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On this mild, September night you find yourself heading out to the lake for your lesson on the Divine Arts. The path you take is illuminated by blue bell flames, a precaution to ensure no one arrives late with the excuse they'd gotten lost. Such an excuse wouldn't be tolerated, even without the help of the magical fire. Consider yourselves lucky, Fletcher has decided to be generous.
Out by the lake, the Professor stands by what appears to be a large bonfire. Around the fire, is a ring, an age line if you will, ensuring only he could get within a certain distance of the flames. This was him not trusting in the students ability to understand safety on their own. There would be that one kid who wanted to have a close enough look to burn his retinas--and his face long before his inner eye had a chance to suffer that damage.
Not on his watch.
Also surrounding the fire are log seats that seat, up to three students. They all have your names on them, sit out of place and you may find yourself unable to sit for a while, but not in the way you might so rightly be thinking.
Come with your ready minds and leave the roughhousing and lollygagging back in the castle.
OOC: Welcome to the first Divination lesson of the term! I'll be moving the class along in 24 hrs so come on in and get comfy. Just keep in mind the Professor's rules and your character should be fine....or don't
As if Abra's nerves were not already shot as it was what with sitting with his eyes closed in the dark, the events of the lesson were really getting to him. He couldn't imagine daring to defy Fletcher right now, not necessarily because of points or his badge - though he knew he would be upset about losing either - or because he knew he couldn't manage the push-ups the professor was asking for, but because it really seemed easier to just sit down and shut up and get on with what he was supposed to be doing. Maybe that was wrong, in a way, just accepting what was happening and doing nothing, but aside from all the punishments, following the actual class rules wasn't really so bad, or so difficult. And anyway, open defiance wasn't really Abra's style. He... wasn't actually sure that any sort of defiance was really his style, actually, other than 'unintentional'.
Well, Abra had seen no identifiable shape in the fire so far, but felt that the longer he sat there staring into the flames, the more obvious it would become that he hadn't easily made out a shape. So, he gave up. It surely wouldn't be too difficult to make something up and go with it, and hope that nobody else was any the wise. Unless Fletcher was a legilimens or something, in which case... yikes.
Trying to ignore the intensity of the anxiety currently twisting up his insides, Abra returned to his seat, set his textbook on his knees as a makeshift desk, and his parchment on top of that. He had one of his Spell-Checking Quills with him for class, but decided it would probably be a good idea to not mention that to the strict professor. As for his symbol, Abra went for an easy one, one he didn't even need to decipher textbook for (always a plus), and one that would give him a nice answer to his question - because that was totally how Divination worked. The best part was that the symbol he had in mind was something that was even made of flame, which kind of made him feel a little more secure in pretending he had seen it in a fire.
After drawing a small, slightly wonky picture of a sun symbol, Abra set to work on his interpretation, frowning in concentration and squinting at his parchment, because the light of the fire was not brilliantly easy to work by. Once he was finished, Abra read over his work repeatedly, already stressing that there was something wrong with it or that it simply wasn't good enough, making small additions and corrections here and there. Some minutes had passed before he finally convinced himself that the best thing to do was just hand the parchment in and have it be out of his hands, and that was what Abra did. He gave his work to Professor Fletcher, hands shaking slightly because his anxiety still hadn't had the decency to leave him alone, returned to his seat, and waited. Quietly. Jittery, but quietly.
Quote:
Abra Botros
Gryffindor
Sixth year
Symbol seen: Sun Symbol's meaning: happiness, success, power Interpretation: My question was about how my cousin Junia is doing. She graduated last year and is off at university now so I wanted to know if things are okay with her. Seeing the sun means that probably she is happy doing what she's doing, and is having success studying and doing well. I don't know about the power thing, but happiness and success is empowering so maybe it's that.
__________________
Days of Potter 2023:___________________________ Which Bertie Botts Flavour Are You? You are Chocolate!
Otter This World ♡ Catpurrccino ♡ Slotherin ♡ Pandamonium
With the picture of the broken wheel firmly in her mind, Rylee took a step back from the fire and turned around to walk back to seat to finish her assignment. That was at least until she heard her brother continue to mouth off to the professor. Sure she didn't agree with the rules that were currently in effect now or most of the new changes or how a lot of her fellow peers were being treated but sometimes you just needed to know when to zip your lip. Reese didn't know when to do that. Or well he did but he wouldn't.
