I've been thinking a lot about that. on Elective Hall

Giselle Duell

May 28, 2021 5:41 PM

Hands on class [Intermediates] by Giselle Duell

As the intermediate divination students entered the room they found the traditional, two person, round table setup. Other than a rather eclectic set of cloth coverings for the tables, they were bare. They were starting a new unit today, and out of necessity for it the room was brightly lit instead of the lower light levels that helped put everyone into the proper mindset. Giselle smiled and welcomed the class as they found seats and settled down.

“Good afternoon,” she addressed them to indicate that class was beginning. “Today we begin our section on Chiromancy.” she held up her hand to them, palm outward with finger splayed. “Also known as palm reading." Then with her absolute best straight face, "By the end of this section you should know your palm like the back of your hand." Had she actually said that? She had, and she chuckled internally, still doing her utmost to keep a calm, professional demeanor showing.

"That being said," she continued as smoothly as she was able, "Do keep in mind that your hands change as you live, and what they have shown you yesterday may not be what they tell you tomorrow." Of course she was speaking in broad terms, 'yesterday' and 'tomorrow' were good stand-ins for 'any given point in the past' or 'any given point in the future'. "This is simply another concession to the effect one may have upon future events simply by knowing about them. That is one of the biggest aspects to divinations that you will need to learn in order to truly master it. We have touched on it previously, and it will continue to come up as we go on."

“As for our current topic, you may or may not know that palm reading is one of those practices of ours that has leaked into the muggle world. This is similar to the tarot cards, if you remember from that section last term. However, as the muggles deal the cards with no magical influence, so do they map out the hands without any true insight.”

With a wave of her wand, a large poster sat itself up against the chalkboard in the front of the room. It depicted the traditional hand with palm reading mappings and notations upon it. However, it was not flat, the bumps and lines were raised and lowered so that it could be examined by touch as well as sight.

"We will spend plenty of time over the next few class periods learning what all of the lines and regions mean and how to interpret them. But for today we will simply get acquainted with three of the major lines; the head, love and life lines." Another flick of her wand sent papers sailing out to each student. "You can read all about them in detail in your book, however I have noted down just the basics for those three lines on this paper to get you all started and in the mindset. I would like you and your partner to examine your own hands and note down what you find and what you think it means. Then examine and make notes for your partner's hands. After that, compare your notes with your partner. Did you both come to the same results? Why or why not?" She smiled at them, "Also you may want to discuss what makes wizard and muggle Chiromancy different. We have discussed a bit about magical auras and the subtle ways magic influences us, how could those things change something like the palm of your hand?" She paused letting the question settle over them, "You may begin."

OOC: Poster image

Subthreads:

I've been thinking a lot about that. by Freddie Zauberhexen with Valentine Duell

Oh. Oh, that is bad, Professor Duell. by Anya Delachene with Gabriel Wilson

I am a little bit concerned here. (tag Bonabelle) by Philippe Delachene with Bonabelle Row

2 Giselle Duell Hands on class [Intermediates] 1517 1 5

Freddie Zauberhexen

June 08, 2021 6:34 AM

I've been thinking a lot about that. by Freddie Zauberhexen

Hands were weird. They did things like hold wands and heal people, all the good magical power stuff, but they also could hurt people. They could also take, and taking was important. They could take control, take fancy clothes and feel them, steer and guide. Apparently, they could also tell you a lot about yourself and Freddie found himself flexing his hands automatically as the professor explained what they'd be doing today. Hands had been on his mind a lot because he thought that there was a face he'd like to touch or another set of hands he'd like to maybe hold with his but he wasn't exactly sure. Hands could also get you in a lot of trouble, he suspected, and it wasn't like he could just ask hi, what should my hands be doing right now? Or maybe he could ask . . . he filed that thought away for later before turning to the person at his table with him and nodding to them in acknowledgment of the fact that they'd be working together soon. First, they were to do their own chiromancy (that was a word that Freddie was glad he only had to think in his brain and not say out loud at all).

