Fundamentals
N.E.W.T Level Ancient Runes
Slytherin House / Beauxbatons Academy / Salem Witches' Institute
Thursday, September 24, 2009
9:30 am

Professor Ylva Maras of Durmstrang

	________		________		________
	Xavier Tawse P  Waverly Roh-Ballentyne Gracie Slant P  Liviana Wiedman Demitria Strelnikov P  Georgiana Trishna Cornelia Woofolk		Tracy Jones P Samuel Lambright Jak Bishop P Leonard Nagde P Odessa Eisley		Étienne Miroux Cécile Fontaine P Teodosio Medici

---

In cooperation with the TetraWizard Tournament's motives for creating a diverse learning environment alongside the competition, the professors of all four schools were called upon to cooperate with one another to provide a shared curriculum.  Professor Maras, perhaps like most of her peers, was very happy to do this because she sensed that all the other schools could benefit from more Durmstrang know-how in their academics.

Maras had so far gotten on very well with Hogwarts' own Professor Aileen Reid and Maras found she respected the witch very much.  But from her exposure teaching and observing the Runes students over the month had convinced her that even the course's top students still needed work on their fundamentals. 

The Rune students will have all seen Maras before, her stoic grim countenance accented by a frightful silver eye-patch and a maddening attention to detail.  All during September, she'd rotated in and observed in most of the class sessions.  But this would be her first time teaching these particular students, although they would have seen her before.

She paced the front of the room as the students from Beauxbatons Academy, Salem Witches' Institute and Slytherin House arrived for class.  Her palms were pressed together and her fingers all laced, only her index fingers still steeple upward.  The massive chalk boards were filled with Runes.  The more careful students would be able to recognize Futhark, Centaur, and the enchantment-quality enscriptions found in Middle Gobbledegook, among others. 

"In your seats quickly," she ordered them in her Swedish accent,  "and immediately begin drafting a Cartesian Couplet[1], if you can."

1.	This is made up.  I imagine it is a type of magical inscription format that takes into account some kind of rhythm or rhyme of the runic language being used. I imagine it is a very right-brain task that requires rote memorization and an attention to minute details and procedure.

Hogwarts really wasn't like Salem; Jak had found her usual habits getting glares instead of the blank acceptance she'd gotten used to back home. When she arrived in the classroom, she took her usual steps; A, get into desk by vaulting over the back of the chair. B, drop book bag unceremoniously at her feet. C, get out book and paper as loudly as humanly possible. D, bang head on desk and cuss at it.

It wasn't unusual at Salem, though she'd gotten sharp looks for it here. It didn't stop her, mind you.

She dropped her notebook on the desk, and at the last minute, remembered to get out a roll of parchment. Annoying things. Apparently the British had never heard of binders, or college ruled paper, or the term 'modern'...

It was only when she'd finally given in and pulled her wand to pin the parchment flat on the desk that she got a good look at the teacher. This wasn't the stiff blonde woman from before - Reed?  - but someone else. Her accent identified her as from Durmstrang right away, as did the eyepatch. The eyepatch definitely didn't make her seem the reassuring motherly type like Valdaine.

Jak readied her pen anyway, but stopped at the order given, her eyes unfocussing. She'd never done a Cartesian Couplet before in her life. She'd heard of them, but she wasn't the most diligent student of Runes...

She studied Maras for a moment. Did she dare raise her hand? Did they just chop your arm off at Durmstrang if you did that? Based on the 'Strangs she'd seen, she could believe that was the case. They seemed to just know everything.

Oh well. She could take one for the team. And a few days out in the Hospital...cabin-thing...wasn't a bad prospect. She thrust her arm into the air. "'scuse me, Miss..." Eyepatch hadn't said her name yet. She settled for, "...Miss. We haven't done Cartesian Couples before, I don't think?"

Cecile entered the classroom moments after the SWIM girl, stopping up short when she watched her vault over the chair like it was a horse and then proceed to whisper what she could only assume was curses at the desk. Cici's hazel eyes went wide at such a flagrant display of disrespect to both the teacher and the poor desk and she froze, completely uncertain how to handle such a situation. Where should she sit? She was there as support, and therefore she was supposed to 'promote friendship' with the rival students, which she took to mean that she should go and try to spark a conversation. Honestly, though, she didn't want to. The male students from SWIM, at least the couple she had met thus far, seemed rough around the edges but still pleasant, but the females...well, they kinda scared her. They were all so loud and in your face that it seemed to be a requirement. She wanted to keep an open mind, but knew that the girls huffing and puffing and cursing would disrupt a class she rather enjoyed. Mon dieu, where was Elodie to diffuse the situation? She was far better at making friends than Cecile.

