_{Monday, 4 January 2010 | 0800-0900 hrs | 6th floor classroom}

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[O+4] Gloria Gibbon
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[O+o] Katy Bevans
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[O+7] Kelvin Watkins
[O+2] Zoe Torret
[O+4] Addison Rockwell
[O+4] Alvis Norling
[O+0] Cyhirae Trishna
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[O+4] Amara Báthory

Welcome to Arithmancy
Come in and take a seat anywhere. We'll begin promptly upon the hour.
Today's lesson will be a basic learning the ropes course.
Have prepared only a quill, ink, and parchment.

Sweet smelling smoke drifted from the entryway to the Arithmancy classroom and down the sixth floor corridor. The hall was relatively quiet this early in the morn – the lasses and laddies still chewing their cud down in the great hall – or running around trying to get ready for the start of the day. The new arithmancy professor stifled a yawn and shuffled around the room, putting the finishing touches on the new set-up. Two rows of desks, positioned in a semi-circle, filled the room. With a flick of his stumpy wand, a set of quick instructions floated to the chalkboard.

After a nice, long puff from his pipe, the elderly, stunted wizard directed his wand toward the opposite direction, and the window groaned open. A chill entered the room, unnoticed by Professor MacLeod. McGonagall had mentioned something about not smoking indoors… but one only got one first impression, no? What a waste it would be for the students to form imprecise notions of who Henry truly was. Plus, no old bat, even one as revered as Minerva McGonagall, was going to take away his pipe.

Satisfied with the look of the room, the short little man shuffled over to where his raised podium sat. Having been made for a witch or wizard of average height, it held little use for Henry when he’d first arrived. He’d since fitted the chair with extra cushioning (and a spare book or two) and commandeered a stepping stool from one of the supply closets (presumably used for the house elves). He climbed the three small steps and settled himself most comfortably in the seat – then took another long drag from the pipe.

---

Feel free to post your character's entrances. If you're in Arithmancy and not on my roster, feel free to post anyway!

Before entering the Arithmancy classroom, Addison suppressed a quick yawn. She couldn't help but to feel tired. Waking up early at first was always hard for her, especially since she was able to sleep in for a bit at home. Now, she would have to get used to an early morning regimen again. It would take time, just as it always did. Nevertheless, here she was, up bright and early for class.

Turning the corner, Addison was surprised to see smoke drifting into the corridor. It wasn't the smell of a fire burning. No, it was sweeter. It was something else, but what? Continuing forward, she entered the classroom, and found the new Arithmancy Professor smoking a pipe with the window open. Apparently, Professor Levartian was replaced over winter break. Indeed, it appeared as if the quick succession of new Professors was not going to lapse anytime soon.

"Good morning Professor!" she greeted him with a smile, before quickly making her way over to one of the desks on the right side of the first row in the room. For a first impression, she took notice of how short this new Professor was. But, she didn't try to dwell on any sort of explaination. Placing her bag on the ground by her feet, she took out some parchment, a quill, an inkwell, and her textbook. After writing her name on a piece of parchment, she started to doodle an apple on one of the corners of the parchment.

Two Four Six Eight
Mum fell out of the Floo grate
Three Five Seven Nine
Dad's hair became a porcupine

With a light skip to her step coming into the arithmancy classroom, Gloria hummed one of many little number mnemonics she had developed over the years. This one drawing on inspiration from mum having a sneezing fit coming home from a Diagon Alley shopping trip and the time Dad tried to transfigure his hair to safe on a haircut.

She quickly planted her rear in a seat next to Addison. "Hi Addison! Have a happy Christmas?"

The exertion require her to take a bigger breath and she inhaled the lingering smoke from a pipe tobacco. "What is this stuff? Dad used to smoke something like this."

