No one was even close.

Professor Elwood giggled at some of their answers, like Anya's and a few others reguarding the fire and naps but she shook her head and listened to others. "Not snow and nothing to do with the wind. It's actually for more practical reasons why we are outside this afternoon." The blonde said hoping that would be a bit more of a hint. No?

Touching Daichi comfortingly on the shoulder, assuring him they wouldn't be using fire, Calista spoke to the rest of them again. "Today we are going to be practicing a form of Belomancy, does anyone know what this is?" She was super excited for them to hurry up and get it so she could bring out the equipment.

Taylor looked at the teacher confused then raised her hand, "Professor... if i aint mistaken... isnt that divination with arrows... like feather ones?" She hoped that she was right buuuut lately she had been nothing but wrong...

Well...fine then. Make it seem like the snow and all the elements were somehow related to the form of divination they would be doing today. Kurumi saw what the woman was up to. Being all shifty and deceptive. JUST like the subject! OH! How was that for symbolism? Hmmm?

Anyway, there had been a question asked and Kurumi was debating whether or not she wanted to answer Professor Shiftywood or not. Meh, as a NEWT student she should, right? Besides, she had come across the topic briefly in her reading and, well, she had SOME interest in archery because she had learned a little kyudo growing up along with her kendo training. So, hand slowly went up to speak. "Divination based arrows," she said. "Arrows either drawn from a bag or quiver or sometimes shot to see which arrow would fly the farthest."

So...was Professor Shiftywood going to also teach them archery today? Amusing thought...

No weather divination? Vickers' gazed up at the sky before hearing the Professor explain that they were going to study.... belomancy? Right, he didnt know what that was, and the thoughtful knitting of his brows revealed as much. But Kurumi mentioned arrows the Ravenclaw stood up a little straighter in interest. Were they going to do archery today? He couldnt help but smile at the possibility.

SADDDDDD.

Anya was so looking forward to a nap. Oh well.

She tilted her head to the side. Belomancy. That wasn't something she'd heard of before. But it was obviously some sort of study of something. She... just had no idea what "Belo-" meant.

But apparently other people did.

No use of snow. Jory almost wished they were using the awesome white stuff. But he now raised his hand. "Belomancy is when Divination is practiced using arrows,'' he said.

The large courtyard sure wasn't the best place to hold a class when the months roll off to the "BER" ones, for the 'bers' meant winter and winter was cold and cold would just make you want to curl up in the dorms under comfy covers in front of the fireplace. Yup.

But since the Divination Professor was holding her class there, Beezus couldn't find it in her tongue to complain. And so, with her robes and scarf wrapped tight around her, she was here, listening attentively as the woman began to speak.

When they were asked to have a guess at why they were having their class there, she didn't say anything. Instead, the Ravenclaw hugged herself and merely lent an ear to those sharing their ideas. Brrr..

However, when Professor Elwood spindled the next question, Beezus perked up. Belomancy? That was a form of Divination that is best defined as, "marked by arrows". So....they were going to practice...?

"Are we going to learn archery Professor?" Oops. That wasn't the answer to her question, was it?

The Slytherin sat listening to what students predicted for this lesson. She never guessed..not in any lesson. And Professors always ask this particular question. She needed to work on her guessing skill.

Belomancy..Cassia turned the word over in her head. Had she heard of it. Actually she had glanced the word in the book when she was flipping over the pages before Elwood started.. She tried to recall what she had read. Raising her hand Cassia spoke, "It has something to do with arrows." That was all she could remember. Hold on..Was Elwood going to shoot arrows at them. D:

Now why were most of the Divination classes ending with -ancy or -mancy or whatever fancy suffix it had. Now... let's get back to whatever -ancy they were going to learn today, Belomancy.

BELOMANCY. How come that rings a small bell? Where has she encountered this word? Then a thought of a passing arrow seemed to have snapped her out of her mind. Kat rose her hand. "Belomancy is the an art of Divination that uses arrows," Kat said. "It can also be referred to as Bolomancy."

