Jacob smiled at Trixie one last time before class officially began. When Professor Vance greeted him by name, he felt a blush begin to creep its way up his cheeks. "Hello, Professor," he said in return. He hadn't meant to ignore her while coming in; he was just caught up in thinking, and now he felt like something of a jerk. He hoped she wouldn't take it personally or mark his grade down for his unintentional impoliteness.

Before he knew it, she was asking the class a question. Maybe he could redeem himself here. What did he know about water divination? He had just been reading about that not too long ago, hoping to improve his performance in divination as a whole... He raised his hand, remembering a fact, and answered, "Water divination can be done either indoors with a smooth bowl of water or outdoors with a natural body of water."

He remembered reading that and thinking it would be hard to do it outdoors because there would be so many environmental factors causing the water to move. How would the diviner know which ones were useful and which were just a fish swimming or something?

Whoops? It was afternoon, wasn't it? Olivia couldn't believe that it was already afternoon. The day was half over and she hadn't done much other than complete some homework! Well at least she was being productive, she grinned back at the Professor then at Ashley. But she did get 1 house point for being early which she felt rather chuffed about it.

The lesson prompted shortly thereafter. Water divination? They were learning about water divination? Did this involve reading shells and rocks from the Lake? Ohh... Olivia's eyes wandered to the rocks that were neatly organized in front of her. Ahh... She thought she was catching on. Rocks and a body of water. Would they be watching the water and analyze its patterns? But where did the rocks come in. Were they going to be making their own patterns with said rocks and analyze those patterns? So they were potentially going to be dropping the rocks in the water? Once she had heard another student speak about dropping things in water, her eyes widened with a potential answer. Yes, she could say that. That seemed okay. It was a guess.

She raised her hand and spoke only after she was called on. "Adding on to a previous comment about dropping things into the water, Professor... Does water divination involve reading ripples and patterns in the water whether they are caused by the flow of the river or another object?" Though what would they be looking for? Velocities? It was just water, right? There couldn't possibly be a hidden message. That seemed silly.

Though at Hogwarts, Olivia was slowly learning that the impossible seemed to be more possible every day.

"I am quite fine too, thank you," Kitty answered the Professor's return greeting cheerfully. Yes, she was feeling quite happy that morning, and being awarded two points for not touching anything just made her happier.

Not that that meant she understood water divination. It probably wasn't a very obscure branch of the subject, but since Kitty had disliked the subject until last term she hadn't bothered to study very much. She would have to take an educated guess.

Kitty raised her hand. "I haven't studied water Divination, but I guess it's connected to tea leaf reading, since tea consists of water. Maybe tea leaves are like the middle man and going to the water is more direct?" It wasn't a very scientific answer and she couldn't help but worry if she'd embarrassed herself. But it was worth a guess!

What were the stones for? That was the question Hadley was dying to know. That and she was finding it hard not to play with the stones. It was even enough to distract her from the beauty of the Great Lake, which was her favorite place.

And Professor Vance wasn't telling them yet. Didn't Professor Vance know there were curious Ravenclaws in the class dying to know? She should. She's a divination professor.

Water divination? Ummmm... "It involves water...presumably." Yeah, it was a lame answer, but honestly, Hads had no idea what water divination involved beyond the fact that it was called water divination. So, yeah. Don't judge her too harshly, 'kay Professor.

Junia quite liked water. Drinking it was good for her and swimming in it was fun. She also enjoyed looking at her reflection in the water and noting how it changed when she ran a hand through it, distorting her image. When it came to this water divination, though, the third year didn't know many specifics.

Hand raised and displaying her very pink nail polish to the class, she waited for her turn and then offered up the only thing she could think of on the spot. "Well, you can get messages and predictions, depending on the reading-if that's what it's called-that you do."

Echo thought so far the class was going okay, nothing crazy happened and she didnt have to play with dirt so thumbs up from Echo.

She raised her hand "water divination can mean so many different types, would tea reading be apart of that classification as well because... well you know your using water for the tea?" she was trying to think outside of the box on that one.

Who knows it could be right?

Looking at the stone before her she sighed out loud and shook her head, it wasn’t interesting her at all what they were going to do with the black stone, and… To be honest, she actually hoped to NOT find it out so that she didn’t needed to work during this lesson. And then, the question… Well… Was she really supposed to give a answer? Hmm, difficult question. Her mom had always thought her not to lie but saying something about water divination she didn’t believed and, she was sure of that, wasn’t true so, if she would say something about it, then she was lying right? Ha! For a short moment she grinned and shook her head, knowing perfectly well that she was making a excuse for herself so… She decided to act dump and to fake that she didn’t knew the answer to the question. But, of course she knew what the professor wanted to know, she wasn’t stupid but, she just… Didn’t wanted to attend or be active during this lesson so, faking could be best right now! Yes, that was it! Nodding to herself she tried to look innocent and she even frowned as if she was trying very hard to think about a good answer…

But, she kept silent!

