Astronomy - 7th Years - Jan 16th

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Class starts at 11:30 PM. Today's Class Schedule: a. Introduction. b. Discussion - Astronomical Knowledge Telescopes will not be necessary for class unless otherwise noted. Remember to bring note taking materials with you to class (you will be excused from this for the Jan 16th session) Should you have any questions, feel free to visit my office between your daytime classes. For tutoring, please make an appointment with me prior. Feel free to ask questions! The astronomy classroom has now been remodelled to be 'indoors' (see post for details) and have windows that look outwards into an animated  image of space, similar to the Great Hall's ceiling enchantment. At the center of the room is a large sphere that is being used as a projector; underneith is the old armillary sphere. Desks are arranged in a circle around this globe and two alcoves (southwest and northwest) have small fireplaces to heat the room, which are raised slighly above the floor with steps leading to them. The original Astronomy classroom looked like this.

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Tapendra tapped his long fingers idly on his desk, his chin resting firmly on his other hand. He'd had time to ponder his class with the 3rd and 5th years; the tests had been revealing and, to be honest, what he had expected. Still, he had a feeling the 7th years where going to be the most difficult - unlike the others, he had 5 months to teach them...something. There was no way he'd get them up to speed in that time frame, not with the general amount of knowledge most of the students possessed. That, and the tiny class list, had left him thinking.

He wasn't sure this was going to work, but if it did, it would hopefully be interesting. Besides, it'd give him a chance to look into the student's interests and thoughts on his subject more than he got the chance to with his larger classes. And hey, the prospect of no tests and fewer lectures might just egg them into cooperating.

Kepler slept idly on one of the desks, curled up in the chair. That was alright, Tapendra supposed. They didn't have enough students coming in to fill the desks around the globe, anyway.

The classroom was dyed an odd shade; red and pink came in from the windows courtesy of the Horsehead Nebula, but he'd turned the globe to show the Earth itself on a whim. It gave the room a bizarre color scheme that made him think of an underwater sunset, for some reason.

He frowned at the room in general, then went back to flipping through the 5th year's tests and separating them into groups. It was while he was doing this he began to hear footsteps on the stairs, but he didn't look up.

Hades Week had come to an end but the drama hadn't. It didn't matter all that much for this 'Puff as she was going off to Astronomy with a pair of violet wool gloves that which could reveal her fingers or not along with a black crochet beret upon her head. Word had already gotten out that Demetrius Woolkfolk was out & a 'Tappy' was in his place. A few of her younger housemates had also stated he wasn't about the stars & meanings but rather a scientific approach. This intrigued Addie (after all, her family had science backgrounds) & well, with the Ministry's recommendation, she was back in the class.

Her eyes were like that of a little child - the room was completely different, somehow for the better. It was warmer & it had the feel of a planetarium. Addie recognized the nebula but opted out in lieu of a geeky outburst when she saw Keplar. A kneazle - wicked, her brain thought as she continued to bask in the realm she was in. If only her granda Jimmy & Uncle Frankie could see this! Addie was soon reaching into her satchel, looking her the note of reenrollment (she had yet to give them to her other classes, but would in due time) until she found it at the bottom below a small bag of extra sour lemon drops Uncle Dougal had sent.

She took a few steps towards the professor, paper in tow, her eyes fixated between the colors of the room, Keplar, & of course, the paper that was sticking out of her hand for him to take. "Hope I'm not botherin' y'working, sir? I'm Adelia Delacroix - here's the note of reinstating me t'this class. I like what ye've done - 'tis a nice touch, I think Professor Woolfolk would've too."

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Permission to gmode him taking it! ^^

Uniform

Fir found Astronomy mildly interesting. Ad by mildly interesting, he meant- hey look he was surrounded by a bunch of people who believed in the Zodiac while he was learning all sorts of spiffy information about them he systematically formed into pick-up lines. No really. That's honestly how Fir remembered lots of what happened in class- he summed up his notes in one easy-to-remember pick up line. It was a pretty good system, if he said so himself.

Being the social butterfly that he was, Fir already knew there was a new professor, h had completely redone the room, and his name was Tappy Trishna. Mostly because his sister happened to be not only Fir's housemate,but one he regularly flirted with.

Which lead to his current uniform state as he entered the class. It was all pretty standard, except that the tie was untied, the top two buttons of his shirt undone and what looked suspiciously like a lipstick smudge on his collar. All he was missing was tousled hair, which would probably be impossible to tell from his usual style of hair anyway.

"Hi! Professor Trisha, right?" Fir said happily as he skipped into the classroom. "Georgie's brother, right? Good to meet you, professor. Georgie says hi by the way."

It didn't really matter who Fir had been making out with before class, he was just hoping that the situation and comment would lead the professor to think what Fir wanted. Because he had heard the guy was kind of uptight and nothing made Fir happier than winding up the already-uptight. That and taunting the relatives of someone he'd made out with.

And with that he sat down on the other side of Addie, who was striking up a conversation with a kneazle. Oh that girl.

"Oi," Fir said as he sat down. "That better not be your new lab partner. He looks kind of shifty."

"It's no problem, Miss Delacroix," he said cheerfully, taking the paper and writing her name down quickly on his roster. "Thank you! I'm glad you like it," he added with a bright smile. "Don't mind Kepler - he's grouchy but mostly harmless."

He got out from behind his desk as the rest of the class filtered in and took their seats, walking over to the globe. He did look mildly surprised when a...girl?....a student literally skipped into the classroom. No, the uniform looked male.

