Fifth Years: Lesson One

Professor Nakamura was starting to feel settled into his role as professor. He waited for the students to enter the classroom, taking their seats, and smiled at each of them. It was always good to make a good first impression. Behind him, on the board, was a series of pictures of the phases of the moon. “Welcome to fifth year astronomy,” he said, looking around at the students. “My name is Professor Nakamura, and I will be your astronomy professor for the next few years. Providing, of course, that you continue with your studies, which I hope you will. For tonight’s lesson we will be looking at the moon. The moon is classified as a satellite of earth. The word originates from the Latin word satelles meaning ‘guard’, ‘attendant’, or ‘companion’.”

“A lunar terminator is the dividing line between the illuminated side of the moon and the dark side of the moon. While it can be mixed with the energy of the sun, the moon has energy of its own. Interestingly enough,” and Professor Nakamura did believe this was interesting, “the moon rotates on an axis slower than the earth, so we never see the dark side of the moon. We only see one side. During the waning phase, the dark side of the moon is actually illuminated by the sun. Now, onto the phases.”

Professor Nakamura paused then tapped the blackboard, where a series of notes began to appear in neat handwriting.

Spoiler: Class Notes

Full Moon: the moon appears to be fully light.

Waning Gibbous: the moon appears to be more than one-half light
.
Last Quarter: only half of the moon's surface is reflecting the Sun's rays.

Waning Crescent: the moon appears less than one-half illuminated by direct sunlight.

New Moon: the moon is located between us and the sun. It just means that the side reflecting the Sun's light is facing away from us.

Waxing Crescent: the moon appears to be less than half-light in direct sunlight

First Quarter: half of the moon is visible in the nighttime sky.

Waxing Gibbous: the moon appears to be more than half fully lit by sunlight.

“And that’s class for today. If you like, as it is a clear night, you can spend some time looking through the telescopes at the moon, but you don’t have to. Reminder than you need at least an E to advance to next year’s astronomy class. Never too early to think about grades. Oh, and don’t forget your homework,” he said, passing out a sheet of paper to each student as they left.

Spoiler: Homework

Name:
House and Year:
Label the moon phases for the image posted above:
A:
B:
C:
D :
E
F:
G:
H:

 

[Savannah Walters]

Savannah was ready to knuckle down completely. She wasn’t going to let herself be distracted. This semester was all about making sure that she didn’t fail her exams. She knew it was unlikely that that would happen, but she was a little unwilling to even consider the chance that she wouldn’t do enough for it. In her mind, she would do very little besides quidditch and revision. So, in her school bag, she put her books, notes and everything else she’d need to go to class and then revise after. She had spent the morning on the pitch and would keep this up all week. She headed out of the dorm room when she had everything ready to go.

Savannah walked into the astronomy classroom and took a spot in the room, opting for a spot that was close to where she had sat with the last professor. She glanced up at the professor as the man got started and she nodded lightly. She was keen to just get started on whatever they needed to learn. She didn’t like when professors wasted time in the first week. She took her quill and began writing down what the professor was telling them about the moon and making sure that she was getting down all of the important information that was appearing on the board and that the professor was saying. Eventually the lesson moved to allow them to look through the telescopes which she gladly did until they were dismissed.

 

[Gregory Friend]

Gregory hadn’t liked being home. His sister and her family had been there to help out and spend time with them. The one who had always tried to take him back. He just wasn’t sure why even after over ten years she still hated him so much. But of course she did, he was unliked by everyone. He was sure his parents would end up seeing her way too eventually. He wasn’t looking forward to his exams, to having to try to be a good student. He just wanted to stay in bed all day. The teen forced himself up and forced himself out of the dorm and to class.

Gregory walked into the astronomy classroom and took a spot at the back of the room. He glanced towards the professor as the man got started. He introduced himself and then began telling them about the moon. Gregory took his quill but didn’t get any of it down. The professor was speaking fractionally too fast for him to understand what was being said. He was trying his best, but he struggled to keep up at the best of times. Eventually they were alloved to just use their telescopes, which gregory preferred far more than anything else. The boy did that until he was able to pack up and leave the room.