Arithmancy Three: Number 9 & Personal Year Number
 

The classroom door is open, which means the time has come for yet another fun-filled Arithmancy Lesson! Professor Hadley is sitting on top of her desk, with her ankles crossed ladylike and her eyes were fixed upon the latest copy of the Daily Prophet, which she held up in front of her.

Swinging her legs casually back and forth, ever-so-subtly, she glanced over the top edge of the paper now and then with a small smile. "Take your seat and begin by reading over chapter four in your textbooks. We'll begin shortly."


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

Class will begin in approximately three hours. Please RP your characters entering if you wish, but minimize the chatter! Thanks <3

Salander walks into the classroom, and nods his head at the Professor politely "Hello there Professor." he smiled as he took his seat. Didnt he say something in the last class about cracking open his book to read something up? Well he's..... doing it right now! Heh. He pulls the book out of his bag and flips for the right chapter.

Carrying her book back over her left shoulder, Kurumi hurried into the classroom to be sure that she got her seat right dead center in the front. "Hello Professor," Kurumi smiled taking out her book and setting it on the desk. Perhaps they were going to have a continuation from the Muggle Studies' joint class? They had finished on a rather abrupt note. Reading the chapter title, Energy of Numbers 1-9, it seemed like they may just be doing that. What number had she been? A 1 perhaps? She quickly flipped through to find the calculations she had done last class.

Stretching her back as she made her way towards the classroom door, the Slytherin finally relaxed before entering the room. Hmm, newspaper. Well that was boring. "Good day, Professor." she smiled just the slightest before moving to a seat, closer to the front since cookie girl was there then the back.

Hehe. Smirking at the girl, Evelyn grabbed her Arithmancy book and flipped towards the correct chapter before leaning back in her seat. Energy of numbers? ...fascinating. She read it of course, though she supposed it couldn't hurt to skim over it again.

You loverly earlybirds <3
 

Ellie walked into Arithmancy. Okay. One last shot. Then, she'll just not take it next term if she doesn't understand. But, she thought she'd try one last time.

"Hey Professor." she greeted Hadley as she walked in. True that she needed to stay on her good side. She had questions to ask her. Non-arithmancy questions, though.

She took a seat and began to read chapter 4.

Lesson starting ... kinda ;P
 

Josephina nodded and greeted hello to the last couple students to enter the classroom. Once it seemed as if a good number of people have entered the classroom (or not!), she flicked her wand and closed the door. At least now she would know if anyone cared to announce their late arrival.

Hopping off her desk, her heels made a subtle click noise as they hit the stone floor. "Last Arithmancy class before your final... before the summer... I know for some of you, that is probably the best news you've heard all term, but for others, it's not so much."

"As we end this year and embark on a summer away from Hogwarts, there is one number that really seems to strike a chord with regard to farewells. Any ideas what that number might be?" As they all just reviewed their books . . . then they all should know, right?



ooc: Class has begun, so please if you're coming late and DON'T want points deducted, then pretend like you've been here the whole time. Due to low attendance, I'll probably do more of the lesson tomorrow morning /afternoon.

Emmaleigh raised her hand. "Is it, um, the number 5? I know it has to do with changes. Or maybe the number 9. It is the completion of something." She really wasn't sure which number was right. "It seems like 9 would be for those graduating."

Aw the Summer. Such a happy, blissful, amazing...

...frustrating, hurried, and emotional time of year. Merlin she hated it. The only time she enjoyed was her birthday, which happened to fall during that time of year.

However, right now was not about summer. It was about, whatever the professor was talking about. And that was...what? What was this a trick question? MEEP! Barely beginning and she was already confused! SUMMER! See what you did to her brain!?!

But with another person speaking up, her eyes flickered over the description of numbers, thinking it over. Five? "I would have said three." she commented, mostly to the professor then the girl. Not really an answer, but just more of an opinion. No, and it had nothing to do with the fact that it had the same astrological sign as her either. Pfft. Or maybe it was because of that.

Pssh.

"It's 9 right?" Ellie asked. "9 has to do with endings. Farewell. End. Same thing." Right? Right.

Kurumi raised her hand. "In Japan, the number 4 is a kind of symbol for the end as it has the same reading as the word for death," she said a little timidly. "However, I believe that chapter four of our textbook said that the number 9 means completion. I believe that in Christian culture the number 9 is the number used when judging man and all of his works." She paused for a minute. "Professor, does 9 being the number of completion have anything to do with it being the final single digit?" If so, did that make 99 a super number of completion and 999 even more so?

Cass thought for a while and glanced down back to her book before answering.

"Well, it could be 5 because it signifies change and transition...but it could also be 9 which symbolizes endings..." She said. There really was no specific number for good bye here.

Iris sat, at the back of the class, reading through the chapter like told. When the professor asked a question, the prefect looked back down to the book. She wasn't really sure of the answer.

....

And it appeared that neither did Fletcher. Really, even though Iris didn't personally know him, he'd become a whole lot more egotistical since winning the Triwizard Tournament. Maybe eternal glory just does that to you, though. Iris wouldn't know; she doesn't have that kind of glory.

Well, that or he was just being clever with his answer. Iris glanced down at the information on the number one. Well, it was to do with beginnings... and summer was the beginning of no school for six weeks; a temporary goodbye. And for the seventh years, it was the beginning of their working life, and goodbye to school FOREVER. How ever you looked at it, a beginning is still the ending of something else.

Maybe the glory hadn't gone to the Champions head, after all.

Teehee.

Raising her hand, Iris decided to give the professor a guess of an answer anyway. "Uh... well, one number that seems to be to do with farewells from school is the number 5... because it talks about freedom and change. The start of the summer brings freedom, and the end of it brings change: A new school year. Eitherway, it's still goodbyes... in a way."

