Arithmancy One: Brief History & Numbers 2 and 7
 

Another year at Hogwarts was underway, which also meant it was time for another lesson of Arithmancy. Having awoke early that morning, Fina headed down to make sure the classroom was set up. Several rows . . . ten in a row. Still perfect.

Cracking open the windows just a bit to create some airflow, Fina then took a seat behind her desk and began flipping through a textbook. Without looking up, she flicked her wand and the door opened allowing students to enter. Flicking it again behind her, words appeared on the board behind her:


ooc: You should know my rules by now. If you don't, please familiarize yourself with them before posting.

Class has begun. Late admittance will not be tolerated, so please pretend as though your character has been here the whole time. =)

Gnosis and Cabala
The Numbers 2 & 7
The Activity

Freya arrived at the Arithmancy classroom. She looked around and the classroom is still empty just three older student there and the Professor herself. "Hello Professor. How are you?" she asked politely before she took a seat.

Louisa walked into the room smiling widely. At last, the numbers are here! She never attended this class (naturally) but Kita has told her alot about it and she's excited.

"Hi Professor" She beamed at the teacher and walked forwards to have a seat by herself. She kept looking around absorbing the class room decoration and how it differed from other classes. Every class has its own magic.

Oh. Arithmancy.

Sarah may have gotten an E in the subject for her OWLS, but when you compared that to the O's she got for every other subject she took....it was bad. In her brain anyway. Numbers were not, and never had been, her friend. So it was with a heavy heart she made her way into the classroom for the first lesson of term.

"Hello, Professor," she smiled, as she took her seat near the back. Less chance of her having to answer a question if the teacher couldn't see her. Heh.

Evan didn't know what he was doing in front ıf the Arithmancy classrom. He was truly horrible at the subject, and yet he was here. Standing in front of the door, peeking inside to see if anyone he knew, or anyone bright enough to help him, had arrived. Nope. NO one. And yet, the next second, he found himself walking in and greeting the professor with a wave and a warm smile. Sure, she was someone to be greeted with, she wasn't the one to make him horrible at her class after all. No, the thing that shouldn't be greeted was this classroom. Still, he found himself a table in somewhere middle. He wouldn't at least the centre of attention. Maybe the professor would forget him... yeah, hoping was nice.

Arithmancy!

This was one subject she could always count on of course if all else fails. Besides, it was one of the closest lessons so far as well, and NOT on the seventh floor. Eesh. "Good day, professor." she muttered her usual greeting before choosing a seat somewhere in the middle....actually, changed of mind. Fletchy guy was there and she didn't want to sit near him juuuuust in case those French girls came in and decided to sit near him too.

Pffft. Now, taking a seat near the back, Evelyn pulled out her notebooks and quill before leaning back in her seat and watching everyone else. Stare.

Oooh. Lesson.

Bonnie skipped in, promising to herself that she would do well in this lesson. She hummed to herself. She looked around. Not many peeps in yet. She sighed. She could get a gewd seat now. Bonnie hopped over to a seat in the second row. She couldn't sit in the first row. The firstiessssssss would want to sit there. She smiled at the professor. "Gewddddd Morin' Professor."

Smiles.

Alex entered the classroom and glanced around before taking a seat where she normally sat last term. Arithmancy was one of the classes that were both difficult and very fun as well. "Hello Professor." Alex greeted as she pulled out the book she would store her Arithmancy notes this year along with a quill and ink.

Emmy walked curiously into the Arithmancy class, wondering if anyone she knew would be there - she hoped Mr Chang would be absent, but given his intelligence, he probably would be...
"Hello Professor!" she said, sitting down.
Ah well, I'm here now...

Rae wasn't horrible at Arithmancy. She definitely wasn't good at it either. Nonetheless, she was eager to work in class today... Which is a first

Rae decided to take a seat towards the middle of the room. For she had OWL's this year. And she needed to work on her studies... Kinda.... Right?

Climb. Climb. Huff.

Second floor classes. Only slightly difficult to get to. Not yet an impossibility.

Although if I managed to franchise an elevator around this place I can probably retire early.

Breathing deeply, Salander takes a seat at the far side of the room, right by the windows. This was Arithmancy and as with anything involving numbers, Salander needs to have a good view. Of anything other than just numbers.

He slid into his seat and got comfortable, and waited for the class to start.

Eli entered the classroom, taking a seat in the center of the room, right in front of some sixth year. Front row center, that was him. He smiled brightly at the Professor and waved at her.

They had a special bond, after last year's puzzle. He was sure she had figured it out by now, and so knew his secret message to her. Oh yeah, she did.

He waved again. Just because... well, you know. Because.

Shifting in her seat to keep herself from sticking to the chair, Fina barely noticed as the kids started entering the room. Her eyes still on the book, she didn't even look up as students started greeting her. Couldn't they see that she was reading?

"Mmhm..." she mumbled nonchalantly to the boy's question, but didn't go on into conversation. Why should she? She was trying to get this section finished!

More students. "Morning," she mumbled again, still not looking up.

Footsteps, which meant another student, but this one didn't talk. GOOD! Finally a student who was aware that she was reading and didn't want to be distracted. If she was paying attention to who it was, she'd have given points for the kid paying attention to her.


More students entering. . . . "Hello, take a seat..." she said casually, still not looking up. After all, none of the voices seemed familiar enough for her to bother. And . . oh yea. She was reading.


Another smart student who paid attention to her not paying notice of the kids. YAY!

The next voice though was one she liked. She would recognize that voice anywhere because Miss Evelyn Flores (or did the roster have a Shepard added to her name now? Strange.) was one that frequently spoke out in her lessons. Talented young girl that one was.

"Good day, Evelyn," she said, still not glancing up from her text. She didn't need to for that student.

