Abbis' two hardest subjects to focus at combined together. Well this would be tough, but hey she would try to listen and actually write notes if she could

Midway through the lesson her notes were only the equivalent of about a three sentenced paragraph, nothing major cause she really only wrote what was TRULY TRULY necessary and to her that wasn't really much.

But oooooh they had to draw. Abbi actually liked the idea of that, just not what they were drawing. Yeah she was going to pick the easiest of what she saw. She picked her quill and drew a square like shape, where beside it she wrote a few keyboards. Simplicity at it's best. Mhhm

Lux was half listening to the Professor as she continued to write notes. Everything was sinking in, and she was really finding this lesson to be more and more interesting as he explained things. Hopefully the next part of this class will be as interesting, if not more so.

Okay, so she had to sketch a symbol. Reaching for her textbook, she flipped through it until she found what she was looking for. Scanning through each symbol listed, she considered each before finally settling on one. Taking a blank piece of paper, she drew a sketch of her symbol, adding a bit of information about it.

Amulets to give you speed? That was interesting. Really.

Alec glanced over at the amulets at the front of the classroom before picking up his quill and jotting a few things down. Summaries were helpful and the boy did like the idea of being protected. There was only so much he could protect himself from, you know. But... there was the question of whether they would work. ... Yeah.

... Moving on...

He had to find a symbol to draw, right? The boy slowly reached over and flipped open his book to the correct page. Symbols... symbols... He ran a finger down the list and each of the meanings. Fertility? ... Erm... maybe not. He didn't know if he wanted to use that on an amulet so... he'd have to pick something else, yeah? Something...

...

Oh! Scribble... scribble... scribble

Text Cut: Drawing and stuff

Djed pillar: Similar to a human backbone, an amulet with this symbol is used to represent strength and stability. An amulet with this symbol would be placed on the back of the coffin at the back, as a way of easing the deceased into a stable afterlife.

Bay though of his symbol… what should he pick… thinking and thinking he remembered he saw a symbol through his fathers door before his father caught him.. it was called the "Sa"



adding more notes on his parchment he put down his quill and waited for what was next.

Adrienne flipped through her book slowly, looking for a symbol that she liked. There were a few that she already knew, but they were also pretty obvious ones, and she would have preferred to end up choosing something that wasn't already being used by ten other students. After a few moments, her eye lit on a section headed with the word Ka. She glanced through it and then looked around the page for an associated symbol, which she found quickly.

Underneath the few notes she'd already jotted down about the meaning of an amulet, Adrienne carefully copied down the symbol she saw in the book and then wrote a few lines on the symbol's meaning.

The ka is a complex part of the symbolism in ancient Egyptian mythology and represents several things; it is a symbol of the reception of the life powers from each man from the gods, it is the source of these powers, and it is the spiritual double that resides with every person. It lived within the body of the individual and therefore needed that body after death. This is why the Egyptians mummified their dead. The ka is the origin and giver of all the Egyptians saw as desirable, especially eternal life.

All around her people had taken out parchment and they were starting to make...er....drawings. What? The Gryffindor blinked a few times, lost and realizing she'd been staring at Botros' hair for too long. The situation was officially worse. Lex leaned across and peered into Cassia's parchment.

Symbols...? They were doing those now...?

Okay...

No questions here. Alexa fished a sheet of parchment from her own bag and grabbed her quill and ink. Her symbol needed to make a statement didn't it? Or was it random picking. She could do random, random was easy. After making up her mind on the symbol to be drawn she began her scribblings and explanations for the symbol shen.

This being for homework eventually didn't both her. She wouldn't mind putting this thing on something then hanging it around her neck. Merlin knew it could do her some good.

Ohhh, symbols! It'd be cool if Sophie really could pick out her own symbol, create her own amulet, and have it actually work out for her. She took out some parchment and a quill and worked through the thought process. There were many things that she'd like to have the ability to do or have protection again. Seeing as the History of Magic professor was the one who had asked the question, though, it got her to thinking about a historical symbol she'd read a lot about. She began to sketch it.



I chose to draw the Deathly Hallows, because I think all three are very powerful and valuable to have. I know historically they've proven to cause bad luck, but it's always nice to think about the options they could bring anyway.

She wasn't much of a sketcher. As soon as Professor McCormack gave the word, Alice was fishing materials out of her bag, but there was a trademark nose scrunch in place on her face. It was really difficult for a lefty to draw with ink, did any of these instructors know? And she quite liked her hand not being all smeared with the stuff.

Still, the seventh year put her best effort into her work. Or some of it, anyway. But after careful selection of a symbol, Egyptian of course, and a transcription of some notes, she relaxed in her seat and waited for more directions.

Please, no more art.

