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Post by Zea Winters on Dec 5, 2007 9:06:54 GMT -5
Zea grinned at Arcturus.
"Early. Very good."
As the students filed in, she clapped her hands.
"Okay, shut up now. Today we're going to go on a field expedition. Yes, I know we're supposed to be learning about Cuneiform, which you will when you read the four pages about it in your book. No, today, each of you is going to take a piece of paper and a stick of charcoal, and walk around the school. When you find an interesting pattern, or even phrase, carved into the stone, do a rubbing of it. Here, I'll demonstrate."
She took a piece of parchment and placed it on the stone wall, then rubbed the charcoal over it.
"There is a message in Cuneiform that I've placed SOMEWHERE in this school. If you can find it, do a rubbing, and bring it to me, twenty points will go to your house."
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Post by Zea Winters on Dec 4, 2007 12:10:51 GMT -5
[[Due to the fact that I am late starting this thread because I have not been around, it will be kept open until next Sunday at noon, when I start Week 4.]]
Zea sat in the classroom, in her usual position with her feet up on the desk. She looked somewhat excited today, and wasn't wearing her usual navy blue robes. Instead, she was clad in blue jeans, hiking boots, a flannel button down, and her brown fedora.
There is a brown bag sitting on the desk, various interesting implements hooked onto it.
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Post by Zea Winters on Nov 29, 2007 11:45:44 GMT -5
"Good, good, that's all excellent."
"Well, our class for today is drawing to a close, so I'll set the homework. First off, I hate giving homework, so you'll never have anything that takes more than half an hour to do."
"So, just read chapter one, it's only seven pages, on the history of the alphabet."
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Post by Zea Winters on Nov 27, 2007 22:12:58 GMT -5
Zea seemed a little taken aback, then grinned.
"You're certainly upholding Ravenclaw's reputation for the smarts, Mr. MacDougal. You're right on the money. In fact, we'll be studying Cuneiform next week."
"The system began as pictographical, but gradually the pictographs became more abstract, turning into a system of triangles and lines."
She scribbled an example on the board.
"It originated in Mesopotamia, so you're right about the Sumerians, too. Five points to Ravenclaw."
"Any other scripts?"
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Post by Zea Winters on Nov 27, 2007 19:46:46 GMT -5
Zea smiled as the students finally all came in and took their seats.
"Okay, we'll begin. I want you lot to take notes, because they will help you in research later on."
"Today's lesson is on the History of the Alphabet, and with it, the history of writing itself."
"Language, obviously, is something necessary to communication. Without language, how could we work together as a community?"
"There are many different kinds of languages. Some are only written, some only spoken, some require no words at all."
"Writing began to evolve in the Bronze Age, about 2500 BC."
"Now, who can give me some examples of early forms of writing?"
[[OOC note: All students may blatantly steal information from Wikipedia.]]
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Post by Zea Winters on Nov 27, 2007 19:11:35 GMT -5
"My father had a hat pretty much like that. My mother always gave him bizarre Russian things to wear. She used to make me wear silly traditional costumes on Christmas and stuff. Anyway, blathering on again."
Some more students filtered in.
"Well, we'll begin in a few moments, so take your seats."
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Post by Zea Winters on Nov 26, 2007 21:14:59 GMT -5
Zea smiled as Arcturus rushed into the room.
"I see we learned our lesson, didn't we? Well, choose a seat! We'll wait for everyone else, then we'll get started."
She tilted her head and studied him closely.
"Is that supposed to be an ushanka? Hmm. Do you find it that cold in here?"
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Post by Zea Winters on Nov 25, 2007 10:20:54 GMT -5
Zea can be found, once again, waiting for her students, sitting in her chair with her feet up on the desk, drinking a cup of tea. She is clearly wearing jeans and hiking boots under her navy blue robes.
Bandersnatch is snoozing on the windowsill.
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Post by Zea Winters on Nov 25, 2007 9:56:27 GMT -5
"All alphabets can be used as runes. It all depends on the intent of the user, and the magic they are being used for. The Mirror of Erised, for example - the runes inscribed on it are merely the Roman alphabet, backwards."
"However, you can't use a language you don't understand to do runic magic. That's where this class comes in."
