Lesson One

[cassandra]

Professor Leone gave her wand a flick, and the chairs arranged themselves. She walked to the front of the classroom and wrote her name on the board.

Professor Cassandra Leone

She then sat at her table, and waited for her students to come.

[annika]

Annika couldn't believe that she was on the top-most tower at Hogwarts. She was panting really hard and felt as though her asthma would come sooner that she always do. She gave a slight knock on the hard wooden door, and turned the doorknob without waiting for any welcoming. She could see the professor waiting patiently, like all professor's do, at the table for the students to enter. Annika was glad she was the first person to arrive.

"Hello, professor!" she greeted as always and moved towards the front-most desk to have a seat. She didn't noticed there was already a few words on the board. It was quite sometime before she does.

[Krutika Gehi]

"Why do we have to learn Astronomy? At this time of night and on this top tower?" Krutika muttered to herself, knowing whatever she was saying was stupid, as she reached the class room at last. She knocked on the door and entered; Professor was waiting for students while Annika was already there. "Hello, Professor," she said, and then took a seat near Annika.

[cassandra]

"Hello, girls. Take your seats please," Professor Leone said, smiling at them.

[adelaide]

Adelaide had pulled herself out of bed and her hair back into a bun reluctantly. She hated taking the long walk up to the Astronomy tower...but the stars more than made up for the hassle. The stars were really the only reason she was taking Astronomy...she knew she couldn't get away with coming up to the Astronomy tower otherwise...

She arrived at the top of the tower to see the professor and two of her fellow Ravenclaws. She smiled as she made her way over to a seat. "How are you tonight, Professor Leone?" Sitting in the seat behind Annika, she put her books down and waited for the lesson to begin...it couldn't be too much longer before everyone made their way up here. While she waited she imagined what the stars would look like tonight...

[Heather Granger]

Heather swiflty walked up the stairs with a bit of a pace, Heather finally reached the top of the tower, looked out of the window and felt like a damel in distress out of a fairytale, that sounded much like Heather as she always needed someone to help her now and again. Heather knocked softly on the door and entered to see a few students had already arrived, "Hello Professor, how are you?" she said as she took a seat at the front and near a large window, looking down at the grounds below.

[cassandra]

Professor Leone clapped her hands once.

"Well, now that it seems we have enough students, the class can begin. First of all, I would like to welcome all of you to Astronomy. I'm sure that all of you are aware that we will be studying the placement of stars and planets in this class. The stars and planets, I would like to think, are the mirrors of earthly going-ons, the revealer of countless lives and the indicator of things to come. Now, I know that some of you,' she looked briefly at some of the students, 'have opinions that differ from mine. You might even think that this is silly; to believe that stars hold the key to what 'was', what 'is' and what 'will'. But I can assure you, that from countless centuries of observation, they do affect us."

Professor Leone looked out of the window at the stars.

The class was in a tower, yes. But an unusual tower it was. All around them, only big windows confined them. There were no walls made of stone, only windows that gave them full view of the sky. Even the ceiling above them looked different. The only thing that seemed grounded was the floor beneath their feet.

Professor Leone waved her wand carelessly as she walked away from the window. The ceiling above them disappeared, leaving nothing in its place. Nothing separated the class from the skies now.

"Isn't it beautiful?" she asked them, gazing at the skies longingly, her voice oddly low. Cassandra Leone regarded stars and planets as her friends, beautiful 'creatures' that always accompanied her, come night time.

"Alright,' she said, clearing her voice. 'Tonight we will first learn the names of the brightest stars." She walked to the board and gave a flick of her wand. There, slowly appeared a chart, drawn seemingly from the light of the stars themselves, showing the placement of everything in the celestial body. The light from the candles around them was bright enough for them to write and see one another's faces. The object of attention was clearly the heavens above them.

"First there is Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky. All stars shine, but none is like Sirius. Aptly named, Sirius comes from the Greek word Seirius, meaning 'searing' or 'scorching.' Second, we have Canopus. Canopus resides in the constellation Carina, The Keel. Carina is one of three modern-day constellations that formed the ancient constellation of Argo Navis, the ship Jason and the Argonauts sailed in to search for the Golden Fleece."