Janelle smiled as the professor responded to her greetings. "My summer was great. It went by way too fast though." That was the truth. It seemed as if she had just left Hogwarts and here she was at the castle again.......for the last time.

Shaking those thoughts from her head, Janelle listened as class began. The professor wasted no time getting to the point. They were dealing with water today, hence the location by the lake. Janelle wondered if they too would get to wade in the lake. Just then, the first question was posed. Water Divination. What did she know about that? Raising her hand, Janelle began to speak. "One type of water Divination involves reading the waves, patterns and ripples in a body of water. They have to be interpreted and it involves a great deal of concentration" That was true of most kinds of Divination and it had always been the greatest challenge for Janelle.

Water divination? Rooney fought off the urge to roll his eyes and moved to get himself comfy, straightening out his long legs against the ground and listening to the answers provided by his peers. All potential answers which he scribbled down into his Divination notebook with the names of who had said them or...a quick sketch of their face with distinguishing features if he didn't have a name. This was the problem with the beginning of term.. Rooney hadn't had time to collect information on new students yet. He was working on it, indeed.

But he had nothing to add, which was normal for him in classes nowadays and so he sat scrawling in his notebook and ensuring that he didn't get a cramp in his long legs from the sitting out here.

There was no arguing with that logic. His cousin was right, the lake DEFINITELY beat that stuffy old classroom. Could they have more classes out here? Even if they had nothing to do with water divination? He promised he'd be more likely to pay attention this way. The Fifth Year confirmed the brilliant summer he had when asked by the Professor and would have gone on to tell her EXACTLY what made it so brilliant but the Gryffindor was easily distracted.

Didn't take much for the Hufflepuff Firstie from the feast to catch his attention. Nope, kid was yelling in mermish and suffice to say, Blaise didn't wanna know. 'Sides, he was pretty stuck on the fact he'd now somehow gotten the reputation of the "Gryffindor Pizza Party Guy". "I go by Blaise too," He offered. "Works real neat." Kid had enthusiasm, he'd give him that.

Speaking of enthusiasm, there was the other one he'd marked down for that. Zoryn. Blaise gave her a nod of greeting, much like the one he'd offered Derf. Firsties were alright sometimes, y'know?

Blaise leaned back resting against his elbows as he listened to the answers being offered. He figured two points for not touching the rocks gave him enough of a cushion to let this one fly by him. Besides, what could he say that wasn't already said? Kid wasn't in the mood for repetition.

Jonas couldn't think of anything as he tried to think back to his notes from last year. Oy. What would it be? Nope, nothing.

Wow, Kane hadn't been expecting all these PEOPLE to come say hi to him and sit by him! He was getting popular, wasn't he? Hehe..that might have made his head swell JUST a bit. As each person sat down, he grinned and gave a 'what's up' head nod towards them. Oh and there was Brent! He hadn't seen him in like..two whole days. It was weird, especially since he'd seen Brent every DAY over the summer because he'd been moping around the house. His attention turned to the professor, who looked like she was getting ready to start...

The professor already knew his name?! And she asked him about his sorting...she had a good memory, didn't she? Well, she kind of HAD to have a good memory if she was the Divination professor, right? Wasn't that like...an important part of it or something? "It was great, thanks! Weird, but fun, and I love my house," he added in response to her question.

The fact that she remembered so much about him gave Professor Vance quite a few brownie points in his book. Maybe this class wouldn't be SO bad. She was so nice, after all! AND she'd just given them all 2 house points! BOOM! ON THE BOARD!

Water Divination? That sounded way harder than regular Divination. Weren't they supposed to do things with tarot cards and tea leaves and stuff? He tried to think about his intro to Divination book and the different types of weird, obscure divination he'd read about before finally raising his hand.

"You can read the water differently depending on what type of Divination you're doing, right? Like...you can use the ripples to interpret the future. OR you could use the reflection of things in the water...or something," he explained. Or at least he think he explained - he had no idea if that made sense or not.

"Oh, Mermish. That's really cool," Charlie replied to Derf in a hushed tone, not really familiar with it but able to draw conclusions anyhow. In the context of the situation, seeing as they were by the lake and her friend had been talking to the professor, Mermish was likely the mermaid language. It made complete sense, actually. Unfortunately, she only spoke English, but maybe Hogwarts would be the place where she'd expand her lingual horizons.

