Cass entered the room with a nervous sigh. She was so not ready for her Runes final. But this was it. No more turning back now. So she picked a seat and a table at the middle of the room, read through the questions on the paper and sighed. She can do this. She knows she can. So she bent down low over her test paper, dipped her quill into the inkwell, then started writing.

Kai entered the room.
He wasn't at all excited to be taking this, his second final for his first ever term. He hoped he'd done alright in his Transfiguration one... but this used to be Ryan's best subject, so he had to beat him.
Oh God Oh God Oh God, this can't be good. Stay calm Kai, don't panic.

He entered the first section, sat down and dipped his quill in the ink, then started to answer the questions.
Hey, these aren't that bad...maybe I'm better at Ancient Runes than I thought!


It wasn't long before Kai was finished with the questions, he picked up his parchment, lifted himself from the chair, and continued to the other side of the podium. He quickly handed his parchment to the professor, giving her a nervous smile as he did so, and sat down at another desk, ready to draft his speech.

What can I write about? They're all such hard topics...I guess I could write about what runes can be used for? That has to be the easiest question of the three...
Kai began to start scrawling down notes and side-notes on his parchment, every so often crossing certain parts out and adding new ones. It wasn't long before he'd finished, with a smile he stood up. No one else had spoke yet, he was going to be the first.

Oh God. Please be good, Pleeeeeaaase be good.

He walked over to the podium, rested his parchment on it, and with a final, nervous glance at his professor..he began to speak.

"Ancient Runes have been around for thousands of years, hence making them Ancient. They range from the obscure or local alphabets - such as the Quileute Runes, all the way to the most prominent runic alphabets - such as the Elder Futhark.
In the wizarding world, there are many possible uses of runes, some that are even frowned upon.

The most obvious and most wide-spread uses is the art of prediction and premonition.
Ancient Runes can be combined as a form of Divination, in that you can use rune sets to predict peoples futures, and outcomes of certain historical events and landmarks before they happen.
If for example, someone was drawn to the rune Jera, it could associate them with sudden prosperity, or achievement in something they have set as their goal.

Another popular and wide-spread use of Runes is the actual use of each rune for its outcomes. By things such as binding runes, runes such as Algiz can be used to protect people or other objects - this is always handy for most people, especially in times or areas of increased danger.
These runes would act as a form of enchantment - keeping the bearer or wearer of items safe from harm, albeit through premonitions or deflective shields.

Although these are the main two ways in which runes can be used, they can be used for many other things - such as an official aid to divination, to study, to work out why things worked out the way they did in the past, and the more obscure possibilities, such as for flirtation - to create lust...or even dark magic."

Well that was fun.....Can I get the hell outta here now?

Kai smiled again at his professor, "Thank you Professor for teaching me so much this term." he smiled, and quickly left the classroom.


Wow, that was awkward...

Kai hated silence, always.

Di nodded at the boy, her eyes twinkling expectantly as he began his speech a short while later. Her lips tugged up into a smile at his opening statement... ancient runes have been around for thousands of years, hence making them ancient.

She made a little note on her mini-notebook at the end of his speech, and gave the Gryffindor a smile.

"It's been a pleasure to teach all of you, Mr. Daniels," she said warmly. "I hope to see you in my class again, next term."

Taylor slowly approaches the Professor and smiles widely at her- confidence is a good thing. She pushes her curls behind her ear before setting the piece of paper on her desk and beginning her speech- she had to admit it probably wasn’t her best work. But she was really no good at all at Ancient Runes anyway- come on, the clue’s in the name, Ancient! And Taylor was really all for today. She knew her attendance for that lesson hadn't been the best- she'd been ill- eughh. Most of the work done was off of her own back from the textbook. Not fun!

“I am going to talk to you in this speech about the rune Dagaz. Dagaz is widely known as the Rune of Transformation. The word Dagaz actually means day- which is obviously the start of new beginnings.

The rune Dagaz is considered as the rune of bold or radical change- meaning something that happens quickly, it represents a sudden change, whereas Jera is known as the rune of gradual change, its change takes place over a longer period of time- they are in essence, known as counterparts of each other.

The runic number of Dagaz is known to be 24- whereas the runic number of Jera is known to be 12.

