Astronomy ~ Lesson Two

[Farah Smith]

Professor Smith stepped into the classroom for the second lesson, positively glowing. She took in all of her students’ faces and smiled at all of them.

“Welcome to the second lesson, students! Today will be a practical lesson. You all did a marvelous job last class, and I look forward to seeing how well you will all do today. If you will, please follow me to the top of the Astronomy Tower.”

The professor turned, her robes billowing about her as she moved, the class following behind her. Finally, after going up the winding staircase, they found their way up to the top, where several telescopes were turned toward the same direction.

“Um. Professor,” a young Ravenclaw called, “it’s daylight. What are we supposed to be looking at with these? There are no stars.”

Professor Smith laughed, her musical laughter echoing due to their extreme altitude. “That is a good question. Ten points to Ravenclaw for noticing. Does anyone have an answer for her?”

Nobody raised their hand, seeming to look at each other. “Nobody? Very well then, I will answer the question. We will be looking at the sun with these telescopes.”

“Isn’t that dangerous? I heard that if you put your eye to a telescope that’s looking at the sun, it will burn your eye right through,” called a Slytherin.

“That’s true enough,” Professor Smith said.

Stunned silence followed. It was almost enough to send the professor into of hysterics. Honestly, these students. “But you seem to forget that we live in a world of technological advances…and magic.”

Dawns of realization spread across each face, one after another, and Farah smiled once more. “There are advanced shielding spells on each of these telescopes that will protect your eye and not obscure your view of the sun, as muggle technologies tend to do. For this lesson, you will look through a telescope and write down what you see in as much detail as you possibly can. Use some words and vocabulary that you learned last lesson if you can. For extra credit, answer this question: How far away is the sun from the earth? Owl me those responses after you have completed today’s practical. Please, begin, and if you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask me.”

[Samantha Jordan]

Samantha followed the professor up to the tower, and when they reached the top, she stood next to one of the telescopes opposite the stairs. When Professor Smith explained the practical lesson, Samantha bit her lip nervously. What if they’d missed charming all of the telescopes, and when she looked through it, she ended up burning her eye out? She thought to herself as she started pulling out her parchment. She looked around the tower and saw that her fellow classmates had the same look as she did on their faces.

Samantha looked to the professor’s face, and after being reassured by her warm smile, she looked through the telescope.
It was an incredible experience!!!! Not only did it not burn her eye, but the contraption had magically magnified her view so she can see the details on the surface of the sun. She saw loops and sunspots, jet streams that look like flames burning down a building, and many other incredible images. It was difficult to put what she saw into words, but she did her best. While she was writing down on her piece of parchment, one of the other students looked through the telescope. She heard the boy she was sharing the telescope with gasp in amazement and awe. Her eyes grew wide when she saw how quickly the boy was writing things down on his piece of parchment. When the boy stepped back, she looked through the telescope again.

When she was sure she had a fairly accurate description of what she saw on the surface of the sun, using some of the vocabulary she had in her notes from the lesson, she handed the piece of parchment to Professor Smith, packed up her belongings, and walked down the stairs in awe.

************************************************************************************************************

The only site I used for images was:
www.spaceimages.com/sun.html

~*****~
Grade:
RP: 20/30
Assignment: 8/10
Total: 28/40; more detail is always a good thing.

[Dastan Cross]

((OOC: I have permission to use Farah))

Dastan couldn't believe how hard it had been to get up that morning. He was completely exhausted, having spent a good portion of the night poring over the contents of the book on Invisibility. So far, he'd found nothing resembling what he had experienced in the hall not too long ago. It was beginning to get on his nerves, and he was even willing to ask for help if things continued like that.

Still, he did have work to do. As much as he found this class dull, he always finished what he started. And today, it seemed, wasn't going to be so bad.

He followed the professor obediently to the top of the Astronomy Tower and felt his breath be swept away at the view below him. The Castle Grounds and the Forbidden Forest stretched on for what seemed like forever, big, majestic mountains towering over the trees and the lake. He could even see the tentacles of the Lake Monster twirling around in the water, and Hogsmeade off in the distance. People, like little ants, strolled by, chatting with their friends and doing homework under the shade of a tree.

Someone suddenly tapped him on the shoulder and he whirled around to find a Hufflepuff he didn't know standing there, her big eyes looking at him pleadingly. "Um...Do you mind if we share a telescope?" she said in a tiny, pathetic voice.

Dastan scowled. "Yeah. Whatever," he said, "You can go first. I'm relatively certain that the view of the grounds is more impressive than a big orange ball in the sky."

The girl scurried over to the telescope and looked through it, writing notes as she glanced through the lens, and Dastan moved to the edge of the tower, hanging over it and staring at the beautiful view.

"Enjoying the view, Mr. Cross?"

Dastan glanced sideways at the professor, then turned his gaze back to the view. "Yeah," he muttered, "Reminds me that I'm not boxed in and that the world is a huge, open place."

"Hm...that's very philosophical of you."

"Whatever."

The professor giggled, making him look at her again. "What?" he said, his eyebrows knitting in confusion at her odd behavior.

"I just find it funny, that's all."

Dastan didn't respond, instead waiting for her to explain herself.

"You're always saying 'whatever' and acting all cool," Farah continued, ignoring his silence. "But you're human, just like the rest of us. "

"Whatever."

