Attendance:

Adley Rothwell Mairead ó FearghailX Keegan Kearney Oliver Ainsworth Charles HarcroftX

Fiana Flynn Eirene AntonopoulosX Elias Gates Euphemia Grissom-Dolohov Pax WintergreenX

Class starts at 11:30 PM. The objective of today is simply to learn one's classmates by their zodiac signs. (Those who have been crossed off have been excused from class and attendance will not count.)

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Another stab at teaching children, Demetrius Woolfolk thought, another go at trying to influence the lives of feeble youngin's. A lopsided grin formed on his face as he spun his old chalk board around and began to write the directions for his class. He sighed and took a swig from a bottle that lay on his desk. His handwriting was always a bit sloppy. Such a typical boy, his professor used to say. Another strange grin formed on his face and set down his chalk.

Everyone sit down on a pillow.
Wear a jacket. Ask me anything you want.
Class will begin when I say.

Just like before, only a bit more short. Little did anyone know tonight, Demetri had been drinking a bit. But not too much. He knew how to hold his alcohol, even though it seemed like he could barely hold a job. Demetri was smart enough to know what he was doing, and then some. But sometimes Demetri needed a drink, and a drink he would drink. Even if he knew he was going to be around first years, up in a tower, in the middle of the night. What was the worst that could happen? At least he was eased up from the stress of being around young children.

Demetrius sighed and sat down on the floor, drinking small sips from the bottle. Would a student walk in on him and know what's happening? Demetri got back up and shoved the bottle away in his desk. Now what? He pulled his grey suit jacket on and  opened the windows to the class. He was matching a bit today, his suit grey and his incorrectly-tied tie was a pale shade of green. His white button-up shirt was tucked in unevenly and he called it quits. As if the students tucked THEIR shirts in, anyways. Those judgmental fiends. Demetri chuckled to himself before sitting down on a pillow.

Waiting for children was quit boring, a boring task indeed. So, Demetri dug his heels into the floor and began to drag himself around the room while sitting on a pillow. After a few minutes, he was flying across the room and bumping into the walls. He never noticed how slippery the floor was before. Demetrius was having a blast going back in forth, hitting his desk, hitting the chalkboard. Though this made it obvious that he had been tipping the bottle, he wasn't in his right mind.

A midnight class.  Spent staring at the stars.  Now, this was a class Mairead might be able to get her mind around.

With an eagerness that came from the hope of, maybe, one of her classes going well, Mairead scampered up the stairs towards the Astronomy Tower.  She'd started that day with a determination to give it another go - like she'd promised Dexter.  Or, Professor Pratt.  Whatever she was supposed to call him.  The day had still been long and arduous but she'd stuck with it.  And, had made it through without getting kicked out of any classes.  Or running out. 

Adley had reassured Mairead that they hadn't had any reading or other assignments due before this class had even started.  So far, so good. 

And, getting better by the moment, Mairead thought to herself when she reached the top of the stairs and spotted the fellow (she presumed the professor), scooting around the floor on a pillow.  She readily recognized the slight flush of pink in his cheeks and a slight grin settled on her face.  Clearly, this professor wasn't going to be as hard-nosed as some of the others. 

She plopped herself down on the closest pillow and ditched her bag to the side.  Without a moment's hesitation, she set to scooting around on her own pillow.  "Is this what we're doin' today?"  she asked, settling into a pillow-scooting pace.

Eirene skipped into class, far too awake for her own good. She’d taken a nap earlier just so she could pay attention better in Astronomy and impress the professor. The professor was an odd one, she thought. He was very laid-back and fun to listen to, but he also acted and looked like a kid much of the time. Sometimes, she had to fight the urge to tell him to ‘settle down and teach’! It was something she imagined but would never, ever say. He was still her professor and she had to respect him, after all.

To her alarm, when she arrived at the tower, Professor Woolfolk was sliding around the classroom on a pillow, looking like he was having the time of his life. Eirene bit back a giggle. It actually looked like fun. Then, she spotted Mairead doing the same thing, and her expression turned sour. Eirene marched over to a pillow in the corner, trying to avoid the crazy pair, and put down her bag.

She looked at the board and then stared at the professor. His tie was undone and his shirt was sticking out of his pants. Eirene’s clothing looked perfectly pressed and neat, as always.

“What are we doing in class today?” She asked him loudly, hoping it wasn’t pillow-sliding. Mairead would probably use that as an excuse to wallop her one, and Oliver and Pax weren't here to stop it!

"Is this what we're doin' today?"

Demetri smiled at the girl who had joined him in his pillow-sliding-adventure. He slammed into his desk and burped, slightly, "No, but that would be amazing!" he chuckled before sending himself flying again. Demetri was undoubtedly a fun teacher, but undoubtedly awful at the same time. Last week he let a sixth year skip class and hang out in his room when they had a mandatory test. Who gives tests on the first week of school? Demetri saw this as unfair and told the Professor that the boy had a stomach virus that only the stars could cure. Which Demetri actually believes is possible.

“What are we doing in class today?”

Another girl joined in and Demetri slammed against the wall, startled. Strange as it was that they were actually at class early, but even wondering what they're doing. If Demetri wasn't tipsy, he'd find this moment purely beautiful and would start to tear up a bit. Finally, children understanding the love of the stars. Demetri got up and stumbled around before sitting back down again, resulting in something pointless. "Err..." He thought about it for a moment, "Zodiac." He finally nodded.

