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It's a frosty, but beautiful 15th of December. Up to a decimetre of fresh snow has fallen during the night, but the morning sky is clear and greets you with a pale sun glowing above as you make your way down the path from the castle to the lake bank with a few minutes to spare to 9 o'clock. The snow has encased the grounds in its snowy glittery white sheen and most of the birds that inhabit the forest and grounds have flown to warmer countries. Mr Baldvinson has cleared the path from most of the snow, but watch out so you don't slip and fall over your feet. It can be icy. I hope you've dressed warmly in winter gear or it will be an unpleasant lesson.
After coming down to the lake bank and stepping out on the snow covered sand you're immediately hit in the face by an icy wind coming from a long way out on the lake that reddens your cheeks and waters your eyes. When the wind momentarily wanes and you wish to go back up to the warm castle your eyes lands on Professor Vance that stands in a dark green long sleeved and hemmed coat and black boots next to a large fire pit where a big hearty fire is lit. The traditional fire noises greets you as you make your way over to where the Professor is standing next to the pit.
Professor Vance greets each and every one of the students with cheery smiles and head nods as she gestures with a gloved hand for them all in turn to find themselves seats on the blankets scatted out around the big fire pit. As you take a seat and let the warmth from the fire pit warm your limbs up, you notice big sacks of what looks like salt and large stacks of wood behind Professor Vance. Whatever can this lesson be about? Contemplate that as you wait and chat quietly with your peers until the lesson starts.
dream until your • dreams come true ~ Human pygmy puff
The class had filled up and it wasn't too long before the professor called the class to order. Shay had managed to position herself in a way that she hoped to conserve body heat. She was relatively warm, for now. If she had to move away from the fire.......well, that would be another story entirely.
Shay discovered that they would be learning about Pyromancy today. She delved into her brain to think of what she knew about the subject, as that was the first question. Shay raised her hand to share her fact. "One form of Pyromancy is Botanomancy. It involves the burning of plants and interpreting the fire and smoke that results from the burning. Don't tell Professor Myers I said that." Botanomancy would surely be sacrilegious to the plant man.
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Days of Potter 2023:___________________________ Which Bertie Botts Flavour Are You? You are Salt!
a bit of madness is key | miss chanandler bong | those cunning folks use any means
Haraldur greeted the students that had greeted him and returned smiles all over the place. All over it. He clasped his hands over his chest with a smile at the professor. "I was born ready, young lady!" Actually, he was born like a week late but technicalities.
He stood next to the Divination professor as she started the class and kind of, sort of zoomed out a little. He was easily distracted. And right now he was distracted by a tangled tassle hanging from his robes. He fiddled with it until the students started talking. That actually got his attention. He glanced up at the kiddos and listened in on their discussion, still fiddling with his tassle. He was never a good student. Could never sit still and often thought about other things. Like, at the moment, he couldn't help but wonder why British people ate mince pies at Christmas? What even was a mince pie?
Like a paragon of a good student; Haraldur looked deep in thought as the discussion went on around him.
Kitty said hello to the groundskeeper when he came in, but otherwise stayed silent. Honestly, she didn't know anything about Pyromancy, but she didn't want to say it. At the same time, she didn't want to pretend to know by copying someone's else's answer. So she stayed silent and listened as her classmates talked.
Kyle listened to the other answers as they went up, and he frowned as most of the answers he could think of were already given. But he did have one idea that hadn't come up yet. It had nothing to do with the flames or the smoke, however, but it was still fire-related. He raised a hand as it came to mind. "Professor, could you also interpret a divination by looking at the form of the embers in the fire?"
So... what did she know about fire divination? Not much, to be honest. While her ideas were still fresh and nobody had answered the question, Vivian raised her hand. Sorry, guys, but this was survival of the fittest. "There are many types of pyromancy, Professor, one of which is capnomancy," she shared. That was the only type she knew, anyway. LOL. But now that she had given her thought about the subject, Vivian was thinking...
"Correct Vivian! Capnomancy is a type of pyromancy that focuses on interpreting and making predictions from fire smoke." Laurel responded with a smile. Interesting that she knew of that type of divination.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Watson
Then class had begun and they were learning about Pyromancy. Fire Divination? Incredible! She had always loved the idea of being able to read messages through fire. A fact about Pyromancy. She raised her hand to offer a fact. A historical one because she felt more comfortable with that."Professor, I believe pyromancy was named a "forbidden" art, along with necromancy, during the renaissance period."
Turning her gaze to Olivia she smiled. "I'm glad to hear that you're all right and don't need to leave to see the healer." Laurel then nodded encouragingly. "You're right Olivia during the renaissance period in history pyromancy was indeed classified as a forbidden art along with necromancy, geomancy, hydromancy, palmistry and spatulamancy." Which she didn't understand but people at that time had other views then then they did now.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Erindipity
She HEARD her and knew an answer, but she was a little side tracked at the moment. But when she was able to blink a few times and look up she had a peaceful sort of smile on her face. "Pyromancy was one of the earliest forms of divination. It is thought that it was even practiced at the Temple of Athena during Greek times, " she said with a nod before turning her attention back to the flames.
Dora must have slipped in when Laurel had been going over her lesson plan. Turning to the lioness she nodded kindly. "Yes, that is true Dora. Pyromancy is one of the oldest and earliest forms of Divination that has been practiced since ancient times. Its not totally certain, but its believed yes that pyromancy was practiced at the Temple of Athena in Greek society."
