Lesson 1 - Your Wand & You

Subject: Lesson 1 - Your Wand & You Thu Oct 13, 2011 6:34 am

The musty scent of Frankincense filled the Divinations Tower as Nicholas sat over a scrying board, in search of his students. The room had been laid out like a giant circle. Each place was defined by the presence of a pillow with a Middle-Eastern appearance.

Nicholas sighed as he waved his wand over his teacup, filling it with water. The voice of a wandering spirit had began to annoy him with its strange noises. The spirit had decided to 'sprint' back and forth across the room while yelling. The actions taken made the spirit sound like a sports car driving by repeatedly.

In front of each seat there was a piece of parchment paper and ink, provided that the students had remembered to bring a well used quill of their own property. The parchment was to be filled out, and returned before the lesson could begin.

There are many types of wands and cores available in the world. The fact that these components choose the user is not just fate. It does, in fact, say a lot about you.
Please fill out the following

Code:

[list][*] Wandwood:
[*] Core:
[*] Flexibility:
[*] (Not Mandatory) Length:[/list]

(The information to fill out this information can be found through the acceptance OWL to this course)

Nicholas sipped his water, forgetting that he had just filled his teacup with plain, tepid water which was not as appetizing as he would have liked his tea to be. He choked on the vile liquid in shock of the lack of flavour and temperature.
Nicholas waved his wand once more, heating the cup of water to a near boiling temperature. He reached behind him into a cupboard and pulled out a blend of Oolong and Rooibos with cinnamon. After proceeding to add a teaspoon of the leaves into his now hot water, he let it steep while he thought about how this first class would go.

Prefect Posts : 37 Join date : 2011-09-12

Dylan walked inside the classroom trying not to look as tired he was. He hated exercise and climbing all of those stairs was torture. He smiled and waved at the professor before looking for a seat. His eye widened and her threw himself out of the way as a crazy ghost almost ran him over. Fortunately, he didn't get hurt as he fell on top of a cushion. He grabbed his beg to make sure Frodo was ok and the cat bit his finger. "Sorry" He whispered and decided this would be his seat in the class.

He saw the note on the desk and took out his chewed quill, courtesy of Frodo, and began to fill the paper.

Wandwood: Willow... I think.
Core: Unicorn Hair
Flexibility: sturdy
(Not Mandatory) Length: 14 3/4

After he was done he decided to look around the room, there were a lot of cushions. They gave him the urge to pile them up and let himself fall on top of them but refrained from doing so, he didn't want to get in trouble.

Slytherin Student Posts : 18 Join date : 2011-08-07

Ana walked into the classroom cursing the founders for making such tall towers and every headmaster for not placing elevators in the freaking caslte. Honestly, who wants to climb that many stairs.

She forced a smile at the teacher. Must be nice. She thought and when to chose a seat. she quickly scribbled down the information required on the note and waited for the class to start.

Wandwood: Cherry tree
Core: Basilisk skin
Flexibility: springy
(Not Mandatory) Length: 12 inches

Gryffindor Student Posts : 21 Join date : 2011-09-24

Josiah walked into class and took a seat. The air was heav with incense. It smelled quite nice actually. Staring at the piece of paper in front of him he picked his quill up and filled it out then waited.

Wandwood: Maple
Core: Dual Phoenix Tail Feathers
Flexibility: Sturdy
(Not Mandatory) Length: 13 3/4

Slytherin Student Posts : 16 Join date : 2011-05-30

Nick entered his only class happily... Or well as happy as he was willing to look. Just a small simple grin would do for himself. He was glad that he probably wouldn't have to do much. Nodding to his professor he took a seat all by itself and used his quill to write down the things he needed to do from his professor.

Code:

Wandwood: Maple
Core: Basilisk Fang
Flexibility: Stern
(Not Mandatory) Length: 11"

"Anything else, Professor?" He asked

Subject: Re: Lesson 1 - Your Wand & You Sun Oct 16, 2011 4:29 am

Nicholas collected the papers from his students, sat them in front of his own pillow and regarded the students trying to make themselves comfortable on their own.

