Alyssa quickly wrote down notes and listened to as the Professor explained how they stained the runes. Why did they stain it in red ochre? She raised her hand and gave a possible answer. "Professor could it be because red ochre paint is usually made out of red clay earth and back into the old days it was thought that red ochre contained live giving properties? Or maybe because red ochre just lasts forever and doesn't fade." Alyssa shrugged, volunteering two possibilities why red ochre was used.

Amelia was honestly not sure about these questions since she was not an expert with this class at all. She raised her hand to take a guess. "Is it because these are more natural paints? Or is it because the red looks like blood?" She had no idea.

After making some notes, Jory raised his hand. He was not at all sure about his answer. "Is it because red was mostly preferred? Or red was associated with magical rune properties?''

"Well not quite...no." Oliver though gave him an encouraging smile. He liked that the students weren't afraid to have a guess.

Oliver gave his head a small shake. "The red does stand out but so would other colours. The red symbolises the colour of blood. Good try."

"You're almost there." Oliver said with a nod of his head.

"Thank you Mr Goldstein, Mr Vickers, Miss Potter and Miss Reinhart. Ochre comes from a naturally tinted clay. The pigments in the clay are used to create tints. Because blood was one used to stain the runes, people chose to tint the ochre red so as to keep with the tradition."

Oliver moved to the back of the room to where the wooden archway stood. "Now I noticed some you go a little green at the mention of using blood to stain the runes." He paused for a moment as he ran his hand over the archway. "Personally I prefer the use of blood when staining the runes. And as usual there is a reason for this."

He turned his attention back to the students. "Through all the years that runes have been around both wizards and muggles have used them. So tell me this, if a wizard and a muggle carved a rune into a piece of wood and then used their blood to stain the rune, whose rune would work more effectively? And why?"

He.Liked.To.Use.WHAT?!

Kurumi squirmed uncomfortably in her seat, seriously distracted from actually answering his question because she now had this image of Professor Jenkins being some sort of hybrid vampire who used blood to make runes instead of drinking it. Did this mean that he sparkled?

Kurumi sort of just...observed Professor Jenkins for a bit, trying to shake the image so that she could attempt to formulate some sort of response. And it took several moments.

It seemed like a straight forward answer, that wizarding blood would be the one that would make the rune the most effective and powerful because, well, wizarding blood was magical by nature because of their midichlorians...or something. No, that wasn't right and was her nerd of a brother talking in her head right there.

Okay, weird microorganisms aside, Kurumi raised her hand. "I want to say that wizards' blood would make a rune work more effectively because our blood is sort of a magical substance on its own..." Cue another queasy look from the prefect. "...but I wonder if that is effected by those witches and wizards who are Squibs or Muggle-born..." Both had actual magical blood flowing within them, but their magic either never manifested itself or suddenly appeared.

Then again, her question was assuming that wizarding blood was more potent when used on runes.

So the Professor liked to paint his Runes with blood. That wasn't something Amelia really wanted to picture in her head, so it was probably best to just focus on the question being asked. She raised her hand now. "I'd guess the Wizard's would work more effectively since we as magical beings have magic in our blood. I'd imagine that would enhance the magic that the Rune would already possess."

Alyssa listened as Kurumi and Amelia gave their answers.She agreed with them up to a point, so she raised her hand and gave her own opinion."Professor, while I have to agree with Kurumi and Amelia that being magical people, our Runes should work more effectively than those made muggles because our contain magic properties, I just think that runes made by both wizard and muggle would work equally the same. I mean runes have been made for many of centuries by many people and it worked effectively for them, so unless everyone is a wizard, which we know there aren't, I think that the power of the rune comes from the living blood of the maker and their intent in making the rune. At least, that's my opinion."

Alyssa knew that she was most probably wrong but she still had to say what she thought.

