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lemondrop13 · 01-27-2009, 10:30 PM

As you step through the Arithmancy classroom doors, you see wooden desks and chairs arranged in a circle. Professor Shackleton has provided a number of cushions in a myriad of colors and textures that are stacked by the door for you to choose from to match your comfort and liking. Two walls are filled with thick wooden shelves, filled with a seemingly endless number of Arithmancy texts and the occasional Ancient Runes and Divination reference. The other two walls of the room are covered in framed pictures and posters of a very old man doing mathematical calculations, a map of the Mediterranean, a witch carrying a large wooden number seven, a chart converting letters to numbers, and many more pictures with a number at the top and people exhibiting various qualities below.

When you look to the front of the room, you see a tall, blonde-haired woman in emerald green knee-length robes sitting behind a desk made of dark angelique wood. On the desk is a small placard reading "Professor Macadrian A. Shackleton - Arithmancy," as well as a small stack of thin, leather-bound booklets, an assortment of papers and quills, several copies of the class textbook, and a small pouch that she keeps very close by her left hand. She smiles welcomingly at you as you enter the classroom and makes a small gesture for you to take a seat in one of the many desks in the circle.

OOC: This lesson is for fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh years ONLY. Any students in first, second, or third year who post in this thread will be dismissed.

Crayola · 01-28-2009, 05:21 PM

Excited about being picked, Evangeline grinned at Clifford for a moment before turning back to look at the Professor. Hmmm. She had to admit, she had no idea the Hufflepuff was a triplet, nor that she had been sorted into Ravenclaw. She also had no idea of why she was telling them this, but oh well.

Aaaaah. It all made sense when she said she wanted them to calculate the Balance number for her and her sisters as well for Headmaster Bontecou. "Okie dokie, Miss." She said, nodding at the Hufflepuff Head's words as she wrote down her name, mumbling it under her breath. "Macaaaaadriaaaan Ashliiiiing Shaaaaackleeetooon.." After she did that, she flicked the pages of the book back to chapter one to check the numerical value of the letters. After that, she scribbled down the calculations in the parchment.

M: 4
A: 1
S: 1

The Balance Number: 4 + 1 + 1 = 6

"Hmmm. Your balance number is 6, Professor." Evangeline said after she was done, an uncertain smile on her face. At least, it was 6 if she had done the calculations correctly. Which she had .. without a doubt.

SilverTiger · 01-28-2009, 05:22 PM

Elizabeth watched as the students went up to demonstrate, quickly writing all four names into her journal and calculating the Balance numbers herself. If anything, she could check her work againt the volunteers, and she'd have the examples for later. Then, she put her quill back onto her desk and looked up at the board to watch the others.

Meh Reh · 01-28-2009, 05:26 PM

Karma nodded as Professor Shackleton addressed her.

"Isabella Maire Shackleton. Got it."

She pulled herself off of her cushion and pulled her book along with her as she walked up to the board. Writing the name down on the board, she flipped to the review section to where the numbers were listed.

Quote:

Karma's Configurations

I.M.S

I=9
M=4
S=1

9+4+1=14
1+4=5

The Balance Number of Isabella Maire Shackleton is 5.

As she wrote the numbers down on the board, she wondered for a moment if she did them right.

"I think that's correct..."

She looked over at the Slytherin Prefects and gave them a small smile. They all did it the same way, so it must be right.

lemondrop13 · 01-28-2009, 05:29 PM

Once all four students had completed their calculations, Professor Shackleton requested, "Thank you, Evangeline, Karma, Cliff, and Dominic. Two points apiece for your help. And you'll earn another one point if you will read from the textbook the Balance Number explanation for the numbers you calculated."

Meh Reh · 01-28-2009, 05:31 PM

Karma flipped back to Chapter Eighteen in the book and found the number five.

"Five. Try to focus on your problem, rather than avoiding it. You may try to avoid the issue by indulging your senses to keep from feeling the pain of a conflict. Be careful not to escape into food, bad habits, and illegal actions. You are capable of finding a highly-creative solution to any situation the minute you put your mind to it. The answer lies well within your grasp."

Waterloo · 01-28-2009, 05:34 PM

Grinning, Clifford returned to his seat and flicked through the textbook. So he had to read the explanation for the number he calulated. That was the number one. Okies.

Clearing his dry throat, he proceeded to quote from the book. "Draw strength from yourself but be more willing to share your troubles with friends and family." He started shakily. "You can be a loner in the face of problems. This can isolate you during troubled times. Be open to the advice of others. This will widen your perspective on the problem and give you new information on which to base your approach. Strength, creativity, and courage are the arms with which you will win the war."

