Ancient Runes Lesson 1 - Ehwaz Harmony and Teamwork
 

There was far too much snow out here. The first year had dressed properly for the winter this time, and she pulled her winter cloak more tightly around herself as she trudged a path through the snow to the barn. She wasn't going to complain, though; the barn was her favorite place ever at Hogwarts so far. Speaking of Hogwarts, she couldn't believe that it was December already. It didn't feel like she'd been at school for so long; Emmeline thought time was passing far too quickly for her liking.

As she entered the super warm barn, Emmeline paused as she passed various creatures' areas to say hi to them or pet them briefly before moving on. She wondered what ancient runes had to do with creatures, but as long as the runes didn't hurt the creatures, she was thrilled to get to have an extra lesson involving them.

Emmeline had finally reached the pasture at the back of the barn when her entire face lit up at the sight of so many winged horses. The Gryffindor bounded forward, almost running straight into Jessa in her haste to get closer to them. "Oops. Sorry, Jessa!"

"Morning, Headmistress," she added respectfully as a huge smile crossed her face. Were they going to ride the horses? She hoped so. She thought that they'd at least get to pet them, judging from how the headmistress seemed friendly with at least one horse. Emmeline couldn't help bouncing on her feet, waiting impatiently for her other creature-loving friends to get here so they could start the lesson.

Kimi entered the ancient runes classroom and said "Good morning Headmistress Hawthorne" Kimi took a seat at the front of the classroom cause he was wanting to get better at ancient runes

Ancient Runes was definitely not one of his best and favourite subjects. But it beats Arithmancy so when he had to choose between the two, he had chosen this class years ago. Of course, throughout the years he had learned some things but that still did not mean he had to like the subject.

Not entirely surprised that the lesson was on the Grounds instead of inside of the classroom, Mason was dressed in his Ravenclaw school uniform and his winter cloak to keep the cold out. He had charmed it to stay warm and if someone looked at him they'll see that the snow did fell on his cloak but repelled it immediately thanks to another handy spell.

the moment the seventh year entered the barn area, he vaguely wondered how his Augurey was doing that he had gotten from the CoMC professor to take care of. He felt a pang of guilt that he had not visited the creature after introductions. Making a mental note to check his schedule for some free time later, he promised to pay a visit.

Adjusting the winter hat on his head, Mason followed the rest of the class until he saw the Headmistress and a couple of horses. He immediately identified them as Thestrals, Granians, Aethonans and Abraxans and he wondered what Ancient Runes had to do with these creatures.

"Good morning , Headmistr---" he couldn't finish his sentence as someone (Sophie) decided to sniffle at that moment. The Ravenclaw gave her a disgusted look because it was obvious she had a cold and actually took a step away from the girl. "You should see the Healer and ask for a Pepperup potion" he said before turning back to acknowledge the Headmistress presence. He nodded his head once in greeting before he walked away, not wanting to stand near the sick girl any longer.

It's pretty cold and the snow started falling. On a weather like this, snuggling in her blanket with a cup of hot drink and cookies was such a perfect idea. Unfortunately she had a lesson that she needed to attend, despite that Ancient Runes wasn't really the subject that she excelled in.

Ava put on her coat, scarf and winter boots then walked to the barn. Okay, she didn't understand why on earth the ancient runes class had to take place in the barn. Maybe it was related to the creatures or something, honestly The Gryffindor had no idea. "Good morning, headmistress." She greeted the professor on-duty and entered the barn. It's warm in here and she needed to take off her winter gear unless she wanted to be a sweaty mess. "Hey, Skylar." She greeted the younger Slytherin. Honestly Ava wanted to bug her about Brent Westwood but maybe not in this class.

If the lesson was going to be in the Creatures Barn, it was only logical for Felicity to head down to the Infant Creatures Barn beforehand with her baby Aethonian. Whom she'd finally named: Floyd. Both Felicity and the foal seemed to love it, even it was, stereotypically a male name. At the alert on her watch, she bade goodbye with a final sugar cube and hurried to the Ancient Runes lesson, pulling her scarf more tightly around her as she went.

"M-Morning Headmistress," she managed through somewhat gritted teeth as she approached, her attention immediately caught by the Winged Horses. They were so beautiful, and one was decidedly similar to Floyd, with the colouring of her coat. Felicity decided that this must be her mother, the way only a fourteen year old could, would have been adamant if faced with DNA results. She tore her eyes from the animal and hurried to stand next to Skylar, pulling her gloves off and shoving them into her pocket. "Hey."

All nicely rugged up in her woolen winter coat and Gryffindor scarf with a knitted black hat, Olivia trekked outside to Ancient Runes. As soon as she left the castle, she was really glad that she was wearing so many layers as it was very, very cold out here. She made her way over to the barn and found fellow classmates all clumped around. Headmistress Hawthorne stood next to a beautiful creature. Was that an Atheonian? Incredible. "Hello Headmistress! How are you?" she asked with a polite grin. She stared a little while longer at the pack of horses and noticed... thestrals... Her blue eyes widened slowly upon realization. Thestrals. She'd never seen them with her own eyes before. She quickly drew her eyes away and headed to find some of her friends to stand with. Olivia couldn't look any longer because the thestrals reminded her of her mother's death. Her mood suddenly dropped at the thought of her mother. She hadn't thought about her in months.

Think of something else. Anything else. Happy thoughts.

She gave a smile and a wave to her friends and then made her way over to Etta. "Hey," she said with a weak smile (it was all she could bring herself to do). "Chilly huh?"

Shay was dressed in lots of layers and had no intention of being cold today. She was curious as to why Ancient Runes class was being held in the barn. She guessed that she would find out soon enough. Trying to dodge the falling snowflakes, Shay arrived at the designated location. It seemed that they weren't actually going to the barn, but through the barn. It was extremely warm inside, but there would probably be no need to shed any clothing layers.

"Hello Headmistress", Shay said when she reached the open door. Then she saw the horses. They would be working with the winged creatures today? Shay hoped so. Anything that had to do with animals was alright with her. Maybe she would get a chance to visit Coco after class ended.

Text Cut: Individual Responses

Text Cut: Miss Carden

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Originally Posted by Crayola (Post 12221284) Snow. Everywhere. How was she supposed to go to class when there were snow angels and snowmen to be made, snowball fights to be had? Since they had to leave the castle, they might as well be allowed to run around in the snow -- well, slip around in the snow. Probably fall around too, but that wasn't the point. The point was Daisy had left the warmth of the castle and gotten distracted by the snow, so by the time she made it into the barn, rather dejectedly, there were snowflakes on her beanie hat and her woolen gloves were rather wet due to the snowman she had made. But okay, Ancient Runes. She liked that -- just not as much as snow. With one last longing look towards the white grounds, the sixth year turned around and made her way further into the barn. The difference in temperature was pretty drastic but the Headmistress seemed to not notice it. Or maybe they were going outside. Oh. Her eyes found the Aethonan and suddenly she felt cheerier about coming here. Maybe they would be flying? If that was the case, the layers of winter clothing would stay on; nevertheless, she did unwrap her old green scarf as she approached the woman. "Good morning Profes-- Headmistress." She would get it right one day; maybe when she wasn't so distracted by all the creatures -- and the random empty spots between some of them -- and people and that glowy thing around the woman's neck.

The first to receive that smile of hers was Daisy Carden. The headmistress, needless to say, was glad that the girl seemed to be in high spirits. Was it the fact that they weren't being cooped up inside their usual classroom? Could it have been the horses behind her? Or was she just glad that the first challenge was long over (she remembered the girl's commentating clear as day)? Either way, the girl's excitement was giving off good vibrations.

"Greetings, Miss Carden," Regina said in response, not even caring that the girl nearly called her a professor. Technically she was one, and it was a title that brought her back to her days of teaching Defence at Ilvermorny. "Leading the herd, I see?" More students were following her in.

Text Cut: Miss Cambridge

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Originally Posted by DaniDiNardo (Post 12221293) HORSES!!! Not even gonna lie, walking in to the sight of the winged horses definitely made this trek out into the snow worth it. Jessa was all bundled up and to be sure, she'd gone ahead to cast a warming charm on her clothing as well so she could stay nice and toasty. The sudden change of temperature when she got to the barn didn't even matter, because HORSES. "Good morning Professor Headmistress Ma'am!" She said with a grin, most of her attention on the creatures. "Will we be riding these today? Professor Wayland is letting me take care of an Aethonan. I've got a lot of practice!" In fact, she was here every day to ensure Dexter was fed, taken care of and allowed to stretch both his wings and his legs. "Hi Daisy." Another older student Althea had promised to put in a good word for her with. This totally made greeting the older girl okay.

Expressing about just as equal amount of energy as her peer, Regina watched as the third year made her way through the creature barn to where she and her trusty steed were waiting. The woman noticed that perhaps the girl looked too toasty under all of her winter gear, but she would be needing it soon enough. Today's lesson was one that would get them moving and taking in the breaths of fresh air they needed.

"Good morning, Miss Cambridge," the headmistress replied. She thought about suggesting that the girl at least unzip her coat until she was back out in the winter elements, but the Ravenclaw already had a question on her mind. Beaming, Regina simple stated, "You'll just have to wait and see."

Text Cut: Miss Kramer

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Originally Posted by Lady of Light (Post 12221295) Dressed in comfortable winter clothes, Etta left the warmth of the castle to make her way down to the grounds for Ancient Runes. She wondered why this particular class was being held outside the castle.. but she'd soon find out. She slowly walked, the snow crunching under her feet. Even if it was terribly cold, she was glad to breathe in the crisp, fresh air. She took her time walking to the barn, enjoying the view all around her. Even winter had a beauty to it.. somehow. Finally, she entered the barn, immediately noticing the drastic change in temperature. She unzipped her jacket immediately.. when she saw the Headmistress standing somewhere near the end of the barn. Etta gave her a polite smile, wondering whether she should curtesy.. she was the Headmistress, after all. But, decided against it. That would be weird. "Good morning, Headmistress. Hope you're doing well." .. and horses.. so many of them. This made her extremely curious but she remained quiet, deciding to wait for class to begin before asking questions. It seemed like this was going to be a very interesting lesson.

The headmistress's eyes then laid upon one of the IMPS competitors. The smile of Etta Kramer was returned with one of her own as she approached. "Salutations, Miss Kramer. I am doing quite well, thank you. I hope you are doing well the same." After all, she was the one who had competed in the first challenge of a high-stakes competition nearly a month ago.

For a moment she watched as the girl glanced over at the horses with curiosity. Regina contemplated asking the Hufflepuff prefect what was on her mind, but she simply let the silence continue. Everything would be revealed soon enough. Meanwhile, she had other students to acknowledge.

Text Cut: Miss Phillips

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Originally Posted by Govoni (Post 12221301) Well, this didn't come across as ominous, at all. Olivia, who'd gotten an early start on the day with a nice, relaxing workout session, felt pretty great as she slowly trekked across the snowy grounds. It was interesting that they were going to be doing something with Runes outside, and to be honest, she was excited mostly because that felt so right to her headspace. Runes were bound to nature, right? So, what better way to learn about them if not outside, surrounded by just that. Nature. ....And animals, but mostly nature. Shuddering at the temperature shift as she made her way through the barn, Liv only paused to deposit her school bag and collect some writing materials (just in case). Today, she would be making use of her Quick Quotes. Despite the embellishments, it was dead useful. Now, she'd be able to focus fully on the Profes-...Headmistress, and not have to concern herself with missing anything due to having her face buried in parchment pages and ink. Dead useful. Especially in OWL year. "Morning, Headmistress Hawthorne." Daisy, Jessa, and Henrietta received a respectful nod each...as the Gryffindor took a gander at all the different types of winged horses present in the pasture. They were all so beautiful, weren't they? Majestic, even.

The next down the line was Olivia Phillips. Needless to say, the headmistress was rather impressed with how the girl was handling her OWL year thus far. Though she had to take the American equivalent of the British tests, she remembered the great stress that came with studying and cramming as much knowledge into ones head. Her use of the Quick Quotes Quill during class was, to say the least, interesting. She hoped that the girl was able to sort out fact from its pesky little additions.

"Welcome, Miss Phillips. Glad to see you bright-eyed and bushy-tailed." She had seen the girl looking at all of the horses behind her. The Gryffindor looked like she was ready for the lesson to get started.

Text Cut: Miss Sparkes

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Originally Posted by NifflerFan (Post 12221305) There was far too much snow out here. The first year had dressed properly for the winter this time, and she pulled her winter cloak more tightly around herself as she trudged a path through the snow to the barn. She wasn't going to complain, though; the barn was her favorite place ever at Hogwarts so far. Speaking of Hogwarts, she couldn't believe that it was December already. It didn't feel like she'd been at school for so long; Emmeline thought time was passing far too quickly for her liking. As she entered the super warm barn, Emmeline paused as she passed various creatures' areas to say hi to them or pet them briefly before moving on. She wondered what ancient runes had to do with creatures, but as long as the runes didn't hurt the creatures, she was thrilled to get to have an extra lesson involving them. Emmeline had finally reached the pasture at the back of the barn when her entire face lit up at the sight of so many winged horses. The Gryffindor bounded forward, almost running straight into Jessa in her haste to get closer to them. "Oops. Sorry, Jessa!" "Morning, Headmistress," she added respectfully as a huge smile crossed her face. Were they going to ride the horses? She hoped so. She thought that they'd at least get to pet them, judging from how the headmistress seemed friendly with at least one horse. Emmeline couldn't help bouncing on her feet, waiting impatiently for her other creature-loving friends to get here so they could start the lesson.

Regina had to stifle a laugh at the appearance of the next student. She had almost forgotten how pygmy puff-esque they would look in all of their winter wear. Nonetheless, the headmistress was happy to see that Emmeline Sparkes had made it to class. It made her even happier to see how the girl was interacting with the other creatures in the barn as she slowly made her way over to where the lesson would be held.

Perhaps the girl was a little too excited about being around the creatures. The headmistress saw the girl nearly run into Jessa, which also made the horse standing behind her take a few steps back. The poor thing was a little startled by the sudden movement. "Good morning, Miss Sparkes. Watch where you are going, dear, and slow down. We don't want to be scaring off our long-faced friends, now do we?" she stated as she held out her hand until the horse returned to where it had been.

Text Cut: Miss Flightdatter

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Originally Posted by DancingQueen (Post 12221308) Another violent sneeze erupted from Sophie's nose and she shivered miserably. "Of all the weeks to catch a cold," she muttered disdainfully "Did it really have to be this one?!" Shaking her head in disgust, she pressed onward through the frigid air toward the Headmistress. "Why is it that I always get sick when we have to go outside for class," she moaned, complaining more about her illness than the outdoor class. Outdoor classes, in fact, had always been some of her favorites. As Sophie drew closer to the waiting Headmistress, she became slightly nervous at the creature that was also patiently waiting. It was a large horse with what looked like more than enough strength to smash through the fence and outrun her without any effort. She looked up at it, her palms growing rather clammy. "Uh, Headmistress? Is this a bad time to mention that I have a phobia of horses?" Sophie sniffled again, hoping that her nasty cold would be sufficient to excuse her from anything directly involving a the horses. It's just so big, she thought with a grimace. I mean, I can't deal with having to put trust in something of that size!

Another pygmy puff-esque Gryffindor followed the suit, except this one didn't seem to be looking too good. Though her complaint about her cold wasn't completely heard, Regina did feel empathetic for her. Being sick and attending lessons, especially one's that involved being outside in winter, didn't mix well.

"Welcome to class, Miss Flightdatter. Do you need me to summon a --" Pepper-Up Potion? The remainder of the headmistress's question was cut off by the revelation that the first year Gryffindor had. It made the woman blink and tilt her head slightly to the left. Was this a real phobia that the girl had or was it a fear? There was a difference, and the only symptoms that the girl was showing was that she had a dreadful case of a cold. "Would it make you feel more comfortable sticking next to me? I promise that Philippe here won't do you any harm."

OOC: See Mister Winslow's response as well.

Text Cut: Miss Dalgaard-Volkova

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Originally Posted by SilverTiger (Post 12221320) The weather hardly bothered Stasya as she had made the trek out to the barn, winter clothes adding much needed layers to protect her from the freezing December weather. Mainly because it was still pretty much a daily activity for her, coming out to the barn and the nursery to visit Dobby and Albus. The difficult part, this time, was not stopping off to get her squirrel and let him join her in the lesson, but, while she still felt like maybe Professor Wayland wouldn’t mind it depending on what they were studying that day, she wasn’t as sure about the headmistress approving. Considering she still felt like it was her decision to make the squirrel stay out here instead of being able to be warm and cozy in her dorm. Even with that, she didn’t hold a grudge against the headmistress. Runes sort of reminded her of her grandparents. Her mama’s parents, not her grandma Xenia. She didn’t really understand them, but that didn’t mean they weren’t interesting. Actually, the fact their lesson was being held out her made her wonder if they were studying runes related to creatures or something, but she kept that to herself as she came to a stop somewhere between where Emmeline and Jessa were and where Liv was standing. “Good morning Headmistress Hawthorne,” she said politely, giving the woman a smile. Even as she sort of wanted to greet the horses, but she wasn’t sure if they were the ones Professor Wayland kept here or if they were other ones. Still wondering, she gave Emmeline and the others an excited grin. She kind of wanted to get as close to one of the horses like the headmistress was.

