Latest Site Notices

*Zoe* · #1 (**permalink**) 10-06-2017, 09:50 PM

As you make your way along the corridor, gazing out the windows has become nearly impossible. Snow that had begun falling the night before was now thick and swirling aggressively downward, causing the inside of the castle to be darker than it usually was in daytime. Torches scattered down the hall provide a source of light as you walk past them on your way to Ancient Runes. The heat coming off from them is not enough to keep you from shivering slightly, so it is best that you make your way to class with haste.

When you cross over the threshold of the doorway, surprisingly the inviting warmth of the room is not noticed first. All of the desks have been pushed against the wall, and shimmering suits of armour, with a shield at hand, stand where the desks should be. For a moment you begin to wonder if you are even in the right room, briefly considering that you've managed to wind up at the armour gallery. However, it is the headmistress' writing on the board that confirms you are indeed at the right place: Please stand next to one of the suits. Class will begin shortly.

Speaking of the headmistress, where is she? The woman is nowhere in sight. In her usual place at the front stands a suit of armour just like all the others scattered about the room, unmoving and perhaps even a little intimidating. The only differences with this particular metal gear is its position in the room and the rune carved on the middle of its breastplate.

If you are curious about the carved rune, feel free to take a closer look. Perhaps you will recognize it. Otherwise, simply do what the message says by pairing up with a suit of armour and fix your hair or adjust your tie while you wait for today's lesson to begin. Headmistress Hawthorne surely will be making an appearance soon enough.

OOC: Take note that this is NOT the first Ancient Runes lesson your character has had with the headmistress this term. Also, please familiarize yourself with the classroom rules before posting. ~~The lesson will continue in roughly 24 hours.~~ The lesson is currently at the main activity. Feel free to jump in!

Text Cut: Lesson Progression

Arrivals

Question #1 (What do you know about Algiz?)

Mini-Activity (Carve and invoke Algiz on the armour.)
Regina post

Question #2 (What is one scenario you would use Algiz?)

Main Activity (Subdue the Blast-Ended Skrewts!)
SKREWT! post

SKREWT! post

SKREWT! post

Regina post

SKREWT! post

SKREWT! post

Closure

lazykitty · 10-06-2017, 11:10 PM

Wait......whhhhhaaaat? He was the first to class? That was unusual for the now sixteen year old. Perhaps age had had an effect on him? Nah......everyone else was probably trying to fight the urge to skip class and throw snowballs at each other. Honestly, that's what he wanted to do. But he was also quite enjoying his place amongst the top Gryffindor point earners, surprisingly, and skipping class was a surefire way of losing that. So, here he was, entering the classroom and reading the board.

Please stand next to one of the suits. Okay. Ronan chose a suit in the middle (what? he was enjoying his status but he wasn't suddenly turning into a Ravenclaw or anything), adjusted his tie, and slipped his arm into one of the 'knights'. Which sort of made them look like some sort of weird cosplay obsessed couple on top of a wedding cake. Hmmm.

Oh well.

keepmeclose22 · 10-07-2017, 12:04 AM

Austin Moore was happy to be a little early this class. He had slacked off in this class his past few years (mainly because he found it difficult). But this year he made it his goal to do better in this class. So here he was, almost half way through the year and he was finally early.

The note was a little ominous, but he stood by a suit anyways, placing his messenger bag on the floor next to it. Looking around, he saw another suit at the front of the room with a rune on it. The rune did look familiar, like someone tugging strings in his mind, but for the life of him he couldn't remember what it meant, or what it was. He hoped the suit didn't start moving, and especially not towards him.

Goblinfrog · 10-07-2017, 01:57 AM

Kitty pulled her hood up over her head and straightened her turtleneck so it covered her entire neck. Merlin's beard, it was cold! Thankfully she didn't have to patrol outside today, that would have been dreadful. Just looking at the dark, snow covered windows made her feel even colder.

When she was approaching the classroom, she removed her hood - thinking that the headmistress would probably tell her to remove it if she hadn't already. Crossing the threshold, she took note of her surroundings and froze, wondering if there had been some mistake. Why was this room full of armor suits? Had her hood obscured her vision and accidentally led her to the armor gallery? But no, she saw two more students already here, and then she saw the message. Weird.

