Professor Sandhu seemed off somehow. Whatever had put her in a bad mood? Cole was going to do his best to keep out of trouble for now. He'd do everything asked and hopefully if he had any luck their professor would smile at the end of class. He wasn't feeling sleepy so he didn't see why he'd need to run two laps around the observatory, but Cole got up with the others and ran around and around in a speed pulse rising pace like a good student.

Back in his seat next to Naya he breathed quickly for a few moments before he regained his cool. Looking up at the board at the constellations he immediatley identified one of them by heart. Raising his hand Cole said "The constellation on the top to the left is pisces. I remember because I always thinks it looks like a flower with a long stalk and my stepmother has her birthday then."

Cole watched and heard with some shock how Ewan adressed Professor Sandhu. He wasn't normally one to raise his voice or do anything out of line. Now he was losing his house many points, earning himself a detention by attacking Professor Sandhu's teaching methods and as it looked even walking out of class. What on earth was wrong with him? Surely it was something more significant than say losing his backpack in the loo.

Thinking it was best not meddle in this he focused on the next question asked not really sure what Professor Sandhu was getting at. Anyway after some thought Cole raised his hand to say "I like astrology and think it's very important when learning about our each individual personalities and what makes each of us tick. The constellation signs in astrology are interconnected with our birthdates and that shows in our behaviour and actions. Like people born under the pisces sign are often compassionate and patient people."

Even as he walked across the classroom, he knew this whole joke of a situation wasn’t over. He wouldn’t just be able to walk out of the classroom, slam the door and then just go somewhere else without anyone around staring at him. There may have been those who were trying to get him to stay but they would have had to tried a lot harder to break through to him (Chloe). Sure, he knew there were several sets of eyes on him but he didn’t care. They didn’t matter and neither did the house points. It was all just white noise.

That was, until he found someone’s hand on his shoulder. They may not have meant to snap him out of his rage filled stupor but they had. “Yes mate. Why should I stay?” his question totally valid and relevant at this second. Why should he? Obviously, the Professor didn’t care why he was in a bad mood, just that he had apparently ‘set a bad example’ because that’s all that’s important. Not his wellbeing. Nope. Heaven forbit he put his head down on the table and not say hello to a teacher. It was clearly just as bad.

“Well, Professor, I’m not debating the fact that I ‘broke the rules’ if you can call it that, I’m stating that your approach was flawed and could use a little tweaking. So, by all means, give me detention for disagreeing with you and walking out” shaking off Minjae’s hand now, he gave the Hufflepuff a small smile, appreciating the effort to try and get him to stay but he was done with this. He wasn’t going to stay and just sit there when he wasn’t going to take a word of what she was going to say in. It was pointless. Anybody with a brain cell could see him leaving now was the best decision. “And actually Professor, I didn’t say your teaching was terrible. You’re a pretty good teacher actually so let’s not make out what I’m doing is much worse than what it actually is” Was he testing her on purpose? Not really. He was trying to help her if anything. And also, he was trying to help himself because he just wasn’t in the mood for this today and what good was there in him sitting there but not actually being there mentally? None.

And just like that, the door was closed and he was the other side of it, away from the gawking stares of his fellow students and away from Professor Sandhu. Sure, some of the Ravenclaws would dislike him but all of their complaints would be carefully filed in the bin where they belonged.

Tom looked at the Professor and smiled, he then raised his hand and smiled "I personally think that it is an amazing subject and it's very interesting." Tom stopped to take a breath and then he continued. "You get to find out all about the planets and you never know one day maybe we'll find life somewhere out there." Tom had watched Star Wars and Star Trek when he was younger.

Blake thought for a minuet. He had always liked astrology, learning the planets and their moons, studying the constellations, but did he put much stock into the zodiac signs? Not really ... he found it rather hard to believe that being born a certain time made you more prone to a temper or prone to compassion? I guess that's the debate about nature versus nurture that had been going in for the entire test of time.

"Well, honestly, I don't know if the constellations have so much to do about people's personalities, but obviously the sun and moon have a lot to do with how we live, they control the tides and seasons and such." There ... hopefully he hadn't offended the Professor, what with the Ravenclaw prefect going AWOL already .. Blake was lead to believe that things weren't going to be super peachy for everyone today.