Next up was the girl who owned a squirrel. Needless to say, that was one thing that Regina wasn't going to forget any time soon. It wasn't every day you could say that you knew of someone that had the bushy-tailed rodent as a pet. She was glad that the girl hadn't decided that this was the moment to bring the squirrel to class, with it being in such close vicinity and all. Stasya could visit her beloved pet after the lesson ended.

"Good morning, Miss Dalgaard-Volkova," the woman said with a nod of her head and a smile. "How is that squirrel of yours doing?" Hopefully it wouldn't be too jealous that its owner would be paying attention to the horses, instead of it, soon enough.

Text Cut: Miss Sorin-Ward

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Originally Posted by Optimist.Prime (Post 12221323) Melbourne looked around at the at the snow covered ground with a slight smile on her face. The way that the snow crunched under her feet was almost magical, and the snow flakes that fluttered and clung to her dark eyelashes just made her blink more to rid herself of the possibility of frozen lashes. Her excitement was bated, but quiet as she made her way out to the snow covered barn – wait…horses? Her heart fluttered when she saw them, the innate desire to walk forward and let them sniff her outstretched palm was strong. This, coupled with her desire to give them soft little pats and scratches to their necks and all over their most likely itching skin was strong. ”Good morning Headmistress Hawthorne,” Melbourne smiled up at the older woman in the kind of manor one would smile at a well like Professor. That was because she did like her; she may not have ever been her Professor before. It wasn’t as if the Headmistress’ past as a curse breaker was unknown…come to think of it Hogwarts had a history of hiring curse breakers…was Hogwarts secretly cursed with hiring curse breakers? That would be an interesting curse to break now wouldn’t it? The Gryffindor questioned as she stood there a soft respectful smile still in place. Bouncing on the balls of her feet she watched as the snow fluttered off of her boots before glancing around at the other gathered students. ”Hello Daisy!” She smiled over to the older Slytherin girl before glancing over to Jessa she seemed excited. ”Hey Jessa! Hi Etta” she smiled at the two girls ebfore glancing over to Oliva and giving her a solemn nod. ”Hey Liv” she smiled over to her classmate before glancing around some more and sending small smiles to Sophie, Emmeline, and Stasya in turn.

The smile returned to Melbourne Sorin-Ward was quite genuine, as was the response given to her. Regina could tell that this one thought positively of her, and it made teaching Ancient Runes to someone that didn't dislike her even easier. Alas, not everyone was going to like her as their Ancient Runes professor -- or even their headmistress, for that matter. But having students like these made the job so much better.

"Hello, Miss Sorin-Ward. Excited for today's lesson?" Her standing on the balls of her feet were a dead giveaway. Though Regina couldn't quite pin-point what the girl was excited about. An Ancient Runes lesson outside? The horses? Being around certain classmates? Time would tell.

Text Cut: Mister Salander

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Originally Posted by Steelsheen (Post 12221324) This scene-- snow covered barn, his favoritest creature in the world all lined up as if welcoming him in, and Headmistress Hot Stuff like a bride at the end of the aisle-- kinda got Tenacius all misty eyed. This is gonna be a favorite memory for sure. Almost looked like his parents wedding. Now he has some idea of what his dad felt like. "Goodmorning Headmistress Hawthorne" the Curly Top greeted her with a radiant smile that could melt the snow covered grounds. "Are we getting to work with horses today?" he's trying his best not to squeal like a fanboy that he is. But the excitement about him was palpable, thats for sure. He waved hello to the rest of his classmates that were already there. Oh look theres that Abraxan he rode on not too long ago "Hey there pretty lady..." he cooed as he neared the creature and smoothly stroked the side of her head. She remembered him it seems, because now she was sneakily investigating his pockets for treats.

The arrival of the curly-haired Gryffindor prefect was one that she had tried to prepare herself for. She had heard the rumours about his liking of her. It amused her to no end, to say the least. Nonetheless, here she was standing there next to her hooved friend, keeping that smile on her face while remaining quite collected.

"Welcome, Mister Salander," Regina responded, resisting the urge to roll her eyes at that smile of his. Hirsch would get a kick out of this if he were here to witness it. Moving on... "We'll get to them soon enough. Patience."

Though ... who was he calling a 'pretty lady'? If he was referring to a horse (which she hoped she was in this case), the only horse near them was Phillipe. The others had wandered out to the far end of the snowy pasture.

Text Cut: Mister Kovalainen

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Originally Posted by Saz Hale (Post 12221325) Kimi entered the ancient runes classroom and said "Good morning Headmistress Hawthorne" Kimi took a seat at the front of the classroom cause he was wanting to get better at ancient runes

Deciding not to question Tenacius, Regina changed her focus over to Kimi. The woman smiled warmly at the third year Hufflepuff as he approached her. "Hello, Mister Kovalainen. How are you this fine morning?"

She did a double-take though. He was ... sitting? Unless he had dragged a hay bale over, he would have wound up on the ground. They were, after all, not in their traditional classroom setting for today's lesson.

Text Cut: Mister Winslow

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Originally Posted by DuckyLinJi (Post 12221327) Ancient Runes was definitely not one of his best and favourite subjects. But it beats Arithmancy so when he had to choose between the two, he had chosen this class years ago. Of course, throughout the years he had learned some things but that still did not mean he had to like the subject. Not entirely surprised that the lesson was on the Grounds instead of inside of the classroom, Mason was dressed in his Ravenclaw school uniform and his winter cloak to keep the cold out. He had charmed it to stay warm and if someone looked at him they'll see that the snow did fell on his cloak but repelled it immediately thanks to another handy spell. the moment the seventh year entered the barn area, he vaguely wondered how his Augurey was doing that he had gotten from the CoMC professor to take care of. He felt a pang of guilt that he had not visited the creature after introductions. Making a mental note to check his schedule for some free time later, he promised to pay a visit. Adjusting the winter hat on his head, Mason followed the rest of the class until he saw the Headmistress and a couple of horses. He immediately identified them as Thestrals, Granians, Aethonans and Abraxans and he wondered what Ancient Runes had to do with these creatures. "Good morning , Headmistr---" he couldn't finish his sentence as someone (Sophie) decided to sniffle at that moment. The Ravenclaw gave her a disgusted look because it was obvious she had a cold and actually took a step away from the girl. "You should see the Healer and ask for a Pepperup potion" he said before turning back to acknowledge the Headmistress presence. He nodded his head once in greeting before he walked away, not wanting to stand near the sick girl any longer.

Ahh, another IMPS competitor was making their way over toward the group. The headmistress smiled as Mason Winslow followed the rest of the student herd into the barn. Though Ancient Runes wasn't the boy's expertise, she appreciated his effort and willingness to learn.

Though the exchange between him and the sniffling Sophie was something else. His greeting to her wasn't complete, and then he took a step away from the first year. It was at that moment she took her wand out and summoned a vial for the girl, giving the boy a look as he walked away. It was a common cold, not Scrofungulus or Spattergroit. Sheesh.

Text Cut: Mister Ashburry-Hawthorne

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Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie (Post 12221360) Derf was somewhat indifferent to the subject. The former professor had been a grumpy old man mostly and the really oooooooooonly reason he still kind-of-sort-of had any interest was because of Abey for a few obvious reasons. Also...rune designs were really simple to draw and he kind of was the master of stick figures so sketching them in a hurry was something he could totally handle AND stay on task with. Sort of. Anywaaaaaaaay... BOUNDING into the creature barn all bundled up and warm - which really only made the lesson BETTER and the chance of him actually staying ON task possible - the second year greeted the headmistress with a big GRIN. "Hi Headmistress," he chirped, those biiiiiiiiiiiiig bright blues of his locked on the winged horses. "OH OH OH! Ehwaz! That's-s-s the rune that means-s horse!" See? He remembered something. "And...teamwork...OH OH OH! Are we gonna get to ride on them today in like...like...PAIRS-S-S to accomplish something?" Wasn't that something else that that rune meant? Derf really only remembered this one because it looked like a M and the HORSE meaning. "OR!" Because hadn't he seen something glowing around her neck? It just reminded him of something from that one muggle movie he had watched with Natalie where the sea witch stole the little mermaid's voice and kept it in a glowing SHELL. "ARE WE GONNA MAKE SOMETHING TO LET US COMMUNICATE WITH THE WINGED HORSES?!?!" He was excited. Could she tell? Of course he saw Emmeline, Jessa, and Stasya and offered each of them a grin and a wave as well as he made his way over to another first year he had not reeeeeeally gotten to know yet...but what she was saying made him WANT to. "It's-s okay to be s-scared," he assured her with a nod. "I'll work with you and help you through it. Name's Derf. Creatures-s-s are kind of my thing. And maybe IF they were going to make a rune thingy that could let them TALK to the winged horses they could explain to her why she didn't need to be afraid of them and she could work through her phobia!

The big grin that Derfael was wearing made her smile grow a little bigger. He was beyond excited, she would tell. It only proved that her assumption about him liking this lesson in particular was correct. She knew how much the kid loved his magical creatures. Though ... spoiler alert much?

"Shh! Keep your voice down, Mister Ashburry-Hawthorne. Don't spoil things for your fellow classmates." Or startle the horses. Phillipe had take a few steps back, in fact.

Though leave it to him to prove that he actually had been paying attention the last few months! And he was offering to help Miss Flightdatter. How precious! "I think that's a wonderful idea." It was one thing for a teacher to help a student, but it meant so much more when a peer was the one doing the helping.

Text Cut: Mister Botros

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Originally Posted by Felixir (Post 12221475) Soooooooooooo... there was a good chance that this was the first Ancient Runes lesson Abey had physically made it to so far all term, NOT that he hadn't been at least attempting the homework (and being terrible at literally all of it), with the help of Derf relaying information back to him. But... he'd sort of not been anywhere near the actual regular classroom on account of it was on the fifth floor, and the fifth floor was sort of where monster grabby kidnapping things had happen last term, so he'd been avoiding that level of the castle and the one (aka, The Portal Floor) above since the start of his second year. Feeling okay enough to linger in those corridors for more than a few seconds was taking a REALLY long time. But... well... this was nowhere NEAR the the fifth floor, but out in the barnyard, and Abey REALLY wanted to gooooooooo. So... he did. He was there, right there, even though he was TERRIBLE at the subject and would probably make an idiot of himself again. But Ancient Runes. It was in his BLOOD. He was sure to get better at it one day soon....... right? Abey was super lucky it was mega cold though. He had so many layers on, including a scarf (HUFFLEPUFF COLOURS!) that covered up most of his face, and a wool hat that went right down to his eyebrows, and nobody would have to know it was him if he did anything not-smart. The perfect disguise. Apart from the fact that Abey made a beeline to Derf - best friend hello - who was stood with a first year, as soon as he arrived at the lesson, and sort of stood half behind him, which kind of... gave things away a bit. A heavily muffled mumble passed as his greeting to the... Headmistress... He shuffled back a little more so Derf was right in front of him. Ahem. Nobody here. Nobody at all.

Was that ... was that Abraham Botros Jr.? Had the Hufflepuff scarf and the fact that the boy was lingering around Derfael, the headmistress likely wouldn't have figured it out. And she had heard the mumble, though couldn't quite make anything out of it. Nonetheless, Regina smile down at the boy.

She ... hoped he was doing alright. And she understood why this was probably the first lesson she was seeing him in. The memories were still very much present in her mind, though she was always one to not let the past hold her back. Moving on was a necessity at some point.

Text Cut: Miss Diggory

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Originally Posted by PhoenixRising (Post 12221503) To say Skylar was befuddled by the notice of Runes class was an understatement. While the fourteen year old enjoyed snow and cold, it just didn't seem to mesh with Runes. And then, as her feet were crunching on the snow covered grounds, she grew even more skeptical. Had she misread her schedule? This was Magical Creatures territory, not Ancient Runes. Perhaps the Headmistress was the one confused as to what the subject entailed though. The woman seemed intelligent enough ... Until she entered the barn and heat-alert!!! She was about to take off her winter coat, wishing she'd brought along flats to change from her warm boots when she spotted the headmistress standing by another open doorway leading out to the pastures. Okay, yes, official mental alert. Didn't the Headmistress know that going from cold to hot to cold led to more sicknesses than food poisoning?! Or perhaps she was just trying to keep a job for Healer Reed with the lack of sports injuries? Nonetheless, Skylar was eager to leave the hot barn because she was dressed way too warm for this, so she nodded at the Headmistress, "Good morning, Headmistress" and hurried along after her classmates to join their assembly which had the company of winged creatures? Definitely mental, the American woman was, there was no denying it now.

"Miss Diggory," the woman responded after the girl's greeting, "good morning." She watched as the girl hurried off to stand with the rest of her peers. To be totally honest, the headmistress still didn't quite know what to make of this Slytherin, considering Brent Westwood was more than interested in her. She tried not to let the secret mother bear in her out nonetheless.

Her attention quickly went back to Phillipe. He didn't know what to make of everyone gathering inside the barn.

Text Cut: Miss Burton

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Originally Posted by RandomRaven (Post 12221527) It's pretty cold and the snow started falling. On a weather like this, snuggling in her blanket with a cup of hot drink and cookies was such a perfect idea. Unfortunately she had a lesson that she needed to attend, despite that Ancient Runes wasn't really the subject that she excelled in. Ava put on her coat, scarf and winter boots then walked to the barn. Okay, she didn't understand why on earth the ancient runes class had to take place in the barn. Maybe it was related to the creatures or something, honestly The Gryffindor had no idea. "Good morning, headmistress." She greeted the professor on-duty and entered the barn. It's warm in here and she needed to take off her winter gear unless she wanted to be a sweaty mess. "Hey, Skylar." She greeted the younger Slytherin. Honestly Ava wanted to bug her about Brent Westwood but maybe not in this class.

Not far behind Skylar was Ava Burton. Regina gave the girl a smile and said a cheery 'good morning' to the girl. The girl looked like she was ready to remove all of her winter gear, which would have been counterproductive considering the lesson she had planned out. The charm that Wayland casted in there was fairly warm, which was why the headmistress had opted to stand just outside the door, getting the best of both worlds.

"You'll be heading to the pastures soon enough. Bear with me for a moment, Miss Burton."

Text Cut: Miss Harrington

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Originally Posted by Harron Peasley (Post 12221570) If the lesson was going to be in the Creatures Barn, it was only logical for Felicity to head down to the Infant Creatures Barn beforehand with her baby Aethonian. Whom she'd finally named: Floyd. Both Felicity and the foal seemed to love it, even it was, stereotypically a male name. At the alert on her watch, she bade goodbye with a final sugar cube and hurried to the Ancient Runes lesson, pulling her scarf more tightly around her as she went. "M-Morning Headmistress," she managed through somewhat gritted teeth as she approached, her attention immediately caught by the Winged Horses. They were so beautiful, and one was decidedly similar to Floyd, with the colouring of her coat. Felicity decided that this must be her mother, the way only a fourteen year old could, would have been adamant if faced with DNA results. She tore her eyes from the animal and hurried to stand next to Skylar, pulling her gloves off and shoving them into her pocket. "Hey."

Joining the rest of the foals students now was Felicity Harrington. The headmistress gave the girl a pleasant smile as she walked up to her and made her greeting. "Hello, Miss Harrington. How do you do?" she asked, realizing that she probably wasn't going to get a quick response as the girl was just as fascinated by the winged horses as some of the others were.

There fascination and curiosity made her grin. She hoped that they were connecting the dots between the horses and Ancient Runes. Regina knew at least one student know what was going on here.

Text Cut: Miss Fellen

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Originally Posted by amadshade (Post 12221597) Louise was bundled up tight for her Ancient Runes lesson, something she wasn't used to. While she loved autumn for the crisp air and bright colors, she felt that winter was best spent inside in front of a roaring fire. So she compensated. if she couldn't be inside keeping warm then she would layer on as many scarves and gloves and woolly socks as she could. She felt a little bit like a walking advertisement for Ravenclaw House what with all her Ravenclaw themed winter gear. Oh well. She nodded politely to the Headmistress once she got to class- making the brown bobble on her blue hat bounce around- and tried to figure out how all this related to Ancient Runes.

Louise Fellen certainly did look like a walking advertisement for Ravenclaw House. With all the layers she was wearing (significantly more than the others, mind you), Regina, who had given her a nod in return, was surprised that the girl had made it down to the creature barn without over-heating. Speaking of over-heating, she motioned for the girl to step outside before the warmth of the barn overtook her.

