Professor Burbage was not at all surprised to see this young man's hand shoot straight up into the air after the picture had appeared.He had clearly shown from the beginning that he had a keen interested in rockets. Ooooooooh he reminder her very much of one of her grandchildren. Chuckling like a cornish pixie for a moment, she nodded her head at Mr. Wilde Odessa.

"Veeeeeeeeeery good."

This was said complete with a shower of gold glitter, of course.
"It is indeed, dear," she beamed at the Ravenclaw.

"Yes yes yeeeeeeeeeees," she sang, almost resembling an opera singer on the final yes.

Hmmmmmmmm....interesting. "Life on Uranus? Why, that poor poor man. No wonder I have never heard of him until now. Why, life on Uranus would siiiiiiiiimply be impossible. Well, not impossible...but highly unlikely. The planet iiiiiiiis one that has no solid surface and the pressures inside Uranus would siiiiiiimply crush life," she mused for a moment as she tapped her lower lip. "No matter, I simply muuuuuuust go to the library to find articles about this man. 2 points to you for teaching your professor something neeeeeeeew!"

Yes yes, Mr. Odessa Wilde - future studmuffin in the making.
Marion nodded to the young Ravenclaw as she continued her drinking efforts. Looked as though she was almost done. Excellent!

"Very good, although we will not be discussing missiles and space travel in class today," she said with a small wink. As for the second half of that. Oh ho ho ho.
Eyes drifting over to the Slytherin girl, Marion gave her an encouraging smile. The look on this girl's face was one that she had expected more of the students to have actually. She was surprised students knew so much! They were going to put her out of a job and she had only just started!
Or perhaps she could keep her job? Ho ho.

The young Ravenclaw got an encouraging smile as well.
Hogoddard? Hmmm? "It's Goddard, dear," she nodded towards the Slytherin girl. "And yes, but the word rocket would be a much more appropriate one rather than spaceship." Spaceships were more of a thing from muggle fantasy as far as the astronomer was concerned.

"And you believe correctly!"
Oh? Professor Burbage was rather surprised that this Hufflepuff had remained silent this time around. No matter. We all couldn't know everything! If only the elderly woman had had her glasses on instead of hanging around her neck she may have noticed what was written on the girl's parchment.

"EXCELLENT! Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimply excellent young man," she gushed over the Hufflepuff, showering him in golden sparkles as well. "Liquid-fuel rockets are a keeeeeeeeeey element in today's lesson."

Were they all putting the pieces together now? Hmmm?

"Very good, dear, very good!"
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH! How incredible the mind of a youngster was. Chuckling and covering her mouth with one hand as she passed the young man, she offered him a quick wink.

Oh, bless this little Ravenclaw as well. Only calling one of astronomy's great minds her husband a second time lost just a liiiiiiiiiiitle but of its charm. "If only my Henry were as blessed with knowledge," she laughed as she moved along.
"It iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis smashing, isn't it?!" the woman agreed as she patted this one on the head. Pat pat. "Do be sure to empty your bottle, dear. You will be needing that sooooooooon."
"Oh goodness gracious hEAvens! Are you alright dear?" Marion exclaimed as she pat the Gryffindor prefect on the back FIRMLY. One must WHACK the hiccups out of others, yes? Whack whack whack.

"Eeeeeeeeexcellent points, dear, very good. Propuuuuuuuuuuuuuuulsion is a key element in today's activity as well." Very key indeed. They all DID have their wands with them, yes?
Deep in thought perhaps? At least she was still working away on her soda. Soon darlings.... sooooooooon!
"Not...AAAAAAAAAAAAALL, dear?" she asked, eyebrow still arched in the girl's direction. Now loooooooooong they had been teaching? Hmmmm....this one was walking on thin ice. But moving along...

"Very good, dear."

This young Hufflepuff earned an encouraging smile from her as well.

Oh....

Well, the pieces of this puzzle were slowly falling in to place for the woman as she listened to the girl speak. Especially since the captain of the Enterprise rocket that went into space she knew of was NOT Captain Kirk. "Dear, I would much appreciate it if you would allow yourself to separate fantasy from reality," she said with a small smile and worried expression on her face as she moved on.

"The same goes for you as it does for Miss Hyde, dear." Poor children.

"Very good darling," she said with a smile as she eyed the girl's bottle. Orange soda, very good choice. It was one of her favorite muggle flavors as well.

This little Gryffindor earned a sturdy chuckle from the woman as well, but no further comment. Children could be sooooooooo precious with their thoughts sometimes. SOMEtimes.
A good attentive listener. Marion nodded in approval as she moved on to the next student.
"Oh, nothing figurative about this man's discoveries!" she chirped, winking at the young Gryffindor. Although her answer had cause Professor Burbage to giggle as well. Such clever and funny students this lesson!

"Oh, not the first rocket dear, the first liquid fueled rocket," she corrected gently. "The Chinese had been experimenting with rockets looooooong before Mr. Goddard came around. However, these rockets resembled fireworks more so than what we all think of as a rocket. In Greece, a chaaaarming man named Archytas of Tarentum is credited with creating the first crude rocket shaped like a bird that flew around the room."

"You got it in the end dear, very good."
"Excellent darling," she said with a smile.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH! Was this a charming coincidence?!

"I am afraid I do not dear," she beamed at the young Slytherin. "Your Uncle Sylvester must be quite the studmuffin though." Oh ho ho ho!

