Sarah took the spell off her, maybe she was meant to do it the easy way? Awesome. Forget about the drops, her eyes can tough it and the spell was not on for so long. Now with the sextant she looked at the sky again.. Polaris had not moved. It was a pretty cool instrument to use so Sarah did some other constellations as well.

Oh well, now onto the new part. What point should she use, the north star and what? Te horizon? Where was the horizon.. it was dark.

How was she meant to find the said horizon. She looked out for the area where she saw the curvature.

That was where she was meant to start;

So she was the Minster's Daughter. Interesting. She did have an awesome sense of humor. You do not mess with Ninja Goblins.

So back to finding Polaris again. Nigel did not even feel like using the focusing eye spell. This should be easy enough. He has done it enough times in this class already.

Nigel looked up into the star hoping to find Polaris on his first look. Sadly No. But he did find it on his second. Awesome.

Kace was copying notes and even more notes! His fingers were starting to cramp up but he needed to get them. He was learning short hand notes too. That was quite a useful skill.

First Kace had to find Polaris! That seemed like an easy task. He remembered doing that the previous lesson. This should be easy for Kace. He looked up at the sky and

Scanned......Scanned.....Scanned....... and more scanning. It was quite a challenge to find Polaris.

Then he FOUND IT! YES! He was excited that he found it. Even for his first try. He even found the Ursa Minor first that was his technique. Then he quickly found it after that. Score one for Kace

Now onto using the Sextant. That was gonna be a challenge because he had NO idea how he was gonna use it.

Now she took to the sextant again and found the horizon and pointed her sextant to her it. Then she pressed the clamp to release index bar. What next... now she had to wait for the moving poster to start again... wait for it. Now she had to bring the star to the horizon.. well not literrally just put them together in the sextant... There it is! Great. What next?

Release clamp and adjust stars position. huh? Well it meant that turning thing. Sarah did not know what the point of that was, yet she did it anyway, it did look cool after all.Now she read off her sextant. 55 degrees... That was 35, in her head that was. Maybe the professor would want it on partchment for proof?OUt comes her partchment:
All done.

So... that looked confusing. Just a bit. Alec leant forwards, almost squinting at what the Professor was doing with the sextant object. It... still looked complicated to use and Alec was getting a weird, uncomfortable feeling about this. As if he just knew that this was going to require a lot of studying afterwards.

Shaking his head, the boy got up and headed over to grab the sextant object. He headed back and whipped out his wand. Okay, this was something he could do! Nodnod. "Oculo Focalis!" It was weird to think that months ago, he was really scared about performing a spell on his eyes and now, as his vision became sharper and clearer and he turned to look up at the sky, he wasn't even nervous. Nope.

Okay, so Polaris. Polaaaaaaaris! Scaaaaan ... THERE was Cassiopeia. That was always easy to find with the 'W' shape. And then there was the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper there and there -- mental!point ... was that even possible? -- which meant... Polaris...

THERE! Right THERE! Hey Polaris!

Ella raised her eyebrows at Laura and gave her a small smile. "Course you can." Who said she couldn't, anyway? That wasn't very nice.

The blonde then watched as Laura did her own measurement with the sextant. It was a different finding, yeah, but Airey had said they'd be different. "Close enough, I think." Ella said with a shrug, eyeing the sextant curiously. "Nice job." Thumbs up and everything.

She couldn't help but wonder how accurate these things were as she finished up her notes, adding Laura's findings as well.

Asher stood there a moment, trying to figure out the instructions. He knew that he'd been told how to find Polaris, and he was supposed to have practiced it, but he couldn't remember how.

Figuring he'd just wing it, Asher found the brightest star he could and called it good.

Aright so now he had to work on using the Sextant. Shouldn't be so hard right?He could do it. If he couldn't....then he could ask the professor for help. No pressure. He got his sextant out and followed the instructions on the board. He copied down the steps and watch the poster a couple of times to get the hang of it.

He even copied down the formula too on the board. So he had to minus the degrees from the sextant angle.

Alright so he had to point it to the horizon. So he had to point it at Polaris right? He then pressed the clamp bar and released and then....ugh...he was getting SO confused. Up to step 4 he got so confused.

