Runes I: Introduction to the Elder Futhark
 

Adam walked into the room and looked around.He took a seat on one of the cushions and waited for the others arrive. Maybe he could talk to some of them before class started.Adam figured class was a good way to know more and older students here at Hogwarts. Class would start in a few minutes...YAY

Ooooooh Runes.

She hadn't done TOO badly in her OWL for this had she? In fact she hadn't done badly at all. Even if she did make some prediction about Vashti being evil. Hmm weird. Lets just hope Vashti wasn't TOO evil. The other runes had said differently anyway.

So the Slytherin was optimistic as she walked into the classroom, a bright smile on her face. "Good day professor. How was your holidays?" she asked politely before making her way down to a cushion near the middle. Well this was...Comfortable. Actually this was quite nice, except for the fact there was only ONE other student in the room at that time. Did any of her friends even take Runes?

Selena entered the Ancient Runes class, even though she found it completely dull. there was a new professor though, and she wanted to see what it was like. "Hello Professor," she said with a smile as she walked into the class, because she didn't know the professor's name. Fail. She took a seat on one of those cushions. Reminded her of the last day of Muggle Studies...

Arabella-Marie walked into the Ancient Runes classroom and said "Morning Professor" Arabella-Marie took a seat near the front to learn as much as she could from this subject which was bound to be interesting

Now this was going to be very interesting class for brittany because she had no idea what so ever what this class was about. But she had to get her education Right!!!! so she walked in quickly. "Hi profesor." she said happily before taking a seat on the comfy looking pillows

Adam scooted up to another gryffindor near the front. "Hello!"He beamed putting his hand out for the girl."Are you a first year- what's your name? I'm Adam, Adam Burn.."He said in that James Bonds voice he always used to inroduce himself, cheesy very cheesy.

Hmm, yes, she was a good mood today. Heck, even her black eyes had their original hazel color in them, no matter how dark it was. Actually, SO GOOD in fact, that she agreed with Destiny that they should skip to this lesson today. Ancient Runes may never be the same without Professor Lupa, but it was still a fun class in general. Got to play with RUNES. Runes that could DESTROY!

So, linked arm in arm with her friend, she skipped down the halls, and up the stairs which proved more difficult than it actually looked, and down some more halls before they made it to the classroom. Yush! And since she was in such a good mood, she failed to noticed the smallish doorway. Aw well, it didn't matter right?

Hehe. "Good day Professor." She smiled, slowing down her skip as she just made it through the doorway.

Alexandrie Malfoy-Lupin walked into the classroom not knowing what to expect. She looked around and took a seat on a cushion away from most people. "Hello Professor." Alex greeted afterwards. She wondered if this would be anything like the Lesson with the last Ancient Runes Professor.

gfdnhgjfzxjxyhjfhdh. Savvy Conrad was SCARED. Ancient Runes was confusing, like legit CONFUSING. Her green eyes wandered around the room as she TRIED to find someone she knew and of course there was NO ONE. This wasn't cool, nope not cool at all. HECK! She didn't even know the PROFESSOR that much, that said something bad. Maybe she should like....I dunno...pay attention more? Oh yeah, she was too busy staring at herself in the mirror.

SNORT.

Well this year was going to be different! She was going to LEARN even if she had to FORCE herself to learn. A smile broke out on blondie's face as she walked by the professor who's name totally escaped Savvy's mind."

Hello, Professor. How are you?"Wasn't she soooo charming? *beam*

Lara entered the class so excited she didn't know the subject but she felt it maybe good.So when she entered she said"Hello,Professor" and made her way to choose a chair.

"Hello Professor," Rowan said as she entered the room. She pulled up a puffy seat near the back of the room and sat down to wait for the class to begin.

Adeline skipped into the cushiony room and said very sweetly. "Hello Professor" with a wave.

Woooooot!

Destiny didn't actually think Evelyn would agree to this whole skipping idea she had, but she did, which was AWESOME! What was even more awesome than the skipping was what class they were skipping to. Ancient Runes! She had read the notice board and the information about the chocolate. Forget the marshmallows, she didn't need them!

Maybe a little too busy thinking about all the chocolate she was going to eat, she hardly noticed Evelyn slowing down, until she heard her greet the Professor. Too bad Destiny didn't see the Professor, because said Professor was being blocked by a rather big..wall.