"Afraid not dear," she said with a small shake of her head. "Although he is a very talented man and wizard in his own right."
"Very good dear," she smiled. "It should be a lesson to us all that we must not take other's criticism to heart. Especially when it is in conflict with our ambitions." Good life lesson for all!

Another pensive Ravenclaw. Good good. Was she still drinking her soda? Hmmmm?
This little Gryffindor was busy taking notes. Very good.
"You maaaaaaaaaaaaaay, but I am afraid you will not have time to drink it all before we move on," she nodded. Although...now that she thought about it...something HAD slipped her mind. Oh well. Nothing a bit of magic couldn't fix! Ho ho ho. "You may take a bottle of anything that is left over once the lesson is dismissed, however."
Oh dear, this one DID seem a bit nervous. Perhaps Marion should invite the girl for a cup of tea sometime and get to know her? She did seem like a charming young dear.
Hmmmmm. She paused for a moment on this Hufflepuff as she looked the girl up and down with a pleasant expression on her face. "Darling, it is ruuuuuuuuude to try to make yourself seem unsure when it is clear you have a fact to state." Knowing the title of such a prestigious publication was nothing to be ashamed of knowing.
Busy finishing off her soda it seemed, this one. Hopefully she was also paying attention. Yep yep.
Hmmmmm....did this one seem to be a bit dependent on the young man she was sitting next to? It seemed as though the young woman, oh...Head Girl even, was constantly referring to his notes instead of her own. HMMMM. Or perhaps it was her imagination. Still, maybe she would need to rearrange seating arrangements for the next lesson. One should focus on one's own notes after all. It was best for learning. Comparing could happen after the lesson.
NO.Apology.For.Being.Late?!

The boy was lucky that the thought of rockets and their activity had her distracted or she may have taken points from him again for being ruuuuuuuuuuuuuude.
Wait....how old was this young man?

Blinking in shock for a few moments, Professor Burbage slowly approached the boy and his duck. "I suppose he iiiiiiiiiiis," she chimed, patting the duck on its head. "But dear, could you please put him away for now?" Her classroom was no place for stuffed animals no matter how studmuffiny they may be.

"And I appreciate your honesty, dear. Perfectly alright not to know the answer!"

"It IIIIIIIIIIS a pity how often that happens," she nodded sadly. Hopefully these students would be able to be fully appreciated and know that they were. She certainly appreciated them all!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mad Eye Touz

That was kind of objective, in Aspen's opinion. For all the Professor knew, Aspen had been hexed and had to file her teeth down every day. Wasn't it rude of HER to point it out? Or maybe Aspen was sharpening her teeth as part of a vampiric ritual? Or, the truth, which was she was messing with Elijah? It was perhaps wrong, but was it rude? This is what Aspen thought about while she sipped soda and continued to watch Elijah squirm.

...Burbage REALLY believed that? That West was a rocket?

Haha teehee senile old lady. Aspen thought about levitating her brother to make Burbage's dreams come TRUE, beliefs into REALITIES.

It was funny to her and she laughed to herself, but she didn't deprive her baby brother of soda. He could have all he wanted.

Or almost all of them.

Being eeeeeeeeelderly and all, Professor Burbage did not hear the small chit chat coming from the fanged Ravenclaw. But...was she making googly eyes at Mr. Wilde. Ooooooooooh young love! Hopefully she wasn't getting too distracted...

Perhaps she really should do that assigned seating for next lesson...HMMMMMMM...
"I suppose you doooooo have a point with the hair," she nodded. She gasped when the boy burped, but at least he apologized. "You are excused, son."

"It is, very good dear."
Another pensive Slytherin. Very good. Hopefully she would finish her soda soon.
Professor Burbage cleared her throat. She couldn't entirely tell if she was being made fun of or not. Hmmmm.

"Very goooooooooooood."
She nodded as she watched the young Ravenclaw take down some more notes. Good good.
"Very good dear," she said with an encouraging nod.

Attentive listening. Good good. Very good

My my my....students seemed to know so much more than she did at their age. "Very good dear."
More note taking. Good good gooooooooooood.
"It is indeed," she nodded. "Soon you too will become little builders."

Oops! Had she revealed too much? Ho ho ho ho.

"And you believe correctly, Mr. Escalaaaaaaaaante," she sang. Such a lovely name to say. Loooooooovely.

Professor Burbage admired the quiet listeners just as much as she did those that offered up answers. Just because one did not speak did not mean that they were a poor student. No no no. She herself had been rather silent in her school days. Well, on days she was feeling a little under the weather at least.
"Very good darling," she smiled. See, wasn't she muuuuuuuch more attentive and focused being in proper dress?

"EXCELLENT connection, my dear! Very good!" she beeeeeeeeamed at the Ravenclaw. Oh yes, very good indeed. "Mr. Goddard took special interest in Newton's Principia Mathematica and paid special attention to the details of Newton's Third Law of Motion." She gestured towards the board for everyone to take a quick peek once more.

Too bad they would not be venturing into space...today.

Always the attentive Gryffindor, very good son. Very good. How was the soda drinking coming along?
"I am sure Hogwarts could have benefited from a scientific genius such as him, but no, sadly he was never a Headmaster at Hogwarts." Wouldn't THAT have been siiiiiiiiiiimply marvelous though!?