All this talk of blood was making Ella feel a little squeamish. She tried to think why on earth anyone would willingly stain their runes in their own blood. First, it would probably hurt and secondly, EW! However, there had to be something that they gained from doing so. "Professor, I guess if the witches or wizards use their own blood it could maybe strengthen the er-the bond that the witch or wizard has with the rune?" Ella wasn't sure if this answer was correct but it seemed possible.

Why. Does. It. Feel. Like. A. HISTORY class?!

This Jenkins guy is a lot more interesting that Hades thought. The blonde boy smirks when the professor admitted he prefers the use of blood and Kurumi's unobvious reaction. Hades' gaze fixed on the archway as Professor Jenkins goes on. "Could it be..?" he pouts and taps his cheek with his finger. "The blood of a wizard works better!" Why? Because their blood is special unlike those mundane creatures (aka muggles). "Because magic runs in our blood. So, anything magical works better with us compare to muggles."

"Say, professor!" he suddenly calls. "You said that you prefer to use blood. How much blood do you usually use? Don't you get anemia when you use too much of your blood?" 'Cause all his questions are undeniably logical.

Clearly her thoughts still distracted by the talk of blood, Kurumi nodded at a few of the other answers. Yep, that was what she was getting at with her question about Squibs and Muggle-borns...but ALL thought processes ceased when someone had to rub salt into the wound.

Kurumi's head slowly turned towards the boy who was talking, no, who was rambling on about blood and asking what would happen if too much of it was used. Seriously? SERIOUSLY? Kurumi's complexion turned more pale than usual and she immediately turned her head towards the front again. Could the conversation about blood stop soon, please?

Or could the professor at least step in and tell students to stay on topic and not ask such dramatic questions?

He was right? That was awesome.

I guess it did pay off listening to the odd rants about natural paint and brushes in his muggle art class. But hidesight was 20/20. The Gryffindor made a small note of the ochre paint on his parchment and then turned his attention back to the Professor has he posed his second question.

O__o

"Well, I would have to assume that since Runes use a specific type of magic, that a wizard's blood would be more powerful in effecting them because it is magic itself." He then turned as Kurumi asked a question. It was as if she had read his mind. "Yeah, about what Kurumi said, if magical blood was more effective on the runes, does that mean--that uh, my runes won't be as effective as some of the other students'?"

Maybe his being a Muggleborn wouldn't matter.

Laura had no idea what to say so came up with something at a minutes notices. "Professor wouldn't chocolate be better than using blood? wouldn't using blood hurt?"

Nate was listening on the answer, and then he heard the hufflepuff girl Laura say something. Really! That wasn't even on topic! Let alone a good answer. Though he had to admit in some classes his answers sounded kind of silly or off topic. He raised his hand and said "Professor would wizard blood work better. Because wouldn't it make it stronger because wizard blood is already magical." Nate didn't care about if they used blood. To him that sounded pretty cool.

Oliver couldn't help but chuckle. He had been waiting for that question to come up. "It's only a few drops Hades. Just a small prick on the finger will do it. So you shouldn't get anemia from using that amount." He had a feeling that he was going to have some queasy looking students anyway.

A small sigh left his lips. Oliver remembered the little girl from his last lesson. "Do you honestly think chocolate would work on runes?" While he was all for the students having a guess at the answer, he would prefer if they thought about them beforehand.

"Now for the rest of you that answered, using wizards blood to stain the runes does work more effectively. But thats not to say that it doesn't work for muggles because it does. They just have to use a lot more concentration and usually the gladr chant."

Oliver gave the archway another pat. "Now as I said before, we are going to do magic with one of the runes. And the rune we are going to use is Ehwaz, the rune of transportation." He grinned at the students. "We are going to use this archway to create a portal. The arch is made out of rowan wood so of course it makes it easier to carve out our rune."

"This is how it is going to work. I want each of you to come up to the archway with your wands. Using the 'Intaglio' spell I want you to carve the Ehwaz rune into the arch. Once you have done that, prick your finger and then wipe the blood into the rune." Maybe he should have brought Cece down for this lesson. He may not like the woman but she would come in handy for this exercise.