*PhoenixRising* · 01-28-2009, 05:36 PM

Pleased he had done it correctly, Dominic was about to resume his seat when the Professor asked one more thing. Read from the textbook the explanation of the balance number they calculated for. Sighing quietly, the fifth year gulped but knew he had to do it. For one, Hufflepuff could use an extra point or two and two, he was a Prefect.

Reluctantly picking his book off his desk, he flipped to the section in chapter eighteen and began to read once the previous student(s) were finished.

"Headmaster Bontecou's balance number is eight, which is explained here on page 156; 'Use your considerable power in a balanced way. You may use power in a manipulative way, rather than confront people on principle. Use your power in a higher way, namely, by accepting personal responsibility for the issue and its solution. You have enormous creativity and the leadership to find an answer to almost any problem. Try not to force your own solution upon groups, but include their concerns and ideas in the larger solution that you can bring about. Learn to use power for the good of all.'"

Oh. Intriguing how it spoke of power, as though it was destined all along that the Headmaster Bontecou would be destined for the esteemed role he was in. Very interesting indeed.

Crayola · 01-28-2009, 05:38 PM

Grinning happily at the points she received, Evangeline returned to her seat and flicked the pages of the textbook until she was back at chapter eighteen. Number siiiiix. Ah, there it was. She cleared her throat and quoted from the book. "Your strength lies with understanding people and the underlying conditions of a conflict. But you can rely too heavily on friends and family to provide you solace instead of handling the situation directly and responsibly. You may be too likely to retreat to the good feelings provided by people not involved in your situation. Responsibility is the issue here. You helped create the situation in the first place, and are an essential part of the solution. Accept your role." Oooooh. That sounded awesome.

lemondrop13 · 01-28-2009, 06:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhoenixRising

Pleased he had done it correctly, Dominic was about to resume his seat when the Professor asked one more thing. Read from the textbook the explanation of the balance number they calculated for. Sighing quietly, the fifth year gulped but knew he had to do it. For one, Hufflepuff could use an extra point or two and two, he was a Prefect.

Reluctantly picking his book off his desk, he flipped to the section in chapter eighteen and began to read once the previous student(s) were finished.

"Headmaster Bontecou's balance number is eight, which is explained here on page 156; 'Use your considerable power in a balanced way. You may use power in a manipulative way, rather than confront people on principle. Use your power in a higher way, namely, by accepting personal responsibility for the issue and its solution. You have enormous creativity and the leadership to find an answer to almost any problem. Try not to force your own solution upon groups, but include their concerns and ideas in the larger solution that you can bring about. Learn to use power for the good of all.'"

Oh. Intriguing how it spoke of power, as though it was destined all along that the Headmaster Bontecou would be destined for the esteemed role he was in. Very interesting indeed.

"We'll review the Headmaster's Balance Number first. As Dominic calculated and read to you, Headmaster Bontecou's Balance Number is eight and deals with the positives and negatives of power. Seems quite plausible considering his new appointment to the Headmaster's post, no? Only he truly knows if he needs to worry about neglecting the input of groups under his guidance, but it certainly seems like it might work for him."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blackneon

Karma flipped back to Chapter Eighteen in the book and found the number five.

"Five. Try to focus on your problem, rather than avoiding it. You may try to avoid the issue by indulging your senses to keep from feeling the pain of a conflict. Be careful not to escape into food, bad habits, and illegal actions. You are capable of finding a highly-creative solution to any situation the minute you put your mind to it. The answer lies well within your grasp."

"OK, so Karma read about a Balance Number of five, as it pertains to my Slytherin sister, Isabella. I can tell you from experience that this number fits her very well. I remember in our sixth year, her boyfriend broke up with her and she gained fifteen pounds. She certainly overindulged in food as an attempt to mask her feelings. She still has a tendency to revert to bad habits when things don't go her way, even as an adult, but she tries to channel that energy into healthier options now."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Waterloo

Grinning, Clifford returned to his seat and flicked through the textbook. So he had to read the explanation for the number he calulated. That was the number one. Okies.

Clearing his dry throat, he proceeded to quote from the book. "Draw strength from yourself but be more willing to share your troubles with friends and family." He started shakily. "You can be a loner in the face of problems. This can isolate you during troubled times. Be open to the advice of others. This will widen your perspective on the problem and give you new information on which to base your approach. Strength, creativity, and courage are the arms with which you will win the war."