Rylee sucked in a breath and shot her brother a look. Even more points lost for Hufflepuff. How much was that now? Points weren't a big deal but she was positive his house wasn't going to be happy with him. She was seriously tempted to walk over and put her hand over his mouth like a small child and tell him to shush up already. Knowing him though, Mister Stubborn, he would only end up snapping at her and end up getting them both into trouble.
Shaking her head she returned to her seat and pulled out textbook, parchment and quill.
Quote:
Name: Rylee Prichard
Year: 3rd
House: Gryffindor
Symbol: Broken Wheel (drew a rather decent broken wheel a the top of the parchment)
Meaning: Disappointment
From the question I had asked it seems like a decent answer as the outcome hasn't been what I was hoping for anyhow. While the outcome could have been much better it could have also been much more worse as well.
Returning her textbook and quill to her bag, Rylee got up and handed completed assignment to professor Fletcher without a word before returning to her seat once again and waiting until the lesson was over.
__________________
Days of Potter 2023:___________________________ Which Bertie Botts Flavour Are You? You are Bread!
urine trouble | Pat's Strong Confident Other Half | Pees Like a Champion Unicorn Racehorse
........ Uh..... record and interpret?!
Lucas bit his lip as he continued looking at the fence thing that was in the fire. It wasn't the recording part that worried him, it was the interpreting part. Because what was he going to make out of this?! That he needed to be careful in Herbology? That he should take up a hobby in gardening?!
No thank you.
The boy grabbed a spare piece of parchment and the textbook to rest his parchment on and started drawing away. It was..... a weird and wonky drawing but he was sure that he was getting the shape right. Because how hard was it to draw some rectangles and triangles and make it look like a fence? Not very.
When he was done, Lucas headed back to his seat and was going to start the process of looking for a meaning for a fence when something caught his attention. Looking up, he glanced between the Professor man and a..... Hufflepuff. A student who looked not much older than he did, who was arguing with the Professor. He almost felt scared for the boy because he was sure that the Professor was not going to take this nicely and was probably going to do something very me-
.......
And....... there it was.
His jaw dropped. A hundred and fifty points? A HUNDRED AND FIFTY?! Woah. Just...... woah.
Was it time to leave, yet?
Biting his lip again, he tried to turn his attention back to the textbook and what he was meant to be doing instead of..... whatever was going on over there. Maybe the sooner he finished this task, the sooner he could leave and not have to think about any of...... this. It was this thought that made him flip through the pages quickly until he landed on the right one on pyromancy and the meanings behind the symbols. He ran a finger down the list until he came to.....
...... Oh. Oh.
Well this was.... odd. Limitations, minor setbacks, not permanent?! It..... wasn't a good or a bad thing, was it? Well, actually, if he thought about it, it was a bad thing because no one wanted to be set back, did they? But..... not permanent. That was something, right? Like when it was raining too much and you can't go and pick flowers for your mum but there was also a rainbow, which was nice to see. Yeah, like that.
Now. Interpretation.
Quote:
Name: Lucas Dakest
Year: First
House: Gryffindor
Symbol: Fence
Meaning: limitations, minor setbacks, not permanent
Interpretation:
This is a bit hard because I did keep thinking about what question I'm going to ask and my mind kept wandering from this to being Gryffindor and starting Hogwarts. That's all that's been on my mind lately: finally being here. So coming up with a meaning behind this is a bit difficult because there's no clear question but I think I've got it. What the symbol is trying to tell me is that I'm going to face setbacks. That something is going to keep me from doing what I need or what I want from this school, which is a little annoying because this doesn't really tell me what is setting me back, just that something is setting me back. It's like a Remembrall, which tells you that you've forgotten something but not what you've forgotten. It's a bit silly, really.
But the question was also about me so maybe that means that there's something about me that's setting me back. Which, if that's true, would be very annoying and maybe the hardest challenge. I'd rather something else setting me back instead of myself. How do you change yourself?
There's a lot of different ways this could go so maybe this means that I have to figure out what that something is that's setting me back and overcome it because the fence symbol also says that all of this is not permanent. So there's hope, still.
