A little Star Gazing on Elective Hall

Professor McFarlan

May 27, 2007 1:30 PM

Fourth and Fifth Years Class II by Professor McFarlan

OOC: Finally! Sorry for the wait. You can start by exploring the campsite or right at the telescopes, whichever would be more fun for you. The “slumber party” will be up mid-week.

BIC:
The wagons landed on the large flat bluff. The breathtaking colors of the surrounding desert were enhanced by the approaching sunset. The site was already prepared for the students. Professor McFarlan and a couple of loner prairie elves worked on it all afternoon.

The west side of the bluff was set up as an outdoor classroom. Several small telescopes, magically enchanted to the equivalent power of a 14” Cassegrain-Newtonion reflector were standing on their tri-pods. Several feet away, Professor McFarlan’s meditation cushion and two camps chair were arraigned next to three pillar candles mounted on stands of various heights.

In the center of the bluff was the sleeping area. Several tents were ready and waiting. On the outside, they appeared to be ordinary two-man pup tents. Inside they were comfortable and roomy, sleeping up to six people. Each tent had a different interior such as a log cabin, cave, castle, woodland clearing, etc.

The east side of the bluff was occupied by several picnic tables and camp chairs that surrounded a huge pile of firewood ready to be lit. Professor McFarlan allowed the students to choose their tents and drop off their things before meeting with her by the telescopes. When everyone was ready, she gathered them together to explain their assignment.

“Tonight, I want you to chart the following: Orin, Draco, Ursa Major and Minor and the planets that are visible to the naked eye. I also want a line or two noting why it is important to know the general location of Polaris even though, due to light and air pollution, we can no longer see it with out the aid of a telescope. Name its polar counterpart constellation in the Southern Hemisphere. For extra credit, name the thirteenth zodiac constellation.

“You may work in groups or alone as you choose. When everyone has turned in their assignments, we will light the bonfire and you can eat and enjoy the rest of the night. Professors Powell, O’Leary, and myself will be by the candles if you need help.” Professor McFarlan waved her hand in the deepening darkness and the candles lit. “You may begin.”
\n

Subthreads:

A little Star Gazing by Bella Santoro

Hey There DALILA!! by Jake Santoro, Teppenpaw with Dalila Bastet, Dalila

Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! by Zack Dill with Kaylie Brockert

0 Professor McFarlan Fourth and Fifth Years Class II 1467 Professor McFarlan 1 5

Bella Santoro

May 27, 2007 4:13 PM

A little Star Gazing by Bella Santoro

Despite having taken the wagons to and from school, four times a year, for the last four years of her life while attending Sonora Academy, Bella still hated to have to take those wagons. They were old and bumpy and made her feel queasy for a long time afterword.

Luckily it wasn't so bad this time. Perhaps it was because they didn't have to travel far to get to their location.

Hopping off the wagons, Bella pulled her bag on and took to where they were supposed to be heading. It was weird being in the desert. Sure Sonora was located in the desert, but it never felt like it. This was the first time Bella had been out this far. It was...different.

She found the first tent and entered it. Bella probably would have been more impressed with them had she not been Pure and been inside them plenty of times before. Or ones just like them. Besides, she doubted she would be spending much time in them aside from sleep, so it wasn't a big deal for her.

Bella had no idea who her roommates would be. She was only friends with the boys of her year and house, but Bella doubted Professor McFarlan would very well let her share the same tent as Ben or Chris. Maybe she could share one with Lexi...then again, maybe not. Bella only knew the other fourth year by association and class. There might lead to talk and questions that Bella wasn't exactly sure she could answer straight forward.

Of course, Bella had some questions for Lexi too. Questions about a certain boy with curly dark brown hair and blue eyes with an ex-girlfriend named Kaylie. She had seen them getting rather cozy in the Hall snd various other times. It was only natural for her to assume there was something more between them.

Bella would have asked Chris, but she was afraid he'd spill more than she was willing to hear.

Since it was still light out, Bella figured it was easier to get the essay part of the work done first rather than try to struggle and find the stars. So, taking a seat at a picnic table, Bella dipped her quill into ink and began to write. She first wrote about why Polaris was so important due to it being the main focal point when it came to navigation. Polaris marked the true location of the North which then allowed for a person to define where South, East, and West were located. It was also the tip of Ursa Minor.

Bella wasn't sure if the second part of the question was a trick question. As far as she was aware, there was no South Pole Star. There was Crux and Sigma Octantis which were close to the South Pole and pointed in the correct direction for the south, but neither of them were considered on the same aspect of Polaris. So, Bella just decided to go with that answer considering she was never told any different.

