Professor Shackleton smiled and returned the greeting of all the students who had entered. She'd held off starting the lesson because she waiting for more students to arrive, but then she remembered that all her classes were going to seem smaller than she was accustomed to because all the boys would be missing.

A little sad, Professor Shackleton explained, "Good morning, ladies. I'm going to wait about 10 more minutes for some of your classmates to arrive and then we shall begin. In the meantime, I'd like the first years and any student who does not have their Arithmancy journal from last term to come up to the table here and obtain one." Professor Shackleton gestured to a stack of leather bound journals resting on the table beside the podium. She explained, "I'd like for you all to take all your notes and complete all your homework in these journals. You will hand them in for grading periodically at my request and then I will distribute them back to you with your homework grades. The purpose of these journals is for you to have a resource to look back on when your education is complete, and also so that you have a complete Arithmancy profile for yourself by the time you graduate. I hope you enjoy them."