"In your seats quickly,"

With the professors command urging her on, or perhaps it was that frightening eyepatch of hers, Cecile decided on a seat that was in the middle of the two extremes. Not close to the girl but also not on the opposite end of the room. Settling into her seat, she took out supplies carefully and arranged them on her desk. A simple but sleek white quill, a jar of midnight blue ink, parchment, book and a small velvet bag of runes. She smoothed out the parchment and poised her quill above it, prepared to wow this frightening foreign professor. But she found herself quickly crestfallen when the professor asked for something she hadn't quite grasped yet.

Now... what was the best action? Admit that she didn't know and show weakness to the other students? Or pretend that she knew, then fail the assignment, and look bad in front of the teacher who, with that eyepatch of hers, looked like she didn't take disappointment well. She was about to pick the lesser of two evils when a loud voice exclaimed what she was thinking. Glancing behind her, she saw that it was the girl from earlier. A small smile curled at the corner of her lips as Cecile thanked her silently for taking the fall. Perhaps she had judged too quickly.

There it was.  Professor Maras paused in her pacing, and looked over her shoulder at the lone question from an American.  It was the one who'd made a theatrically unhappy entrance into the classroom - Maras had seen this one before.  It was a bizarre attitude to have in the hallowed halls of a magic school - certainly learning was a privilege? And even more so now that they were being taught by the best the visiting schools had to offer?  Durmstrang had brought it's best students.  Had Ferreole LeBeau opted for a different strategy, then?

Had it been Durmstrang, Miss Bishop would have been banished from the classroom, threatened with the Dregs, and not bidden to return until she was able to meet expectations.  But then, Miss Bishop hadn't had the benefit of a Durmstrang Runes foundation, and so she (and the other blank-starers in the classroom) would benefit from Maras's benefit of the doubt.

"Couplet," Maras corrected, making brief eye contact with both Bishop and the big-eyed Beauxbatons girl next to her who looked just as intent to hear the procedure.

"A two line runic inscription, each line containing exactly fourteen runic glyphs.  The object of the enchantment is to link together a tangible and intangible magical property that would otherwise be completely distinct," she rattled off rapidly.   There are numerous classical examples of this, as well as strong modern examples.  I would have expected students at your level to have a basic understanding of this rudimentary form."

Maras felt a mixture of smug superiority, but also a bit of slight disappointment.  Teaching to different levels of preparation was always a challenge, and not one she often encountered.  She wondered how best to proceed with such an obvious lack of consistency across the students.  At least she'd tested the waters.

"But lacking experience with Cartesian Couplets, we'll focus on what we do know - what other classical runic forms are you familiar with?"

Dear Saint Helvetica, she hoped they knew something...!

Now this was Xavier's kind of teacher!

While the brooding Slytherin had always enjoyed the hoity yet elegant presence of one Aileen Reid, he had been eyeing the Durmstrang Professor since the beginning of the term waiting for the moment when he could actually learn something from her. He wasn't all that interested in the tournament but the chance to meet the other students and the other teachers was keeping him somewhat sane these days. Had he been the same teenager he had been September of last year he would have strolled up to the two foreign girls as charming as can be and offer to help them with anything they needed. As it were Xavier Tawse was drastically different now, so much had changed in such a short time that those that had known him for years were still getting used to it. Some thought he was going through something horrible and keeping it all inside (which wasn't untrue) while others thought he was finally showing his true colours, all glam and charm aside (which also wasn't untrue)

Xavier took his usual seat, which wasn't that far off from where Bishop and Fontaine were seated and pulled out his supplies. He was doing what he could to maintain his strict O average (something that had slipped during his OWLs the year before) and got down to work as soon as the Professor mentioned the Cartesian Couplet. His quill was scratching away at his parchment until the loud American spoke up. He paused in his etchings to listen to what the Professor had to say. He was somewhat disappointed that she seemed to be taking a step back in their instructions. Xavier almost lazily raised his hand, "If we already know how ta do a Cartesian Couplet cin we jus continue?" He asked in his thick Scottish brogue.

Blank stares and one lonely, off-topic quip from one of the Hogwarts Slytherins.  Slytherin House had a reputation and Ylva had learned quite a bit about them since arriving.  Of all the houses, they seemed to have the most in common with Durmstrang although it wasn't nearly analog.  Ravenclaw, or so it seemed, had the focus on academics Durmstrang demanded, but Slytherin certainly had the drive. 