"And Clifford here described Adamaris' Balance Number of one, which states that she isolates herself during times of conflict or challenge. Again, I can vouge for this one - once Adamaris was struggling with Astronomy and instead of telling anyone or asking for help, she locked herself in her dorm every night and never mentioned anything to anyone. It wasn't until she got a failing grade on a homework that she ever brought it up. Thankfully, together we were able to come up with a new creative approach for her studies and she got a stellar grade on her next assignment, pardon the pun."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crayola

Grinning happily at the points she received, Evangeline returned to her seat and flicked the pages of the textbook until she was back at chapter eighteen. Number siiiiix. Ah, there it was. She cleared her throat and quoted from the book. "Your strength lies with understanding people and the underlying conditions of a conflict. But you can rely too heavily on friends and family to provide you solace instead of handling the situation directly and responsibly. You may be too likely to retreat to the good feelings provided by people not involved in your situation. Responsibility is the issue here. You helped create the situation in the first place, and are an essential part of the solution. Accept your role." Oooooh. That sounded awesome.

"And as for my Balance number, which is six, Evangeline has read how I react almost exactly the opposite as my sister Adamaris. Instead of shutting people out, I rely too heavily on others for comfort. It has taken me a lot of effort, and still does in times of conflict, for me to remember to face things head on, without putting so much pressure on friends and family to cheer me up."

Professor Shackleton gestured to the seats, "You four may take your seats. You'll each get that extra one point I mentioned. And now for the rest of the class, I'm going to give you a more challenging name to calculate the Balance Number for - Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. Please do the calculation on your parchment, make a note of the textbook's explanation, and contemplate if you think it resonates with what we know about him historically."

Torchwood · 01-28-2009, 06:40 PM

Qaz wrote

Quote:

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore

A P W B D
1+7+5+2+4=19=1+9=10=1+0=1

ONE (1): Draw strength from yourself but be more willing to share your troubles with friends and family. You can be a loner in the face of problems. This can isolate you during troubled times. Be open to the advice of others. This will widen your perspective on the problem and give you new information on which to base your approach.
Strength, creativity, and courage are the arms with which you will win the war.

Strength, creativity, and courage sure sounded like the Dumbledore that she'd read about.

Danny Boy · 01-28-2009, 06:50 PM

Barry nodded to the professer and started

Quote:

A P Q B D
1 7 8 2 4

1+7+8+2+4= 22
2+2= 4
FOUR (4): Try to have perspective and a more lighthearted attitude toward emotionally-charged issues. Control your anger. Discipline is your strength. Also, look at the larger picture and the need for compromise. Your sense of justice must be elevated to another level where such virtues as forgiveness, compassion, and deep understanding are the guiding lights. A practical approach to these ideals is to try to put yourself in the shoes of the person with whom you are in conflict. There are always more angles to a problem than you tend to acknowledge.

Barry looked at his answer he said quitely "It seems that it is right, he did forgive alot and even when he was angry not alot changed about him apart from how he feeled inside. Yes his balance number suits him"

Anna Banana · 01-28-2009, 06:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lemondrop13

[B]Professor Shackleton gestured to the seats, "You four may take your seats. You'll each get that extra one point I mentioned. And now for the rest of the class, I'm going to give you a more challenging name to calculate the Balance Number for - Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. Please do the calculation on your parchment, make a note of the textbook's explanation, and contemplate if you think it resonates with what we know about him historically."

Anna watched as the four volunteers demonstrated how to find the balance number. It didn't seem to appear too difficult. Anna's eyes nearly popped out of her head when the professor mentioned whose name the entire class was expected to now calculate. Merlin, that was a long name. Why couldn't the man be named Al Dumb, or something like that? Nevertheless, Anna smoothed out her parchment once again and began her calculations.

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore

A: 1
P: 7
W: 5
B: 2
D: 4

1 + 7 + 5 + 2 + 4 = 19
1 + 9 = 10
1 + 0 = 1

Anna flipped a few pages of her textbook, trying to figure out what the book would say about being a number 1.

Quote:

ONE (1): Draw strength from yourself but be more willing to share your troubles with friends and family. You can be a loner in the face of problems. This can isolate you during troubled times. Be open to the advice of others. This will widen your perspective on the problem and give you new information on which to base your approach.
Strength, creativity, and courage are the arms with which you will win the war.

Anna then added her own thoughts about what the textbook had to say.

I believe the textbook seems to be a perfect match with what I've read about Dumbledore. He always seemed to be a very strong man, and I don't recall him ever relying too much on gaining strength from others. I do recall him, however, sharing a great deal of what was troubling him with his friends and family. Take, for instance, the way Dumbledore shared most of what he knew about Tom Riddle with the famous Harry Potter. He gave Potter enough information to help him prevail. D

Dumbledore also seems to be quite the loner. I remember reading information about Harry Potter's fifth year in Hogwarts, when Dumbledore pretty much isolated Potter. Dumbledore seems to be the type of person who hides from trouble as well as he faces it head-on.

