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sweetpinkpixie · 07-05-2015, 02:42 AM

One of the first things you experience as you enter the classroom - something really not uncommon these days given the state of the castle - is the skin crawling sensation of sticky silk latching on to you, your clothing, face, and hair. Batting away the webs, you may notice a lint roller or two suspended in the air from these unwanted ‘decorations’ of the classroom. No doubt left there after getting tangled up so much while Professor Flamsteed tried to clean up the place before class that evening.

The Astronomy classroom itself is arranged in the usual semi circle of desks facing the empty blackboard. A large yellow box with a bold black question mark levitates in the front of the room in clear sight. Professor Flamsteed can be seen circling it with his fingers stroking at his invisible beard as he ‘mmhmms’. Every now and then you will see him walk over to the box and peek inside a couple times, each time looking more curious and surprised than the last.

Did you remember to use the lint roller on the small table outside of the classroom? It was there next to, unbeknownst to the professor, altered sign that now reads, "~~Not~~ to be used as a brush for your hair" and has the signature of a former student in the bottom right corner.

So come on in and have a seat, and possibly wipe off your seat before doing so unless you fancy a lacey bum thanks to the webs all over. Class will begin soon.

⌦Lesson Progression
▸ question 1 :: what is in the box?
▸ question 2 :: how have these objects been improved by the study and exploration of space?
▸ question 3 :: Do we only send people up in space in hopes of generating useful by-products of the research conducted in space?
▸ question 4 :: How is the box like outer space?
▸ question 5 :: What does the word 'potential' mean to you?
▸ CONTENTS OF THE BOX REVEALED!

OOC: This is NOT your character’s last Astronomy class for the term but will be the last one properly RP’d.

Please be sure you are familiar with Professor Flamsteed's rules BEFORE you post in this lesson. We will know if you haven't read them! All SnitchSeeker site rules apply.

~~Class will officially begin in approximately 14 hours from the time of this post.~~
CLASS HAS OFFICIALLY STARTED! Please to not post your character arriving late unless you are willing to accept the IC consequences.

sweetpinkpixie · 07-10-2015, 05:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harry174

....
Angel raised her hand after the Professor asked the question "It means that you have a great chance to succeed right, like a young sports man that has all the right attributes will be called a potential superstar, or a potential world class player." Angel smiled as she thought about all the potential singers, footballers and that lot that didn't live up to their potential. "Though you still have to work hard to reach your potential otherwise you won't reach it."

The big pleading eyes? Yeah. Those were getting no where with the man and thus ignored them while listening to Miss Valentine's answer; nodding and mmhmming at all the appropriate places before giving her a a thumbs up and then moved on to the next raised hand.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Felixir

...

"To ME it's like... being told you have the ability to do something, or the pre-... pre-requi-... uhh... you already have the things that mean you can eventually do THE Thing. Even if you won't do The Thing or can't do The Thing yet, that you could do it one day if you tried or if you worked at it or something. Like it's totally POSSIBLE but needs WORK. But sometimes people are way more specific, like 'YOU HAVE POTENTIAL' and end it there, which is confusing." There. Nice and vague and not personal. Toby leaned back a little to rock on the legs of his chair. "So I guess with space we have the potential to explore fuuuurther and further in the future, even if there's things we can't do yet. Just gotta bide our time and work on it." He could have made a Quidditch reference there, but was by now quite distracted on balancing on the legs of his chair.

"Prerequisites?" he offered as the seventh year stammered over his words. More nodding and mmhmming happened while and amused chuckle escaped his lips. Clearly, the young man was speaking from some personal experience of some sort.

"Thank you, Mr. Toby."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samia

...
Raising his hand, Noel offered an answer: ".. potential, sir, is like ... the prospect that something has the ability to lead to epic-ness." .. wait, was that a word? He sucked at explaining! How was Toby so good at this? "It's like .. space exploration or exploration of the unknown has the potential to lead us to something so amazing that it's all worth the effort" he tried explaining. NOW CAN WE KNOW WHAT'S IN THE BOX?