Kace was listening to the professor describe amulets. It was very interesting to say the least. He was learning a lot about the ancient egyptians. He scribbled scribbled and scribbled into his notebook. Then he put his head up after he was done writing and noticed the professor was asking them to pick a symbol of their own and explain it, in their notebooks.

He got out his textbook and began looking. He found a really cool one. He picked out the symbol Shen because it was easy to draw and it did symbolize eternity. Which he thought was pretty neat. He began to write in his notebook.



He definitely needed protection sometimes that is for sure. Once he found it, he sat there waiting for more instructions.

Drawing things, especially unfamiliar Egyptian hieroglyphs, was not one of Mo's strong suits. It was funny, since his sister could draw and since Mo had an artistic eye in other ways, but when he put his quill to paper... well, usually he ended up with ink blobs, to be honest. He flipped through his book, looking for something easy to draw but also personally meaningful.

And what was more meaningful, to someone dying of old age at 16, than the symbol for eternity? It was just a circle, or really a length of rope in a circle, doubled over itself at the bottom.

And the drawing was so easy, just a loop around and then a scribbly mess at the bottom. Sort of easy.

Botros took his wand out from his jacket when professor McCormack asked the kids to do the first portion of today's activity. He pulled away from the desk, finally, and did a small hop off the dais - enjoying the healthy knees while he could. Nothing to judge here. He started roaming around the class with the history professor, looking at the students' work and scribbles. He couldn't help but see how sad they all looked with their wrinkles, grey hair and hunched backs. It took a lot of self-control not to stop the lesson and just ask them to go and take a nap while he went off to St. Mungo's and get them the potions he was taking. They'd help. He knew this much.

The kids had fifteen minutes to do what professor McCormack asked them to before Botros went back to the desk and cleared his throat, "Okay. Please put your quills down, the ones who managed to do this have done well with their drawings. Professor McCormack and I approve of them. But they're for later use. For now, I'd like to ask you a couple questions before we discuss something about those amulets." His voice was very less raspy than it used to. He wouldn't know the difference but some of the kids could.

"Most of you have mentioned how those amulets, and other ones in other cultures and eras, have been used mainly for protection of or against someone or something. They're hung in houses or used as jewelries as Professor McCormack had explained." Botros was pacing on the dais, though keeping his eyes on his old students. "However, the magic in those amulets is sometimes disabled or suppressed or forced to stay inactive for a period of time. This amulet for example--" He held out the eye shaped one, "--was crafted for protection against negative energy and the 'evil eye' as Egyptians put it. But it won't work if I wear it, no matter how I charm it or attack it, it won't work." He paused, putting the amulet down, then went to the box and gave it a gentle tap with his wand. "We have replicas of those amulets here, each one of you will get one." They floated in the air, each amulet resting on a desk for the students.

"I want you to tap the amulets with your wands, specifically the side with the engravings on it, and say very clearly, SpeRevelio." He demonstrated; holding the eye amulet, tapping it and loudly saying the incantation.

Runes faded in and out for a moment but they appeared and eventually stabilized to the naked eye.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Symbols on each amulet

"What do you think are those runes for? And why were they concealed?"

Oh and. "Prefects, please make sure the younger students of your houses are not having trouble with this spell. If anyone needs my or Professor McCormack's help, please raise your hand." Now they were ready to answer.

ooc: - Class will resume in 12-16 hrs.
- It's very encouraging to be creative with your answer rather than copy/paste it from somewhere else.
- Have fun with this <3

Why did Nigel have to draw anything. He was horrible at drawing. The only thing artistically he could do was music. That was about it. Hmm..lets look for an easy one shall we. Amenta seemed easy enough to do and Nigel liked what it represented. So Nigel drew an upside down bowl with two lines. The second line longer than the first running down.

There that seemed sufficient. Nigel now listened to Botros go on about amulets and then one floated onto his desk. Pretty Awesome. Nigel listened to the instructions next about tapping the side with the engravings on it and saying the spell. It seemed he should get done with this quick so he would be available to help.

Nigel tapped the side Botros wanted tapped with his wand and clearly said "SpeRevelio" Now that was some pretty cool stuff right there. Right, question time. "Couldn't they be a cipher of sorts. Which would explain why they are concealed"

Adi listened as Professor Botros spoke. Well, he stared a great deal too, unable to believe the man had reversed his aging. He preferred the old Botros, though. This young one seemed a lot more serious. Was that how Botros really was back in the days? He now watched with interest as the spell was performed and hidden runes appeared. Woah! Cool spell!

The Puffer pondered on the next question before raising his hand. "Since the amulet can't work for you, Professor, maybe the key to getting it to work is by using those hidden runes.''

Adi eyed the amulet on his desk. Time to practice, yes? How exciting!

