Basic Arithmancy Lesson 1: The Core I
 

Despite that the term had just started, Professor Shackleton was anxious to get teaching. She needed the distraction from... well, she just needed the distraction. As she opened the doors to the Arithmancy classroom, she noticed the air smelled a bit stale from lack of use over the summer. With a swish of her wand, Macadrian opened each window and allowed the faint September breeze into the room.

Dropping her briefcase and wand on her desk, Macadrian placed both hands on her hips and rotated in a circle, taking in her surroundings and contemplating what this term would bring. The summer holidays had brought many changes to her life and she was irrevocably altered as a result. But how would those changes affect her professional life, if at all? Time would tell.

Taking a seat behind her desk, Professor Shackleton patiently waited for the younger students to enter her classroom, hoping they would enjoy the topic of study for the term.

OOC: This lesson is for 1st-3rd year students ONLY. Any students in 4th year or above are not permitted to post in this thread. Your lesson will be held soon enough.

Weeeeeee. Cam didn't really enjoy Arithmancy but numbers were like... totally awesome sometimes! He didn't know in what situation but they just were because he thought they were. Walking to the classroom, he waved a hello to Professor Shackleton. "Hello professah," he greeted and then skipped towards his seat. Learning was a priority for now because he didn't really learn much last term. Aaand... earning some points were another priority as well.

Herminny hesitantly walked into the beginning arithmancy remembering the horrors of the first arthmancy lesson as a first year and hoped she this year she would keep math out of lesson and have more theory in cause she remembered how mucch better things were once she involved a little theory in the lessons the lessons were kind of intresting and fun and with that thought in mind she took her seat and waited for class to start thinking please no math.

Oooh, first class of the term! Mariel was surprisingly excited for Arithmancy to begin as she bounded through the classroom door and found a seat in the middle of the room.

"Hello, Professor," the third year greeted Professor Shakleton cheerfully as she took the textbook out of her messenger bag and opened it up on her desk, eager to get started on the lesson while she waited for the rest of the class to arrive.

Mariel so enjoyed the basic class the professor had begun offering. She had a much easier time of Arithmancy since taking it. Of course next year she'd be a fourth year and would have to take the advanced class if she wanted to continue with it and of course she did. A worried expression flashed across her features as she contemplated the thought. Hopefully she'd learn enough this year to make the transition.

Kevin limped into the classroom and took a seat in the middle of class he was quite excited spotting his friend Mariel he waved to her

Aha! The students were arriving! Yay! Smiling widely, Professor Shackleton greeted those who had said hello, "Hello Mr. Karsten, Ms. Morgan. Glad to see you back in my classroom. How was your summer?" She was genuinely curious how her students spent their holidays, wondering if they traveled or spent the months at home with family or something else entirely.

Looking up from her book as the professor returned her greeting, Mariel caught a movement out of the corner of her eye and waved back at Kevin as he sat near her. Turning back to Professor Shackleton, she offered her a wide smile and said, "My summer was great, thanks! I got to travel to America with some of my friends." She hadn't yet gotten tired of retelling the first time she travelled outside of Britain to everyone who asked about her holiday so far. "I hope you had a good summer, too, Professor?"

Oh he didn't really know how to explain how his summer was. What was he suppose to say; it was all very boring except for the part where a crazy girl about a few years older than me kissed me on the lips? Well duhhh, he would never say that to a professor. Cam could only smile and it didn't really take him to think about what to say. Hm... there was really no excitement in his summer. There was only... pain and misery. Well not THAT much but still, he felt horrible. Not horribly horrible--he just felt horrible. "Oh, my summer was fine professor. But ... a bit boring I suppose. How about your summer?" Yes, he was really curious on what professors do over the summer. Do they party like there was no tomorrow? Unfortunately he couldn't picture Shackleton to look all crazy and wearing the most ridiculous outfits. She wasn't that kind of person.

...or was she?

My first class at Hogwarts, Kaylee thought as she walked into the classroom. "Hello!" Kaylee greeted the Professor. Then she sat down in a seat in the back and waited for the class to begin.

Lasca walked into the classroom with what felt like a baseball in the pit of her stomach. Last year this had been her worst class and now here she was again. Sighing, she scanned the room. Mariel was seated already and the professor was up at the front of the classroom.

Walking over she stood next to her best friend and looked up at Professor Shackleton. Giving her a quick curtsy she smile. "Hello Professor." With that she sat down and extracted her own book as well as some parchment, her quill, and a bottle of ink.

Glancing at her fellow Claw she gave a wry smile. If this class was anything like last year she was in deep. Lasca would need all the help she could get.

Professor Shackleton clapped her hands together and exclaimed, "Oh, you lucky girl, Ms. Morgan! I do love America! One of my favorite countries to visit. You must have had such a wonderful time with your friends. I'd like to hear more about it, if you ever get a free moment to stop by my office."

After an encouraging smile directed at Mariel, Macadrian turned her attention to Cam, "I'm sorry to hear your summer was a bit boring, but that probably also means it was relaxing, which is always a good thing after a long school year, no? Though, I'm sure the term will prove much more stimulating than your summer."