"Very good dear," she smiled. Hmmm...was this one beginning to do the Potty Dance in her seat? Marion checked her watch again. Oh yes, it was getting to be about that time...

"Yes yes, just as Mr. Odessa said, the Rocket Man," she nodded. ROCKET being the key word there darlings.
Oh dear! "No need to be upset dear, it is perfectly alright and expected not to know all the answers," she said gently to the Ravenclaw.
Another attentive listener, which was always appreciated. Hopefully this young man was not discouraged like his housemate seemed to be. It was never her intention to make students feel saaaaaaaaad about astronomy!

Professor Burbage returned, to the front of the classroom having finishing walking around as each student spoke, and beeeeeeeeeeeeamed at the class. "Very good all of you!" And she really did mean ALL of them. "This studmuffin here is Robert Hutchings Goddard who is an American physicist and inventor who is credited with creating and building the world's first liquid-fueled rocket. Just as Miss Branxton said, he was a fan of Sir Isaac Newton and was especially interested in his Laws of Motion which helped him to create and successfully build the first liquid-fueled rocket." See the connection darlings? "You see dears, to make a rocket work properly is veeeeeeeeery dependent on these three Laws. Without a proper understanding of them, your rocket would never truuuuuuuuuuuly blast off."

Which would be an AWFUL shame.

She, of course, could have gone in to some rather lengthy calculations right now involving thrust and acceleration, but a basic foundation was more than enough for right now.

"As soooooooome of you may have guessed, today we WIIIIIIIIIIILL be building and setting off..." she paused for a moment. "BOTTLE ROCKETS! It is something I aaaaaaaaaaaaaalways wanted to do in my youth but just was never able to. Rather unfortunately really, so I doooo hope you do not mind my working along side you." But of coooooourse they didn't!

She moved behind her desk and waved her wand to remove a Disillusionment Charm she had placed on a large box. "In this box are the rest of the materials you will need to build your bottle rocket. Beeeeeeeeefore you get to doing so, because I see several of you already beginning to do the Potty Dance, please dooooooo take the time to use the rest room. Be sure to clean the inside of your bottle with a Scourgify. First years and those who do not know how to use the charm may wash out their bottle in the restroom."

She paused just long enough to set the box's contents out on the table. "I would like each of you to take a plastic bag, a piece of cardboard, and some dental floss." Which was mint flavored for those wondering. You should use the Severing Charm to cut things. Again, first years and those unsure of themselves should ask help from older students or myself."

She then turned to the board and gave her wand a firm flick. "Instructions for how to construct your rocket are on the board. You may of course add color and decoration if you wish. Just keep in mind that tooooooooo much of a good thing can be bad, darlings." She was just about to step aside when she recalled what she had remembered earlier. "Oh! I almost forgot." She pulled an EMPTY soda bottle out from under her desk and duplicated it with a spell until there were enough for each student. "You will also need one more bottle."

Oops. Hehehehe. Better that they just had to drink one full bottle of soda and not two, yes?

She beeeeeeeamed at the class once more. "I will be walking around and making my own bottle rocket if you have any questions or trouble." OOOOOOOOOOOOOH wasn't this exciting?! "Alright dears, time to become little rocket scientists! Get to it! Of you go!"

OOC: construction of your rocket should take AT LEAST 2 posts to complete for full participation point credit. Quality over quantity dears. Two well thought out posts can be better than many posts if you are creative and having fun! Feel free to interact with each other, but no injuries please. Professor Burbage will not like that very much. You will have at least 48 hours from the time of this post to complete this portion of the activity before we truly blast off. You may include a graphic of your completed rocket if you wish for possible extra credit, but it cannot be an image taken from the internet and MUST be either hand drawn or done in a graphics program.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact Professor Burbage by VM or PM. HAVE FUN!

Alyssa quickly made her way out of the classroom following the others to the bathroom, even though she didn't feel that she needed to go at the moment. 'Better safe than sorry.' she thought to herself.

When she returned, she quickly made her way back to her desk, before looking at the instructions that the Professor had written on the board. She couldn't believe that they were actually going to make a bottle rocket. Alyssa had heard about them and had even seen an old Muggle movie called "October Sky" which was based on a true story about Homer Hickam, a young boy who wanted to build rockets for the school Science Fair. Of course, they wouldn't be close to doing anything like he did, but Alyssa was actually excited that they would still be constructing a 'rocket'.

Picking up her quill, she started copying down the instructions on the board, just to make sure that she was following the steps as instructed.



Alyssa put down her quill and studied the instructions. First she needed to collect the materials she needed to make the bottle rocket. Walking up to where the Professor had laid out the materials she needed, Alyssa picked up a plastic bag, a piece of cardboard, some dental floss and another soda bottle. This time, one that was empty. Carrying her materials carefully, she returned to where she sat and placed them on her table.

First she needed to clean the soda bottle that she had drunk from. She placed that bottle and the empty one next to each other. She figured that she might as well clean the other one too even if it was empty. Unholstering her wand, she waved it first over one bottle and said, "SCOURGIFY'. She then repeated the same steps with the second bottle.

Once she made sure that both bottles were clean, she took one of the bottles and laid it flat on the table. Concentrating hard on the Severing Charm spell and what she wanted the spell to do, with a downward slashing motion of her wand, she said, "DIFFINDO". A green beam shot out from her wand and cut the bottle about 2/3 away from the top where the lid would have been. Holstering her wand, she picked up the bottom piece and began fitting it to the bottom of the second bottle.