Merlin's beard, what was wrong with everyone today?! Was there a full moon out or something else going on in a s t r o l o g y that would have everyone so testy? Bernie was about to tell Claudine that the secret to her energy was napping and cookies, but while she was running around the room like a madwoman, some Ravenclaw prefect decided to get short with the professor.

"Heavens!" the second year murmured, her eyes wide as she watched this interaction. Did Claudine see this?! Ravenclaw was TOTALLY out of the running for the House Cup now, heh heh. One simply did not get smart with the Gryffindor head of house, no siree. Gryffindors, much like their founder, did NOT take sass lying down. Bernie thought Sandhu's response was apt, so she took to copying down notes without another peep. Just the girl's raised eyebrows indicated her surprise at this outburst from a prefect, that was all.

Anddddddd moving on. "Well, I think astrology can be used to kind of predict one's mood and ah, energy," Bernie supplied with hand raised. "I mean, even Muggles think that when we have a full moon, people here on Earth tend to act rather crazy." She couldn't help but let her eyes trail over to where the Ravenclaw prefect had just been sitting before his dramatic exit, and then back to the professor. Kids these days, amirite?!

Minjae had expected it but he still felt a bit disappointed when Ewan brushed off his hand. He couldn't come up with a reason as to why the Prefect had to stay and before he knew it he watched him walk out of the door.

What on earth just happened?

Whatever was troubling Ewan it had to be serious if he just got up and left over a little argument. Walking back to his seat, the Hufflepuff sat down. He had completely missed the tight smile that the professor had given him and tried to focus on the lesson for now. His smile was gone though. He did not like it when people got upset.

What did he think of Astrology?

"I like reading my horoscope in the Daily Prophet" he said after raising his hand up. "I don't believe it though cause if it were true then everyone sharing my horoscope will have the exact same day" which seemed ridiculous. "Wait, that is Astrology right?" or was he mixing things up again?

The Snakette could only look on in fascination at the exchange between Sandhu and Ewan. Given her thoughts about how Sandhu had handled things regarding the students who were tired, Claudine was inclined to take Ewan’s side. A small smirk crossed her features. Had she been one to be reckless and risk her House’s chances with the Cup, she would have spoken up in favour of the prefect. But shrewd was what she was so she chose to keep quiet. “Indeed they are,’’ she confirmed to Bernie. “But I do agree with Ewan.’’ She spoke very quietly from her position at the back of the room.

Her thoughts on Astrology?

“What Blake said,’’ Claudine responded when Sandhu called on her. “Isn’t Astrology important in your culture also, professor?” Did this mean that Sandhu believed in it as well? Or did she distance herself from astrology unlike some Indians?

Isla just smiled at the professor when her answer was acknowledged, but umm...yeah, she had no idea about any of that water bearer stuff either. She'd always thought that finding a shape in a constellation seemed like a stretch anyway. She watched as her answer magic'ed itself next to its corresponding stars. She tilted her head a little, but all she kept seeing was that uppercase E.

This lesson seemed hard to follow, but Isla tried to browse down the list of whatever that was the professor had displayed across the board. Then there was a whole bunch of "..." "..." "..." followed by a question Isla actually understood. 'What do you think about Astrology?' The first year perked up and looked deep in thought for a second or two.

She was kind of distracted by the Ravenclaw prefect. At this point, she didn't even know what he'd done or what he was saying he didn't do. She just couldn't think with the background discussion going on. Raising her hand, she said, "I don't really know about Astrology... I mean, on one hand, I think it's good to have it as a guide, but on the other hand, I think it could just all amount to a bunch of nothing in regards to our personal lives," she said. The professor did ask what they thought, and seeing as Isla had no real background in the subject, there it was in all its glory...her thoughts.

Uhhhhh…. Heath blinked in shock and confusion at the exchange between Sandhu and his house prefect (Ewan). And where did that older girl (Whitney) come from with that comment? He couldn’t for the life of him understand why his housemates were being so mean to Professor Sandhu! Didn’t they know she was one of the nicest professors at this school? Were it not for his shyness, he might’ve pointed that out, but he held his tongue. This was not the kind of drama he wanted to be involved in!

