Ancient Runes Lesson 2 - There Is Strength in Uruz

[Zoe]

After a month of nothing but grey clouds and rainfall, the sunlight shimmering through the windows is bound to be a pleasant sight as you make your way down the corridors. April showers truly did bring May flowers, and it also gave the headmistress a valid excuse to hold Ancient Runes outside rather than keep everyone cooped within the walls of the castle. Getting a satisfying amount of fresh air and soaking up some ultraviolet rays was important after all, especially when final exams were just around the corner.

Exams are probably the last things on your mind, however. Perhaps a more pressing matter is at the forefront of your mind, such as wondering why today's lesson was being held at the training grounds on the north side of the castle. Anyone who knew Hogwarts well enough would know that there really wasn't much to this spacious area -- the ground was flat, the grass was always cut short, and there were some rather uninteresting ruins scattered about. Boring, right? If that is your mind-set going into this lesson, then you just might find yourself surprised.

The moment you open the door of the tower and step outside into the pleasant weather, you find that you are not able to see much of the training grounds at all. Right before you tall green hedges, standing over ten feet in height and stretching far to the left and far to the right, await. In the centre of this spectacle is an opening just screaming to be ran through, but you are unable to cross the threshold because Headmistress Hawthorne, as if on cue, steps out, now blocking the entrance, with her wand held at her side and a twinkle in her eye.

"Gather over here, everyone," she says, beckoning everyone to move forward and stand in the semi-circle area outside the hedges. "Also, take out your rune sets. There is one rune in particular that we will need today." No more was said, leaving everyone to pull out their bag of runes, try looking past the woman with the hope of glimpsing something, and wonder what the lesson was going to be about.

OOC: Take note that this is NOT the second Ancient Runes lesson your character has had with the headmistress this term. Also, please familiarize yourself with the classroom rules before posting. The lesson will continue in roughly 24 hours. The lesson has started. Please feel free to join in -- the more the merrier!

Text Cut: Lesson Progression

• Arrivals
• Mini-Activity (Cast one of the spells mentioned normally, then cast again after activating Uruz.)
• Question #1 (What was one difference you noticed about your first and second casts?)
• Question #2 (What is one spell you would pair with Uruz and why?)
• Main Activity (Navigate the maze, combining magic with Uruz to overcome any obstacles.)
  • Narrator post
  • Narrator post

[Bazinga]

Why were they going outside? Eddie wasn't about any lessons,
but he'd rather be sitting at a desk where it was easier to ignore the professor than outside. He headed out with the rest and made his way to the training area. Looking up at the sky he couldn't help but be annoyed that the clouds weren't darker and that it seemed like it was getting nice out. Professors always wanted lessons outside when that happened and he wasn't digging that.

Hearing the headmistress call them over he put the innocent friendly face on and walked over. She didn't even give them anywhere to sit? They had to stand.... close? This was just getting worse, wasn't it? He pulled his runes out of his bag and looked back towards her.

So now he just would stand quietly and hope people would just not have to stand so close they touched him.

[hermygirl]

It was well-known that Runes wasn't her strong point. She'd flunked her OWL, and honestly, was only here because a) it was outside and b) she needed the distraction. And on the latter front, the Headmistress had certainly delivered. The Ravenclaw gave her a grateful smile as she let her gaze run over the hedges. A maze came to mind, although how that related to Runes, Sam had no idea. Still, she liked the idea of finding her way round one. This Ravenclaw did like a little logic, and she was good at mapping out spaces and routes.

"Good day, Headmistress," she greeted, a little more tiredly than she would have been pre-rehearsal incident. She pulled out her rune set as instructed, and fiddled with them quietly in their velvety cloth bag. Which rune they might be needing, she hadn't the faintest idea. She did try her hardest in class though, honest.

[DaniDiNardo]

Well this was different. No complaints here, Jessa would have thought it an absolute crime to have lessons inside on a day that looked so lovely--looking at you potions in the damp and dark dungeons.

It was the perfect day to take Galileo and Apollo for a bit of flying....if only she could trust the undead birds to not go rogue and disappear. Explaining that her necro study had gone loose to Professor Hirsch wasn't high up on her list of things to do. Maybe she'd just take Dexter out flying instead. It'd been a few days since she last let her Aethonan stretch his wings and she could only imagine how restless he was getting while grounded.

"Hello Headmistress." Jessa greeted, reaching into her bag for her rune set. She'd heard the instructions just as she arrived and was already trying to figure out what they may or may not be learning today.

"Can we have the rest of our classes outside for the remainder of the term?"

[SilverTiger]

There was that determination. Plus, by now Stasya actually was finding Runes kind of interesting, besides the part where they reminded herself of her mama’s family. She actually thought they were kind of interesting on their own. Especially when she got to learn ways they could be used in relation to animals, like the horse one. The nice weather was a bit of a distraction, given it made her want to spend the day with Dobby and Albus or maybe asking Henry if she could exercise Caelus, but she’d resisted the urge as she’d made her way toward the training grounds. Maybe she could explore the ruins. Maybe the lesson was going to have something to do with the ruins…

Except instead she saw hedges, which were interesting too. “Good day Headmistress Hawthorne,” she said as she stopped near Jessa, giving the headmistress a smile before digging in her bag for her rune set. She really wanted to ask what they were going to be learning, if they were going to have to navigate a maze or something, but she got the feeling the headmistress wouldn’t answer. Not yet, anyway.

