Originally Posted by SilverTiger (Post 10201504)

Reading more into what the Gryffindor prefect wasn't saying, which was difficult seeing as he was saying a lot, she nudged the container holding the hot dogs (which it seemed everyone so far had ignored) with a foot before popping her blackened marshmallow into her mouth. He could take one if he liked, while she continued the discussion. with more of what he'd spoken about. "It's interesting you brought up the Vestal Virgins, really. They weren't really dissimilar to the priestesses of the temples in ancient Greece, which we mentioned earlier in this class. Both using fire in a way to interpret messages." The worship of fire extended further than that era, however. They weren't exactly discussing fire worship, unfortunately, just the divination using it, and she finished off their list before returning to the lesson at hand.



"Now that we've discussed these methods, I'm curious if anyone thinks there might be others. I know of one, that isn't necessarily a true method of divination," It was more of a Muggle amusement, that could sort of fit with the time they were at, the month, as opposed to really divination. Although she had some of the necessities nearby if anyone wanted to play with it. She had some ideas related to possible homework assignments when it came to that question as well, but it could be part of the discussion. Not everyone was apt to offer their ideas in a group setting. "Feel free to give ideas as to what sort of practical activity we might be doing as well." Perhaps she'd cook one of Patroclus' hot dogs for Bowie while the discussion continued, or for herself to neutralize the sugar from the marshmallows.[/COLOR]

ooc: Be creative with your suggestions. ;) This is all in good fun, and yes, might make the homework easier. I'm curious to see if anyone noticed the clues dropped, either.

Originally Posted by Pinky (Post 10201758)

Nfmmm. "The temple of Minerva... as I have heard is in Athens," she said with a raised hand. She could be incorrect though. Whatever. "Perhaps we are going to throw all of this stuff into the fire and read... the smoke or something like that. I mean... I think that would be pretty awesome," she said as she let her hand down.

Then scooooooting closer to Salander she whispered, "I'd set my entire set of robes and my contents of my bag on fire if she'd let me..." Just sayin. She likeyed the flames. SOooooooOoooOooo purty!

Originally Posted by Pinky (Post 10201758)

Nfmmm. "The temple of Minerva... as I have heard is in Athens," she said with a raised hand. She could be incorrect though. Whatever. "Perhaps we are going to throw all of this stuff into the fire and read... the smoke or something like that. I mean... I think that would be pretty awesome," she said as she let her hand down.

Then scooooooting closer to Salander she whispered, "I'd set my entire set of robes and my contents of my bag on fire if she'd let me..." Just sayin. She likeyed the flames. SOooooooOoooOooo purty!

Originally Posted by Steelsheen (Post 10202896)

Other forms of divinations? He..... had absolutely no clue what else the other more obscure forms could be. He leaned close to Lexi as she whispered then turned to look at her with a playful glint in his eye "All your robes?" he grinned. Careful Gryffie lady, he will take things literally.

And up goes his hand "Professor, perhaps there is something called Fashiomancy-- the art of burning clothes to predict next season's fashion style." Can they try that like right.now?

Originally Posted by Steelsheen (Post 10202896)

Other forms of divinations? He..... had absolutely no clue what else the other more obscure forms could be. He leaned close to Lexi as she whispered then turned to look at her with a playful glint in his eye "All your robes?" he grinned. Careful Gryffie lady, he will take things literally.

And up goes his hand "Professor, perhaps there is something called Fashiomancy-- the art of burning clothes to predict next season's fashion style." Can they try that like right.now?

Originally Posted by SilverTiger (Post 10202936)

As Dianna spoke again, Renée glanced over at the Slytherin only to find the girl munching on another marshmallow. To be honest, it hadn't really seemed like the girl had wanted to speak, but she decided to wait anyhow. And as she recieved another answer, she smiled. "Well, divination as a whole, depending on who's speaking about it, can be called fortune-telling," she pointed out, before giving Dianna a little nod. "You might be on the right track, when it comes to one of the ideas I mentioned." She wasn't going to say much more quite yet. Wait and see if anyone else got the idea first.



Turning her attention to Simon as the little Hufflepuff spoke up again, a sympathetic expression crossed Renée's face before she sent him a smile. "That sounds tempting, but unfortunately no. There's still going to be a bit of Divination involved," she informed him, before nodding a little as he went on to make another suggestion. "Smoke can be used, and often is when it comes to pyromancy. Interpreting the movements, the shapes it might take." It wasn't necessarily something she'd planned for the lesson, but at least he'd made a good point. She wanted him to know that.



The encouraging expression on Renée's face, from talking to Simon, quickly turned a bit alarmed as she heard Emily start to speak, offering her own ideas. Is she honestly suggesting we sacrifice somebody?, she wondered. Turning to the seventh-year Ravenclaw, she tried to listen calmly, which became a bit easier as the speech continued. So it wasn't exactly true sacrifice. She nodded as the girl finished. "That is completely true. Divination is quite often more accurate if something special to the querent is used, and that could be applied to pyromancy as well. As long as the person was okay with their item being burned. I would imagine you wouldn't find too many of your classmates who would be willing to sacrifice anything of theirs right now, though," she replied. She wasn't planning on letting anyone destroy anything, at least.



