Alright so now they had to make some planets? That seemed cool. He heard Marigold's comments about the planets and thinking it was soo cool to do it. He smirked and chuckled at it. Now he needed to get more ingredients. He got up from his seat and got the foliage. He selected some from the box. Then he had to pick a small stone. He got the coolest stone, well what he thought was cool.

He got the bluest rock. He thought that was awesome. It even had a tint of orange inside it. It looked like a planet. Once he got the rock, he went back to his seat to put it down.

Marigold was HAPPPPPPPPPPPPPYYYY because WHEEEE planets. She had been running through names that had to do with planets for the past two minutes, and she was still saying them aloud as she scooped out her two scoops of iron and put them in her mortar - by which this time she had named Morty.

"One scoop - Venus maybe? - into Morty. OOH, maybe fly trap!!! Like a venus fly trap! Nah... another scoop... Mother Earth?" She looked around to see if anyone thought she was crazy with these statements, but honestly didn't care much. She WAS crazy, after all.

And then she was supposed to grind everything. She had a bit of trouble with the plant, but eventually that was worked out. The pebble was SUPER hard to grind, actually. Meh.

It was time for the planets. Well, planet since they were only going to create one today. With a yawn, Beverly got up and went to retrieve the things she'd be needing. Taking a flower and grass clippings, as well as a stone, she stiffly made her way back to her desk. Was it just her or did her bones feel heavier? Maybe she was just tired. Yeah. Had to be it.

The third year blinked at the items she'd gotten. What...was she supposed to do with these? For a moment there she thought she was either in Herbology or Potions. No, no. She was still in Astronomy.

Looking down at her notes - in which she had written down the instructions - Beverly remembered what she was supposed to be doing. Right. Creating a planet. Crushing stuff. Placing the items she'd gotten and two scoops of iron into the mortar, she began to crush them.

Onto the next step. Nigel was almost done making his first planet. This will get tedious fast if he had to the the same exact thing seven- eight more times. Depending on how many planets and stuff Flamsteed wants them to do. Too bad there was not a spell just to make a solar system appear in the palm of your hand. Now that would be cool.

Nigel jabbed his hand at the grind-ed materials and cast "Fingere Elementi". Now following what Flamsteed said he tossed the forming planet into the box and closed the lid.

Yep lock tight. Nigel watched the forming planet to see what it was doing. It was kind of going in reverse and all over the place.

Weird.

Okay. Now to actually make his first planet! Adi grabbed his wand. "Fingere Elementi!'' JAB! Woops. Maybe that was too an eager of a jab for Adi poked the mortar with the wand. Hehe.This boy needed to calm down. Now let's try this again. ''Fingere Elementi!'' Jab! He peered into the mortar to observe.

The three ingredients were moving. They were ALIVE! Just kidding. They seemed alive to the boy but he knew they were not. He watched as they formed into a ball that seemed to be a bit smaller than the sun. Adi gently picked up his mini planet and placed it into the box with the sun then closed the lid. He hopped onto the stool again to write down the steps for planet making and to watch the others.

Once Lux was sure that she had ground the materials up enough, she moved onto the next step, which fortunately involved the exact same spell she had used to create her sun. Envisioning the planet she wanted to create in her head, she jabbed her wand at the powder, and said, "Fingere Elementi." Tossing the forming planet into the box, she quickly sealed it tightly before looking inside to see what it was doing. Her planet was making some jagged movements, and was definitely not larger than she sun she had made. So far so good then.

BEAM.

Lux had made a sun AND a planet, and it made her feel totally awesome!

Tessa would have been bouncing if her joints would have allowed her. She tried one or two and the result was a stabbing pain in her ankles, knees and lower back. So, no bouncing... for now. However, that didn't mean she wasn't bouncing on the inside. She looked proudly down at her little sun and wrote down notes of the order things should be done. She was so quickly forgetting things nowadays.

Once she was finished her notes, she walked up to the front of the classroom to get her materials. However, as she did, an idea occurred to her.