Charlie smiled back at Zoryn, and determined that she was in the presence of very spirited individuals. There was nothing bad about that, though. She just wasn't quite on the levels of her two friends.

The nice lady professor started speaking to the class as a whole, and Charlie was relieved to find that she'd gotten her name right. It would have been embarrassing for otherwise to happen. She was even more relieved- quite excited, actually- to hear that she'd already earned some house points, just for not touching the stone. She was off to a pretty good start!

The professor was right to assume that she and they wanted to know the why's of their setting. The straw mats made sense, because they'd need a place to sit that wasn't the bare ground. Sitting on the bare ground would likely dirty up their trousers. The stone piles, however, were a bit more of a mystery. Charlie figured they'd somehow be using them to manipulate the water to predict the future, but how exactly she couldn't conjure up.

The professor's question also threw Charlie for a loop. She had little knowledge on Divination in general, much less the water variety. Well, she had to try to give a fact anyway, didn't she? Right. "Um.... With Water Divination, you use different methods to manipulate water, and you determine your readings from the patterns of the ripples, or, waves."

Well... at least it sounded right.

After telling the professor about her wonderful summer she smiled as she saw El come join her and Tim. "Who knows, these things get weirder and weirder at times." She looked at both girls before starting to laugh. Whatever it was it didn't matter they got to be outside and wear normal clothes.


As the professor got started she talked about the forms of divination involved water. She tried to think of an answer, but all she could think of was the bird and water thing, but really wasn't sure if that was the correct thing or not. Her thoughts went to what that actual form was called. Though there was another form she could think of. "It's not really water, but it deals with around water. There is a form I can't remember the name of it, but you look at footprints. So you need around water where the dirt was soft and footprints would work."

Cassie looked up from her staring at the pile of stones in front of her as Professor Vance spoke up once more to begin the lesson. Cool…2 points was 2 points. She may have been curious about the pile but she hadn’t dared touch them in case there was a set order. As for wondering why they were outside, on mats, by the lake, the Ravenclaw had also be curious, but then figured the lake might have had something to do with the type of divination they were going to learn how to work with. And alas…what do you know?

Water divination.

The fourth year tried to think of something to say about the subject, listening as the other students around her gave their own answers. Finally, she raised a hand to be allowed to speak. “Is it like working with a mirror, where you use a flat, reflective surface for the divination technique?”

This was Ava's very first Divination class, and she really didn't know anything about water divination. In the books she had read before coming to Hogwarts, she didn't come across much featuring divination. She was just going to listen and see what she could learn before raising her hand. She listened to her classmates answers with fascination, some people had very interesting answers, and others seemed to know just as little as she did which was comforting.

Skylar was beginning to feel slightly worried when no one sat near her. Surely she had made friends in her two years at Hogwarts besides those she knew before...? if she had to gesture a guess she blames the new foreign students; foreign students were always vastly more interesting. But just when she thought she might be sitting alone, Junia showed up. Smiling at her roomie, she realized all too late she probably should have waited and walked down to the lake with her but truth be told, she hadn't even had the chance to discuss what classes they were both taking.

And then Professor Vance was greeting her back and complementing her shirt and Sky tried to remember if the blond had been a snake. But honestly she had no idea of where any of her professors went to school. "Thank you. No, truth be told I bought it at a muggle clothing store. Muggles apparently are obsessed with the idea of our world," Sky said quietly, shaking her head in disbelief.

...

And after most of her peers had arrived, they were starting. Water divination. Thinking about it, the third year was about to offer her two knuts on the subject when Tenacius totally stole the words right out of her mouth. Not cool, Mr Salander, not cool. What else might she know about water divination besides what others had mentioned like with ripples and stuff? "Uh, you need to use a large body of water? Like just a small bowl in the classroom wouldn't get the same effect."

Dora gave the Professor a LOOK. She felt like she was being chide for curiosity. She was a Gryffindor, tho. If there was something around that she didn't know... she wanted to poke it with a stick. Wasn't Professor VANCE aware of this inherited trait? HMMMM?

But she kept her mouth shut and watched the little Hufflepuff touch the STONES. HEHEHEE. She liked him already. And what was that he was tugging on? Curiosity getting the best of her, she leant over and watched him grab at the worm.

...

WHY WAS EVERYONE TALKING ABOUT MERMAIDS? Didn't they know that Dora was fluent in Mermish and LONGED to be amongst the creatures in the water?! A small sigh escaped the blonde as she looked longingly out across the lake. Why didn't she have gills? I mean, she had used the Gillyweed that Spike had sent her last term, but it wasn't the same. She was sure it wasn't anyway.

