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Ala jotted down the notes on the pentagram and pentacle, drawing both in her notebook and labeling each. She made sure that she had written down the five elements that the points represented. Alaqua thought for a moment, especially when Raven said that the inverted pentagram was used for banishing. "Yes... but not an active tool?"

Ligeia looked down at the pentagram that he had drawn out to study it for a long moment, was it a tool? When he asked about magic circles earlier there had been no answer. Was that because she was going to discuss it later on? Could have been... he tapped a black talon against it thoughtfully then nodded, it wasn't something that you could wave around like a wand or blade, it wasn't something that you could move around either it was just something you drew out where you were casting your spell. So was it an tool?

"I don't think that it is." He murmured, " I think maybe it's not a tool just a focus? Or maybe it was more like a location, the place where you were going to use your spells and tools?"

After being wrong about the seasonal-elemental alignments and the points of the compass, Indigo had lapsed into a sort of academic sulk. Sure, she was still paying attention and taking notes actively, but she hadn't made so much as a peep even during all the commotion about tools. Citrine had finished eating the pen that had been the subject of her earlier interest, and resumed napping on the floor by her partner's desk, muzzle stained incongruously with neon yellow highlighter ink.

By the time they got to the pentagram, the velvet worm had gotten over herself and was ready for involvement once more. She sketched out the star rapidly, then scribbled out her first attempt when it proved to be lopsided, constructing the next one more carefully. Finally satisfied with the diagram, she set her pen aside and looked up at Raven again, antennae perked forward with the force of her interest.

"I don't think so--uhm, either," she amended, speaking after Ligeia. "Unless it was made into a talisman or something? Like a--ah--" Holding up her two upper hands, she cupped them into a circle, as if holding something for inspection. "--jewelry thing--uhm--pendant! That's it. In the shape of a pentacle? But it's just a symbol o...otherwise, like other writing. Can, erm, letters be tools? I don't know."

Blink. "...this is like--Tarot, right? Cups an' wands an' coins and swords?" That wasn't really an answer so much as Indigo was thinking out loud; it showed in the way she trailed off into a mutter around "wands".

Ala wrote down what Raven had said. So she'd been partically right. She'd been worried after her classmates' answers. She glanced at the cat girl who'd given the right answer. "Can't you also do divination by studying the stars...?" Alaqua asked, thinking she'd heard something like that before.

Ligeia look unsure of how to answer especially when the stars were mentioned, was Divination different from Astrology? Mr. Barkhelm had said that Astrology was nothing more then fool's hope... so what about the divination? He gave a little flutter of his ear tufts. He chewed on his lip before asking just that, "Is there a difference between Divination and Astrology?" He asked of the teacher, curiously. Maybe since it used other methods to look at the future instead of using just a written out chart and guess it was different?

"Astrology," was Raven's curt reply to Alaqua's question. "Difficult to read properly, unless you have a gift in that area. And I warn you, predictions and forecasts that you find in magazines are diluted and far from accurate. There is, however, some merit to reading the stars." Her eyebrow raised at Ligeia asked his question, and she shook her head. "Astrology is a form of divination. A tricky one, as it is difficult to search for a specific outcome, or the answer to a question, which is the main purpose for most forms of divination. However, for broader perspectives and general predictions, the universe can be helpful."

This subject had most people venturing answers, Raven was pleased to find, and correct ones at that. "Crystallomacy is a time-honored form of divination, but also hard to master. Reading both crystal balls and mirrors, as well as other reflective surfaces such as polished stones or bowls of water or ice, can all fall under the umbrella term of scrying. An excellent answer."

"And yes, some... less refined practitioners of divination do read entrails, or bones, or other animal parts." Raven wrinkled her nose, not at all surprised that Jenner Preston had mentioned such a technique. "We will not practice those in this class, however, as there are far more refined ways of reading the future. In addition to scrying and reading cards- Tarot only being the most prevalent type- there are also forms of reading the future, or recieving answers to questions, involving candles, apples, walnuts, rivers... too many techniques to properly name at the moment, though you may delve into several as you progress."

That seemed to wrap up the divination topic nicely, so Raven signalled to Anoki, waving her hand at the boy. When he didn't notice, she coughed loudly.

Only then did Anoki look up from his notes- Raven had only covered about half of this in his lessons at home- and quickly stood up, dashing for the back room. It was time for him to help out, and he was absolutely not allowed to screw it up.

"Now," Raven continued with a much suffering look, "we will briefly discuss the tools and skills you will need in order to begin proper spellcasting next semester. I suppose I should have asked this earlier, but has anyone here attempted to cast a spell yet, or seen magic being worked?"

So there were different sort of Astrology then? The one that Mr Barkhelm had spoken so badly of must be the 'magazine' sort that Raven had mentioned. He gave a nod and smiled as he wrote everything down that was said, alright that made sense then. Crystallmacy sounded nice, crystals were really pretty so he found himself curious about that sort of divination. The idea though about digging around through animal guts made him give an odd sound and face, ewwww for real? That sounded awful, to kill a poor animal to attempt divination...

The teacher confirmed it and Ligeia found himself more then just a little bit grossed out. Not something he wanted to be a part of if he could avoid it...

Ligeia lifted a hand at the teacher's next question, "I have casted some a couple of spells before." He said, he was getting pretty good at the use of his element too now that he was getting more and more used to it.

Earako was busy doodling away, images of stars and crystal balls and... guts, when the teacher's question brought her up short. Had she done magic? A floating feather, a spinning compass needle. The feeling of someone picking through her mind, invasive, uninvited and cruel. She pulled her wings up against her tightly, and reached down to stroke Vimber, taking comfort in the dragon's closeness.

She shook her head slowly, not even sure she was being deceptive. She hadn't actually been herself at the time, and who was to say whether or not that counted? This sort of magic, in a room full of kids with a door that wasn't locking itself against her escape attempts, was much more comfortable. Best to forget that the other kind had ever existed.