"As soon as you have traced the rune with your blood, you need to call out 'Ehwaz' while concentrating on Mr Murdoch's Hut." Because that's where Oliver had put the exit for the portal. Not that he had told Waylon that. "Now you really need to voice your intent and concentrate fully on what you want. You will know it has worked because...well...you'll be able to walk through that wall." Duh!

"For those who don't wish to use blood for this exercise, I do have some red ochre paint that I have mixed up but just be aware that you'll to concentrate even harder and I suggest using the galdr chant as well."

"So when you're ready."

ooc: Just have your charrie follow the instructions and if they are successful in creating a portal then please post here.

A portal?!

O___O

Auggie was torn: first off there was a portal and he would be transported somewhere elese if he walked through it but he was also nervous because he had never really experienced Runic magic before.

So, they just need to go ahead a do it then? The Gryffindor stood up and walked over to the archway that Professor Jenkins was standing at and pointed his wand at the wood surface. "Intaglio!" The spell began to carve into wood and the boy used it to make the shape of the Ehwaz rune. When he finished he placed his wand back into his pocket and now needed to find something to prick his finger with. Oh the spiral on his muggle notebook would work.

Walking back to his desk, August used the sharp end to stick his finger real quick and then rushed back to the archway and rubbed the blood onto the rune he just carved.

'Ehwaz....Mr. Murdoch's Hut. Ehwaz...Mr. Murdoch's Hut!'

He felt the air sizzle for a second around the area and he gingerly stepped through the archway and was transported from the room.

Kurumi winced and cocked her head to the side. Well, that was sort of nice to hear, just a finger prick...but Kurumi still didn't like the sight of blood and she really had to get her mind into a special place to deal with it - sort of like what she had done when Lewis had broken his nose and was bleeding. The classroom...just studying runes...she wasn't going to find herself in a dire situation to be able to accomplish that. She supposed that his mention of nonmagical people having to concentrate harder when their own blood was used sort of answered her question. Class moved along before she could ask any sort of follow up, so the prefect just let that one go.

Standing up, Kurumi walked straight towards the red ochre paint and took a small vial of it, bowing to Professor Jenkins apologetically. She didn't mind having to concentrate a little harder, it was always good to exercise your mind.

Approaching the archway, Kurumi pocketed the paint and removed her wand and pointed it at a bare place on the wooden surface. "Intaglio Ehwaz....Ehwaz Ehwaz Ehwaz Ehwaz Ehwaz Ehwaz..." Now that her rune was carved, Kurumi took out the paint and dipped her finger in it, applying a border around the rune she had just carved. That...should do it, right?

Kurumi screwed the top back on the bottle and then walked over to return it to Professor Jenkins. "Thank you, professor," she said. Hopefully her relief was shown...because the thought of jabbing herself in the finger, yeah...it just wasn't going to happen.

Shuffling herself back to the archway, Kurumi closed her eyes and attempted to clear her mind of everything BUT the Groundskeeper's hut. Thankfully, she had already visited him once, so she had a clear image of what it looked like inside. "Eihwaz eihwaz eihwaz...e e e e e e e e e," Kurumi whispered, concentrating with everything she had and making sure that she kept the series of e's with a neutral, closed vowel sound. "Iwu iwa iwi iwa iwu...iwo iwe iwi iwa iwu...e e e e e e e e e."

Kurumi felt her skin tingle and she heard a crackling sound like someone stomping all over a sheet of bubble wrap. The classroom faded and little beads of sweat ran down her brow. This was taking a lot more concentration than she had anticipated, not that she fear transporting herself somewhere else or...splinching herself via rune magic, but she was worried about collapsing once she arrived in the hut. With that...Kurumi's body vanished from the classroom.