The professor laughed again. "See? That's like a defense mechanism."

Dastan whirled on her. "Don't act like you know about my inner-workings. You've only had me for two lessons. I'm much more complex than that."

"You're right. I don't know you, or your inner workings, yet. But I'm no fool. You're a troubled child, that much I can tell. I don't know if I'll ever be able to see past your cold exterior, but I hope to Merlin that somebody does. You need all the help you can get." With that, the professor turned on her heel and began mingling with the rest of the class, checking on them to see how they were doing.

Dastan stared after her, debating the pros and cons of tossing her over the side of the tower, but of course, he wouldn't do that. He just hated it that she was trying to figure him out. He didn't want anyone to get inside of his head; it was a dark place.

"Um," the small voice of the Hufflepuff girl stated, "It's your turn."

"Whatever," he said, and then cursed himself. Merlin, she was right! How frustrating.

Before he could do anything else that bugged him, he moved to the telescope and looked through. And was promptly surprised and shocked and amazed, all at the same time.

The telescope was incredibly advanced; and he was taught in that second that the sun was not just a big orange ball in the sky. It was a massive, glowing, sphere of roiling masses, black spots dotting the surface like islands in a sea of molten lava. Every now and then, he would catch a glimpse of a protrusion, stretching out past the sun's surface. He had never known that the sun was this...alive.

Ashamed that he had ever doubted the beauty of the sun, Dastan sat down and began writing his observations.
~*****~
Grade:
RP: 30/30
Assignment: 8/10
Total: 38/40

[Astin Descartes]

Astin closed his eyes and counted to ten as he trudged up the steps to the Astronomy Tower. He knew when he opened his eyes his first instincts would be either to scream or to faint, but he couldn't do that. He was going to build some sort of a reputation here, and he'd rather it not be "the wuss who fainted in Astronomy." Once he was to the top, he opened his eyes and felt his heart stop; this was way too high and he swore he could feel it swaying. Heights were simply not his thing.

He closed his eyes again. He needed to get over this. Just ignore it. The swaying was because he was on a boat, right? Right. And the view was just wallpaper. He took a deep breath. He could do this. He opened his eyes again and froze. No, he couldn't.

A Gryffindor girl in a hurry bumped into him and sent him toppling toward a rail. His feet worked beneath him to keep him upright, and the next thing he knew, his fingers were wrapped around a rail and he couldn't move.

Oh god, he thought, I'm going to die. He wasn't sure when he'd scrunched his eyes shut tightly, but surely enough, he had. Okay, just don't look down, Astin, he told himself. He turned his face up and opened his eyes. Huh. He stepped away from the rail carefully. Just don't look down, he repeated. Once he was a safe distance away, he let out a sigh of relief. He hadn't freaked out too badly, and somehow he was still alive.

He looked around. This actually wasn't as bad as he thought it would be. Aside from his near-death, it was actually kind of... well, nice, when he didn't focus on how ridiculously high off the ground he was. He nodded to himself with a smile. He could stomach being up here. But now the assignment...

Astin edged toward a telescope. He knew Professor Smith had said that it wouldn't hurt his eyes, but that didn't mean he was in a rush to find out. He tapped the telescope hesitantly, as if simply touching it might set him on fire. Which it might, because, you know, magic was a risky business.

He heard someone scoff behind him. That's not how you do it." He spun around to see a Slytherin who looked half-amused and half-annoyed. "You put your eye right here," he said slowly, as if he was speaking to a child, "And you look through this at the sun."

Astin made a face. "I know how a telescope works. I'm not an idiot."

The Slytherin shrugged nonchalantly and stepped closer to the telescope. "You're acting like it's going to bite you. It's just a telescope." Without asking if they could partner up or share a telescope, the boy looked through the telescope and promptly staggered back, a hand over his eye. "It burns!" he shouted.

Astin rushed over to him and put a hand on his arm, trying to get him to calm down. "Are you okay? Let me see!" The boy doubled over; he was making short little gasping noises. "Ohmygosh, hold on, I'll get--" He grabbed Astin's robe as the hand that had been slapped over his eye fell to his knee for support. He wasn't gasping now; he was... laughing?

"Haa, you should have seen the look on your face!" he exclaimed. "It was priceless!"

Astin tugged away from the boy's grip. "You suck," he said matter-of-factly. "Stupid Slytherins," he mumbled to himself. First Dastan, then this stupid kid. It was like he had a sign on his back that said "snake food." He stepped up to the telescope himself and forced himself to put his hesitance aside; if that stupid boy didn't burst into flames, surely he wouldn't either.

"Woah," he gasped. He blinked and took his face away to look up at the sky with only his naked eye. The sun didn't look any different; just a bright, monochromatic orb in the sky. He looked into the telescope again; it was a whole different story. Flames spun and collided. Blackened swirls and white-hot whirls dusted the toxic-orange surface. Lone portions of fire spun off of the globe and into space, fading into nothing.

Astin stepped back from the telescope. He'd never seen anything like it. With one last look to the sky to make sure he hadn't lost his marbles, he sat down and put quill to parchment. He wasn't sure he'd be able to put the astonishing sight into words, but he'd try his hardest.
~*****~
Grade:RP: 35/30 (for both showing character and entertaining me)
Assignment: 8/10
Total: 43/40