Kelvin walked into the classroom with a piece of toast still in his mouth, he might have slept in to avoid having to go to breakfast with a certain roommate and then not had time to actually eat anything when he had run down to the Great Hall from Ravenclaw tower.  The walk back to up to the sixth floor had afforded him time to eat the two pieces of toast already, while being chastised by a elderly nurse portrait who had followed him down the halls and up the stairs to tell him that he shouldn't walk and eat, though what a painting would know about eating, Kelvin couldn't guess. 

He wrinkled his nose at the smell of pipe smoke coming from the small man behind the desk.  Another new professor.  Hopefully the new guy hadn't gone through the grades from the last term.  All of Kelvin's grades  had slipped with everything else he had been worrying about.  But between the incident[1]  at the Yule Ball and the grades he was determined to throw himself back into his schoolwork this term.  O.W.L.s were after all right around the corner.  "Hello, Professor...?"  Kelvin said as he took a seat near the center on the second row and started pulling out his supplies.

1.	In progress, Almost Shameless

The miniscule professor made no noise as the students began to trickle into the room. He nodded his head toward those that offered a greeting and just watched as they milled about, getting ready for class. He puffed amicably upon his pipe, a content look upon his face. Early mornings, in Henry’s opinion, weren’t the best times to teach a class as knowledge-intensive as Arithmancy, but sadly Henry didn’t make the schedule.

When the class had filled and the bell chimed eight, Henry hopped down from his podium and placed his hand over the top of his pipe – effectively smothering the smoking instrument. He tapped the residual tobacco into his palm and hobbled over to the bin by the door to toss it. The professor drew his wand and pointed it at the door, and though no visual differences could be seen, one would find the path effectively barred.

And finally, when all was as it should be – the mixed-breed man spake, his deep Scottish accent adding a special depth to his tone. “’S a pipe, lassie,” said he, giving a rather doltish look to the Gryffindor lady. “MacLeod’s the name, and I’ll be taking over as your professor in Arithmancy this term. Before ye ask, I’m part goblin and I’m a right fair decent with numbers. Now, wha’s the most important thing ye need ta know about Arithmancy?” He paused, looking over the group of students and picking one at random.

“You there,” He said, pointing toward one of the students, “whaddya think it is?”

---

The class is still OPEN for new arrivals, just make sure you post that your student arrived before the bell rang, or have them trying to get through the door charm

The question is open for anyone!

Part goblin? That was...huh.

Alvis (who'd slipped in unnoticed somewhere behind Kevin and claimed a seat near the wall) cocked his head to one side, not entirely certain how to feel about the revelation. He -- his family, rather -- wasn't anti-goblin, per say, but they generally weren't on good terms with them either. Goblins took a lot of business away from wizard smiths, which resulted in bad blood along family. Hell, an old rivalry of the Martel's was the reason his grandmother was no longer allowed in Gringotts by herself.

Still. You couldn't ask for a head with better numbers than a goblin, and there'd been plenty of good and great wizards with goblin blood. It wouldn't do to let old prejudices cloud his judgement this early on, it'd make him no better than the purist lot.

Before he could get his head completely off that train of thought, a question was poised and a finger was pointed -- right his way, near as he could tell. "Um," Alvis said eloquently, fumbling with his glasses. "Important as in, about the field of study? Well, I ... I suppose that'd be how to properly apply the information. That is, you have to understand that it can be applied. Because it's everywhere, the numbers I mean, it's just that we're not usually trained to see it. I mean..."

What did he mean? Damn it all, he couldn't get his thoughts straight. He sighed and pushed his glasses all the way back up the bridge until they cover his eye. "I'm sorry. I'm not sure I understand the question at all."

Zoe had been really disappointed when she found out that Professor Levartian was being replaced. She was so nice! Zoe loved Arithmancy with her. But Arithmancy was Arishmancy, it was a straightforward subject, so this new professor didn't seem likely to be any more or less qualified for the position intelligence-wise.

She thought that until she walked in the door and saw her new professor.