The patter of footsteps seemed to be dying down, which meant that nearly everyone was inside the classroom. "Morning." She said to the last group who greeted her, and then closed her book, her eyes rising to meet those who were taking Arithmancy this term.


Smiling pleasantly, she flicked her wand once more to shut the door. Anyone who dared arrive late - she would know. Setting her wand inside the top drawer of her desk, she stood up to introduce herself. "Good morning everyone and welcome to another year at Hogwarts and . . . furthermore, Arithmancy." She began. "To those who took my class last term, welcome back. To those trying Arithmancy for the first time, welcome. My name is Professor Hadley and I do hope you'll have some fun throughout my lessons."

Now to begin. "Please turn to page 16 in your textbooks. We're going to start with a bit of review of ancient history involved in Arithmancy. Has anyone ever heard of Gnosis and Cabala?"


ooc: class has begun; from this point on please pretend as though your character was here from the very beginning even if you didn't specifically RP their entrance.
ooc2: I recommend using Google Books (The Mystery of Numbers) for this first part of the lesson. It should aid somewhat in the discussion.

Eli shrunk down in his seat, disappointed. She didn't even acknowledge him. Sighing, he flipped open to page 16 of his book.

Gnosis and Cabala? He shot his hand up. He had heard of Gnosis and Cabala.

Gnosis and Cabala? The fifth year wasn't sure about Cabala exactly, he remembered more about Gnosis, as long as it was the Greek Gnosis. Raising his hand hesitantly and shortly, as if he was trying to hide it rather than showing that he raised it, he half-whispered "I think Gnosis means the spiritual knowledge of someone." He wasn't even sure if the professor wanted the answer or merely wanted to see who knew it, so hopefully his voice would be shadowed by someone else's.

Yeah, he didn't like going to the classes he wasn't good at. Trying to avoid any kind of eye contact, he turned to page 16 and waited.

Keefer's hands tentatively went into the air. "Professor, I think I remember hearing about that at some point. Does that have to do with the idea that numbers have meaning in the physical world? So, if you do calculations with them, isn't that supposed to have an actual interpretation in reality?"

It sounded woolly, but after all the things he'd heard in Divination before, this could actually be close to truth.

Eh, ancient history. And to think she got enough of that from History class, hehe. Taking out her book, she set her bag back down on the floor and rubbed her eyes as she flipped to page 16, glancing at the words. Gnosis and Cabala. Well, this was something she had not read over before. Even just looking at it confused her some. Hearing Cabala being mentioned from somewhere in the class, Evelyn looked up and around before reading the rest of the page.

'And apparently, it's the most important development of the Pythagorean tradition.' No matter how important it was, she was still completely lost on what this number mysticism was. Spiritual stuff? That was all she was getting from this. "Is this all, spiritual related?"

Mmhmm, so Rubiey did not have a cluuuuue as to what the Professor said. "Aren't they... something to do with Jewish morality? And, and... numbers?" She mumbled, verrrrry embarassed. She should have kept her trap shut.

Emmaleigh shook her head. She didn't really know what Arithmancy was, and these two terms, yeah she had never heard them before. this was going to be a fun lesson. She just hoped she learned enough to be able to complete the homework later.

Gnosis and what?

Tapping on his Aritmancy book, Josh looked around for his friends as he listened to the professor speak. Hmm. Since he had no idea what the professor was talking about, he thought it was then the time to enjoy himself a little until someone exactly explained what this Gnosis and something meant....

So he searched in his pockets for a little piece of crumpled parchment and threw it at Simon being extra careful not to be spotted by the professor. Then once the parchment found its target he raised his hand to speak. ''Excuse me professor but it sounded like a cereal brand to me''. And why must he say that out loud? He had no idea.

Salander furrowed his brow as he flipped through his textbook. Gnosis and Cabala? Wasnt Gnosis a planet in some far off galaxy and Cabala something Madonna drank?

Ugh, this is Arithmancy Salander, get with it!

He browsed over his textbook, trying to understand what he can. Tentatively he raised a quill and said "Gnosis is knowledge of the spiritual and/or mystical, something thats more intuitive rather than a kind of knowledge thats based on rational thinking. While Cabala..... is a collection of mystical and ethical Jewish writings, most of these hailing from the medieval period."

Freya took out her textbook from her bag and flipped it opened to the right page. 'Gnosis and Cabala??I've heard of it somewhere' she thought trying to remember. She raised her hand slowly "Gnosis is higher knowledge of spiritual things. While Cabala is the Jewish techniques for manipulation numbers, figures, names, symbols and letters from the Hebrew alphabet in order to reveal the hidden messages?" she said not so sure with her answer.

Josephina nodded at the Gryffindor. "Yes, Cabala does have to do with number mysticism. Good." Someone knew a bit of mystery behind numbers; granted this was basic and not a class on religion so they wouldn't go too far into depth. Generalities were necessary though.

Of course she'd noticed the young boy waving earlier . . . but didn't acknowledge because well, she had been absolved in her book. Nodding at him with his hand raised, she hoped he would just speak up. "Yes? You've heard of it? What do you know about it?"

And this one knew about the first part of the phrase; ah well, familiarity in either part was just fine. "Basically, yes. Spiritual knowledge. Mysticism. Good."


"It does indeed have to do with numbers connecting to the physical world. I'm not so sure about doing calculations with them versus other numbers because all numbers are the same. Universal. However, what it does mean is that each number has a special meaning and mystery about it." It some sense it didn't well, make a lot of sense, but in other regards, it wasn't supposed to.

For once, Miss Flores-Shepard (Eh? That was going to take some getting used to), didn't have a solid answer but was almost questioning herself. "Yes. It is indeed, spiritual related." But no ghosts, so she thought.

