11 March 2010
Thursday @ 5pm
Ancient Runes Classroom, Second Floor

Sign-In Sheet
Gracie Slant - S
Amara Báthory - S
Alexandra Carstairs - G
Addison Rockwell - R
Ambrose Pepper - G
Alvis Norling - R
Deus Deres - S

At the beginning of last week, a bill was posted in each of the common rooms and visiting student dormitory announcing an upcoming special seminar led by Professor Maras of Durmstrang.  Professors of Potions, Herbology and Runes had been kind enough to make a small announcement as well. 

Professor Maras would be holding a hands-on workshop for mixing enchanted inks for use in Rune inscription.  No experience required. Just be ready to work.


The last of the afternoon sun poured in from the windows casting a warm orange light on the workspaces Professor Maras had prepared.  On each table were an assortment of coffers, vials, and jars.  There were mortars and pestles, small cauldrons, rolls of parchment and brushes and styluses of various sizes.

The black board was drawn all over with circular charts, tables of ingredients and properties, and recipes transcribed from her personal grimoire.[1]

As she waited for students to arrive, she ground dried tarrowroot in a mortar, the soft scrape of stone on stone the only sound.

Many of the students of Hogwarts, Salem and Beauxbatons had come to know Professor Maras from their time in Ancient Runes class, but Ylva had had little opportunity to meet those who'd not chosen the craft, or those too young to begin (by Hogwarts standards).  She struck an imposing image, some said. Her severe expression, her red-purple curly hair, but most of all, her shiny silver eye patch.  Despite great effort, no one had ever been able to correctly guess at what lied beneath.  She kept the secret very safe, even as the silver patch seemed to reflect the observer's deepest insecurities. 

1.	In my head, a grimoire is a specific book of runic enchantments and inscriptions.  Maras has published a well-received grimoire.

As she hurtled down the corridor, Alex[1] in hand and politely elbowing people out of her way, Gracie– Quidditch team captain, Dueling Club Vice President and Nightshade extraordinaire –nearly buzzed out of her skin in excitement, twists of brown locks trailing behind her and cheeks flushed of color. Short of squealing, gibbering, and general jumping about, it wasn’t obvious unless one knew the signs – every word that passed through her lips were crisp and concise, and she hadn’t quite devolved to flailing hand gestures just yet – but those steps were fast and her movements were sharp, almost to the point of distraction. Every so often she’d glance behind her, at Alex, gaze expectant; her voice was low, but carried well behind her, tossed over her shoulder as frequently as it was.

And. Well. There was the elbowing.

“Sorry,” she flashed one poor fellow a brilliant, razor sharp smile, just as she shouldered yet another one. When the guy failed to budge – instead whirling on her with a glare, mouth thinning into a decisive line even as it grew apparent he’d recognized her – she didn’t halt for a second, only shouldered him again, this time ŕ la Beater style. He staggered back with a grunt. “Anyway, where was I? -Oh, and then in chapter six, she–”

She continued in this vein for quite some time, at least until they’d made it to the room. When they stepped inside, she was much more composed than before– almost normal, even– though not without not-insignificant help from Alex. “Hello,” she smiled blindingly at the professor, as she headed for the seat in the middle of the classroom, one in the second row.

Ink. It was the seminar she’d been waiting for without realizing she had been. Though her interest in cursebreaking was no longer what it had been (the recent conflict between the goblins and the Ministry playing some part in that, though the fact that she’d have to answer to either played some part in it, too), her interest in Ancient Runes had not; if anything, it’d only changed somewhat—to this, specifically. And though she’d most likely never reach the oh so grand heights of Whitman, potionmaking prodigy…

Unless he was delving into ink and their magical possibilities as well, Gracie was sure she had that corner to herself, at least.

Pulling out a notebook and a pen (–What? No one ever said they weren’t allowed–), the Slytherin flipped it open to a blank page, bypassing the scribbles she’d made for Quidditch and random classes. Somewhere in her Bottomless trunk was a rack of vials she’d filled for the Nightshades, concoctions made with limited but distinct uses in mind. Thinking of them – and, idly, of runes – she began to draw.