Peering at his non-dominant hand so that he could take notes with his dominant one, Freddie puzzled over the number of lines he saw. It was odd to think that every little line and wrinkle could mean something. What about scars, or wrinkles that had formed because of callouses after holding a tool a lot of times? Was it possible to change your personality just by changing your hands? Or would your hands change automatically if your personality did? He had heard the phrase 'set in stone' before and he almost laughed at the idea that 'set in skin' might make more sense. Stone was, after all, transfigurable.

Putting those thoughts aside because they were only half-formed anyway, Freddie located his head line after a moment's comparison with the chart they'd been given. His own line was fairly short, ending in the middle of his palm, so he wrote that down. The heart line was harder to read, in part because the paper said stuff like 'straight' or 'curved' and Freddie was pretty sure that nothing on a hand was strictly straight (he also thought that probably nobody in the world was strictly straight but he didn't quite have the English vocabulary to make the connection between the two ideas just then). A bit more hesitantly than with the last line, he marked himself down as a long line, unsure whether it was straight or curved exactly. He also wasn't sure whether it split or whether there were Xs from other lines intersecting it, so he just left a question mark there. He couldn't tell at all whether his life line was long or short, as it sloped a bit around his hand but ended before it reached his head line.

Feeling more confused than he'd been before he'd begun, Freddie turned to his classmate. He wasn't ready to look at what all these lines meant yet, just in case they meant something horrible, so he held his hand out to his partner.

"Other way is nail paint," he grinned, flipping his hand over as if he were about to get a manicure before returning it to a palm-up position. "But this way is good for class."

OOC: I'm assuming that this field is generally really accurate for wizards but am leaving some ambiguity as to Freddie's own ability to decipher his palm.

22 Freddie Zauberhexen I've been thinking a lot about that. 1452 0 5

Anya Delachene

June 08, 2021 4:45 PM

Oh. Oh, that is bad, Professor Duell. by Anya Delachene

Anya walked into the classroom, with narrowed eyes, and let out a breath of both disappointment and relief when there were no graded papers on the tables today. She could sit where ever she wanted to sit and not have to second guess herself or Professor Duell in an attempt to not sit where her paper was. That was the relief. The disappointment was that it meant today would not be the day she beat the professor at this game.

She considered sitting with Philippe who had gotten there ahead of her and didn't have anyone else at his table yet, but she was saving that for one of the times with a graded paper laying face down on the tables. She'd been carefully avoiding sitting with Philippe thus far to convince the professor she wasn't the kind of sister who hangs out with her brother, so one day she'd be able to sit down next to him and not have her own name staring back at her. She glanced at Professor Duell and deliberately did not sit with Philippe.

She sat at an empty table - she'd been running early by her standards today - and decided to let fate decide who she'd share it with this time.

Soon enough class began, and Professor Duell introduced the unit and oh. Oh no. No no no. That was bad. That was worse than bad. That was absolutely hilarious! And her face! The woman had to know it really was that bad, but she didn't show it even a little! Anya's estimation of the Divinations' professor rose by about 400% as she laughed so hard there were tears. "Know your palm like the back of your hand," Anya repeated in an elated wheeze, shaking her head in disbelief.

She got serious enough to listen to the rest of the lecture, noting down some of the clues the Professor was giving them about how to solve the graded homework challenge, and coincidently some of the notes about palm reading.

When they were told to begin, Anya looked at her own hand. The years of gymnastics had left their mark on her palms, scars, callouses, and newer injuries from where the skin had torn on the uneven bars. More evidence of past injury on her finger tips from climbing. Quidditch had been relatively kind to her hands, but there was a small cut where the snitch wings had caught her just wrong and gave her a small papercut during the last practice.

The lines they were supposed to be looking at were there too, though the top one was interrupted by the rips and callouses. It was hard to tell if it was supposed to be as short as it was, or if it just got that way by the way she lived her life. That maybe made it more accurate? Either way, it was pretty straight as far as she could tell, and she noted that down. The middle line was less affected by injury but it also seemed pretty short. She guessed she just had short lines. She was short, her lines were short, it all matched. The bottom line was also pretty short and a few scars additionally marred it, from when she'd tried to use the heels of her hands to slow her fall as she slid down a cliff face at home.

So short, short, and short. Yup. At least she was consistent. She looked over at the other person sitting with her, and showed them her hand. "I've got a good answer for how the palm of your hand can change." She pointed at the callouses and the barely healed rips atop them along the heart line. "Gymnastics." The scars that abruptly ended the life line. "Falling." And the snitch cut. "Quidditch."

