Claudine pulled her silver and green scarf a little snugger around her neck. Her hands, crossed over her chest, were tucked under her arms in an effort to keep them warm. "Good afternoon, Professor,'' she said upon reaching the classroom. She noticed the woman's frown but said nothing about it. What else did she notice? The numbers on the board. Fun fact: numbers confused her sometimes.

Without wasting another moment, she made her way to the back of the class to take up a seat.

It was another chilly day at Beauxbatons. But for some reason, cold days were more bearable when it was around the holiday season. At least she could look forward to a steaming mug of butterbeer after class today. She balled her gloved fingers into fists at her sides, trying to retain warmth as she entered the Arithmancy room. Sliding into a chair toward the front, she gave the professor a warm smile. "Hello, Professor Sissay." Avalon unwound her blue scarf from her neck, slinging it over the back of her chair. At least the classroom wasn't as cold as it was outside.

Bernadette still wasn't sure what she was doing in this class or why, but it was on her schedule and she was following her schedule. Still. Till they probably kicked her out for licking her fingers or something.

She followed the others into the room and then spotted Claudine zipping toward the back. Oh no, she was NOT going to be stuck in the front! Bernie picked up her speedwalking pace and hurried to a seat beside her friend. Just like in all their other classes, if they were going to be confused, they might as well be confused together.

Arithmancy was a subject that Kaiser could take or leave; he really had no strong feelings about it either way. The subject matter confused him often sometimes, but the same could be said for practically every single one of his classes, so it wasn't special in that way.

Another thing Kaiser didn't feel strongly about was the upcoming winter holiday. Sure, a break from lessons would be nice, but he wasn't exactly eagerly anticipating it. Or, uh... anything else. At all. But that was... not for here.

Strolling into the classroom - sans the extra winter clothing that some of his peers had opted for, but still rocking the ever-present messy hair and dark eye circles - Kaiser went ahead and claimed the seat nearest the door. "Afternoon," he greeted Sissay automatically, sounding as though he was no less than eleven different varieties of tired (spoiler alert: he was).

Crate? Not interested. Numbers on the board? Didn't care. Half-closing his eyes, Kaiser propped his head on his hand and waited for class to start.

Snow. It was something that she wasn't really used to yet. It never snowed back home, even in the mountains. She had never really been convinced it even existed before. So the near-constant snow of the Pyrenees was something completely different. Though, she did enjoy the various snow-related activities, even if she hadn't been able to convince anyone to teach her to how to sled or ski yet. Keyword being yet. She was determined to learn before the winter was up.

"Hello, Professor," Dalia greeted, choosing to sit in her usual seat. What was in the crate?

Dorian was not in a good mood today and no matter what he tried to come up with that could be the cause of it, he could not find anything. Which made him even more temperamental. He had done his very best to uphold his Head Boy status and be friendly to everyone but he was human as well. So far, he had not snapped at anyone yet which was a plus.

The Ravenclaw dragged his feet in to the classroom for another Arithmancy lesson, his hands deep inside of his pockets as he walked before he took them out to turn his bag around and took out his text and notebook. "Professor" He greeted and albeit he sounded normal , there was no hint of a smile today. He nodded his head instead and found his usual seat at the front. Ignoring the crate at the front desk entirely cause why bother.

At least Beauxbatons had one thing going for it. Maybe it was just her artist’s eye, but Carys had to admit that the castle was beautiful in the snow. Quidditch disappointments aside, she’d found herself spending more time in the art studio trying new painting techniques and otherwise just passing the time when she didn’t have homework to do. Not to say she wasn’t still concerned about her Quidditch skills, but she was at least trying to make the situation better for herself.

Either way, she’d spent the lunch period painting, before heading off to Arithmancy. It was definitely nowhere near her best subject, but at least it was familiar. “Good afternoon Professor Sissay,” she greeted the woman with a smile, heading off to a seat near a window and completely oblivious to the tiny smear of green paint in her hair near her left ear. The crate and the arithmetic on the board had been noticed, but it hadn’t seemed to need questioning. At the very least, she knew the arithmetic. Maybe this wouldn’t be as bad.