Sarah was wrong... well it was what she though. Belomancy... it was divintion obviously. She had read about it before... in one of her divinition books... oh yeah, Sarah raised her hand and said "it is a form of divination that uses arrows. The greeks, babylonians and arabs used to use it in ancient times"

Having his fingers crossed and getting ready to leave for when the Professor told them that the students who guessed fire were right and then feeling a weight on his shoulder, Daichi wondered who it was only to see the Professor standing beside him. Why was she touching his shoulder? Was she preventing him from running away? They we're REALLY going to use fire in this class?

Nooooo...OH! Hearing her words, the Slytherin could not help but blush a little. He knew what Belomancy was and it didn't have anything to do with fire. "Uhm..Belomancy is studying the flight of arrows" he said. Good thing he had already begun studying in the library for his OWLS and saw this topic in one of the books. He couldn't remember much of it, except for that arrows were used. "And" he added quickly as he remembered something else. "Hmm no can't remember.." Seemed like the cold was freezing his brain as well.

Belo- who? What was this mad woman going on about. She had absolutely no idea what that was. She listened to what the others were saying about and made mental notes because who knew if they were right or not considering no one was right about what they thought they were doing today.

Although it seemed like everybody was in agreement about the whole arrow thing. Maybe they would be shooting arrows. Hmmm... that would be interesting. All she knew was that she was going to stay away from the puffers if that was the case.

SPOILER!!: Replies

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cassandra

Taylor looked at the teacher confused then raised her hand, "Professor... if i aint mistaken... isnt that divination with arrows... like feather ones?" She hoped that she was right buuuut lately she had been nothing but wrong...

Professor Elwood looked at the girl with a strange expression; she didn't understand why she was talking like that. Perhaps the cold had frozen her brain and impared her thinking and speaking abilities. "Yes, arrows will be used and typically they tend to have some sort of feather or feather-like tail on the ends, yes."

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie

Well...fine then. Make it seem like the snow and all the elements were somehow related to the form of divination they would be doing today. Kurumi saw what the woman was up to. Being all shifty and deceptive. JUST like the subject! OH! How was that for symbolism? Hmmm?

Anyway, there had been a question asked and Kurumi was debating whether or not she wanted to answer Professor Shiftywood or not. Meh, as a NEWT student she should, right? Besides, she had come across the topic briefly in her reading and, well, she had SOME interest in archery because she had learned a little kyudo growing up along with her kendo training. So, hand slowly went up to speak. "Divination based arrows," she said. "Arrows either drawn from a bag or quiver or sometimes shot to see which arrow would fly the farthest."

So...was Professor Shiftywood going to also teach them archery today? Amusing thought...

The Gryffindor Prefect was much more informative and actually mentioned somde of the methods of Belomancy in her answer. "Very good Prefect Hollingberry. Yes those are some of the ways we practice it but today we will be doing it a slightly different way." Good answer though. Professor Elwood was glad to see that the girl had decided to take Divination as a NEWT student this term.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19

No use of snow. Jory almost wished they were using the awesome white stuff. But he now raised his hand. "Belomancy is when Divination is practiced using arrows,'' he said.

"That is correct Jory." Professor Elwood smiled warmly at the Hufflepuff boy. She was glad to see that the cold hadn't kept him away or from answering her promptly--a good boy.

Quote:

Originally Posted by xXxPandora

The large courtyard sure wasn't the best place to hold a class when the months roll off to the "BER" ones, for the 'bers' meant winter and winter was cold and cold would just make you want to curl up in the dorms under comfy covers in front of the fireplace. Yup.

But since the Divination Professor was holding her class there, Beezus couldn't find it in her tongue to complain. And so, with her robes and scarf wrapped tight around her, she was here, listening attentively as the woman began to speak.

When they were asked to have a guess at why they were having their class there, she didn't say anything. Instead, the Ravenclaw hugged herself and merely lent an ear to those sharing their ideas. Brrr..

However, when Professor Elwood spindled the next question, Beezus perked up. Belomancy? That was a form of Divination that is best defined as, "marked by arrows". So....they were going to practice...?

"Are we going to learn archery Professor?" Oops. That wasn't the answer to her question, was it?

Calista wasn't expecting the question of learning archery but it techincally did go with the topic and her question, sort of. "Beezus we actually will be doing some of that but not just for fun, there will be a diving purpose behind it." But who said that wouldn't be the fun part? hehe

Quote:

Originally Posted by the fastest seeker

The Slytherin sat listening to what students predicted for this lesson. She never guessed..not in any lesson. And Professors always ask this particular question. She needed to work on her guessing skill.

