Ira walked into the common room clutching her books all related to the ancient runes. Damn! She had to finish her homework anyhow today.
Ancient runes was something very new for her. It had been her first class and now coupled with the homework assignment, this subject was a sure disaster for poor Ira! Runes, Galdrs. etc etc etc...Ira had absolutely no idea what was going on. But she was determined that she would do her homework, at least to gain points for her house. Gryffindor was so much behind from the snakes and claws! No way, she had to contribute at least as much as she could!
She started on her ancient runes homework...Find an object and use a rune on it to modify it. It seemed pretty easy, only to the eye!
Ira wondered what she could use? Her bag, ring, clothes, stones, parchment....the list was endless.
Ira decided to first select a rune and then find the suitable object for it.

"Cooool." She marveled. It was so cool that he was doing this. "So then, what animal would you like to turn out as?" She asked.

"Oh," She said, laughing. "I don't read minds. I guess I can tell.. Who knows." She tucked a strand of hair behind one ear. "So you don't really care for quittich?"

"Maybe a wolf or something common so i could sneak around unnoticed and play tricks on people." Maxwell laughed.

" Actually, you are really not right" Willaim tpld Rue. " I love Quidditch" William said to Rue. " My father and his best friend, now my new cousin-in-law played Quidditch for Gryfffindor, won the cup and Chudley Cannons where they played together and won two Quidditch championships" William explained to Rue. " I play Quidditch in the back of the Villa and the castle" William smiled." I have tried for the Gryffindor Quidditch team, too" William smiled again. So what is yoru favorite class?" William asked Rue.

Kourtney nodded and spoke eagerly. "For sure! We could brainstorm ideas together. It would be really awesome if we could totally turn the house race around. Maybe some kind of announcement in the common room? Or a house meeting of some sort?" She suggested. This would be pretty cool if they could get more lions to participate in classes and homework.

The Gryffindor nodded as Kurumi remarked on the expectation of being able to get just a little sleep during the night. Kourt hadn't minded terribly though, she hardly got to stay up all night, and for an eleven year old, it had been quite a treat.

She peered at the runes as the prefect dumped the bag into her hand. When it was suggested that they try a different rune than those used in class, Kourt slowly nodded in agreement. Yes, they could do that. It was better to branch out a little anyway. Perhaps they should not use Isa either as it was demonstrated by the professor?

Kourtney looked curiously at the girl as she held the rune and her wand in the same hand. Oh! So both were needed in the same hand? Well...she supposed that did make sense, but why was that not mentioned by the professor? Ugh, she had a lot to learn.

She remained quiet as Kurumi whispered the words to the incantation before speaking them aloud, pointing the wand at her book. It hadn't seemed like anything had happened, at least physically. It wasn't until Kurumi had picked up the book did it appear that something had happened. There seemed to be a slight shift in the prefect's expression.

"What....happened?" She finally asked.

Ira finally decided on what she would use as an object and what spell she would use. Ira was feeling a bit low and under confident today. So she decided to go for the Sowilo. It said that it is used when self confidence was required. That is exactly what she required today.
She had read somewhere that jewelry like rings or lockets can act as charms or curses... So she too out her locket from her chain around her neck and placed it on her hand. She really hoped that the galdr did not go wrong! This was her favorite locket and she didn't want anything to happen to it.
She held the locket in her left hand and picked up the rune with her right. She gripped both her wand and her rune tightly in her right hand. She found the galdr she wanted to use and first read it over several times to get the hang of it. It still felt like monkey talk to her!
Taking a deep breath, she cleared her mind and proceeded with full concentration...
"sowilo sowilo sowilo
s s s s s s s s s
s s s o o o l l l
su sa si se so
us as is es os
si se su sa su
s s s s s s s s s"
She said everything clearly and pointed her wand at her locket. She hoped that it had taken effect. Only way to ascertain it was to wear it and feel it.
She wore the locket back into her chain and waited with bated breath....She felt a stirring in her heart. She could feel herself become more relaxed and confident. Yes! she was successful! She could do the galdrs correctly! It felt like a tide of freshness and confidence had hit her!
Ira was happy! She was delighted to see that this had killed two birds with one stone... Her ancient runes homework was done and her self-confidence was returning.

Rubiey wandered down the stairs from the dormitories and into the warm common room. It was a horrid day outside, but she was grateful that she could now snuggle up with her boyfriend on the sofa and just be warm. The brunette smiled widely as she saw Adam sitting on the sofas with some of his gorgeous hot chocolate infront of him. Yay!

"Hey Adam." She said as she sat next to him, kissing him on the cheek and pulling her feet up onto the sofa. "The weather sucks outside, doesn't it?" She said with a sigh.