Her first thought was dwarf. Though certainly he was too tall to be a dwarf, so maybe part dwarf. There was no way a man like this could teach Arithmancy. Defense, Creatures, even Potions, but not Arithmancy.

The smell of smoke met her the moment she stepped in to the room. For Merlin sake, her uniform would reek of the stuff after this one class! Zoe had always hated the smell of those damn cigarettes the muggles smoked on the streets, but this was even worse. She tried holding her breath by instinct, but realized that she wouldn't simply be passing him. Zoe's breath came out with a bit of a sigh and she sat beside Alvis, greeting him with a smile.

Goblin, that was it. The large ears had just been lost in the generation. Ok, maybe he had some qualifications to teach Arithmancy. Goblins were good at math and such. Fine. She'd give it a chance. Not that she had much of a choice.

Amara was truly grateful for her obsession with magical creatures, for the new Arithmancy Professor was proving a welcome distraction from her darker thoughts. She eyed him with interest from her seat in the first row, captivated by his obvious mixed heritage. She was, however, rather displeased with his habit of pipe smoking. Tobacco reminded her of Victor - who smoked pipe occasionally, as well - and while she did not truly register his peculiar behavior in response to the incident, she was now realizing that perhaps, her father would be even more devastated. They did not exchange a single word about Emi'd death, he'd disappeared, wiped across the face of the Earth since it happened and until the funeral. And at the burial he had stayed behind her, a hand resting on her shoulder. Why did she not remember this until now? And he had cried, while she did not. Her tears were reserved for when she'd be alone with the grave of her sister. He left quickly, and didn't even look back at her once.

She balled her hand into fists in her lap and smiled, a broken, horrible smile. She thought he deserved it—thoroughly deserved for all the years in which he had never once looked at her later younger sister. She was quickly jolted to reality by the voice of one of the students greeting their new Professor. Diligently laying her parchment and writing utensils on the desk she turned to look at the curious little man again. 'Half goblin' she mused in her mind. So her assumption was correct and she couldn't help but smile a little at that. This would be an interesting class, definitely more engaging than with their last professor. If anybody knew numbers, it was goblins.

She turned to look at who the Professor had asked the question and she silently nodded. Norling was a weird child, but at least he was smart. However, upon hearing his answer she frowned and for a moment almost had the impulse to call him a simpleton and respond in his place. But she just shook her head and continued to study the Professor. She had never spoken out of turn or without being asked and she would not start doing so now.

Bugger it all! ‘Twas his first class and already he was fudging it all up. How could the man hope to teach an entire generation of witches and wizards if he couldn’t even word his questions to where others could understand? “Uh, not ta worry lad, have a couple a points fer Ravenclaw. Knowin’ that Arithmancy’s important, and knowin’ how to use it’s a sure good thing,”

“Tha main thing ye need ta understand ‘bout Arithmancy is yerself. If ye don’t know yerself, ye can’t hope to know nuthin about nuthin else,” The goblin-bred man looked around the room, and then wondered if his words penetrated the young minds, and if they understood what he meant… even through his Scottish accent and roundabout linguistics. Glancing at their faces, Henry saw a mixture of emotions – from understanding to confusion, grief and happiness, and even a bit of skepticism, but Henry was sure that he’d get through to them.  Eventually.

“Right, uh, yew there, wha’s yer number?” Pointing another elongated finger toward yet a different student, Henry asked. He hoped they’d understand what number he was speaking about and not spit out something silly like those muggle fellytone numbers or the amount of change in their pockets. “Er, yer personal number,” He rectified.

---

+2 to Alvis Norling for a great answer!
Question’s open for anyone! If you don’t know what a personal number is, or how to calculate one, feel free to ask! For a quick calculation, visit here.

Just as she normally did with any of her doodles that she made during class, this current doodle lacked most embellishments and details. Nevertheless, Addison was rather proud of anything that she drew. This apple was rather basic so far. She drew out its shape, and started to actually draw out the stem and the branch that the apple hung from.