Professor Shackleton flashed her charming smile before collectively answering their question, "I did some traveling myself this summer, mainly around Europe. Spent a good deal of time in Spain and France, a couple weeks in Italy. It was absolutely wonderful. Reminded me of my days as a cursebreaker, when all it seems I did was travel and get my hands dirty." Professor Shackleton chuckled as she thought back on what felt like a past life before continuing, "Although, I admittedly stayed much cleaner and out of harm's way during these travels, making it very much unlike my cursebreaking days in that way. I have tons of pictures if you're interested. Feel free to stop by my office any time and have a looksee." Did she just say 'looksee'? Merlin, all the sun from the summer must have damaged her brain...

Jule walked into class and said "Hello Professor." She then walked to a desk where she thought it be suitable to hear the professor.

That Morgan girl had gotten the chance to go to America with her friends. That was... he wondered if they went to Vegas or anything. Cam actually did go to the U.S. the summer when a certain friend apparated him their but that's when all of the worst things happened. He looked at Professor Shackleton and did have to agree with her that it was indeed relaxing ... for the most part. And then she said that she went to Europe. France... SPAIN?! He was now a bit jealous. Maybe next summer would be better... hopefully. He waited for more students to come in for the class to start.

Emalyn entered the classroom, her schoolbag slung securely over her shoulder. She quickly found a desk and laid her bag across it.
"Hello, Professor Shakleton!" she exclaimed, smiling. No, she wasn't great at math, much less Arithmancy, but she liked the idea of being in class again. "How are you?"

Ash walked into the classroom and set her school bag onto an empty desk. Excited for her first Hogwarts lesson Ash chimed "Hello professor" while dropping into the seat.

Professor Shackleton would give her students more time to enter the classroom before the lesson really got underway, but she thought she'd open up the discussion to those already present, in an effort to both keep them from boredom and to gain their perspective about her favorite subject.

"So, how many of you are concerned about the mathematical portion of this course? Don't worry, you can be honest. I won't judge you negatively."

OOC: I'm going to give you all some time to answer. This lesson will run tonight for a bit longer and then continue tomorrow. :D

Mariel nodded enthuastically in response to Professor Shackleton's enthusiasm. She had had a great time and would be more than happy to share more about it later. Oooh, and the professor travelled as well? Those seemed like such exciting places and the third year really wanted to see the pictures the professor had. She'd make sure to take a trip to her office at her earliest convenience.

Noticing Lasca as she entered the room, Mariel gave her a cheerful wave as she sat down next to her, then she turned her attention back to the front of the room. Then the boy called Mr. Karsten spoke of his summer. Aw, boring? Mariel was all too familiar with boring summers as every holiday before this past one seemed to go that way. It was just lucky that Lasca had invited her or she'd have been condemned to days of cleaning out Sir Reginald's water dish.

And more people were arriving. Mariel glanced up at a few unfamiliar faces before turning her eyes back down to her book. She looked up yet again as Professor Shackleton addressed the class. Thinking for a moment, she shook her head 'no'. She had no problem with mathematical computations - especially in this class as it seemed to be simple adding to the third year.

Lasca grimaced as the Professor asked if they were worried about the mathmatical portion of the class. The baseball in her stomach did a spinning flip that made her nauseus. Slowly she raised her hand and felt miserable.

Why, oh why did it have to have math.

Aaron walked into the class just as the proffesor asked the question. He decided to sit in the first empty seat he saw not to disturb the proffesor. Aaron then decided to raise his hand. Math was never his strongest subject in Primary school. He hoped it would be different here at Hogwarts considering they were wizards. he looked around hoping that other students raised THEIR hands, too.

Kaylee never had liked really liked Math, only because she wasn't very good at it. Slowly, she raised her hand, hoping that others would raise their hands too.

Herminny hesitantly raised her hand as well thinking at least she's asking this time instead of just jumpimg staight into it like last yearhich had freaked her out. But just the mention of raise you're hands if you're adverse to math confirmed her worst fear, the first lesson was math again but this time she vowed herself if she did'nt understand it this time she was gonna stop by her office for tutoring so she could understand it enough to do her homework.

Ash grimiced to herself in her desk, as math was not her best subject while she attened a muggle elementary school. "Professor I'm kinda worried about the mathmatical porton of this class" Ash said raising her hand.

Wesley, a extremely small girl of eleven, had just taken a seat in the very back when Professor Shakleton asked her first question.

It didn't take her long to find the answer. This was actually the one class Wesley had been looking forward to the most. Out of her list of things that scared her, numbers were among the few that were not present. Numbers were solid. They were always the same. There was no guessing; everything was black and white.

Although...come to think of it, Wesley didn't enjoy subtraction or division. She always felt sorry for the numbers, making them smaller. It wasn't fair.

Emalyn raised her hand. She wasn't exactly AFRAID, persay, but she was definitely a bit nervous, if not just curious, as to what she would have to face. She wasn't a genius in the subject, but that was why she was there, right? To get better, to learn. She smiled at the pun in Professor Shakleton's sentence. I won't judge you negatively, after talking about mathematics. She fought to keep her expression as straight as possible.

This really kinda...sucked. Kel wasn't looking forward to this class, and it was his first class. Nice. But...he was here, so you had to give him props for that. He was settled down in a seat in the second row of desks. He listened while the other students greeted the professor, knowing that he should come and meet her one-on-one, at some point.

When Shackleton mentioned the mathematics, Kel groaned quietly. He really hated that stuff - every time his mother had tried to explain it, he'd gotten frustrated...and that had been the end of the lessen. Well...maybe he'd do better with a real teacher.