Wednesday, May 20. Class is from 2 to 3 pm.

Gryffindor		Hufflepuff		Ravenclaw		Slytherin
- - - - -		Figaro Sellaphix		Sasha Schlagenweit Simon Chevalier Lucas Norwood		Neely Woolfolk Vulpus Connor Liviana Wiedman Dracon Towler Georgiana Trishna§

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Today was a review day, of sorts. O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s were coming up fast, and Aileen wanted the students to do well, not only for their sake, but because it reflected on her. Despite how stressful this year had been, she had every intention of returning in the fall.

The last time Aileen had talked to the fifth-years about runes and wandlore a few months ago, she'd been met with quite a few glazed over stares and sleepy expressions. Though there were one or two gems among the essays the students had turned in, the information hadn't sunk in the way she'd wanted it to. That happened a lot with lecture classes. So this afternoon, she was trying something different.

Aileen sat at her desk in the front of the room, waiting for the students to arrive and take their seats. There was a box of rudimentary wands on her desk, the kind used in wizarding children's toys to make harmless sparks or flashes of light. Each wand held a very weak core: a pygmy puff hair. The wood type varied, but looked rough and unpolished, and the wands felt fragile to the touch.

On the board she'd written these instructions:

Please pick a 'wand' out of the box and take a seat. Open your book to Chapter 7 of A History of Ancient Languages and reread section two on wandlore. I will explain today's lesson in a few minutes.

The section in the book would refresh their memories on how wands worked, briefly going over wood type, cores, length, and flexibility. It also showed examples of the runes and symbols sometimes found on wands. If they hadn't guessed it already, they'd be seeing the effects for themselves this afternoon!

As Simon walked into class, he looked at the board and read the instructions.  This lesson excited him - Simon was very interested when they covered wandlore earlier.
Simon passed Professor Reid's desk, said a cheerful 'Hello,' and began to look for a wand.  He picked one that he really liked - it was a golden color, about 12" in length, and had several runic markings on it.  Simon then walked to his desk, pulled his book out, and began to read.

Sasha found his way into the Runes classroom and to his usual desk: front row, closest to the window.  He set his bag down on the floor next to his desk and and freed his book, parchment, quill and ink from it before turning to read over the instruction on the board. 

Wandlore and runes.  Wandlore had, definitely become a topic of immense interested over the course of the year.  He'd known practically nothing about wandlore when the year had started.  Since then, he'd handled four separate wands, only two of which he'd known the composition of when he'd acquired them and had discussed wandlore at length with both Dreogan and Kronos - both of whom had offered very different perspectives on the topic.  Exploring more about runes' impact on wands was bound to be fascinating. 

Sasha approached Profesor Reid's desk and offered a polite, "good afternoon, ma'am," before retrieving a wand with a deep, dark wooden hue - cherry, perhaps.  Or walnut.  He took the wand with him back to his seat and opened his textbook to Chapter seven. 

Oddly enough, Vulpes did not have his headphones on today. Not that it stopped him from humming music to himself, it just felt odd; like he was naked. And he was certain he could feel his classmates eyes following him as he frolicked around without them. It seemed he would have to talk to Cytherea about stealing. Again.

With great gusto Vulpes pranced into the room and glanced at the board. But what he read made him stop dead, one leg lifted up mid skip, his arms frozen in a rather ridiculous looking manner. He let them fall as he reread the board, cocking his head slightly. what exactly did she mean by 'wand'?

Vulpes stepped carefully over to Professor Reid's desk, much to focused on the task she had given them. He glanced in the box and cringed slightly. Children's wands. And not very pretty ones, they were all so... gross. He deftly picked one up, it felt liek it would crumble in his fingers.

Without so much as a word, he turned on his heels and headed for a desk, pulling out his Runes book. By the time he reached his seat Vulpes had managed to open the book with one hand to the section they were instructed. He guessed that they would be working more on wandlore, which was bad because Vulpes was lousy at it.

Still, he thought he could tell what wood it was. Maybe. It was practically black, so the wood was likely Ebony.

Gently he placed the wand on is desk and looked back up, waiting for the explanation of what in the world they were meant to do.

There was a certain mindset one had to get into before Runes; Liviana's problem was that she went directly from charms with Kirchlehner (who was charming and eccentric) to Runes with Reid (who was less charming; but effective). She was also from a long line of purebloods (even if she did have that Squibby sister that Neely was always writing to). The real downfall was that even though it was one of her elective classes she was stuck in a room with Figaro Sellaphix for another hour and he was always unbearable in Charms! By the time they got to Runes she wanted to hex him six different ways to Sunday.

Of course being a lady, and wanting to make only the best impression on Professor Reid she did a lot of tongue biting. One of these days someone was really going to knock Sellaphix on his ass; he was such a little runt she was surprised the regular beatings he had gotten from Flickwick hadn't given him some idea no one appreciated his smart arse attitude. She supposed he was meant to be pitied, after all his father was being shipped off to Azkaban and the papers made it sound like they had the Apothecary dead to rights.