Finally, Dumbledore was known to have shown a great deal of strength, creativity, and courage. He was an honorable man who always stood up for what was right. He seemed to always have the strength to work hard to do the right thing.

Anna glanced back over her work, hoping she'd calculated correctly.

Danny Boy · 01-28-2009, 06:57 PM

Barry the noticed he had made a mistake so he did the sum again

Quote:

1+7+5+2+4= 19 1+9=10= 1
ONE (1): Draw strength from yourself but be more willing to share your troubles with friends and family. You can be a loner in the face of problems. This can isolate you during troubled times. Be open to the advice of others. This will widen your perspective on the problem and give you new information on which to base your approach.
Strength, creativity, and courage are the arms with which you will win the war.

"That suits him better. He never used to tell his family what was going around, he kept alot of things to himself. It tells us all we need to know about him" he said

Daemon · 01-28-2009, 07:04 PM

Rachel gaped slightly as the professor told them who the next person will be. Well, I'd better get to work!

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore = A P W B D

Quote:

= 1 + 7 + 5 + 2 + 4
= 19

1 + 9
= 10
1 + 0
= 1

Textbook's description: Draw strength from yourself but be more willing to share your troubles with friends and family. You can be a loner in the face of problems. This can isolate you during troubled times. Be open to the advice of others. This will widen your perspective on the problem and give you new information on which to base your approach.
Strength, creativity, and courage are the arms with which you will win the war.

Note: 19 is a Karmic Number: Reworking karmic abuse of power through learning to show compassion and sacred use of cosmic wisdom for the greater good.

Rachel read the information she had worked out and thought for a minute before replying. "Dumbledore's balance number shows that he tended to keep his problems to himself and relied very little on others. He was a type of loner, preferring to keep to himself and got his strength from himself and not from the support of others. This matches almost exactly to the type of man the history books say Dumbledore was as we all know how brilliant but how secretive he was. He should have been more trusting and opened up to more people and things may have ended differently. His problems were difficult ones, yes, but if he's shared all his information with a certain someone, they might have been able to come up with a better solution. The truth of the balance number is proved even more as it describes Dumbledore's three best traits as his keys in life; strength, creativity and courage," she said clearly, scanning over her notes to see if she had left anything out.
"I also noticed that while working out his balance number I came across the karmic number nineteen. I don't know if it means anything, but it's description matches slightly to Dumbledore's actions when he was younger," she added, not sure whether karmic numbers had any meaning in the balance numbers.

Crayola · 01-28-2009, 07:08 PM

Whoa. Dumbledore's name was huge or what? Picking up her quill, she repeated the procedures she had done to get Miss Shackleton's Balance Number in order to get the one for Albus Dumbledore and scribbled it all down on her parchment.

A: 1
P: 7
W: 5
B: 2
D: 4

Balance Number: 1 + 7 + 5 + 2 + 4 = 19

= 1+ 9 = 10 = 1

Then, she flipped the pages of the textbook until she found the descriptions of the Balance numbers in chapter 18.

ONE (1): Draw strength from yourself but be more willing to share your troubles with friends and family. You can be a loner in the face of problems. This can isolate you during troubled times. Be open to the advice of others. This will widen your perspective on the problem and give you new information on which to base your approach.
Strength, creativity, and courage are the arms with which you will win the war.

After reading it once more and pondering on it for a while, she finally raised her hand. "I believe it resonates with what it's known about him, yes. Despite being a cheerful person, I've always thought of him as a rather lonely person, who kept alot of what was happening inside. I mean, he was dying for almost a year and almost nobody knew!" Talk about letting it all bottle up inside. "Also, he's known for his creativity, strength and .. courage."

Waterloo · 01-28-2009, 07:37 PM

Albus whuuuuuut? Man, that was the longest name he'd ever seen ... EVAH! Concentrating, Clifford leaned over hi parchment and started scribbling his calculations.

Quote:

A-P-W-B-D
1-7-5-2-4

1 + 7 + 5 + 2 + 4 = 19
1 + 9 = 10
1 + 0 = 1

Balance Number = 1

Oooh, it was the same Balance Number he'd got for Miss Shackleton's sister!

"I don't know that much about the Dumbledore bloke." Clifford admitted, hand in the air. "But I think this Balance Number fits with what he was like ... I heard he was kinda lonely." Right, he never got married, did he? Bah, he couldn't remember. "And the winning the war thing fits too.."

