Professor's Office
The comfortable ambiance was what one would first notice when entering Professor Lancaster’s office: the ever-present crackling of flames in the fireplace; the warm sunlight shining through tall, arched, stained glass windows; the curtains that hung over said windows in case of a need to dim the light. The room’s scent always held a hint of a comforting drink—often tea, but occasionally, a whiff of hot chocolate would invade an entering student’s nose. The temperature remained neither too warm nor too cold but in the middle, allowing any variety of clothing to be worn comfortably.
Only in the dead of night or upon a student’s request might the door to the office be shut. Otherwise, it usually hung open or was half-closed by a doorstop. Sometimes, the quiet, often-present music from the gramophone in the corner could be heard in the hallway. Custom records sat in a few stacks next to the century-old Victor Victrola that shone, well-taken-care of, beneath one of the windows. Although a number of the albums were mostly recognisable to those of wizarding backgrounds, Muggle-borns might catch the Beatles, Elton John, Green Day and My Chemical Romance album covers peeking out from the midst of the stacks.
The books that lined many of the room’s shelves lacked dust, suggesting recent use, and were of a range of topics—there were books on Ancient Runes, yes, but also some on various social movements throughout wizarding history, art theory, psychotherapy, Muggle heads of state and more. Although some could certainly be found in Hogwarts’s library, Jessamine would be more than willing to lend any books to students who asked.
The room was always kept in impeccable cleanliness and order, although Jessamine had kept some of the touches of the previous professor by investing in houseplants. They were mostly succulents, although she had a few hanging plants in pots as well, really anything to add some greenery to the space.
The professor’s desk was in the middle of the room, between two off-white rugs. On her side of the desk, there were countless drawers, as well as some odd-looking candles shaped like animals. Pictures of her husband, daughter and son were to her left so that she could look at them and smile. On the other side of the desk were two comfortable chairs, hopefully enough to accommodate the students, but if more were needed, they were only an accio away.
Should any student enter, or even politely knock on the open door, Jessamine would glance up at them from wherever she was in the room, be that cranking the gramophone, re-shelving a book or marking assignments, and she would greet them with a warm smile before beckoning them inside.OFFICE RULES
✦ This thread is intended for brief IC meetings between the Ancient Runes Professor and your character—one or two posts from each of us, generally. If longer interactions are desired, please send me an owl!
✦ As this is an IC thread, any OOC questions you might have can be posed in the FAQ thread to be found here.
✦ Minor godmods of Professor Lancaster—pouring tea, marking assignments, putting a new record on the gramophone, for example—are allowed, but anything major is not. If you are unsure, please ask! As this is an IC thread, all standard roleplay rules must still be adhered to at all times. The full list of these rules can be found in RPG Rules.
✦ Only one student is permitted in the office at any time. The thread will be marked as closed if this is the case. At that point you will need to either wait for the interaction to finish, or for three months to pass without a reply in which case the interaction will be deemed finished.
✦ This office and forum is open to students of any year, but please keep in mind if you are younger than year three that you would not be attending this class yet. Interest in the subject can be expressed, but you are unable to claim attendance to lessons.
Professor's Office
Zach walked to the North Tower with a hum and occasional low jumps as usual. He looked around to see if there was anything weird, but he saw nothing. Everything seemed sound and good. He stopped at the front of the Study of Ancient Runes class. He took this elective class last year, and he took it again this year. He enjoyed the class and even got a good grade.
He saw that the door was half open. Peeking inside a little bit, he saw Professor Lancaster inside. She was the new Professor after Professor Audley. He wondered how Professor Lancaster was but he enjoyed her classes. He looked forward to the materials she would bring to the next classes.
But today, he didn't visit the office for the classes. He had other business. The boy knocked the door. "Excuse me, Professor Lancaster."
He entered the room after the Professor let him in, and sat across the Professor's seat also after she let him sit. "I hope I'm not disturbing you, Professor. I'm Zach Zaphiere, a Fourth Year from Ravenclaw." He looked at her again and listened to the things she said. He was still observing her and guessing what she was like.
