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.

Selena raised her hand timidly. Rose taught her the basics of mathematics, so she thought she could deal with that. After all, this class is for beginners. Staying in the same house with Rosalie Baskett could be nice; after all, she was the brain of the group. She's pretty knowledgeable with both the magical and Muggle world. Alex attempted to teach her to play golf...but the club somehow ended up in the forest. Ugh. Wait, why am I thinking about golf in Arithmancy? She wondered.

Vynnie walked hurriedly into the arithmancy room, worried that she would be late. Taking a seat near the front of the room, she looked around curiously at the classroom and the people in it. Ah, her first class at Hogwarts. She was so excited!

Mia looked up at the Professor. Her first class at Hogwarts was turning out to be nice. She was here simply for one reason: Arithmancy had a ting of familiarity to it, it seemed to be related to Arithmatic. Math always came naturally to her. Since she had attended a normal school before she had come to Hogwarts(her parents' had insisted on it, saying that a basic grounding in normal studies would be good for her), she was very familiar with Math. She loved math, in fact. But, how was she supposed to answer. She tentatively raised her hand, hoping it was the right thing to do.Then, she said," I'm very comfortable with the mathematical aspect. It's the other aspects of Arithmancy that I'm curious about."

Niah appears in the doorway. Her long, light brown hair is blown back, and her books fell to the floor from rushing to class. As quickly as she could she picks them up and finds an empty seat near the back of the room. She made it just in time when the professor asked a question. Niah, exstaticly said " im not worried at all, i kinda like the mathematical portion of this course!

"Honestly I'm not that worried about the math portion of this class. Math has always been a very strong subject for me." Pietro raised his hand and said the first thing that came to his mind. It was true, he was good with math, but Arithmancy wasn't exactly just math. There was a little more to it. Just like every class was. He removed his fedora out of respect for the professor and set it on his desk. He honestly HATED his hair because it was impossible to tame. Now he looked like he had hat hair. Oh well. At least he was clean.

Brant raised his hand and said "I'm not very good at Math, but I would sure give it a go. Maybe I will understand it. Well I am hoping so." Pulling his books onto the desk and started to relax after he spoke infront of the entire class.

Cedric hurriedly enter the classroom as he saw other students there.He heard that their prof was talking about mathematical portion.Cedric gently raised his hand,he always like solving math problems when he was in muggle school before he entered hogwarts."Well,I must say that I'm not good but not bad in Math,I always excel in Math when I was a kid studying in muggle schools,maybe I can use my mathematic skills that I learned in that portion."Cedric said tentatively

So far so good, thought Trixie to herself. It was her first ever lesson at Hogwarts. Arithmancy. She was very good at maths so hopefully this subject would go well. Her leg kept shaking- it always did that when she was nervous. She tried to stop in with difficulty. The professor also seemed like someone you could easily get along with. Her first lesson was going well...so far.

Natasha walked into the Arithmancy class with a smile, and as she got to about the second row of desks, she saw the boy she remembered seeing at the feast... The Ravenclaw, although she hadn't talked to him much. She did notice now, however, that he didn't seem as if he was looking forward to this class. "Hey, you okay?" She asked politely, trying to just be helpful, rather than nosy.

Natasha looked up as she heard the teacher speak. She thought about the question... Was she interested in the mathematical part? Well, she wasn't exactly interested. But she didn't mind it that much, either.

Grace walked in panting. She'd run from the Common Room not be late, and wondered if she was. She thought she wasn't. She was very good with numbers and this was one of the classes she'd been looking forward to. She realised Aaron was there, and took the seat next to him. "Hey." she greeted and smiled.

Curse the lessons starting so soon. What did they think this place was, SCHOOL?!

Oh... wait...

Entering the classroom at a slightly fast walk, Jake took a little look around. The circle of chairs that was present last term was noticeably gone, as were those awesome armchairs he remembered. Still, he had to accept this as he brushed his pink hair out of his eyes. Nope, not a trick-of-the-hair, it was real.

