View Single Post
Old 01-12-2020, 03:01 PM   #83 (permalink)
laurange


DERP & DMLE
Ramora
 
laurange's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Kita's pocket
Posts: 5,228

Hogwarts RPG Name:
Aslan Archer
Slytherin
First Year

Hogwarts RPG Name:
Rose Woods
Gryffindor
Second Year

Ministry RPG Name:
Amrita Sandhu
Law Enforcement

Ministry RPG Name:
Laleh Kiani
x9 x6
Default
½ of Lauralie | Koala | The being in Ern's pocket | Baby Smurf | Prouf member of The Flock

SPOILER!!: Weasley174
Quote:
Originally Posted by Weasley174 View Post
Tom listened to the next question and he raised his hand. "They must work really well together, because they never crash into each other." Tom wondered what would happen if that did happen, would something be seriously wrong?


Well that was an interesting take on orbits if she'd ever heard one. "The laws of physics work pretty interestingly together, I agree," Simran said, nodding. "This would be a direct effect of Newton's Third."

SPOILER!!: Tegz
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tegz View Post
Being seasonally depressed sounded, well, sad, and Flynn was suddenly glad he didn't live in a place that had barely any sun, and wondered if that meant that people who lived in tropical places were the happiest and most vitamin D-enriched people in the world. The maths about earths fitting into the sun was a little tough to follow but he thought hard about all the times Mrs Odessa had shown the Stark kids similar calculations and he followed along as best he could.

As for Celestial alignment, his hand shot up eagerly. "Its about light, shadow, and perspective, professor." Did he need to elaborate? 'Cause he couldn't. He had turned his head slightly and suddenly became tongue-tied because The Smile™ had turned into The Laugh™ and Flynn' s entire brain just went ahead and flatlined.


Simran wasn't quite sure if the tropics had the happiest people -- only that natural selection had made it so that people closer to the poles still managed to get their fair share of Vitamin D. Though the funny thing about natural selection was that working well wasn't a requirement. It just had to not be fatal. Which meant that there were still quite a few design flaws here and there.

"Very eloquently put, Master Whitlock," she said. A little vague, though.


SPOILER!!: Anna Banana
Quote:
Originally Posted by Anna Banana View Post
Isla just smiled when the professor complimented her answer. But when she responded to Kaiser's answer with something that was way over Isla's head, the first year just stared in disbelief. Ummm, yeah. Whatever that stuff meant...

Thank Merlin the lesson didn't require them to do any calculations about the size of the sun. Apparently they had to know what was discussed the first two years before this one, though. If this lesson was any indication, Isla was doomed. Wasn't Astronomy optional?

At least muggle school science had somewhat helped her know a little about the next question, so she raised her hand. "Sometimes it can cause us to see a lot of the moon, and sometimes it can cause us to see none at all," she said. She wasn't even sure if this was right. She just remembered something like this being talked about in class.


Unfortunately for the first year, Astronomy was a core subject, which meant she was stuck with it for at least the next five years. It would get better, though. It usually did.

"That's very true," she nodded. "The orbit of the moon does mean that we have phases of the moon, most notably the new and full moons."


SPOILER!!: FearlessLeader19
Quote:
Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19 View Post
Claudine was only half paying attention to all the answers and that was only because she was loosing interest in them. It didn’t seem as if some of the students were even trying to be serious about the lesson, as was reflected in their replies. Well, she understood younger ones like herself especially wouldn’t know a lot but some of the older ones? Claudine was silently judging them.

She thought for a good moment before raising her hand for the second question. “An eclipse?’’ she asked, her tone suggesting that she was uncertain of what she said. This uncertainty came about for two reasons: 1. Was an eclipse even the answer? And 2. If so, which type of eclipse was it?


Simran heard the self-doubt in the young Slytherin's tone and nodded, smiling reassuringly. "Very good, Miss Blaze," she said. "Eclipses are precisely what we've got at hand today."

An educated guess was always best, even when one wasn't quite sure.


SPOILER!!: GD2204
Quote:
Originally Posted by GD2204 View Post
Ewan cast a quick glance over at Minjae as he heard something he didn’t quite expect. An apology. With a small nod and smile, he just waved his hand in front of him before replying “Don’t worry about it. Just don’t make a habit out of it” actually surprised that the younger Hufflepuff apologised. Maybe he was more Hufflepuff than he’d first originally thought.