Tina had a lot on her mind. Her birthday was the day after tomorrow, and the holidays were just around the corner. Thank Merlin! She needed a vacation. To think that for two years, all she wanted was to get back to Beauxbatons, but now that she'd been here for a while, she lost all the love she once had for her former school. Now she just wanted to go home and stay there, far away from the chaos of Hogwarts and the elitism of Beauxbatons!

But she couldn't go home, not yet anyway. She still had to get through several days of school, which for now meant getting through arithmancy. Now this was a class Tina had mixed feelings on! She liked Professor Sissay, and she liked that this was one of the calmer classes on her schedule. On the other hand, this was the class where she was most likely to make mistakes, and holy hippogriffs, how she hated mistakes!

Tina was in a fair mood, not up, not down, just somewhere in the middle, as she made her way to arithmancy, warmed not by extra layers of scarves and gloves but by a heating charm. "Hello, Professor Sissay," she greeted, nodding politely. As she took her seat, her eyes fell to the crate at the front of the room, and her mind flashed back to that muggle Studies lesson on building furniture. Hmm… did Professor Sissay borrow Professor Schmoe's lesson idea? Was there furniture in there? Then she saw the calculations on the board and became even more confused/curious. Were the answers to those calculations the dimensions for the crate? For whatever was in the crate? Usually Tina could sort of predict where a lesson was going, but this time she had no idea!

It was a lot colder than he expected it to be. This was a fact. It was probably because of this that the Gryffindor scarf finally made its way out of his trunk and around his neck. And why he would rather be sitting near a fireplace, sipping on some hot chocolate instead of going to class.

The silver lining? He liked Arithmancy. Probably not as much as Astronomy but he liked it all the same. Sissay was great and even if they were going to do some complicated calculations with weird meanings, he was sure she was going to be nice about it. She always was.

Except today, she was frowning? At a crate?

Uh? Should he ask? He shouldn't, right? Maybe it was personal. Or maybe she didn't like crates.

Whatever the reason, Lucas did his best to smile at her as he walked past. "Afternoon, Professor," he said, before wandering off towards a seat somewhere close to the middle of the room. It was only when he was seated that his eyes found the calculations on the board and he..... furrowed his eyebrows. One plus six? Four times seven?? Uh??

Okay.

Cecelia was kind of rubbish at arithmancy. All the numbers made her head spin, and gave her a bit of a headache, but she was here and trying to make the best of it anyway. Wearing a small smile, the first year offered a finger wiggling wave to the professor. "Hello, you look happy today." She'd noticed and was glad because maybe it meant she wouldn't be SUPER disappointed when Cece didn't get what they were meant to be learning about.

Bright side!

Text Cut: Individual replies

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19

Claudine pulled her silver and green scarf a little snugger around her neck. Her hands, crossed over her chest, were tucked under her arms in an effort to keep them warm. "Good afternoon, Professor,'' she said upon reaching the classroom. She noticed the woman's frown but said nothing about it. What else did she notice? The numbers on the board. Fun fact: numbers confused her sometimes.

Without wasting another moment, she made her way to the back of the class to take up a seat.

Ah, students. "Good afternoon Claudine," Ayana smiled at the young Slytherin, and noted the move to the back of the class.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fireheart

It was another chilly day at Beauxbatons. But for some reason, cold days were more bearable when it was around the holiday season. At least she could look forward to a steaming mug of butterbeer after class today. She balled her gloved fingers into fists at her sides, trying to retain warmth as she entered the Arithmancy room. Sliding into a chair toward the front, she gave the professor a warm smile. "Hello, Professor Sissay." Avalon unwound her blue scarf from her neck, slinging it over the back of her chair. At least the classroom wasn't as cold as it was outside.

