 Wizarding World RPG Admin
Minister for Magic
Alley Proprietor
    Romanian Longhorn
Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: The Paths
Posts: 39,890
Hogwarts RPG Name:
Briallen Ashburry-Hawthorne
Gryffindor First Year
Hogwarts RPG Name:
Nyle Harden
Hufflepuff Second Year
Hogwarts RPG Name:
Iris Harden
Ravenclaw Second Year
Hogwarts RPG Name:
Calliope Barrington
Slytherin First Year
Hogwarts RPG Name:
Diamond Marchbanks
Gryffindor Sixth Year
Ministry Department Head:
Charles Hollingberry
Minister's Office
Ministry Department Head:
Airey Flamsteed
Mysteries
Diagon Alley Proprietor:
Zachaël Lufkin
Owl Post
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|  astronomizzle ♧ gryffinDORK | & the rest is drag ♣ #badluckDerf
Glancing over his shoulder, the astronomer gave Pebbles a quick wink before eyeing the portkeys once again. It was fairly obvious which one he would be holding on to...but which to offer to his willing assistants... hmmm...
OH RIGHT! There were raised hands that he needed to call on.
SPOILER!!: Olly! Quote:
Originally Posted by littledhampir  Reading. Yeah Olly definitely had not done that. But honestly, had Flamsteed really expected him to? Maybe, but that wasn't the point. The point was that Oliver didn't know much about either the equator or the prime meridian. But at least he had heard those words before. He wasn't completely stupid.
But that didn't mean he knew the answer to the question, so he decided to not even try and let people who actually knew what they were talking about speak instead. Good plan. However, he was excited about the first thing Flamsteed had said. Oliver had paid attention to that because it was about the Field Trip, so of course it had to be very important and very exciting information. Like that their money was to be used however they wanted. Which meant he could get snacks with it. Nice.
But one of those raised hands did not belong to Mr. Thomas-Borzekowski. Airey could only hope the young man had read and if he had not, well, hopefully he would act like a sponge and soak up all the information his classmates would soon be sharing.
Hopefully.
What if NO ONE read?!
SPOILER!!: Chloe Quote:
Originally Posted by fanficfanatict Chloe was fiddling with her bum pack, trying to hide it as efficiently as she could but it just wouldn't go away. Meh. This was going to make her grumpy all day now, just you wait and see Professor Airey.
In spite of all of that, though, she had obviously done her reading. Even an ugly accessory wouldn't keep her from participating in class. She weakly put her hand up in the air and answered, "There was a convention, sir, in 1884 where twenty-two countries voted on how they would split up the hemisphere. That's what we consider the prime meridian now." Which she thought was super interesting because it meant that there wasn't really a science to picking it. Just a ton of people picking whatever they liked best.
Oh thank Merlin. A raised hand.
"Stellar, Ensign Newman," he saluted. "Known as the International Meridian Conference, it was attended by 41 delegates from 25 nations and was held at the request of United States President Chester A. Arthur. Although it should be noted that this was more of a milestone in the establishment of the prime meridian at Greenwich as not everyone adopted this decision immediately. For example, France abstained from the vote continued to use the Paris meridian for several decades."
SPOILER!!: Ava Quote:
Originally Posted by RandomRaven Her brown eyes spotted Davie and Blaise were being handcuffed together. Huh? What's going on between both of them? Ava was really curious and wanted to ask both or one of them, but too bad that Admiral Flamsteed already start babbling talking. And.... they also got muggle money? Digging around, the young lioness found a £5 inside her bum bag. Ooooooohhhh!!! Dima also sent her some muggle money so this was enough for her. And they would depart in 20 minutes. So she took a seat and listened to the admiral.
And she hadn't read about the royal observatory or any kind of that things before. Reading was just not her cup of tea, it was Teddy's job. Hehehe. But well, she's just gonna guess what those mean "Well, I think it's important because it locates in the middle? And... my twin brother did say about the mean time something but actually I have no idea about that." Or to be honest, she didn't understand Teddy's words.
Mean time?
"Greenwich Mean Time, yes," he nodded politely. That had been what the Gryffindor was hinting at, right?
SPOILER!!: Adi Quote:
Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19 Why did they have to sit? This Hufflepuff was too bouncy and ready to get going but he slid himself into a seat. Thirty minutes was a LOOOONG time to him but hopefully it would go by super fast, yeah? He tapped his fingers lightly on the side of his chair as he listened to Flamsteed inform them about his expectations for the trip as well as what was contained in the bum bags.