"Stand over here, Miss Fellen. I don't want to see you getting a heat stroke, and I'm sure putting on all those layers took ages."

Text Cut: Miss McNally

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Originally Posted by Holmesian Feline (Post 12221600) Cassie wasn’t quite sure if she was going to continue with ancient runes once OWLS were over, but for now she was continuing. So far the year and the subject hadn’t been too bad and the fifth year made her way to the barn for the latest lesson with no fear or dread. Just maybe a little shiver since it was cold outside in comparison with the chill they would have found in the regular classroom. Thank Merlin they had had warning and she had bundled up to keep it from feeling too bad. Though it mattered not when she entered the structure, the usual warming charms apparently well enough in place. Maybe they could stay inside…or maybe not. She followed her classmates to the other end of the barn and towards the Headmistress. Turned out she wasn’t that much different from the other professors when she was teaching, a fact Cass had been concerned with at the start of the term. “Good morning, Headmistress,” the Ravenclaw greeted as she got closer, her eyes now catching sight of the various creatures in the pasture and around the woman. Were they working on runes in connection to the flying horses?

Then yet another IMPS competitor made an appearance in the creature barn. As she made her way down to where they were gathering, Regina gave her a welcoming smile. Without saying much, it was a good thing that the girl was still hanging in there with runes considering it would likely be useful at some point in the competition. Even if there were whispers from her Head of House that the girl was considering dropping the subject after OWLs, the headmistress clung onto the hope that she would reconsider. Keeping kids in Runes had its challenges.

"Hello, Miss McNally," the woman greeted her, keeping it short and sweet to let the girl gaze at the winged horses and wonder how they connected to the subject.

Text Cut: Miss Holden

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Originally Posted by Watson (Post 12221604) All nicely rugged up in her woolen winter coat and Gryffindor scarf with a knitted black hat, Olivia trekked outside to Ancient Runes. As soon as she left the castle, she was really glad that she was wearing so many layers as it was very, very cold out here. She made her way over to the barn and found fellow classmates all clumped around. Headmistress Hawthorne stood next to a beautiful creature. Was that an Atheonian? Incredible. "Hello Headmistress! How are you?" she asked with a polite grin. She stared a little while longer at the pack of horses and noticed... thestrals... Her blue eyes widened slowly upon realization. Thestrals. She'd never seen them with her own eyes before. She quickly drew her eyes away and headed to find some of her friends to stand with. Olivia couldn't look any longer because the thestrals reminded her of her mother's death. Her mood suddenly dropped at the thought of her mother. She hadn't thought about her in months. Think of something else. Anything else. Happy thoughts. She gave a smile and a wave to her friends and then made her way over to Etta. "Hey," she said with a weak smile (it was all she could bring herself to do). "Chilly huh?"

The presence of Olivia Holden was always pleasant. She was always polite and kept herself in check. "Good morning, Miss Holden," the headmistress replied warmheartedly, giving the horse beside her a pat -- he seemed to be calming down again. "I am doing quite well today. How are --"

Oh.

How was she? It looked like a ghost had just floated its way through the Gryffindor. Her head turned toward the direction the fifth year was looking and then it clicked. The thestrals. The woman decided now wasn't the best time to make conversation about them. Instead she gave Olivia a sympathetic look, making a mental note to keep an eye on her.

Text Cut: Mister Bronwyn

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Originally Posted by Shanners (Post 12221645) It felt like one of those off days that Rooney did not feel capable of keeping up with all of the classes he was taking. He'd had less than three hours sleep every night for the past week as he had already fallen behind on his studying in favour of getting his homework done on time, and it was showing. Or had been showing. Having an interest in the stage meant that Rooney had access to stage makeup that could honestly emulate a completely clear complexion, and magic had been incredible for that today and every other day this week. Wrapped warm, and low key loving the winter, the Head Boy had headed down to the new location for Ancient Runes today. The change was weird for him, but it was welcomed as a real reason to get out of the castle and take in some fresh air instead of stale book air from the library. "Hello Headmistress Hawthorne. Impeccable outfit choice." The grey was definitely a colour well suited for her, but Rooney doubted that she would accept the compliment with more than a turned down smile and a glare. It was difficult to compliment a Professor who seemed to have less emotion than a brick wall. Why couldn't Hirsch or Myers teach them this class? Surely it would make his ability to learn this subject easier if he had a teacher that he at least trusted.. Probably not. Not that it mattered.

Then there was Rooney Bronwyn. Regina watched the boy carefully as he made his way over to her and the others. The smile she had been wearing for the others remained on her face, though she doubted it would remain there long depending on the words that spewed out of the boy's mouth. She had heard of a few occasions that his words proved him not worthy of that badge. Though, needless to say, she was surprised by the compliment.

"Thank you, Mister Bronwyn," the headmistress replied, nodding her head at him. Her mouth opened just a bit to say more to him, but she figured he wouldn't care anyway.

Text Cut: Miss Wright

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Originally Posted by griffin (Post 12221658) Isa was all wrapped up in her warm winter cloak as she headed out to the barn for the second time that morning. Earlier she had already been out here to feed her rabbits. Entering the barn, Isa waved to her rabbits as she passed through to the other end of the barn. Oh, the headmistress had horses! "Good morning, Headmistress Hawthorne." What were they doing with the horses? Isa could see that there were a few different breeds of winged horses present, although she was not able to see the thestrals. Spotting her friends, Isa headed in their direction. "Hi Derf! Hi Stasya! Hi Emmeline! Hi Jessa!" Isa smiled and waved to all of her friends as she made her way over to stand by them. What would they be doing with the horses? Isa was fairly sure that there was some sort of Norse myth that involved horses, but the exact details of that were a bit fuzzy in her memory. She really needed to brush up on her Norse mythology. What she did know was that the word Granian came from a Norse word for horse. Maybe the lesson would have something to do with that?

An eyebrow rose when she caught sight of Isabel Wright waving as she made her way into the barn. The headmistress noticed that the girl hadn't been waiting at any of them, but rather at one of the creatures. It made her wonder which one of them, she assumed, belonged to her ... or if she was looking after one of them for Wayland's extra credit project?

"Good morning, Miss Wright. Mind if I ask what you were waving at not too long ago?" She was merely curious.

Text Cut: Miss Morrison

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Originally Posted by Daydreamer11 (Post 12221667) Shay was dressed in lots of layers and had no intention of being cold today. She was curious as to why Ancient Runes class was being held in the barn. She guessed that she would find out soon enough. Trying to dodge the falling snowflakes, Shay arrived at the designated location. It seemed that they weren't actually going to the barn, but through the barn. It was extremely warm inside, but there would probably be no need to shed any clothing layers. "Hello Headmistress", Shay said when she reached the open door. Then she saw the horses. They would be working with the winged creatures today? Shay hoped so. Anything that had to do with animals was alright with her. Maybe she would get a chance to visit Coco after class ended.

Following Bronwyn came Shayla Morrison. The American woman watched as she walked past a number of pens and stalls to get to where she and the other students were waiting. Some were probably on the verge of complaining about the heat in the barn, but it was Regina's intent to get them back outside soon enough.

Her eyes seemed to brighten at the girl's greeting. Or maybe that was the glow of the necklace around her neck reflecting off her eyes. Either way, the headmistress was happy to see the Gryffindor was there with a few minutes to spare. "Good day, Miss Morrison. How are you?"

Text Cut: Miss Valentine

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Originally Posted by Goblinfrog (Post 12221675) As a Goth who was used to wearing capes and black turtle-necked robes most of the time, one might think winter would be the preferable season. And that may have been true for Muggle Goths, but as a witch, she'd charmed her clothes to FEEL like tank tops in the summer even though they were not. Unfortunately, now that it was winter, she had the reverse problem. She'd managed so far to charm most of her clothes back to their original states, but not all of them - so this was feeling much colder than it had to be. "G-Go-good-good morning Headmistress," stammered the freezing Goth greeted the headmistress as she stepped into the barn. Almost immediately the cold went away. She sighed with relief. "Thank Merlin." Now that she wasn't freezing, she was able to admire both the Headmistresses cool attire and the horses. "How are you, Headmistress? Oh, they're so adorable!"

Last, but not least, was Prefect Kitty Valentine. Having been greeting the other students, she hadn't noticed all of the stammering the opinionated Ravenclaw had been doing the moment she walked into the barn. But the moment the girl greeted her made Regina wonder why the girl was acting like she was slowly freezing to death. Hadn't she put on enough winter gear? It looked like she had. Hmm.

"Hello, Miss Valentine," she greeted her, pleased to see her present and accounted for. She hoped she was ready to set her opinion about the Statute aside to let all of that runic knowledge flow through her. "I am doing rather well this morning. Yourself?"

The moment the hand on her watch went from 9:59 and struck 10:00, the woman wasted no time to get class started. Taking out her wand, she gave it a firm flick at the door of the creature barn. Immediately, it swung closed, resounding with a THUD! when it couldn't close any further. From here on out, those arriving late needed to tread with caution.

While looking out at the students with that same smile on her face, the woman continued to pet the Aethonan. "Welcome to our first lesson in the month of December," Regina stated almost whimsically. "I would first like to thank you all for still arriving to class promptly, even with the change in location." Speaking of location...

"As you all can see, beside me today is quite a stud." She paused, waiting to see if anyone got the joke. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, sometimes the headmistress made jokes. "This here is Phillipe, and he is one of the winged horses," she continued, gesturing to the other Equus fetus caballus standing out in the pasture, a light blanket of snow on their backs, "that Professor Wayland tends to here. I am sure many of you are wondering why I decided to hold today's Ancient Runes lesson here in the creature barn instead of our classroom up on the fifth floor, but I am hoping that the first question that I have for you will help you connect the dots before we go out and join our hooved friends."

She paused once more, only this time waiting to make sure that everyone was paying attention and heard the question she was on the verge of asking. It was essential to figuring out why exactly they were there.

"Over the course of the term thus far, we have spent some time learning about the Elder Futhark alphabet, how to carve runes, and chant galdrs. Today, we will be focusing on Ehwaz and working toward gaining a fuller understanding of how it works. With that said, what is something you know or remember learning about the rune?"

OOC: Hello, everyone! Thank you all so much for participating in my first ever lesson. I am so excited that you are all here! If you have yet to post in this lesson and wish to do so, act like your character has been here the whole time ... unless you want your character to show up late, of course. ;)

To kick of the lesson, Regina wants to know something (1 thing) that your character knows about the rune Ehwaz. Try not to repeat something that was already said, and remember that both correct and incorrect answers will be accepted. The lesson will continue in roughly 24 hours. Have fun!

Vivian wasn't really much of a fan of Ancient Runes, probably because she found it advanced and she wasn't a Ravenclaw like her auntie and mum. Nevertheless, she really wanted to try her best at the class even if it meant a couple of headaches just trying to memorise the Futhark alphabet and learning their meanings. But ya know, there's nothing a Fairfield can't handle unless she tried!

Moving onto the lesson, Vivian blinked when the doors suddenly close when the clock struck 10am. Yep, the headmistress was very on schedule. But what really caught her attention was the number of winged horses in front of them. Kinda reminded her of Magical Creatures class, to be honest. This was interesting, indeed.

With the first question asked, Vivian took a moment to remember what in Merlin's beard was Ehwaz. Yeah sure, it was part of the Futhark but there were a lot of runes, and even her normal alphabet was starting to mix up. When she finally had something in mind that she remembered, the blonde raised her hand to answer. "Ehwaz is kinda like a good luck charm," the fourth year said. "Because, like what Ava said, it's a rune for protection."

Answering that question made her seem smart. LOL. Vivian was content with her answer.

Kimi listened to the first question and as so many students had already given the correct answer he just took notes he would just try to answer the next question

As the Headmistress replied to her greeting, Shay smiled. "I'm just fine thank you. Ready for today's lesson." And curious, very curious she was. Shay didn't have to wait long to hear the topic of the day's lesson. However, she would have to wait and see how the horses fit in.

Ehwaz was the focus of the lesson and the first question dealt with what everyone knew about it. Shay raised her hand to share something she knew about the rune. In the meantime, she took notes because a lot of good information was being given. Hopefully she would be called on soon so her answer would not become repetitious. When it was her turn, she began to speak. "When Ehwaz appears in a group with other runes, it can make those runes more powerful. After she spoke, Shay continued to write notes, as the rest of her classmates spoke.

Ah patience. This Gryffindor could indeed use some of that. And this magnificent Aethonan is a stud and his name is Philippe. He found that funny ok? As shown by the grinning under his nose as the lesson progressed. Also, he didnt know if it was a coincidence or the Professor was lowkey giving a shout out for Disney's best old school animated movie in Sleeping Beauty. If she was, wow color this animation fan impressed.

Now what did he know about Ehwaz? Well that it was easily confused for Eihwaz, but he figured that doesnt really contribute to the discussion. Most of his classmates seem to have mentioned nearly all of what the rune was about, but .... ok wait, some stuff is lacking, maybe he can offer a way to tie these different concepts together? Up goes the hand "Professor, Ehwaz isnt just a symbol for a horse, but rather two horses, thats where the other meaning of Ehwaz-- of trust and teamwork-- arise, because two horses used together for travel needs to be in sync with each other, working as a unified team."

Text Cut: Individual Responses

Text Cut: Miss Sparkes

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Originally Posted by NifflerFan (Post 12221719) Emmeline returned her friends' greetings as they arrived; her eyes were still glued to the winged horses and she was bouncing up and down on her feet. The headmistress' reprimand, however, made the first year freeze in place. Her face burned with shame, which increased exponentially as the poor horse actually stepped back. She had scared him! She loved creatures more than anything else in the whole world -- except her family and friends, they were equal with creatures -- and she had scared this one. What a complete failure she was at this lesson, and they hadn't even gotten to the runes! She barely heard what her classmates were saying around her for a few minutes as her eyes filled with tears. She had never ever scared or hurt a creature before, and she knew better than to run around horses. Emmeline continued staring at the ground in front of her as she listened to what the headmistress was saying. She was glad Philippe was alright, but she couldn't shake the sense of shame that she had scared him in the first place. When the headmistress asked her first question, however, Emmeline quickly rubbed her sleeve across her eyes to dash away the tears there and raised her hand. She knew this answer and she didn't want to get in any more trouble today: "Ehwaz means 'partnership' in English, ma'am."As soon as the words were out of her mouth, the first year went back to staring at the ground in dejection.

Just when she thought things were off to a good start, there were already tears. Regina noticed the stark change in the girl’s behaviour. Moments ago she had been, quite literally, bouncing up and down. Now she was staring at the ground, which was probably the least interesting thing right now. She hoped the tears that were being shed weren't because of telling the girl to watch were she was going and slow down. In no way was it her intent for tears to fall. Her tone hadn't been harsh at all. First years sometimes could be so ... sensitive. She had almost forgotten.

It was at this point the woman left the side of her trusty steed and started walking amongst the students. The glow of her necklace began to dim with each step. "Almost, Miss Sparkes. The literal translation of the rune means something different. However, you are onto something by mentioning that a partnership of some sort is connected to the rune," the headmistress said, gently placing a hand on the girl's shoulder. She then, before moving on, quickly whispered, "Chin up, my dear. We have horses to interact with soon."

Text Cut: Miss Burton

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Originally Posted by RandomRaven (Post 12221721) They're going to head to the pasture soon. "Okay, Headmistress." So she put her winter gears on back before the woman started the lesson. Merlin, please don't tell that they were about to fly with the winged horse on a weather like this. Once Headmistress Hawthorne started the lesson, the Gryffindor listened to her explanation about why she chose to not have a lesson in their usual classroom and do it at the barn instead. Yeah, she did get the stud joke, but not sure if it was funny enough to crack her up. But the aethonan had a similar name as her boyfriend, hehe. That was quite funny. Horse... Runes... Ehwaz... Oh! She raised her hand and answer the headmistress' question "Ehwaz literally means horse. And it's a very powerful rune of protection."

Leaving the first year's side, the American continued walking through the crowd of students, waiting for more students to share what they knew about the rune. The next to pipe up was Ava. When she spoke, the woman stopped her walking and gave the sixth year her full attention.

"Quite correct, Miss Burton," she confirmed with a nod of her head. "Ehwaz literally means horse. And you are correct in saying that it is a rune that brings protection." Could she, or anyone else for that matter, figure out how the rune could be used in that regard? It wasn't quite like Algiz, which was the rune most went to in need of protection.