She kept adjusting it this way and that. At first the cut piece wouldn't fit over the bottom but after squeezing the bottom half of one bottle and stretching the cut ends of the other, one end began to slide into the other. Alyssa kept pulling them apart and then fixing them together, until the ends started sliding off each other more easily.

'Okay that part's done. Now for the wings.' Alyssa thought to herself.

She looked at what she had written down and began scratching off what she had completed.

They were setting off ROCKETS? AWESOME!

Dora's hazel-green eyes perked up over the brim of her orange soda bottle, and she gave the professor her undivided attention. She kinda did really mind the woman working alongside her, she was OLD what if she messed up and forgot and took points from her or WORSE blew stuff up in their FACES. She didn't mind explosions so long as they didn't happen in her face.

She wasn't doing the potty dance.

She was TWELVE she didn't do that ever. But miiiight have been doing this tap tap tap taping thing with her left foot. Soooooda. She needed some help cleaning out her bottles as cleaning wasn't something she ever really learned how to do with her wand. Dora had interests that were in other areas of wandwork. Heh. Looking around the class, she let her eyes settle on the gryffindor prefect while she siiiiiiped the last of her orange soda and tapped tapped her foot.

Tap tap tap.

That girl was smart, right? And she had to know cleaning charms with all the cooking she did. Cutting too, but Dora was sure she could handle that one on her own.

"Hey.. Kurumi?" Pause. "Kurumi!"

Orr caught Prof. Burbage's eye as she gave her a smile. Orr was a little taken back because well it was if the Prof. had known exactly what she was thinking--from now on she would have to be careful with what she said and what she was thinking!

As the Prof. was talking about going to the loo, Orr started squirming a little in her chair-- that was a brilliant idea! I had better get to the loo quickly Orr thought to herself as she super-fast jotted down the instructions on the board.



She then quickly got up and run to the loo hoping to get to a stall before the herd of students started queuing up. Especially, the girls.

She was one of the first girls to go to the loo so she was finished quickly and hurried back towards her seat but not before going to Prof. Burbage and saying a quiet "Thank You" to her as she got a second bottle.

Taking the bottle from which she had drank- she pointed her wand at it and said "Scourgify!". She admired the cleanliness of her purple bottle before looking at the next instructions. 'Use the severing charm on the bottle to cut it in half'. She didn't know how to do that charm yet. She looked up from her desk and saw that many of the older students were already passed that stage at least.

Who could she ask? Maybe the Prof.? She put up her hand in order to try and get the Prof.'s attention. "Hmm...Prof. Burbage? Could you please help me with the severing charm? I don't know how to do it."

Dear Merlin. They were making rockets...Elliot was SO not looking forward to this...AT ALL! Gah. But she nonetheless squinted at the instructions...okay, great, she hadn't drank ANY of her soda...guess it was going down the sink! Ha! She grabbed the bottle and tucked her wand into her pocket on the inside of her robes and dashed off to the bathroom.

She came back, looking a bit annoyed about something, but it was most likely nothing. Elliot just always looked like that. Her bottle was completely empty, not a drop of soda left. YAY. Well, not really, because then that meant her rocket would work correctly...

And Elliot didn't want a mess.

It was bad enough there was tons of glitter coating the classroom at this moment, too. With a sigh, she took a glance back at the instructions on the board...OH SNAP! SHE HAD TO GET ANOTHER ONE! Ah! Elliot scowled and grabbed another bottle and made her way YET AGAIN to the bathroom..ugh!

She came back, once again with a perfectly clean bottle, and plopped down in her chair with a SIGH! Now...for the cutting process. She pulled out her wand and pointed it carefully at one of her bottles...she aimed the severing charm near the top, and cut the top off. There. Done. Check. Was she finished? HECK NO! Not even close.

Next...?

Make sure they fit? Okay? They did...duh. Jeeze...Elliot merely shook her head, praying that these rockets wouldn't make a mess....now to cut the wings...what shape did she want them to be? She glanced around the room...she definitely didn't want airplane type wings...or butterflies, merlin, too girly. Hmph.

EAGLE WINGS! For Ravenclaw Yes! She probably wouldn't be the only doing that from her house, but she didn't care, she wasn't very creative ANYWAYS! So she began to difficult process of cutting eagle wings...she wasn't a very good artist...oops...

Aidan was disappointed. Partially because he had no idea what a rocket was, and therefore, couldn't be as excited about this activity as he would be if he did know. And partially because the first time he got to use a spell, he couldn't even do it. He didn't know Scourgify. He had to do it the MUGGLE way.

THAT WASN'T EXCITING.

Regardless, the first year downed the rest of his fizzy drink, hopped out of his seat, and made his way to the bathroom, bottle in hand.

.......................................

When he came back, he stopped by the box to pick up the rest of the materials before heading to his seat.

...Where he realized he couldn't do anything. Gutted. "OI! Can someone help me?!" Words Aidan Stone never wanted to utter again in his life.

This was sort of new, having a professor that walked around the classroom while students answered and all. Not that Kurumi really minded, she did enjoy the added attention it provided and made the classroom environment feel more personal.

A little TOO personal.

