Arithmancy 1: What's in a Name?
 

The first one in today. Intwresting.
"G'day professor" domino said and sat at a seat after taking pa piece of papper.
Domino then put the papper on a place on her desk.

Abby walked into the Arithmancy classroom knowing it wasn't one of her strongest subjects but she was still here and said "Good morning Professor Tanner" Abby grabbed a piece of paper and wrote "Abby Victoria Valentine, April 12th 2072" Abby put the piece of paper with the information under her textbook and waited for the lesson to start

Kate headed to Arithmancy class with a slight hesitation in her step. She had pinned this subject as one that would probably be her worst one. Math? Eww! At least this was Professor Tanner's class! That woman was probably the kindest and most comforting professor Kate had met so far. Kate remembered being a scared little firstie on her first night here, and Professor Tanner made her feel loads better about being away from home.

"Hello, Professor Tanner," she said, stepping into the room. Kate made her way to a desk, all the while reading the notice left for them. Nametag on the desk? She could do that. She took a piece of paper and on it wrote:

Kate Evangeline Addison
October 30, 2073

She then settled into her desk and cracked open her textbook. May as well try to figure out a little about the subject before the lesson got started.

Angel wasn't looking forwards to this lesson, no matter what anyone said about the last Professor, Angel thought she was cool. They had made chocolate cake together and done a few other things, so why would she be nice to her but be really bad with other people... she was very confused but this Professor was okay.

"Hi Professor." Angel smiled, "How are you today?" Angel decided that she would be polite, she looked at the board and saw the instruction, she grabbed a piece of parchment and took out her quill after taking a seat at her desk.

Angel put the parchment down that was right, but she wasn't sure if the Professor wanted it that way or anything way.

Margo smiled at the Professor. "Hello Professor!" Margo said smiling and taking a piece of paper! Margo bounced in, always excited for every lesson, even if she wasn't good at them at all. Pulling out her eagle feather quill, her favorite ever! It was from her mother. Writing her full name and birthday on the sheet.

Margo Joan Holiday
February 11th 2074

Seeing her birthday on paper, made her look really young....oh wait yeah she was really young!

Good day for a Class to Fall asleep in. All Aegis needed to with Numbers in his Career Option was Add them. So Pssh to Arithmancy and it's confusing ways. He noticed the sudden change in temperature as he went from Hall to Class, and saw that the Windows were Open...Someone should close them....

He considered it, but then figured that it was just air. Air wasn't deadly....a lack of air was.

He eyed the board and snagged a slip of paper from the pile. He took a seat and quickly scribbled his name out.

Brrr. Heather had to pull her robes tighter to her as she walked down the corridor to Arithmancy. Once she entered the classroom, though, she could she why. Professor Tanner had opened the window. Which she didn't understand. Why open the window when it was getting cooler outside? Was it a tatic to keep the class awake? She should worry more about making sure certain people (Kevin.....) behaved, if the desasterous Charms class was anything to go by.

Heather chose her seat and read the board. And then had to get back up to get a slip of paper. She chose a pretty light blue and sat back down, writing out the requried information. She guessed from this that they were going to be doing some calculations, because why else have them write this stuff down?

Ah, the first student had arrived! "Good morning, Miss Emery. Clearly you have your pick of seats!" She gestured towards every seat in the room.


"Good morning, Miss Valentine." The first Ravenclaw. "Er, Miss Valentine.. Are you familiar with the meaning of the term 'conspicuous' at all?" Because based on what she did, she really was not.


And then the first badger walked in. "Ah, Miss Carrigan. Welcome to class." Tiara noted her choice of seats with amusement.


Good, another eagle. And a new student! Excellent, excellent. "Hello, my dear. Any seat you would like."


Next up was another Valentine. "Hello there. I am quite well today, thank you for asking. And yourself?"


Good, a student leader. "Good morning, Mister Newell." She would be polite and greet him even if it wasn't going to be reciprocated.


She smirked as the girl went for a green piece of paper to match her house colors. "Good morning yourself, Miss Andrews."


She was not surprised to see Mister Rogers. Tiara got the feeling that he thought himself inept in the subject, but clearly he wasn't. "Lovely morning, Mister Rogers." Another who grabbed a house color.


The Slytherins were beginning to outnumber the other houses, if her informal assessment was accurate."Morning, dear. Any seat you'd like."


"Love the enthusiasm, Mister Toussaint!" Someone was having a good morning, wasn't he?