Text Cut: Miss Wright

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Originally Posted by griffin (Post 12221722) A direct question from the headmistress! What had she been waving at? The headmistress surely couldn't be referring to when Isa had waved to her friends Derf, Stasya, Emmeline, and Jessa, so Headmistress Hawthorne must have noticed when Isa waved to her rabbits. "I have rabbits here that Professor Wayland has approved for me to keep in the barn." You know, just to be clear that the rabbits were hers and she was allowed to have them here. Hopefully that would be enough to satisfy the headmistress' curiosity for now. If the headmistress wanted to know more about the rabbits she could always ask later. Oh, they were starting know! Isa laughed at Headmistress Hawthorne's joke about the horse being a stud. He was a male horse, and males used for breeding were called studs. Funny pun there. Ehwaz. Uh, what did Isa know about Ehwaz? "Ehwaz represents change and forward movement." See, she knew things about runes. Sometimes Isa got the names of the runes confused, but she was confident that she knew what Ehwaz was. You know what else was interesting about Ehwaz? It meant horse, and here they were having the lesson outside with the horses. So maybe they would be riding horses and using Ehwaz to make them go forward? Or maybe something else related to Ehwaz and horses? There were a lot of possible connections here with Ehwaz and horses, especially with Ehwaz literally meaning horse. Of course there were other things that they could use Ehwaz for like bringing change, but Isa wasn't quite sure how that related to the horses. Ehwaz could also be used for transportation, so perhaps the horses would have something to do with transportation as one of the magical uses for Ehwaz. Horses could be transportation when you were riding them, and Ehwaz meant horse. At the time that the Norse myths originated, horses were probably the only mode of transportation other than walking. Isa could see why this rune might have gotten this particular meaning. She actually loved studying runes. Herbology was still her favorite, but Runes was up there at the top of her list of favorite subjects.

Speaking of travelling, Isabel (who had laughed at her stud joke!) had pinned the tail on the horse. The woman shot a smile at the girl as she nodded her head. The Hufflepuff was very much correct. "Right you are, Miss Wright. The most usual interpretation of Ehwaz leads most to thinking about travel, or, as you put it, change and forward movement. There are other things that it represents too." Did anyone else have anything to add?

Regina could almost see the gears working in the third year's mind. Though the girl didn't say anything more, the headmistress hoped that the connection between the rune and the horses many were still gawking at was becoming clear.

Text Cut: Miss Dalgaard-Volkova

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Originally Posted by SilverTiger (Post 12221737) As the greetings were returned, Stasya had continued to watch the Aethonan near the headmistress as well as the winged horses that were gathered out in the pasture behind them. At least, she had until she heard her own name, and she’d turned back to the headmistress with a beaming smile as she had been asked about her squirrel’s wellbeing. “Dobby’s doing really well. He’s made friends with lots of the other creatures out here,” she responded, possibly moving a bit closer to Emmeline as she could tell the reprimand hadn’t been taken very well. It was a weird sensation, being pleased that the headmistress at least seemed curious about how her squirrel was doing but also kind of disappointed that she had upset her friend. Going back to looking at the horses, now that the Aethonan with the headmistress had been identified, she realized that she recognized several of the others too. Yay for her frequent visits out here. Maybe it would help her with whatever they were going to be doing in the lesson if the horses already knew her. Even if Professor Wayland hadn’t felt like giving her a Granian foal to care for. Either way, she raised her hand a bit tentatively as Emmeline and others had spoken about Ehwaz. “It looks kind of like the letter M when it is written out.” It wasn’t the best answer to give, but she knew it was true anyway. Especially when lots of the other runes didn’t look like letters at all. It made Ehwaz easier to remember.

The woman continued to walk between the students, though she soon came to a stop the moment Stasya spoke up. Her head turned toward the girl, seeing that she was standing near Emmeline. Another nod of her head was given at her answer. Though simple, it rang true. "Nicely observed, Miss Dalgaard-Volkova. It certainly does look like the letter M, doesn't it?” She hoped that those who didn't know or remember that would be able to remember that little detail.

The headmistress had a little memory trick of her own to share, mainly for the first years but anyone was welcome to it. "For those of you who think more abstractly, here is another way you can remember what Ehwaz looks like: if you look right at Philippe's head, you'll see that he was a rather square face with two pointy ears. Ehwaz looks similar to the upper section of his head. I guarantee that you won't forget how to write out Ehwaz so long as you remember that and the fact about Ehwaz correlating to horses."

The more you know.

Text Cut: Mister Kenning

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Originally Posted by Oesed (Post 12221738) If there was anything that could be considered a row in a place that was most certainly not a classroom, that's where the sixth year had been standing there whole time. A well cast insulation charm and layers upon layers of clothing kept the cold from being a big distraction, something he could not afford in a subject as complex as Ancient Runes. It required his undivided attention, so remaining in the back and away from friends struck him as a good plan. Although, there was something to be said about the hours spent studying to keep up his marks or training for the IMPS and how they were beginning to take its toll; after all, it was difficult to be particularly concentrated when all he could think of was the warmth and comfort of his four poster bed back in the dormitory. Fortunately, it was December. And with December came the holidays, and never had Levi Kenning been as excited and ready to go home for those two weeks as he was now. With some interest, he allowed his eyes to wander and focus on the winged horses, wondering if his decision three years ago to not take Care of Magical Creatures would finally present itself as a problem. Surely they wouldn't have to fly on those aethonans? It was the dead of winter. Insulating charms would probably not keep his curly hair from freezing. But headmistress Hawthorne was apparently in the mood for jokes, and the boy resisted the urge to raise his eyebrows and laugh, unsure if it would've been at the joke or at her. In the end, he merely rubbed his face. At least now the location and the present four legged company made sense. He raised his hand before speaking up, "To elaborate a little on what Ava said, Headmistress, Ehwaz could also symbolize status. In ancient times, not everyone could own a fine horse--to possess horses singled you out, gave you some sort of--leverage over the rest." He paused for a moment, "or rank, if you will."

Weaving her way between her pupils made her notice some of the ones that had arrived but had done so quietly. Levi Kenning was one of those students, and the woman gave the IMPS competitor a smile the moment she saw him. She wondering if her joke (albeit it wasn't her best, she would admit that) at least amused him to some degree. Life, in the grand scheme of things, was short, after all.

And then his hand shot up. Her steps paused as he explained how Ehwaz could also symbolize status. It definitely was a more anthropological take on the rune, which did have validity to it. "Thank you for sharing that with us, Mister Kenning. You are quite right in saying that. Horses were very important to those living in ancient times. Owning one horse boosted you up in rank, whereas owning a team of horses was a sign of being of the higher aristocracy."

Text Cut: Miss Fairfield

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Originally Posted by Kimothy (Post 12221744) Vivian wasn't really much of a fan of Ancient Runes, probably because she found it advanced and she wasn't a Ravenclaw like her auntie and mum. Nevertheless, she really wanted to try her best at the class even if it meant a couple of headaches just trying to memorise the Futhark alphabet and learning their meanings. But ya know, there's nothing a Fairfield can't handle unless she tried! Moving onto the lesson, Vivian blinked when the doors suddenly close when the clock struck 10am. Yep, the headmistress was very on schedule. But what really caught her attention was the number of winged horses in front of them. Kinda reminded her of Magical Creatures class, to be honest. This was interesting, indeed. With the first question asked, Vivian took a moment to remember what in Merlin's beard was Ehwaz. Yeah sure, it was part of the Futhark but there were a lot of runes, and even her normal alphabet was starting to mix up. When she finally had something in mind that she remembered, the blonde raised her hand to answer. "Ehwaz is kinda like a good luck charm," the fourth year said. "Because, like what Ava said, it's a rune for protection." Answering that question made her seem smart. LOL. Vivian was content with her answer.

Continuing her casual walk, now making her way from the back and up along the side, the headmistress waited for someone else to speak up. She hoped no one was confusing Ehwaz with Eihwaz, especially at this point in the term after spending a number of lessons focusing on just the runic alphabet. So far, though, it seemed like they all were making the distinction.

Vivian was the next student to sneak up. Regina nodded, pondering her answer, as she walked past her and Ava. "You are correct in saying that, Miss Fairfield." Though could she explain what made Ehwaz like a good luck charm? What did it protect or, rather, give luck to?

Text Cut: Mister Kovalainen

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Originally Posted by Saz Hale (Post 12221749) Kimi listened to the first question and as so many students had already given the correct answer he just took notes he would just try to answer the next question

By the time she was making her way past Kimi, the headmistress was reminded of just how warm in the barn it was. Thankfully she wasn’t too far from the door, which was now her destination point before she roasted like a marshmallow. Though she did hesitate, wondering if the Hufflepuff boy would provide an answer. No words were said though, only note-taking. At least she knew that he was paying attention. Moving on...

Text Cut: Miss Diggory

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Originally Posted by PhoenixRising (Post 12221846) Shortly after her entry, Skylar turned to find Ava and Felicity were at her side. Felicity, she could get, as she spent waking time and sleeping time with the girl, as they shared a dorm and all. But Ava, was different, because the girl usually was with her boyfriend or Noelle in classes. Unless she wanted something, although Skylar couldn't imagine what exactly she could tell the older girl that Noelle or Philip couldn't. Nonetheless they both got a polite smile, and her attention was back on the winged horses and the class that was beginning. Quite a stud? Was she making a joke? The Headmistress' humor was definitely dry and the fourth year wasn't finding it amusing. Focus, Skylar, this subject needs your undivided attention. No thinking about studs. What did they remember about the rune Ehwaz? Or did she say Eihwaz? The American accent that the woman had, Skylar couldn't be sure, but she had her classmates talk answers of horse and protection and good-luck. Eihwaz wasn't any of that. I in Eihwaz for initiation. Which meant the Headmistress had to have said Ehwaz, right? Protection or was it progression? Ah right, Isa had said that already with the rune symbolizing forward change and movement. "Ehwaz can also symbolize communication over long distances and can refer to an important message that one can give or receive," Skylar finally settled on, thinking about what some of her peers said.

Returning to her original spot right next to the door, standing in between the cold and warmth, Regina's blue eyes glanced at each student, especially those that had not spoken up yet. Could they think of anything else? They had just scratched the surface, really. Ehwaz covered a lot of ground, unlike Philippe who had only moved a yard or so back into the pasture since the woman's necklace had lost its glow.

Her eyes then laid upon Skylar Diggory the moment she decided to speak up. While she didn't care for the joke, she at least was able to contribute more about what Ehwaz symbolized. "Thank you, Miss Diggory, for that nugget of information," she stated, approving of her answer though not quite sold just yet concerning matters involving Brent. "Ehwaz certainly does aide communication from one person to another, especially if they are far apart from each other. It is that communication that can bring something into motion."

In a roundabout way, it reminded her of the early 1860s and the Pony Express, though the woman decided not to share that insight as she was fairly certain these Brits weren't that in-the-know about American history.

Text Cut: Miss Kramer

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Originally Posted by Lady of Light (Post 12221849) Etta listened to the Headmistress individually greet them all, still in awe of her. She was.. everything that she aspired to be. Polite, beautiful and smart. .. and poised. So poised. Maybe she be half of her one day, maybe. Hopefully. Anyway, soon enough, she started with with her first question. Ehwaz.. they had learnt about that rune in class before, hadn't they? She raised a hand politely. "Professor.. ehwaz literally means horse but it basically denotes trust and friendship between individuals.. their relationship would help them explore new places and travel to faraway lands.. I think." She frowned, trying to come up with additional information. She was sure ehwaz had a connection with horses.. but she wasn't sure what it was exactly so she just remained quiet and waited for the class to move on.

The Hufflepuff prefect followed the Slytherin, and it was what the girl said that made her eyes twinkle just a bit. Of course, they had already established that Ehwaz literally meant horse, but it was the words that come after the fact that made her nod her head. Did everyone catch that?

"Right you are. Thank you, Miss Kramer," the woman said, quite pleased. "Ehwaz certainly does help in exploration considering the transportation and motion aspect of it. And mentioning trust and friendship is very important, for without it there really is no forward energy and movement, is there? It is true for human to human bonds as well as human bonds with animals."

She turned her head slightly to look at Philippe and the other winged horses. If that wasn’t foreshadowing enough, then she didn't know what was.

Text Cut: Miss Morrison

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Originally Posted by Daydreamer11 (Post 12221856) As the Headmistress replied to her greeting, Shay smiled. "I'm just fine thank you. Ready for today's lesson." And curious, very curious she was. Shay didn't have to wait long to hear the topic of the day's lesson. However, she would have to wait and see how the horses fit in. Ehwaz was the focus of the lesson and the first question dealt with what everyone knew about it. Shay raised her hand to share something she knew about the rune. In the meantime, she took notes because a lot of good information was being given. Hopefully she would be called on soon so her answer would not become repetitious. When it was her turn, she began to speak. "When Ehwaz appears in a group with other runes, it can make those runes more powerful. After she spoke, Shay continued to write notes, as the rest of her classmates spoke.

Her gaze then shifted from Philipe and his four-legged companions over to Shayla. She didn’t say much, but there was so much truth in her words. The headmistress nodded her head once more. Though they hadn't spent a whole lot of time on bind runes yet this term, this was a good opportunity to mention them.

"Miss Morrison's response is quite accurate. When paired with other runes, forming bind runes, the power of Ehwaz joins with that of the other rune or runes, thus making a more powerful rune. For example, when Ehwaz is paired with Raidho, it invokes good travelling conditions. It is quite handy when you’re following a 'new path' or going through new experiences." She certainly used the bind rune when she came to Britain from the United States.

Text Cut: Mister Ashburry-Hawthorne

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Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie (Post 12221863) Perfect disguise if you were anyone but Derfael Mitchell Ashburry-Hawthorne that is because THIS Hufflepuff saw right through your disguise. "We didn't have to us-2e the Extendable Ears today!" he squeaked giddily while glancing over his shoulder at Abey. NEAT! Okay...but wait...waaaaaaaaait....SPOIL? BUT WHICH PART WAS THE SPOILING PART?! He had, you know, kind-of-sort-of rambled off a while bunch of options there based on his rememberings of the Ehwaz rune so so soooooooo WHICH WAS IT PROFESSOR?! WAS IT THE TALKING TO WINGED HORSES?! But before he could ask his follow up questions they were being ushered and encouraged and whatnot to listen as class properly began. But he was TOTALLY staring at her chest. Okay? TOTALLY. STARING. AT. HER. CHEST. But not her CHEST chest but that THING around her chest. Why was no one asking about it!? Could he? Could he pet Phillipe? Oh, well...okay then. Now he kiiiiiiiiiiind of got what the spoiler alert was about, but it still did not satisfy his curiosity about whatever it was hanging around her neck. And he had already basically answered this question UNKNOWINGLY as he entered the area, so it was okay that he didn't repeat himself, right? Hopefully...because his curiosity was eating away at him and he ended up asking a question when it was his turn to speak. "You have it carved into whatever it is hanging around your neck!?" he chirped eagerly...as naturally another thought crossed his mind and it was slipping out of his mouth before he could processor stop himself. "And works-s s-sorta like a Befriending Charm when envoked!? S-S-Since that rune rules-s-s....governs-s-s...trus-st and bonds-s with animals-s?!?!?!" OOOOOOOOOOOOH he got the spoiler alert now OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! THEYWEREGONNABEWINGEDHORSEWHISPERS! HOLYFLAMINGSALAMANDERS!

Derfael then caught her attention. Needless to say, she was a little surprised that he was speaking up after proving well before she had asked the first question of the lesson that he knew a few things about Ehwaz. A grin, however, grew on the headmistress's face when he mentioned the necklace she was wearing around her neck. This one was a fast learner.

"I certainly do have it carved onto the necklace that I am wearing today. But more on that a moment." Patience, Mister Ashburry-Hawthorne. Patience. They would all be horse-whisperers soon enough.

Text Cut: Mister Salander

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Originally Posted by Steelsheen (Post 12221925) Ah patience. This Gryffindor could indeed use some of that. And this magnificent Aethonan is a stud and his name is Philippe. He found that funny ok? As shown by the grinning under his nose as the lesson progressed. Also, he didnt know if it was a coincidence or the Professor was lowkey giving a shout out for Disney's best old school animated movie in Sleeping Beauty. If she was, wow color this animation fan impressed. Now what did he know about Ehwaz? Well that it was easily confused for Eihwaz, but he figured that doesnt really contribute to the discussion. Most of his classmates seem to have mentioned nearly all of what the rune was about, but .... ok wait, some stuff is lacking, maybe he can offer a way to tie these different concepts together? Up goes the hand "Professor, Ehwaz isnt just a symbol for a horse, but rather two horses, thats where the other meaning of Ehwaz-- of trust and teamwork-- arise, because two horses used together for travel needs to be in sync with each other, working as a unified team."

It was always Tenacius that Regina could rely on as a source of appreciation for her sense of humour. The grin on planted on the boy’s face proved as much. The stud joke was corny and maybe even eye-roll worthy to some, but it was a joke nonetheless. The Gryffindor prefect at least was on her level. (As for the movie reference, it was a subtle nod to Beauty and the Beast.)