Oh. But water Divination. Dora raised her hand and said rather boredly, "Can't you use water to scrye. And Scrying is a form of Divination." SHe thought she had that right, anyway.

Also, Sam got a smile, Echo got a wink, and she just stared longingly at Casper... wishing he was closer to her. Alas.

Isa was excited to find out just what exactly they were going to be doing. She had some ideas of what it might be, but she couldn't be sure until the professor announced what they would be doing. Yay, the lesson was starting! They all got points just for following the instructions! That was great! Oh, water divination? That explained why they were out by the lake. Isa had not tried this before, but she had read about it and had heard some things about it. "There are some forms of divination that involve looking at movement or ripples in bodies of water." Was that what they were going to be doing today? Were the stones for dropping in the lake to create ripples? This would be fun! Penny always said this sort of divination was best when done at night when there was a full moon. Isa wasn't so sure about that though. She would have to ask the professor about that. "Professor, is it true that it's better to perform hydromancy during the full moon?" Penny seemed to think so. However, Isa was unsure about the whole moon thing. Divination in practice was not usually Isa's strong suit, but she found the concepts fascinating. Isa was very curious about how the moon might affect hydromancy. Perhaps they would learn more about that particular point later on in the lesson. Isa loved being out here by the lake. She ran her fingers through the sand and took a deep breath of fresh air. This lesson was amazing!

SPOILER!!: Indvid student replies: Messages/Scrying

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mell

Oh looked like class had started, Trixie dragged her gaze away from Jacob to concentrate on the Professor and she raised her hand tentatively upon hearing the question. "The use of water divination is to bring messages."

Trixies voice brought Laurel's attention to the lioness as she answered kindly. "A good thought Trixie. With the use of water divination you can get messages from the future by interpreting the water."

Quote:

Originally Posted by DuckyLinJi

"It was" Mason thought. How had his summer been? "Adventurous" he finally answered with a smile as he sat down on a straw mat . He refrained from saying it had being adventurous because of the many books he had read and had therefore traveled to other worlds in his mind and he hadn't actually had a Gryffindor kind of summer. He also did not ask how her summer had been because he had not been the only one with the same question.
"Scrying or seeking images in water is a form of divination isn't it?" he said after he had raised his hand in the air. Just because he thought of the subject as a joke it didn't mean he didn't read about it.

Eyes turning to Mason she nodded "Yes you are correct Mason. You can scry in water for what is going to happen in the immediate future."

Quote:

Originally Posted by TakemetotheBurrow

Junia quite liked water. Drinking it was good for her and swimming in it was fun. She also enjoyed looking at her reflection in the water and noting how it changed when she ran a hand through it, distorting her image. When it came to this water divination, though, the third year didn't know many specifics.
Hand raised and displaying her very pink nail polish to the class, she waited for her turn and then offered up the only thing she could think of on the spot. "Well, you can get messages and predictions, depending on the reading-if that's what it's called-that you do."

Junia spoke up next. Looking over at her Prof Vance responded kindly. "Yes you are on the right track Junia. When you interpret water and messages it's called a form of reading and depending on what materials you use the method differs."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Erindipity

Oh. But water Divination. Dora raised her hand and said rather boredly, "Can't you use water to scrye. And Scrying is a form of Divination." SHe thought she had that right, anyway. .

After her Dora picked up the thread and almost echoed those before her. Laurel smiled at her. "Yes, are correct Dora. Scrying is a form of Divination and you can among other outlets use water to scry the future ahead."

SPOILER!!: Individ student replies: Locating objects in water/stone skipping

Quote:

Originally Posted by dansgurl

"Yes professor. I'm happy to be here" Not back. It was her first term there. Maybe the professor was new too?
2 points each for not touching stones? Ashley had a GRIN. GRIN. GRIN. moment inside her head. I like this professor.
Water divination. HMM. Let's see. Divination was searching for something in the future. Looking into it. What's with water and divination?
She raised her hand and took a guess, "Water divination helps us locate sea creatures.. or objects in water?" She added the last part a bit doubtfully.

Ashley raised her voice next guessing that water divination helped with locating sea creatures. Smiling over at the young lioness Prof. Vance answered. "A good guess Ashley, but no divining the water won't unfortunately help us either locate sea creatures or objects." But it would have been great if it could. Especially for those students wanting to encounter the merpeople or the giant squid.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anna Banana

...and there was the first question, which Brent didn't know the answer to. Or, he probably didn't know the right answer. He combed through his mind for something decent to say.
"I once heard that you can use different things like rods to discover what's in the water," he said, raising his hand. "The rods shake or do something cool like that to indicate something's there." That actually sounded pretty cool, although Brent could care less what it told him about his future. He just thought a scavenger hunt sounded fun.