Kace raised his hand timidly. "Professor i need help with the steps." he said with a sheepish grin. "I think i am not getting the reading right."

Right. No letting it be known how ridiculous she found the Minister's daughter in this class. "Sorry."

Anyway, Sky could already tell she was going to have trouble using this sextant thing. Because math and she had never gotten along. In fact, she was starting to get confused just listening to Professor Airey explain the formula. Ugh. But she started looking for Polaris anyway, because that's what came first. Okay, where were you, you tricky star you.

Ah, there it was.

So Nigel found Polaris. Now he had to do the calculations with the latitude. Easy enough. But how to use a sextant. It was not NEWT Level spell work. Ah the poster.

Now it made sense. Nigel studied the poster for a few seconds until he understood it. He did not need much time.

Nigel started moving his sextant in a way that made sense at the stars. He did that for a couple more minutes before writing his "observations".

Perfect. He got an answer. Nigel did not really care if he was right or wrong.

Airey walked around a bit to check on students. Oh, oops, he should have made something a little more clear. "Just a reminder, you are not obligated to use the charm from last lesson on your eyes for this part of the activity. Use it only if your eyes are having a hard time focusing and seeing Polaris. You should have no trouble seeing it as it is a very clear night." And Polaris was very bright. "Use of the charm will be required a bit laaaaaaaaaaater."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mad Eye Touz

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat? THAT was why he asked? So he could take points? That wasn't CONCERN that was CONNERY. Or something. She squinted HARD at PROF man.

"So you're telling me.... I lost points 'cause I told the truth? Mann...." MAN. As it turned out, losing points *WAS* on the list from her mum. She was already FAILING as MoM KID. "What if I told you," Zahra GOT UP to go get her pirate tool, "that a band of ... goblins.... held me hostage and that's why i was really late? They told me not to tell though, so I didn't, and if that were the case, do you think it could just be 3 points instead of 5? 2 if I told you they were NINJA goblins?"

Just asking.

Now for proper pirate TOOLING. Cool. Cool.

...now what were they looking for? Zahra used her to look at the Whomping Willow and Merlin-only-knew-what-else.

She'd pretend she saw Uranus. haha. HAHA.

Ooooooh. Ninja goblins.Those sounded totally awesome. If it weren't for the fact that he didn't want anything to do with creatures he would say that he wanted one. Would have been better if instead of regular goblins Gringotts had had ninja goblins come and take things from Hogwarts. They could have repossessed without anyone noticing and then it would have caused even more chaos at the school. Could have been an awesome prank.

Oh, right. Back to the Gryffindor.

"No, you lost points for being late to my lesson," he corrected while tapping his sundial watch. "I appreciate the honesty, but it also does not excuse you from being late." Just like being the Minister's daughter did not excuse her. "Even if ninja goblins would be awesome."

Just not as awesome as ice cream.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hpfan18

Aright so now he had to work on using the Sextant. Shouldn't be so hard right?He could do it. If he couldn't....then he could ask the professor for help. No pressure. He got his sextant out and followed the instructions on the board. He copied down the steps and watch the poster a couple of times to get the hang of it.

He even copied down the formula too on the board. So he had to minus the degrees from the sextant angle.

Alright so he had to point it to the horizon. So he had to point it at Polaris right? He then pressed the clamp bar and released and then....ugh...he was getting SO confused. Up to step 4 he got so confused.

Kace raised his hand timidly. "Professor i need help with the steps." he said with a sheepish grin. "I think i am not getting the reading right."

Oh, he was being called. Walking over to the Hufflepuff first year, Airey leaned over a bit to check on his sextant. "Let's have a look at where you are," he said while looking at the boy's hands and just where the sextant was. Looked alright to him so far. "Do you have Polaris there in your window? Should be there on the right side."

That poster was kind of... really captivating. Tobias' attention was kind of held by it, though he occasionally glanced over at Professor Starman to see what he was doing... but the poster kind of said it all. Wow. That was a nice poster.

Tobias was still staring at it when the people around him started getting out of their seats. He HAD been listening... kind of. They had to find something with the sextant... probably polaris, considering that was what they'd been talking about, and then... do a thing.