Skipping right into the wall, Destiny stumbled backwards, pulling Evelyn along with her, "I walked into a wall."

Obviously.

"Good, thank you," Di smiled at the Slytherin. "I hope yours were memorable too, Miss Malfoy?"

Such eager, little - or not-so-little - students. Di smiled, a smaaaaall but rather warm smile.

"Hello, hello, good day to all of you."

Davina patted the cushion nearest to her. It looked a little... odd. Perhaps she needed to replace this one?

"Quite well, thank you." She smiled at the student, before giving the cushion a look.

Be good, cushion. Be good.

joey walk in and took a seat and hello professor Markovic.

This class would be the most difficult one for Jimmy to pretend not to enjoy. Ancient Runes was kind of his faaaavourite. Cautiously he entered the class, found a seat and stayed quiet, unable to keep the light of interest from his eyes, despite his body language switching to show how very boring all this was. Obviously. So boring.

Hot teacher though.

Adam was surprised to see Adeline Skipping into the room. He waved at her and motioned for her to come and take a cushion next to him. Yay, he was gonna have at least one friend in this class, so Adam wouldn't be too lonely.

Hmmphhh!

Ow...

"What are you doing?" she frowned, pulling her arm out from Destiny's as she finally regained her balance. Holding her arm close to her, she stared at her friend for a moment, trying to see if she was lying or anything. Maybe, maybe not... "Well duh. You're supposed to go through the door."

Really! Raising a brow, she took a few steps backwards, passing through the doorway this time, making sure Destiny was watching, before going over to find a cushion to sit on. Taffy in the bag, comfy shoes were on, queue the sweet smile to the professor as a response...aaaaand she was ready to learn. Wooooot!

See, it was always great to make polite conversation with your Professors. Wanted to be on their good side now didn't you? "They were wonderful thank you" she grinned. Well sort of. America was great obviously but some was just a little bit boring, hence why she was so excited for classes to start up again, which also explained the bright smile on her face.

Trixie turned to her cousin as she sat down next to her. The Slytherin smiled, although she still hadn't got used to her blonde, it SO wasn't right. She then waved over at Vashti indicating for her to come a little closer.

Adeline waved back and plopped next to him. No boody she knew was probaly taking this class, so she decided to sit next to him.

Iris walked into the Ancient Runes Classroom. Even though she didn't like the class much, she figured that it was important still. She walked in and smiled at yet another New professor.

Siiigh. So many changes. Aaron not being here was much worse than the professors leaving, though.

Oooh. THey were sitting on CUSHIONS. Iris looked for the comfiest cushion she could find (that wan't already taken) and sat down on it, dumping her bag next to her.

More students. Good, good. Di beamed round at them all.

"Hello."

Oh my. This kid glittered. Metaphorically and literally, you know? "Good, thank you," Davina replied, gently.

Oh, and look at that. Someone had walked up to her. "Hello," Davina returned. "Lovely to have you in my class."

Di's attention was caught by a boy. For some reason, that light in his eyes, it reminded her of... well, herself. Student!herself. Surprisingly, next moment the kid seemed bored. Eh?

She was going to watch this one.

"Do you have any clue what this class might be about? I'm just doing as many classes as I can get in a day."Adam told her. He looked around- there seemed to be many older students, was this class that hard that you had to be older to understand it?

Sophia walked in the room and sat down. "Hello Professor!" she said, excitedly.

Vilhelmiina bowed her head and said, "Thank you, Professor." She bowed her haid once more and then went to find a cushion.

Adeline giggled. "Nope, but I wanna learn as much as possible!" she said with a squinty smile, on purpose, ohmygosh! "Do you have to read!" she said with a big scardy cat look on her face.

Pam walked in and waved at the proffessor. "Hey proffessor!" She smiled and sat on one of the cushions.

"Umm, I'm guessing most classes require that you read the subject of what we are learning."He half laughed and teased her...Really now? She never got any reading for other classes?

Walking into the classroom, Patroclus was pleased to see a mass of cushions; He always liked the lesson's that had cushions.

