Bleu was just about to call out to Dylan when the Professor started class. She would have to talk to him later if they did an activity.

She thought long and hard about her answer. She had read it somewhere before but she couldn't quite remember. She quietly raised her hand and once she was called on replied, "Isn't Halloween the mid-point between the Autumn equinox and Winter solstice? I can't remember the term for it though." She was thinking so hard her brows furrowed.

Margo was trying to think of all the things she knew about Halloween. Besides the costumes, candies, and parties that went a lot with them. That clearly was not the right answer, Margo knew that much.

Raising her hand Margo gave a stand a it, however, true or false, this is what she knew or at least thought she knew. "It's the time of year that the veil between this world and the next is thinnest right? So that's why sprites and stuff can cross over during this time"

There that was what she knew!

Agatha turned her head to see who had dared to sat next to her and was actually glad it was Zander and not a stupider kid. She didn't return his small smile, though, but her expression wan't as harsh as before.

And her annoyance turned into a bored out face when professor Flamsteed said her face might stay that way. Then she facepalmed at his proton comment. What. Even.

The Gryffindor Head of House went on about himself, Astronomy, Astrology, old people and yadda yadda yadda, so Agatha looked out the window and watched as some leaves were blown around by the wind. Daydreaming. But then it was question time and all of her classmates started yapping and she actually listened to some of them. Halloween... season... full moon, stars... equinox? What? Season... cold, winter... equinox? Equinox? Equinox????

Oh, sweet Morgana, what a bunch of nerds. NERDS. Agatha had no time for that so she turned to look out the window again, resting her elbow on the desk and chin on the palm of her hand, not even bothering to do it in a discreet way.

HAH and again HAH!

He was right about craving pumpkins. He was quite excited because he was a master carver. He remembered carving pumpkins ever since he was little. But now onto the activity at hand. Professor Airey wanted to know what halloween and astronomy had in common. Kace liked the slytherin girls answers about testing gravity with pumpkins flying out the window. I mean it seemed logical to Kace. He chuckled and then thought of his answer. Hmm well he knows that the full moon happens on halloween. He raised his hand and said,

"Professor I think the moon changes can have something to do with it. I mean usually the full moon can happen and change creatures like werwolves and vampires. But I agree with Margo's answer as well." he smiled backing up his fellow puff.

Werewolves. That's the first thing that came to Finn's mind when Professor Flamsteed asked his first question. So, he just gave out his answer, his first thought, hoping it would be enough. It was probably wrong, but, oh well.

"Kace already said it, sir. Werewolves. They um, they use the moon's cycles to detect when they're about to change and stuff." That was really all he had for this. And Kace had already given a brief example. No need to give Professor Flamsteed two answers that were similar to each other.

So he WAS having a good day, and then not, so now it was time to make it a better day, right? Right. Toby could totally do that.

Aaaaaaaaand... HE COULD HUG THE PUMPKIN. Toby grinned and nodded and hugged the big orange... uhh... fruit? Vegetable? Thing?... to his chest. "I must," he said simply, in that chipper way of his.

Except he didn't HUG it for too long, because really he just wanted to HOLD it, and that was what he did, holding and cradling the fruitvegetablething as he watched everyone file into the classroom and get ready for some learning. Except when a certain SOPHIE BROWN came in and POKED his side, which elicited a squeal from Toby because of the whole ticklish thing. Rude.

Okay, SO, getting started right. Halloween and Astronomy. Halloweeeeeeen and Astronomyyyyyyy.

Yeah, no. Toby's mind was going STRAIGHT from rational thinking to those slightly more out there answers he so loved to give. Toby raised his hand high in the air, waggling his fingers, while his other arm cradled his pumpkin. He'd named it Peter.

"WELL, Professor Airey," he began, talking quite fast as his eyes gleamed enthusiastically and he lowered his hand again. "Halloween is about all those scary sorts of things, right? And, well, I realised last year that space is so big and we're so little and THAT'S sort of terrifying. If I wanted to dress up for something for Halloween that I thought was the scariest thing ever, aside from Dementors that is, I'd go as the concept of the infinite size of the universe, or someone floating around lost in space. Space is AWESOME and brilliant, and fantamazing, and full of knowledge, but it's scary too. The trick is not to think about it." Toby was grinning, grinning, grinning so wide, it was impossible to see anything on his face other than a sort of pseudo-manic glee as he shifted the pumpkin's weight from one hand to the other. He was really quite cheerful about it all.

Puck was sitting there listening to everyone discuss why Halloween was special when really, wasn’t it obvious? Halloween was Samhain right? Or it used to be. She carefully raised her hand and glanced at Professor Flamsteed, the salute was not unnoticed…after all Professor Flamsteed was cool.

