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Juliet Lee

April 22, 2005 1:33 PM

Pola-Who? Ursa-What? by Juliet Lee

In Juliet's opinion, whoever desgined the Asronomy classroom should have been lynched. She absolutely thrived on sunshine and the fact that the entire vicinity was bathed in shadows gave her a mild case of claustraphobia. She noticed that the professor's outer appearence somehow matched the classroom with her pale skin that was almost as pale as Juliet's and raven hair that almost swallowed all light.

"We'll be starting with the basics first, a quick overview of the solar system. For those who hope to pass this class, you might want to take a few notes. I teach the material, whether you succeed or fail is your problem. But first, let's see how much you know already. A bit of a pre-test, if you will. No, it will not be graded, but whoever gets the most questions correct might win a few house points. Number a piece of parchment from one to ten. Everyone ready? You may begin..."

A written exam? On her first day of actual classes? What a disappointment. When she had left her Muggle elementary school, Juliet had pictured herself transfiguring teapots into frogs and throwing hexes across a duelling stage, not taking another test. But she didn't want her teacher to think she was lazy so she snatched a piece of parchment and a quill from her satchel.

Holding a writing instrument other than a pen or pencil felt foreign to her but she managed.

1. Name the nine planets in order starting with the one closest to the sun.

Juliet immediately felt a considerable amount of tension and nervousness fade away when she read the first question. It was very easy; something that she had learned as basic knowledge in Muggle education. Her mind conjured up an image of herself sitting in Science class, blandly reciting the planets in order.

Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto

2. Which is the smallest planet in our solar system? Which is the largest?

The smallest planet in our solar system is Pluto and the largest is Jupiter..

3. What shape are the planets' orbits?

Juliet almost slipped up and wrote down "circular" but she stopped herself in time. Remembering that her Science teacher, Mr. Adams, had reprimanded a student for being so "blatantly ignorant to the study of astronomy" to believe that the planet's orbit was circular, she changed her answer.

The shape is elliptical.

4. Which planet has the hottest temperatures and why?

Once again, Juliet was tempted to place the most obvious answer, which would have been Mercury due to the fact that it was the closest to the sun. But she was once again assaulted with the memory of her psychotic Science teacher berating a student for their lack of science knowledge.

The hottest planet is Venus, due to the sulfuric acid clouds creating the "greenhouse effect".

5. Name the Galilean moons and name which planet they orbit.

Uh oh. Here was a tough one. This was a question she would have to dig deep into her subconcious to unearth the answer to.

"Think, Juliet, think. The Galilean moons orbit...they orbit...Mercury, Venus, Uranus...JUPITER! THEY ORBIT JUPITER! Ok, ok. I've got that down. Oh dear, what are their names? I know one of them has a really short name and another one sounds like a continent. South America? No...Asia. Um...Europe? EUROPA! EUROPA! And...and...erm...the other one began with a vowel...U? A? I? Io...IO!" Juliet finally halted her thought process, knowing that if there were any more Galilean moons, she didn't know their names.

The Galilean moons orbit Jupiter and they are Io and Europa.

6. Which planet is known for the Great Red Spot?

Jupiter is known for it's Great Red Spot, which is actually a hurricane.

7. True or False: The Sun is larger than all of the planets put together.

True

8. Most of Uranus' moons are named after characters of what famous Muggle playwright?

What kind of question was that? Mr. Adams certainly never taught her class whether or not the moons of Uranus were named after characters in a play. Panic began to spread through her veins and Juliet feverishly wracked her brain for the names of playwrights. Agatha Chrisie? No, that didn't seem right. The only other playwright Juliet could think of was...William Shakespeare. That made sense. Many of the names of planets and moons sounded like names Shakespeare would write in one of his plays. Making an educated guess, Juliet wrote her answer.

Uranus' moons are named after characters by Shakespeare.

9. Name three differences between terrestrial planets and jovian planets.

Argh! Another stumper. Juliet rubbed her temples, cursing herself for not paying more attention in Mr. Adams' class. She remembered that Saturn was a jovial planet and Venus was a terrestrial planet. What were the differences between them? Hmmm...well Saturn had rings and Venus didn't. That was obvious. And Venus was more solid while Saturn was made up of mostly gases. Realizing that it was the best she could come up with, Juliet grudgingly scribbled down her answer.

Terrestrial planets are made of solid materials while jovial planets are made of mostly gases. Jovial planets also have rings while terrestrial planets don't. I couldn't think of a third example.

10. What does it mean when a planet has a retrograde rotation?

It means that the planet looks like it's rotating backwards.

Bonus: Who was the witch who studied the use of phases of the moon in potion making? Clue: She is on a Famous Wizard Card.

This question Juliet didn't even bother to search her mind for because she knew that there was little chance of her producing an answer. Being a Muggleborn had its limits. Juliet was about to ask the Professor to check her exam when a hand appeared out of nowhere and slapped a sheet of paper on her desk. Practically squealing in shock, Juliet jerked backwards in her seat.

"Cool, huh?"

Juliet gasped and looked up, her eyes locking with another first year. Realizing that the girl meant the paper, Juliet looked down and noticed intricate doodlings of stars and planets on the paper and she smiled weakly.

"Um...yes. You're a good drawer."
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0 Juliet Lee Pola-Who? Ursa-What? 0 Juliet Lee 0 5

Briony O'Leary

December 13, 2006 10:34 PM

Tag! You're it! (Adam) by Briony O'Leary

Briony always felt a little weird when meeting a new professor. She always felt like they must expect her to be more like her dad. With the exception to her hair color, she really wasn't like her dad. She supposed she was more like her late mother, who was muggleborn. Taking this class, she hoped to learn more about her mother's world.

Being an attentive student, Briony chose a seat towards the front of the room, ready to take notes with her quill and parchment. Her wand stored safely away in the sleeve of her robes, as she assumed that they wouldn't need it since this was a class about Muggles. Ever since she got her first wand, her dad had insisted that she learn how to store it in her sleeve, always ready if need be.

Once the professor began lecturing, it became clear that they wouldn't be taking notes. Along with others, Briony put her things away in her tote.

When the items were passed out, she caught one that was rectangular. It was red, except for another rectangular piece on one side. That was clearish. Written in script were the words 'Etch a Sketch.' Opposite that were two white knobs on either side of the clearish part. She turned one of the knobs gingerly. A line appeared on the clearish rectangular part. She turned the other knob. A line in the opposite direction appeared. She continued to turn the knobs and they continued the lines.

Based on the name and the fact of the lines, the artifact was obviously used for drawing pictures, but seemd a little limited since it didn't appear to let you do circles. Wondering what she might be able to try drawing with this, she looked around the room. She noticed a boy that was sitting with an older boy and girl.

The girl she knew to be Kaylie Brockert, the Tepp prefect. The other two she didn't know at all, but both boys were awfully cute. She guessed that the older one was Kaylie's boyfriend since they kept making googly eyes at each other and touching each other. The younger seemed awfully unhappy. She knew she was staring, but she couldn't seem to tear her eyes away, then all of a sudden the younger boy looked in her direction. She could feel herself turning red. How embarrassing!\n\n

0 Briony O'Leary Tag! You're it! (Adam) 75 Briony O'Leary 0 5