"But Herbology DOES make me sn--sn--" Bernie started to reply to Baboli, hastily throwing a hand under her nose to keep the sneeze from escaping. She paused to collect herself and then finished her thought. "Make me sneeze during allergy season."

What DIDN'T make her sneeze then was the better question? Plus she'd been able to get a potion or something to help with seasonal allergies in the past. She eyed the bottles Carsyn was offering her but shook her head, not taking any of 'em in hand. "Thanks." But she didn't HAVE a cold, so she didn't NEED extra vitamin C. She usually got enough from the fruits at mealtimes.

Bernie instead quietly got up to go try to find one of the professor's potions in the back cabinet. "ACHOOOOOOOOO!" only letting out one sneeze on the way. It took a while to find the correct anti-allergy potion, what with her hand turning invisible and making her drop things half the time, but she finally grabbed a dusty old bottle and threw it back without further ado, returning to her seat then. She thought she should probably wash her hands but didn't want to miss more of the lesson, soooooooooo. Her seatmates would just have to put up with her sneezy self as she raised her snot-covered arm, got a look at the mess there, and then put that one down and instead raised her clean hand.

"Uhhh maybe you can move them around the room, try them in different places, see if you get different reactions. You know how there's a cold spot where a ghost sometimes is?" Muggles believed this, even, and Bernie had definitely felt Sir Nick's coldness before. "Well maybe there's different spots that affect the flowers and r-r-r----" Oh no, another sneeze was coming. She pinched her nose to keep the sneeze in, since the potion hadn't taken effect yet, but effectively lost her train of thought, as she finished it with a very nasally voice. "AnYwAy, there's different spots that affect how you can use the flowers.......?"

Er? Back to her original idea: couldn't they just move all the flowers AWAY from Bernie????!

Heath could barely make out Claudine’s smile, but he heard her thanks loud and clear. He returned her smile with a slight one of his own because a slight smile was all he could manage now. So what were they talking about again? Oh, right. Floromancy… apparently Fantine (and a number of other people) had the right answer to the last question. He wasn’t surprised; he thought that’s probably what it was but didn’t see the need to repeat it.

Heath blinked at the professor’s words. He appreciated her understanding… or at least trying to understand, but she had no idea just how hard it was for him! Between worrying about their current situation and keeping up his unaffected facade, he had no attention left to pay to anything else. Dead, alive, or any state in between, he was still the grandson of Lionel Ryder (although he lacked any resemblance in looks or name), and the Ryder men were expected to act strong at all times, even in the face of… whatever was going on now.

Fighting to push those thoughts aside, Heath listened to Professor Kenobi’s instructions. Wait, they were supposed to bring parchment today? He’d totally forgotten, but luckily, he always kept a few spare pieces in his bag. He rummaged through his bag, and after finding a piece of parchment, he got up to pick his flowers. Did the professor say they all needed to be the same kind? He couldn’t remember, so he picked four different ones: a lily, daisy, iris, and hyacinth.

As he returned to his seat, Heath listened to his classmates’ answers. Some kid he couldn’t see (Tom) mentioned feeling the force of the plant, and while he knew it was probably wrong, he liked that answer. It sounded very Jedi! Then Fantine said something along the same lines of what he thought of for the last question. Hmm… maybe that was a real method of divination then. So what else could he say that wasn’t already said?

He thought for several minutes until a vague memory came to him. “Isn’t there some significance to the first flower of spring?” he said after raising his hand. “Something to do with the type of flower and the day of the week it’s found… I think?” That was as much as he could remember, and he wasn’t even sure if that much was correct!

"Can you use them like with tea leaves?" Blake wasn't sure if that was right or not. "Like boil them or put them in water and then see what they say?" Okay Blake had no idea what he was talking about now ..... so instead of continuing to talk he got the parchment ready for whatever part came next.

Aboli just eyed Bernie. "Do you need a hankie? I have one." It was better for the environment than paper tissues. Her mother had made sure to instill in them many small ways to help the environment, and Aboli often didn't think twice about it until she saw other people NOT doing things that she did - like carrying around handkerchiefs. "That I haven't used yet." She added, in case Bernie thought she was offering her a used one. Aboli also couldn't remember Bernie EVER SNEEZING IN HERBO, but whatever. She wasn't going to argue with a Gryffindor because it was pointless.

Onward, though. Aboli went to grab four flowers and returned to her spot to pull out some parchment before raising her hand. "Well, Professor, I know there's something about how the stems intertwine...and reading it certain ways. I can't remmber much. It's not a very explored realm of Divination," she sighed a bit, wishing she could remember more.

Even though Naya had kept quiet thus far, she was paying attention to the lesson. When everyone had given their answers to the first question, it was time to move on. Professor Kitt.....Kittsomething had given them instructions on what to do next. Naya opened her backpack and took out her parchment. She put it on the table and then went to the front of the room to pick out her four pretty flowers.

