Third Years Lesson One

Percival was back for the second half of his temporary contract at Hogwarts. If last term was anything to go by, he'll just about get through it. And hopefully the students would too. As the third years entered, the professor busied himself with something, anything to avoid eye contact, or Merlin forbid, small talk with any of them. Once everyone was settled, he began the lesson.

"Hello. My name is Professor Zephyrmoon, your professor for this term only. If you wouldn't mind packing up your belongings and exiting nicely to the lawn," he said, having announced this after everyone was sat down and unpacked their supplies for the lesson. He stood waiting for the last student to exit before locking the door with the tools he needed in his arms. It was about 11:00 p.m. at the beginning of January; he hoped they would all position their charts correctly.

"Star charts! You'll need these to complete our studies today," Percival said as they arrived on the lawn. He handed the stack charts to a nearby student and waved his arm to instruct the student to pass them out to the others in the class, "Now, the idea of following the stars and their patterns is very old. They once were used to predict different times of the year so people knew when to plant crops and harvest them. They are also very useful if you are traveling," He said. Pulling out his own star chart, he held it above his head towards the sky. "This is how you'll align yourself with the stars. Face south and then hold the map up, so that the north horizon is towards your back. Should you want to face another way, say east," Percival said turning himself in that direction, but not turning the map. "You'll want to make sure you turn yourself and not the map, so it always stays the same, not turning with you," he said, demonstrating as he turned the piece of paper above his head back in his hands so it was above his head the way it had been when he was facing south.

"Now, try finding constellations to relate to your position, and then turn in another direction and do the same. You'll notice the sky has many more stars than are on your charts - so, take care when trying to find the stars you are looking for in the sky." he said, hoping the students would get the hang of the star charts fairly easily so he didn't have to spend any more time explaining it. Once the time for the lesson was at an end, he sent them back to their dorms without homework to allow time to focus on the charts during the week in preparation for the rest of the semester.

--

For full credit, RP the lesson.
First student to pass out the star charts will receive 2 extra credit points.
Link to Star Chart for Reference​

 

[Audrey Beauchamp]

Audrey hadn't had a class with Professor Zephyrmoon yet, but he kind of stood out amongst the professors for being a little bizarre. Which wasn't necessarily a bad thing if he taught them what they needed to know, of course. Still, she kind of wondered what he was actually like as a professor. That question was pretty quickly answered when he wasted no time with attempting to be overly friendly and just told them to go straight to the lawn. After they had already sat down. Ah, so that was the kind of professor he was. Well, Audrey would just have to deal with it, even though she was very tired and sore already she wasn't going to mess up in this class.

Indeed, Audrey was determined to make a good impression even on this professor, and graciously took the star charts and handed them out, even as she stifled a yawn. Her parents always went to bed early and woke up early, she never stayed up this late except for Astronomy class. She watched the professor carefully and then tried to line herself up, squinting at her star chart and nodding her head between the chart and the stars behind it. She did manage to find a couple of the easier constellations - finding Crux was a bit of a freebie, but it made her look like she was on top of things even when she wanted nothing more than to get some sleep. Thankfully, after a little while they were dismissed and Audrey began the slow climb up to the Ravenclaw dorms so she could crash into her bed.

 

[Teddy Pirrip]

Teddy had just taken his seat when the professor instructed everyone to stand up and follow him outside. He frowned, thinking the professor could have mentioned this sooner. Once outside, Teddy received a star chart and tried to align it with the night sky. Struggling a bit, he looked over to see how Audrey had positioned hers, and copying. By the end of the lesson, he felt he had finally figured it out. He folded his star chart and headed back to his dormitory.

 

[Callie Cardoso]

Callie walked into the astronomy classroom and took a spot in the room. She wasn’t sitting long as the professor had them packing up and heading outside, so Callie did just that. She packed up what items she’d taken out and walked outside with the class. She stayed close to the professor as she could be. Just not wanting to stray much when outside and at night. She glanced at him as he spoke explaining the star charts. They were then allowed to have a go at it, using their own star chart to look at the stars. Callie took her star chart and began doing so. She took a few minutes to get it each time, but eventually it became easier and she enjoyed it. The lesson was eventually wrapped up and Callie walked back to the castle.

 

[Enoch Goldewyn]

Enoch walked into the astronomy classroom and took a seat in the classroom, though it was short lived as the professor had them on their feet and going outside. Enoch rolled his eyes but did as he was told. Heading out to the grounds and listening as the professor began telling them about star charts. He sat on the ground, listening along and looking up at the stars as he listened. He took out the star chart when he was supposed to, but didn’t really do anything, vaguely finding the ones he could see from his spot. But mostly he was just blankly staring up at the night’s sky until the professor wrapped things up and he was able to head back into the castle.

 

[Marley Owens-Lee]

Marley walked into her astronomy classroom. glad to be doing astronomy again. It had been one of her favourite subjects to do in the previous years. The Hufflepuff took a seat in the same spot she sat in during the previous years. She took out the things she needed for the lesson and placed them on the desk in front of her.

It wasn't long before the lesson started and Marley moved her attention towards the professor, realising it was a completely different professor from the previous years. She frowned a little when the professor told them that they had to pack their things, as she had just put her things out. But Marley did what was she told. She packed her things up and followed the rest of her classmates out towards the lawn. Marley thanked her classmate as her classmate handed out the star charts. The Hufflepuff listened carefully to what the professor said. Marley made sure to write a few notes on what the professor was saying about the charts as she didn't want to miss out on anything or get anything wrong. It wasn't long before it was their turn to use the star chart. Marley followed the instructions the professor had told them. The Hufflepuff had managed to find a couple while she aligned her chart.

