(OOC: Gah, I'm running a little behind in this rp! I'm slowly reading through posts)

Elune jogs frantically toward the black lake. Her book-bag bumps across the ground, and sweat glides down her forehead. She realizes that she is, indeed, late for her first Arithmancy class due to an unfortunate stumble into a trick step on one of the staircases. She waited for ten minutes, embarrassed, while several fifth years walked by, laughing at the neglectful first-year before she finally worked out a charm to release her leg.

She continues running downhill and worries that Professor Nico will be one of those scary, greasy-haired teachers who deducts points on the first day of classes regardless of technical--or better yet--magical difficulties.

She pauses at the bottom of the hill, drinks a few swigs of water, and then finally joins her class.

"I hope I haven't missed anything," she whispers to Natalie, a fellow Ravenclaw (). Natalie explains the number counting and meditation. Elune closes her eyes and is suddenly relieved that that she has not missed much in the last ten minutes.

She then peers at Natalie's notebook. Elune is initially startled by such extensive arithmancy notes, but then she attempts to analyze her own name.

ELUNE 53355 = 21 =3

"Did I solve that correctly?" she asks, then begins to wonder if the number three has anything to do with her own clumsiness.

Elune peers toward the professor. She is pleased that he appears friendly (and awake now). She bites her lip, then raises her hand.

"Professor Nico, I've always wondered--in the muggle world, there are many superstitions involving numbers. Do those hold true in our world too? Is number 13 unlucky in predictions, for example?"

Elune, Ravenlaw

[img align=left]http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk297/Katia10148/Screen%20Shot%202015-08-23%20at%206.14.57%20PM_zpsb4wkfmm2.png[/img]"I'll be right back. I want to see this chart everyone is talking about," Beth told the group of girls as she stood up and walked towards Natalie.

"Would you mind if I look at the chart in your notebook?" Beth asked with a smile.

Serena smiles. "That could be it! I just assumed that my parents must have been in Slytherin too."

Seeing that the professor was testing us reminded Serena of a muggle teacher she had that did the same thing. I should have known!, she thinks to herself. She holds out her hand to see if Gorf will come to her and turns toward the professor, "How does one use numbers to predict the future? And can it predict certain things or is it more general?"

[IMG]http://i57.tinypic.com/33zg3tv.png[/IMG] Chrystle sat up and picked twigs out of her hair before stretching and eyeing the professor. She blushed but made sure to speak loudly "Professor, some cultures believe that numbers possess masculine or feminine energy and that you can even predict the gender of a child based on age and other number-based factors around the time you got pregnant. Do you believe numbers have that much power? Are they really that reliable?" She held in her next question not wanting to flood the Professor but she couldn't help it. She was too curious. "Can I hold Gorf? No... no that's not what I meant..." She went red in the face "I mean... Do you believe that numbers are a part of nature or are they a man made idea?" She mumbled, in an embarrassed way that made it clear that she was the type of person that couldn't stop talking when she got nervous "I mean, if numbers are magical.. I don't believe.. that you can manufacture magic.. magic is not. . . supernatural,contrary to what muggles would have you think.. it's .. as old as.. " She gulped ".. the .. earth" her speech faded out as she sunk her head down to rest on her hand. She was nearly in tears when she was done talking. This was exactly why she never made any friends. ()

Setsu looked around at her other classmates, wondering if she'd come underprepared with just a notebook, pencil, and her textbook. She looked surprised when he told them to leave their textbooks. She knew he'd be a laid-back instructor but this was new. She shrugged, going along with the counting lesson. "Strangest lesson I've had yet.. but it will probably get stranger." She muttered to herself as she settled down on the grass, pulling her notebook out and sketching some of her classmates as they made themselves comfortable around the area.

Diva raised an eyebrow at the odd manner their teacher was conducting himself in. She was sure he was a good teacher, though, or else he wouldn't have been hired. It was only their first lesson, so Diva was willing to give it time. It didn't bother her much; she wasn't great with numbers. However, Divination was her best subject, so she was sure she would be able to handle some of what this class had to offer.

When the frog jumped into their impromptu circle, her eyes widened. "Frog!" she yelled, despite herself. She leaned in closer and reached out a hand to the animal. Her interest in the rest of the class suddenly dropped to zero, all of her attention taken up by the frog in front of her.

"What's up, little dude?" Diva asked, reaching out to shake his foot. "My name is Diva. You having a good day? It's totally beautiful out here, huh? I'm sure you love it, too! If you ever wanna chill with me, just tell me okay, buddy? Anyway, I guess we should get back to the lesson your dad is teaching. I'll talk to you later, little bud." She smiled at Gorf, and turned her attention back to their teacher.