"Morality? Not so sure, but yes it does have to do with numbers," Fina mused at the girl. Not shy for a first year, this was good. But really, of course it would have to do with numbers, since this was Arithmancy.

These kids were amusing. "Yes . . . it is something to do with Jewishism and numbers, but we'll focus more on the latter, since this isn't a religion class."

Noting a head movement, Josephina looked toward the culprit who was a rather adorable first year. She liked majority of first years; they were so innocent and fresh. Giving a small [comforting] smile in her direction, she moved onto the next to speak.

Josephina wanted to laugh. Truly she did. Because the next answer was clearly one of the most hilarious answers ever . . . . "Cereal brand? No . . . but um, did you not eat breakfast today?" She asked seriously, raising a brow at the boy. If he was thinking of food, then it was a possibility . . . of course it could just be the fact that he was a boy.

"Precisely . . . Mister ?" Uh what was his name? Because she certainly didn't recognize him from last term.


Moving onward, Josephina removed her wand again from her desk drawer and flicked it so that writing began appearing on the board. "The ideas from Plato and Pythagoreas could be carried over in something called Neoplatonism. However, Gnosis gave rise to a certain mystery about numbers which could be summarized as written on the board."

Quote:

Originally Posted by the board - numbers influence the character of things that are ordered by them - the number therefore becomes a mediator between the spiritual and physical world - it follows that if one performs calculations with numbers than those operations will also work upon the things connected with the numbers used.

"Moving forward as this is just to give you a basic background of where numbers originated.... Today we will be delving into the mysteries of two of my favorite numbers. The number two and the number seven." She paused, letting this sink in, as well as letting them copy the text on the board, if they desired. "Please discuss among yourselves what you know about these two numbers and then we'll have a class discussion about them."



ooc: I'll be going offline for a couple hours; clothes shopping for my new job! <33 Feel free to discuss about the numbers with your neighbors and I'll continue tonight with the lesson =D

Despite the smallness of the paper ball, Simon still felt it hit the back of his head. He was about the turn around and see who threw it but as he heard Josh speak from behind him he knew right away the answer to the mystery and stayed quiet not to draw attention from the professor.

Simon nodded in understanding as the professor commented on his answer taking notes on what she said to the class as well as what appeared on the board. When she allowed them discussion, he finally turned around to see his fellow Gryffindor. He knew what the number 7 could mean he'd have to listen to others about the other number.

"Yes?" he questioned in half jest as if pretending that Josh was trying to get his attention.

Daisy scribbled down the notes into her notebook and leaned her head upon her hand. The numbers two and seven. She knew the meaning of the numbers. Two was all about harmony and relationships. A number Daisy herself never related well too but strived to create. Seven was a number with wisdom and solitude. She wrote this down and wondered if this what the professor was looking for when she mentioned the numbers or something else.

Rubiey didn't know what the number two's importance was, but she knew a bit more about the number seven, at least. "Isn't Seven the most powerfully magical number there is? It's also thought to be the most lucky, or holy, number in practically every culture, although I'm not sure why... Maybe because the Universe was supposedly made in seven days..." She trailed off, after muttering to herself, and sat in thought. Number two... nope, she had no clue.

Hehe she still had no idea what Gnosis and Cabala were, though she wrote down the notes anyways for future reference. Maybe the next time she went over them something would click in her mind, like it has happened many other times.

But, now they were starting to go over things she actually did know, thank Merlin. Though why these two particular numbers were the Professor's favorite...she didn't know. She also didn't know why no one had mentioned the 2 number. "The number two has more of a meaning of harmony and unity." she started, tapping her quill on the desk as she stared at her notes that were written so far. "One would mostly find that the number would usually have some form of meaning or another about seeking harmony or finding some sort of balance whenever it comes up."

And the number seven? "And, the number seven is more on the analytical and intellectual side. You'll usually come across things like 'seek the meaning of' or 'study something' with...the seven number. However, since it is apparently a lucky number to most, combining that with the intellectual and knowledge side of it... I think it is also has some kind of 'spiritual' meaning to it I guess you could put it. I think." At least, that's what some would have described it as. Then again, she tended to over think a situation at times.

Hugo looked at his book, and among all the whispering people, started talking himself. "Well... Number 7 is often concidered a lucky number." That was the only thing he could say. The numbers... They were just pretty numbers, he thought.

Oh. Evan got himself a 'good'. Yay! Maybe he could like this subject... well, he liked it, but it didn't like him. Hopefully, right in his OWL year, he'd find the EUREKA and shine at it.

Now, with that small encouragement, he quickly took all his notes and raised his hand to talk about both of the numbers. He didn't actually know much about both of them, but he would take some strong guesses.

"First of all, both are prime numbers." He hoped this was on topic, even though everyone talked about more deep and imaginary stuff. "I think--" he didn't know if it was true or not, he only guessed "--that number two means a 'couple', like combination and maybe harmony?" Then, after a few seconds' thinking, he said "And everyone knows the number seven's magical power and the meaning of luck." Yeah, that was it.

Leilani followed the directions and flipped to page 16. Woot. She scribbled down the stuff on the board into her notebook before proceeding. Okay, so they were going to be discussing numbers 2 and 7. Cool. Okay, now for somebody to discuss with. Ermmm....

Huh. What do I know about the numbers 2 and 7? In what way, I wonder.

Keefer always liked math, even if he wasn't that great at it. But this was Arithmancy, which meant this wasn't all about mathematical properties.

He looked around and saw people talking in groups. He wasn't really in a group, so he just started talking to himself. Actually, it wasn't that uncommon to see Keefer holding a conversation with himself, so what else was new?

"Well, two is the only even prime number, but I doubt that has much bearing on what we're doing here. Seven is obviously the most powerfully magical number. Two is an even number, so it might relate to being round or complete. Oh, and seven is a common lucky number, I suppose."

