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| Astronomy Class 1: Space, Time, and other Wibbly-Wobbly Things | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Wed Sep 7 16:32:42 GMT 2011 (506 Views) | |
| Tímea Kádár | Wed Sep 7 16:32:42 GMT 2011 Post #1 |
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look'd up in perfect silence at the stars
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The astronomy classroom didn't look terribly different from when Tímea had walked into her first class all those years ago. The telescopes, as she'd complained about before, were obsolete refractors, and no amount of magic could help their creakiness. The students were seated at long tables, and the domed ceiling was marked with star charts. She sat at a desk at the front of the room, thinking to herself, gaze fixed firmly at a spot on the back wall. Her robes gave a heavy swish as she stood and paced the front of the room. She looked out over the classroom and frowned. It pleased her that there were mostly Purebloods in the classroom. So many of them were so surprised by how poorly they grasped the intricacies of mathematics and science, and how irrelevant their talents were to the quiet ticking of the universe. "Assume," she began, her voice clear, her syllables fast and clipped, "that the universe is infinitely large and infinitely old." She directed her wand to write those premises on the board. "Why can that not be true?" |
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| Aeryn Lilyth | Thu Sep 8 2:07:59 GMT 2011 Post #2 |
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Aeryn checked her watch and sighed - it was time for Astronomy. Astronomy was one of her least favourite lessons, because it almost never involved wands, and almost always involved thinking and books. Also, Professor Kadar was strict, and a bit scary, so she couldn't even get away with joke answers and messing around to make her time in that classroom more bearable. Not that she didn't try it anyway. She left Gryffindor tower, and had soon reached the classroom in the Astronomy tower. She took a seat at the back, looking around the half-filled room for some familiar faces. The room filled up pretty quickly, and Professor Kadar began the lesson. Exactly on time, as always. Approximately three seconds in, and Aeryn was already stumped. She had no idea why the universe couldn't be old and large. Her eyes darted around the classroom, begging some know-it-all Ravenclaw to pipe up with the answer before the Professor began picking on students. The Gryffindor rarely fared well when this was the case. |
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| Zooey Witte | Tue Sep 13 14:43:47 GMT 2011 Post #3 |
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One of the classes offered at Hogwarts that Zooey always enjoyed was Astronomy. While Professor Kadar was a bit intimidating when it came to the subject, Zooey could not help but be dazzled by the knowledge of the stars and the universe. She also thought it was wonderfully unusual to have a regular class in the dark of night in the highest towers of Hogwarts. Close to her dormitory, Zooey was never in too big of a rush to arrive to the classroom as early as she did for her other classes. With her supplies in her bag and her black school robe tied around her to keep her warm in the chilly night of the Scottish highlands, Zooey pushed open the door to enter the classroom. Seeing the familiar red head, Aeryn, a smile formed on Zooey's lips. Deciding to sit beside her good friend, she took out a piece of parchment, quill, and her ink bottle. “Hey,” she said with a tired smile before looking toward the door when Professor Kadar came into the room. The place was now filled with many students, some exhausted already from a long day back into the academic routine. Zooey dated and titled her notes, eager to learn about the wonders of the universe. Stars, constellations, planet alignments, and strange wonders were even more magical at Hogwarts than when she would stargaze in the fields of her Muggle home. When Professor Kadar posed a question to the entire class, Zooey watched with wide blue eyes as most ducked their heads or looked away from their Astronomy professor, hoping to avoid eye contact. Zooey knew such tactics were futile, especially to some of the strict faculty of Hogwarts. Raising her hand up into the air, Zooey looked at the professor. “Professor, the universe is infinitely expanding. Stars die and are born every day. While planet Earth has been around for billions of years and can be considered old, there are planets and solar systems far older than ours, and there are new ones forming every day. Time is relative.” |
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| Tímea Kádár | Tue Sep 13 15:05:44 GMT 2011 Post #4 |
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look'd up in perfect silence at the stars
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"Still an active subject of research, irrelevant, irrelevant, might not be true, unobservable, and..." Tímea looked firmly at Zooey with narrowed eyes. "Muggleborn, yes? I assume so because you misquote the theory of relativity like every other Muggle. Not as if the rest of you lot are any better," she said, waving her wand at the assembled students peevishly. "How am I supposed to get you lot questioning your assumptions about the universe if you won't ask any questions?" "Miss Witte, the main problem with your argument, factual inaccuracies beside, is that it's coming from specific knowledge you've brought into this class. I'd assume from public television, probably your local library as well? It's good that you have specific knowledge, but I want you to take these two axioms-" she gestured towards the lines on the board- "and combine them with things you know must be true. Things you have directly observed. Allow me to rephrase this." "Consider our universe, infinite in both space and time. Consider that in an infinite universe, there will eventually be a luminous object in any direction you look, and if the universe has infinite extent, there will be an infinite number of objects on any particular line of sight. There is a fact that I guarantee you know about the world that is stunningly inconsistent with this conjecture, one that is so obvious that you probably don't think of it as something you know." She closed her eyes and pointed her wand upwards. The night-sky ceiling flashed and blazed, filling the room with blinding light. "The night sky," Tímea said as the light faded, opening her eyes to a room of dazzled students, "is dark." |
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| Nathaniel Alexander | Tue Sep 13 15:52:56 GMT 2011 Post #5 |
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Silver eyes watched the Ravenclaw get the question wrong with amusement, glad that he had not put his own hand up to answer the question. His response would probably have been similar to hers, and he had no intention of looking like an idiot in the first class. He glanced down at the reams of parchment he’d brought to the class – notes taken over the summer, having raided the ancestral library for any books even the slightest bit related to the subjects he was taking – and sighed, hoping wistfully that at least some of it would be useful. Quill out, poised to start writing as soon as the professor mentioned anything that might be relevant in the exams, his eyes shut quickly after the entire room lit up. Spots danced in front of his eyes when he finally opened them again and he grimaced, hoping that this woman wouldn’t resort to such showmanship in every lesson. He was here to learn, not to watch some petty magic tricks. He really hoped that she knew what she was teaching. But wait. Something flickered in his mind and he shuffled through the assorted sheets of parchment on his desk, smiling triumphantly when he discovered the notes he was looking for. He had read about it before – minus the flashy effects – and had even bothered to briefly describe the problem. He might as well see if he’d been correct, hopefully endearing himself to the professor and picking up a few bonus points. “Professor.” He half raised his hand in an attempt at politeness, though didn’t wait for her approval before continuing. “Is that Olber’s paradox?” Edited by Nathaniel Alexander, Tue Sep 13 15:56:38 GMT 2011.