And then it was imagination time! Yep, Adi could picture everything about that orange. He could also picture eating it. Haha. Anyway... about this reading. Woops. He may have just canned the pages of his textbook. But he would try to wrack his brain to see what he came up with. He raised his hand after putting his words properly together. ''The meridian at 180 longitude is also known as the International Date Line. If you pass through the International Date Line, you can add a day if you're going east or subtract a day if you're going west.'' That was an important fact. But wait... was it the opposite directions? Had he gotten the east and west mixed up? Or maybe it was the adding and subtracting part? Eh, Flamsteed could correct him if he did.
Uuuuuuuuuuuuh, Captain Rehman?
While spot on, mostly, the professor was a little perplexed as to why the Hufflepuff was jumping to the opposite side of the globe. "And the prime meridian helps establish the International Date Line."
Was that the connection the seventh year had meant to point out? It was not like him to entirely miss the point of a question.
More teenage angst?
Check it at the door, please.
SPOILER!!: Hady Quote:
Originally Posted by SpiritWolfe Malfoy They still had thirty minutes to go before they could portkey out of here?!
Hady groaned inwardly as she walked to her desk and sunk down onto her chair. Running her fingers through her hair she glanced around checking out everyone that was gathering around. She was ready to go and getting fidgety already, her foot tapping lightly on the floor.
Words were being said and questions asked making the fourth year turn her attention towards her Professor. Yes she'd ready from the textbook the night before. She wasn't going to answer though letting her mates do that until she heard her 'big' brothers answer and sent Adi a grin as she raised her hand. "I'm going with what Adi had said only it's you add a day if you're going west and you subtract a day if you're east." Yeah, sorry Adi.
And he opened his mouth to correct the Hufflepuff, clearly suffering from teenage angst, on the flip flop of directions, but Miss Lynch beat him to it.
"Precisely," he nodded.
Although why was she also talking about something 180 degrees away from what he had asked.
CURSE YOU TEENAGE ANGST!
SPOILER!!: Janelle Quote:
Originally Posted by Daydreamer11 Janelle's excitement for the field trip had not diminished. As Admiral Flamsteed began to talk about the trip, her hype level only increased. Did they really have to talk and answer questions? Couldn't they just get the show on the road? Apparantly not. Since the only way to get going would be to finish their discussion, Janelle raised her hand to answer the professor's question.
" One reason that the prime meridian was important was because once it was created, the earth could be divided into different time zones. You could always know what time it was anywhere in the world." There now, question answered. Could the field trip start now........please?"
Airey nodded his head, but caught himself on something. A choice of words that one should be cautious about when speaking with astronomy colleagues. "An excellent point," he nodded. "Although established may be the preferred word over created. There is an international agreement to the prime meridian's location, but prior to this there were many maps and charts with longitude based on the meridian passing through their capital city. But a very good point indeed."
SPOILER!!: Paulina Quote:
Originally Posted by Squishy After handing over her permission slip, Paulina made sure to grab one of the bum bags. She was rather excited for the field trip because she hadn't really gone on any before. Hopefully she would have fun.
She didn't understand why they had to sit down until Professor Flamsteed explained that they wouldn't be leaving for another 30 minutes. That wasn't too bad. Curiously she listened as the rules were explained. Checking her bum bag she saw that she wasn't missing anything that was needed. Awesome.
She was all set.
Seconding what Adi said about the prime meridian, Paulina nodded. There was nothing else that she had to add because he had said it perfectly.
Airey nodded his head at the seventh year in appreciation for her attentive listening.
AND LOOK AT THAT! TEENAGE ANGST STRIKING AGAIN!
SPOILER!!: Angel Quote:
Originally Posted by Harry174 Angel looked at the Professor, was that a yes she could use him as a partner or was he confused with her question she was confused. Angel raised her hand when the Professor asked the question. "Professor its goes through the UK right, like I meant it right on the line." Angel wasn't sure how it worked but she thought she'd guess.
"It does indeed," he nodded. "And naturally it is not the only country it passes through. The prime meridian also passes through France, Spain, Algeria, Mali, Burkina, Faso, Tongo, Ghana. The only landmass crossed by the meridian in the Southern Hemisphere is Antarctica."
Sounded like an EXCELLENT OWL and NEWT question in the making, no?