Other than that, he'd have to think on it awhile.

Kurumi giggled a little at Josh's comment and caught herself actually writing "sounds like a cereal brand" on her parchment.


Kurumi looked up from her note taking and turned to the closest person to her. "Well, the number 7 seems to be a universal lucky and holy number," she scratched her head with her quill. She wasn't sure if the next part was connected, but it sounded like it could work. "There are many terms that include the number 7: 7 wonders of the world, 7 deadly sins, 7 virtues, the 7 seas, 7 days of the week, 7 colors of the spectrum, the 7 dwarfs... "Seven Samurai" is a classic Japanese movie directed by Akira Kurosawa." There was something on the tip of her tongue she was trying to get out...something to do with the Buddhist temple only a 10 minute walk from her home in the Japanese countryside. "Oh!" she exclaimed remembering. "Buddhists believe in 7 reincarnations. The Japanese celebrate the 7th day after a baby's birth, and mourn the 7th day and 7th week following a death." She paused for a moment. "In Japan, we also have the7 Gods of Luck, the 7 Herbs of Spring, and 7 Heavenly Virtues."

She took a moment to organize her thoughts before moving on to discussing the number 2. "The number 2 is actually kind of unlucky in my culture...for example, if you are giving someone a wedding gift of cups and you give them 2 and 1 breaks, it is like telling the couple that you hope their relationship ends or is full of hardship."

While she was sure that this lesson was going to return to things she did not know, she was relieved that at least right now, she was able to follow everything and contribute.

Pam copied the words from the board onto her notebook. She pondered a bit. two and seven. Personally she liked twenty. Two and seven could be writen the same way upside down. If written right, two, upside down can look like a seven, and vise versa. Hmmmm

"Salander." he replied leaning forward. Yup new kid on the (chopping) block right here.


Salander looked away trying to see what he knows about 2 and 7 off the top of his head. "Two? Uh.... Two turtledoves? Two comes after One?; Two is cozy...."... but Three is more fun? hmm, maybe he should keep that last bit to himself.

"Seven.... its a betting man's favorite number; number of days in a week; popular stuff are named after it-- a soda, a movie, oh, yeah and the number of Horcruxes Voldermort made." Yeah that last bit was kinda significant.

He wasnt quite sure if this was what the Professor had in mind "Did you want something more from the textbook Professor?"

Leilani scribbled down a few notes before saying, "Well, the number seven carries many magical properties and is much like the number three. The number two, however, signifies balance and choices." Yup. There we go. She scribbled down a little more before continuing on, "They're almost opposites, really. Though they do have a few things in common." Like the fact that they were both symbolizing control. Mmhmm.

Willow knew that seven was the lucky number and two? What was two? Two is the only even prime. But what else was it? Willow really wanted to do good in this class. That was why she had her parchment for her notes. But she couldn't write anything if it wasn't write.

Autumn wrote down a few notes. She loved this class and was super-excited to be there. "Well," she said to no one in particular. "I've always heard that 7 is one of the most powerful numbers there is. Isn't that the number of Horcruxes Lord Voldemort used in his time? Counting himself, of course. I bet he did it for that reason." She nodded slightly. She thought she might be right. Yay!

Jainie grinned. Seven and two were her favorite numbers, too! No pun intended. But what exactly was special about them? Well, for some reason, she always mixed then up when remembering times or dates. That probably wasn't significant. She did know that seven was the most powerful magical number, at least usually. Two could mean...strength in pairs? Two is better than one? Oh wait, that's something else... She heard people mention harmony and bonding. Maybe there was something to that. Hmm...

As she thought, she started to chew on the end of her quill like she did with her pens in the muggle world, but ended up with a mouthful of feathers. After a subtle sputtering fit, she looked around to see if anyone had noticed.

Sitting pretty close to someone familiar, Rae heard Salander's voice... What he said made Rae chuckle, for what he said was exactly what Rae would've said. She was never the bright student. As it seems, Rae could definitely be friends with this Salander kid. She decided to scoot over closer to him, after all, they could be awesome Arithmancy buddies?

Jenny blinked as she wrote down her notes. She had a guess at what the numbers 2 and 7 might mean, but it was a shot in the dark (besides the fact that the number 7 is considered with luck). Quickly Jenny looked through her textbook to see if there's anything that could help her.

When a girl next to her suddenly spoke, Jenny jumped up. But it wasn't just that that made her jump up. It was the fact that she started talking about Japanese stuff...the girl even knew more about Japan than Jenny does! What's wrong with her father?! He knows sushi but nothing else about Japanese culture?!

"Um..." Jenny said to the girl. She was quite nervous. "Are you from Japan? That's some interesting info you said...I'm half Japanese and my dad never even told me those things." Jenny was quite happy for a while, when she realized she was getting off-task. Right...back to 2 and 7.

Feeling someone scoot next to him, Salander turns his head to see a familiar brunette "Hey Rae!" he smiled.

Kurumi looked over at the girl sitting next to her and felt a sense of relief at her comment about being half-Japanese. Kurumi was glad she wasn't the only one. "I'm half too! I grew up in Japan," she smiled as she went back to writing some more notes from the comments her classmates had made. "So...what do you think about the numbers 7 and 2..." They added up to 9...maybe there was something there as well.

Patroclus could help but laugh and smile.

"It seems you are talking to yourself again Evelyn," Patroclus whispered, he had to lean over his desk to get close enough to her ear, but close enough not to set her off into a panic

"I think you are are correct," he added, her 'i think' had been barely audible, but Patroclus had excellent hearing.

"Seven is considered also rather special, as there are Seven colours in the Rainbow."
What the? Where the heck, had that come from!