Heath’s heart sank at the massive points loss. How many was that? He ran through the numbers in his mind. Three, then two, then another ten, then fifty (!!!), then one… if his maths skills served him right, that was sixty-six points gone in a matter of moments. Gee, thanks a lot, guys, he thought angrily. Now he was going to have to work twice as hard to earn those points back. Not that he minded hard work because he loved astronomy… but still, he found himself wishing for what wouldn’t be the first time (or probably the last) that he wasn’t a Ravenclaw.

Heath shook his head, refocusing his attention on the board as he copied down notes on the constellations he hadn’t identified before class and the forms of magic associated with them. He wanted to show Professor Sandhu that there was at least one Ravenclaw here who wouldn’t cause trouble! The problem was the next question had him totally lost. He had no idea what to think of astrology, and even if he had, he was really not good at expressing his opinions. Still, he knew he had to try to say something, or else it would look like he wasn’t paying attention!

He raised his hand, albeit less enthusiastically than for the last question, and said, “I think astrology, like most things, is a subject worth learning, but I’m afraid I don’t understand how constellations relate to people’s personalities. I mean, everyone is different, so there’d have to be some people that don’t fit the traits associated with their sign, right?” Like himself, for example. He didn’t think he was much like a typical Virgo.

Simran's nostrils flared as the insolence simply got worse, but even in her state, figured that additional point loss might cause a riot, which was best avoided. Words would be had with Professor Schmoe and the Headmaster, of course. She would not tolerate such disrespect from a prefect.

"Yes, Master Jones, I certainly am calling it a violation of the rules and expectations," she said. "And as you admit to it, the point loss stands." His utter inconsistency with regards to whether or not she was a good teacher went without being dignified with a response other than a raised eyebrow, and as he walked out, she turned to the rest of them.

"Anyone else want to question my methods?"

No?

She was moving on before her blood pressure went through the roof.



Simran smiled as Carsyn gave her well-thought-through response that was pretty elegantly worded response, and nodded. "Very well put, Miss Rose," she said.

"The planets can influence us, and Astrology is primarily a prediction of that influence. Arithmancy is also a divination method based on seemingly arbitrary quantities, but it's got a reputation for being more accurate simply because anyone with an abacus can do it."



Simran nodded approvingly at Cole's answer, fists unclenching somewhat as she attempted to shake the tension out of her shoulders. She needed some tea. Or a mug of hot chocolate with more marshmallows than liquid. It was even a little tempting to cancel the lesson and see herself to the kitchens to eat some of her feelings. But no, she was a professional.

"Very good, Master Vance. Astrology can indeed be a good tool to help in understanding ourselves and the people around us."



Simran smiled, the simplicity of the answer, and how entirely off-base it was. "I believe you're referring to Astronomy, dear, which while a delightful subject, is not the one at hand." It was very cute, though, and she wasn't quite that angry anymore. "We are currently discussing Astrology, which is the intersection of Divination and Astronomy."

"A very common mistake," she said, winking. "Many people, wizard and muggle alike, struggle to see the difference."



"The constellations themselves, perhaps not," she said, nodding in agreement. "However, the recurrence of the signs does point us towards an idea of where we are in space, which does have an impact on our magical ability, among other things."

"You're very right, though. The sun and moon do certainly have a large impact on these things." Maybe she would plan a lesson on the topic sometime.

[COLOR=BanaBatGirl] [/SPOILER]

Simran saw what Bernie was getting at, and, well, she didn't disagree. She shrugged a little, and nodded. "That also happens to be precisely where the word "lunacy" comes from."

So.

Do with that knowledge what you will.



"Yes, Master Yoon," she nodded, now highly amused. "We are, indeed, discussing Astrology. The one with the horoscopes in the Prophet. Not all Astronomers think it's total hogwash."

"Perhaps not exactly the same, but tending towards the same results, with an inclination towards similar reactions may or may not be likely," she smiled. "It is also difficult work, for astrologers at large publications, to try to accurately predict the day or week of a large group of people."

"Personalised work tends to be the most accurate, as more factors can be taken into consideration for a more accurate reading, but this is true for just about all forms of Divination."



OH HO HO. What a question.

"Well, yes, but I certainly put more stock in it than my parents did," she smiled, chuckling. "They were Muggle academics, so like most highly educated people, they insisted quite strongly that such things cannot be read from an arbitrary viewing of celestial objects."