The colour that is commonly associated with Dagaz is Light Blue- this colour is also associated with new beginnings.

All known runes have a corresponding gemstone; the gemstone that is associated with Dagaz is named Chrysolite, which is more commonly known as Peridot, which is a motivator- which is yet again related to opening up the sub- conscious and conscious to new beginnings and opportunities. It is usually some form of golden/yellow green colour. The two elements that are both related to Dagaz are Fire and Air, both are equally powerful elements. “

Taylor finishes her speech and smiles at the Professor. “Thank you so much for teaching me this term.” She says kindly, before picking up the paper and playing with it slightly, before finally turning to leave.

Stepping into the classoom she took a seat and started the exam. Runes was one of her favorite classes so this was going to be a no brainer.

Dipping her quill in her ink she began the test. after only a few short moments she was done. She stood up and handed her parchemtn to the proffessor. Seating down at another desk she began to write her draft while the other girl gave her speech.

When the girl had finished she appraoched the podem. Gave a quick smile and began her speech.


“Runes have and extraordinary history, one that dates back to ancient times. No one knows excacly how old the runes are but rune-like symbols have appeared in cave markings as early as the late 1300 B.C and are mentioned in the bible."

She took her eyes off her speech and began to only glancing at her paper for a moment and then back to her audience. (The professor)

"The word RUNE itself comes from the old Norse word ‘runa’ meaning secert or mystery and rune means text, letter or inscripttion. Runes were given meaningful names. The runes represent objects, gods, people, animals, concepts and occurrences. Each rune letter or shape had it's own sound, and meaning, in fact each rune represented a diety or so called God, that gave it it's special power. People of old believed that by carving runes into their personal property or other items, the God or diety over that rune would protect the item, they even believed that a sword could be made more powerful for use in battle by carving runes into it.

One of the uses of the runes is the system of writing, they would used it to write many languages including, Gothic, German, Frisian, English, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Icelandic, Lithuanian, Russian, Hebrew and other Semitic languages. We still have symbols in our alphabet that are similar to the ones of the runic alphabet.

Now a days runes are used in magical ways such as divination to predict the future or upcoming events but we must not forget that they were born way before our time, so far its ancient.”

Looking back down one last time to make sure everything was said then back to the professor.

''Thank you professor, for and entertaning class. I enjoyed it very much." she said as she stepped down from the podem and qietly exited the classroom.

It was Rex's turn to make his speech. He made his way to the podium and began.

"Thank you for allowing me the chance to address the class today.

I'd like to start at the very beginning and talk about the first rune in the Elder Futhark, the rune known as Fehu. Germanic in origin, the name Fehu translates to cattle, wealth and livestock. Cattle and livestock are very significant becausse back in the old days, many years ago, cows and animals of that type were used as a measure of how successful a person was in life. The people with the most power had the most cattle in those days, so we can understand how this this rune came to symbolized by Cattle.

Besides the representation of wealth and pros:perity which are associated with Fehu there are other interpretations as well. Such things as creativity and fertility are also looked at as a form of prosperity. So a person can meditate with Fehu not only hoping for an increase in money or an increase in their job perrformance, since there are so many other things they can meditate about. A young woman who wants to have a baby can use the rune to inspire fertility and increase her chances of getting pregnant, a writer can meditate with the rune to come out of a writer's block and find inspiration to write again, someone who works in the creative arts can use Fehu in a similar way to stimullate new ideas. This rune could even be used for meditation by fashion designers to help them design the fashion trend of the decade, for instance, or by a composer to write the record of the year. The possibilities are endless as long as creativity is involved.

Like all runes, it's a good idea to carry the rune with you on your person at all times, to increase its power and make it more effective. You never know where meditating with Fehu could lead you, perhaps even to the stars!

Thank you for listening, and may your possibilities be endlessss.
Rex wants to stay to hear a couple of morre speeches.

Di made another little note in her notebook, before giving the Slytherin a small but warm smile.

"Have a good day, Miss Wattsfay."


Di nodded at Renesmee as the Hufflepuff stepped up to the podium. Bright child, that one. The Runes Professor made yet another note on her notebook at the end of the girl's speech.

"You've done a good job in Runes all year, Miss Cullen," she said pleasantly, once Renesmee had finished. "I hope to see you in my class again, next term."