Brent's guess left Laurel momentarily silent before she realized what the boy was trying to get at. When she understood she flashed a smile over at the young snake. "Oh, you mean like fishing with a fishing rod? Well that's how the muggles catch their fish by dropping fishing lines with a hook and bait into water to entice fish. We can't use fishing rods to interpret the future."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steelsheen

And he gets points for just sitting on his bum? Awwyea! But aye what did he know about Water Divination? He didnt know either, but then he wasnt shy about venturing this guess "Uhh.... does it have anything to do with skipping stones across the lake?" Because thats what he always does when he's at home mhmm.

Tenacious reassurance was enough for her and thus Laurel focused on his guess. "You are in part correct. Stones have a big part in the water method we are going to perform today but we won't be skipping stones across the lake." Unless of course there was time left at the end of class.

SPOILER!!: Indvid student replies: Currents/ripples/atoms etc

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie

SHE KNEW HIS NAME?!
Derf's eyes WIDENED at that because she either had a really REALLY good memory from all the new sortees or that Inner Eye thingy was really neat! Or scary. He was glad mum and dad did not have it because clearly he would not be able to get away with anything. Like filling the bathtub up with pond water for all of his polliwogs.
"The tribe of merpeople in the Black Lake haff feir own unique form...uuuuuh....us-s-sing lake currents-s-s...and ripples-s!" he stated as fact - although he really had NO idea if it was true or not BUT HE WAS HOPEFUL. What else did he know about divining by water? Well....
"......and it's-s wet!"

Derfael kept on with his merpeople fascination and it showed in his reply. Smiling kindly at the young badger Laurel shook her head doubtfully. "If its true Derfael which I honestly don't know if it is then it's something unique for the merpeople. I do though think they use their gift for music more to interpret the future then to stir the currents and ripples." But she was out on thin ice too.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ArianaBlack

As for the question… Zoryn still didn’t know what divination was… So she ignored that part of the sentence and gave one fact about water instead. ”Water is a liquid and it’s made of these things called atoms that slip and sliiiiiiiide all around each other!” Constant motion or something like that. They learned it in SCIENCE last year. Man, and she thought she’d never be able to use that stuff. Two points for everyone? But like TEN MILLION FOR ZORYN. What a genius answer.

Zoryn shocked her by bringing up muggle science facts. Something Laurel hadn't exactly studied but had looked over in preparation for this class. Looking over at the lioness she smiled "Yes water is classified by muggles as a liquid that is composed of atoms that slide around each other."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Watson

She raised her hand and spoke only after she was called on. "Adding on to a previous comment about dropping things into the water, Professor... Does water divination involve reading ripples and patterns in the water whether they are caused by the flow of the river or another object?" Though what would they be looking for? Velocities? It was just water, right? There couldn't possibly be a hidden message. That seemed silly.

Olivia thankfully moved away from uncharted muggle waters and touched on what they would be doing in today's class. Turning to meet that lionesses gaze Prof Vance chirped happily in response. "You are spot on Olivia! Good guess, water divination does indeed involve reading the patterns that ripples make in the water which is caused by objects or just the flow of water."

Quote:

Originally Posted by klexos24

The professor's question also threw Charlie for a loop. She had little knowledge on Divination in general, much less the water variety. Well, she had to try to give a fact anyway, didn't she? Right. "Um.... With Water Divination, you use different methods to manipulate water, and you determine your readings from the patterns of the ripples, or, waves."
Well... at least it sounded right.

Eyes shifted to another first year. They were all being really brave and offering up answers. It was wonderful to see and hear. Charlie followed the trend. "Good guess Charlie, in water divination you interpret your readings from the patterns that ripples and waves make on the water surface."

SPOILER!!: Indvid student replies: Divining instruments

Quote:

Originally Posted by awakemysoul

Before he knew it, she was asking the class a question. Maybe he could redeem himself here. What did he know about water divination? He had just been reading about that not too long ago, hoping to improve his performance in divination as a whole... He raised his hand, remembering a fact, and answered, "Water divination can be done either indoors with a smooth bowl of water or outdoors with a natural body of water."

