Eva thought she had arrived way to early. there was no else in the classroom except for Professor Kapoor.
"Good morning, Professor. How do you do?" she asked while she sat down right in the middle of the classroom.

After being so distracted in the last class, Nicholai was determined to focus and participate in this one, and so he had made sure to be early- even if he was running almost entirely on pepper-up potion and almost no sleep.

He sat at the front and nodded to the Professor and examined the tree branches strung up overhead.

Chris came in and said "Hello professor." and sat down to look a the branches above

Raiden arrived in the Divination Classroom with a smile on his face despite the confusing conversations in the common room that he'd both witnessed and been involved in. With a little wave to the professor, he found a seat at the front and dropped into it, then stared at the stuff that was hanging overhead. That was interesting...

Nicholai cast a slightly calculating look at Raiden when the kid sat next to him, but managed to plaster a reasonably friendly smile on his face. He absently began to make a list of the types of wood he recognised hanging above them. Interesting. Wand woods.

"Nice to see you all again. Everyone, have a seat. We're about to start our lesson." The Professor began shuffling papers and objects about on his desk, appearing to be searching for something as he spoke.

"Now, who can tell me the significance of these to today's lesson?", he said indicating the hanging branches, each of which was a different sort of tree. Amongst them were Ash, Rowan and Alder.

Chris raised his hand "Sir, are they wand woods? The Driud people also believe they came from trees and that they wer the start of all life."

Skipping past entrances and introductions, Helios, the solar prince of Aeaea (can't believe I forgot how to spell a name that consists of two alternating letters. Though I think I got it right, so this derail may be for no reason.) Ahem. Where were we? Oh yes, Helios was already in his seat, uninterested in the various wood. They could all make excellent wands, but what he wanted was willow, whomping willow, and all the power it held.

Nico raised his hand, "In Celtic astrology, The Druids believed that the human race originally descended from trees; each tree has a position in the celtic lunar-based zodiac and represents a particular personality type and each has its own mystic properties. They are also all wand trees."

How had he not realized that he'd sat next to Nicholai Toussaint again? Raiden looked at the older boy as he took his eyes off the stuff overhead, but didn't say anything. Class was starting.

"Uhm... The Celtic Zodiac uses trees for its sign things, I think," Raiden said softly, his hand up. "They have a different one for every sign."

Evangeline raised her hand after consulting the textbook. "Sir, the Druids of Celtic astrology believed that the human race originally descended from trees, each tree being endowed with its own particular mystical qualities." Eh. Weird much?

Miles raised his hand, although, the answer sounded very odd, since it was on about how tress form the entire universe ...

"The Celts envisioned the entire Universe in the form of a tree, whose roots grew deep into the ground and whose branches reached high into the Heavens. In time, the Celtic people eventually designated a tree to each Moon Phase in their calendar in accordance with its magical properties."

Clifford looked up at what Professor Kapoor was indicating. Branches. Okaaaay. How would they have significance in the lesson? Well, how in Merlin's name was he meant to know .. he wasn't the teacher! Eh.

"Erm - Are we going to pretend they're those sword things ... and have muggle duels?" He guessed pathetically, hand in the air. Hey, that would be fun!

"Celtic fairy tales." Helios muttered with venom. They were almost as bad as those Christians he heard about. Krissy would hate him for making such a comment, but jeez, why didn't these people understand it was all about the Greeks.

"You could use them for wand woods, yes." The boy was close, but not yet right on the money for the answer he was seeking.

"Precisely. Five points, Nicholai, for your answer."

"Exactly, Raiden. Four points."

"Yes. Quite a long way from traditional western belief, isn't it? Four points to you as well, Prefect Green."

"Yes. Good answer! Four points."

"Perhaps next time?", Professor Kapoor offered. Who said Slytherins weren't jolly good fun?

ooc:


"The priests that abided by this belief and Celtic astrology were called Druids. What sort of calendar did the druids go by? And what sort of astrology is Celtic astrology?"

Chris raised his hand and said "The priest used a lunar calendar consisting of 13 months, each being 28 days long, plus one intercalary day. the astology they used was they envisioned the entire Universe in the form of a tree, whose roots grew deep into the ground and whose branches reached high into the Heavens. The Celtic people eventually designated a tree to each Moon Phase in their calendar in accordance with its magical properties. Therefore, the Celtic Zodiac is based upon the cycle of the Moon, with the year divided into the 13 lunar months established by the Druid religion." he said as he quicky memorized from his textbook

Yay points! Raiden smiled and raised his hand again.

"Druids worked on a lunar based calendar, so it's longer than the actual year... I think it's 13 months instead of 12? And that means that Celtic Astrology is lunar astrology?"

He was rambling. Yay rambling.

Muggle duels? Oh wow! Clifford came up with some ideas. Maybe Miles would have to challenge Lima to a duel with some tree branches, how fun. Mwaha.

"The Druids used a lunar calendar consisting of 13 months, each being 28 days long, plus one intercalary day. And Celtic Lunar Astrology is essentially a Druid Zodiac" Miles said with his hand raised.

Muggle duels? Shaking her head, Evangeline stiffled a laugh at Clifford's answer and smiled at the Professor when he awarded her four points AND called her Prefect Green. Much, much better than Miss Kovac. Hehe.

"You can say that again, Sir." She whispered when he said that the humans come from trees theory was very different from what western believe. Upon hearing his next question, she raised her hand. "The Druids used a lunar calendar consisting of 13 months, each being 28 days long, plus one intercalary day. That makes the Celtic astrology a lunar astrology." She thought so, anyway.

Perhaps next time? COOOL! Clifford grinned widely at Professor Kapoor before flicking through his textbook. Okay, so there were no Muggle duels, he needed to get his head into gear. Uuhhm.

"They go by a ... lunar calendar, I think, Sir." Clifford tried, raising his hand in the air and peering at his textbook. "There's 13 months, each one being 28 days long, plus one in- inter ... intercalary day?" Gosh, he hated long words. "So I uhm ... guess that means it's Lunar Astrology?"

Sapphire raised her hand and said " the Druids went by the lunar calendar"

Raising his hand again Nico answered, "The Druids followed a lunar tree calendar that maps the lunar changes in the year's energies- as well as the solar changes to a lesser extent. The thirteen trees are representative of the thirteen new moons that occur each year." Nicholai paused, "It's fairly unique and seems to be a standalone branch of astrology sir."

"Very good. Five points for Gryffindor. You know you're really quite good at this...are you cheating?", he asked lightly joking with the boy a bit. If anyone could cheat in the class, a new face was the least likely culprit.

"Are you sure? Because if you are then you're absolutely correct. Four points. And, it's 13 months of 28 days plus one."

"Very good. Four points."

"Yep! Four points!".

Kapoor listend and smiled patiently as Clifford struggled a bit to get the word 'intercalary' out. "It is Lunar Astrology. Good answer, Clifford. Four points."

"Yes. Three points."

"Yes. It's a bit like African in that way. Nice of you to point out the thirteen moons. Take 4 points for your answer."

"For two points, True or False, Ivy people are known for being very studious and having a great knack for 'book learning'?"

Evangeline raised her hand again. "That'd be false, Sir. They're usually very poor students."