“Isn’t Halloween originally an astronomical holiday in and of itself? With it being originally the Celtic and Druidic celebration of Samhain which was…basically a way to celebrate the midway point between a solstice and an equinox?” She asked after all it wasn’t hard to learn things if you read about them…or if you had a crazypants aunt who was into all things Pagan.

“If I remember correctly there are four Cross-Quarter days being Groundhog Day, May Day, Lammas Day, and Halloween.” She offered with a grin on her face…take that Ravenclaw she knew what she was talking about right?

Oh no… it was a question she wasn't prepared for. What did Halloween have to do with Astronomy? Certainly being at the end of October there were some associations related to change of month, moon cycles, season changes etc. but what did it specifically have to do with Halloween? Zhenya had no idea, which always made her panic because she was a SIXTH year, she should know SOMETHING! But nothing was coming. She took a breath in, raised her hand and waited to be called.

"Professor, does Halloween, being at the end of October, have anything to do with the days becoming shorter from then on?" She almost crawled under the table then and there. Imagine… and sixth year being POSITIVELY GHASTLY at a subject. Obviously people had stronger and weaker subjects, but Zhenya wanted to be better at Astronomy. And here she was with the LAMEST answer in Astronomy history.

But… it was all she had.

Did she just earn points for helping Kyroh get lint off his back? You could earn points for that? She should help people with the lint roller more often. There were definitely some people who weren't using it properly or didn't use it at all. If she survived this astronomy lesson, she would consider helping people who had no idea what to do with a lint roller.

Class was starting now. Halloween. Maybe she would survive this lesson. It didn't look too bad. "Halloween is one of the cross-quarter days, halfway between the autumnal equinox and the winter solstice." Should she say more? "The ancient Celts had a festival to mark the beginning of winter."

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Oliver turned a little pink at Airey's comment but at least he had made it on time and the professor wasn't mad at all. Better than late anyway. He'd just have to make sure not to stay asleep so long next time.

Writing down the differences between Astronomy and Astrology -- even though he had done so in a previous class -- he listened closely to everything else Flamsteed was saying. He couldn't figure out why they were going to have to carve the pumpkin though. Ollie had never carved one before and, honestly, it wasn't something that interested him at all. It sounded way too hard and he was still too tired to put that much effort into anything. Maybe he should have stayed in bed...

And there was the first question to start off the class. He had read the Astronomy book a bit, or tried to at least, and he just couldn't remember it mentioning anything that said there was a connection with Halloween and the stars. It couldn't be that the placement of the stars determined when Halloween would be because it was a set date...soooo..???

Raising his hand, Oliver waited to be called on and then said, "It's a trick question." Clearly. "Halloween has nothing to do with Astronomy and you just want us to carve pumpkins because it's October." So maybe that wasn't the best answer, but he thought it was really reasonable. Why else would they be carving pumpkins when he was soooo tired??? But just to make sure the professor didn't think he was being rude or anything, Ollie smiled and shrugged. He honestly just had no clue how they were connected and he wasn't paying attention to what any of the other students were saying to figure it out either. Oops.

Norah just kept grinning nodding at Professor Flamsteed, 'cause his Astronomy spiel was very much over her head, but it sounded like he had had a nice holiday and all that. She glanced out the window and sighed a little sigh. The Autumn weather was looking all summery and making her want the holidays back again. Not that they were nearly as exciting as Hogwarts or anything.

HALLOWEEN? Um. She looked at her pumpkin, which was shaped all circle-ish like the moon but she didn't think that was enough of a connection. Whatever. Raising her hand, the third year chanced a guess. "All the scary stuff comes out on Halloween and also on full moons so its kind of like a full moon? Also spirits and things can fly and flying is kind of astronomy-ish, right?" It made sense to her, anyway.

His attention was mostly focused on the pumpkins (of course it was, this was Dima they were talking about), so the Ravenclaw barely even heard Professor Top Hat's question. All he could think about was the GOURDS. They were gonna carve them?!? Could they roast the seeds and make beautiful, glorious pies from their pulpy innards?

Astronomy? Who cared about Astronomy when they could be FEASTING?

Dima had his priorities straight, obviously.

Carving pumpkins? Uuhhh... okay... were they going to think up methods to destroy them after? Please?

...

As for HOW pumpkins and halloween related to astronomy... well.... uhhhh... HE LIKED DANTE'S ANSWER!... AND DOT'S! And heck, he even found that firstie Slytherin's (itsgisselx3) answer kinda funny too. WAS this a trick question? Maybe?

OR.......