"Professor?" she asked, raising her hand, despite the fact that she was standing there. However, she figured it would be more polite to raise her hand instead of just speaking. "Are we allowed to make more than one planet- if time allows?" she asked, her smile showing her excitement. After all, how cool would it be to make more than one? A whole solar system in her box!!

Well, until he answered, she would focus on making her first planet- that would determine whether she was even able to make one. If she couldn't make on, she couldn't make more than one. Simple logic. Anyway, materials...

She looked over the foliage in the box, gently biting her lip as her eyes moved over the assortment of things in the box. Finally, she settled on some of the grass clippings. It reminded her of the Quidditch pitch haha, which is where she had spent most of her life. ONce that was selected, she moved on to the next box. Now, a big question- which stone? She picked up a few, handling them before finally settling on a average sized grey stone.

Tessa placed those on her work space and then brought a container over to carefully measure two scoops of iron into. Time to make a planet!

Tobias put the stone in the mortar and shredded his two leaves before dropping them in there too, so they fit inside better. He needed to sort of squint at the containers until he realised which one had the iron in it, but eventually two scoops of that went in too.

Now for the difficult part. Toby was not strong, not really, and this part required some brute force. Crushing ROCKS wasn't exactly easy.

First, Tobias tried the gradual method, carefully scraping at the stone, carefully pressing and rotating the pestle, but it wasn't having it. Maybe, if he had a few days to do this, it would work, but that wasn't the case.

Deciding just to go for it, Tobias raised his pestle and brought it down on the stone in the mortar. At first he knew there wasn't enough force behind it, but eventually he whacked his pestle down hard enough a few times to break up the stone.

And then he got to work grinding everything up, trying to get it into fine powder, like Professor Flamsteed had mentioned.

Now on to the next task. Once she had everything assembled at her work space, Tessa cleaned out the mortar and pestle- after all, there could be some remnants of the sun that would mess with her beautiful planet.

"Okay... where are my materials...?" she asked, looking around. What was she looking for again? Something to do with... she looked at her little sun and smiled. It was so pretty- but lonely. It needed something. Oh, a planet, that's right.

She looked down at her notes, putting a check mark next to what she had already done. HOpefully she wouldn't start forgetting all of that too. But, just in case...

Tessa broke up the grass a little bit more and put it into the mortar with the iron. However, she gave the pebble an eye. The stone wasn't going to be so easy to crush- especially with her now-achy wrists and joints. "May as well get started," she murmured to herself. Slowly she began grinding the stone with the iron and grass, trying not to wince.

Now he needed to get the iron. He grabbed two scoops of iron and added to his mortar. Now he needed to add them all together. But first he needed to clean his mortar. He said the spell, "Scourgify!" and then it was all pristine clean. Now he put in the foliage, the cool rock he found. He was gonna hate to have to crush it up.

He added the two scoops of iron. One...two...and then he needed to crush it. He began crushing it in his mortar. He crunched...crunched....crunched....crunched till it turned into a powder. Once it was into a powder, he needed to preform the spell which he will do next.

Finally... FINALLY... the rock had been ground up. Tessa sat back for a moment to admire her work, somewhat surprised at how tired she was. It had taken some time to grind that stubborn stone.

BUT SHE HAD DONE IT!

Fueled by her success, she returned to her workstation, smiling down at the mortar, where the contents to her planet lay. Okay next was...

Blank.

Grumbling, she looked back at her notes and nodded at what she saw. Simple spell, right? She went back over to the materials and picked up her wand. "Fingere Elementi," she cast, jabbing her wand at the materials. They swirled up, like the materials of the sun had, but there wasn't a blinding flash. It made a POP and then a small green planet had formed.

"Hello beautiful!" she said, smiling down at it. She gently picked it up and placed it into the little box with the sun, quickly closing the lid. Now, to watch and see if it did anything.

Time to make a planet. Seemed there were a few more steps to this than the sun but it still didn't seem to be too hard. Which was good. The less amount of effort she had to put into classes, the more she liked them.

