"Oh! Oh! Oh! Professor Shackleton! May I pleeeeeeaaaaaasssseeee come forward and volunteer?" she asked. She always got beat to the punch when it came to volunteering in here. The other students were just sooooo fast, and Anna was just sooooo distracted sometimes. Even though she still felt as if it'd take forever to calculate Greingoth, she still wanted to get up and volunteer.

Copernicus's hand shot into the air. "I'd like to volunteer, Professor."

"Lovely! I've got a volunteer from each house, which gives me an idea... Volunteers, please come up to the boards and grab a piece of chalk. Take the last name of the founder of your house and calculate the Family Name Number for that surname. Then await my further instructions, please."

SQUEEEE!!!

He got to go up the front near Miss Shackleton! Clifford bounded from his seat in an attempt to get to the blackboard quickest and take the spot closest the Professor. "No problemo, Miss." The Prefect beamed, grabbing a piece of chalk and turning to the blackboard. He had to calculate the family name for Mister Slytherin. Okie Dokie.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blackboard

S L Y T H E R I N
1-3-7-2-8-5-9-9-5

1 + 3 + 7 + 2 + 8 + 5 + 5 + 9 + 5 = 45

= 4 + 5

= 9

"I think that's right, Professor. Mister Slytherin's family number is a nine."

Cale was fighting to keep his eyes open as he sat in class, trying as best he could to take in any information he could about the lesson. He had been so exhausted lately studying for NEWTS that he was seriously forgetting to do his homework. He wasn't doing it on purpose, it just slipped his mind. And THIS was one of those classes.

Shaking his head to keep himself awake, he figured the least he could do was take a few notes. He looked up at Clifford's completed example and copied it down so he'd have something to look at later when he was doing his homework.

Oh...whaaa? She'd been chosen? Practically bouncing up out of her seat, Anna happily headed to the front of the classroom and grabbed a piece of chalk. Ohhh, Gryffindor was about the same length as Greingoth...a little longer even. Figuring she better get started, Anna raised the chalk to the board and began calculating:

G + R + Y + F + F + I + N + D + O + R
7 + 9 + 7 + 6 + 6 + 9 + 5 + 4 + 6 + 9 = 68
6 + 8 = 14
1 = 4 = 5

"Okay, I've arrived at five for Godric Gryffindor's family name, Professor Shackleton. Sixty-eight...reduces to fourteen...and that reduces to five," Anna said, rereading her work.

Dominic probably wouldn't have even noticed the one from each house thing until Shackleton mentioned it. Following the Slytherin Prefect, Clifford (who was that boy trying to impress? :O) up to the chalkboard, Dom picked up a piece of GOLDEN chalk as he listened to her instructors. Helga Hufflepuff. Surname, yes, he knew this one!!

Quote:

H-E-L-

H-U-F-F-L-E-P-U-F-F
8-3-6-6-3-5-7-3-6-6

(8+3+6+6+3+5+7+3+6+6)
5+3

= 8

"If those calculations are correct, then Helga Hufflepuff's family name number is eight." Dom finished, awaiting to see what more she had for them to do.

Copernicus made his way to the board and picked up a bit of chalk. Okay, he could do basic math. No problem.

Quote:

R A V E N C L A W
9+1+4+5+5+3+3+1+5=36
3+6=9

He stepped back to check the math again and again. It seemed... right. Hopefully. "Professor, Rowena Ravenclaw's Family Name Number is 9."

Professor Shackleton quickly surveyed each student's calculations, ensuring that all had arrived at the correct answer. "You've all done very well. Now, I'd like for you to read aloud the textbook's explanation for that number Family Name and then give your opinion of whether the information the text reveals matches what you know about your house founder's subconscious approach to life."

Oooh. They had to do some reading out loud? Clifford cleared his throat ready, balancing his textbook ready in one hand. "Okie dokie then.. nine," he started slowly, eyes on the pages. "You inherit an artistic flair, a concern for others, an emotional nature, generosity.." this sounded all wrong to him.. "a sense of needing to serve, a phil - phil ... phil-an-thro-pic nature, and an attitude of looking for what is possible."

When he finished, he furrowd his brow. Eh?

"In my opinion, Professor.. this is all wrong. Honestly.. Salazar Slytherin? Concern for others? Generosity?" BWAHAHA! "I mean, I guess the last part is kinda right.. 'an attitude of looking for what is possible' .. just his ideas weren't very good."