Belomancy..Cassia turned the word over in her head. Had she heard of it. Actually she had glanced the word in the book when she was flipping over the pages before Elwood started.. She tried to recall what she had read. Raising her hand Cassia spoke, "It has something to do with arrows." That was all she could remember. Hold on..Was Elwood going to shoot arrows at them. D:

"It has everything to do with arrows." Callie corrected the girl with a small smile. She was right of course but the blonde liked to have fun when she interacted with her students. The small snake must know she was joking.

Quote:

Originally Posted by PotterHeadforLife

Now why were most of the Divination classes ending with -ancy or -mancy or whatever fancy suffix it had. Now... let's get back to whatever -ancy they were going to learn today, Belomancy.

BELOMANCY. How come that rings a small bell? Where has she encountered this word? Then a thought of a passing arrow seemed to have snapped her out of her mind. Kat rose her hand. "Belomancy is the an art of Divination that uses arrows," Kat said. "It can also be referred to as Bolomancy."

"Yes very good." Professor Elwood nodded as she answered the snake with the raised hand. She was impressed so many of them knew the subject, even if just what the name meant.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Princesspower

Sarah was wrong... well it was what she though. Belomancy... it was divintion obviously. She had read about it before... in one of her divinition books... oh yeah, Sarah raised her hand and said "it is a form of divination that uses arrows. The greeks, babylonians and arabs used to use it in ancient times"

Oooh extra background knowledge. "Good job. Yes Belomancy is the divination by arrows." The little Gryffindor hit the bullseye on that one. Pun intended.

Quote:

Originally Posted by CassiopeiaAKTF

Having his fingers crossed and getting ready to leave for when the Professor told them that the students who guessed fire were right and then feeling a weight on his shoulder, Daichi wondered who it was only to see the Professor standing beside him. Why was she touching his shoulder? Was she preventing him from running away? They we're REALLY going to use fire in this class?

Nooooo...OH! Hearing her words, the Slytherin could not help but blush a little. He knew what Belomancy was and it didn't have anything to do with fire. "Uhm..Belomancy is studying the flight of arrows" he said. Good thing he had already begun studying in the library for his OWLS and saw this topic in one of the books. He couldn't remember much of it, except for that arrows were used. "And" he added quickly as he remembered something else. "Hmm no can't remember.." Seemed like the cold was freezing his brain as well.

"Very good Mr. Katheros." Despite forgetting his additional information the boy had been write in answering her question so she really couldn't and didn't expect more. She was just happy that she wasn't going to have to calm him down again this lesson for his fear of flames. Or at least she hoped so, this was Hogwarts after all.

Time for the next question and this time it was going to be more specified to their actual method of Belomancy. The Professor raised her hand to get their attention once again, since the outside winter wonderland surrounding them tended to distract little ones, and spoke sending her foggy breath out over their heads. "The type of Belomancy we are going to perform today involves actually shooting arrows like Miss Hollingberry mentioned but instead of shooting them to see the distance, we will be shooting at various targets related to our questions." That was the divining part but they would get to that later.

The Divination Professor whispered an incantation under her breath and about thirty bows and the same amount of quivers filled with arrows floated towards them from behing a frozen bush. The objects came to a stop by her feet. "So everyone please come and grab both a bow and a quiver of arrows. I will be showing you all how to properly shoot." Not everyone would know how obviously. She took a step back to allow them to pick up the things. "There are to be NO shots fired until I instruct you to do so, is that clear?" An accidental arrow through somebody wouldn't be the worst thing in the world or terribly hard for the Healer to fixed but that didn't mean it wouldn't be any less traumatic.

"Now when you get your equipment, please space out and be about 4 feet apart from your classmates." She grabbed her stuff while they moved and picked up her bow. "First we need to find the right way to hold the bow. You take the wooden part in one hand, preferably your non-wand hand and take your index and pointer fingers on your other hand to and touch it to your bow string. Stay in this position and I will walk around and correct you as needed."