150 points from Hufflepuff??!?!?! Noble was going to flip! On whom, Lucas didn't know. There was an equal case for both the kid AND Professor Meehhh-er. He just didn't see Noble getting on at all with Fletcher, honestly, and he would love to hear alllllll about their conversation. He would NOT want to be there because it would give him extreme anxiety, but sure, he'd love to HEAR about it afterwards from a very safe distance away.
But anyway, back to his...er, table? That he had seen in the fire. And thinking of Violet. And the table. He shook his head a bit to focus and interpret what the heck this could even mean???? He checked his textbook - HOLD UP, WHAT? UFO? He had no idea what to even DO with that?? Social gatherings? He supposed that was the most reasonable one????
Divination was such a weird subject. He began to scribble neatly:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Parchment
NAME: Lucas Choi
HOUSE: Slytherin
YEAR: sixth
SYMBOL: a table
MEANING: social gatherings, UFO platform, outside the box
ANALYSIS:
I asked the flames a kind of silly question. I guess the question isn't really as important as other people's questions. I asked the flames if a girl would ever feel the same way about me that I would feel about her. I didn't know we'd have to record it for you, but here it is. I saw a table, which can suggest social gatherings or thinking outside the box, I guess. I'm not sure how to take this considering I asked a yes or no question. Maybe there was an issue with asking a yes or no question.
Social gatherings are interesting though because both myself and the girl in question are pretty social people; we like being around others and being friendly and social. It could be a sign that we'd align because of our similar interests, but it could also mean that we may hit it off AT a social gathering of some sort. I guess that one would make the most sense. But it's still kind of dodgy to predict the future this way, I think.
Blushing a bit, he handed in his parchment and went to go stand near his assigned log until he was dismissed. He crossed his arms as he waited, scuffing the dirt with the toe of his shoe.
__________________
"You can justify anything if you do it poetically enough."
Roman Gellar ● 1st Year ● Slytherin
Sardines ♥ BHB ♥ Dallie ♥ Grumpy ♥ MY SUN AND STARS ♥ i love julia
OOOOkaaaay. Natalie THOUGHT the new DUDES™ in town had made it clear not to MESS with them or to question their authority. Now, Natalie wasn't totally loving all of the new policies and things that were being done, but she wasn't about to risk a single hair on her head just to be a little ~rebellious~ or to be a loud mouth. To her surprise, it was a lot of Hufflepuffs that were receiving punishments. She expected it from Gryffindors. As a Slytherin, naturally, Natalie was just trying to get on with her day and save herself from any trouble.
#SELFPRESERVATION
So, while Natalie was momentarily distracted by that kid getting 150 points taken for who knows what (because she missed it), she quickly followed the Professor's next set of instructions. Because she didn't want detention, NOR did she want to face public humiliation.
After she found her image in the fire, Natalie returned to her seat and began sketching it into her notebook, quickly, so she wouldn't forget it. Then she opened her text to try and found out what it meant. After reading a bit, trying her best to tune out the other students, she discovered that leaves usually meant something along the lines of new life, just like the phrase "turning a new leaf". And to that she was pleasantly surprised, because that was precisely what she was trying to accomplish in this new term. Granted, she was having to make a lot more changes in her life due to the new rules in place, but... so far it was okay.
So, right under her sketch, Natalie jotted down her notes.
Quote:
Natalie McKinley
7th year, Slytherin
Image: Falling leaves
Meaning: new life, turning over a new leaf
Interpretation: From what I read, the symbol of a leaf represents starting a new chapter in your life, a new outlook or a new life in general. I recently have been on a quest to "start over" or to leave behind last year and start a new, fresh year at school and this symbol confirms it. A new chapter is starting for me.
There. Hopefully that was substantial enough. Natalie had a feeling Fletcher didn't want to know too many personal details of her life and why she was starting anew. So she tucked away her things and then brought up her parchment to the Professor. "Here you are, Professor Fletcher," she said in the most calm and polite manner she could muster. Then she would wait to be dismissed.