Dominic breathed a sigh of relief that his calculations were correct - not that he expected anything less but occasional errors happen. And now he had to... wait, what?! Read aloud the textbook explanation?! Stepping off towards the professor's desk, he picked up her textbook to borrow (it was more convenient than him walking back to his desk to get his which was of course still in his bag) and flipped to the page concerning explanations of family name numbers.

Eight.

Placing his index finger over the number, he began to read it aloud. "Eight: You inherit an attitude about money and power that will cause you to seek recognition in business and finance. Your family name brings you the qualities of leadership, organization, a high value placed on success, competency, and doing a job well, as well a possibly inflated ego."

Leadership? Yes. She founded a SCHOOL! Inflated ego? Possibly; for the love of all things GOLD she prided herself in accepting ALL students, regardless of background.

Closing the book and passing it over to one of the other three students to read from if they desired, Dom looked up at Shackleton (and the rest of the class) to speak. "Well yes, I do think that this explanation matches what I know of Helga. As one of the four founders who prided herself in hardwork, she is one to place her efforts into an Organization like Hogwarts, for two things. Fame and power. She is well known for founding one of the four houses here, but much more than that, she placed the value on the students that everyone should succeed. She wanted to accept all witches and wizards into Hogwarts; to place them under her care and ensure them to be competent out in the wizarding world. Which of course, would probably lead to a minor inflated head too, I'd think."

"Ok, let's see...," Anna said, glancing at the information in her textbook. She reread it quickly, already analyzing it in her head, before reading the information aloud. "Number five says...'You inherit a belief that you shouldn't be fenced in, for you are a free spirit. Restrictions, limitations, routine challenge you. Travel and change are east for you, and you are innately curious and a risk taker'. Anna thought once again about the information she'd just read and then glanced up at the professor.

"Well, some of the key words and phrases I picked up on are 'fenced in', 'free spirit', and...'challenges'. Those key words just really seemed, I guess, Gryffindor-ish to me. Gryffindors are known to be brave and courageous, and I think the fact that a number five represents those who don't like to be held back and desire to be free truly paints a picture of Godric Gryffindor. Oh, and challenges...that could be taken to be very Ravenclaw-ish, but if you look at the challenge as something that also calls for a great amount of bravery, then it goes along with Gryffindor, as well. Of course Godric Gryffindor represents all that we know Gryffindors to be, so I'd say all of that information applies to him," Anna said, feeling slightly out of breath. "Oh! Oh!" she said, rereading the last part. Curious...risk-takers...this number is definitely for one brave Gryffindor!"

Copernicus realized that Carden had already read the book definition, but he grabbed up his textbook and read it again anyway.

"Family Name Number Nine: You inherit an artistic flair, a concern for others, an emotional nature, generosity, a sense of needing to serve, a philanthropic nature, and an attitude of looking for what is possible," he paused and glanced up at the professor before proceeding. "Rowena Ravenclaw is well known for being clever and witty, and all about the seeking of knowledge, but I think we probably could draw some assumptions about her subconscious that match with her family name number. Being involved in the founding of a school, which isn't an active seeking of knowledge for herself, demonstrates a generosity of spirit and philanthropic nature. She didn't just want the knowledge for herself; she wanted everyone to have it. Plus her cleverness and seeking of knowledge could be considered seeking what is possible."

Four Family names? Gah! Lightning Fast note taking GO!

Tobi's quill flew across his parchment at a rate that pretty much guaranteed his notes would be useless to him later. Here's hoping Anna or Cale would be willing to share their notes with him.

Elizabeth quietly sat, her pencil flying as she took notes in her own particular shorthand. It made sense to her, helped her take notes in situations where she had to be quick, And if other people needed explanations, she could always give them. But they were getting a lot of information in this class, and she didn't want to miss any of it. Even if half her mind was wanting to calculate her own numbers.

Miles laughed as Clifford read out what Salazar Slytherin's last name said about him. That was all wrong! Bwaha! Caring? Hmmm. Maybe they had got the idea of Slytherin all wrong. Maybe he was really a lovely man. Ha!

Professor Shackleton listened intently as each of her volunteers gave their opinions. Reserving her own commentary, Macadrian inquired of the entire class, "Would anyone like to add anything to any of the four examples? Maybe you disagree with one of the judgments? Or you see a different way the Family Name Number is applicable to a particular founder? Feel free to share with the class."