1 Anya Delachene Oh. Oh, that is bad, Professor Duell. 1453 0 5

Valentine Duell

June 10, 2021 6:59 PM

Oh yeah? by Valentine Duell

Valentine was really, really liking Divinations class, and it was not only because Aunt Giselle was teaching it (which was awesome). She was actually doing fairly well at it so far, although if she wasn't perhaps she could get some extra time in with Aunt Giselle like she did with Professor Skies. No, she chided herself, that was silly. She could still go see Aunt Giselle about non-class stuff if she wanted to... and if she could find the time. Between the increased workload of the intermediate classes and all of the other things, she just didn't have much extra time anymore. She also knew it was only going to get worse. She didn't even need to be an expert at divinations to know that.

As usual, she got to class early to chat a bit with Aunt Giselle and catch up a little bit until class started. Once it was time for things to begin she quickly found and seat and was delighted to find herself at the table with Freddie. He was one of her housemates and this would be the only year she would have classes with him, she may as well make them count. She was also aware that there was something going on between him and Philippe. Their picnic in the hall last term had been something of a clue, and with the things going on with Bonabelle... well... she was curious about some things. Maybe things would come up in conversation, you just never knew. She nodded back to him in acknowledgement with a smile.

Val listened intently as always to the professor and cracked a slight smile and her Aunt's terrible joke. However it was Anya's reaction that nearly set her off into a fit of giggles. Once the professor had finished their instructions for class, Val looked first at her partner who seemed intent on figuring out his own hand first... as they had been instructed to do. So she examined hers as well and began taking notes. Her head line split somewhere near the middle of her palm, her heard line curved and almost reached the base of her middle finger, and her life line looked kinda short. She hoped that wasn't going to be a problem.

She looked up around the same time that Freddie finished up his notes. He didn't look to sure of what he was doing so she put on one of her more warm and friendly smiles as he held out his palm to her. Then he abruptly flipped it over and showed off his nail polish. Ooo.. it was pretty. "Very nice," She responded as she took his hand to examine his palm, "What kind is that?"

His hand felt... nice. There was something about it that she couldn't quite put her finger on. That thought made her almost giggle again. So she traced out his heart line with her index finger. There! Now she had put her finger on it! "Hmmm.." She said in her very best mystical seer type voice as she moved her finger over to trace out his head line. "I see that you..." she paused to look down at the sheet they had been given, "you are a fast and decisive thinker. Questions and problems do not stand long in front of you." Valentine moved her finger over to his heart line and glanced at the paper again, "Your heart line tells me that..." his heart line was a bit weird, but along with some of the other things she already knew, like showing off his nail polish, "Your passions can dive you and you don't put much stock in what other people think." Finally she moved to his life line. "You do like to keep busy though?" She wasn't sure it qualified as either short or long, it was somewhere in the middle, "But people can count on you."

What did that all mean when you put it together? Freddie was a decisive person that didn't much care what people thought about him but still worked hard so people could count on him? She smiled, that sounded like a nice sort of person. Was there anything that let her see Freddie's future in that? Maybe how he would deal with things he ran across. She felt the urge to keep the mystic guise going, it was a bit like GMing a game. She stared him straight in the eyes, "When difficulty comes seeking you, you will know what to do. Those around you who know you for who you truly are will support you as you have supported them." Hehe.. that sounded good.

Letting go of his hand, she held out her own for his examination. "Okay," she said with a cheerful smile, "Your turn!"

2 Valentine Duell Oh yeah? 1490 0 5

Freddie Zauberhexen

June 13, 2021 8:17 AM

Yeah! by Freddie Zauberhexen

Freddie wasn't sure what Valentine meant in asking what kind of nail polish he wore. Was that a question of what brand it was? Or what color? Or were there lots of different types of nail polish and Freddie just didn't know enough about it yet? He wasn't sure if he didn't understand English well enough to know or if he didn't understand nail polish well enough to know. In any case, he shrugged, still smiling.

"It is red," he said of the maroon color that adorned his fingers. "For Teppenpaw," he added with a grin.