SilverTiger · 01-28-2009, 09:14 PM

As Professor Shackleton told them all to calculate a new Balance number, Elizabeth picked her quill back up to copy the name down, then started to calculate.

Quote:

Originally Posted by journal

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore

1 + 7 + 5 + 2 + 4
19
1 + 9
10 = 1 + 0 = 1

Then she flipped through the textbook to copy down the discussion for a Balance number of 1.

Quote:

ONE (1): Draw strength from yourself but be more willing to share your troubles with friends and family. You can be a loner in the face of problems. This can isolate you during troubled times. Be open to the advice of others. This will widen your perspective on the problem and give you new information on which to base your approach.
Strength, creativity, and courage are the arms with which you will win the war.

And since they had been told to contemplate it, she made another note underneath the explanation.

Quote:

From what I can recall about Dumbledore, he seemed to be pretty strong, but stood alone a lot. Except for when he helped Harry Potter fight against Lord Voldemort. And he seemed to be open to the advice of some of the other professors when he was headmaster . . .

01-28-2009, 09:35 PM

Thinking about what she had learned, about figuring the Balance Number. And checking the textbook, Liz starts figuring out the problem.

Quote:

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore
A P W B D
1 7 5 2 4
(1+7+5+2+4)
(19)
(1+9)
(10)
(1+0)
1

Looking into the textbook she copies down what #1 meant.

Quote:

ONE (1): Draw strength from yourself but be more willing to share your troubles with friends and family. You can be a loner in the face of problems. This can isolate you during troubled times. Be open to the advice of others. This will widen your perspective on the problem and give you new information on which to base your approach.
Strength, creativity, and courage are the arms with which you will win the war.

After some thought and from studying the History of Hogwarts, Liz starts making some notes.

Quote:

I don't think he really shared his troubles with his family, but he did share some with his friend Elphias Doge. I think it left him a sad man, not being close to his brother. But it gave him incite on how to understand Tom Riddle.

lemondrop13 · 01-29-2009, 12:00 AM

Professor Shackleton paced around the outside of the circle, peering over a few shoulders to glance at the students' work. "I think you've all had enough time to calculate Albus Dumbledore's Balance Number and you should have come to the answer - one. Like my sister Adamaris, Dumbledore's Balance Number instructed him not to shut himself out from the world and to use his strength, creativity and courage in facing conflict. Sounds fairly accurate to me, as it seems to have sounded to some of your classmates who divulged their opinion. Thank you to those who did so."

Stopping and changing directions, now rotating counterclockwise around the circle, Professor Shackleton stopped by Dominic Denton's chair to speak again, "I think we've sufficiently covered the Balance Number and it is time to move on to the First Vowel. Someone please give me an original explanation of what information the First Vowel conveys."

Amira With a C · 01-29-2009, 12:07 AM

Camira raised her hand. "The first vowel is something like your deeper self. Your very being, almost. It's the part of yourself that you don't show easily to others. The part that you don't understand that much yourself...." She trailed off a bit, trying to find a better way to explain it. "It's what...what shows how you handle things, your instinctive approach to life, I think." That was right, right?

Crayola · 01-29-2009, 12:10 AM

After pondering on how to word her reply for a few moments, Evangeline raised her hand. "The First Vowel tells us something about ourselves that we do not kindly reveal to others. It allows people to have a small glimpse into our deepest, truest self." Hmmm. She wasn't sure she had worded that right ... but it was still better than quoting from the textbook. "Oh, and it's the first vowel of our first name at birth."

Waterloo · 01-29-2009, 12:11 AM

Clifford raised his hand unsurely. The First Vowel? Hmm. "That's got something to do with ... your deeper self." He tried with a nod. "Erm. It's like.. the part of yourself you keep a secret.. the part you don't reveal. The First Vowel is considered to be your soul vibration." Sounded groovy.

Cassirin · 01-29-2009, 12:12 AM

Copernicus raised his hand after reading the information on the First Vowel. "I believe the First Vowel reveals who you are when no one is watching, or perhaps who you are when only those you trust the most are watching. It's a window into who you are in your innermost self, or who you have the potential to be if you are always wearing a mask."

SweetAussie · 01-29-2009, 12:22 AM

Agie raised her hand. "The first vowel describes our inner hearts desire and how we feel. Which can be very different to how we actually act. Like when you told us to write about our pet who died, how we initially feel and think would come from the First Vowel. This is not something we want everyone to see because it may reveal too much about ourselves or might just be private."

Torchwood · 01-29-2009, 12:23 AM

Qaz raised her hand and replied, 'First vowel tells us about our authentic self...the one that's true and not put on as an act for the rest of the world.'

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