Dominic listened as Professor Shackleton responded to the class, asking if anyone (including the volunteers) he assumed would like to add to the examples they just ratted off. Thinking back on the ones that had been read, he sighed thoughtfully, trying to remember which ones.

Raising his hand slightly - since he was still standing at the front and it'd look awkward to do a full hand raise - to indicate he wished to speak, the fifth year spoke. "Well while most of what Anna had mentioned about Gryffindor's number was true, I would also add that because of their willingness to be daring and brave, that would also make the mention of travel of change be easy for Godric. When Salazar, for instance, wanted to pull away from Hogwarts because he didn't agree and thus created the Chamber of Secrets on the second floor, Godric probably didn't mind. He used his intuition to make this change work for Hogwarts. To not allow it to affect what he wanted for his students and to just accept the challenge. To go with the flow." He bit his lip cautiously, unsure if this was different or not. Or if perhaps he'd gone too far in depth, if that were possible.

After having given the students ample time to offer their thoughts and opinions, Professor Shackleton shared her viewpoint about the founders' Family Name Numbers.

"Ah, you certainly bring up a good point that Slytherin didn't really fit into what we most commonly think of when we hear words like 'generosity' and 'philanthropic nature;' however, I think some of these words to describe him really do fit. For example, 'a concern for others' - most would say that sounds preposterous, but think about this from Salazar's perspective. He was very concerned about the all-magical families and fought passionately for them. Now, I'm not saying I agree with his viewpoints or that his views were right, but he certainly was concerned about them. If he wasn't, he wouldn't have argued so adamantly with the other founders. And an emotional nature? Sure, I'd believe that. Had he not been emotional, he probably could have come to a calm and rational solution with the other founders; however, he was so emotionally connected to his beliefs that he left the school. I'd say that sounds emotional to me.

"And above all others, I think the 'attitude of looking for what is possible' describes Salazar Slytherin perfectly. Slytherin saw possible what he considered an advanced magical community in which purity of blood secured strength of magic. He had a vision that Hogwarts could be used to educate the pure, and had the other founders not disagreed, it very well may have happened. But that's enough about Slytherin, let's move on to Helga Hufflepuff."

"I think I very much agree with your assessment and have very little to add. Nice work, Mr. Denton."

"Very good. Also, remember that Godric Gryffindor was a very accomplished dueler. One always assumes the risk of harm when entering a duel, so 'risk-taker' also applies to him in this way. He also fought against Muggle discrimination, which shows that he didn't support limitations or restrictions, even toward Muggles."

"I agree with every point you've made. I'd like to also add a bit about 'artistic flair'. Remember that Rowena Ravenclaw is thought responsible for the ever-changing floor plan here at Hogwarts, which I would say shows she had an artistic flair in design. Also, according to legend, Rowena Ravenclaw died of a broken heart. Only someone with 'an emotional nature' could suffer so deeply. I think her Family Name Number fits her very well."


"That is a certainly possible. Thank you for adding to our discussion of Godric Gryffindor."

"I'm quite pleased with our discussion of the founders and I think now would be a good time to move on. But first, let me give some house points. Four to each volunteer, and an additional two to Mr. Denton for also contributing an opinion about Gryffindor."

Professor Shackleton perched herself upon her desk and asked the class, "Of the following topics, which would you most like for us to discuss next: what our nicknames tell about us? Things to consider when changing your name? How to go about choosing a name, particularly when naming a baby, your business, etcetera? Or some other name related subject you can think of?"

Clifford listened carefully to what Miss Shackleton said about the four founders, eyes big as he watched her. Whoaaaa, was she smart or WHAT!? Offering the Professor a rather shy smile, Clifford hurried back to his seat and scribbled down a few notes.

And time to move on. Okie Dokie. He was hardly going to be having a baby or a business anytime soon.. and he knew what his nickname meant already.. Hmmm. Clearing his throat, the sixth year raised his hand. "What about our pets, ma'am? Does Arithmancy work on them?" He'd like to find out what Orion's name meant about him!

Oh! Bonus! He had done a good assessment of his founder. Listening to Shackleton adding little bits of information to the other assessments, Dominic waited until she had said their founder discussion was done and they were moving on, before he went to resume his seat.

Choosing a name for a baby or business? No, he was definitely NOT going to do that. Hearing Clifford pipe up about the pet name, Dom nodded and thought it was a good idea for potential topics, but again, hardly relevant for him. "What about nicknames, Professor? I think it'd be interesting to discuss that since many of us have developed nicknames of all kinds over the years."