Tiara liked seeing first year students in her lessons. They tended to be more confused in general, but enthusiastic! "Hello Miss Holiday, welcome to class," she said with a smile.


Another student who neglected to greet his instructor. Manners were on the decline at this school. Something to speak to Anastasia about, no doubt.


More and more students were showing up now. That always got her adrenaline pumping, but in a good way. "Good day, fine sir. Pick your seat anywhere."


"Good morning to you, Mister Adair." He was struggling with directions this morning, apparently, since she didn't see his name on his paper. Tiara gave an internal sigh.


It was unusual for a Hufflepuff to fail to greet a professor. Another sign that she really should talk to the Headmistress.


Two in a row? Now this was beginning to get ridiculous. At least she had filled out her paper correctly.

Why exactly did Cinna decide to take Arithmancy? She really didn't know. But she had signed up for it either way. She made her way down to the classroom. She was almost there and was getting cooler. Weird.

"Good morning, Professor." As she walked into the classroom the professor was standing there near the door she smiled and walked on to find seat. She couldn't allow herself to be distracted in this class so she didn't sit with anyone who would cause her to be distracted. She got a slip of paper and wrote her full name and birthday on it.

Okay. So. Arithmancy. One of two subjects that Toby had done least well on in his OWLs, but still managed to exceed his own expectations in. He'd worked very hard trying to pass this exam last year, and now he knew he could do it... which was good, right? Right.

He entered the classroom now with the stragglers, and went straight for a desk by the window, his mind very much somewhere else at first. It wasn't until he reached the desk and dragged the chair out from under it that the scraping sound of wood-on-stone sort of brought him more to his senses, and the sixth year looked around for the professor to give her a proper hello.

"Morning Professor Tanner. How are you?" Toby paused and properly noticed the temperature in here and the sunlight streaming in. "Nice day."

Now taking a seat, Toby read the message on the board and got out his parchment and a quill. He hesitated for just a moment, before writing out:

Placing that slap-bang in the middle of his desk, Toby tapped his feet against the floor and twirled his quill for a moment, before raising his hand.

"Professor, I was wondering. Y'know if someone gets married and changes their name or something, do they use their original name for Arithmancy calculations and stuff? 'Cause if that changes, all sorts of numbers might change, right? And I'm not sure how that works out for interpreting things." Or maybe it only mattered what your name was right then. Just wondering, 'cause he'd had a thought and all. Like... how did Tanner do things? She'd had a different name up until a few years previously, so it was a relevant question. It... might have been covered in the textbook, but the information he'd learned from that felt like it was hiding in some far recess of Toby's brain.

*attempts at Arithmancy*
 

*Attempts Arthimancy as well*
 

Kace heard there was a new teacher for this subject. He remember Domingo taught this subject but he wondered where she went? Ah well he wanted to make the new professor feel welcomed. As he made his way into the room he pulled his robes tighter and it was quite chilly. He wished he could have brought some gloves. He tried to keep warm and then he noticed the professor was right there.

"Good morning Professor.." he greeted her with a charming smile. Then he went to go find his seat and he noticed Cinna and Emmy were here. He also noticed Lux was here too. He sat by Emmy but then gave Lux a friendly wave and also Cinna. He looked at the board and noticed he needed to write his birth date down.

He took out a quill and began to scribble....

Cilla entered the classroom with a wave and a "Hello, Professor Tanner," before finding a seat. She looked up at the board and saw the instructions. Cilla picked up her quill and wrote on a piece of paper.

She then hid the piece of paper under her textbook

It was Arithmancy time and Janelle wasn't sure whether she was glad about it or not. Anyway she was present, accounted for and ready to give it her best shot. At least this was a class with Professor Tanner. Janelle liked her......and she had that Ravenclaw thing going for her.

"Hello Professor Tanner", Janelle said as she entered the classroom. Then following the instructions on the board, she grabbed a slip of paper on the way to her seat. Finding a desk that was to her liking, Janelle sat down. She wrote the reqired information on her paper and placed it on top of her desk. Hopefully class would be starting soon.

"Good morning, Professor Tanner,'' Adi said as he hurriedly entered the classroom, feeling slightly chilled. Okay, so he was a little late but not that late thankfully. At least the class hadn't started yet. Seeing writing on the board, he read what was written before grabbing one of the papers on his way to go sit next to Benny and Angel. He didn't even bother looking for AJ. Not that it would have mattered anyway. "Hey, guys.'' He sat right next to his bestie and got around to scribbling the necessary before leaving the paper on one side of his desk.