As for the extra credit, Bella decided to take it since she might have gotten the second question wrong. It never hurt to go the extra mile anyway. Ophiuchus, or the Serpent Bearer, was the thirteenth constellation.

After she was done with her essay, it was finally dark enough for her to start on the constellations. Astronomy may not have been her favorite subject, but it also wasn't one of the most difficult either. Finding the Draco first, Bella jotted down it's coordinates before placing it on her chart. It took her just under an hour to chart the four constelltions and an additional half an hour to locate the planets and chart them as well. She wasn't sure if she ought to include Uranus in the group considering one could technically see it without aid, but probably wouldn't realize what they were looking at unless they were purposely trying to locate the planet.

She added it anyway.

Once she was done with her assignment completely and handed it in to the Professor. She went back into her tent and grabbed a sweatshirt. One would have thought that by wearing shorts with fishnets, Bella's legs would have been just as cold as her arms. Surprisingly enough, her legs were just fine.

Making her way back over to the chairs, Bella collapsed in one and waited for everyone else to complete their assignments.

0 Bella Santoro A little Star Gazing 0 Bella Santoro 0 5

Jake Santoro, Teppenpaw

May 29, 2007 9:18 PM

Hey There DALILA!! by Jake Santoro, Teppenpaw

Jake was actually looking forward to this fieldtrip. It was the first one he had ever been on when it came to Sonora. Not that they were going very far from the school, but it was the principle of the matter. They were leaving school on an overnight trip.

He supposed it really wasn't quite such a deal as he was making it out to be. They were going with people he saw every day of his life and it wasn't like they would be able to get away with anything...interesting while they were out there. Especially with O'Leary there. That man was never any fun.

Jake threw his pack into a tent that seemed to be occupied by guys and wandered around for a bit. The set up was pretty cool, each area designed for a purpose. He stood off by the campfire area when Professor McFarlan started talking. Of course, there would be work involved. He was sort of hoping that they could just sit around while she told stories of certain constellations. He thought that would be way cooler than actually having to chart them. Of course, Jake was also looking for any excuse to not have to do work, but what could one expect? He was no Aladren.

So, for the first hour and a half of being at their campsite, Jake was hunched over a telescope or hunched in a chair working on the little essay thing and chart that the professor wanted them to complete. It took him awhile to figure out where the stars were and whether or not they could use their books. He decided to use it anyway because there was no way he would be able to answer these questions otherwise.

Once completed to the best of his abilities (thankfully he was rather talented in Quidditch or else he'd have nothing going for him), Jake handed it in and stood off to the side deciding on what to do next. His dark eyes scanned around the area for a moment until they fell upon a brunette he knew well.

Walking over to where he was, he greeted her by messing with her hair. "Hey Dalila." Jake said with a smile. "Do you have a moment?"

6 Jake Santoro, Teppenpaw Hey There DALILA!! 42 Jake Santoro, Teppenpaw 0 5

Dalila Bastet

May 29, 2007 10:39 PM

What's it like in New York City? by Dalila Bastet

Dalila jumped off the wagon as soon as the wheels touched dirt, leaving her backpack with all her things inside. After waiting for everyone to exit the wagon, she climbed back inside, retrieved her things and bounded out again in an instant.

She headed straight toward the tents and poked her head through the first one she got to. She barely got a look before realizing it was already occupied by boys. She reached the next tent and stared at it for a moment before deciding there was no one it and entering.

Dalila gasped. Instead of the regular tent she had expected (though she did expect the magical enlargement), she had walked into what seemed to be a castle. She grinned madly and threw her things onto the nearest bunk before grqabbing her school things and dashing out the door again. She could admire the tent all night, but as Astronomy was her favorite subject she wasn't missing a thing.

She found an nice patch of desert that was semi free from rocks and lay back to stare at the stars, except that it was too light to see them. She sighed, turned onto her stomach and began the essay instead.

Polaris was exactly North of the Earth...something about navigation...it's opposite being the Southern Cross...a few words on Ophiuchus...and she was done. Now for the fun part: staring at the stars.

She grabbed one of the few empty telescopes and pointed it to the sky. Orion was easy enough to spot. The Ursas werer a little more difficult becuase she kept getting the positions mixed up when she drew them. And Draco curled around them, but it was hard to figure out where he started and ended.

She was just finishing up when she head footsteps. She had barely turned around when she felt a large hand scruff up her hair and familiar voice say "Hey Dalila".

Dalila looked up at Jake. She hadn't been this close to him in a while. He looked good. She gave him the best smile she could muster, but to her it seemed to falter a bit. She began playing with the ends of her hair which had grown rather long since coming to Sonora. It was well past her shoulders now.

