Nigel nodded at Professor Wesolowski with a slight smile on his face. "Good day Proffessor," he said happily. He then noticed that he didn't appear to be in the best of moods and quickly went to find his seat.

Nigel sat down, noticing that he was one of the first people there (apart from the professor of course). He stared attentively at the message on the board, and then took out a couple sheets of parchment, a quill and a bottle of ink and set them all down in front of him. He then rummaged through his bag to find his Arithmancy textbook. Once he found it he looked back at the board and asked, "Sir, your message doesn't tell us which page to turn to."

He sat there quietly his textbook open at the title page, not sure where to turn it to as he waited for everybody else to assemble into the class.

Barry walked in nodded to the professer and sat as far back as he could and did what it said on the board

Last time Clifford had attended Arithmancy, Professor Wesolowski thought it would be cool to plonk his manky false teeth right in front of. Dribble, goo the lot. Grooosss.

It was because of this, that Clifford opted for a seat further near the back of the classroom. Bwaha. Pulling his parchment, quill and textbook from his rucksack, he slowly turned to the right chapter and waited.

Cale walked in, surpressing a groan as he read the notice on the board. Well, he should have expected a lot of calculations...this was Arithmancy, after all. He took his normal seat and pulled out all his things. Bleh. Stupid class. Why did he even bother coming here?

Barry saw Cale enter he moved his from his space to next to Cale. He wanted to know what the boy was up to he hoped to perhaps see something slip out of his bag or something he looked at the professer and asked "When will we be starting Professer?"

Jose walked in and sat down and did what it said on the board.

Jason walked in, read over the chapter listed on the board and set his supplies out on the desk.

Nicholai walked into the class and looked around to figure out where to sit; deciding that at the back was a good idea he headed over to sit next to Clifford. Lately in classes he had noticed a distinct distrust of those in his house and it made him want to stick by other Slytherins... most likely further alienating the other houses, but there you go.

He followed the instructions on the board and began to re-read the assigned chapter.

"Cale, if we can partner this time, let us do it" Jason whispered to him as he sat next to Cale.

Wesolowski closed his eyes and sighed, "I said to open up to the chapter discussing the Challenges. If you're not clever enough to find the page number on your own, you're likely going to struggle through this lesson. Get it together or get out."

Chester remembered why he wasn't in the mood to be around people right now - they were incredibly annoying with their annoying questions and annoying annoyingness. Hmph! "We'll start when I feel like starting. And I suppose I feel like starting now, so let's go."

Wesolowski slammed the door shut with a BANG! and walked slowly to the front of the room. "Somebody tell me, quick, what the Challenges are and why the heck we study them in the first place?"

Jason raised his hand. "The Challenges are a predictive indicator. They're a set of numbers which outline for you what it is that you must face to reach the highest peak of your Pinnacle. They can act as doors through which you must advance in order to ascend the spiral staircase of your personal development. Rather than trying to overcome the Challenge Numbers they actually indicate what you must become. So this makes them very important to study."

Cale nodded at Jason when he asked if they could partner up if needed. Then, suddenly, it was question time. Raising his hand, Cale replied, "The Challenges are, basically, a bunch of numbers that indicate the challenges you will have to face during each of your pinnacles. Once you overcome those challenges, you reach the highest peak of that pinnacle."

Jason smiled at Cale as he got the same answer.

Raising his hand Nicholai answered, "Sir, The Challenges are a predictive indicator- much like the Pinnacles- only they outline for you what it is that you must face to reach the highest peak of your Pinnacle. Challenge Numbers are not meant to be overcome, they indicate what you must strive to become- And we study them to help us make the most of what is indicated in our Pinnacle calculations and to better understand the self."

"Completely unoriginal answer, spitting back the textbook verbatim, but at least you read the thing and answered correctly. I can respect that enough to give you 5 house points." Chester was surprised by his own generosity. How often did he actually give out five house points to one person? He must be coming down with something...