So Penelope got up, feeling a tiny bit stiff, and went over to the box that had the foliage in it first. Two things from here? Hm...she picked up one of the grass clippings and a bit of a flower. Those seemed like good choices. And then she chose a random stone from the other box since they all seemed basically the same to her and then headed back to her seat.

They made a sun and now they got to make a planet too? Man, they were getting their own solar systems up in here! This class was exciting. It reminded her of Muggle chemistry. Except she supposed Muggle chemistry didn't involve wands or making planets. From what Caelen saw on television, it was a bunch of mixing chemicals to get reactions.

Okay, so she had to wack things with the pestal -large crushing thing- including a stone. How was she supposed to crush a STONE? She was only five feet tall. And she wasn't exactly a body builder. Though eating more here was helping her develop more muscle than bone. But still. A STONE? Was it even possible to crush those things? Well, it had to be because if it wasn't this whole activity would be pointless, but it was a freaking stone.

She grabbed the foliage, the stone and two scoops of iron and put the stone in the mortar first. Because that was going to be the hardest to crush. And she was afraid she'd over-crush the foliage or ruin the iron. After her potion fail, Caelen was a lot more careful.

But how was she supposed to work out the stone? She took one hard WACK. The pestal simply made a clinking noise against the stone. WACK. That hit was a little harder, but it still wasn't crushed. Okay, a few more ought to do it. She was a big girl, she was going to get this done. WACK. WACK. WACK. WACK. It was starting to break up, and she gently came off of her tiptoes. The redhead didn't need the extra leverage any more.

WACK. WACK. WACK. It was finally broken up after several hard hits and a few weaker ones. Her arms kind of hurt from using the mortar and pestal. The blue-eyed girl needed more upper body strength. She knew that. And she was out of breath a bit. Whatever. The thing was crushed and she wasn't dying or anything. She was still going to be able to go on.

Alexa was still completely mesmorized by the sun in her glass box when the Professor began talking again. Reluctantly, she pried her eyes away--though it was probably for the best, lots of people said staring at the sun was unhealthy or something of the sort--so she could listen and get the next step.

What about foliage...? And rocks? What? huh? Was she missing something here? Being lost was a definite sign that she needed more sugar to concentrate but alas the Professor didn't allow eating in this class. Funny how she could remember something so menial but couldn't remember her own bestfriend's name. This selective memory of hers was making all the wrong choices.

The Gryffindor waited a bit to let everyone else grab what they needed. Her presumably old bones wouldn't be able to take all the bumping and pushing. They ached just thinking about it.

Lex grabbed two of the foliages...okay that was a lie, she'd swiped a third one but that was for just in case and by the time she'd taken most everyone had already collected some. It wasn't like she'd be robbing anyone of any, sheeesh. She turned to the next box and swiped two small stones. Again. Just in case. You could never be too sure with these things. Mistakes happened with shaky hands!

That... was a fine powder, right? Toby still couldn't really see in great detail, but the crunching of the rocks had died down a little while ago, and it just felt a little bit like he was trying to grind down sand or something. He stuck his finger into the mortar to feel the texture too, and it definitely felt like quite a fine powder. Brill.

Picking up his wand, Tobias wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. Tough work, crushing. Gosh.

"Fingere Elementi!" Toby cast, jabbing his wand at the powdery rock and leaves dust thing. At first there was nothing, and Tobias was disappointed, but then something DID happen. A teeny tiny PLANET. Wow.

Toby grinned to himself, holding up the little ball in front of his eyes so he could get one proper good look at it before tossing it at the Toby!Sun. Good job. Awesome. Toby approved.

He looked down at his workstation. Well, time to say goodbye, little planet. The Hufflepuff put his hand on the lid, ready to shut the box afterwards. He smiled at his baby planet, tossed it in the box whispering "Viva la Pluto" before closing the lid on the glass box and pressing down to make sure it was properly closed.

Now he had something to look at, and Tobias stared at his planet (through his goggles, which were still on his face) which seemed to be trying so hard to orbit the Toby!Sun. D'awww. He could sit and watch this for hours, and maybe he would.