"Avalon, good afternoon," Sissay nodded at the young Ravenclaw as she sat close to her, pleased as ever about the seat selection.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BanaBatGirl

Bernadette still wasn't sure what she was doing in this class or why, but it was on her schedule and she was following her schedule. Still. Till they probably kicked her out for licking her fingers or something.

She followed the others into the room and then spotted Claudine zipping toward the back. Oh no, she was NOT going to be stuck in the front! Bernie picked up her speedwalking pace and hurried to a seat beside her friend. Just like in all their other classes, if they were going to be confused, they might as well be confused together.

Gryffindors. Ayana took note of young Bernadette and Claudine, but her eyes went straight to the next student entering her classroom.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Felixir

Arithmancy was a subject that Kaiser could take or leave; he really had no strong feelings about it either way. The subject matter confused him often sometimes, but the same could be said for practically every single one of his classes, so it wasn't special in that way.

Another thing Kaiser didn't feel strongly about was the upcoming winter holiday. Sure, a break from lessons would be nice, but he wasn't exactly eagerly anticipating it. Or, uh... anything else. At all. But that was... not for here.

Strolling into the classroom - sans the extra winter clothing that some of his peers had opted for, but still rocking the ever-present messy hair and dark eye circles - Kaiser went ahead and claimed the seat nearest the door. "Afternoon," he greeted Sissay automatically, sounding as though he was no less than eleven different varieties of tired (spoiler alert: he was).

Crate? Not interested. Numbers on the board? Didn't care. Half-closing his eyes, Kaiser propped his head on his hand and waited for class to start.

"Good afternoon Kaiser." Another lesson, another minute of worry over this teenager's sleeping pattern. Had it gone out of fashion to schedule oneself a full night of rest?

Quote:

Originally Posted by lazykitty

Snow. It was something that she wasn't really used to yet. It never snowed back home, even in the mountains. She had never really been convinced it even existed before. So the near-constant snow of the Pyrenees was something completely different. Though, she did enjoy the various snow-related activities, even if she hadn't been able to convince anyone to teach her to how to sled or ski yet. Keyword being yet. She was determined to learn before the winter was up.

"Hello, Professor," Dalia greeted, choosing to sit in her usual seat. What was in the crate?

Ah, and there was Dalia. "Good afternoon," she greeted the young brunette with a soft smile.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DuckyLinJi

Dorian was not in a good mood today and no matter what he tried to come up with that could be the cause of it, he could not find anything. Which made him even more temperamental. He had done his very best to uphold his Head Boy status and be friendly to everyone but he was human as well. So far, he had not snapped at anyone yet which was a plus.

The Ravenclaw dragged his feet in to the classroom for another Arithmancy lesson, his hands deep inside of his pockets as he walked before he took them out to turn his bag around and took out his text and notebook. "Professor" He greeted and albeit he sounded normal , there was no hint of a smile today. He nodded his head instead and found his usual seat at the front. Ignoring the crate at the front desk entirely cause why bother.

By Hypatia, the Head Boy an eighth of his usual cheerful demeanour. "Dorian, good afternoon." Whatever had happened, she hoped it wasn't serious.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SilverTiger

At least Beauxbatons had one thing going for it. Maybe it was just her artist’s eye, but Carys had to admit that the castle was beautiful in the snow. Quidditch disappointments aside, she’d found herself spending more time in the art studio trying new painting techniques and otherwise just passing the time when she didn’t have homework to do. Not to say she wasn’t still concerned about her Quidditch skills, but she was at least trying to make the situation better for herself.

Either way, she’d spent the lunch period painting, before heading off to Arithmancy. It was definitely nowhere near her best subject, but at least it was familiar. “Good afternoon Professor Sissay,” she greeted the woman with a smile, heading off to a seat near a window and completely oblivious to the tiny smear of green paint in her hair near her left ear. The crate and the arithmetic on the board had been noticed, but it hadn’t seemed to need questioning. At the very least, she knew the arithmetic. Maybe this wouldn’t be as bad.