"Hey guys," she called cheerfully to them as she moved to stand behind her armor suit. Definitely weird. "Anyone fancy a guess if Headmistress Hawthorne is watching us from somewhere in this room?"

SilverTiger · 10-07-2017, 06:48 AM

By now, it was more of just a not wanting to give up on what she’d accomplished last term. Even if Stasya didn’t really know how she’d done so well in Runes last term, she had, and therefore it meant she was going to try again this term. Maybe Headmistress Hawthorne had just awarded how hard she’d tried before. She could only use what little knowledge she’d gotten from her grandparents in Iceland for so long, and it wasn’t like talking in the language with the groundskeeper. Runes were harder, definitely, and it was harder still to get to the lesson when it was snowing outside. Part of her still wanted to go let Dobby play in the snow, because she’d been working on her heating charms so she felt like she could stay warm enough. Even if she’d still been wearing a thick sweater over her uniform shirt and two layers of stockings as she’d walked through the corridors to get to the classroom. Only to blink at what the classroom looked like.

That was a lot of suits of armor, and she’d gone up to examine the one at the front of the classroom curiously. It was the bird foot rune, whatever the actual name of it was. It looked like a bird footprint. She’d just have to think really hard about if remembered what the rune was, what it meant. While she chose a suit of armor, of course, sort of hugging it a little as she looked to see if it had a rune on it too. And also, she sent a smile to Ronan and the two Ravenclaws. But she was more curious about the topic of the lesson, and, as she’d heard the Head Girl’s question, wondering if the headmistress was inside the suit of armor with the rune on it.

Govoni · 10-07-2017, 10:18 AM

Despite the acute morning sickness, Marilyn Romalotti had arrived on time for this Ancient Runes lesson. Though her first born was across the pond, attending Ilvermorny, the Slytherin alum continued to feel a responsibility to the school. The school she'd forced her daughter to flee after the previous terms unfortunate events. These audits came at the perfect time, in truth.

It started with leadership. She was in the unique position that the class she'd drawn was also the subject the Hogwartian Headmistress taught. Being a supporter of Regina Hawthorne, Marilyn was confident things would go smoothly. Or so she hoped. Upon entering the classroom, the replacement of desks with suits of armour inspired a strange knot of tension in her abdomen. And here she thought she'd gotten lucky with more theoretical subject matter. Or at least in a classroom where she wouldn't need to concern herself with wayward magic. Constant vigilance it would be, then. As per Roderik Hirsch.

Slowly unwrapping her scarf, the blonde tugged it loose; her tan coat getting removed moments later. It was fairly warm in the open room, and with her natural body chemistry out of sorts thanks to pregnancy, she felt she didn't need the extra layers...Mm, now where was Headmistress Hawthorne?

...And there were children already filing in. Wonderful. Promising. "Hello, everyone." Smiling at one younger child in particular (Stasya), who looked familiar thanks to Olivia's diligent scrapbooking, the older blonde quickly summoned a chair for herself. There was little need for her to be kept standing around. So, when she finally seated herself, she crossed her legs and dug down into her bag for a clipboard and her glasses. Despite a more stoic appearance, Marilyn found herself quite eager to begin.

DuckyLinJi · 10-07-2017, 10:59 AM

Dorian did not like winter. He did not like the cold, or the snow, well actually he liked snow but only when he was inside the castle and didn't have to be outside. Which happened to be the case now as it was time for Ancient Runes. Unless the professor thought it was a GREAT idea to study Runes out on the grounds.

As the Ravenclaw entered the room, he unwrapped the House scarf from his neck and held it together with his bag in his hand. The first thing he noticed was definitely the suits of armour and for a second, Dorian thought he had walked inside the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom by mistake. He leaned back and checked the door but it was the right room. He shrugged to himself and re-entered again thinking that if he WAS in the wrong classroom he'd still learn something.

"Maybe she's in one of the Suits of armours and will jump out at the start of the class to scare one of us and the person getting scared is the chosen one" he said, answering the Head Girls question with a small chuckle. He'd love to see that. He walked over to a suit and stood next to it as instructed and also giving it a glance over. She wasn't in there right?! Great now he had made himself nervous!