"Good morning, class!" she said brightly, resuming her place at the front of the room. After letting the chatter die down briefly, she continued. "Today we will begin with a thoughtful question from one of your classmates. Tobias, would you mind repeating what you asked me, please? Nice and loud, if you would." She nodded at him as a signal that he had the floor.

OOC: Class has officially begun! The door is now closed, so please don't announce your late arrival.

Darn... was he ever on time! He needed to get himself together else he would be late for everything else. "Uh, no, Professor. I hadn't notice anyone else.'' But too bad for any stragglers. The door was now closed.
...................

Adi had barely had time to write his name and date of birth when the Arithmancy lady started to address everyone. Question from his fellow Puff? The fifth year turned his attention to Tobias, full of curiosity.

Angel smiled at the Professor. "I'm awesome Professor." Angel said as the Professor asked her how she was, she was glad the Professor was well, she couldn't wait to see what was going to happen today.

***********************************

Angel suddenly saw the door closing and knew that the lesson was about to begin which meant that it was time to learn, she heard the Professor speaking and waiting to see what it was one of her classmates had said.

Abby sat and waited for what her fellow classmate was going to say and was ready to take plenty of notes during the class cause this was a poor subject for her

We've totally been here, cause duh, of course we'd come to this ;) <3
 

"I'm doing good too," Toby replied, giving a nod as his hands automatically fidgeted with the parchment he'd just placed on his desk. Good good, everyone was good, that was good. As for holding onto that thought, Toby could totally do that. And go over his own theories while he waited, yeah.

More fidgeting as other students filed in and took their seats, though Toby was at least managing not to bounce in his seat as he sometimes did. He watched his fellow students make their way into class until finally Professor Tanner called for their attention.

For a brief moment, Toby let himself wonder what classmate Tanner was talking about. He glanced at the others before the professor said his name, and then... OH WAIT YEAH. It WAS him. Okay, sure, he could do that. Hi... everyone. Ahem.

"Okay, well, what I asked was what happens with Arithmancy calculations if someone changes their name, like if they get married or something. Do they use their new name, or is it more accurate to use the name they had at birth? Because changing names can mean changing numbers and interpretations, y'know?" He spoke as clearly as possible, and attempted to slow down his talking a little too from its usual fast tempo, and looked around at his classmates as he said it, and then back at Professor Tanner. Yeah? Toby did good?

She'd heard the question from her classmate thought it was a good one. And appearently, it tied into what they were talking about today, because Professor Tanner had asked him to repeat it. So, yeah, waiting for that to happen, she wondered what the answer was.

Okay, so that was done. What was the answer, professor?

She loved it when students had intelligent questions about Arithmancy. Or any other topic, for that matter. "So I will open the floor to you, budding Arithmancers. There is, of course, a textbook answer, but I am open to other schools of thought, provided that sound reasoning is used." In other words, don't be spewing out nonsense. "One at a time, please, and raise your hands to be heard."

Abby thought and raised her hand and said "Well maybe it is not of great ease to use there new name as it takes so long to work out everything with the new name" Abby had no clue as to what the answer was in the textbook but she thought that something different might be good

Oh. So THAT was the question. Adi had wondered that last term when Domingo had been there and they had been instructed to bring a list of three persons they admired. Professor Hadley had been on his list and he had been unsure of whether he'd have to use her birth name or marriage name.

The Hufflepuff raised his hand after a moment. "I think they would use their birth name... because its theirs and not given to them when they get married.'' Sure their birth names are also given to them but I think those- the birth ones- speak more about the individual and would give more accurate about them.'' Confusing? Well, maybe... Adi wasn't exactly thinking straigh.

Okay...what??? Margo had listened to the students question, it seemed legit. And then the Professor said something else that didn't make any sense. Jeepers, Margo was is so much trouble when it came to his particular subject. She was never going to excel here, she should have known better the to think she could do this...... Okay.....think....think of an intelligent answer.

"Well, I think you should use the new name, as a person grows and matures, maybe they need different interpretation to make sense of what's happening in life at the current time and not what life was like for them in the past....." Margo trailed off on the end, not sounding nearly as confident at the end.

Kate didn't know the Hufflepuff doing the talking, but she listened and nodded along as he asked his question. Hmm. It was a good question. Was it one he class was supposed to chime in on, too, or was the professor going to do the talking? Kate figured her first idea was the right one, so she raised her hand in the air.

