Ryan opened his deck and shuffled. He pulled out a card. The Hierophant. Hmm...that's an interesting word.

"There are twenty-two cards in the Major Arcana," Ryan said. "They are as follows: The Fool, The Magician, The High Priestess, The Empress, The Emperor, The Hierophant, The Lovers, The Chariot, Strength, The Hermit, Wheel of Fortune, Justice, The Hanged Man, Death, Temperance, The Devil, The Tower, The Star, The Moon, The Sun, Judgement, and The World. As far as the Minor Arcana goes, there are fourteen cards for each respective suit -
Ace, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Page, Knight, Queen, and King. The four suits are wands, coins, stars, and cups. So four times fourteen equals..." He looked toward the ceiling and started doing air math. "Fifty-six."

He turned back to his book and started looking through. "In divination in general, significators are a planet or sign that said to 'rule' specific objects, places, people and diseases. But in cartomancy, a significator is a card that represents the questioner and usually the card chosen is a face card. They can be chosen for one of two reasons. The book here says:
'(1) Sometimes, the reader will give the questioner the significator card to focus on during the shuffling process. This allows the questioner to focus his or her thoughts so that the reader can concentrate on the question being asked.

(2) Often, the significator is chosen and then put back into the deck to shuffle. If it appears in the reading, it suggests the questioner has a good deal of control over the issue at question. It is also important to note where the significator comes up in the reading for further clues to answering the questioner's concerns.'

Typically, Kings are chosen to represent men, Queens women, and Jacks or Knights for young people. Each suit has certain traits and signs with which they are related, which help in the selection of significators."

Whew! What a mouth-full!

The owl hooted in the air, and got in front of the boy who spoke, tilted its head from one side to the other and hooted again.

It went after the boy's deck of cards but missed, hitting the wood. It eyed the Professor and went back to the desk, returning the not-so-straight piece of parchment that it retrieved before and flew away into the sky.

Doing as asked, Nicholai shuffled his cards and selected one at random. He glanced at it briefly before raising his hand, "While it isn't necessary to use one, A Significator is a card that can be drawn before certain spreads to help focus the reading on the querent and vice-versa. It is also a good way of getting the 'feel' of a new deck and helps with the energy flow in long-distance readings. There are several methods to choose from in selecting a significator; firstly the card can be chosen at random from the deck by the reader or the querent; this is a good way of telling how 'in-tune' one is with the deck. Alternatively the significator card can be selected based on the personality of the querent, their star sign, date of birth and so forth- thereby helping the other cards to tune in to the querent's personality. Generally a significator is a card from the Major Arcana- but you can also use a coin or some other object that belongs to the querent or even a question written on a piece of paper and the spread placed on top."

Spreading the cloth out, Nico placed his selected card; The Devil, on the desk in front of him before clearing his throat and continuing,

"The other aspect to keep in mind with Significators is whether or not to use it in the spread. If you choose not to use it, while it does provide some influence on the cards drawn; it removes the possibility of that card showing up in the reading. If you choose to replace it in the deck, or place it as the starting point of the spread, the card can still appear in the reading and give further indication of how 'in-tune' the reader is."

He pushed his card straight with the tip of his pinky finger and answered the last part of the question, "The Major Arcana consists of Twenty-two cards and the Minor Arcana consists of fifty-six cards made up with four suits of one to ten plus four court cards per suit."

He frowned at the owl that had appeared and sighed as it left; why couldn't these interruptions come in the ministry approved classes?"

"Yes, and the type of spread used may also account for how the significator is chosen and used. Nine points to Ravenclaw."

"Very good answer.", The Professor said speaking honestly. The ammount of detail that the two boys put into their answers was much appreciated. "Nine points to Slytherin."

Kapoor stared at the owl that flew into the room for a moment. Was is possible that he loved teaching so much that he was having a dream about it? To assure himself that this was not so, he tugged on the sleeve of his clothing and gave himself a little pinch. When he didn't awake, he went on with the class.

"Using your cards, gentlemen, demonstrate for me a three card spread.", he said, moving towards the center of the room. "What does each card in this spread signify?"

"You lay them out like this," Jason said, placing a card on the left, a card in the center and a card on the right. "You think up a question first, of course, then lay out the cards to find the answer. The card on the left represents the context, or overall view of the situation. The middle card represents the focus, the driving force or motivation, and the card on the right represents the outcome, what is actually going to happen. There's another way to read the cards, though, they can also represent past, present and future, in the same order."

Ryan looked down at his cards, which he had absent-mindedly been shuffling the whole time.

So a three card spread.....that sounded simple enough. He shuffled the deck a couple more times before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath in through his nose and letting it out through the mouth. One had to be relaxed and utterly calm while doing this.

He focused on a question and laid out three cards like so:


Once he had done so, he said, "Each card position has a specific meaning. The left card is the context which is a general overview of the Querant's present situation, the middle card is the focus, which reflects a new set of circumstances that are about to act upon the Querant, the forces that drive these may be positive or negative depending on the card and whether it is upright or inverse;his card is the general problem or the decision to be made, and the right card is the outcome, which shows the effects of the second card.

Similarly, the cards can resent, from left to right, the past, the present, and the future, respectively.

Because of these different methods of using the Three-Card Spread, the interpretations of the cards can change based on what method is being used. The same layout could have entirely different meanings to people not only because they are individuals and not dopplegangers, but also because of the different methods, which explore completely different energies surrounding the situation."

"Very good, Mr. Weasley. Five points to you.", The Professor said, glad that his students were doing so well in the subject.

"Astounding research! 7 points to Ravenclaw." With that, Kapoor moved to the front of the classroom and tapped his wand to the board revealing the homework assignment.

"That'll do it for us today, gentlemen. Your homework is as follows."