"It's actually a little more complicated than that," he started, getting up and joining the group at the window. Oops, there went raising his hand. Ronan put his hand up belatedly, thinking the idea silly anyway, but whatever. Student leader and all that. "Particles are shot out from the sun and once they reach the outer parts of the Earth's atmosphere, they are drawn towards the magnetic North and South Poles. As they enter the atmosphere, they react with molecules of oxygen, nitrogen and the like, which what produces the actual aurora." If anyone couldn't tell, this is the side of Astronomy he favored. Not enough to pursue it as a career, but yeah.

Wow, it really was a pretty sight. He didn't really get to see them in Paris, thanks to a) it being a city with all the lights and b) it being too far south.

Now. Harriet had never really considered the northern lights before. Probably because she had never seen them. That's what you got for not really living in the north. She had seen them in pictures though, and they looked pretty. She would have loved the opportunity to paint them. But it was going to be great to see them now. She hadn't even thought you could see them from Scotland, so that was pretty great. She stood up, and made her way over to the window, thinking of an answer to the question. Ronan had already expanded on the answer of how the lights appeared, so there was no need to repeat that, but she did want to say something. She just needed to think about what it was first.

A few minutes later and she did put her hand into the air. See, she was a student leader that actually listened to her professors. "The lights appear in many colours, but the most common ones are pink or green" which seemed pretty cool to her. She night sky being all green must be such a beautiful sight to see.

Nathan moved his attention back to her. Huh? What was she trying to do? His lips pursed slightly. Didn't she know it was a fruitless effort to make him smile? Sure she was trying to cheer him up but he wasn't ready to be her level of a happy mood yet...unless food was involved. He shook his head in reply, refusing to smile for her. "Rylee, I'm tired." Maybe a little hungry too.

Sigh. He didn't have the energy to move to the window either. He could see the aurora borealis perfectly from where he sat. Having no interest to contribute by raising his hand either, he remained seated... sorry professor. He preferred thinking with his head unless he was called upon. Hmm...what he knows about auroras... Firstly they were always there, to begin with. Only seen mostly in high latitudes, near the south or north poles and could be visible with a naked eye at night. Secondly, a super tourist attraction especially during the winter season.

Bel was glad that the professor agreed with her and she grinned at him. And it made her feel good to be able to contribute and give a good answer and not just feel like a dummy.

Curiously, she looked over at the window, and then when they were directed, Bel got up eagerly and went over to see. Oh Ripper! She'd seen its counterpart before, back home... and that was about what she could contribute too. Bel stuck her hand up. "I've seen the one at the other pole, Aurora Australis, and I read that lots of planets have them, at their magnetic poles." She scooted up closer for a better view and leaned forward to really look, an excited smile on her face.

The northern lights? COOOOOOL.

Max was quick to his feet, wanting to make sure he found the best spot to get the best view. He'd seen pictures of the northern lights before and they looked super awesome so he was looking forward to this!

He noticed that Bel had found a decent spot and promptly scurried over to get in close behind her and peer out of the window too. Just in time to hear her answer. "Aurora Australis? I didn't know that was a thing as well." It made total sense though seeing as there was a north pole and a south pole. Huh.

Oh, a Max! Not that she hasn't been incredibly aware of his presence in the lesson up until now of course. And all her friends. All. In general. She was, in general, aware of people in general. Not just Max specifically. Except for, y'know, right now, specifically, because it was a specific kind of moment. But um... anyways, she scooted over and then half turned to grab his hand to tug him forward. He didn't need to just peer over her shoulder or hover back there, there was plenty of space right in next to her!

He didn't know about Aurora Australis? Well that was exciting! Too bad she didn't have more knowledge to impress him with share with him.

"Yep! I dunno if any of the other planet ones have special Aurora names too or not though."

Faith was getting geared up to answer, because hey, for once, she knew her material. And it was probably very obvious that she did too, especially since she visibly brightened and didn't look nearly as sleepy as she did only five minutes ago.

Until she heard the tone one of the older students was using. Faith stiffened and it was really all could do not to roll her eyes at the dismissive tone the Head Boy was using as he responded to Daisy's statement. She wasn't wrong -- Faith knew that for a fact, because she actually knew that the aurora were caused by solar winds. Sure, it might be more complicated than that but making someone else feel bad, especially a younger student, could make them less likely to want to continue learning.

Slowly deflating as though it had been her, she slumped back into her seat and said nothing in response. She'd just take notes instead. Who knew if her next answer would be too simplistic.