Had none of Carys' friends pointed out the paint or was this a fashion choice? Questions that will never be answered. "Good afternoon Carys." At least she smiled.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MadMadamMalfoy

Tina had a lot on her mind. Her birthday was the day after tomorrow, and the holidays were just around the corner. Thank Merlin! She needed a vacation. To think that for two years, all she wanted was to get back to Beauxbatons, but now that she'd been here for a while, she lost all the love she once had for her former school. Now she just wanted to go home and stay there, far away from the chaos of Hogwarts and the elitism of Beauxbatons!

But she couldn't go home, not yet anyway. She still had to get through several days of school, which for now meant getting through arithmancy. Now this was a class Tina had mixed feelings on! She liked Professor Sissay, and she liked that this was one of the calmer classes on her schedule. On the other hand, this was the class where she was most likely to make mistakes, and holy hippogriffs, how she hated mistakes!

Tina was in a fair mood, not up, not down, just somewhere in the middle, as she made her way to arithmancy, warmed not by extra layers of scarves and gloves but by a heating charm. "Hello, Professor Sissay," she greeted, nodding politely. As she took her seat, her eyes fell to the crate at the front of the room, and her mind flashed back to that muggle Studies lesson on building furniture. Hmm… did Professor Sissay borrow Professor Schmoe's lesson idea? Was there furniture in there? Then she saw the calculations on the board and became even more confused/curious. Were the answers to those calculations the dimensions for the crate? For whatever was in the crate? Usually Tina could sort of predict where a lesson was going, but this time she had no idea!

Ayana smiled widely as Tina made her way to her usual seat. "Good afternoon,"[/b] she nodded her head in greeting, and noted with the regular amount of delight as the curios look on the Ravenclaw's face.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hermionesclone

It was a lot colder than he expected it to be. This was a fact. It was probably because of this that the Gryffindor scarf finally made its way out of his trunk and around his neck. And why he would rather be sitting near a fireplace, sipping on some hot chocolate instead of going to class.

The silver lining? He liked Arithmancy. Probably not as much as Astronomy but he liked it all the same. Sissay was great and even if they were going to do some complicated calculations with weird meanings, he was sure she was going to be nice about it. She always was.

Except today, she was frowning? At a crate?

Uh? Should he ask? He shouldn't, right? Maybe it was personal. Or maybe she didn't like crates.

Whatever the reason, Lucas did his best to smile at her as he walked past. "Afternoon, Professor," he said, before wandering off towards a seat somewhere close to the middle of the room. It was only when he was seated that his eyes found the calculations on the board and he..... furrowed his eyebrows. One plus six? Four times seven?? Uh??

Okay.

"Afternoon, Lucas," Ayana smiled gently at the Gryffindor and watched his face shift and morph as he seemed to catch sight of the board. Some students liked today's lesson and some didn't.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TakemetotheBurrow

Cecelia was kind of rubbish at arithmancy. All the numbers made her head spin, and gave her a bit of a headache, but she was here and trying to make the best of it anyway. Wearing a small smile, the first year offered a finger wiggling wave to the professor. "Hello, you look happy today." She'd noticed and was glad because maybe it meant she wouldn't be SUPER disappointed when Cece didn't get what they were meant to be learning about.

Bright side!

Ayana was extremely fond of first years. "Good afternoon Cecilia, thank you," she nodded in greeting, choosing to take that as some sort of compliment. Children always came up with the oddest turns of phrase.

Ayana walked to the back of the class to check for any last stragglers, and shut the door deftly at exactly 3pm. "Good afternoon class!" she began as she strode back to the front, deep green robes with hints of gold swishing around her frame. "Today we'll be starting off with some arithmetic exercises." Ayana tapped the board and some more sums, subtractions, multiplication and division questions appeared in what she hoped was an inviting type of handwriting. Big block numbers, friendly chalk. She'd really tried. Numbers had a peculiar ability to make students feel extremely unsafe, and Ayana always tries to mitigate that to the best of her abilities.