Kurumi's entire body heaved forward when the woman began whacking her back. What was that for?! She wasn't choking on the soda! "I'm *hiccup* f-f-fine *hiccup* professor" she squeaked out again after another series of hiccups. Yeah...she wasn't going to be finishing the rest of her soda if she wanted to breath properly. "Just *hiccup* have *hiccup* thehiccups."

HICCUP HICCUP HICCUP


Still hiccuping away, Kurumi attempted to take down whatever notes she could on what was being said and left the instructions for rocket building for the time being. She REALLY needed to stop these hiccups before she got anything done.

Wand out, Kurumi ended up banishing the rest of her soda instead of drinking it - never said they HAD to drink it, right? Just that their bottles had to be empty. And cast a quick Scourgify on the bottle before getting up out of her seat to head towards the table and grab the rest of the supplies. WHY she couldn't have just given everyone one of these duplicated bottles from the start was beyond her. Would have saved everyone from the potty dance - whatever that was. Kurumi hadn't heard that expression before.

...only to be stopped before she actually GOT to the table.

"Yes?" she asked, looking at the younger Ravenclaw who...wait, was that the potty dance? The whole tapping foot thing? Maybe she should ask? "You need help with something?"

Which apparently another Ravenclaw did. "Scourgify?" Kurumi asked, waving to the boy.

Yup Lex was on a roll! Suuuuure, she hadn't answered any of the questions right--though she wasn't far off about Mr. Man with the white hair--she was able to receive a nice reaction from the Professor. A sign that she was doing something right. Beam. Good thing too because she felt completely clueless in this class and the last thing she needed was to feel stupid on top of it; she totally would have if every response she gave was received with a scowl or something but it wasn't! It was received with a smile and as of more lately, a giggle! It was nice that this Professor wasn't against giggling. This made her alright in her book and pushed a certain other Professor farther down on her list.

She listened with great enthusiasm when another portrait was not pulled out. She had had enough of dead guys!!! It was clear that she didn't know them and her life up until now hadn't been terrible so they couldn't have been that important. SIGH. Not that she would say this aloud...no...then the smiles would stop for sure!



No one had to tell her twice. By the end of the second round of question answering Lex had managed to finish her bottle of soda. NOOOO!!! She put the bottle to her head and tried draining every last drop before she headed off to the bathroom. Nothing should be wasted!!! And of course while she was there she would wash out her bottle because she was a big girl and did not want to ask any of the other students to clean her bottle for her. No. Once she learned the spell herself then she would cast it but for now she would do things the muggle way.

Gripping tightly to the bottle she ran from the room as quickly as possible. Her bladder was only so big and the bottle hadn't been all that small! EVERYBODY MOOOOOVE!!!!

---

There. The 11 year old walked back into the class feeling completely satisfied. Glancing over at the board she tried to figure the next course of action. Hmm...cutting the bottle...there was no way of muggling out this one--not without a knife anyway but she was sure there were none in the class. Looking to both sides to make sure no one was witnessing her potential failure, she drew her wand. She had heard a girl saying a word then her bottle got split so she would try it too. Jabbing the bottle she uttered the spell and was shocked when the charm nearly severed her desk and made a mess of her parchment. O___O....it had come awfully close to her as well....

SIGH. -_____-

Lex scanned the room reluctantly. She was a big girl, she wasn't supposed to need anyone's helping making a rocket! She scowled a bit when she realized what she would have to do then picked up her bottle and made her way to Vivi with a slight pout. Oh the indignation of needing help. [b]"I think if I try cutting this on my own again I'll hurt myself...can you help me with this?"[b] She nearly choked on that last part. Once this was done she could head back to her seat and try figuring out the rest without any help!

"Yes!" She almost bounced in her seat, but somehow managed to keep it at a faced paced foot tapping. Tap tap taaaap. "I need help casting it, but not on all of them, just the one. I can figure it out from there if you show me on just the one." Though it might take her two bottles to get it right.

Who was yelling? She looked around... oh. It was just Aidan.

... Did he want to grab all their supplies for them?

Aidan blinked at the older girl that seemed to be addressing him. Scourgify whaaaat? "...My name's Aidan," he said flatly. The 'Scourgify', although the professor mentioned it, didn't ring a bell.

Was she going to help him or what?

Oh hey lookit! His partner-in-crime (though he truly believed they didn't do anything wrong) from Sugarplum's! "Hi Dora!" he waved.

Was she going to help him?

Anyone?

Though Jory didn't want to use the rest room, he did so anyway. He'd probably need to go later anyway and that would disturb his work.

As he settled down back by his desk, he carefully read the instructions. Off he went to collect the necessary materials:cardboard, plastic bag, dental floss and an empty soda bottle.

Back at his desk, Jory started off by cleaning both of the soda bottles. "Scourgify!'' he said pointing his wand to the first bottle. Sure that it was clean, he did the same to the second just in case. Now, using the second bottle, he concentrated on performing the Severing Charm 2/3 way from the top. "Diffindo!'' He picked up the bottom of the severed bottle and tried it on to the other bottle. It was sliding easily after a few adjustments.

Moving on to the wings. Jory grabbed the scissors he had in his bag and carefully began to cut out three wings. He took extra time to make sure they were all equal in length and were the same shape.

It was only then that Kurumi noticed ALL the bottles that the girl had. "Um...you just need two..." Kurumi said softly. Maybe she could take the extra one? "Sure, not a problem. Scourgify isn't too difficult a spell to master really. Just a simple point and concentrate on the object." Along with not mispronouncing the incantation, which had been her problem as a first year.