1.	With Hazel’s permission!

Despite her recent changes, Ancient Runes still remained perhaps the only subject that truly intrigued and challenged the Báthory heiress. There were just so many choices, so many unknown variables and so many combinations and juxtapositions of runes. And that wasn't even the tip of the iceberg, just imagine the wonders of runes applied in other magical fields of study... the possibilities were endless.

With her hair down - almost reaching the back of her knees now - Amara seemed eerily spectral whenever she moved. She walked slowly to the front of the classroom nodding politely towards the Durmstrang instructor. "Good afternoon, Professor Maras" she said lightly with a little smile as she passed her by. The Slytherin took her usual seat in Ancient Runes and hung her bag on the back of her chair. Crossing her legs, she leaned forward eyeing the table with interest. By the looks of the board, she'd certainly be enjoying this seminar. After all it did mix together some of her favorite subjects...

"Girls," Maras greeted the three, standing from the table at the front.  She was acquainted with all three and thought well of them all.  She was pleased they would be so motivated as to opt for an optional class in her subject.  For her Durmstrangi she'd have expected nothing less, but the Hogwarts students were, as a whole, less often mandated by their culture to seek extra instruction so the fact that these teenage witches were here on their own accord was only a mark to their credit. 

A few more minutes passed and a few more students joined them.  And when the castle bells struct the hour in the distant clock tower, Maras found no need to delay.

"Good afternoon," she said in her Swedish accent and with a small smile.  "This course will be an introduction to mixing your own inks for magical inscription.  First a few definitions."

She waved to the board and a few lines of chalked-on notations grew in size, shuffling and shrinking the other writing around it to make room.

Inscription - Written or carved spells and enchantments made by runes.
Imbued Inks - Inks with magical properties that enhance or change the magical powers of an inscription.
Dyes - A particular type of imbued ink used to treat the inscription surface. Also called a washe.
Chalk - A group of mineral powders with inherent magical properties, used in inscription
Ostracon - Inscription in earthern vessels; pottery, coffers, jars, etc
Laterculus - Inscriptions concerning calendars or lists
Staves - Ornate runic symbols in geometric forms.
Gladr - The art of reading/chanting runes aloud to access hidden magical properties.

She went on to explain each of them only very briefly, pausing to explain further when it came to chalk.

"Inscription chalk is different than what you might find in a class room, mind." 

With that out of the way, she continued. 

"So the essential purpose of creating imbued inks and dyes is to alter, enhance, or amend the inscription's innate power.  An imbued ink cannot give a mundane bit of writing or doodle magic on its own, you understand.

"This is considered by many to be a specific and specialized branch of Potion-making, so any skills you have in that area shall be applied today.

And now to begin!  At the front table, Ylva centered a large clay pot.  It appeared sturdy but was quite old.  It was, apparently, quite clean of any type of inscription.

"We'll begin with creating a few simple ostracon.  Icelandic staves to be exact.  With your black school's ink, please inscribe the Angurgapi on the side of your pot.  There are brushes there."

As indicated, each students had one of a various assortment of small and medium pots on their work stations, all of them made of clay and appearing completely normal.  As they worked, Maras explained.

"This stave prevents leaking.  If any cracks appear in the pot, this stave would prevent the water from passing through.  Any inscription written must be given magic from your wand, so once you've copied it exactly, tap it with your wand as you consider your magical intent."

Addison sat, in her typical Ancient Runes seat, listening as Professor Maras began the seminar. She was already acquainted before to the Durmstrang Runes Professor, but that didn't stop her intrigue to attend the seminar. After all, many of these seminars were only open to the older years. So, it was nice for a change to attend one, especially on one of her favorite subjects.

On a piece of parchment in front of her, Addison noted the list of terms displayed on the board. She listened intently as Professor Maras described each word briefly, before moving to the front to begin instruct inscribing Angurgapi onto a clay pot.

Addison looked down at the assorted pots and brushes on top of the desk. Moving her inkwell close to one of the pots, she dipped a brush into the inkwell. Calmly, she began inscribing the given stave onto the pot. She took great care to copy the symbol correctly, with just as much detail as she could tell from her seat. Taking her time, she worked quietly on her work.

