The Girl who Vanished

Chapter 18

Astronomy classroom

It's time for her first Astronomy class and Lara hopes it will be as interesting as Amit claims. As she walks in she sees Adelaide and a Slytherin girl looking at Divination cards.

Adelaide Oakes: "And your reading is - the Dragon. That's - exciting, I suppose. Perhaps you're due for an adventure."

Minerva rolls her eyes, why they even teach a subject like Divination when it only benefits someone who is a Seer is beyond her.  Meanwhile Dumbledore smiles seeing students from different houses getting along.   

Lara finds an open seat next to Amit and waits for class to begin.

Professor Shah: "Ladies -" The professor appears behind the two girls, arms crossed. She is dressed in a tan and blue dress covered in various astronomy related symbols.

Adelaide Oakes: "Professor Shah."

Professor Shah: "Astronomy is not Divination. You won't find the mysteries of the cosmos charted out on your palms, or at the bottom of your teacups. Alas, the heavens remain hazy to the starry-eyed. Now if you were to devote yourselves to persistent and painstaking observation, you just might catch a glimpse. With that in mind, please take your telescopes - tonight we will be on the observation deck."

Observation Deck

Everyone is shivering from the cold night air, Lara looks out of place as she doesn't have a telescope.

Professor Shah: "Still don't have your own? You can't be the new student forever, you know. You can share with - Mr Thakkar."

"Why didn't they tell her to get one when she went to Hogsmeade for her school supplies?"

Amit anxiously allows her to use his telescope.

Professor Shah: "Now, I expect all of you to put in your stargazing hours outside of class. Is that clear?"

Leander Prewitt: "But Professor, it's freezing out."

"I'm glad Grandma taught us how to cast warming charms." Elizabeth says to her brother.

Professor Shah: "Mere cold didn't stop the great stargazers of the past. Look only to the Astronomy Tables they erected throughout the Highlands, from which they gazed, millennia ago, on the very selfsame stars above us."

Seeing her students more focused on staying warm than listening to her she dismisses class for the night, although several students stay behind to complete their assignments.

Amit: "Hello again! Brilliant class, wasn't it? I prefer Astronomy over Potions, don't you? Of course, we Ravenclaws tend to do well in any class. Did I hear Professor Shah say that you don't have your own telescope? I have a spare one you could borrow for the rest of term."

Lara: "That's very kind of you, Amit. Are you sure you won't need it?"

Amit: "I'm certain. It's my old one. I finally got my hands on the new Celestia Contemplor. You've heard of it, I assume? I mean, of course you have it's only the pinnacle of all personal stargazing implements. But my old model's not too shabby either: Goblin-cut glass, first-rate optical enchantments. Hate to think such a fine instrument is just collecting dust."

Lara: "Well, I - thank you Amit."

Amit: "Think nothing of it. Anyway, the telescope's in the storage room right underneath us. You can't miss it."

He says he has some 'reading' to do on the lower deck and to come find him after she finds the telescope. As she goes to the storage room she hears her classmates complaining about the cold.