Level Two: Lesson One

[David Pierce]

He'd been hoping that as things went along he'd begin to relax a little, and to some extent he had. His level one class wasn't so bad, and despite the uncomfortable robes he'd managed to get a good lesson in. He was sitting at his desk, chair tilted back and feet propped up on the desk itself, absently touching the many silver rings on his fingers. He's been struck earlier by a melody and had scribbled some notes out on a roughly scratched music staff between classes. Pushing that to the side, he picked up his wand that had been rolling restlessly back and forth across the desk, and flicked it at the title on the board:

Ancient Runes: Level Two
The Runic Alphabet, Corresponding Powers, and the Eight Circles of Runic Magic

Please take your seats.

- David Pierce

He chuckled quietly to himself, picking up on the irony that he had thought the Level One students had a daunting title waiting for them. Ha! His Level Two's were going to review today, although he wasn't exactly sure where they were at and might have to spend more time on it than he had expected. Not that he was worried, he could adjust accordingly.

Sighing, he absently blew a strand of hair from his face, noting that there was a lot of waiting involved with teaching...

[Celina Jedynak]

The hour between class, Celina had taken out in the courtyard playing her harp as her brother listened to the sweet melodic notes that rode on the wind. He was sad when she had to leave, but understood all the same knowing that he too had to get work done. He was still planning classes for the first years flying class that he wasn’t ever expecting to have to teach. He wasn’t a teacher in his opinion and didn’t even like children…especially, young first years. Celina knew that something else was plaguing her borther’s mind, and yet he continuously wouldn’t tell her. She worried and so did all she could, or rather that he would allow her to do for him. Playing her harp always cleared both of the Jedynak’s minds and so that was what she had been doing before class.

She had thought she would be late, for she almost stayed behind with her brother. Alfonz just seemed so distracted lately, and Celina didn’t know what to do. Nor who to go to. He wouldn’t talk to her like he used to, and it was beginning to scare her. There were times she had thought about telling Connor or Felicity…even Drew…but she didn’t want to upset any of them, let alone upset her brother by brining them into it. Plus, who would really help her? All that could probably be said was that he was stressed out, and that she would believe. Now, for what reason, was what Celina wanted to find out.

Walking into the classroom, she looked around and saw the new Ancient Runes professor sitting at his desk lazily with his feet propped up. A sheepish smile graced the young Raven’s features as she read the board and did as it told, sitting near the front, but in the second row of desks. She took out her book and placed it on her desk, not really knowing what else to do. So, she waited…and hoped that her mind wouldn’t be too distracted by not being able to help her brother with whatever was plaguing him.

{Permission given to God Alfonz}

[David Pierce]

"Welcome to runes!" David greeted Celina happily, gesturing to the room with his arm. "First student to arrive. I was beginning to wonder if word had gotten out I was a horrible professor and my level two's were in hiding." he joked with a grin. He'd finally stopped trying to be a professor and just started being himself, which seemed to go over better with his level one students earlier. She was a Ravenclaw; not surprising she was the first to class.

Seeing where she sat made him chuckle, thinking of earlier. "And another who refuses the front row. It really must be cursed." He said more to himself than to her, but he smiled at her again anyway.

[Drew Thornton]

Sprinting through the halls, his open robes fluttering behind him like a super-hero's cape, Drew sprinted down the steps to the seventh floor. Yes, down. The fifth floor staircase had depostited him on the towers, and Drew couldn't help but wonder if the castle was creating new tricks to mess with them. After seven years, he was sure he knew all of the idiosyncracies of the castle's staircases.

He careened around the corner and slid into the Runes classroom, grinning at the man behind the desk and glad to see that class hadn't started yet.

"Drew Thornton. Ravenclaw seventh year. Pleased to meet you professor," Drew greeted the man with an offered hand as he dumped his backpack on a front table. The lanky seventeen year old had enjoyed a good run with the Runes professors. He hoped this man would be in kind.

[David Pierce]

"Aha!" David said triumphantly, standing and walking around his desk and shaking Drew's hand, the silver rings on his fingers catching the sunlight streaming through the windows in sharp flashes as he did so. "Drew, my boy! I was just musing to myself and the young Miss Ravenclaw here about the taboo that has surrounded the front row in my classes," he explained, letting Drew's hand go and giving him a friendly clap on the shoulder. "Thank you for proving me wrong."