"Just a bunch of numbers? Those numbers of which you speak deserve a bit more respect than such informal assessment. And while your answer is partially correct, you speak one key word incorrectly. You don't overcome the Challenges, you become what they indicate you need to work on. Two points for your effort." Yes, something is definitely not right with him. Being much too generous with house points. Who gives out points for partially correct answers? He must be getting soft.

"Another textbook verbatim answer, but correct nonetheless. Five points to you." Well, he'd already given the first kid 5 points for the same answer; might as well give the same to this kid. At least he actually opened his mouth to speak up. Deserved more credit than some of the other students in the class. What was getting in to him? Being all reasonable... scary.

"OK, I want this to be a fairly quick lesson. No need to draw it out longer than necessary. So, how do the calculations of the Challenges differ from the Pinnacles and how are they similar?"

Fred wasn't in a mood to answer academic questions but he could at least give it a try since he was there. It couldn't hurt anyway. "The difference between the Challenges and the Pinnacles is that in the Pinnacles calculation you addition your two numbers but you substract them in the Challenges. As for the similarity the first Challenge and the first Pinnacles uses the same number which are the day of birth and the month of birth. So basically the first, second, third and fourth for each calculation for both uses exactly the similar numbers. Perhaps not in the same order...."

Barry knew nothing he listened to the boy speak and said The difference between the Challenges and the Pinnacles is that in the Pinnacles calculation you addition your two numbers but you substract them in the Challenges. As for the similarity the first Challenge and the first Pinnacles uses the same number which are the day of birth and the month of birth. So basically the first, second, third and fourth for each calculation for both uses exactly the similar numbers. Perhaps not in the same order"

Jose raised his hand ""The difference between the Challenges and the Pinnacles is that in the Pinnacles calculation you addition your two numbers but you substract them in the Challenges."

"The difference is simple," Jason said. "For the Pinnacle numbers you add two numbers together, for example, month and day of birth. With the Challenge numbers you are using the exact same numbers, but this time you are subtracting, such as subtracting the month of birth from the day of birth. Both sets of numbers are used for all four sets of Pinnacles and Challenges, though they are not always in the same order."

"Spoken a bit confusingly, but correct nonetheless. Four points."

"You've answered half my question. Didn't like the other half? Feeling a bit lazy? You'll get half-credit for your half-answer. Two points to you."

"Good explanation. Four points!"

Just as he was about to ask another question, Chester was plagued by an erratic coughing fit. After a good 45 seconds of straight coughing, during which time his faced turned purple and his eyes watered, Wesolowski was able to clear his throat, pull it altogether and continue the lecture. Rubbing his chest, which now hurt immensely from all the hacking, Chester asked, "How do we calculate the Four Challenges? Clearly explain how we calculate each. I'll give points for clear answers."

"When you calculate the first challenge you have to subtract the month of birth from the day of birth. When you calculate the second challenge, you have to subtract the day of birth from the year of birth. When you calculate the third challenge you have to subtract the first challenge number total from the second challenge number total. When you calculate the fourth challenge you have to subtract the month of birth from the year of birth," Jason said.

Barry said "the first challenge you have to subtract the month of birth from the day of birth. When you calculate the second challenge, you have to subtract the day of birth from the year of birth. When you calculate the third challenge you have to subtract the first challenge number total from the second challenge number total. When you calculate the fourth challenge you have to subtract the month of birth from the year of birth," why wasn`t the professer noticing his answers what was up with him

Jose raised his hand "I think that the first challenge is where you have to subtract the month of birth from the day of birth. When you calculate the second challenge, you have to subtract the day of birth from the year of birth if I'm right. and the third challenge you have to subtract the first challenge number total from the second challenge number total. When you calculate the fourth challenge you have to subtract the month of the birth from the year" he hoped he was right.

"You all managed to give me correct answers, so six points apiece."

Wesolowski unbuttoned his suit jacket and perched himself on the corner of the desk while he explained, "The Challenge Age Ranges are calculated the exam same way as the Pinnacles. Do any of you even remember how we calculate those? I'll give four points to the first person to explain it." That oughta get them thinkin'!