On her way back to her log Bettie thought about what she saw in the fire. She did not have a question to be answered. When she got back to the log and sat down she took out some parchment her quill and ink and was about to take out her wand to use as a fidget when she realized she always thinking about her wand. Can this be about her wand? She likes the feel of it so she will hold it and run her fingers over it and it also has a little bit of a kick which she needs to keep in mind or she will be on her back end.
Quote:
Name: Bettie Blackwell
Year: First
House: Slytherin
Symbol: snake and a tree
Meaning: Snake- Wisdom
Tree- improvements, of life, creation, book of life, your life path
Interpretation: Did not have a question but always think about my wand. It makes a great fidget and it also has a little bit of a kick so if I do not keep that in mind I my end up on my back end. So my interpretation is I will improve my wand work and there for improvement comes wisdom.
Stealthy Ninja Queen | Snake For Life | waddling baker | binge royalty ♚
Patrick was taken a back by the deduction of points as he was working on interpreting his salt in the fire. How was it possible to actually lose 150 points during one lesson. His heart raced at the thought of what if it was him who had done it. He was glad it wasn't. He turned his attention away afraid that he would get punished for rubberneckin'.
Quote:
Name: Patrick Dooley
Year: 4th
House: Slytherin
Symbol: Star
Meaning: stars mean optimism or new beginnings
Interpretation: My question was whether or not the quidditch team would win the house cup. While a star is by no means a hey you'll win, this does give me hope. It means that there is a chance that Slytherin could return to their former glory and have a chance at being competitive. It could also mean that Slytherin might have a chance at the House cup. However, all of these possible outcomes are signs of optimism for myself and my classmates at success and bright futures.
He looked up to see if everyone else was still writing. Not wanting to be the odd person out he began to look back down at his paper to begin to edit if he had to.
I’m right, you’re wrong. They don’t call me a Seer for nothing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tegz
...... with her classmates... her housemates losing points and doing pushups left right and centre, Bel was more than a little distracted even given her own internal thought process with the activity.
But uh. A good question. And uh.... another fire? Another reading? "Yeah I guess I would need another reading, professor." Could you see point loss in a reading because that was all that was going through her mind now.
And maybe a little selfishly because she was worried that potential team members might get barred from Quidditch entirely... and honestly, where would SHE be without a team to captain?
"Professor," She put her hand up at the instructions, "Should I still try and complete the assignment, draw a picture and interpret what I saw even though I have to redo the reading or should I do that part tomorrow as well?" Just... um. Checking.
Calvin nodded. “I’ll have another fire prepared for you and all those who weren’t able to get a proper reading from the flames.” As it so happened, he didn’t have any plans for the following evening and while he typically liked for it to stay that way, he supposed there was nothing to be done when there were students actually willing to get the work done correctly.
“It’s perfectly alright. You can go ahead and draw the symbol you see, if you’d like but as there is no readily available interpretation, there is no real need for you to continue the exercise. You may wait to be dismissed with the rest of your classmates.”
Quote:
Originally Posted by laurange
Faith had barely noticed when the initial twenty-five pushups were assigned, because surely he hadn't been talking to her. She had barely sighed! But when Zoryn's temper flared, she could almost taste blood in her mouth as her heart jumped (metaphorically) into her throat. The blonde put a hand on Zoryn's shoulder, extracting herself from the position she was in before looking levelly at the professor the way Echo taught her.
"She was just defending a friend, sir, but if you insist on pushups, I will do hers for you," she said, in her best Tashina Youngbird impression.
That was friendship. That's what happened, in life, when you cared about someone. You'd do their pushups for them. You'd do a whole tonne of things for them. You'd probably even die for them.
So, what, fifty-five pushups? She could do pushups. Faith Teaghan Chosen was an athlete. She capped at seventy in one go, but she was a keeper. Keepers had some pretty decent upper-body strength and flexibility and basically, she could do this.
She slipped off her shoes so they wouldn't get destroyed by the small stones, toed off her socks so they wouldn't get dirty, and lowered herself onto the ground. "Fifty-five, fifty-four, fifty-three -" she began, counting every pushup more for his benefit than hers, doing the full pushup rather than the modified-knee-version. This was civil disobedience, it was a perfectly legal way to protest unjust laws. She'd know. Her brother was a lawyer.