Making his way to go get a thinger, Tobias eyed his classmates to see what they were doing, and stood near a few of them once he'd retrieved the tool, hoping to pick up on some tips about what they were supposed to do once he'd done the first step.

Okay so...

Looking up into the sky Tobias gaaaaaaaaaazed about... and stared... and searched... and peered.

And he had no idea what the heck he was looking for.

Tobias looked at the sextant in his hand for a moment, and then glanced at the sky, before shrugging to himself in a weeeeeeell it can't hurt kind of way. Then he peered through the sextant, using it as a kind of mini-telescope. His logic was that it was kind of narrowed in on one bit of sky at the time and therefore easy to find.

A few minutes past wherein Tobias, with his face screwed up in concentration, searched and searched for the mysterious Polaris. He looked EVERYWHERE. The Hufflepuff was seriously considering checking under his bed (that was where a lot of things seemed to turn up), when suddenly, a breakthrough. Found it!

"AH-HA!" Tobias exclaimed triumphantly, peering through his sextant straight at Professor Starman.

SPOILER!!: Professor! :D

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie

Oh, he was being called. Walking over to the Hufflepuff first year, Airey leaned over a bit to check on his sextant. "Let's have a look at where you are," he said while looking at the boy's hands and just where the sextant was. Looked alright to him so far. "Do you have Polaris there in your window? Should be there on the left side."

Alright so the professor was coming over. He could remain calm. He wasn't doing anything wrong. But wait he called him over for a reason. Kace chuckled to himself and then the professor mentioned something.

He asked him if he had Polaris in his window. It should be on his right side. He looked a little to his right and then he found it!

He make careful observations using his instrument and then he recorded them down in his notebook

SPOILER!!: Kace's Notebook

Latitude = 90 Degrees – Sextant Angle

So he needed to do: 90-51=39

Alright so he was done. He was gonna wait for the next set of directions from the Professor.

Tell the class? West glanced around. "They probably don't care, professor." He said honestly. No really. Did anyone care that he was late? "But I can tell you after if you want." West didn't mind. "Sorry I was late, I didn't mean to disrupt stuff." He added honestly. He suppoooosed he could've just not come? But... he liked Astronomy. So.

Oh an activity? West went and got a sextant. Finding Polaris wasn't going to be hard, him and Polaris were tight now, after all this work in class and homework around it.

It only took him a few moments to spot the star. So now he could use the sextant unless Flammy said he couldn't or something.

Asher picked up the sextant and stared up at the sky. He really wondered if he was doing it correctly.

"I think this is correct. Although, I'm not sure I'm using the sextant correctly."

Mika was not a fan of math. And now, that Astronomy was turning into astrol-mathmatics time she was tempted, so tempted to stand up and walk out of the door. She shifted in her seat, stood up, adjusted her skirt and sat back down.

Shifting in her seat once more she took out her sextant and sighed. She didn’t really know what to do with it – or want to do anything. Taking her wand, she followed the wand instructions for Oculo Focalis and tapping her wand against her closed eyes (both in time) the familiar itchy feeling came and went. It would come back again, in time though.

So, she picked up the sextant and looked through it for a moment before pausing. Waiting, and setting it back down. She needed her eyes to stop ITCHing first.

Mo was actually eager to give the sextant a try. They'd spent ages figuring out how to identify Polaris (or so it seemed), so it seemed only fair that they now got to do something with that information. He rolled the sextant around in his hands several times before putting it to his eye and studying his classmates through it.

Nope, none of them was Polaris. He turned his attention to the sky, first looking for the star without the sextant pressed to his face, and then putting it up to his eye once Polaris had been identified.

And.... there. He saw it.

She got to PLAY with one of the WEAPONS? Awesome.

"I haven't used a bat in a while, prof, haven't you seen matches?" It was rather sad, Selina must have missed her hands. Alice perked up some, though, still distraught over no ice cream but happy about using potential execution equipment. There didn't seem like there was anyone annoying enough in the room to hit over the head with astronomical devices, though, so she brought back the sextant without using it for violent purposes.

Sad. At least Polaris was easy to find. She quickly searched for the big dipper in the sky like usual and located the pointer stars on the constellation before following them to where the North Star was. That was all there was, right? Weapon fiddling next?