"I think there is subtlety to every form of Divination, and that interpretation tends to be key. Astrology, in turn, is less a set of hard facts than a tendency of the universe towards ordered chaos."




Oh, there was a reason she asked what they thought, Isla. Never fear. Part of the reason was, of course, that there was very little (if any) hard evidence pointing in the direction that Astrology was accurate. But the same could be said for just about any form of magic, much less Divination. Astrology just got a bad rep.

"Very well put," she nodded. "As your Divination professor would probably tell you, the future is not set in stone. Anything can influence it, but there is a natural tendency, which can be interpreted many ways."




Simran smiled. "It takes a good deal of courage to admit you don't understand a subject. Now, while the zodiac signs derive their names from physical constellations, they don't actually have much to do with them aside from that."

Confusing? That's fine.

"And, of course, there will always be people who defy every expectation. Cosmic or otherwise."

Addressing the rest of the group once more, Simran rubbed her hands together in a way not entirely different from a stereotypical cartoon villain. "Common misconception is that Astrology has very much to do with actual constellations. This is, however, not really the case."

"The zodiac wheel is carefully and mathematically calculated, from as far back as the Babylonian Empire. They began by first splitting our sky into four sections designated by the yearly equinoxes and solstices (the turning points of the four yearly seasons). Each of these four sections of sky were further split into 3 sections measuring 30 degrees each."

"Each 30-degree section is one zodiac sign, for a total of 12 zodiac signs, and a total of 360 degrees."

"Zero degrees traditionally assignes Aries to the Vernal Equinox, and so on and so forth. This wheel, called the Tropical Zodiac, is still accurate and in use today because we always align/begin it, as the ancients Greeks did, with the first day of Spring. This not a mistake, and no, the Wheel is not misalligned. It is recalibrated every so often to remain accurate."

"As a handy convenience, and also likely out of necessity, they used the star constellations that appeared in the general area of each zodiac sign as markers. These constellations were named after the zodiac signs they represent, not the converse!"

"As time progressed, these observations were fine-tuned to give us the Birth Chart. In fact, logarithms were developed FOR this. Basically, the planets are always moving, making different angles to each other. This means that no two people have the same planetary configurations; your horoscope is as unique as your fingerprint."

"Today, I've got a selection of Almanacs for the years corresponding to your births. Your task will be to fill out your own birth charts!" A useful life skill, it was, being able to read and extrapolate data regarding planetary allignments at specific times in history.

Were they excited? She was! "Please come forward and select the appropriate book. Under your desks, you will find a blank birth chart for you to fill, along with instructions on how to read the almanac on the back."

She would fill one for herself on the blackboard. Just for reference.

OOC: OOF. That's a lot of text. Your characters will be filling in their astrological birth charts based on the western zodiac. THIS link may be of assistance to you, but you may of course use a different website if you prefer.

We'll be moving the lesson in about 48 hours, but I'll be checking in from time to time in between to check in on questions. Title your posts if your character needs assistance!

What was going on? All these points being taken and it was Ewan causing them. How much of this was her fault? She bit her lip as the interaction kept happening and then he left. FIFTY POINTS, EWAN, she jumped up and took a few steps towards the door, but when he closed it she looked confused and worried. Her head raced and she just went back to her seat. She knew she was supposed to be walking, but she had to think right now. She had to help with points somehow since she was the cause of this. With her eyes moving about to figure things out they landed on the doll next to her.

She was on her feet just as the next question was asked. "Astrology is interesting and I think some of it can find true, but some of it I think is a stretch for truth as some feel Divination isn't fully truth either. " She would have put more thought into it but her eyes were still on the door.

Soon her hand was up, "Ma'am Ewan's behavior is my fault, I do apologize for him. I know I didn't make him have those actions, but his mood coming in here that was me. We've had some arguments and this doll project." She pointed to the doll, "Well I think it's been a bit more than either of us realized. He had spent the last evening with the doll and didn't get much sleep, then most of the day with lessons. I just got her back. If there is anything I can do to help bring back the points Ewan lost, please, I'll do anything." She pleaded with her eyes as well as her words.

She looked down at the doll who was actually being quiet for the moment. She knew she had been spending most of her time with the doll since the problems started with Ewan, but a little blaming the doll couldn't hurt, sorry Mila.

