taken by surprise by this sudden onset of illness, Shackleton apologized, "I'm sorry, Saylie, but I'm suddenly not feeling well. Perhaps we could meet up again at another time and discuss some areas of Divination that might suit you better. I think I need to rest." Shackleton stood slowly and waited there to gain her balance for a moment. She then realized that she couldn't focus and might not be able to walk. When she heard the knock on her door, Macadrian felt a sort of panic arise in her...

Shackleton turned to Saylie once more and asked, "Do you think that on your way out, you might explain to whoever is knocking on my door that I'm not well and that I'd like them to return at a later time. Thank you ever so much." Macadrian contemplated asking Saylie to either call the nurse or another staff member to her office, but decided against it. She didn't want to be of any trouble, especially when there were so many other issues of greater importance for the staff to deal with. She'd just relax where she sat for a bit until the lightheadedness and nausea passed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by lemondrop13

Professor Shackleton nodded and replied, "Indeed it is a branch of Divination and I suppose it is one of the less commonly used methods, when you compare it to tasseomancy and the others. Perhaps it might be beneficial for you to head up to the library and look for some texts on some of the lesser known methods that may strike your fancy. Perhaps you'll enjoy Divination more? It couldn't hurt, anyway!"

Professor Shackleton began to feel a bit light headed as she expressed her opinion to Saylie. As the room began to spin, Macadrian began to see bright spots and she became a bit nauseous. Taken by surprise by this sudden onset of illness, Shackleton apologized, "I'm sorry, Saylie, but I'm suddenly not feeling well. Perhaps we could meet up again at another time and discuss some areas of Divination that might suit you better. I think I need to rest." Shackleton stood slowly and waited there to gain her balance for a moment. She then realized that she couldn't focus and might not be able to walk. When she heard the knock on her door, Macadrian felt a sort of panic arise in her...



Shackleton turned to Saylie once more and asked, "Do you think that on your way out, you might explain to whoever is knocking on my door that I'm not well and that I'd like them to return at a later time. Thank you ever so much." Macadrian contemplated asking Saylie to either call the nurse or another staff member to her office, but decided against it. She didn't want to be of any trouble, especially when there were so many other issues of greater importance for the staff to deal with. She'd just relax where she sat for a bit until the lightheadedness and nausea passed.

Saylie watched as the professor paled and shook her head, "No, I have no problem meeting later...." She ran quickly over to the door where the boy stood, "Excuse me," she said, looking up at him, "Professor Shackleton is not well, you'll have to leave, she can't answer your questions now!" She ran back across the office and touched the professor's hand, "I'm not leaving you like this, I'm going to get the nurse! I'll be right back, don't move!"

Saylie didn't know what was wrong, but she'd never seen someone go from well to extremely sick in just the space of a few seconds, but as she burst out from the office, running as fast as her legs could carry her, she knew that something bad was happening.

Ariana had hurried with Casey towards the Professor's office. "Professor? What's going on?" She asked the woman curiously. A quick glance over told Ari that whatever it was that was ailing the woman, it didn't seem to be the same as whatever it was that was affecting the students.

Macadrian called out as Casey scrambled out the door, "No! That's really not necessary!" but it was too late. She apparently hadn't heard her because just a few short minutes later, she arrived with the nurse in her office. She glanced at Ariana and apologized, "I'm sorry you've had to come all this way. I didn't actually want to bother anyone with something so trivial when there is so much more important stuff going on right now. I'm sure you must have your hands full without needing to tend to my issues."

Macadrian glanced toward her watch and realized she was running out of time to plan her next lesson. Yet, she felt so weak and a bit irritated. She was hardly in the mood to do anything at that moment. Her blood sugar must have been getting low.

Fabian wasn't the type of person to follow on rumors, but when the news of Macadrian falling ill arrived to him, something made him come down to the second floor with a box of chocolate. Or maybe this was a good excuse to see her without peaking rumors of their own. He debated a few times along the way, and found himself turning around more than once.

He pushed the door open once he heard a few arguments breaking on the other end. of course, this was not his business, but when one of those voices belonged to Nurse Ariana, it stood to reason that he was within rights to walk into the office uninvited.

He cleared his throat.


"Everything alright?" he murmured looking back and forth between both staffers.

Amelia continued flying off with the panther still attached by her yellow tie, towards the Shackleton's office. Upon arriving at the door, she landed neatly and knocked thrice on the Arithmancy Professor's office door.