Mo's eyes went wide as the professor hobbled over to confront him, and he quickly grabbed up his goggles to make sure they weren't scratched or damaged in any way. Now that Airey was being all bossy about it. Merlin.

"I apologize, Professor. I can't see at all through them. I wear glasses now." And he couldn't wear the glasses AND the goggles, see? "I won't do it again."


In spite of getting chastised by the professor, Mo was excited about making his own little planet. They were going to make a whole collection of planets, right? Not just one, but a tiny Earth and Mars and Saturn with rings and Uranus and everything? And would they have to send it off into the atmosphere to die, like last time?

Mo scurried to the front of the room to collect his supplies as instructed, although he couldn't just grab random foliage and a stone. Merlin knew the Ravenclaw captain needed to be methodical about things, and so he had to look through all the bits and bobs in each collection before he finally chose a dense little pine branch from one pile and a smooth blue stone from the other.

BOTH went into his mortar, and then Mo glanced around gamely. Now what? "I didn't steal your wand," he informed Alice, now that he could see who it was that had been harassing him earlier. He was a gentleman, even in class, and didn't steal wands. "You should get your eyes checked."

Oh, so...they weren't done? Meh...false alarm on the end of class. Oh, well. At least it was a somewhat fun activity. Sophie was really enjoying piecing together the solar system, and...that little Sun floating above her was pretty cool. So...onto the next part.

She selected some foliage from the box and a small stone from the other box. Scooping up the iron, she wondered very briefly if she should have gone ahead and used the iron in the first part, too. Regardless, it was too late now. At least her Sun was floating and still doing fine.

So, what now? Ahh, yes. Back to the iron.

Marigold was wriggling with excitement. She had decided on the name Gaea, after the earth goddess, for her itty bitty new planet. Considering she actually succeeded in making a planet. She picked up her wand and got ready for the spell. Taking a deep breath, she jabbed her wand.

"Fingere Elementi," she said confidently. Closing her eyes, she crossed her fingers. One eye opened, then the other. Then she put the lid on the jar.

OHMYGOSHHAIGAEA.

Laura looked around to see if she could see a friend that was free but it seemed they were all busy which was a shame but well she would try and do this herself then. What could actually go wrong. She looked at the board and tried to make sure that she remembered the spell. She didn't want to get the wrong spell now did she.

"Finger Element." Laura squinted as she tried to look at the writing on the board why was her eyesight getting worse, she was worried about this and she didn't like it one bit. She was sure she was missing one of the letter of each of the spell but she couldn't see what it was she was missing.

A planet. A whole planet. Professor Flamsteed trusted them to create their own universe. And then Cutty would be the master of said universe and he'd make all the creatures living on it his slaves, but he'd sell it to them like endentured servitude so that way they couldn't band together and try to rebel. Keepin' ye olde ruler-of-all-creation hands clean, that was Cutty Mordaunt.


He could be heard wheezing excitedly as he made his way over to the box on the right to pick up a piece of foliage, and from the box on the left, a small stone. He then took up two scoops of the iron and brought it back to his work station, dumping it into the basin of the mortar. The goggles were still on and it was a dayum good thing too that, because Cutty, out of eagerness or amusement took one large WHAP! at the small stone sending a small cloud of dust into the air in front of him. From there on out he worked with a smaller, firmer crushing pattern. The sound of the pestle grinding against the mortar's interior surface was sometimes layered with scratchiness over which Cutty had decided to sing a mildly offensive song.

First the sun, no , a sun and now they were already moving on to making their own little planet? Kevin had that that they would make the planet in another lesson but he guessed he had been wrong in thinking that. He moved to the box with foliage and picked one out then he shuffled to the box next to it and grabbed a small stone.

He groaned and placed a hand on his lower back as it started to ache again. Was there some kind of object or potion where he wouldn't grow old? Not in this moment but forever. He would age but his body would forever be young and fit, like vampires! Although he wouldn't want to be one of them...eww... Realizing that he was getting lost in his own thoughts again, the Gryffindor shook his head and let out another groan as that hurt as well.

