When Sora had first started teaching Divination, she had been a little self-conscious in regards to her teaching abilities. After all, the former Divination professor had been an accomplished professor, and was well-loved both among the faculty and the students. Sora had also never received any formal training besides her schooling at Hogwarts, and this had made her feel as if she needed to live up to expectations that she might not be able to reach. Sora was also one of the youngest teachers, a woman, and unmarried. It seemed like everything she was or had was being counted against her. Still, she thought that she had done a good job last year, considering she had been asked to stay, as well as take over the Hufflepuff Head of House position.

Now that the winter break was over, Sora was excited to start the new year's lessons. Her class being an elective, she was always happy to see what students chose to take Divination. Many who took the class were genuinely interested in it, while still others only took it because it was better than other electives and gave them something to do. It didn't bother Sora either way - she would show the people who liked Divination why they liked it, and give the non-believers a reason to start enjoying the class. It was her mission.

Sora checked the small tables in her room one last time before the students would start arriving. Normally, when she started off a year with her younger class, she always started with tea leaf reading, then moved on to cartomancy, which used a deck of muggle cards. By the time the winter break was over, Sora normally moved on to tarot cards, which was a lot like cartomancy, but with a deck of seventy-eight cards. It was more complicated, and most families didn't own tarot decks at home. Each table had a crystal ball affixed to the center of the table, and depending what the lesson was, different items would be on each side of the table. In her classroom, there weren't exactly desks. More like seat cushions stationed next to small tea tables, with around two to three students sitting at each table. Today, a two tarot decks rested on each side of the table. Sora herself had had to go through each deck, ensuring that all seventy-eight cards were there and that there had been no repeats (sometimes the decks were mixed up due to clumsy students).

Hearing muffled footsteps and sounds of talking coming from outside the trapdoor, Sora smiled to herself. Now to begging her lesson. The students walked in, taking their usual places at various tables around the room. Wherever they had sat at the beginning of the year was where their new assigned seat was, and whoever had sat with them was their partner(s). Sora looked to make sure that each student carried their Tarot Meanings book. There was, of course, required books for the course. There was a general Divination book, a book specifically designed for interpreting dreams (which was taught to the older class), and a book for tarot meanings (considering all of the meanings and interpretations, and how to weave a story out of that). As her students sat down, Sora smiled lightly, waiting politely until the talking ceased and she could begin the lesson.

"Welcome back everyone! I hope you all had a good holiday, and I also hope that you are excited for further interpretations of the future. Now, as you can all see, each table has to sets of tarot cards. If there are more than two people at your table, then naturally, you will be sharing sets of cards. Today, we will be going over the basics of tarot readings, and not delve too deep into the actual interpretations and meanings of the cards. Who can tell me how many cards are in one deck of tarot cards? If I catch you counting the cards as I speak, I will not call on you. Anyone?" Sora looked around the room, looking for the bright student that may at least try to guess, if not having already known the answer.

Ben wasn't good at Divination. He had sort of known from the beginning that he wouldn't be, but he had to take three electives, and Care of Magical Creatures simply wasn't an option, which limited it significantly. Some students could get away with just two, but three was somewhat more standard, and Ben didn't want to be seen as a slacker by anyone who might be evaluating his Hogwarts grades after he graduated, for job possibilities. Ancient Runes and Arithmancy had been givens, which just left the third slot. Muggle Studies, or Divination. Ben's third year, Muggle Studies had been taught by an overweight old man who had about as much charisma, from what Ben could tell, as a Tenecian Ice Slug. So he signed up for Divination, and had been attending quite faithfully for the past year and a half, dragging his books on tea leaves and tarot back and forth and never coming away from the class with anything even resembling a reasonable forcast of his future.

To her credit, the teacher was nice enough, and she didn't seem inclined to hold it against him when his interpretation of the cards last semester had predicted things which just weren't plausible. Eventually, he'd decided to just be as vague about what he saw as humanly possible, which he was starting to think might have been the whole secret to Divination in the first place. It really wasn't her fault, but Ben just couldn't like a class that he couldn't succeed in, no matter how hard he tried.

Since he had exactly zero talent for this sort of thing, he made sure to do all of his reading well in advance and practically twice-over (and he'd had plenty of time over the second half of break for homework, being grounded). He knew he'd read about all of those cards, but the first thing that came to mind when she asked the question was way too many.

"Seventy-eight?" he guessed. He knew it was more than an average deck of cards, fifty-two, and less than eighty. He specifically remembered less than eighty, which lead him to believe it was seventy-something. Seventy-eight sounded vaguely familiar from his reading, and if he was mistaken it was at least as good a guess as any.