After greeting Nettie with a smile, he focusing back on the lesson at hand, trying to remember what exactly they’d discussed last term in astronomy. If she was expecting him to remember that far back then she was mistaken because he couldn’t remember what he’d had to eat for breakfast this morning let alone what they’d covered last term. Then again, he didn’t have breakfast this morning because they had to be here so early. So, they were to focus on alignment? Well, surely that had to do with eclipses? Claudine had the right idea. “When they align, it can cause an eclipse. Either a Lunar eclipse or a Solar eclipse” Lunar eclipses were his personal favourite. There was just something special about an eclipse at night.


Simran, being the Gryffindor she was, preferred solar eclipses over lunar ones for the pure novelty of it. It was rare to witness a total eclipse anyway, and to be conveniently there, where the weather conditions were good? It wasn't as easy as most people thought.

"Very good, Master Jones. Both solar and lunar eclipses occur in this manner."


SPOILER!!: love-for-HP
Quote:
Originally Posted by love-for-HP View Post
The sun!!! Right!!! Now Blake remember what they were talking about! Surely he knew something about the sun. Anything besides it's hot ... but then the Professor posed a new question. Okay ... focusing his mind he dug deep into his 12 year old memory to think about what happens when the sun, moon, and earth all align.

He smiled remembering the last time it happened and the memory he had of his mom pulling him out of primary school to see it. "It makes an eclipse." Short and sweet and too the point.


Was it just her or was it too early in the morning or was there an echo in the observatory? Simran nodded, rising to her feet in a barely concealed attempt to stretch her muscles.

Sleep would have been nice. Maybe she should have taken that nap after all.


SPOILER!!: DaniDiNardo
Quote:
Originally Posted by DaniDiNardo View Post
Hooooly Merlin, they were really doing this, weren't they?

Proper learning, proper getting into Astronomy before 8 on a Saturday? Who's idea of a joke was this? Speaking of jokes, Kodee allowed his head to be propped up by Kaiser, only so he could open his eyes and give a good old fashioned boyish grin to one Phoebe James for her marvelous response. "Sure sounds like I'm already the centre of yours, adding me to your answer like that Pheebes. I'm honoured. No one else got a mention." Would've given her a wink, too, but it was honestly TOO EARLY FAM.

So yeah, Gunnar, it waaasss that early. "Mate, you have no idea." He muttered to his Head Friend.

Why was Al standing all the way over there? Tt was so far from his friends. Much like he'd done with Gunnar, he nodded Alessandro over. Surely he wouldn't be able to learn from all the way over there. Drew, too. Wouldn't do him any good unless he got closer.

Kodee gave a half audible groan after hearing the second question. It was confirmation that in fact, this was happening. He wasn't in a dream of sorts. This was...they were...and there was talk of past lessons. The boy's head drooped right back down, reluctant as all hell. What did they all have in common? "They were all taught by you at one point or the other." He mumbled, uncertain if the Professor or any but those closest to him had even heard.

Tired was as tired did.


Honestly, Master Chosen? Simran couldn't even blame you. "Fair point," she conceded, but giving the enchanted chalk a stern look lest it write that response down as well. The thing had quite a mind of its own on what constituted relevance.

SPOILER!!: hjhm
Quote:
Originally Posted by hjhm View Post
Her attempted guess wasn't even correct, she wanted to laugh at that really. It sounded exactly like a guess and Professor Simran knew well. She's realllllyyyy good.

Jillian nodded when the professor spoke about celestial allignment- she doesn't remember most of the lesson but she does remember the class took place. Oopps. She'll be better this term. Now what do these things have in common other than of course being talked in Astronomy? Hmmm... Jillian hummed and thought about it. What do we know about when these three bodies allign? "An eclipse will happen" she answered after shooting her hand up. Was she correct? Well, hopefully she is.


Simran had heard many guesses over the years she had been teaching, and some of them were extremely... creative. She could, however, give Miss Kim credit for sounding like she had at least thought about her answers.

"Very good, Miss Kim."
Albeit a bit repetitive.