Stepping back, he sat on the top of his desk, folding his legs Indian-style underneath him and grinning at the two. "And then there were three." he said with a chuckle, glancing back at the door. "My roster has seven listed; let us see who shows up next, yes? My guess is that it will be a Gryffindor."

[Drew Thornton]

Drew gave a short laugh before taking his seat. The Ravenclaw had gotten used to sitting in the front over the last couple of years, mostly out of necessity. He had eventually gotten over the whole wearing glasses thing, but still sat in the front of most of his classes. It was the classes he didn't like that made him seek out a desk in the back.

A Gryffindor on the roster, and Drew figured it would be Tristan. As he waited for the class to start, he got out his books and notes, figuring he'd better review since he really hadn't looked at them all summer.

[Celina Jedynak]

As the professor spoke to her, Celina was slightly taken aback not really knowing many of the professors that out right greeted their students. Not to mention, she usually wasn't one to talk much prior to the start of class. With the more Professor Pierce spoke, Celina's face became redder and redder. She turned her face, smiling as she did so, her mouth opened to speak just as Drew walked in. She sighed, thanking Merlin that she didn't have to speak, and yet the Professor brought her back up again to Drew about where she had sat and she bashfully looked away from her friend. Distracting herself, she played with a lock of her hair and sighed, trying to hide her embarrassment. Still, without speaking a word.

[David Pierce]

David waited a good amount of time longer for the rest of his class to wander in, reluctant to take points on the first day. Still sitting atop his desk cross-legged, he took a breath and began to speak. "To those I haven't greeted personally, let me say welcome to Level Two Ancient Runes. As stated on the board, I am Professor Pierce and I will be guiding you through this fascinating field. I'd like to ask that personal conversations be left at the door, where they can be resumed after class." He hated laying out rules, but it was necessary to let everyone know what he expected of them.

"This is a NEWT level class, meaning that each of you has elected to further your basic knowledge of this topic of your own accord. While I am more than happy to have you here, I'd like you to keep that in mind. Needless to say, we will be covering material that you will be expected to know to pass your NEWTs at the end of term. I will do my best to limit boring lectures, because I hate giving them almost as much as you hate hearing them, I'm sure. In return, I'd like your full attention and effort in all things we do in this class."

Standing, he moved to the podium at the front of the class and leaned his elbows against it, looking out at the students and smiling. "Now, I'm not exactly sure what you covered in your Level One class, but I figured a bit of a review couldn't hurt before we begin to move on to more complex things. Let's begin with the runic alphabet," he said, turning to tap his wand against the board behind him, where a diagram depicting said alphabet appeared for the class to see:

((Click here to see the image))

"You all should have a basic knowledge of these symbols, as a good chunk of the OWLs consisted of translations. And I'm assuming you all passed your OWLs, or else you wouldn't be here." He paused, then added: "If you'd ever like to review this chart, it can be found on page seven of your textbooks." He picked up the black bag that had been sitting on the podium and held it up. "If everyone could please remove their stones," he said, waiting a moment as they did so. "Now, let's try a few questions to refresh everyone's memories. Say I casted a spell using the two stones 'KAL' and 'LOR'. What would be the resulting effect of this spell?"


((Class has started. From this point on, all students should act as if they have been in class the entire time. Any student that specifically says they came in late will have house points deducted.))
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[Drew Thornton]

Drew pulled out his rune stones and dumped them on the desk, sorting through them until he found the two the professor was speaking of. The Ravenclaw was pretty confident in his abilities when it came to the ancient stones, but still, he checked the book to make sure he was figuring things out correctly. It had been, after all, a while since they had actually had a Runes Professor.

"Kal... Summon. Lor... Light," Drew deciphered, speaking more to himself until he had managed to put it together. "It'd be kind of like a Lumos, right?"

[Celina Jedynak]

Celina pulled her own bag of stones out of her bag and smiled brightly. She wasn't in divinations, but she did like runes for the fact that they could be read to help guide one. Magic with the stones was only a bonus in Celina's mind and as Drew answered the question before her, the Raven stayed quite by nodded her head. Yup, that's what she believed the stones to do as well. They'd be able to help light one's way and if Celina did it just right...