He flexed his fingers when Val traced the lines in his hand, his nose wrinkling up. He didn't have the word for ticklish so he just let his reaction show what he thought of the feeling. It all sounded very fancy when Valentine said it but also a bit like a load of compliments. Of course, those traits could all be good or bad in different circumstances and Freddie doubted that hands had lines that said the owner was crappy.

"I am not having so much seer voice," Freddie warned, taking Val's hand and comparing it to the notes the professor had passed out. "Your hands have so much soft!" he said. "Philippe has same." He smiled, happy to be able to talk about his boyfriend, even if he didn't call him that out loud in the moment. Then he turned his attention to Val's hand.

Her head line was easier to figure out than his and he pointed at the description of a split line. "You are sensitive, see perspectives, and change opinion sometimes," he said, trying to work on his paraphrasing skills in English, even though he wasn't actually using his own words much." Then he traced Val's heart line the way she'd done the lines on his hand, looking up at her to see if it tickled for her too. Then he looked down at the description of the long heart line and grinned. "We have same, no?" he confirmed, looking at the description of having passions and stuff. He turned his attention to her life line and realized hers was distinctively short. "What means this?" he pointed at the phrase the going gets tough on the description. "But you like being busy when you're stressed." He cocked his head, thinking of what he knew about his fellow Teppenpaw. It was no secret that she was involved in basically everything on campus. "Are you okay?"

22 Freddie Zauberhexen Yeah! 1452 0 5

Valentine Duell

June 17, 2021 6:45 PM

Is that good? by Valentine Duell

Valentine stifled a giggle when Freddie told her that the nail polish was 'red for Teppenpaw'. She always thought of red as a Crotalus color, and Teppenpaw was yellow. However, his nails were actually more of a maroon color, and that was one of Teppenpaw's colors. Valentine hadn't really gotten into the makeup and nail polish adornment just yet... but maybe she should. It could be fun! Freddie seemed to enjoy it anyway.

"You'll do fine," she replied in response to his claim to not have much of a 'seer voice' as he took her hand. It felt a little strange. It was a little bit like when she and Stanley had held hands, but nothing at all like it at the same time. She blushed a bit at his comment about her hands being soft, and comparing them to Philippe's. Her mind automatically then went to comparing Freddie's hands to Bonabelle's which she had recently taken to holding more often than they had previously. Bonabelle's were soft as well and nice and warm.

She nodded along encouragingly as Freddie analyzed her hand, he was doing well. She tried her best to keep her hand still as he traced out the lines. It didn't tickle per say... but it did feel a bit strange. When he asked her if she was okay though she was momentarily taken aback. "What?" She asked and then looked at the sheet that they were referencing. "Oh... No, I'm okay." She responded automatically while she actually thought about the question and the things going on around her. "I.. I think so anyway. I like doing things because I like people...." her voice trailed off a bit. She had known she was doing to much stuff and she really needed to cut back. That was causing her a bit of stress... was that stress keeping her busy so she didn't have to think about it? Was she in some sort of horrible downward spiral? Was she doomed? The smiled she gave Freddie tried to hide a bit of uncertainty. "I've been thinking of dropping something... I just haven't figured out what yet." She sighed. Then she smiled again, a bit brighter and held out her palm to him again, "Can you tell me what I should do?"

OOC: Bonabelle hand holding statement approved by her author.

2 Valentine Duell Is that good? 1490 0 5

Freddie Zauberhexen

June 19, 2021 8:46 PM

I like the thoughts. by Freddie Zauberhexen

Freddie patted Val's open hand, clasping it between his since his other hand was on the back of hers still. "I can help carry or pickup if you drop," he offered. He gave a reassuring, understanding nod. "Some time, I carry too much thing and drop. When I try to pick up what I drop, I drop else thing. Help is nice. Carry book or sock or plate. I help," he smiled.

She was offering her palm again to see if he could help figure out what she should do and Freddie was entirely sure he wasn't going to be able to find anything there to help. Still, he inspected her hand again just in case. It was sort of small and the fact that it was soft was notable again. He considered for a moment before simply wrapping his fingers around her hand in a gesture somewhere between a handshake and hand holding. Smiling at Val, he nodded at their linked hands.