Rose sat down on the lawn next to two of her fellow Hufflepuffs, Rylee and Emma. "I hope this isn't like muggle maths," she said to them quietly. "I was never much good at math class." She had looked through her Arithmancy book last night, but hadn't been able to make heads or tails of what she was reading.

The lesson began. Rose started to take her Arithmancy book out of her bag, but put it back once the professor let them know they would not be using the textbook that day. Along with the rest of the students, she counted to ten as the instructor had asked. After they had finished counting, there was a pause, and then they were asked to sit quietly and meditate for the rest of the hour.

Rose was a bit confused. "I'm not sure what his plan is," she replied to Emma as their professor snored away. "I feel like I still have no idea what arithmancy even is!"

As meditation had never been something she was particularly good at, Rose decided to pull her textbook back out of her bag and give it another look. So concentrated was she, that she did not notice the large frog as it gave a loud croak.

When Professor Nico jumped up, however, Rose started a bit. "Perhaps now that he is awake, he will teach us a bit more," she thought hopefully. However, he simply opened the floor to questions. "Er, Professor Nico, sir, d'you mind if I ask how arithmancy differs from divination? I mean, if you're predicting the future with numbers, how is it much different?" she asked. She hoped that wasn't a silly question, but she had always felt that numerology, astrology, and divination were all cards in the same deck, so to speak.

(( ))

[img align=left]http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk297/Katia10148/Screen%20Shot%202015-08-23%20at%206.14.57%20PM_zpsb4wkfmm2.png[/img] Beth grabbed Natalie's notebook, looked at the chart and quickly created an identical one in her notebook. She turned around and handed Natalie back her notebook. "Thank you! This chart is very helpful. I'm going to see if I can determine my character myself," she remarked before walking up to Professor Nico.

"Professor, How would one receive the most accurate character reading? Should they use their full name or the name they commonly associate as? What about for people who've changed their name? Do we analyze their original name?" she asked him.

She turned around and walked back to Poppy, Amanda and Serena.

"Have you analyzed your character number yet?" she asked the girls as she sat down.

Beth grabbed her notebook and wrote down her name. Let's see.... Beth Hale 2 5 2 8 8 1 3 5 =34 =7 I guess my character number is 7. I wonder what that means, she thought to herself as she flipped through the pages of her textbook.

Literature - RAVENCLAW

Amanda shook her head at Beth and then went over to Natalie across the lawn to see what this chart looked like. She took out a scrap of parchment and recorded the following:

Amanda Abernathy 141541 125951287 16+40=56 5+6=11 1+1=2

She looked at everyone with an unsure look on her face, "My character number is 2. At least I think I did the math right. I wonder what the numbers stand for!"

Noticing that the Professor was now awake and taking questions from the group, she approached him cautiously. "Professor Nico, you said that your frog was watching us. Does he have any magical properties besides being very observant?"

Letting out a loud yelp, Camille scrambled back as she saw something small jump onto Natalie's lap.

Silently praying that no one really heard her embarrass herself, she coughed and tried to look casual as she sat back again.

Slight moment of panic over, she relaxed a bit over time and thought about how glad she was glad that Professor Nico wasn't as terrible as an instructor as they all thought. He was even willing to answer any and all questions, and seemed decently enthusiastic about his subject.

Not able to think up any good questions, Camille paid extra attention to the questions of other students.

(ooc: i think i'm doing okay, but you're like a total pro - i'm having trouble keeping up with so many things going on at the same time lol @;; and woohoo i'm excited!)

[img align=left]http://i.imgur.com/TFvgfwb.png[/img] "I do want to join her Beth. I'm glad you were thinking that too, and I'm feeling good that we all stayed, now I can ask him my questions and also meet some new people."

"Professor Nico, could you tell us more about your personal experiences reading the into the future with Arithmancy, like memorable predictions and prophesies? How are Numerology and Arithmancy related in connection with an individual's real life? Is it like Astrology, Astronomy, and horoscopes? Also, is it alright that Biscuit is here since we're outside? He's quite well-behaved, especially around other people and animals. I apologize for all the questions."

Biscuit was happily basking in the attention of being petted and was now nosing the oak tree's acorns across the ground. Poppy was pleased that the grooming charm that Professor Sparks had performed the day before had worked so nicely, she had never seen her bunny look fluffier.

Poppy borrowed Beth's notebook, Amanda's freshly sharpened quill, and Serena's bottle of green ink to copy the chart that was spreading through the class into her own field book. She was pleasantly surprised to find that it was much less daunting than it seemed.