Nothing. Seriously. Rylee huffed, blowing a strand of hair off her face as she eyed Nathan curiously. He was really trying to pull the 'tired' card with her right now. Well she wasn't buying it. She might be young but she was smart. There was something else and he didn't want to tell her, probably because he thought she was a little kid or something silly like that. Even so she didn't want her friend sad. While everyone got up to go to the windows Rylee remembered something and reached down to pick up her bag real quick, rummaging around in it for a moment. Pulling out one of her Sugar Quills she placed it on the edge of Nathan's desk whispering, "Don't eat it now, it's for after the lesson." So he wouldn't get in trouble. Which meant he should put it away.

Not really knowing all to much about the Aurora Borealis besides the fact that it was incredibly pretty to watch and the few bits of details that were already said Rylee was going to keep quiet. She did get up to go stand up by the window to look out at it along with the others that had chosen to get up as well, taking a sheet of parchment and her quill with her so she could take down notes.

" Perhaps I could come to yur office to talk about Polaris, Professor?.. I'd love to learn what I can.. ', the first year requested with a smile.. Surely Professor Kennedy would oblige and offer him an extra lesson?


And just a minute later he and Schmebulock were being chided for their simple PDA.. Really?!.. They were just holding hands! UGH!.. Honestly, They hadn't even shared a proper first kiss yet.. HE knew she needed his support and if she was comforted by holding his hand, he didn't understand the problem with that..

Begrudgingly he let go of her hand as he leant to whisper to her, " Sorry, Smcheb.. " But he did give her a defiant kiss on her cheek. Go ahead take points for caring about someone other than himself. He didn't care..

" Sir.. Aurora Borealis is essentially the burning of gasses in the atmosphere.. Much like that of the stars..", Reese said. And yes he had raised his hand again..

And very quickly, just like that, any excitement she had for this class evaporated. She didn't protest when Reese let go of her hand, her eyes remained locked on the Professor, trying to glare a hole through him. Her expression softened again when Reese kissed her cheek.

She followed Reese to the window, standing by his side quietly and watched the beautiful display in the sky. It was breathtaking and unlike anything she'd seen before. Something to take in in total serene silence. Quinn didn't answer the Professor's question. She didn't know the answer, honestly, but even if she had, she wouldn't have said anything.

Hmmm her favorite thing? Kye immediately raised her hand to say “Lightning,” although she loved different cloud formations as well. Like when they dripped across the entire sky but you could still see the bright blue behind. Those were Kye’s favorite days. “Ooh, or just the night sky with no artificial lights around!” Yes, that view was positively AMAZING. Ooh, and she nodded in agreement on Aurora Borealis! Kye got up when asked and walked toward the window. A smile grew on her face, as she saw a beautiful mix of color entering her vision. Honestly, Kye didn't know anything about the phenomenon except that earth had one at each pole, and that it was pretty. She listened to the other's answers trying to understand the science of it all.

Aurora Borealis was cool, Kirk concurred. Though he found the planets in sight more interesting, since there was a sense of mystery and the unknown on each of them.. he could not argue with how pretty the Northern Lights were. They had quite the history too regarding them.

As for facts regarding them, well most of the others just about covered the good stuff... hmm, maybe not all. When he was allowed to speak, Kirk added, "It's possible to hear sounds from them like crackles and claps, so long as nothing else is going on in the background." Afterward he focused more on the sight unfolding before them. He wondered if Mel was watching it too from where she was.

Maddie rose from her seat and joined the class at the window. She squeezed in between two of the older students and peered up at the night sky for a second time since coming to class. Whooooa. What?! The reply she'd given earlier was the exact topic of tonight's lesson!

THE NORTHERN LIGHTS!!!

Maddie smiled. She loved looking at the Northern Lights. It always looked like somebody had just taken a paint brush and painted the night with a rainbow of colors. So what did she know about this other than the fact that it was gorgeous? She raised her hand. "I don't really know the exact science behind it, but I do know that the reason this happens is because particles are colliding," she said. "I think that means that things up in outer space are crashing against each other."

She looked and saw the beautiful colors. It wasn't nearly as neat as a lightening storm, but it was pretty. Unfortunately, she had no idea how it was formed or what the science was behind it. More than anything, it reminded her of a melting rainbow ice pops. Her hand involuntarily lifted and reached out as if she was going to touch it.