"Ahhh, that sucks," Jake blurted out, blissfully unaware that Professor Mac-it's-too-early-to-spell-the-name had in fact asked a question. As Jake made himself relatively comfortable in one of the few chairs that was free, he soon picked up that people were saying stuff about... maths. "Oooooh! Maths... I like maths, cuz I can do it," he stated, giving his helpful input.

Ohhh yeah, y'all are looking at a twelve-year-old who does maths at a 17 year olds level... as opposed to his lack of skills in most other areas. "Maths is eas- it's... univ- it's... I can do it," Jake grinned, immensely glad they were onto this topic of conversation.

... I thought there wasn't too much maths in this class.

Lyra hurried in to the classroom , praying she wasn't late. She looked around the room and saw a empty desk in the middle of the classroom.
She walked to it and sat down.
Lyra raised her hand "well i'm not very good at math, or numbers at large, but i still want to give it a try" she said, thinking that she wasn't going to rate a subject low when she hadn't even attended it before.

Sarah raised her hand and smiled. "Professor, I'm not very good at maths, this is one subject I just can't seem to figure out. Everytime I try and learn it I seem to forget everything." She said truethly hoping the Professor wouldn't mind.

Trixie then decided to go for it. She put up her hand slowly and then said "Well I am comfortable with the maths since I am quite good at it. But I would like to delve deeper into the subject and look at all magical aspects of it," Trixie just realised that she was slightly trembling. She stopped. She hoped the professor wouldn't think bad of her.

Ruby raised her hand and said "Professor i am actually quite worried about the maths side of things numbers really aren't my thing." she blushed slightly as she admitted this "but i'm hoping to improve this year Professor"

Kevin raised his hand and said "I am very confident on my maths side of numbers it is just remembering them that is the problem"

Isabella thought,"well...maths was probably not my favorite subject back in my muggle school, but i used to do well, basically because they were basics. but here..." she looked up,"i dont know what will be wizard maths like..."

Sydney quickly rushed to her Arithmancy Class, she couldn't understand how she over slept. She entered the class smiling & walked straight to the professor "Hello Prof. Shackleton" She said greeting the professor. She sat on the front most seat next to her friend Lyra.. "Hey Lyra, Good Morning" Sydney said while putting her book on the desk.

She raised her hand to answer & cleared her throat, "Prof. I am not very good at mathematics but I want to give it a try before judging if I like it or not. I really want to excel in this subject & will give a little bit more time to it because I know that I am weak at it." She said taking a deep breath.

Natka listened to the Professor's question as she took her place in the first lesson of the year. Finally, life at Hogwarts was really going underway!

Uhoh, Professor Shacklebot was asking about Mathematics. As in the subject Natka loathed back in her Muggle school, the one thing she couldn't read about and understand. Maths was like wandless magic to her - difficult, unattainable and strange.

"To be quite honest, Professor... I'm quite concerned, actually," Natka began hesitantly. She didn't want to give the impression of disliking Arithmacy, becasue it was much more enjoyable than Maths had ever been, but it still caused her some difficulty.

"I never really got the hang of Maths in school before Hogwarts, and although Arithmacy is much more interesting, it's still closely related to Maths, which is sort of worrying," she explained, albeit still hesitantly. She hoped she'd managed to relay her feelings without offending the Professor or her class.

Ana listened to the professor question with a nervous feeling on her stomach. Maths, not good, not good at all. It was her worst subject at muggle school and there's nothing she could do about it, not even magic would help, but she was Ana and of course she was going to try. "Professor I'm really not good at Maths... but i can try" she said with a nervous smile

Demetria raised her hand. "I'm so excited for Arithmancy! It's my favorite!" After she spoke she realized she probably sounded like a teachers pet. Oh well. It's true.

Satine was so excited to be sitting next to her slyterin friend, Aaron...she joined in on the conversation by raising her hand.