SPOILER!!: PhoenixRising
Quote:
Originally Posted by PhoenixRising View Post
Early mornings Carsyn had RELUCTANTLY come to accept as being a ruthless part of her Hogwarts Education. But early mornings on a SATURDAY was just harsh. The fifth year had things to do. Boys to ogle at. OWLs to study for. And worst of all, the seminar came in the form of Astronomy, which meant skiving off it wasn't even option because it was a core lesson AND it was her head of House, which meant Sandhu would know something was up if she didn't show. But she was not happy about it.

Or the fact that she needed a permission slip, which she conveniently didn't get signed but had practiced the art of parent forgery for years which meant she was well adept at forging the needed signature.

Text Cut: permission slip

ASTRONOMY FIELD TRIP

On Saturday, the 4th of September, 2100, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry will be organising a field trip to the Addis Ababa University's observatory. The day will begin at 07:00 and end at 12:00 with lunch before returning to Hogwarts.

Name: Carsyn Rose
House: Gryffindor
Year: Fifth

Any Disabilities/Allergies:

I hereby absolve the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry of any unfortunate effects that arise from my own my refusal to employ common sense and follow the instructions I am given.

Signature: Carsyn K Rose

Signature of Parent/Legal Guardian: Rhiannon Todd-Rose


Huh. Why was Schmoe here?? And the new plants professor whom she forgot his name from the feast already? Had she missed something? Wayyyy too early and why was Sandhu talking something about the sun? Squinting out toward the window, she literally was lost and was going to blame it on the fact that the sun had barely risen.

Numbers. Uhhh this wasn't going to be on her OWLs, was it?? Cause Carsyn was not going to remember any of those numbers on the blackboard. What do they know when the Sun, Moon and Earth align? "It's a celestial
once in a lifetime experience."
Mmmhm. Sounded reasonable and true ????


Once-in-a-lifetime was a very relative term, but especially when one considered the average wizarding lifespan, it would have to be quite rare indeed. Solar eclipses, however, were generally not that rare. She'd been lucky enough to observe at least four of them, and certainly more lunar eclipses than she could care to count.

"Celestial, yes," she said, nodding, and then shrugged. "Once-in-a-lifetime, maybe? Depends on how long you intend to live, dear. And how often you look out for these things, but they're not rare."


SPOILER!!: BanaBatGirl
Quote:
Originally Posted by BanaBatGirl View Post
Celestial alignment, oooh! Bernie knew the eclipse answer, but eclipses required special sunspecs, and the professor looked like she was wearing regular ones, so. Again, her elder housemate (Kodee) had the best answer here, which she snickered at, and offered her own answer.

"I think weird stuff happens when the sun, the Earth, and the moon align. It's a special time for centaurs." She was making that up but it sounded true.


As far as made-up answers went, this certainly didn't sound like one. Not from where Simran was standing. "Weird stuff indeed," she said, smiling. "Some magics are more potent during this time, some less so."

"Not sure about how it is for centaurs, myself, but seeing as they put a lot of stock into celestial movements, I would be inclined to believe you're right, Miss Grantham!"


SPOILER!!: Cassirin
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cassirin View Post
No, the sun wasn't the center? Oh... universe and solar system. Right. Got it. But her joke was super funny, and the professor had looked almost amused, and that was really way more important.

But she didn't think she was dumb, did she? Phoebe would cry real actual tears if the professor thought she was stupid. She eagerly waved her hand in the air at the next question. "What Bernie said! Right? I think when the sun and moon and earth align, it's supposed to, like... reveal your karmic pathways." Or that's what she'd read somewhere.


Simran would never think anyone dumb, much less a second year. She herself had said far less accurate things, when she was a young student herself. In fact, if any of them ever had to sort through old disciplinary records from the 20s, they would find her disciplinary file really quite thick.

"Indeed, Miss James!" Not a dumb response at all.

In fact, rather impressive.


SPOILER!!: Felixr
Quote:
Originally Posted by Felixir View Post
Sandhu was doing.............. maths.

Which should not have been all that surprising. One fact that had stuck with Kaiser over the years was that Astronomy sometimes (often?) meant dealing with numbers, but there was just something about being faced with equations early on a Saturday morning which turned the stomach.

