<div class="floatright">(https://i.pinimg.com/564x/19/59/d5/1959d5a89df588d70e329492b8e6ff84.jpg)</div>Tara's question had faint surprise, but as she checked over the room, the few remaining students had no ideas ready or a desire to ask their own.  "This particular question requires some detail, but it seems the best way to segue into the five different basic types," the professor said, moving back to the board.<br/><br/>"Alchemy," she tapped the word on the board, "is the process of brewing potions.  Please note that basic components and reagents must be refined in order to ensure that they won't have unwanted side effects, requiring a form of metamagic.  Again, metamagic goes beyond the introductory aspects of this course.  If I wanted to bring someone back from the dead using alchemy, the simplest bet would be the Elixir of Second Breath, which is given before the expiration, keeps the soul bound to this plane, and revitalizes the individual with the coming dawn.  In theory, using metamagic could delay the process, allow the autopsy, and allow for animation without biologic life as one of the undead."<br/><br/>Tapping the next one, she explained, "Artifice is similar, but allows for the use of runes or other sigils in order to imprint mystical effects upon physical objects, including people.  For example, I have the Ihwaz rune to ensure that I only age for a single day for every year and a day that passes."  She then spun around for a few moments, lifting up her hair to let others see the rune (https://runesecrets.com/rune-meanings/ihwaz-eihwaz).<br/><br/>Next up was Sorcery.  "Sorcery requires eye contact and words of power spoken thrice, though exceptionally powerful practicioners may only need to speak the set of words a single time, often by using metamagic to substitute the giving of gifts.  Many a curse (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VS_sY4rQ19w) is delivered through this method, but blessings may be given as well."<br/><br/>Skipping to the very bottom, Professor Merryweather tapped Thaumaturgy, skipping Summoning for the time being.  As she rooted through the drawer of her desk, she explained, "Thaumaturgy is the practice of linking items, such as a poppet or model, so that it is bound to the original."  She set down a sheet of plastic, then placed a small scale model of one of the windows to the room, to which she gestured.  "You'll notice it's a perfect miniature replica."  Then she pulled a small hammer and shattered the model, which caused the window outside to shatter, briefly spraying rain into the room.  Trusting the class to understand the lesson easily enough, Professor Merryweather then pulled out her wand, fixed the window, and dried the puddle that had formed.<br/><br/>Looking to Tara, Professor Merryweather explained as she cleaned up the mess of the model window, "All four of these methods can be done, and explain no memory of the afterlife, except that they need to have been done in advance of the death in question."  Careful with the broken glass, she discarded it all in the trash before tapping Summoning upon the board.  "Summoning is most often used for demons, elementals, and fair folk, but can call forth souls back from the realms of the afterlife under certain conditions."<br/><br/>Raising her hands, Professor Merryweather explained, "On the one hand, I'd expect that to be the method done if the process took multiple days, suggesting that a particular necromancer sought to practice the method upon a normie, erasing any and all evidence to track the necromancer down.  On the other hand, if there's no memory of the afterlife, one of the other four is far more likely, unless that particular realm of the afterlife has laws banning its occupants from remembering anything upon their departure."<br/><br/>Then back to the rest of the class, "What's important to recognize with these five basic methods is that, while different methods might be better based on specific circumstances - you're more likely to be able to make eye contact with someone and say a few words rather than draw a rune upon their body, for example - each of them is quite able to take a wide variety of actions.  Summoning is different in this regard, but in many cases for particular types of magic, what you might want from a summoned entity can just as easily be accomplished by another form of magic.  Why summon up someone to clean your house if you can just as easily enchant a broom to sweep up on its own?"<br/><br/>With a gesture to Tara, she said, "With each of the methods, the question should not be which of them can do it, since there will likely be a way to do it with each of them.  Once one understands those methods, it then behooves the practicioner to recognize which way is best for a particular spell, and choose accordingly."  Her words held no condemnation or condescension, simply a stepping stone to the next lesson she wanted to teach.<br/><br/>Looking back to Tara, Professor Merryweather explained, "I would expect it would<em>not</em>be Summoning, but something set up in advance, with an extended delay, just because it would be the unexpected from someone who doesn't want their methods recognized.  If it was set up in advance, then the death of that someone likely wasn't accidental, which could give the only clues one is apt to find."<br/><br/>Gesturing to Nyx, Professor Merryweather added, "If you like, we can discuss the ethics and ramifications of bringing back the dead, since it's one of the few things that technology can't manage and likely never will.  However, let's keep it to performing the practice, especially upon those who were never given the choice, rather than attempting to judge those who returned despite a complete lack of understanding of the supernatural.  I consider deliberate choice to be a staple of ethics, unless you'd like to argue that point as well."