Astronomy 101 on Elective Hall

Substitute Professor Stravinos

January 28, 2011 9:44 PM

Astronomy 101 by Substitute Professor Stravinos

Andreas Stravinos was a wanderer, as far as he could remember, he hadn’t had a solid job. No, he liked being a substitute, since it meant he got to travel and see things most people didn’t because of the roots in their lives. Being a free-spirit was all that he cared about, but money was important, and that was why he took jobs for small periods of time. That was why he was now at Sonora Academy, because he had accepted the offer to substitute the Astronomy Professor until the new administration found one. The native Greek has spent most of his life studying the sky, it had a lure for him, and he felt more at ease when he was just watching it. There was something about the dark, mysterious sky that relaxed him. He felt at home when he did what he loved the best, and that was indulging in the vastness of the sky. Teaching children about the wonders of it was another passion of his, but no matter how much he loved it, his love for freedom won over it every time.

Wearing his black robes with stars and planets moving around them, he entered to what was his classroom until someone was found to take the position as a full-time Professor. Andreas wasn’t worried, he just hoped that it wouldn’t be too soon, but not too late. When a lot of time passed, roots began to settle, and it would be harder for him to leave. The olive-skinned Greek scanned the room and smiled, it was like floating in space. Every star and planet was present, and at the touch of his fingers. They had done a very good job with the classroom, and he was sure he would enjoy his time here. Andreas used his wand to arrange the desks in a circle. Before he could start with his lecture he needed to know where these kids were in their astronomy knowledge, it was primordial he knew, that way he would be able to make a more flexible and accurate study-schedule for them.

When the students began piling in, he followed them with his brown-eyes, he was eager to start the show. He wasn’t that old, at 28 he still considered himself a young-man and therefore, would be able to connect with his temporal charges. Once they were settled, he smiled at them and cleared his throat. “Welcome to Astronomy. I am Professor Andreas Stravinos, your substitute for the time being.” The Greek man grabbed one chair and sat in the circle, it was a way of making the class a little bit more informal. In his limited experience with children, he had found out that formalities made everything more difficult.

“Before we begin, I need to know what you know about astronomy. If you would be kind enough to recapitulate what you saw with the other Professor and if this is the first time you are taking the class, what you know about the topic.” Andreas smiled at them, “Come on, don’t be shy.” He looked at the kid at his right, “You, Please start.” His eyes were twinkling with amusement, he sort of liked singling people out, it was a way of making people get out of their shell.

OOC: posting rules apply. Class is for 3-4 years. Have fun!

0 Substitute Professor Stravinos Astronomy 101 0 Substitute Professor Stravinos 1 5

Neal Padrig, Pecari

January 29, 2011 3:20 PM

That could have gone better by Neal Padrig, Pecari

Interior decorating had never made much sense to Neal. Maybe it was the fact he could care less about colors since not being able to differentiate them all that well made it hard to appreciate them, but so long as a room had the basics supplied he was happy with it. His own room at home could be described as plain with little personality showed off through the décor.

After stepping into the Astronomy classroom and getting a good look around the place though, Neal quickly changed his mind. If he could get his room at home – heck, maybe even his dorm room – to look like this place did, he’d be thrilled. Wandering around to find a seat, Neal almost didn’t want to sit down, but he figured he could always scope out the room during the lesson as he did in every other class. Neal had perfected the art in paying attention well enough to get the general gist of the lesson down, something he was quite proud of if he did say so himself.

After catching the important bits of what the professor had said while still letting his eyes rove around the star-speckled ceiling, Neal hadn’t anticipated starting off with a class discussion. The mahogany haired boy didn’t even raise his hand to speak in any classes other than DADA or Charms, so he was hoping he wouldn’t have to say anything in this one. The professor didn’t seem to agree with Neal’s thoughts, as he zeroed in on the halfblood and ordered, “You, Please Start.”

Snapping his eyes forward, Neal hastily straightened out in his seat. “Uh, since I didn’t have the other professor, I have no clue what he taught. As for what I know about the stars… uh, not much. I mean, I know where some constellations are, like the Dippers and stuff, and that we’re in the Milky Way, and that stars turn into black holes and all, but that’s… that’s about it. Just basics like that.” Neal didn’t feel embarrassed for not knowing a whole lot, hence the reason he was taking the class, but he wondered if maybe he should have at least read through a book on stars.