He looked away from the suit and his blue eyes landed on a woman who was not the professor seated at the back. Board of Government member. He had seen them in multiple classes now but he wondered what for. Was it just to see the professors at work and judge them or was something else going on? Ah well, not his problem.

Moonhare · 10-07-2017, 11:13 AM

Maisie stood nervously next to a suit of armour. She had been looking forward to her Ancient Runes lesson, but she didn't like being so close to the suits.
They'd been something Maisie had been looking forward to seeing at Hogwarts, although she made sure her mother didn't know. Maisie had stories in notebooks that she'd rather her mother didn't know about. One of them was about knights. Heroes. Swords and armour. It was this that made the suits magical to Maisie. She studied the one she'd chosen. There were things about Hogwarts armour, spells, poltergeists maybe. Maisie tried touching it, to see if that helped her feel better about them. Nope. There was just something creepy about empty armour.

Saz Hale · 10-07-2017, 12:07 PM

Kimi entered the ancient runes classroom and looked at the rune on the armour as he was making his way to a free seat he was curious to know what they would be learning today he would need to take notes as Ancient Runes was still not one of his strong subjects

RandomRaven · 10-07-2017, 12:36 PM

Ancient Runes had become more interesting ever since Headmistress Hawthorne took over the class, and not to mention last term she was on the top student list. That's why Ava still took this lesson and felt much confident that she could get a pretty good result on NEWT for this lesson... Hopefully.

The Gryffindor walked to the classroom and noticed that the Professor was not there and the classroom arrangement, including the presences of the suits of armor were noticeable by her. Huh, were they going to combat today? Maybe not. But the written on the board said that she needed to stand beside the armor. Okay then. "Hmmm... I don't think so." Ava said to Kitty when the Head Girl asked if Hawthorne did watch them somewhere, and hiding in one of the armor, just like what a first year (Dorian) had guessed did not sound like the Headmistress since she thought that woman didn't really have that kind of sense of humor.

Ava also noticed there was a grown woman joined them. Oh, another Board of Governor member again. She just smiled politely at her and let the woman did her job.

TeafortheSoul · 10-07-2017, 12:47 PM

Charlotte still really enjoyed Ancient Runes, but still only when they actually got to invoke them for magical uses. All that other stuff, the transcribing and the divination, was just soooo boring to her, but the magic? YAS. And TODAY looked like it was going to be a magic lesson. There were suits of armour everywhere! And she did spot the Algiz rune on the one at the front.

She also cheerfully made the assumption that that particular suit of armour actually contained the headmistress, so Char cheerfully waved and greeted it, not for a second considering that maybe it was as empty as the rest seemed to be. Why else would it already have a protection rune on it, right?

"Hello professor!" She waved in view of the suit's eye slats and popped herself next to one of the suits that hadn't yet been claimed. OH and LOOK. Liv's mum was there too! Char waved at her as well and gave her a big bright smile and then looked around to see who else had arrived.

Kimothy · 10-07-2017, 01:59 PM

Vivian had started developing a love-hate relationship with Ancient Runes. She had found the subject really complex, but it never really stopped her from actually trying. Besides, she found the activity portion of the class rather fun... except that time last term when she and Sky were chased by pixies. That wasn't fun in any level—just loads of pain in the hair roots, thank you very much.

Skipping into the class, the prefect smiled. "Good d—," Vivian paused, definitely taken aback by the nowhere-to-be-found Headmistress and the arrangement of the classroom for today's lesson. The blond blinked, before ultimately shrugging and finding a place to crash while waiting for the class to begin. As she passed by, the blond definitely noticed one of the governors. Vivian offered a smile. "Hello, ma'am," she greeted, before she made her way to a knight near her usual seat and placed her bag down, standing beside it. And yes, Vivian couldn't help but think that maybe the Headmistress was inside one of these suits of armour. That would have been funny. A tiny smile played along her lips at the thought of it.

And yeah, that looked like an Algiz rune... right?