Hearing the professor talk about birth charts and getting a book, Chloe wasn't sure whether to go up or wait to see if she could do anything to help, but she didn't want to get in any trouble and cause anymore point loss so she went up to grab the book.

Maybe she could pass out the books to everyone to earn some points back?

Look at that. Claudine had managed to make Sandhu chuckle. Though it had been unintentional, there weren’t many other instances where she could say that she made someone chuckle or laugh. The second year nodded in understanding regarding her parents views on the subject. She secretly liked that Sandhu had stood her ground for her belief in Astrology. Claudine herself was quite sure Astrology wasn’t for her.

As for this wheel, she had no idea that it was recalibrated and wondered, as Sandhu further explained about how horoscopes were unique, if her views would ever change. Could horoscopes really be that accurate? Anyway, plotting birth charts...this was something she had never tried her hand at and wasn’t sure if it would be an easy task. Still, Claudine went to find the required almanac for her birth year- 2088. She got one for Bernie too because well… It's what friends do. “Here you are, Bernie. Um… any idea how to full the chart?” For Claudine was now staring down in confusion at the blank chart and the instructions which were even more confusing to her.

Huh, Bernie would have never known that about lunacy! But something was definitely disturbing the Ravenclaw star charts today. Bernie shook her head to herself and beamed as her friend Claudine brought her an almanac.

"So, you have to look in the almanac for your birthday," she explained to Claudine as she began flipping through her book. "Mine is March 1st, what's yours?" She didn't know her friend's birthday?! Well thank goodness it was apparently important for magic, right? How else would she have found out?!?

Anyway. "We might also need the birth time and location, too. I was born in London andddddd I think it was around six in the morning?"

Blake wasn't 100% sure how to do this, knowing his own birthday obviously being February 10th, and he was born in London... cool ... what time of day was her born? Dear Merlin did any kid actually know that? He could send an owl home to his mom, she would know ... but that would take some time to get an answer back .... he would just guess ... .3 in the afternoon sounded right.....

Okay ... now to start filling in the chart...

Is Astrology always this complicated? Claudine wondered as she pondered over the instructions. She had to have them read a few times before she started to piece together what was to be done. Also, it helped that Bernie had started too, as Claudine followed the girl’s lead. “31st July,’’ she responded. “Harry Potter’s birthday.” Right. They did need the location and time. “London too. Three in the morning.’’ And as only Bernie could make possible, Claudine grinned. “We’ve got one thing in common. You’re older by four months.’’ She made a mental note of Bernie’s information, the birthday being the most important one for she felt the need to gift her friend a present.

Still focusing on the instructions, the Snakette began to fill out the chart. After a moment, she paused thoughtfully. “I’m so sure I’m doing this wrong but whatever.” She proceeded to complete the chart.

If he was being completely honest with himself, Lucas didn't really know how he felt about Astronomy. It was a subject he could acknowledge, sure, but....... well. A lot of it sounded like rubbish, didn't it? Things that made him question what he was reading. He didn't want to look for associations, he just wanted the facts.

But that thought didn't matter when something MUCH bigger was going on and he....... stared. He'd thought that the talking back was bad enough but? He was leaving? Ewan was LEAVING. His eyes only grew wider and he stared at the closed door that the Ravenclaw prefect had just walked out of. This was weird. This was-

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

Uh????? Professor Sandhu?!

His green eyes flew back to the Astronomy professor at her question and now, he found himself staring at her, instead. It was unusual to see her so angry but it was there. What was HAPPENING?! Why was this…… how…… what???!! It was safe to say that he was both shocked and confused. Too shocked to pay as much attention as he would normally do and too confused to answer whatever question Sandhu was asking.

Eventually, the Gryffindor tuned back into the lesson, just in time to hear the middle of Sandhu’s talk on, uh, the zodiac wheel? Oh Merlin, was he lost in his thoughts for that long?! Scrambling to grab a quill, he started furiously scribbling away on the nearest sheet of parchment he could find.

Birth charts?!

Yeah......... he didn’t know how to feel about this.

Letting out a small sigh, Lucas placed his quill down and got up to go to the front. He offered Sandhu a small smile before looking through the books and pulling out the appropriate one. The one for him. Heading back to his seat, he took out the blank birth chart and laid the two side by side. Right. Okay. Right. This should be........ interesting.