Finding a comfy one for himself, just near Carter, Patroclus realised they had a new professor. The Fourth year had noticed the lady at the Feast, but had not heard which subject she would be teaching. But so far he liked what he saw.
"Morning Professor."

"Sorry, I'm dumb. I just forgot my glasses" she said with a giggle. She took out her wand and said "They have to be somewhere" she said searching in her tote bag, and she said "Accio Glasses" she said and they shooted to her and she put them in the little compartment it the front. "I sewed this" she said bored.

Drawing a deep breath, Salander enters his next class. Although this classroom wasnt an uphill climb the way Divination was-- from which he is very grateful-- it didnt ease his feeling that he might suck in this as well.

He raised a brow at the rather bohemian feel of the classroom, and positioned himself on a cushion... right where he has an unblocked view of the Professor. The guy just loves to have a good view. heh.

He didn't even mind the cushions, though Jimmy tried to pretend like it was all just so ridiculous, with much eye-rolling.

It was really very comfy though.

"You have to teach me that...That accio thingy you guys say...I tried it the other day and the box zoomed by so fast it hit me in the stomach and I fell over."he recounted to her..."I need to know some magic by the end of this week..."He was ready to learn magic ready to be someone else in his life, learn the knowledge that he came here for.

Riley entered this classroom and instantly walked toward the rest of the students with his head down. He was determined not to make eye contact with the professor for fear of dying of embarrassment again. Mistaking her office for the loo was one thing but screaming as he banged on the door telling her to hurry up in there was a complete different story.

The Gryffindor tripped slightly as he made his way to the middle of the cusioned area, where he mumbled, "Good day professor." his cheeks turning pink.

Right, right. Time to chat, up.

Davina cleared her throat. "Class officially begins, now," she said, a smile somewhere in her words. Somewhere. "Ink and quills out if you want to jot something down, please. Let's start with the basics. Can someone tell me what runes are?"


OOC: Class has officially begun. Please don't RP your character arriving after this post, unless you have a good, IC excuse. ^__^ Best to pretend your character has been in the classroom, all along.

Adeline shurrged. "Well, this is all I can do." shesaid flipping her wand. "Its pretty simple. Just pay attention really hard. Thats what I do." she said with a giggle. Then she relized the teacher was talking. She didn't know the exact defination, so she just paid attention to what others were saying.

wow firt question and Brittany was already stumped. She had a feeling it was ancient buildings of a sort but she wasnt sure at all so she sat quietly

James looked a little startled but then relaxed. If the class was simply going to be basics it'd be much easier to pretend like he didn't care or know anything.

He kept his mouth shut.

Aiden raised his hand. "Runes are like symbols or letters from an ancient alphabet used in the middle ages," he said. He was proud of his answer. He just hoped he was right.

Riley couldn't allow for his shame to keep him from getting those presious house points so he would just settle for speaking quietly. "Professor, umm Runes come from all kinds of cultures and time periods and they are typically made from natural items such as wood, stone, or even animal bone." he paused, shivering slightly at that gross bit of info.

"They often are used to interpret things, much like Divination at times. There are also many different spreads and ways to use them." he nodded. Ok shut up time again.

Selena knew what they were. Surprisingly. "Runes are symbols of sorts that have different meanings," she offered. Because she was pretty sure that was the answer.

Trixie raised her hand to answer the question with a grin. "Runes, or the Runic Alphabet, were originally a set of letters in the Germanic alphabet that were used before the Latin Alphabet was created. However there have been many other variations on these runes sets in different languages" she stated. "They're often used for interpretations and a Rune set would be made from natural resources" she continued. Did she NEED this much information or was she just going off track?

O...m...g...

It was shop stalker dude!

Yea, just as she was sitting down, she saw him. And here she thought, she'd never see him again. It was a slight shame that didn't happen. Pfft.

Whatever though. Class had begun apparently and she didn't want to get caught throwing a paper ball at the guy. However, since they were starting with the basics, she didn't feel like taking her notebook out anyways. What are runes?

"Runes...are actually letters part of an alphabet called the Runic alphabet, usually made up of nature material. Although there are a variety of alphabets." Mmhmm, yea she learned something. "Each has a different name and meaning, and they've been used for mostly writing throughout the years. Though they've been also known to be used for... predicting a future outcome I should say. Or even strengthening spells, I've been told before." Whether that last part was true or not, she didn't know. Maybe she should stop eavesdropping on conversations?

