thestormcomes: (boldness stands alone)
Comte Olivier d'Athos de la Fère ([personal profile] thestormcomes) wrote in [community profile] entranceway2012-06-14 10:28 am

Arithmancy -- Third Years and Up

[Newcomers to the subject will find Professor La Fère standing stoically at the front of the classroom, wand (pine, phoenix feather, 10", and unsurprisingly unyielding for those of you who care) on the desk beside him. An owl lurks in the corner of the room, still slightly ruffled from Professor Buckingham's charms.]

As you are all undoubtedly aware by now, Arithmancy is most often used to predict the future, but it should not be mistaken for anything remotely similar to the study of Divination. We work with numbers, we do not gaze senselessly into the crystal ball, and unless you were born a skilled Seer there is no point in attempting to scry the results of your O.W.L.s.

[He was a student once. He knows how it is.]

You will be working from three books this semester: L. Wakefield's Numerology, M. Carneiro's Grammatica, and Vector's New Theory of Numerology. Reading is required, not suggested. You will complete seven essays and take three tests including your O.W.L., which is cumulative. We build from the ground up, and the first chapters of each book are just as relevant and important as the last. For the time being, wands away.

[Because Olivier is feeling especially generous today (or rather, he's a bit worn out from wrestling his owl away from another professor), all levels of Arithmancy, from beginners to advanced, get to have a little more fun than usual.]



Today we will be using the Agrippan Method for calculating the value of one's name. Each of you has a chart on your table.

[He begins writing on the blackboard with his wand.]

Find each corresponding number for every letter in your name. Mine is provided above as an example.

O L I V I E R D E L A F E R E
6 3 9 4 9 5 9 4 5 3 1 6 5 9 5


You "reduce" your numbers by adding them together until you achieve a single digit, like so.

6 + 3 + 9 + 4 + 9 + 5 + 9 + 4 + 5 + 3 + 1 + 6 + 5 + 9 + 5 = 83
8 + 3 = 11
1 + 1 = 2


With your final number, you can refer to a rather amusing personality chart on the back of your copy of Agrippa's Method. The Chaldean Method is similar, as you can see in your textbooks on page two-hundred and fifty-seven, but the letters were based on the Hebrew alphabet, rather than the Latin one.

Please do not hesitate to ask questions should you have them.

[For students, professors, or ghosts who wish to interact with Olivier outside of lectures, he will most likely be in his office located in the largest tower beneath the Astronomy classrooms.]

[personal profile] urnewkingbitch 2012-06-14 05:54 pm (UTC)(link)
Quick question, Prof. We usin' our full names or does it matter?

[personal profile] urnewkingbitch 2012-06-14 06:02 pm (UTC)(link)
[He sighs. He hates his full name.]

Man.

[Well, first, he takes a look at what a 2 means and he's hard-pressed to keep from laughing.]

So, Professor, you're actually a sweet guy?

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endlessbeato: mischievous (hee hee)

[Action]

[personal profile] endlessbeato 2012-06-14 06:10 pm (UTC)(link)
[Beato was paying close attention to the timbre of his voice, the sternness of his gaze, his handsome features, oh wait, she's still in class, woops, better wipe that dreamy look off of your face, girl Professor La Fere's lecture. She quickly whips out her textbooks to find the charts. Maybe if she's lucky, their numbers will be compatible?]

Let's see...2, 5, 1, 2, 9, 9, 3, 5, 7, 6, 3, 4, 1, 4, 9, 2, 8...add those together...80...so that would be 8...

[She flips to the personality chart.]

"Eight indicates the possibility of great success in business, finance, and politics. Eights are practical, ambitious, committed, and hard working. They can also be jealous, greedy, domineering, and power-hungry. Eight is said to be the most unpredictable of numbers and can indicate the pinnacle of success or the depths of failure; the potential to go either way is present from the beginning."

...Sounds more like my father than it does me...

[Her gaze flicks up to her Professor again, trying her best to mask her distaste for her results.]

Professore La Fere, will we receive extra points if we use the Chaldean Method as well?
Edited (had to redo the math because i had to come up with a last name for her) 2012-06-14 18:23 (UTC)
endlessbeato: kitty cat (coquettish)

[Action]

[personal profile] endlessbeato 2012-06-15 06:35 pm (UTC)(link)
Of course!

[She is all-too eager to please.]

Like you said, Professor, the Chaldean method uses the Hebrew letters as the root, not Latin. You would think this would mean that "Chaldean" is a Jewish name, but that's not accurate. "Chaldean" is actually an old-fashioned name for the Aramaic language and its speakers - so technically, the Chaldean method is much older. The biggest difference between the two methods, though, is that the number 9 is not used in the Chaldean method.

If we were to use the Chaldean method instead of the Agrippan method, you would be...

[She pauses, doing some calculations in her head.]

...a 9. I find that to be a much more accurate description of your personage, if I may say so.

[She gives him a shy smile and hopes she hasn't said too much.]

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airplanecups: (pic#3493025)

[action]

[personal profile] airplanecups 2012-06-14 07:48 pm (UTC)(link)
[stares at the personality chart.]

...I don't know what that word means.

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itsahotone: (que?)

[personal profile] itsahotone 2012-06-14 08:10 pm (UTC)(link)
[Santana, who is really only taking this class for reasons other than actually being at all interested in the incredibly boring subject, gets the number one. And narrows her eyes at the description. Some of it is pretty fitting, obviously, but.]

I am not a loner.

[She's just better than most everyone else.]

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akapeanut: (Rewind for me)

[personal profile] akapeanut 2012-06-14 08:49 pm (UTC)(link)
Five...

[Frown.]

I hate travelling.

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hamburellakind: (John smash)

[personal profile] hamburellakind 2012-06-14 08:52 pm (UTC)(link)
A loner and a leader? Wow.

[He doesn't seem pleased.]

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walkingdesuno: (Default)

action;

[personal profile] walkingdesuno 2012-06-14 11:46 pm (UTC)(link)
[ he tests both methods, not bothering to write them out on his parchment ]

...Hm, the Agrippa method seems to fit me better.

action;

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action;

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action; /late sorry orz

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bicorn: (pic#3285175)

[personal profile] bicorn 2012-06-15 12:13 pm (UTC)(link)
[ It takes her awhile to come up with both of her final numbers as she worriedly checked and re-checked her calculations, having to make some adjustments along the way and not being satisfied until she achieved the same numbers three times. Math in any incarnation is obviously not Brittany's strong suit. ]

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doesntmiss: (I'd be willing to bet)

[personal profile] doesntmiss 2012-06-15 05:04 pm (UTC)(link)
[Mumbling to himself...] ...is eightyseven and... okay, ninetytwo is eleven is two...

[Clint glances at the chart and scoffs.]

Not so sure about sweet natured. But nobody believes in this kind of stuff, right?

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itsalluseless: as ii clse my eyees and ram  the teapa..rty  with my shitt y blue truthh (and leave it on the other shore)

[personal profile] itsalluseless 2012-06-15 09:18 pm (UTC)(link)
Completion and achievement, huh? Should I take this to mean I'll get perfect scores on my O.W.L.s?

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epiccombo: (Confident)

[personal profile] epiccombo 2012-06-18 12:00 am (UTC)(link)
[As far as Puck is concerned, Arithmancy is not up there with the most useful subjects either. He's not sure what he's doing taking the class anyway.

But that's why he's taken up residence in the back of the classroom, pretending to pay attention, but once in awhile, sneaking in an odd doodle or insulting scrawl of some kind directly onto the pages of his school book.

Compliments of Noah Puckerman.]