Professor Leone tapped on the chart with her wand. It separated into two sides, one showing Sirius and the other showing Canopus.

"Third, we have the Rigel Kentaurus, or as the muggles call it, the Alpha Centauri. You can find it at the foot of the Centaur in the constellation of Centaurus...Then fourth, we have my personal favourite, the Arcturus. It is also known as the Bear Watcher. Arcturus follows Ursa Major, the Great Bear, around the north celestial pole. The name itself derives from the Greek word arktos, meaning bear."

Professor Leone peered closer at the chart, looking at Arcturus. Then once again, she tapped it with her wand and in place of Sirius and Canopus, were Rigel Kentaurus and Arcturus. She smiled.

"The reason why it has become my favourite is because it is the brightest of the springtime constellation; Bootes, The Herdsman. You can find it by using the Big Dipper as your guidepost. Follow the arc of the handle until you come to a bright orange star. This is Arcturus, forming the point of a pattern of stars resembling a kite."

She showed them using the chart, an aid in her explanation.

"In the spring, if you keep following the arc, you’ll encounter another bright star, Spica. If this all sounds a bit confusing remember this phrase: 'Arc to Arcturus, speed on to Spica.' " she continued.

She looked at her class, smiling. "...and now we have the fifth brightest star, the Vega." She pointed at her chart again, her lips forming the name of the star. Again, the chart showed the placement of the star.

"The name Vega derives from the Arabic word for Swooping Eagle or Vulture. Vega is the brightest of Lyra, the Harp, a small but prominent constellation that is home to the Ring Nebula and the star Epsilon Lyrae."

She tapped at the chart again and it went blank.

"Don't worry if you couldn't copy it. Here it is," she said as she gave a flick of her wand. The drawing appeared on the students' parchments, an exact copy of what was displayed on her chart.

"Now, question time." She sat on the stool in front of the class, her eyes looking at her students. "Based on what I've told you, can anyone tell me, why Arcturus is my favourite?"

She wanted to know if any of her students had paid her any attention, whether or not any of them had noted that particular fact.

((Sorry for the huge post, promise it won't happen again. It's just that the dateline for lesson is 25th, so I'm rushing. {Info copyright space.com}))

[annika]

Annika nearly dozed off when the professor finished her lecture. That was fast!, thought Annika. The forst few minutes were okay. She tried to copy down what the professor had mentioned, extra information about the stars that were not in the textbook, until up to a point where the professor was talking non-stop, did Annika gave up on copying. The professor did something to all the students' parchements. Annika felt lifted a little when she noticed that the exact copy of the chart was there on her parchment.

[Heather Granger]

Heather raised her hand, " Arcturus is your faviourte because it is the brightest spring time constellation, arturus forms the point of the pattern of stars like a kite along with Bootes and The Herdsman located near a bright orange star." She waited for Professor Leone to reply to her answer.

[cassandra]

"Very good, Miss Granger. Five points to Gryffindor," she said, smiling.

"Now, for your assignments, I want you to do a report on which of the five brightest stars is your favourite and why. Also, include your astrological sign, and an example of a situation where a translation of the stars has helped you. You will be graded on your response, remember that. Now," she said as she waved her wand.

"...you are dismissed. Thank you," she said as a shower of sparkles fell over the class. another second, and the sparkles were gone.

As her students filed out of her class, she sat at her desk and looked up at the stars, mesmerized as always.

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((For homework, respond to the Assignment thread I've put up. Remember, make your answer as creative as possible -of course, one in touch with reality- and you can also include an RP of you sitting down somewhere completing it. For example:

'Emma sat down at her desk, picked up her quill and started to write.

Astronomy
(and from here on this is your essay...)

She dotted her last 'i' and put down her quill, sighing contentedly. Now she could finally relax.'

Got the idea? Any problems, find me in the Staff Room. Your essays must be in by the 25th, and put the heading as 'Lesson One'.

Thanks. ))