Astrophile [J.P]

Chapter 4

~ May you build a ladder to the stars and climb on every rung.

May you stay, may you stay forever young. ~

***

First day of OWLs year was bound to be full of lectures and sermons from all teachers alike. In the wizarding education, OWLs were a very major and important examination which had to passed with good marks in order to have chances of a bright career. And considering the importance of the exam, every teacher had made a note of letting their students know how necessary it was and how hard they had to study in order to pass the upcoming exams.

By afternoon as two or three classes had commenced, most students were in panic due to the OWLs already. Poor Sally Whitburg had fainted twice in Transfiguration and was sent to the infirmary along with a few others so that Madam Pomfrey could give them a Calming Drought.

The only students who seemed unaffected by all the crises were the Marauders. A group of four pranksters and troublemakers, the Marauders reigned Hogwarts through their invincible pranks, continuous jokes and constant sources of entertainment. The four of them had a knack for rule breaking and mischief making which had resulted in their extreme popularity at Hogwarts.

James was sitting in his usual spot next to his partner in crime, Sirius Black. Right behind them were Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. Remus seemed to be the only one who was intending to take studies seriously, but as judging from the other three it seemed as if they were only counting on their luck to get them through.

The Astronomy class was nearly full as both Gryffindor and Ravenclaw had the lesson together. Soon after the Professor entered. She was a tall witch with an air of strictness about her, dressed in olive robes and wearing a pointed hat spangled with astrological signs.James handed a pair of ear muffs to Sirius who grinned while accepting them and carefully put them in his ears.

Professor Sinistra's eyes swept the classroom as if gauging what to say to her students looking expectantly at her. Most of them were scared of what was going to come out of her mouth, most were expecting it anyways, then there was Remus sitting with his notebook ready to take any important notes, Peter sucking on his sugar quill and both James and Sirius laughing at an inside joke.

No wonder these four spelled trouble, she thought while shaking her head slightly and cleared her throat to gain their attention. "I may not have the intentions of boring you with another lecture, considering you have received a tonne already regarding your Ordinary Wizarding Levels. Since I have nearly the same stuff to say, I won't be repeating. However, I still assure you that OWLs in Astronomy are going to be as tough as the other subjects and you must have grasped the concepts clearly in order for you to progress in this subject."

She looked at James who was sitting alert in his chair as if he had clearly heard every single word she spoke, it was something he always did in her class. He pretended as if he was paying the utmost attention. Yet the Professor was fully aware that wasn't the case.

"Mr Lupin, would you kindly take out the earmuffs from both your friends' ears?" 

Remus obliged standing up and took the earmuffs out from both James and Sirius's ears, he himself looked exasperated but it seemed not to have caused any effect at the other two.

"So as I was saying, there's a possible chance that most of you would be spared the trouble for attending this class next year," she continued breezily as if nothing had happened at all, "but you shouldn't get your hopes that high because you still have this year to bear with me. And I'm absolutely certain that you will be having much more homework than before."