But before she taught her....

"Nice to meet you Aidan, I'm Kurumi," she said with a somewhat perplexed look on her face. There was something awfully familiar about the look she was getting from this boy and in an eerie sort of way.

Trying to push the sort of creepy crawling feeling out of her mind, Kurumi glanced at his table top. "Do you want to clean it with magic as well?" she asked, nodding her head towards the other Ravenclaw who had asked for help.

Oooooooooooooh wasn't this going to be fun! She was FINALLY going to live out one of her childhood fantasies with building a bottle rocket. Too bad she could not take the children on a real field trip on a REAL rocket to experience Newton's law first hand. This would just have to do for now.

Not needing a potty break of her own, Professor Burbage was about to begin constructing her own rocket when she heard someone ask her for help. Oh! And look at that! Prefect Hollingberry was already helping two students. Looooooooovely! Hopefully some other older students would help as well. It was a beeeeeeeeeeeeeautiful thing to see students helping each other.

"Professor," she corrected. Prof was a little too informal just yet. "Oh, of course dear. I'll show you on my bottle and then you can try on your own?" Hopefully she was watching because Marion was READY to get cracking on her own rocket. She was already thinking of painting hers in a brilliant marigold color.... HMMMMMMMMMM....

She set the bottle down on its side on the table and removed her slender wand oak wand from her robes. "Just a simple downwards slash moment and say the incantation of Diffindo, dear," she said as she gave her bum a little wiggle before doing so herself. "VIOLA!"

"Hey Aidan!" Dora waaaaved back and grinned. "We need supplies for this bottle rocket project, you wanna go get them after she teaches us stuff?" Like the cleaning spell Dora probably wouldn't be using often since she didn't have to clean much ever.

"I wanted to try them all." And so she grabbed allll the flavors she could since the professor didn't limit them to any amount. Thankfully she had a stronger bladder than most. Tap tap taaappp.

Drawing her wand, she twirled it and tapped the bottles and bounced in her seat before looking at the prefect once more. "Just point and concentrate and say the incantation?" That was all? "Show me." Paaaaaause. "Please."

Noooooooow.

Bottle rockets? Awesome! Silvia had always wanted to build a rocket. And what a way to start off the new term!

Her bottle of soda still had a little bit left, but there was no way Silvia could drink any more. She would had offered it to another student, but she felt that by now everyone would have had more than enough, and there were probably only a few mouthfuls left. So she took it with her on the way to the restroom and dumped the last bit of it in the sink before returning to the classroom. Making her way up to the front, the third-year Claw gathered the rest of the materials before returning to her desk.

First things first. Silvia pulled out her wand, pointed it at the first bottle, and casted a "Scourgify." There. But before she started the actual building process, Silvia picked up her quill and scribbled down the directions; just in case, you know, she decided to try making another one in the future and couldn't remember a step.

Cassia just couldn’t understand why the woman was taking it hard to believe that old professors existed in Hogwarts. Cassia thought about asking but she knew that her tongue only had her trapped in unpleasant situations. And Cassia already saw that the head boy was shooting stares so she wouldn't cause losing more points. So to answer the professor Cassia nodded weakly, sure not all. If Professor Burbage wanted Cassia to tell her that she wasn't included in the old category Cassia is so sorry that she wasn't going to. Only because she didn't know the woman's age and none else.



Oh good topic changed to rockets! They were building rockets. Cassia didn't know what to feel about this. She wasn't really interested in building, why build when you can get it ready-made. Though she had no choice now. She must build a rocket and hopefully it won't be that hard.

Automatically ,Cassia was nodding at the instructions given by professor Burbage and she had to hold her chin to fix her head because it was getting stupid. Stupid to nod continuously and stupid having to fix your head. She glanced around ,was her stupidity noticed by anyone. Hopefully not.

Scribbling down the instructions because she was most likely to forget them. Cassia took a breath in and gulped the liquid. She squinted her eyes at the fizzy drink's effect. But not so bad it was really. She arched an eyebrow at the first line in the instructions. Oh no! She was not going to the restroom, not in a million chance! So uncool it would be and Cassia wouldn't risk looking un-cool. Pffft..Firsties can go potty second years NEVER. So much for reputation.

Taking her wand out, Cassia shook her bottle..no Professor there is no soda left. And she was going to clean her bottle using the charm not the regular muggle-ish way. She pointed her wand at the empty bottle and uttered, "Sco.." She trailed off. Mmm..what was the incantations again? Cassia bit on her lower lip trying to recall the spell which the professor just mentioned. No such luck. Cassia frowned annoyed by her lousy memory and headed to the restroom to clean the bottle ONLY! After getting that done, Cassia went to the box and picked up a plastic bag, piece of cardboard and some dental floss as instructed. Before returning to her seat she picked up another bottle as well.

As she settled the objects. She took a general look and swallowed trying to get rid of the lump in her throat. She knew she wasn't very well at building stuff. But she had to be optimistic and believe in her own potentials. Whose words were those? Oh her mother's.

Glancing at the instructions again she inhaled deeply and pointed her wand at one of the bottles. "Diffindo!" She muttered. And the lid of the bottle was separated leaving two thirds of the bottle. And Cassia sent silent mental thanks to her mother for using this charm in front of Cassia.