"I think you'd go with your birth name," she began. "That's the name that you were given, not the name you chose, so I think fate would go with the one you couldn't help having. I also think you should stick with your original name, because it's one that will always be yours. If you happen to divorce somebody you're married to, you'll probably go back to your birth name. So that's why I think you shouldn't calculate the name you got when you married."

But having said that, she thought the other answer was probably the one the professor would say was the right one. "What do you think?" she asked the boy who'd spoken.

As Kace sat down next to Emmy, he heard the teacher greet him and he nodded when she asked to close the windows. "You got it Professor.." and then he got up and went to the windows next to him and began to close them. There now THAT felt warmer and he won't be here chattering his teeth. As he saw the Professor start the lesson, she was telling Toby to ask his question. He had his attention to his fellow badger.

As Toby asked his question, Kace was honestly quite confused. He really had NO idea when it came to Arithmancy. He just sat there and stayed quiet. He didn't want to embarrass himself with the wrong answer. He just knew personally he would keep his last name he was given to at birth. He felt it was be more of a personal reading.

This was an interesting question from Tempus. Actually, she's never put any thought in that and she was equally as curious. Would some cosmic shift happen and give you a more positive interpretation if you had a negative one? Or could it do the opposite? Frankly, her name was perfect the way it was and she wasn't planning on changing it, but what WOULD happen if she ever did?

Hmm...this was tricky and she had opinions. A few she had for Divination, but that was a whole other topic.

Multi-colored eyes shifted from the professor and Tempus, her quill tapping against the table. So what was it? Did things change drastically or 'yay! You have have new name, lets make things up?' It wasn't that easy, was it? But wait...

She raised her hand. "Well...to get the best results one has to use what they believe is them, right?" Not just based on information and numbers, it went beyond that, no? "So maybe the name you feel is you is what you use for interpretation?" Sounded about right-ish.

If she believed deep within in her heart that she was a Nancy and not a Beverly then using numbers for Beverly wouldn't feel right. Of course that wasn't the case at all, but it something like that...maybe?

Listening to the older boy speak, Tia pondered it thoughtfully, as she heard some of her classmates answer. It seemed as if there was mixed point of views as to using birth name or the new name and that's probably because, if memory served her correctly, both were correct. Tentatively raising her hand, the fourth year bit her lip nervously, "If you change your name, either via marriage or adoption, then your Arithmancy calculations would change with your name change. Not that your birth name calculations would be wrong, but just that the numerical interpretations associated with yourself would shift and your life destiny and purpose would shift into what you became, based on what you've been." So both names would be you, just in a different way.

Last namr changed your number? Even though Domino heard the other answers, she didn't understand. She kept her mouth shut hoping someone would answer her mental question.

Toby could answer too, right? Even though it was his own question? He was gonna go with YES, 'cause class discussions were super fun to join in with and he did have theories (though it sounded like there was something in the textbook, but yeah... that thing... so much information in there). Ooh, and ooh, OOH, the Ravenclaw first year (Kate) was asking what he thought, so Toby responded (sticking his own hand up first of course, out of habit).

"See, my thinking was that... well, there's arguments for both ways. If you get a new name, your calculations would change, and your numbers might be different, but just 'cause your name changes doesn't mean that your personality or future changes, right? You don't literally become a different person. So I wasn't sure if the new calculations would make much sense." Though he supposed the idea that your name changes for a reason was a very good point too, and coincided with deeper changes. People were super complex, after all. "But then I thought... maybe, if the person's doing the calculations for themself, that what matters is what their name is at the time, 'cause of like what-..." Uhhh, names. Remembering other kids' names was hard... uhh... "-... other people have said. People growing and changing, things being more up to date." And also... Beverly's answer? That was actually a super good point and Toby loved the idea of it. That it might be based on what you feeeeeeeeeel. "I think there's so many reasons for one way or the other that... maybe both could totally work. Yeah. Both? Both." WHY NOT BOTH. Hadn't that other Ravenclaw girl mentioned something along those lines, too? And BEN too. Nice.

Toby liked the idea of 'both' being the answer, because that meant that all sides of the discussion would be happy. And that was a great outcome. He smiled again, great big grin, though he wasn't entirely sure why. Reflex or something. There may have also been a little bit of bouncing. That hadn't been the most academic answer in the world, and Toby knew it, but it discussion it had served to pique his enthusiasm for Arithmancy today.

Nicole listened to the question by the Hufflepuff. She needed to think about it for a moment. She had skimmed through the Arithmancy textbook once, not paying much attention to it, and could not remember any information regarding family names in it.