Now it was question time again. This time, an answer came to Naya’s mind and she raised her hand to share it. “If you have a question you want answered, you can pick a petal off of your flower. Then depending on its characteristics, you can determine the answer to your question.” She thought. At least that is what Naya remembered. She wasn’t sure where she heard or read that, but she thought it was correct. Of course she had totally forgotten that Claudine had given virtually the same answer several minutes ago. Memory.

SPOILER!!: replies

Quote:

Originally Posted by Weasley174

Tom listened to the Professor and then did as he was told, he first took out the parchment that he had brought with him and then went over and picked four flowers before he returned to his seat, whilst doing so he thought about the question.

"Well I was thinking maybe we hold them in our hands and we feel the force the plant gives off?" Tom smiled after he had finished speaking, that was the only thing he could think off.

She tilted her ghost like head as Tom spoke and she tried to figure out what he meant by force. 'Well I'm not sure about that, but Divination does have it's own sort of senses so a force could be that."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ginevra

Fiona placed her parchment in front of her and then went and selected four flowers. As she headed back to her seat, she thought about an answer to the question that Professor Kitridge had posed.

"There's that thing where you pluck a petal and say something like 'he loves me, he loves me not.' Maybe that relates to this form of divination."

Yeah, Fiona was unsure of herself as per normal. Well, it was normal as per the current circumstances.

[b]"Yes, that is one way. What Fiona is speaking about is the love indicator, so simple even muggles started picking it up. You take a flower and pick a petal at a time off thinking about the person you fancy. The last petal will give you the answer if they care for you too.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19

Claudine turned to smile at Heats, to show her thanks for his compliment but then realised that he probably couldn’t see her anyway. “Thank you,’’ she whispered, anyway. Did he know that sketching was her hobby and that she was actually good at it?

Incredibly hard? Try nearly impossible at times. This was exactly how Claudine felt about this situation. Why was it that Hogwarts was always so dramatic? While she did appreciate the Professor’s thoughts on them having fun, she wanted nothing more than for them to find a solution to getting this situation remedied. She wanted to be whole and proper again, with her memory intact. Surely this was also what everyone else wanted. Pittsburgh more than anyone else, perhaps.

With a small sigh, the third year retrieved the parchment from her bag and set it on the table before her, careful to not let it get in the way of the boys’ spaces. Next, she followed some students to choose the flowers but hung back until they had made their choices. When her turn came, she chose two roses, one daisy and one lily.

Coincidentally, Claudine was thinking along the same lines as Finella. She had seen a cousin(?) of hers do that pathetically once. Or was it twice? Anyway, Claudine would give her own answer. “We probably use the patterns or structure of the petals to help with interpretations.”

"Ah, very good. We will be looking at the flowers for patters or different markings to help us with today's lesson."

Quote:

Originally Posted by BanaBatGirl

"But Herbology DOES make me sn--sn--" Bernie started to reply to Baboli, hastily throwing a hand under her nose to keep the sneeze from escaping. She paused to collect herself and then finished her thought. "Make me sneeze during allergy season."

What DIDN'T make her sneeze then was the better question? Plus she'd been able to get a potion or something to help with seasonal allergies in the past. She eyed the bottles Carsyn was offering her but shook her head, not taking any of 'em in hand. "Thanks." But she didn't HAVE a cold, so she didn't NEED extra vitamin C. She usually got enough from the fruits at mealtimes.

Bernie instead quietly got up to go try to find one of the professor's potions in the back cabinet. "ACHOOOOOOOOO!" only letting out one sneeze on the way. It took a while to find the correct anti-allergy potion, what with her hand turning invisible and making her drop things half the time, but she finally grabbed a dusty old bottle and threw it back without further ado, returning to her seat then. She thought she should probably wash her hands but didn't want to miss more of the lesson, soooooooooo. Her seatmates would just have to put up with her sneezy self as she raised her snot-covered arm, got a look at the mess there, and then put that one down and instead raised her clean hand.

"Uhhh maybe you can move them around the room, try them in different places, see if you get different reactions. You know how there's a cold spot where a ghost sometimes is?" Muggles believed this, even, and Bernie had definitely felt Sir Nick's coldness before. "Well maybe there's different spots that affect the flowers and r-r-r----" Oh no, another sneeze was coming. She pinched her nose to keep the sneeze in, since the potion hadn't taken effect yet, but effectively lost her train of thought, as she finished it with a very nasally voice. "AnYwAy, there's different spots that affect how you can use the flowers.......?"

Er? Back to her original idea: couldn't they just move all the flowers AWAY from Bernie????!

Was she going to be alright? "Should you go see the healer?" If she couldn't find any potion in the back she might have to go see her and get something there. "Moving flowers around the room is a great answer as well." What dedication she had answering while sneezing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MadMadamMalfoy

Heath could barely make out Claudine’s smile, but he heard her thanks loud and clear. He returned her smile with a slight one of his own because a slight smile was all he could manage now. So what were they talking about again? Oh, right. Floromancy… apparently Fantine (and a number of other people) had the right answer to the last question. He wasn’t surprised; he thought that’s probably what it was but didn’t see the need to repeat it.

