Astronomy 4:1

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Professor Zumwalt was excited to be working with her fourth years. It was the last semester she'd have them in class, and they were learning vital information about stars that would assist them in their OWLs and future studies.

“Welcome back to another year! This year will be our last together before you move back to studying with Professor Harrington," she said, knowing that this was one of the last classes to have actually had the woman prior to Adorah. "I hope you all are ready because we've got a lot to learn this semester, and we're jumping right in!” Adorah said, noticing some of the students rolling their eyes, but others looked excited to learn more. She set up the projector with a wave of her wand so images of the stars they discussed would be visible on the board.​

Spoiler: Stars Part One

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Protostar: a contracting mass of gas that represents an early stage in the formation of a star. These are formed in great clouds of gas and elements. Before the star begins to produce magical essence, it is considered a protostar, meaning it is not fully burning bright as it will in a few thousand years.
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Binary Stars: two stars orbiting a common center of mass. The brighter star is referred to as the primary star (A) and the other secondary cool:. Most stars visible in the night sky have a secondary companion, and some cases have multiple. Somewhere between one-third to one-half of all stars are binary stars. The star Sirius is a binary star being orbited by a smaller white dwarf.​

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Dwarf Stars: any star of average or low luminosity, mass, and size.
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Brown Dwarf Stars: stars that did not have enough gas/mass put into them to burn and they quickly radiate out their heat and become much cooler. Some brown dwarfs are quite similar in size to Jupiter, but their formation is different, and despite being very similar gas giants in the sky, they are classed as different objects.
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White Dwarf Stars: also called degenerate dwarf, is a stellar core remnant that is very dense.

Eventually, they will all become black dwarfs which are non-luminous dead stars.​

Finishing the lecture, Adorah smiled at her students. Most of them were still awake, although one was nodding off every few seconds in the back. “We will stop here and continue our discussion on types of stars next week,” she said. She'd ended the lesson a little earlier than expected, but she also wanted to make sure students were paying attention when she delivered important information. “No homework this week, but I want you all to make sure you’re reading your textbook and the chapter about the stars we discussed today,” Adorah finished, dismissing the students.

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For full credit, RP the lesson.​

 

[Alana Cosgrove]

Astronomy was a class that required a long trek up to the top of the Astronomy tower, and Alana increasingly wasn’t sure the journey was worth it for the subject that awaited her. She made her way up to the Astronomy classroom and settled into her usual seat. As with many of the professors that Alana had that year, Professor Zumwalt announced it would be their last year together. Alana didn’t have a strong opinion on the Astronomy professor; she seemed nice, but she hadn’t hooked her with her lesson. Alana had yet to decide if she would even continue with the subject at all, regardless of who the professor was.

Professor Zumwalt started her lecture on stars with a very detailed discussion on the different types of stars that could be found in the galaxy. Alana took a lot of notes, and her hand felt like it was cramping by the time the lesson came to an end and Professor Zumwalt started wrapping things up. Alana was glad the lesson was over and for the chance to put her quill down. Once they were dismissed, Alana packed up her notes and made her way out of the classroom.

 

[Tanith Whitlock]

Tanith was relieved, honestly. She'd been on edge all break, and nothing had happened. Now she was at school, with the twins, and things were going to be okay. Probably. She couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen, especially after what had happened last semester. She was embarrased, paranoid, and just feeling generally awful. She wasn't quite as bad as last semester, and she tried to focus on that. She took a little extra time to get ready that morning, hoping to at least look more put together than she was feeling.

At least this week was just introductions, which was generally the easiest lessons. Astronomy was perhaps her favorite class- it was just calming in a way she couldn't explain. Tanith took a few notes, just admiring how pretty it all was, how interesting the lesson was. Unfortunately, the class seemed to fly by. She grabbed her bag as they were dismissed, hurrying out, not wanting to linger and test her luck.

 

[Sunday Weeks]

Sunday had never felt more prepared for her school year than she did right now. She felt in control- her wand listened (mostly), her outfits were spot on (mostly) and her social life was great! Mostly. She'd gotten a few loyal flunkies, but she couldn't say she'd made the waves she'd really wanted. She wasn't a prefect, or going strong in any clubs. She'd been so focused on mastering her wand she'd fallen behind on her usual goals. But that was alright, there was still time. She could still make a name for herself.

And that started with lessons. Making sure her uniform and her hair were on point, Sunday walked into class and took her seat in the front. She smiled at the Professor, quickly getting her things ready. Today was mostly just a lecture- she could work with that. She took careful notes. By the time they were dismissed, she'd gotten some decent notes in. Sunday hummed, gathering her things and heading out again. This was definitely going to be her year.