She took note of his hand in the air and waited for him to respond before adding her own thoughts. "Literally, Ehwaz means horse. Though it definitely can refer to two horses. The example you provided -- two horses working together as a unified force, in sync and trusting each other to get to their destination -- does fit well with what Ehwaz invokes."

In all honestly, the message behind this rune was rather beautiful. Trust, teamwork, friendship -- it all made things move in a balanced forward motion.

Text Cut: Mister Bronwyn

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Originally Posted by Shanners (Post 12221936) With a quirk of his brow, Rooney looked between the winged horse and Headmistress Hawthorne especially when she said 'stud'. And to add his own part onto that, he said to no one in particular "Tell me about it." Whether people would understand the link to Grease with that quote, he didn't know, but it was normal for the boy to quote things that he enjoyed if the entrance into it was there. And it had been. It had practically been ASKED for by the use of the word stud. Honest. "Ehwaz doesn't just mean one horse, right Headmistress? It means two. Hence the derivation of it meaning teamwork, trust and friendship. Plus travel and movement."

Speaking of trust and there needing to be more if it from someone...

"Yes, Mister Bronwyn. It can mean two horses. Mister Salander just described how two horses can work together to encompass the other meanings of Ehwaz beyond just its literal 'horse' translation," Regina replied, not disagreeing with what he said. "Yet it can also mean one horse as well. They can be haired with an individual. After all, every horse has a rider. In order for the animal and individual to develop a mutual relationship with each other, there needs to be loyalty, trust, and co-operation to get a certain job done or get from Point A to Point B." She was going to leave it at that. They would be experiencing what she was talking about soon enough.

Text Cut: Miss Cambridge

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Originally Posted by DaniDiNardo (Post 12221956) So then.....they were definitely riding these horses before the end of the class. There was no convincing her otherwise, not when the Headmistress had given THAT particular reply. Everyone knew that when adults gave responses like that they were just trying to be sneaky but were definitely confirming what you'd as-- Whoa! Jessa staggered forward as someone--oh, Emmeline--bumped right into her. "It's alright." She assured, offering her and her other friends a greeting as they trickled into the barn one by one. The others were excited, she could tell but the girl was most interested in the winged horses and when they'd be able to ride them. As best as she could, she was paying attention. Her classmates were offering up responses and she was doing her best to keep them in mind. Slowly an image was forming in her head of exactly why they may be looking at the room today. It certainly made sense. "Not only is it associated with communication and horses but it's got a divinatory connection to recklessness." Which also sorta made sense to her too. Sometimes watching them fly, you'd think they were being reckless, rising and diving as they pleased but the young girl was sure there was always a method to their madness.

Moving on to Jessa, the headmistress was quite glad that the Ravenclaw had pointed out something negative about Ehwaz that was known to all knowledgeable runologists. There was that divinatory meaning that was pretty negative: recklessness. There was a logical reason why that was so, however.

"Yes, Miss Cambridge, very true. While in terms of divination the rune stands for transportation, energy, power, and communication, there is also that meaning of recklessness." It was something some of them knew all too well. "But, when you think about the inverted meaning of Ehwaz, it does make sense why that is so -- blocked movement, an inability to act, a failure to communicate or act as one. Those often do lead to irresponsible or miscommunicated outcomes. Hence why it is important to maintain balance our energies and motions."

Text Cut: Miss Flightdatter

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Originally Posted by DancingQueen (Post 12221966) Sophie's eyes widened as the headmistress kindly offered to let her stay next to her. Vigorously nodding, she took a deep breath and sniffled softly. Though she didn't want to annoy the nice woman too much, she was certainly planning on sticking to the headmistress like glue. A massive sneeze exploded from her nose, causing her to shake her head in annoyance. As she did so, the wonderful headmistress gave her a small vial. Gasping, Sophie read the label. "Pepper-up potion?! Aww, this stuff is the best!" She fumbled with the stopper for a few seconds before finally getting it open. "Bottoms up!" She upended the potion into her mouth, waiting patiently for it to work its magic on her obnoxious cold. Luckily, it took effect almost immediately and she found that she could breathe out of her nose again. It was a good thing Sophie could breathe again, because a boy who couldn't have been thaaaat much older than her wandered over to offer his assistance with her phobia and introduced himself as Derf. Sophie offered him a teensy-weensy smile. "Hi, Derf," she said shyly. She didn't get any farther than that in her reply to him, however, because at that moment, steam began to pour out of her ears. Awkwardly, Sophie took a step backward. This was the side effect she had forgotten! Steam, lots of steam, rapidly exiting her ears. She grimaced, slightly embarrassed by the spectacle. So embarrassed, in fact, that she almost missed the headmistress' first question. She was ready to be made more embarrassed, though, because she couldn't recall anything about the Ehwaz rune. "Uh..." she began slowly. "Isn't Ehwaz the one that means -" Uncertain of what exactly it meant, she tried to quickly make up something that would make sense. "Chocolate?" As soon as she had said it, she knew it was probably wrong. Oooooooooppss....

Ahh. The headmistress had temporarily forgotten that she had a little minion by her side. Had Sophie been following her around the barn in sync with her or had she stayed put until she returned? Maybe she had gone to stand next to Derfael? It didn't matter to her either way. What did matter was that the girl was looking better than she did the moment she had arrived. Save for the steam.

Clearly the side-effect had unwarranted results for the girl's response to her question made the headmistress blink. She couldn't even think of a response for such an answer. It clearly wasn't right.

Regina just offered the girl a smile and continued on.

Text Cut: Miss Phillips

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Originally Posted by Govoni (Post 12222002) Grinning brightly at the Headmistress' kind greeting, the Lion!lady went ahead and animated her Quick Quotes, just as she'd been taught. And never fear! She was definitely getting smart to the embellishments. Sometimes, the blonde felt those were the best parts; a bit of entertainment for herself as she worked through her notes. And luckily, she had Blaise Bellaire, who'd originally gifted her the quill. He was the master at decoding all the crazy exaggerations. He was a Quick Quotes Whisperer. She really appreciated her friends, and how much they were helping her on the exam front. Let's be honest, Chloe Newman's study notes were the stuff of legend. ....And Liv understood the implication was kinda obvious here, considering their location and the winged horses, but... How had no one said anything about the Aetts or Tyr? Sure, it probably wouldn't be relevant, but... they were still facts about the Ehwaz rune. It just made her twitchy; giving an answer everyone else had. "Ehwaz is located in the Third Aett, which is named for the Norse god Tyr. He's often thought of with concepts such as glory, honor, and heroics." Refusing to be embarrassed, even as her cheeks heated on their own volition, she added, "It's corresponding letter is 'E'." Yep, it had no relevance to horses, but different could be good, right?

The last to speak was Olivia Phillips, who had quite a different answer that the others. It was one that many overlooked because it wasn't the general ballpark everyone else had gravitated toward. Everyone else focused on the meanings, the symbolism, and focused primarily on horses. In all honesty, Regina didn't blame them. And she didn't blame the Gryffindor for her answer either. It was a good reminder for them all.

"Thank you, Miss Phillips," the headmistress replied sincerely, "for reminding us about the Third Aett, Tyr, and the corresponding letter of Ehwaz."

Normally the woman would have had a piece of chalk talking notes for her on the black board, but unfortunately there wasn't one nailed to any of the walls here in the creature barn. That said, she hoped that everyone was taking good notes or they were, at the very least, paying attention to their peers' answers and her responses. All of it was valuable information to keep at the forefront of their minds.

Clasping her hands together after a period of silence that signified that no one had anything else to say, Regina was ready to move things along.

"Thank you all for your responses. And I am quite impressed that no one accidentally confused Ehwaz with Eihwaz. Two very different runes. The latter of which means yew, invokes initiation or change, and can be used for defensive purposes," she informed, hoping to clarify the differences just in case. "Ehwaz, though, is the rune of the horse -- a direct connection to Odin's eight-legged horse Sleipnir. It is a rune that, at its core, facilitates swiftness in travel and movement in addition to forming cohesive bonds resulting from trust and co-operation."

It was at that moment that the headmistress brought a hand to the necklace hanging around her heck and held it outward with her fingertips. "As you all know, runic energies need to be released in a controlled manner through amulets, pendants, talismans, gandrs, and rune sets. Today, for each of you, I have a wooden pendant similar to mine to wear throughout the rest of the lesson and keep afterward."

Her fingers then released the necklace, allowing to to fall against her chest, and retracted her wand from her holster. With a flick, a box that had been set aside floated in the air and gradually made its way around the area they were corralled in. She hoped they were paying attention because she was on the cusp of giving instructions."

"You will notice that the wood on these pendants have nothing carved on them. Before we interact with the horses, you first need to carve Ehwaz onto them and then activate it with a galdr. To carve a rune, remember that you need to clearly think of how the rune looks in your mind and then state the incantation. You will need to repeat the incantation, Intaglio Ehwaz, until the rune is completely carved, signified by a golden hue.

"To activate Ehwaz, you will need to chant the following galdr. You will know it's been activated when it starts to glow white." At this point, she put her wand away, placed her fingers back on her pendant, and then chanted, "Ehwo ehwo ehwo, e e e e h w o o o, ehwu ehwa ehwi ehwe ehwo, ehwo ehwe ehwi ehwa ehwu, e e e e h w o o o." Being experienced, the pendant quickly began emitting a white glow ... and Philippe took a few steps forward until his head was inside the barn.

"Don't be disheartened if it doesn't start glowing right away. You might have to repeat the galdr a few times. Once everyone's pendant is glowing, then we will all head outside and put Ehwaz to the test. If you need any help, please ask."

OOC: It is time for the mini-activity of our lesson! As Regina said, everyone needs to take a pendant, carve the Ehwaz rune onto it, and then chant the galdr to make the rune glow white.

You are welcome to make as many posts as you would like at this stage in the lesson. Furthermore, keep in mind that not every student will be able to complete these steps in one go successfully. Feel free to have your characters struggle, ask for help, offer to help others, etc. The lesson will continue in roughly 24-36 hours.

At least, she was right! Vivian was pretty pleased with herself for actually not getting it wrong. LOL.

And ooooooh, they were getting pendants! Not as if this was her first one ever, but the Slytherin loved receiving pretty things for free. Thanks, Miss Headmistress! The moment the levitating box came to her part of the classroom, she had readied her hand to catch her pendant because why not? After catching her pendant, the blonde examined it. It was made of wood, obviously, and looked just like the one hanging around the Headmistress' neck, but lacked the rune on it. So, naturally, they were supposed to carve the Ehwaz rune on it.

But first, practice. Practice makes perfect, the quote would say. Vivian didn't even expect to get it right the first time around, anyway. "Intaglio. Intaglio. In-tah-leo," she pronounced each syllable as clearly as she could. After saying the incantation a couple of times, the fourth year mustered the confidence to finally try carving it onto her pendant. She pointed her wand at the middle of her pendant, and took a deep breath. You can do this, Baby Fairfield! "Intaglio Ehwaz Ehwaz Ehwaz Ehwaz..." She kept her mind focused onto the rune itself, the horses, protection, good luck, everything related to Ehwaz. "Ehwaz Ehwaz Ehwaz Ehwaz Ehwaz Ehwaz...."

And at last, her nearly perfect Ehwaz rune was carved onto her wooden pendant. The Slytherin beamed at her work and then placed it around her neck. Aaahhh, lovely!

Her eyes were focused on the thestrals for a while before the lesson started but as soon as the lesson started, she adjusted her focus to the Headmistress. She opted to remain silent during the first question and decided to listen to her fellow peers as they spoke. Olivia just felt completely off today. Her thoughts were in a different place and it took a lot out of her to focus.

They were learning about Ehwaz not Eihwaz. Merlin. Now that was going to be hard to keep straight. Ehwaz. The rune of the horse. Fascinating. The first step of this activity was to carve the rune into the pendant. She took a pendant and placed it beside her. Before attempting to carve it, Olivia opted to draw the rune in her notebook over and over again so that she really knew what she was doing. At first, the runes came out rather crooked. Why couldn't she draw simple straight lines today? Gah. She bit her lip and began drawing in her notebook again. No. No. NO. Ugh. Why couldn't she focus? This wasn't like her. What were the...? No. Focus. She could wonder later.

She took a deep breath as she tried to calm her frustration. Then she began drawing. Good. The lines were getting straighter. Olivia needed to visualize it. Once satisfied with the drawing of the rune, she turned her attention to the wooden pendant. Maybe she would hold of carving it at the moment. She needed to work on the pronunciation. "Intaglio Ehwaz. Intaglio Ehwaz," she repeated, making sure to say Ehwaz instead of Ehiwaz.

Alright. It was time to carve the rune into the pendant. Steadying her arm, she pointed her wand at the middle of the rune and took a deep breath. She needed to block everything out of her mind except for the rune. Nothing else mattered. Nothing. Ehwaz. Protection. Partnership. Protection. Ehwaz. She briefly cast her eyes down to the shape that she had drawn and then focused on the pendant. "Intaglio Ehwaz. Intaglio Ehwaz. Intaglio Ehwaz. Intaglio Ehwaz. Intaglio Ehwaz," she repeated quietly as she watched the rune slowly etch itself into the wood. Once it was done, she removed her wand.

Not too bad. The rune could have been a little less slanted and more centered on the pendant. It was a little too much to the right for her liking. Still a slight golden hue was produced from the rune which brought a small smile to her face.

Today was going to be a long day.

Playing catchup
 

Noelle had been in the corner of the class the whole time... well corner of the group rather. Runes wasn't one of her best subjects. In fact, it was the only subject she'd done poorly on in OWLs. She wanted and needed to take it again however, because runes were important. Char proved that last term when she used them to defeat the monster. Not to mention, it was always impressive when runes were used. Like Brent and Levi in the competition.

Taking notes, and noting the horses. Noelle scribbled about Ehwaz. In face, Noelle had opened her mouth to give the definition of Ehiwaz... which would have been a mistake, as the professor was saying she was impressed that someone didn't confuse the two. Good thing Noelle hadn't actually gotten the words out.

Now was the fun part. Noelle watched as the Headmistress showed her... amulet. Then she chanted and the horse moved. Merlin... how amazing was that? To get the horse to trust you and cooperate with you using a rune. A bond created from a rune.

Putting her notes aside, Noelle went and grabbed a necklace. She took another look at the Headmistress' necklace before going back to her little spot. She was glad for her warmth charm. It was keeping her mind from the cold and on the task at hand. She used her wand to carefully carve the Ehwaz symbol into the wood. It was a bit hard. She kept glancing up to make sure she had the rune pictured in her head correctly. But once she had the rune pictured correctly, she pointed her wand at the wooden pendent and said, "Intaglio Ehwaz" Only she said it a few times for the rune to actually be carved in.

Once that was done, Noelle took a look around the classroom to make sure it was right. It wasn't centered perfectly... but it did have the golden hue.

Taking a deep breath, she readied herself to chant. She took the necklace in her hand and closed her eyes. "Ehwo ehwo ehwo, e e e e h w o o o, ehwu ehwa ehwi ehwe ehwo, ehwo ehwe ehwi ehwa ehwu, e e e e h w o o o." She started chanting.

...... Nothing happened.

Okay, she had said this would happen. Noelle closed her eyes again and took a deep breath. Thinking about horses, bonding, protection, she tried again.
"Ehwo ehwo ehwo, e e e e h w o o o, ehwu ehwa ehwi ehwe ehwo, ehwo ehwe ehwi ehwa ehwu, e e e e h w o o o." She got some sort of a flicker but not what she needed.

And again.

"Ehwo ehwo ehwo, e e e e h w o o o, ehwu ehwa ehwi ehwe ehwo, ehwo ehwe ehwi ehwa ehwu, e e e e h w o o o." Only this time, Noelle said it louder with more feeling and determination to make it work. A white light glowed but it quickly went away. She was getting closer!!

A few more chants (at least 5 more tries) were yelled/said/felt until a glowing was coming from her pendent. Despite the cold, Noelle had a little bit of a sweaty brow from the concentration it took to do that. But.. she'd done it.

Mini-Activity (post 2)
 

Now Olivia would have to try to activate the galdr right? Okay, here goes nothing. She decided to recap her notes before moving on to attempt it. The galdr will glow white when it is activated. Okay. She could do this. What did she have to say? Ehwo ehwo ehwo, e e e e h w o o o, ehwu ehwa ehwi ehwe ehwo, ehwo ehwe ehwi ehwa ehwu, e e e e h w o o o.

With the pendant in her hands, she calmed her mind. Focus on the pendant. Protection. Horses. Friendship. Bonding. Horses. She closed her eyes, allowing herself to stay in an active, focused mindset before opening them and chanting,"Ehwo ehwo ehwo, e e e e h w o o o, ehwu ehwa ehwi ehwe ehwo, ehwo ehwe ehwi ehwa ehwu, e e e e h w o o o." Nope. Nothing had happened. Hmm....

