As she made another pass near Angel, Lolita just shook her head. "I'm not sure I appreciate your lack of respect for this subject, Miss Valentine. Just because you're a Gryffindor that does not give you an excuse to refuse seeking out help." And now it wasn't going to be the professor who would give it to her. This was the school of hard knocks, not just magic.

As for the other Valentine (Aubrey), she was at least on the same planet as the rest of the class. "A good start. Now think of ways to add or multiply to seven, eight, and nine. Use those numbers' characteristics for combinations." Once again, if she needed help, she could always seek out an older student.

It appeared that Leah and Cris had made revisions since last she saw. "I like what I see in seven. Peace as the combination of justice, order, and harmony. Astute." Next she decided to check on Mr Moore, who seemed to have much more written down now. "A very Ravenclaw approach you have here, dissecting each number into all its possible addends. Similar to what the Slytherin trio over there is doing," she said, gesturing towards the Mordaunts and Mr Holden. "Try using five as meaning love in general instead of marriage and see where that gets you. And don't forget six symbolizes creation." He didn't seem to have included six anywhere.

Ah, what had Miss Newell come up with since gaining a partner? Scanning her answers, Lolita nodded. "A good explanation for nine. Many people take it as the number for family or union." Which is actually similar to what Grayson had as well. "Good thoughts on eight with compromise, Mr Whitlock."

Back to Mr Rehman again. "Seven and eight are coming along nicely. What about thinking of nine as a sum rather than a product?" Nearby were Miss Carrington and Mr Adair. "Good thinking to find several different combinations." She looked for a specific place to focus their attention. "And what happens when harmony is broken by division and differing opinions?"

.

OOC: The activity will be finishing in 10-12 hours.

Jasmine was very surprised and relieved when she got a "Bueno" from the Professor. She took her suggestion and tried to think of different combinations that she could use to come up with 7, 8, and 9. She still didn't really know what she was doing, but Jasmine was trying to think things through and come up with a new interpretation.

Jasmine picked up her quill and wrote her second set of answers in her notebook.



After completing her notes, Jasmine continued to try to think of additional number combinations. She was beginning to think that she was becoming repetitive with her answers so she scratched out a few ideas and began again.

Add the numbers together? She could totally do that. Of course the problem was not addition, but figuring out what they meant. At the very least she was making progress and obviously was doing much better than the sister she shared a face with. AJ couldn't help but to wonder what it was on her parchment.

Focus Valentine. Staring at her parchment she scribbled some more things down.

She had absolutely no idea if she was even warm, but she tried so nothing could be said about that.

Adi looked up at Professor Domingo as she addressed him again. He grinned, pleased to hear that he had at least made some more progress. "I'll try the sum, Professor.'' Back to work!



So, the Hufflepuff was not sure about number nine. Help, Professor Domingo!

Oh right, six meant creation. Austin looked back down at his notes, and decided to add six in. For seven, six plus one could mean the unity of two creations? Or maybe it was the creation of unity... It could be that it meant when two beings are created to be united? Like peanut butter and jelly. It was a simple comparison, but those were two muggle items that usually combined well together. He wasn't sure why, but they did. He added it to his notes, and moved onto eight, which added six and two. If six was creation, and two was opinion, then was the addition of the two, one's opinion of how they were created? That made a lot of sense to him, so he wrote it in his notes. His last update with six was six added with three. Three was Harmony, but he wasn't sure how he could combine that with creation. Was it harmony in creation? Or created in harmony? He wasn't sure either way, so he just wrote down the two characteristics.

Now it was time to think about five as 'love' instead of marriage, like the professor suggested. for Six, five and one could mean the unity of love, such as a friendship, or family member. Five and two, easily was someone's opinion on love, or maybe their orientation? Such as a guy decides he loves another guy, or that they don't want to be in love, which could easily make sense. Love was just all sorts of weird that Austin wanted nothing to do with. Five and three was a little harder than the others. Three meant harmony, but that just seemed to have a similar connection with both marriage and love. You need to have harmony in both. He just shrugged his shoulders and wrote down his thoughts. Five and four was another easy one. Discipline and love. Which could easily mean that someone was disciplining someone else, but they were doing it out of love. To protect a child... or something.

Penelope went up to get more vegetables. The vegetables were really good. Gracias, profesora. Los vegetales son muy bueno."

Okay, time to think of what these numbers represented.



OOC: Sorry if any of the spelling is wrong. Spellcheck on my computer doesn't like Spanish.

Cutty + Simon
 

This…is too confusing.