Kaiser stared at the... that on the blackboard, trying not to look quite as horrified as he felt. He didn't understand any of it. Alright, he'd never really tried, but it was very difficult to grasp complicated stuff, when right from the start he'd been at a huge disadvantage where school was concerned. In terms of the 'headstart' analogy, he'd turned up to the race when it was already halfway finished.

Finally it was over, and Kaiser gave a nod, looking slightly dazed. "Thank you, professor."

Now he only really had to concern himself with... the present company. Kodee was fine, no problems there. Kaiser could prop him up all day long and it would never feel even a bit awkward. It was just... the others. Obviously there was that whole thing with Gunnar. And he had stopped even acknowledging Alessandro's existence since their altercation. And then Drewett... Kaiser was trying to act naturally around him, not make things awkward, but he had wronged Drew more than he had any of the others, and pretending like nothing had happened made him feel like he had gotten off the hook far too easily. He wished Drew had the guts to throw a punch at him - he'd accept that, welcome it - but that would never happen.

Realising he had managed to zone out, Kaiser tried to focus back on the lesson again, but he'd missed the crucial question, and trying to figure it out from the context of the other answers was not terribly easy... until that Gryffindor second year seemed to repeat it herself.

Kaiser... wasn't sure he had any valuable input, but he could... try? He could try. He raised the hand that had been propping up Kodee's head. "Does it have anything to do with the new moon?" Which was... like an eclipse? But different. Maybe. He didn't know, he never knew.


Simran tried her best not to freak the kids out with the Astronomy stuff, she really did, but sometimes it just seemed entirely unavoidable. Exhibit A.

However, Kaiser did raise a very good point. "It does indeed. You may have noticed that today is a new moon." And solar eclipses only occur during the new moon.


SPOILER!!: MadMadamMalfoy
Quote:
Originally Posted by MadMadamMalfoy View Post
Heath had no idea his thoughts would’ve come across as insulting to the professor. If he had, it would’ve sent him spiraling into the abyss of self-doubt. He didn’t think the professor wouldn’t know about parsecs because she wasn’t smart; he thought she wouldn’t know because in his limited astronomy knowledge, he thought a parsec was something that existed only in the Star Wars movies, and he hadn’t encountered many Star Wars fans in the wizarding world.

The young Ravenclaw felt pretty confident about his answer… until he realized he'd used the imperial measurement instead of the metric one. D'oh! Stupid Heath! How could he have forgotten? He supposed he got so excited about knowing the answer (and astronomy in general) that he didn't think before speaking. Well, that wouldn't happen again!

Heath bit his lip as an embarrassed flush rose to his cheeks, and he stared at the floor, hoping his hair would be long enough to fall forward and hide his reddening face. When he heard the next question, his first thought was the same as most everybody else's: an eclipse. Since his answer had already been said several times, he thought about offering additional information about eclipse - specifically that a solar eclipse happened when the moon was positioned directly between the sun and the earth, while a lunar eclipse was when the earth was between the sun and the moon - but he was too scared to speak up again. Knowing him, he'd probably get the two kinds of eclipses mixed up or do something else to embarrass himself again!

Heath decided to err on the side of caution and keep quiet. He sat silent, listening intently to the professor and the other students. Was that why they were going all the way to Ethiopia? Were they going to see an eclipse, and the view was better there or something?


Simran's gaze flitted over Master Jones briefly, but not seeing his hand raised, nodded to herself and moved on. She couldn't force him to answer, and she wouldn't. That was not how this worked.

SPOILER!!: Nordic Witch
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nordic Witch View Post
Cole's answer had been a good one. Professor Sandhu had said so and it made him feel happy. It showed that to listening to the astronomy programme's on his wireless radio wasn't so bad after all. The lesson continued onwards to the special alignment when the sun, moon and earth align in a straight line. Thinking about his answer Cole listened to the others. Everyone mentioned eclipses. Those we're so cool to see especially when the moon turned coppery even if he had only seen that in pictures. Raising his hand Cole said "When the sun, moon and earth align in a straight line I've heard that it causes a spring tide to occur." If that was true or not he left to professor Sandhu to answer.


Listening to the astronomy programme on the wireless was always a good idea, and Simran had enjoyed it when she was much younger, often claiming to be absorbing it passively when she actually just wanted background noise for whatever she was doing at the moment.