"Thirty-two, thirty-one, thirty."
She'd go on if it killed her. Which it wouldn't, but it was the principle.
“I didn’t ask you to do her push ups, Ms. Chosen, nor did I ask for an explanation. It’s this inability to follow instructions that earned you the push ups in the first place. You’re free to do all 55 if you’d like but Ms. Spinnet willget her push ups done before she walks away from this fire tonight.” Why she felt the reason for breaking the rules suddenly made rule breaking okay was beyond him but like the former Hufflepuff Prefect who’d tried the same bit of martyrdom, she was also wrong.
Honestly, a few minutes left in the lesson, they couldn’t conform for even that?
From the corner of his eyes, he watched the Hufflepuff he’d sent running. She would be running until the end of the lesson, which wasn’t all that far away according to his watch. He continued accepting and reading the parchments as they were handed in.
Beth had done it, she had meditated…boring but y’know good? A good boring the kind that made her body seem to feel like it was floating and then there was the salt throwing. That was brilliant – so brilliant….still, now she had to figure out exactly what the meaning was.
What had her question even been? Her mind had been clear, blessedly so but had she even had a question? Maybe – maybe she did but that…that was the problem right now. She couldn’t remember for the life of her – she could remember the salt though and the shape it made.
Why was it that shape? A butterfly…glowing of course but that wouldn’t mean anything with fire right? A butterfly and an elephant…huh, and a goat. The goat made her eyes widen of course – that was bad right?
SPOILER!!: parchment & meanings
Pyromancy Notes
Anabeth C. Greyvson
House: Slytherin
Year: Second
Images drawn at the top (hastily, doodled more or less) a butterfly, a goat, and a misshapen elephant Butterfly – transition, transformation, butterfly effect ™ Goat – be careful of enemies Elephant – Wisdom, Luck, Strength, Ganesh, Trunk up indicates overcoming obstacles
Reading Meanings (to me of course)
I asked how this term would change me…I believe with this the butterfly signifies that it does change me and that this change will have ripple effects i.e butterfly effect moments? My change or lack of change will effect the rest of my term here. The goat indicates that I have to be careful – which makes sense since this term has already seen many changes. Care and the act of not being overly dramatic or something around…everyone would be a good thing? The elephant indicates that I’m wise enough to follow through with the needed changes and…that I’m strong, with this strength it doesn’t mean I will change but that I can.
Closing her book she got up and moved to give Professor Fletcher the paper before returning to her seat and promptly sitting down. She’d need to speak with Cal about this later…see how he was doing? But a part of her wanted to do as Bel mentioned – try the reading once more. Another time obviously.
Raising her hand, ”Professor? Is it possible for us to do readings in our common room fire places or would that be frowned upon?” she asked because hello it was JUST salt.
__________________
IT'S NOT AN ACT OF LOVE __________________________________________________ ___________ ____________
IF YOU MAKE HER ____________
Natasha studied the image in the salt carefully, trying to interpret how it related to her question. After careful consideration, she began writing her observation.
Quote:
Name: Natasha Destler
House: Ravenclaw
Year: first
The image I saw in the flames was a mask, kind of like the old masquerade masks. The simple meaning is usually that someone is hiding something. I wanted to know about overcoming my shyness here at school, and I think the mask is referring to myself. My upbringing taught me to be very guarded and keep to myself, so I think the fire is telling me that I'm the one who needs to stop hiding if I want to overcome this particular obstical
After Natasha finished writing her paper, she handed it to the Professor, then returned to her seat.
I’m right, you’re wrong. They don’t call me a Seer for nothing.
“Ms. Greyvson, I would like any further pyromancer sessions to be done in my presence. I cannot and will not permit any sort of fire interaction without myself or another Professor being there to supervise.” The castle would not burn down just because a few students didn’t want to make the walk back out here.
Now then.
“That’s the end of the lesson everyone. Pack your things and head back to the castle. No loitering around on the grounds.”
He didn’t think he needed to tell them what would happen if he caught any of them skulking around. By this point, surely they could form something of an idea.
“Ms. Calrissian, you may stop running and return to the castle. Mr. Prichard, you will remain behind to complete the activity. Ms. Spinnet you will also remain until your push ups are done. Everyone else, you are dismissed.”