Daydreamer11 · 10-07-2017, 08:36 PM

There was a chill in the air and Shay was feeling it. She was really glad that she had worn an extra layer beneath her robes. As she entered the Ancient Runes classroom, the Gryffindor had just opened her mouth to speak. She was about to greet the professor when a curious sight met her eyes. First of all, there was no professor in the classroom.......not that she could see anyway. Then there were the suits of armor filling the room. Now that was something you didn't see every day.

Glancing around the room, Shay noticed the note on the board. Following the instructions, Shay walked over to a suit of armor that did not yet have a partner. "Alright buddy", she said. "Looks like it's you and me.". She put her book bag down on the floor and stood waiting for further instructions.

DaniDiNardo · 10-07-2017, 09:28 PM

This weather was an asthmatic's nightmare. In the last day or so, there was hardly a place the Ravenclaw could go without a good warming charm and her pump. Today was no different. Charm firmly in place, Jessa made her way to her next class, Ancient Runes with the Professor as it would seem.

She was about another second from greeting the redheaded woman when it occurred to her...she wasn't here.

Curious.

Even more curious was the suits of armor about the room with runes on their breastplates. well wouldn't this be an interesting lesson. What would they be doing with these? Were they animated? Could she animate one...?...And keep it? Naturally she'd return it but she couldn't help thinking of the interesting cross comparisons she could make with it.

"Has anyone seen the Headmistress?" It was a question worth asking but the woman was nowhere insight.

*PhoenixRising* · 10-08-2017, 12:22 AM

Skylar had an interesting relationship with Runes; on the one hand, she had finally begun to understand it slightly more, except for that one time when she and Vivian got attacked by pixies. But on the other hand, there was Brent. Sigh. Last year's practical use of runes by Brent just made her think of him and while they were in a good place now, in terms of friendship, she still couldn't help but think of him with Runes. He would want her to be great at the subject though, she knew that much.

As she entered the classroom, the fifth year fully expected to take her usual seat, but instead found instructions to stand next to a suit of armor? Huh? And no headmistress, although there seemed to be possible talk of her wearing one of the metal armor suits...Perhaps the one with the runic shield? Finding an empty suit next to where Vivian was, Sky smiled at the best friend. She could do this.

*Zoe* · 10-08-2017, 12:34 AM

From her hiding spot, a bit of a grin appeared on the headmistress' face when she heard the first set of footsteps enter the room. She wasn't surprised in the slightest at those who had arrived being so quiet. Their setup today for class was a bit out of the ordinary for Ancient Runes. When voices were overheard, the grin on her face grew a little wider. Where was she? Was she watching them from inside the suit of armour, waiting for the proper time to scare them?

As humorous as that would have been, the answer to that question was no. That would have been too predictable for a woman whose motto was to always be vigilant. Instead she had something else up her sleeve, which she had been busy keeping an eye on before they all had arrived...

The woman, at ten o'clock sharp, quietly slipped her way through a door that connected the backside of the classroom to another room and quickly closed it before what was within decided to make an escape. Not a single sound was made as she gave their visitor, Marilyn Romalotti, a nod as a greeting -- they would have time to properly greet each other later; she had a lesson to teach now -- before sneaking up behind everyone else that was present and accounted for.

Her voice suddenly sounded after Jessa Cambridge asked if anyone had seen her, likely surprising those who assumed she was watching them from within the hunk of metal in the front of the room. She had, after all, more or less appeared out of nowhere. "I hear someone got their revenge by permanently transfiguring her into that suit of armour up there. Matches her personality, doesn't it?" A gentle smile was playing on her lips, implying that she was obviously joking and proving that she could make fun of herself within reason.

Now that she had revealed herself, Regina walked between the student-armour duos to the front and took her place next to the only rune-carved suit in the room so far. "Good morning, everyone! Up to this point in the term, we have spent a lot of time learning and mastering the runic alphabet and its meanings. We are now ready to move on to runic magic and using it in more practical, day-to-day scenarios."

It was at that moment she then made a grandiose gesture at the breastplate her suit of armour was sporting. "If you haven't realized this yet, carved on the metal of this suit is an Algiz rune. This rune will be the focus of our lesson today. Before we dive in, however, let's quickly review what we already know about Algiz. I'd like for each of you to share one thing you know about Algiz, and please raise your hands before sharing."

