Chapter 54: Astronomy Class

The Astronomy Tower was the tallest tower at Hogwarts, and Astronomy class was held at its top.

Speaking of which, Astronomy class belonged to a rather peculiar type. There were no standardized textbooks for this class, and students only needed to bring a telescope, quill, and parchment.

This Astronomy Tower was truly high, and the group of people making their way up to the top could deeply feel it.

Everyone was climbing up the spiral staircase, not knowing which floor they were on. Each person felt a strange dizziness, and their breathing became slightly rapid due to the physical exertion.

"What floor are we on?" Alicia asked, gasping for breath.

"The eighth floor," George pointed to a painting of a drunken knight on the side and chuckled as he introduced, "Last time, when Fred and I came, we saw this guy fall into the river after getting drunk, almost drowning."

"How can the person in the painting possibly drown?" Angelina couldn't help but comment.

"Who says they can't? Look closely!" Fred mischievously winked at everyone, cupped his hands to form a makeshift megaphone, and shouted loudly at the painting of the drunken knight, "Ah!"

Then, a stunning sight unfolded before their eyes. The drunken knight in the painting seemed startled by the shout, suddenly becoming flustered and starting to run around haphazardly before finally falling into a river in the neighboring painting.

The drunken knight splashed in the water a couple of times before sinking into the river, and the woman in the adjacent painting quickly called for help, trying to fish him out of the river.

Everyone stared in astonishment, their mouths wide open.

Soon, everyone had to quicken their pace to climb higher because Fred's strange shout had angered several nearby paintings, and they were all glaring disapprovingly at Albert and his group.

"We're almost there," George said, gasping for breath. After walking for who knows how long, they finally arrived near the top of the tower.

"What a long journey it was. Luckily, we have enough time." Albert glanced at his pocket watch. It was almost class time.

"By the way, if it rains at night, will we still have Astronomy class?" George suddenly raised a concern. After all, if it rained, they wouldn't be able to see the sky.

"Who knows? I guess they'll just assign us a bunch of homework!" Angelina pushed open the wooden door to the Astronomy Tower.

Professor Sinistra was already waiting for everyone at the top of the tower, having just finished a class.

After nightfall, the wind on the Astronomy Tower top was strong, and everyone huddled in a corner chatting. The Hufflepuff students hadn't arrived yet; they were close to being late.

"They're probably lost," George said with a hint of schadenfreude, hoping that Professor Sinistra would deduct points from the Hufflepuffs.

However, George was destined to be disappointed as Cedric and the other Hufflepuff students arrived at the Astronomy Tower top just before class started.

"This place is really hard to find. We almost got here late," Cedric Diggory breathed heavily, smiling as he greeted the others.

"Alright, come over here, class is about to begin." Professor Sinistra drew the attention of the newcomers. Beside her, there was a covered object.

"I know you're unfamiliar with astronomy, and this class is here to teach you all about it." She spoke and then uncovered the object hidden beneath the canvas.

"This..." Albert looked at the object under the cloth. It was a small-scale model of the solar system enclosed in a glass dome.

The model of the solar system was incredibly beautiful. In the center was the burning Sun, surrounded by the nine planets and their moons, all suspended within the circular glass sphere, shimmering and sparkling in their respective positions.

"This is the solar system, and we live here," Professor Sinistra pointed to the Earth and continued, "Your task this semester is to learn how to use telescopes to observe the night sky and find the specific positions of the nine planets in the sky above us."

It was evident that the students from wizarding families were unfamiliar with celestial bodies, and Albert wondered if they even knew that their home planet was called Earth.

Professor Sinistra used her wand to point at the moving celestial bodies and briefly introduced the workings of celestial bodies, their solar system, and some other basic astronomical knowledge. She then taught them how to draw star charts and mark the names and positions of the nine planets on the charts.

For Albert, it wasn't particularly challenging. However, for others, remembering everything in a short period proved to be a difficult task.

"No, this position is Mars, not Jupiter," Albert corrected Fred's mistake with some frustration, and George didn't fare much better.

After everyone finished drawing the star chart of the solar system, Professor Sinistra began teaching them how to locate the planets they needed in the starry sky above.

Wizarding telescopes were quite effective, possibly due to magic, allowing them to see things more clearly than ordinary Muggle telescopes.

"Have you found the position of Mars?" Shanna squinted one eye and leaned over to look through Albert's telescope.

They had no idea which one was Mars, and for a new student who had never used a telescope before, adjusting the focus itself took quite a bit of time.

"Not yet," Albert said with a hint of helplessness. In fact, he had already looked in the direction indicated by Professor Sinistra, but finding Mars in the vast expanse of stars was not easy.

Professor Sinistra, who was moving around, would occasionally glance at the students' telescopes and correct some of their mistakes.

"Can magic really allow us to travel to space?" a strange thought suddenly occurred to Albert.

There probably wasn't a way, right?

After all, the number of wizards in the world of Harry Potter was already scarce, and a small number of wizards meant there were also fewer geniuses...

Perhaps the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry of Magic was researching this aspect, but it was ultimately just research...

Shaking off the thoughts in his head, Albert refocused his attention on the telescope and began to appreciate the countless stars in the sky.

He had rarely seen such a spectacle before.

By the end of the class, Albert still hadn't found the nine planets of the solar system. However, he didn't mind because the most important aspect of this class was to familiarize everyone with basic astronomical knowledge and teach them how to use telescopes. Professor Sinistra's homework was also straightforward: to memorize the approximate positions and names of the nine planets.

"It's getting close to curfew. Let's head back," Jordan reminded.

"I'm a bit hungry. I'm going to the kitchen to get something to eat," Albert took out his pocket watch and checked the time, stating that they still had twenty-something minutes, which was enough.

"Wait, we'll come with you." The twins quickly handed their backpacks to Jordan. "Don't worry, we'll remember to bring food back for you."

"You..." Jordan watched the three of them walk away, trembling with anger. "You three... jerks, wait for me! Don't leave

me alone!"

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(End of this chapter)