0 Neal Padrig, Pecari That could have gone better 0 Neal Padrig, Pecari 0 5

Jane Carey, Teppenpaw

February 11, 2011 11:25 PM

Knowledge and what I have of it by Jane Carey, Teppenpaw

There had been some discussion with her mother about it, and making sure she didn’t do too much, with an undercurrent about how she should remember that gentlemen did not usually like for a young lady to be too educated, but in the end, Jane had still signed up for Astronomy. She was good at mathematics – the one thing she’d ever bested Edmond at, which was also, very unfortunately, one he would need more than she did in adult life – and wasn’t really struggling in any of her classes, and Edmond said the theoretical and sometimes practical magic only grew more reliant on a working knowledge of planetary angles as they grew more advanced, so it seemed like the only practical option.

For most of her life, Mother would never have said anything about it. There had never been any question that she and Edmond would take the same lessons, and be expected, even though she was two years younger, to do more or less equally well on them, but in the past few years, Mother had been pulling back with her just a little while pushing Edmond harder than ever. Jane couldn’t understand why at all, and it was troubling her.

No, that wasn’t right. She knew exactly why. Edmond even knew why, though it didn’t seem to bother him the way he bothered her – of course it wouldn’t; even if he did end up in an arranged marriage, he would still be the one no less in control of his own life than he’d ever been, and there was something very passive in her brother’s nature anyway. But Jane didn’t want to think of her mother seeing her as a parcel whose drain on the family finances would only have been a worthwhile investment if she provided the Careys with a good alliance, so she didn’t.

It would, she knew, have been different if she had remained an only child. She would have been her father’s only heir, but since her father had very little to leave, that would not have made her a more attractive option than she was by virtue of her personal qualities, appearance, and status as a very minor and distant relation of the Virginia Careys. It was entirely possible that, if she’d somehow managed to get something like the education she’d only officially gotten because she lived with Edmond without living with Edmond, she would have been left to her own devices after her parents died. Since her parents had raised Edmond, though, and he considered her his sister, her fortunes had risen in the world – that was how Mother would put it, anyway. The Savannah Careys had…problems, everyone knew that, but they had been powerful and influential enough that, with backing from them now that Edmond was patriarch and Virginia proper instead of just her own little line, it was entirely possible that she could make the kind of match her mother wanted for her.

The leading option for that, if Edmond telling her she should talk to him more now that they were in Intermediates together when she’d never really talked to him to begin with when they weren’t, seemed to be Jethro Smythe. Jane couldn’t honestly say she felt any more enthusiastic about that than about any other potential match, but she supposed worse things could very definitely happen if Edmond was in support of it. She didn’t believe her brother would stand behind something he didn’t think would be at least tolerable for her. He was, she thought, better at being self-sacrificing than he was at sacrificing others for the same reason.

She smiled politely at the new professor – substitute professor – as she entered the room and took a seat in the circle, though she was a little surprised when he joined them. She’d had a few tutors at home who thought it was good to sit on a level with her and Edmond, but Mother didn’t approve of the blurring of authority lines, which she thought was bad for children’s development and especially for a young lady’s, so they only occurred when no one better could be found in the field and only lasted long enough to teach their specific point of expertise before someone more conventional was found.

She didn’t get out of her seat again, but did examine the décor as well as she could from her desk. It was always nice to have pleasant, lovely surroundings while she worked, and these might actually be functional. Those were points in favor of this informal professor. Less in his favor was the way he began class, by singling someone out. Jane didn’t do well on the spot, and she couldn’t imagine anyone really appreciated being put on it. It did not help that she was sitting next to the boy called on – Neal, she always remembered he was Neal, partially because of how distinctive he looked and mostly because they had spoken for a while on her twelfth birthday.

She briefly considered lying when he finished and it was her turn, but decided not to. “I’ve read all my brother’s notes from the other professor,” she said. “The basic planets were covered, and some using the stars as reference points for navigation on a broom.” Edmond had been very cross about that; he’d been tired the next day in Professor Fawcett’s discussion group, and felt he’d made a fool of himself. “I can ask him if he wouldn’t mind letting you see them. I’ve also read a little about astrology, and a few articles about how comets affect some spells, and Father taught me constellations when I was little.”

0 Jane Carey, Teppenpaw Knowledge and what I have of it 0 Jane Carey, Teppenpaw 0 5