Wincing slightly at the word 'sir', the astronomer chose not to dwell on it for the time being as the lesson was moving in a positive direction. Sans the whole lint roller to the hair ordeal.

"STELLAR, MR. WALLACE! S to the T to the E to the double L to the A to the R!"

Except for calling him 'sir' that is.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daydreamer11

...

"If something has potential, it has the possibiity to be great........if the circumstances are right. It may be in the early stages of developing, not quite there.....but showing promise of improving. So.......potential is the possibilty of developing into something better than you are right now." Did that make sense?

Giving the term a more human touch, Airey nodded at the Ravenclaw and grinned. Good good. Yes. Very good.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19;11774093...

Wait... The Suit was going to be revealing the contents soon? IT WAS ABOUT TIME! Let's just get this question out of the way! Adi thrust his hand up again. [b

"Potential to me means having the ability and determination to complete something no matter how difficult it may be.''[/b] He paused to think some more then continued. "It's all about pushing yourself to accomplish as task you want to do.''

And another dismissive hand wave to you, Mr. Rehman. Dis-miss-ive.

Another more human approach to the interpretation of the word, the Hufflepuff too received an approving nod of the head and smile.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anna Banana

...
So what were they focusing on now? Potential? "It means OPPORTUNITIES!" she said, raising her hand in the air. "It means something might not be here now, or it might not be here in ways we want it to be, but it can be!"

Now...what about that box? Hmm?

Smile broadening just a little more, the professor gave Miss Addison an enthusiastic salute and a wink. "Very good."

Quote:

Originally Posted by lemon

...
"I think everyone has infinite potential, because I like to believe that nothing's impossible. So ANYONE is capable of doing ANYTHING because there's no limit to the possibilities. Whenever people say 'you have potential' or something, people either take it as a compliment or a criticizing remark, 'cause they think it's like saying they're not good enough yet. But I just think it's like stating the obvious, because, well... it IS obvious."
...

Pointing at Mr. Toussaint square between the eyes, the astronomer honed in on just one portion of the Ravenclaw's response. "Nothing is impossible, the word itself says 'I'm possible'! Excellent."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sararara

...
With a hand in the air, she said, "I think it means...when there's a possibility for good stuff to happen. Or at least what some people THINK is good."
...

And there was some more excited pointing right between a student's eyes going on. "Good stuff to happen," he repeated with a grin.

Good. Stuff. To. Happen.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lislchen

...
After Flamsteed had asked the most recent question, Maggie sighed. Okay maybe she should SORT of participate. But she wasn't going to look at the box. Because she didn't care about the box. Not one bit. Instead she looked at Dima who'd just answered before her. Better than looking at the box. "Potential means some people can do things and some people can't." Totally good answer. Oh wait. This was a space class...err....so....

"Also in space."

Good save.

"Interesting point," he nodded, feeling a slight tinge for what COULD have been and taking a short trip down memory lane at how he literally became one of those people who couldn't in space.

Distracted, he was only brought back to the lesson when Mr. Adair returned.

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhoenixStar

...

"I think it means that people have the ability to change or like, be whatever they wanna be. My mom always tells my dad that's there's still potential left in me, and that I could grow up any day now." Beam. One second thought, that was pretty rude, mom. Thanks a lot.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ArianaBlack

...
The Prefect stuck his hand up in the air, waiting his turn. Ahem. Though he was really growing inpatient because HE HAD A POINT TO PROVE. Pick ME, Professor!!!! Okay. Yes. Good. Thanks. "Well to me, Professor, potential means that," and here he held out the sign right so that Professor F could see it. "this sign could've potentially made me go bald for just trying to follow directions." So basically, "Do you SEE this, Professor?! Someone messed with your sign!... And also my hair." Still bitter.

Was he being believable now?

Because he'd throw a fit. The proof was literally RIGHT HERE.

...carrying a sign that had been VANDALIZED!

.............

............

...........