The Slytherin got his parchment off of his table and joined Cutty and Simon’s tandem. Professor Sunday didn’t seem to mind partnering up with them, so why not? Although he’s not sure with his theory or solution, there was no way he will give up on this challenge. He likes solving problems, and this problem definitely made him more determined. So…let’s see. Seven and Eight seem to be okay with the boy, but nine seems to be a bit elusive. “I think multiplying same numbers such as three and three could have a negative outcome. Too much of a thing can be bad, right?” Muggles always say that anyway. “I’m good with Seven…and Eight…any thoughts on Nine?” he said as he showed them his answer:



While he was waiting for his mates to comment, he took a peek at Simon’s and Cutty’s work. He noticed that Simon’s answer and his are common…and he took note of Cutty’s possible combinations:

Scribble. Scribble. Scribble.

“We have to consider what the professor said about the numbers having a gender…and that Male Numbers are the Goody Ones…and the Female Numbers are the Baddie Ones…” Right? “So…I think that’s one of the clues we need to consider to get a correct answer." He then took another peek at Cutty’s parchment. “Yes, I agree with number nine. Peace sounds right to me.” Peace and Order. Yup.



“You know, Cutty. I wouldn’t be surprised if we are actually cousins. It’ll be really cool.” Because he’s got cousins in Durmstrang which he can’t for the life of him, bond with. Cutty’s just like Mordred, and thankfully Ethan can tolerate him and vice versa.

Including Leah in this xD
 

Cris breathed a sigh of relief when Professor Domingo, accepted their findings for the Number 7. He quickly added his findings into his journal.



All they needed to do now was figure out the number 8 and nine. As he listened to Professor Domingo provide possible suggestions to his fellow classmates, Cris turned to look at his notes before coming up with a plan. Turning to his young friend, he shared his idea with her.

"Leah, I was thinking. We've been using combinations of numbers to derive the possible characteristics of both 5 and 10. Maybe we should try doing that with the number 8 and 9 too. Let's see whether we'll be able to come up with a more applicable description." Cris suggested before he picked up his quill and began scribbling down the meanings for each of the combinations.



"What do you think, Leah? Does my reasoning for number 8 make sense?" Cris leaned back to allow Leah to read what he had written. Cris figured that while Leah was trying to figure out what he was trying to say, he'd continue to work on figuring out 9's possible characteristic could be.

Adopting the same premise that he had used when deriving the characteristic for 8, Cris continued to scribble down his thoughts, canceling out what he had written previously.



Was he making any sense at all? Cris knew that his conclusions differed with those the other students had come up with. But Professor Domingo, did say that there were various interpretations. Hopefully, theirs was one of them.

Gazing at Zander's paper, Lux was happy to see how far they had come along with this assignment. Okay, maybe their guesses would turn out to be wrong, but that was a part of learning. At least they were starting to grasp the concept even if just barely. "Awesome job, Zander! You are an amazing partner." Beam.

Clearly the Professor thought they were doing okay, and her question made Lux think even harder. "Arguing and fighting...? Maybe Eight is related to that. Which means that it would be 4 x 2 instead of 4 + 4." Curiously she wondered if she was right and what Zander thought.

Lack of respect for the subject, Angel was getting angry now, it wasn't her fault she didn't have a clue what was going on, give her normal numbers anyday, she was struggling to keep calm now the Professor needed to be taught a lesson and well if she didn't stop picking on her, she would soon get one, didn't the Professor know you had to earn respect first.

Angel just stared at the Professor a few seconds before looking down at her work, she didn't think it was that bad, seriously there was no secret message behind 7, 8 or 9, otherwise surely someone else would have found about it duh. Yeah the Professor had done the impossible and wound Angel up, she was normally so calm.

Angel scribbled out her work and tried again, not caring what the Professor thought of it or not.

Cris ^^ and Angel
 

Jasmine and Aubrey had tried again by the next time Lolita made it around to them. "Chicas buenas, much better thought processes." More and more students seemed to be getting the hang of this. The parchment in front of Agatha and Mr Hair seemed rather dismal. Lolita did not particularly care for the sordid affairs of teenagers, so she moved on quickly.

She had come to Mr Rehman again. "Ah, your interpretation for nine is perfecto!" Excellent, he was coming along nicely now. Moving on to Austin. "The thought process is definitely there now, chico. Good reasoning." As she moved toward the Slytherin trio, Miss Wright spoke to her on her way back from the food table. ¡Oh, en Español! She blushed. "Muchas gracias, chica. Have a point for excellent manners and a rudimentary command of my native tongue." Excited, she forgot all about her parchment and went straight over to the three gentlemen.

Time for the Mordaunt-Holden trio. The first thing she saw was the nine on Ethan's parchment. Was he overemphasizing that it was male and good? Perhaps. She simply sniffed and moved on without comment. Peeking at Leah and Cris, she said, "I like your choice of stability for nine. Good wording." And always the helpful badger, Miss Abbott was offering to assist the cranky Gryffindor, whom Lolita would deal with later.