SPOILER!!: Davie Quote:
Originally Posted by BanaBatGirl Davie had definitely done the reading. He now knew who Professor Airy Flamsteed was named for. Had anyone ever pointed that out to the man? That his namesakes were Astronomers Royal? Surely he knew that. The Ravenclaw didn't like being captain obvious, and plus he was still pretty sulky that one of his favorite professors thought he was a bad kid who deserved detention with a bully, so Davie wasn't going to go spouting off unnecessary information now.
But he was going to answer this question. Because he had read. And he was smart. And the person he was handcuffed was NOT. Davie raised his left hand, his free hand, to answer.
"Before we had Standard Time, and before everyone could afford watches and clocks, we used to drop a bright red Time Ball at 13.00 so that ships out on the Thames and commoners of London could see what time it was." And so they could stop referencing bloody old sundials, was the gist Davie had gotten. "Interestingly enough, that ball still rises on top of the Flamsteed House today when it's not too windy. And that House is on top of the Prime Meridian. It was the original observatory." Okay, so he couldn't resist dropping one truth bomb today.
There was a glimmer of...something there just now in the first year's eyes...and the professor was not sure what to make of it exactly. BUT THERE WAS SOMETHING. A REALIZATION OF SOMETHING.
"A STELLAR point, thank you for that, Ensign Truebridge," he nodded with a big grin, tapping the tip of his nose and winking at the first year. "If you all look at your Observatory maps you will find I have circled this location. Weather permitting, which it should, you will be able to see this historic ball drop today as well."
SPOILER!!: Daxton Quote:
Originally Posted by Felixir Yes, yes, live long and prosper, all that stuff, whatever. Now could they go?
Daxton stood by impatiently, waiting for the declaration that it was time for them to set off for the Royal Observatory. The board said they would be leaving in half an hour, but half an hour starting from when? And would they be portkeying from this room, or outside the castle boundaries? And where exactly would they be arriving? What did it look like? And how would they be getting back? Would they portkey back to inside the castle? Daxton hoped not; that meant that anyone could get into the school, right?
All the questions flew around his head and filled him with more and more anxiety, and the waiting around was not helping to quell that. When Airey Flamsteed called everyone to attention, it was to discuss the trip even further instead of to actually do anything, and Daxton just got more and more antsy. He had of course done the reading - he had read the entire Astronomy textbook... more than once - but discussions were not his thing in the slightest. While everyone else spoke up, Daxton rifled through the ridiculous bum bag he had collected, sifting through the things provided and finally laying hands on the money. Normal money. Money he would not be using on this trip, but keeping for himself, hoarding away for a later date to eventually spend on something he really needed.
For now, however, the Ravenclaw held the five pound note tightly in his fist so nobody else could take it, and looked through the pamphlet. The more details he know about their destination, the less anxious about the trip he would be, and the more he would be able to appreciate it... maybe.
Airey simply bowed his head at the Ravenclaw as his blue eyes passed over him. There was no doubt in the professor's mind that the first year had read. Perhaps someday he would find it in him to participate in class discussion. But no need to rush that.
SPOILER!!: Blaise Quote:
Originally Posted by DaniDiNardo He didn't return the man's greeting, just went to take a seat with his....inmate and pretend like he was listening--which he was but the way he looked you could never tell.
Of course he did the reading, what else was he gonna do when he was cuffed to Four Eyes? With a loud huff, the boy listened to everything being offered. It struck him as odd that Adi would be talking about the dateline when the Professor asked about the Prime Meridian but maybe he was just confused. Bet if he'd been reading with David Stupid Face Truebridge attached to his hand, he'd be more keen to pay attention to what he was reading when he had.
Still quiet. He wasn't talking to Flamsteed. He didn't wanna say anything...'least not until Davie did because then...what if the Professor thought only HE did the reading of the two of them?? Nope nope nope nope nope. Right hand up in the air.
"The Prime Meridian's only arbitrary, it wasn't like they had proper calculations or anything going off of when they picked it. S'not like the Equator that got determined by an axis on the earth or something." Davie wasn't the only one how read, OKAY???
Look at that, this little social experiment was paying off already! Not that Airey believe Mr. Bellaire to be neglectful of his studies, but it was a rather informed answer compared to previous discussions.
Hmmm...perhaps establishing the two as homework buddies...hmmmmm....
"Excellent, Ensign Bellaire," he saluted towards the Gryffindor.
SPOILER!!: Zeke Quote:
Originally Posted by Hera Live long and prosper... yeah, that. Right.
Ahem.