The pause that followed was long enough that one would have expected to see a tumbleweed roll by or hear crickets chip. Not to mention the expression the Gryffindor Head of House currently wore was contorted in such a ridiculous manner from shock that it was rather hilarious.

Although laugh maaaaaaaaaay not be in anyone's best interest.

"Well...then...er....ahem," he said, loosening his tie and clearing his throat as if he had just swallowed a massive bug. "Yes...well..." This was horribly embarrassing. "My...er...ahem...sincerest apologies, Mr. Adair," he said, his voice cracking as though he had just hit puberty again. "Uh...er...uh...may I have that, please?"

The sign that is.

"...As, er, the majority of your answers indicated...when we talk about potential, we are generally talking about the good things. Like the potential of this box. Your answers the beginning of class show that you see the potential for it's contents. Potential plays an important role in our need to know. If we cannot see potential in something, we are generally less interested in it and will lose interest entirely over time. But with potential, with the opportunity for reward, our need to know becomes stronger and stronger. However...er...one thing about potential, however, is that it is never guaranteed. BUT....just because you were disappointed once doesn’t mean that the explorer inside of you ran away and died."

And he was going to take a long walk around the semi circle as he spoke now.

"Similarly to the contents of my box, there is absolute limitless potential in outer space. As we have discussed previously, outer space is infinite and ever expanding. So maybe there was no life on Venus and Mercury, and maybe we can’t live on Mars or Jupiter, but there are literally billions of worlds out there still waiting to be discovered. So as long as humans don’t become discouraged by failure, I firmly believe that we will eventually succeed."

Standing beside his box again, he gave an eager peek inside it and moved to open the lid. Only he stopped just before he did, just to keep them on the edge of their seats a little bit longer.

"How would you all feel if I denied you the opportunity of knowing what was inside the box? Or if my box was full of candy, but you didn’t bothered to look? Would you feel disappointed? Angry at yourself? Angry at me? On a similar line of thought, wouldn’t it be a tragedy if there was a race of people just waiting to be connected, but we got too tired and frustrated to keep looking? It is the limitless potential of outer space that keeps humanity beings looking to the stars."

And the lid to the box went back down and he took another step away from it towards the semi circle.

"Today we discussed the importance of space exploration to human beings along with humanity's inherent 'need to know' and the potential that outer space holds for those daring enough to explore it. I am of the belief that these alone are enough reason to continue exploring outer space. However," and now he lifted the lid of the box one last time and left it open, fulling exposing it's contents to those with a bird's eye view. "I don’t expect everyone of you to agree with my opinion. I’m always happy to see and encourage you think for themselves...as long as you to justify your opinions, defend them and provide clear evidence as to why you think you are right."

Making one last grand gesture towards the box, complete with jazz hands and a loud TADA, the professor smirked knowingly. "Class dismissed! You may now all approach the box and retrieve what is inside."

Spoiler alert! It was their homework assignment.

OOC: Class dismissed! Feel free to RP your character's reaction to all this and retrieving their 'surprise' for bonus participation points.

Thanks for coming! Homework will be posted shortly

lemon · 07-10-2015, 05:43 AM

Wait. Was.... was that it? Yeah, they'd gotten this HUGE lecture on potential and all, but... class was over already?

AW YEAH. You know what had lots of potential? The amount of fun Dima could have outside of a classroom setting. Yup. Huge potential for that.

He did like the way Flammy had made his point, though. The fourth year had been curious all class long as to what was in the box, but he hoped the professor thought space was a lil' cooler than a BOX. Just saying. Sure, there could have been aliens inside or a giant basilisk, but the connotations that went along with some limitless potentials were just more appealing to Dima than those that went along with others. Like space vs. box thang.

STILL, Dima eagerly approached it when they were dismissed. And upon opening the lid, he was rewarding with..... .... ... ..

Homework.

... "Bye, Professor Top Hat." He was going to leave now. Potential squashed.

lazykitty · 07-10-2015, 06:49 AM

Heather just raised an amused eyebrow at Professor Flamsteed's antics. Seriously though, anyone who wasn't familiar with the professor could potentially have gotten the wrong idea just then. Anywhoo.......