After she realized her hand was out in front of her, trying to snag come melting sweetness, she quickly raised it up in order to smoothly transition into answering the question, and not look like a crazy person. With her hand raised, she waited for her turn to speak. "Sir, I don't really know much about it, but it sure is pretty. I bet it has something to do with reflection."

Had he seen a Thunderbird in the wild? Well...TECHNICALLY speaking when the one had broken free at the Scamander Zoo it was in the wild so to speak...just not it's natural habitat. "Sure have!" he chirped in response. After all, the question had been for them to say something they HAD seen and thought was the best thing in the sky, you know. Quinnlin's answer certainly caught his attention too and he couldn't help but look at her curiously.

That is...until they were all be instructed to move over towards the windows to look outside and he, naturally, took up position beside Faith because she could explain some of the techno scientific stuff to him in terms he could understand a bit better as they went. Hopefully. Most of this was lost on him, to be honest, but it WAS pretty...he supposed, and he had to squint a bit to see the undulating waves of color in the sky. Though, to him, most of it looked like one giant lump of the same color - unlike what his classmates and the librarian were ooohing and awing over.

Yeah.... not as pretty as a Thunderbird in flight and certainly not a phoenix.

But...to the question being asked...the Hufflepuff COULD offer up something. Shockingly. "Well...in Norse mythology...the stuff revered by Vikings ... the lights were celebrated! It was thought that the Northern Lights were the reflections of the Valkyries’ armor as they led the fallen warriors to Odin. Cause, well, after every battle on earth...Odin would pick the among those that died the strongest and bravest and best to join him in Valhalla which is the the hall of slain warriors in Asgard. So those female warriors on horseback, the Valkyries, would lead those souls to Odin there. Or the lights was thought to be the breath of soldiers who died in combat. Or the ‘Bifrost Bridge’....but I like the first one best. "

Though that sorta means there is a battle going on somewhere....which he did not like so much.

Derf was a neeeeeeerd, and Chloe gave him a proud-best-friend grin as she moved to the window to watch for the lights in the sky. They couldn't always see these at Hogwarts, which was interesting enough for Chloe to pipe up and share. "The sky has to be clear and dark enough to see them, which means that in terribly dreary Scotland, we don't always have the right conditions. Did you magic away the clouds, sir?"

"Thank you." She said, watching her seat become vacant. Had to admit, she half expected the man to tell her to get over it. To pick a new seat and set a better example as a Prefect. As far as all the ways the interaction could've gone this was by far one of the more favourable.

The Ravenclaw turned to reclaim her seat but in the next moment, the man was gesturing everyone back to the window. Sure, she still could've taken her seat and seen from there--window seat and all--but if she was already standing here, then there was no need to move. Jessa leaned against the wall and looked out at the night sky.

No greater feeling than knowing she'd put a pause on her reading and research to look at refractions of light. Absolute best way to spend the late evening. She wouldn't have had it any other way.

Ugh.

Jessa didn't raise her hand. She had no intention of answering the question. Her classmates were already filling in the information gap and the Sixth Year saw no point in repetition.

The show was about to start...?

Daehyun was still dazed, but a bit more awake, and he knew he couldn't waste any time, if he wanted to get a good look out the window before everyone flooded the place, so he reluctantly pushed himself to his feet and moved by the window. His eyes soon widened at the sight - it was so beautiful that he didn't even register professor Kennedy's question - not that he knew anything about the phenomenon.

He was content to just stay there and stare at the pretty sky.

favorite star? Should an eleven year old really have to have a favorite star? Hanako thought deep and hard before returning to the professor. Shaking her head. "No favorites, sir."

The professor then talked about his favorite thing and well, asked them to look at the window for some staring contest. Really cool though. She looked at the skies and so did everyone else. But she thought hard of the professor's question. "Aurora Borealis" she uttered. The phenomenon thats is.

Hmm. Maybe Professor Kennedy wasn't in the best mood today. He wasn't always this snappy about things? But well, even Vivian was skeptical about how two first years were holding hands. She'd held hands with the opposite gender before but she was silently observing when the younger boy kissed her on the cheek. Apparently, first years today had better chances of getting a love life than she did at that age. Cue the tiny bit of awkward.

Vivian listened a tiny bit, though, and scribbled down notes of other interesting things that were mentioned. Maybe a small doodle of stars and planets there on her parchment once in a while. But the younger Ravenclaw's (Chloe) comment did make her think and smile a little. Magic the clouds away. Cute. The Head Girl raised her hand. "It's very unpredictable, sir, the Northern Lights. Nobody really knows when it shows up the best in the sky but yeah, they're mostly visible in this time of the year."