[sweetpinkpixie]

Uniform not required? Then heeeeeeee was not going to wear it. Despite mum and dad applying appropriate charms to keep his shirts mostly stain-free (the third year still seemed to find SOME way to work around them and get them filthy enough for house elf magic cleaning to be necessary), Derf was quite keen to be in his other clothes. Would also make Simon less fidgety if he got dirty and he couldn't SEE it as well since, well, Derf was wearing dark tones and without a hint of white to be found. Ancient Runes was proving to be a rather messy affair for him - which just made him enjoy the subject more, really.

Jogging down to training grounds, Derf stopped rather abruptly - and beside Stasya - when he saw what was TOTALLY a hedge maze. The Hufflepuff was both eager and a little on edge by this. "Pleeeeeeeeease tell me there is a sphinx in there," he chirped, mostly to himself and it was a thought he had not even realized he had uttered aloud.

Because how NEAT would that be?!

Hearing the Headmistress' directions, Derf quickly fished his rune set from his jeans pocket and pulled it open to poke around at its contents looking for the one that had the R looking rune on it. The radio one.

[PhoenixRising]

Skylar didn't need to be told twice when it came to wearing comfortable clothing. With her looming examinations drawing nearer, the fifth year was practically living in comfy sweats whenever she wasn't in lessons as she tried to remain focused and determined on her readings. And of course, there was the making sure her notes were extra detailed for Junia to catch up on when she was fully conscious and alert.

As for the lesson being outside? Honestly, Skylar wasn't phased because Runes seemed to play host to outside lessons frequently enough AND it was a gorgeous day. Perhaps if she was feeling energized, she'd swing by the pitch for a quick fly before returning to her studying. For now though, her attention was on the headmistress because as she learned over the last year and a half of serious rune commitment; this was a subject that required her undivided attention.

"Good day, Headmistress Hawthorne," Skylar beamed brightly at the woman, as she removed her rune set, curiously inspecting each one and wondering which would be the rune of today's focal point. Perhaps one that could help learn that awesome cursebreaking she and Hirsch had synchronized with in the Room of Requirement? Yea, the Slytherin hadn't forgotten that and was quite impressed and envious

[lazykitty]

Actually, this Gryffindor's 'comfy' clothes weren't much different than his uniform, only choosing to replace the button down/tie/blazer combo with a polo shirt and adding sunglasses, both to protect his eyes and hide the dark circles under his eyes. Though, this shouldn't fool anyone. It was pretty obvious that the incident in the Room of Requirement had had a profound effect on Ronan. Not that anyone particularly cared or anything.

Anyway, he approached the maze thing carrying only his rune set and joined the group already gathered around the Headmistress. "Hello, Headmistress." And nope, there was no trying to stare around the woman. They would find out in due time what was in store for them. He just hoped that it wasn't anything too dangerous, because he didn't think he could handle that right then.

[siriusblackliveson]

Patrick came down around the castle to the grounds as he had been instructed by the professor when she posted where the class was going to be held. He was looking forward to being outside in the nice weather, but as for runes class he wasn’t looking forward to that at all. He still wasn’t as great with it as it was similar to his last experience in DADA he wasn’t exactly grasping everything and because of that he felt like he was dangling from the edge of a cliff. He grabbed his runes out of his bag and waited for class to start.

Patrick walked over to stand near Skylar as she did know her stuff for the most part. He glanced up at the headmistress, “Hello Headmistress,” he said before adjusting the sleeves on his t-shirt that he had worn in lieu of his robes since they had been told comfy clothing was acceptable.

[Zoe]

Text Cut: Individual Replies

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bazinga

Why were they going outside? Eddie wasn't about any lessons,
but he'd rather be sitting at a desk where it was easier to ignore the professor than outside. He headed out with the rest and made his way to the training area. Looking up at the sky he couldn't help but be annoyed that the clouds weren't darker and that it seemed like it was getting nice out. Professors always wanted lessons outside when that happened and he wasn't digging that.

Hearing the headmistress call them over he put the innocent friendly face on and walked over. She didn't even give them anywhere to sit? They had to stand.... close? This was just getting worse, wasn't it? He pulled his runes out of his bag and looked back towards her.

So now he just would stand quietly and hope people would just not have to stand so close they touched him.

To be quite honest, Regina was quite surprised to see that Edward Blaze Jr. had been the first to arrive at the training grounds. It would have been more like him, in her opinion, to show up with a minute to spare or ... just not show up at all. That innocent face he was wearing didn't fool her one bit.