Hand up, though more hesitantly than usual. "Did people happen upon the idea of the universe and planets and things during some halloween festivity? Like, did they see a bunch of pumpkins laying around in a circle and though OH GEEE, THAT COULD BE US?" Was he following?? Or was this too gnarly an idea? It wasn't his best, and he was sorely disappointed by it. Or maybe whoever discovered the universe was talking about it with friends at halloween and demonstrated the solar system by using said pumpkins. Yeah? OR... "Maybe a pumpkin gave them the idea that the earth is round and not flat?" ... more lame ideas, and all so very pumpkin-centric. THEY WERE DISTRACTING HIMMMMM.

Pumpkin pie would be nice right about now though.

Cilla raised her hand.

"I believe something called Samhain which was a an early form of Halloween happened when some constellation called the Seven Sisters aka the Pleiades star cluster culminated at midnight."

AH. HELP!

Grinning as Penelope took the roller and helped him with the back of his robes Kyroh gave her a thumbs up before running and finding an empty seat right beside Dima. He had only just landed his butt in the seat when Flamy started talking.

Carving pumpkins?

...Why?

Was that how you made the juice?

He would have vocalized the question if rocket man hadn't asked one of his own. Without skipping a beat his hand when up. "Everyone learns Astronomy. Both Muggles and Wizards. And during Halloween its kind of that time when Muggles and Wizards can integrate without Muggles being none the wiser. So their connections are just how they bring the two separate worlds together."

Or.........hm.

That sorta sounded better in his head.

...Stellar. Sophie giggled. Everything was always stellar with him, wasn't it?

Time and time again, it was weird to her that he welcomed them to call him Professor Airey, and though sometimes it was tempting since that's what Tobes called him, it was still just so... strange. He was a very important authority figure to her, and using his first name seemed... way too formal and almost rude. No, she could never do that. Never, ever.

So they'd be carving pumpkins, hmm? That was interesting. Though... slightly... less exciting than what she usually expected from Flamsteed's classes, but she assumed there was some kind of cool spin they would be putting on it. It wouldn't just be normal carving, would it? No. Couldn't be.

As the professor went on to explain the necessary differences between astronomy and astrology, Sophie became distracted by Tobes playing with his pumpkin. It wasn't like she really needed to hear that information anyway, so she welcomed the distraction and gave Tobes an amused look, only tuning back in when a question was posed. The connections between astronomy and Halloween? What kind of question was that? One that was welcoming bizarre answers, that was for sure, and Sophie tried to hide her amusement at many of her peers' very... creative answers.

TOBES' was her favorite, for sure, and when Flamsteed looked their way when Tobes was talking, Sophie just BEAMED and, when she caught the man's eye, she gave him an elated face that tried to communicate the sentiment of, THAT IS THE BEST ANSWER AND HOW EXCITING IS IT THAT TOBES IS BACK TO NORMAL AND ACTUALLY REALLY HAPPY? No answer of her own because she was ALL ABOUT DAT TOBES and was so happy to not be sharing concerned looks with Flamsteed over her Hufflepuff this term. Very, very relieved.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie

“So,” he continued, holding his hands behind his back as he rocked back onto his heels. “Let’s begin today’s journey with the dragon in the room, shall we? Pumpkins. October. As several of you mentioned when you came in this reminds you of Halloween, and you are right. That is precisely the feeling I was going for. But, can anyone tell me what connections Halloween has with astronomy? Anyone care to venture a guess?” Show of hands?

Astrology-wise... no, wait, this was Astronomy. Sorry, our bad. SO, Astronomy-wise... he was entirely lost as to why pumpkins were in the classroom? Also, their relation to the subject seemed rather random. Even if he had no idea how both could be connected.

The equinox. Right, that made sense. The Seven Sisters. Sure, that made sense as well. Somewhere in here one student must be thinking about pumpkin pies, but he couldn't place them. And what was on Oleander's mind? Hand up. "Perfect night for a picnic and some stargazing, I suppose. Bright skies and all." No kidding. He smirked, though. Who would picnic on Halloween?

BUT, he did have a question, "Don't the Pleiades become more visible during the entire month of November?" Which meant... after Halloween. And everyone knows November is the best month of the year, actually.

Class had begun.

And at least one purpose for the pumpkins on their desk was explained as the professor began the lesson. Carving them...interesting. Put only once some connection was made in whatever topic was to be brought up today. Benny's ears pricked up at the sudden mention of a dragon but alas it was merely a turn of a phrase by Airey and was a disappointment in the long run.

As for the answer to the man's question, other classmates had been quick to answer, including Angel and Adi. And to be honest, as the fifth year listened, he couldn't think of a unique answer that wasn't already mentioned or alluded to. So he remained silent for this round. Plenty of time to participate since they had just begun.

Brian was finding himself taking very deep breaths to keep himself from yawning. Sleepy. Note to self: Try not to let Haiden wake you up in the middle of the night to 'essplore'. It just made staying awake the next day a lot harder. Maybe he'd learn how to stay awake better in a couple of weeks. The older students really didn't seem to mind it that much. In fact, they even studied at unholy hours of the night. As if studying wasn't sufficiently sleep inducing on its own.