"Oh, I see." Jenny nodded. Finally someone she can completely relate to; she can relate to all of her fellow Ravenclaws just fine, but none of them are half or full Japanese at least.

"Um..." Jenny pondered. She still hasn't thought of her opinion of those two numbers. "I think seven is associated with luck, since many people consider it a lucky number." Well, that sounded too obvious. "And I think two is associated with union and togetherness, since people get married as a pair. All of us have two eyes, two ears, two arms, two legs, two hands, and two feet, so the body parts work together in a way. Shoes, socks, and gloves also come in pairs; you can't have one without the other. And...they always say that two is better than one." Wow, her thoughts sound disorganized.

"I'm Jenny Takahashi, by the way. Nice to meet you." She almost forgot to introduce herself; how stupid is that?

Rae smiled back at him. she was definitely more smiley this term. Normally Rae never smiles! "Hey, are you an Arithmancy person?" She knew the answer to this, though maybe he will come up with some witty and funny answer.

Kurumi nodded in agreement. "Oh, I'm Kurumi Hollingberry," she said offering her hand. "It's nice to meet you Jenny." She then went back to thinking about the numbers. There had to be some connection between the two. Sure, if you turned one upside down it looked like the other, but was it really that simple. "Do you think there is some connection between 7 and 2? You can flip them and they kind of look the same...or when you add them make 9...and then you get 3 3's...and they are both prime numbers..." her brain was starting to go into over thinking mode. She flipped through her textbook for more hints. "Maybe there is some connection to letters..." she said aloud. She thought she had read that somewhere...

"Nice name, Kurumi." Jenny nodded. It was certainly better than her name; Jenny is so common these days!

"Um..." That was a good question actually. "I think they look the same too; I always mix my 7's and 2's up. Maybe if you multiply 7 by 2, it makes 14 and if you add the two digits together it makes 5, and when you subtract 2 from 7, it also makes 5...does that work?" Jenny freaked out; she was thinking math!! Has she gone crazy...oh wait, this is Arithmancy after all. No need to panic.

Kurumi remained silent for a moment as she tried to wrap her head around everything Jenny had said. "That makes sense too," Kurumi nodded as she thought some more. Arithmancy was certainly about adding numbers up to finding some sort of result...just what the result was Kurumi was not sure about...she had only skimmed her textbooks before class. "I think we both agree that 2, being an even number, can mean something in balance...7, which isn't an even number, can't mean balance...but maybe it can mean..." she paused for a moment. What could it mean besides lucky. Surely there had to be something more...it was an odd number made up by the combination of adding many different combinations of numbers making it much more complex than 2. Her brain was more certainly working into overload now. "...challenges...intellect...?" She probably should have voice her internal monologue to Jenny, but she had written out most of her thought process on her parchment.

"That makes sense." Jenny admitted, even though she never thought of that in the first place. Smart Kurumi! And Jenny couldn't even live up to her reputation as a Ravenclaw! Why did the professor choose those two numbers? Not that it would make any difference if she chose any other numbers beside one.

"Well maybe..." Jenny paused. She pondered and pondered before continuing. "Something special happened to most people when they were 2 and 7 years old." Okay, that sounded weird, but it was what Jenny could come up with for now.

Ooh! Kurumi had flashbacks to when she was 7-years-old in Japan. "Good point!" she chirped grabbing Jenny's hand for no apparent reason other than she was excited. "There is a traditional rite of passage and festival day in Japan for three and seven year-old girls ...The ceremony is to celebrate the growth of babies into healthy, sturdy children. Maybe the number 7 can also mean a rite of passage or growth or curiosity..." Yep, Kurumi was getting a little too excited about all this...but she really did love studying, learning, and thinking in new ways.

Hmm what?

Pffft! "I am not talking to myself....again." she whispered back, looking over to Patroclus sitting next to her. When did he come in? More importantly, how come she hadn't noticed him sitting next to her? And now she lost her place writing in her notes. What had she been thinking about before Patroclus' face invaded her mind?

"There are lots of things associated with the number seven." Obviously the colors, then the days of the week, how many years they had to stay in school at Hogwarts, and lots of other stuff. Some more with an evil intent than others. "I don't know how the number seven can be so lucky though. I mean, that was how many horcruxes Voldemort had altogether, like someone had mentioned, and he still got what he deserved in the end. I'm not saying it is a bad luck number, but i don't get how it could also mean good luck when it has bad luck tagging along with it." How lucky could that be? Talk about bad luck on his side.

Well, now that her little rant about that was over, Evelyn turned her gaze back to Patroclus and smiled. Yup, she felt better. Obviously, she didn't like the number seven.

Jenny stared in amazement as Kurumi continued to talk about more Japanese rites. Oh wow, Jenny needed to study Japanese history more often; forget History of Magic! "That's really incredible. You make me feel less Japanese." Jenny smiled anyways; so much to learn here...

"Well, um..." Jenny looked through her notes; she just has to keep the discussion going! She then noticed something she wrote there. "The Chinese have a saying that says 'good things come in pairs', so maybe they considered 2 as their lucky number." And where did she get that fact from? No idea. Maybe it came from a book she read.

Kurumi giggled. "I grew up in Japan with a very traditional mother," Kurumi explained looking over her notes some more for something else that may be helpful. "I only just came to Britian a week before Hogwarts started." The best things come in pairs...so perhaps both numbers were lucky. She flipped through some more pages of her textbook. "Well, at least we know that these two numbers hold a meaning no matter what culture," she smiled. Her brain was started to get too tired to think.

Oh, she came to London a week before school started...no wonder. Jenny smiled. Imagine if her father would meet Kurumi's mother; so alike and yet so different in many ways. That would be hilarious.