Mulling over his most recent antics in Charms, Liv distractedly entered the Ancient Runes classroom, she wasn't early but she wasn't late. She hated not having enough of a break between the two classes to gather her thoughts. Still, as her eyes skimmed the board she felt her curiosity pique. She knew the history and meaning of her own wand and the reflection it was of her personality; but the highly polished wood bore no Runes. Peeking into the box she carefully lifted out a short dark wooded play wand, offering Reid an excited smile before skittering off toward her usual desk.

Dracon was never late for class. He spent far too much time studying and practicing hand movements to allow himself to be late. It was well into the afternoon by the time Dracon walked his usual corridors to Ancient Runes. Lunch had come and gone and charms and had given him quite the headache. Dressed in his typical Slytherin uniform which mirrored his fellow housemates, Dracon stepped into the classroom behind Liviana. She stood briefly in front of the professor’s desk, letting her pretty eyes select the wand of her choosing. Dracon waited patiently behind her, which was a rare trait for him to exhibit since patience was not his strongest suit. He, honestly, hadn’t minded standing behind her with the view he was presented with. Dracon readjusted the bag hanging off his shoulder, the textbooks inside giving off a rumble as they fell into one another. The Care of Magical Creatures textbook gave a growl which Dracon ignored. As Liviana made her decision and glided away to her usual seat, Dracon took her place in front of Professor Reid’s desk. “Professor,” he greeted coolly with a ghost of a smirk on his lips. He wasted no time in looking down at the wands laid out before him. They were not what he had imagined when he was waiting his turn. He had expected… something else. Although he had no idea what he had expected, it hadn’t been tender sticks of wood in a box. It was like staring into a little box of kindling, or broken bits of broomsticks that he would sweep into a pile at the shop back home. Those same bits would end up in the trash. Dracon’s smirk faded slightly as he drank in the situation. He was good at adjusting to situations, and took mere moments to select which wand he wanted.

It was long, just around twelve inches he would have guessed. The stick was slightly crooked and brittle, but it was unclear whether it was on purpose or from age. Along the handle were several pot marks and black speckle, while the rest of the wand was rather uninteresting and light toned. Perhaps made of willow, which was an off white color, but also could have been brighter white when it had been produced like holly. The wand was too unpolished and smudged to make out much of the differing color. Dracon turned it over in one hand as he made his way to his seat, more interested in the wand than he would have originally thought. He remembered wands like the ones they all held in their hands from when he was a young boy. Dracon took a seat and for a moment, forgot about taking out his textbook while being so wrapped up in trying to decide between holly and willow. Reaching a hand down into his bag he pulled out the classroom textbook and laid it open on the desk. The boy set the wand down and flipped forward two chapters to chapter seven and began to read, unaware that his fingers were still lightly touching the wand.

FIgaro appeared for class looking more tired than normal.  Seemed many of the fifth years were as worse for wear, but these last few weeks for Figaro had been a special hell of being forced to apply himself.  Professor Reid was requiring him to study not just for Runes but for all his classes.  It was... draining.

He'd never admit it, but it was also paying off.  He'd have no way of knowing until he actually sat his O.W.L.s, but he felt like stuff going on in class was becoming more familiar.  At least he was getting more of his work on on time.

But none of that came easily for Figaro who seemed to yet require constant supervision. 

He presented himself at Professor Reid's desk with the wrinkled bit of paper out as he had for the last month.  It had written on it, in Figaro's artless hand, the work Figaro'd been doing, the hours he'd studied what, and the scribbled initials of his other professors that his work was in on time. 

He sighed, waiting for her to look over it.  Meanwhile, he glanced behind him at his classmates.  Simon and Sasha had their heads bent to the task already, probably loving every minute of it.  Liv and Dracon were there too and he caught a snippy look from Liviana.  He returned it and turned back to Professor Reid.

"We good?"

In the last few weeks of his fifth year, the pressure was on for Lucas Norwood.  O.W.L.s loomed ever closer and soon enough they would have to throw around the what do you want to do conversations.  It come not just from his instructors and Head of House, but from his parents as well.  These exams could make or break the next two years, and shape his future.  Whole careers could be closed off, simply because he couldn't get into a N.E.W.T. class.  It wasn't any wonder sleep been lacking for the Ravenclaw as of late.  This was the first of many crossroads, or so his father liked to tell him.  He'd be sixteen on Sunday, he didn't particularly care to consider what he'd be doing for the rest of his life right this moment. 

Luc decided to take Ancient Runes as a last minute decision.  They could take a certain number of electives, and most of the ones offered held little interest for him.  To this day, he couldn't ever decide if he regretted the decision or not.  Every now and again it could be interesting, but he definitely wouldn't be pursuing it on into the N.E.W.T levels.  The O.W.L.s pretty much had him second guessing everything about himself, but that didn't seem to be a unique experience. 

Gratefully, the lesson wouldn't start with a lecture.  The children's wands resembled the ones he, his sister, and their cousin played with as children.  They weren't meant to be anything more then glorified sparklers, but they'd caused ample amusement for the trio of six year olds at the time.  Their's been much nicer looking, of course, but considering they were likely to be abusing these, they didn't have to look all that sharp.  He plucked one up, and dropped into his usual seat.  Flipping open his book, he considered the wand in his hand.  It was darker then his Hawthorn wand, perhaps a Holly? 

