Troposphere!

He could have done a facepalm there and there as well as have died from the sheer embarrassment. How silly of him to say trophos-something-sphere! But he got his point across because Airey knew what he was saying. Simon snorted when the Professor spoke about the Fantastic Five and making superhero comics. Hehe. Fantastic Four but Fantastic Five... He was NEVER going to forget that. Nope. Not one bit. He continued listening to Airey with wide blue eyes.

Then Simon's mouth dropped as Airey picked up the balloon. They had to pick it up? HIS WORST NIGHTMARE HAD ARRIVED? Could they put on surgical gloves and masks and do that just so the balloon didn't jump up and attack them? Was that even a legitimate question to ask the Professor? Meh, he didn't know. He bit his lip and then thought of what sort of device they would be using to accomplish the task.

Where they going to make their own weather balloons? But they didn't have any barometers or any of that high tech stuff that they needed to complete the job. In that moment, it hit him. OHHH. He knew what they were going to do. "Are we going to make our own barometers, Professor? If so, can we keep them after class?" he asked with a wide grin. Was that right? Because if so, he was definitely going to use his to check the weather outside. But would the balloon last that long in that weather? Who knew.