It wasn't long before the lesson had come to an end and they were dismissed. Marley was glad that there wasn't any homework. She quickly headed back to her classroom to grab her things, before saying a quick thanks and goodbye to the professor and heading out of the classroom.

 

[Millie Walden-Cade]

Bailey had told Millie all about Professor Zephyrmoon so she wasn’t exactly looking forward to her first Astronomy lesson of the new semester. Her older sister might have appreciated the mans eccentric teaching style but Millie was a little more traditional in her expectations for teachers, it was one of the reasons she wasn’t looking forward to being taught by her own father. No sooner had Millie taken her seat in the classroom had Professor Zephyrmoon asked them to stand up and follow him out onto the lawn as they would be having class outside, which hardly thrilled Millie.

Millie didn’t have a lot of experience navigating the grounds at night, she wasn’t as adventurous as her sister after all, so it felt unusual for her to be out on the lawn so late. Once they arrived at their spot on the lawn the professor handed a stack of star charts to one student to pass out, Millie grabbed one and looked it over, they would have to find the constellations in the sky based on what’s on the map? She listened to his instructions, finding a rather odd sight when he held the map over his head and tried turning himself and not the map. Millie wasn’t sure if Astronomy on the whole was an insane subject, despite having enjoyed her first couple of years, or if Professor Zephyrmoon was a particular brand of fruitcake.

It took a few minutes to master the art of moving herself and not her chart, taking some inspiration from her classmates who proved to be more dexterous than her but after a while she felt like she got it and was able to start identifying stars and constellations. Some were easier than others, the ones in the middle of the chart she was able to find even if she was slightly off, such as Phoenix and Tucana. But after some trial and error she even managed to find some of the stars and constellations on the edges of the star chart such as Pegasus and Hercules. When the lesson was over Millie was pretty with what she had been able to find and marked them off on her star chart but she was exhausted and desperately wanted her bed. Once they were dismissed she headed straight back to the castle and up to the her dorms in Ravenclaw tower where she face planted her bed.

 

[Veronica Walden-Cade]

Veronica Walden-Cade entered the classroom, observing Professor Zephyrmoon's preoccupied demeanor. Once settled, the professor began the lesson.

On the chilly January evening, they would be delving into star charts, which had been used for ages to predict seasons and guide travelers. Professor Zephyrmoon instructed a student to hand out the charts and demonstrated how to align them with the sky, emphasizing the importance of facing south and keeping the chart fixed while turning oneself to find constellations.

Veronica followed Millie’s lead who seemed to know what she was doing, which wasn’t a surprise as she usually did. She was a little slower on the uptick than her sister but she seemed to get there eventually. She used the chart to point out a couple of constellations, checking with Millie to make sure she had done it right before marking them on the chart.

Once they were finished they were free to leave Veronica headed back to the castle and after parting ways with her sister she headed straight for Gryffindor tower and to her bed.

 

[Dante Styx]

As Dante Styx walked into Professor Zephyrmoon's class, he immediately noted the professor's reserved demeanor and the somewhat unusual start to the lesson. Packing up and heading outside was not what he expected, but he shrugged it off and followed the instructions like everyone else, curious about what awaited them on the lawn. Once outside, Dante watched as Professor Zephyrmoon distributed the star charts, his expression serious and focused. Dante accepted his chart from a fellow student and studied it briefly, recognizing some of the constellations from his previous readings but feeling a bit uncertain about how to navigate using the stars practically. Listening intently, Dante absorbed Zephyrmoon's instructions on aligning the star chart with the sky. He watched as the professor demonstrated how to orient oneself based on cardinal directions, turning the map without rotating it to maintain the correct alignment. It seemed straightforward enough, but Dante could sense the challenge in applying it accurately without losing track of the stars.

As the professor encouraged them to find constellations relative to their position, Dante scanned the sky, trying to match the stars on his chart with the twinkling points of light above. The challenge of identifying specific constellations amidst the vastness of the night sky was both exhilarating and frustrating. He squinted, moving his chart this way and that, trying to make sense of the stellar patterns. Glancing around, Dante noticed some of his classmates were already engrossed in their task, pointing excitedly at stars they recognized or attempting to trace imaginary lines between them to form constellations. After what felt like an enlightening yet brief session under the stars, Professor Zephyrmoon wrapped up the lesson, dismissing them without any homework. Dante shrugged his shoulders over what he thought over the lesson, so he went to his dorm to reflect over what he had learned.​

 

[Dominic Owens-Lee]

Dominic couldn't believe how quickly the last semester had gone. He felt like he had just joined the school yesterday, but now he was starting a brand new semester with even more classes to experience. He looked forward to some of them however, and was just keen to get started.

Dominic's last class was Astronomy, and so he made his way there with his peers. He yawned as he entered the tower, slightly annoyed that he had to stay awake for this class. They weren't going to stay inside for long however, as the professor was quick to ask them to follow him outside as they settled in. They headed out to the lawn where they were each given a star chart. They were told to find some constellations in the sky. Dominic had no idea where to begin. Realistically, he could draw whatever he wanted with the stars, as they were quite literally just unorganised dots in the sky. Sighing, Dominic just tried his best to look like he was working really hard until the lesson finally came to an end.