Oh. It was Cuween. Of course. The one that had made him decide gender identifiers should be required on rosters.

He smiled vaguely as the boy greeted him, but it faded as he took in the words and the boy's appearence. His bright blue gaze stayed fixed on the lipstick. He knew that shade. That was #534, Rose Hip. It was Georgiana's favorite and he'd bought that tube for her for Christmas.

He forced a smile but it was hard. His sister could be such a who-handful sometimes. Where had that come from? He hadn't taught her that!

"Yes, it's Trishna, Mister Cuween," he said, proud that his expression only slightly shifted. His lip did twitch when he heard the comment about Kepler, though. He smiled at Fir. "That's Kepler, Mister Cuween. Be careful; he bites."

He turned quickly to the class at large. "Now, I'm sure you all know by now about the change in staff, and hopefully have heard of the change in curriculum. If you haven't, I'm Professor Trishna, and the curriculum will be shifting from an Astrology focus to one on muggle scientific Astronomy. However, seeing as you are all graduating at the end of this year, I'm considering letting you off...easier." He smiled, but it had a slightly nasty edge to it.

uniform

If Hogwarts had been a McDonald's, the Woolfolk man would have been the McHottie Value Meal. Lou knew this from muggle foodstuff experience. And having good vision. But her vision had to jump a little-- blue eyes skating the ceiling-- as she stepped into the Astronomy Tower and found herself standing in some sort of Madame Puddifoot's For Star Gazers and Science Geeks haven. Heaven? Heaven haven.

Uh-huh.

Her view obstructed by something expansive and black which could only be one thing-- Fir's head-- she stopped two inches from colliding with his back. She credited her chaser's balance and trained motor skills for the save. Because Merlin knew that the architectural rarity that was the Slytherin's noggin needed not be trespassed, lest their new professor-- what, new professor?!-- find himself pulling a Dumbledore on the first day.

Clearly Lou had spent too much time snogging a Ravenclaw and not enough nicking his notes from his schoolbag to realize they had had so many changes in staff.

Taking a seat, she inclined a brow toward the new professor, and finally cracked a smile. The room was brilliant, if night and day (drums, please) from the shabby, welcoming, and hippie-esques shambles of pillows Woolfolk had created.

"Emily Louise Carter," she said, without being asked. No need to get detention for skipping when she wasn't actually skipping. "You can call me Lou." She set her bag down and looked around at her peers, who had floated into the room and formed a strange, outfacing semi-circle of hormones and wide eyes. And man-whoring school button-ups.

"Cuween, love the togs. You match the windows." She grinned devilishly, and then laughed a bit under her breath, a sort of nasal laughter. Of course he would. Pink stains, pink panes. He was more self-involved and style-conscious than the whole pack of Slytherin girls who had made official British citizens of their mirror reflections.

Settling in to listen to the new year's introduction, Lou tilted her head at the word muggle. And easy easier? Perhaps she wouldn't have to give up her beloved re-heated, mass-produced chips after all.

She shared a private grin with Addie, whose kneazle conversations hardly phased her (Lou considered herself an expert in deciphering the endearing mental language of Hufflepuff house). She hadn't really spoken with the girl since the fallout with Fauna, whose shoulder she'd been hugging every chance she got. And so Lou felt a rare sting of awkwardness. The whole thing was a mess.

Addie giggled quite loudly when Fir & Lou entered the room, remarking on how her sanity was concerned. "Shut y'gob, th' two of ye - I'm not all sixes & sevens, much t'popular belief," she said, still giggling as she pet Kepler briefly, hearing him purr as she left him to head to one of the very few seats situated in the room.

Her ears perked to hear Tappy's words but her eyebrows knitted; muggle science truly did interest her as she got it from her father's relatives but where was the... A soft sigh escaped her lips as she shook her head & soon raised her hand - something Addie did fine with, but curiousity was gnawing.

"Sir? Not to be rude, even I dare say, crass but. . .how is this going to run in a Muggle approach? Like does that mean nebula clusters, supernovas, black holes, even constellations?" No doubt Lou & Fir could possibly cough 'nerd' but she really was a grandchild & niece of scientists so thus the use of Muggle scientific terms. Her eyes looked at Tappy as though she had meant no harm by her statement, however, the moment ended as she soon looked back down at her parchment sketchbook. Dipping her ink, Addie began sketching the Horsehead Nebula on one side & a rough sketch of Earth.

Hopefully all would be well soon enough because the last thing she needed or wanted was a professor who put her on their bad list. Then again, maybe she was just being paranoid about the whole situation. Paranoia sucked, especially when you're always thinking people may or may not be talking about you.

"It's not a problem, Miss Delacroix," he replied, placing one of his hands on the globe as he spoke. "Yes, it means nebulas and the like - but, given your year and the upcoming NEWTs, it will not be as big a part of the class as-" he paused, almost saying 'As I want it to be,' but managed to change it to, "...as the rumors have stated."

He tapped his fingers on the globe's surface as he thought. "For now, while we'll be bringing in more science than.. previous classes had, the main focus will be preparing all of you for your NEWTs. I'm rather embarrassed to have to ask all of you this," he admitted, and indeed a light flush was on his cheeks. "But your previous professor left behind no plans for what he'd covered with you - but the plans he left for the other years are... sporadic." That was probably the best term for them. "What subjects have you covered so far this year?"