"Yeah, that's true." Jenny said. She continued looking through her textbook to find out more about two and seven; sadly she didn't have anything to say or think of anymore without help. Even Kurumi looked like she started to run out of ideas. And the professor's question was still bothering her after all this time! Quickly Jenny looked around before asking Kurumi. "Is Arithmancy your favorite subject?"

Kurumi leaned back in her seat a little still scratching her head. She clearly was thinking too much about a subject that she hardly knew anything about. "I am thinking that Transfiguration is going to be my favorite subject," she said as she closed her textbook in a weak attempt to give her mind a break from thinking about the numbers 2 and 7. "Arithmancy seems really interesting though." She looked around and saw that the other students still seemed to be in deep conversation. Whether or not that conversation was about numbers was beyond her ears. What about you?"

"So far, it has been Divination...surprisingly. But this class seems really interesting too, so I'm gonna give it a try. I'm also looking forward to Charms and Transfiguration, too." Jenny smiled. She wondered whether it is okay to go off-topic like this, but hey, they need a break from talking about the numbers of the day, 2 and 7, for now. However...maybe it's best to stay ON-topic.

"Right, we shouldn't go off-topic just in case." Jenny looked back at her textbook. "I've never even looked at this book before coming here. I hated doing Muggle arithmetic to be honest; my father forced me into doing it when I was little." Her headache came back again. Oh, how the numbers 2 and 7 will haunt her forever...

Emmy thought for a while, noting down as many things to do with the number seven as she could - she couldn't think of anything about number two.
"Well, there's the seven deadly sins, seven main colours in the visible spectrum, and of course the Dark wizard, Voldemort had seven Horcruxes, as he believed seven to be a powerfully magical number."

Freya wrote down a few notes before saying "The number seven was considered sacred not only by all the cultured nations of antiquity and the East, but was held in the greatest reverence even by the later nations of the West. For example : The Egyptians had seven original and higher gods; the Phœnicians seven kabiris; the Persians, seven sacred horses of Mithra and others things that include number seven in it. And we all knew that the magical world believe that seven is the most powerful magical number. The Dark Lord himself created seven Horcruxes." she said. "Umm..Two. Well two is better than one. So basically instead of one is it better have a pair." she added not so sure what the meaning behind number two.

Kurumi nodded in agreement and went back to writing down notes about the conversation her and Jenny had just been having about 2 and 7. She flipped through a few more pages of her book and found a section about numbers being associated to letters of the alphabet and then some complicated math to do...her brain was far to exhausted to understand all that right now, so she figured it best to leave that up to the professor to explain.

Simon too
 

Josh grinned when he heard the professor's response. Hehehe. She was right so he liked her quite much. ''Unfortunately i did not have time to eat enough, professor'' he replied ''I am a busy man and all those classes make me even busier so i cannot find time for my favourite past time activity: Eating.'' He knew the class did not need to hear about his favourite past time activities yet he felt like mentioning it so he mentioned it. He was the master of everything after all and maybe there were some of his fans who wanted to hear about this stuff.

Then he sat down, with the smirk on face, and looked at Simon who was staring at him. So he felt the pain that a paper ball could cause. Hehehe. Shaking his head at the other Gryffindor boy's direction he took another piece of parchment made a paper ball out of it and performed the second paper ball attack at the boy as the rest of the class discussed about numbers. Hey! Numbers two and seven were his favourites too!

Seven and Two.
"Well that's the numbers after six and one. I guess speaking magic Undesirable Number One was the name given to Harry Potter during the second wizarding war.. Seven.. Uhm.. I'm not sure about our world but I have read that seven evolved from glyph which is from..Egypt.." Dianna said as she lowered her hand. Bah. She was so not good at this..

Rowan raised her hand. "The number one represents, among other things, beginnings. The number seven represents solitude, spiritual focus, and wisdom," she said shyly, hoping that she was remembering this correctly.

Louisa looked down at the book and started reading. Well, the answer wasn't very hard but maybe the teacher wanted a special answer. She re-read the paragraph and then raised her hand, "It's said that number two means harmony, unity, and relationships. I can say that it's about the emotional side of man. While number seven means Analysis, research, solitude, wisdom, spiritual focus, investigative which can be considered the rational side of man. We could say that these two numbers are somehow correlative, Professor?"

Cassandra thought for a while. "Well, 7 is considered a very magical number...I don't know about 2..."

Blink.

She flipped open her textbook. Page...12....13....14...15...16! She read over it quickly, barely scanning the page, then scribbled it down in her notepad with black ink. She frowned, sucking the end of her sugar quill then saying her thoughts to no one imperticular. "Two. Well, the saying is it takes two to tango. Which means more things then one. Balance. Love. Happiness. Now, seven. It's considered an unlucky number... but it could mean anything."

Shrug.

As far as i known the number seven is known as a magical numer. Mostly it is named with unlucky happenings, similiar to number 13. But its also often used in relgion. 7 often plays a big role in life.
Two is the number for love and friendship, for everything social cause it always tales at least two people. One human being alln alone couldnt survive in the world.

Patroclus smiled, if there was one thing he loved the most about Evelyn, it was her passion.

"Wow, now why don't you tell us why you hate seven!" He joked, as smile creeping across his face.

The next speech he directed to the class as well as Evelyn, "But we must remember that though Voldie got what was coming to him, and it was dealt to him by someone who was born in the seventh month of the year, so I would say that Harry was rather lucky, he did after all return from the dead-ish!" the boy smiled,
"Seven seems to be a number that is select to represent important groups, for example the Seven Wonders of the World", the boys father was an Archaelogist after all.