...she muttered to herself, concentrating really hard as she held both stones in her hand. They began to light up slightly and the Raven giggled to herself, hoping that she wasn't heard. She closed her hands and the light seemed to seap through the cracks just slightly...Celina tried hard to pay attention to the front as her hands tingled from the coursing energy in the stones.

[David Pierce]

"Very good, Drew; it is, indeed, the equivalent of a 'Lumos' spell." David congratulated the Ravenclaw with a delighted smile before turning back to the class. "Which begs the question: Is there a correlation between the spells cast with rune stones and the spells cast with wands?" He asked, walking leisurely between the rows of desks as he spoke. "The answer is yes. Rune stones were used as one of the first mediums of magic-" he stopped abruptly. He had been passing in front of Celina's desk when he noticed the faint light emanating from between her fingers. Blinking at her for a moment, it suddenly hit him what had happened. "Excellent!" he said enthusiastically. He hadn't caught her name, but he only had one Ravenclaw lady in this class, so he guessed this must be the young Miss Jedynak. "Very impressive, Celina was it? Yes, very good indeed; five points to Ravenclaw for initiative and pure talent! A note," he said a little louder, for everyone to hear. "To stop the effects of any spell casted with rune stones, one must cast 'AN ORT' - you'll all want to write that down somewhere." He smiled at Celina again before moving away.

"Now, where was I? Ah yes, a bit of a history lesson. Rune stones were one of the first mediums of magic, and are probably the best medium when channeling the vast amounts of magic used for the most powerful spells. The downside to the stones is that they are complex and the caster must focus intently on the spell being cast. Wands were introduced as the solution to this problem, because they are much easier to channel through. However, runic aficionados such as myself still prefer the use of stones.” He said with a chuckle.

He had circled the room and was now back at the podium. "What do you think? I’m assuming you’ve all been introduced to basic spell casting with stones; do you prefer them or your wands? Why?” He looked out over the class, waiting for someone to answer. It was a simple question, and there was no right or wrong answer, he was simply curious.

(5 points to Ravenclaw)

[Drew Thornton]

"No offence sir, but I think I prefer the wand," Drew answered with a crooked smile, pretty confident that the professor wouldn't dock him points just for having his own opinion on the matter. "I mean, I can understand that the magic is probably stronger, but if you're in a hurry, digging for the right stones just isn't feasable. Like, if I'm in a duel and need to block a spell, throwing out a Protego is going to be a whole lot faster than trying to find that Sanct stone."

"Now, if I was going to do something major and had advanced warning," Drew continued, knowing that Runes spells had been used to protect Hogwarts a few times, "Then yeah. You dig out the stones."

[Celina Jedynak]

The stones still shone, for her focus had drifted from the professor and to the tingling in her hands. Celina stifled a giggle and sighed as the professor started to compliment Drew on his answer and talk about it some more. He passed through the rows, but Celina's concentration was on the stones in her hands. She liked her stones...

Very impressive, Celina was it? Yes, very good indeed; five points to Ravenclaw for initiative and pure talent!

Losing her concentration, and realizing now how close the professor stood to her, Celina's face went to a bright red, her stones stopped glowing, and she sheepishly shied away. She was so embarrassed and she slightly sunk in her chair as the Professor walked away. Putting her stones back down on her desk, she felt a yawn coming on and turned her face to the side and covered her mouth. Took a lot out of her to concentrate so hard and cast the spell....

Raising her hand, Celina wanted to also participate. "I like the stones, professor," Celina finally spoke up and smiled sweetly. "Is it true that when combined with wand magic, it can be rather dangerous if not done properly?" She asked.

[Lucas Smith]

Lucas had slipped into the class behind Drew, but kept a safe distance from the boy. Lucas really had no problem with Drew at all, but it was clear that he had a huge problem with Lucas. The Ravenclaw didn't want to always be butting heads with his housemate, but he never got a chance to try and really talk to Drew. He wanted a chance to explain and try to make it right, but it didn't seem like that would ever happen. Lucas sat down quickly in a seat near he door as the professor announced that class was starting and took out his notebook, ready to write down what he needed to know.