As the young witches worked on what might be their very first Icelandic stave - a practical one, certainly - Professor Maras walked slowly between the tables to peer over their shoulders at their work.  There were some students who might find this sort of thing intimidating, to be watched closely during delicate inscription.  But perhaps there were some here who'd understand it was part of the learning process.  Runes required exactitude.

"Take more care on the branching arms here," she commented to one girl.  "There can be no improvisation in their length or number."

Then to another, "Good width on the outer circle.  Use a larger brush on the inside circles to make it stronger."

When she came to the youngest students to join them, a Hogwarts girl called Addison Rockwell, Ylva lingered a bit longer.   She was pleased to see her taking her time and working carefully.  "Good, good."

Ylva allowed the minutes to tick away quietly having no great need to rush.  They'd be working with this rune for the rest of the workshop so it was important it was the students' best work.  It wasn't too terribly long before all the students had put their brushes down and seemed satisfied.  It was then that Ylva began the next part.

"If you haven't cast your wand on your stave, do so now.  It'll be good to let the stave cure before we begin applying inks."

She turned again to the black board and with a wave of her wand, the notes there-upon began to rearrange to feature a list.

Enduring Ink
Invisible Ink
Impenetrable Ink
Amplifying Ink
Ink of Deception

She tapped her wand in the palm of her hand as she spoke with a little smile. This was fairly advanced stuff that she normally shared only with her highest Tangibles students, but she was sharing them with great pride today to the Hogwarts students.  These, the ones who showed the most care and promise in her field.

"You will choose one of these six inks to brew and apply to your staves.  But first a bit of care - who would wager a guess at how these inks would affect an inscription?"

He could paint ink onto a pot! Yes! This was a bit like art had been at the Muggle primary school in Sandy he'd attended when he was little.

It had been implied, firmly, (but in a caring way) by some of the Professors that Ambrose might find this seminar safe enough to attend without causing a disaster. He didn't study runes, just creatures as an extra lesson, but hopefully knowing a bit about runes would impress his Dad.

Already there were lots of new words up on the board to learn. Ambrose found himself mouthing and muttering them to himself tentatively under his breath, hoping they wouldn't have to use them in spells. Some of them were tricky.

So here he was, drawing the stave on the side of a pot, and wondering quite what to do when it came to 'tap it with your wand as you consider your magical intent'. What on earth did that mean?!

As he painted, his tongue poked out the corner of his mouth. Naturally all the girls were drawing beautiful runes. His was… well, not as smooth… He was staring around, convinced every other face in the room did study runes. Bother.

So when it came to it, he put his wand tip to it and thought really hard, screwing his face up 'you will not crack'.

Soon enough they were shown on to the next step that involved brewing potions. Hopefully Professor Maras was not like Professor Di Luca. Ambrose could really do with her not being like Di Luca.

Well, best get on her side, Ambrose thought, raising his hand tentatively with an air of 'please Merlin don't pick me' about the way it barely passed the crown of his head. Without realising, he'd smeared ink down the raised hand.

"Does amplifying ink make it bigger or… louder?" He could have sworn he heard several classmates facepalm.

The mere sight of the tables with all their tools and ingredients sparked warm nostalgia in Alvis's heart. It reminded him of Dad's workbench in the basement of their store. As Professor Maras lectured, Alvis scribbled the definitions down in his leather-bound personal notebook, never knowing when the information would come in handy later.

He chose a series of smaller, fine-tipped brushes to use on the pot, occasionally switching between them as he worked his way through the details of the stave. The smiley face in the center gave him pause, half-wondering if Professor Maras were making some kind of a joke. He finally decided that she wasn't, because she wouldn't. Ever. And added the face as exactly as possible.

He was just providing the necessary magical intent when they moved to the next phase of the lesson. Despite his antipathy for Ambrose, Alvis cringed in sympathy at the other boy's stumbling answer. Professor Maras was, it must be said, no Professor Di Luca, but she was still of Drumstrang and did not tolerate stupidity.

