He was finally getting started with the cleaning portion of the long term assignment. Finally. F I N A L L Y.

Having been granted permission to be in here, Alec poked his head around the door of the Laboratory and took a peek inside. Not many people here. AWESOME. He moved away from the door and further into the Laboratory. Being back in here reminded him all too much of those times when they had to grow and take care of a star.

... He missed his star.

Heading over towards the pile of telescopes, Alec looked over at the selection before picking one out at random. It didn't matter, yeah? And how did these get so... dirty in the first place?! He held up the one in his hands to examine it properly. ... Yeah... this was going to require a LOT of cleaning. Which meant that he should get started before it became too late, yeah?

With this in mind, the boy grabbed some cleaning solution and a cotton towel before heading over towards an empty work station. Using the towel, he applied a layer of the cleaning solution to the telescope, making sure to cover every little part. There. Now he had to leave it to dry for a minute, yeah? Okay. A full minute. And since he was planning on doing this properly...

... He glanced down at his watch. Tick... tock... tick... tock...

... This... wasn't that exciting. He looked away and around the laboratory instead. That wasn't exciting either. This was going to be a long minute, wasn't it? If only he had decided to come here with someone. Someone... who was't distracting, that is. Because otherwise, he was sure he wouldn't be able to concentrate on things.

... OH HEY. A minute! OVER.

Alec glanced down at the list of instructions he had brought along. Another coat... clockwise circular motions... all over the scope. Okay. He nodded to himself before applying another coat of cleaning solution and rubbed it onto the looking glass. Rub rub... clockwise circular motions... just like the second hand he had spent a couple of seconds staring at back then.

Once that was done, the seventeen year old glanced back at the list of instructions again. A fresh towel? He collected up one of those and started rubbing the scope and then the rest of the telescope. Same clockwise circular motion. Yeah. Rub rub rub rub rub...

... This was going to be long, wasn't it?

Text Cut: Instructions

1) Use the cleaning solution provided and apply with a soft cotton towel a light layer.
2) Allow to air dry for a minute, before applying another coat of cleaning solution and rubbing it onto the looking glass and all over the telescope. Keep the rubbing to clockwise circular motions and continue until you've done all over the scope.
3) Take a fresh towel and rub in the same direction to towel dry the scope.
4) Repeat steps 1-3 as necessary until dust and debris is gone
5) Once the scope is clean, spray a thin layer of holding cream over the scope to help prevent future dust outbreaks.
6) Allow the solution to dry fully before operating the telescope. This may take up to 24 hours, so leave your telescope and come back to pick it up.

Her eyes automatically followed Lex's hands as they worked on the telescope. She had paused to wait for hers to dry and was now both listening and watching the lioness. It was good to be sure that Cassia was doing the cleaning thingy right and so was Lex. From her angle she could see differently from the lioness and vice versa. "There, you missed a tiny spot," she absently pointed to Lex while listening to her talking.

But then her eyes lifted to look at the fourth-year who was surprised. Cassia could not understand why since she was doing everything perfectly right with Venom. And she knew it! "Of course I am," she told the surprised lioness. Though this of course wasn't going to make it better. The snake squinted at the telescope's surface and lowered her head until it was leveled to see if there was any visible layer of dust. Did she have to apply more solution to it. Upon squinting and holding her breath trying to know, she decided it was good and that it was time for the holding cream.

Her hand was in midair reaching for the cream but it froze midmotion hearing the word 'killer'. "I'd rather NOT raise her to be a killer," Cassia frowned. "We've been over this," she said waving with the towel dismissively. Well, they obviously weren't and the snake knew that her co-guardian wasn't bluffing and indeed intending on taking her hunting. " Of course, I'll be there if you were to take her in a trip to watch," she paused before and after 'watch' to make her opinion clear. Not that Lex wasn't familiar with it.

Her eyes back on the telescope, she carefully sprayed a thin layer of the cream as instructed then stepped back from it in order not to accidentally touch it before it dried. Now she only had to wait for it to dry and take it out to stargaze!

"I'm thinking of taking Venom stargazing with me tomorrow," she excitedly said forgetting about the argument a couple of minutes ago. Crossing her arms across her chest, she leaned against the counter and waited for Lex to finish her cleaning.

Fresh towel? Check! And Ella began to towel dry the scope, going in the same direction she'd gone in before. It really did look much better already which made the blonde smile. Seemed she'd done something right, yeah? Yeah.

Just to be safe, Ella repeated the cleaning process one more time on the telescope. She figured that this way, it'd stay clean longer. First the solution was applied again with the cotton towel lightly. Then she let it air dry quickly before applying more of the cleaning solution and rubbing it into the glass and telescope. Circular motions were happening again, yup. When that was done, she once again used a clean towel and dried it off. BEAM! No dust and debris visible on this telescope, that was for sure.