She'd try it again. She closed her eyes, gripped the pendant closer to her, and began, "Ehwo ehwo ehwo, e e e e h w o o o, ehwu ehwa ehwi ehwe ehwo, ehwo ehwe ehwi ehwa ehwu, e e e e h w o o o." Olivia opened her right eye to check on the progress. Still no white glow. Nothing. Nada. Goose eggs. She groaned. Again. "Ehwo ehwo ehwo, e e e e h w o o o, ehwu ehwa ehwi ehwe ehwo, ehwo ehwe ehwi ehwa ehwu, e e e e h w o o o." Nothing once more. Another groan. This chant was so weird. Enough. Focus. Feel the words. Protection. Bonding. Horses. Friendship. "Ehwo ehwo ehwo, e e e e h w o o o, ehwu ehwa ehwi ehwe ehwo, ehwo ehwe ehwi ehwa ehwu, e e e e h w o o o". A tiny sliver of a white glow appeared. Not good enough.

She took a deep breath, gripping the pendant a little tighter, before loosening her grip and letting all the tension leave her body. She was ready. Olivia was determined. This had to be it. Calm. Deep breath.... "Ehwo ehwo ehwo, e e e e h w o o o, ehwu ehwa ehwi ehwe ehwo, ehwo ehwe ehwi ehwa ehwu, e e e e h w o o o," she said softly but in a commanding voice. She watched as the rune began to glow a white colour just as the Headmistress' had.

Not too shabby.

After she had successfully carved her Ehwaz rune on the wooden pendant, Vivian took a few seconds of 'rest because she deserved it' and then proceeded to activate her rune. She took another deep breath -- she was going to need water after all this chanting, really -- and focused her energy on the true meaning of the rune Ehwaz. Protection, horses, good luck, travel, movement. Yes, that was it. "Ehwo ehwo ehwo, e e e e h w o o o, ehwu ehwa ehwi ehwe ehwo, ehwo ehwe ehwi ehwa ehwu, e e e e h w o o o...." The Slytherin began to chant.

But there was no white glow. Yet. She wasn't as experienced as the others, but she wasn't going to give up easily.

"Ehwo ehwo ehwo, e e e e h w o o o, ehwu ehwa ehwi ehwe ehwo, ehwo ehwe ehwi ehwa ehwu, e e e e h w o o o." Still nothing, not even a faint white glow. She had to focus more, concentrate and think about everything Ehwaz. She was going to do it. Besides, the fourth year wasn't the only one who didn't get it at the first try.

Protection. Travel. Trust. Horses. "Ehwo ehwo ehwo, e e e e h w o o o, ehwu ehwa ehwi ehwe ehwo, ehwo ehwe ehwi ehwa ehwu, e e e e h w o o o...." There was now a tiny glow of white, which made Vivian smile a little. It meant she was getting there. Just a couple more tries! With her mind cleared of everything else but Ehwaz, she gave it another shot. "Ehwo ehwo ehwo, e e e e h w o o o, ehwu ehwa ehwi ehwe ehwo, ehwo ehwe ehwi ehwa ehwu, e e e e h w o o o!"

Ah, there it was. Her pendant finally emitted a bright white glow. Way to go, Fairfield!

Notes, notes and more notes. Shay was trying to keep up with the conversation. Then when the Headmistress began to give directions for the activity, the sixth year scribbled even faster. She needed a quick quotes quill to keep up with the lessons at Hogwarts. Shay tried to make sure that she got all of the important details correct. One mistake could result in a disastrous activity. Reviewing all that she had to do, she hoped she'd get everything right.

So they would be carving Ehwaz into a pendant. Shay was game. When the floating box came past her, she took one of the wooden pendants for herself. Turning it over in her hand, she tried to get a good feel for it. Feeling the smooth wood, she tried to locate the best spot to place her rune. Then beginning to concentrate on the M shape that she wanted to produce, Shay took out her wand. Picturing the rune in her mind, she began to repeat the incantation over and over. "Intaglio Ehwaz, Intaglio Ehwaz, Intaglio Ehwaz." Shay was constantly amazed by the things that could be done with magic. Sure enough, the rune began to be carved into the piece of wood. Shay continued to repeat the incantation until at last, she saw the desired golden color, indicating that the carving was complete.

Checking her notes, Shay saw that she now needed to activate the rune. That meant that some serious chanting needed to be done. She would have to follow along while she chanted because there was no way she was going to get it all right otherwise. Shay held the pendant in her hand, peeked at her notes and began to chant the galdr. "Ehwo ehwo ehwo, eeeehwoo, ehwu ehwa ehwi ehwe ehwo, ehwo ehwe ehwi ehwa ehwu, eeeehwooo. Nothing. Shay didn't really think it was going to work on her first go round. Concentrating harder, she repeated the galdr.

"Ehwo ehwo ehwo, eeeehwooo, ehwu ehwa ehwi ehwe ehwo, ehwo ehwe ehwi ehwa ehwu, eeeehwoooo. Ehwo ehwo ehwo, eeeehwooo, ehwu ehwa ehwi ehwe ehwo, ehwo ehwe ehwi ehwa ehwu eeeehwoooo." Mercifully, Shay began to see a little something happening with her pendant. What's that a teeny bit of glowing going on? Encouraged, she kept chanting the galdr and hoped for the best. Finally, a definite white glow appeared. She had done it. The rune was activated, she hoped. Now if it would only work for whatever they were going to do with the horses.

Question
 

Following her instructions, Regina simply stood next to Philippe and continued petting his face. Every now and then, whispers slipped out of her mouth. They were of course inaudible to everyone else, who should have been focusing on carving and activating their rune pendant, though the Aethonan seemingly responded with a whinny and the stomp of one of its hooves. Clearly the glowing rune around her neck was at work.

Her hand still running up and down the horse's face, the woman then turned her gaze toward the youth in front of her. How were they progressing? So far they were all carving away, casting the spell multiple times as needed. That was the simple part. Activating Ehwaz was going to provide more of a challenge, especially for those who were relatively new to Ancient Runes or struggled with the subject.

When Isabel asked her question about which materials are best for carving runes, the headmistress faced her, taking a short break from giving Philippe attention. "Excellent question, Miss Wright. There are a number of materials that can be used for rune carving. As for what you can carve the runes on, one can use wood, stone, clay, or even bone. Wood is typically your best option, considering the significance of trees in Norse mythology and culture. To carve the rune, one can do it without magic, using a vitki knife or a sharp wood-carving tool called a ristir, or use a wand and a simple carving spell like we are doing today." Was her question answered? It was probably more information than she really needed.

Minutes soon went by, so far many of the adolescents were chanting away. Their voices filled the creature barn, joining the various noises of its creature residents. Was anyone's rune glowing? No, not yet? Patient, the woman just smiled encouragingly at those that looked her way. "Keep on chanting the galdr if your rune isn't glowing yet. It is not uncommon to have to say the galdr multiple times. Recite the it with intent, and allow Ehwaz to fill your entire being -- body, mind, and soul."

Then, one by one, pendants gradually began to glow! Regina gave approving nods toward Noelle, Ava, Skylar, Olivia, Vivian, Shayla, and Isabel. Could they feel Ehwaz surging through them? She hoped they did. It was that energy that would allow them to form a bond of trust with one of the winged horses soon enough.

One student in particular, however, didn't seem to be having the best of luck with her rune. Instead of being white, it was electric blue. That was ... odd, to say the least. Typically they didn't glow at all until the rune was properly invoked. "Keep chanting the galdr, Miss Flightdatter." She had only said it correctly once, right? "Try saying it a few more times so the energy of Ehwaz builds up inside of you."

At this time the woman glanced down at the watch that was on her wrist. They would need to move on soon. The lesson, sadly, couldn't last all day. "We will be moving on in about five more minutes, ladies and gentlemen. Finish your carvings if you haven't done so already and get chanting!"

OOC: Just a quick post before we move on to the main activity. The lesson will continue in roughly 6-12 hours. Carry on!

She didn't mind being told to slow down. It was good advice, really; she tended to run into peoplethings when she was too excited and couldn't stop running in time. No, what bothered Emmeline was that she might have scared the horse. But he seemed okay now, so she didn't even care that she'd gotten the rune answer wrong. When the headmistress put a hand on her shoulder and spoke to her quietly, Emmeline perked up a little. The headmistress was still going to let her work with the horses! So Philippe MUST be okay, because if she'd done something really bad to him, there was no way the headmistress would let her be around the other horses. She gave the headmistress a quick smile and discreetly wiped any remaining tears away. Time to focus!

She was impressed with how much everyone knew about this rune, but she guessed that meant it was time for her to study more. The headmistress' mention of Eihwaz was kind of confusing; she said they didn't mean the same thing, right? Or had Emmeline misunderstood and the Eihwaz thing was super important to Ehwaz? Ugh, this was why she didn't do as well in this class. She wasn't much for paying attention to small details, but she was trying really hard to get better and today she was going to try extra hard because of the horses!

Which meant remembering the instructions, so Emmeline paid attention very close attention to them. Two major steps, the spell and the chant thing. Gold and then white glows. Got it.

She plucked a wooden pendant from the box of them that was floating around (cool!), and then pulled her wand out from her holster. Right, so the rune was shaped like an 'M', Stasya had said. Emmeline carefully traced the M shape in the air with her wand a few times to practice; she knew the lines needed to be all straight and neat for the rune to work properly. Besides, practicing wand movements before learning new spells had always helped in other classes, like Charms.

Taking a deep breath, Emmeline aimed her wand determinedly at the pendant, traced the "M" shape once more and muttered: "Intaglio Ehwaz." Annnd, nothing happened. At all. Maybe this was a little too much like recent Charms classes, where she'd started struggling with new spells. Huffing in frustration, Emmeline repeated the spell 3 more times with little effect. She had maybe half a line of the M carved in now.

Mr. B's voice always seemed to come to her in moments like this, from her first-ever flying lesson: "Show it who's boss." She could do this, and even the older kids didn't always get it right on the first few tries. Emmeline held her wand steady and traced the rest of the "M" shape more slowly this time while she recited, "Intaglio Ehwaz!" To her delight, the rune finished carving itself in and the pendant was glowing a golden color! She thought it was mostly right; it looked like the same gold color as some of her classmates' pendants, anyway. That meant it was time to move on to the chant.

Emmeline knew better than to expect instant results from this part of the activity. The headmistress had even said they might have to chant a few times, so she wasn't too discouraged as she put her wand carefully back in its holster before gripping the pendant in her right hand. She liked doing these rune chants in her dominant hand if she could; maybe it was superstition, but Emmeline thought she always had better luck making them work in her right hand than she did with her left. Wasting no time, Emmeline chanted: ""Ehwo ehwo ehwo, e e e e h w o o o, ehwu ehwa ehwi ehwe ehwo, ehwo ehwe ehwi ehwa ehwu, e e e e h w o o o."

Nope, still gold. That was okay. Emmeline repeated the chant 5 more times, taking a deep breath in between each completed chant to relieve any frustration. Runes needed patience, that was all. She could give the rune that time, and she really wanted it to work right so she could go pet the horses.

On her eighth try, Emmeline chanted again: "Ehwo ehwo ehwo, e e e e h w o o o, ehwu ehwa ehwi ehwe ehwo, ehwo ehwe ehwi ehwa ehwu, e e e e h w o o o." This time, luck was with her and the pendant glowed white! Thank Merlin. She hoped the main activity would be having fun with the horses and not anything harder than this; she wasn't sure she'd be able to manage anything more difficult. She felt like some of her energy was depleted as it was, like she'd poured it into the rune somehow. Could runes suck energy like that? She wouldn't be surprised.

Glancing at Derf, Jessa, and Stasya, she asked quietly:"Do runes suck your energy out?"Or was something else going on here?

Tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock. Those five minutes had gone by fast, hadn't they? "Time's up!" Regina shouted over the chanting students. She quickly glanced around the room, seeing who else had glowing pendants. It was essential if they were to be successful in understanding the capabilities of Ehwaz if they wanted to complete the next part of the lesson she had planned for them. Smiles and approving nods of her head were given to Emmeline, Henrietta, Stasya, Derfael, and Jessa, seeing that white light radiating from their pendants.

"Excellent, excellent work everyone," the headmistress carried on, taking a few steps forward because she had a few more instructions to give now that they were ready to move on. "Now, for the moment you've all been waiting for: interacting with the horses and putting Ehwaz to the test."

She paused for a moment, just in case there were some that were making some last-minute galdr chants and to have everyone's attention. Were they ready? The woman sure hoped so. This was the exciting part of the lesson, after all.

"Now that we have carved Ehwaz and have activated its energy, I have two tasks for you to complete. The first task is forming a bond with our winged four-legged friends. Of course, we can earn the trust of a horse without the use of runes, but the process will be sped up with the use of our pendants. Because it is now surging with the energy of Ehwaz, it will allow you to better communicate with the horse, to persuade it that and build that one-to-one connection with it. Following my instructions, you will approach the horse the rune draws you to and build trust with it. This shouldn't be too difficult with Ehwaz being activated; however, should you come across a more stubborn horse, simply chant the galdr to summon more energy to assist you in initiating that symbiotic relationship.

"Your second task will involve the travelling and teamwork aspects of Ehwaz. After gaining the horse's trust, you will then ride it in search of a tree that will be used to decorate the castle for the holiday season. Cut down the tree and bring it back using whatever means necessary. Please limit yourself to the surrounding area and the edges of the forest where I can see you."

At this point, the woman motioned for the students to follow her, in sync with Philippe, onto the snowy pasture. Instead of heading directly toward the horses, she made a slight detour for the gate that would allow them to leave the fenced area after retrieving a horse (just in case someone wasn't comfortable flying right away). "Remember to chant the galdr to rejuvenate and call upon Ehwaz should its glow start fading away. You may also do so whenever you feel you need additional energy to guide and assist you in accomplishing your goal." Flicking her wand to open the gate, she then added, "You may begin."

OOC: We are now moving on to our main activity! There are two major parts that your character needs to complete:

1) Initiate trust with the horse so that it can be ridden. (Two students may share a horse, especially if the students are small or a younger student is paired with an older student.)
2) Work together with the horse and each other to cut down and bring back a tree. (Students can work in pairs to collect a tree, but that does not mean you are limited to interacting with just that one student -- it is likely that older students may have some tips to give to the younger students.)

Regina and I purposefully left out specific instructions on how to go about this. She wants to see what your characters can do and observe how well they work in collaboration with the horse and each other, and I wanted to allow you creative liberties. Have fun with this!

Suzy is allowing us to use the winged horses listed here. You are welcome to use any of the horses provided and determine what breed they are (keep in mind there would be plenty of Aethonans, Granians, and Thestrals and only a few Abraxans). You may also add onto that list if you wish to do so, coming up with your own horse's name and their breed. That information will be updated accordingly.

I also recommend reading up on Abraxans, Aethonans, Granians, and/or Thestrals here before posting. Once your character has selected a horse, you get to RP how it reacts, its behaviours, etc.

Your characters will be collecting trees scattered around the grounds and from the edges of the forest. Use this map of the grounds as a resource for posting purposes. Also, it would be SUPER HELPFUL if you put in the title of your posts with whom you are working with. Some forest friends might be making an appearance should your character and his/her partner happen to come across them. ;)

The lesson will continue (question 2) on June 2nd.

question for the professor
 

Activity - Post 1
 

It was time to interact with the horses. Abraxans, Granians, and more... Her blue eyes gazed at the different species for a while and then she stopped in her tracks when she felt someone or something was watching her. She shivered. It was probably just herself feeling restless. Nevertheless, she turned her gaze in the direction and her eyes met a particular thestral's. Charcoal winged horse with something that drew Olivia in. They weren't particularly beautiful creatures but there was just something about them. A fragile, earthly beauty perhaps?

She didn't want to venture over to the thestrals at first. They were a reminder of someone she had lost. She turned her gaze to look at the other winged horses. They looked friendly. Olivia kept making her way down past her classmates and then stopped momentarily. Her rune started to glow less around these horses. It wanted her to go back to the thestral? Really? She eyed the rune and decided not to question it for now. She would go for the one she made eye contact with.

Olivia approached the thestral slowly and quietly as not to spook out the poor creature. When she was close enough, she peered at the tag. Louis. That was a nice name. "Hello," she smiled with a soft voice as she slowly reached her hand out towards the creature. The thestral looked unsure at first and took a step back. However, Olivia could see a curious sparkle in Louis' eye as he slowly walked over to her. He sniffed her hand and then moved even closer. Magnificent. She softly spoke the galdr and then watched as the thestral moved closer to her outstretched hand and ended up nuzzling it a little. She gave him a pat. "Hello Louis, I'm Olivia. It's nice to meet you."

post 1
 

Post 1 (Apollo)
 

Were they really allowed to interact with the horses now? A smile grew on Vivian's lips. Yaaaay, finally! She had always wanted to try riding one. Well, of course she had done so before, but these ones were winged horses and that was obviously better. They were given the freedom to choose which horse they wanted to work with, thanks to their glowing pendant, which made it harder for Vivian because she was too indecisive and wanted to work with all of them if possible. But one thing's for sure: she hoped she wasn't going to work with a Thestral for the mere fact that she couldn't see it. That would've been funny, though, talking and riding an invisible horse. LOLOL.

