At first, Josephina wasn't sure she was going to get any volunteers at all. But then, slowly but sure, she motioned for first the Head Girl, then the Gryffindor Captain to come up... Ravenclaw? No. They were all so young and they didn't seem eager to want to try even. Finally though, an unfamiliar older looking boy volunteered.

Now Hufflepuff. A few young ones again, but ... OH! There was one younger who wanted to try it. She had only requested older students, not required it after all. "Hmm... I suppose, you can try, yes." Why not? It was just for fun and if he was wrong, then at least he tried ... besides best way to learn was by being wrong.

That girl... seemed disappointed over there about not being able to volunteer. "If you do alright when we calculate our pinnacles, then perhaps you can give the next one a try at volunteering."

Then there was Sierra, Katie, and Legend who all volunteered. "Hold your eagerness. I might need you guys a bit later on," she said, offering them a brief smile before turning back to her current four volunteers.

"Right then. Our four lovely volunteers are going to demonstrate how to calculate each of the four pinnacle cycles on the blackboard, using their own birthdays. Alex? You can calculate your first pinnacle for us and then explain to us the formula you used." She said looking at the Hufflepuff boy, before to the Ravenclaw boy, "You, calculate the second pinnacle." She paused, looking from Simon to Iris, as if deliberating which to give each. "Captain Bennett? You can show us the fourth pinnacle. And Iris will show us the third pinnacle."

She paused again, thoughtfully. "Actually, Gwen dear?" She looked back toward the disappointed young Ravenclaw. "One of the numbers that is important in determining what Pinnacle cycle you're in is the life path number. Think you could manage demonstrating how to calculate that number as a quick refresher?" She knew the girl was a first year, but she seemed smart enough.

Back to Legend and Katie. "As I've mentioned before, the ages that the Pinnacle Cycles influence you will vary based upon your life path number. Miss Mae? Prefect Chosen? There's table that provides the duration of your pinnacle cycles based upon your life path. Do you think you could work together to copy this table onto the board for us?"

Catch up *flails*
 

Nika's mouth formed a small "O" shape as her professor explained what the pinnacle thing actually was. So it wasn't exactly point... "Oh... Yeah... That's what I was referring to..." She said with a sheepish smile as her face turned a light shade of pink. No, it had nothing to do with her suggestion, but if the professor was going to go along with it then she may as well go along with it too. It would make her look less stupid... Or perhaps even more stupid. This is why Nika's not a Ravenclaw.

Then she heard her professor speak to the class as a whole to explain these "pinnacle" things further. Nika quickly whipped out some parchment and a quill which she should have done earlier and began to scribble notes. "Four pinnacles... period of life.... Life altering changes...." She finished scribbling phrases down just in time to look up when her professor asked for volunteers. Normally Nika wouldn't mind volunteering, but not in a class like Arithmancy. Not in a class where she had absolutely no idea what she was doing. And hey, she did ask for older students so it wouldn't make her look bad if she didn't volunteer. So for now she'd just look around and see what others were going to do.



Nika stared at Professor Hadley with her mouth slightly opened. HUH? What...? She didn't understand a thing. Well maybe it was a good thing that some smarter students were doing the work. She'd just take more notes and pretend that she knew what she was doing. If all else fails she'd raise her hand to ask for help.

" I do not quite undesrstand how you reached tha Pinnacle" William told Simon. "Can you please explain it to me?' William asked Simon.

It seemed someone wanted him to explain how he got his answer and Simon easily reconized the Gryffindor boy from try-outs and around the gryffindor tower. "Simple...according to the book, the calculations needed for the fourth pinnacle is to add the month of my birthday with the year.," he started to explain to his housemate hoping Professor Hadley wouldn't mind. "Since I was born in October which is the 10th month I add 10 to my birth year which is 2056," he added glancing between the boy and the blackboard at his work.

Hearing himself say the correct year and seeing the incorrect year made the older Gryffindor realize his mistake. "Oops. I seemed to have made myself far older then I am ," he mused erasing it and changing the year before redoing his math.

Quote:

10 + 2056 1 + (2+0+5+6) 1+13 =14 1+4=5

"That should be the correct number," Simon stated, mentally berating himself. He should have known better then to think he could have gotten the rare master number combination anyway.