"I'm very excited about this class...this was my mom's favorite...I'm a little bit nervous about the math, but I catch on quickly." she finished winking at Aaron.

Lyra grinned at her "hey Syd, and i thought i was the bad morning person" she said and her grin became bigger. "so, your bad at numbers too? , good because i am too" She laughed

Satine shot her hand in the air and waited for the professor to call on her.

"The four cores are the personality core, the heart's desire/soul urge, the expression/destiny core, and the life path number core." She said with a smile.

Aaron listened intently and then realised Grace and Satine were next to him. He gave them each a head nod to say 'Hey'. When the professor asked the question, Aaron had no idea at all. He couldn't possibly guess. He looked around the room to see who raised their hand to answer the question. He decided to let one of them answer it.

Demetria raised her hand. "They are the life path number, the hearts desire, the destiny core, and personality core." she said confidently.

Sydney listened to Prof. Shackleton attentively, wanting not to miss a single word. "When your 'light' is on, you express the positive aspects of a number. When your 'light' is off, you may have the tendency to live in fear and express the negative." She quickly scribbled the notes on her paper.

Oh i know this she thought, She raised her hand and spoke "I know one professor, Soul Number" She said hesitantly.

Herminny raised her hand and said, "The 4 numbers names that make up the core are personality, heart, exprssion, and life path".

Lyra raised her hand, not all to convincing
"I think the names are , life path, heart's desire, personality and..uhm expression. Professor" She said hoping it was the right answer.

Mariel nodded as Professor Shackleton spoke. Oh good, she was merely setting the students minds at ease. Mariel was afraid with some of the students' apprehension that the professor would try to make this class even easier than it already was for the Ravenclaw girl, then she'd want to request to move to the advanced class which she wasn't completely sure she was ready. No matter because that wasn't to be the case.

Listening to the question, Mariel flipped to the appropriate page in the textbook and found the answer. Raising her hand she said, "The core numbers are the Life Path Number, the Expression/Destiny Number, the Heart’s Desire/Soul Urge Number, and the Personality Number."

Herminny raised her hand and said, "Lifes path number tells you the road one one will follow throughout their life and the talents and abilities they will have to help them along this road".

Lyra raised her hand " Your life path number is the sum total of your birth date, professor" she said hoping again it was the right answer.

Demetria raised her hand and said "The life path number is an element of the core that tells you both the road you will follow throughout your life and the talents and abilities that will help you along this road."

Aaron was copying down everything the professor said. he did not know the first question so he tried to catch up. Then the professor asked the second question. Fantastic, I don't know this one either. Aaron was going to do poorley in this class. He could already feel it.

"Due to my knowledge Professor Shackleton,The life path number tells us the career or road that we will take and the things that can help us in that kind of road we chose."Cedric answered as his hands were raised then he continued.

"First we must add together the month, day, and year we were born using the addition method of reducing first, then adding together.I still remember that we study that method last term,Professor"

Sydney's mind started racing, i just read this yesterday she thought. Finally she decided to raise her hand to answer "A life path number is the sum of a person's birth date. This number represents who you are at birth & tells us about the traits a person will carry through his/her life" She said smiling.

Satine explained this core in her own words, "A life path number is the sum of a person's birth date, so you add your month, your date, and your year, pretty much to get a final one digit number. This number represents who you are at birth and explains the traits a person will exhibit in their lives...some people can share a common life path number, but they live different lives in the end...they may share the same traits but their choices make then different." She hoped she was doing okay for her first day but not pushing it too far...

Demetria pulled out a peice of parchment and began calculating.

4+3+0+1+9+9+9= 35
3+5=8

1+0+4+2+0+6+0=13
1+3=4

1+2+1+7+2+1+2+3=19
1+9=10
1+0=1

Demetria raised her hand. "Professor Shackleton, for the number 10 would you leave it as 10, or change it to 1? I noticed that there are some double digit numbers that you leave alone but is 10 one of them?" she asked.