"Nicely spoken, Mr. Trigwell," Di said, nodding at the Gryffindor as he lingered back. She made another little note, and then laid down her quill, waiting for the next student to begin his or her speech.

The term sure had flown by.

Yeey. The final for Finlays favorite, and best class of all. He walked into the room, feeling quite good. He liked this lesson. The ravenclaw looked at the poster, reading it before, pulling out a piece of parchment, and beginning to write his speech down on to it. After about 15 minutes he had finished writing his speech, and approached the podium, with that grin plastered on his face. Yeah. He was looking forward to this.

"Hey Guys." Always a great way to start his epic speech. "I'm going to talk to you all about the history of Runes. The subject of Ancient Runes has been around for a very long time, which may be a reason why they are Ancient, because like many other topics of history just like the ancient egyptians they happened many years ago. Also many people may not be able to interprete all of the runes, again allowing them to remain ancient, old, and very cool indeed." Yeah. He sounded so epic up here.

I believe that the runes are based upon a runic alphabet, which in history was used to write various germanic languages, before the latin language was adopted. The three most common runic alphabets are the elder futhark, the anglo-saxon futhorc, and the younger futhark, and each of these alphabets have different variations, which obviously make them differenet, because if they were all the same they'd be the same alphabet right, and then there wouldn't really be any point in there being more than one runic alphabet.

Finally, bringing my speech back to more modern grounds runes, and the runic alphabet have been seen and used upon numerous occasions since the 18th century, especially within the muggle world, a big example of a type of runes being used by Nazi Germany.
I would like to conclude by saying that the art, and subject of ancient runes is obviously there epic, and cool. Thank you." With that he stepped down from the podium, smiled at the Professor, before leaving. Job well done Carmicheal.

Putting the finishing touches to her speech, Mia looked up just in time to see Finlay stepping down. She gave him a round of applause before picking up her parchment and heading up to the podium. She looked around the room nervously and then cleared her throat before starting.

“Today am going to talk about my favorite Rune, Wunjo. The reason it is my favorite is because Wunjo, simply put means joy. It is also called Wynn and represents the alphabets W and V. It is ruled by the runic number 8 and the element ice which is a form of water. The rune is associated with the gemstone diamond or moss agate. The flower associated with Wunjo is larkspur or love-in-a-mist. It has the color light blue attached to it and is also linked with gods Odin and Frigg. It corresponds to Leo astrologically. Wunjo is symbolised by the image of a clan flag or a flag of victory.”

“As I said before the literal meaning of Wunjo is joy. However, it can also mean happiness, light and emotional satisfaction. It represents harmony. For any person, Wunjo also means the end of all one's struggles and the achievement of their goals.”

“Wunjo also signifies one’s wishes. It implies that one’s wishes have either been fulfilled or are yet to be fulfilled. The fulfillment of these wishes pushes one towards perfection. Wunjo focuses on the idea that everything in a person’s life goes right. It helps bring joy to life by overcoming the negativities that surround a person. It also characterises understanding and close cooperation between companions or partners. It is also connected to rewards, winning and achievement in life.”

Mia paused for a moment to take a breath, this was hard work standing here in front of everyone and talking but she plowed on ahead. “Wunjo brings in a person the will to work to achieve happiness in life. It forces a person to find solutions to problems rather than sitting and crying over them. It helps one to achieve harmony and balance in life by building a strong foundation of honesty. It makes one aware of the fact that truth is the only way of achieving ultimate joy in life. The rune also says that good fortune comes to only those people who know the difference between the right and the wrong and the good and the bad. The rune can also be stimulating forcing one to accept changes in life.”

“Although when reversed, Wunjo implies misunderstanding. It symbolises that one’s ambitions cannot be achieved easily and also a person will face problems if they start something new. In reverse position, it asks people to be cautious and leaves a person unsatisfied. It also represents unhappiness and a need to delay any important decisions that have to be made.”

"Conversely, Wunjo signifies difficulties in relationships. It tells a person that they need to work hard to achieve one's goals. It also represents dishonesty or the fact that the truth is being hidden. Wunjo makes a person aware of the changes that are going to take place in their life and tells the person how to adapt to these changes. It asks people to face whatever the future brings without fearing anything.”