Elizabeth thought for a second before offering her opinion on the subject at hand. "Pet names would be interesting, even though I can honestly say I've never thought about Arithmancy when I've chosen names for my pets," she said, somewhat agreeing with Clifford in her own weird way. Anyone who knew her cat's name, or her kneazle in COMC's name, would know where she got their names from. "And nicknames would almost be more an interpretation of how others see you, or what their views of you mean about you." She'd be interested to find out what Plymouth's nickname for her said, since she had a feeling any of her other nicknames wouldn't say much.

After listening to the class opinion, Professor Shackleton decided, "How about this? We'll start with nicknames and then we'll touch on choosing a name for a pet before we close the lesson. Sound good?" Macadrian twisted her torso in order to reach for the documents on her desk pertaining to nicknames.

"Now, while our nicknames bring a certain personal response, it is important to remember that these names aren't to be considered part of the original Core Numbers. It is an add-on, an added energy you have brought into your sphere of energy. You calculate this number just as you have the other numbers we've calculated this lesson - simply assign each letter in your nickname with the appropriate number, then add them up and reduce, unless a Master Number is present.

"I'd like for you all to calculate a Nickname Number, either for yourself or for another individual whom you have given a nickname to. Then, look up what that number means in the Basic Arithmancy textbook. I'd like for you to compare this value to your Growth Number that we calculated last lesson and see what your nickname adds to you. Anyone who is willing to share their number is more than welcome to do so. And perhaps, I'll share my nickname at the end..." Professor Shackleton smiled slyly as she let the students get to work.

Ooooh! They'd get to hear Miss Shacketon's nickname!? He bet it was pretty. Just like her name was pretty.. and her middle name was pretty and SHE wa pretty. Clifford grinned goofily at her before looking down at his parchment, textbook at the ready.

Hmmm. What to use. Stinky Dumb Pig? Eeehh, that was a lot of numbers to add up, and he didn't want Miss Shackleton knowing he wa stinky, dumb and ate like a pig. Right, that was outta the question.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clifford's Parchment

Nickname Number
C L I F F I E
3-3-9-6-6-9-5

3 + 3 + 9 + 6 + 6 + 9 + 5 = 41
= {4 + 1)
= 5

Nickname Number = 5

Growth Number
C-L-I-F-F-O-R-D
3-3-9-6-6-6-9-4

3 + 3 + 9 + 6 + 6 + 6 + 9 + 4
= (4 + 6)
= (1 + 0)
= 1

Growth Number = 1

So his Nickname Number was a 5.. and his Growth Number a 1.. now what'd that mean? Brow furrowed in concentration, Clifford flicked through both textbooks.

"Well, according to chapter three in the basic arithmancy textbook," he started hand raised, "the number five - that's my nickname number - means 'Change, transition, progressive thinking, resourceful, freedom and versatility.'" All sounded kinda boring to him. "And my growth number - that was a one - was all about aserting myself and being an indivdual." That ALSO sounded boring. Yep, that was all he conclude from this.. "I think - I think that make me sound very ... boring, ma'am." The Prefect finished with a sad sigh. So much for impressing her.

Tobi thought briefly about calculating one of his sister's nicknames or maybe Aggie's but he wasn't overly tempted to go into the explanations of who they were and what they meant to him. So instead he kept it simple and went with a subject he knew pretty well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tobi's Parchement

Nickname Number=

T O B I
2 6 2 9

2+6+2+9=
19/ 1+9 =
10/ 1+0=
1

Growth Number =

T O B I A S
2 6 2 9 1 1

2+6+2+9+1+1=
21/ 2+1=
3

Tobi raised his eyebrows. Courageous? Yeah since when? He didn't kid himself, between courage and all his limbs, he liked having arms.

He compared his Growth number.

"Ma'am," he said uncertainly, "I think there might be a mistake... maybe I miscalculated. I've never really understood how it can be that my greatest growth will come from using my words when I'm not really good with them. I'm way better when you stick me alone in the kitchen without anyone to babble like an idiot to. I'm the cook, not the... the guy who talks. And all this stuff about pioneering spirit, and adventure and direction? Nuh uh, not for me. Sorry. I don't want to be trekking anywhere. I know where I want to go. I want to be in a nice safe kitchen making nice yummy foods that no one else has made before. It's not courageous, it's not 'special' but it's what I want..."

Tobi pouted. "I totally calculated wrong didn't I? I don't get it!"

Total end of term burnout...