Heath blinked at the professor’s words. He appreciated her understanding… or at least trying to understand, but she had no idea just how hard it was for him! Between worrying about their current situation and keeping up his unaffected facade, he had no attention left to pay to anything else. Dead, alive, or any state in between, he was still the grandson of Lionel Ryder (although he lacked any resemblance in looks or name), and the Ryder men were expected to act strong at all times, even in the face of… whatever was going on now.

Fighting to push those thoughts aside, Heath listened to Professor Kenobi’s instructions. Wait, they were supposed to bring parchment today? He’d totally forgotten, but luckily, he always kept a few spare pieces in his bag. He rummaged through his bag, and after finding a piece of parchment, he got up to pick his flowers. Did the professor say they all needed to be the same kind? He couldn’t remember, so he picked four different ones: a lily, daisy, iris, and hyacinth.

As he returned to his seat, Heath listened to his classmates’ answers. Some kid he couldn’t see (Tom) mentioned feeling the force of the plant, and while he knew it was probably wrong, he liked that answer. It sounded very Jedi! Then Fantine said something along the same lines of what he thought of for the last question. Hmm… maybe that was a real method of divination then. So what else could he say that wasn’t already said?

He thought for several minutes until a vague memory came to him. “Isn’t there some significance to the first flower of spring?” he said after raising his hand. “Something to do with the type of flower and the day of the week it’s found… I think?” That was as much as he could remember, and he wasn’t even sure if that much was correct!

"YES! Very good." She was excited when students got answers correctly, could they tell. She wanted to snap, but with her fingers going in and out of invisible she decided to not snap.

Quote:

Originally Posted by love-for-HP

"Can you use them like with tea leaves?" Blake wasn't sure if that was right or not. "Like boil them or put them in water and then see what they say?" Okay Blake had no idea what he was talking about now ..... so instead of continuing to talk he got the parchment ready for whatever part came next.

"There is a form that you place flowers in water, so you are on the right track. Very good." There were so many ways to use flowers she didn't think she had enough time to speak of them all.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kayquilz

Aboli just eyed Bernie. "Do you need a hankie? I have one." It was better for the environment than paper tissues. Her mother had made sure to instill in them many small ways to help the environment, and Aboli often didn't think twice about it until she saw other people NOT doing things that she did - like carrying around handkerchiefs. "That I haven't used yet." She added, in case Bernie thought she was offering her a used one. Aboli also couldn't remember Bernie EVER SNEEZING IN HERBO, but whatever. She wasn't going to argue with a Gryffindor because it was pointless.

Onward, though. Aboli went to grab four flowers and returned to her spot to pull out some parchment before raising her hand. "Well, Professor, I know there's something about how the stems intertwine...and reading it certain ways. I can't remmber much. It's not a very explored realm of Divination," she sighed a bit, wishing she could remember more.

"Very good Aboli, yes there is a form that the stems are what is looked at." Many students today were very on top of their Divinations.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daydreamer11

Even though Naya had kept quiet thus far, she was paying attention to the lesson. When everyone had given their answers to the first question, it was time to move on. Professor Kitt.....Kittsomething had given them instructions on what to do next. Naya opened her backpack and took out her parchment. She put it on the table and then went to the front of the room to pick out her four pretty flowers.

Now it was question time again. This time, an answer came to Naya’s mind and she raised her hand to share it. “If you have a question you want answered, you can pick a petal off of your flower. Then depending on its characteristics, you can determine the answer to your question.” She thought. At least that is what Naya remembered. She wasn’t sure where she heard or read that, but she thought it was correct. Of course she had totally forgotten that Claudine had given virtually the same answer several minutes ago. Memory.

"Very good Naya, that is exactly the form we will be looking at today!" Bravo!

"As Naya said there is a form that uses the way a flower looks, Claudine also hinted around about the way the flower was. We will be working with this style today. This style of Floromancy is on the easier side of Divination, but still you need to know your flowers and what the petals mean. If you don't know then your answers will never be given." She reached over and grabbed a rose and showed it to all the students. "Take this simple rose for a second. As you look at the petals they are all different even if it is just a small little way." She pulled a few of the petals off the rose and showed the close. As she went to do it with the last one the flower slipped straight through her hand.

Sighing she picked it up and placed it on the desk. She didn't want the students to see her concern so she just smiled and carried on. "If I ask a question, such as..." she thought for a moment and then turned towards the flower, "Will there be peanut butter at dinner this evening?" She then pulled off a petal from the rose and looked at it. "The rose has four lines, which means hope and I will take that as a yes there will be peanut butter at dinner." She smiled at the class, it was pretty simple.

"Now before we get into the little stress relief activity. I want you to think of a few things that you might want an answer to. You have four flowers in front of you so think of four different things. Pick up one of your flowers and pick the first though, see what the answer is. Do that will all four flowers. The petals and what they mean is on the board up front."

