Post by Persephone Silverton on Aug 4, 2010 3:27:54 GMT -5
Persephone walked into the classroom. Her first lesson to teach here at Hogwarts. She had reviewed the syllabus and lesson notes that her sister had left behind and decided to do away with them. Such a reliance on antiquated practices. There was only one form of Arithmancy that mattered- Western Numerology. She walked to the front of the class, not looking anybody in the eye. With a swing of her wand, the chalk rose up and quickly wrote Professor Silverton on the blackboard. Quickly, she turned in an about face fashion to face her students.
"Good morning class. I want you to look around. See who's looking beside you. In front of you. Behind you. I want you to get very comfortable with looking at these people. Because the seats you have chosen will be your seats for the rest of the term unless I decide to move you... or kick you out." She smirked. "I suppose I should get on with the introduction. I am Professor Silverton. I was asked to be here by your own headmaster so save the reservations you have of me, or rather the ones your parents told you to have for somebody who cares. I am here for one reason, and one reason only. To teach.
"Now... Arithmancy. What is it? In short, Arithmancy is the study of Numerology. What is numerology, you ask? Well, Numerology is the study of numbers- more specifically, the meanings that numbers hold. It is a practice that has gone back since the time of the Babylonians. There are, as it stands, three different branches of Numerology. Kabbalah Numerology, Chaldean, and Western Numerology. We will not study Kabbalah because I find it to be outdated and generally inaccurate. Chaldean I will reserve for my NEWT students who wish to either become curse breakers or unspeakables. For the most part, the Numerology I will teach at Hogwarts is Western.
"The founder of Western Numerology is considered to be Pythagoras. I'm sure you math minds have heard of this man before. According to him, there is a strong connection between all life systems and numbers and I happen to agree with him. Now, admittedly, the Western system is not as accurate as the Chaldean system, but it is preferable here since it follows the English Alphabet. It uses the numbers one through nine, and each of these numbers holds individual meaning.
"Now, my focus will be in teaching you about... well... you. What your name means, what your birthday says about you, and so on. But first, there are some basic things you need to know. However, we'll save that for the next lesson. For now, I'll take any questions any of you have."
"Good morning class. I want you to look around. See who's looking beside you. In front of you. Behind you. I want you to get very comfortable with looking at these people. Because the seats you have chosen will be your seats for the rest of the term unless I decide to move you... or kick you out." She smirked. "I suppose I should get on with the introduction. I am Professor Silverton. I was asked to be here by your own headmaster so save the reservations you have of me, or rather the ones your parents told you to have for somebody who cares. I am here for one reason, and one reason only. To teach.
"Now... Arithmancy. What is it? In short, Arithmancy is the study of Numerology. What is numerology, you ask? Well, Numerology is the study of numbers- more specifically, the meanings that numbers hold. It is a practice that has gone back since the time of the Babylonians. There are, as it stands, three different branches of Numerology. Kabbalah Numerology, Chaldean, and Western Numerology. We will not study Kabbalah because I find it to be outdated and generally inaccurate. Chaldean I will reserve for my NEWT students who wish to either become curse breakers or unspeakables. For the most part, the Numerology I will teach at Hogwarts is Western.
"The founder of Western Numerology is considered to be Pythagoras. I'm sure you math minds have heard of this man before. According to him, there is a strong connection between all life systems and numbers and I happen to agree with him. Now, admittedly, the Western system is not as accurate as the Chaldean system, but it is preferable here since it follows the English Alphabet. It uses the numbers one through nine, and each of these numbers holds individual meaning.
"Now, my focus will be in teaching you about... well... you. What your name means, what your birthday says about you, and so on. But first, there are some basic things you need to know. However, we'll save that for the next lesson. For now, I'll take any questions any of you have."