Finally, she raised her hand and said, "I don't think it matters, really." Nicole paused to organize her thoughts. "Both your original name and and the new one would explain the characteristics you have." She said, wondering if this made sense.

Angel raised her hand. "Professor, I think you would use your birth name." Angel wasn't sure but thought it was worth a guess.

Soooo Ruby was alright with Arithmancy if it was discussing stuff, it was just that once she had to write or read things it got hard. This was an interesting question though and she was listening to other people's answers and nodding for the most part. Her turn? She put her hand up.

"Professor I think that you should choose what feels right to you but that you shouldn't discount the name you were born with either. Like how you can look at different parts of your life and the lessons you are supposed to learn and everything? If you took into account what your old name said about like... a future cycle, if that was like, your new name's current cycle, it might be good to compare them and take both meanings together." Well, she tried, even if she hadn't used proper terminology. There was hopefully a nod to effort though, right?

... maybe?

For now AJ was not making eye contact with anyone, and she was going to keep to her little lion self. Hopefully she would just melt into the background and this lesson would coast on by for her with little to no effort on her part. She didn't deliberately sit away from the group. It was more like her body just went and found a seat away from people, and that just happened to be away from the group as well. It was a good choice if you asked her.

Oh, marriage. That was not a good topic to be talking about. Granted, that really wasn't the discussion, but it was still something that she didn't want to think about too much when she wasn't even on speaking terms with her own boyfriend. They were still in a relationship, right?

Anywho, everybody else pretty much had the topic covered, and there wasn't much to add. AJ raised her hand. "I agree with your birth name being the one used because---" Well, you were born with that name, and what could be more directed to you than your own birth name? AJ's concentration was gone though, and she didn't even realize that she hadn't completed her sentence.

"Thank you, Mr. Lecium." There, now hopefully with half of the windows closed the students would be awake, but not frozen.


So it looked like there were several proponents of using one's birth name. "I'm not sure one would be any harder than the other, as Miss Valentine alluded to." Though that was more of an opinion question. "The main argument for this view is, of course, what most of you pointed out - the concept of fate, or whatever term you use for the idea." Karma, destiny, divine will, and surely many more, but she stuck with the term Miss Addison had mentioned. "There is also the fact that, as Mr. Newell brought up, many people are too inwardly focused to be able to correctly determine which would 'fit' them better. The prevailing choice of ancient Arithmancers, and therefore of your textbook, is to use your birth name for all calculations throughout your lifetime."


Hmm. She had definitely asked them to raise their hands. "Miss Holiday, kindly raise your hand when you wish to speak in my classroom." Tiara was all for maintaining order.

"However, new research by modern Arithmancers and muggle numerologists is making this a less cut-and-dried issue for the exact reasons put forward by Miss Holiday, Miss Kittredge, and Mr. Toussaint. People do not change their names lightly, as a name is a powerful thing symbolizing our very identity." Tiara was still getting used to her own name change, in fact. "Because name changes tend to correspond with big life changes or decisions, the new school of thought holds that your personality, values, habits, et cetera are impacted to an extent that would make calculations with your new name entirely appropriate."


This was by far the most supported view in the classroom. "The view put forth by the rest of you is somewhere in the middle, using both calculations to gain a better picture of how the name-changing event affects your life. No one has yet, to my knowledge, come up with a mathematical rule for combining calculations with both names." She gave a nod in the direction of Mister Rogers. "It is my opinion that, in time, research will land us in this category, with both names used interchangeably."

Well, the students really seemed to be getting into this. She had intended to cover something completely different, but... Tiara thought back to all the teaching pedagogy literature she'd read this summer. Flexibility was key, and perhaps this was the time to use it. "Let's scrap what I had today and do some looking into this matter, shall we? Does anyone have anything else they'd like to add before we dig in?"


OOC: Last call for input! We'll get to activity in a few hours.

Abby was pleased with her input so far but she had nothing else to add so she just stayed quiet waiting for the lesson to continue

Blushing deep red Margo bowed her head. She really wasn't doing so well in classes and now she couldn't even follow the simple out line of the rules. She had always raised her hand in every other lesson, so what in the world was her problem.

Margo just kept her head down........nope she had no further information to give.... nope, nope...

Kate listened to all the replies, all the while trying to piece together the sense of it all. Side A made sense, but so did Side B. What they didn't have was a set mathematical rule for the in-between. Thinking on this, Kate started to wonder why a mathematical rule was even needed. Did married people need that much guidance? She always thought interpretations were a loose guide and that a person had the power to change their own destiny no matter what the numbers said.