Quote:

If the petal has four lines in it, it is a sign of hope.
Five lines coming from the center branch is hope founded in fear.
Thick lines bent to the right means prosperity.
Thick lines bent to the left mean trouble ahead.
Seven streaks is consistent love.
Eight streaks means fickleness in either you or those around you.
Nine, a changing heart.
Once they have found the answer to their first question they will do a different question with their second flower.

"I'll be around to help in anyway if you need."


*You have three days from this post to complete this activity!

Was vanishing the same as dying? Kitt looked over at Claudia...suddenly less sure than he'd been a minute ago when the professor assured him they weren't. The thing was....even if Professor Kerotine could assure them their hearts weren't stopping and they weren't losing brain function, it was undeniable that they were disappearing.

"I...I..." Hue saying hello only had the stunned Third Year now looking to the once quiet Ravenclaw with mouth slightly agape. "Is vanishing the same as dying?" He asked, repeating the Slytherin's question--quietly of course. He wasn't trying to disrupt the lesson and not at all when the professor was trying to explain things about flowers.

Kitt couldn't help but doubt. If magic wasn't working....didn't that mean the inner eye stopped, too? He didn't know but it left the boy more skeptical of the art than he'd been when the school year started.

Maybe he'd just start with what he wanted to know and see where it went from there...

Quote:

1. If we vanish, are we gonna die too?

2. Does the rest of the world still exist or are we all that's left?

3. If we DO die, do we get a second chance on account of we weren't ready this first time?

4. Where are we going when we vanish?

Where were the flowers for him to rip apart. He needed answers.

Pittsburgh’s quiet repetition of her question was just barely heard. “I don’t think it is. If we all vanished, we’d be like ghosts, I think. We’d still be there and not really gone.’’ She shrugged unhappily. No one wanted that to happen obviously.

Would you look at that? Claudine had been somewhat right out of pure guesswork. But it wasn’t just any random guessing; she’d put some thought into her answers as usual. She plucked up one of the roses she had chosen from the pile to examine the petals. There was a small hint of surprise on her face when she realised that indeed each petal’s pattern varied. Interesting.

So… she needed four questions and writing them down would definitely be a good idea. Quill in hand, the third year began thinking and writing as the questions occurred to her:

• Do we stand a chance of returning to normal?
• Will this happen to us again?
• Are all forms of Divination accurate?
• Will my sketching skills improve?

There was a mixture of the kind of questions because she was trying to focus on being dreary.

What a nice, mellow, relaxing class right now, and no magic even needed to do divination stuff! Aboli happily placed each of her flowers on her desk. She raised her hand. "Professor, is this one of those instances where asking YES or NO questions would be more beneficial to getting an accurate response from the flowers?" Like a muggle 8-ball or whatever....you couldn't ask it open-ended questions. She was squinting at the notes on the board and scribbling them down, and it seemed like she may have to do yes or no questions based on what the lines meant. Hmm.

But she had a FEW questions she would very much like to ask.

Now that her questions were in place, she glanced back at the board to reread the instructions. Right. Study the petals of the flowers. Claudine decided to start with a rose petal and so she pulled one randomly from the chosen rose. Setting down the rose, she studied the petal. There were eight streaks she decided. So there, she had the answer to her first question. Moving on. A petal was plucked from the lily. A few minutes of studying told her there were thick lines bent to the left.

• Do we stand a chance of returning to normal? Fickleness in either you or those around you.
• Will this happen to us again? Trouble ahead.
• Are all forms of Divination accurate?
• Will my sketching skills improve?

The third year stared at her answers. Okay, so they didn’t make sense; at least, not to her and she quickly raised a hand. “Professor? Do these answers require interpretations because I’m not certain I really understand these meanings for my questions.”

Or was this form of Divination a hoax?

PERFECT!

They were doing the easier style of Divination, which was perfect for a person who one, didn't know what they were doing in Divination, and two, didn't really like the subject. The second year watched the demonstration with the rose, and because she had grown somewhat used to their transparentness, she didn't even flinch when the professor dropped the rose.

With the demonstration over, she took out a quill and a piece of parchment and wrote down three questions.

1. Will I get a fourth detention this year?
2. Will we solve the riddle of our missing magic and transparentness?
3. Will I ever see my family again?

The last two questions made her really sad, especially number three. She wasn't even sure she could hold a quill long enough to write a note, much less get it sent out of the castle and to her family. Not to mention her family didn't even exist in this time period.

Siiiiigh.

Well look at that. Naya had actually stumbled onto the correct answer. Miracles do happen. She listened as the professor explained what they would be doing for their activity. They would be reading the flower petals, but first they had to come up with some questions. Before she did any of that, Naya wrote down the petal meanings in her notes. That would make things easier because she certainly couldn’t count on her memory to complete the task.

Once her notes were up to date, Naya tried to think of some good questions. That was the hard part. She actually had one question that she wanted to ask, but it wasn’t something that she wanted to share with the class.........so on to plan B. As she thought of things, she started to write.