.......she kept silent for the next question. Nothing more she could really add to the already similar answers that had been given. Potential was generally good and all that jazz. Well, unless you were talking about the potential for rain when one had something fun planned or the potential of bodily harm if you came to Hogwarts. Or potential for poisonous spiders being in these ever present webs. Seriously, had anyone spoken to the elves about it yet?

Oh, they could know what was in the box now? Heather gathered her things and approached the now opened box. Peaking inside, all she could see were sheets of paper. Telling them their homework. Well, that was a let down. She'd been expecting something a little more interesting, considering that the professor had been peaking in it all class. Like candy. Still, she took one of the sheets with a "Thanks for the great lesson, professor," and left. Towards the kitchens for something sweet, because now her sweet tooth was acting up.

Symphora · 07-10-2015, 07:23 AM

Henric listened to his classmates answers about what 'Potential' means to them. Hmm...it felt more like a support group than astronomy class right now but it was quite interesting to hear their thoughts. Potential to him was something he had yet to discover himself yet. It was something he had to work hard for if he wanted to become a great dragon trainer. He got potential...that was what he told himself everyday.

Oh class was over already? That was quick...cool. More time to spend searching for his toadette. These webs appearing out of nowhere was starting to worry him more than usual. What if Princess got caught in it? Maybe he should follow these web trails...

He packed up his things and stood up from his seat,"Thanks professor, for that enlightening lesson, I hope we will all find our hidden potential one day." Cue the cheesinesss. GRINS.

Time to find out what was in the mystery box. He peered inside the box, expecting to see something brilliant but nope...just their homework assignment..Urgh...mood killer.

Lislchen · 07-10-2015, 07:27 AM

That was......more words. Lots of words. Maggie had drifted off again, staring straight ahead at nothing in particular.

Lalalalalalalalalalalalalalalala-

Oh.

Class dismissed?

Wow that had gone by fast. Gathering her things, she got up from her seat. Now they were allowed to look into the box? She was tempted to just leave WITHOUT doing so. Especially considering the facial expressions of those who'd already looked inside. Didn't seem too exciting. Eh. But she did want to know.

She really really really REALLY did.

So, as casually as she could, Maggie made her way to the front and......peeked into the box.

....

...

..

.

And then just left. Without saying goodbye.

griffin · 07-10-2015, 10:20 AM

Was that it? Just a lecture today? No ~~life threatening~~ activity? After all of the talk about potential in space exploration, she was sort of expecting some sort of dramatic activity. However, it was probably a good thing for her considering what had happened to her in some of Professor Flamsteed's activities.

Time to find out what was in the box. Penelope observed the other students who had already looked in the box. It looked like there was just paper in the box. She took one of the papers out of the box. Oooh, homework. This assignment would be interesting. "Thanks for the great lesson, Professor." It really was great to make it through another one of Professor Flamsteed's lessons unharmed. Maybe Professor Flamsteed wouldn't be the death of her after all. She had survived almost four whole years at Hogwarts, so she should be able to make it through another three.

FearlessLeader19 · 07-10-2015, 12:02 PM

Wheeee!

Flamsteed was okay with his answer though Adi got no hint of what the contents to the box were. Grrr. He scribbled more notes down then looked up in surprise. Blink, blink, blink! Class was over already?! Whaaa!

AND THEY COULD FINALLY SEE WHAT'S IN THE YELLOW BOX!

Adi gathered his belongings then scrambled to the front, peeked in to see... homeworky stuff

What was SO fascinating about that? He gave his Professor an amused shake of the head as he grabbed one of the papers. "Nice lesson, Professor,'' he told the man. "I like the way you put over the concept of space exploration using the box even though my curiosity was like torture.'' Hehe. The Puff felt at peace now. Mhmmm.

So... Benny? AJ? Any one of you guys wanna hang out with a Hufflepuff now that class was over? He was waiiiiiting for you guys.

*Holmesian Feline* · 07-10-2015, 12:55 PM

That was it?

