Molesophy ... what in Merlin's beard was that. Sully was one hundred percent positive that the professor and just made up that word off the top of her head. That couldn't actually be a subject to study was it. It sounded like you looked about people's moles and read their future from them. YUCK YUCK YUCK. Dear Lord please do not let them be staring at each other's moles all of this lesson. Sully didn't think she could handle that at all. She'd have to feign sick.

Raising her hand. "Umm... Professor, it sounds like we will be studying each other's moles.... like on our arms and stuff." Okay not her most sophisticated answer ...but at least she gave it her best bet right? A shiver ran down Sully's spine at the thought again.

When she had entered the Divination classroom, Emmeline had been kind of, slightly out of breath. She had been in the barn again, lost track of time and so she was only just on time. She gave the professor an apologetic sort of smile, because she was still trying to breathe properly, and looked around for a place to sit.

And Abey, Derf, and Stasya were all sitting together, so naturally she made a BEELINE for their table. The Cambridge girl was there too, and Emmeline hoped to learn her first name this lesson. "You guys don't mind if I sit with you, right?" She hoped not because the professor was now conjuring a blackboard and so she hastily dropped into a seat at their table.

Cool, mirrors. She picked up a small one and flipped it over, trying to see if there was anything special and Divination-y about them. Sadly, it looked like a normal mirror to her so it was quickly put back down on the table.

Professor Vance asked about moleosophy, and Abey's answer seemed as good as anyone's to Emmeline. She nodded at him, and smiled slightly: "I think you're right, Abey." Then he was asking the Cambridge girl if she was okay, and Emmeline noticed that the poor girl was almost the same color as parchment! Turning to her, she asked: "D'you need anything?" The professor's question was totally forgotten in light of this girl's obvious upset-ness; what was WITH lessons and upsetting people?!

Quote:

"Hello Olivia," Laurel greeted the lioness with a cheerful smile. It was nice to see that so many of the students had good manners to shake her hand upon entering. "Oh dear I'm so sorry for your beautiful face. Someone who is jealous of you will later this week slip a fungiface potion into your feast goblet that will cause your face to break out in fungi spots." That was what she had seen. If it came true was another story. Releasing Olivia's hand Laurel turned to greet the next student.

Professor Vance...say what?

Taken off guard by the Professor's words, which was possibly evident in the way she'd just yanked her hand back from the older woman, Olivia narrowed her eyes. Someone was welcomed to try... but anyone she caught trying to disfigure her skin with blemishes and unsightly redness...would meet the business end of her wand. And that was, most definitely, a place no one wanted to find themselves. This girl took her visage VERY seriously.

Paranoid, she brushed at her cheeks with her free hand, skin reddening from a blossoming blush. She wasn't one for vanity, really...but her beauty was one of her weapons. And a girl only has so many of those.

-----

Her inner eye was itchy today, actually. Ugh... And Professor Vance's prediction was still bothering her. Hindsight said not to do that again. Goddess, was it too much to ask for a bit of good news? It would've meant the world to her right now...

There was a longing glance at Rooney.

S i g h.

"They're meant to predict our vices?.... Well, the Greeks thought they might lend to vices, but in modern use, the definition might be more broad. Like, say one on or near the lips might mean something like a good kisser...instead of the ancient translation of 'overeating'." Right out of the textbook, that was. So smart, was she. "I have one on my thigh." A general share...as Olivia didn't care who knew this information about her. Marks were just marks, right?

SPIDERS? Really, professor? THAT was her prediction? Now, Etta had to worry about spiders too. Great, just what she needed, on top of all the other worries. "Thanks, professor."

Junia did get a grin, of course. She never minded her company. The Hufflepuff was about to speak when the professor started the class. Oh, well. Maybe later. She raised a hand after a moment. "Professor, isn't it the study of skin or body marks? To interpret their meaning?" Ohhh. Was that what they were going to do today? Hmmm. Interesting.