"There are some things you all need to know about this class. It will not be as easy as people may have led you to believe it would be." "We will be delving into some of the darkest places, journeying into the completely unknown, and learning more about ourselves than ever." Midway through his introduction, Nicholas' voice became multi-phonic, as though two people were speaking.

Clearing his throat uncomfortably, Professor Reynolds read over the papers carefully. He traces his fingers over the quill marks made by each student's used writing utensil as a small smirk grew over his face, "Xian, Dylan! There is... Oh.. Yes, there is something quite peculiar about you... This wand is almost an exact duplicate of another.." Nicholas' voice trailed off as he searched for information.

With a rattling gasp, Professor Reynolds snapped back to attention. His voice, again, had changed into multi-phonics. "This wand... It picked you not only because you are destined to help people and heal them... T'was chosen because you were meant to yield this... Device."

Nicholas smiled vacantly as his eyes traced to Dylan's cat. "Did you know Mr. Xian, that Siamese cats have been long believed to house the souls of those who have already passed on... I can see something... A woman perhaps? She is the reason for your willingness to help others. You are destined to be a great wizard. Healing may be the right path for you."

Nicholas sank for but a moment before snapping his head towards the redhead directly in front of him. "Vernz, Anastacia.... This wand sees something in you that I dare not to repeat. But I must, for it is what the wand sees. This wand has two sides. Like yin and yang it hangs in the balance for you to decide. The core of this wand sees great evil inside of you. This evil is that to be rivalled by few. However, the wandwood sees ethereal goodness in you." Professor Reynolds' eyes began to cloud over white as the white globes of his eyes seemed to stare at the girl.

"It is this very struggle that will shape your future. A rarity you are, young girl. Your future veers in two separate tangents. However, once one option is chosen, there is no going back. Heed this warning child, you will be either a great good witch or the same on the inverse. It is your choice child. However, I feel as though someone may have already known this. You were provided with everything as a child, keeping you away from tugging influences so you would not make your decision until you had become wiser..." The scent in the room began to change as the professor came back from his trance, wincing from the pain of his shifting tattoos on his back. The wolf in the snow had now been replaced by a lamb, unaware of the hunter lurking in the shadows.

The pungent aroma of lavender filled the room with an almost tangible quality. Sniffing the air, the look on Professor Reynolds' face looked thoroughly annoyed.
"I thought I told you to leave!" He shouted at the still printing spirit. He lifted his wand, waited until the spirit was directly in front of him and shouted "Depulso!" His wand lit with a brilliant purple light, filling the room with the sound of the Banished spirit leaving the premises.

Picking up another piece of parchment, Professor Reynolds smiled at the students, whose faces seemed oddly calm for the amount he was subjecting them to on the first day.

The students once again had to watch as the Professor's eyes clouded over and he became limp before straightening like a board. "Riter, Nicholas... I see we share something in common!" He laughed a terribly horrific dual-voiced laugh before snapping back to the boy. "Your wand is more rare than you could ever imagine. Even a skilled wandmaker may only see one of these cores in his lifetime, and those who succeed in creating said wand rarely ever see the light of day again. You are interested in a lot, and your personality does not make sense of the core that chose you. You see, when a wand is made from maplewood, it hardly ever has a strong enough voice to overpower the core. Especially in a case like this it seems impossible...." Trailing off again, Nicholas left the room completely silent save for the crackling of the hearth behind him.

Like a car on its second pass, Nicholas' voice returned in a crescendo to deliver more about the strange boy. "This wand.. This wand wants something of you. It is not the wand that chose you young boy, but the spirit that has attached itself to this wand. The spirit wants you to possess great power and the only reason you have this wand is because....."

"This wand has great capacity for evil, but if darkness is not chosen, this wand can be extremely powerful in the magic of light. However, you must be careful with how much you use this wand before it completely binds to you. A Basilisk Fang cored wand will draw the energy from you if you do not familiarize the wand to you so it can bond with you." Nicholas sighed again, his voice changing mid sigh to its original state and back again. His eyes unclouded as he turned to Josiah..

"Mr. Rivers, this wand is a hybrid. It contains the feathers of two phoenixes, which clearly means that this wand wanted you to excel in Defence Against the Dark Arts. You are meant to use this skill, among others provided by this wand to fulfil your destiny. Be not afraid as you go into the good night, this wand will forever act as a beacon for you in the dark. One phoenix feather alone impedes darkness and one could only imagine what two could do for you." A grin had made its way onto the professor's face as he further stared directly into the boy's eyes.