He cleared his throat before explaining his intention of coming to her office. "I... I have a curiosity for Ancient Runes," he stated. "It's an ancient form of magic before we had wands and it's stronger and durable." He was hesitant but still continued, "So I wonder about its use in healing magic, Professor. I have a hard time finding any literature about this topic. Do we still use Runes in modern healing magic?"
Zach and his never-ending obsession with healing magic. He hopefully looked at the Professor to get the answer. "I haven't seen healing magic in Runic form. Perhaps because my parents are Muggles and we live in Muggle world." He stopped, forgetting that any mention of his blood status sometimes resulted in a bad reaction. Even so, the boy still continued, "So I'm really interested to study more on it if it's possible."
Then he presented the last thing he wanted to ask. This one is class related. "Also, do you think we can use Runes now, I mean, in Fourth Year? We aren't allowed to write any Runes in our third year since it could be bad if it backfired." The boy silently prayed that he could finally write and formulate Runes, even for the simplest one.
@Jessamine Lancaster
Professor's Office
Mentions: @Zach Zaphiere
Active abilities: Cat's Grace, Calming Presence
Active abilities: Cat's Grace, Calming Presence
The gentle scratch of Jessamine's quill against long essays was accompanied by the spinning of a custom-ordered Coldplay album playing quietly on her Victrola. She had worked her way through a good chunk of the papers, having set those she was finished with to her side as she continued through the rest, occasionally pausing for a sip of darjeeling before pushing forward. If it weren't for his polite knock on the door, she likely wouldn't have noticed the entrance of one Zach Zaphiere.
Jessamine glanced upwards, offering the boy a warm smile. 'Mr Zaphiere, what a pleasure! Come on in; if you'd like a cup of tea, feel free to make yourself one.' When Zach entered fully, Jessamine would move her papers to the side of her desk—much to the chagrin of her snake, who hissed a horrified rebuttal that she ignored—to make more room. 'You're absolutely not a bother. Is there anything I can assist you with today?'
Being new to the role of Professor of Study of Ancient Runes proved taxing at times, and this was one of those times. Just as the students were often sizing her up, trying to figure out how best to react to her, Jessamine at times had to do the same with them. She hoped that remembering the distinct personality of each student would grow easier as time passed; she firmly believed it would, but she also knew that the necessary time could be as short as a week to as long as a year, and if she was anything, it was impatient.
She would listen to Zach with an open ear, lifting her eyebrows to convey intrigue while remaining quiet as he explained why he had come. That he struggled to find informative literature on the use of Runes in healing magic was something Jessamine empathised with intensely, and she found herself smiling good-naturedly before she replied. 'They're certainly useful. I'd argue it depends more on the individual healer. I hear most prefer to use spells and potions because they seem a bit more "tried and true"—with a properly brewed potion, for example, it's very difficult for physical healing to go wrong. Many hospitals and healers have brews sitting in their storerooms, so this is a very easy method of healing for them.' She paused, glanced at her hands, which were folded on top of the desk, and then she added, 'I'm not sure if you knew this, but I worked in the healing industry before taking the post here. I personally preferred the use of spells when I had to do any physical healing, although my forte was psychiatry.'
Jessamine opened a drawer within her desk and pulled out a small draw-string bag. It was made of suede cloth, but the contents rattled as she set the bag between her and Zach. 'If I were to use runes in a healing setting, it would need to be very intentional. I'm sure you've heard me going on about the importance of intention, but I mean it. Wielding raw magic can be unpredictable—what if a healer used a rune, but had a bad day? How might that impact the outcome?'
She would let Zach ponder that as she pulled the bag open while listening to him elaborate. A warm smile greeted his mention of being Muggle-born, as well as a quick glance to the stack of records next to the gramophone. Although it certainly didn't seem to be one of his priorities, Jessamine would be more than willing to change the music to something Zach knew if he could find something suitable.