As the boy had no words to say to her, the headmistress had nothing to say either. She simply shot a smile at his direction, acknowledging his presence, before he pulled out his runes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hermygirl

It was well-known that Runes wasn't her strong point. She'd flunked her OWL, and honestly, was only here because a) it was outside and b) she needed the distraction. And on the latter front, the Headmistress had certainly delivered. The Ravenclaw gave her a grateful smile as she let her gaze run over the hedges. A maze came to mind, although how that related to Runes, Sam had no idea. Still, she liked the idea of finding her way round one. This Ravenclaw did like a little logic, and she was good at mapping out spaces and routes.

"Good day, Headmistress," she greeted, a little more tiredly than she would have been pre-rehearsal incident. She pulled out her rune set as instructed, and fiddled with them quietly in their velvety cloth bag. Which rune they might be needing, she hadn't the faintest idea. She did try her hardest in class though, honest.

Why Samantha Tyler was continuing with Ancient Runes, considering the OWL grade, was a mystery to the headmistress. Nevertheless, she did respect the Ravenclaw's decision to continue -- it meant the girl had spunk and wasn't going to anything get in the way. Even recent events unrelated to the subject proved as much.

In return, the headmistress gave a smile. "Good day, Miss Tyler," she said as the girl pulled out her runes and started fiddling with them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaniDiNardo

Well this was different. No complaints here, Jessa would have thought it an absolute crime to have lessons inside on a day that looked so lovely--looking at you potions in the damp and dark dungeons.

It was the perfect day to take Galileo and Apollo for a bit of flying....if only she could trust the undead birds to not go rogue and disappear. Explaining that her necro study had gone loose to Professor Hirsch wasn't high up on her list of things to do. Maybe she'd just take Dexter out flying instead. It'd been a few days since she last let her Aethonan stretch his wings and she could only imagine how restless he was getting while grounded.

"Hello Headmistress." Jessa greeted, reaching into her bag for her rune set. She'd heard the instructions just as she arrived and was already trying to figure out what they may or may not be learning today.

"Can we have the rest of our classes outside for the remainder of the term?"

Then another Ravenclaw, a different breed of Ravenclaw at that, came into her line of vision: Jessa Cambridge. Since getting the full details about what the girl had been up to this term, Regina didn't know what to think of her. The nature of the girl's 'experiments' didn't sit well with her one bit.

"Hello, Miss Cambridge," the headmistress responded. As for her question, well, there was an obvious answer. "I'm afraid lessons taking place outside for Runes will be rare after today. Finals will soon be upon us."

Quote:

Originally Posted by SilverTiger

There was that determination. Plus, by now Stasya actually was finding Runes kind of interesting, besides the part where they reminded herself of her mama’s family. She actually thought they were kind of interesting on their own. Especially when she got to learn ways they could be used in relation to animals, like the horse one. The nice weather was a bit of a distraction, given it made her want to spend the day with Dobby and Albus or maybe asking Henry if she could exercise Caelus, but she’d resisted the urge as she’d made her way toward the training grounds. Maybe she could explore the ruins. Maybe the lesson was going to have something to do with the ruins…

Except instead she saw hedges, which were interesting too. “Good day Headmistress Hawthorne,” she said as she stopped near Jessa, giving the headmistress a smile before digging in her bag for her rune set. She really wanted to ask what they were going to be learning, if they were going to have to navigate a maze or something, but she got the feeling the headmistress wouldn’t answer. Not yet, anyway.

The Gryffindor received a smile as she made her way over to the meeting place. Regina saw a lot of potential in her when it came to this subject. It was the determination ... and perhaps Charlotte Kettleburn, Gryffindor's resident runes expert, that had to have been rubbing off on her and a few of the other lions.

"Welcome, Miss Dalgaard-Volkova," she replied to the second year. The woman had a feeling the girl had questions fluttering through her mind, though, of course, all would be revealed soon enough.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie

Uniform not required? Then heeeeeeee was not going to wear it. Despite mum and dad applying appropriate charms to keep his shirts mostly stain-free (the third year still seemed to find SOME way to work around them and get them filthy enough for house elf magic cleaning to be necessary), Derf was quite keen to be in his other clothes. Would also make Simon less fidgety if he got dirty and he couldn't SEE it as well since, well, Derf was wearing dark tones and without a hint of white to be found. Ancient Runes was proving to be a rather messy affair for him - which just made him enjoy the subject more, really.

Jogging down to training grounds, Derf stopped rather abruptly - and beside Stasya - when he saw what was TOTALLY a hedge maze. The Hufflepuff was both eager and a little on edge by this. "Pleeeeeeeeease tell me there is a sphinx in there," he chirped, mostly to himself and it was a thought he had not even realized he had uttered aloud.

Because how NEAT would that be?!

Hearing the Headmistress' directions, Derf quickly fished his rune set from his jeans pocket and pulled it open to poke around at its contents looking for the one that had the R looking rune on it. The radio one.

And an Ancient Runes lesson just wouldn't be the same without Derfael Ashburry-Hawthorne. From being stunned to being cacked in mud to trying to take on blast-ended skrewts without armour, she could rely on him to be -- stated in the nicest way possible -- very much a Hufflepuff.