“In the divine sense, Wunjo is a representative of celebration, comfort, pleasure, prosperity, glory and recognition. Wunjo in its inherent meaning ensures victory in all situations.”

Mia looked up at the Professor and gave her a smile as she stepped down off the podium. “Thanks for a great term Professor.” She said as she took a seat. No way was she leaving now, she was going to stare at everyone else as they did their speech.

Fin seemed quite confident, up there. "I hope that wasn't flattery, Mr. Carmicheal," Di grinned, as the young man finished his speech on a rather flattering note and stepped down from the podium.


Di listened to Mia, hands clasped gently in her lap, notebook on the vacant seat next to her, and eyes twinkling merrily.

"Excellent speech, Miss Gibbins," the Runes Professor said, truly impressed by the effort put into said speech, the moment the Hufflepuff had finished it and stepped down. She scribbled down something on her notebook rather happily, before giving Mia a pleasant, little nod.

Sitting in the back of the class, Evelyn was leaning back in her seat, softly running the tip of the quill under her chin as she thought about what her speech would be on. From this side of the room, she could hear the others and what they were saying, and she was pretty much taking all the time she could to try and think up a good enough speech. Sighing anyways, the Slytherin set down the quill and moved to the other side of the room before taking another seat. It was only a moment or so after Mia stepped down from the podium did Evelyn scribble a few things down on a parchment, and slowly tore the piece she needed off, letting the ripping noise echo through the room. Aw she loved that sound.

Standing up to the podium, the Slytherin smiled sweetly and tapped the sides of the wooden stand with her fingers. "Runes. Most commonly a person's favorite rune would be the runes that bring peace, defense, joy…" Nodding towards Mia, Evelyn smirked before her gaze flickered back towards the Professor. "But today, I’m going to talk about my favorite rune, Thurisaz."

"Thurisaz is the rune of temptation, chaos, evil, destruction, and everything similarly in between. On the other hand, it is also a rune of defense and protection, which I believe most people overlook because of it's...destructive nature. The old English name for this rune is Thorn, but it has also been called names such as Thyth, Thurisar, Thuith, and for the Norse way, or the Vikings way in other words,…Thurs." Glancing down at her little tiny piece of parchment for only a moment, she almost scowled at it. Should have written her scribbled words neater. "As you can probably figure just by the names themselves, Thurisaz represents the letters TH in the alphabet. However, it is represented by the God Thor, in which the old English name Thorn had been derived. With representation in mind, the rune's color is symbolized as a bright red, most likely because it's apparent violent nature, and happens to also be a theme for this rune's symbols."

"Thurisaz is also represented, naturally, by the element of fire, as well as corresponding to both the ever sturdy Oak tree, and the planet Mars." The red planet. Surprise, surprise. "The Thurisaz rune can be used for the greater good or evil. As I mentioned before, it is a rune of both destruction and protection. While the rune is seen as a weapon, tearing things and creating chaos and disorder, it can also be seen as a shield, perhaps like a stormy night that makes it difficult for you to be found, or a thorny bush protecting you from dangers."

Pausing for a moment, she could start to feel the nerves of standing up and making a speech in a rather quiet room. She was almost done though! She didn’t need those now. "All in all, the Thurisaz rune is a rune of strength and power. The rune brings strength and power from within oneself to fight off the ‘evil’ they face or will face, without fear clouding their eyes and judgment. As this power is coming from within oneself, it also comes with great responsibility. Power as everyone knows, can corrupt a person’s nature and heart with greed. As one stands tall, fearing nothing in his or her path, it should only be used for the greater good and unselfish reason so one does not fall to this greed trap that affects so many. This is also probably why as people associate this rune as a bad omen rather than good, since it is so easy for a person to be manipulated by power.”

Not speaking from experience of course. "In reverse meaning, the rune means that evil, or whatever conflict or chaos that may be plaguing you personally, your life, or the life of others, will be defeated. That the threat and dangers are not difficult to overcome, and in fact, urges you to move forward down the road instead of stopping to caution. The rune, in reverse meaning, is lucky to some and symbolized as a sign of good apart from being a sign of danger."