But, Addison didn't get too much further than that immediately. Gloria sat next to her, asking about her Christmas. She greeted her fellow fourth year, stating that her Christmas was enjoyable and worry free for once. She couldn't help but to giggle at Gloria's comment about the pipe. Despite seeing them before, it certainly was strange to see one at Hogwarts.

After a bit, the new Professor finally started the class. Apparently he was half-goblin, which explained the hight. He then poised a question to the class, and called on Alvis to answer it. It was a relatively complex and strange question to hear, and thus Alvis seemed to have trouble answering it.

Apparently, Professor MacLeod realized that he didn't state the question correctly, and then started to describe how it's important to know yourself. Indeed, some of the very basic calculations in Arithmancy was based on their calculated numbers based on their names. Quite frankly, she found it fun to calculate.

Addison found the Professor pointing at her next, asking what her number was. She knew well enough what number he was referring to, since her mind was already racing about it based on what he said moments ago. But, it was always good to have the confirmation that it was indeed her personal number.

"My personal number's a three!" she responded proudly, "which I completely agree with." Artsy, energetic, social ease. Yup, it definitely sounded like her.

A taste like stewed prunes entered Gloria's mouth as she clenched her teeth in a sheeshing sound under the gaze of the the professor. "I know it's a pipe," Gloria wanted to say, "I meant what's your tobacco blend? Something out of a snuffbox? Jolly Sailor? Haggis Hash? Gillyweed and liverwort?"

Gloria didn't say any of this, though, as she kept her tongue bit. A thin defense against an outburst. She grumbled. What was worse, the Professor seeing you as literally obvious or argumentative?

Gloria would not have considered the professor a goblin relative, he was far too hairy for it. She slumped a little in her seat as the class began. There was a lock of hair that kept falling into her face that she brushed aside. She looked to Alvis Norling's confusion then to other Ravenclaws like Zoe Torret. If Ravenclaws didn't know what the most important thing about Arithmancy was what hope was there for the rest of them?

Gloria's spirits lifted when they got on topic. Oh, personal number. "I'm a three too!" she exclaimed right next to Addison. That made her feel better. "I know about those inner and outer numbers too. Er, Social and..." The terms weren't registering on her internal glossary. "But I don't like the outer/Social one. It says I should be a Slytherin."[1]

1.

Social Number. This number represents the outer personality, the face an individual shows to the outside world. The Social Number is the reduced total of all the consonants in the name. Gloria's (incomplete number) is 8 Eight indicates the possibility of great success in business, finance, and politics. Eights are practical, ambitious, committed, and hard working. They can also be jealous, greedy, domineering, and power-hungry. Eight is said to be the most unpredictable of numbers and can indicate the pinnacle of success or the depths of failure; the potential to go either way is present from the beginning.

Alvis returned Zoe's smile, which lingered with relief when Professor MacLeod awarded house points in spite of his stumbling answer. At least it'd only been a miscommunication, rather than a lack of information on his part.

"Mine's a seven," he added, but it was soft and easy to overlook. He'd learned his personal numbers fairly early while Gran taught him basic design. Seven -- a number of perception, understanding, originality, imagination, and scholarly interests -- suited him well.

He listened to the other students chiming in with their own calculations, only to quirk his head with curiosity when Gloria Gibbon mentioned her social number. An eight? Really? That didn't suit Gibbon's outside personality at all. He ran a few calculations in his head and realized the problem almost immediately.

"Gloria," he said gently, leaning back in his chair to catch a glimpse of the girl. "I think your addition may be off. Did you perhaps forget to include your middle name?"[1]

1.	The linked website doesn't mention this, but when calculating numerology you're really supposed to use your full name as written on your birth certificate, including middle names if you have them. Just FYI.