Adeline scribbled these down, then took out her chocolate ink and started sucking on it.

CLASS HAS STARTED AND INK AND QUILLS NEEDED OUT! That meant Savvy need to get out her new, sparkly and PINK glitter ink! jgfgdfhdfghzdfhdf!!!!!!!!!! She was so excited. A grin spread on the blonde's face as she got out her ink, her pink quill and GLITTER. Why did she take out glitter? Errr....incase something needed to be sparkly.

"Aren't runes like...."Pause. She had to think of an answer, one that DIDN'T make her sound silly."Like....old stuff?"

FAIL. Actually no, she was to pretty to flail. Instead of looking all flustered she smiled at the professor, knowing she was wrong. It was a good guess though, right?

Marie sat there ready to take notes. This class was not easy for her so she needed to write down everything she could if she wanted to keep up. What are runes? Marie flipped through her notes (yes, she had her notes with her from previous terms) and found what she was looking for. "Runes are an oracle from which you can seek advice. You can ask a specific question and then let the runes answer for you. They work best if you detail your current circumstances first before asking the question." or something like that. This class still confused her.

"Good answers," Davina nodded. "Put very simply, runes are an alphabet. Used prior to the integration of the Roman or Latin alphabet. In case that sounds tough, let me say that before you had the ABC, you had ancient runes - as Miss Conrad has so elegantly put it, they are 'old stuff'." She smiled, lightly.

"Some of you have mentioned that Runes are used to interpret things and seek advice. What else do you think Runes can be used for?"


OOC: Have fun with this question. ;)

Patroclus liked this new question, better than the first one, he knew what runes were, but he had found it hard to put that knowledge into a coherent sentence. But this new question, rather excited him.

"Codes!" Patroclus answered his hand shooting into the air. The Runic Alphabet, could be use as a code system!" The Hudson family were great at codes.

Was she taking all answers on this one? Because Riley had a great idea. "Professor, can you use the Runes as pieces of the muggle board game Scrabble? They are letters right?" he grinned cheekily.

Wooden peices with letters on them, those muggles weren't as oblivious as they seemed, maybe the Ministry is looking into that 'toy company' that makes those.

After quickly jotting down the definition of runes, Vashti thought about the question for a moment before an answer occurred to her. "Couldn't they be used as a code, Professor?" she asked, raising her hand. "And don't some runes, like a set that a person made themselves, kind of 'enhance' the magic of a user if used on that person's wand or...something like that?" She was pretty sure she'd learned something along those lines in a previous lesson, but the exact wording wouldn't come to her.

"To harness elemental magic." Jimmy murmured, hand half raised, and then it shot down again and he pretended like he hadn't spoke at all. Lalala.

Rhea was actually listening and taking notes in Ancient Runes class. It was a huge step up from sitting at the back and watching the clock for when the hour would be up. She raised her hand.
"Errm professor, Runes are used in Divination to interpret stuff...by stuff I mean certain symbols and so on?..." yeah so she didnt sound very brilliant right now but she was trying.
"They were also used in writing curses in times of cold because it was harder to decipher by intruders."

Salander furrowed his brow as he considered the next question "To send secret messages? You know like what the muggles used during World War II, they used the Navajo language to evade enemy code breakers because Navajo wasnt used anywhere outside the Navajo tribe. The same can be used for Runes, not everybody can read it-- or even if they can, interpret it correctly. "

Any other uses runes could be used for? Well the obvious ones were already stated. Enhancing magic, codes, messages, decoding coded messages, and...well she didn't know what a scrabble was. Something out of the box would be a good answer. Completely random! Since she was in such a good mood, she would say something like that! She just...needed to think of that something to say.

"What about like...can they used for protective jewelry or something? Like, have a certain rune as a necklace to keep you protected? Can it even work like that?" It could be possible right? She hadn't seen such a thing before, or even heard of it before, but then again, she didn't do her own shopping until a few months ago.

"Bindrunes." Jimmy supplied, the crooked smile back in place. He sat on his hands to stop himself from answering any more. No. He hated runes. And was bad at it. Obviously. Hat had made a mistake.

He was no Ravenclaw.