A light laugh escaped her as Renée heard Kurumi make her suggestion, especially coming after the moment of concern. She hadn't really thought about marshmallow divination, but it seemed like it could work. "I'm surprised nobody's thought of that before," she commented. At least , she hadn't heard of anyone divining by toasting marshmallows. "You'd be correct, though. It would likely be similar to tasseomancy." Maybe they could try that, if nobody was against it. The idea of some of the students getting close enough to roast a marshmallow was a bit unnerving, though. It was definitely an idea, even if it didn't work very well.



Things seemed to get even more promising as Renée heard Selina offer another suggestion and she sent the girl another smile. At least it meant the Gryffindor was continuing to try and not be afraid of Divination. She would have understood if the girl had been afraid, as opening herself up could lead to more than what the others could get out of the subject. "I wasn't, in fact, but that's another good suggestion. Not exactly divination, as quite often those Muggles were under the influence of other substances as well. Of course, there are any number of divinatory practices that could involve practices such as that, but they're not quite appropriate for lessons. Trying to see images in the flames is a good idea, though," she replied, her smile getting a bit more amused as she heard the quiet aside.



As she heard another response, Renée turned a curious expression to the little gryffindor who had spoken. That was going to take a bit to translate, as she wasn't exactly prepared for responding to marshmallow-garbled speech. Thinking it over, she still found herself relieved when Nika restated things, after getting rid of a lot of the marshmallow she'd eaten. "It's okay," she replied. "And like I said a bit earlier, we could. That is a common form of pyromancy. But finding people willing to offer up objects to throw into the flames would be another story." Of course, once again they weren't far off from the idea she'd referred to before. It just wasn't exactly the same.



Hearing Lexi continue the argument about temples in Athens, Renée stifled a sigh behind a hand before preparing to reply. Something along the lines of it not being extraordinarily relevant, or at least unimportant as this wasn't History of Magic or Muggle Studies. She wasn't exactly certain which would refer to architecture and mythology. But that thought vanished as she heard the follow-up comment. "This seems to be a popular idea," she responded, before her eyes widened as she heard the whispered addition. Sound carried a bit out in the grounds, and it seemed her idea that people wouldn't be willing to give up their belongings wasn't entirely accurate.

The surprised look quickly turned to a raised eyebrow as Salander's response became known. Both the whisper and otherwise, and she sent the Slytherin a wry half-smile as he spoke directly to herself. "I'd imagine that would either predict next season's fashion, or predict how seventeen-year-old boys respond to the girls in question, whose attire is being sacrificed," she replied. Either way, she wasn't letting either of them near the bonfire any time soon.



Renée was relieved as it seemed not everyone in the class was quite as pyromaniacal as some were proving to be, and she turned to Jaina with yet another smile. "That would be something we could do practically," she agreed. "Divination by use of a candle is more contained, and would be more related to the form that Treyen discussed earlier. Focusing on how the flame moved, interpreting omens through that. It would be easier to accomplish inside, as well, so we aren't going to be using that just yet." She had a feeling it would be infinitely safer, however. She had to finish what she'd started, though, and she'd never backed down from a challenge yet.



Renée nodded as Emily 2 spoke, giving the little Gryffindor an encouraging smile. At least some people were catching on, that pyromancy wasn't all about what they could burn. "I'd suggest it's more an idea of seeing what shapes or images you can see in the flames, as opposed to the flames actually taking on a shape, but yes. That form of pyromancy would be similar to reading tea leaves," she responded. It seemed a lot of people were making a connection to tasseomancy, which was at least safer than other ideas. Although throwing things into the flames, when done with a bit of care, was interesting just the same. She just wasn't going to let people throw whatever they liked into any fires any time soon.



Looking over to see yet another student stuffing a marshmallow into their mouth, Renée smiled as it seemed at least one thing with this lesson had been popular. of course, it seemed the fire itself was popular with certain students, but the treats being welcomed was better in her eyes. And she nodded at Kyle as the girl made her suggestion. "In fact, yes. Lampadomancy could very well be considered another subset of pyromancy. Often, the color of the flame could be interpreted as well, but I see your point. Practices such as that were more successful, divination-wise, under controlled circumstances. In rooms where air currents could be monitored, that sort of thing," she replied. Sometimes cynicism had its uses, as questioning things led to more discussion. They didn't quite need to go into that subject quite as much right now, though.

"That's another good guess," she added, trying not to laugh at the enthusiastic statement about the homework. "You'll find out later."



As she'd glanced around the group, Renée had caught the glare Sierra had sent Kurumi. It hadn't seemed like it needed a response, but she figured if the little Slytherin felt the need to say something, it would get said. There was no need to prompt her, and it seemed all that happened was a quiet sigh anyhow. Maybe she's having problems coming up with ideas. Or just feeling like her ideas are good enough, she mused. It seemed Sierra had had thoughts about things, at least, if her reaction to the Gryffindor had meant anything. When she finally spoke, she was given an encouraging smile. "Yes. That is another method of pyromancy. Lychomancy, as was said a bit earlier, but it was a good suggestion. Not one we're going to be trying out right now, but a good suggestion," she responded.

At least people were trying. They hadn't tried branching out with new ideas so much, but the interest hadn't entirely waned yet. She decided to wait and see if anyone else would offer their ideas, though. There was still enough time left for that, so she didn't need to rush things.