Astronomy Class
"I don't understand why we have to go to class this late," groused a sour Neville Longbottom.
"Really, Neville," Hermione retorted, "how else are you going to study the stars and constellations?"
"They could always charm the ceiling in the Great Hall to show the night sky," Harry offered. He didn't mind the long walk up the astronomy tower. It helped keep him in shape.
Hermione considered that. "That's true. I guess we could always have classes in the day showing the nighttime sky. I wonder why they don't do that."
"Oh, that's easy," Harry supplied. "The ceiling is set to show the daytime sky, even at night. The only way they could do that was to charm the whole section to continuously stay ahead of the sun as it made its way around the world. So if we were to look at the nighttime sky during the day, we'd be looking at the stars from the other side of the world, possibly still in the Northern hemisphere. I'm not sure if it would be south of the equator or not. I guess it could. It's magic after all."
"So the answer is?" prompted a sneering Neville.
"They don't want to show you any constellations you won't see above your head while you're here," Harry answered.
Wheeze, pant, pant. "But why so late?" Neville complained. Again. "And why aren't you out of breath, Reggie?"
"It's Ron."
"Whatever."
"I do exercise, you know."
"I don't consider exercising your mouth to be true exercise, Reggie," Harry smirked.
"It's Ron."
"You sure?"
"It's been my name for my entire life," replied an angry redhead.
"Well, as long as you're sure. By the way, eating isn't an exercise."
"Have you watched him eat, Harry?" Parvati put in.
"I guess I could be wrong on that," Harry replied to a steaming Ron.
"I play Quidditch you know!" he said hotly.
"Really? What position? Team food taster?"
"Harry, that was rude," interjected Hermione, obviously trying to keep the peace.
"Rude but funny," Harry grinned.
"That's for sure," Lavender said.
"Still, I think you should apologize. This is our first week after all."
"Okay, Hermione. I'll apologize. My comments were out of line, Mr. Weasley. Since it's obvious you shovel your food into your mouth, there's no way you could be a team taster. I'm sure you fill another niche in Quidditch."
Ron wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer but was still a shade sharper than Crabbe or Goyle. Still, he didn't catch the entire reference. "Uh, okay. But make sure it doesn't happen again. Or else. Right Neville?"
"Whatever you say, Reggie."
"It's Ron."
"Whatever."
"You guys know it's Ron, right?" he asked Seamus and Dean.
"Who?"
"So, Harry, what can you tell us about this class?" Parvati asked.
"Yeah, Mr. Apprentice," Lavender put in, "what are we going to have to do?"
"Well, I'd say we're going to look at the stars and locate constellations, and look at planets, and then try to understand the significance of why Jupiter and Mars can look bright some nights and other nights they are dim. Not to mention we might have to investigate the sun's plasma heading towards Earth and the magnetic shield around the planet. This might also lead into some potential for cosmic force lines."
"You're just making that up," said a frowning Hermione. Dean, Seamus, and Reg… er… Ron were also listening in. Neville was a few steps behind, catching his breath, not being used to climbing stair after miserable stair. It was worse than an exercise class his mum had wanted to put him in years ago.
"Why do you say that?" replied Harry.
"I've read the course description and it only mentioned star gazing and constellations. Plus some side work for extra credit. Nothing in there for any sort of plasma magnetic shield thingies. Or cosmic force lines."
"Did you read about any of our later years course material? Keep in mind that muggles only have to take a class like this for maybe one term out of their entire school career. Think about it. What do we have to cover that is going to take years? And for that matter, Parvati, Lavender, think about how this class leads to being a seer. It all interrelates."
"But cosmic force lines? There's no such thing."
"So you haven't seen them yet? You know for sure they don't exist because you haven't seen them?"
"Of course," rebuffed an irritated Hermione.
"Have you seen a dragon?"
"Same thing?" she asked, suddenly understanding.
"Maybe. Parvati, have you heard of force lines?"
"No."
"So they don't exist?" Harry prompted.
"Um, I don't know. You seem to think so, so I think there's a good shot they do exist."
"Maybe we should ask the teacher then. Longbottom? You coming or you just going to puke on the steps down there?"
"Shut it, Potter!"
As it turned out, Professor Aurora Sinistra didn't know about force lines either, and she assigned researching it as a subject for her apprentice only as it wouldn't have been fair to the others since they knew even less than she did and Harry had at least a glimmer of understanding of what astronomy actually was and how it related to some of the other arts taught at Hogwarts. Harry didn't mind the extra assignment: it gave him unrestricted access to the astronomy tower whenever he wanted.
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