First step? Filling out everything he knew how to do. Name? He knew that. Date of birth? Knew that too. Time of birth? Uh........ He scratched the side of his head. How was he supposed to know that? Did people know that about themselves? Could he send a letter to his mum? Could he guess? Was there an In don’t know’ option? Because he would go with that.

Turning the chart over, he started reading over the instructions that were listed there. Right. Uh. His eyebrows furrowed slightly as he followed along each instruction and then tried to find the right page in the almanac. And then he had to find the meaning behind it? Surely??

Oh Merlin.

Right...Divination. Isla didn't exactly care for Divination or Astrology, but she was open to looking into things. Natural tendencies, or whatever the professor had just said. That seemed to be her motto for this class--'whatever the professor just said'. Isla was trying so super hard to follow along, but she had a sinking feeling she might no do so well in this class.

She did catch on to that whole spiel about horoscopes being as unique as fingerprints. That was pretty cool! Just to think, she had her own little unique life story in the sky! That kind of sparked a small interest in birth charts for her, which was a good thing, seeing as they were all about to make one. She followed a line of people up to the stack of books then selected her own. Okay, time to try this out and see for herself!

Well, the first part was pretty easy...her own birthdate and place of birthday. That'd be January 27, 2089 at 7:48 in the morning! Now...to do all the hard stuff!

For one wild moment, Heath thought he was going to get into trouble for saying he didn’t understand astrology - and it wasn’t for lack of trying! He really wanted to learn; it just didn’t click for him. To his relief, that didn’t happen - quite the opposite, actually. He beamed, reddening slightly, when Professor Sandhu said it took courage to admit he didn’t understand. For the lone Ravenclaw in a family of Gryffindors, that was a huge compliment!

Oh, so astrology didn’t have much to do with the constellations? That was interesting… Heath paid close attention as the professor spoke, taking careful notes in the hopes that would make everything clearer, but he was still confused. So the zodiac wheel… four sections that correspond to the four seasons… each of those sections further divided into three, for a total of twelve signs of the zodiac. That part he got. It was all the talk of degrees, angles, and other maths terms that lost him!

Heath had a sinking feeling that he was going to be useless at filling in the birth chart under his desk, but he wasn’t one to give up without trying. He went to the front to retrieve an almanac for his birth year (2087), absentmindedly thumbing through the pages on the way back to his seat. Flipping over his birth chart, he studied the instructions on the back. So he needed his birth date, location, and time. That seemed pretty simple. He was born on the 19th of September at a muggle hospital in London. As for the time… he thought back to the stories his mum told about the day he was born. If he recalled correctly, she said he was born at 1:57 in the morning. Thank goodness he had a mum who liked to tell stories! Otherwise he probably would’ve never known what time he was born!

Now came the hard part: actually filling in the chart. Heath perused the almanac, jotting down the planetary information he needed so he wouldn’t have to sift back through the book while he filled in the chart. He stared at the chart in front of him. Now how did he translate the information he found to the chart? All these lines and numbers made his brain hurt! Was he doing this right? He had no idea, but he kept at it anyway.

Cole thought astronomy and this case astrology was pretty interesting to learn about. Professor Sandhu lost him though when she started to mention degrees left and right. He did manage to jot down some of the most nessecive notes like the fact that the zodiac wheel was created by the Babylon empire eons ago. Cole was relieved when the lecture was over and they got to work. Filling out his out own unique brithchart was pretty cool since it'd be as unquiely him as fingerprint.

Getting up from his seat Cole fetched the recquired book after having to wait for his turn. Back at his desk, he fished up the clean birth chart and got to work. He was born on October 27th, 2083 at 14.30PM GMT in Liverpool, England. He got to learn that he apparently had dominant planets and even an element too. Reading in the textbook he felt a still a bit confused about what he was supposed to make of the information. Raising his hand Cole asked tentatively "Professor Sandhu I don't get it. What does it mean when it say's on my chart that my dominant element is air?"

Simran walked over to the Ravenclaw as she saw her hand raised, despite there not being a question asked. Surely something had to be quite wrong, perhaps even a problem with the assignment. Sure, the instructions on the birth chart may be confusing, but surely they could manage it together?

"No, Miss McCarthy," she said simply. "You are not responsible for the actions of anyone but yourself, and you may not apologise on behalf of another person. The best thing you can do is allow your friend to accept responsibility and consequences of his own actions."