Miss Carrington and Mr Bay were still discussing their next attempt, but Angel was done. Yes, she needed to be done. "Miss Valentine, you did not take my advice and seek assistance. Rather, you continued on with a bad attitude." Because she could see the glares across the room, you know. Lolita Domingo had eyes. "You need to learn to unbend your pride. I am taking three points from Gryffindor. You can earn them back if you submit to me an explanation of why your behavior and attitude in class today is not beneficial for your learning or others'. On my desk by next Thursday." Same time as Bean Girl's fruit poot parchment.

--------------------------------------

"Many of you are familiar with Arithmancy as having right or wrong answers with just one way to do things. Today you started the process of thinking logically and critically about the subject rather than simply spitting out formulas or definitions from a textbook." She resisted the urge to both roll her eyes and cast glances at particular students. Instead, she simply waved her wand at the board. "What you see for seven, eight, and nine are a compilation of YOUR ideas, many of which were well-reasoned."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chalkboard Vibratory Influences ONE: generator of all numbers, not actually considered a number; characterized reason TWO: first female number; characterized opinion and division THREE: first male number, combination via addition of 1 (unity) and 2 (division); characterized harmony FOUR: second female number, represented space and matter; characterized by justice and order FIVE: union of first male and female numbers; characterized by love and marriage SIX: female; characterized by creation, originality, or beginnings SEVEN: male; characterized by conflict or individuality EIGHT: female; characterized by compromise, cooperation, or balance NINE: male; characterized by peace, stability, or enlightenment TEN: unites 1, 2, 3, and 4, represents the idea of everything; characterized by the cosmos

She flipped her long, flowing locks behind her shoulders. With a quick glance to make sure none of the young men were drooling, she continued on. "The Pythagoreans developed their understanding of these vibratory influences over decades, but you just spent one class period. If you feel a bit overwhelmed then I am not surprised." After all, not everyone could have the intuitive grasp of things that she did.

"Your homework will be posted on the announcements board immediately following class. Please take care of your kebab debris and deposit your togas in a pile under the board for the elves to collect." Where was that elf? She was supposed to be here to collect the laundry.

"¡El fin! You may leave."

Professor
 

Hmm...so this class hadn't been such a bad idea after all. For one, Sophie had actually gotten through a lesson where she didn't feel lost and confused. Nevermind the fact that this lesson was just her making guesses on numbers. Then there was the professor, who Sophie decided could give valuable advice about hair, makeup, and boys. She just might have to stop by her office soon.

Sophie jotted down the last of the notes then quickly cleared off the mess from the kabobs. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other as she debated on whether or not to do what was going through her mind. Finally, she sighed and approached the professor. "Erm, Professor? May I talk to you after class, please?" she asked.

GULP.

Had she actually made it through the lesson? AJ was a bit surprised that the professor thought she was coming along, but she would take the praise. She smiled over at the woman. AJ looked over at her sister. Look at Angel losing points when she was always so concerned that AJ would be the one to lose them. My, my, my... how the tables have turned.

The first year looked at the board, and it still didn't make much sense to her, but it was better than the beginning of the lesson. She jotted down all the notes and gathered her things. "Bye professor." She was going to wait for Angel out in the hallway. She needed to know how she felt about that little point loss that happened back there. AJ totally didn't care. It was nice to see her sister not be so by the rules sometimes.

Austin finished up his notes, and packed up his things. If the notes on seven, eight, and nine were all from what the students had figured out, were they the right answers? He assumed so, since the professor was the one who picked out the answers. He was not looking forward to the homework though. If the class were this hard, the homework was bound to be just as hard. But that wasn't his concern for the moment.

He went to the back of the classroom, and changed into his school robes. On his way to the front of the class, he picked up his bag and kebab mess, and dropped off his robe. "Bye professor." He said with a nod. Austin walked out of that classroom, still barefoot. He loved being barefoot during the class, and definitely needed to try it more often.

Ethan looked up, and caught the Professor putting her nose up in the air. What? Did his answer offend her? The Slytherin looked back at his mates, shrugged, and collected his parchment. He could let the two copy from him in their study area back at the common room if they want. Soon though, the answers were revealed to them. Well, the young Snake wasn’t surprised to see that he only got one answer correct. Well, technically he got nothing since his answer for Nine came from Cutty. But then again, those are compilation of their answers. Does that mean that they are smarter than the ancient dudes? They spent decades on this, versus them who only spent about an hour. Hmm. Hogwartians just might be a bunch of smartypants after all. Sorry, Claws.