OOC: Okay that’s the end of the lesson, thanks for coming everyone! I’ll leave the thread open for a bit longer in case you want to post your students leaving but otherwise that’s it! <3
Jackson moved the salt around in his hand for a moment before firmly grasping it. He listened as Professor Fletcher spoke and began steadying his breathing. He may not be a Seer, but he wasn’t going to sit (yay for sitting!) idly by and waste everyone’s time. Finding a question he wanted an answer to was more of a challenge. He wanted to think of something a little better than something he could ask an 8 Ball. Ten minutes was a long time for a big class like this to be quiet… Especially with the tension that had been building up between the professor and quite a handful of students.
He picked a spot in the flames and listened to the rest of the instructions. Happy enough with his spot, Jackson poured his bit of salt into the flame and stared. And stared. And… ow, OW. He began blinking hard as the fire crackled, the remnant of light still burned into his retinas. See? Why was this a trusted method?? He did his best to refocus his eyes quickly, and thought he did alright considering how much his eyes had gotten irritated. He saw the level of light flicker in the flame where he had put his salt, and he did everything he could to keep his concentration. Hmm… was that a shape? Uhh… well, with a slight tilt of the head this way it looked like… maybe that could be… like, a shoe? Was that a thing to see? Was that interpretable?! Like trying to recall a dream once he had woken, Jackson tried to get the shoe(?)’s details. Soon he couldn’t see a trace of it at all. Welp. He went back to his assigned seat, and began his notes.
Quote:
Name: Jackson Thomas House: Ravenclaw Year: Fifth
Symbol Seen: (A sketch of a shoe looking a bit like traditional Converse brand shoes with long laces slightly curled dangle on each side).
Notes: In the flames, I saw a shoe with untied longer-than-average laces. It was hard to tell if it was supposed to be a brand new shoe or not, but it didn’t look like it was torn up or anything. The question I posed was about my future as a student leader, and how it will affect the rest of my time at Hogwarts. I’d like to think that the shoe represents me. Not complete garbage, and still useful to many. The long laces may represent my clumsiness, whether that be physically or mentally.
doesn't proofread tweets | #wrongaboutcereal | #siriusly? | emo to the extremo
Zoryn gave Faith a look of complete ‘????????’.
Why would she offer to do even MORE push-ups? Zor wanted to assure Faith that there was literally no reason to do that, but before she could even contemplate interjecting, their Professor decided to instead. You know… The one good thing about getting in so much trouble was that she had been doing pushups all lesson and not actually participating in the lesson itself.
At the end of the day, Zoryn didn’t even hate it. If it meant she didn’t have to write some bogus essay, then bring on the exercise!
Only really she was enraged. The not-having-to-participate bit was something she kept trying to remind herself of so that she didn’t VISIBLY look as upset as she was. Didn’t need Ol’ baldy over here to think he was getting to her. No way. She’d rather die.
”Gladly, sir,” she gave him a tight-lipped smile before getting down on the ground and doing her push-ups.
This class sucked.
__________________
Days of Potter 2023:___________________________ Which Bertie Botts Flavour Are You? You are Lemon!
Natasha tucked her supplies back into her book bag, and did a quick check to make sure her seat was left exactly as she found it. "Have a good evening Professor. Thank you for such an insightful lesson." she said sincerely as she passed by him to follow path back to the castle.
Sassenach | RAVENPUFF | Sing me a song of a lass that is gone | bookDRAGON | #awkwardturtle<#
They were dismissed?
Free to go?
Tears of freedom almost sprung to her eyes. But then it wasn't like this would be their only ever lesson with him, so it was just freedom for the night.
If she had been sitting, she would have LEPT to her feet and ran away as quick as she possibly could. However. Already standing, and worried she'd be held back or made to do laps if she didn't say some sort of... farewell. She slung her bag over her back, said a quick "Bye Professor," and left. Walking, of course, but as quick as her short legs would allow her. She really hoped Professor Noble would look upon the chaos with the Hufflepuffs as something to be proud of. Really.
__________________
EVASIVE | RESTLESS | MISUNDERSTOOD always on the move
Divination Lesson 1 - Pyromancy 
x12 
x12
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