"Points may be earned back the way they always are, but this is supposed to be punishment."

And yes, lost esteem among his peers is part of that.



It had been a few minutes, and Simran had her own chart ready on the blackboard when she saw Cole Vance's hand raised. Picking up the front of her long skirt and shuffling over to peer at his chart, she smiled.

"Well, it seems that despite your sun sign, Scorpio, being a water sign, that due to a few dominant traits being air signs, that you are more ruled by air." But wait. "May I borrow your quill for a second?"

Once she had permission, she did a few calculations on the side -- "2 Fire, 1 Earth, 3 Air, 4 Water -- Water. 2 Cardinal, 6 Fixed, 2 Mutable -- Fixed."

"Looks like your signature sign is still a Scorpio, though."

Returning to the front, she did a look around to be sure that at least most of them had managed to finish their assignment. Those who did not could at least find a friend to help them finish up in the next activity.

"Alright, everyone," she said, clapping her hands together to get their attention. "I hope you're done, because we're about to move on to the next part of our lesson: interpretation."

"Now, reading an almanac is an important skill in Astronomy as well and not limited to Astrology, so if you're having trouble and need my help, come see me during office hours." She had her times, as always, posted on the Astronomy bulletin board. "But now, you're going to pair up and interpret these allignments. Give your partner a reading!"

"Here's how you go about it: Planets describe what is happening: Mars fights, Saturn holds back, Jupiter expands, and so on and so forth. Where the planet is located describes manifestation. Mars in Aries would be a vigorous, jumpy fight, but Mars in Taurus more gradual and consistent."

"Houses show areas of everyday life where these things take place."

As always, these appeared on the board behind her.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blackboard

Hint:
Planets show us what is happening;
Signs show us how it is happening;
Houses show us where it is happening.

"If you do not wish to find a partner, you may, of course, do your own reading. However, you'll need to read it to me instead." Just so she could be sure they were doing something.

OOC: And we're at the end of the lesson! You've got just over 3 days to complete this activity, before I close the lesson. If you need our help, just title your post and we'll be with you!

After retrieving the right almanac, Malia returned to her seat and got to work on the chart. After filling out her birth details, she moved on the other parts, using the almanac to help her. There was more to this than Malia had originally thought. Houses is this. Suns in that. She didn't really get it but, nevertheless, she filled in every section as best she could. Then, in true Malia fashion, she copied down the parts of the interpretations that SHE liked, that made her sound interesting, and ignored all the boring bits. There was stuff about the conjunction between the Sun and Mercury and sextiles between the Sun and Mars and the Sun and Jupiter and, that, she really didn't understand. So she skimmed over it and read the bit about the Moon. But then there was confusing bits in that, too. And so on and so forth. Until she had filled everything out... but left lots of gaps in her notes.

Oh..... Oops. Was she not supposed to read her own description things? Never mind. It wasn't like she'd done that much anyway.

Malia raised her hand. "Are all the different bits of it important?" Aka could she ignore some of it? It was a lot. "I don't get all the conjunction and sextile and opposition and the squares bits. How can the things be in multiple things?" Honestly, it was just too much, even for Malia who usually liked things that were a bit much. "Oh and I don't have a partner."



OOC: I used this chart, FYI.

She just nodded as the professor answered her question. She knew she was part of the reason Ewan was being like this and it hurt her heart to have upset her friend, but there was nothing to do about it right now so she turned to her book and started to try to figure out her birth chart. Starting with her birthday, time, and place Chloe began coming up with the chart and figuring out what it all meant.

As she started to write her notes she looked up as the professor started to talk about. Work with a partner?

Hmm... She looked around but her heart just wasn't into being social at this point so she looked back at the work she had done and decided just to read it on her own. If someone wanted to work with her they could come over, but for now, she would just keep quiet and working.




Going through the book she started to read what the birth chart meant. She honestly couldn't believe how much the first house sounded like her and how interesting it was. Taking out her parchment she started to write down notes on what the house meant and how much it did represent her in so many ways. This was not something she ever thought to be true, but this right here could make a believer out of anyone.