Adam turned and smiled warmly as he heard the sound of Rubiey's voice, his smile widening as she planted a kiss on his cheek. As she pulled her feet up onto the sofa Adam wrapped his arm around her shoulders so she could rest her head on his shoulder if she wanted to. "It is absolutely freezing," Adam said with a nod. "I was going to go for a jog today, but honestly it's just too cold for it. The air is just so cold that it hurts to inhale it," Adam said with a little chuckle. Yeah, his runs would need to wait until it got a bit warmer outside. "I made us some more hot chocolate since this definitely seemed like the kind of day for it," Adam said, reaching out and grabbing one of the thermoses and handing it to Rubiey. He then reached out and grabbed the other one, setting it in between his legs so that he could unscrew the top.

"So, how has your day been?" he asked warmly.

"Woah!" Rue exclaimed. "That's so cool! Do you think you made the team? Your father would probably be really proud." She thought for a moment. "Hmm.. I'd have to say Defense against the dark arts. How about you?"


[COLOR="rgb(139, 0, 0)"]
She laughed as well. "Haha, I hope that's not the ONLY reason you'd like to become one! That sounds so cool! IS studying to become one hard?"[/COLOR]

"Carriwitchet," Lilly said, as she entered the common room. She pulled off her gardening gloves and wellies. She was in a great mood. Maybe even enough to forgive Rose. Maybe. Pearl followed her to the armchairs, where Lilly sat down, and her adorable kitten perched on her lap.

Jordan noticed a Gryffindor girl in the common room, he decided to go and say hi. "Hey, I'm Jordan Macey, 1st year." he smiled, "Whats your name?" he asked, sounding as innocent as he could, he didn't want to make a wrong impression.

Rose grumbled, realising no-one cared about Hufflepuff's win. Unlike her, who was over the moon. Most definitely. Her sister's team was going to the final, her friend's team. And they'd bloody win. She sighed and ate some of the food she had snuck from the kitchens.

She turned around and smiled at Jordan. "Oh, hi Jordan." She said, extending her hand. "I'm Rue, Rue Everdeen."

Maxwell laughed. "It's not the only reason and yes it's said to be very difficult magic."

Kourt shuffled the pieces of parchment in her hand, studying the different types of runes. Which one to choose? Which one to choose? There were way too many options, but she should be able to pick one and cast the spell on the object. She just had to. The assignment was due soon and they needed the points badly.

Her gaze finally settled on Algiz, the rune of protection and defense. Reading further, she noted that it strengthened magical power and luck. Great! She could definitely use that, especially with just starting out in the magic world. It was always a good thing to have a little help. But…what to use the rune on? A book like Kurumi did? Or a piece of jewelry? A charm perhaps?

Her eyes dropped to her wrist where she wore the charm bracelet that her mother had given her when she first began her journey into the dance world. A small ballerina dangled in the middle of the bracelet. She wore it often, for it reminded her of her mother, and she was rather homesick for her at the moment. Raising her arm, she looked back at Kurumi, then at the runes, and then at her own book where the chants were printed.

Might as well try it. She quietly spoke the words slowly, just to get used to the strange language, before she raised her wand and clasped the rune in her right hand. Drawing in a breath, she began.

‘elhaz elhaz elhaz
z z z z z z z z z
uz az iz ez uz
oz ez iz az uz
z z z z z z z z z
(m m m m m m m m m)’

Once she finished, the wand and rune pointing towards the ballerina on the bracelet, she watched as the charm glowed and a tinkling sound was heard. Okay…so that usually meant that the spell had worked. But…what could she do to test it out?

The first year looked at Kurumi. “You mind helping me out? Algiz means protection and defense and strengthening magical power. Do you mind casting a harmless spell and I’ll use Protgeo? I had a little trouble with that during dueling club so I want to try it again.”

I double posted and had no idea... Sorry!

"Well, I hope everything turns out then!" She thought for a moment. "My brother, Jason is an animagi. It seems awesome. I believe he is a Doberman. Haha- it's funny for a guy like him. She thought of her brother, now lost in the U.S. somewhere. He had always seemed so quiet and always kept to himself. How could his animagi (self) turn out to be an animal so cruel?
She decided to change the subject, knowing the thought of he brother might bring herself to tears. "So, What class do you like best this year?"

Kurumi blinked repeatedly at her textbook as it continued to speak to her. Did she need to be touching it? Or did it just need to be opened for it to work? Kurumi set the book on the sofa beside her, still open to the random page, and was pleasantly surprised when she could still hear it speaking in its soft voice.

This would be a great spell for parents to use on storybooks. Books that read themselves to children? Sounds like every parent's fantasy.

"Well...um...the book is reading itself to me," she said with a faint blush appearing on her cheeks. "You...might not be able to hear it even if you touch the book. It might be that only the caster can hear it." Which would throw her bedtime story theory right out the window.

Still, you never know how new magic will work, so Kurumi handed the book to Kourtney.