"And two......I got nothing" he blushed

"Well. seven is known as a magical number. As we all known the magical world believed that seven has a great power. Even the muggles believed that seven is a lucky number and they even have seven wonders of the world. As for number two. Well, as far as I know we are created in pairs like Adam and Eve, Romeo and Juliet. So number two means that we all need someone else to survive" Riley said

"Two, well in the year 2 AD Jupiter and Venus drew close together and appeared to fuse as a single star, to me itmore pretains to rlationships a half is only whole when there is two." Nessa said "with 7 there are teh 7 sins and 7 classical planets"

*snugs ALL your posts* <3
 

Josephina paced around the room, listening to the comments of each student about the numbers two and seven. They were so smart these students - each of them offering different ideas about what they knew of each number. Jotting down a few ideas that she heard mentioned, she smiled in passing at some who seemed to have got into the discussion.

"Yes... The number seven is supposedly one of the most powerful magical numbers out there." Fina began by way of interjecting the discussions going around. "I do believe some of this could be contributed to the analytical and mystical properties in that number. It tends to equate to terms such as solitude and wisdom and spiritual focus, which are terms that add magical strength to person. The more you analyze and research, the more you know. Knowledge goes in hand with research and studying." Duh.

The number two. "The number two; you all must have heard at some point that good things come in threes. But there is nothing more magical and special than the unity of two. Two has meaning of harmony and unity, which creates that magical bond of which nothing can stop.

The combination of a two plus a seven will equal nine, which in other words, completion. Wholeness. Which is one reason I love these two numbers. Because if they weren't special enough by themselves - which they are - then together, they signify complete and total universal oneness."

Now for the fun part of the lesson. "Before we begin the next part of the lesson, I'm going to pass around some peppermint chocolates, because I do believe the sugar can get the blood flowing..." With that, she passed some of the candies to each of the students. "In just a moment, you'll find yourselves surrounded by walls. You'll need to make your way out of the maze . . . BUT the catch is when you encounter a seven or a two blocking your path. When you come across one of these numbers, you will need to use your knowledge of the numbers to do something or wave something at the number to allow it to let you through."

With a flick of her wand, a moment later the lights flickered and then in another instant, the Arithmancy classroom was transformed into a giant maze (like this).


OOC Notes:
* You could start from anywhere in the maze.
* RP yourselves making your way through the maze. Minimum of 5 posts for maximum credit
* Be creative with how you get by a two or seven; use the textbook for something related to these numbers to get by
* You have until 7pm EST on September 15th to complete this
* There will be a surprise waiting at the end of the maze (where the red dot is)
* Questions, then ask me.
* You need help? Use your wand to shoot red sparks to get the Professor's attention.

Link doesn't work for me, Jesssss :(
 

O_________o

They were getting food AND getting stuck in a maze?

What was it with the teachers wanting them to get lost this term? First DADA and paint bubbles in the maze, now this.

Sarah clutched her peppermint close, inspecting it to see if it was a trap or something. She was completely distracted by it, which is why she didn't see the lights go down, or the walls go up until she looked back up - to be confronted by one of them. "Great."

Good job she had been paying attention to what they had to do. Flicking her wand out in case she needed it, Sarah started on her merry way though the maze - hoping NOT to come across one of the numbers. But then this was Arithmancy, so that hope would evaporate within a few seconds, she was sure.

Kurumi took the chocolate and carefully unwrapped it before popping it in her mouth. She looked over at Jenny as the professor mention a maze and fun. Kurumi was beginning to love classes even more! Suddenly, the classroom transformed and Kurumi now found herself alone with the chocolate still melting in her mouth. Um...she hadn't expected that to happen so quickly.

Sarah - try refreshing the page, it worked when I tried that!
 

Popping the chocolate into his mouth, he crumples up the wrapper, listening he to the instructions, before he realized it the room had transformed, and he was alone in the maze.

Looking around amazed, he narrows his eyes in thought. All right...the numbers two and seven... He liked mazes...so this should be easy, so he thought.

Taking a right at the end of the corridor he searches for the way out.

OOC note to clear up some confusion since y'all are getting caught up on the link:

the link to the picture is just an example of a maze (I did update the link), but it doesn't have any relevance to what you need to do in the activity. Really you can totally just make it up of blocks and wandering through and all that jazz... and when you hit a two or seven.

Hope this helps!!! :glomp:

Pam stared in amazement. She was feeling a bit hyper from that candy. Sugar reaaaallly did make her hyper. Bouncing up and down in excitement, she was off, running, looking for the exit.

"WEEEEEEEEE!!!!" She said in excitement.

Blah blah blahhhhhh...

Arithmancy was ruddy boring when you found it hard to concentrate on anything for more than three seconds. Oliver wasn't very good at hiding the fact that he was bored out of his scull either. His foot had begun tapping under the desk, his face contorted into a rather pained expression. He had never been good with numbers – his muggle primary school teacher had even gone as far as to say to his mother he had a mild form of Dyscalculia... and Arithmancy was just basically maths wasn't it? Maths with a bit of Divination thrown in to make it a leeeeetle more interesting.

Why he decided to take this subject in his final year he didn't understand but at least the professor was nice - tough but nice.

He glanced over at Sarah to see what she was up to but his eyes snapped back to the professor when she mentioned peppermint chocolates! Woot! SUGARRRRR! Just what the twitchy boy needed to quell the boredom and make him even more.. twitchy. :erm:

And it got better still..

Chomping on his chocolate, he watched as the classroom transformed into a maze. “Awesome.” He smiled. Now things were getting interesting. He looked back at Sarah to see her hotfooting it off to.. somewhere. Confused, but certainly not bored anymore, he set off after the Head Girl. “Oi! Wait up, partner..” He shouted after her. Best have company of the brainy kind should those pesky sevens or twos decide to attack.

Hehe!

What?

