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Myrni leaned against the door frame of the room that was her office and faced the classroom, her eyes half watching as the NEWT students filed into the classroom and half reading the text in the little pocket sized book the she held delicately in her hands. She saw a few yawns as they passed by her, and she could relate as she felt one coming on herself. But as soon as the clock struck exactly eight and those who had arrived had secured themselves into their choice of seats, she snapped the book closed and made her way towards the front, extracting her wand as she went.

When she reached the blackboard, she touched the tip of her wand to it and cast a spell. For a moment, the board looked like it liquified and that someone had dropped a rock or other item in water, causing ripples.

She stepped back and finally addressed the students who had taken seats. "Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Are we ready for a some heavy duty thinking?" The Arithmancy professor wasn't really concerned whether or not they actually were. She hoped that once the class got going, they would be less concerned with that as well. Breezing forward, Myrni spoke as she looked back to the board. "Since by now you all should have firm grasp of the subject, I thought it might be nice to spend the day engaging in a little discussion." Touching the rippling blackboard again with her wand tip, words began to surface.


Myrni walked off to the side of the room and took a seat in one of the empty desks. She set both the book and her wand down before her and clasped her hands before resting them on top. Her hazel eyes scanned each face in turn before she glanced quickly back to the words on the board.

"Now, there are two things I would like your opinion on today. First, I want to know if you think that statement is true. And then I want to know if you think it is practical." She paused. "And it goes without saying that I want to know they 'why' behind if you agree or disagree."

Myrni's brows arched and she asked, "So? Who's first?"

The first three minutes of a class could tell someone a lot about how the rest of the class would go.  Some classes started with the prompt grating of table legs against stone floor as the room was readied for a more rigorous, wand-based lesson plans.  Some started with a list of runic translations tossed up on the board, the sure sign of an hour spent hunched over ones desk, lost in puzzled translations.  Some started with nothing more than a single sentence scrawled out in the middle of the board and a few minutes of silence as the students read it, digested it and put their thoughts in order. 

Sasha loved these kind of classes.  Of course, there were few classes he didn't like but he especially thrived in those classes that gave them the free rein to take their previously obtained logic and run with it. 

And, Arithmancy was a class Sasha generally did well in.  He liked numbers and math and, outside of class, preparing for mathematic GCSEs certainly helped.  Very quickly, Sasha's interests were settling on that grey realm that separated muggle theories of the world from magical theories of the world and Arithmancy was one of those classes that actually allowed for exploration of that interest. 

That quote on the board was a shining example of that.  Sasha grinned broadly as he read the quote. 

"Of course.  But, not yet," Sasha said, answering both questions in turn.  He couldn't have hid his enthusiasm with the class' topic if he tried.  "If ... if every action in the universe can be interpreted and formulated into numerical equations, it just seems highly unlikely that magic is any different."  That thought, alone, was, in many ways, the fundamental base in Sasha's current interest and theories.  "If a numerical equation can, ultimately, explain the moment the universe was created - in theory, the moment when whatever the foundation of magic is, was created - than it must all start at one consistent equation.  We just don't know how the two meet.  Yet."  He'd be perfectly content if his life work was spent trying to answer that one question.

Sasha was much more confident about the answer to the first question than the second.  He whole-heartedly believed what he was saying in response to the first question.  The second, though...  "As of yet, I don't think we know enough for it to be practical.  There's still so much speculation - and so much resistance to the idea - that it's practicality is very limited."

If there was anything Francesca was actually good at, it had to be Arithmancy. The subject which gave most of her peers a headache, came more naturally to her. She understood everything Professor Levartian usually challenged them with and achieved very decent results without too much studying. It was the only subject in which Francesca managed to secure an 'O' and she believed that is how things will remain. She sat next to the window, with a book open in front of her - this time however she wasn't staring at it because she was bored with the lesson, this time she was focused. She liked Levartian's style - the woman could make even the dullest things interesting sometimes.