Nate went up to the portal. He wasn't really nervous. He used floo powder all the time. Nate hoped that this would be a little like floo powder. Once he got up there he took out his wand. He said the spell "In-tal-gio." Nothing happened So he tried again "Intalgio." Finally it started to work. He started to carve the rune of Ehwaz. Once he was done he took another deep breath. He hated getting stuff getting poked into his skin. He then pricked his skin while "Ow." Next he put the blood on the rune. He then called out "Ehwaz ehwa ehwaz." He then thought to Mr. Murdoch's hut. he took another deep breath. He entered, and got teleported to Mr. Murdoch's hut on the grounds.

Alyssa listened as the Professor told them that there were going to teleport themselves to another place....without even having to apparate. 'Cool' Alyssa thought to herself. Okay she would have to sacrifice a little of her blood but she had so many of it that a little pin prick donation wasn't going to kill her.

So she walked up to the arch and concentrating on the rune Ehwaz and what she wanted it to do, Alyssa raised her wand, pointed it at a spot on the Archway and said,"INTAGLIO" and began to carve the rune into the Archway. As she carved the rune, she concentrated on what it represented and what she wanted it to do. Once the Rune was carved, she holstered her wand and reached into a pocket for one of her safety pins.

Unlatching the safety pin, she pricked her finger with the needle and as she started to bleed, smeared her blood on the rune tracing out it's pattern. As she slowly traced the rune with her blood she concentrated on where she wanted the rune to take her. Once she was done, she stood in front of the archway and called out while concentrating really hard on her destination."EHWAZ...Mr. Murdoch's hut...EHWAZ...Mr. Murdoch's hut. EHWAZ...Mr. Murdoch's hut."

She felt the air around her change, like there was static. She took a deep breath and walked through the archway....and disappeared.

They would be using runes to travel?

That was a new one. Gideon looked up from his notes that he was scribbling to the archway the professor motioned them to that was to be their created portal. Kinda like a floo almost, he mused to himself as he turned his attention back to the professor and listening as to what they would be doing. When it was his turn he raised his wand to use the carving spell. "Intaglio Ehwaz..." he cast, working the spell like they had been taught in one class or another. Moving his wand away when he was finished, the Gryffindor was glad to see it had worked out.

So far so good.

He then pricked his skin with the sharpened edge of his quill, poking it hard to draw blood. Hopefully it would enough to work the magic needed else he'd need to concentrate harder and he wasn't sure how it would differ. Approaching his carved rune once more, he wiped his finger upon the shape in the wood. Now for the difficult part. "Ehwaz!" he spoke aloud as he tried to picture the groundskeeper's hut while he stepped within the doorway. Gideon tried with all his determination, finally vanishing from the spot.

Nerida raised an eyebrow, needles??Was he serious, Nerida hated needles, shots, everything with pain actually and she didnt like the sight of blood, she usually fainted or something like that. She took a deep breath and grasped her wand, nothing to be afraid of, it was just blood and you know a needle and just a small prick, dont think about that right now, just think about the rune!! She held her wand and placed it on the wood and said Intaglio! and approached the archway and grasped the needle and moved it down on her finger, but she flinched and no blood came out, she sighed she had to do it again, yay! She did it this time and she applied it to the rune she just carved. She closed her eyes and thought only of the Groundskeeper's Hut.
Suddenly she felt her skin get all tingley and heard a popping sound, and then the classroom faded and she vanished.

Jory headed up to the arch. He'd already decided to use his own blood. It wasn't going to be that bad, it was just a little prick of a finger.

He concentrated on the Ehwaz rune, picked a bare spot on the are and exclaimed "Intaglio!". When he was done with the carving, Jory reached into his pocket for the little knife he usually kept. Quickly poking his finger with the sharp edge, he dabbed his blood onto the rune.

Standing in front of the Archway, Jory said while concentrating hard on Mr. Murdoch's hut, "Ehwaz...Ehwaz.''

Amelia stared at the archway dubiously as it was explained to them that they were making a portal. She was torn here. While she wasn't worried about pricking her finger, and traveling through a portal sounded cool... she just wasn't really well versed in runic magic. Though she supposed that it had to be safe if Professor Jenkins was having them do it. Right? :/

Walking over to the archway now, Amelia picked a spot that hadn't been carved into yet and pointed her wand at it. "Intaglio Ehwaz." Now her Rune was carved into the wood. The next step was the blood. She needed to prick her finger with something, so she searched her pockets... and got pricked by something in the process. o_O She had no idea what it was, but she didn't really care as it got the job done for her.