The sixth prayed that the woman would be in, but in the meantime, she held out one of her last sweets for the panther as a thank you for cooperating. And she patted the girl's head lovingly.


and I'm off to sleep now, so we'll finish this up later =)

Josh moved to stop in front of the door as he chuckled. who would of thought he would of been playing with a panther? Josh moved to his knees as he moved to pet the panther." Your pretty good." he told her with a smile. He had enjoyed his time with the animal. "i'll play with you more if you want."

The panther tilted her head to the side and looks at the male, how could something so familier slip her mind. She remembers his smell but she doesn't remember him? This was a creature she knew. The panther prodded him with her nose and her toungue fell out of her mouth like she was sticking her tongue out at him.

Josh tilted his head at the panther as it stuck its tongue out at him. at least thats what it looked like. strangely...he had a feeling that he knew this animal. he didnt quite know who but it reminded him of jai. She always stuck her tongue out at him. he bit his lip as he was sure it couldnt be her. even though she had whiskers ..but that would of been to easy. he smiled at the panther as he moved to kiss its head.he kept petting it as he grinned.

The panther purred a Josh and licked him. She pondered the possibility of being friends with the creature, he seemed harmless. She sat and looked at him looking at her. The panther poked him with her nose and stuck her tongue out again, that seemed to catch his attention.

Josh chuckled at the panther as he felt like the creature had a place in his heart already.. and he had only seen it for ten minutes or so. Josh moved to put a finger over his mouth as to say shh.. he then took off the collar on the panther. he pushed it playfully as he wanted to play."Rawr." he teased as he moved to push the panther again.

The panther felt the male pushing her and growling?, she lowered herself waiting, then she sprang up at him knocking him over. She didn't hover over him for too long so he could get up, she used her paw and hit him on the leg as gently as possible.

josh chuckled as he felt him hit the floor again. he moved to sit on his knees as he watched the creature. he then dived to tackled the animal as he started to wrestle with it. It would win in the end, but it was still fun. he hadnt acted crazy like this in awhile. he moved to roll on the floor trying to get the upper hand.

ooc:lmao.. this would be funny to see. -watches a boy wrestle a panther-

The panther rolled Josh on his back and used her paws to try and pin him, but he rolled from under her paws and was now ontop. She used her hind legs and kicked him gently away them tackled him to the floor pressing against his chest to try and keep him down.

Josh was pushed off by the panther as he moved to hit the floor again with her on top of him. He looked up at the panther as he had a smug look on his face. He moved to push up as he rolled away from her. he took off his outer robe and his shoes as it was getting in the way. he eyed the panther as they were two cubs playing to for the win. he sat there on his knees as he waited to see what she would do.

Rhiannon found Josh wrestling playfully with the panther in the hallway just outside Professor Shackleton's office, with Amelia not far off. Slipping partially into a alcove in one of the walls, she silently watched everyone for a few seconds, resisting the urge to say something in her annoyance at being forgotten. But as Josh kept playing around with the panther, she involuntarily let out a soft giggle. It was just so fascinating to watch the Slytherin that she often ended up dueling act like a little kid. Or a cat himself.

Macadrian spotted Fabian in the doorway and smiled softly. Despite the distance that they had maintained this term, Macadrian was glad he was here now. She replied kindly, "Everything is fine. One of my students called Nurse Numel but I'm really just fine. I'm just feeling a bit weak. I think my blood sugar is low is all. I just need something sugary and I'll probably be fine. I think I have one piece of candy left in my desk that might do the trick." Macadrian tried to get up from the chair, but immediately became dizzy. She grasped for the arm of the chair as the spots in front of her eyes subsided and once her vision was clear, she slowly began heading for her desk. About halfway there, Macadrian turned her head slowly to Fabian and encouraged, "You can step out of the doorway and close the door. It seems rather loud in the school as of late. Oh well, what brings you by to see me anyhow?"

Before Mac had even made it to the desk, she heard another knock on the door and called out in as loud a voice as she could muster with so little energy, "Come in!" As she reached the desk, she positioned her body facing the door and waiting to see who else had come to visit her and for what reason.

Macadrian kept hearing odd sounds emanating from outside her office door and wondered what on earth was going on out there. If she'd had enough energy she would have stomped outside her office to see what was going on, but as it was, she could barely keep herself standing. She'd never let herself get this sick before. She should have known better than to skip a meal with her condition. Remembering that there may have a been a bit of cocoa remaining in the pot, Macadrian attempted to levitate the pot toward her. Almost dropping it twice, Macadrian managed to get the pot to her desk and though it was no longer warm, she drank it quickly in an attempt to raise her blood sugar as quickly as possible. She actually wished she'd had some orange juice or some pieces of chocolate, but alas, there were none in her office.