Regina almost snorted at what he said. Whether or not she was supposed to have heard that, she did respond. "No sphinxes in there. But there are..." Nevermind. They would all be finding out soon enough. She allowed for her sentence to go unfinished as the boy looked for a rune, even though she hadn't yet specified which rune they would need to take out.

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhoenixRising

Skylar didn't need to be told twice when it came to wearing comfortable clothing. With her looming examinations drawing nearer, the fifth year was practically living in comfy sweats whenever she wasn't in lessons as she tried to remain focused and determined on her readings. And of course, there was the making sure her notes were extra detailed for Junia to catch up on when she was fully conscious and alert.

As for the lesson being outside? Honestly, Skylar wasn't phased because Runes seemed to play host to outside lessons frequently enough AND it was a gorgeous day. Perhaps if she was feeling energized, she'd swing by the pitch for a quick fly before returning to her studying. For now though, her attention was on the headmistress because as she learned over the last year and a half of serious rune commitment; this was a subject that required her undivided attention.

"Good day, Headmistress Hawthorne," Skylar beamed brightly at the woman, as she removed her rune set, curiously inspecting each one and wondering which would be the rune of today's focal point. Perhaps one that could help learn that awesome cursebreaking she and Hirsch had synchronized with in the Room of Requirement? Yea, the Slytherin hadn't forgotten that and was quite impressed and envious

Sweat pants were an ... interesting choice. Regina was eyeing up Skylar Diggory's choice in attire as she joined the semi-circle. In the headmistress' mind, sweats were appropriate for working out or lounging. But, alas, they would do just fine for today. The maze was bound to get messy at some point.

"Hello, Miss Diggory," Regina greeted in return. No more was said. The girl seemed to be preoccupied trying to figure out which of the runes would be needed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by lazykitty

Actually, this Gryffindor's 'comfy' clothes weren't much different than his uniform, only choosing to replace the button down/tie/blazer combo with a polo shirt and adding sunglasses, both to protect his eyes and hide the dark circles under his eyes. Though, this shouldn't fool anyone. It was pretty obvious that the incident in the Room of Requirement had had a profound effect on Ronan. Not that anyone particularly cared or anything.

Anyway, he approached the maze thing carrying only his rune set and joined the group already gathered around the Headmistress. "Hello, Headmistress." And nope, there was no trying to stare around the woman. They would find out in due time what was in store for them. He just hoped that it wasn't anything too dangerous, because he didn't think he could handle that right then.

It didn't take very long to forget about Skylar's sweats as Ronan's attire managed to grasp her attention. This was ... comfortable? And what was up with the sunglasses? Hmm.

"Good morning, Mr. Carter," the headmistress responded with a nod of her head. There was a brief pause before she added, "Please remove the sunglasses. There will be no need for those today."

Quote:

Originally Posted by siriusblackliveson

Patrick came down around the castle to the grounds as he had been instructed by the professor when she posted where the class was going to be held. He was looking forward to being outside in the nice weather, but as for runes class he wasn’t looking forward to that at all. He still wasn’t as great with it as it was similar to his last experience in DADA he wasn’t exactly grasping everything and because of that he felt like he was dangling from the edge of a cliff. He grabbed his runes out of his bag and waited for class to start.

Patrick walked over to stand near Skylar as she did know her stuff for the most part. He glanced up at the headmistress, “Hello Headmistress,” he said before adjusting the sleeves on his t-shirt that he had worn in lieu of his robes since they had been told comfy clothing was acceptable.

Last but certainly not least was Patrick Dooley. Regina was pleased to see that he was free of his robes and hoped that this was a lesson that the first year could grasp on to fairly well. It definitely was one of those lessons that was focused on practical application, rather than strictly theoretical.

"Welcome, Mr. Dooley," she said, taking note of who he decided to stand next to. It was a smart choice.

Looking down at her watch, the headmistress watched as the hands struck ten o'clock. As to be expected, she wasted no time whatsoever with getting her lesson started. Normally there were mountains of information and instruction to be given, but this lesson in particular required a lot of time within the hedges.

"Good morning to you all, and welcome to another Ancient Runes lesson," Regina began, her head moving slowly and her blue eyes shifting from one head to the next. "I know the last few months have been very heavy on the theoretical side of Ancient Runes, so I applaud each and every one of you for hanging in there and putting your best effort forward with soaking in everything and demonstrating your mastery of that knowledge." She paused to let that bit of praise sink in before continuing.

"Obviously today is not going to be a theory-heavy lesson. We still have a few more runes in the alphabet to really focus in on and use them in a practical, day-to-day scenario. The rune that we are going to focus our attention on today is Uruz. As you all will recall" -- at least she hoped they all would remember -- "Uruz translates to 'Aurochs,' which is a species of wild ox that once existed in Europe before they became extinct in the seventeenth century. The Aurochs were were highly prized during their existence because of their slsize and strength. Because of this association, the rune Uruz represents raw physical power. Our goal for today is to harness that power and use it with magic we use on a regular basis."

Were they all with her so far? Regina hoped so because it was already time for them to put that concept to practice before she let them roam free in the maze and face what all was waiting within.