"Conversely, the rune is everything one expects it to be. It is a warning, that danger and chaos lies ahead and one must keep their eyes open for this evil, whatever it may be because…it can be disguised as good. This is not the time to be walking forward without looking both ways, nor acting like the brave gallant knight. Whether or not that may help with ones confidence and strength within, no one is completely immune to being hurt in some way. This may come as being defenseless in a situation that calls for battle, overrun emotions of hatred that could cloud one's judgment, or even an act of betrayal from someone that you believed was close. More or less, you should be on your guard at all times."

Fiddling with the small piece of parchment on the podium, her gaze having fell down to it, the Slytherin suddenly looked up and took a deep breath. "Thurisaz is my favorite rune not because it can be so destructive..." Hehe, destruction. "But because of the good vs. evil battle that surrounds it. To me, it symbolizes a person. There is always a battle of good versus evil in the world and within us. It's in our nature. However, it's the choices we make that define who we are and our beliefs; whether we live in the light or dark. Just as the Thurisaz rune can be placed in the light or dark depending on the choices of use."

Smiling, and noticed that she pretty much folded her parchment into a tiny little square ball, the Slytherin nodded once before ending her speech. "Thank you for listening."

She could stay here right? And STAAAAREEE at the others?

Oh Runes Final.

Interesting. She didn't make last years she didn't think. But this years sounded fun. And seeing as she had the OWL already, she might as well try out in preparation for the NEWT next year as well right? And the Finals would just be the bit in the middle. Perfect. Right so what was it she was meant to do?

Once her theory side was complete, Trixie moved over to the practical. To write and prepare a speech on one of the three subjects presented before her. Well now this was going to be interesting. The Blonde didn't lack confidence, nothing in her was nervous aboout getting on the podium but well, it was what she was saying that counted anyway. Now onto writing the speech. Her quill worked furiously, as the Parchment filled up with writing.

She stood up when it was her turn and walked on up, stepping onto the podium and grinning out at her fellow students.

"Runes is a complicated subject, there's no doubt about that. It takes an awful lot of concerntration and a considerable amount of skill to finally get what they are all about, but maybe today I can elaborate more on their History, how they first came about, and maybe then the idea and concepts of Runes can be spread amongst us all."

"The idea of Runes can come from one of two different theorys, one being that of the Magical knd that we all know and love and the other a more literature kind, that perhaps we don't know so well. Some Runic symbols have been found amongst evidence in old Bronze Age cave paintings mainly in Sweden, where both the Alphabet, some of which can still be found in the Runic Alphabet of nowadays and others were paintings of what the Runes represented, linked in with the initial name. This ancient theory also branched off into the creation of other languages, where still Runes have a significant link to."

"It has been said that Runes have a link to the Latin and the Greek Language, which can be reflected by some of the words and names of these newer runes, however it has been found that Runes have a much closer connection to the Northern Italic origin, mainly by how the actual Rune letters are formed compared to similar Italic letters. This could further explain why some Runes can also be the same as those of the Roman Alphabet."

"The Runic alphabet then changed dramatically by the invention of the Elder Futhark in Northen Germany area which consisted of 24 runic symbols. This also developed into 2 more branches, the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc and the Younger Furthark which is what we still see in the days of today."

"Runes didn't really play an important part of history after the 17th century. Before this era, they could be found represented on a lot of every day items, everything from your average cup to your coffin. Their links with magic were unfortunately banished along with what the Muggles called the 'Witch Hunt' and regretfully, this also led to their demise in the 1600's. They were bought back however in the 1920's/30's due to a Muggle war going on and even after this tragic event, after the new age movement they regained their popularity amongst modern culture."

"Which is why we still see them in our educations today. Thank you very much for listening" the Slytherin bowed her head slightly as she went to sit down and watch the others, maybe cause she felt like being intimidating.

Teehee.

If Evelyn had said any less [or anything less thought-out] on the podium, Di would have been disappointed, no doubt about that. She had been expecting an excellent speech from this Slytherin, and Evelyn certainly came up to her expectations.

"Excellent speech, Miss Flores-Shepard," she said pleasantly, as the girl descended from the podium. "Job well done."