Taylor went bright red at the strange look she had gotten from Elwood despite being told she was right. She glanced down quickly and grimaced, embarassed. Tay got the stuff and tuned out the professor a little since she already knew how to do archery and what not. Taylor spent a few years learning from her father. She easily and naturally went into position, waiting to shoot since the teacher told them not to.

Everything to do with arrows. Cassia understood that they'll be working with arrows the entire lesson. That wasn't bad. Better than collecting stoves and doing other boring things like collecting twigs or interpreting creepy dreams. Though it would be a bit dangerous. Surely not all of the students were experienced archers. Cassia doubted if anyone at all had any experience. She too was clueless about this. Like she was clueless about so many things.

Then the bows and quivers appeared. This woman wasn't joking, was she? Cassia nodded at what Professor Elwood was saying and the second-year then walked to grab a bow. Once she got it she made sure to get far away from the students not only four feet, nope! She didn't find that safe. She kept going farther until she reached the wall of the room. That should be safe enough. Mind her she didn't want to be losing any limbs. And she didn't want to make a trip to the infirmary either. She was short and might be missed for a target. Older students were evil.

Cassia tried to keep up with the instruction given by Elwood. They were simpler than Cassia thought mounting a bow would be. The twelve-years old held the wooden bow with her right hand and her left index and thumb held the sting. She didn't know if she had to bend her elbow or stretch it to have the bow further from her body. And were they going to use wands while shooting arrows. But how would they hold the wands. Eh...they'll be told soon enough. What's the rush for.

Minerva listened to the professor.. They were going to do what? Minerva felt a little nervous, she could see herself screwing this up horribly. She never shot anything in her life, couldn't they get hurt. Minerva walked up and took a bow and a quiver, turning she found a place fare enough away from the other students that she was sure that she couldn't hurt anyone. Taking a deep breath she wanted to make sure she listened to all the directions very closely. Taking the wooden part of the bow in her non wand hand Minerva then took her index and pointer finger and touched the bow string. She stood as still as possible to let the professor tell her if it was right.

Belle was excited that she was going to shoot some bow and arrows! She never have done it before so this was all brand new. She knew they needed to be 4 inches apart from each student as Belle got her equipment. As Belle picked up her bow she found her place preferably at the end.

Belle took the wooden part in her non wand hand. She held it firmly. Then she took her index and pointer fingers on her other hand and touched it to her bow and string. Belle stood in the position and let the professor see if she had done it right. She took archery classes once before and remembered that it was so much fun. She missed it but was glad they might do something like that soon in this lesson.

When she heard the Belomancy had to with arrows, she became ecstatic and could barely contain her enthusiasm. She had always wanted to practice with a bow, just for fun mind you, ever since she had heard the tale of Robin Hood. She was surprised and would normally have been a bit appalled at the risk of injury they were being encouraged to take part in but not today. Archery!!! she squealed internally as she went over to pick a bow and quiver. Not that it mattered which she got, since they were all the same.

She took her place and made sure she had enough room to draw her arm back. She got into position as the professor had described, and how she had seen in movies. She felt pretty comfortable as she was waiting, elbow high, string drawn. But then her arms started to get a little shaky. The draw of this bow seemed to be a bit heavy, so she thought she'd ask the professor for some help. "Um, Professor? Is there any way you could make the draw easier? It's a bit strong for me..." She looked at the ground, slightly embarrassed at her lack of strength. Hopefully she wasn't the only one having trouble with the skill level of the bow though. "Or maybe you could make me stronger?" she said jokingly. She always seemed to make fun of herself when she was feeling uneasy. It seemed to make for good comic relief, or she hoped it did at least.

Shooting arrows at targets?! Cool! That interested Sierra, mainly because parts of it reminded her of Quidditch, and so she suddenly had a slightly deeper interest in today's class. She watched as the bows and arrows came flying toward the professor. When it was time, she came forward and grabbed a bow and a quiver of arrows. She looked over the first one she'd picked up, decided it was good enough, and then moved back to where she was.

On cue, she moved about four feet away from the students on either side of her. She watched the professor demonstrated the correct way to hold the bow, and then she formed her fingers and hands in the exact same way. This didnt look too hard. Now all she had to do was shoot her arrows in the right direction...

They were shooting arrows?! How FUN was that?!