Poppy Blackwood 76777 231325664 34+32=66 6+6=12 1+2=3

"Hi Natalie, I'm Poppy. Nice to meet you! You're clever with numbers, they've never been my strong suit. Could you tell me what the 3 says about me?"

Megan makes her way closer to the circle now that Professor Nico is awake. She very much wants to pet the frog but is unsure how to approach and ask so instead she raises her voice to inquire differently.

"Excuse me, Professor ()? I was wondering something about the significance of the number 42. I've heard a few muggle-born students here use it as an answer before though it seemed like a joke. One told me its the answer to the universe but I thought that numbers were infinite so how would a simple two-digit number be the answer to something as vast as the universe?"

Megan feels her cheeks turn hot with embarrassment at such a silly question, and with the eyes on other students on her as well, but its been bothering her for some time and is determined to learn something today.

Megan/Hufflepuff

Serena begins mentally thinking through her name to figure out her character number. Okay, so Serena River, 1 5 9 5 5 1 and 9 9 4 5 9, 26 and 36, 8 and 9, 17... "If I have done my math right, my character number is 8!" Serena was excited that she figured it out but automatically started second guessing herself.

Megan overhears Serena and goes to her.

"You're correct; it is 8! I am a 4, if I've done mine correctly."

Megan: 4+5+7+1+5 = 22 Noelle: 5+6+5+3+3+5 = 27 22 + 27 = 49 4+9 = 13 1+3 = 4

"Am I doing this correctly?"

Under a tree, on the grass is the best place in the world! Happy, Judy quietly sings using the tune she remembers from Sesame Street reruns: One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight nine, ten. TEN TEN TEN TEN let's sing a song of ten, how many is ten... then surreptitiously looks around hoping no-one heard her. Whispering to: Could you wake me up if my timer doesn't? Judy sets her timer to go off in 55 minutes, closes her eyes and falls asleep, hoping Professor Nico's snores will drown out any of her own...

(House of Gryffindor)

[img align=left]http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk297/Katia10148/Screen%20Shot%202015-08-23%20at%206.14.57%20PM_zpsb4wkfmm2.png[/img] "Correct! Do you know what the character number eight stands for?" Beth asked Serena. Beth turned to Amanda. "I think you calculated your character number correctly too. I wish I knew what that meant."

Beth furiously flipped through her book. She was frustrated; anxious to learn what her character number met. She decided to follow Poppy and ask Natalie what her character number meant. "I'm going to see if I can find out what it means to have the number seven as a character number," she told Serena before walking towards Natalie.

"Sorry to bother you again, but would you mind helping me figure out what the number seven means?" she asked Natalie.

"Not a clue!" Serena chuckles and hollows behind Beth toward Natalie. "I would love to know what an 8 means too."

(Sorry if this it was mentioned earlier, I didn't read all of the posts. XD)

Late, I’m going to be so late. Almost dropping his books, stumbling over a system of tree roots, Fade barely made it in time to hear the end of the Professor's instructions. A huge wave of relief washed over him when, through listening to the other students hushed conversations, he deduced that their assignment was simply to count to ten. Dutifully he plopped into the grass and using a quill marked one through ten in tally marks inside his notebook, while counting quietly to himself.

Looking over his work Fade glanced up from his paper, to the Professor, and back again. Had he missed more of the instructions? Nervously he looked around, not exactly brave enough to ask anyone in proximity. Instead he flipped open the cover of his textbook and read over the first page. Inside it said nothing about the counting to ten assignment causing Fade to break out in a cold sweat, his hair began drifting between a bluish tint and a sickly green one. Frantically he searched the faces of the gathered students hoping to see a familiar face.

Spotting Amanda () Beth () Ethel () , and Kainra () along with another girl from his house () , and a few that were not, all sitting in a group nearby, he swallowed his fear and stood. Was it just him, or were there more Ravenclaws this year that last? When he was in range he lifted a hand in a nervous sort of wave and stammered a few times before actually getting the words out. “Hey so… I think I missed something…” His hand fell to his side and began fidgeting with the hems of his robes, hoping that someone would be kind enough to fill him in.

Gaia waves and grins at Fade "Come sit with us!" she patted the grass next to her while Ethel shushed her. "Sorry, she whispered, Fade you finally made it! You didn't miss much but () Natalie gave us a numerology puzzle to understand our personalities! Professor Nico has an unorthodox way of teaching, but it is not so bad! Maybe Natalie will let you look at her notebook! Ethel and I found out we have the same personality traits as the professor." Giggle-snorts while nudging () Ethel with her elbow.