"Very good Jacob! Water divination can be practiced both indoors and outdoors but the utensils you use differs with the location of course just like you said. We will be using the lake today." Laurel responded with a beam.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Callie

What were the stones for? That was the question Hadley was dying to know. That and she was finding it hard not to play with the stones. It was even enough to distract her from the beauty of the Great Lake, which was her favorite place.
Water divination? Ummmm... "It involves water...presumably." Yeah, it was a lame answer, but honestly, Hads had no idea what water divination involved beyond the fact that it was called water divination. So, yeah. Don't judge her too harshly, 'kay Professor.

Ah, Ms Denaker. Had Laurel seen her enter? No matter, she jumped right on in and gave answer. Nodding warmly to her Professor Vance said "Yes, water divination most definitely involves water."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Holmesian Feline

Water divination.
The fourth year tried to think of something to say about the subject, listening as the other students around her gave their own answers. Finally, she raised a hand to be allowed to speak. “Is it like working with a mirror, where you use a flat, reflective surface for the divination technique?”

Cassandra was another eagle that had slipped in when Laurel hadn't been paying attention since she hadn't seen her until she spoke up. Smiling encouragingly to the girl Laurel responded. "Interesting thought Cassandra. It is close to mirror scrying but instead of a flat reflective surface we will rely on the waters ripples and waves to help with our water readings."

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhoenixRising

And after most of her peers had arrived, they were starting. Water divination. Thinking about it, the third year was about to offer her two knuts on the subject when Tenacius totally stole the words right out of her mouth. Not cool, Mr Salander, not cool. What else might she know about water divination besides what others had mentioned like with ripples and stuff? "Uh, you need to use a large body of water? Like just a small bowl in the classroom wouldn't get the same effect."

Skylar brought up a question next. "Actually Sky a small bowl in the classroom could give you the same effect. but then you'd need to manipulate and stir the water more while a large body of water like the lake behind us will give us the ripples and waves we need naturally." Professor Vance replied with a beam in the snakettes direction.

SPOILER!!: Indvid student replies: silent ones

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sonea

Ha! For a short moment she grinned and shook her head, knowing perfectly well that she was making a excuse for herself so… She decided to act dump and to fake that she didn’t knew the answer to the question. But, of course she knew what the professor wanted to know, she wasn’t stupid but, she just… Didn’t wanted to attend or be active during this lesson so, faking could be best right now! Yes, that was it! Nodding to herself she tried to look innocent and she even frowned as if she was trying very hard to think about a good answer…But, she kept silent!

Leesha didn't offer up an answer, but that was okay. Laurel didn't expect everyone to know something right off the bat about their class topic. And the young snake looked like she was thinking hard and that was good.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shanners

Water divination? Rooney fought off the urge to roll his eyes and moved to get himself comfy, straightening out his long legs against the ground and listening to the answers provided by his peers. All potential answers which he scribbled down into his Divination notebook with the names of who had said them or...a quick sketch of their face with distinguishing features if he didn't have a name. This was the problem with the beginning of term.. Rooney hadn't had time to collect information on new students yet. He was working on it, indeed.
But he had nothing to add, which was normal for him in classes nowadays and so he sat scrawling in his notebook and ensuring that he didn't get a cramp in his long legs from the sitting out here.

Rooney didn't answer either but he showed that he was attentive by scrawling down notes in his notebook which Laurel assumed was about the class topic.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaniDiNardo

Speaking of enthusiasm, there was the other one he'd marked down for that. Zoryn. Blaise gave her a nod of greeting, much like the one he'd offered Derf. Firsties were alright sometimes, y'know?
Blaise leaned back resting against his elbows as he listened to the answers being offered. He figured two points for not touching the rocks gave him enough of a cushion to let this one fly by him. Besides, what could he say that wasn't already said? Kid wasn't in the mood for repetition.

Blaise kept silent too and didn't offer a guess either but in his case Professor Vance wondered if he just didn't want to repeat what had already been said by his peers.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2111jen

Jonas couldn't think of anything as he tried to think back to his notes from last year. Oy. What would it be? Nope, nothing.

Jonas was clearly thinking on something but nothing came out. It was more than okay though. Everyone couldn't be water divination experts.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Winter Dreams

This was Ava's very first Divination class, and she really didn't know anything about water divination. In the books she had read before coming to Hogwarts, she didn't come across much featuring divination. She was just going to listen and see what she could learn before raising her hand. She listened to her classmates answers with fascination, some people had very interesting answers, and others seemed to know just as little as she did which was comforting.

Ava was another one that sat silent, listening, learning and observing. It was perfectly okay to do that. Laurel saw that as wise especially if this was a new subject.