Quote:
Originally Posted by Optimist.Prime
Really, she just liked the kindness that she seemed to always bestow upon her students. Hand in the air…look at the hand! Melbourne was called on finally and she just grinned, ”like Vivian mentioned there are different forms of Pyromancy! Other than Capnomancy the one I really enjoyed looking up were Alomancy and Botanomacy” she paused for a second before adding ”however…I have a question would it be safe to assume that any form of pyromancy that involves burning any item could be a form of Causinomancy? Divination by burning and casting items into the fire…because with Botanomancy and Alomancy you do tend to cast into fire which in turn would be Causinomancy…right?” sure, she was questioning things but it probably could be safe to assume that the little known form of divinations was likely a bigger blanket term for all of the pyromancy readings that involved casting things into flames.
Melbourne's hand had been up for a while and the grin that met Laurel when she cast her eyes on the lioness was warming. Thoughtfully she responded. [b]"Interesting question Melbourne! You've answered your own question I think. Causinomancy is the method where you burn things and its like Pyromancy the stem from where all the other branches/variants like Alomany, Botanomancy come from since you burn salt and plants in them."[b] Hopefully that was an easy enough description of how to look at it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by PhoenixRising
Pyromancy, how interesting. And the one that Skylar knew about was mentioned, by Vivian nonetheless, but she didn't provide much in the way of what it was, which left room for her to elaborate. "More about capnomancy," Skylar began, "It's divination by using the smoke. Whereas thin, straight smoke plumes are meant to be good omens. Larger smoke plumes means the opposite." Oops? That was kind of like three facts, but she couldn't describe one omen without the other.
Skylar chose to elaborate on what Vivian had already said earlier. Laurel looked over at the snakette and nodded "Yes, good Skylar. In Capnomancy you do interpret the smoke plumes for good and bad omens. Large smokes plumes would signify a bad omen to come." Hopefully nobody would see bad omens today.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hermygirl
Sam flashed a grin at Dora as the subject of today's lesson was confirmed. Of course it would be pyromancy, with a fire like that. And this was a topic Sam could get into. Way more fun than counting and interpreting moles! She wiggled to get more comfortable on her blanket, probably the most alert she'd ever been in a Divination lesson.
"It involves looking at the shape, size and intensity of the fire," Sam volunteered. "Sometimes after having thrown something in it, like twigs or herbs."
It seemed that the subject of the lesson had gotten liking and got everyone to be attentive and engaged. Sam was one of them. Flashing the eagle a beam Laurel nodded "Yes in the most basic form of Pyromancy you interpret the fires shape, size and intensity Sam to base your predicitions on. Depending on the type of divination reading you practice then some does involve studying the fire after throwing in twigs and herbs and those variants are called Daphnomancy and Botanomancy."
Quote:
Originally Posted by DaniDiNardo
Real smoke provoked real asthma attacks and they were quite a ways off from the Hospital Wing considering everything.
"It's considered by some to be unreliable. Those who try to divine images with the flames themselves often end up seeing different things relating to the same event so it's unclear who really has the right interpretation--if any of them do." They couldn't all be right. An event could only have so many outcomes and no more.
Why Jessa was sitting so far from the fire was curious to Laurel. Maybe it was for medical reasons? Smoke could induce asthma she knew. Focusing on the eagle girl's offered up answer she nodded kindly. "Yes, some people deem pyromancy readings to be unrealiable, but that can be said about all methods of divining our past, present and future. Everyone interprets images they see in flames or other outlets differently its a human perogrative. You can see it in the opposite way too if many people divine flames for an event and see the same things then maybe it will come true or not, right Jessa?"
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lady of Light
"It's an ancient form of divination. The shape of the flames are interpreted the way one sees them, I think? And each person would probably have a different interpretation.. I'd assume." .. and that's all she knew or could guess. At least she tried, right? That should count for something.
Etta's answer followed in the same footsteps as Jessas. Flashing a smile over in the badger prefect's direction she nodded. "You're correct Etta! Pyromancy is a very ancient form and how you interpret the flames is very individual. If the whole class were to study the large fire in our fire pit in front of us then none of us would see exactly the same images since what we might see or not depends on many other factors like knowledge, experiance, maturity and mood." Just to name a few.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NifflerFan
She flashed back to a recent Transfiguration lesson they'd had that involved smoke, but Jessa had been okay with it then. The Ravenclaw must have some problem with real smoke, and Emmeline frowned in concern.
What did she know about pyromancy? Well...: "One kind of pyromancy is looking for fire-omens, or specific signs in the flames that predict the future." Right?
Turning to the little first year lioness next she nodded "Yes good Emmaline, that'd be Capnomancy that you are referring to. It's similar to tea leaf reading where you also look for signs but in this case omens that can be more omniscient." Omens for some reason always raised more flags than usual tea leaf signs weirdly enough.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Govoni
Oh, Pyromancy..... Well, okay, yes, they couldn't very well learn about fire in a crowded classroom. The whole place would've gone up in a giant blaze of glory.
"Followers of Hephaestus were said to practice pyromancy. In the Greek pantheon, Hephaestus's power ruled over fire and the forge." Greek mythology. She was fan, sorry. They should've known what her answer was going to be... Also, she hated repeating answers, so that was something that hadn't been mentioned yet..... "Would this also make us followers of Hephaestus?"
Olivia Phillips not Holden. Laurel had to keep them apart offered up someting new that hadn't been said already. "That is correct Olivia followers of the Greek god Hephaestus were believed to have been practioners of pyromancy." Shaking her head she assured. "No, just becasue we have one lesson on pyromancy doesn't make us followers of Hephaestus at all. We're merely scraping on the surface of pyromancy and that doesn't suddenly make us followers of anything. To be called that you need to believe, study and practice something for decades."