"That's a lot of muggle history you have there, Miss Malfoy," Di said, eyes twinkling merrily as Trixie finished her speech. "I don't think runes can ever lose their importance - or place in education - in the magical world." Or at least, she hoped not. "But excellent speech."

The students' speeches just continued to get better and better. That made Di feel proud... and a little sad too, as she thought of having to leave Hogwarts behind.

Kurumi felt as though her hand were going to fall off as she finished the theoretical section of the exam and began moving on to the speech section. Kurumi’s palms began sweating as she wrote. Why did they have to make a speech? She was terrible at public speaking and deathly afraid of having her ideas or thoughts put down by others – something she had had to endure all her childhood. Her voice had essentially been taken away in her muggle school and she was just now rediscovering it here at Hogwarts. While this was a good thing and she felt that of all the professors Professor Markovic was probably the one she got along with the best – partly in thanks to their mutual love of cookies – she still could not help like her stomach was turning in circles with no less than one thousand butterflies beating their wings. She looked back over her theoretical section for some sort of hint as to what her speech should be about when her eyes fell upon the section where she had written about a particular rune and had even put a little of her own story into it.

Hm…was she really ready to put all that out there for everyone to hear – especially cookie hater who seemed to just stare at everyone with her spooky eyes? Maybe, this was the rune’s way of helping her? Yes, she would think of it that way. Finishing the last section of her speech, Kurumi nervously made her way to the podium and stood there just looking out at everyone for a few moments like a deer caught in the headlights and her face probably turning a shade of purple from the lack of oxygen. Breathe! she commanded herself. The color returning to her face, Kurumi managed a weak smile as she made eye contact with her audience.

“I-I-I-In Japan, we have a saying,” she started trying not to show the shakiness in her voice. “…it goes stumbling seven times but recovering eight. It means that perseverance is better than defeat. My mother used to tell me this everyday of my life before I came to Hogwarts, but I never really found the strength in myself to be able to do so. We all come to a crossroad or what seems to be a dead end in our lives and we feel helpless…lost…despair…fear… I think it is the darkness in my past that draws me towards a particular rune. This rune is the thirteenth rune, Eihwaz.”

Kurumi paused for a moment and was happy to hear that her voice had steadied itself out during her little introduction. Perhaps she would be able to get through the rest of the speech without making too much of a fool of herself! “Referred to as the Rune of Defence, Eihwaz is the symbol of rune magic. It is the axis around which everything revolves. It not only contains the mysteries of life, but also of death. It is a life giving force. A rune that provides adversity.”

Kurumi now found herself with a smile on her face as she continued.

“The rune’s name translates to yew, which is a tree that has been mistakenly with death because of the ancient practice of planting yew hedges around graveyards. It is also runic number thirteen, which is considered an unlucky number. However, the real reason that the yew tree was planted around graveyards was to keep wild animals away. Yew is both poisonous and impenetrable year-round making it not something that is a symbol of death, but rather a sign of protection. Furthermore, the yew tree is primary source for an ingredient in cancer treatment making this a perfect example of the power of Eihwaz’s ability to synthesize salvation from poison.”

She paused for a moment to let that last thought sink in before she continued.

“As I mentioned, this run is often associated with death, but it is never a negative and always positive. Eihwaz reminds us that there is always a new beginning and a fresh start that can only come after some part of our life has died off. This could be the death of a loved one, the end of something pinnacle in our lives, or when we at a crossroads in our life and need to find our way. Eihwaz encourages us to embrace change and make the best of all the opportunities presented to us. It also tells us to stay alert to what is happening in the now and to be prepared to defend out position.”

Kurumi smiled as she came to the conclusion of her speech.
“At times I experience hardship in trying to find the proper point of balance between traditional things and my own personality. Eihwaz tells me that now is the time for transformation, a time to let go of my past and embrace my new life waiting for me at my fingertips. The only constant is change, and quick progress requires an acceptance of change, not resistance to it. I think we can all learn something from Eihwaz. It’s magical properties have certainly helped and inspired me. Thank you.”

Kurumi bowed deeply before picking up her parchment. She then stood there wondering what to do next. Did she wait for questions? Was she allowed to leave the spotlight and return to her seat to listen to everyone else? At least, she had cleared one more hurtle in her life. She had gotten through a public speech without having her classmates throw food at her.