"Right now I would like all of you take out your wands, spread out, and cast one of the following spells on the hedge: Aguamenti, Glacius, or Ventus." Simple, right? "After, I then want you to take out your Uruz stone, activate the rune, and try the spell again to see if there is a difference." That was all she was going to say about that. Regina wasn't going to say what Uruz would do to their spellwork as that was something she wanted them to discover all on their own.

OOC: Hello, everyone! Thank you all so much for participating in our the second Ancient Runes lesson of the term. I am so excited that you are all here! If you have yet to post in this lesson and wish to do so (*wiggles brows at those of you in the stalker bar*), act like your character has been here the whole time ... unless you want your character to show up late, of course. ;)

To kick of the lesson, Regina is diving right into the mini-activity/practice portion. You character needs to do the following: cast one of the spells mentioned as your character normally would at their skill level, take out the Uruz stone and chant the galdr (Uruz uruz uruz, u u u u u u u u u, u u u u u u r r r r r r, u u u u u u u u u) until the rune turns orange, and then cast the same spell again. The power of the rune will make the effects of the spell stronger in some capacity -- get creative and have fun with this! If you have any questions for me OOC, you are more than welcome to ask.

The lesson will continue in roughly 48 hours.

[PhoenixRising]

Skylar had been slightly surprised when Patrick stood next to her. She'd failed him in defense. She hadn't been his Hady Lynch. And yet, somehow he still seemed to be okay with the fact that she hadn't saved him in the manner she should have? A brief smile toward the first year and then the Headmistress was starting; who seemed surprised by her sweats even though she hadn't said anything. Or shown it. But, she had said comfortable clothing and the woman had to know as a fifth year, sweats were comfortable and something she practically lived in when uniforms weren't required.

Something else the slytherin was grateful for? More practical use of runes and made her wonder if there was some type of runeology used that day in the room of requirement? Were runes even a big part of cursebreaking? Curious Skylar, was in fact, curious. But she couldn't dwell for too long because it seemed they were diving right into the lesson, using uruz to help them. She already knew which spell she would be casting on the hedge, but before she could do that, she first needed to activate her rune.

Removing the uruz rune from her bag, she sat crossed-legged on the ground, with the rune before her, quietly chanting the galdr, "Uruz uruz uruz, u u u u u u u u u, u u u u u u r r r r r r, u u u u u u u u u" Noting that this one didn't seem to be as random a collection of letters as some of the others. It just sort of rolled off her tongue. "Uruz uruz uruz, u u u u u u u u u, u u u u u u r r r r r r, u u u u u u u u u"

[DaniDiNardo]

Right...exams....the end of the term.

In truth, it wasn't so much either aspect that gave the young girl notable pause as she'd already finished the Fourth Year syllabus and was well into the Fifth Year OWL one already with plans to complete it by the end of June (some summer study never hurt anyone, especially not at the start of summer). The problem was that this time meant it would soon be necessary for Professor Hirsch to evaluate her necromancy study to see if she'd be able to continue and while her undead birds were doing brilliantly....they also were not. By now the Ravenclaw was almost nervous about introducing them to anyone because they'd frankly grown to be more vicious than she'd anticipated.

She would have to work on it before the man paid her makeshift lab a visit.

For now, she would turn her attention to the task on hand. While she listened, Jessa fished the Uruz rune from her bag, already having some idea of what would happen by the time the instructions had been given out.

The only real question was...which of the three spells was she most comfortable with non-verbally? Aguamenti probably. It'd been months upon months of hard practice and going without a spell if she couldn't cast it non-verbally but her patience and determination were starting to pay off. She was far less likely to fail at the ones she commonly used and with the several cauldrons typically boiling in her lab, there was always need for aguamenti.

Concentrating on a section of the hedge, Jessa drew her wand and focused her intent. Much like the levitation spell, this one had become something of second nature to her. Intent clear in her head, she watched the water gush from the tip of her wand and spray in the direction of the hedges. Simple enough.

[hermygirl]

Spunk. Sam would be proud indeed to know that's what the Headmistress thought she had. For her part, the Ravenclaw had softened towards the professor since the rehearsal incident. Hawthorne no longer seemed quite so scary and strict, having seen her more caring side first hand. In many ways, it made her more determined than ever to get a grasp of Runes before she left next year.

Honestly, no Sam hadn't remembered that Uruz was related to an extinct type of ox - it didn't even look like a simplified ox, just a wonky N. But she did remember that it meant strength, courage and power, so she considered that a win. She could even have a guess at what was meant to happen in the activity as a result. And because of that, she opted to use Aguamenti. It'd have far more visible results than either of the others, and she could easily cast it non-verbally. A steady stream of water ejected from her wand as she did so.

...but now she had to invoke the rune, which was where things were bound to go downhill. She plopped down on the ground, and carefully tipped out her tiles to search through. Her fingers ran over the runes, gathering the wrong ones up and returning them to the pouch after she'd found the correct one. Next to chant the galdr...the bit she found the hardest. It least this one had simpler sounds than some of the others...not all of the extra vowel-type bits to try and pronounce correctly.

Here goes nothing...