Taking the bottle ,Cassia tested whether she it slid on the whole bottle. It did..a bit clumsily but those were Cassia's inexperienced hands. She moved on to the cardboard . wings she could do. Cassia was good in drawing shapes fortunately. Using Diffindo as well, Cassia cut four wings in a shape of right trapezoid. She smiled satisfied at this. Something she was good at.

And now moving on to the slightly harder part. Cassia arched stared blankly at the next instruction, "Adhero…." She murmured. Well, she doesn't know how to do this spell. She was either going to ask the professor or someone or watch someone performing it. Copy cat she could do.

They were.. building rockets? No stars or looking at planets in the sky..? Harlan blinked and looked around the class in confusing. Weeeeeird. She frowned.. take a potty break? How old did the professor think they are? Because she definitely didn't need a- TWO BOTTLES?!
Harlan shook her head, maaaaybe she would have to use this potty break after all.

So... after a quick break Harlan looked up on the board for the instructions and copied them down. Potty break? Check.
Harlan opened her bottle and held it upside down, nope, no soda left whatsoever. Right. They had to clean it first.. She cast a quick Scourgify and checked to see if it was clean. Yup.

Right. Cut it two thirds of the way down with a Severing Charm. Harlan frowned in concentration. She knew this one... but what was it again.
Diffi.. Just then she heard the Professor explain it to another student. Ha! Diffindo and then a downward slash. Harlan could do that. So, as explained, Harlan made a downward slash and muttered 'Diffindo.'
The top came off, maybe a bit too far down than Harlan would've wanted.. but still, it was a good cut!

She smiled to herself, this was actually fun, even if they weren't doing what Harlan had thought they would be. Who knew rockets would be this much fun to make? 'I could totally be a rocket scientist.' She mumbled to herself before continuing on the next task.
She got her other bottle out which was empty now too. Just to be sure Harlan cast another Scourgify on the bottle. And slid the other bottle over the bottom. It was... a pretty good fit. She nodded to herself and set the bottle aside.

Righty. Wings. Harlan grinned, she'd give the bottle fairy wings. Which were really just butterfly wings but fancier. She drew a shape out on the cardboard and grinned to herself. It looked pretty awesome, or so she thought.

Oh, of course these two would know each other. They WERE both Ravenclaws after all. Which is why the look of surprise was slowly erased from her features after a few moments. As for him getting all their supplies...that wouldn't really be necessary...unless he wanted to.

"I see," Kurumi said, muffling her laughter just a bit. Maybe the professor should have just stuck with one flavor then...because it looked like all the sugar was getting to this one as she did her potty dance. That WAS what the foot tapping was about, right?

Nodding, Kurumi rolled up the sleeves of her robes so her hands were a bit more visible and checked to make sure that Aidan and Dora were both watching. She then picked up one of the empty bottles and pointed her want inside it through the top. "Scourgify," she said in a calm and clear voice, cleaning the inside of the bottle. "You guys...want to give it a try?"

And then maybe they could all three go get their supplies and actually get started!

They all were gonna build rockets and set them off? Woot! Building was maybe fun, but the setting off part was even more fun! This was certainly one of Ira's favorite lessons now, with no stars or planets or telescopes to deal with! This was exciting!

Finishing the remaining soda quickly, Ira emptied her bottle and cleaned it, "Scourgify!" she said clearly. Checking again to make sure that it was done right, she looked at the instructions she had copied from the board.


Potty Break? Huh? Potty Dance? Tehehe! Who did that? Anyways, she didn't need to use the restroom. Not now, seeing the queue there. She had to be here where they were buildng ROCKETS! In SCHOOL! This was SO cool!

She read the instructions, and followed it. First, another bottle. She levitated it from the Professor's table and brought it to her own, dodging some other students moving about. There, she had her two bottles. And now for the cutting part. What was the severing charm? Snap! She had forgotten it! How did everyone else remember all the spells? Or why was she the only one who didn't remember all? Poor memory maybe?!Looking around, she paid a bit attention, and got it. Diffindo! Yeah, it was diffindo. Lightly tapping her forehead on the side she set to work.

Pointing her wand carefully at one of her bottles...she aimed the charm near the top as instructed about 2/3rds the way, and said, "Diffindo!" and cut the top off. This part done. First step completed. She crossed it off from her parchment.

Waddling Walking around the classroom a bit with her heels clanking over the stone floor, Marion could now have been moooooooore pleased with the work students were doing so far. And some seemed to be making progress quickly too! LOVELY! That meant they could go outside sooner. Ho ho ho!
But frowned a bit when she heard one of the young Slytherins saying some spell she had never heard of. "Miss Somerlad, I'm afraid that is the wrong spell dear. You see..."

OH GOODNESS GRACIOUS
HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAVENS!

That simply would not do!

"Oh dear, DARLINGS!" she called out, clapping her hands together. "I'm afraid I have made an error in your instructions." She WAS 70-years-old darlings and quite foregetful at times. With that she gave a quick wave of her wand at the board and corrected the spell's incantation. "Carry on!"

Checking on the next set of instructions, Alyssa took out her Swiss Army Knife from her backpack and unfolded the scissors from the tool. Placing the cardboard on the table in front of her, Alyssa first picked up a pencil and sketched out the shape of the wings. She tried to imagine how they looked like on the pictures of rockets she had seen in some of the old NASA magazines her brother had brought home.