" Since I am born in November, that would be 11 right?" Wiliam asked Simon. So I would add 11 to my year born which is 2062 which equals 11 plus 2 plus 6 plus 2= 21. Then 2 + 1=3. Wiliam raised his hand. " Is this my birth pinnacle " Wiliam asked the professor and Simon.

How in the world did I end up volunteering? Gosh…I must stop being so competitive, the young Ravenclaw told herself. All right, maybe I can do this…, she tried encouraging herself.

Listening to what she had to do, Gwen wished she could slap herself. Oh no! I don’t even understand Arithmancy- how on earth am I supposed to calculate…what was that again? Ah, the life path number?

The life path number is found by Addition in means of Reduction of one’s full date of birth, Gwendolyn tried to gather her thoughts. But this doesn’t help me so much. So, again- what am I supposed to do. Think Gwendolyn, Think!, she kept telling herself.

Wait…I know I read somewhere that the Life Path can be calculated three different ways. Which one do I have to use? I don’t even know one way, how could I know all 3 of them, so I guess I’m back to guessing, she decided.

Gwen finished her calculation and looked puzzled around. Is this even correct? Again, probably not…

Iris stood up as Professor Hadley motioned her to the front of the class, and walked over to the blackboard. Listening as the professor gave out the pinnacles, Iris picked up a piece of chalk and rolled it in her palm.

The third pinnacle... Which one was that again? Oh, brilliant. Iris couldn't remember which one that was. The first one was month plus day.... and the second one was day and year... so the third one was the first plus second pinnacle. Oh, that wasn't fair! Well, no. I was entirely fair but that's not the point. Iris couldn't remember her first two pinnacles.

Turning to the blackboard, Iris put her chalk to the board. Time to figure out the first two, first.

month of birth + day of birth
February + 13
02 + (1 + 3)
02 + 4 = 6

day of birth + year of birth
13 + 2058
(1 + 3) + (2 + 0 + 5 + 8)
4 + 15
4 + (1 + 5)
4 + 6 = 10 = 1

First Pinnacle + Second Pinnacle
6 + 1 = 7

Setting her chalk down, Iris looked over her workings out. They all looked right... She just hoped they WERE correct, because if they weren't... well; wouldn't THAT be embarrassing?

Gwen started thinking that what she did was totally wrong, so she decided that she could at least calculate the other stuff like everyone else did.


Gwen's parchment:

Waiting for the students to record their calculations, Josephina watched as the Gryffindor Captain went up to write first. Looking over his calculations, she was about to say something about the year, when he noticed it upon helping a young first year in his house with his own fourth pinnacle.

"Yup. Better, Captain Bennett. Very good." Fina noted. "Why don't you go ahead and explain to the class now how to calculate this fourth pinnacle?"

"That... Is your fourth pinnacle, yes," Josephina smiled as she looked over the young boy's work. "Very good."

"Yup! That's correct!" Josephina beamed at the young Ravenclaw. She knew the girl could handle it; she could tell. Now addressing the WHOLE CLASS, she smiled, "As demonstrated by young Gwendolyn here, if you don't have your life number handy, go ahead and recalculate it. You'll need it in order to determine at what age each of your pinnacle cycles will fall."


Oh good, another one of her volunteers had completed her work on the board. "Good, very good. Want to explain to the class how you calculated this third pinnacle, Iris?"

Glancing around the room, it didn't escape Josephina's gaze that two first years were already working hard on their pinnacles. Overlooking their work, she smiled as they seemed to grasp the calculations quickly. As Alex hadn't come up yet.... "Penny dear? Why don't you go up and copy your first pinnacle onto the board? And then go ahead and explain how to calculate that number."

"And Gwen?" You know, since that seventh year claw hadn't come up yet... "You can go ahead and copy your second pinnacle onto the board and then explain how to calculate it." Fina nodded at the young she-eagle.

"Thank you professor." William smiled,

Penny was a little surprised that Professor Hadley had noticed her working.. but pleased also...
"Sure Professor..", then walked up to the board, taking her parchment up with her...

Taking a piece of chalk she began to put her calculations on the board for the class to see..