Running her finger over the Rune, she smeared it with blood. How attractive.

As soon as she was done with the searing of the blood, she started calling out, "Ehwaz!" She said it over and over again as she concentrated on Mr. Murdoch's hut. She pictured it in her head perfectly.

Feeling something like static around her, Amelia walked through the wall and disappeared.

Staring at the Professor Laura felt a bit sick the talk of blood always did this to her, trying to think of anything else, like home or friends or anything to keep her mind away from Blood.

Laura sighed as Blood kept coming into her mind as she saw the other students prick themselves. "Professor can I walk to the hut?" Laura asked as she threw up. "Sorry Professor the sight of blood makes be sick." Laura hoped she wouldn't be in trouble.

After crossing her arms, Beezus rested both her elbow on the desk as she listened to Professor Jenkins announcing their activity. Well, that was just great. They were going to make a portal with the use of the Ehwaz rune, which was the rune of transportation. And they were..WHAT? Gonna use their blood to make their magic through runes more effective?

The young eaglette had her mouth wide open at first, but after hearing that they would only need a prick of blood for it, she relaxed and even raised eyebrows at her classmates who were seemingly overacting with the fact that they'd be using blood for the activity.

And when they were given the cue, she stood up and approached the archway wherein they'd make the portal with her wand on her right hand. Holding it against the archway, Beezus then uttered the incantation, "Intaglio." as her wrist and hand started coordinating each other in making the rune. A white light that shone like a laser appeared from the tip of her wand and when she pointed it towards the archway wall, it penetrated through the wood, carving what looked like a capital M on it.

Next was to wipe her blood into the carved rune. But how in Merlin's name would she have her own blood? Cut herself perhaps? Well, that was just too violent. Only a small wound that would produce even a few drops of blood would do. Yet, what could she use to do that? Oh, maybe she could just bite off a skin from a finger right? With a small shrug, she brought her forefinger into her mouth and bit it HARD.

"Aw!" she couldn't help but moan. It certainly did hurt! And that was the first time she had tried doing that so in the end, her hand was still trembling as she traced the carved rune on the archway with her blood. And without thinking about anything, focused on Mr. Murdoch's office, particularly the sight of Biscuit, the Groundkeeper's dog. "Ehwaz. Ehwaz. Ehwaz..Ehwaaaaazzz.." Beezus said, with her eyes close, then she opened them and pushed one leg into what looked like a small rotating, spiral passage.

O______O

Woot! Her leg was going through the wall! "EhwazEhwazEhwazEhwaz......" Beezus still continued muttering it as she pushed herself into the portal.

They were going to be making what?! A portal? That was awesome! Ella grabbed her wand excitedly, and continued to listen to instructions. The frown was immediate when she heard that they would need to use blood. Ella wasn't really happy about that but she desperately wanted to do the task correctly so she shook the bad thoughts out of her mind. She would use her blood and all would be okay.

Ella walked over to the archway slowly, looking for an empty spot to carve her rune. When she found one, she bent down and pointed her wand at the spot. "Intaglio!" Moving her hand to create the correct shape, Ella carved the Ehwaz into the arch slowly and carefully. When she was done, she looked down at her finger and sighed. Taking the music note pin from her robes, Ella used the point to prick her finger. "Ouch!" She squeaked, frowning at the blood that had now appeared. With a disgusted look, she then smeared the blood over her rune.

Now that she was done with the rune part, Ella walked over to the opening in the archway. She closed her eyes, concentrating fully on Mr. Murdoch's hut. "Ehwaz...Ehwaz...Ehwaz...Ehwaz!" Nervously, Ella put a hand out and it went right through the archway! She had done it correctly. Then, she stepped through with her wand, ready to be on the other side.