Now for the holding cream. Ella got up and went to retrieve it, wondering where it might be. After a bit of searching, she located the bottle and returned to her work space with it. This would help the scope stay cleaner, longer, right? She liked the sound of that.

Spray. Spray. Spray.

And now it was time for the telescope to sit, and to dry, and Ella had some cleaning up to do. The blonde returned the materials she'd used to their respective shelves, cabinets, drawers, and then returned to grab her things. "See you soon, little telescope."

The next step in the lit of instructions? Repeat the previous steps. Of course. Until all of the dirt was gone. It had to be completely clean, yeah?

So... the steps were repeated. A light layer of the cleaning solution was applied with the cotton towel. He then let it air dry before applying some more of the cleaning solution all over the telescope. Rub rub... clockwise circular motions... ALL over the scope... just like he had done so before.

... Right. Next. He took hold of the fresh towel and started towel drying the scope. After last year, all of this cleaning business seemed to get a lot easier. Or better. Or... maybe just a bit more bearable? Shrug. It was a little surprising, too, especially since he had gone home to start hand washing his clothes only to realise that a washing machine could be used.

... Yeah. Moving on...

Dust and debris? GONE. Alec grinned at the now clean-looking scope before glancing back at the instructions. Thin layer of holding cream? That meant... that he needed to actually go and get the holding cream. Still holding onto his telescope, the boy started wandering around the laboratory, looking for anything that said 'holding cream' on it. Maybe he should have asked Flamsteed what a holding--

... FIND.

Grinning some more, Alec grabbed hold of the cream and headed back towards his workstation. What had the instructions said? Apply a thin layer? How thin was this layer meant to be? Did it matter or...? ... Shrug. He sprayed the cream onto and all over the telescope, hoping that this layer was the right thickness. Once he was done, he set the telescope down...

... and grinned over at the instructions again. He was done? To come back tomorrow? This meant he could spend the rest of the day making himself some pancakes. He spent a little while cleaning up the workstation and putting things back before giving his telescope one last grin and heading out of the laboratory.

Text Cut: Instructions

1) Use the cleaning solution provided and apply with a soft cotton towel a light layer.
2) Allow to air dry for a minute, before applying another coat of cleaning solution and rubbing it onto the looking glass and all over the telescope. Keep the rubbing to clockwise circular motions and continue until you've done all over the scope.
3) Take a fresh towel and rub in the same direction to towel dry the scope.
4) Repeat steps 1-3 as necessary until dust and debris is gone
5) Once the scope is clean, spray a thin layer of holding cream over the scope to help prevent future dust outbreaks.
6) Allow the solution to dry fully before operating the telescope. This may take up to 24 hours, so leave your telescope and come back to pick it up.

Kat was always late with these kind of things. Blame Head Girl priorities for this one, okay? And even before she earned the badge, she was a lazy butt. Katrina Hudson was already a synonym for slacker, just saying.

With a dirty telescope in hand, Kat went over to a work place. Away from people, because she didn't need distractions now that she was late with this thing. She was pressured and all she wanted an hour of nap time. Too bad she was been procrastinating and all. Don't worry. She still had time to do it. She'd be able to catch up.

Cleaning solution. Yep, that was it. Kat took the cotton towel, dipped it in the cleaning solution, and applied a bit on the telescope. SIGHS. Maybe she should've done this earlier. She was tired.

Once the solution was allowed to dry for a minute, she applied another layer of the cleaning solution all over the telescope and a little bit careful with the looking glass part. So that it didn't break, you know? She'd have to pay and get another dirty telescope if she did.

So the cleaning solution part was done. Yay. Putting the wet towel aside, Kat got another towel, this time it was dry, and dried her telescope with it. Rub rub rub rub. SAME DIRECTION, it said on her instructions. She didn't want to get this wrong and repeat everything all over again.

Then she took a moment to examine her telescope. Hmm... all good. Time for some holding cream. Kat took the holding cream and spraaaaaaaayed it around her telescope. Ooh, shiny just like her badge. Yeah yeah, okay. That was enough.

So... she'll come back tomorrow then. Alright. Bye telescope.

Astronomy was one of her favorite subjects, it was, but what she didn't understand was why Flamsteed considered cleaning as part of it. Sure, they were cleaning astronomical equipment and stuff, but Alice was not a house elf. She'd made this clear enough the term before, right? Dirty Hogwarts most definitely wasn't her issue.

But she was going to do the assignment like a good little student and not complain. Heading over to the pile of telescopes, the sixth year surveyed them before selecting one she thought to be the cleanest. What? It meant less effort for her, right? Or something.