"Uruz uruz uruz, u u u u u u u u u, u u u u u u r r r r r r, u u u u u u u u u..."

[SarcasticStrawberry]

Juni was even more appreciative of outside lessons, especially after the last few weeks she has had. As well as a new appreciation for the Headmistress, curse breaking and healers, all of which had been a tremendous help to her. After being in the Hospital wing for almost two weeks, she enjoyed being out in the sun and feeling it on her face.

That was exactly what she got as she stepped out to where the lesson was being held. She passed by the Headmistress, greeting her as she walked by. Following the instructions of where to go she went there and got out her runes set. She had to get out the whole set, but they would be only working with one of them today. Which one could they possibly be working with today? Guess she would find out soon enough.

Class was going to be starting soon right? It seem like she was sitting there forever waiting for it to start. Runes was just one class that was theory and the practical part was her favorite at least for her anyway. Learning that today was going to be a lot of the easy stuff for her. Runes had a sort of language of their own. If there was something that the third year enjoyed it was languages.

Picking out a section of the hedge, she got her wand out. Pointing her wand and casting a ”Glacius!” at the hedge in front of her. For whatever reason the Ravenclaw enjoyed that spell, at least of the three that were offered. Now to find her Uruz stone, and activate it. Putting away the other stones since Headmistress Hawthorne had said this would be the only one they would be working on.

She took a deep breath because these chants can get quite lengthy and a mouth full... ”Uruz uruz uruz, u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u r r r r r r u u u u u u u u u.” Over and over… ”Uruz uruz uruz, u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u r r r r r r u u u u u u u u u.”

[Kayla Taaffe]

Why was the prof staring at everyone?? Viv was very stressed and overwhelmed with theory. She wanted to be done with everyone in this class. Today was gonna be easy... she could smell it! Uruz means ox?? That's fascinating... and also power. Next was practice... ooh spells! Viv spread out and cast Glacius on the rune and activated it. She saw a huge difference... ice?? The rune turned orange...

[DaniDiNardo]

Alright, time to try the spell with the power of Uruz. Again, she was pretty sure she knew where the Professor was going with this but she didn't mind. It'd be interesting to see just how much of a difference the rune stone would be making on this particular spell.

Jessa placed the rune on her wand, adjusting it to be sure she was firmly grasping it before she began the chanting.

"Uruz uruz uruz, u u u u u u u u u, u u u u u u r r r r r r, u u u u u u u u u....Uruz uruz uruz, u u u u u u u u u, u u u u u u r r r r r r, u u u u u u u u u..." Not surprisingly, the rune didn't begin to change colour immediately but the Ravenclaw was never that easily discouraged. On the contrary, the Fourth Year just kept chanting, knowing it would begin to work at some point. "Uruz uruz uruz, u u u u u u u u u, u u u u u u r r r r r r, u u u u u u u u u..."

Eventually, the rune above her wand began to glow orange as she'd been hoping for, at which point she took aim at the hedge again and once more focused her intent.

Again, she non-verbally cast the water producing spell but this time, the force with which the water gushed from her wand sent Jessa blasting back by a few feet. "Whoa!" The Ravenclaw tried to maintain her balance, staggering even after the force of the blast had worn out. "That was absolutely wicked." She said, catching her breath once the ordeal was over.

[lazykitty]

Wait, no sunglasses? The Headmistress did realize the importance of protecting one's eyes from the sun's rays, right? Still though, Ronan removed his sunglasses with a "Yes, Headmistress," and slid them, Protego charmed, into his front pocket and exposing the dark circles from lack of sleep that were the main reason that he had chosen to wear them.

Yes, he'd remembered all that about Uruz. But now they got to actually put said rune to use. Honestly, there were some here that he felt could use double the rune stones. He wasn't going to point that, though. Instead, he chose a spell to test. "Ventus." He watched as his chosen hedge rustled some in the breeze of air from his wand. Pretty good, even without the rune. He wondered a second, while opening his bag of rune stones, if Uruz would make him able to cast the strong enough to push people away, like the Headmistress had done that day in the Room of Requirement. Probably not. Anyway, he found the appropriate rune and closed the rest up.

"Uruz, uruz, uruz, u u u u u u u u u, u u u u u u r r r r r r, u u u u u u u u u. Uruz, uruz, uruz, u u u u u u u u u, u u u u u u r r r r r r, u u u u u u u u u. Uruz, uruz, uruz, u u u u u u u u u, u u u u u u r r r r r r, u u u u u u u u u. Uruz, uruz, uruz, u u u u u u u u u, u u u u u u r r r r r r, u u u u u u u u u." Luckily, this rune was one of the less complicated ones and before long, his rune was glowing a pleasant shade of orange. Aiming his wand at the same hedge as before, Ronan cast again. "Ventus." This time, the wind was strong enough to blow a good chunk of the leaves from the bottom of the hedge. Oops?

[Lady of Light]

Etta wasn’t sure if she was ever going to be good at this subject.. yeah, really doubtful. She carefully listened as the Headmistress spoke, more than glad that they were going to focus less on theory and more on practical today. At least, practical was lot more interesting and fun. Heh.