Quote:
Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie
He should probably try to answer it...and sound mature...but the first thing to blurt out of the second year's mouth when his hand was raised was anything but that. "S-S-So...could you like...COMBINE pyromancy with like...the type of divination that uses...uuuuuuuuuuuh flatulence?" he asked by means of answering the professor's question. "Like...with blast-ended skrewts, I mean...since they toot FIRE."
Derf's question was unexpected, but not weird at all. Laurel could understand why pyromancy would make him think of blast-ended skrewts. Beaming to the young badger she said. "I suppose theoretically you could combine the two Derfael, but I don't recommend it. Too much heat might make the skrewt blast in two and i don't think you want that, right? Hear with Professor Wayland if you're really curious maybe he knows more on the subject and if it's been tested before."
Quote:
Originally Posted by SilverTiger
“I think you can use any kind of flame for pyromancy. Like, you could use a candle or something that’s lots smaller than a big bonfire,” she suggested, glancing back at Jessa with her answer too. Because candles had to make less smoke so that made them safer. Plus, she’d found herself looking at Derf again with his answer. Divination by skrewt? In a weird way it sounded like it made sense.
Stasya still had her hand up and Laurel listened to her answer. Nodding to the lioness she said "Yes, good Stasya that's an important fact. You can indeed any kind of flame for your pyromancy readings from a candle, a bonfire or even a magic induced flame from the tip of your wand."
Quote:
Originally Posted by Daydreamer11
Shay discovered that they would be learning about Pyromancy today. She delved into her brain to think of what she knew about the subject, as that was the first question. Shay raised her hand to share her fact. "One form of Pyromancy is Botanomancy. It involves the burning of plants and interpreting the fire and smoke that results from the burning. Don't tell Professor Myers I said that." Botanomancy would surely be sacrilegious to the plant man.
Smiling over Shay she almost giggled at the girl's last comment. "Professor Myers won't lose his witts because you offered up a method of Divination that involves burning plants Shay. The forbidden forest centaurs burn plants on the school grounds every other day so Professor Myers is okay with it. He probably doesn't like it but he understand why they do it."
Quote:
Originally Posted by potterobsessionist
He stood next to the Divination professor as she started the class and kind of, sort of zoomed out a little. He was easily distracted. And right now he was distracted by a tangled tassle hanging from his robes. He fiddled with it until the students started talking. That actually got his attention. He glanced up at the kiddos and listened in on their discussion, still fiddling with his tassle. He was never a good student. Could never sit still and often thought about other things. Like, at the moment, he couldn't help but wonder why British people ate mince pies at Christmas? What even was a mince pie?
When there was a little lull in the fact answers Laurel leaned closer to Haraldur and whispered quietly in his ear. [b]"Can you make the last preparations for the mini activity that's building their own fires? We'll be getting to that part in about 15 minutes."[b] She gestured meaningfully over to the big piles of wood and splinters behind them. It would occupy her co-class chaperone and would give her time to focus on the discussion.
:::
Deeming that no more answers were going to be offered up Laurel took a few step's forward and said. "Let's move on shall we. As we've estabilished we're focusing on pyromancy today and you can as Stasya said make use of any flame for pyromancy readings from candle sticks to charmed flames and fireplace fires.
Fire has always been a very important part of society and peoples lives since
ancient times. Fire divination has blossomed out in many different variants over the years like those you've all brought up in class like Capnomancy, Botanomancy and Alomancy. Here Laurel paused briefly to gather her thoughts and allow for the students to do the same.
"Incidentally Alomancy is the method of Pyromancy that will be our focus for the remainder of our lesson which is interpreting the shapes that salt make on fire coals. Salt is belived by both muggles and magical folk to have magical properties and can be used for magical protection, purification and blessing rituals. Many muggles sees this as superstitious and therefore i wonder can you all recall any salt supersititons or uses that you've heard of at home?"
OOC: Give one salt supersition or salt use each. All answers are accepted both right and wrong. Have fun with it! Class will continue roughly around 24 hours from this post with the mini activity.
"This may seem like an odd one," Kyle started after raising his hand, "But I remember it was believed that salt could keep a malevolent ghost at bay. For instance, a salt circle around you or your bed could keep ghosts from attacking you."
Ability is nothing without Opportunity | | Creativity is Intelligence having FUN
Ohhh they get to play with fiyaaah today. Is that why Professor Groundskeeper is also here? Although really he'd want Professor H to always be with their classes anyways because FUN dude is FUN!
But oh now what does he do superstion-y with salt "I sometimes throw the excess salt over my shoulder Professor.... says its for good luck?"
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Huh, the groundskeeper hadn't caught her glances at him. Well fine then, she'd just sit over here, warming herself. Also, it seemed Capnomancy, while a type of fire divination, wasn't what they would be talking about today. Pity, they could have utilized TWO lessons with one, by interpreting the smoke patterns and then transfiguring it to daggers.
Instead they were going to be talking about salt shapes on fire coals, which did sound as if there was more substance to it than the smoke interpretations, which only had two... maybe three.
First though, salt superstitions. She had one, which the Gryffindor Prefect kind of mentioned, and got a nod at ... "As Tenacius said, the salt throwing thing, I've heard of, is to counteract when you spill salt. It's been said that spilling salt is an evil and unlucky omen, so to counteract it, you're supposed to use your right hand to throw salt over your left shoulder." So specific, thinking about it. Like you couldn't use your left hand over your right shoulder, but right to left. And they made a big deal over crying over spilled milk; that didn't have any negative connotations, did it?