"Correct, Master Vance! A spring tide does indeed occur at the new and full moon."


SPOILER!!: Kimothy
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kimothy View Post
At one point during the class, Drewett did join the group of seventh year boys, standing beside Gunnar to be exact. He didn't immediately notice the distance that Al had maintained. There were questions in his head, but none of them were going to be asked because Drewett wasn't the type to pry. He knew that, in a way, Drewett himself had contributed to this aura of awkward among their little group. One related to Kaiser and other things. Like he'd told the Slytherin last term, he'd rather put that behind them even if it would be challenging. He did not want to dwell on that. And no, he would never punch Kaiser or anyone for that matter. Drewett was never the violent type.

Instead, he had focused himself on the maths on the blackboard.

Maths! Numbers! Calculations! Those were Drewett's favourites, among other things. They were part of the reason why he liked astronomy a lot. He watched as the calculations for the number of Earths could fit inside the Sun were made, and his eyes may have twinkled. He had been momentarily distracted by that.

As for the question, Drewett considered many things and he liked that their lessons from last term were actually preparing them for this. He agreed with other students who answered about an eclipse. Even the one about spring tides. They were all acceptable answers, he figured. He thought about transits and occultations, though. "Syzygy, professor," the seventh year said, raising his hand, to be more general.


Well, Simran was glad that at least someone other than herself enjoyed the maths and numbers and calculations that were involved in Astronomy, even if it was at the beginning of the day, long before any brain cells could sensibly be expected to be awake.

"Very good, Master Gunter," she grinned. She'd really wanted to say bless you, but since she did know what Syzgy was, it seemed unfair. "I'll get into a bit more detail on Syzgy in a moment."


SPOILER!!: pundantic
Quote:
Originally Posted by pundantic View Post
Alessandro was not intentionally removing himself from the company of his friends and Kaiser, but he had made several promises after last term not to get suspended, again. Distance between himself and certain parties ensured his restraint. Yet, when Gunnar and Kodee beckoned Al over, he made his peace with some of the unpleasant feelings swirling just under the surface and crossed the short path to the group of seventh year boys. He even gave Drew a small but easy smile as he took his place beside Kodee.

Being here, with his group of mostly friends— looking at you, Kaiser— Alessandro’s mood did not vastly improve. His mouth was still drawn in a straight line. He shoved his gloved hands into his pockets for extra measure, and tried to piece apart the next question.

It was still too vague a question for him to discern what Sandhu was really asking them. There were eclipses, certainly. And the tides shifted. And yes, plenty of cultures had specific, significant relationships with this cosmic event. But he was still unsure what Sandhu wanted. So, for Professor Sandhu’s sake, Al remained quiet.


Sometimes it was less about what the professors wanted to hear, and more about what could be contributed, even if it digressed from where the lesson was headed. There was no knowledge that was not valuable.

But if Master Toussaint did not already know this, there was really very little she could do about it.


SPOILER!!: Takemetotheburrow
Quote:
Originally Posted by TakemetotheBurrow View Post
Waaaaait, the professor liked her analogy? Cecelia was all sorts of pleased about this and she BEAMED at the woman, then at Catherine, who she hoped was impressed by her smarts. Cecelia knew her friend could be quite judgy when it came to this type of thing and she never wanted to be the recipient of that judgement, not if she could help it. She didn't like the sads that came along with it, truly.

It didn't escape her that Phoebe had taken a dig at Mr. Kodee Chosen, who thought he was the boss of all the baby Gryffindors. She was proud, did Fi know? She was also making a face at the seventh year boy when he responded, all smirky and pleased with himself. They were SO going to take him down and be the real bosses, they just needed to do some brainstorming!

One thing Cecelia wasn't so confident about was what happened when the sun, moon, and earth aligned. There was LOTS of talk of eclipses and she supposed that made a lot of sense, but she wanted to say something different. Hm... "Maybe it's good for certain spells and potions to be done when they're all aligned?" Maybe it gave magic a special OOMPH or something. It COULD be true.



"Correct, Miss Summer!" she exclaimed, gleeful. At least it appeared that somebody had been paying attention in the previous lessons, or at least felt like they could hazard a guess in that direction, which she had literally specifically hinted at.