Right. Simple enough. The prefect decided to go with aguamenti.. so she pulled out her wand, pointing it towards the hedges and cast the spell non-verbally. At least, she had gotten extremely good at non-verbal spells by this point.. only after a lot of practice, of course. She watched as the water gushed out of the tip of her wand, a small smile on her face. Okay, moving on.. she had to activate the rune now, yeah? She did wonder if the rune would make the spell a lot stronger but she would know soon enough anyway so never mind.

Etta removed the Uruz stone from her bag and held it in her hand before starting to chant. “Uruz uruz uruz, u u u u u u u u u, u u u u u u r r r r r r, u u u u u u u u u.. Uruz uruz uruz, u u u u u u u u u, u u u u u u r r r r r r, u u u u u u u u u, Uruz uruz uruz, u u u u u u u u u, u u u u u u r r r r r r, u u u u u u u u u..” She watched the rune as she continued chanting, wondering if she was even saying it right. Why was it not turning orange?! But, she didn’t have to panic for long. Soon enough, the rune was glowing orange. Wow, pretty. She didn’t waste a lot of time admiring the colour though. Pointing her wand towards the hedges again, she cast aguamenti.

.... WOAH. The water gushed out once again but with a lot more force this time around. This was.. something.

[PhoenixRising]

It was as her rune was starting to pale orange when Skylar realized she goofed. She was meant to test out the spell first just for a threshold for how it behaved under normal circumstances and she completely just dove into the rune activation phase. No matter though, right, because her rune wasn't completely orange? It was only paled in color and so the fifth year did what any sensible fifteen year old might consider - she dropped her rune back into her bag, as if it never happened, turning her attention onto the hedge for a moment.

Glacius, she cast non-verbally, feeling completely comfortable with that spell even though she'd never attempted that one in a non-verbal manner. She watched as the hedge frosted over for the briefest of moments, before returning to its normal state.

With satisfaction at her skill level, she removed the uruz rune from her bag again, it still paled orange a bit in colors, as she chanted once more, "Uruz uruz uruz, u u u u u u u u u, u u u u u u r r r r r r, u u u u u u u u u... Uruz uruz uruz, u u u u u u u u u, u u u u u u r r r r r r, u u u u u u u u u... Uruz uruz uruz, u u u u u u u u u, u u u u u u r r r r r r, u u u u u u u u u" This time, perhaps because it was already halfway there, the rune glowed a full orange shade.

Attention back on the hedge, as she clutched the glowing rune with one hand, pointing her wand at the hedge with her other hand, non-verbally casting glacius once more. The hedge iced over ... and remained iced, as the she-snake gingerly reached out to feel the smooth cold material.

[Bazinga]

..... and the minute she opened her mouth and began the lesson this Blaze was lost. Why did he try at Ancient Runes? His uncle always said it was the closest thing to dark arts that Hogwarts would really teach him, but man was it lame and weird. He wasn't a fan of chanting because that meant using words and he wasn't a fan of that in public or ever. So he just watched everyone else as the lesson started and listened to the headmistress.


Why were they already doing things? Wasn't lessons meant for adults to talk and the kids to pretend to listen but not really? Man, he couldn't catch a break with this today.
Glancing around he'd never admit being lost so he just watched the others. There was Juniper maybe he'd just copy her.


Looking through his runes he pulled out the uruz and started doing the chant, "“Uruz uruz uruz, u u u u u u u u u, u u u u u u r r r r r r, u u u u u u u u u.. Uruz uruz uruz, u u u u u u u u u, u u u u u u r r r r r r, u u u u u u u u u, Uruz uruz uruz, u u u u u u u u u, u u u u u u r r r r r r, u u u u u u u u u"


Was that right?

[siriusblackliveson]

Patrick watched a few of the other students try out the spells before he got the courage to try one. He had seen Skylar do a spell that made the tree frost. He figured that one was Glacius. He looked at the hedge in front of him and readied himself. He pointed his wand at his hedge and took a deep breath, "Glacius". Nothing happened. He took a deeper breath trying to wipe the nerves from his system and tried again, "Glacius." This time Patrick noticed that a few leaves turned a bit frosty, not as good as other students, but he would take it.

He looked down at his Uruz rune and held it in his hand. he braced himself to chant the galdr. Maybe this wouldn't end so bad. "Uruz uruz uruz. u u u u u u u u u. u u u u u u r r r r r r, u u u u u u u u u" he waited watching the rune just barely glow orange. He waited another second as the rune finally turned the orange color that Headmistress Hawthorne had described. He aimed his wand again, "Glacius" he really wanted the entire hedge to turn frosty. He watched as a stream of frost began to grow from his toe all the way to the hedge. "Well, I don't thing that was supposed to happen." he mumbled under his breath.

[SilverTiger]

As Derf had slid to a stop next to her, Stasya had turned to give him a grin before her eyes had widened at his suggestion. A Sphinx would be awesome, definitely, but then the headmistress had shot down that hope pretty quickly. Only to leave the blonde with even more questions at what hadn’t been said. There was something in the hedge maze. It had basically been proven. All that was left was finding out what it was. That and hoping it wasn’t one of Professor Hirsch’s soucouyant dummies, since she still didn’t really want to meet one of those. Honestly, she’d much rather the sphinx, or another creature. She could always hope, anyway.