"Wait...you want me to cast a spell at you?" Kurumi squeaked as her eyes practically popped out of her head. Kurumi was rubbish at dueling, which is mostly why she had stood in the background at the Dueling Club meeting. Confrontation and all that just wasn't one of her strong suits. "Um...okay..."

Kurumi began wracking her brain for something harmless that wouldn't cause any damage to the first year, no any serious damage to the common room should it bounce off of the Shield Charm. "I'll...try Aguamenti, alright?" Worse that could happen would be that they would get wet. Nothing a Hot Air Charm couldn't fix, right? Kurumi removed her wand and pointed it at Kourtney. "Aguamenti!"

A small stream of water burst from her wand and shot towards the younger lion.

Kourtney eyed Kurumi curiously as she waited for her response. Something was happening, by the way that the prefect was reacting. When she finally revealed what it was, Kourt shot a startled look at the book. Really? It was reading itself to her? Wow...

No, she hadn't heard a thing, but maybe...She took the offered book and held it for a few moments. And....nothing. No voice. She closed the book and then opened it again. Nope, nothing. "Probably only works for the caster." She murmured as she handed the book back. "But that must be a pretty great experience. I'll have to try it myself later."

Kourtney bit her lip as Kurumi reacted to her request. Heh, maybe she should have chosen another way to test this rune out, though...it seemed as though she was agreeing to do it.

Shooting her a grateful smile, she picked up the wand that she had placed on the floor after she had cast the spell. Just as her fingers touched it, Kourtney felt a strange vibrating sensation course through her hand and down the arm that held the wand.

When Kurumi decided on Aguamenti, Kourt readied her wand. She knew that was a harmless water spell, but regardless, she didn't much feel like getting wet, so she hoped this worked.

As soon as Kurumi began to speak the spell, Kourt exclaimed. "Protego!!" She waited with bated breath to see if her shield had worked.

She could literally feel the spell bounce off of her and towards Kurumi. "EEP! Duck!" She squealed, not wanting the girl to get wet.

Thwarted. Her dreams of inventing self-reading storybooks was put out before it even had the change to take off. Wait, best not to give up too quickly. There was still a way to make this work. She might have to combine the magic of two runes and a few spells, but it was still doable. She'd make an appointment with Mr. Viking, but she knew that would be pointless seeing as she wouldn't be able to understand a word he was saying.

Oh well.
"Brilliant!" Kurumi smiled as she clapped her hands together - momentarily forgetting that the spell could and WOULD bounce off the girl's Shield Charm.

Sadly, Kurumi put two and two together a little too late. Sorry, Headmaster. Constant vigilance forgotten.

*SPLAAAAAAASH*

Kurumi's front was doused with water and she was dripping all over the carpet. It wasn't too bad seeing as she hadn't cast a strong version of the spell, more like the sort she would perform in Potions, but it was still enough to soak her robes. Still, Kurumi was all smiles.

"Guess I got a little too excited at your accomplishment," she laughed.

Too late her shout had been. The spell crashed back into Kurumi, dousing the girl with water. Kourt's eyes widened and a hand clapped over her mouth. Oh dear.

Her hand lowered slowly, her face breaking into her own smile at Kurumi's reaction. She didn't seem to mind what had happened and that was just fine with Kourtney. It wouldn't do to have the older girl angry with her.

"Thanks!" She said excitedly as she lowered her wand, tucking it back into her robes. "How cool was that? I just felt as though I had an extra boost to the spell, and could almost feel it bounce off of the shield. I...actually can't believe the rune magic worked." She marveled, staring at her bracelet for a few moments. "But thanks again, Kurumi. I really appreciate it..." Her voice trailed off as she watched the water drip onto the floor. "I would dry you, but...I'm afraid I don't know the spell for that just yet."

" The team has already played and unfortunately lost to Slytherin" Willaim told Rue. " No, I did not make the team, but my father is proud of me for trying out for the quidditch team" William explained to Rue. " I like Transfiguration and Harbalogy" Wiliam said to Rue.

"Nice," She replied. "It's great that your father cares about you that way. She scowled, inwardly. Too bad either of her parents didn't have the time of day for her or her siblings. "Oh, yes, Transfiguration is one of my favorites." She replied.

"Kind of makes you wonder why we hadn't learned about runic magic until now," she laughed. It was the first she had heard of it at least, but it was helping her perform spells and things that she would have never been able to do so previously and with her level of magic.

"No need to worry about me, nothing that sitting by the fire for a bit won't fix," she smiled as she removed her outermost robe and set it on the floor directly in front of the fireplace.

" Yes, my father is a real muggle sportsmen as well as a Quiidditch player" William explained to Rue. " The last Transfiguration homework assigment was fun" William said to Rue. " I saw on the board an assignemnt for Aritthromancy and it issue Nov. 6 " William told Rue. Must be a doozy' William laughed.