1. Will the memory, translucency, time warp thing be resolved in time for summer break?
2. Will we get our magic back?
3. Will I get to work with dragons one day?
4. ????

Naya couldn’t think of a fourth question. She tried to decide if she should go about answering the first three questions while she was thinking of the fourth one. She would try to think of another question and if nothing came to her, she would start looking at her flowers.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaniDiNardo

Was vanishing the same as dying? Kitt looked over at Claudia...suddenly less sure than he'd been a minute ago when the professor assured him they weren't. The thing was....even if Professor Kerotine could assure them their hearts weren't stopping and they weren't losing brain function, it was undeniable that they were disappearing.

"I...I..." Hue saying hello only had the stunned Third Year now looking to the once quiet Ravenclaw with mouth slightly agape. "Is vanishing the same as dying?" He asked, repeating the Slytherin's question--quietly of course. He wasn't trying to disrupt the lesson and not at all when the professor was trying to explain things about flowers.

Kitt couldn't help but doubt. If magic wasn't working....didn't that mean the inner eye stopped, too? He didn't know but it left the boy more skeptical of the art than he'd been when the school year started.

Maybe he'd just start with what he wanted to know and see where it went from there...



Where were the flowers for him to rip apart. He needed answers.

Her heart was heavy hearing the students talk about vanishing. "Lets focus on the flowers for now Kitt. If you and Claudine want to speak more about the vanishing you can come find me after class." She was hoping as the lesson went on they could be distracted.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kayquilz

What a nice, mellow, relaxing class right now, and no magic even needed to do divination stuff! Aboli happily placed each of her flowers on her desk. She raised her hand. "Professor, is this one of those instances where asking YES or NO questions would be more beneficial to getting an accurate response from the flowers?" Like a muggle 8-ball or whatever....you couldn't ask it open-ended questions. She was squinting at the notes on the board and scribbling them down, and it seemed like she may have to do yes or no questions based on what the lines meant. Hmm.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19

Now that her questions were in place, she glanced back at the board to reread the instructions. Right. Study the petals of the flowers. Claudine decided to start with a rose petal and so she pulled one randomly from the chosen rose. Setting down the rose, she studied the petal. There were eight streaks she decided. So there, she had the answer to her first question. Moving on. A petal was plucked from the lily. A few minutes of studying told her there were thick lines bent to the left.

• Do we stand a chance of returning to normal? Fickleness in either you or those around you.
• Will this happen to us again? Trouble ahead.
• Are all forms of Divination accurate?
• Will my sketching skills improve?

The third year stared at her answers. Okay, so they didn’t make sense; at least, not to her and she quickly raised a hand. “Professor? Do these answers require interpretations because I’m not certain I really understand these meanings for my questions.”

Or was this form of Divination a hoax?

But she had a FEW questions she would very much like to ask.

Aboli's question was a good one and she took the time to make sure all the students heard the question. "You don't have to have yes and no questions for this. These answers aren't just black and white because life isn't that simple. Answers are going to need thought about and placed in the situation you have asked. If I would say am I going to have coffee today and got the answer trouble ahead I can assume that it is not likely that I will be having coffee." She hoped that helped both Aboli and Claudine as well as anyone that might need it.

Love indicator? Yea she'd heard of that tale about picking petals of 'he loves me, he loves not', but honestly, Carsyn thought it was kind of dumb way to decide if someone liked her. But then again, she was halfway convinced that no one liked her (in that sense) anyway so yea....

Four questions though.

The sixth year brushed her quill feather to her lips thoughtfully before dipping the tip into her inkwell.

~ Will we be able to get safely home?
~ Will I get an offer as professional quidditch seeker for a major team?
~ Will i be a famous baker?
~ Will I get a boyfriend before I graduate?

Time to inspect the flowers now?

Isla looked down at her questions a second time. By this point and time, she'd come up with a fourth question.

1. Will I get a fourth detention this year?
2. Will we solve the riddle of our missing magic and transparentness?
3. Will I ever see my family again?
4. Do I have any extra chocolate frogs in my dorm?

Alright, time to see what the petals thought about her future. She turned toward her first flower and studied a random petal. Alright, petal---Will I get a fourth detention this year? The answer was basically thick lines bent to the left. Isla compared that to the notes.

Thick lines bent to the left mean trouble ahead.

WHAT?! But Isla didn't want a fourth detention!!! This wasn't fair! The cards were already stacked against her! Choosing to ignore that for now, she frowned at the petal and picked up her second flower... "Will we solve the riddle of our missing magic and transparentness?" She studied the petal from the second flower. There were five lines coming from the center. A second look at the notes told her...

Five lines coming from the center branch is hope founded in fear.

That sounded awesome! They were afraid, but it sounded hopeful!!! "Guess what, Professor?!" she said, excitement in her tone. "We're going to solve this mystery of our transparentness, but I'm also getting a fourth detention!" That was...kind of good? Guess she had to take one for the team...