Zoe listened to Professor MacLeod's answer of what the most important part of Arithmancy was, far more valid than Alvis's even though she hated to admit it. Maybe her new professor wasn't incompetent.

As each classmate stated their character number, Zoe was reminded of one of her favorite parts of Arithmancy: it always got it right. All of her numbers fit her. Addison, Alvis, both were perfect. ... Except for Gloria. Traits of an eight weren't traits she showed. "It doesn't say your a Slytherin," Zoe commented. "The Sorting Hat is mainly going to judge off of your overall characteristics and inner characteristics, who you truly are, so Character Number and Heart Number."

Still, why was that? Nearly as soon as Zoe wondered that, Alvis answered. She still couldn't do that much math in her head.

"I'm a nine for Characteristic, two for Heart, and seven for Social." Nine, dedicated to service. Someone to be looked up to. The perfect overall for the Torret heir... no she shouldn't think about that, even though it had been the main thing on her mine since Christmas. Ugh.

Immediately after she stated her own character number, the other students in the class began to state their own numbers. Although they already had the class for about a year and a half so far, it was always a good thing to review. In her opinion, the calculations were so easy, and pretty accurate.

Gloria was the first to start listing off her numbers. Addison tilted her head slightly as Gloria proceeded to dislike her third number. It made her sound like a Slytherin. "Um, I would suggest re-checking your numbers," she whispered to Gloria, who she was sitting next to. She would hate to embarrass her by calling it out loud, which was what it looked like Alvis was doing, even though he tried to say it gently to her.

Zoe stated off her own numbers, including the heart and social numbers, which was similar to the order that Gloria had stated. "Oh. My social's a three as well, and my heart is a nine," she added, still proudly. Indeed, her rather social nature was exhibited externally, just like her fidgety ways. To be quite honest, her heart number was a little surprising. She certainly hoped for achievement. But, it also meant arrogance and conceited. She certainly wouldn't admit that she had trouble accepting help or that her answers were wrong. They could probably assume that based on her actions.

Though Henry had pointed to only one student, they all seemed to be willing, nay, eager to spout out their numbers. Perhaps this wouldn’t be as difficult as the professor had imagined, though he really had no way to know if their numbers were correct or not. "Have a couple points then," He said to the young lass he'd pointed to originally. Then, the helpful little Ravenclaw corrected a young Gryffindor lass, and Henry was decided. He’d have to go over things for them – even if it was only a quick review.

“Right then, first off, in all me years, I’ve yet to come across someone who’s number didn’t fit em perfect. And just ‘cause yer number might has some undesirable characteristics don’t mean that you oughta be in a different house or nuthin like that. The Sortin’ Hat ain’t dumb – so don’t be thinkin’ that.” Henry looked over the class sternly. Self-negativity was pointless and unacceptable in a classroom setting. Plus it was an unnecessary distraction, and in this particular case – it was totally incorrect.

“Now, next off, take out yer parchment and a quill. In tha top, write yer name. Yer full name,” He turned his back to the class and prattled over to his chair, where he grabbed the stepping stool and pulled it to the blackboard. He grabbed a piece of chalk and started scribbling. “Me name’s Henry Rudolph MacLeod, and me character or personal number is a one. If ye don’t use yer full name, ye won’t get an accurate readin’,”

H 8

E 5

N 5 34

R 9

Y 7

R 9

U 3

D 4

O 6 40

L 3

P 7

H 8

M 4

A 1

C 3

L 3 26

E 5

O 6

D 4

(4 +3) + (4+0) + (2 +6)
7+4+8
19
1+9
10
1+0
1

The Arithmancy professor tossed the chalk back on the ledge and turned back to the class, wiping the chalk dust on his trousers. “Now, I want ye all to write yer character numbers out, just like I did, and I’ll come by to check it out,”

---

+2 points for Addison Rockwell, for being the first to pop out an answer!
You aren't required to do this. And if you need help understanding how it's done, feel free to send me a PM.