"What you should do? Find people to hold your head line and heart line and . . . " He consulted his notes, already having forgotten what the other thing was. "Life line. Find people hold them altogether with theirs. See?" he asked, holding their joined hands up and peeling them apart a bit as if he were trying to peek inside a hand envelope. "Now our lines are all doing touch. That is what you should do."

22 Freddie Zauberhexen I like the thoughts. 1452 0 5

Philippe Delachene

June 20, 2021 5:48 PM

I am a little bit concerned here. (tag Bonabelle) by Philippe Delachene

Philippe arrived in Divinations and was a bit surprised that Anya arrived shortly after he did. Normally his sister skimmed in just as class was starting. He wasn't surprised when she snubbed him and took a seat at an empty table, because she had explained she was trying to fake out the professor on the homework placements, which was weird, but Philippe wasn't going to argue with her about it again. Philippe thought it was kind of cool that his paper was always wherever he happened to sit, but Anya was totally freaking out about it, and he was not going to touch that with a ten foot pole held by a mage hand.

Still, by the time he stopped staring at his sister sending her supportive telepathic brotherly messages like 'you're crazy, you know that, right?' and 'she's blind, she doesn't even know you're avoiding me' and 'it's never going to work, she's a seer, your paper is going to be where you sit,' most of the rest of the class had already arrived and he was mildly disappointed to see that Freddie was sitting with Val today and he had Bonabelle. Not that he didn't like Bonabelle. She seemed like a perfectly fine individual, and Val certainly seemed to like her, but she wasn't Freddie.

When Professor Duell told the worst Divination joke in the history of ever, he could only roll his eyes, and then he covered his face in mortification when his sister was the person falling out of her seat in hilarity from it. Maybe Bonabelle doesn't know she's my sister, Philippe hoped.

Then it got worse. They'd be examining each other's hands for this. There was nothing wrong with Philippe's hands, or probably Bonabelle's either, but it would have been a perfect excuse for holding Freddie's hand in class, and he was disappointed all over again about the day's seating arrangement. He could have even made a prediction while running his hand over Freddie's love line. "I foresee that a boy is going to ask you on a date very soon..."

Merlin, what a missed opportunity.

When they were supposed to be looking at their own hands and their partner's, Philippe's eyes were instead on a pair of people at an entirely different table. Valentine was holding Freddie's hand the way Philippe wanted to, and he felt a weird tumble in his belly. She was running her finger all over Freddie's palm, and he realized he was frowning a little bit and made himself stop. He couldn't quite convince his eyes to look away though.

"That's platonic, class-related, hand-holding going on over there, right?" he checked with Bonabelle. Because of course it was. Val had never expressed any interest in Freddie that he knew of, and Freddie liked him, he was sure of it. He was just jealous because he wished it was him, not because there was anything to be worried about.

But why were they smiling at each other so much?

Right, because they were Val and Freddie, the two smiliest people in the universe, that's why. He was being ridiculous. It was just a stupid palm-reading class assignment.

1 Philippe Delachene I am a little bit concerned here. (tag Bonabelle) 1489 0 5

Valentine Duell

June 22, 2021 5:25 PM

Nice thoughts are very good by Valentine Duell

Valentine could feel warm happy feelings squirming around inside her, and she couldn't help but smiling at Freddie. He was being super nice and friendly, she could see what Philippe saw in him. At the same time, she also had to let out a little giggle. "I'm not sure if you picking up the gardening or art club if I drop it will help me to much." It then suddenly occurred to her that his comment could not have been entirely joking, but instead come from some minor misunderstanding in the language. Freddie's English was way, way, way, way better than her own non-existent German skills and she did not want him to think she was making fun of him for all of the time and effort he put into learning a new language. So with a sincere smile she continued patting his hand in return, "I really appreciate the sentiment though, thank-you."

Val gave Freddie an inquisitive look as he looked at her hand again and then arranged it into a bit of an odd hold. He was smiling, so she returned the expression as he began to talk. She liked the advice he gave her. She had liked holding Stanley's hand, she did like holding Bonabelle's, and even at this moment she liked the feel of Freddie's hand holding her own. "It is nice," She responded, "when we can have our hearts, lives and minds touch with one another. It feels..." she paused thinking for the appropriate word before finally settling on, "right." She gave him another smile and squeezed his hand gently, "I am very lucky to have friends like you, Bonabelle, Philippe, and others.