Wanting to get out of the classroom right away, Ethan copied the right answers off the chalkboard.

And whoa, wait. Homework??? He will grunt and whine after he exits the room. Merlin, this class really did cause a massive headache to the boy. In silence, the boy cleaned up his mess and headed towards the back of the chalkboard to change again in his school uniform. And as instructed, he folded his toga and placed it under the board. “See you around, Professor.” Ethan waved at her and turned to Simon and Cutty, tapping their tables. “Let’s go, chicos! Lunch is waiting!”

Zander was just about to reply to his partner, when he was interrupted by Professor, Professor. Ooh. He looked up at the explanations on the board and then back at those on his parchment. Were they even close? Nah.... But whatever. The important part was that they at least gave it an effort right?! Unlike that one Gryffindor that got house points taken away. Hpmph. Not cool.

Zander beamed as Professor, Professor announced the end of class! AH thank Merlin! It certainly had gone on for way too long for his liking. He looked over at his partner and smiled, "Looks like we're all done! It was a lot of fun working with you," well not really a lot... It was Arithmancy of course. That's never really fun.

Then he ran off to the back dividers and took off his toga and changed back into his normal robes. Much more comfortable. "See yah Professor," he smirked. "Oh, Adios!"

Surely he had heard incorrectly? His interpretation was perfect? O_O Adi was pleased to hear that (after he got over his initial surprise). He smiled at the Professor. "I'm glad. It seemed so difficult at first.'' Everything about this subject seemed difficult to him.

Adi packed up his belongings and grabbed his kebab stick and after changing out of the toga, prepared to head of out the classroom. "Bye, Professor. Nice lesson.'' Yep, it certainly had turned out alright.

So.....her work wasn't...wrong. There was a start. Lex looked down at her interpretations, not sure she was willing to question anything. If she was right, she'd take it and move on.

A glance around the class told her she hadn't been the only one struggling...and that some lions needed straightening out but not by her. Heavens no. Anytime she tried helping she got the raw end of the stick so she'd mind her business and hope that Angel knew she'd be earning back those three points whether she liked it or not. Though that would have already been clear, yeah? No need for her to say anything at all.

Lex leaned forward, hearing they were dismissed. They could go now?? She evanesco-ed her kabob, opting to have the elves make her one filled with meat after she left the class. It was an inspired idea but goodness Professor, remember the carnivores next time.

"Later Professor." The Gryffindor grabbed up her things and headed from the room with the promise of food when she left.

Cris listened as Leah shared her thoughts in what she figured were the characteristics for 8 and 9. He was about to comment on what she had said when Professor Domingo spoke up and explained what her own findings were. He was glad to hear that both he and Aleah's conclusion for 9 was acceptable. As for 8, well at least he now knew what it represented.

Picking up his quill, he quickly copied down the answers. As he was writing, the Arithmancy Professor announced that the lesson was over. Packing up his things, Cris turned to Leah. "It was nice of you to agree to partner up with me. I liked working with you," Cris smilingly informed his young badger friend.

He then went to the back of the classroom and walked behind the divider where he proceeded to remove his toga and put on his regular clothes again, before placing the toga on the pile of togas under the board as directed. Returning to his desk, he then picked up the line empty kebab stick and any bits of grilled veggies that had fallen on his table and threw them into the waste basket.

Picking up his backpack, he walked over to where their Professor was standing. "Gracias Profesor. Por una lección muy interesante. Era muy esclarecedara. Espero que el resto del día sea bueno. I am looking forward to your next lesson. Buenas Tardes," Cris thanked Professor Domingo in both Spanish and English.

...then he stood aside and waited for Jasmine to catch up with him.

Thanks for very interesting lesson Professor! Bye!

So their first Arithmancy class was over? Jasmine copied the last bit of information into her notebook and prepared to gather up her belongings. She had gotten some positive feedback from the Professor about her answers, but she still felt like she was grasping at straws with her interpretations. This class was going to be tough, no doubt about it.

Jasmine got up and put her bag on her shoulder. On the way out, she passed Professor Domingo and said, "Thanks Professor, see you next time". Then she headed toward the door, hoping to catch up with Cris before he left.

Textbook answers were always boring but sometimes necessary when you don't care. It was a perfect defense mechanism. It left you giving the right answer and the Professor moving onto someone who might give them a better more creative answer. Perfect if you ask Nigel.

Oh, they could leave now. Awesome. Nigel burned up his notes with his wand because it was fun and packed up the rest of his things. This class was pretty fun. Maybe because he like the feisty Domingo.

"Later, Señora. I think i will keep wearing the toga though"

Because really. Who doesn't want to look like a Roman God....Seriously.