Astronomy lesson 1 - The ancient myth makers

When the hundred spirits and the wind and rain became calendrically incorrect and disordered, Gong Gong made the sun and the moon take turns working and resting. Thus we have the divisions of late night and morning, afternoon and evening.
- Portion of the Chu Silk Manuscript

The Astronomy classroom is sparsely furnished. Wooden desks are spread out in even rows. At the front stands a larger desk, with stacks of astronomical encyclopaedias and journals on it.

In what was perhaps an effort to make the room appear more inviting, some of the stone walls have been covered with star charts - however, the real view is offered by the large windows onto the grounds. From the Tower, you can see the lake glittering in the summer's afternoon sun, and behind it, the ominous dark green mass of the Forbidden Forest. Through a different window, the empty stands of the Quidditch Pitch are visible, and, off to one side, the hut of Professor Lawson, the Care of Magical Creatures. Two of the windows have been opened, sending a warm breeze through the room.

Professor Antares is already present. He is fiddling with an ancient-looking projector - a skilful wizarding artificer, long ago, designed it to function within the magical environment of Hogwarts, but the professor, more used to Muggle technology, is still learning how to operate it. Once enlightenment on this score has been achieved to the professor's satisfaction, class will commence.

OOC: The lesson will start in about 30 minutes, I'd say. Please keep chatting down to acceptable levels.

SO MANY CLASSES!

Gold was going to go crazy, with the workload. She hadn't wanted to come to this one, at all, despite the fact that she liked - and was generally good at - Astronomy. In the end, she had managed to drag herself, here.

"Good day, Professor," she said, hopefully politely and not sounding all exhausted, as she looked around. At least the classroom looked all warm and welcoming and interesting.

Le sigh.

Maddie walked into the classroom and sat down at a desk near the front.
'Good evening, Proffessor Antares!' she said brightly 'I'm looking forward to this lesson so much!' she took out her notebook and quill, setting her textbook on the desk. She made a nice, neat heading on a fresh new page

Ellie walked in. Not many people here, she thought. She sat down in a seat in the middle of the classroom. A middle row, middle column. Perfect.

Kevin wandered into the astronomy tower and took a seat up the back so many classes fifth year was so busy for him already and he wasnt looking forward to being snowed under with homework

Oh how she hated those stairs. Why couldn't Astronomy deal with dirt instead?

Finally making it to the top, and taking a deep breathe, Evelyn walked into the classroom and looked around. Well, this should be another reason why she shouldn't continue taking the class. Even just walking into the room made her feel bored, but, if she were to admit it, the subject was quite interesting.

"Good day, Professor." she muttered in her usual tone with her usual sweet smile before taking a seat near the back and closest to the window that looked out to the lake and forest. Taking out her Astronomy notebook, covered with drawings made by herself when she had nothing else to do, she slumped slightly in her seat and just...waited.

Mina smiled as she walked into the classroom. Yes, she had the feeling this would be a great term in Astronomy. First year was terrible so the only way to go was up, right? From the first look at the surrounding, she knew she was right about it. This was definitely going to be a great term.

The slight breeze was welcoming and the view just from where she was standing was amazing. She would have to remember to take more time one of these days to admire the view from the Towers. Making her way up toward the front, she smiled to yet another new Professor. "Good day, professor." she greeted as she settled into a seat.

Ercks Ebony walked into the classroom. He hoped this subject would be easier than Arithmancy. He sat down in one of the seats.

Yes! Astronomy she was soo looking forward to it! Melissa walked into the classroom looking at everything. Star charts, astronomical encyclopaedias, journals and there was an amazing view from out of the windows, which the view she could just see from where she stood. It wass beautiful. "Good day Professor!" Umm, she didn't know this professor but she didn't add a 'er I don't know your name' tone to her voice. Beaming at him, she went towards the desks and sat down on a chair.

Alexandrie walked inside the classroom and sat down in one of the seats. She already had a new page ready to write and take notes. She hoped this class would be as exciting as Arithmancy.

Another lesson...Simon was tired of running around Hogwarts , in search of classrooms.Finally he had found the right classroom.He stepped in , without breath and planned to introduce himself to Antares but he couldn't.He didn't want to be rude and disrespectful.He didn't want his house loose points.So instead he sit down , and took out the Astronomy book , and started reading.

Astronomy! Yesss. The subject was Aiden's favorite, aside from Defense Against the Dark Arts, of course. He walked into the classroom, taking a quick glance around at the star charts on the walls, before finding himself a seat. From where he sat, the quidditch pitch was easily visible, right out beyond the wide windows of the tower. Satisfied with his location in the classroom, he looked back to Professor Antares, watching as the man fiddled with his projector.

Risu blew out air through his teeth. He had hoped he'd be finished setting up the projector before his students arrived. The stars were not in an auspicious position today, it seemed. Of course, for someone who thought of them as burning balls of plasma, wholly unconcerned with human affairs, they never were.

"Good day, good day," he said, in a tone as jovial as he could manage. "Have a seat." He waved vaguely in the direction of the empty desks.

Risu recognised the voice. "Hello, Miss Force. Glad you could make it."

"Good afternoon," he said, now worrying that he wouldn't be able to get back to his projector at all.

"Same to you. We'll begin momentarily," Risu said as yet another student entered the room.

Right. He had to get back to the projector. "Good day. Have a seat, please."

To the room at large, he said, "We'll start as soon as I've figured this... thing out." He tapped it with his wand. "Shouldn't take longer than a few more minutes."

Delilah walked in the astronomy room. "Hello Professor." She said as she took an empty seat.