Speaking of dull - there was Schlagenweit again and this was one of those moments when Francesca wished she were deaf. The boy had no idea what he was talking about. Her face turning bright red, Francesca tried very hard not to interrupt his uninteresting rant with a rude remark. Instead, she staged a couple of very loud coughs. Francesca was not a student who usually answered questions in front of an entire class, but she was confident enough to do so during Arithmancy. So, she raised her arm after Sasha finished, then got up and spoke without waiting for the approval of the teacher.

"But Professor," she said, her voice slightly hoarse from fake coughing. "Surely you were looking for more...concrete answers." There she gave Schlagenweit a nasty look, as if he were a toad. Honestly, she had no idea why the studious boy irked her so much. Maybe it was because his opinions were so, typically muggle-like. "Like - for example, curses can be explained through Arithmancy and yes, it is practical. My brother is a curse-breaker and he works with equations every day to understand enchanted artifacts or ancient places." Her brother was only a part-time curse-breaker at Borgin and Burkes...and a full time criminal, but she left that bit out of course.

"One cannot understand curses without Arithmancy - so I guess this would apply to other branches of magic." Well, logically it would, but Francesca wasn't sure as she never checked the facts. But as far she was concerned, she was satisfied with her answer. With a tiny hint of a smile, she sat back down to her chair.

Mornings were NOT Elijah’s favorite time of day, that’s for certain. Actually, Eli thrived in the nighttime, preferring to live nocturnally. Sadly, that wasn’t an option at Hogwarts. Classes, other than Astronomy, were taught during the day. Some of those classes earlier than others. Eli scrambled into the class blindly and fell unceremoniously into a seat beside Sasha. He let his bag slip off his shoulder onto the floor with a rough thud. He mumbled a quick good morning to his roommate, but he wasn’t sure if his fellow Ravenclaw heard him through the yawn that overtook Eli halfway through his greeting.

Not long after, Professor Levartian started the lesson and Eli’s daydreams about his comfy bed went right out the window. It was too early to speculate, and much too early for discussions in Eli’s opinion, but he wasn’t the teacher. Plus, he liked Arithmancy, and he was pretty good at it too. He didn’t really listen to Sasha or the Slytherin chick that spoke after him, because he was busy trying to formulate a coherent response through the fuzz that filled his brain.

When she sat down, Eli began his side of things, “I don’t think so. I think that Arithmancy is great for things that have already happened, but it’s pretty useless when you look to the future. Arithmancy is an immediate, in the now, kind of subject. It’s great for things like curse breaking and investigations and finding the reasoning behind matters, but it’s not possible to formulate an equation that can tell the future. It’s not possible to see someone’s fate through numbers.”

“For concrete branches of magic I’ll agree, Arithmancy is a wonderful way to understand the inner workings of things, and a great way to explain the reasons and whys of magic and how it works. For more obscure branches, like Divination, it’s not that simple. So, I guess to put it simply: No; magic can not completely be understood through equations.” Eli finished his tirade with a smirk. He thought he did rather well at compiling his thoughts so early in the day. Whoever decided Arithmancy should be the first class of the day should be fed to the giant squid.

Josh was watching as two of his classmates had now made fools of themselves. Schlagenweit by talking about the start of magic, Grimlish by forgetting parts of Arithmancy. "You're forgetting Compatibility Charts, Elijah. Those predict how compatible someone is, which is inherently part divination. So yes, even obscure branches of magic can be explained by equations, it's a matter of knowing how to construct them. So yes, it is possible to understand all magic through numbers, however, it is likely impractical at best, since it would likely take longer than a wizard's lifespan to do." Josh said, wondering what someone would say next.

If one could ignore the tendency of some of his classmates to launch personal attacks and criticisms, this class could allow for some interesting debate.  Sasha, indeed, tried to ignore the Slytherin's all-too-blatantly timed coughs as he spoke and might have even succeeded in pretending he hadn't heard at all if it wasn't for the ever reliable blush spreading across his features with each hack. 