See? Eavesdropping Listening to what the Professor was giving to her peers, the fourth year was truly grateful that she didn't have Professor Vance give her a prophetic prediction. These predictions were just plain WEIRD and CREEPY and honestly, Skylar didn't really want to know. Because if something happened, well, the idea that it could be out of sheer surprise and coincidence sounded better than being told so by some prophetic reading.

Also, moleosophy? Her classmates were talking about birthmarks and well, it sounded legit, but Skylar's initial thoughts had been totally on a different tangent. Although, if they were talking about moles, then the presence of the ornate mirrors probably made sense. Wait, what did Tenacius say? Where they were found on ones body? Truth be told, she assumed they would only be examining the moles above the neck and maybe on the arms, but maybe that was just because she wasn't sure she wanted to know where else moles might be present on her classmate's bodies. Was moleosophy even about birthmarks? What if one didn't have any birthmarks? Did that mean that they couldn't participate or was that a meaning in itself?

"The study of molecules and atoms," Skylar finally said, after raising her hand. Because even if it wasn't exactly that, well everything was made up of molecules, so she was theoretically correct no matter what it truly was the study of.

It was Abey's question, distant as it sounded, that brought Jessa back from oddly vivid images of her sister suddenly not being on this side of reality anymore. She would have to remember to thank him because she'd frankly seen enough, whether her wild imagination agreed or not.

Those things would never happen to Lexa. She was a smart Auror, she knew what she was doing and she'd been doing it for years. Danger was danger but it didn't mean it would be a problem her sister couldn't handle.....right?

Her lips parted to offer up a response and that was when she realized her throat had gone unusually dry. An owl would definitely need to be sent for her own peace of mind. "I'm....yeah....it...it's probably not real....." She managed, willing herself to remember all the conclusions she'd come to on this particular subject. Magic did make the impossible and impractical suddenly very viable but this was one case in which she hoped it didn't.

Emmeline's arrival at the table got only a flicker of her eyes in her direction before those piercing blues returned to staring out at nothing in particular. Very slowly, as if trying to clear the haze in her mind, Jessa shook her head in response to the younger girl. "Nothing I can have right now. It...it's fine. The Professor's just got a shoddy sense of humour."

And so she would keep telling herself, because the alternative was NOT something she wanted to think about for several reasons.

Derf's eyes went WIDE...because if Scamander was going to get sick then that meant HE would get sick because he ate everything his warty newt did. Had to be thorough with this sort of thing, you know? Anything his newt at he had to be able to eat too. So there was loads and looooooooooads of blank staring going on.

So he missed the entire question being posed by Professor Vance - although somewhere in the back of his mind he was hoping it had to do with "true moles" of the Talpidae family in the order Eulipotyphla, just sayin' - but soon had his attention drawn to Jessa who looked as though she was about to pass out.

"It's-s-s true," he nodded confidently. "I know becaus-s-se I'm kind of a Seer. Alexa will be FINE!"

OH STASYA!

"Pssssssssst," he hissed at her, even tugging on her hand to make sure she KNEW he was talking to her. "HAPPYBIRTHDAYIHAVES-S-SOMETHINGFORYOUBACKINMYROOMOKAY?!"

Okay.

Um...what were they talking about in class? He ventured a glance towards Abey hoping for some sort of clarification...which was silly because Abey had the same attention span as he did with this stuff. Did Emmeline know? He gave her questioning looks next while mouthing, quite obviously, 'WHAT ARE WE TALKING ABOUT?!' to her

Kirk felt relaxed in the classroom, it wasn't too hot out as he chose to sit closest to the window so he could take a gander out. Divination had it's merits for him. It gave him time to think and possibly know what others are thinking or not thinking of. His distractions ended just as the first question had been asked.

Molesophy? He did think about moles first, but some words didn't always have the definition in them. Maybe this one did, but maybe it wasn't just moles. "It sounds like it could be related to the skin, Professor. Will we be reading each others faces today?"