She sat back in her chair, though, and just waited for the lesson to move on. The professor seemed to have a plan in mind anyway.

So many opinions and arguments, Adi thought to himself though he failed to write down a single thing because he was busy looking at AJ. Did she realise she hadn't finished her answer? He knew she must be feeling the way he was in the days since their misunderstanding even though she didn't show it that much.

Pulling his eyes away from her, he forced his attention back to Professor Tanner. No... nothing to add. So, what was next?

Even though Janelle didn't respond to Professor Tanner's question she did have an opinion. She was in the birth name camp because.......you know, she would always be Janelle Guidry........no matter what. Other people's opinions mattered and were to be respected, but......birth name......yeah.

Janelle wondered what the Professor was going to have them do, especially since she'd changed her plans. In the meantime, she didn't have anything add so....no comment.

Kace smiled and nodded when the Professor thanked him for closing the windows. He listened to the Professor intently when she was explaining the names and birth dates to the students. He just really wanted to dig into the lesson, he wasn't much for lectures. He loved the task of doing the lesson rather than being talked to.

The professor wondered if they had anymore questions and he looked around and no one piped up. He really didn't have any either. He waited quietly for the activity to begin.

Her parchment was already covered in several notes on things to look up after the lesson...or maybe not since Professor Tanner was changing route on whatever lesson plan she had for today. Hopefully it was something simple. Merlin knows Arithmancy and a Beverly Wayne did not mix.

Setting her quill down, Beverly shook her head. Nothing to add on her part.

So, time for the exploration. "The best calculation I can think of to test our theories would be the Expression Number, also known as the Destiny Number. Let me give you an example calculation, though you have seen this before." She turned to the board, writing her own name upon it.

"First give each letter its corresponding number from the Pythagorean System, found on page three of your textbook." She wrote each number under its letter. "Reduce each word down individually," she paused here to add up each word and get three totals, "and then combine those totals and reduce." Of course, she wasn't the best example of this because she had a Master, but that was not a big deal. They had spent a great deal of time on them last term. "As you can see, my Expression Number is the 22/4 Master Number."

"So, let's do some investigation using the divide and conquer method! Gryffindors, I would like for you to calculate the Expression Number for Hermione Jean Granger. Hufflepuffs, calculate for Hermione Jean Weasley. Ravenclaws, please take Ginevra Molly Weasley. Slytherins, you have Ginevra Molly Potter." Two very famous witches of which a great deal was known. "Raise your hand if you get stuck and I'll be happy to assist you. Older students help the younger students if they need it!"


OOC: Feel free to work alone or pair up. Next post in approximately 12 hours.

Professor Tanner or Older Students help needed.
 

Cilla grabbed her textbook, along with her quill and parchment and began to calculate.



Cilla hoped her calculations were correct. Anything involving maths made her frazzled.

Older student needed, please!
 

Kate's eyebrows wrinkled in confusion as the professor announced that they had seen this method before. They had? Where? See, this was why Kate had predicted Arithmancy would be her worst subject. She hated math and dealing mainly with numbers. She got confused easily and felt really unsure of herself.

She got out her parchment and quill anyway and wrote on it the name of the witch she was supposed to be working with.

GINEVRA

MOLLY

WEASLEY

...and that was as far as she got.

Kate didn't like this at all. She flipped to page three of her textbook and silently got to reading. Maybe somebody else would come along soon and offer to work with her.

And all was fun and games until it got to this point of class where writing and things were needed. Ruby chewed on her bottom lip and then made the effort to at least open her textbook. Even if all the words and letters and numbers were swimming all over the page, at least it looked like she was trying, right? Because this part? Impossible for her. She shot a little look over at her brother but she knew better than to trust him to help her with anything anymore. Maybe she could just... work on the interpretation parts and not the actual calculation parts?

*grabbing Kate and Ruby*
 

Gabe had been silent so far, working on his notes...making sure not to miss anything. The subject matter didn't really interest him...as it was about marriage and...Well, Gabe had nothing nice to say...and because his social cues didn't seem appropriate all the time, it was just best to remain quiet.

...and at the mention of hyphenating names, that got his attention. Actually, in the Ravenclaw's opinion, hyphenating was probably more efficient as...it included your birth name...and your new name. Mixing the old and the new...in a way. He quickly backtracked to add that bit in his notes.

Now...for the calculations bit. This wasn't hard for Gabe...as he loved dealing with numbers and calculating this and that. They were universal, which was their appeal. Math didn't change, no matter where you were doing it.