Trying to maintain a neutral expression and tone, even if it had lost some of its enthusiasm, Sasha turned and gave Carys-Burke his full and un-interrupting attention.  Even as the Slytherin spoke, though, Sasha couldn't help stealing a quick glance towards the board to reread the question. 

"There's nothing concrete about that statement," Sasha voiced, quietly, once Carys-Burke finished with a smug smirk.  A point which Eli seemed to reinforce nicely.  When Harcroft spoke up, though, Sasha was certain he'd done little more than reiterate much of what Sasha and Eli had just said. 

"Certainly, it sounds like we're all in agreement that the more 'concrete' magical disciplines can be understood through arithmantic and numerical equations - and, as Ms. Carys-Burke pointed out, quite simply.  But, the statement isn't asking about specific branches of magic - it's asking about magic in its entirety.  Magic as whole - whatever that may be."  Did they really, fully even understand what magic was.  Was it an energy force like lightening or kinetic energy?  Another basic form of matter along with air, fire and water?  Was it something entirely different? 

"I still hold by my original premise.  I do believe magic, as a whole and all its disciplines, could, theoretically, be explained through numerical equations.  As all other parts of the universe can be.  Just because we don't know the equations, yet, doesn't mean they aren't there.  In some of the more simple cases, like curse breaking, as Ms. Carys-Burke pointed out." Sasha had never been good at snarky comebacks.  Whether the minor dig on her brother's profession would even be noticed, he couldn't say.  But, it was the most he was going to offer in front of a professor.   "It is practical.  But, as Mr. Harcroft mentioned, it isn't yet practical to apply it to magic as a whole.  It would require a large commitment towards studying the theoreticals."  Which, Sasha couldn't wait to get out of Hogwarts and really sink his teeth into.

She hated this! She knew she was right and she knew she understood the question correctly, then why did they insist on making it more complicating than it was. But of course Schlagenweit insisted on turning this into a 'What is actually Magic' debate! Professor Levartian never asked that question and Francesca was angry because some students deliberately ruined this with their irrelevant opinions. She sighed and looked down at her textbook, her long wavy hair covering the expression of pure frustration.

But what was 'Magic' indeed if not a group of branches of magic? She had used curses and curse-breaking as an example, but she was sure such examples could be made about other branches. Why was it so hard to understand for them and why were they making it more complicated than it actually was? Grimlish wasn't even paying attention and ended up contradicting himself, Harcroft said a lot of nothing and Schlagen-lame rambled on about irrelevant things. Nothing at all was new in Hogwarts.

"But what is 'Magic as a whole' if not a collection of lesser disciplines? It seems like you're trying to purposely make this more complicated for yourself, Schlagenweit." Francesca couldn't help herself, but she actually said this in front of the whole class. But the second statement didn't sound like a helpful advice from a fellow student to another. It was a snarky little remark that came accompanied with a little tilt of her head which was almost saying 'I truly feel sorry for you and your brain Sasha Schlagenweit'.

Again, Sasha looked between Carys-Burke and the board before finally looking towards Professor Levartian for some clarification.  As far as Sasha could tell, one didn't put a single, philosophical sentence on the board and direct a class to 'have at it' if they were looking for a simple, yes-or-no, open-shut answer.  Sasha wasn't intentionally making it complicated - he was intrigued by the questions the statement posed.  And, his understanding was that they were supposed to be discussing it.  Or, had he misunderstood?

The Ravenclaw turned back towards the Slytherin and shook his head slightly.  Taking care to maintain a polite tone that all but ignored Carys-Burke's snark, Sasha replied: "I may be complicating it but I think you're over-simplifying it." 

He gestured back towards the board then pushed himself to his feet.  He hesitated a moment, watching Professor Levartian for any sign of disapproval before approaching the blackboard.  "Is magic just a collection of lesser disciplines?" Sasha asked, reversing the question.  "And, you really think we understand them all fully enough for it all to be practically reduced to equations?" 