'I completely understand,' she said as she tipped the opening of the bag towards the table. Every movement was careful, meticulous, as small stones clattered onto the desk. Jessamine sorted through the stones with quickly-employed precision. She had pulled four stones to the side; after flipping them to appear face-up, it would be apparent that they had the runes Uruz, Laguz, Sowulo and Berkana painted on them in small strokes. 'What do each of these runes have in common?'
Once again, she would pause to let Zach think about it. After he had replied, or had taken ample time to ponder the question, she would ask one more: 'Although one could, in theory, use any of these runes for healing, they're not all equally suited to the pursuit. I wouldn't want to use Uruz in an emergency—its usage is much better suited to long-term work. Can you think of a situation where that might be beneficial?'
Prior to answering his question about writing Runes, Jessamine absentmindedly ran her thumb over the Laguz rune, one of the few she had actually cared to employ during her time in the healing industry. For her line of work, it had been far easier to wield Laguz's innate power towards the subconscious mind, and even now, she wasn't sure if she would have trusted another rune's—or even her own—insight without it.
Finally, she said, 'If I'm honest, that remains to be seen. I don't want anyone painting any runes while alone, so if we do try it, it will be in class for now, so that if something goes wrong, I can at least help. However, I think it's really important to learn that Runes can be practical, too.' She picked up the stone with Laguz painted on it and held it out to Zach, resting it flatly in the palm of her hand. 'I personally prefer working with runes that have already been painted onto stones. You'll realise these aren't your conventional runestones—those are a lot larger and serve a different purpose—but some witches and wizards keep a set of casting runes. Since Elder Futhark is an alphabet, and magic is a language, you can think about these as solid forms of raw, magical letters that you can combine or cast as you see fit—intentionality and all, you know.' A small laugh punctuated her sentence. 'But, to answer your question... even if it's not exactly what you were hoping for, I do plan to have students in their fourth year and above start properly utilising runic magic.'
Jessamine glanced upwards, offering the boy a warm smile. 'Mr Zaphiere, what a pleasure! Come on in; if you'd like a cup of tea, feel free to make yourself one.' When Zach entered fully, Jessamine would move her papers to the side of her desk—much to the chagrin of her snake, who hissed a horrified rebuttal that she ignored—to make more room. 'You're absolutely not a bother. Is there anything I can assist you with today?'
Being new to the role of Professor of Study of Ancient Runes proved taxing at times, and this was one of those times. Just as the students were often sizing her up, trying to figure out how best to react to her, Jessamine at times had to do the same with them. She hoped that remembering the distinct personality of each student would grow easier as time passed; she firmly believed it would, but she also knew that the necessary time could be as short as a week to as long as a year, and if she was anything, it was impatient.
She would listen to Zach with an open ear, lifting her eyebrows to convey intrigue while remaining quiet as he explained why he had come. That he struggled to find informative literature on the use of Runes in healing magic was something Jessamine empathised with intensely, and she found herself smiling good-naturedly before she replied. 'They're certainly useful. I'd argue it depends more on the individual healer. I hear most prefer to use spells and potions because they seem a bit more "tried and true"—with a properly brewed potion, for example, it's very difficult for physical healing to go wrong. Many hospitals and healers have brews sitting in their storerooms, so this is a very easy method of healing for them.' She paused, glanced at her hands, which were folded on top of the desk, and then she added, 'I'm not sure if you knew this, but I worked in the healing industry before taking the post here. I personally preferred the use of spells when I had to do any physical healing, although my forte was psychiatry.'
Jessamine opened a drawer within her desk and pulled out a small draw-string bag. It was made of suede cloth, but the contents rattled as she set the bag between her and Zach. 'If I were to use runes in a healing setting, it would need to be very intentional. I'm sure you've heard me going on about the importance of intention, but I mean it. Wielding raw magic can be unpredictable—what if a healer used a rune, but had a bad day? How might that impact the outcome?'