OOOH. Question! What did Halloween have to do with Astronomy? Well, he didn't know they were related at all, but if he had to guess, "It's probably something about how winter's coming soon and Halloween's like a thing when people get ready?" he said, hand in the air. No? Something like that? "Or it's a good night for stargazing and the ceiling in the hall will look really cool?" Hand down.

Other people seemed to have better answers, like cross-calendar dates and whatnot, so it might be a good idea to write those down. Which he did, although it was a bit messy trying to keep up with the speed people were talking at and he might not be able to read these notes later. Oh, well.

Er, yeah. Heather actually had no idea on this question. The only connection she could make in her head right now between Astronomy and Halloween was that a full moon on Halloween would make it easier for werewolves to blend in, thanks to the tradition of costumes. But somehow, she didn't think that that was what Professor Airey was looking for. So she kept silent and just listened to her classmates ideas.

Quote:

“Afternoon, Miss Lynch,” he greeted the Slytherin with a quick salute. “Hoping it will get better with all you lot have to offer this lesson.”

PRESSURE ON, STUDENTS! ACCEPT THE CHALLENGE!

Hady gave a warm smile towards the Professor along with a quick salute in return to the one he had given her. She always had fun in his classes and was sure this one would be the same.

Straighten up in her seat she listened quietly as he explained that they would be carving the pumpkins today. Awesomeness! She always enjoyed that back home when she was younger. Her and her parents would carve pumpkins together every year. Hady was sure though that they wouldn't be doing it the muggle way of course.

As for the question given she took only a moment to think before her hand went up into the air. "Professor, doesn't a group of stars get to their highest peak on Halloween night?" She couldn't recall the name of the stars but she remembered her father telling her about it once before when she was younger and had asked why they celebrated Halloween with costumes and such things.

As class oficially began, Janelle furiously took notes. She didn't want to miss any important information so she wrote as fast as she could. Then the professor posed the first question and she stopped to think. What did Astronomy have to do with Halloween? Well clearly something or he wouldn't have asked the question. She really had no idea so she had to think harder.

Janelle wasn't afraid to raise her hand, no matter how ridiculous her answer might seem. Unfortunately, her mind just wasn't coming up with anything ........yet anyway. Think Janelle think. Halloween..... Astronomy...... connection. Nothing. Well, she would keep writing and keep thinking. If something popped into her head in the meantime, she'd put her hand up.

She was really going to need this lesson to be over and quick. Out of the corner of her eyes she noticed that Benny and Abby had both came in and thankfully neither one of them sat by her because she didn't feel like talking about it. Not that she had really expected either one of them to. Abby had a knack for choosing guys over her and Angel, and well Benny was of course going to choose his besties. It was a bro thing, and she got it. Someone had taken a seat next to her, and AJ chanced a look over to see who that person was. "Hey, Eden." It was the older cool Ravvie who took a ball to the face to save her last year. The lion kind of figured she would get made prefect because if balls to the face didn't qualify you she didn't know what did. It was okay though because she was an honorary prefect to AJ and that totally mattered. "I'm good... really good actually." Why wear her emotions on her sleeves? That was not her style, and she was going to try to lock that down real quick. "How are you?"

---------------------------------------------

The lesson was starting, thank goodness. Now she had something to focus her energy on other than Adi. The professors eye darts between her and THAT hufflepuff didn't go unnoticed, but she tried her very best not to look in that direction.

A question was already being asked and answers were being said and AJ wasn't absorbing a thing. Attention needed to be paid so she didn't repeat an answer, but she couldn't get her brain to cooperate.

Why not take a stab at it? Her hand was in the air, and she waited to be called on. "Isn't one of the planets orange?" There was a point to this, there was. "Halloween is orange, a planet is orange... it works." Boom, Astronomy. Heh.

Nemo saw the smile on his Head of House's face, must have been a good summer. He had a similar smile when thinking about his own Summer. He frowned a little because Damien would have to go back and change, poor guy..

He looked at Aegis and raised an eyebrow. Was he supposed to be impressed? Cause he wasn't. "Professor? Anyone not in their Uniform has to go back?" He asked and tilted his head toward Aegis, he was also wearing a suit and Nemo didn't find it fair that this guy could get away with what Damien couldn't.


Then there was that question.. Nemo had no idea. The stars was nothing he knew about at all. So he refrained from raising his hand.

Hugh heard none of what was happening. His mind was too overstimulated by, well, everything else in the room like the pumpkins to focus on the lesson. Not that it had even really started yet, yo. Just some guesses being thrown around.

Though, he did take a good long hard look at the Professor. What was he talking about? Something pertaining to the lesson probably.

Listening. Hugh should be doing that.