Molesophy? Was that a real form of Divination? Olivia thought the Professor had been jesting as it surely was too silly to be one but surely enough everyone seemed serious so she pondered the thought of what molesophy could have meant. She listened to her fellow classmates offer hypotheses for it. Nodding her head along with Etta's suggestion, Olivia thought how exactly they would read each other's freckles and moles and scars. Would it be a simple reading of the arm? She was intrigued. "I agree with Etta, Professor. I think molesophy is the reading of bodily marks. Do the location, shape, and sizes of moles all have different meanings?" she mused. Perhaps. It seemed possible but she wasn't a hundred percent sure.

Moleosophy...

That word sounded so familiar. Teddy was sure she had come across it in her studies.

Her head was bit fuzzy today. It was right on her tongue, but she couldn't...

A tiny crescent shaped mark on her forearm came into focus. Of course! Moleosophy is the study of marks on the body. This was going to be an interesting lesson.

:::::

When Olivia had taken down her hand and stopped talking Laurel deemed that it was high time to move on. "As Ms Morrison, Ms Sullivan, Mr Salander and Mr Botros correctly pointed out to name just a few Moleosophy is the study and interpretation of all bodily marks like birth marks, blemishes and moles. Our focus today will be on our moles and how you can classify moles by shape, size, colour and location on the human body. A mole on your forehead for instance tells you that your a happy and peace loving person whereas a mole on your lips indicate that you might have jealous streak."

Laurel paused for some moments before she proceeded with giving a little more background. "Moleosophy is a branch of Divination and fortune telling that dates back to ancient times where it was practiced in the Greco-Roman culture. Moles were considered as significations of fate and showed the personality of a person and what zodiac sign a person is being dominated by depending on mole location. It wasn't a very popular practice like dream divination or palmistry and was generally classified as folklore or superstition back in the day, but it was practiced. Birthmarks held a little higher status in Greek culture since its believed that Selecus the first Macedonian King of Syria had received an anchor-shaped birthmark on his thigh by the god Apollo that was borne by all his descendants.

A short Greek manual on Moleosophy that has been recovered from antiquity and that was still legible is believed to have been written by the legendary Greek seer Melampus or someone close to him and is what we refer to when we try to ascribe meaning to our moles based on shape, size, location and colour and what they can say about our natures and destines. Males are supposed to get the most auspicious results if they have many moles on the right side of their bodies and for women on the left."

Laurel paused for a long moment to let all that info set in her students minds before she asked "Do you think a mole's body location can tell you truths about yours and others personalities? If yes then why? If no then why?"

OOC: All answers count. There is no right or wrong answer here. Be creative and have fun. What does your character believe? Can a mole indicate how a person is? I'll move on tomorrow, eg Tuesday @ appro 7pm GMT+2.

Quill in hand, Shay took notes as her classmates shared their thoughts on Moleosophy. She continued writing as Professor Vance weighed in on the answers and continued on with her explanation of the subject. It was a lot of information to absorb and Shay wanted to make sure that she caught all of the important details.

When the professor asked the next question, Shay had to think about it for a moment. She was basically asking if they believed Moleosophy was valid. Welllll.......Shay supposed it was possible. Stranger things had been known to happen. They were talking about Magic and wizards and.........Divination after all. Shay raised her hand and when called on, she began to speak. "I think it could be possible to learn things about a person by reading their moles. Why? Why not? I mean, if you can get information by looking at someone's palm or reading tea leaves, wouldn't interpreting moles be possible?" Keep an open mind, right? Shay had some doubt that she could do it, but that didn't mean it couldn't be done.

Well yes, she knew that everything was made up of molecules and atoms, which also meant she was not theoretically incorrect. And considering molecules and moleosophy shared the same first four letters, Skylar didn't think it was such a far fetched idea. But then the Professor continued on and as suspected, it dealt with moles and birthmarks and there was lots of dialogue being given.