The professor’s response made a lot of sense once Claudine thought it over. “Thanks, professor,’’ she responded gratefully and got back to her work of finding answers to her remaining questions. When she was all done, she’d think the responses through. You know… interpret them.

• Do we stand a chance of returning to normal? Fickleness in either you or those around you.
• Will this happen to us again? Trouble ahead.
• Are all forms of Divination accurate? Consistent love.
• Will my sketching skills improve? Sign of hope.

And so Claudine was fine with the remaining questions and she must say, she loved the last one. Hope meant she definitely stood a chance of improving. As for the third question, did it mean that one must show patience and affection when practicing the Divination methods? The first two were less hopeful: there seemed to be ominous times ahead.

But as of now, Claudine was done with this part of the activity.

Morgan had zoned out for a while, part of him wondering if he was Murray. But his dormmate calling him MF snapped him out of that bizarre thought. Yeah, he was Morgan and he liked to be called MF, though he'd forgotten exactly why he thought that nickname was funny. And then he ended up focusing on whether or not disappearing was the same as dying.

"I don't think so," he told Claudia when she tried to tell Kitt that they'd end up as ghosts. "We already look like ghosts." But they weren't. "If we vanish completely, we'll probably just be gone. Not like ghosts." Something about not being permitted on another timeline. So yeah, sort of like dying unless someone figured out a way to fix it. At least that was how he saw it.

But now they were doing something with flowers and Morgan tried his best to pay attention. Good thing Professor Divination put the info on the board, but too bad that he forgot his supplies today. "Hey," he leaned over and whispered to Kitt. "Can I borrow a piece of parchment?" He had some questions to write down.

Heath blinked, taken aback by Kit Fisto’s reaction to him. Was it really that shocking to hear him talk? He shot the other boy an apologetic look, but before he could actually say sorry for startling him, Claudine's question about vanishing and dying distracted him. Technically no, he thought. When something vanished, it went into a state of non- being (or so he thought he remembered hearing somewhere), while dying was more like a state of former being. Or something. It was a difficult question to answer without going down the rabbit hole of "what happens after we die?" Did it even matter anyway? Whether they died or vanished, they would no longer exist.

Heath kept those thoughts to himself so as not to worry his classmates, forcing himself to instead focus on Professor Kenobi. Blink, blink. So his answer was actually right? That was a surprise, as he could barely recall any information. Something else he was surprised to learn was correct? The "he/she loves me, he/she loves me not" thing. He was really glad they weren't doing that now! It wasn't as if he needed a flower to tell him no girl would ever fall for a scruffy-looking nerfherder like him.

Okay, so they were supposed to come up with questions. Heath thought for several moments, trying to come up with something positive to ask, but all that he could think of were the same questions that had replayed in an endless loop in his mind since the holidays: Are we dead? If we're not dead, what's happening to us? Will we get home in time for summer? Will I ever see my dad again? Would he even want to see me after the way we left things? Is whatever's going on now my punishment for not moving to Canada with him? Picking up his quill, Heath jotted down some of those questions.

Now what was he supposed to do? Something about flower petals… Heath looked around to see what his classmates were doing, hoping that would remind him. Oh, right… pick a petal from each flower and… somehow use that to answer the questions. He picked up the lily first. Let’s see, there were five lines from the center, so that meant… He looked at the board. “Hope founded in fear.” What in the galaxy did that mean?! Were they already dead and clinging to false hope that they weren’t? He had no idea how to interpret that!

Thankfully, the next meaning was much less confusing! The next flower Heath picked was the hyacinth. That one was a lot harder to read because the petals were significantly smaller, but there were clear lines bending to the left, which meant… “trouble ahead”. Okay, that one seemed pretty self explanatory, If this method was to be believed, that meant they most likely wouldn’t return home this summer.

Two questions down, two more to go. Heath picked up the iris, closely examining its petal. Four lines… “a sign of hope”. So there was hope he’d see his dad, yet the hope that they weren’t dead or dying was founded in fear? Ugh, that made no sense! The only way he could think of that both could be true was if his dad also became a ghost… or whatever they were in their current transparent state, and the odds of that happening were practically nonexistent!

Now there was only one flower left: the daisy. Heath studied the petal intently. There were seven streaks, and that meant… Heath’s heart skipped a beat when he read the meaning on the board: "Consistent love." If that wasn’t an indication that his dad did want to see him again, he didn’t know what was! It was almost enough to make a divination believer out of him. With all four flowers interpreted, he jotted down his findings:

SPOILER!!: Heath's questions/answers

Are we dying/already dead? Hope founded in fear
Will we get to go home for the summer holiday? Trouble ahead
WIll I ever see my dad again? There is hope
Does my dad want to see me? Consistent love

Aboli nodded at the professor's words. Right, okay. That clarified things, and now she could really get started! Four flowers and four questions. Oooookaaaay. She had one right out of the gate that she was curious about, so she carefully wrote it down. Are my mum and dad worried about me right now? and then followed by Is my little brother Liam doing all right? because she was very worried about the toddler. She missed him so much, too. How much had he grown while she couldn't receive any mail from home, pictures and whatnot. He was going to have developed so much once this all was over - if it was ever over - and they were able to go home.

