Eskin's Lecture (quills out), shhh! no talking.

[Theodore Eskin]

Eskin paused. Spellsmoke wafted around the room, and a number of students looked perplexed, as well as a little burnt.

The charm on that paper was working a little TOO well...

Someone slipped in through the door, which he noticed from the corner of his vision.

Yet another late student? None of these students seemed to take classes seriously enough. He'd better put a stop to this, but he didn't want to halt his lecture halfway through. Some of these students weren't hooked yet, and he better get them into the curriculum before the year progressed. They were getting there. Maybe he should talk to a few of them individually.

He waved his wand, and erased the first set of symbols on the board, and replaced them with a longer set of smaller letters. A set of hieroglyphs appeared next to them.

"....The peculiarities we received from pre-Egyptian lettering are continued in most northern Semitic languages. I think today, we will focus on a few that draw the most attention in certain circles of magic. Bear in mind that though this is a younger system, like many of the runes we will be studying for the first quarter of term, it is going to be a very dead language. You are probably aware that most wizards utilize a form of Latin that was usurped during the Roman empire - and though I would love to delve more openly into that subject matter, perhaps I will leave explaining that debacle to your History of Magic professor, as it requires a much more acute examination... if you have any burning questions, you can see me in my office.

However, let's get into comparisons between Egyptian grammar and the calligraphy that was used prior to when pictograms became popular with the wizarding world of that period..."

[Amelia Coote]

Amelia quickly began to jot down the new set of runes, while listening to Professor Eskin speak about the properties and origins of them. She remembered reading most of what he was saying in the book but she paid attention anyways. Sometimes the teacher had something important to add that the book hadn't touched on. It was always smart to listen to the professor's monologue as well.

After a while, the jar finally made its way around to Amelia and she placed her quill down and took a hold of the jar. Interesting. She'd heard the others try to get the jar open. She'd seen them rifle through their books, looking for the symbol on the paper on top. She knew the symbol. She knew it. She really did. But for the life of her, Amelia couldn't remember the translation for it. She didn't even bother trying to use any charm against it. She knew it was a well spoken word that would most likely open the jar. If only she could remember it. Then she could open it.

But alas, she did not. So, seeing as she was the last student in the rows, she put the jar on the corner of her desk and continued to jot down the notes. And think about that rune. She was sure she'd remember it later, or beat herself up for not remember it once Eskin told them.

[Felicia Barlfir]

"Pardon me."

Felicia Barlfir had come to the back of the class.

She hefted the jar, realizing that she had the attention of more than a few people, examining the lid.

"I thought so."

Aguamenti.

Water poured out of her wand onto the jar. With a puff of smoke, the jar's lid evaporated.

It was spectacularly easy, once you understood the system. This professor must've been joking putting something like this over them. Either that, or nobody was reading. She sighed. Stuck inside another class with a bunch of airheads. Exciting. Academia was providing fewer and fewer thrills. Felicia never really liked these kind of classes. Too many people that needed help, or elsewise, needed to leave. She didn't have a lot of respect for those who couldn't keep up with her.

[Horatio Lovecraft]

I can ride my bike with no handlebars ,

Look at me look at me Just called to say that its good to be Alive in such a small world I'm all curled up with a book to read I can make money open up a thrift store I can make a living off a magazine I can design an engine 64 miles to the gallon on gasoline I can make new antibiotics I can make computer survive aquatic Conditions I know how to run the business And i can make you wanna buy a product Movers shakers and producers Me and my friends understand the future I see the strings that control the systems I can do anything with no assistance 'Cause I can lead a nation with a microphone And I can split the atoms of a molecule

Ancient Runes was a class to which Horatio Lovecraft arrived early on a consistent basis. Today was no different. About ten minutes before the class started, he slipped into the room with nary a word or greeting and took a seat on the front row, second seat from the left. His customary seat. A creature of habit, Horatio preferred to sit at the same chair and same desk every period for each of his classes. Sometimes that meant the front row, sometimes the back, and rarely the middle. He felt the middle was for posers. Couldn't decide if they wanted to participate or not. Fence-sitters. Just as deplorable as the idiots who never try in any of their classes. Unless the idiot isn't trying because he in fact knows and understands that he is an idiot. Horatio would support such a self-discerning student in their pathway of choice and encourage them to remain steadfast in pursuing what they could do well, such as housekeeping, janitorial work or in the food service.The wizarding world needs janitors and waitresses just as much as the Muggle world.

For example, his housemate Lukas. Smart enough to land a better job than housekeeper, but he seemed to have all the ambition of a stained and tattered tea cozy. Though now that he thought of it, a tea cozy could potentially have more ambition than Lukas; at least it could still be used as clothing for some enterprising, eccentric House Elf. Even if he were more intelligent than Horatio expected, it was obvious that his use of his brain power was lacking. What idiot decided to throw out colorful language in front of an authority figure? Especially one that seemed to care. If Horatio were to say such a thing in front of a professor, it would be made clear that he did so with absolutely no regard for their power to take away the useless but oddly coveted House Points. He never had understood that system of rewarding good behavior with points and bad behavior with a removal of said points. It wasn't money or food or books or anything useful. The winning House didn't get a party. All they got was a poorly designed trophy with their house name and year engraved on it and the apparently satisfying knowledge that they had managed to either keep the most rules or successfully kiss the asses of more teachers. Oh, and all the banners at the end of the year feast would be in the winning house's colors. Hurray?

He ignored his unfortunate roommate and just about everyone else, except the professor. With his intense gaze focused on Professor Eskin, he wrote down notes and drew sketches of the symbols describes or written on the chalkboard. Ancient Runes was a mysterious branch of magic the wizading world still knew very little about. Experts suspected that the ancient world relied much more heavily on rune work than modern wizards and witches, who most often preferred the convenience and power behind wand-waving. Horatio agreed with them that wands, in general, were the greater conductor for magic, but not that it was the end-all, be-all. If one were to combine the two even more (a certain level of rune work was employed to make all wands), well then, that would surely extend ones capacity of power. That was his theory, and someday, he would see it through.

When the jar came to him, he peered at the symbol, smiled and nodded, and then passed it right on. Of course he knew what it was. Still, he did nothing. It was much more fun to let the others struggle. He wondered if anyone would discern the key. As per usual, Felicia Barlfir did not let him down. She was among, by his considerations, the smartest witches of their year and had consistently shown her intellect throughout her education at Hogwarts. He grinned slightly when she butted in, grabbed the jar, and disintegrated the lid with a water charm. Simple, but brilliant. One of the reasons why he liked Ancient Runes.

created by tillie of caution & sds

Look at me, look at me driving and I won't stop.

And it feels so good to be alive and on top.