Botros sounded... different. Did he? Sure, he looked different -- the HAIR! -- but there was something about the voice too. Having placed his quill down, Alec found himself squinting over towards the man, a half-confused expression crossing his face. Maybe he was imagining things? ... Maybe. It wouldn't be the first time, right?

Shrugging it off, the boy looked down at the amulet that was sitting on his desk. Spell... spell... gah, what was it again? He glanced around the room before his eyes landed on Nigel, who seemed to be casting... SpeRevelio? Was that the spell they were meant to be using? ... Shrug. Full trust was being placed on the Ravenclaw on this. "Specilias Revelio!" TAP!

... Well this was interesting. Runes! And some he recognised off the top of his head. ... Right. Question. Shooting the runes one last look over, the Head Boy looked up and over towards Botros, his hand in the air. "Professor? Maybe they were hidden because..." ... Pause. "... because it helps the runes to work better? I mean... maybe if the runes weren't hidden, you'll be more likely to over-dramatise the outcome. Maybe you'll end up looking for clues and... and trying to change things instead of letting the rune work its magic. In that way, the runes, and ten the talismen, might not work properly." Shrug. His guesswork.

It was just as well that Professor Botros took over the lesson, he was the only one the Gryffindor could keep her eyes on, more specifically, his hair was the only thing she could focus on so even while he spoke her eyes weren't on him but on his head. That's kinda where the blonde hair was so it was to be expected.

She took one of the amulets being passed around and made quick work of aiming her wand at it. "SpeRevelio." A spell they'd been introduced to before...in Arithmancy maybe, even though it wasn't the focus of the class.

Lex didn't have a problem offering help but it seemed everyone had things under control for now so she would focus on the Professor's hair again the question being asked. Her hand rose slowly and it might have had something to do with the achy joint at her elbow. "Could they be what gives the amulet the power it has? Kinda like when we put runes on other things to enhance their strength or durability or something? If so I can see them being concealed to hide the fact that they've been altered. It's like, you put a curse on an object, use runes to make it more powerful but don't want the people you're setting a trap for know what's coming to 'em."

And you know what else was distracting? The way the Professor moved with ease. Lex squinted at the man, considering it would have taken A LOT more out of her to do what he just did. It was like he had a new set of bones and she wanted to know where to get some.

Sharing was CARING Sir.

Sander looked and presto there was an amulet lying on the desk in front of him. He took out his wand and tapped on the side with the engravings on it and said, "SpeRevelio".

....and presto again runic symbols began to slowly appear until they became visible to the naked eye. Sander quickly flipped through the pages of his Ancient Runes textbook until he found the page that held the runic symbols. He sighed as he studied each one of them. Not so long ago, he had no problems identifying each symbol, but now it was a struggle. The only reason why he was able to cast the spell revealing charm was because he had just witnessed the Professor doing it.

....yes if you can't remember....follow what the Professor does.

But wait everyone was answering a question. Oh yes the Professor had indeed asked one. So Sander listened as the others shared their thoughts and once they were done, he raised his hand.

"Professor I believe that the runes are for some kind of protection since Ehwaz and Thurisaz are runes of such a nature. Why they were hidden? Maybe because the giver didn't want someone else to steal the amulet for themselves. I mean if they can't see what it's for, they won't know what it's for, right? That way only the recipient gets to use it."

Sander silently cursed his fading memory again. There was also a time when he also used to make sense. But not right now. Nope.

Lux watched Professor Botros curiously as he spoke; it really was very hard not to focus all of her attention on his hair. Fortunately, she managed to get the gist of what he was telling them, and it seemed simple enough.

Looking at the amulet on her desk, she tapped it with her wand while saying, "SpeRevelio." Seemed simple enough.

Raising her hand, she ventured a guess as to the answer to the question he had asked. "Could the Runes be what give the amulets their power so that they work properly? And... maybe they are hidden because somehow it makes the Runes even stronger if they are concealed?" Honestly, she had no idea.

Now that Botros was teaching again, she could go back to examining his sudden youth. It was rather weird. But really, could she have his cane? Alice propped her head up on her chin, trying to fight off the heaviness overcoming her eyelids. Odd, considering she'd gotten quite a good night's rest.

Once she received an amulet, the seventh year tried to wake herself up. Spell time. Just a tap against the side of the eye thing with the engravings on it, yeah? "Speci.... specia....." YAWN. Merlin. "SpeRevelio."

'Scuse her.

"Protection from negative ene.... en...." No more yawns. Please? "... nergy? I thought there was a runic charm for that, sir. Raidho... Isa, and Kenaz, I think. Does that have anything to do with this?" Alice refrained from actually answering Botros' question since she didn't know the answer... but this sort of still counted, right? "'Cept I can't even see those runes properly."

