Introduction and Review

[Edward Wenlock]

Well the dawn was coming
Heard him ringing on my bell
He said, "My name's the teacher,
that is what I call myself."

Everything was ready for the first day of class. Edward had already organized number charts along the south wall of the classroom weeks ago and his lesson plans were the same as they had been for the past twenty years, with some minor adjustments. The only thing that changed each year was the student dynamic, and depending on how difficult it was for them to focus on statistics and probabilities, Edward would tweak his lesson just a bit to make it more interesting.

He'd read that students learn better while moving and using their bodies, and that a new term needed to be used seventy times before it was properly stored in their mental vocabulary. So occasionally he'd have them all bounce on one foot and recite the three fundamentals of arithmancy or have them wear a writing tablet on a string around their necks and assign them all a number, having them rearrange themselves so that their numbers lined up with given calculations. Who said working with numbers couldn't be fun?

He stood in the hallway and greeted his students as they walked into the classroom, trying not to look too pleased when he saw his daughter walking towards him. "Good afternoon, Miss Wenlock," he greeted formally, earning an exasperated, "Hi, Dad..." from Gwen as she walked into the classroom. He smiled and shook his head, wondering how on Earth that girl could be exactly like her mother and Evelyn's polar opposite all at once. He continued to stand outside the door, waiting to see when the rest of his class would appear.

TAG Any and all students
DATE September 5, 1994
LYRICS "Teacher" - Jethro Tull
WORDS this may be in poor taste for arithmancy class, but I didn't count
NOTES Don't be shy, step on in! No one's going to make fun of you for taking arithmancy.

[Alicia Spinnet]

I may be frumpy, but I'm super smart
check out my grades, they're "A's" for a start
what I lack in looks well I make up in heart,
and well guys, yeah, that's totally awesome

It was required of everyone, Alicia: not just those interested.
If only Ali had known this, oh, a few years ago, instead of her sixth year, then perhaps she could have cross listed in another course. Yet now, here she was, clicking down the marble hall to her impending doom: Arithmacy. Ali had never had a talent for numbers; nor facts. She had a passion for spells and reading but very little talent with complex number problems. Thus, her stuggle with the subject matter would be very obvious from the beginning. Her only hope was to give her hardest attempt and attempt to sweet talk the professor, while completing additional work.
If only she could have been Harry Frickin' Potter, everyone seemed to adore him.
Including her best friend, PJ...

Stop it, Ali! Focus on the matter at hand. Passing arithmacy is your only real challenge this semester; that and convincing the twins not to attempt to dye her hair. At thought, she clasped her hands to her head.

Ali strode not confidently enough to the class room; smiling gently, almost nervously to Professor Wenlock in passing. She ducked her head as she entered the dimly lit area; dust coating a few surfaces as she neared her desk. She slid in, waving slightly to Gwen Wenlock, the only other girl present. It was not surprising that she was in father's course, really.
.

TAG Professor Wenlock and anyone else
DATE September 5, 1994
LYRICSBack to Hogwarts
WORDS um, none, can't you tell?
NOTES Please, help me out Prof?.

[Hermione Granger]

I COUNT SLOWLY, SLOWLY, SLOWLY GETTING FASTER
ONCE I'VE STARTED COUNTING IT'S REALLY HARD TO STOP
I COULD COUNT FOREVER, COUNT UNTIL I DROP

Hermione blinked awake, gradually growing aware of the sights and sounds around her. She had been dreaming... what was her dream? She was still trying to remember when it dawned on her that today was the first day of class and she bolted up right. P.J. and Lavender were arguing over leaving something lying on the floor that one of them must have tripped over and Parvati was next to her mirror, braiding her hair. Hermione stared at them all, astonished, before looking at her alarm clock which read 7:35. "No!" she cried, flipping her comforter away before swinging her legs onto the floor, quickly undressing. "Why didn't anyone wake me?"

"Um... sorry, Hermione," said Parvati in a very unapologetic tone. Honestly, who sleeps in until 7:35 on the first day of school? As she pulled her uniform from the hanger she cursed her decision to stay up late talking with Ron and Harry about things the Triwizard Tournament, but honestly, Ron seemed to think it was so fantastic and he was a very bad influence on Harry. Someone had to stick around to be the voice of reason. Plus they had licorice wands... Hermione wasn't one for sweets, but she'd murder for one of the red ones. She flossed for about five minutes before going to bed, though.

After washing up and getting dressed, Hermione checked her hair in the mirror and nearly growled at the sheer madness of it, finally opting to pull the top third back so that it looked relatively tame, and then grabbed her books and ran downstairs for breakfast. Harry and Ron were already there, which shocked all three of them, seeing as Hermione was usually so punctual. They all had a laugh about that as they ate and Hermione read only the front page of the Prophet before checking her watch and bidding them farewell as she ran to her first class of the day: Arithmancy. Professor Wenlock was standing at the door and she flashed him a bright but breathless smile and he greeted her as cordially as he had last year on the first day of class, and she entered to find that Gwendolyn Wenlock and Alicia Spinnet were the only other two in the room. Not wanting to pick a side, Hermione sat between them but towards the front and began to pull out her things. "Morning," she said to them both as she fished out her quill, ink, parchment, last term's notes and her textbook from last year and her one for this year.

Hermione had learned early on the value of a good expanding charm.

tag ♦ Professor Wenlock, Ali, the invisible Gwen and other students
date ♦ September 5, 1994
words ♦ 437
lyrics ♦ The Count Song - Sesame Street
notes ♦Here I am with a post that wouldn't sink the Titanic! HUZZAH