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___________________You should take your littlefinger and just point it in the mirror. ________________________________________Baby, maybe you're the problem✯
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As he usually did during Divination, Kane remained quiet, scribbling his notes down and looking up occasionally to make sure he got everything down that he needed to. Onto the next question...salt? Kane only knew one thing about it, which was kind of already touched on, but whatever.
He raised his hand. "Salt is supposed to protect you from demons or something. You make a circle around yourself and stay in there and they can't get to you," he explained. Which just didn't make ANY sense. Did the demons have high blood pressure? Like, why would SALT keep them away?
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SPOILER!!: Professor Vance
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nordic Witch
Deeming that no more answers were going to be offered up Laurel took a few step's forward and said. "Let's move on shall we. As we've estabilished we're focusing on pyromancy today and you can as Stasya said make use of any flame for pyromancy readings from candle sticks to charmed flames and fireplace fires.
Fire has always been a very important part of society and peoples lives since
ancient times. Fire divination has blossomed out in many different variants over the years like those you've all brought up in class like Capnomancy, Botanomancy and Alomancy. Here Laurel paused briefly to gather her thoughts and allow for the students to do the same.
"Incidentally Alomancy is the method of Pyromancy that will be our focus for the remainder of our lesson which is interpreting the shapes that salt make on fire coals. Salt is belived by both muggles and magical folk to have magical properties and can be used for magical protection, purification and blessing rituals. Many muggles sees this as superstitious and therefore i wonder can you all recall any salt supersititons or uses that you've heard of at home?"
OOC: Give one salt supersition or salt use each. All answers are accepted both right and wrong. Have fun with it! Class will continue roughly around 24 hours from this post with the mini activity.
They would be focusing on Alomancy in today's lesson. Fascinating. She began writing in her notebook. Salt. It is believed to have magical properties and can be used for purification, blessing rituals, and magical protection. When Professor Vance asked them to give some salt superstitions or a salt use, Olivia paused. Well there was throwing salt over your shoulder.... And then Ace had already said that answer. Yes and... Then Skylar added to Ace's point. Yep, yep, all true. If you spilled salt, then it was only right to throw some over your shoulder so that you wouldn't be jinxed with bad luck forever and ever.
Didn't his Dad give his brother a salt shaker when he moved into his new flat? Olivia had found it odd at the time..... But what had her Dad said? She mused, running through all the options of what he possibly could say, ranging from bad Dad jokes to Dad jokes and then to the occasional pearl of wisdom. Aha! "Salt is supposed to bring prosperity. When people move to new homes, sometimes people will give them salt as a gift." Or at least that's what her father did.
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Ah look…the groundskeeper was joining them. Cassie made a note of that fact and wondered if that was because they were on the grounds period or another reason. They’d find out soon enough she supposed. Real soon, seeing as Professor Vance answered the question in her acknowledgement of the man’s presence. Interesting…just made the Ravenclaw more curious as to what they would be doing for the lesson this cool blustery day,
Pyromancy…divination with fire.
Cool!
Not familiar with it, at least more than could be assumed and or mentioned by her classmates, Cass kept quiet as she listened. The majority of the attention of her gaze captured by the flickering flames. Though as further types of divination were mentioned as branches of the original pyromancy, the fifth year dragged her eyes back to the woman. Alomancy…fire and salt. Another interesting concept. At the question, Cassie tried to think of something to give. “I believe salt was seen as sacred and used in religious rites and ceremonies,” which when the Ravenclaw thought about it, probably included divination.
Kitty raised her hand. "I've read Muggle fantasies where salt can be used to burn the skin off goblins. Additionally, a circle of salt was supposed to protect anyone inside from demons/goblins/fairies. Something that is NOT just a legend however is the fact that if you put salt in the ground, that makes it hard for plants to grow there."
"The reason why is because an inner layer of tissue in the branching roots that anchor most types of plants are sensitive to salt, and when exposed activates a stress hormone, which stops root growth - basically stopping the plant from growing at all."
dream until your • dreams come true ~ Human pygmy puff
So now she knew what specific area of Pyromancy they would be focusing on. They would be learning about Alomancy today. Shay was curious to see how this would play out. Divination was interesting. It seemed that you could use just about anything when it came to Divination. Salt? Okay. Before they could see how to interpret salt shapes, there were questions to be answered.
Shay raised her hand to tell one thing that she knew about salt. "Some people pour salt into a cup or dish and place it in a corner of there home. It's supposed to bring them good luck." She wasn't exactly sure exactly where she'd heard that, but she knew it was definitely a thing.
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Days of Potter 2023:___________________________ Which Bertie Botts Flavour Are You? You are Salt!
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nordic Witch
When there was a little lull in the fact answers Laurel leaned closer to Haraldur and whispered quietly in his ear. [b]"Can you make the last preparations for the mini activity that's building their own fires? We'll be getting to that part in about 15 minutes."[b] She gestured meaningfully over to the big piles of wood and splinters behind them. It would occupy her co-class chaperone and would give her time to focus on the discussion.
:::
Deeming that no more answers were going to be offered up Laurel took a few step's forward and said. "Let's move on shall we. As we've estabilished we're focusing on pyromancy today and you can as Stasya said make use of any flame for pyromancy readings from candle sticks to charmed flames and fireplace fires.
Fire has always been a very important part of society and peoples lives since
ancient times. Fire divination has blossomed out in many different variants over the years like those you've all brought up in class like Capnomancy, Botanomancy and Alomancy. Here Laurel paused briefly to gather her thoughts and allow for the students to do the same.