He looked to his sister...and began collecting his materials. Truth be told, he hadn't been that great of a big brother and yea, the guilt was strong. And she wasn't that well versed with the numbers like he was. Ruby would need his help...and that was okay. Gabe didn't mind. Of course, on his way over, he seen Kate...and she was a Claw and....eh, his responsibility?....Eeeeh...Gabe still didn't know what he...thought about this responsibility thing.

"This entry is what you should....go by." He carefully took her book and flipped the pages until finding what he was looking for. Pointing out the diagram, he nodded to himself. If the professor was talking about the Pythagorean Number System...that was it. "I hope that...helps. If.....you know.....need further....help?, I'll...help you."...but first he needed to check on Ruby. She tended to get overwhelmed with the Arithmancy stuff.

Sliding in next to said sister, Gabe began positioning his things again. "Don't look so scared."

So yep, textbook said birthname, and that made sense to Toby. He was pretty sure he'd not be forgetting that information again after the discussion and all. It helped cement things in his brain.

Ooh. OOH. Professor Tanner was changing the lesson plan? That was... neat, yeah. NEAT. Toby DID for a moment feel a little guilty about it (all the original planning of the lesson for nothing?) but quickly pushed that aside (another lesson for another day! interesting things! spontaneity!) He had no further questions, and so simply smiled and stayed quiet as they moved on.

Hufflepuff. That was him! Toby quickly jotted down 'Hermione Jean Weasley' on his parchment in case he somehow forgot in the next few moments (hey... he'd forgotten simpler information in less time), took a moment to look around at everyone else to see if anyone nearby needed help, before getting to work.

Okay. So, nine. And that took a fair bit of scribbling out and making tally marks on the edge of his parchment but Toby was pretty sure that was more or less right. He looked back around at everyone else and tapped the feathered end of his quill on the desk out of fidgety habit. He was keeping an eye out for anyone looking confused, but he ALSO didn't want to impose on anyone who didn't need or want his help. It was hard to tell, so Toby just worked on making himself look as approachable as possible.

Ruby looked up from her textbook, a little surprised to see Gabe there. Like right there. To help her?

"I'm not." Not scared... "I just can't..." Well. He knew. She bit her lip and then leaned in to whisper at him. "Can you double check I write the numbers the right way?" He understood what she meant, right? And at lest she was saying she'd try it herself rather than pouting and sulking and bullying him to do it for her.

Ruby received a startled look.

Huh. She was willing to try it...herself?

".......Sure." Stare.

Not to appear rude, because Ruby would probably be offended by his surprised staring, Gabe pulled out a spare bit of parchment and ducked his head down. He'd transfer the calculations over...after making sure everything was right. Ruining his notes wasn't something Gabe was into, thank you very much.

Carefully writing out each letter and not needing to use his book...because Arithmancy wasn't something Gabe took lightly, he did some addition in his head...and then peered over at Ruby. But only for a moment.

It was good she wanted to at least try. In fact, he felt kinda proud. What had changed...he had to wonder.

..........."You know...I'd do it for you....if you can't." Whisper whisper.

yes. its intentional on my part, but not on hers.
 

Do it for her like he used to before they'd come to Hogwarts, sure. Too bad he hadn't been able to sit her OWL for her, then she wouldn't be stuck in the mess of having to re-sit the thing, and nobody would have ever found out that she had all this difficulty with reading and everything.

Writing out the numbers was tough. It didn't matter that she had a chart in front of her. Ruby did it painstakingly, slowly, painfully slowly....

And still made mistakes, though she didn't notice it. She bit her lip and slid her parchment closer to Gabriel.

Professor please
 

Angel listened to what the Professor said and then got on with the work.



Angel looked at her work and sighed, she raised her hand . "Professor I'm not sure if this is right or not?" Angel was a bit confused, but if that was the case she wasn't allowed to subtract 11 right that was the number it should be.

Taking his sister's parchment...Gabe shifted just a bit closer; so he could talk more easily to Ruby without being overheard. See, if anyone started picking on her...The protective thing didn't rear its head often...but when it did, it wasn't pretty.

"You got them mostly right..." Gabe was whispering...marking things on the parchment. "With "Molly", you put 9...but cut the 6 and 3, which would've made 9..." So, essentially, it was right...but lucky on her part. "You're still switching 6 and 9." A quiet comment....

Sliding the parchment back, he chewed his lip. "Try again?"