And it was all Skylar could do to keep writing, because some of this might be on a future exam. Until the Professor stopped talking, and she had to glance back at the last thing she wrote down to figure out that a question was posed. So, please, someone comfort her in saying they were not going to be examining each other's moles and birthmarks that were not visible? Because some of her classmates, she wasn't keen on sharing that.

"Definitely. A mole's location on the body would be able to tell you truths, because it is a part of you. No different than having five fingers, or six, moles make up the person you are." That wasn't very descriptive, but her hand was kind of cramping from all the writing.

Notes, so many notes. Junia wrote down the stuff that she found most interesting, and then set her quill down and looked at the professor. DID she buy that you could actually tell someone's personality by the placement of a mole? Well, no. Or, well, maybe.

"Professor, I think it's sort of like...a self-fulfilling prophecy? If people who believe in Moleosophy get together and one reads the other's moles, maybe they are more likely to buy into and reflect that reading in the way they're acting. Especially if this was back when the practice was popular." ...Did that make sense? She hoped so.

!!!!!!!

"I'm a Seer too!" Abey blurted out, his outburst coming out waaayyyyyy louder than he intended, and this time he TOTALLY WASN'T LYING. Not on purpose, anyway. He held up his hand to Derf for a high-five, because they were Seer-buddies, and then addressed Jessa again, lowering his voice just a little becayse MAYBE HE HAD ACCIDENTALLY YELLED THAT FIRST PART completely on accident whoops. "And I know when bad things are going to happen because I can feel it in here-" he gestured to his chest and his stomach "-before things happen, and I don't feel anything like that right now when I look at you."

Cue wise, sage nodding.

Uhhhhh, wait... what was going on? Another question, but this time ABEY had managed to get all distracted when it had been asked. Quieting down, Abey paid attention to some of the other answers, tried to deduce what the question was, and then just went with it.

"I bet yes but probably only a hundred percent of the time when a proper Seer does it!" Abey called out, bouncing just a smidge in his chair. "And not when it's just reading meanings out of a book."

Moleosophy…

…the study of moles and other bodily marks. Um…okay. Cassie had never really thought about there being any connection with the marks and personality and hadn’t expected it to be something others thought on. Interesting…very interesting. She listened as the professor went on to explain a bit about the study of Moleosophy, the Ravenclaw taking active notes on anything that might be deemed helpful as the class moved on and for any homework. Not to mention, anything could be on the upcoming OWLs.

Now did SHE think that birth marks could tell stuff about a person?

Umm... “I don’t think so,” she started out, “I mean, birth marks are from birth and stay forever. Moles can develop anytime but usually stay too. But sometimes people and their personalities change even when the marks do not.” Did that make sense?

Etta carefully noted down what the professor explained. She'd need all this for OWLs preparation anyway.. once she finished writing, she considered the question and gave it some thought. She didn't know the right answer to this question and it was purely going to be guesswork, but might as well give it a try.. right?

"I think it does, professor. I think.. each mole reflects the type of person you are. Your character and personality. Why? Because it's an identification mark on your skin.. it's a part of you. And I also think the study of moleosophy has got something to do with your zodiac sign.. so the significance or the meaning of a mole for one person might not be the same for another." Etta answered, raising a hand.

Olivia smiled at the Professor's response to her question. How... cryptic. She nodded, understanding that the Professor wanted them all to find out together and decided to say quiet and listen to the lecture. Her eyes widened when Professor Vance spoke about the meaning of moles in different locations. How interesting. So her theory DID seem to be true. Olivia's mind began running wild with all of the possibilities. Mole on the forehead meant that the person was happy and loving whereas a mole on a lip could lead to jealous tendencies in the person.

As to the Professor's question, Olivia paused, trying to determine and gather her thoughts on the matter. "Well Professor I think it does have an impact on a person's personality. If not a direct impact on the person's personality, but perhaps it has an impact on how people perceive their personality?" If that made any sense? She wasn't sure if that EVEN made ANY sense. Oh well!