Claudine was done, alright. She just wasn’t sure that her chart was accurate as it should be. This doubt registered on her face. Ultimately, this chart would affect her interpretations which they were about to learn how to do. Talk about a screwup of a lesson on her part. Her expression would have been changed to resemble something like this: had she been able to pull it off. Why? Because Sandhu’s examples of interpretations left her further confused. Claudine pushed her chart towards Bernie, whom she assumed would be her partner. Of course, Bernie was free to partner up with anyone else if she wanted. “If you want to read mine, I can read yours.”

SPOILER!!: Claudine’s chart

This had been such a strange class. Sometimes the seminar lessons really were when it was a mix of all the years instead of just his NEWT level studies, but there was something off about everyone. The majority of the class seemed exceptionally tired for this hour and Professor Sandhu seemed particularly touchy. He was actually rather surprised to hear her lay into Ewan the way she did for his lack of greeting, knowing how cool she normally was. Though he could understand how she might feel disrespected as that sort of thing was important to Gunnar. But the way the Ravenclaw prefect spoke back to her was probably most shocking of all.

It certainly was not his place to say anything as Sandhu was more than capable of handling her own class, though if it was outside class it might have been a different story. But no matter what was going on with the Ravenclaw, there was no excuse for that level of disrespect for a professor and her class. Honestly, he'd be surprised if the other boy got to keep his badge if he continued that way after his detention.

Unconcerned once the boy left the room, Gunnar had even completed the laps the professor instructed them on without complaining, though to be fair, he enjoyed running and did them daily. But he had been rather concerned when he had heard his sister blaming herself for what had happened at the beginning of class. If he had been sitting closer, he'd have whispered to her pretty much the same sentiment the professor had told her, not wanting to disturb the lesson with his talking, so he was glad she had. Chloe had to know that she could not hold herself responsible, no matter what might have happened between them. People were responsible for their own actions and choices.

Gunnar spent the rest of the class trying to focus on the lesson and keeping to himself as he did his work. The Slytherin did not put much stock into astrology and in fact saw little use of it in regards to what he was planning on studying past this year, but he had a mild interest in seeing what his personal birth chart said. Once he retrieved a book for himself as well as blank birth chart, he began filling out his information.

The date was easy - 14 November 2082 - and he knew he was a Scorpio. But he wasn't quite sure of the exact time and he tried to remember what his mother told him. It was 5 am something, but he figured a time that was close was better than none at all. How many of his peers knew their exact birth moment by memory anyway? He began writing out the specifics that he found.... but there really was so much. How much of it were they meant to include? And this wasn't sounding like him at all, at least most of it.

SPOILER!!: Gunnar's chart and notes

1st house - Ascendant
Physical personality
Ascendant - Symbolises basic personality traits such as physical appearance, temperament, behaviour, relationship to life and the first impression the person gives.

Ascendant in Libra
Libra prefers tasks that are well thought out, prepared and based on objectives and correct assessment of the situation. Trying to take into consideration opinions of others can slow the person down and manifest as hesitation, indecision or opportunism. These people usually prefer if somebody makes decisions for them. It is important to create a strong system of values and norms which can be followed, because this enables easier decision-making.

The ruler of the Ascendant - Venus
These people tend to act in accordance with their feelings, love, or passions. They like luxury, wealth and beauty. They do not like living alone and they need to be accepted by other people. They often take the path of the least resistance. They are good companions; they like good food and drinks.

The ruler of the Ascendant (Venus) in Libra
These people try to change their environment in a fair and equitable manner and with the permission of other people. They are prudent, polite and forgiving.

The ruler of the Ascendant (Venus) in the 12th House
These people are predestined to hide and run away from themselves, to subject themselves to illusions, and to closing themselves to others. They have a rich inner life. Social life may be the cause of some life test. Self-punishment and self-destruction may occur.

Planets in the 1st House
None

Isla still had no idea what was going on, but if they got credit simply for trying, she'd ace this class. Now if the professor checked this little activity for right or wrong answers, she was doomed. There had been something said about meeting during office hours, so she guessed that was where she'd be heading if she wanted something other than a T for Troll in this lesson!

...and now they were partnering up, which could be a good thing or a bad thing for Isla. Maybe she'd luck out and get somebody who would help her. "Anybody want to partner up with somebody who has no idea what they're doing?" she asked. This was the truth.

She looked down at what she had so far, which was...not much.