The announcement that there wasn’t going to be a lot of theory this lesson disappointed her a little, even if she hadn’t had a lot to suggest in discussions yet. But the rune they were learning about totally was creature related, so that eased some of her worry over actually having to activate the rune. Maybe there was an aurochs in the maze, ignoring the fact they were supposed to be extinct. Maybe the headmistress had found one, or even just made a pretend one. Even a pretend aurochs would be cool.

Even before she chose a spot at the hedge to try the activity, she dug through her runes to find the Uruz rune so it was handy. That way she’d have more time to work on the galdr if it was necessary, since so far she hadn’t managed to invoke a rune on the first try yet. Obviously the headmistress liked how hard she tried, not whatever skills she had.

Her choice of spell was easy, too. Well, easy for her because she didn’t want to go for the easiest spell, but instead she wanted to do the one she’d been working on since last term. “Ventus,” she cast, pointing her wand at the hedge and focusing on the spell. A big smile grew on her face as a few leaves rustled in the breeze coming from her wand, but then it faded as she realized that now she had to do the rune part.

“Uruz uruz uruz, u u u u u u u u u, u u u u u u r r r r r r, u u u u u u u u u,” she chanted, sitting on the ground near the hedge and cupping her runestone in her hand. The faintest of glows flickered in the depths of the rune to her surprise, only pushing her to keep chanting. “Uruz uruz uruz, u u u u u u u u u, u u u u u u r r r r r r, u u u u u u u u u…” She wasn’t giving up until that glow got stronger.

[Lissy Longbottom]

Well, they were getting right into the practical part of the lesson, weren't they? Scarlett wasn't complaining - she took the welcome break from taking notes. Her hand felt like it was going to fall off after her Charms class this morning...

She decided to go with Glacius, taking out her wand and casting the spell non-verbally at the hedge. She watched as it frosted over with ice, and then she took her rune in her hand and held it out at the hedge. She cleared her throat. "Uruz uruz uruz, u u u u u u u u u, u u u u u u r r r r r r, u u u u u u u u u," she muttered, watching as the rune began to turn orange as she spoke. Perfect! Everything was going ok as of this moment...

Now, time to recast the spell. She waved her wand, casting Glacius once more, and watched as the ice spell overtook the hedge again, this time frosted over in large chunks of ice. She grinned happily to herself. BOOM. Done. What was next?!

[RandomRaven]

Ava listened to the headmistress talked about today was going to be a less-theory. Oh, yay! Well, as much as theory was also important in this subject but ancient runes was way more fun if the class was more focused on the practical portion. But stil, Hawthorne did talk about the rune that they're going to learn today. Uruz, physical power, blablabla.... Should she take a note for this? Maybe not, because it's already on the textbook.

Okay, thankfully the Headmistress didn't talk too much and now they're already moving on to the activity. Following the instruction, the Gryffindor took the uruz stone from her runes set. But before activating the rune, she tried to cast non-verbal aguamenti until some amout of water burst out from her wand. Hmmmm.... Let's see what would happen after the uruz had activated then. "Uruz, uruz, uruz, u u u u u u u u u, u u u u u u r r r r r r, u u u u u u u u u. Uruz, uruz, uruz, u u u u u u u u u, u u u u u u r r r r r r, u u u u u u u u u. Uruz, uruz, uruz, u u u u u u u u u, u u u u u u r r r r r r, u u u u u u u u u. Uruz, uruz, uruz, u u u u u u u u u, u u u u u u r r r r r r, u u u u u u u u u." Ava muttered the galdr several times, focusing her mind and energy to the rune until it started glowing a nice orange color.

And now, the moment of truth. "Aguamenti!" This time a huge burst of water came out from her wand. It was strong enough that made her lost a little control and accidentally aimed it to the headmistress. Oopsie? "... I'm so sorry, headmistress!" Ava apologized and slightly bowed at her.

[hermygirl]

"Uruz uruz uruz, u u u u u u u u u, u u u u u u r r r r r r, u u u u u u u u u...Uruz uruz uruz, u u u u u u u u u..."

Was that...glowing? Sam almost did a double take at the rune laying flat in the palm of her right hand. Somehow, it hadn't taken 50 thousand repetitions of the galdr today, and only three or four. It was a pleasant surprise to say the least, and a smile curled on her lips.

Well then...time to try aguamenti again. Rising to her feet, Sam found a clear patch of the hedge. Seeing others get knocked off balance by their attempts, she spread her feet and kept her knees soft to hopefully give her a better centre of gravity. A silent wave of her wand, and a stream of water appeared from the tip once more. It didn't knock her over, her preparation doing its job, but she could tell it was more powerful. Whereas the parabola the water made previously had done a good job of reaching just above the roots, it now easily hit the hedge about half way up.

Maybe, just maybe, she was starting to get rune magic.