Originally Posted by Marion Burbage

Marion positively beamed, arms clasped behind her back as she floated and lightly spun about the classroom as though she were attending a Yule Ball of her youth. “Ohhh, goodness gracious HEAVENS ABOVE,” she exclaimed, clapping her hands once in admiration. “How absolutely pooooooositively brilliant! Just look at those wisps! Those colors! The harmony! Oooooooh how marvelous! Well done, well done indeed. Magic that intertwines with memory is NEVER easy. For those thus far who felt it stir, well done. And for those still finding the right note, take heart and keep at it. Sometimes, the stars simply need a second chance to speak.” She gestured toward the domed ceiling above, where Lyra still hung like a silvered sigh against the dark velvet sky. “You are all tapping into something very special tonight. Something many spend years trying to understand aaaaaaaaaaaand, perhaps, something humans may never fully understand. ”

Floating towards the center of the room once again, her gaze twinkling, Marion’s voice shifted from youth at a wrock concert to cool and collected professor as she shifted her attention to the young Hufflepuff. “A FINE question, Mr. Cadwallader and the peeeeeeeeerfect segway into a final discussion before we finish up here for this evening so you can all find your beds and get a good night’s rest. Those who wish to continue to practice may of course continue to do so, but to those who can afford the distraction at the moment…ponder this. We chose Lyra for today—for its ties to music, memory, and the myth of Orpheus—but what about the other constellations you mentioned at the start of the lesson? If starlight can stir memory and emotion… what sort of magical effects might their celestial glow inspire? What do you think those stars whisper into our spells?” They were, of course, welcome to offer theories about other constellations buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut she had opened the lesson in just this way, deliberately, to bring the class full circle by its end.