"Incidentally Alomancy is the method of Pyromancy that will be our focus for the remainder of our lesson which is interpreting the shapes that salt make on fire coals. Salt is belived by both muggles and magical folk to have magical properties and can be used for magical protection, purification and blessing rituals. Many muggles sees this as superstitious and therefore i wonder can you all recall any salt supersititons or uses that you've heard of at home?"
Collecting her calm and attention to listen to Professor Vance, Vivian looked up and nodded at her Head of House discussed more about pyromancy. And they were going to focus more on alomancy, which was another of the types of the fire divination that involved the use of salt. Sounded quite interesting, though. But they were asked for salt superstitions? Vivian blinked, because she absolutely didn't know any. Maybe, yeah, salt was a subject for superstitions back in the old times... but not today, apparently. Though, while she listened, some of the other students apparently still believed in them.
Right... she was too silent for this lesson. Despite missing Andrei a lot, the Slytherin better than to let her emotions control her, especially during today's lesson that was being taught by no other than her own Head of House.
Running out of superstitions she knew, Vivian raised her hand anyway. "Not a superstition, Professor, but rather a use of salt..." she started speaking. "A salt and water solution is usually used by some Muggles to make their skin wrinkle-free and moisturised." She didn't believe in that, to be honest. But she's never tried it either. After all, she thought her skin was pretty enough and she was YOUNG, no doubt.
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It's so magical, feeling that no one's got a hold_______________________________ ___________________________________And the whole wide world is whistling...
So her first answer had ended up being the same as someone else's. Oops. She hadn't known that fire omens were the same thing as that C-word branch of pyromancy, but Professor Vance didn't seem mad that she'd repeated the answer.
Emmeline was trying to keep track of this lesson, but the professor was using a lot of terms today. She supposed she should have leafed through the textbook before the lesson, but oh well. It was too late now. Using salt to look for omens along with the fire made the first year even more skeptical than usual in Divination. Nanny said that all that spilled salt being unlucky stuff wasn't true, which meant that salt was just...salt. How could it tell the future with just a normal fire? Maybe if it was a magical fire she'd be more inclined to believe in its success... Divination just seemed kind of imprecise to the first year.
She did know a legend about salt that hadn't been said yet, though! Raising her hand, the first year responded: "If you take a pocket full of sea salt on a new journey, it's supposed to bring you good luck."
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Jessa caught the smile Olivia had offered and returned it without really knowing what it was for. She thought to question it--in fact she did, no helping that, just not aloud.
She nodded at Emmeline's question, both confirming she was fine and that the smoke was her reason for opting to remain standing where she was. Cold was a problem in itself but not with warming charms to prevent uncomfortable wheezing. Smoke, when not magical, was different. The young girl was currently trying to remember if they'd learned any siphoning spells for smoke when Derf showed up asking if she'd like him to cast the bubblehead charm on her,
Suffice to say, it would be a very cold day in hell before Jessa gave Derf permission to cast on her outside of an experiment that called for experimental or questionable magic. It was worth the risk there, but not for a simple lesson. This wasn't to say Derf was TERRIBLE but that he was sometimes....overzealous.....and lacked concentration....and she didn't wanna know how that could go wrong in the region that contained her face.
He was on to something though! "Good idea." Always best to start with praise, left people feeling less discouraged. "Think I'll do the casting though. Thanks." And so she did. Her bubblehead charm wouldn't last the hour, not in her experience with it but she supposed she'd have to reapply it somewhere later on.
With the mask of sorts over her face, she gestures Stasya and Emmeline who'd stopped by her, closer to the fire as she too moved closer. Also...had the Professor basically just confirmed that all branches of Divination could be deemed false? That's all she heard in the middle of trying to sort through this proper breathing thing. "Some muggles think if you spill salt you'll have seven years of bad luck." Which seemed an equally silly idea to her. How did spilling one bottle of salt change the outcome of your life for the next seven years?
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astronomizzle ♧ gryffinDORK | & the rest is drag ♣ #badluckDerf
Okay...but JESSA...just trying to be helpful here...but he knew she was right. Chances were he would transfigure her head into a bubble on accident rather than create one AROUND her. And now he could NOT get the image out of his head. Jessa Cambridge...with a translucent bubble for a head...
...such thoughts were probably why he was left utterly confused with what the professor had said in response to his question cause...huh? Derf wasn't entiiiiiiiiiirely sure he understood what Professor Vance was getting at in her reply to him. Extra heat? He hadn't meant like...putting one of the creatures over the FIRE or anything. They TOOTED fire...
But anyway...they were moving along and Derf was not distracted by thoughts of salt. Which...well...he knew it was always on the table at dinner time? But what else... OH! "Some magizoologists say that the saltiness of water is an indicator of just how aggressive the merpeople living in said water are!"
Which...well...didn't help with fire at all since merpeople lived in WATER and those two elements just made steam when combined. Mostly.
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When you’re stuck in a moment and your spark has been stolen .................................................. ........... this is our time to own it, so own it..................................... baby we were born withfire and gold in our eyes
Zombie Apocalypse Team Leader ★ ★ in a crown of pepperoni and artisan cheese
Grinning at Kyle and Kane, Olivia was painfully reminded of the muggle film, Hocus Pocus...and the words 'clever little white witch'. This wasn't at all surprising given that she had muggle grandparents who enjoyed spoiling their grandchildren with these types of things....and it doubly amused her that they were talking about SALT....because Hogwarts kids were super salty. All the salt. High sodium diets for everyone.
