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Post by william on Aug 7, 2006 20:59:07 GMT -5
Professor Mason was rather pleased with the current situation. A 7th year student had shown interest in the subject that the said student requested to have this class. That ambition alone made him feel very promising about the class. True that there would be one student, but he could concentrate on this one student better.
Of course, he had to prepare the material and they had already missed a couple of lecture. But no matter, he was confident that the student would have no problem. At least he really believed so.
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Post by cappuccino on Aug 8, 2006 7:50:08 GMT -5
If Professor Mason had told anyone at all that he was confident of Ivy's skills in Ancient Runes, most of them would have laughed and declared him mad. Ivy was probably one of the most airheaded people ever to walk on Hogwarts land-- but it definitely didn't mean she didn't try 203% on academics. In fact, Ivy had studied herself crazy to pass her O.W.L.s. She had only managed to fail one class, and that was Arithmancy with a P. She even cried when she heard that she was going to be a N.E.W.T. student-- sure, students and teachers constantly asked her if she was in the right class, but that didn't bother her.
She walked into the class cheerfully, she had been looking forward to this for a while. Setting her bag on the table, she grinned at Professor Mason. "Hello, Professor," she said cheerfully. "You look dashing today!" she said as her usual compliment to her male elders.
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Post by william on Aug 8, 2006 18:57:38 GMT -5
He almost blushed. Really, usually students would greet him by saying "How are you", or "Nice weather". Some may ask him a question or two about the assignment and material from last class. But none so far told him he looked dashing.
"Miss Xin, welcome to Ancient Runes," he cleared his throat and tried to be at ease. "You look like you are all ready for class as well."
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Post by cappuccino on Aug 9, 2006 9:30:49 GMT -5
Ivy wondered why Professor Mason was so nervous about-- but remembered that she usually had that charm around people. She forgave him and smiled at him. "Yes, you can begin the lesson at any time. Is it true? I heard we're learning Elvish!"
She had heard the rumors, which was why she was looking forward to this class. Y'see, Ivy was muggleborn-- meaning that she was into muggle culture. There is this man, and his name is Orlando Bloom. Orlando Bloom + White Wig + Green Tights = Legolas. Yes, yes, Ivy was defintely happy about this.
Of course, these were indeed rumors, not facts.
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Post by william on Aug 9, 2006 21:38:30 GMT -5
"Indeed, Tengwar is a kind of Elvish language," Professor Mason replied. The girl sure looked enthusiastic, even a bit too much. He couldn't quite understand it, but his initial confidence seemed to waver a bit.
"So, Miss Xin, seeing that you are a 7th year," he cleared his throat again. He was facing her, and leaning on the desk a bit. "What can you tell me about Tengwar?"
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Post by cappuccino on Aug 10, 2006 7:42:30 GMT -5
Ivy thought about it for a moment-- in truth, she actually didn't really know much about the ancient script. In fact, she didn't even know it was real until today. Or was it? Being muggleborn, she had seen The Lord of the Rings, not read it. However, she still knew her fair share-- it wasn't as if Ivy had come to this class without even preparing. She had brushed up on a few definitions before entering.
"Well, all I know is that Tengwar is a script that J.R.R. Tolkien used while writing The Lord of the Rings. It was used to write the elvish languages and even English. Er... aside from that I don't know anything else. Is it actually real? Was Tolkien a wizard?"
She had wondered this for quite some time; hopefully, the Professor could clear it up for her.
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Post by william on Aug 14, 2006 15:52:06 GMT -5
Professor Mason actually chuckled at her question. He had had a couple of people asked him that already. He had yet the chance to reach or see this The Lord of the Rings, but he would really love to.
"Yes Miss Xin, the language is real alright. As for Mr Tolkien himself," he answered with a smile. "He is not a wizard. No body knows exactly how he got to learn the language, although there's rumor that he actually worked for the Muggle Liaison Office of the Ministry."
(Of course, I totally made up the last bit. Fans of Tolkien, please pardon me.)
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Post by cappuccino on Aug 14, 2006 21:09:06 GMT -5
(I'm not that big of a Tolkien fan... like Ivy, I've only read the books)
"Then... is Elvish real then? The verbal language it was partly used to write? What exactly is Tengwar used for if it's not just some sort of invention of Tolkien?" Ivy was starting to see where the muggle world and wizarding world semi-connected. It was as surprising to her as when she found out that Joan of Arc was actually a witch.
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Post by william on Aug 18, 2006 16:29:07 GMT -5
"Of course it is real, just like Elves are real too," he said. "We are going to focus on the written part of Quenya, the language of the High Elves. It is the most prominent language of the Amanya branch of the Elvish language family."
"Tengwar is written is a number of different ways known as "modes"," he continued. "For example there is a Quenya mode, a Sindarin mode and even an English mode. The phonetic values of the consonants and the ways vowels are indicated varies from mode to mode."
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Post by cappuccino on Aug 18, 2006 22:04:46 GMT -5
Ivy nodded at Professor Mason and wrote all the notes down. She was confused about these "High Elves". What made them so much better than the other elves? Amanya branch of the Elvish language? She pursed her lips but continued to scratch away on her parchment.
His last statement made Ivy raise an eyebrow. "Er...can you give me an example, Professor?"
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Post by william on Aug 20, 2006 15:29:57 GMT -5
The professor walked quickly around his desk and grabbed a piece of chalk. He drew a symbol which looked like a letter "b" with an extra curve. "This one here, in Quenya mode, has the sound of mp," he explained. "But in Sindarin mode, it represents the v sound." "Like I said earlier, we are going to focus on the Quenya mode this term. So tell me, Miss Xin, red, yellow, blue and green, which one is your favourite colour?"  (If there's a Tengwar Master out there, feel free to let me know if I make a mistake.) |
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Post by cappuccino on Aug 20, 2006 20:39:02 GMT -5
"Yellow," Ivy said simply. "Of course, for Hufflepuff," she nodded. It was true, although Ivy looked the best in reds and greens, she always made sure to wear some yellow to show off her pride for her house.
"Okay... so it's mp for Quenya... got it," she said to herself. She put her quill down to look at Professor Mason. "Er, what does it sound like in the English mode?"
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Post by william on Aug 23, 2006 20:06:17 GMT -5
The man was about to start writing when Miss Xin asked him a question. His hand in mid air, he turned around to answer her. "It sounds rather awkward," he said thoughtfully. "Actually, it took me years to get it right. But let's focus on the vocabulary today." "So, yellow, in Quenya, is spelled malina," he first wrote it down in English format, before drawing the Quenya pattern.  (That symbol mp is pronounced as "ampa". But that's rather difficult to rp the prounciation, so I am not going to focus on that. Again, pardon if a Tengwar Master is out there.) |
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Post by william on Sept 8, 2006 16:54:07 GMT -5
(Class over, thanks for showing up!)
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