She would let Zach ponder that as she pulled the bag open while listening to him elaborate. A warm smile greeted his mention of being Muggle-born, as well as a quick glance to the stack of records next to the gramophone. Although it certainly didn't seem to be one of his priorities, Jessamine would be more than willing to change the music to something Zach knew if he could find something suitable.
'I completely understand,' she said as she tipped the opening of the bag towards the table. Every movement was careful, meticulous, as small stones clattered onto the desk. Jessamine sorted through the stones with quickly-employed precision. She had pulled four stones to the side; after flipping them to appear face-up, it would be apparent that they had the runes Uruz, Laguz, Sowulo and Berkana painted on them in small strokes. 'What do each of these runes have in common?'
Once again, she would pause to let Zach think about it. After he had replied, or had taken ample time to ponder the question, she would ask one more: 'Although one could, in theory, use any of these runes for healing, they're not all equally suited to the pursuit. I wouldn't want to use Uruz in an emergency—its usage is much better suited to long-term work. Can you think of a situation where that might be beneficial?'
Prior to answering his question about writing Runes, Jessamine absentmindedly ran her thumb over the Laguz rune, one of the few she had actually cared to employ during her time in the healing industry. For her line of work, it had been far easier to wield Laguz's innate power towards the subconscious mind, and even now, she wasn't sure if she would have trusted another rune's—or even her own—insight without it.
Finally, she said, 'If I'm honest, that remains to be seen. I don't want anyone painting any runes while alone, so if we do try it, it will be in class for now, so that if something goes wrong, I can at least help. However, I think it's really important to learn that Runes can be practical, too.' She picked up the stone with Laguz painted on it and held it out to Zach, resting it flatly in the palm of her hand. 'I personally prefer working with runes that have already been painted onto stones. You'll realise these aren't your conventional runestones—those are a lot larger and serve a different purpose—but some witches and wizards keep a set of casting runes. Since Elder Futhark is an alphabet, and magic is a language, you can think about these as solid forms of raw, magical letters that you can combine or cast as you see fit—intentionality and all, you know.' A small laugh punctuated her sentence. 'But, to answer your question... even if it's not exactly what you were hoping for, I do plan to have students in their fourth year and above start properly utilising runic magic.'
Professor's Office
Zach nodded. Spells and potions are indeed more practical and efficient. And once he heard that the Professor was used to working in the healing industry, his eyes gleamed with excitement. "Yes, Professor. The intention of writing runes is very important," he recalled the last classes he attended last year. He also remembered how the professor always warned them about runes and to be more careful, since it was very unpredictable due to its nature. "It could change the direction of the magic, Professor. It could be dangerous to the patients..."
His gaze fell on her hand when she pulled a bag and took some rune stones. Uruz, Laguz, Sowulo, and Berkana. He smiled, "Healing or life forces, Professor." He wondered why she asked him the question. He lost in his thoughts.
Once the Professor brought up Uruz, the boy tilted his head. He had no deeper knowledge of it and was puzzled why it couldn't be used in an emergency setting. His confusion was obvious and clear. "If it's a better suit for long-term work, perhaps..." The boy paused. He didn't know if Wizarding World had the thing he would mention next but he wanted to try. "For making a magical life support device? There's a device called a ventilator in my mother's veterinary hospital, Professor. It's used to help some animals breathe." He thought of another thing in case his first answer was wrong. "Or maybe write it on a person's body to maintain their vital signs after the initial treatment. I guess Uruz would be best to maintain vital signs for a long period until the person gets the strength to recover. It's also associated with endurance and vigor..." He looked at the Professor to see if he answered it right.
"Honestly, I don't really know why Uruz is better for long-term work, Professor. And I'm interested to learn more." Zach's cheeks became redder when his interest grew. He really wanted to learn it deeply. He wondered if the Professor would recommend some literature to him later.
The gleam was back. He was excited when he heard that he could finally paint the runes in class. He looked at the bag again after Professor Lancaster mentioned runestones. "I think I will get my own set once I visit Diagon Alley again, Professor," he grinned. But looking at Zach's nature, he would ask his mom to send him the set after he left the Professor's office. "What about formulating runes, Professor? When will we study the bindrunes?" Zach asked. He promised it would be his last question.