However, her answer was going to be a more practical use since she thought her classmates has covered everything else. And what was more helpful, her mother used salt for all types of things around the house. Swore by it, really. "My mother uses it to clean red wine stains out of our napkins....and to sprinkle on our driveway when it snows. So that we don't fall and hurt ourselves leaving the house." Sure, there was always magic to help with those types of things, but her mum was funny about using her wand for every little situation. Olivia liked to think that doing things in a muggle way helped her mum stay grounded, after everything she'd been through.
Eh, Liv wouldn't know. She wasn't of age and couldn't use hers outside of school. "I like salt in my food." High sodium diet.
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So very pretty, and we sure know how to run things..._______________________________ Livin' in ruins of a palace, within our dreams...____________
We're on each other's team._____
"This may seem like an odd one," Kyle started after raising his hand, "But I remember it was believed that salt could keep a malevolent ghost at bay. For instance, a salt circle around you or your bed could keep ghosts from attacking you."
Young Kyle of Slytherin offered up the first superstition. Looking over to him Professor Vance nodded encouragingly. "Yes that's an old superstition amongst muggles since ghosts to them are very maleovent and scary. Muggles have through the centuries cast salt around their beds believing that it's protective properties would keep them safe while they slept from being attacked by ghosts." Which you could wonder if it actually did protect them or not?
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Originally Posted by Steelsheen
Ohhh they get to play with fiyaaah today. Is that why Professor Groundskeeper is also here? Although really he'd want Professor H to always be with their classes anyways because FUN dude is FUN!
But oh now what does he do superstion-y with salt "I sometimes throw the excess salt over my shoulder Professor.... says its for good luck?"
Tenacious hand shot up next like a bolt and Laurel smiled over at the prefect affirming. "Yes, you're correct Tenacious if you throw excess salt over your left shoulder then its said to bring you good luck. Have you had any good luck lately?" She wondered curiously. Was there some truth to it or not?
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Originally Posted by PhoenixRising
First though, salt superstitions. "As Tenacius said, the salt throwing thing, I've heard of, is to counteract when you spill salt. It's been said that spilling salt is an evil and unlucky omen, so to counteract it, you're supposed to use your right hand to throw salt over your left shoulder." So specific, thinking about it. Like you couldn't use your left hand over your right shoulder, but right to left. And they made a big deal over crying over spilled milk; that didn't have any negative connotations, did it?
Skylar followed after Tenacious elaborating on the supersition that he had brought up about good luck salt just a minute or two earlier. Turning her gaze to the snakette Laurel said smiling. "Interesting thoughts Skylar! Spilling salt can definitley be seen as an evil or unlucky omen by some people. It's entirely possible that throwing salt over your left shoulder with your right hand would counteract that supersitition Skylar and lead to good luck instead. Unfortunatley I don't know if that's ever been proven to be true." Most superstitions were based on fiction and not facts.
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Originally Posted by Lissy Longbottom
He raised his hand. "Salt is supposed to protect you from demons or something. You make a circle around yourself and stay in there and they can't get to you," he explained. Which just didn't make ANY sense. Did the demons have high blood pressure? Like, why would SALT keep them away?
Kane raised his voice next and brought up demons. Gaze turning to the badger Laurel said kindly. "Salt has magical protective properties Kane and some muggles mainly think that staying in a salt circle will protect against all maleovent demons and ghosts. If that has proven to work for those people I cannot say but its a widespread and believed superstition."
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Originally Posted by Watson
She mused, running through all the options of what he possibly could say, ranging from bad Dad jokes to Dad jokes and then to the occasional pearl of wisdom. Aha! "Salt is supposed to bring prosperity. When people move to new homes, sometimes people will give them salt as a gift." Or at least that's what her father did.
Olivia of the lions spoke next offering up a more household supersition on might call it. Glancing over to her Laurel beamed."Yes, salt is said to bring good luck and prosperity Olivia. So giving new home owners a salt cellar for good prosperity as a gift is not bad at all and can if you believe be as good as say giving flowers or chocolate." The more traditional gifts for wishing someone well.
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Originally Posted by Holmesian Feline
Though as further types of divination were mentioned as branches of the original pyromancy, the fifth year dragged her eyes back to the woman. Alomancy…fire and salt. Another interesting concept. At the question, Cassie tried to think of something to give. “I believe salt was seen as sacred and used in religious rites and ceremonies,” which when the Ravenclaw thought about it, probably included divination.
Cassie offered up a salt use as opposed to all the supersitions her peers had offered up before her. Gazing over at the eagle Laurel nodded with a smile "Yes, that good Cassie salt has been used since ancient times and is still used sometimes i believe in religious rites and ceremonies and is seen as sacred and not just a spice to sprinkle over food."
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Originally Posted by Goblinfrog
Kitty raised her hand. "I've read Muggle fantasies where salt can be used to burn the skin off goblins. Additionally, a circle of salt was supposed to protect anyone inside from demons/goblins/fairies. Something that is NOT just a legend however is the fact that if you put salt in the ground, that makes it hard for plants to grow there."
"The reason why is because an inner layer of tissue in the branching roots that anchor most types of plants are sensitive to salt, and when exposed activates a stress hormone, which stops root growth - basically stopping the plant from growing at all."
Prefect Kitty gave her opinion next and bringing up salts effect on plant growth. Smiling over at the eagle she nooded "Yes, kitty salt can both be protective against fairies and the like, but also be hindersome for plant growth and too much salt can lead to plant death. I'm not an expert on how exactly salt effects the plants roots and in what way that's a matter you'll have to discuss further with Professor Myers." He was the resident plant expert after all.