SPOILER!!: Indvid student replies: Divi methods

Quote:

Originally Posted by RachieRu

Ooh Water divination! That was quite interesting actually! Hattie had been interested in finding more out about this subject, and so she had decided to do some reading over the summer. It had come in useful actually. The third year thought for a few seconds, so that she could get a really good answer but she finally raised her hands. "Isn't Dowsing a form of Water Divination Professor?" The girl asked, as she raised her hand in the air. "People used it to find water under the ground"

Hattie brought up a form that Laurel hadn't exactly considered for this class. Looking over at the badger girl she smiled. "Yes, dowsing is a form of water divination that people use when there are droughts to find water underground that can be led up to the surface to drink and use."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Star-Lord

Hearing the question, something automatically went off in her head. How did she forget about water divination before? When Paige had mentioned floromancy, Tim did more research on it and different types. "Water divination is commonly known as Hydromancy. It's been used for thousands of years to receive messages and predict the future through water movements.' That was one way of explaining it. Tim couldn't really remember much more since it's been about two years since she had read about the subject and it wasn't one of her main focuses.

"You hit it right on the nail Timila." Laurel said excitedly. "Hydromancy is the method we are going to be studying today for the remainder of class. It really is an ancient method."

Quote:

Originally Posted by DH Vixen

Listening to what everyone was saying, she slowly raised her hand. "Water can be used like a vessel in divination. We can use how it reacts to prophecies thing." At least, that's what she thought from everything she was hearing. "There are a lot of kinds of divinations that involve dropping things into water and interpreting its reaction."

Zahra offered up an answer next. "Good Zahra, water can definitely be used as a vessel for divination readings and yes there are more than one divination method that involves water."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Goblinfrog

Kitty raised her hand. "I haven't studied water Divination, but I guess it's connected to tea leaf reading, since tea consists of water. Maybe tea leaves are like the middle man and going to the water is more direct?" It wasn't a very scientific answer and she couldn't help but worry if she'd embarrassed herself. But it was worth a guess!

"Interesting thought Kitty. Tea leaf reading is definitely connected to water divination and its good that you see the similarities between the two methods. You'll have to judge for yourself if you think water divination is more direct." Laurel responded kindly.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grrr..Meow

Echo thought so far the class was going okay, nothing crazy happened and she didnt have to play with dirt so thumbs up from Echo.
She raised her hand "water divination can mean so many different types, would tea reading be apart of that classification as well because... well you know your using water for the tea?" she was trying to think outside of the box on that one.

"Good guess Echo. Tasseomancy is connected to water divination since you interpret patterns in both readings." Laurel answered with a smile.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daydreamer11

Water Divination. What did she know about that? Raising her hand, Janelle began to speak. "One type of water Divination involves reading the waves, patterns and ripples in a body of water. They have to be interpreted and it involves a great deal of concentration" That was true of most kinds of Divination and it had always been the greatest challenge for Janelle.

"Very good Janelle, you are onto something. The water divination method we are studying today does indeed involve reading and interpreting the waves and patterns and ripples in a body of water like the lake behind us." Laurel responded happily.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lissy Longbottom

"You can read the water differently depending on what type of Divination you're doing, right? Like...you can use the ripples to interpret the future. OR you could use the reflection of things in the water...or something," he explained. Or at least he think he explained - he had no idea if that made sense or not.

"Good Kane, you are correct. How you read the water differs depending on the method you are using like scrying or hydromancy to name a few." Professor Vance nodded encouragingly.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bazinga

Her thoughts went to what that actual form was called. Though there was another form she could think of. "It's not really water, but it deals with around water. There is a form I can't remember the name of it, but you look at footprints. So you need around water where the dirt was soft and footprints would work."

"Ichnomancy is the name of the method you are referring to i think Natalia. That method does need to be performed in proximity to water since you need soft and most dirt or sand to be able to see and read the footprints. So you can say that it is related to water divination too." Laurel replied with a beam.

Quote:

Originally Posted by griffin

[color=#fbb917 Isa had not tried this before, but she had read about it and had heard some things about it. "There are some forms of divination that involve looking at movement or ripples in bodies of water." Was that what they were going to be doing today? Were the stones for dropping in the lake to create ripples? This would be fun! Penny always said this sort of divination was best when done at night when there was a full moon. Isa wasn't so sure about that though. She would have to ask the professor about that. "Professor, is it true that it's better to perform hydromancy during the full moon?" Penny seemed to think so. [/color]

Isa was the last badger to speak up. Flashing her a smile Laurel nodded "You are correct Isa there are several forms of divination that involve looking at water movement and ripples in bodies of water. We will be focusing on one in particular today with our lovely lake as our outlet." Isa's last question was one that Prof Vance felt was better suited for answering further on in the lesson. "Hold on to that question Isa. I will answer it later when you all got more knowledge of the method we are practicing today."[/b]

When the last student had offered up her guess and it seemed that nobody else wanted to speak Professor Vance deemed that it was high time to continue. "You've all offered up good guesses and most of you have even touched on the method of Divination called Hydromancy that we are going to learn about and practice with the aid of our beautiful lake for the remainder of our lesson." Here she paused to let her glance run over Timila and Isa.

