Steelsheen smiled at the Professor upon hearing that they got points for their replies. Following her instructions, Steelsheen took a pinch of the tea from her bowl and and dropped it into her cup, then added the hot water in carefully, making sure it doesnt splatter.


Steelsheen raised her hand again in response "Wine sediment fortune telling, also known as Oenomancy, originated in Rome. It is said that the sediment is actually created from the breaking down of tannins and pigment as the wine ages.

There is also Cofee ground reading, with Turkish coffee being traditonally used in the readings, although any coffee that leaves grinds at the bottom of the cup can be used. The Italians claim that they invented the coffee-ground form of the divination back in the 18th century. Also, they believed the prophecies came from demons so the diviners recite incantation during their practices such as: "Aqua boraxit venias carajos," "Fixitur et patricam explinabit tornare," and "Hax verticalines pax Fantas marobum, max destinatus, veida porol." It was believed that if such incantations were done incorrectly, the reading would be inaccurate."

Monica raised her hand, "Professor St. Toussaint I don't have a partner."

Rapunzel carefully followed the Professor's instructions, pouring just enough hot water into her Asian-style teacup till it was full.

"Tasseomancy independently originated in the Middle Ages in the Middle East, Asia, and Ancient Greece," Rapunzel answered as her tea seeped. "In the 17th century, the West Dutch Indies merchants introduced tea from the Orient, and in the 18th century, Italians claimed to have invented the coffee-ground form of tesseomancy, although now you can read wine sediments too."

Punzel hoped she could earn another five points for Hufflepuff...if she didn't sound too much like a book. Oh well, she'd studied hard after getting a bum grade on their first homework assignment....

Alexis looked up in surprise as a 4th year she had seen around actually sat down to be her ...Alexis's partner! Alexis was nervous now anything she knew of divination was pure luck not any real knowledge. Quietly as Alexis poured her tea being very careful not to spill any of the hot water on herself Alexis introduced herself to Rapunzel
"Hi Rapunzel, it's nice too meet you, I'm Alexis."
While letting her tea 'steep' Alexis tried to come up with an answer for the teachers question but kept getting confused, When Rapunzel gave what sounded like a fine answer to Alexis. Alexis felt she would have to read up alot more on this tea reading before they were given any homework on the subject.

Liz rose her hand, knowing some of the answer, she was sure.

The practice of tea leaf reading, or tasseomancy if you will, originated independently in Asia, the Middle East and Ancient Greece. Scotland, Ireland, and England have produced a number of practitioners and authors on the subject, and English potteries have crafted many beautiful tea cup sets specially designed and decorated to aid in fortune-telling. Cultures of the Middle East that practice divination in this fashion usually use left-over coffee grounds from Turkish coffee turned over onto a plate.

Third Question
 

"The reading of wine dregs is a Roman Practice and raise your hand when you have an answer. Five points for your answer." She said as she held up a finger.


"Yes, the Mediteranean to be exact."

"Good answer, Miss Greingoth. 4 points.", She said, smiling at the Gryffindor Captain.

"Five points, Celandine."


"That's correct. The practice of reading tea leaves arose independantly from these regions. Four points."

"Yes, as well as Greece and Asia. Take two points."

"Throughout Asia aaand the Middle East, and Ancient Greece. Two more points for Hufflepuff."

"Good answer. Four points, Evangeline."

Professor St. Toussaint caught what the little Gryffindor girl was saying amongst the soft rushing of the pouring waters of the tea pots. "No, not yet. Let the tea brew first."

"Yes. Good. Four points." It seemed like most of the students were doing well, and that brought relief to the Professor.

"That's right. Four points." She nodded.

"Very good answer. Four points."

"Yes. Three points."

"And, also the Middle East. Three points."

"Good, Desdemonda. Four points."

"Very good answer. Four points."

"Very impressive. You've done some extra studying. Six points."

"Good! Four points." The Professor said militantly, but impressed by her students, thus far.

"And, we'll be using a similar method. Four points." She nodded and turned to the standing Gryffindor girl.

Professor St. Toussaint sighed. "Go and sit with Rhiannon, she does not have a partner either." She said, pointing towards the Ravenclaw Prefect.



"Okay, ladies, a few more questions while the tea brews. Can anybody tell me why we never use tea from a tea bag to conduct a Tasseographic reading?"

Kaika raised her hand and answered, "That's because the tea-bag tea is cut too finely to form recognizable figures in the cup."

Cassandra beamed at the professor, her hand high in the air and stated, "Cutting open a tea bag won’t work, as the leaves in a tea bag are often ground into a fine powder and will be unreadable in your tea cup. Hand-rolled teas are ideal. Not to mention the paper used for tea bags is usually bleached. Chlorine bleaching of paper, including tea bags and coffee filters, creates a dioxin chemical residue in the paper and waste water from the paper mill. Dioxin is a known potent carcinogen that we want to avoid in both ingesting and in reading, as it alters the consistency of the leaves."