Anya happily grabbed a bow and quiver. She slung the quiver over her shoulder. She then stood in a spot four feet away from a random classmate.

She was left-handed and first held the bow out in her right hand... but it felt awkward. So she switched it up and held it out in her left hand. That felt better. She then mimicked what she'd seen in movies. She then held the string with her left hand.

Heh. Was her bow supposed to be aimed upwards? Because... it was.

Awesome! Jory was looking forward to this though he had never held a bow nor arrow in his life before. Oh well...they were there to learn, right?

He collected a bow and the arrows and adjusted himself to the distance specified from the students next to him. Now to how the bow and arrow together. The Puff took the bow in his left hand and then he followed up with the final instruction.

"I think that's okay,'' he thought.

Kat smirked when Elwood said she got it right. Those that mean more house points? 'Cause if it did, Kat would not hesitate to grab the opportunity. Her house, Slytherin, is in need of those lovely house points and Kat is one of those students who are doing their best in getting those house points. She loves her House that much. Be happy, Snakes.

Archery? Are they learning archery? KATNISS EVERDEEN, THE GIRL ON FIRE!!! Ok, Kat. The blonde went in front to get the bow and arrows and then retreated back to her previous place. Kat then estimated 4 feet away from the other students. There are many other ways to die and getting hit by an arrow isn't so fascinating. Positioning herself with the bow, she took the wooden part of it with her left hand, her nonwand hand. The other hand's index and pointer fingers touching the string of the bow. Now, that was correct right?

Belomancy was about arrows...

.... and the Professor said they were going to be shooting arrows as part of the divination process.

If Vickers knew how to do cartwheels he'd be doing it right now.

Eagerly he reached out for the bows and arrows and positioned himself a good distance from the next people. Indeed it was important that they dont distract each other from anything, specially shooting a sharp projectile like this one.

Vickers has done archery before, among other things that shoots projectiles but they were few and far between. He has however, done various outdoor activities where he discovered his uncanny ability of hitting targets at a distance. The benefit of being far sighted.

He picked up the bow with his left hand, lifting his arm up and tried to adjust his hand around the grip, finding that comfortable way of holding it upright. With his right hand he hooked his middle and index finger against the bow strings, then straightened his back and positioned his legs for stability.

Laura looked at the Professor, had she gone mental giving everyone a bow and arrow, that was just not safe, surely you couldn't trust a firstie with a bow and arrow, Laura quickly got herself a bow and then a quiver of arrows then she spread out 4 feet from her classmates, she then decided to ask the Professor. "Is this safe?" Laura wasn't sure she wanted to do it but she grabbed her bow and looked at it as she put it so it was at chest hight, that's where it was suppost to go right?

Prefect Hollingberry....

Kurumi internally wrinkled her nose and cringed at that manner of calling her. She really wasn't sure what it was about it that made her squirm so much, but make her squirm it did. The Gryffindor ended up chewing on her lower lip anxiously while her quill went over her parchment where she jotted down some notes before looking back up and seeing the woman somewhat beaming at her.

Woah now, don't get all your beaded necklaces in a knot there professor.

Slightly different way? Sure, why not. All these ancient forms of divination were, well, ancient and were not exactly properly documented in their practice so anything was possible. It was ALL guesswork after all.
After grabbing her materials, Kurumi found a space away from her classmates and stretched out her arms just a bit to make sure that she wasn't too close to anyone. Picking up her bow, Kurumi rolled her shoulders and attempted to relax them a bit while she spread her feet apart just a bit - about shoulder's width apart and with her front foot slightly to the side in an open stance. Gripping the bow as Professor Elwood had demonstrated, Kurumi lifted it up to her eye level and pulled back on the string to test the level - right around her lip - and pulled on it a few more times mostly to test how sturdy the bow was and how her arm muscles reacted to it. Seemed about right, but she didn't feel nearly as comfortable as she did with her more traditional form of archery back in Japan.

Dropping her arm for a moment, Kurumi took another glance around and eyed where the professor was. She really didn't want to just stay in this position the entire time while she walked around. Kurumi's arms would get far too tired and then she wouldn't be able to do the activity at all. So, she waited until the Divination professor drew closer and then returned to her position and waited.

Just...don't take too long, yeah?