"Hydromancy is a very ancient practice that has been around for thousands upon thousands of years and from it our popular modern tea leaf reading as some of you brought up has been derived. Hydromancy comes from the greek words hydro and manteia and is the art and practice of divining the past, present and future with the aid of water."

"There are numerous ways in which you can perform a hydromatic reading, but before we get in to those and what the ancient germanic wise women preferred to use for their water interpretations I wonder can anyone guess what factors can affect the accuracy of a water reading?"

Ooc: I'll move on at approximatley 7pm GMT+1 on monday evening after work. In the mean time answer Professor Vances question of what factors you can think of that can affect the accuracy of a water reading.

A good guess. Ashley smiled. Now this class might turn out to be interesting.

She listened intently as the professor gave explanation for the various answers. She brought out a quill and parchment.

DIVINATION.

WATER DIVINING. HYDROMANCY.

And she started jotting down the ones that she said were close to correct.

Factors that affected? What would affect a still water? Ripples. Her hand shot up in the air.

"Accuracy would be affected by disturbances during the seeing" What do you call the seeing into future part? Divining? "it could be anything.. turbulence, some sort of disturbance that keeps shifting the water" That seemed logical right? "So we can't be sure, the water keeps changing"

Oh good, she'd been on the right track. That was always nice to hear, particularly when you didn't have much experience dealing with the subject matter. It felt like maybe she wouldn't be awful at this and that was a relief because a Botros was supposed to do well. They just were.

At the mention of disturbances, Junia nodded her head. That made sense. "Creatures within the water could create those kind of disturbances, right? Like if the giant squid surfaced and caused the water to change when we were trying to get a reading, that would change how the reading came out." Possibly.

Awww so this wasnt a class where they divine who can throw the most skips on a lake? And he was just about itching to show his moooooves.....

But right, Hydromancy. The leonine lad angled his head and pondered the next question. What else could affect a water reading? He could say the container-- but then it seemed like the Professor was intending for them to use the lake. So was she aware that a lake is hardly ever still? Unless it ices up....

He raised his hand and answered this, because really he couldnt really think of anything else that could affect a water reading on a lake "If you're not really concentrating on the divining things?"

You know, like him.

Wait...what? Brent had never claimed to be really skilled at Divination, but he could usually at least follow the lesson. How had they ended up talking about fishing poles? He, too, was momentarily silent, before he realized where the confusion had come from. "Oh, no, Professor. Not fishing poles," he said, commenting on what she'd said to him. "Dowsing rods. It's what a dowser uses when using the dowsing Divination method, right?"



Putting aside all the talk about fishing poles and dowsing rods, Brent turned his focus to what the lesson ended up actually being about--Hydromancy. Since he really had no idea what that was and how it was done, he listened to the professor share what she knew. It sounded pretty easy...using water to tell the future, which would explain why they were having class at the lake today.

So...what could affect the readings in the water? "What about the weather?" he asked, his hand in the air. "Rain's still water, but if it's beating down in the lake, it can probably mess things up." Brent hated the rain. He'd played many Quodpot games in storms, but he really hated to. He could imagine Divination in the water would result in many of the same feelings.

Oh there was A LOT that could interfere with one of those reasons, ranging from the more obvious ones to the less conspicuous ones--and even the ones that seemed downright way off. Like say...if someone snuck up behind you and dropped a huge rock in the water you were reading. Not only would there be disturbance but you'd also damn near have a heart attack that scares you right out of the reading mode completely.

Hard to come back from that. Just think, you'd have to dunk the person in the water for ruining your reading, they'd resist, you'd soon find yourself in a wrestling match and all out water war. Of course by now you wouldn't even remember what sort of reading you were trying to do in the first place.

Fancy that.

"If you're a skeptic about this sort of thing, you can expect a huge block in your reading. All you'll see is water, then ripples of water and everything will seem like coincidence." Which it probably might have been in some cases but couldn't exactly say THAT now could he? Wait, why couldn't he say that exactly? It was fair comment, no? [b]"