@Jessamine Lancaster
Professor's Office
Mentions: @Zach Zaphiere
Active abilities: Cat's Grace, Calming Presence
Active abilities: Cat's Grace, Calming Presence
Zach was admittedly one of the students who had a bit more instinct for runic affairs. He caught on fairly quickly – Jessamine nodded as he answered. 'Absolutely. And when you're working to avoid harm at all costs, it's a risk many aren't willing to take. But that doesn't mean you're not onto something...' The boy was certainly making her think, and she found herself smiling at the unexpected possibilities already hovering within her thoughts.
He did not seem entirely convinced by the differences between the healing runes and their functions, but he did have good ideas. Jess's eyes sparkled when he mentioned life support. Automated life support devices were something she had felt wizarding hospitals lacked – there was often a resistance to trying new things that might work exceedingly well in favour of loading up a patient with charms and potions that might leave them utterly discombobulated but alive. A ventilator – an object she'd heard of but had never had the luck to actually view – had so much potential. It could free up healers to cast spells on patients in critical condition while maintaining life for those in need. 'That sounds incredibly helpful. We – wizards, I mean – don't have anything like that... yet. I'm not sure if you've noticed, but compared to Muggles, we tend to be a bit more conservative with new inventions. I mean, we use quills and ink while Muggles have ballpoint pens, which is an utter pain if you're left-handed, I hear.'
She had to think about his other suggestion. 'I'm not sure about writing runes on someone's body for healing. It makes sense in theory, and I've heard of runic tattoos, but I don't think it'd be the same in a high-stress environment. But a magical life support device. That's definitely something, and I think we have the means for it. That's where Uruz could come into play – just like you said! Maintaining vital signs for a long period of time, promoting endurance and vigour, to aid the person's recovery.' Jess folded her hands in front of her. 'Great answer.' And great idea, she almost added. She wondered if Zach were wanting to look at a career as a healer. He certainly had the drive, heart and intellect for it.
'Each rune has its own... well, personality, I could say. Although some can have similar effects, they wouldn't manifest in the same way. Although Uruz is a healing rune, it's also heavily associated with organic life and formation, which is incredibly complicated and takes time to get right. After all, a sunflower won't grow to two metres in height in a day, no?' She hoped the comparison would make sense. 'That means it's a bit more finicky to use when you want to get something done quickly, but it can work really well when trying to slowly knit something back together – like if it were engraved upon a life support device, for example.' Yes, she would keep coming back to that. The notion had piqued her interest, and she kept feeling almost disappointed that she hadn't even seen the ventilator that had helped Zach get the idea. Maybe one day she would have to visit a Muggle hospital and have a look around, if that wasn't too ambitious.
Zach mentioned he planned to acquire a set of letter runes, which made Jessamine smile. But then, he asked about formulating runes – a great question, and one she was trying to encourage from her fourth years. Even though they'd started practising in class, some of them were still way too shy to make anything of note happen. 'With any luck, as soon as you are comfortable enough. I'm sure you know – you can paint or carve, and you can write strings of runes, or you can put runes together to make a proper bindrune. The more you use, the more focus is necessary to get the desired effect.'
She paused, and then reached into a drawer in her desk to pull out a few sheets of parchment, two brushes and two inkwells. 'If you would like, we can practise. Did you have any specific runes in mind?'
He did not seem entirely convinced by the differences between the healing runes and their functions, but he did have good ideas. Jess's eyes sparkled when he mentioned life support. Automated life support devices were something she had felt wizarding hospitals lacked – there was often a resistance to trying new things that might work exceedingly well in favour of loading up a patient with charms and potions that might leave them utterly discombobulated but alive. A ventilator – an object she'd heard of but had never had the luck to actually view – had so much potential. It could free up healers to cast spells on patients in critical condition while maintaining life for those in need. 'That sounds incredibly helpful. We – wizards, I mean – don't have anything like that... yet. I'm not sure if you've noticed, but compared to Muggles, we tend to be a bit more conservative with new inventions. I mean, we use quills and ink while Muggles have ballpoint pens, which is an utter pain if you're left-handed, I hear.'