She gave him another giggle as she slipped her hand out from his, perhaps a tad reluctantly. "You may not have much of a Seer voice, but you may make up for it as a wise man."

2 Valentine Duell Nice thoughts are very good 1490 0 5

Gabriel Wilson

June 26, 2021 7:07 PM

Not that bad. I mean, the joke was, but in general. by Gabriel Wilson

Although some people, including a lot of very serious academic types- especially a lot of very serious academic types- thought Divination was a bunch of horse manure, Gabriel was interested in it anyway. It was still learning about something and he was a true Aladren in the sense that he absolutely adored learning. Also, Val's aunt was teaching it and the Teppenpaw was one of his gaming buddies, regardless of what had happened with her and Stanley. Some of his other friends and family were also in Divination including Lavender, Wally, and Morgan so all in all he felt it was a good place to be.

And anyway, there was plenty to learn about Divination even beyond the actual fortune telling methods. Like all the history and trivia of said fortune telling methods! Of course, some of the knowledge out there was myth and legend, which as interesting and fun as those could be, it was also a bit frustrating to try separate the fact from fiction, because of course, Gabriel was all about facts. Although he did like fiction too, and did read a mix of fiction and non-fiction, but he liked to know things for sure.

He was running late as he entered the room and saw that there were no spaces by any of his friends or family members left available to sit in. The first empty seat he noticed was next to Anya Delachene. The Pecari was not someone Gabriel usually spent time with, not because he had anything against her but just because he tended to gravitate towards others. He did hope she wouldn't make trouble today, but at least she seemed nice enough and she seemed to be friends with Stanley. And at least she was sitting in a chair today.

Professor Duell started the lesson and Anya started laughing at what was a super terrible joke. Gabriel tried not to turn and stare at her. There was nothing wrong with laughing at a bad joke and the Aladren had plenty of eccentricities of his own, it was just that it was a tad startling.

He looked from his palm to the hand out sheet. His head line was definitely long as were the other two. Before he could give that much thought, Anya began to speak. "Huh." Gabriel replied. "I don't do any of that stuff. I mean, I've fallen before of course, but I haven't done gymnastics or Quidditch, although I have a few cousins who did the former." Amity and Chaslyn had had to do almost everything, Quidditch was one of the few exceptions actually. "I guess I have the hands of a nerdy book worm." He added, a fact that didn't bother him in the least because, after all, Gabriel was a nerdy bookworm and not at all ashamed of it.

11 Gabriel Wilson Not that bad. I mean, the joke was, but in general. 1481 0 5

Bonabelle Row

July 05, 2021 3:27 PM

Am I supposed to be concerned too? by Bonabelle Row

Bonabelle did not like Divination class at all. She hated it. But she did like Aunt Giselle and she did like Valentine and she did like making Valentine happy, especially now. She wasn't entirely clear on what their romantic responsibilities and interests were with each other because she still wasn't sure how serious any of this was, but she was happy. Really, she was happier than she'd ever been. It was nice holding Valentine's hand and it was nice when she got to do small surprises for Valentine and watch the Teppenpaw react. Everything seemed to be a little bit of a blur when Bonabelle was with Val. Well, sometimes she'd notice things. Like she'd noticed Stanley once. But that was probably because it was weird maybe that she was now 'dating' his ex and that was all.

Today, Bonabelle and Val weren't sitting together; she tried not to sit with her every single class all the time but for a class like this it didn't matter anyway. Aunt Giselle got to pick where they sat for this class, so Bonabelle was sitting with Philippe. As he looked on at Freddie and Valentine, Bonabelle couldn't help doing the same. She tried to look at her own hand but truth be told, she hated this subject and didn't want to anyway. The last thing she wanted to do was think about her future in any way. Still, that left only the other table and her partner as objects of her attention.

She looked at the two at the other table a little more closely when Philippe posed his question though. "I . . . I think so?" she replied, wishing she could be more sure. "Here, give me yours," she insisted, holding a hand out to take Philippe's hand. "This just feels like class, right?"

22 Bonabelle Row Am I supposed to be concerned too? 1488 0 5