A cotton towel in hand, she grabbed some cleaning solution as well before setting her materials down at an empty station and getting to work. Applying a layer of the solution to every bit of the telescope wasn't too difficult, and neither was allowing it to air dry. She could do that. Alice could wait for a full sixty seconds and stuff. This was one extra patient kid right here.

... twitch.

Was it dry yet? Probably not, but Alice began coating the telescope with her solution again, rubbing it in with clockwise circular motions, just as the instructions said to do. She didn't look awfully happy about it- the sixth year was going to complete this entire assignment with her grumpy face in place- but it was getting done and all.

Fresh towel next? More movement. Sigh. Grudgingly stranding again, she went to collect one of those, using it to rub all over her telescope again once she got back to her workstation. Being a house elf didn't seem very fun, you know? It looked like it included a lot of applying and drying and rubbing and patience this Gryffindor didn't possess even a little bit of.

And rubbing was really tiresome, did people know? Her hand was aching and stuff. Effort.

The next day wooooh.

Was twenty-four hours done now?

Kat was leaning on the table while tapping her foot impatiently on the floor. She had checked her watch every five minutes because she had arrived earlier than the time she was supposed to pick her telescope up. Just a bit more waiting and she'd be able to catch up on the planets and constellations she had missed.

Tick tock tick tock........ tick.... tock.... tick.... tock.

Her eyes were starting to feel tired and were almost about to close when....... OH HEY YEAH twenty-four hours done. She remembered leaving the laboratory this time yesterday, so definitely twenty-four hours of being patient was over. Merlin, it was awful. Kat was definitely not a patient person. Obviously.

So, she could start stargazing now, yeah? Of course. Taking the telescope with her, Kat went out of the astrophysics laboratory and made her way to the Hogwarts Grounds.

Sleep after this, okay?

And then she repeated. Layer, air dry, layer, rub, rub, layer, air dry, layer, rub, rub, layer, air dry, layer, rub, rub, layer, air dry, layer, rub, rub... this was honestly such tedious and boring work that Alice was jumbling up all of the steps in her head. She;'d probably applied solution where she wasn't meant to and rubbed in the wrong direction and let her telescope dry for much shorter periods than recommended, but her telescope did look dust-and-debris-free. Did that count for anything?

Suppressing a yawn, she glanced at her instructions again before stumbling over to grab some holding cream. How thin was this layer meant to be, exactly? Paper thin? Slice of cheese thin? Flamsteed needed to be more specific, but in this case, it was his fault if her telescope was cleaned wrong. Totally was. Alice sprayed the cream all over her telescope, not bothering to wonder if the layer was the right thickness.

Which led her to step number six. She.. was done now, yes? Yesss. The sixth year immediately jumped up, nearly knocking over her telescope in the process, eager to get out of the laboratory. Really. Cleaning was not her thing.

Lex scowled at the idea of missing a spot, not the fact that her best friend had told her about it. What were spots still doing on this thing after a second cleaning? Did they think she had time to waste away up here in the Lab? Well she didn't. The Gryffindor gave it another hard rub, and another....and another until the spot had completely disappeared. "There! Much better!"

She reached for the holding cream next and sprayed it all over the telescope, making sure not to have the coating come out thick. It specifically said thin. She could read. There was a side glance at Cassia and her lack of shame when it came to how she raised Venom. "Well stop. She needs to get it herself." As simple as that. If they always got her her food then Merlin forbid they lost her one day she would DIE. No instincts on her, none.

Now all that was left was to get this thing to dry then she could begin that looong assignment ahead. It'd probably take them the entire year or so, the entire year of being out pass curfew. Heh.

As she was packing up Cassia's words struck her and she turned to the girl immediately. "She's a Tarantula, last I checked, they were killers. It's in their nature and you're trying to take it out of her for no good reason." Poor Venom. At least one of her guardian's accepted her for the mindless, killing machine she was.


"I don't mind you coming, you can see how it's meant to be done with predators." Because the spider was one, mhm. But on a light note as she grabbed her things so they could leave. "Really. Awww, she's like that. I think she's really taken a liking to stars." Felix would have to as well. He was going to have to be her company.

And now they could go.

There was something so satisfying about manual labor. Perhaps that was an unpopular opinion, considering this was a school for magic and they were constantly coming up with ways to circumvent doing things by hand, but Mo liked being able to get his hands dirty from time to time. Like now, when he happened to end up with one of the cruddiest, most rust-encrusted telescope in the pile. Mo took it to a work station with spring in his step, delighted for the work.

At least it wasn't studying for OWLS, right?