Quote:

1. 1 + 6 = ?
2. 7 + 17 = ?
3. 25 - 7 = ?
4. 156 - 82 = ?
5. 4 * 7 = ?
7. 6 * 12 = ?
8. 13 * 15 = ?
9. 135 ÷ 9 = ?
10. 144 ÷ 12 = ?
11. 471 ÷ 3 = ?

"Before we all panic, this will not count towards your marks at the end of the term and instead is just an indication for me to see what level you're all at," Ayana quickly added, waving her arms around in what she hoped was a calm, reassuring manner. "You'll have about ten minutes to answer as many of these as you can." her smile widened as she locked eyes with some students.

"You may begin."

OOC: Hello, thank you for coming! ^__^ Just a quick pop quiz arithmetic practice to start us off, I'll be moving on in about 24 hours.

The one thing that Carsyn was STILL resentful about was the lack of quidditch. Like, how could the Headmistress just go and CANCEL QUIDDITCH. You don't do that. Sure it would have been challenging to schedule matches with two schools, but it was workable. They could have played together. Or against each other. Learned strategies from each other. Especially with the brisk air; the mountainous backdrop would have been LOVELY to fly against - even challenging for her seeker's eye.

Something else that was challenging? Arithmancy.

Carsyn was never one to hide her displeasure with something, which was why at Professor Sissay's initial remarks of starting off with some arithmetic exercises, the fourth year audibly groaned. Why was she in this class again? Oh right, cause certain family members insisted it would be beneficial or something. Sure it was probably moreso than other subjects *coughdivinationcough* but honestly, how beneficial could it be to know how to multiply?

Unsure if she should be calling out the answers or not, Carsyn distracted herself by copying the equations down in on her parchment instead.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carsyn's notes

1. 1 + 6 = 7
2. 7 + 17 = 34
3. 25 - 7 = 8
4. 156 - 82 = 238
5. 4 * 7 = 11
7. 6 * 12 = 18
8. 13 * 15 = 28
9. 135 ÷ 9 = 126
10. 144 ÷ 12 = 132
11. 471 ÷ 3 = 168

Done. How'd she do? Who knew, but hopefully her answers were CLOSE and if not ... well it was just a warmup, wasn't it???

SPOILER!!: Bernie! <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by BanaBatGirl

Bernadette still wasn't sure what she was doing in this class or why, but it was on her schedule and she was following her schedule. Still. Till they probably kicked her out for licking her fingers or something.

She followed the others into the room and then spotted Claudine zipping toward the back. Oh no, she was NOT going to be stuck in the front! Bernie picked up her speedwalking pace and hurried to a seat beside her friend. Just like in all their other classes, if they were going to be confused, they might as well be confused together.

On a normal day, Claudine would have brought out her sketchpad to pass the time between now and when the lesson began. Today though? She was too distracted by the cold to bother. Her book bag was on the table and her arms were still crossed over her chest, her fingers tucked under her armpits. She wasn’t paying attention to anything in particular, just the students coming in. Her one and only girl that she had chosen to be her friend came in. Claudine was pleased to see her, she really was but her face might have told a different story. “You alright?’’ she asked. She was used to seeing Bernie being upbeat and this quiet, in check Bernie slightly threw her off.

Seeing that Ayana was going to close, Claudine removed her hands from under her pits to bet her materials out of her bag. She was prepared for horrible misunderstandings on her part to occur during the lessons. She just felt dizzy (figuratively speaking) when more numbers appeared on the board. SO MANY NUMBERS. She threw Bernie a helpless look before taking her quill and getting to work:

Quote:

1. 1 + 6 = 7
2. 7 + 17 = 14
3. 25 - 7 = 18
4. 156 - 82 = 74
5. 4 * 7 = 28
7. 6 * 12 = 72
8. 13 * 15 = 150
9. 135 ÷ 9 = 30
10. 144 ÷ 12 = 12
11. 471 ÷ 3 = 159

“Divisions are the worst of me,’’ the Snakette whispered to her friend. “I guessed some of these…” Just… no one tell the professor.