Sorry.I thought that you post how-to
 

"Umm,Professor.As you said life path numbers tells the road that we will take.My question is?Example,it said that I'm going to be a public servant,Is that going to actually happen or its like a prophecy that will come true"
Cedric asked curiously to their professor

Jake looked down at his parchment and braced himself. Then he started.

Herminny did her caculations thinking so far things were pretty simple as she finished and laid her paper on her desk.

Professor Shackleton strode over to Demetria's seat and surveyed her work. Shackleton explained, "Before I answer your question, you need to know that you have calculated the numbers incorrectly by not following my directions. I just explained to the class that we reduce all multi-digit numbers first, then add across. We don't just add across all the single digits involved in the month, day, and year. I suggest reviewing my instructions on the board and recalculating those numbers.

"As for your question, the number 10 is not a double digit number that stays unreduced. Only Master Numbers 11, 22, and 33 remain in their double digit form. Please try your calculations again." Professor Shackleton gave Demetria an encouraging smile before moving on.


"No, it is not a prophecy, but we will get into interpretations later in the lesson. Right now, I just want you to calculate the dates that I've given you. Please get to work and perhaps, reask your question later in the lesson if you feel it is necessary."

Sydney quickly scribbled her answer.

Quote:

> April 30, 1999 4/30/1999 4 = 4 3 + 0 = 3 1+9+9+9 = 28, 2+8 = 10, 1+0= 1 Answer: 4+3+1 = 8 > October 4, 2060 10/4/2060 1+0 = 1 4 = 4 2+0+6+0 = 8 Answer: 1+4+8 = 13, 1+3 = 4 > December 17, 2123 12/17/2123 1+2 = 3 1+7 = 8 2+1+2+3 = 8 Answer: 3+8+8 = 19, 1+9 = 10, 1+0= 1

She crossed her fingers hoping she did everything right.

Demetria blushed and began her work again. "Sorry professor."

4
3+0=3
1+9+9+9= 28
2+8=10
1+0=1

4+3+1=8


1+0=1
4
2+0+6+0=8

1+4+8=13
1+3=4


1+2=3
1+7=8
2+1+2+3=8

3+8+8=19
1+9=10
1+0=1


Demetria put her quill down and waited for proffesor Shackleton to return to her desk.

isabella sat there carefully listening to her professor. she a understood what she had to do.
"i just hope to get the calculations right," she thought
"ok here i go..." she said to herself
April=4
4
30=3+0=3
1999=1+9+9+9=28=2+8=10=1+0=1
therefore,4+3+1=8
i hope i am right...
October=8
"damn it october isnt the 8th month" she cut it
october=10
10=1+0=1
4
2060=2+0+6+0=8
therefore, 1+4+8=13=1+3=4
alright...here's the next one...
december=12
12=1+2=3
17=1+7=8
2123=2+1+2+3=8
therefore, 3+8+8=19=1+9=10=1
Bella waited for the professor to check...
"i hope i am right"

Kel frowned and looked down at his parchment. With a silent sigh, he picked up his quill and got to work. Well...This should be fun.

April 30, 1999
4/30/1999

4 = 4
3+0 = 3
1+9+9+9 = 28
2+8 = 10
1+0 = 1

4+3+1 = 8

October 4, 2060
10/4/2060

1+0 = 1
4 = 4
2+0+6+0 = 8

1+4+8 = 13
1+3 = 4


December 17, 2123
12/17/2123

1+2 = 3
1+7 = 8
2+1+2+3 = 8

3+8+8 = 19
1+9 = 10
1+0 = 1

Feeling quite content with his answer, Kel set his quill down and read over his work, just to make sure he didn't - that he could find - make a mistake.

After finishing noting down all that the Professor had written on the board, Wesley grabbed a spare sheet of parchment, dipped her quill in black ink, and dived into working.


Wesley hoped she had answered the questions right. She was unsure about the last two since she had to reduce them. Reduce...Wesley didn't like that word. It sounded mean. She whispered sorry to her numbers.