Three more students entered the classroom. Risu, now slightly panicky that his first lesson at Hogwarts would be off to an embarrasing start, whacked the projector angrily with his wand. Sparks flew - something, he was pretty sure, that wasn't supposed to happen. But he thought he was finally getting the hang of it. "Hello, sit down," he called out to the newcomers, "because I think... Ha!"

The projector clicked loudly. A flash of light illuminated the blackboard at the front of the classroom. Risu, understanding dawning, tapped it with his wand, and the projector went silent and dark again. He nodded to himself, satisfied, and began walking to the his desk. Then he turned around.

"Good afternoon, everyone," he said cheerfully, "and welcome. I may be unfamiliar to most of you, but if you think I am here to teach Astronomy, then I congratulate you on your powers of deductive reasoning." He grinned. "For the benefit of everyone who doesn't know me, my name is Risu Antares. I am an astrophysicist by profession. I was a research scientist at a large radio telescope for twenty years, and it's my hope and, er, my job, to impart some of my knowledge, as they say, unto you. You are as unknown to me as I am to you, but I should be able to remember your names soon."

He waved his wand over his shoulder, and writing appeared on the blackboard. "Before we begin, some comments of an... administrative nature. You can write them down if you want to, but," he shrugged, "this should be easy enough to remember. Homework will be given at the end of each lesson, to be handed in on time and in correct form. Outside of our lessons, you are welcome to visit me in my office if you need help or if you have any questions about the subject matter. Lastly, you will sit a final exam at the end of term. That's still a long way off, of course."

Risu paused. "Er... speaking of questions. Are there any so far?"

Taking the short route from the comon room to Astronomy, Grayson skidded into the room in time to hear the professor say class woud start as soon as he figured out the projector he was working on. Cool. So I guess technically I'm not late, she thought, grinning a little. At this rate she'd try to get to all the classes, even though it meant lots of homework.

"Hi Professor," she called out as she made her way to an empty desk. She wished she could offer help, but electronics and her didn't usually get along unless they wanted her to break them. "No questions from me" Seemed straightforward.

Sidney listens carefully to what Professor Antares says. He does seem nervious must be his first teaching assignment. She smiles at the professor. Everything seems pretty straight forward. Sidney hopes they get to look out the windows some. The view looks pretty awe inspiring.

Kevin listened to what the professor was saying but didnt have any questions at the moment

This was the only teacher , that wasn't giving questions but wanted questions.And that's pretty weird.But since he had one he raised his hand."Sorry for asking this stupid question , but what exactly is Astronomy?"he asked , grinning.

Hehe. Finally. A seemingly nice professor. Other than the DADA one... what was his name? Oh, well.

"Hi." she waved. She got giddy with joy of the nice professor.

Then it occured to her, "Um, so we call you..." He never said his name, right? Silly Professor.

Simon looked at the Professor, an exam in his first year. "EEP" he looked shocked, but he soon regained his sences and asked. "Professor, what if like me you know very little on Astronomy, do you get to skip the end of term exam." Simon didn't really like sitting in exams they got on his nerves and made him stressed.

Alex almost laughed after the teacher banged his wand on the projector, she decided the teacher was either pureblood like her or was very nervous. Eyeing the teacher she decided on the later. as for questions she didn't have any currently.

"Good morning, Professor!" Kenna almost skipped into the room. Stars were very pretty, constellations, and all that. She sat down in one of the desks by the window. The view was incredible. Astronomy was going to be great.

Risu grinned. "We will come to that in a moment."

"Oh." Risu paused. "Right, of course. Professor Antares will do. I do not insist on 'sir' or anything like that. Much too formal. Yes?" Another student had raised his hand.

"Well, I am hoping that, by the end of this term, you will know a little more about this subject. I'm sure you will find my lessons easy enough to follow. And if you do not, then I'll be glad to assist you by answering any questions you might have."
He looked around. There were no other questions.

"Very well. Astronomy," he began, "the study of the cosmos, is perhaps one of the oldest natural sciences to exist. And it's definitely the one that captivates and fascinates us the most. Everyone of you is no doubt aware of the scientific and exploratory strides that have been made especially in the last two centuries." Risu flicked his wand in the direction of the projector.



"Pictures such as this one of the Eagle Nebula are engrained in the public mind in a way that few other fields of science can even think of emulating. But, as you can imagine, astronomy started out much more humble than this. This next picture," he flicked his wand again, shows one such origin."



"This is an ancient Chinese text, the so-called 'Chu Silk Manuscript'. It's probably around 2,400 years old." He paused to let this sink in. "The text has only been translated partially, and I would leave it to my colleagues of the Sinology departments everywhere to explain to you exactly how that process works and where its difficulties lie, but it concerns itself with, among other things, the formation of the Earth and the Sun, the seasons, and the order of the months. One section reads," and here Risu picked up a scrap of parchment from his desk, "'The second month is called Ru. During this month, you can send out an army and build a city.'"

He put the parchment aside and looked up at the students. "From that little quote alone, you can probably guess which discipline astronomy used to be very closely connected to. Does anyone care to venture a guess?"

Lucy listened carefully as Professor Antares explained about himself and the goals of the class. It was typical stuff, nothing that was hard to remember, like he said. When he asked if there were any questions, she shook her head and then watched as he explained about Astronomy and the Chu Silk Manuscript. Chinese text?! Hmm, that was pretty cool. But as to his question, she had no idea. What discipline was astronomy connected to? Well, she didn't quite know what he meant by 'discipline'. Perhaps he meant subject, like Ancient Runes or something. But really, she had no idea, so she decided to guess.
Tentatively raising her hand, she said, "Umm, Divination?" Oh well.