"We'll be discussing Zodiac signs... They, um... Describe yer purse-oh-nail-ities." Demetri gave Eirene his biggest smile and leaned over towards his desk to open the drawer and secretly take another swig from the bottle. Demetri then mumbled to himself to stop doing that and stood up again, this time sitting down on his desk. "For example, I'm a Taurus..." And then stopped, "I am, aren't I?"

Charles dragged himself into Astronomy. He really didn't like having to be awake when he would normally be asleep. He saw that some of his classmates were already there "Hello Mai" he said, smiling at his housemate. Then he grabbed a pillow and joined in sliding around. Hey, he's 11! since when were 11 year-olds considered mature?

Pax stifled a yawn as he shuffled up the stairs and into the classroom. He didn't like sleeping during the day, so he usually ended up dog-tired during astronomy and fighting the urge to nod off towards the end of the class. Though he wasn't particularly alert, as he came in he was paying enough attention to hear Professor Woolfolk saying something about Zodiacs.

'I'm a Libra,' he said almost automatically. 'The scales. Taurus is the bull, right? Dunno what that means though... Never good with star signs. Are they constellations too?' Pax didn't really go in for astrology; he only ever read his horoscope for a laugh. He wasn't about to say this to the teacher though; perhaps zodiac signs had some magical meaning of which he was previously unaware.

Seeing the pillows on the ground, Pax scurried over to one and sank down gratefully onto it. He was half-tempted to start sliding around like Mairead and Charles, too, it would be bound to keep him awake after all, but noticing Eirene wasn't playing, he refrained. He didn't want to make her feel like the odd one out.

"Ohh, Libras-- Ya'll think you the best." Demetri laughed before fixing himself. He was being stupid with all of his drinking. "But, er, yes. Libras are known to be a bit cocky. But, er, perhaps you're an exception." He grinned at the young student, his cheeks flushed. If he were teaching the older students, they'd definitely know what was wrong with the man. It was just easier to get the tension down. He hoped that no Neely-like girls would walk in and ruin this class, too.

Demetri leaned against his desk and yawned before speaking. "I hope this won't be the whole class, but I'll fill you in a bit on what we're doing." Of course, Demetri would have to use a lot less fancy words with this group. "Basically, zodiacs occur like the moon phases, only differently. Every moth, there's a different Zodiac sign. It could start in the middle, the beginning, or the end of a month and it'll determine one's personality." Demetri nodded, giggling a bit, "For example, me being a Taurus means I am greedy." He added before scowling a bit, "But not as greedy as my nasty sister."

Demetri began to mumble to himself. He could be quite greedy, he just didn't want to admit that just yet. He finally sat back down on his pillow and grinned at the students that weren't spinning around, "You can join in if you wish... I don't mind." He let out a silly laugh before sliding around again.

Eirene squinted at the giggling, flushed professor. There was something off about him. At the moment he reminded her of how Professor Gunnar acted, but that was just how Professor Gunnar was. Professor Woolfolk had seemed a tad bit more restrained in her previous classes with him.

Perhaps he was sleep-deprived? Aha! Now Eirene knew what was wrong. Whenever Eirene asked too many questions at home, her tutor would take a sip of ‘coffee’ (which she always brought in its own special container), and suddenly, she seemed a lot happier, sillier, and red-faced. Eirene couldn’t understand it, though her parents didn’t allow her to have caffeine.

Eirene turned her nose up at the all the pillow sliding. This was not a flying lesson. They should be talking more about astronomy, not scooting around on their bums!

“Professor!” She raised her hand and remained standing. “I’m a Sagittarius! What does that mean? And how can moon phases determine, well, what your personality is like?”

She didn't mean to sound rude, but she wasn’t allowed to read the 'unscientific' astrology section of the Daily Prophet at home. Sometimes she did anyway, when no one was looking.

Of course, leave it to Eirene to try and have fun but fail miserably.  Mairead glanced up as the snooty Ravenclaw set herself down on a pillow in her usual neat and proper manner.  Mairead rolled her eyes at the girl's question before turning her attention, whole-heartedly, back to scooting.  So far, this was turning out to be a fantastic class.

"That would be amazing," Mairead agreed, eagerly, trying not to show her disappointment at the news that this wouldn't be their only endeavor for class.  The pillow races continued while several more students found their way up to the Astronomy tower but, true to the professor's words, the fun wasn't going to last.  Professor Woolfolk pushed himself off the floor and went to sit behind his desk. 

Zodiac.  At least the term wasn't completely foreign - as words were prone to being in most classes.  Mairead had heard the word a few times here or there but it hadn't been something she'd given a lot of thought to.   If she were asked what they were (thankfully, she hadn't been), she wouldn't have had a clue what to say.  But, apparently, they had something to do with personalities.  And stars, if one was going by the class location.  Pax seemed to know a little bit about it and declared himself ... something.  To Mairead's disappointment, Eirene was quick to follow suit and declare herself something to.  Hopefully, Professor Woolfolk wasn't expecting Mairead to remember it - there was no way she was going to be able to spell that. 

Mairead sighed, accepting that, despite the unusual amount of fun the class had started with, Astronomy was shaping up to be another class she'd feel lost and stupid in.  She kept quiet, hoping to avoid drawing attention to herself.