And because she obviously can't choose one for her own good, Vivian walked along the horses while paying attention to the glow of her pendant. "Eenie... meenie... miney... mo!" she said the last word once her pendant started glowing so bright. It was directed at one lovely chestnut-coloured winged horse. She knew it was an Aethonan right away. "Guess you're the lucky stallion of the day!" She then skipped over towards her chosen-by-fate horse.

Peering at the horse's tag, Vivian smiled. "Hello there, Apollo," she said. "You're looking quite stunning today." Although the fourth year hoped that compliment would automatically gain the horse's trust, she wasn't going to just stretch her arm out just yet. Horses had TEETH, too. Hand still holding her pendant, Vivian began chanting the galdr. "Ehwo ehwo ehwo, e e e e h w o o o, ehwu ehwa ehwi ehwe ehwo, ehwo ehwe ehwi ehwa ehwu, e e e e h w o o o..." With the last syllable chanted, Apollo went towards her willingly and started sniffing the blonde.

And of course, she giggled in the process. That tickled!

*catching up* x3
 

with Ambrosia :3
 

Post 1 - Aurora!
 

Anyone fancy working with us?
 

Her pendant wasn't glowing as brightly as she would have liked. The fourth year glanced around, watching students both older and younger than herself managing to make a strong white light emanate from their carving. Once more, she clutched the wood, and chanted "Ehwo ehwo ehwo, e e e e h w o o o, ehwu ehwa ehwi ehwe ehwo, ehwo ehwe ehwi ehwa ehwu, e e e e h w o o o," before sighing at the feeble glow and turning back to the Headmistress, who was now instructing them further.

Right. There was lots of nodding and mental note taking going on. Their runes would react to whichever Horse they should work with. A special connection, almost. Felicity wondered, absently, how soon she'd be able to ride Floyd, but pushed that thought away as she followed the Headmistress and the students towards the beasts.

An Aethonian seemed to be looking her directly in the eye, and when Flick tilted her head, the horse did so, too. She approached it cautiously, recognising it as the one who'd caught her attention when she'd first entered the barn, and grinned to herself when her pendants light became stronger. Still, not as strong as she would have liked, and just when she was within petting distance, the Aethonian decided to turn its back to her and walk to the other side of the pasture.

"Oh." Picking the pendant up in her hand, Felicity began chanting the galdr a few more times as she followed after the animal. "Ehwo ehwo ehwo, e e e e h w o o o, ehwu ehwa ehwi ehwe ehwo, ehwo ehwe ehwi ehwa ehwu, e e e e h w o o o. Ehwo ehwo ehwo, e e e e h w o o o, ehwu ehwa ehwi ehwe ehwo, ehwo ehwe ehwi ehwa ehwu, e e e e h w o o o." By the time she had reached it, her pendant looked significantly more impressive, and as she nervously reached out a hand, the horse slipped his head under it and allowed her to pet it. Felicity was pleased with herself, alright, and used her other hand to fiddle with the name tag. "Corena," she murmured gently, her pendant glowing brighter again when she spoke the name.

I wanna work with people but traveling for the next couple hours so just a long post
 

catching up part one - mini activity
 

Kitty knew the answer to the headmistresses first question, but she didn't see the need to say it when so many other people were saying it correctly and her contribution probably wouldn't be noticed. Instead she just sat there and paid attention as the headmistress gave a longer explanation and set them to their first task.

"Intaglio Ehwaz," she muttered out loud as she went to collect a pendant. She rolled it over in her hand curiously before going back to her place to begin practicing. "Intaglio Ehhh-waaaaz," she said, mispronouncing it slightly. "Intaglio Ehwaz...Intaglio Ehwaz...Intaglio Ehmaz," she said as she attempted to carve the rune in.

Truth be told, her magic this term wasn't up to par with her previous years and she wasn't sure why. Sure, she could still cast a decent charm or rune, but not as much as she could last year and she seemed to have to practice it more. Maybe it was because of how upset she was when thinking about the Statute or the fact that many of her classmates so strongly disagreed with her.

"Intaglio Ehwaz," she muttered again as finally the correct symbol came into focus.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RandomRaven (Post 12222723) She felt good after activating the rune. It was like there's a new energy coming in or something like that. The Gryffindor had one question, thanks to Isa who has asked about which material worked for runes. "Headmistress Hawthorne." Ava raised her hand. "How about rune tattoo? Do the artists need to use a specific material too? Also... could it be activate or just.. you know, being an ordinary tattoo?" Having a rune tattoo seemed cool, and probably she should have one once she's off age.

The question that came out of Ava Burton's mouth made her raise an eyebrow for a moment, not because it was a 'stupid' question but rather because she was curious about why the girl was asking. It wasn't exactly related to the topic of today's lesson, unless she was planning on getting Ehwaz tattooed onto her skin. But, having several runic tattoos herself, the woman felt obliged to provide a quick answer.

"There is historical precedence for using runes as tattoos, Miss Burton," the headmistress responded. "Runic tattoos are made like any other tattoo, with needle and ink. Though what sets them apart from ordinary tattoos is that they behave similar to runic charms and have great powers behind them when invoked. Therefore, it is important that one seriously ponder about permanently tattooing a rune on their skin before doing so."

Quote:

Originally Posted by griffin (Post 12222758) Yay, horse time! They were going to get to ride the horses! This was going to be so fun! Okay, so they were going to gain the trust of a horse, ride the horse, find a tree, and - what??? Cut it down? NOOOO! THE TREES WERE LIVING THINGS! They deserved a chance at life in the forest! Isa didn't want to be a tree-murderer! Trees were good for the environment. Deforestation was a real issue, and it was bad for the environment. Who knew what sort of forest creatures called the trees home. Were there bowtruckles protecting these trees? Isa didn't particularly feel like having her eyes clawed out by bowtruckles today. That was only a secondary concern though. Mostly she just wanted the trees to be alive. Isa was a big supporter of having living Christmas trees. "No! We can't kill the trees! I won't do it! Let's get living trees as decoration instead!" Isa was NOT going to kill a tree. You know what was a more sustainable way of having Christmas trees that lasted for years? Growing a sapling in a large pot and keeping it outside for most of the year when you didn't want it inside as a Christmas decoration. You know what would be cool to keep as a living Christmas tree? A flesh-eating fir. As she followed the headmistress to the horses, Isa sulked over the fact that the headmistress had purposefully planned an activity that involved killing trees. Tears welled up around the corner of the young Hufflepuff's eyes. Whatever happened, she was not going to be cutting down any trees. The horses temporarily distracted Isa from her outrage and sadness over the instructions to cut down a tree, which Isa would not be participating in. She approached a horse, one of the granians. The activated Ehwaz rune helped her build trust with the horse. Gently she stroked the granian's neck. Was that helping? How would she know when the horse trusted her enough to ride it? What would she be doing for the rest of the lesson as she refused to cut down trees because she conscientiously objected to cutting down trees? Could she save the trees from being cut down and get everyone to agree to living Christmas trees? Living trees were the way to go.

The headmistress would have went on giving Ava details, but a certain Hufflepuff took her away from that conversation with her outburst. Regina resisted the urge to sigh at the girl's refusal to cut down one out of hundreds of trees that were on the grounds. She rested a hand on Philippe's side and slowly approached her, the horse stepping along beside her.

"Miss Wright, I can assure you that cutting down a few trees will not bring an end to us all." Did the girl not realize where her wooden pendant came from? Or the wood burning in the fireplaces inside the castle that kept them all from freezing? "If it makes you feel any better, younger trees will be planted in their place once the snow has completely melted. But, if that still doesn't satisfy you, then there are pathways that need to be cleared. The choice is yours."

Honestly, she should have expected there to be that one student who would respond in this way... But moving onward!

Giving Phillipe a little pat, the two then moved around the pasture to see how everyone else was doing. So far things seemed to be going pretty well. It was noted that some of the horses were being stubborn, but they eventually came around once Ehwaz was invoked again. Did they all see how persuasive, yet gentle, the energy brought forth by Ehwaz could be?

"Once you have made a bond with your horse, head straight out to retrieve a tree, ladies and gentlemen. Move swiftly and collaboratively so you don't run out of time!" She would be here, watching and waiting.

OOC: There is still plenty of time for you to jump in and complete the main activity of this lesson. So everyone has plenty of time to complete the task and, if wanted, interact with others and some forest friends, I will post the final question of the lesson on Saturday, June 3rd, instead of tomorrow. ^__^

Post 2
 

Post 2 (Anyone wanna work with us in cutting down a tree? :3)
 

So, apparently the giggling and sniffing moment lasted a little while. Vivian later realised that they should actually start off with the activity so she could get it done with right away. "Alright, Apollo. We'll have more cutesy moments later, but we really need to go now, yeah?" The blonde said, while patting the Aethonan's head. It was good that the winged horse was rather calm, and so it made the fourth year relaxed. She really didn't want to be a victim of horse kicking at the moment.

She was now ready to ride her horse. Vivian clutched the pendant around her neck again and chanted the galdr. Y'know, for safety measures. She just wanted the Aethonan to fully trust her, so as to avoid accidents such as being thrown off the horse during class. "Ehwo ehwo ehwo, e e e e h w o o o, ehwu ehwa ehwi ehwe ehwo, ehwo ehwe ehwi ehwa ehwu, e e e e h w o o o!" With the galdr finished, her wooden pendant glowed brighter than it previously did. Hoping for the best, Vivian stroked Apollo slowly as she carefully jumped onto his back.

And she was successful. PHEW! Thanks, Ehwaz!

"C'mon, Apollo, let's go," Vivian said with a big grin on face as the Aethonan took flight. The blonde's eyes widened, a little panicked because WERE THEY REALLY FLYING? She hugged onto Apollo securely. Nope, she wasn't going to fall to her death in a class! But thankfully, her winged horse was an expert at flying -- obviously, it had wings for a reason -- and so Vivian was able to reach safe ground. "You, my dear friend, are full of surprises," she said as she jumped down to look for a nice tree and patted her horse's head. They were definitely a match made in heaven, or Ehwaz rather.

Choosing a tree now was a little hard, because Vivian had to make the decision on her own and Merlin knew just how indecisive she could be. "Think we can do this one, Apollo?" The fourth year asked, pointing at a medium-sized tree. She would've gone for a much larger one, but that would mean more effort in cutting it down and transporting it. When the Aethonan neighed at her, Vivian took it as a sign of affirmation.

Now... she'd hope someone would help her cut it. Imagine just how many Severing Charms she'd have to do just to finish this one.

Part 2 - and @Kmiothy - we'll join you ^_^
 

Louis had certainly warmed up to Olivia. The galdr was coming in handy for sure. Maybe she should always carry one with her near magical creatures, huh? That'd be a nice trick to have up her sleeve. As she smiled at Louis, she briefly got lost in thoughts, wondering where this creature was from and what his story was. She laughed when he began pushing his head into her hand. He was nuzzling her hand a lot and Olivia would have forgot that they had a task to accomplish if not for Etta and a few other students leaving for the second part of the activity. Aha... Right. She turned to Louis. "Alright Louis, shall we get started?" she asked. He gave her hand a headbutt which she assumed was a Go for it so Olivia got on his back and readied herself for the possibility of flying.

Oh Merlin.

FLYING?

She gulped and took a deep breath, reminding herself that she needed to remain calm. If she ended up screaming on top of the thestral, that would only scare poor Louis more. She patted the Louis' neck gently before leaning forward to whisper, "Shall we give flying a go? Let's go to where that girl went... over there," she said pointing to the Slytherin girl (Kimothy) by the trees. Louis nodded and began a brief run and then all of a sudden they were....

They were flying!!

A smile tugged on her lips and she took a moment to enjoy the breeze tossing her hair gently as the thestral and her glided through the sky. This was so much better than flying on a broomstick! She brought her arms up into the air and grinned as they flew before bringing them back to rest safely on the thestral as she remembered that she had awful balance and didn't want to incite falling off of Louis. Olivia leaned forward with hands gently on Louis as they came to a soft landing. "That was amazing. Thanks friend," she said with a grin, giving Louis a well deserved pat.

Now to find a tree. She saw the Slytherin girl (Kimothy) eying a tree and decided to head over towards there. Now that looked like a well built tree. Very dense. "Hey! Need a hand?" she offered with a grin as she approached the other girl. Two wands could get the job done easily, right?

Post 3
 

Vivian looked over at an older student, the Hufflepuff prefect, who had successfully cut down her tree. Then the blonde looked back to her chosen tree and just... wondered how in the name of Merlin would she be able to do that? The prefect had cut the tree in ONE slice of her wand with a Diffindo. Now, that was skill. Vivian made a mental note to polish up on her charms, because she sorta struggled with that class a bit. A little bit hesitant, the Slytherin took her wand out, and looked and down the tree. Yup, she'd have to cut this one down.

When she heard a voice calling, Vivian looked behind to see a Gryffindor student she wasn't too familiar with, but had seen a couple of times in class. And boy, oh boy... she was going to help her! The fourth year smiled. "Yes, please! I'd love for an extra hand," she said. She was sure she'd take a little too long if she had done this herself. "Do you wanna take turns?" The Slytherin thought that if they'd do it together, one of them might end up injured. Two Severing Charms at the same time? Scary. Just for safety, of course.

"My name's Vivian," the blonde introduced herself, then pointed at her Aethonan. "And that's my friend, Apollo."

Activity - Post 3
 

Olivia slipped off of Louis and made her way over to the Slytherin girl with a grin tugging at her lips. Yes! They would be working together which was absolutely fantastic. She couldn't wait to get started. She eyed the tree that the other girl had chosen and nodded in agreement when Vivian suggested taking terms. "Severing Charm would do the trick. I wouldn't feel comfortable about doing more than one at a time...." That could just be bad luck. Besides Olivia was clumsy already and she didn't want to cause accidents that could be avoided.

"It's nice to meet you, Vivian. It's also nice to meet you Apollo," said Olivia first looking at Vivian and then to the handsome Aethonan. "I'm Olivia and this is Louis." She said pointing to the thestral. Glancing at the thestral, she then remembered that perhaps Vivian couldn't see the thestral. OH MERLIN. She wasn't crazy. Hopefully the girl wouldn't think that she was crazy because she was pointing at thin air. She leaned towards the other girl and pointed at Louis. "He's a thestral." Then she felt a nudge against her shoulder from Louis as if he was telling her that he had heard her comment.

With introductions completed, Olivia turned her gaze back to the tree. Right. Time to get started! "Shall I start?" she offered and then turned to cast a non-verbal Diffindo. Hmm... She paused. Nothing happened. Weird. She tried the non-verbal Diffindo again and a deep slash was made across the surface of the tree. She cast it three more times and the charm had created a nice indent in the tree. Alright, they'd have to keep at this for a few more minutes.

post 2 (anyone want to help a firstie and her Granian with a tree? :P)
 

with Gemma. Also, anyone want to help her with the trees?
 

Vivian & Olivia
 

The moment the Severing Charm slashed the tree, something within the tree moved. As the charm made contact with the tree, each sound echoed in its ears. It let out a quiet cry. Something was harming its home! If it was a fight they wanted, then it was a fight they were going to get.

Soon enough, a tiny tree-dwelling creature made its appearance -- whether it was noticed or not was a different matter all together. It looked around for the intruder. More chattering sounded, though it didn't sound like a pleasant 'hello.' In fact, it was a warning. Any more deep cuts into this tree and you will live to regret it.

Stasya
 

It heard a soft thud as something landed at the edge of the forest. The momma horse stopped dead in its tracks, her head looking left and then right for the source of the sound. A small goal foal then stopped beside her.

The white unicorn then sniffed the air, picking up on the scent of another horse. That did not concern her at all. Then there was another sniff. There was something ... different about it. Slowly making her way closer to the forest's edge, she and her foal peered through the trees.

Human. It was a human. The duo froze on the spot, waiting for the human's next move. Either it meant harm, or it was going to give them a reason to run into the depths of the forest.

Post 1
 

Shay was excited. She got to make friends with a winged horse. How cool was that? She had definitely been enjoying her time with her crup puppy and now she got to try her hand at working with a horse. After listening to the instructions that were given, Shay was a little........concerned. She had to cut down a tree and bring it back? Well obviously it could be done, but she was going to have to think about this one. This was going to require some planning.

First things first though. Before anything else, she had to find a horse and get it to trust her. Easy, well hopefully with the rune it would be. Shay followed the professor out to the pasture. Looking at all the beautiful winged horses, Shay would never be able to pick one. She did have one rational thought. It had to be a horse that she could actually hoist herself onto. Deciding to leave the choice up to Ehwaz, she just roamed around until it felt right. Stopping in front of an Aethonan, she knew this was the one.