Zeke took a seat upon Professor Flamsteed's instructions, returning the items from his bum bag inside and zipping it up again. He was still only holding it, because he was reluctant to WEAR it, but... it may not be avoidable for too long.
Nevertheless, ground rules were happening, and he understood. They were common sense, so, no drama there.
And then there was Prime Meridian stuff. Uhhhhh... right, that reading they were supposed to do. He didn't do it, so... no idea. Sorry, Prof.
Ah. The angst was strong with this one. Mr. Zeke was oozing with it this term.
Oozing.
SPOILER!!: Dot Quote:
Originally Posted by Cassirin Dot was NOT speaking to Flamsteed, because he had murdered fashion and because he didn't know that he wasn't being spoken to. Rudest of all the rudes was not to realize that someone was salty with you. She tossed her red hair at him when he started on about primates or something.
Dakest and Myers were here, and they hadn't murdered fashion. Dot took a step toward them both, and away from the big meanie murderer. What was he even talking... oh, she knew about this! "The time zones are often based around the pr... prime meridian acting as point zero for that too. Like you can translate any time zone into how it relates to the point zero, or Greenwich Mean Time. GMT." That sort of related.
Airey pointed at Miss Burton after the prefect spoke. Had the youngster been listening? Hopefully.
"Very good," he saluted.
SPOILER!!: Zander Quote:
Originally Posted by ArianaBlack And he was being tugged. By none other than Sophie Brown, of course. Though where was he being tugged towards this-- Oh. Er. "Hi, Sir..." the Gryffindor awkwardly nodded towards Professor Dakest. So they were definitely going in his portkey group? Yeah, Zander could connect the dots. Though uh, the Gryffindor still felt sorta awkward about that one disillusionment DADA lesson. Ahem. So going with Dakest would definitely prove to be interesting. Bet Sophie wanted it to be too.
He did, however, turn his head back towards Flamsteed as the astronomy Professor began addressing the class as a whole. Prime Meridian, huh?
WAIT. Before anyone goes around pointing accusatory fingers.
ZANDER ADAIR ACTUALLY DID DO THE READING, thank you very much.
Except, coming up with a unique answer was a lot of effort... And took a lot of energy too, and y'know, Zander Adair was trying to save all his energy on account of FIELD TRIP. So instead he chose to stay quiet. Instead he simply nodded along with what everyone else said. Yup. That's the one.
Ah, since he was looking at the Head Boy now...
Airey reached behind him and grabbed the lamp and handed it to the seventh year. "Thank you, Captain Adair," he winked as he moved on to find the next raised hand.
SPOILER!!: Norah Quote:
Originally Posted by Sararara He concurred? What did that even MEAN? Norah just grinned and nodded along to what Professor Flamsteed said instead of asking for clarification. That could wait for later. Maybe Sophie would know.
Ooooh ON the prime meridian! That would be an adventure in itself. Maybe they could have one foot in each hemisphere. Sebby would be so jealous. It'd almost be as cool as having one foot on either side of the equator, but a lot less hot. She'd done that reading too, uh huh. You could never be too prepared for field trip day. That sounded like something her mum would say. With a little shake of her head, she put a hand in the air. C'mon, Kittredge. FOCUS. "The prime meridian was established by a bloke called Sir George Airy--hey! That's almost the same as Airey. Is that where your first name comes from, Admiral?" And here she was, spending her whole entire life thinking Mr. Space Man's parents just really liked air.
Chuckling, Airey couldn't stop his ears from turning a bit pink at the question. But he did not answer, save for the wink he offered before moving on.
SPOILER!!: Caleb Quote:
Originally Posted by Lissy Longbottom Hehe. Bum bags. Hehehe. Caleb was TOTALLY a mature adult, what are you talking about? Caleb had never seen these things before except when looking at photos of muggles in the 1990's which seemed like forever ago, because it WAS, and they were just...not appealing. Convenient, yes. Fashionable? Absolutely not.
Oh, right, class stuff. Flamsteed had started and Caleb directed his attention to the class at hand, which despite being terrible for Caleb's wardrobe, actually sounded kind of fun. He raised his hand. "The Prime Meridian kind of establishes the starting point for time zones and whatnot. Which is important when you're trying to figure out when you might be able to see things like lunar eclipses and all that fun stuff. Other than that...it's pretty much a man made thing, and is more for our benefit and using latitude and longitude to find points on Earth," he explained.