Glancing away from Patroclus once the professor started to speak, once again, she wrote down a few notes before laying her quill back down. Hmm, well, she supposed that was a good reason to like the numbers two and seven. It was still extremely weird though. What were her favorite numbers anyway? Definitely not seven. Maybe...three? Or was it four? Perhaps it was five...

It didn't matter though. The words 'peppermint' and 'chocolate' suddenly flew through her ears and registered in her mind. Chocolate was definitely okay if it was paired with peppermint. Hehe. Though she just didn't eat a lot of it. Taking one of the chocolates, she twirled it through her fingers for a moment, completely missing the fact that there was something about a maze being said until the moment the lights flickered off.

Huh? It was only a moment though until suddenly she felt herself land on the ground and she was stuck between four walls, one on each side of her, front and behind as well. Where did her desk and bag go?! And why did she have a feeling that she was suddenly stuck in ANOTHER maze!?

...Headmaster Tate wasn't in here messing with them was he? Because she swore she would cover him with pink and purple pingo bubbles if she saw him in this maze.

I hope I'm doing this right...
 

With a huge smile on his face, Evan was happily eating his chocolate when all of a sudden the professor flicked her wand and literal walls formed all around him. He froze out of panic. He was dead. He was DEAD! He couldn't even do Aguamenti properly, let alone knowing a direction spell. He would get lost! Maybe he should call for help. His hand went to his holster, but the chocolate hit his stomach and some strong nerve kicked in. He decided to stay in the game for the time being. If something--anything happened from those numbers, he'd be out. Really.

Taking a deep breath, he drew his wand. He had only taken a few steps until he came to a decision--right, straight, or left? Peeking at every choice, he saw a light in the left road. Light was good. He decided to take that way.

...only to come to his first number. Eep. It was a two which looked down on him. He didn't like it. Good thing the teacher gave them all a piece of chocolate. The two, in a quite commanding voice, said "Tell me a truth about myself, and continue on your way." Evan pondered for a few seconds to choose the best, then said "You're the meaning of harmony and unity." The number bowed in agreement and opened his way. Wow, this was too easy. Maybe it would get harder as he got closer to the exit.

I love Neptune. <3
 

ACK.

As Ty decided to take a left, he jumped about a MILE in the air as a very girly voice sounded right in front of him, needing a partner. As his heart thudded loudly, his brain processed the girl's request. Were they allowed partners? The Professor hadn't said that they couldn't...

Plus, this girl was a Ravenclaw and she LOOKED nice enough even though she, er, was kinda girly. But Lo was girly and she was AWESOME. "I can be your partner," Ty said as he walked to her, a little miffed that there was STILL a huge height difference between him and the older kids.He was supposed to be GROWING, for Merlin's sake!

It works now! *woot*.... Katieface <3333
 

Now she knew why she never went in mazes on days out with her family. Sarah's sense of direction was not good. And within the first few paces she came to a fork in the maze. Hanging her head in abject horror, she sighed and looked left and right. Until she heard a voice behind her, causing her to spin back to face the very place she had come from. "Oliver?" she asked, fully aware that the answer was, YES. *cough* "I never saw you before, but thank god you're here. I'm lost." Yes ladies and gentlemen, she was gonna be a big help in this task.

"And you shouldn't eat too much of that sugar," Sarah commented, again scanning the directions they could take, and lazily poking his candy treat with her wand. "I'm not sure I want to be stuck in a maze with you if you're too twitchy." She'd heard from Miranda what he could be like. "Anyway," she clapped her hands together. "Which way? Left or right? I think I spotted a 2 that way," Another point of the wand, "and a 7 that way." She was wishing she had never come already.

Leilani's jaw fell open as walls enclosed her. Crap. Now it was dark. "ARE WE ALLOWED TO USE MAGIC?!" She yelled. Y'know, they probobly were but it couldn't hurt to ask. And if they weren't.... well then she'd get eaten alive thanks to her wonderful uncoordination. Yup. There we go, death in her favorite class. SIIIIIIIIGH.

Lani put one foot out to check for a stable ground, then took off running. Right, left, left.... right. Stop. She waited for an answer to her question. Pleeeeeeeeaaase?! See, her brain could beg too.

Chocolate?

Now there was something she wasn't likely to eat wasn't it? So the Blonde completely ignored it as it came round and instead focused on whatever else the professor was saying. But before long her concentration was broken when the classroom suddenly turned into a giant maze.

Seeing Oliver, who had probably consumed WAY to much sugar for his won good veering off away from her somewhere, Trix decided to go her own way, which ultimately led her to standing right next to Spatulaclaw.

"Hey Vashti" she grinned. At least if they worked together they may be able to overcome those pesky numbers.

Ohh my Merlin. She was lost.

Ellie hadn't even begun to move, and she was lost. ...or was she? She was still in the classroom, right? Technically? So... if she didn't move at all... she should still be in her seat, when this was all over, right? She gulped and pulled out her wand.

This was so not cool. She looked at the chocolate in her hand... Not that she didn't think the idea of being caught in a maze wasn't thrilling. But she had always wanted the choice to enter it. So...umm... Could she just send sparks up and get out of here? Now?

She looked around to see if anyone else was around. Really. Anyone?

Taking another left, he finds himself face to face with....Ellie! Looking around he wonders how on earth he'd just exited the maze, no this wasn't right! Groaning, he turns around looking back at the maze.

"Ermmm...Ellie, want to be partners?" he asks casually. He was totally stumped hadn't found no numbers yet, but found another exit.

One second Vashti was alone...then in the next Trixie was standing beside her. WHOA where'd she come from?! That was some shifty stuff right there, that was, coming out of nowhere like that. Silly shifty Slytherdove. Try saying that five times fast.

"Hi Trixie!" she said with a grin of her own. "You wanna partner up for this? Since, y'know, we're not throwing paint at each other this time." Hehe, that WAS fun though.