Term VI: OWL Ancient Runes #1

[diederick]

Ordinary Wizarding Levels Ancient Runes

Introduction to Nordic Runes

Today was the first Ancient Runes class Professor Kridik was to teach at Hogwarts. The thought was both frightening and exciting at the same time. His classroom was set for the class. Runes were carved into large pieces of stone Errol had transfigured in the room. He had taken his time to write defensive spells and other such specialty magic into the thick, hard stone. The room was set up with desks Errol had transfigured into stone for his first lesson. The edges of the able had runes engraved in them, preventing any sort of cheating. Errol had wanted to make the room look more like a Nordic cave.

Errol finished the décor with an almost clichéd placement of ice and icicles in the corners of the room. Candles floated near the ceiling; reflecting through the glass-like ice and creating an aura of blue-green light throughout the room. Professor Kridik smiled as he looked around the room. He could see his breath now with the low temperature grasping the room. Earlier, he had sent a notice to his students to bring warm clothing to the class; he was sure his students would be asking questions before they entered the freezing room.

Thinking of his students, Errol looked down at the roster that lay on his desk at the front of the class room. Three names were written upon the thick parchment.

Ravenclaw:
Theodorik Harding, 4

Gryffindor:
Sarie Thimble, 2

Hufflepuff:
Dean Hogarth, 5

Finally, Errol sat down in the cold stone chair that lay behind his desk, waiting for his new students to arrive.

[Sarie Thimble]

Sarie looked rather funny. She was walking around in her hat, scurf, and cloak. She was making her way to her first Ancient Runes of the term. She hopped down the stairs rather excited. She made the rest of the way. Using on of her gloved hands to push open the door.

She was glad she had all of her winter things. She looked around to see icicles in the corner. A shiver went down her spine. "Morning Professor." She said as her breath rose if a foggy steam.

[theodorik]

As Theodorik walked through the corridors of Hogwarts, he captured many awkward glances from passing students. He was dressed in his winter cloak and scarf for the Ancient runes lesson with the new professor. Adjusting his glasses before entering, Theo thought of all he had learnt in previous Ancient Runes classes. The answer; not much.

Theo finally stepped into the room, only to find the room looked more a cave than a room. Ice coated the walls and ceiling, shining green and blue light across the room. As he breathed, Theo could see his breath rise in the air. It was freezing in the room. He was now glad he had taken heed of Professor Kridik's warning that was posted in the common room. He walked deeper into the classroom and sat at one of the stone tables in the room and pulled out parchment and ink, only to find his ink had frozen solid. Just his luck.

Instead of trying to melt the ink down, Theo looked around the room. Runes were carved in every corner an crevice. Stone tables jutted out of the floor randomly and runes were carved into the edge of the table he was sitting at. Small candles floated i the air above their heads, making the green-blue light that filled the room. Sitting up front was obviously Professor Kridik. Theo couldn't wait for the class to begin.

[diederick]

After the class bell had rung, there were only two students in the classroom. They were quite obviously Sarie Thimble and Theodorik Harding. Professor Kridik had one more name on the list, Dean Hogarth. He had lost 10 points for Hufflepuff. Errol made a note on the parchment that lay before him: 10 p-Gryffindor, 10p-Racvenclaw. After writing the numbers down, he stood up and the door to the classroom closed.

Breathing deeply, he could see his breath as he walked out in front of his desk. "Good morning," he said in his clear voice, "I am Professor Kridik. As I'm sure you know, I am the new professor of Ancient Runes. He stepped down and walked forward slightly, "we will begin today's class with an introduction to runes and specifically Nordic Runes." He finally went back up and stood up straight in front of his desk.

"I assume you two have signed up for the class because you're interested in the subject," he said. "When you get into NEWTs class, we will cover the beginning of magic more deeply. However, you will just have to accept a few things as fact for the time being. #1: Runic magic was the first form of human magic. #2: Runic magic is inherently light or dark; there are no shades with runes. #3: All cultures have runes." He flicked his wand and the room immediately began gleaming with runes carved into the ice.

"Todays class," he said, "will be devoted to Nordic Runes, the most famous of the ancient magic. For the next half-hour, you two will go around this room and look for runes, trying to identify how many different ones you can find. Be aware, I have thrown in a few from Egyptian runes. You should be able to tell the difference. Any questions? Comments?" Errol smiled slightly as he stepped down. He loved doing this.

[Dean Hogarth]

For once in his life Dean Hogarth was running late, his bag had been packed the night before; he had even spent the day before in the library reading the introduction book to Ancient Runes. The Hufflepuff felt prepared and ready to learn and he as he left the library the night before he could not wait to start the new subject. However when he was leaving the library that night he had bumped into the former Professor Owen who had her arms full of books and being the good Samaritan that he was, and also having the worlds largest crush on the Astronomy Professor Dean offered to help her carry the books up to the Headmasters office.

That had left the poor Hufflepuff on such a high for the rest of the night that it took him hours to get to bed and when he turned over in his bed to look at the alarm clock his heart sank when he saw the time was quart to nine. And so it was with a heavy heart that he pushed open the door to the Ancient Runes classroom to find that the lesson had already started. But it had done more then just start, the room was Nordic looking. The tables were stone and there seemed to be Runes gleaming in ice, the effort that had been put into this lesson and here he was turning up late. Deans cheeks turned bright red and the Hufflepuff could not bring himself to look the Professor in the eyes.

“So...sorry I am late Professor.”

Quickly he slipped into the last free table and placed his bag down by his side, desperately trying to hide his embarrassment from the rest of the class, but his face was now growing so red that not even the chilly weather conditions of the classroom would cool him down.