There was cleaning solution there, and Mo settled right down to carefully applying a thin layer across all the exposed surfaces. It was hardest, and most important, in the little nooks and crannies, and he tucked the cloth carefully into those spots to apply the solution. Once the entire surface was coated, Mo set it back down and settled back in his seat to wait the minute for it to dry. Or he tried to wait, but it was difficult when he kept wanting to touch up certain spots and fuss with the telescope.

He finally had to sit on his hands and stare at the ceiling, counting slowly to 60 just to allow the poor telescope to dry properly. Only then was he able to pick it up and examine the entire thing. Still quite dirty, although Mo was certain he could see some of the rust patches were diminished and there was a definite sheen to the tube itself. That would clean up rather nicely.

Another layer was applied, this one just as carefully applied around corners and across the thickest patches of rust and grease. The looking glass was dirty too, and since the instructions said Mo could clean that, he very carefully wiped the cleaning solution across the highly polished surface. There now... that cleaned up very nicely.

He continued rubbing, moving in small even circles over the surface and focusing most of his attention on the dirtier spots. Maybe he could make up a song about this to not sing for anyone later. Just for his own amusement. What rhymed with telescope?

24 hours, right? It had most definitely been a whole day, possibly more, on account of Alice had gotten lazy and forgotten to pick her telescope up. To be honest, it could have been cleaned a month ago and she wouldn't have realized. But when it finally occurred to her that she had to start working on Aireyhead's assignment sometime, the sixth year had grudgingly made her way to the laboratory again.

... which one was hers?

It took quite a while for her to locate the telescope that she thought she'd cleaned, though Alice was only judging by the fact that it looked shinier than any of the others. Did it really matter, though? She had stargazing to do and such. This one. Hers now.

Into the bin went the old towel, which was dripping with cleaning solution and marked all over with grease and rust stains. Mo carefully cleaned his hands to avoid leaving any smudgy fingerprints on his telescope before retrieving a new cloth and returning to his work station.

"Hullo, lovely," Mo patted the telescope fondly as he was seated, and then he gingerly picked it up and gave it another once over to identify the remaining bad spots. Still a bit rough around the lenses in particular. Mo applied the new towel, working his way carefully across the entire telescope to remove the excess solution and dry it.

Once it was dry, he used that same towel to apply more of the cleaning solution, focusing in particular on the worst spots, although the entire telescope got a little cleaning along the way too. The hard part, now, was the waiting. He would apply the solution and have to wait for it to dry before applying more. Then dry, check the telescope, and start again. Would it be so bad to use a drying charm?

Probably so, since the professor hadn't suggested it. Mo sighed loudly and with great annoyance each time he would clean the telescope and then have to wait for it to dry. Finally FINALLY, he removed the last bit of cleaning solution and dried off the telescope, and when he gave it a look over, he found no evidence of the gunk that had once marred its surface.

The telescope went back on the workstation, and Mo dropped another towel in the bin before cleaning his hands again. No smudgy fingerprints allowed, ok? He also retrieved the holding cream while he was out of his seat, and when he returned, he carefully applied a thin spritz of the cream across the entire telescope. Ideally, with the holding cream applied, the telescopes wouldn't be able to get as dirty and misused as they had been when Flamsteed found them.

He really REALLY wanted to take the telescope with him today, as it looked all pristine and lovely, but Mo was aware that the holding cream hadn't properly dried yet. And he had to be patient. Again. Which was so hard. He stared a hole through the entire telescope in despair for several minutes before cleaning up his work station and heading out the door. He'd just have to come back later for it, then.

Sarah now had to fix up a telescope for herself before she starts with the activity. She loved to clean things with her hand.. it made her feel satisfied. She rtrieved a soft cotton towel and the cleaning solution and applied it on the glass. She then sat down and waited a minute for it to air dry. It was funny not using a magic in Hogwarts.. and it was not even a muggle studies class!

The minute passed rather quickly and Sarah applied the second layer of the cleaning solution. Now she began to rub it in in circular motion all over the glass. Round and round teh garden like a teddy bear she thought to herself. She then moved on to the rest of the telescope

Round and round. She wanted to make sure her telecope was clean. She loved things when they shined.

Raven walked in with a windy pace to the astrophysics laboratory and put a telescope in the middle of the room. She grabbed a cotton towlette and dampened it with the cleaning solution. She worked in a clockwise motion. She looked at her parchment with the copied instructions. The next instruction was to let it dry. She waited a couple of seconds and applied a second coat. Then she added the holding cream to prevent dust. She wondered how much of these steps were magical. She was a first year of course. She didn't know that much about astronomy or cleaning telescopes. She was just happy to have the opportunity. She put the telescope back and decided to return at a later time (after 24 hours) to look at the stars.