And, at least in this case, the self-confidence often mistaken for arrogance.

The lad's comment was not unwelcome and she faced him fully, crossing her arms over her chest. 

"I'd rather you educated your peers, young wizard.   Please - share."

In Ylva Maras's class, a challenge such as Tawse's was not met with a pat on the head, but rather a further challenge.  Never satisfied, Maras sought the limits of her students knowledge and no doubt, she'd find them.

Mig's own entrance to the class had been slightly more ceremonious than Jak's, but not by much.  Much as they always did in the hollow, stone halls of the castle, the heels of his hard-soled boots had heralded his arrival from halfway down the hall.  But, he had refrained from vaulting over the back of the seat, at least, as he settled in the desk next to his fellow Salem-ite. 

And, this witch Durmstrang had sent seemed an absolute rose.  She seemed to regard them with that haughty disapproval that most of the Durmstrang students seemed to be armed with.  Migs couldn't help but wonder if the eye patch was there to protect the students.  If this woman was allowed to glare at them with two eyes, it seemed they could very likely be turned to stone. 

The woman's implications that they needed to go back to the basics rubbed Migs the wrong way and he didn't bother to hide that fact.  He wasn't intimidated by the woman. 

"Our curriculum takes a more decimal approach to the forms," Migs spoke up, pulling his hair back away from his face.  "Classical and modern triads and quads.  Our junior year focused on the various arrangements of tens.  We understand the basic concepts but have not been introduced to Cartesian Couplets.  Since, I'm sure your aware, our schools have different curricula.  We've covered stuff that seems basic that your students haven't just as we haven't covered this, yet." 

So, she could stop judging and move on to teaching.

Xavier rolled his cool grey blue eyes obviously annoyed with being called out as such. If the other students didn't know the work it was her responsibility to teach it to them not him. Even still Xavier removed his wand and raised it. With a few quick flicks he shot a glowing strand of light from the tip. The light created a simple oval in front of him, slightly above his head so that everyone could see it, "It's simple." He began to explain and as his wand continued to draw the design of the Cartesian Couplet within the glowing oval he had created he instructed how one would make such a design on their material of choice.

Once he was finished 'teaching' Xavier put his wand on his desk and let the rune float above him until it dissipated on it's own. He glanced back at the dark Salem student and nodded, "He's got a point ye know, cin we jus get back to thee lesson?" Xavier was well aware that if he had sassed a Hogwarts Professor as such he would receive a detention or at least points reduction for it. While he didn't care if he got punished he was definitely curious as to how the one eyed Professor was going to handle herself.

Such touchy things!  So much more concerned, they seemed, with saving face and feeling warm and fuzzy than with taking this opportunity to soak up every iota of knowledge she could give them in the brief time they had together!  She missed Durmstrang for that. 

Maras just stared a moment at the Salem boy (Mr. Nagde) who decided now was the proper time to discuss his home school's curricula.  A stare long enough, she hoped, to let it settle that she was deliberately not interested in such a distracting debate.

Mr. Tawse, on the other hand, obliged her.  She liked these Slytherin already.  Although she'd been told there are absolutely no strata at Hogwarts, she suspected Slytherin felt differently.

He characterized the Cartesian Couplet deftly, hitting the major points, and Maras was satisfied. 

And then disappointed.  She waved her hand at him dismissively.  "Three ... merits or tokens or what have you to Slytherin.  And one more if I don't hear anymore pedagogical opinions from you peanut gallery," she said, before charging on. [1]

"Take a note of it.  Mr Tawse hit the important bits.  Cartesian Couplets are always contained in an oblique rondel[2] and the inscription is to be divided into two equal parts.  Inside of that structure there are many variations and naturally this type of runic inscription works best in chalk or ink. Now - moving on!"

Now that the momentum had begun again, Professor Maras was speaking rapidly and had begun to move around the front of the room to the chalk board.  Her short curly hair bounced as she took many opportunities to turn over her shoulder to check that the students were listening, and to spy any hands in the air.

"We're going to test your diagramming and translation,"  she said, and she heard a couple of groans.  Her wand whipped over the chalkboard, as previous runes disappeared and new ones took their place.  By the time she was done, there were nearly forty different inscription examples in four different runic languages and modes.