With a sigh, he scooped up two scoops of iron and then shuffled back to his workstation. What now? He squinted his eyes to the black board , trying to read what was on it and after a good full minute he finally deciphered the blurry mess. He lowered the goggles that was on the top of his gray haired head and put the things in to the mortar and crushed with the pestle he did not clean but whatever

Planet! Delilah grinned happily, all signs of her earlier tiredness gone. They're going to be creating a PLANET. How exciting was that? She noted down the steps that Airey had said before she stood up. See, this is exactly why she liked this class so much.

The girl skipped walked to where the box of foliage was. Hmm. She grabbed one.. two, actually. You know, just in case. She, then, proceeded to pick a stone from the box on the left before she made her back to her desk. The steps seemed simple enough. She could do this, yeah?

BOOOF! She smashed rock one. BOOF! Rock two had followed.

The crushing continued for some time until Abbi was pleased with her powdered ingredients. How that ever turned into a planet was quite interesting but SO cool because she could do it herself with magic. Like who didn't want to know how to do these things?

"Fingere Elementi!" She jabbed her wand but like before, wasn't lucky at her first attempt. Clearly she needed a bit more practicing before really knowing the spell well, well.

So to try at it again? Yep.

This time she focused just a bit more which was a BIG thing for Abbi cause who had time to be all focused? Aint nobody had time for that. "Fingere Elementi." She tried once more.

Would it work now?

Sarah's sun was done.. she watched as the professor get out the two boxes. Foilage.. that was another use for that.. instead of using them as fertiliser, one could make a planet out of it. Sarah opened up her notes and began to write down the instructions.

Okay, not to get some foilage. What kind of planet was she making? Earth.. she would make earth it is easier.. as there was green foliage and blue stones.
Sarah put her hand in one of the boxes and took out a leaf.. it must comes from an evergreen tree.

Now onto the stone. Sarah selected a smooth blue stone from the box. Now what next?

Charming his mortar and pestle to grind up his ingredients for him, the professor was about to perform the spell when his actions were interrupted by a student's voice.

Quote:

Originally Posted by UnicornDragonPatronus

"Professor?" she asked, raising her hand, despite the fact that she was standing there. However, she figured it would be more polite to raise her hand instead of just speaking. "Are we allowed to make more than one planet- if time allows?" she asked, her smile showing her excitement. After all, how cool would it be to make more than one? A whole solar system in her box!!

Professor? Oh, right, that was him! Hobbling over towards the Gryffindor, he rested both his hands on his cane and turned his good ear towards her to be sure he could hear her question correctly. More than one? Hmmm... "I would prefer if you made no more than two during the time remaining," he replied as he tapped his lower lip with his index finger. "If you find that you have finished your own, I would appreciate it if you could assist your classmates rather then get ahead on your own homework." He paused and gave a quick glance towards Miss Hyde (Harry174) who was pronouncing the spell incorrectly.

Did Miss Hedge catch the subtext of what he was saying? He hoped so. She was a bright young lady.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cassirin

Mo's eyes went wide as the professor hobbled over to confront him, and he quickly grabbed up his goggles to make sure they weren't scratched or damaged in any way. Now that Airey was being all bossy about it. Merlin.

"I apologize, Professor. I can't see at all through them. I wear glasses now." And he couldn't wear the glasses AND the goggles, see? "I won't do it again."

"Apology accepted, Mr. Branxton," he nodded towards the boy. At least the goggles hadn't shattered, right? "Do we need to fit you with a pair of prescription goggles then? Dangerous for you to do experimentation while your vision is not clear. A not-so-simple transfiguration spell should do the trick."

He glanced down at the wand in his hand and then over at the moving mortar and pestle. Er.....what was he going to do with all that again?

OOC: you still have approximately 24 hours to complete this activity

You CAN make two planets during this time if you want to, but it is NOT required. Also, and I am sorry for not making this clear in my previous instructions, your characters are not exactly replicating THE Solar System (ie, the Sun, Mercury, Mars, Venus, etc) but creating their own UNIQUE Solar System.

Just so that is all clear