... she was? Ruby looked down at the parchment but honestly she could barely tell. She covered up the other parts with her fingers and squinted a bit. Okay. Reversing those... and... okay.

She looked at the corrections and tucked her tongue in the corner of her mouth, concentrating.

SO hard. She took a breath, finishing up, and then gave her brother an uncertain look, then glanced toward the professor before sliding the parchment back to him.

....

".... did I.... mess it up again?"

Okay, so Margo needed to find the right numbers for Hermione Jean Weasley, it was kind of fun to see what numbers everyone was going to come up with for the different names. Margo thought she could do this alone! She was pretty sure anyway. So pulling out her text book, Margo began.




Putting down her quill Margo hoped that she did this right! Smiling Margo waiting to see what was next.

Calculations for Hermione Jean Weasley? Sure, Adi could do that. He cast another look at AJ. He wouldn't mind partnering up with her but he figured she might refuse his help again. Feeling sad with that thought, Adi focused on his text book and began his calculations:



There! All done.



Adi was looking around at his classmates, having finished his work. Okay, fine, he was mainly looking in AJ's direction but he happened to notice a Slytherin girl looking... put off? puzzled?

Anyway... the Hufflepuff whispered to her. "Hey! You need help?"

Abby wrote down what the professor said and looked confused this was a poor subject for her and she was confused she had wrote down the name but that was as far as she had got

Question for Professor Tanner
 

Janelle listened as Professor Tanner explained what they were going to do. She took notes as the conversation progressed, hoping that they would help her later. Janelle liked numbers so she was looking forward to the activity. After they were assigned their name to calculate, Janelle flipped open her book and began to read. Fortunately, she had looked over this information before. Otherwise, she might have been a little panicked right now.

Janelle wrote down the name that she would be working on. Then using her book as a guide, she copied down the numbers corresponding to each letter. It was time to calculate.



When Janelle was finished, she hoped that she had done everything right. She looked at her work and then at he Professor's. Suddenly a question came to mind and she raised her hand. She had read about Master Numbers before and was wondering something.

"Professor Tanner, I was wondering......when you did your name.......you reduced 22 in your first name, but you didn't do it your final answer. I thought that you didn't ever reduce Master Numbers. So is it OK to do it sometime?"

Cilla had heard a male voice whisper at her. She looked around and saw an older Hufflepuff.

"This subject isn't me strongest subject so I am not sure if I 'ave done this calculation correctly," she said as she showed him her parchment.

It was time to play with numbers, and this was why this class was one of her least favorite. It was too much, and you never got to use your wand which was a bummer all on its own. Her thoughts couldn't help but to wander to Adi because he would be the one to help her under normal circumstances, but she couldn't get that now. Not after she completely blew him off in astro. Did she even want his help. No, and by no she meant yes.

Her eyes betrayed her and glanced over in his direction. This whole "no talkin" thing was killing her, but she was trying her best to keep it all inside. So far nobody had noticed her internal struggle except a few people. None of them were her sisters. What great sisters she had, she thought to herself.

AJ flipped her textbook open and tried to make sense of it all. Her eyes began to cross and information was not being retained.



She knew this stuff. All she had to do was associate the letters with the correct numbers. Why was her brain giving her such a hard time. AJ closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. Her days were not getting any better. What happened to that saying that time healed all wounds? Whoever came up with that nonsense was an idiot.

Looking down at his parchment, Adi realised he hadn't quite finished everything. Woops. Talk about only thinking of AJ. He picked up his quill to finish off the calculations:
Now he was done!

Looking up once more, he met AJ's gaze which he held for a while...



"You all done, Abby?" Or was she like her sisters did not get along well in this subject. But he was willing to help her out. Yep.



"No worries. It isn't a strong subject for a lot of us.'' Adi took her parchment which he began to check.
..................
After a while, Adi handed the girl back her parchment and smiled. "I don't know what you're worried about. The calculations are correct." So unless the assigned numbers were incorrect, the Snake girl didn't have a problem.

Abby looked up from her parchment and said to Adi "Nope can't figure out how to do this it is one of my weaker subjects" Abby would be glad to have some help

"Understandable,'' Adi said. "Okay, so Ravenclaws were given Ginevra Molly Weasley. The first thing you have to do is assign the numbers to each letter using your textbook.'' He pointed to his own book which was still opened at the page Professor Tanner had indicated. "After that, you add all the numbers from each of the three names. Can you do up to that? I'll walk you through the rest afterwards.''

Abby nodded and looked at her textbook and wrote down the numbers for each letter of the name assigned