Hmm. What else was she curious about knowing, though? She wanted to ask some less pressing questions, too, because she didn't want to be too sad if the answers she got from the flowers gave her not great answers. Will I meet the love of my life before I graduate from Hogwarts? It was such an annoying teenager girl question, and Aboli knew it, but she kind of didn't care? She was allowed to be a basic teenager girl sometimes. And it wasn't like anyone was reading her questions...SOOooooo....

Lastly, though. Will I become a ghost when I die? It was something she and Valencia had been discussing lately, and she wondered, if at time of death, if she would really go through with that decision. She wanted to!

Now...for the fun part!

Charlie had gotten out her parchment and then went up to the front to grab four flowers. She wasn't really sure what she was going to ask. She was at a point where she missed her family, she wanted to go home, and she kind of wanted to have her magic back so she could actually feel like she was learning things.

Grabbing her parchment she wrote down four questions:
1. Will we get to go home?
2. Will I pass my second year?
3. Is my family worried?
4. Will there be lemon bars at dinner?
She was seriously concerned about not getting to go home, or if her family even missed her. Of all the things a 12 year old girl should be worrying about. Returning home to her family was something that she really wanted to know would she be able to see them shortly.

Looking at the flower she asked herself again, will we get to go home. She leaned in close and tried to see if her answer would be easy to be answered. Oh of course it wasn't. She glanced in closer trying to count the lines coming from the petals. "One, two, three..." Oh no.... there were five lines from the center. That meant she was going to have hope founded in fear, right? Did that mean something bad was going to happen before she saw her family again? She felt more worrisome than comfort from this lesson, she really didn't like this.

Bernie was doing her best to hold in her sneezes aND still listen to Professor Snaps. But this was a difficult thing to do, especially when it was revealed that they would be needing to TOUCH the flowers.

Bernie sniffled but watched what Aboli was doing so that she'd know what to do too. "Four questions, eh?" the girl repeated to herself. Oooh, she liked the fourth question on Aboli's parchment; she'd def be stealing that one.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bernie's parchment

1. Will I become a ghost when I die?
2. Does Lord Voldemort have a crush on Moaning Myrtle?
3. Does Blake Ryan have a crush on me?
4. Does Professor Schmoe have a crush on his own sister?

Yeah, those were pretty good; there was an obvious theme going there. She also made sure to try to scribble down the petal translation thingies that were on the board.

SPOILER!!: For my own reference...

• If the petal has four lines in it, it is a sign of hope.
• Five lines coming from the center branch is hope founded in fear.
• Thick lines bent to the right means prosperity.
• Thick lines bent to the left mean trouble ahead.
• Seven streaks is consistent love.
• Eight streaks means fickleness in either you or those around you.
• Nine, a changing heart.
• Once they have found the answer to their first question they will do a different question with their second flower.

Isla had two questions left to answer, and at this point, she wasn't feeling very hopeful about the answers. After she learned that the flowers thought she'd land in detention for a fourth time this year, she was just ready to get this activity over with. So...about those two remaining questions...

3. Will I ever see my family again?
4. Do I have any extra chocolate frogs in my dorm?

time to figure out if she'd ever see her family again. That question made her a little nervous. Did she even want to know that answer? Isla turned toward her third rose, and after picking a petal at random, she studied it carefully. Hmm...there were four lines in it. What did that mean?

If the petal has four lines in it, it is a sign of hope.

HOPE!!!! HOPE!!!!!!!!

She honestly didn't care what the rest of the flower looked like, but THIS petal thought she had hope of seeing her family again! With a smile on her face, she looked at her last question. Ohhh, that was a good one! An extra chocolate frog in her dorm would put her in an awesome mood! She chose a random petal on her fourth rose and began studying it. Seven streaks.

Seven streaks is consistent love.

Hmm...okay. So did that mean there was a chocolate frog waiting for her, or no? She liked the sound of it. There were no negative words, and the word LOVE was mentioned. That settled it! She was having a chocolate frog right after class!!!

She wrote down a few quick notes on her parchment.

- We're going to solve this mystery
- I'm getting a fourth detention
- I will see my family again
- There is a chocolate frog waiting for me in my dorm

So that second one wasn't too great, but she'd do what she had to do if it meant those other three would happen! Especially the first and third ones!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anna Banana

Isla looked down at her questions a second time. By this point and time, she'd come up with a fourth question.

1. Will I get a fourth detention this year?
2. Will we solve the riddle of our missing magic and transparentness?
3. Will I ever see my family again?
4. Do I have any extra chocolate frogs in my dorm?

Alright, time to see what the petals thought about her future. She turned toward her first flower and studied a random petal. Alright, petal---Will I get a fourth detention this year? The answer was basically thick lines bent to the left. Isla compared that to the notes.