She drew them out carefully on the cardboard. Four angular shaped wings, all of the same size and shape. Once she was sure that the wings looked proportionate, she put down her pencil and picking up her scissors began carefully cutting out the shapes.

As she cut each one out, she placed each one on the table until she had all four wings. Unholstering her wand, she picked up the first wing and as she placed it next to the side of the uncut bottle, she pointed her wand at where it was attached and said, "ADHAERO". Once she was sure that the wing was securely attached to the bottle, she repeated the steps for the other three wings, making sure that they were all aligned at the same height around the bottle.

Alyssa then checked her journal to see what the next steps were and to scratch off what steps she had completed.




Now to attach the plastic bag ala parachute. As she picked up the plastic bag, Alyssa kept a watchful eye for anyone who might need help with their rocket making.

Presley rolled her eyes for not the first time that lesson. The new professor was completely stupid. Bottle rockets were something she'd done with her brother when they were little kids. Not fifteen year olds trying to learn about Astronomy. But as top point loser, she was numberone on Ravenclaw's hate list, and she was determined to make it up. Even though if the professor had been any kind of reasonable or understanding, the points never would have been lost. Presley looked over at Elliot and raised her eyebrows as if to say 'What in Merlins name are we doing wasting our time in this class' but then she remembered that she and Elliot were not exactly on good terms. Presley would have to catch up to Elliot after class, she had very important things to discuss.

As she hadn't had even a sip of her soda, Presley did a quick vanishing spell, muttering it under her breath and very much wishing she could do it non-verbally, but she hadn't quite got the hang of those yet. No, truthfully she couldn't even begin to do them. They were a mystery to her. Scourgify she thought intently. But nothing happened. After an entire minute she gave in. "Scourgify" she muttered angrily. Presley hated being here and could think of almost nothing else.

She easily severed her bottle, and glanced around to make sure she was doing exactly the same things as everybody else. She wouldn't want to make a mistake and prove the singing lady right about her. Checking to make sure it fit, Presley wondered briefly what shape she should make her wings. They had to be very useful, and very creative all at once. After a minute she had decided. Eagles. They were her house symbol, they were regal, and nobody else had done them yet.

Although the subject was really interesting and Terry enjoyed hearing about all the spacey stuff, Astronomy, he feared, would not be his strongest subject. He didn't mind sitting back and taking the occasional note on his parchment but he didn't feel the need to speak up and answer questions like everyone else was doing. His mother had not really spoken much about the subject and therefore he didn't really understand it as much as an older student would yet. But this making a rocket business? This sounded right up his street.

The twelve year old hiccuped as he finished off the fizzy drink and stared at the empty bottle. He would risk using the Scourgify spell but he chose to wash it out in the basin anyway, just in case he couldn't get it exactly right. Once it was perfectly clean, he left it on his workspace whilst he went to collect the items from the box.

What was it he needed? Another bottle, some cardboard, a plastic bag, a piece of dental floss? Thankfully this task didn't seem too difficult for him, it was lucky considering it was his first class of the term, of his schooling life. He picked up the equipment and headed back to the table where he had been sat. It was a shame really that he hadn't made connections with any of the students here yet but he was going to make sure that he did soon enough, he didn't want to be lonely in class.

The blonde boys eyes drifted over to the board where he took in the instructions of what was to come next. Being a new student, he glance over at what everyone else was doing, hoping to imitate their spells in order to get his completely right. "Diffindo" he muttered as he waved his wand, mimicking what he saw everyone else doing. To his delight, the bottle was sliced where it was supposed to. He slid it onto the other bottle and grinned at his handiwork. That was one part down, only a few more steps to go.

The next step involved cutting and Terry hoped that he would be able to do this with a pair of scissors. It would be so much easier after all. He cut the cardboard so that it was flat on one side and points at the other, like a right angled triangle. He traced round this using his quill onto two more pieces of cardboard so that they would be of equal size and then cut them out as well.

It was going well so far.

(OOC: sorry, I got just lazy and wrote prof. instead of professor. )

Orr blushed, "I'm sorry, Professor-- I won't do it again. Thank you for helping me." She watched the professor demonstrate the severing charm. It looked easy.

Orr picked up her wand and did a downwards slash moment pointing it at the bottle near the lid, "Diffindo!". the bottle cut neatly. She looked up grinned at the professor, "Thanks again, Professor Burbage."

Presley cut out four almost exactly equal gorgeous and hugely magnificent eagles. But of course, almost wouldn't be good enough for house points, so she spent the next ten minutes edging and cutting until they were perfect. Which resulted in approximately medium sized eagles, but they were equal, and the same shape. She lined them up laying flat on the table around the bottom edge of her uncut bottle and made sure they were spaced equally apart, before using the semi-difficult Adhero spell to attatch them to her bottle.

She quickly and efficiently fashioned the parachute of a plastic bag and dental floss, attatching it to her bottle rocket. She set them together and beamed. Did professor Burbage see how quickly Presley had finished, and how great it looked? It was nothing short of perfection. She raised her hand, and put it down quickly, just to draw attention to the fact that she was done with the required part.

Now to decorate it...if only her scrap-booking supplies weren't in the common room....She could accio them, but the carefully stacked papers and stickers might get jumbled out of order. She put her hand up again, and left it there this time, she legitimately had a question to ask this time.