So he had Polaris in his sights, and a sextant in his hands, and West went ahead and looked through it, lining up the horizon in the general direction of the star. He pressed the clamp and began moving the index bar until the mirrors made it seem like Polaris was on the horizon. Pretty cool. Okay. Once it was there and lined up he released the clamp thing so it stayed at where he'd adjusted it, and then he swung the sextant some to check that he'd done it right. So far so good.

Then West looked at the angle reading. And then he stopped looking at that and looked at his girlfriend for a while instead.

Weapon now. Except it was an 'astronomical device' right now and not 'execution equipment' and Alice was using it for 'celestial purposes'.

It was still sad.

She held the sextant to her eye, trying to imitate how the professor had done it with the clamps and adjusts and all. Did that look right? Sort of right? And she was supposed to use Polaris as her point of reference instead of the sun. Just read the angle and then figure out the latitude? It was currently reading 52. No, NO, wait, it was 52 and a HALF. The half degree wasn't going unnoticed, most definitely. The results were supposed to vary, too, which meant whatever number she read would be right.

Kind of. It meant she could totally slack and still get credit, but Alice was a good kid and stuff, so she wouldn't do that.

And hi boyfriend, Alice saw him.

Nerida was eager to give the sextant a try! Looked like fun and all that trouble of learning how to identify Polaris was finally going to be used in something, in class. She rolled the sextant around in her hands several times before actually placing it on her eye and looked around at the Professor and at her other students.

Sigh...None of them was Polaris. She turned her attention to the sky putting the pirate object up to her eye looking for Polaris. She moved it scanning the sky for it...

And, aw there. She smiled happy with herself for finding it.

Forrest took a breather and looked around. Not that he needed to imitate people--he'd watched the professor far too closely--but it was relieving to have some idea. He pointed the sextant on the horizon, and then fumbled a little to find the clamp. Once he made sure it was indeed the clamp what he was holding, he pressed it to release the index bar. But of course, his reference point was the Polaris, so he fumbled again to find the Polaris in the horizon. It took him about 4 minutes to do it all. He carefully lowered it to read the angle.

87°

Okay, now to extract it from 90--

90°-87°=3°

He wrote it down on his notebook and watched around again.

Nerida held the sextant to her eye. Trying to imitate how the professor had done it with the clamps and adjusts and all. Was that supposed to look that way? Was she doing it right?? And she was supposed to use Polaris as her point of reference instead of the sun. Just read the angle and then figure out the latitude? Okay... It was currently reading 51 something....51 and a fourth!!

Having spotted Polaris, Sky set up her sextant according to the directions on the poster. Putting her eye to it, she adjusted it until she saw the horizon in the right viewfinder, then started adjusting it so that Polaris matched up. Which took awhile, because apparently the star (or star system) was pretty far away from the horizon. Or the magical interference was making it seem that way, anyway. But finally she had Polaris and the horizon matched and looked to see what the angle was. 85° Okay, so that was going to be easy to subtract. But there was also no way that was right, because wouldn't that put them somewhere in Antarctica? Oh well.

So... sextant. Alec looked at it carefully, turning it over in his hands as he did so. Weird object, this was. Really weird. It reminded him of a more complicated version of a protractor joined together with a telescope or something. ... Was this going to come up in the OWLs? GULP.

Shaking his head, the boy tried to imitate Flamsteed in the best way he could, even adjusting his tie at one point. He set up the sextant and put his eye to it, looking out towards the horizon. His hand found the clamp and he pressed down on it before adjusting it so that Polaris matched up with the horizon. Polaris... Polaris... see, what happened if you were too busy adjusting and setting things up and couldn't find Polar-

OH HEY THERE AGAIN!

He grinned and released his hold on the clamp. He swung it from side to side to make sure it still matched up before adjusting it again and looking down at the protractor bit. Okay. Just read off the angle and work out the latitude? That... was doable. ... 37 degrees. Was that a weird angle or...?

Oh! Magical interference! That would explain it. ... Scribble... scribble... scribble...

Quote:

Latitude = 90 degrees - sextant angle
Latitude = 90 - 37
Latitude = 53

There. He was done now! GRIN.