Alvis held off until Maras's reaction to Pepper had waned slightly before raising his hand to provide an answer of his own. "Amplifying ink is, I believe, used to amplify the magic contained within the stave, increasing its overall effectiveness." He adjusted his glasses and made a point of not looking at Ambrose. It simply wouldn't do for Professor Maras's opinion of Hogwarts students to take a tail-dive because of the input of a student who wasn't even involved in the class. "And I would assume that invisible ink makes it, well, invisible."

The look Professor Maras gave to the mousy little Hogwarts boy was one of withering pity.  He was not one of Professor Reid's students and it was quite possible he was lost.  Lost even in his own language, perhaps?  Her brow furrowed and she tilted her head to the side as if to say, 'how sad'.

Luckily, his cohort seemed to have a better grasp on the context.

"Well put," she rewarded him.  "I'll make an appropriate notation for House Points.[1]"  She rather did like that incentive system.  Ravenclaw had recently pulled ahead of Slytherin, she'd heard.  Impressive.

"Amplifying Ink can have unpredictable effects; it's quite potent, this recipe of mine.  To be used with caution.  The advantage of the Invisible Ink is, of course, to conceal a rune.  A hidden enchantment that takes a skilled...what is the word...förbanna...ah, Curse Breaker?"

She clasped her hands together and looked to the other students in the room.  "Anyone else?"

1.	+5 to Alvis Norling

Addison finished copying the exact symbol on the pot, completely unaware of Professor Maras observing her for a bit. After her successful copy, she tapped her rune with her wand, just as instructed. So far, the seminar was very similar to how class was conducted, but only with ink. Undoubtedly, that may change soon enough.

A new list appeared on the board from the wave of Professor Maras' wand. She quickly jotted down this new list in her notes. The Durmstrang Professor proceeded to ask them what they thought the runes did. One of the other students in attendance answered the question first: Ambrose, with a rather odd sounding guess to the Amplifying Ink option.

In some sense, Ambrose's response wasn't far off base. But, it left her with a conundrum. Should she correct Ambrose and look like a know-it-all? Did Professor Maras mind know-it-alls? Or was she more like Professor Di Luca who called them out? To be honest, she didn't think of herself as a know-it-all, considering her lack of answering questions abruptly during class.

But, Alvis fixed Ambrose's response himself. Apparently, Professor Maras didn't hold a negative view of know-it-alls. At any rate, there were still three terms to guess. She raised her own hand to give a guess on another ink. "I believe the enduring ink makes the stave more enduring in the sense of the stave's effects hold for a longer period of time."

Ylva smiled pertly, her thin dark lips making little dimples in her cheeks.  "Very good.  A well-brewed Enduring Ink can last ages resisting decay.  It can even prevent the vessel itself from the wear and tear of centuries.  We have inks like this to thank for the preservation of ancient magical sites."

"Tjelvar's Grave.  The Valley of the Kings.  The terra cotta army."  She bent down to make an annotation for five more points to Ravenclaw.[1]

She then quickly explained the remaining inks the students would have the option of brewing. 

"This recipe for an Impenetrable Ink protects the inscription from any sort of destruction or damage, either accidental or deliberate.  The Ink of Deception allows the inscription to show a different inscription in place of the real one.  A...decoy is the word."

Professor Maras then waved her wand and the chalk on the black board changed for a final time.  Everything scrunched into the margins and corners to make way for the five recipes.  Each had a precise ingredient list with brewing instructions.

"Choose one to brew, and I shall help you apply it."

The students would find that the complexity and skill required of each ink ranked as follows from easiest to most difficult:  Invisible, Enduring, Impenetrable, Amplifying, Deception.  Each table is stocked with most needed ingredients - students might need to find one or two on another table.  Please feel free to ad lib the different recipes since I don't have anything detailed prepared.

"Follow the instructions precisely! These are very delicate potions and the measurements are very important.  Take care not to overheat the Amplifying Ink in the seventh step - it may over-boil and burn a hole in the floor.  Also note - the Invisible calls for the dried nettle, not fresh.  Nothing worse for Invisible ink than excess moisture."

And with that, she set them to work.

1.	+5 to Addison Rockwell

"Mhmm..." Ylva continued to make her rounds.  Occasionally she would stop, gently take a knife or pestle from a student's hand and say, "like so," or "more evently," or "you won't ruin it - hack it up to little bits!"  She seemed to take quite a bit of joy in that last one.  Her rare grin came out.