Mariel listened intently as Professor Shackleton discussed and instructed the method of reduction and the Ravenclaw girl nodded her understanding. Pulling out her favorite self-inking quill, the third year began writing on her parchment.

April 30, 1999
4/30/1999
4=4
3+0=3
1+9+9+9=28=2+8=10=1+0=1
4+3+1=8
8

October 4, 2060
10/4/2060
1+0=1
4=4
2+0+6+0=8
1+4+8=13=1+3=4
4

December 17, 2123
12/17/2123
1+2=3
1+7=8
2+1+2+3=8
3+8+8=19=1+9=10=1+0=1
1

Having finished her calculations, Mariel slid her parchment to the side of her desk for the professor to check that she did her work properly.

He knew straight away he'd messed up, because he'd forgotten a simple little number 1. Surprising how important some numbers were. "Crap," he muttered, making an indication on his note to remind himself this.

Okay, his own birthdate.

Heminny dipprd her quil bin her ink and got to caculating her life number and this was her life number and when she was done she put her parchment down onher desk again

I'm pretty sure the year is 2068
 

Having finished the first reductions, Mariel then set about to reduce her own birthdate as was instructed.

September 8, 2054
9/8/2054
9=9
8=8
2+0+5+4=11

Okay, now what? Eleven was a master number, but she still had other numbers to add to it... Thinking for a moment, she decided to reduce it and that master numbers were probably only left unreduced if they were the final number. She'd do it that way and if it was incorrect she was sure Professor Shackleton would straighten her out.

2+0+5+4=11=1+1=2
9+8+2=19=10=1
1

Again, she set her parchment to the side for the professor to view her work.

hope I got the year right >_<
 

Ugh! This sucks. Kel frowned down at his parchment, then picked up his quill again. He wrote down his birthdate, and set to work again, feeling pretty confident.

September 21, 2054

9 = 9
2+1 = 3
2+0+5+4 = 11

Crap. That was a Master Number. Soo....keep it? Or add the rest...Kel frowned and continued on with what he thought was the right way to do it.

11+9+3 = 23
2+3 = 5

Nodding to himself, he set down his quill. So...his Life number was 5. Wonder what that could mean.

Alana checked her parchment to see if her calculations matched Professor Shackleton. April should come out to 8, October to 4, and December to 1. Yes I got it right. This class won't be as hard as I thought. she said to herself as she began calculating her own birthday.
Alana was stumped, she had a master number in her birthday and she wasn't sure what exactly to do next. "Professor Shackleton?" she said raising her hand. "I seem to have a Master Number in my birthday and I'm not sure if I did this right" she said sliding her paper to the edge of her desk.

Wesley felt more confident after discovering her answers were right. I can do this. she told herself, elated at not being a complete failure.

Life number. Wesley had a weird feeling she didn't want to know her life number. It sounded scary. She liked going by the day. The future was so far away, ending in death. Wesley didn't want to die.

Seven. Wesley wasn't exactly sure what that meant. She hoped it was a good number. Maybe I should have read the textbook... She would. Tonight.

This seemed like an easy exercise. Diane distracted herself with the textbook as others finished their work. Most of the result were quite flattering; hers proved rather interesting. "This number is one that seems to have some major shifts from highs to lows. Stability in feelings may be elusive for you."

At that, she heard the professor correcting another student about the role of the master number. Ah, she seemed to have that incorrectly. She frowned. How peculiar. The answer is still 7...

Demetria pulled out another peice of parchment and began her work, remembeing to do it correctly.

8/12/2055

8=8
1+2=3
2+0+5+5= 12
1+2=3

8+3+3= 14
1+4=5

After finding her life path number, Demetria began strumming trhough her Arithmancy textbook to find out what it meant, for her own personal benefit.

Professor Shackleton walked amongst the students, checking their work, "Ah, Mr. Upstead. The numerical equivalent for August is 8, not 10. While your math with the numbers listed is correct, your final answer is off because of the month error. Make the change and you'll have the Life Path Number you need."

