'Professor' DiAnna Diaz
August 05, 2011 1:17 PM
Advanced Divination: Alphitomancy (6th & yth years) by 'Professor' DiAnna Diaz
Often the classes that DiAnna taught didn’t require her students to move around very much (and since when did she begin thinking of them as her students, anyway?) because most practises required the level of concentration that necessitated sitting still. Similarly, when she was explaining theory, or asking students to conduct textbook research, there was little movement required. She thought it would be nice for a change, then, if she could integrate a class with more physical stimulation. The opportunity had presented itself as she prepared to teach the advanced class about alphitomancy. On the board was written the quotation, “If am deceiving you, may this piece of bread choke me.” The desks were aligned to face the front of the room, and were adorned with items that would indicate this was a potions or cookery class, rather than divinations.DiAnna greeted her advanced students, waiting as usual in her dark and flowing attire for the small class to enter and find a seat. When all had settled, she said, “Today’s class will be on Alphitomancy, which is divining using barley cakes.” The sixth and seventh year students should be now have realized that they would usually be required to take notes at the start of DiAnna’s classes. This comes under consumption techniques in chapter eleven of your textbooks,” she pointed them in the right direction for further reading.
“Muggles seem to have picked up on the basics of this method around the Middle Ages in Europe,” she gave her class a brief history of the method, “but it’s been around in magical records as long as they have existed. The recipe has changed somewhat, and varies in format as cake or bread, but the concept remains the same: you must encourage a subject to eat the barley cake, and it causes their behaviour to become somewhat prophetic. So reading the behavior of the person who has consumed the cake, or bread, is how you divine in this instance. The Muggles used it for other purposes – mostly if a person had indigestion they were deemed to have been lying, and otherwise to have been telling the truth – but there is no proof of this actually working. However if a person does suffer stomach upset after eating, that should be one of the signs you take note of. Also if the cake tastes good or bad is one of the indications – there’s a list in the chapter I just mentioned to help you out.” They should have a decent idea by now of how just about anything could be taken for a sign – the art, or gift, was in the interpretation.
“So your homework then is to feed the barley cake or barley bread to someone and record and interpret their behaviours. It should be noted that trying to figure out what the signs pertain to is often harder than identifying what these signs are. You should probably also observe someone familiar, otherwise you might read normal behaviour as abnormal, and vice versa. Finally, don’t tell your subject exactly what you’re doing, because if they know their actions are being recorded, they are likely to behave unnaturally anyway.” She wasn’t about to tell them to be deceitful in getting friends or peers to eat suspect substances, but she had to make sure they weren’t wasting their time. "Summarise your findings and explain how you came to your conclusion - due in the first class back after midterm."
“For today, then, you need to make the substance to feed them.” That explained the materials laid out on the desks, and the instructions that had now appeared on the chalk board underneath the quotation. ‘Knead ground barley and powdered spine of lionfish with milk until a dough is formed. Add three drops of essence of belladonna, and sugar or salt to taste. Form into shape, and wrap in greased paper. Leave for ten minutes before removing paper and baking over hot coal, turning occasionally to ensure even cooking. When cool, rub over with verdana leaves. Serve within one week.’ “Follow the directions of the board,” DiAnna instructed her class, “and heating charms seem to work just as well as baking over coal.” She’d simply put up the original directions for authenticity. “Please work in pairs – you can split your final product, there should be enough for both of you. If anyone has any questions you can ask me. You’re free to get started when you’re ready.”
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'Professor' DiAnna Diaz
Advanced Divination: Alphitomancy (6th & yth years)
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'Professor' DiAnna Diaz
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