She had to think about his other suggestion. 'I'm not sure about writing runes on someone's body for healing. It makes sense in theory, and I've heard of runic tattoos, but I don't think it'd be the same in a high-stress environment. But a magical life support device. That's definitely something, and I think we have the means for it. That's where Uruz could come into play – just like you said! Maintaining vital signs for a long period of time, promoting endurance and vigour, to aid the person's recovery.' Jess folded her hands in front of her. 'Great answer.' And great idea, she almost added. She wondered if Zach were wanting to look at a career as a healer. He certainly had the drive, heart and intellect for it.
'Each rune has its own... well, personality, I could say. Although some can have similar effects, they wouldn't manifest in the same way. Although Uruz is a healing rune, it's also heavily associated with organic life and formation, which is incredibly complicated and takes time to get right. After all, a sunflower won't grow to two metres in height in a day, no?' She hoped the comparison would make sense. 'That means it's a bit more finicky to use when you want to get something done quickly, but it can work really well when trying to slowly knit something back together – like if it were engraved upon a life support device, for example.' Yes, she would keep coming back to that. The notion had piqued her interest, and she kept feeling almost disappointed that she hadn't even seen the ventilator that had helped Zach get the idea. Maybe one day she would have to visit a Muggle hospital and have a look around, if that wasn't too ambitious.
Zach mentioned he planned to acquire a set of letter runes, which made Jessamine smile. But then, he asked about formulating runes – a great question, and one she was trying to encourage from her fourth years. Even though they'd started practising in class, some of them were still way too shy to make anything of note happen. 'With any luck, as soon as you are comfortable enough. I'm sure you know – you can paint or carve, and you can write strings of runes, or you can put runes together to make a proper bindrune. The more you use, the more focus is necessary to get the desired effect.'
She paused, and then reached into a drawer in her desk to pull out a few sheets of parchment, two brushes and two inkwells. 'If you would like, we can practise. Did you have any specific runes in mind?'
Professor's Office
Note: This thread is closed. I come back to finish it for a bit. Please contact the Professor if you want to RP with her.
Zach was a bit surprised when he heard that wizards didn't have an automated life support device. He thought, if that was because wizards were stronger than Muggles physically? It was followed by a sudden soft chuckle from him at the mention of ballpoint pens. He agreed that the quills and inks were inconvenient. He brought some ballpoint pens to the castle for his personal use and gave some of them to @Landon Matthews because he was very interested in Muggles.
Runic tattoos sounded cool, Zach nodded. He had a question in mind on why it wouldn't be good for a high-stress environment to write runes on the body. Was it because of the onset of the effect? Was it about stability? His eyes fell on the table, wondering about the possible answer to it, until he heard the next explanation. Another question came to his mind. Would there be a possible way to make it work faster? What combination would be perfect for making a bindrunes in an emergency setting? Or was it not possible at all?
His eyes gleamed when he heard the possibility of writing runes this year. He couldn't contain his excitement. Finally, after a full year of only watching the runes from the book, he got the chance to do some practice on them.
Every words were omitted neatly, carved into Zach's understanding. He liked her way of explaining, calming and without judgment. He could be sure now that his Study of Ancient Runes would be fun.
Zach almost answered the last question before something struck his mind. He forgot if he had fed Zarcon. Some droplets formed on his temple. His chest filled with uneasiness. "Professor," he scratched the back of his head, "I think I forgot something and should check it soon. I'm really sorry. Would you mind if I stepped out to check it?"
He cursed himself for being forgetful. He should have known better to keep things in check before he continued to do anything.
@Jessamine Lancaster
Note: Thank you for the thread. I'm sorry for the very late answer. Don't worry, Zach will still give you headache
Zach left the thread