Thick lines bent to the left mean trouble ahead.

WHAT?! But Isla didn't want a fourth detention!!! This wasn't fair! The cards were already stacked against her! Choosing to ignore that for now, she frowned at the petal and picked up her second flower... "Will we solve the riddle of our missing magic and transparentness?" She studied the petal from the second flower. There were five lines coming from the center. A second look at the notes told her...

Five lines coming from the center branch is hope founded in fear.

That sounded awesome! They were afraid, but it sounded hopeful!!! "Guess what, Professor?!" she said, excitement in her tone. "We're going to solve this mystery of our transparentness, but I'm also getting a fourth detention!" That was...kind of good? Guess she had to take one for the team...

Hearing what Isla had to say Cassie couldn't help but smile and get excited over her words. She couldn't help but snap a few times, "That is wonderful news." Yes, it was just wonderful that they would get the answers through Divination.



Glancing at the rest of the class she could still feel the sadness and concern that they all had. [b] 'Alright students we are going to shorten the lesson just a bit today. I would like to do a stress free activity to help calm some of our nerves with everything going on. If you want to finish asking your flowers questions please go right ahead. If you have finished I want you to look at your four flowers. See what type of flowers you have. Then I want you to study the flower petals and visualize what you could make using them. "[b/]

She went to the front of the room and picked up four flowers. Pulling off the petals she laid them on her desk. "Using the parchment I want you to design a picture with your flower petals, steam, and leaves." She smiled at the group hoping they would enjoy a little art project that wasn't using knowledge form classes and could just be something simple and fun. "I have some glue in my side cabinet if you would like to use it as well."


**Class will end in two days, this is a good time to catch up, jump in, and just have some fun!

Naya thought about her fourth question so long that she almost forgot what she was supposed to be thinking about. Finally, she came up with something and added it to the list.

1. Will the memory, translucency, time warp thing be resolved in time for summer break?
2. Will we get our magic back?
3. Will I get to work with dragons one day?
4. Is my birthday in June?

That last one was just a little test. She wanted to see if the the answer would be accurate since that was the only question where she already knew the answer. Now it was time to get down to business. Naya got her first flower and plucked off a petal. Inspecting it, she counted five lines. The Gryffindor checked her notes. Hope founded in fear. What did that mean? Everything would resolve eventually, but they were in for a rough time along the way? She did not like that answer one bit. Well maybe a little bit because there was hope. Picking up the next flower, Naya took a petal. Will we get our magic back? Please? And the petal says.......four lines.......a sign of hope. She breathed a sigh of semi-relief and hoped against hope that this would be true. To get her magic back and go home for the summer was everything to her.

The hard stuff was out of the way. Now it was on to question three. Naya had the next flower and checked a petal. Seven streaks. Consistent love. This was a weird answer to her question, but she knew that this would involve some interpretation. Naya had a love for dragons. If it was consistent, then maybe she would get a chance to work with dragons someday. This was her interpretations and she was going to stick with that. She moved on to her final question......the test question. She picked up her last flower and took a petal to evaluate. It had eight streaks, which meant fickleness in either you or those around you. Soooo no, that wasn’t her birthday. Well it wasn’t, so maybe there was some truth in this floromancy after all. Taking all of this in, Naya updated her notes.



Naya had just finished her activity when the professor announced what they would be doing next. This was right up her alley. She got to do some creative artsy stuff. Identifying the flowers was not going to be a problem. Looking at them all, she smiled. They reminded her of her mom’s garden at home. She had, in no particular order, a rose, a daisy, an iris and pansy. Now what was she going to do with the pretty flowers? Naya thought about it for a moment. When she had an idea, she went to get some glue from the cabinet.

Naya was going to turn her 3D flowers into a 2D picture. She removed all of the petals and the leaves from the flower. Then one by one, she arranged the petals of each flower in a circle. She was making a flattened version of four flowers with each set of petals. Once she had done that, she placed the appropriate stem beneath the petals and positioned the leaves at various angles along the side of the stems. After pausing to take a look at her work of art, she was satisfied with it. Naya carefully took the glue and pasted all of the pieces down on her parchment. As a last thought, she glued a few of the extra petals at random places around her parchment. Happy with the outcome, Naya admired her finished product.

Claudine immediately brightened. An art project? She lived for art though her ideal branch of art was sketching. Still, creating an image out of flower petals, stems and leaves was definitely intriguing. But what did she want to design? She thought during the moment she wandered to the cabinet to collect a bottle of glue and was about to ask Heats for some ideas when one came to her. President! She’d create something from the kneazle she was caretaker to since the start of the term.

Excited by the prospect of the idea, the Snakette set to work. First, she’d need an actual sketch of President. Pencil in hand, she lightly began making the careful and neat sketch of that precious little creature she had come to love. The sketch involved him napping by the lake, his cute, furry head resting on the two front peets. There was even a flowing lake in the background and the sun against the sky of a cloudless day. But the main attraction was President, of course.