"I think I'm just about done, so I have all the time in the world. What's up?" she said casually, still thinking of the warm weight of his hand on her head.

0 Dalila Bastet What's it like in New York City? 60 Dalila Bastet 0 5

Jake

May 30, 2007 8:57 PM

I'm a thousand miles away by Jake

Jake's smile grew when Dalila smiled at him. She was probably one of the most easy going girls he had ever knew. Whenever he saw her, she was always smiling. It was actually rather refreshing at times, especially since he spent last term angry and Jen angry at him and then most of break being chaotic...and Kaylie being mopey and Tally being distant and Lexi being...Lexi.

Girls always seemed to be moody, but Dalila never seemed to be anything but happy Dalila.

"Good." Jake replied, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and steering her away from listening ears. He walked her away from everyone until they were at a clear spot on the campground. It wasn't until then did he face her and leaned in semi closely as though conspiring with her. Which...he sort of was.

"Listen, I was wondering if you could do me a favor." Jake began. "I was hoping that you could talk to Kaylie for me and see what's up with her. She hasn't been herself lately and I don't think she'd talk to me about it. Bella says that Chris and her broke up after midterm, so I'm sure that's it, but I need to be sure." Jake was rambling, but he didn't like having to deal with other people's issues when he knew he couldn't solve it for them. "Whatever's wrong with her is effecting her on the Pitch, so before I make a decision with that, I sort of want the honest truth from her and I doubt she'd tell me what's going on."

Jake looked pleadingly at Dalila, "Please can you talk to her for me? I'll do anything!"

6 Jake I'm a thousand miles away 42 Jake 0 5

Dalila

May 31, 2007 2:05 AM

But girl tonight you look so pretty by Dalila

Dalila managed to hide the gasp that alomst escaped her lips when Jake wrapped an arm around her shoulders and steered her away from the crowds. Maybe Lexi had been wrong. Maybe Jake wasn't seeing Jenny. Maybe everything that she saw to confirm tha twas just in her head. And then Jake leaned in, and Dalila's breath caught in her throat.

"I was wondering if you could do me a favor. I was hoping that you could talk to Kaylie for me..."

Dalila let out the breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. Of course, he was with Jennifer. Lexi was right. And Dalila was...Dalila. She listened to Jake, relishing in his closness and hating herself for it. And at the end of his speech, she looked up at him and smiled, though a bit sadly.

"Of course I'll talk to her, Jake. Any thing for you."

She was horrible at talking to people about their problems. She didn't how to react. And they usually cried...like Dalila did. She could really deal with crying people. But as she said: anything for Jake.

0 Dalila But girl tonight you look so pretty 0 Dalila 0 5

Jake

May 31, 2007 11:07 PM

Yes you do by Jake

Jake waited not so patiently while Dalila deliberated his question. He was probably being unfair to her asking her to do this for him, but girl issues wasn't something that Jake could ever claim of being good at solving. In fact, he was fairly certain that if anyone of his female friends or family members came to him for some sort of advice that dealt with either boys or other girl issues, Jake would just stand there gapping at them.

The moment Dalila agreed to talk to Kaylie, Jake felt a whole bunch of pressure leave his shoulders. He visibly perked up and sagged with relief at her words. His grin even grew bigger. He was completely oblivious to any sort of discomfort sent his way by Dalila. Really, he needed to learn how to read girls better.

Jake hugged Dalila tightly to show how grateful he was to her for doing this. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, Dalila! I owe you big time for this!" Jake exclaimed before finally releasing her from his hug. "Listen, if you ever need anything, anything at all, you can count on me, okay?" Jake said, he was just so happy to have most of the Kaylie situation resolved. Now all he had to do when find out from Dalila why Kaylie was acting that way, hunt down Gil and discuss his noticable absense in the game, and then find Pepper, tell her what a great job she's been doing and find out if she plans on continuing on.

Jake moved away from Dalila, "Well, I won't keep you from your friends. Thanks a lot, Dalila!" Jake said, "See ya later." Jake decided this fieldtrip was still worth it, despite having to do actual work. Now all he had to do was hunt down his girlfriend and hope he won't have to spend the whole not with her and Lizzie doing their 'best friend' thing.\r\n\r\n

6 Jake Yes you do 42 Jake 0 5

Dalila

June 02, 2007 10:33 PM

Times Square could never shine as bright as you by Dalila

When Jake hugged her, the air left her body and not because he was squeezing too tightly. Dalila breathed in his heady scent. Did he wear something or was it just the way he smelled: soap, spice and something else she couldn't quite place. She came to her senses just long enough to hug him back, but when he let go, she reeled from the contact.