OOC: Hello, everyone! Thank you all so much for participating in our first role-played Ancient Runes lesson of the term. 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 Algiz. 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!

TeafortheSoul · 10-08-2017, 01:24 AM

Oh! Char turned around and looked at the headmistress. Not in the suit of armour! And while she got the joke, she couldn't help thinking that the professor kind of was like the armour? In good ways anyway! Imposing, strong, and protective too.

And question time was always good because it always meant that soon enough they would get to do fun things. She stuck her hand up. "Algiz is for protection and shielding! It can even help your shield spells work better if it's correctly carved and invoked on your wand!" Should she mention about it being a bad idea to try to that with your wand if you didn't know what you were doing? Naaah. Nobody would assume, right?

lazykitty · 10-08-2017, 02:14 AM

He was ignoring the head girl, aside from a look in her direction, for he was still convinced that she was a Cultist. Instead, he returned Stasya's smile with one of his own and chuckled at the suggestion from a young Ravenclaw boy. "I don't know about chosen one." Unlucky would've been the word he'd use. Having everyone see you sweat was not his idea of a good time (another reason for ignoring the head girl, for it had been her wall message that....well anyway).

He returned the BOG lady's greeting with a "Hello, madame." Wasn't it a little snowy outside for non-Hogwarts based visitors?

He had been considering giving his suit of armor a little kiss (hey, it had been awhile, okay?) when the Headmistress appeared, causing him to abandon that idea. Ronan wasn't exactly surprised by it, though, because he had heard the door. Constant vigilance, as Professor Hirsch would say, though, his mum would call it something else entirely. He turned to look, arm still in the 'knights' as she spoke. The Headmistress had a sense of humor after all? Good to know.

He turned to face the front again when she reached the marked suit. Hmm, Algiz. "The color or colors most associated with it are black or purple." If he was remembering correctly, anyway.

RandomRaven · 10-08-2017, 02:29 AM

Out of nowhere the Headmistress revealed herself as Jessa asked if anyone had seen her. See? That woman was definitely not inside the suit of armor. Ava just gave a tiny smile when the Ancient Runes professor said someone permanently transfigured her into an armor and that... was not really funny. But nice try, Headmistress.

With the presence of Hawthorne, it means the class has started. The Gryffindor listened to her talked about the algiz rune that they're going to learn today and heard Char mentioned about this rune could help with their shield charm if it was carved on wand. Oh, really? That was interesting and she wanted to do that if/when she got into YATI because that could be helpful. "The rune algiz is also can be used for hunting." She answered the question as she put her hand up in the air.

Daydreamer11 · 10-08-2017, 12:28 PM

Shay watched as her classmates speculated about where the Headmistress might be. She had a feeling that the lady in charge was not too far away. She was proved to be correct when the Headmistress suddenly appeared from who knows where. You always had to expect the unexpected at Hogwarts. That much Shay had learned.

So now, the class was starting to learns bits about the topic of class for the day. They would be learning about Algiers. Shay had noticed the rune carved on the main suit of armor. The one that was taking the professor's place in the classroom. She was starting to get an idea about where this lesson was going. And as the first question was asked, the Gryffindor began to formulate her answer. Then she raised her hand to respond.

"Algiz is associated with Heimdall of Norse mythology. He is known as a protector, one who watches over. And as Char said, Algiz is the rune of protection." So then....... a connection, yes?

sweetpinkpixie · 10-08-2017, 01:19 PM

Derf was suddenly relieved that he had not gone knocking on any suits of armour upon entering the classroom today because that could have been AWKWARD. Although NOW he was kinda sorta hoping that this was a little preview of things to come and that they were going to play hide-and-seek INSIDE suits of armour somehow. Like...well...he could probably think up about a billion ways that this would make sense and WORK but right now he was trrrrying to focus on the question at hand.

Protection. Got it. Colors, er...that was more Abey's forte than his own for reasons. Mythology...er...Derf didn't know so much about that to be honest.

"It kinda looks like a stag...or an elk," he offered up after a bit of thought. "Which...um..." He paused to ruffle his hair a bit. "I think...there was a story somewhere about magical process to become a deer to escape from enemies...or to blend in with them for tactical purposes...like...kinda like an animagus form ... but Celtic peoples passed it down as lore..." He remembered dad talking about that.