First Pinnacle = Month of Birth + Day of Birth

May + 05
5 + 5 = 10
1+0 = 1

Penny looked at the professor first when she had finished writing and spoke to the class..
"Well.. Uhm.. For the first pinnacle you have to add the month you were born to the date you were born..., taking a deep breath she continued..
"I was born on the fifth of May, so my pinnacle is calculated by adding (0+5)+(0+5), which equals 10....1+0=1....

So My First Pinnacle is Number 1, this means my primary goal will be to achieve autonomy, self-reliance, and individuality, so people who cross my path in a significant way are teachers who will help me move toward being independent".

Taking another deep breath, Penny looked at the professor, hoping that what she had done was correct..

Ok..How did I get to do something without willing AGAIN? Nice going, Gwen... So-what do I have to do? Ah, yes, the second Pinaccle...

Gwen started writing on the board. One thing I don't get, she thought. How is it that I don't get what this stuff is all about, but manage to do it right? That's wierd!, she decided.

Second Pinnacle = Day of Birth + Year of Birth
7th + 2062 => 7+2+0+6+2 =17 (1+7)=8
2nd Pinnacle= 8

'Ok...so, as we can see, the second Pinaccle is calculated this way, by adding the numbers from your day and the year of birth.', and, that's about it. What more could I say?

Nika looked from the board to her own peice of parchment containing notes about the pinnacles. She heard professor Hadley say they had to know their life path number so she quickly began to scribble down her own.

Hopefully her calculations were right.

As Professor Hadley assigned him to calculate his Second Pinnacle, Roderigo smiled and gave a small nod. Despite having already read the chapter on Pinnacles, he, like the Gryffindor volunteer, took his Arithmancy book with him. He picked up a piece of chalk and began writing the formulaic expression on for calculating his Second Pinnacle on the board.

He stood back a bit, after rereading what he had written. His eyebrows furrowed slightly, out of uncertainty more than anything else.
"Three. . . " he muttered to himself. He turned around and flipped open his book to Chapter Twenty-Two. He double checked his formula and there it was, of course, the number three. Satisfied, he closed the book and placed the now small bit of chalk back onto the tray. Turning towards Professor Hadley, he gave her a smile to show her that he had caculated his Second Pinnacle.

Okay, it was time for Presley to calculate her own pinnacles! Now that she knew how, she was eager to begin. She pulled her parchement closer to her, and began.
Presley rechecked her answers. 10? It seemed like a pretty high number, but Presley wrote it anyway. Maybe she was supposed to add it again? Probably. Presley finished up on her paper.

Legend nodded as Hadley told him to hold on. His attention fell upon the parchment in front of him. Picking up his quill, Legend quickly began to work out his own Pinnacles, because he would probably need them.

SPOILER!!: His Parchment

First Pinnacle:
month of birth + day of birth
September, 5th
9+ 5 = 14
(1+4) = 5

Second Pinnacle:
day of birth + year of birth
5th, 2057
5 + 2057=
5 + (2+0+5+7)=
5 + 14=
5 + (1+4)=
5 + 5 = 10
1 + 0 = 1


Third Pinnacle:
First Pinnacle + Second Pinnacle
5 and 1
5 + 1 = 6

Fourth Pinnacle:
month of birth + year of birth
September, 2057
9 + 2057=
9 + (2+0+5+7)=
9 + 14 =
9 + (1+4)=
9 + 5 = 14
(1 + 4) = 5

As he gazed at his work he blinked. There were TWO fives. Was that even right? Legend doubled it. But he did double check.

The seventh year nodded and made his way up to the board. Alright. So they had to just copy the table. Psssh. Easy. Wait...where was this table again? Legend began to flip through his textbook for a bit before giving up. "I think I remember it.."

I'd make a better explanation of this but I need to leave. :(
 

How did she do it? ... Turning to the class, Iris looked around. This was, really, the first time she was talking to a load of students as Head Girl. It was weird. "Well... To find the third pinnacle, I needed to find the first two. There's two students finding those, so they'll explain how I found those."

"My first pinnacle is a 6, and my second is a 1. So to find the third pinnacle, all I had to do was add them together to give me seven." She nodded a bit and looked at the professor, as if she were asking if that was a good enough explanation.