"Oh yeah, I-I know I can count on you, Jake," Dalila said a littly shaky. She barely got a chance to say anything else as Jake said "see ya later" and ran off.

The moment he had stepped away, Dalila hugged herself and sat on a nearby rock. Her breath was a little ragged, but nothing she couldn't hide if the situation demanded.

"Dammit!" she chastized herself, hoping there wasn't anyone close enough to hear her. "Dammit, dammit, dammit! He has a girlfriend!" Dalila took a few deep breaths. She needed to get her mind off him. She needed a distraction. Maybe another boy? A single one, of course, but who?

Dalila wiped away the the tears that had been threatening to fall the past few minutes she had been sitting on the rock. She had an idea. Whether it was a good idea did not cross her mind at all. She glanced over to where most of the people were milling about.

"Do now or do it never," she said quietly before walking towards the crowd.

0 Dalila Times Square could never shine as bright as you 0 Dalila 0 5

Zack Dill

June 06, 2007 1:49 PM

Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! by Zack Dill

Zack was nervous. He trusted that the teachers wouldn't have brought them all out here if it wasn't reasonably safe, but there was just something about nighttime that made being outside during it somewhat creepy and kind of scary. Zack was pretty sure it was the lack of sun. He looked over to the edge of the bluff as he got off his wagon and saw it going down already.

Clutching his overnight bag tightly to his chest, he hurried to claim a central tent. That way he'd have some warning by the screaming of his classmates when the bears came to eat them all. Were there even bears out in the dessert? Probably not. But there were snakes, he was quite sure. Zack looked around anxiously for any evidence of their presence, but all he saw were tents and people's footprints.

He peeked into each of the center-most tents to make sure there were no snakes waiting in wait there, and he drew back in surprise when he saw the camping tents had taken after Professor Yuma's divination classroom. The inside looked very different from the outside.

Zack chose the fortress. It might not actually have been built to withstand hostile sieges, but it looked like it was from the inside and that was almost as good. He dropped his overnight bag on one of the two sleeping bags and then rummaged through his book bag for his Astronomy notebook and a pen. He double checked that he had his wand with him, then headed over to where he'd seen the telescopes set up.

Professor McFarlan gave an assignment and Zack set to it right away. He worked alone as he preferred to do. In the fading light, he charted out the constellations she had named until he was squinting at his paper in the dusky darkness. With a sigh of irritation, he took out his wand. He quietly cast "Lumos," then went back to work.

When he finished his diagram and added the requested line about Polaris beneath it: It is important to know where Polaris is because it denotes north and doesn't move. That way, if you get lost without a compass or wand, you can have some idea of what direction you're going at night. Likewise, in the southern hemisphere, the Southern Cross can tell you where south is.

And, of course, Zack never turned down extra credit so beneath that, he had continued with: The thirteenth constellation of the zodiac is Ophiuchus, the serpent holder. It is in the southern hemisphere between Scorpius and Sagittarius.

That finished, he double checked his spelling and chart-work by wand-light. Satisfied that it was all right, he got up and turned in the paper. It was now dark enough to see waaaaay more stars than he'd ever believed could be seen from Earth back when he was living in Detroit and it wasn't even fully dark yet. Almost, yes, but not quite there yet. He suspected they'd be able to see Polaris with the naked eye in another hour.

The schoolwork had calmed him somewhat, so while he waited for his classmates to finish the assignment, he laid down on his back, a little apart from them, and just stared up at the sky. He'd never felt big, but now he felt even tinier than normal. Looking into the infinity of the universe, especially here, where there were no trees or buildings to hinder the view of the entire celestial hemisphere, Zack wondered how anyone could think they were alone.

Hearing someone's footsteps approaching and stopping not too far from his head, Zack couldn't help but share his wonder, "It's amazing, isn't it?" Squirming around to see who it was would require too much effort so he didn't bother. Presumably, he'd be able to recognize their voice when they spoke.

1 Zack Dill Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! 40 Zack Dill 0 5

Kaylie Brockert

June 11, 2007 8:24 PM

Well we have Leo and Ursa Major, not sure about tigers by Kaylie Brockert

Through the last few months, Kaylie had slowly began to feel better. She no longer randomly burst into tears when she was alone and cried herself sick, even though she seemed to have an almost constant headache.