Now came the trick, just what were they intending to do with these things anyway?

The day was, so far, normal. Georgiana had woken up early, and not for the first time considered accidentally flooding her dorm and watching the bloody 'monarchy' drown. And, as usual, she'd just sighed, combed her hair and gone to breakfast.

Someday...

But classes so far had been spent normally, too; slouched near the back, her notepad open and pencil sketching away. She'd gotten the drawing quite far along, and the red blood was coming out beautifully.

She stomped into the Runes classroom in the middle of the pack, but found herself in the back of the classroom again, turning the small wooden wand over in her fingers. Her own wand was odd; made from crystal, rather than wood. This wand felt much more natural, but seeing as you couldn't really stab anyone with it, she'd rather stick to her own...

Tapping the wooden wand against her cheek, she eyed Aileen, her blue gaze looking at her classmates...

Then she pulled out her sketchbook and got back to work.

((OOC Note: All of the wands are plain and unmarked. They won't have any runes on them until the students add them . As always, any distractions, misbehavior, or magical mishaps are welcome.))


Aileen greeted each student with a nod and a polite smile as they arrived, smirking slightly at Mr. Connors' alarmed and confused expression when he saw the board. Miss Wiedman seemed excited at least, and she imagined Mr. Schlagenweit had more than enough practice getting used to various wands, considering how many he'd gone through this school year.

"Yes, thank you," she handed the perpetually antsy Mr. Sellaphix his report back, indifferent to his sighs. The new study plan she'd assigned him was doing some good, and she had even noticed a smidgen of improvement in Runes. So this would continue to be their little ritual until his OWLs.

She scanned the classroom, pleased to find most of the students attentively rereading the chapter on wandlore. Aileen pretended not to see Miss Trishna's open sketchbook, because the girl generally got her work done and didn't distract the others anyway.

"Good afternoon, class. Please close your books. As you can probably tell," she stood, her own wand in her hand, "today will be a review on wandlore and runes. From previous lectures and your textbook, you should have gleaned that a wand's wood, core, length, and flexibility all affect how spells perform."

Aileen studiously ignored any grins or giggles. "You might recognize these basic wands from your childhood," she gestured at what was left in the box. "All of them are of brittle quality and contain a pygmy puff hair core, though the wood varies. They're similar enough to each other that you'll be able to see how runes enhance even the weakest wand's magical properties."

Tapping her wand to the board, the script was replaced with a list of runes, the qualities they represented, and how the students should demonstrate their effects:

Runes	Traits	Assignment
þurisaz, kenaz, ðagaz, wunjo	Focus, concentration, success	Levitate your quill.
eihwaz, raiðo, hagalaz	Change, transfiguration	Turn your parchment a different colour.
algiz, teiwaz, uruz	Protection, defensive magic	Cast a shield on someone sitting next to you.
isa, laguz	Stopping a process, blocking	Dissolve the shield.
berkana, sowulo, gebo	Nature magic, healing, energy	Cause the plants by the windows to grow taller.

The professor plucked one of the rudimentary wands out of the box, and pocketed her own wand. "Watch as I demonstrate a simple spell. Wingardium Leviosa," Aileen pointed the wand at a student's quill, causing it to float up and flutter in the air hesitantly before falling back on the student's desk a few seconds later.

"Not very impressive, is it?  It's not meant to be. Once you add runes to your substitute wands, you'll see some improvement with the spells being cast. The first set of runes," she pointed at the board, "increases your concentration and focus. Carve them on the base of your substitute wand. You may use your own wand to create the runes, or your carving tools. When you're finished, cast Wingardium Leviosa on something small and light - like a quill, and see how long you can float it in the air."

Aileen glanced around the class, "Once you've demonstrated the levitation spell with your substitute wand, I'll give you a refresher on erasing the runes. You never know what will be on your OWLs," she added, as if they needed another reminder.

"Please begin," she gestured at them, ready to offer advice and corrections as needed.

Vulpes listened carefully as Professor Reid explained what they would be doing. It actually seemed simple enough. When Professor Reid finished her eplanation, Vulpes took out his carving tools. Carefully, he carved the runes in on the substitute wand. When he had finished, he double checked the runes he had carved with the ones on the board. Everything matched.

Silently, he pulled a quill out of his bag and placed it on his desk. With the children's wand in hand, Vulpes quickly cast 'Wingardium Leviosa' on his quill. Slowly, but surely, he managed to lift it. 'One, two, three, four, five...' he counted off the seconds in his head. The quill began to sink, and Vulpes angled it higher, pushing it up again. 'Six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen.'

Finally the quill fell back to his desk. Smiling slightly, Vulpes cast the levitation spell once more, and did his best to lift the quill. Again, it hovered for about thirteen seconds before falling. Deciding that that was sufficient, Vulpes began erasing the runes. Luckily, he remembered how to do that easily enough.