Proud of you, smol lion.


SPOILER!!: hermionesclone
Quote:
Originally Posted by hermionesclone View Post
Lucas didn't realise that Sandhu had noticed his moment of realisation until he saw that wink directed at him. Was that.....? Was that a yes? That his suspicions were right? WAS IT?? There was a part of him that didn't want to assume but another part of him - a much larger part - was all too excited about the possibility that he couldn't stop himself from smiling back at her.

1,300,000 Earths can fit inside the Sun?!

.......... Merlin. He was writing that down.

As for Sandhu's question about celestial alignment and orbits and what they had in common, the Gryffindor couldn't help but wonder if the Astronomy Professor had planned this all along. If this was the point of this trip all along and she had planned it from the moment she talked about celestial align-

And then something clicked in the boy's head.

And he let out an audible gasp, even going on to cover his mouth with both of his hands. Was this...... was this what he thought it was about? Sandhu?? Explain???? He could feel the excitement building up, so much so that he forgot to give her an answer because he had a more important question that he wanted an answer to.

WERE THEY GOING TO SEE AN ECLIPSE? WERE THEY??

Oh Merlin, if they were going to see an eclipse........ he was NOT ready for this.


Simran had somehow thought she had skipped over Master Dakest's answer, primarily because that kid always had an answer. And if he didn't have an answer, he had at least five questions on the topic, which she found even more delightful than an answer. That was, however, not the case here.

But when her gaze fell on him, and she recognised the look of gears whirring in his brain, she smiled and decided to move the lesson-slash-field trip along.


"As many of you have guessed, the moment we have all been waiting for is upon us. We will be viewing an eclipse today." A total solar eclipse, for once taking place somewhere other than Antarctica. Honestly, it had thrown a wrench in her plans long enough.

"Eclipses are instances of Syzgy, which are defined in Astronomy as a roughly straight-line configuration of three or more celestial bodies in a gravitational system." Basically a fancy word for celestial allignment. "They take two forms -- occultation and transit."

"Occultation, which takes place when a body which appears to be larger passes in front of a smaller one, and transit, which occurs when a smaller body passes in front of a larger one are the two types of Syzygy, or celestial allignment, which are observable."
The ones they couldn't observe didn't tend to have much of an effect on them and magic, in general, so it's all good.

"An eclipse occurs when a body totally or partially disappears from view, either by an occultation, as with a solar eclipse, or by passing into the shadow of another body, as with a lunar eclipse, although we include even partial solar eclipses in this category for the same reason that some people think Pluto is a planet."
Because people were people and they liked to oversimplify everything and were resistant to any form of change.

"Today, however, we will be experiencing a total solar eclipse, which is much rarer than the partial type, considering how much smaller the moon is than the sun, and the fact that the moon has a rather funny orbit that allows a maximum of five eclipses per year, rather than allowing one every month."

But she wouldn't get into too much detail here, because a glance at her watch told her that they had to be leaving NOW if they were going to make it with time to get settled before the eclipse begun.

"Now, when I read the names off the permission slips I've got, you will receive your portkeys from my giant bag here. One each, please."
You were right after all, Bernie! "Professors Schmoe and Rainwater will go first, and then the rest of you."

"Those of you who have not yet handed your permission slips, please do so once I'm done with my stack. You will receive your portkeys directly, and I will follow once I've established that the room is empty."

"Prefects, please perform a headcount now before we leave, and once more after we arrive, and write the number down if you believe yourselves likely to forget."
She would, however, keep the permission slips on her just in case something like this happened.

"The Portkey will take us directly to the Observatory. Once you get there, you'll be given a pair of special sunglasses for viewing the eclipse with, and you may get comfy. I've been told that the university's Astronomy department has prepared a pillow nest of sorts." She was absolutely here for it. Though the chances of her getting TOO comfy and sleeping through the eclipse were higher than she'd like to admit.

"Now. Professors, if you'd like to start us off --" she said, holding out the first of many portkeys.

Where was Carwyn?


OOC: We're starting the mini-activity, guys! We're going to be portkeying to Addis Ababa in this first half of the activity, and we'll move along to the viewing (at which point I'll post Simran arriving) in about 36 hours. Happy portkeying!
__________________
laurange is offline