She was going blind. Son of a garden gnome, she was turning into GRAN. Sound the alarms.

As soon as she was given the instruction to find a rune, dew it, and explain why she chose it she began looking through her book at runes and found one that suited her fancy and got to work.

Soon a new question was asked about why certain runes that are often hidden are put on amulets. Oichi raised her hand and responded, "The runes convey a message which is hidden because the creator of the amulet does not want everyone to know the power a certain amulet holds".

Oichi then noticed a new spell on the board and realized she had to do it so she pointed her wand at her amulet and said, "sperevelio".

Ascanius was basically doing the BARE MINIMUM it took by to get through this class today. He didn't even want to put forth the effort to just sit there and be nasty. Nope, the sixth year was out of energy and, honestly, these two were boring him to almost tears. And he was a manly man, which meant that took QUITE a lot of boring.

But anyway, when the old guy started to talk again, Ascanius just did what he was told and flipped the amulet over. He admired the work that people way more artistically inclined did before he tapped his wand on the art and whispered, "SpeRevelio."

And he COULD have answered the question, but he wasn't going to. Although, he figured that the runes were probably hidden because they were magical and wizards typically didn't like muggles knowing they existed.

Then again, what did he know.

Hmm? Mo turned over the new amulet over and over in his hands, trying to figure out why someone would conceal the runes covering it. Was it a secret? Was it for protection in some way? Mo gently set the amulet down on his desk and pointed his wand at it. "SpeRevelio."

Hmm. Unhelpfully, Mo raised his hand. "I think the order and the layout must be significant, although I couldn't say why exactly. But it isn't normal to lay them out like that, so there must be a reason for it." Logic.

Of course, she chose the Eye of Horus. After making sure to write everything the History of Magic professor was saying - the important bits - she started on her drawing. Her hand was trembling so much that she had to restart several times. At the end, she settled for the last one. It looked more like an eye that got punched, but it was the best she could do. Sad.

At least she'd finished her drawing just in time as professor Botros jumped in. Then there was a spell to practice. Biting her lip, Beverly stared at amulet replica hard, as if that would solely help magic it. Her magic has been lagging a bit lately, so making a fool out of herself in class was the last thing she wanted to do. Still. She had to do this.

The third year pointed at replica, tapped it, and said, "SpeRevelio." Nothing. "SpeRevelio!" It worked! Slowly, shapes began to become visible until they were finally clear.

Glancing up, she thought about Botros' question. When her thoughts were somewhat gathered, she raised her hand, though she had to use her other hand to support her dominant one. "Protecting a home? Or an important place," she said. "And I think they were concealed so intruders wouldn't be prepared for what was coming their way. Like...a surprise?"

She'd do that. Hide amulets or whatever and when an intruder stepped into her territory it wouldn't know what hit them and BAM! Roasted.

Well this class was turning out to be more fun than he thought it would. He still didn't really understand half the stuff the Professors were talking about but he got to use magic and that was always good.

He looked at the amulet from all angles before giving it a tap with his wand. "SpeRevelio." The runes appeared before him and while he recognised some of them,he had absolutely no idea what the runes were for and why there were hidden so he figured it was best to remain quiet on this one.

Adi set the amulet down on the desk before him so that the engravings were facing him. ''SpeRevelio!" he said and giving it a tap. He waited eagerly for hidden runes to appear. But nothing happened. Bummer.

"SpeRevelio!'' Tap. Nothing still. "SpeRevelio!'' Tap! "SpeRevelio!'' Tap! Gaaah! Nothing. "SpeRevelio!'' Adi said a bit louder and giving the amulet a bit of a heavier tap. Finally! Something was happening. Runes flickered just like Botros's had. After a while the flickering stopped and he was able to examine them properly.

Huh. They were moving very quickly over the History of Magic part of this lesson, something that Adrienne had actually thought she might enjoy, and were already doing runes? Not that they didn't interest her, but the culture of Ancient Egypt was definitely a much cooler prospect than a handful of dusty old runes. She frowned at the amulet that had placed itself on her desk with a look of general annoyance, but still complied with what she was supposed to be doing.

"SpeRevelio," she said, tapping it with her wand, and to her disappointment there was absolutely no change. Beginning to look even more ticked off than before, Adrienne tried again. "SpeRevelio!" Again, nothing, but after a third try the hidden runes wobbled into view. She carefully copied them down into her notes, and then transcribed them, something that oddly enough, nobody else seemed to be doing.

As for saying anything on the subject, though, she had nothing to contribute, given that they were essentially gibberish to her. Perhaps listing their names instead would bring light to the subject? Next to the letters she copied down the names of the runes separately.

Gebo - Ehwaz - Dagaz Othala - Jera - Hagalaz - Thurisaz Tiewaz - Isa - Algiz