"Indeed," Davina said. "Of course, things can get tough if the other side has a good knowledge of the runic alphabet too, but that is a risk that is taken every time cryptography is brought into play."

Ah. This reminded her of her time as a curse-breaker.

Di nodded. "All good answers," she said. "Especially the statement about ancient spells. Runes have been part of certain rituals." She did not, however, go into details.

Di's smile widened. Forget that this child had mistaken her office for a loo - he had an imagination! "That's quite an excellent answer, Mr. Sinclair. I do believe that is possible."

Di smiled. "Indeed, Miss Lombardi."

Di beamed. "Perfectly correct, Miss..." She paused. She did not know the girl's last name. Ah, well. "The creation of a rune-set means the channelization of energies and intent. You infuse your creation with it, so to speak. Good answer."

Yes, that was it. This kid was bright.

"Excellent answer, Mr. -?"

"Runes and Divination are inter-connected at certain fronts, yes," Davina confirmed, pleasantly. "Divination-via-runes is a big aspect of the study of runes, in general."

Yes, a few people had said this. Codes. But Davina took special note of the boy, because of the little addition to his answer. "Interpretation matters," she agreed. "Good answer."

Yes, one of Davina's favourite uses. "It can work like that," Davina confirmed. "There are shops that specialize in such jewellery and artifacts, in fact. I suppose you could say people have made a business out of it."

Davina's eyebrow shot up. Not in a bad way, either. Bind runes. Impressive. "Ligatures," Di said, softly. "Used for ornamental purposes, among others. I see you have a good knowledge of Runes."

Di nodded. Dark magic, and muggles. Two new points that she had hoped someone would bring up. "Quite correct," she said. "Good answer, Miss..." Yes. Name, please.


She looked at the rest of the class. "The three most common uses of runes are divination, correspondence, and channeling magical energy. I will admit, however, that the thing I used runes most often for when a student, was to chew on them when nervous." Rune-biting. Kind of an unintentional spin on nail-biting, you know?

Right.

"So. Can someone tell me the name of a rune - one rune only, please - and what it means, or represents?"

Aaaand then they could get on to the good part.

"Isa," Aiden said. "It means ice. It also sounds like ice," Now he wanted to chew on some ice.

Riley was stunned. She liked his answer?! She was actually smiling at him. He slowly let the ashamed feeling slide off his well clothed back and grinned brightly. He was soooo smart, yep!

Just one rune? He wanted to show off his smartness now. *siiigh* "Professor one rune is Wunjo, and it represents joy, comfort and pleasure." he nodded excitedly. Had someone snuck him a wunjo rune?! "And it looks like a big ole P"

"Wilkes." Jimmy answered and chewed his lip. How did he go about showing he was not, in fact, excellent? Wrong answers? Blame it on the textbook? Yeah. Textbook.

He picked his book up and opened it then pretended like he was answering from the book.

"Othala which looks like this." He sort of traced the shape in the air, a diamond with two extending tails at its base. "Othala is property. Material wealth and heritage." Pause. "At least thats what it says in the book."

Cora looked over at her rune set and found her favorite rune. She had always liked it ever since she was little and her father bought her her first rune set. It is her favorite because of the way it looks.

She raised her had and said, "Mannaz. It means mankind or human. It also represents the inner self or soul."

Yeah.

So, the little walk into the wall hurt, like a LOT. Rubbing her forehead, and straightening out her glasses, Destiny took a seat next to Evelyn. Pfffft. She probably had a big bump on her head and it was all Evelyn's FAULT!

Skipping. Who skips?

Missing the first couple of questions, due to a throbbing head, Destiny was ready for the next one, so she raised her hand, "There is the Hagalaz rune. It means weather, or destruction."

Destiny's favorite rune.

Juuust kidding!

Wha?

First he stalks her, then he he has to elaborate on her answer. Or, was he correcting her? Was he even talking to her in the first place?

Best not to find out.

People made a business out of creating jewelry from rune stones? Well, that didn't seem too hard actually. The fact that making necklaces and such didn't seem too hard either. Possible career choice?

...no.

But, now onto her favorite rune. "There is the Thurisaz rune. It usually represents a force, and normally not a good one either. A warning, or destruction, might be another way to put it." Why that was her favorite? Well she had her reasons of course.