The antlers meant something too...but...er...he couldn't really remember that at the moment. Cycle of life?

Kimothy · 10-08-2017, 02:06 PM

Vivian glanced to the side when she felt someone drawing closer. The blond offered a smile at the bestie, and gave her a tiny wave. Sky was very much welcome to pester her anytime but... oh.

Sneaky. The headmistress was definitely sneaky. One moment, the woman was no where to be found, and now she was in front of them as if all Apparation boundaries were lifted at Hogwarts for a few seconds just so Hawthorne could perform her stunt. And transfiguring the Headmistress into one of the suits of armour? Obviously, Vivian knew that was a joke. A weird one, to be frank. However, the prefect managed a tiny smile so that it wouldn't be awkward.

But on with the lesson, yeah? Vivian had already figured the rune in front was Algiz, and she was glad she actually got it right. The mention of practical rune magic excited the prefect a bit. Thank Merlin, she didn't want to sit down and listen to hours of lecture anymore. She was sooo done with those. With the energy she still had from the wee bit go excitement for felt, Vivian raised her hand. "Algiz is one of the three runes used in a rune victory charm, along with Sowilo and Tiwaz," the prefect offered as her answer. Since the others were able to share that the rune was for protection and all that.

Could they get to the real practical portion now, please?

*PhoenixRising* · 10-08-2017, 02:23 PM

So the Headmistress? If she'd gone to Hogwarts would definitely have been a Slytherin, Skylar was convinced. Except she hadn't gone to Hogwarts, so instead the Headmistress did get silent praises for that stealth from the fifth year.

Something else she could appreciate? That the Headmistress didn't play guessing games with them in today's lesson topic. No, like Camilla Stewart, the woman was upfront that today they'd be talking about Algiz and while details weren't provided yet, at least it wasn't a generic open-ended question.

"Algiz is more than just generic protection, but goes deeper than a mere shield charm. It's protection in both offensive and defensive. It protects us spiritually and physically, our emotional well-being." Skylar elaborated on what was already stated.

DaniDiNardo · 10-08-2017, 03:30 PM

If no one else jumped at the sudden voice of the Headmistress, she did. It was unexpected to say the least and a little uncanny given the timing. Hadn't she JUST asked where she was?

The 14 year old turned on her heels, eyes practically sparkling. Of course, she wasn't daft enough to believe what the woman had said by way of announcing herself but.....the prospect of it was intriguing to say the least. Turning her into the suit of armor? Transfiguring anyone into a suit of armor.

The cogs in her head were turning and she suddenly had a ton of questions that had nothing to do with Algiz.

Like everyone else, her hand went up but to say the Ravenclaw had gotten sidetracked from the actual lesson was an understatement. "Would you still have been sentient, Professor?" She asked. "If you'd really been turned into one...would you still hear and feel? What would the risks be? Would we be able to get you back?"

Lesson on runes? What lesson on runes?

Jessa was far too taken by the idea to focus anymore.

ArianaBlack · 10-08-2017, 04:05 PM

Zoryn wanted to chime in and help Hawthorne make fun of herself, tbh. BUT they woman had already moved on and posed her first question to the class, so unfortunately it was a lost opportunity. The prospect of turning someone into a suit of armor for revenge, however, gave her a couple of ideas. Zoryn needed to get her revenge before the term was up, so this was helpful.

As for the question, Zor didn't feel like thinking too hard. She still raised her hand like everyone else though, 'cause the Headmistress said that she wanted an answer from everyone. And Zoryn was the greater part of everyone, obviously. "Algiz would make a good name for a pet," she nodded. "'Cause it's short 'n sweet, but it's got a spunky sorta ring to it. Plus you can say GEEEEEZ ALGIZ! When you're angry 'n it'll still sound cute."

Zoryn would probably name her next inchworm Algiz.

This lesson was proving to be all sorts of helpful today and it just started! WOW!

Latest Site Notices

Latest Harry Potter News

Latest FanFics

Latest Forum Posts

Latest Games

Hogwarts RPG

Wizarding World RPG

Members