How Professor Kennedy knew that tonight would be a good time to stargazing, she had no idea. It made her think if her astronomy professor was some kind of seer.

There was no resistance on his part. None at all. With an excited grin, Max scooted forward to stand beside Bel instead. Did he let go of her hand? Nope. In fact he sneakily shuffled up even closer next to her so that Professor Kennedy wouldn't see. It was chilly next to these windows, there was nothing wrong with sharing body heat, right? He thought it was smart actually.

He peered out of the window and heard snippets of what the other kids said when they piped up with their own facts. Derf's story about viking warriors was super cool... and then another Hufflepuff who's name he didn't know said something about things in outer space colliding??

It had to be aliens.

Kye liked listening to Derf's answer, if she was being honest. Valkyries had such awesome legacies attached to them. She had never been very fond of her name (hence, 'Kye'), but maybe she could still grow into it. She got a brief thought of calling herself 'Val' or 'Kyrie' or something instead, but they sounded weird to her. Yea, she preferred Kye. She listened to the other students answering and took notes, because she knew absolutely nothing about the Aurora Borealis except that the phenomenon happened at both poles, and that it was pretty. *shrug* That's what class was for though, right?

Northern lights?? But didn't it need to be complete darkness for them to see them properly?? Skylar found herself making a contemplative face and barely paying attention to when the Head Boy decided to tell Daisy 'it's a bit more complicated then that', pretty much discounting her simplistic answer. UH REALLY? She wasn't wrong though and there was no need to be putting anyone's answers down.

She did smile a little at Derf's explanation. Not about the technical aspect of course, but the mention of Valkyrie because of Snake Sisterhood reasons. What could she say? After seven years she'd grown rather fond of all the girls in her dormitory; well, only four for Felicity.

Moving toward the window, she smiled when Chloe pretty much voiced her thoughts about a clear sky, as she considered what she knew about the Northern Lights. Ah, always Latin .... Raising her hand, which felt rather awkward standing up, "Aurora comes from the Latin word which means dawn or morning light, because auroras were formerly thought to be the first light of dawn."

Kalen nodded at most of their answers. Even though he noticed that several of them stayed quiet and he really couldn’t blame them. The Northern lights were highly complicated and very sciency. He found himself wishing he could just keep asking questions while they watched the Aurora.

Ahh well.

“The Aurora Borealis is basically, particles of plasma thrown out from the sun, also known as solar wind. This solar wind flies through space and then it hits the earth, and Earth’s magnetic field guides the particles to the poles. The particles then interact with different atoms and molecules and form the display known as the Aurora Borealis in the North, Or the Aurora Australis in the south.” Whew and that was a basic explanation. He wanted to get into what caused the colors and all that, but there just wasn’t time. He checked his watch and the backed up a bit.

“All right class, now we are going to learn a little spell. ” He said with a smile as he took out his wand and held it in the air.

“Obviously we can not make the Aurora exactly, but what we can make is light that looks like it. All right, remember this spell is just light. Nothing else.” He said with a smile as he took his wand, said “Fluctus Lux.” and a ribbon of white light came from his wand, waving and moving like the Aurora did.

“Simple Yeah? The wand movement is easy, you just move it back and forth like you are trying to make a ribbon flutter. ” Kalen moved his wrist back and forth.

“The incantation is Fluctus Lux, which literally means a wave of light.” He said with a smile as he did everything together.

He waved his wrist back and forth and then said “Fluctus Lux” and once again a ribbon of undulating light came out.

“All right! I want you all to practice this for the next few minutes all right?” Kalen said with a grin. “Get to it!”

OOC: Hey Guys! All right all they have to do here is just practice the spell, as we said the wand movement is just a back and forth movement of the hand and wrist and the the incantation is “Fluctus Lux.” And it’s just light! Nothing else! I’ll be moving on in about 72 hours! If you need Kalen or I, label your posts! Have fun.

Quinn glanced apologetically at Reese. It really didn't bother her too much. Astronomy wasn't a passion of hers, and she got to see the beauty of the northern lights before getting kicked out, so she didn't feel like she'd be missing too much. But Reese. She felt bad for him. Astronomy was one of his passions, and he was getting tossed out too.

She glanced over at the professor, and merely shrugged in response, before turning and heading back to her seat. She repacked everything back into her bag, slung it over her shoulder and left without a word.