Didn't catch this before. Whoops.
 

"Arline Materia, professor." She nodded as though it mattered. "Or just Lina."

Once again Rhea's hand went up. She actually remembered a bit of this stuff from previous classes, maybe she wouldn't get a T for NEWTS Runes after all.
"Wunjo, it means Joy."

Alice moved around in her cushin, trying to get in a comfortable position, she didn't like it. It was too...soft. Alice prefered durable sitting arrangements, but she guessed this would do. It's better than sitting on the floor. She shrugged and took out her parchment and quill. Alice took a look around her surroundings and scrunched her nose. She would have to get used to this, after all she did like Runes, so it didn't matter where they were sitting.

Alice thought about the question the professor had asked and answered, "A rune could be Haglaz, it's shaped as an H and it means hail, like precipitation." she explained.

Indeed.

"Four, different-coloured varieties," Davina agreed.

Isaz. Proto-Germanic reconstruction. Recorded in all three rune poems. But that was for her to know, right now.

"Right you are, sir," Davina smiled.

"Nourishment, abundance and wealth, among other things," Davina agreed. "You're correct again."

Did Mr. Sinclair look a little... excited? Good, good. "Joy and bliss," Di agreed. "Straight line, often a triangle instead of the semi-circle the 'P' our normal alphabet has."

Di smiled. This boy, she found an enigma. "But your mind has something to add, doesn't it, Mr. Wilkes?" She asked. It didn't need a genius to tell that this kid... knew things. She didn't remember bind runes being mentioned in detail, in the standard textbook.

"Mhhm. Male adult, basically; though it also represents humans, irrespective of gender," Di agreed.

Di nodded. "Hagalaz is literally 'precipitation,'" she agreed. "Connected to hail and clime."

Ah yes. Di nodded. "Connected to the god of thunder and destruction, Thor; and the giant and mischief-maker, Loki," she said. That pretty much explained the rune, no?

"So it does."

"Ride or journey," Di agreed. "Representation of change and travel, among other things. Right you are."
Di nodded. "Miss Materia," she said. Too unlike her to call a student by his or her first name, let alone a nickname.

Sort of like an H, yes.

"Hail and precipitation," she nodded.

Um. Yes. "Torch," Di offered. Literally. Though perhaps torch, flame, that kind of thing... she should not mention it, to this young lady. It would make her even more certain that the 'someone' had been flirting with her - not that it looked as if the girl needed conviction.

Eh? "I... yes. That's quite an, err, creative answer."

Davina might have sounded sliiiightly disapproving.



But yes, time to move on. Di focused her attention on to the rest of the class, and cleared her throat. "It seems you all know a bit about runes," she said. Some more than others, of course. "I'm glad of that. Now, up, up, all of you." She rose to her feet. "Pick up your cushions, form a queue - if you push each other, I will glare at you - and follow me, please."

Jenny was so busy writing her notes that she barely noticed the professor telling the class to get their cushions and move to another spot. Quickly putting her stuff away, she picked up her cushion and joined the line that was forming in the classroom.

Jimmy sunk down into his cushion.

He SO had NOT been flirting with her. He had NOT.

He'd just been laying the foundations for snogging. That was all.

And it had worked.

He drew it backwards in the air. Merkstave even. Because Neptune Bott was unstable.

"Err... no. Nothing to add." He answered, a little sulkily. Glancing at the professor when she answered Neptune.

Jimmy stood up and took his cushion, he didn't much mind the idea of a few glares, but he did go quietly.

Alex sighed picking up her cushion and supplies after finishing her notes and followed her Professor carefully.

Freya finished taking notes and she walked to the queue to pick up her cushions with her bag in her right shoulder before she followed Professor Markovic

Lucy heard to the instructions of the professor and walked quietly to where the professor went.

Aiden took his pencil and notebook up and followed.

Rowan collected her cushion and other items and followed behind the rest of the class.

Dianna quickly got up with her items and followed the rest.

Amy gathered her stuff and followed her classmates

Lessons outdoors?
Yay<3
Fee took her parchment and ink and followed.

Anna got up and followed the class thankful she had worn comfortable shoes.

Isla stood up and followed the every one out of the classroom.