The hour went on for it took a great deal of time to brew these inks properly.  Some of them had cooking times of more than 30 minutes, others needed to have leave steeped in cold india ink in small batches for a quarter-hour each. But for the most part they were potions that a diligent student could accomplish.

Ambrose was persevering with the invisible ink, only he'd picked up the wrong nettles, despite the Professor's warning.

He was a lot slower at doing things than his classmates, normally owing to being clumiser to perform potions and because he preferred to keep his wand out of things for the safety of all in the room.

He was too busy thinking about whether if he dipped his whole pot in the cauldron whether it would turn invisible on the outside, and being nosy about his classmates to notice as he boiled it for too long and a strange smell began to rise from the cauldron.

"Mr. Pepper, mind your cauldron!" 

Ylva didn't even need to turn around to recognize the aroma of error that could only come from an over heating Invisible Ink brew.  She was a master brewer now, for sure, but it hadn't always been that way.  She knew the smell from her own learning days.

It wasn't too terribly much longer that nearly all of their small class had their finished inks cooling (or warming up, as the recipes provided) and it was finally time to use them.

"And now to be rewarded for you patience and hard work," she said in her Swedish accent.  "Let us apply the ink to our runes.  We'll be tracing directly over the mundane ink - this has the advantage of not wasting ink on errors of inscription and better allow to you see what you're doing.  Some of you may have noticed your inks are quite translucent.  And fret not - a powerful ink's power won't be inhibited by something mundane like our simple ink here.

"There are brushes there. Carefully now!''

If it isn't clear, here are the typical effects of the inks on the runes.  Feel free to deviate from that if your student made a mistake or brewed it differently.  I'd love to see what comes of your work!

Enduring Ink - Fortifies an inscription to last the ages, resisting decay, fading, or washing away.  So a student's attempt to remove the inscription will come up fruitless.

Invisible Ink - Hides the inscription from view; a key incantation can reveal it.  As the student traces over the rune, it will disappear.  Spells like Specialis Revelio won't work on a well-brewed ink.

Impenetrable Ink - Protects the inscription from any sort of destruction or change.  Similar to Enduring, but has more to do with other runes interfering with the rune.

Amplifying Ink - Intensifies the inscription's purpose greatly (use with caution).  For a rune meant to stop a pot from breaking, a student will be able to beat mercilessly on their pot to little effect.

Ink of Deception - Allows the inscriptionist to show a different inscription in place of the real one.  So after the ink is applied, a dry brush over top of it can make a false rune on top.

As Professor Maras set the students to work, Addison finished copying down her notes. Electing to brew Enduring Ink, she set to work preparing her cauldron and ingredients for the brew. It was a rather nice turn of events to actually brew the ink themselves. Apparently, Professor Maras had enough confidence of the students that assembled for the seminar.

Addison worked quietly as she ground her ingredients and added the specific item to the cauldron as she mixed her mixture. Despite having occasional bouts of lack of confidence, she was fairly confident in her work at present.

Just as she added in her second portion of toasted Dragonfly Thoraxes[1], Addison noticed a strange smell in the air. With a frown, she glanced at the brewing instructions, sure that she was following it correctly. Smelling her own cauldron, she realized that the smell was not coming from her own cauldron. Stirring her mixture more, she looked up at the other students in the room. Ambrose didn't appear to be paying attention to his own Potion, and she assumed that the smell came from his cauldron.

During her own inattentiveness, she realized that she almost mixed her brew too much. Quickly looking back, Addison continued on with her brew, hoping that she didn't make a mistake. Thankfully, she finished up her brew without too many deviations.

After Professor Maras directed the students to begin tracing the rune with her brewed ink. Picking up a brush, Addison started to trace the rune that she drew with the Endurance Ink. She noted that her ink was quite translucent. After letting the ink dry, she attempted to scrub at the rune. Small parts of the rune began to fade. A majority of the rune was still in tact.

"I guess my brew could have been better," she muttered.

1.	I believe the Endurance Ink should be a more moderate form of the Girding Potion.