Professor Shackleton glanced at Kel's parchment and explained, "Ah, see this eleven here? You actually reduce that to a 2 because it is not the final reduced total for the Life Path Number. When you encounter a Master Number within the number you are trying to calculate, such as the Life Path, you reduce it. When the final answer for the number you're trying to calculate is a Master Number, you keep it. So, in this case, it should be 2 plus 9 plus 3, equaling 14, which is reduced to 5. Oddly enough, your final answer is the same, but that is mere coincidence in this case and that won't always happen."

Shackleton made her way to the student with a question and surveyed her work, "Well, let's see. There are a few errors. I'll make the corrections on your parchment." Professor Shackleton picked up the girl's quill and began scratching out:

Quote:

5/22/2056 22 = 2+2 = 4 2056 = 2+0+5+6 = 13 = 1+3 = 4 5 + 4 + 4 = 13 = 1+3 = 4 Life Path Number = 4

"There's your Life Path Number. Do you understand what I did and why I came to that?"

"Ms. Entelequia, reduce that 11 for the date before adding across. We only keep Master Numbers that result in the final total, not in the components of our calculation. So, it should be 8 plus 2 plus 6, equalling 16, which reduces to 7. Your final result is the same number this time, but you could have missed a potential Master Number in the overall total had you not reduced each component first."



To the students with correct work, Macadrian encouraged, "You've all done very nice work. I'm going to give your classmates so extra time for those still finishing up. Then we'll move on to analysis."

Lyra grabbed her parchment, her quill and began calculating her answer.

March, 9 , 2057

3-9-2057

3=3
9=9
2+0+5+7= 14
1+4= 5

9+3+5= 17
1+7= 8

Lyra placed her quill down and waited for the professor to judge her work.

Alana reviewed her corrected parchment. "I think so Professor" she said "Perhaps it's because my birthdate numbers didn't add to a Master Number, the Master Number was there at the start which meant it too had to be reduced?"

Hayden pulled out her quill and parchment and began to work:

Feeling a little nervous she put done her quill and folded her hands on her desk.

Diane raised her hand. "Professor," she began. "Are you quite certain the answer is not always the same with the master numbers reduced, and when it is not reduced?

"Like my classmate, I too have a masternumber which I calculated both with and without reducing it... both gave me the same number." She passed the parchment forwards.

8 + 11 2 + 6= 25 16
2+5= 7 1+6=7

"Could it be more than mere coincidence?"

"Ohhh," Kel murmured, nodding to Professor Shackleton before fixing what he'd messed up on. Well, that thing about 11 was good to know, and he was pretty sure he'd remember it. When he was finished, instead of the ending equation reading 11+9+3 = 23 = 2+3 = 5, it read:

2+9+3 = 14
1+4 = 5

Just as the Professor had said. Now knowing for sure what his number read, he leaned down to get his Arithmacy textbook from his bag. Flipping it to the right page, he found the number 5 and started reading what having that number as a Life Path Number meant.

Hearing another student mention not reducing a Master Number, Kel looked up from the book. This answer would be interesting...he looked at the Professor thoughtfully as he scooted his book to the top, left corner of his desk.

Kevin sat in class feeling a bit lost as he was not up to speed with life numbers and stuff he felt pretty stuck

Cam held his quill and started doing his work on the piece of paper.

"Theeereeeee... I think."

Emalyn sighed. Okay, this was fine, she could handle it. Just addition. She rocked at addition. Or at least somewhat. She readied her quill over her parchment and set to work, quickly.

October 28th, 2055

10-28-2055

1 + 0 = 1
2 + 8 = 10 = 1 + 0 = 1

1 + 1 = 2
2 + 0 + 5 + 5 = 12 = 1 + 2 = 3

Emalyn set down her quill and hoped she had done it right. She smiled confidently, but somehow the numbers seemed deceiving.