That was a lot of waffle, and not really much of a proper answer. Keeping her hand up, the prefect continued, "But... I think that, like some other people have said, the number you're referring to is the number Nine. It symbolises not only endings, but also other things that you'd hope to have gained a greater understanding of before saying goodbye to Hogwarts, such as universal oneness, dedication, compassion, multi-talent and benevolence."

Iris could have gone on to say more... but she'd already talked a LOT. Teehee.

Salander flipped the pages back and forth, he really want it to be a 5-- because its his number, and its summer, and his birthday and his sun sign and.....

"I guess its a 9 Professor, since farewells also mean endings, a certain kind of completion, but 5 could also figure in there..." yeah he juuuust couldnt help adding that in ".... because 5 is a number for change and farewells can certainly be called a lasting change."

"Changes yes, five would be correct, however I do believe I explicitly asked for a number dealing with farewells. So number nine is correct," Fina nodded at the girl, who added about it being graduating. She knew that young Hufflepuff had it in her . . . "Graduation, yes. It could be for that too."

Three? Oh my! For once, Evelyn was not correct, which meant she'd likely been daydreaming . . . about Merlin only knew what. "Evelyn dear? Are you feeling alright or perhaps you should skide off the lesson today and head straight to the hospital wing." Because clearly if the girl was saying three had to do with farewells, she was definitely feeling ill. Any other student would have been different, but Evelyn, who was rather gifted in Arithmancy, Hadley questioned her well-being.

"Yes, precisely! 9 is about completion." Fina nodded at the Ravenclaw.

"Mr Fletcher, did that shrinking charm in the tournament have an adverse affect on your ego? Because perhaps you would do well being that small once again?" Fina raised an eyebrow at the conceited Hufflepuff. What was it with Hufflepuffs and being so conceited? No scratch that, Hufflepuff boys. They were like that when she was a student too...

"And no, number one is symbolic of beginnings, not completion." And if he'd read his book instead of worrying about his looks, then he'd have likely known that!

This was why Josephina liked this Gryffindor; she always came up with the most interesting back-stories for why she was selecting a certain number. "You are correct with 9 being the number i was referring to about completion." Thinking about the girl's question, she pressed her lips together thoughtfully. "Why don't you tell me your thoughts on that? Do you-" she addressed the class now with this question, "think that the number 9 being the number of completion has anything to do with it being the final single digit? Or is it merely . . . coincidence?"

"If I asked for change, it'd have been five, but as I asked about completion and farewells, you're correct with it being 9." Fina smiled at the two Slytherin girls.


Another one to suggest the number three? Pfft, she was probably just listen to Evelyn's delusional comments. "No my dear, the number I was referring to was the number 9."


"Could I get some shout-outs for characteristics about the number nine? Anything at all you know about this number, please share out loud." Good way to start off with talking about a particular number.

ooc: try not to repeat characteristics and please limit your character's shoutouts to one or two to give others a chance. Thanksss <3

Hmm wha?

Raising a brow, Evelyn stared at the professor for a moment before giggling. Yes, she giggled. That is, until she realized what she did and cleared her throat instead. That, didn’t happen. Ever!

"No, I'm fine. Got too excited over it I suppose." Grinning, she tapped her pencil on her desk before looking elsewhere. It wasn’t like she was going to repeat an answer that was already said, so she had said three. Three was an awesome number! Pfft.

Sighing, Evelyn rubbed her eyes for a moment before looking down to the book, her eyes gazing at the words given for the number nine.

Hmm... "Being a number of completion and farewells, the number nine also represents the meanings of a person's spiritual and artistic self. Mostly referring to one's higher self and need to fulfill...one's charitable nature." she said, after raising her hand of course. "Which I suppose could all tie in with the whole 'completion' and 'endings' theme, since if you think about it, as one gets older, towards their end i should say, they are more in tune with themselves and their surroundings... not to mention are very wise and usually end up teaching the world or someone a thing or two about life. Hence, the spiritual and artistic or charitable self...and since nine is the last number in the system here..." Trailing off, the Slytherin stared at the book and words. "Would nine also be represented as the oldest number?"

If that made any sense at all. If not, perhaps she really should head to the nurse. Meep! Comparing numbers to old people. Yeaaa....

Ooh, Marie knew this, or rather she though she did. "Not only is it the number of ending, the number nine is also the number of dramatics. Which means this number MUST be all about Destiny." Yeah, no one was more dramatic than her friend. "I don't know anyone who is more dramatic than she is." That girl could turn the simplest happening into something over dramatic. Like getting hit with jelly and falling to the floor pretending to be dead.

Yep, major drama queen that girl is.

Cass raised her hand and answered "Maybe 9 is the number for goodbyes because it is the number for perfection? I mean, if you've already perfected something, wouldn't you already stop doing it?" She bit her lip tentatively, she knew she had a point, but she just didn't explain it properly.

Kurumi closed her book for a moment not wanting to spoil her thinking process by the text. What did she know about the number 9...hmmm... "Growing up, the number 9 was always seen as a kind of unlucky number because one of the pronunciations of it in Japanese means suffering," she explained playing with her ponytail a bit. "Perhaps it is connected a little to it being the number of good byes because we always feel a bit sad when we say good bye...you could call that suffering..." She was probably stretching things a bit, but it made some sense when you looked at it...or squinted really hard.

She then returned to her thought, rather question, she had asked earlier. "I don't believe many things in life are a coincidence," she smiled.

"Uhm... suffering?" the Slytherin lad responded, "You know, farewells-- almost always involves some sort of suffering from at least one person."