Octavia didn’t dislike the cold, it had many perks and a few charms could keep you warm were that to be the major complaint, but she didn’t like the cold here in this castle. Storms kept people inside and it was so crowded already inside of the castle with two student bodies populating it, nothing like the warm spacious home she was used to. This did nothing but make her miss home more, wishing she were still being homeschooled with all of her friends. Things were much easier then.

Presently, however, she had no complaints. That was solely because she was in her most favorite class. Math spoke to Tavie in ways she couldn’t explain or even understand herself. She only knew that she loved it. So it was difficult to tell that the bundled up first year had ever been thinking about home as she sat beside Cece, hazel-green eyes lighting up at the sight of the board and hearing their instructions.

Getting out her quill and parchment, she copied the equations in the same order before going behind and answering them all without working out the math on her parchment. If this was how the rest of her day would go, she’d be a happy ravenclaw.

Nettie was not a fan of this cold, it made it hard to concentrate when all she was trying to do was keeping her small body warm. She had slipped in to her seat quietly, taking note of the crate that Sissay seemed to be fussing over before pulling out all her notes and doing some quick review. Arithmancy was one of the OWLs she was a bit nervous for. That's why when it was announced that they were doing a little warm up - she was grateful for it. Any type of practice was a good thing for her this term!

She scribbled down all the problems and then quickly worked through them. Long division took so long...but she managed to knock them all out in the allotted time.

Quote:

1 + 6 = 7
7 + 17 = 24
25 - 7 = 18
156 - 82 = 74
4 * 7 = 28
6 * 12 = 72
13 * 15 = 195
135 ÷ 9 = 15
144 ÷ 12 = 12
471 ÷ 3 = 157

Avalon found her mind wandering to various subjects as she waited for the rest of the class to file in. Thoughts of baking Christmas cookies, her latest Transfiguration assignment, and Quidditch swirled in her head. The young Ravenclaw had a lot to get done before the holidays, including going Christmas shopping. What in the world would she get her family this year? Personally, she was really hoping to get a new broom. But with the Quidditch hiatus, she didn't know if she had much of a chance.

She tried to push the stray thoughts out of her mind as Professor Sissay started the lesson. So they were to practice some basic arithmetic first. Avalon had learned basic math at St. Woboldo's Primary School, so the first few questions were pretty easy. But it seemed like it had been ages since she practiced her long division. She definitely needed to work a few of those division problems out manually on the margins of her parchment paper.

Placing her quill back down, she eyed over her work, double checking all of the answers. The only one she had a lot of trouble with was number 11, since the multiplication tables she memorized back in third grade didn't go up that far. Thank goodness she remembered, although shakily, how to work out tricky division problems.

Ewan couldn’t help but cling his robes a little close as he entered the classroom today, the winter winds somehow taking hold deep inside his bones today. He really did love this time of year, even if he did miss the open fields of home and the animals lived there. Was he late to the lesson? Maybe. Did he care? Slightly. He was not afterall, one of those intentional rule breakers yet he often found himself stepping over the line these days.

Giving a curt nod to his fellow students and a quiet “Hello Professor” to Professor Sissay, he sat down in one of the chairs that faced the board and took his quill, his eyes instantly drawn towards the calculations in front of him now. Anything remotely muggle always interested him. Not because he in anyway wanted a career in muggle relations but because he simply missed doing muggle things from time to time. Quietly, he jotted down the questions and answers on the parchment in front of him, his mind using the old muggle methods he was one taught in a muggle school to work them out.

Arithmetic exercises?

Lucas wasn’t sure how to feel about that. He didn’t mind, and the bit of maths that Sissay put up on the board didn’t look too difficult - he hoped. But his mind was starting to wander and he couldn’t help but think what kind of lesson they were going to have if it was starting off with this. Was this a good sign? He wasn’t sure.