"As for my favourite movie, it's Indiana Jones. And five points to Ravenclaw for asking that question, I love talking about Indiana Jones."
"Now, that concludes today's class, I'm letting you go early so all of you can go order your supplies, please have everything you need by next class! If you have any questions or concerns, please stop by my office!"
[[This thread is now LOCKED, as we'll be starting next weeks' shortly!]]
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Post by Zea Winters on Nov 23, 2007 17:48:09 GMT -5
[[This class is technically already over, but I'm going to keep this thread open until Sunday, as it didn't go anywhere and I sort of want it to.]]
Zea glanced up as Arcturus wandered into class, more than halfway through the period.
"Glad you decided to grace us with your presence, young man. Because you're late and there's no more of those cherished good seats in the back of the room, you win the Grand Prize of sitting right up front where I can see everything you're doing. And where I can pick on you. And believe me, I'm going to." She smirked. "Now, back to what I was saying. I've already told you what you need to bring, and considering I already scrawled it on the board for you, there should be no excuses for next class," Zea grinned.
"This year, we're going to be learning the fundamentals of runes. Now, what are runes? Runes are alphabets generally known to have magical properties. Just about every alphabet can be used as runes, it just depends on exactly what you're trying to achieve. We're going to discuss the different alphabets, and learn a little bit about each one and how it's used."
"I know that sounds boring as piss, but I promise it won't be. We're going to do a little bit of field research in a true archaeological fashion, but as I've not permission to do the really fun stuff with you until Seventh year, we'll have to settle for simply re-discovering what we already know."
"Any questions? Arcturus? Yes, I'm picking on you. If you don't have one, make one up. It can be about the class, about me, about anything, as long as it's neither about my love life nor Star Trek."
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Post by Zea Winters on Nov 20, 2007 18:27:04 GMT -5
[Welp, it appears my one student is late. Or perhaps missing. -5 points to Ravenclaw, then...]
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Post by Zea Winters on Nov 18, 2007 12:21:07 GMT -5
At the moment, we have currently one student registered and active in this course:
Arcturus MacDougal (3rd year)
In Real Time, this class runs from Sunday at Noon until Thursday at 1:00 pm. If you do not announce your attendance by Tuesday at noon, you are considered late. In Game Time, this class is on Tuesday mornings.
It was the second day of classes, and Zea was in a decidedly peppy mood. She set up a rather fantastic display of interesting artefacts early in the morning, and when class time approached, made herself a cup of tea and leaned back in her chair, her feet up on the desk. Bandersnatch lay snoozing on a windowsill.
She sipped her tea and waited for her students to show up.
"Sure is going to be a great one today, isn't it, Bandy?"
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Post by Zea Winters on Oct 29, 2007 17:06:55 GMT -5
Course Syllabus Ancient Runes is a course covering numerous ancient languages and scripts, and their practical applications in magic. It is currently taught by Professor Zea Winters, who along with being a teacher, is a celebrated archaeologist and respected historian. Students will learn theory as well as practical, and are expected to be able to demonstrate a reasonable ability in both. Due to the fact that Ancient Runes is largely historical in nature, students will also be examining a number of historical artefacts in relation to the course. There may also be a number of "field studies", combining archaeological techniques and it's connection to ancient runic studies. Roleplaying Information
Ancient Runes is a class that is taken once a week. Because of the current numbers of roleplayers on this board, all levels of Ancient Runes are combined into one course. Classes in The Secret of Magic do not currently operate on any set schedule. As a result, not all weeks of Ancient Runes will be roleplayed, merely when a topic of interest comes up. Players may PM the instructor (Zea Winters) if they have something they would like to roleplay in a classroom environment, and it will be considered at the discretion of the instructor.
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Post by Zea Winters on Dec 27, 2007 21:37:54 GMT -5
Until such a point when I have a large number of students in Ancient Runes, I am going to merge ALL YEARS into one class.
The course material is pretty similar, just advanced classes are studying more in-depth.
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Post by Zea Winters on Feb 15, 2008 8:13:42 GMT -5
"Lilianne,last I saw her, was in the hospital wing with her sister. I think Sir Lansmann or Professor Longbottom is going to return her to the Gryffindor Common Room later."
"She's shaken up, but she'll be all right. Her parents should be arriving sometime tomorrow."
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