"You're to break these down into their elements and agents - and yes, minor agents and minor-sub-agents as well.  And a translation where applicable.  I expect to see the element trees clearly branched.  Watch yourselves on number 7."[3]

Some students were glaring.  It was tedious work, inscription diagramming, but an important skill.  Especially when it comes to drafting new inscriptions or understand the magic of an unknown inscription.   It was desperately important and a solid foundation of this art.  She lacked any remorse at all in bending their noses to their parchment.

She sighed, and relented in an act of mercy.

"You may work in twos or threes."

1.	+3 Slytherin
2.	Rune-y word for oval
3.	This is all made up.  Ylva's old school and favors things that might seem rote or old-fashioned.  I imagine that runes and inscriptions, like grammar or formulas, have complicated parts and structures that you can break down an analyse, sort of.  But magicky.

Cecile sat in a respectful silence as the Slytherin begin to explain, rather unenthusiastically, how to use a couplet. Despite her misgivings towards the house, Cecile was polite by nature and found joy in learning new things, so she pushed aside any negative feelings and dutifully took notes. It became readily apparent that she had seen this form before, briefly, back home. There were so many forms in Runes that most rune crafters had their preferences. For instance, her professor preferred Tunisian Trines over couplets and had only glossed over the latter. A titter of joy at getting a new perspective almost escaped her lips, but she squelched it quickly. Didn't want the professor to think she thought the class was humorous. Madame Maras didn't look the type to find anything particularly funny.

"We're going to test your diagramming and translation,"

Though there were quite a few groans at this, Cecile was not part of that group. She liked rune translation. There was something very relaxing about it, like meditation. She found it easy to block out the world and just do line after line of runes, lining them up and taking them apart, like the building blocks of magic. As the professor wiped the board and summoned about dozen different lines of runes, Cecile felt her normally small smile broaden somewhat. She had just started to translate them over to her notes, preparing to tear into them like a particularly good cut of steak, when Professor Maras announced that they could work in pairs or threes.

Chewing on her lip, Cecile considered her options. She normally would work alone, but there were quite a few couplets to do and she didn't want to seem anti-social. Just like she was here to get a new perspective on learning, she was also here to meet people she would never have a chance to meet back home. Preferably people who weren't pureblood snobs, in fact, she wanted to search out the exact opposites. Well, kind of. She knew the girl in the back, the loud SWIM girl, was the most likely candidate but she was uncertain about her. She didn't like many girls aside from her sister and Gabrielle, their nanny, because a vast majority of the ones she had met were... well... snobby little bitches to put it rather rudely. Not that she wanted to assume this about Miss Bishop, and could very well be quite wrong, but she also didn't feel like being proved correct either. So she looked around.

Her eyes lit upon the broad-shouldered Native, whose long hair and laid-back demeanor struck her as quite the opposite of the type of boys her grandmother wanted her to interact with. He would be perfect! Gathering her papers and quill and ink, Cecile made her way over to him, a soft hopeful smile on her face. "Um... Monsieur? May I work with you?" She asked, hoping she was correct about his nature.

Migs met the woman's stare with a pleasant, amiable grin, winking when she moved on to the Slytherin.  If the woman opted to take his offered summary of their academic background as nothing more than a catty defense, there was little he - or any of them could do about it.  A Salem professor would have taken the same information from a Durmstrang student and used it to better understand how to best adjust the lesson to allow for the differences in academic backgrounds. 

Which, the schools were entitled to their own approaches and vive le difference and all that.  He still planned on making this as awesome and exciting a day as the last one and a little bit of scowling wasn't going to change that. 

Migs flipped through the pages of his spiral-bound parchment pad to a fresh page and readied his slender, white-feathered quill.  There was a soft voice next to him and Migs looked up at one of the young women from Beauxbatons.  He recognized the girl, he thought.  But, the Beauxbatons ladies all seemed to have a rather similar look to them - slender, refined, like a doe in human form.  They all had a tendency to blend together if one wasn't paying close enough attention. 

"If you want, sure!" He transferred his quill to his left hand and offered his right to shake.  "Name's Leonard, or you can call me Migs.  Do you mind whistling while you work?"  Migs grinned, glancing from the notes on the board to their opulent leader.  "I'm thinking still managing to have fun while embarking upon the mundane would confuse certain individuals to no end.  Have you all done this stuff before at your school?" 

"If you want, sure! Name's Leonard, or you can call me Migs.  Do you mind whistling while you work?"

