Lesson Three - Sixth and Seventh Years

[rachel]

Finally, Rachel was down to her sixth and seventh years. It wasn't that she didn't like teaching them, it was just that it was harder. She had a nice bunch of kids, a few who were really excelling in the subject. Nothing please her more to see the happiness of students, and when that happened in her own classroom, it made her feel even better. She hadn't really thought that they hated it, there were even students that weren't that great at it that attended. She didn't want to be the kind of teacher that was considered to be boring, mean, or patronizing. When she had taken the job at Hogwarts, that was the promise that she had made herself.

Today, they would be studying Pluto. True, it had recently been deemed as not being a planet in their solar system, but it was only if the subject was called "Planets in our Solar system", then it would pose a problem. they weren't doing that however, they were studying Astronomy, so basically, everything in the Universe. Kneeling down, Rachel opened the door to the supply closet and grabbed out some telescopes. They would be looking at it, yes, but even with the magical telescopes, it would be difficult.

Taking out the textbooks that explained how to find Pluto, and what it looked like in the night sky. Rachel had a feeling that this was going to be a long lesson, she knew that there was not going to be easy for even the best of students. Really, she wanted to try and prepare them for their NEWTs, and she knew that they would be hard aswell. Boy, was she glad that she was no longer a seventh year.

[Drew Thornton]

He wasn't exactly sure why, but he was actually looking forward to Astronomy class... until he walked into the room and saw the telescopes. The tall seventh year was fine as long as he could read it in a book or locate it on a chart.

But when it came to actually finding it all for himself, he was lost. The stars were pretty amazing to look at, but he could barely figure out which was the Big Dipper without a little help. The best he could hope for was to just memorize and copy one of the star charts he had memorized... of course, that only worked if he had bothered to study the star charts for this particular night.

What could he do? He was a man without a plan, no hope in sight, there at the top of the

astronomy tower.

[Sophia Crawford]

Sophia headed into the Astronomy Tower, humming a little show-tune. She did a small little spin and entered the room, ignorant of the other student and the professor. She stopped, however, when she spotted the telescopes. "Wow, these are so beautiful!" Sophia loved to gaze at stars and had at one time known all major constellations in the sky and their stories. That was a long time ago, longer than it seemed, and she had only received an E on the O.W.L., something she was determined to remedy on the N.E.W.T. She took a seat in the front and smiled at the Head Boy.

"Hello, I'm Sophia Crawford."

[Drew Thornton]

Another student entered, doing a cute little twirl in the doorway before taking a seat. Drew had seen her around, but didn't know her except for the fact that she was a Gryffindor and a year behind him.

"Hello Sophia Crawford. I'm Drew Thornton. Nice to meet you!" he answered with a wide grin despite the feeling of doom he had been experiencing at the sight of the telescopes. The girl was right, there were pretty neat looking, but that only made them that much more intimidating. He had broken more than his share of astronomy instruments over the past few years.

[Sophia Crawford]

Sophia smiled. "Oh, it's nice to meet you! Aren't you excited for astronomy?" She placed her bags on the ground near a chair and gazed at the telescopes. "I've never used a magical telescope before...only a Muggle kind. It was very impressive, though. I wonder how defined the stars are in these?" She was simply bubbling with conversation, probably an effect from her morning tea. Tea always kept her energy up in the rafters.

[rachel]

Smiling at her two students as they entered the room, Rachel was rather surprised. She expected Andrew to be like he was, but when the girl entered, Rachel couldn't help but grin. With a small twirl, and a song, Rachel had never had any student this, well, this enthusiastic before. She wasn't sure whether the girl was happy about the lesson, or if something had happened to her, but it would be good to have someone in her class that was happy. That was the only thing that Rachel hated about teaching Astronomy classes, it was at midnight, and usually the students lacked happiness.

Burying her nose in her book, waiting for more students to enter, Rachel read from Chapter Three. Spotting Dippers and Crosses. It wasn't the best book on Astronomy that she had read, but she was getting through it okay. Deciding that it was time to start the lesson, Rachel pushed her chair back, and stood up. Strolling into the middle of the classroom, Rachel smiled. "Okay, today we're gonna be studying Pluto. Using these Telescopes, we are going to be drawing and writing a small essay, say, 200 words max. Anything not done, will be homework. Any questions?"

[Sophia Crawford]

Sophia sat attentively and listened while the teacher gave instructions. She seemed very nice and Astronomy did seem to be exciting. She shook her head indicating that she had understood the professor's directions and took out a quill and a scroll of parchment from her bag. 200 words should be cake, Sophia thought. She was sure that Pluto shouldn't be too hard to find, although it was the farthest off. She looked through the telescope, marveling at how bright the stars were and how lovely they looked against the night sky. From her home in the city, she could barely see the stars like this, so real and natural. It was slightly breathtaking, and a little overwhelming. She almost forgot about the assignment entirely before she caught sight of Pluto.