All questions over and done with and no activity? That seemed ....off to Benny for some reason since Flamsteed usually planned something for them that involved movement. But alas, their time appeared to be up and the class was dismissed. Apparently staring curious at the box was the only thing expected of them, and he hadn't even been that curious. The professor had apparently enjoyed his half-teasing answer though.

The Gryffindor finished up his last bit of notes before moving to pack up his belongings, slinging his bag over his shoulder when he finally got up from his seat. Benny then moved to follow Adi to the box and finally get to see inside. It was Flamsteed's turn to be cheeky as the contents were their homework. "Thank you, Professor," he said simply before heading to leave. "Ready?" he asked/told Adi who seemed to be loooking for them.

Samia · 07-10-2015, 01:15 PM

WAS EVERYONE SEEING THIS? Professor Space was basically bursting with joy and excitement and he was about to reveal something really good, wasn't he? Something that would take their minds of cobwebs.

He grinned when he got a spelled out 'Stellar' That was just neat.

There was more talk, so much talk. JUST TELL US ALREADY.

...

....

And then it was over?

What the-?

He scrambled to his feet, even though almost everyone looked annoyed, not pleased by what they were seeing. He still had to know. Looking inside the box, Noel frowned. They all got trolled. Giving the professor a look, a disappointed look, Noel said: "Disappointment, professor - D to the I to the S to the A to the ----- " HUGE SIGH.

Turning around, the boy grabbed his bag and left as well.

Felixir · 07-10-2015, 02:01 PM

Airey liked to talk, and he liked to talk a lot. Most of what he was saying made sense to Toby, but every now and then he'd casually glaze over and zone out a little bit and then tune back in after a few moments of daydreaming. No big deal, no cause for alarm, it was essentially the same as how he'd been doing academia since first year.

Oh, but... oh! Class was OVER? Toby checked his watch, and... yep. It did seem that way, didn't it. So, NO activity BUT it had been a super cool fun discussion that had made his brain do the thinking thing, enough that the lesson had flooooooooooooooown by.

Toby took the time to jot down as many things as he could remember from what Professor Airey had just said, while everyone went to go check out the box. HE was curious to look inside too, though he could see from other kids' expressions and what they took out of it that they weren't too happy about what they found. But TOBY was GOING TO BE HAPPY ABOUT IT. He'd already decided.

Once he was done, the Hufflepuff shoved all his notes and stuff into his school bag and slung it across his chest before heading up to the box.

And it was... oh, hey! HOMEWORK! Well, it was a surprise, if nothing else. Not as cool as a field trip into space though, just saying.

"The POTENTIAL for KNOWLEDGE!" Toby declared, holding the assignment with both hands and holding it waaaaaaaaaay up in the air, VICTORIOUSLY, like it was the Quidditch World Cup. He ended up getting a few cobwebs on it too, but that's not for here.

The seventh year looked at the professor as he lowered his arms again. "Stellar lesson, Professor Airey. It was COOL!" Toby saluted the astronomer and gave a grin. "Thanks for the wisdom and stuff. See y'later!"

And out he bounced.

#VIVALAPLUTO

MudInMyBlood · 07-10-2015, 03:14 PM

Yes, yes, potential was great. Everybody had agreed. AJ actually did agree with her head of house. She thought space or really anything deserved to be searched no matter what. What kind of quitty quittersons would just stop because of a bump in the road? Not no mention that it was REAL easy to be a nay sayer when your butt was sitting on a couch. "I agree with you professor, and fully support a field trip to space." Just sayin' She had gotten pretty good at forging her mom's signature so the permission slip wouldn't be an issue. Of course her dad was a lot cooler when it came to "magic things"

The box was going to open. Airey kept teasing them, and she was literally on the edge of her seat. Come onnnnn... the anticipation was killing her.

Box time. AJ raced over there not taking any notice of who could be around her or if she actually smacked somebody with her elbow on her little box journey. Peeking in.... This was so exciting. This was---

HOMEWORK???