"Cecile... You can call me, um, Cici..." She felt uncertain about telling him the nickname that only Elodie and Corey ever used but there was something about him that put her at ease. She liked him, probably for the same reason she liked Corey so much. They weren't like most of the men in her life. They didn't put status and appearances above honor and integrity, or family for that matter. They didn't view women as something to display on their arm like a particularly fine hunting trophy on a mantle. They were unrefined, sometimes uncouth and a bit rough-around-the-edges, yet she felt like she wasn't in danger of every move she made being scrutinized and judged. It was a comforting thought and with it in mind, she sat down.

"I'm thinking still managing to have fun while embarking upon the mundane would confuse certain individuals to no end.  Have you all done this stuff before at your school?"

"I think it's fun..." Cecile said softly, almost inaudibly, oddly embarrassed about admitting this. She, personally, was proud of her Runes knowledge, but somehow she felt that this might not be cool enough. So much for not letting herself feel judged. Fiddling with her quill, she shrugged one shoulder, half-heartedly "... Yeah, we did something similar. Translations and such... Not Cartesian Couplets though." She begin to divide up the runes so she could categorize them, glancing over at her partner with a smile "How about you?"

Professor Maras paced down the rows as students bent to their tasks with varying levels of diligence and enthusiasm.  Despite their groaning, these were N.E.W.T.-level students and would be equal to the task, or so she was counting on.  She tried always never to allow her students to ease about in their comfort zone, always straddling the line between what they could and couldn't do.  On there on that narrow margin lived growth.

Her boots clicked on the stone as she step.  Step. Step. Stepped down the gap between the tables.  Some sat and stared at the board, nothing written on their papers, getting oriented in their heads.  (Or perhaps, just staring blankly, not sure where to begin.)  Others, she saw, like the proper-looking girl from Beauxbatons had begun to organize things for themselves before beginning.  Unpredictably, she'd chosen to work with the long-haired boy from Salem who'd been so keen to share his thoughts on educational philosophy. 

They were grinning at each other dopily, and Maras pinched a tolerant smile.  So this was the international relations they'd been told to encourage.  Ah well. 

"Another name abbreviator!"  Migs grinned as he lifted up in his desk just enough to shuffle it around so it faced Cici's.  "My middle name's Migiziins.  Hence Migs.  Just lob half off."  He pantomimed chopping something in half before picking up his quill.   

Migs wasn't sure why the Beauxbatons student seemed embarrassed by her admission.  Learning was cool.  Granted, Migs was far from the stellar student.  He could be excellent and dedicated when he chose to be - he was known to throw himself at what interested him with intense dedication.  But, he did tend to turn a lazy shoulder to anything else.  Runes was borderline; at least what they usually covered in class. 

"I'm comfortable with the Old World runic alphabets," Migs admitted with a shrug as he started scratching out the baseline of the Cartesian Couplets.  "But, it's a bit mund-" 

Rapping boots against stone heralded the nearing of their instructor and Migs glanced up from his page.  "My personal interests run more in the ancient stuff," he continued as he turned back to his work.  "Really ancient stuff.  I guess it's not really runes - or, they don't really know exactly how they relate.  But, there are some similarities.  Petroglyphs[1], hieroglyphics and the like.  There's a lot more bang in the modern stuff - my aunt calls it 'high magic.'  But, who knows what they used to be able to do." 

"Obtained in an oblique rondel and divided into two equal parts.  It probably makes a difference which direction the longer axis runs.  Do you all worry about directions much in your curriculum?  East, south, west, north?"  Migs had outlined the glyphs on the curved lines and, after a quick glance out the window, rotated the page so the Raido[2] pointed due south.

1.	Rock carvings
2.	Raido- ride, journey

The older students were more than capable of working silently for the duration of the class.  With the younger ones you had to change activities frequently or entertain threads of dregging the lot of them, so incapable they might be of staying focused and on task.  But by the time they were fifteen, sixteen years old, they'd learned the code of the classroom, they'd aligned to its ways, and could use their time wisely and free of distraction.

But it wasn't always wise to use the entire class session with desk work, not when they had the benefit of Maras's expertise for such a limited tour.  And so after a half an hour had passed and most students had made significant progress through the many tasks before them, Maras cleared her throat and called for attention.

"Quills down, eyes front,"  she said.  "I hope you used this time wisely because that's all we'll be doing here in class.  Before you leave, you'll need to take down the rest of the transcriptions as they'll be due by week's end.  If you get hung up, I encourage you to seek out one of my students.  The Durmstrangen have more experience with the Yggdras passages.  Or, you may find me."

Her tone of voice didn't seem to indicate that the latter option would be very much fun, but she was willing.  Besides, for the driven student, 'fun' wouldn't be a factor in scholarly pursuits.