Derf wasn't a seer. For every half baked experiment she'd thought up that didn't end up going well, he never seemed to have sixth sense. He didn't know She kept rats up in her dorm, he didn't know half the charts she kept by her nightstand. How did she know this? Because he wasn't currently having a meltdown and going on about his disappointment.

Derf wasn't a seer, but it was the thought that counted and right now that thought was that nothing bad would happen to Alexa. It felt better hearing someone else say it--TWO someone else's as Abey was also professing to being a seer.

Given the lack of ability in Derf, Jessa was skeptical to believe the Gryffindor either but she smiled at them both anyway, willing herself to push the less than inviting thoughts from her mind. "You're probably right." She conceded to them both. "Nothing to worry about." Trusting two Second Years to give a prediction over her own Divination Professor? Yuuuuupppppp.

Gathering herself, Jessa did her best to pay attention to the next question but found it didn't require much thought.

"No, no I don't think so. Moles are arbitrary. They just happen when skin cells cluster together rather than spreading evenly. There's no pattern and it certainly has nothing to do with who you are or what you'll become." It was like how being born in December had nothing to do with her destiny.

It was a little hard to fall for such random acts of nature, especially when there was no concrete evidence to support it.

This coming from someone who went to a magic school where everything was possible may seem strange but a line had to be drawn somewhere and she chose to draw her line at Divination.

Teddy looked at her own marks on her arms as she considered the question. "Our marks tell stories..." She began. "They could tell us about a person by just looking at them." She looked around on her self to find a scar. "Like scars, like this one, have an entire story of how it got there and a lesson. This one is reminder that I must be careful of where I'm running or I'll hurt myself again." Birthmarks must carry some sort of ancestry as well.

Listening to her tablemates' conversation and figuring out that Cambridge was upset about a prediction wasn't that hard, but it did take most of her concentration. She was a little surprised when Derf and Abey both claimed to be Seers, because Seers were super rare, weren't they? What were the odds of that? As Abey said more, though, she discovered what they meant by it and directed her words at the boys: "Oh, you mean you have good instincts?" Because of the whole sensing-danger thing. That made sense, though she wasn't sure it was really Seeing... Maybe it was like, a low level of Seeing; she hoped she'd be able to do that after studying Divination for a while too, because that would be useful.

Turning to the Ravenclaw girl, who still seemed a bit upset, she whispered to her: "My nanny said when she was here, the Divination teacher wasn't even a real Seer! And, and, real Seers can be wrong too." She had no idea if Professor Vance was a real Seer or not, of course. But it was not a good thing to upset people with predictions that might not even come true in her opinion. As Nanny said, even real Seers were not right ALL the time; and Nanny would know, because she'd been in Ravenclaw. Still, she'd lowered her voice because she didn't want to hurt the professor's feelings -- that wouldn't be right either.

Noticing what Derf was mouthing at her, she whispered back: "Body moles, Derf!" Right?

Right. The professor was talking a lot now, so Emmeline was briefly lost to frantic note-scribbling. This was actually kind of interesting, kind of scary. She really hoped that people's personalities weren't controlled by the moles on their skins, because that would be awful! If that were true, was it really evil people's fault that they did bad things if they were born with certain moles that MADE them do those things?! How could people make their own choices if moles they were born with determined stuff like that? No. Way.

Raising her hand, she said politely: "I don't think so, Professor. I mean, wouldn't that mean that we don't make our own personalities? If the moles we're born with shape those personalities when we're only babies?"

Some of her paranoia finally wearing thin, Liv decided to focus on the here and now (THIS LESSON....cause OWL-year)....and not on dinner later in the week. Hell would hath no fury like an Olivia scorned. Hmm... Anyway, Moles and beauty marks. That's where her brain would be resting for the remainder of the class. Yep, full participation from this gal.