" A warning is that this wand is that it will act as another beacon of sorts. This wand will make the dark aware of you at all times, not of your location, but of your presence. Although disgusted and hurt by this beacon of light, the darkness will try to find you, however repulsed by it-... Funny, I see that almost all of you have spirits associated with you. Including you Mr. Rivers... She will be seeing you again some time soon." Nicholas shook his head and conjured many teacups filled with tea leaves and screaming hot water.. The crackling hearth remained vigilant in its task to keep the elevated room warm.

"Tea anyone?" Nicholas chuckled as though nothing had happened at all.

Prefect Posts : 37 Join date : 2011-09-12

Dylan blushed feeling everyone's eyes on him. He frowned wondering who's wand was like his, hopefully someone nice. Dylan felt shivers run down his spine as the Professor talked noticing the change in his voice. It was strange, he had never been anywhere near the art of Divination before that being one of the reasons he signed up for it. He remembered her mother playing with cards and how she used to have cats around her. He had bits of random memories of his mother and it always made him happy to remember her. Dylan looked down at Frodo, who stared up at him from his lap. He poked Frodo's nose lightly and smiled nodding.

Slytherin Student Posts : 18 Join date : 2011-08-07

Ana almost jumped out of her skin, she had been zoning out again. The smell in the room made her feel strange. Balance is good, right? She thought worriedly. "Evil?" She squeaked. How can someone one be evil and good at the same time? She backed away from the professor pressing her back against her chair as his eyes turned white. "Holy crap" She whispered to herself. She frowned. So I get to be the next Dark Witch or or the next hero? She was scared.

Yes, she was ambitious but she wasn't going to kill people to get what she wants, she didn't want to be evil and yet she felt most of her already belonged on that side. "I'm not wiser, I don't want to choose" She shook her head. Hearing his words only made it more real, her dad had always told her that she had choices to make but she did her best to ignore him. From the dark shadows that lurked around her room when she was younger to how all the times she had done magic before getting her wand had been something bad, people and animals getting hurt. One time she had even brought a bunny back to life, her dad had been horrified and killed the bunny again burning it's body. She had only wanted to help, she hadn't meant to kill the bunny in the first place.

Subject: Re: Lesson 1 - Your Wand & You Sun Oct 16, 2011 9:33 pm

Adelaide walked into the Divination classroom with a worried look on her face. She had tripped when making her way to the class, causing her to make a detour to the infirmary. She had never been late to a class before and her cheeks were red with embarrassment.

Looking at the professor, Adelaide smiled sheepishly. "Sorry I'm late, I had an accident on my way here." Adelaide said, taking a seat next to a redheaded Slytherin, hoping the girl wouldn't mind.

Adelaide went straight to filing out the piece of parchment.

Wandwood: Hornbeam
Core: Augurey tail feather encased in Boomslang venom
Flexibility: Inflexible
(Not Mandatory) Length: 13 inches

And with that, Adelaide looked back up at the professor with apologetic eyes, though it wasn't her fault she fell.

Gryffindor Student Posts : 21 Join date : 2011-09-24

Hybrid? So his wand was cool? To be honest what did it really matter if it was cool or not though as long as it did was it was supposed to do. BUT HYBRID? Yeah it was cool.

What was his destiny? He hadn't really thought he had some grand goal to achieve. Sure he was adventurous but a destiny? He expected that it would ward off the dark but to make it aware of him all the time? That was kinda creepy. To think that no matter where he was the dark would feel his presence. Ok Cool and Creepy.

What? Who was going to see him soon? Who in the world was he talking about? He wanted to ask but it didn't seem like the professor was there and he guessed he would eventually find out but what a burning question in his mind. WHO IS SHE?

Guest

Andrew was late and he knew it. He had over slept that morning and it all escalated from there. Had he been more in control of his head lately, he would have made it to Divination on time, but of course he entered the classroom to find the lesson had already began.

Looking to the form and needed to be filled, the Hufflepuff dipped his quill in some ink and began to write.

