<div class="floatright">(https://i.pinimg.com/564x/19/59/d5/1959d5a89df588d70e329492b8e6ff84.jpg)</div>As the bell rang, Professor Merryweather stood, taking one last glance at the laptop which she'd left open before her.  "Good morning, class.  My name is Professor Merryweather, and welcome to Introduction to Arcane Theory.  If you're in the wrong class, now is the best time to leave."<br/><br/>Even though she played off the words as a joke, one of the Gorgons quietly stood and departed from the class, no doubt in the wrong class.  The professor was polite enough to pretend not to notice.<br/><br/>"Wiser minds than me have said that there are less stars in the sky than ways for people to work magic.  Please note that when I say 'people,' I include both normie and outsider."  Not everyone used the term so inclusively, the professor knew, so it was best to explain.  "However, there are five methods which serve well as introductory spellcraft, requiring little else to understand.  The use of wands, metamagic, and other more complex spellcraft will be saved for those who seek to move beyond these five basic techniques."<br/><br/>Grabbing a pointer she had handy at her desk, she tapped each of the five she'd already written on the board.  "Alchemy, artifice, sorcery, summoning, and thaumaturgy.  It is my hope that you make it through this class with an understanding of each of these methods, as well as the ability to perform minor magical practices."<br/><br/>Setting down the pointer, she picked up a piece of chalk.  "Let's go around the class, with everyone willing giving your name, a little bit about yourself, and some magical technique you would like to learn.  Don't be embarrassed if you aren't sure if something only comes from the movies; I'd rather a student who speaks up with an honest desire to learn."<br/><br/>A geeky looking boy in the front raised his hand, and when Professor Merryweather gestured to him with an open palm, said, "I'm Billy, aspiring technoshaman.  Are voodoo dolls real?"<br/><br/>Professor Merryweather grew slightly stern, but retained her composure and kind tone.  "The correct term is 'poppet,' a form of thaumaturgy."  She wrote the word<em><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: georgia;">Poppet</span></em>under<em><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: georgia;">Thaumaturgy</span></em>on the chalkboard.  "Properly performed voudoun is a form of summoning, but I suspect you have little interest in contacting the Loa."<br/><br/>The next student was a jock wearing a football jacket.  "William Mason, werewolf, second string QB.  Any truth to the claim that you can make a football that comes back after you throw it for practice?"<br/><br/>Professor Merryweather smiled, writing<em><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: georgia;">Football</span></em>under<em><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: georgia;">Artifice</span></em>.  "The simplest form of the spell enchants a football so that it returns to the thrower after coming in contact with any physical object, usually the ground."<br/><br/>A shy-looking goth girl forced herself to speak up.  "Matilda.  How about love potions?"<br/><br/>The professor's smile faded to some degree.  "I don't teach love potions because they bring questions of consent into the conversation.  I'm willing to teach lust potions, which are weak enough to be resisted by the unwilling but helpful enough to replace alcohol as a social lubricant between two or three people looking to experiment."  Matilda nodded the okay and Professor Merryweather wrote<span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: georgia;"><em>Lust Potion</em></span>under<span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: georgia;"><em>Alchemy</em>.</span>