Picking up his quill, he copied down the calculations they had to solve on a piece of parchment before grabbing another one to do any calculations. Some didn’t need any calculating, it came to him very easily. In fact, looking down, most of it came very easily. He almost wondered if he didn’t need the spare parchment at all but........

.......... yeah. There were three.

His eyebrows furrowed as he grabbed the other piece of parchment and started scribbling away. His method? Separating the numbers. It made it easier, you know? One was in the 400s and he knew he didn’t know that off the top of his head. It was better to break that big piece down into smaller, easier pieces. Ones he could work with. And then there were some muggle maths methods scribbled on the sheet as well. Because, well, this was maths.

Some scribbling, and maybe even a few crossings out, later, and he had some answers. Were they right? Lucas was very confident for the first eight. The last three........... yeah. Maybe. He didn’t know.

Text Cut: parchment

1. 1 + 6 = 7
2. 7 + 17 = 24
3. 25 - 7 = 18
4. 156 - 82 = 74
5. 4 * 7 = 28
7. 6 * 12 = 72
8. 13 * 15 = 195
9. 135 ÷ 9 = 15
10. 144 ÷ 12 = 12
11. 471 ÷ 3 = 157

The sound of the closing door meant that Kaiser could no longer get away with being half asleep on his desk. Blinking his eyes hard, he sat up straight and gave his head a little shake. Sure, he could tell himself that once classes were over he could go have a nap in the broom closet, but Kaiser knew better than to think that that would turn out as planned. As soon as he got within fifty feet of a bed or couch, all signs of sleep vanished. It was... frustrating.

Anyway, Arithmancy. And... arithmetic... exercises.

... Maths. Actual, proper maths. Kaiser ran a hand over his face and heaved a great sigh.

He hated maths. Loathed and despised it. Hadn't properly learned it until he was a teenager, and then never got the hang of it. He couldn't imagine he'd be any better at it now.

All the same, Kaiser copied down the unfinished calculations... huh, was number 6 supposed to be missing?... then looked over them and realised he had written several numbers and two symbols wrong. Great start. He scribbled them out, rewrote, and then got to work.

SPOILER!!: there are numbers in here

1 + 6 = 7
7 + 17 = 23
25 - 7 = 18
156 - 82 = 34
4 × 7 = 24
6 × 12 =
13 × 15 =
135 ÷ 9 =
144 ÷ 12 =
471 ÷ 3 =

... And then he was stuck. Kaiser hadn't needed to write any workings out for the first few questions (though he was unaware he had the second and fourth answers wrong), but he could be observed counting on his fingers to help him out. Then he hit multiplication, and it was basically game over. After trying to do the first one in his head, he resorted to working things out as best he could on his parchment. But trying to add six twelves together did his head in, and as he gave up on that question and moved to the next one, he found it only got more ridiculous.

Eventually Kaiser's parchment was covered with attempted workings out for the last five questions, but he was no nearer to writing down any more actual answers. Giving up on the last one, he went back up to the second multiplication question and tried that one again, but Kaiser had been working so slowly that by now he barely had any time left.

Tina was still looking at the numbers on the board when class began, and soon more numbers appeared. She thought there was going to be some long, complicated method of calculating the equations or some hidden meaning behind them, but to her surprise, they turned out to be a simple arithmetic exercise. Well, this was a refreshing change of pace! No vague, opinion-based questions, no guesswork, just plain, certain mathematics.

Tina showed no sign of hesitation or displeasure at the news. She was perfectly fine with this exercise. In fact, this was probably the only time she felt confident about anything arithmancy-related. She was something of a math whiz back in non magique school, so she had this! She took out a piece of parchment and copied down the equations on the board, calculating the results of each one as she went.