With his wand, on a corner of the board, Sasha scribbled out a quick and simple chart, stepping back and pointing at the question marks.  "There's a lot of magic that can be grouped into disciplines.  But, what about ... what about the magical pollution around Hogsmeade and Hogwarts?  That interferes with muggle technology?  What discipline does that fall under?  Or - a dementor's ability to effect weather patterns?  Is there a currently practical equation for determining how much the weather will be effected?  For some things, it's simple.  For others ... not yet." 

"Alrighty then," came the calming voice of their professor as she slid from her seat at the desk. She noted the slight chill in the room that did not come from the changing seasons. Aiming to diffuse it, she praised their efforts. "I see our discussion is quite lively. Pleased you are all interested in exploring this level of depth in the subject."

She pointed to the board, swirling her finger in a large inclusive circle which had her questions and Sasha's visual grouped together. "It looks like you have touched on some shared points and some not so agreed upon. This is not unusual and in fact, the discussion you are having is one that wizards -- and especially the ones studying this subject -- have been debating for ages."

A wry grin touched the professor's lips. "A few of you must get teased or questioned constantly as to why you are interested in this boring old subject. How can we possibly justify it as being both necessary and practical? Are we thus forever doomed to be labeled as purely academic theorists?"

Levartian's shoulders rose and fell with feigned hopelessness. Then she posed, "I suppose we should continue this discussion with yet another question in this vein." Out came her wand again and she pointed it at the board where her previous inquiries were scrawled. Another appeared as she recited it. "Are you more inclined to see arithmancy as just an academic branch of magic?"

Professor Levartian spoke up and Sasha quickly stowed his wand away and slipped back into his seat but not before the slightest of grins flickered across his features.  He had no intentions of descending from the realm of clinical, academic debate to meet Carys-Burke in her attitudinal banter but he couldn't help feeling slightly vindicated when Professor Levartian was clearly pleased with them discussing the 'depth of the subject.'  He knew she hadn't been looking for some overly simplistic 'yes or no' answer.

Personally, Sasha saw absolutely nothing wrong with Arithmancy being viewed as being purely for the academic theorists though he knew he was in the minority.  Thinking back to his conversation with Professor Hagrid at the end of September[1], Sasha knew not everyone understood the drive to study for studying's sake - or questioning for the sake of finding out if you were right or wrong. 

But, the truth was, Sasha's strengths lay much more in the academia than it did in any of the practical aspects.  Certainly, that was where his passion was.  There was no point in responding to the comment about getting teased or questioned - that happened all the time.  Most of the time for reasons unrelated to Arithmancy.  He'd learned to ignore it years ago. 

"I don't think it's purely academic," Sasha confirmed, shaking his head.  "Like any area of study, there's bound to be room for both the practical - or applied and theoretical.  I'm sure there's bound to be those who are drawn more towards the applied arithmancy," he glanced pointedly in Carys-Burke's direction "...and those who are more interested in the theoretical arithmancy.  I just think that, because it doesn't create tangible spells, creatures, potions or prophecies, the products of applied arithmancy is more easily overlooked by witches and wizards that are more accustomed to studying the former."

1.	If You've Got To Fail At Something, Fail at Failing

Teagan had been listening to the discussion - or argument - about Arithmancy, without adding anything until now.  She was feeling slightly sleepy as she had been up too late studying, falling asleep on a Hufflepuff common room couch.  It was such a mistake: she was having trouble clearly understanding what everyone was arguing about.

However, as the class progressed, her mind began clearing until she finally felt she might have something to contribute.  Of course Arithmancy had a practical, applied purpose.  "I really believe Arithmancy is not just a theoretical, academic subject.  There is a mathematical science to it.  Although Divination has sometimes been able to show the future accurately, I believe Arithmancy is a much more reliable and scientific method for prediction. 

"Rare are those with the ability to divine correctly, while Arithmancy allows anyone who has mastered the subject to come up with a certain understanding of the future, as well as revelations about the past and present.  I think another practical usage of Arithmancy is, as some of us have suggested, in understanding the workings of the universe in general and, therefore, that includes all aspects of magic.  This is useful, not just theoretical, because understanding the universe can lead to discovering magical as well as non-magical solutions to everyday problems. "