Cassandra smiled as she put down her hand.

Sapphire put up her hand and said

"Professor it is ill-advised for one to attempt tasseography using tea from a cut-open tea bag or to use a symbol dictionary. The reasons for this is the tea-bag tea is cut too finely to form recognizable figures in the cup and tea-leaf reading"

Marra looked at girl, realising suddenly she didn't have a partner either.
"Partner?" She asked softly.

Sapphire waved her over as she didn't have a partner

Astrid was still beaming because of the four points awarded for her previous answer. She was glad that she had taken the time to study this subject a bit before class. Raising her hand for a second time, she said, "It isn't advised to use a tea bag for a Tasseomancy reading due mainly for the fact that the leaves from a tea bag are cut too finely to form recognizable figures in the cup. The tea leaf reading has its own historic system of symbolism that does not correspond exactly with other systems, such as symbolic dream interpretation. That's why it is best to use hand rolled teas so that we get the most accurate predictions." She felt pretty satisfied with her answer and hoped that she didn't forget any key facts.

Allie raised her hand again.
"The reason you don't use tea bags is because the leaves are cut too finely. Its harder to see the figures in the cup." she said.

Anna raised her hand again. "It's not advised to use tea from a tea bag, because tea-bag tea is cut too finely to form recognizable figures in the cup. The bigger the leaves, the better to discern shapes more clearly," she said.

Steelsheen smiled and gave the professor a grateful nod.


Steelsheen raised her hand again and replied "It is considered ill-advised to use the contents from a cut open tea bag because the tea from there are too fine to create really varied patterns. For one thing, the tea in the tea bags aren't full leaves, instead they are bits called "fanning" which are left overs from sorted loose tea leaves."

Question 4
 

"Yes, you are partially correct. One point.", The moody Ministry Professor gave a nod, feeling in a generous mood today.

"Good. Two points." St. Toussaint turned to the catsnip tea leaves in her cup and poured some hot water over them to let them steep.

"Two Points." Such a strong show from her noble and former house.

"Yes, they are finely cut, but no, they do not dissolve to the extent that they would entirely disappear. One point."

"Two points." She was still searching for a particular answer which so far, none of the girls had mentioned.

"Good. One point."

St. Toussaint crossed her arms and smirked. The class, in general seemed to be giving such pragmatic answers and she could see that she was going to have to wean them away from their logic and into their intuition if they were going to be able to read tea leaves this lesson.
"A point for mentioning how the cut of the tea interferes with the reading and a point for mentioning symbolic systems, but still not quite the answer I am looking for."

"One point for you."

"Partially correct. One point."

"Two points." The Professor inwardly cringed at the word 'fanning'. She didn't know why, but she simply found it disquieting.

"Two points." The Professor was almost amazed that no one yet had mentioned the most important reason of all as to why tea cut from the tea bags was not to be used for readings.

"Two points, but not quite. You never, ever, ever are to use tea leaves from a tea bag." She told the Hufflepuff Prefect.

"All of you were only partially correct in your answers." She said addressing the class as whole. "The reason why we never, ever, ever are to use tea cut from the bag in conducting tea leaf readings is because it is known to be very bad luck, especially towards health-related matters."


"In studying the images and shapes created by the tea and the inside of the cup or saucer, which part do we look at in order to study positive signs and which do we look at to study negative signs?"

Amelia frowned when the Professor explained they were to never use tea leaves from a tea bag. Well, that was kind of harsh! she thought to herself, while listening to her explanation of how they were all only partially correct.

Meh. Most of that didn't interest the Hufflepuff Captain one bit, except for one word that sparked her interest. Raising her hand, she bit her lower lip while hesitating about asking a question. "Professor St. Toussaint? You mentioned health-related matters, so I was wondering what sort of matters this would include?" Naturally, as a prospective healer, anything with the word 'health' raised curiosity in her mind.

She then proceeded to answer the next question asked. "Since most cups used are white or ivory, and the tea leaves are dark, there is a strong contrast in existence for symbols. You generally are to look at the white part for studying the positive signs, while the dark leaves for the negative symbols. This could also be remembered by the whole angel and devil thing; angels are generally associated with white and innocence and good, whereas devils with darkness and evil."

Steelsheen raised her brows. Not having come across that detail on her research she jotted it down on her parchment.


Raising her hand again she answered "Most teacups used in the readings are generally white or ivory in color, serving to give a strong contrast against the tea leaves. Thus the white or light colored parts are usually used to symbolize the good or positive things for the drinker, while the dark leaves or grounds represents the bad or negative things.

Another way to tell positive or negative signs is by basing the symbols on their positions relative to the cup handle. Symbols to the right of the handle are usually viewed as positive whereas symbols to the left of the handle are considered to be negative."

Marra walked over to her placing her bag down.
"Hey. I'm Marra, Marra Creaue." She smiled at her setting her tea down soflty