Ears still an embarrassing shade of red, he nodded his head at the Slytherin prefect's words. "Very good," he smiled.
SPOILER!!: Henric Quote:
Originally Posted by Symphora Henric did read about the prime meridian...yes...he did...he just couldn't remember it. Okay...think..Henric..think.. He waited and listened to his classmates answers before raising his hand up so he could add more points,"Yes...I believed they are quite important because without it, we will find it difficult to determine its exact location by just the description alone, we need some sort of coordinates...somekind of universal language...or standardised system to pinpoint a place and timezone using its geographic grid lines."
"Stellar," Airey applauded. "A universal language to avoid confusion and wrong calculations of time. Excellent."
SPOILER!!: Sophie Quote:
Originally Posted by feeheeheeny Back when he was employed by NASA! "Wicked cool, Admiral." CUE A SALUTE. "Your life is so cool." Did he know? Because it absolutely was. She was so, so jealous.
Also, was everyone still appreciating how important the man standing before them was? He wasn't just some guy who got a teaching degree and started teaching these bunch of hooligans, he was A REALLY IMPORTANT MAN. ASTRONOMER ROYAL. NASA HERO. They were SO lucky to be taught by someone so well-renounced and respected in the scientific community, and Sophie Brown didn't take it for granted one bit.
Flammy wanted them to sit... so Soph gave both Dakest and Zander a LOOK that told them they all needed to sit TOGETHER, or at least that Dakest wasn't getting out of this and he couldn't escape them. So sit she did, and she griiiinned extra big at the mention of Dakest being a chaperone. HEHE. Too bad he got suckered into this, but if he went into it with the right attitude, he was gonna go have loads of fun with them, right? Learn new things? EMBRACE THE ABUNDANCE OF KNOWLEDGE THAT WOULD BE AT THEIR FINGERTIPS?
Of course Sophie did the reading, didn't she always? She'd actually first read up on the prime meridian awhile ago, so she knew quite a bit about it, but she elected to listen to what the others had to say first and potentially add onto what they had to say if they missed anything. But the more she listened, the more increasingly impressed she grew with her classmates. They knew an awful lot, didn't they? She couldn't think of a single thing of substance to add on, so instead of raising her hand, Soph just gave Flamsteed a chipper thumbs-up when his gaze passed over her, as he'd no doubt be looking for her to add something to the table.
Nope, nope. Just fine over here. Her classmates had it covered, but she was plenty attentive.
Aaaaaaand the Head Girl. Yes....
Walking back over to his desk, the Astronomy professor grabbed large armadillo bag and handed it to her.
"Thank you, Captain Brown."
Not a request. Order from the Admiral.
Same to you, Adair. He just forgot to think it earlier.
SPOILER!!: Candice Quote:
Originally Posted by Poolicious Candice saw Flamsteed gave her permission slip to Pebbles. OH! Look at it. He was using his pet rock as the paperweight. Pretty neat. Maybe that's why he kept the rock around. Back to more important topic. How to hide this hideous looking fanny pack? Should she put it to her bag? But she pretty sure that it wouldn't fit. So, the only option was she just have to deal with it. SIGH!
Huh? Thirty minutes? But she thought they gonna leave as soon as the last person arrived. Apparently she was wrong.
Flamsteed told them about some ground rules. No Magic. Duh! She knew that already. Then he was talking about stellar fruit platters before the first questioned happened. The important of prime meridian? Reading? No. She didn't do any reading before class. She didn't think its necessary. Oopsy!
Smiling towards the fifth year, Airey gave the room another look over and, seeing no further raised hands, moved on.
"Stellar, thank you all who shared. That is more than enough of a refresher on things to get us in the proper mood for our little excursion today," he nodded, grabbing the large plush smore and handing it to Sabel and the oversize sunglasses to Paul. He would be keeping the Star Trek ice tray, obviously. "Now, everyone strap your bum bags on and get ready. There are five portkeys at our disposal today, one with me, one with Admiral Dakest, one with Admiral Myers, one with Captain Brown, and one with Captain Adair. We will touch down in Greenwich Park hidden by some bushes and trees and will hike up the hill to the Observatory. So please, pick a portkey and hold on tight," he instructed, checking his sundial watch eagerly and then looking back to the class. "Quickly now! Warp speed."
OOC: Class will resume as soon as I have time to post after sleep. Hopefully approximately 12 hours from the time of this post. At that point, I will create a new thread for the Royal Observatory to go frolic about in
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