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Originally Posted by Daydreamer11
Shay raised her hand to tell one thing that she knew about salt. "Some people pour salt into a cup or dish and place it in a corner of there home. It's supposed to bring them good luck." She wasn't exactly sure exactly where she'd heard that, but she knew it was definitely a thing.
Shay sounded her voice causing Laurel to turn her blue-eyed gaze to the lioness and said [b]"Yes, Shay some people do put salt in cups or dishes that they place in corners around their home and some even go as far a pouring out the actual salt in the corners on the floor to increase the chance of getting good luck."[b] Which to her was weird but everyone could do what they wanted if it made them feel more safe and at ease.
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Originally Posted by Kimothy
Running out of superstitions she knew, Vivian raised her hand anyway. "Not a superstition, Professor, but rather a use of salt..." she started speaking. "A salt and water solution is usually used by some Muggles to make their skin wrinkle-free and moisturised." She didn't believe in that, to be honest. But she's never tried it either. After all, she thought her skin was pretty enough and she was YOUNG, no doubt.
Wrinkle free skin, it was slightly odd to hear that from a young girl with pretty skin but maybe her mother used or she had seen it in a shop. Beaming over at Vivian she responded. "Yes, thats correct Vivian salt is a common ingredient found in skin solutions since it properties helps with cleansing pores and smoothing out the skin from wrinkles."
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Originally Posted by NifflerFan
Maybe if it was a magical fire she'd be more inclined to believe in its success... Divination just seemed kind of imprecise to the first year. She did know a legend about salt that hadn't been said yet, though! Raising her hand, the first year responded: "If you take a pocket full of sea salt on a new journey, it's supposed to bring you good luck."
Emmaline hopped on the good luck train too. Smiling over at the young lioness Laurel nodded "Yes, Emmaline bringing salt on a journey can be wise since it is supposed to bring you good luck, and on a journey you would definitley need some luck to have a good and successful holiday." Depending on holiday location and whatnot.
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Originally Posted by DaniDiNardo
That's all she heard in the middle of trying to sort through this proper breathing thing. "Some muggles think if you spill salt you'll have seven years of bad luck." Which seemed an equally silly idea to her. How did spilling one bottle of salt change the outcome of your life for the next seven years?
Turning to Jessa last that still had her hand waving in the air Laurel nodded "Yes, that is true Jessa, that is what some muggles believe. It seems like a steep punishment I must admist for spilling some salt, but it might have to do with the fact that 7 is also a magical number. But I'm guessing here since superstitions are pretty far fetched."
:::
While the discussion went on Laurel had been walking around the fire pit amongst the student blankets. It was to keep herself from becoming cold from standing still and also to hear the students thoughts better since the fire was crackling quite loudly.
Rounding Haraldur she retook her position in the students line of sight for some simple summarization of what had come up and to move along. "There are countless superstitions about salt out there and some are easier to believe and take to heart than others which i think we can all agree on. The most popular supersition that many of you have brought up today is the one that salt brings good luck and prosperity. It could be something to test out here at school. You could sprinkle some salt in your dorms and see if you get any good luck afterwards." If they wanted to. It wasn't mandatory.
"Now then let's get practical and get you all off your blankets so you don't get too cold while sitting still plus aren't you all excited to get to do your own pyromancy readings? In preparation for our main activity I want you all to build and start your own fires in the little fire pits i've dug out in the sand around us for you all to use. They are dug out in a circle about two meters out from our center bonfire pit. [/
Before you get to work I've asked Mr Baldvinsson to give you all a demonstration on how to build your fires with the wood, splinters, tools provided and of course your wands." Laurel then looked over to Haraldur to signal him to start.
OOC: Mini activity is up! In essense you are going to like Laurel instructed build your characters own fire in their own chosen fire pit with the use of the wood clubs provided and then igniting the fire using the Incendio charm that has a sharp upwards and then downwards motion. Mr Baldvinssons (potterobessionst) post in conjunction to this will demonstrate how they should do it.
There is no post requirement. You can do it in as few or as many posts that you want. If you have questions then please state it in your post tiles or I might miss them. You have approx 36 hours to complete the mini activity before i announce/set the main practical on saturday around 1pm GMT+2.
a bit of madness is key | miss chanandler bong | those cunning folks use any means
What? No, he hadn't dozed off! Mince pies required thinking with his eyes closed. Eh, who was he kidding, he hadn't had any breakfast yet because of the snow covering... Literally everything. Except the fire pits!
"All right, kids, you heard professor Vance! Gather around, gather aroundd." The groundskeeper waited for the students to inch closer. "Yes, yes, yes. OK, not too close. You want to keep all your eyebrows, right? So let's make a fire!" The groundskeeper crouched down in front of one of the fire pits.
"Place the smaller splinters in the middle and build a cone-shaped, tipi-looking structure with the bigger wooden clubs around it. Like so." La dee da! Haraldur stepped back and brought out his wand from inside his fur coat. "Better stand back for this, children." Let's keep those fur coats and feathers out of harms way. "With one sharp motion up, and one downwards motion with your wand, utter the incantation 'Incendio'. Watch me..." He held his wand out, pointed at the fire pit and motioned his wand up and then down. "Incendio." Sparks erupted from his wand only to land in the pit, setting the splinters on fire, it sparked for a few seconds before the flame started to lick the larger wooden clubs.
SUCCESS!