....but... gosh, all these notes....!

Hand flying back and forth across the notebook page, the blonde kept her head down for the beginning part of Professor Vance's information dump. Firstly, because she was still annoyed at that new girl for sitting with her boyfriend/fiance (for no good reason, let's be honest), and secondly....because she did want to take her examinations seriously at the end of this term. OWL scores didn't really play much of a role in what Olivia wanted to do with her life, but... education was STILL important to her parents. She had already disappointed them with certain things, and... this was one way to make them see she could be mature about life. Grown in her decision-making. Responsible, basically.

Notes, notes, NOTES...

Again, her answer wouldn't vary much from what she'd offered before, but Junia Botros' had definitely piqued her interest. "I think Miss Junia is right, Professor." Miss Junia... Merlin, she was beginning to sound like Rooney Bronwyn, wasn't she?....... "The thing about any Divination practice is that everything is open to interpretation. So, the meaning of one's moles, depending on placement and shape, may drastically vary from person to person.... Kinda like reading someone's tea leaves, since a lot of shapes aren't 100% distinctive." No, Olivia wasn't anti!Divination. She actually quite enjoyed these lessons and learning about the majesty of reading people, but... there were some downsides to sharing too much information. "....Professor, I feel it's dangerous to tell someone who they are based upon some random dark spots on their body." She gestured back to the small Slytherin girl, intending to reaffirm her own thought process. "If you suggest someone is a certain way, then they'll behave in whatever way they've been told, because they'll genuinely think that type of behavior is ingrained in them; like a seed.... IF the person is impressionable, enough.... Like, say, Hogwarts-aged students." .....This was giving her war flashbacks to that one History of Magic lesson with the epic showdown debate between herself and Kitty Valentine. With the suggestion that people are a certain way because of whatever house they'd been sorted into. It wasn't true, of course. Olivia was WHOLLY against House stereotypes, but the sigmas were still there within some individuals.

Hmm.

"But also.... moles are usually an indication of cancer... which is known to kill people." Take THAT for what you will.

Daniel was listening to the Professor go on about something to do with moles, now this was a strange subject. He raised his hand. "Maybe if it could talk then yes, but with it being dead and not talkative, I will say no." He didn't have a clue.

His eyes widened SO much at his Gryffindor and even leaned over the table a bit in his awe. "...bromates!" he exclaimed somewhat quietly since there WAS a glass discussion of sorts going on. If he needed any more convincing it came with what Abey said next. Abey saw bad things? HE SAW GOOD THINGS! THEY BALANCED read enabled EACH OTHER!

But before he could really go into eager fellow Seer mode, along with agreeing with Jessa, the professor was talking and...er...well...he really wasn't paying attention because there was way way waaaaaaaaaaay too much being said about all this and it was really hard to concentrate.

But he was half paying attention enough to hear what Olivia had said about moles - and yes he was smart enough not to assume they were talking about creature moles, okay? - and it made him wonder...

"What happens-s-s when you have a mole removed?" he asked after raising his hand. "Does-s-s...that mean the prediction is wrong oooooooor....like...s-s-say your mole s-says you are going to win the Prophet's-s-s Million Galleon Draw...but you have it removed becaus-s-se of something...does-s-s that mean that future is-s removed TOO? Or or or...the OPPOSITE will happen s-s-since you are trying to mes-s-s-s with fate?""

Oh Dear Merlin, Sully was right .... and to top it of the Professor called her 'Sarah' ... that put Sully in a bad mood. Shouldn't a Professor of Divination know that she doesn't like to be called that ... ugh ....

"Honestly, No I don't think that moles can tell you anything. I mean how could it. Aren't they totally random?" Sully was thinking about the one on her left lower back. that was sort of ish like a star. "And can't they change with time to? Does someone's personality changes just because a mole does? Sully wasn't a huge fan of this study, not only that it was kinda gross looking at other people's moles.