Still, it was hard to be around Chris and not be able to go over and talk to him. To make matters worse, it seemed like he was now seeing Lexi Stafford. He could move on, she couldn't. It was like she had cared for him more than he had her. Of course, even if Kaylie really wanted someone else there really weren't a lot of options anyway. She also had a bit of sympathy for Lexi. After all, it wouldn't last between them, he had to marry that Marie. It wasn't fair, her family was as good as anyone's. The Brockerts had money and status. In Colorado, they were pretty much the top pureblood family, one of the state's oldest. It wasn't as if things like this mattered to her, but there was still no reason for her to not be considered good enough.

School work, on the other hand, was still causing Kaylie an unimaginable amount of stress. This on top of the Chris stuff just left her drained. She may have been better over it but she wasn't all right, not by a longshot. She felt tired, stressed and overworked. Kaylie was certain she was going to fail her CATS, and not get into college and not become a healer. Now she couldn't even become a wife and mother and stay at home with her kids,which had been her alternative plan, because she wouldn't be able to get married.

Every thing was ruined now, Kaylie was too dumb for a career, and college and wasn't ever going to have what she'd always wanted most, a family of her own. All her dreams were going up in smoke all at once.

Tears came to her eyes and threatened to spring loose. She wiped at them with the sleeve of her aqua blue peasant top. Kaylie walked away from the group. She didn't want anyone, especially Chris, to see her upset.

She stopped short in her flight away from the group. Had Kaylie taken one more step she would have tripped right over Zack Dill.

"It's amazing, isn't it?"

Kaylie blinked. "Yea, i-it's great. Uh, hi Zack." She said, her face blushing. Calm down, he can't see your tears, it's too dark She stoood there awkwardly trying to think of something to say. Zack was the smartest person in class and Kaylie felt she was the stupidest, so she was a bit worried when talking to him that she sounded idiotic. On the other hand, they were both Seekers and Prefects, maybe she could use one of those things, to start a conversation. Kaylie would rather not talk about Quidditch right now, as she felt rather guilty about being sick at the last match and missing it and it was probably not very nice to remind him of Aladren's loss, especially given it was her second cousin who'd tried to injure him. "How's the prefect stuff going for you?"

11 Kaylie Brockert Well we have Leo and Ursa Major, not sure about tigers 43 Kaylie Brockert 0 5

Zack Dill

June 13, 2007 12:24 PM

Orion hunted them all down already by Zack Dill

A girl's voice. Not Zoey's. Not Anne's. He bent his neck backwards, digging the back of his head into the dirt and giving the person behind him a good look up his nose. She looked really weird from this position, but after a moment, he was able to recognize her as Kaylie. He relaxed his neck and laid flat on the ground again, staring at the sky once more.

"Hey, Kaylie," he returned her greeting, and patted the ground beside him since he was feeling a little too lazy to sit up and turn around but he didn't want her to think he was trying to look up her shirt.

He shrugged in answer to her question. "My Prefect Station is open for business on school days between end of classes and dinner, and for a few hours on Saturday morning if I don't have a Quidditch game. Mostly, I just get people who think I'm Mr. Tarquin's assistant and want to know where they can find a certain book. So it's a good time to do homework and read. I've also written up a few people for talking too loudly in the library or not putting away books like they should." He grinned, "That's fun. What about you?"

1 Zack Dill Orion hunted them all down already 40 Zack Dill 0 5

Kaylie

July 03, 2007 2:48 PM

Even the pickle-tiger? by Kaylie

She took a seat where Zack had patted, feeling kind of relieved. In front of him, Kaylie often felt like an idiot and wasn't entirely sure he'd want her around because she wasn't as bright.

Kaylie drew her knees to her chest and looked up at the sky. It was amazing. The kind of thing one wanted to share with someone special. How she wished she could be under it with Chris, but those days were gone and she'd never get them back. It wasn't anything personal against the Aladren prefect, it just wasn't quite the same thing.

She listened to Zack as he told her how things were going. Kaylie smiled. "I'm glad you're enjoying yourself." She liked to see others happy even when she wasn't for the most part. There was no reason the whole world should feel pain just because she was. That would be a very selfish attitude to have. Besides, Kaylie knew there were lots of people who had it much worse than she did. "I've not been doing to badly with it. I really enjoy helping out the younger students and whatnot. It makes me feel I'm doing something kind of important, you know?" In fact, it felt like the one bright spot lately, Kaylie felt like she was inadequate in school and was never going to get the career she'd originally wanted, her relationship had failed and she hadn't even been able to play in the Quidditch game. At least she could be there to help out the younger students, which gave her quite a bit of joy.

11 Kaylie Even the pickle-tiger? 43 Kaylie 0 5