Anything else would have been embarrassing with so many kiddos there watching him. "There's more material, should you need it. And, eh, try not to set each other on fire." No human torches today.
Sam hadn't actually heard of any salt superstitions or uses other than in her food and discouraging slugs, so she'd sat quietly alternating between warming her hands in fire and writing notes.
As for salt in her dorm? Eh, probably not, Professor Vance, luck or not. It sounded messy, was only likely to be ingested by her rat, Olly, and not at all scientific. Unless, of course, she could find a control of some sort. Maybe she should ask Jessa; she seemed experimentally minded.
And then for the awesome bit. They were going to build their own fires! She was pretty sure that Dora needed no lessons in this, but all the same Sam gathered round to watch the Groundskeeper's demonstration.
"What sorta wood is it, Mr Balvinsson?" she asked as his flame flickered into life. Some woods burned faster than others, no? And if she were actually able to See anything in the flames, or if anyone could, for that matter, then she was curious whether the wood had an effect, or just what you threw into it.
curly haired prefect - "sometimes I get angry!" - 30/90 - *chicken emoji* - probably @ Disney - I speak dog
UGHHHHH. Building a fire? Kane was NOT a fan. There was a reason he never went camping. The only fires he was a fan of were the bonfires at the beach in California, which always just...inexplicably showed up with a huge crowd of people. Still, because he did NOT want to burn off his eyebrows, he watched with interest as the groundskeeper got to work. Not too bad, he could handle that.
He took the small splinters, just as instructed, and began to build his little tent looking fire pit. The larger pieces were easier, and once he got those up, the smaller pieces rested nicely next to them. Huh. He was actually good at this. Now for the FUN part, actually starting the fire!
He picked up his wand and cleared his throat. He then moved his wand up and then down, just as Balvinsson had done, and muttered "Incendio!" as he did so. It took a few seconds, and a few sparks, before the fire began to burn where he had aimed, and the wood slowly started to burn and his fire was fully underway. Nice!
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I'm still standin'________________________________________ better than I ever did
Lookin' like a true survivor_________________________________feelin' like a little kid
Slytherindor ♛ The Crazytastic Besties ♛ Shan Watson ♛
Olivia had followed the groundskeeper over to the demonstration yet took a few steps away from the fire pit and him. Safety first, she thought. She was definitely glad to be a couple paces away because she did NOT want to lose her eyebrows. Merlin. That'd be awful. Though this task of starting a fire did seem doable.
After watching the demonstration, she set about grabbing a variety of wood splints (small, medium, and large) and then placed them on the ground. Alright. She had to make the structure that the Groundskeeper had showed them. It was like a house tent or tent house? Come shaped tipi looking structure.... Crouching down, she set up the structure with the smallest splints in the middle and the larger ones surrounding it. Okay. It looked good. Yes. Yes.
Then she readied her wand. Incendio. With her wand pointed at the wooden structure in the fire pit, she confidently moved her wand up and then sharply down, "Incendio!"
Had anything happened? Olivia was about to take a step closer when she saw a few sparks. Those sparks soon turned into a small flame that began slowly devouring the wood beside it. Perfect! Fire built. She had some chance of surviving in the woods on her own.
They had to build a fire. Interesting. Etta made her way over to where the groundskeeper was but obviously, like he'd said, she decided to stand a safe distance away. She really couldn't risk getting her eyebrows or hair burnt. She folded her arms and watched, already feeling the cold. Ugh. Once this class was over, she was heading straight to the kitchens for a cup of hot chocolate. She really felt like having some right now.
Once the groundskeeper was done with his demonstration, she walked over to one of the nearby fire pits and crouched down. What had he said again? Small splinters in the middle and bigger ones around it. She collected the pieces of wood as required and sat down by the pit again, arranging the small splinters neatly in the middle before surrounding it with bigger pieces. Hmm. It did look cone-shaped, didn't it? Now, moving on to the next step.
She held out her wand, pointing it at the fire pit before before moving it up and then quickly down. "Incendio." .. had it worked? She peeked into the pit and.. there it was. A couple of sparks before the fire slowly began to burn. She tucked her wand inside and stood close to the pit for warmth, waiting for the professor to proceed to the next activity.
Kimothée Chalamet • The UWU Agenda • Once Baby, Now Trouble • All Growed Up
Building a fire? Vivian knew how to do that! In fact, her parents thought her how, before. Since she was underage, she obviously wasn't allowed to conjure fire during camping and hiking. So yeah, she knew quite some information about creating a useful bonfire. However, she still went to gather around and observe how to build one from the Groundskeeper, Mr. Baldvinsson. Once the demonstration was finished, Vivian went to pick up her materials and chose a fire-pit a little bit near where Professor Vance was.
After settling down on her place, Vivian took the smaller splinters and placed them at the middle of her pit. With the bigger pieces of wood, Vivian held them together from the tip and positioned them to resemble a tent. See? That was simple. With that finished, the Slytherin stood up and moved backwards a little before sending an "Incendio!" with the wand movement thingy at her cluster of wood.
And there it was, her bonfire was set ablaze. She quietly thought that, if Andrei were around, maybe she'd let him do that fire-taming thing he liked to do. Would have been really interesting to see.
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It's so magical, feeling that no one's got a hold_______________________________ ___________________________________And the whole wide world is whistling...
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Divination Lesson 2 - Pyromancy 
x5
x3
All answers are accepted both right and wrong. Have fun with it! Class will continue roughly around 24 hours from this post with the mini activity. 
Yeah thats what crazy is, when its broken you say theres nothing to fix++++++++++++++++++++