Shay slowly and carefully approached the horse, talking in a soothing manner all the while. "Hi there boy. You sure are handsome. My name is Shay and I hope that we're going to be really good friends." Looking up at the beautiful animal, Shay smiled. She reached out and stroked his head gently. When the horse whinnied, she new she was on the right track. "We're going to do something very fun together today. How'd you like to go Christmas tree hunting with me? Maybe give me a ride?" Shay laughed as the Aethonan seemed to listening intently to what she was saying. He was smart. Shay could see that.

Suddenly though, Shay that noticed the glow on her pendant was starting to dim just a bit. The horse had been very cooperative thus far. However, Shay didn't know whether that was due to her winning personality or Ehwaz. Not wanting to take a chance, she decided that some chanting was in order. Looking into hr horses eyes, Shay tried to explain. "I'm going to do something funny now. Don't worry, I just have to say some funny words for a second." With that explained, she began to chant. "Ehwo ehwo ehwo, eeeehwooo, ehwu ehwa ehwi ehwe ehwo, ehwo ehwe ehwi ehwa ehwu eeeehwoooo". Fortunately that was all it took to get the pendant glowing again. Shay smiled at the horse, who was watching her with what appeared to be an amused expression........if horses could look amused, that is.

"Ok now, time for that ride", Shay said to her horse. When he did not protest, She prepared to get aboard. With some difficulty, she managed to get herself atop the horse. "Here we go." Shay decided to start with walking and ease into the flying part. They headed toward the gate, as Shay got more and more comfortable. When they got outside of the fenced in area, she was ready. "Ok boy, I'm ready. You can fly now." Off they went toward the trees. This.....was.....awesome. Shay hung on and prepared to enjoy the ride.

*grabs* Post 1
 

Noelle could feel the energy running through her as the pendant glowed. She grinned. This was a milestone for her. She'd never properly made her runes work before. She'd seen them done when Char, Brent, Levi, etc. But now.,.. she had a working rune!! Now they were to bond with a horse. Knowing animals, Noelle let her senses do the work.

The energy seemed to be coming best from a winged horse that was already being bonded with by Stasya.

Following after them, Noelle called out "Need some help?" She asked so she didn't sneak up on anyone. Of course, that was after she ran after the galloping horse. She probably looked a fit too. Breathing, she neared the horse. She used her rune to calmly touch the horse, and got a nudge in response. Yay!

"How about we get one of these trees? Do you know a spell that can help us cut it down?" Noelle asked Stasya before just doing the work. She liked when people gave her a chance, so she tried to do that as well.

"How about I--" Noelle started before she saw something white amongst the trees and stood stock still. A unicorn was staring at them. Her mouth dropped open and she quietly nudged Stasya to get her to look. A UNICORN!!!!

Ahem.
This was the first time she'd seen one in real life. A wild, unicorn.

Vivian beamed at her new found Gryffindor friend. "Yeah, I'm not really sure if there's any other charm we could use to cut the tree," the blonde said. Maybe a charm to make the process faster would be helpful, but they were obviously not of legal age to be creating random charms. "And it's nice to meet you too, Olivia." The fourth year literally squinted at the air when the Gryffindor introduced her horse, who was named Louis apparently. Uh... there wasn't... anything there. But then Vivian realised that it was a Thestral when Olivia pointed it out, and yes there were prints of hoofs on the ground. "You too, Louis," she said at the place where there was supposed to be a horse.

The Slytherin nodded at the Gryffindor and watched as she started to cut the tree down. It was strange how the non-verbal charm didn't work. Usually it'd just have the same effect, right? Once Olivia was done, Vivian tilted her head. "You did well. Good job!" Perhaps a little more charms on the base and they'd be successful. The blonde was about to raise her wand to send another Severing Charm when...

"Did... did you hear that?" She asked the Gryffindor. That was a cry... and then followed by some weird sound the fourth year didn't seem to know who or what from. Vivian squinted around to see where the sound came from and then looked at the tree again. What... was... that?!

Post 1 (Rose)
 

*grabs Emmeline*
 

Activity - Post 4 - (Vivian and Bowtruckles)
 

The thestral nodded his head at Vivian. "He says that its nice to meet you," said Olivia, very glad that Vivian didn't think she was crazy or something. Phew! Hah, anyway to cutting down the tree.

She took a step away when she had finished her portion and then heard a very peculiar noise. It sounded unhappy whatever it was. Olivia then took several steps away from the tree. "I don't think we should be near this tree," she said. Ooh she hoped that they hadn't angered the creature too, too much. Maybe some creature or spirit or ghost lived in it?

She followed Vivian's gaze to the tree to see a little creature. What was that? Was it a bowtruckle? Olivia reached into her bag and pulled out her care of magical creatures textbook and began flipping through the pages. Hm... "Ah! This looks like a bowtruckle perhaps?" she said as she brought the textbook over towards Vivian. She glanced up at the creature and then apologized. She was unsure if the creature would understand what she said but the effort was there. "I'm sorry about that. We didn't mean to disturb your home. We'll go find another tree..."

Now where was another tree that was further enough away from this creature so they didn't make him or her upset again.

Vivian & Olivia
 

What were they staring at it like they had never seen a bowtruckle before, hmm? It didn't know which was more offensive: them trying to chop its home down or the fact that they needed a textbook to identify it.

It's little arms both went up, almost like fists, in a "come at me, bro" fashion. It chirped at them, taunting. If they wanted to fight, it was born ready. Protecting its tree was its duty, especially when there were little bowtruckles inside to keep warm from the chill of winter.

The bigger girl started speaking to it. Whatever she was saying, the bowtruckle took it as a threat. It started inching toward her, ready to attack.

Or not.

They were leaving? The little creature just stood there, befuddled. But then it chirped after them before crawling back into the tree. Serves you right! If any of the bowtruckles asked, it was going to tell them a long tale of battle and how it showed those humans who was boss.

Post 2
 

As Shay and her Aethonan neared the edge of the forest, he brought her in for a smooth landing. They began to walk and Shay said, "Alright buddy, let's go find us a tree." She scanned the area, as they moved along the perimeter of the forest. They needed the perfect tree, one that was neither too big nor too small. As Shay looked around, she also thought about how she was going to get said tree back to the pasture. She had several ideas, none of them great.

Suddenly. She saw it. The tree. Shay knew it was the one as soon as she saw it. She gave her horse a pat and hopped down carefully. "You stay right here my handsome boy. I've got a tree to cut down." Shay had a feeling that this was not going to be an easy task. She walked around the tree, sizing it up. She had made sure that her buddy was far enough away. She didn't want him hurt by the falling tree. Right now, it was time to go to work.

Shay took out her wand and armed it at the base of the tree trunk. She was planning to use the severing charm, but wasn't sure how hard it would be to chop through the trunk. Taking a deep breath, Shay concentrated and pictured the tree falling. "Diffindo", she said, successfully cutting deeply into the wood. "Diffindo", she repeated, making more progress. Finally. After several more attempts, Shay heard a cracking noise. The tree began to lean and over it went. Timber.

That hadn't been too bad. The next part, well that was another story. Shay mentally checked off her possible spells. She could think of several reasons why they were all questionable choices. Could she levitate the tree and ride all the way back to the pasture? It could done, but Shay was going to have more focus than she had ever summoned before. There had to be a better way. Returning to her horse's side, Shay looked at him. "Well big guy, any suggestions?

part 1 - Lincoln?
 

Woah they were actually going to ride the horses??? That could be...interesting, she thought in an attempt at optimism. Of course she loved the horses (they were adorable), but she'd never flown before and was nervous she might fall off.

Nervously clutching her pendant, Kitty approached one of the horses, a gray Granian. "Quick quotes quill, please remind me about Granians," she whispered to her quill. It floated out of her book bag with a paper and wrote part of the textbook definition:

Granians are grey-coloured. More aggressive and faster. (5'2 / 62 in / 157.5 cm as average height). They are not as large as the Abraxan. Granians were in the earlier ages used for traveling and assisting in farm work. They both still have a lower class connotation that people do not want to be associated with. Despite their smaller size, they are just as powerful as an Abraxan.

"Thank you quick quotes," she said as it went back into her bag. Now she was much closer to the Granian. It turned to regard her, its expression unreadable to her. "Ehwo ehwo ehwo, e e e e h w o o o, ehwu ehwa ehwi ehwe ehwo, ehwo ehwe ehwi ehwa ehwu, e e e e h w o o o!" she chanted, hoping her voice didn't sound as intense as she felt. Her pendant glowed brightly as she finished.

His nametag identified him as Lincoln. "Hello Lincoln," she said, gently placing her hand on his head. "One of my best friends loves horses. She'd love you. You're adorable." Right now she was just talking to try to connect with Lincoln. "Lincoln," she repeated his name, wondering if he knew it. Her pendant flashed as Lincoln bent, almost as if he'd read her mind. Oh, right. "Please don't let me fall, or throw me off," she said as she closed her eyes and climbed atop the Granian.

Then Lincoln tossed back his head and began trotting towards the barn exit. In moments they were in the air!

Catching up and Post 1 - Befriending
 

still open if anyone wants????
 

Ava
 

The first year had been immersed in the sensation of flight and thinking about how awesome Gemma is, and wondering if Professor Wayland would let her help with the baby winged horses next term, when she heard the older girl call her name. Fortunately, calling Emmeline's name was one of the few things that could snap the eleven year old out of trances immediately; it was a habit that Nanny had worked hard to ingrain into her head. It still took her a few seconds to register the older Gryffindor's questions, but once she did, the first year was all for it!

"Hi Miss Ava! Yeah, I'd love to help you!", she called back. She knew a lot of her housemates' names by now even if she didn't really speak to them. And, she'd been lucky enough to come across an older student willing to teach her how to get the Christmas tree! That meant the lesson was almost a guaranteed success in her mind. Nudging Gemma forward gently, Emmeline let out a BIIG grin as the horse landed expertly near the tree in question. Thank Merlin, it didn't look too big.

Emmeline gently slid off Gemma's back, being super careful of her wingspan, and moved slowly around the horse so that they were face-to-face again. She trailed her hand across Gemma's back as she moved so that she could always track the Gryffindor's movements. "Great job, Gemma! D'you mind waiting here for a few minutes? Me and Miss Ava are gonna get a Christmas tree." She paused for a few seconds before adding: "Don't worry, it won't hurt you. Promise!" Christmas trees weren't prickly enough to hurt the poor horses, were they? Well, if they were, she would just ask Miss Ava to fix that with a spell. Older kids knew a LOT of spells after all.

The Gryffindor wandered over to stand next to the Christmas tree Ava had indicated to wait for the older girl to land. She was pleased to see that Gemma was walking around a bit, but showed no signs of wandering off.

Miss Ava?

Hehehe.

This girl was cute. Didn't she know that? "Good. Because you know, lioness should help each other." The older Gryffindor said and grinned at her. #GryffindorLoyalty. She unmounted from her horse, gave a gently pat and whispered to it. "I'll be back, Perseus. Would you wait for me?" And thanks to the Ehwaz rune, the horse seemed like it nodded on her words and neighed gently.

"Okay, I want you to help me with the severing charm. And since it's a tree so I think we need to do that more than once." Ava explained it to the young girl as she took out her wand. "The incantation is diffindo, and the wand movement is like this." She performed the charm to show Emmeline how it's done. "Diffindo!" She was sure that this girl could perform it because Severing charm is like a basic spell and not really difficult.

"And then once it's done.... Hmmm... I think it's best to carry the tree using locomotion charm. But let's just focus on cutting the tree first." And perhaps Ava should be the one who did locomotion charm because it's pretty advanced for a first year. "You understand what am I saying, right?" Because if not... She would teach her again.

Post 5
 

Vivian backed away a little from the tree, staying close to her Aethonan who kept sniffing her. But this time, she wasn't giggling like earlier. The blonde looked at the tree, and then to Olivia. "Agreed," she said without hesitation. Who knows what the owner of that cry would do? She didn't want to know at all. "Let's do that tree?" Like, that medium-sized one really far from this which they had started on. The effort was wasted, but she wasn't going to keep cutting down a crying tree. "C'mon, Apollo," the Slytherin called out for her winged horse, and softly chanted the Ehwaz galdr again for more energy.

A bowtruckle? Ah, they'd learned about that tiny creature before. "That's probably why I can't see it." It was tiny and camouflaged well with the tree bark. Had they kept on cutting down the creature's tree, Vivian could imagine being attacked by a pair of walking twigs... and even that seemed a little funny. "We meant no harm, Mr. Bowtruckle! We're very sorry." They'd just go find another tree to cut down, which didn't seem so pleasant for a tree dweller to hear. LOL.

"I'll start with this one," the blonde said once they had moved as far away as possible from the bowtruckle abode. Taking her wand out this time, Vivian sent Severing Charms at the base of the tree. "Diffindo... Diffindo... Diffindo...." She kept going on until about half of it was cut. The Slytherin smiled at her progress. "I did half... You should finish it up." Vivian gave an encouraging smile and nod towards to Gryffindor. And here's to hoping there weren't any more bowtruckle armies to stop them.

post 3
 

The first year nodded when Miss Ava said that lionesses should help each other. That was why they had Houses, right? Either way, she was glad that so many older Gryffindors and other older kids were so willing to help her in lessons and stuff. She grinned back at Miss Ava and nodded, before waiting patiently to learn the spell.

"Okay," Emmeline agreed. Miss Ava didn't say how many times they'd need to do it so she would just keep going and going until it worked. She paid special attention to the demonstration of the new spell and she quickly withdrew her own wand from its holster. She practiced the wand movement by itself for a few times first, like she always did with new spells. She wasn't always so great at learning new spells right away, but she decided that it would be jinxing herself to mention that. Besides, she wanted to impress Miss Ava. She didn't understand all this locomotion charm stuff, but that was later anyway, right?

"Yup, I got it!", she assured the older girl. Turning her wand on the tree trunk, she performed the wand movement REALLY dramatically and chanted: "Diffindo! Diffindo!" It didn't even WORK on the first try, but on the second try she made a deep cut into the tree trunk! She might have been a little too enthusiastic with the wand, though, because she'd also "cut" a path across the snow and lightly into the trunk of the tree directly opposite theirs. "Oops... Sorry, Miss Ava.", she glanced fearfully up at the older Gryffindor.

UNICORNS!!!!!!! (and Noelle)
 

Staying on Cygnus’ back for a moment or two longer as she tried to pick a tree to cut down for Christmas purposes, Stasya then gave Noelle a little grin as the prefect had asked if she needed help. “Probably. I don’t know if I can cut down a tree all by myself or if Cygnus can get it back to the pasture by himself either,” she responded, keeping her voice quiet just in case there were any creatures around that might not be used to people being this close. Considering she knew that they weren’t supposed to go into the forest unless it was for a lesson or something, no matter how curious she was about what kinds of creatures she could find and maybe befriend. They were in a lesson, of course, but she didn’t think the headmistress wanted them to go too far in to look for a tree.

“Could we use Diffindo?,” she asked, in response to the question about spells. She didn’t know if that would work on a tree, and she really hadn’t actually tried the spell either, but she knew that it was a cutting spell. They did want to cut down a tree, or that was what they’d been told to do.

She’d turned to look at the older girl curiously as she had started talking and then trailed off, including Cygnus just in case the Granian thought she’d forgotten about him, but then, as she’d let her grey-green eyes turn in the direction Noelle was looking, she froze. Internally, she was flailing, but she knew better than to actually get excited. She definitely didn’t want to scare the unicorn peering at them through the trees. And she especially didn’t want to scare the little baby she saw by the mama’s side.

“Hi,” she said instead, keeping her voice low but she thought it was loud enough the unicorns could hear. “We won’t hurt you or your baby, I promise.” Even if she kind of wanted to ask if she could pet it.

She watched the first year practicing the spell and slightly gave an approval nod. Even though severing charm was kind of basic spell but still, practice would make it perfect, right? Right. Ava didn't cast further because she wanted to see if Emmeline could perform that very well. The younger girl didn't succeed on the first try, which was normal, but then she did it on the second. "Good job."

But woah.... Emmeline was a little bit too enthusiast that she accidentally cut a trunk of a tree opposite theirs. "Ah yeah, that's okay... You need to be careful with that charm." Not to mention that this spell could cause an injury. "Alright, let's get back to the business." Ava said and started a couple of more severing charm, causing a quite deep cut on the tree. "We should take some steps away. I'm afraid the tree would fall down towards us." Pretty sure the Headmistress wouldn't appreciate if they got injured or worse, had a tree fall on them.

"It only needs like... one or maybe two cuts then we're done here. Then you can go back, I will deal with how to carry the tree." She said. "Would you finish it for me?" Ava gave her more chance to try the spell.