Such a let down. "No, thanks, she said to no one in particular. AJ was really hoping for tacos. Shoving the homework into her bag, she walked over to Benny and Adi. "Let's get out of here." And not do homework.

Deezerz · 07-10-2015, 04:48 PM

All the squealing Airey was doing was annoying Beverly. He was a pretty face, he was. And he was funny, he was. And he was one of her favorite professors, he was. Her curiosity though, could not take it. If he did that 'peeking inside the box and giggle' she was going to flip a desk.

She managed to distract herself by taking notes and underlining POTENTIAL in dark ink marks. There was a lot of potential in Beverly grabbing the box and fleeing with it. M'hm.

Class was finally dismissed and ASLDFKJD! They can look inside the box. Quick to stand, Beverly squeezed herself between her class. This was IT. The time to be blown away and...

. . . . .

W h u t?

. . . . . . . .

What was this? This wasn't a mini universe. It wasn't a new pet rock. It wasn't anything AMAZING. It was...homework. Pursing her lips, brows set straight, and utterly unimpressed, Beverly grabbed said homework, waved at Airey and left.

Disappointment at 100%!

Daydreamer11 · 07-10-2015, 05:42 PM

Janelle was listening as Professor Flamsteed gave his thoughts on "potential". OK, she got it. And then.........class dismissed? Say what? No activity portion today? Well at least they finally got to see what was in the mystery box.

Janelle approached the box, reached inside and..........the surprise was.......Homework? Could she trade for what was behind door number two? Homework? Man.......that was a major letdown. She took her homework assignment and went back to gather her things. Then she headed toward the door.

"Goodby Professor. See you later." Homework. Bummer.

Stormdancer · 07-11-2015, 11:09 PM

Marsha’s eyes had been wide for most of the lesson. The questions and answers were flying around faster than comets or shooting stars or some other awesome space thingie… and she had been writing so fast to try and keep up that they had moved on to the next question before she had managed to think of ANOTHER answer to give to the Professor.

SIGH!!!!

Major sigh. And to top it all off, she was getting cramp in her hand from trying to write fast enough to keep up with everyone… especially when they were getting all excited and talking really fast and blabbering and gosh. Her Mama always said that SHE talked fast when she was excited… but obviously her Mama didn’t know Professor Airey - ‘cause there was no way that she talked THAT fast when she was happy and giggly.

…..

She hoped.

What? That was the end?

But she hadn’t gotten to say nearly any of her own answers. Oh well, there was always next time she supposed.

Packing up her things, she dusted off a few cobwebs from the end of her bag and stood to join the queue. Which of the universe’s mysteries were they away to find out? Where they going to get some meteorite rock? Or maybe some stardust? Or some rocks from the moooon!

Stepping up to take her turn, she moved up onto her tippy-toes trying to get something from the box. Sigh. She leant on Lance, using him to stretch a bit further without falling over and eventually managed to grip something between her fingertips.

YES!

Pulling it out she opened it up to se-.

What.

Seriously?

She almost dislocated her shoulder for that?

Pfffft. ALL THAT WASTED POTENTIAL PROFESSOR AIREY!

Not. Cool.

sweetpinkpixie · 07-11-2015, 11:44 PM

The man couldn't help himself. Honestly. Chuckling each and every time that a student took a peek into the box and seeing their reactions...it was the PERFECT illustration of one of the points he had raised in the lecture. Positive potential in the eyes of scientific inquiry and wonder is not guaranteed.

Did he think that it would discourage their curiosity? For the vast majority of them he knew it would not while some may become a bit more cautious and question things...but eventually give in to their curiosity. Both stellar outcomes and he would be eager to see how homework turned out.

"Fear not, explorers of the unknown. Tomorrow is another day!"

Waiting until the last student left, the Astronomy professor waved his wand to shut the door and turned to his box. Lifting up a trap door from the bottom - ah the wonders of muggle magic tricks, no? - he pulled out a thin pack of Monster Money Edible Paper Candy Bills he had also picked up from a muggle hobby shop and began to much away in peace.

"Tomorrow is another day."

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