Wandwood: Holly
Core: Dragon Heartstring
Flexibility: Inflexible
(Not Mandatory) Length: 12 inches

Andrew knew that his wand was ultimately boring. He knew at least three others with the same wood-core combination as he had. Frowning slightly, he sat back in his chair and waited to be given the next instructions.

Subject: Re: Lesson 1 - Your Wand & You Mon Oct 17, 2011 6:52 am

Professor Reynolds sipped his tea as he waited for the students that he expected to arrive do so. The room was now pungent with the mixed scents of Lavender and Frankincense swirling in the air before them.

After a few crackles from the hearth, a couple of late arrivals, and a swish of his wand, Nicholas had conjured sweets for all of the students and simultaneously collected the parchments from the stragglers who had completed the assignment. "Well... I guess I should evaluate, no?" He smiled as he calmly placed his teacup on the floor, his prayer bead bracelet clicking as the spheres of wood shifted and collided.

The moment that the professor touched one of the parchments, the room fell silent again save for the humming coming from the back of Nicholas' throat. He looked up at the students with clouded eyes darting from left to right, in search of the owner of the described wand and the used quill. "Ms. Keane, I presume?" Nicholas sinisterly smiled at the girl as he observed the parchment once more.

"This wand, it gives you quite the gift with Transfiguration. However, you may not know that you have on of the most powerful Divination cores that is encased by the venom of the Boomslang...." Nicholas' voice began to shift again, the second phonic of his voice became increasingly high pitched until it sounded like he and a young girl were speaking in synchronization. "I see that you are quite the vengeful person, child.. You need not fear the blood that may be shed for your wand does not fall into the darkness. The core of your wand was greatly misconceived to be one of darkness until it was discovered that the Augurey was not a harbinger of death, but moreso a harbinger of spirits therefore making this core strong with Divination."

Nicholas' head quickly made a pivotal rotation around his neck, cracking several times before he turned back to the girl. "You seem to feel as though magic is something that you can use against people who have wronged you. You must be careful child for this wand can break even the strongest of witches or wizards who oppose its wishes. The hornbeam will not bend for any, it only works for those who bend to its will, and this wand is telling you that you are not meant to venture into the darkness but rather defend against it. You shall excel in the Defence Against the Dark Arts and you should very well follow this path. I see great things for you once you realize that magic is not about power, but about expression and beauty.... and occasionally defence." Nicholas' multi-phonic voice cackled in a swell; starting almost silent, building to a peak of volume, then coming back down to its near muted volume.

Professor Reynolds temporarily went limp as he searched for something about the boy's wand. After an arduous wait to find something, anything about the boy, he sat bolt upright and began to hoarsely whisper to the boy. "Pallen, Andrew... As much as you may not believe it, boy, you are a rarity and quite the powerful wizard-to-be. The wandwood that chose you boosts your ability to ward off the Dark Arts and repels spirits and demons that seek to cause you harm. Another rarity about you is that I know not of a case, save you, where a Dragon Heartstring core has bonded to a Hufflepuff. It is because of this, young boy, that one can see that the wand knows a great power within you that is waiting to be unleashed." Nicholas began to tremble with fatigue as he controlled himself to further relay the message about the boy's future.

"Your wand is in constant conflict within itself, shifting from periods of good to evil, and much like others in this very room, it is in your own choice to listen or ignore a message from one end of the spectra. The difference in your case is that your future only has one line, a line that is obscured by your decision to be made, for without said decision I see.... No... Fu-fu-futu-re for you.." The professor shook himself off and regarded the class as a whole, conjuring more sweets for them and himself. The constant strain of Divining made him burn more calories than the average muggle 'Olympic Athlete,' thus being the reason for his slender figure and near inability to gain any weight after losing it.

The atmosphere in the room was very comfortable; the scents mingled perfectly to make a sweet, aroma-therapeutic setting for the professor and students. Nicholas turned towards the young, eager people sitting before him on arabic pillows. "Your only assignment today is to finish your tea, it is quite steeped enough." He laughed sincerely, the smile that spread onto his face clearly visible in the 'crows feet' on the perimeter of his eyes.

» Lesson One.
» Lesson Two
» Lesson 3 - Be Yourself
» Lesson 1: Who are you?
» Lesson One