Sora's eyes fell on the answerer of her question. Her eyes smiled as well as her mouth. Mr. Ben Taylor. Mr. Taylor, like most students who took Divination, didn't have the raw natural talent that people like herself did for Divination. He struggled with it, having a hard time grasping fortune-telling. Most students struggled as much as he did, but most of them gave up eventually. The Ravenclaws, like Mr. Taylor, were the ones who mostly couldn't accept they just weren't inclined to be good at Divination. They would continue to try, because, being the smartest House in Hogwarts, they hated not being naturally talented and intelligent in a class.

Still, she never held it against a student if they just weren't good at Divination. As long as they made some effort and didn't roll their eyes at her, she accepted what they did. Even if it was completely impossible and could never happen. At least they were trying in some small way. Sora smiled at Mr. Taylor. "Excellent, Mr. Taylor. I can see that you did your reading on the subject." She looked around the room once, observing her students for a brief second.

"Yes, there are seventy-eight cards in a tarot deck. There are twenty-two "face" cards as I like to call them, fourteen cup cards, fourteen pentacle cards, fourteen sword cards, and fourteen wand cards. Together, they make seventy-eight cards in total. Now, for the "face" cards, does anyone know any of the names of these cards?" She surveyed the room, looking for the lucky student that was willing to give the answer a try. This was harder than the last question, considering you must know which cards were the "face" cards as well as memorize the twenty-two different names. Sora had to admit, memorizing and knowing all the of the names and meanings took a lot of practice, even for someone who was naturally talented at Divination.

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Divination was one of the few classes Ellory trully enjoyed. Although many students concidered it stupid and useless, Ellory found it fascinating. So many people wanted to know what is going to happen in the future, but they also criticized those who had that abbility. Ellory had no divination talent, that was sure, but she made sure that she was well read before each of her classes.<p>

Ellory relucantly raised her hand to answer Professor Estelle's second question. Although she was not sure whether her answer was right, she was sure that she had read it somewhere. " There are... um... Knight, King, Queen and Page... In every... Group of them?" she answered, with no confidence as doing so, something rather unusual for Ellory who always answered with confidence, even when she knew that her answer was wrong.

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Sora's attention drifted to the next student that answered her question, a Fourth year Gryffindor, Ms. Pendergast. Ms. Pendergast was one of her students that really enjoyed Divination. Whether she failed or succeeded, she still loved the craft, and that made Sora happy. It was her duty in life - to give people appreciation for things they weren't necessarily good at, and possibly find something to love about it. Sora was a bit surprised to find a hesitant note to Ms. Pendergast's response. After all, that particular student had always spoken with confidence, even if the answer was blatantly wrong. She smiled politely, "That would be correct, if were talking about the other cards, such as the Cups cards or the Swords cards." Sora shook her head lightly.

That was my fault. I should have been more clear when I asked the question, and not have used my own personal nickname for the cards. The twenty-two cards in question are the fool, the magician, the high priestess, the empress, the emperor, the hierophant, the lovers, the chariot, strength, the hermit, wheel of fortune, justice, the hanged man, death, temperance, the devil, the tower, the star, the moon, the sun, judgement, and the world." Sora checked each one off on a finger, using her hands over again once she reached past the tenth card. It was a lot to remember, and remembering the meanings for all those cards, plus the other cards was difficult, even for someone with a photographic memory. Hence why Sora let them cheat with books during tarot readings. Only someone who had studied the cards for a long time (like herself, the obsessed little diviner she was) would understand in depth what each card meant without having to look in a book, as well as being able to weave a story together with what the cards told of.

Sora looked around the room again. "Now, before we begin our first tarot reading, doesn't anyone know what any of the cards mean? And if so, would you care to share that information with the rest of the class? I am aware it is a bit daunting, especially if you don't necessarily know exactly what the cards mean. A general idea is fine, I assure you."

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Loretta's mouth opened wide to reveal her teeth and the back of her throat and her hand shot up to cover her yawn. She knew she really should've gotten to bed on time last night.... just that she'd found a book in the library on love spells and she'd spent a good portion of the night attempting to make head or tail of it. <p>
It would be a great idea for Valentines Day! Much better then her previous idea of a singing valentines card. She spotted a nearby student watching her and shut her mouth with a snap. What had they been talking about? Cards? Tarot Cards? <p>
She perked up and stared across at her partner with bright eyes. She hadn't done any prereadings - she'd been far too interested in love potions and spells - but wasn't it surely possible to do a fortune on her future to see who she ended up with. She flipped over the deck in front of her and read the name at the bottom of the pretty pictures as Professor Estelle recited the namesof the major arcana. She remembered something vaguely and shyly put up her hand. <p>
"The Death Card doesn't mean death but change... that's right isn't it?" She asked. She remembered reading it somewhere vaguely but she knew it was probably better to ask then leave it to chance.
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