Helena wasn't sure if she understood everything, but she tried to calculate her pinnacles anyway.



She placed the quill on the desk and stared for a little bit at her notes. Did she calculate alright?

Ness took out some parchment then did the work like everyone else.

She finished then looked at her parchment hoping everything was right.

Eino took extra time trying to wrap his little brain around all of this calculating madness. Well, the calculations were easy, the hard part was figuring out what to calculate. He had forgotten his life path number so he wanted to add that just to warm up his brain. When that was done it was time to move onto more challenging Arithmancy. After much struggling, head scratching, and parchment tearing, Eino finally thought he had successfully calculated all of his pinnacles.



If he was right, then all of his pinnacles had passed away already. That was what they meant, right? He scratched his head again. Two when he was two years old, one when he was four, and one when he was six... There was no way he remembered that. He looked around the room nervously. Hopefully someone would let him know whether his calculations were right or not.

It should not have surprised her that Hadley had called for her and Legend to work together, and yet it almost did. She did know that was usually risky business, right? Her and Legend working together? "Sure thing, Professor." Rising from her desk, Katie went around to the front and paused near the blackboard, waiting for Legend to focus. Watching him as he flipped through the book, only to give up and close it.

Without a word of warning, Katie took a couple of small steps to close the gap between them and opened his textbook still in his hands, turning it open to the correct chapter and then began to flip through the pages until they were on the right one, where she pointed out the table. "I'll do the first part," She decided with a quick look over the material, the seventh year found a piece of chalk and began to write out the table on the board:

__________________ Your 1st ____ Your 2nd ____ Your 3rd ____ Your 4th
__________________Pinnacle ____ Pinnacle ______ Pinnacle ______ Pinnacle
___________________Cycle ______ Cycle ________ Cycle ______ Cycle
_________________runs from: ____ runs from: ____ runs from: ____ runs from:
Your Life Path is 1: age 0 - 35 ___ age 35 - 44 ___ age 44 - 53 ___ age 53 >
Your Life Path is 2: age 0 - 34 ___ age 34 - 43 ___ age 43 - 52 ___ age 52 >
Your Life Path is 3: age 0 - 33 ___ age 33 - 42 ___ age 42 - 51 ___ age 51 >
Your Life Path is 4: age 0 - 32 ___ age 32 - 41 ___ age 41 - 50 ___ age 50 >
Your Life Path is 5: age 0 - 31 ___ age 31 - 40 ___ age 40 - 49 ___ age 49 >
Katie stopped at life path number five, leaving the board half-complete and turned to hand the chalk over to Legend. "Want me to hold the book?"

Wait. How in the world did Katie even find that page. It was so strange. Legend frowned. HE could have found it too if it wasn't hidden in random spot. "Nope I can do it." As he tried to write everything in a neat way the page kept flipping to other things. "Alright you hold it." He mumbled, placing the book in her hands.

__________________ Your 1st ____ Your 2nd ____ Your 3rd ____ Your 4th
__________________Pinnacle ____ Pinnacle ______ Pinnacle ______ Pinnacle
___________________Cycle ______ Cycle ________ Cycle ______ Cycle
_________________runs from: ____ runs from: ____ runs from: ____ runs from:
Your Life Path is 6: age 0 - 30 ___ age 30 - 39 ___ age 39 - 48 ___ age 48 >
Your Life Path is 7: age 0 - 29 ___ age 29 - 38 ___ age 38 - 47 ___ age 47 >
Your Life Path is 8: age 0 - 28 ___ age 28 - 37 ___ age 37 - 46 ___ age 46 >
Your Life Path is 9: age 0 - 27 ___ age 27 - 36 ___ age 36 - 45 ___ age 45 >
Your Life Path is 11: age 0 - 34 ___ age 34 - 43 ___ age 43 - 52 ___ age 52 >
Your Life Path is 12: age 0 - 32 ___ age 32 - 41 ___ age 41 - 50 ___ age 50 >

There done. Legend grinned as he finished the last bit of the chart. "Excellent working with you little Mae." Hopefully it was right and they hadn't messed everything up. It would be ten times worse if they had copied it wrong.