Chapter 54

The Astronomy Tower is the tallest tower in Hogwarts, closely followed by the Headmaster's Tower and the Gryffindor Tower.

The Astronomy Tower is really tall, and the student who had a fear of heights had to make sure they did not look down. From the top, during the day, you could barely see people walking past and at night you could see anything.

Everyone had to climb multiple sets of spiralling stairs just to reach the top. Nobody had counted how many flights it was because the trek was tiring for the children. They felt tired from climbing and dizzy from the spiral staircase.

"What floor are we on?" Alicia asked while panting.

"The eighth floor." George said.

"How do you know?" Alicia asked.

George raised his finger to a portrait of a drunk knight beside him. "Last time, when Fred and I came here, we saw this knight. He fell from the top of the tower."

"How did that happen?" Angelina couldn't help but ask.

"As legends go, before midnight after the Yule Ball hosted during the Tri-Wizard Cup, a knight invited a maiden to join him to watch the full moon. The knight was a little tipsy and got a little physical. The witch drew her wand, and the knight stopped. She then got up to leave, but the knight stopped her. He asked for her hand in marriage, but the muggle born refused. He got angry and charged at her but he tripped on his robe and fell off the tower and went... you can guess what happened next, can't you?" Fred said.

Angelina, Shannon, and Lee felt a little light-hearted after hearing the story. They were shocked to find out people had died during their stay at Hogwarts.

"What's the Tri-Wizard Cup?" Shannon asked.

"Every five years, the three biggest wizarding schools in Europe: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Beauxbatons Academy of Magic and Durmstrang Institute, would traditionally hold a contest of intelligence, courage and talent dating back around 700 years. After some accidents, eh, the Hydra in the second task injured all three champions in 1792, eh, the contest stopped and has not been reinstated since," Alicia said.

"How do you know that?" Albert asked. "I would have guessed people wouldn't know about it since the last competition was two hundred years ago."

"We had a Champion from House of Nobel and Magical Spinnet representing Hogwarts and my father made me learn it alongside Family History," Alicia said.

"We're almost there," George said as he gasped for air. "That was a lot more exercise than I had wanted, especially after dinner."

"It's longer than I had expected. From the outside it looks easy, but in reality, it's a trek. Fortunately, we have enough time." Albert said, as he glanced at his pocket watch.

"What would happen if it just starts raining? Would they send us back to our rooms or would we continue our lesson in the pouring rain?" George said after he heard a thunder cloud rumble.

"Most likely not the two options you mentioned. We would be sent to the Great Hall, the Library or an empty classroom to do work from textbooks," Angelina said as she reached out and pushed open the door to the top of the Astronomy Tower.

Professor Sinistra was already waiting for everyone at the top of the tower. She has just finished packing away the equipment the previous class used.

At half-past nine, the wind was howling, and some students huddled the other student close to each other like penguins to keep their body heat. From looking around, a handful of Hufflepuff's students had still not arrived yet.

"They probably got lost or something," George said. He was a little hopeful that Professor Sinistra would deduct points from them.

However, George would be disappointed. Cedric led the other Hufflepuff students to the top of the Astronomy Tower at twenty-eight minutes to ten. In Hogwarts, they gave students a tiny leeway. She would mark them late if they had missed over three minutes' worth of lesson time.

"It's really hard to get here. We were almost late," Cedric Diggory said as he grasped for air.

"Okay, settle down, children. Lesson will begin as soon as I finish setting up," Professor Sinistra said as she placed a cover over the apparatus next to her. She turned around to do something on her desk and then turned to face the students. Once she had captured the student's attention, she began the introduction to her subject.

"I know you are very unfamiliar with astronomy and astrology. Though the practices of astrology and astronomy have common roots, there is an important distinction between astrology and astronomy. Astronomy is the study of the universe and its contents outside of this planet's atmosphere. Astronomers examine the positions, motions, and properties of celestial objects such as the sun, the moon, and even Pluto. Muggles disregard Pluto and call it a 'Dwarf Planet'. However, we, the Magical, know that Pluto plays a significant role in practices such as Divination and Rituals. Astrology attempts to study how every single positions are intertwined with each other, study their motions and properties while researching its affect Wizard and Magic itself. For several millennia, the desire to improve astrological predictions was one of the primary motivations for rapid improvements in subjects such as Potions and Alchemy." Professor Sinistra said. She then walked over to the object hidden under the cloth and removed it dramatically. Albert heard an audible gasp around the class as they glanced at the object.

It was a small model of the solar system with a burning red sun in the middle. The model was in sync with the celestial movements of every planet and their moons. They crafted the frame from pure white gold and intricately carved diagrams about myths regarding the planets and respective gods.

"This is the solar system. Our solar system. We live here. This tiny clump of blue and green we call home. Planet Earth, as the muggles call it," Professor Sinistra said as she pointed to the Earth. "Over this academic year and a portion of the next, you will be required to learn the basics of every significant celestial body and their purpose during special occasions, such as a solstice or a Harmonic Conversion. You will also be required to map out major constellation and identify and recall facts about the nine planets in this solar system."

Virtually every student present is a layman when it goes to this new subject. It was the first time many pure bloods had learnt about space while the muggle born and half-bloods who grew up in no-maj society had a small inkling of what was going on.

Professor Sinistra drew her wand and pointed it at the model so stimulate the orbital trajectory of the solar system and show the children. She had briefly mentioned every planet and their key moons to the children. She then made the children fill in a worksheet about the things she mentioned and made them draw a diagram of the solar system with labels.

To some, mostly muggles, it was like taking candy (sweets) from a baby. While to others, their feeble mind could not comprehend the vastness of this solar system. Albert couldn't imagine what their reaction would be if they found out about the existence of the Universe. Their minds would be blown apart.　

"Wrong, this planet is Mars, not Jupiter. Remember: My, Very, Eager, Mother, Just, Served, Up, Nachos, Pluto. Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, and everybody's favourite, Pluto," Albert said as he tried to explain the order of the planets in our solar system again to the twins. Albert couldn't stand it anymore, so he went back to his desk and put his head down before he lost anymore brain cells.

After most of the class had finished, Professor Sinistra allowed student to use their telescope to look into the night sky.

If you were to compare the Wizard telescope to Muggle telescope, you would be pleasantly surprised. The best current model of a Wizard telescope had specifications comparable to the Hubble telescope and, according to 'Astronomers Gossip', a telescope comparable to the James Webb was starting development. The wizarding world was about 25 years more advanced compared to the no-maj.

"Has anyone found Mars yet?" Professor Sinistra said as she made her way around the class. "Mr Diggory? Well done, 10 points to Hufflepuff."

Most students did not know how to adjust the fine and coarse focus, so Professor Sinistra took her time to assist one student individually at a time. She also pointed in the general direction of Mars to give the students additional help.

Until the end of the lesson, Nobody had found all nine planets, even with Professor Sinatra's help. However, the aim of the lesson was to introduce them to the solar system and learn how to handle a telescope, so in that regard, the lesson went well. Professor Sinistra also set them homework to do later. They were required to complete one more worksheet and learn the order of the planets before the next lesson.

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"There half an hour until curfew. Let's go back to the Common Room now," Lee Jordan said as they stepped out of the classroom.

"I'm feeling a little peckish, so I'll go to the kitchen before going to the Common Room," Albert said as he heard his stomach rumble and walked off.

"Wait, we'll go with you," the twins said as they quickly handed their backpacks to Lee. "Don't worry, we will bring back some food for you."

"You guys..." Lee Jordan said as he looked at the back of the three walking away and the backpacks in huh is hand. "You... wait for me, don't leave me alone!"