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| Aeryn Lilyth | Wed Sep 14 5:58:48 GMT 2011 Post #6 |
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When Aeryn had wished for a know-it-all Ravenclaw to answer the question, she had not wanted it to be Zooey. Professor Kadar was stern and intelligent, far moreso than the students, and she had a particular way of showing it. Aeryn had seen plenty of students confidently answer questions in Astronomy, only to see them shot down. It was one of the reasons she tended to keep her mouth shut. She shot Zooey a sympathetic look, hoping her friend wasn't too taken aback by the professor's viscous attack. All of a sudden, the room was dark, and although it was daytime, and the night's sky was displayed across the ceiling. The professor was saying something that made no sense to the proud Gryffindor, but the stars sure were pretty. From the other side of the room, Aeryn saw a hand shoot up. It belonged to Nathaniel, a Slytherin in seventh year. He spoke in his usual manner, polite, but with a tone of authority and a matter-of-factness, despite who he was speaking to. Aer rolled her eyes; it was going to be one of those classes - the ones that made her feel like an idiot. |
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| Zooey Witte | Wed Sep 14 8:37:17 GMT 2011 Post #7 |
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With a disheartened frown, Zooey shrank in her seat at Professor Kadar's response to her answer. And being reminded of her Muggle background as the source of her her inaccuracy made her shrink further. But despite being cruelly displayed as the guinea pig of today's lesson, Zooey was some what relieved that their intelligent Professor acknowledged it was good for her to have some knowledge on the subject. That little bit of information made her feel tremendously better. She turned her attention briefly to Aeryn and smiled weakly back to her good friend. If she was going to do well in Astronomy, she needed to be able to take every response with criticism. She would just spend a day in the library and find as many books on Astronomy as possible. Perhaps she could even ask Professor Kadar for any suggestions on books worthy of further reading. Her eyes closed when the classroom was suddenly filled with a bright light. Hearing the groans of several students from the sudden display, she opened up her eyes and watched as the last remnants of the dazzling white light vanished to reveal the night sky before them, blazing with mystery and wonder. Zooey glanced over at Nathaniel, the captain of the Slytherin Quidditch team, as he raised an important question to the Professor. Zooey had heard of Olbers' paradox, but she had never quite understood it. It was certainly different than the other theories circulating around the muggle world, and most of those people were still questioning the whole concept of creationism as the reason for the beginning of the universe. She had to admit, this class was going to be challenging, even for her. Zooey however, scribbled on her piece of parchment with everything they were discussing and making notes of things to look up in the library as soon as she could. |
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| Tímea Kádár | Fri Oct 21 11:22:52 GMT 2011 Post #8 |
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look'd up in perfect silence at the stars
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"Oh good, we can speak when know the name of things yet not understand their significance in the slightest," Tímea scowled. "You are correct. 5 points from Slytherin." "We are not hear to learn mere facts, to memorize the names of the constellations, to count the stars in the sky." She picked up her pointer and rapped it against the side of her shoe while she paced back to the blackboard. "I do not expect you to come to this class understanding astronomy. I am a professor. It is my job to teach you that. I do expect you to come into this class prepared to learn, willing to ask questions, and unafraid to speak in class when you don't already know all the answers. To that end, 5 points to Ravenclaw." "There will be weekly homework. Practicals will occur as weather permits. There will be a final project, which you will present during the final exam period. My office hours are Tuesday through Thursday from 2 to 4 pm, I will be available to clarify topics covered in class and help with homework. Any questions before we continue?" |
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| Zooey Witte | Thu Nov 3 9:24:04 GMT 2011 Post #9 |
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Zooey could not stop the small smile that formed on her lips when Nathaniel cost his House five points. Though it was going to be a tough class, it seemed that their professor did not appreciate students speaking up about things they had memorized from different texts they may have read. This was going to be a bit troublesome for Zooey, who was extremely used to reading and spouting out facts she had learned in books. It seemed Professor Kadar wanted them to find and use a different kind of research, one that she was not familiar with. Being awarded the additional five points was a shock to the innocent Ravenclaw. She perked up slightly in her seat and her mouth opened slightly in awe. She had said the wrong answer, but had been rewarded five points? How peculiar! Most professors awarded points for correct answers, but it seemed Professor Kadar had a very different method of teaching. Perhaps it was because Zooey had taken a chance when no one else had. She wrote down Professor Kadar's office hours on the piece of parchment on her desk. Zooey knew she was going to utilize those office hours whenever she could. Astronomy was going to be one of her most difficult classes this year. She did not have any questions, but she looked around the room of students to see if anyone raised their hand. |
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