SPOILER!!: Tina's answers

1. 1 + 6 = 7
2. 7 + 17 = 24
3. 25 - 7 = 18
4. 156 - 82 = 74
5. 4 * 7 = 28
7. 6 * 12 = 72
8. 13 * 15 = 195
9. 135 ÷ 9 = 15
10. 144 ÷ 12 = 12
11. 471 ÷ 3 = 157

Tina finished with a couple of minutes to spare and used the extra time to check her answers. She put her quill down, satisfied that her answers were correct, unless… She wasn't supposed to reduce the double and triple digit numbers, the way one does when calculating a birth or name number, before solving the equations, was she? That would yield some very different results!

Dorian placed his quill neatly next to his notebook and looked up when the Professor started the lesson. He crossed his feet under the table as he listened, trying to keep his concentration on what she was saying instead of wandering off. It was probably a good thing that he had started to appreciate Arithmancy over the years like his father had when he had been at school.

The movement of the door opening up caught his attention and the Head Boy glared dissapointingly as one of the Ravenclaws (Ewan) entered the classroom late. His gaze followed the fifth year until he sat down before he turned his own attention back to the blackboard. He hoped that the Professor was in a better mood than he was right now.

As the exercises appeared on the blackboard, Dorian let out a soft sigh. It wasn't a sigh because it was difficult but because it was too easy. He opened up his notebook and dipped his quill in the ink before he began.

He did have to think a bit about the last two questions but it defintely did not take him the full ten minutes they had been given. When he was done, the Ravenclaw turned the page so that no one could copy his answers and stared at the crate at the front. Were they done yet?

Analiese swiveled around as the door shut loudly. Her eyes followed Professor Sissay. Arithmetic? She had learned a bit about that in Muggle school. She picked up her quill and began to copy down the unfinished questions. She drew her robe a bit closer to her. It was still quite cold here.

Even though she did do some of this in Muggle school, it was not one of her strongest subjects. She had just passed her maths test. She furrowed her eyebrow and began to work.

SPOILER!!: Answers

1+6=7
7+17=24
25-7=18
156-82=74
4*7=28
6*12=72
13*15=185
135÷9=15
144÷12=12
471÷3=168

She looked back down at her work after she had finished. She had guessed most of them.

Sadly the Beauxbatons palace was as drafty and cold in winter as Hogwarts usually was. Cole sat in his seat next to his cousin Carys and stared dismally out the windows at the wailing blizzard. At least he wasn't out on the grounds on his way to the greenhouses or creature pen. What he did miss though like a burning ache was the non-existent quidditch practices. They didn't even have flying lessons to practice broom care and handling.

Sitting up straighter in his seat Cole tried his best to perk up as professor Sissay got the lesson started with a warm up exercise with arithmetic calculations. Oh please no, he wasn't good at those. Feeling his pulse rise along with his mood dropping like an inflated balloon Cole took a long breath as he sneaked a look over at Carys parchment. They didn't have to show their calculations to anyone, but professor Sissay. So no pressure right?

Fingers going slightly numb Cole gripped his quill and started to copy down the calculations on his parchment. Beads of sweat started to form on his forehead as he started to count.

SPOILER!!: Calculations

1. 1 + 6 = 7
2. 7 + 17 = 24
3. 25 - 7 = 18
4. 156 - 82 = 74
5. 4 * 7 = 28
7. 6 * 12 = 72
8. 13 * 15 = 195
9. 135 ÷ 9 = 15
10. 144 ÷ 12 = 12
11. 471 ÷ 3 = 157

Putting his quill down to wipe away some sweat Cole looked sideways at Carys and whispered "I hope we don't need to do anymore calculations. I really dislike calculations..........."

It was a good thing that these weren't counting towards their grades because long division and her went together like oil and water. Which is to say, they didn't. And she was definitely going to have to do long division with this, thanks to this being the wizarding world with its lack of calculators. Needless to say, those were the ones she started on, hoping to get the hardest ones out of the way first.

Quote:

1+6=7
7+17=24
25-7=18
156-82=74
4*7=28
6*12=72
13*15=195
135 divided by 9=15
144 divided by 12=12
471 divided by 3=157

Ugh. Hopefully, there would be no more long division. And what was with all the sevens?