Divination Lesson #5: Comets

[mistressofdarkness]

Erika smiled as the girl beside her began to rumage in her bookbag. "Hey Lis, looking for this?" she asked with a smirk as she held up what Lisa had been looking for.

[Lisa Lycott]

Lisa's head shot up at the childhood nickname, and she turned toward Erika, expecting to see her sister. Realizing her mistake, she smiled softly and accepted the pastry, staring at it for a moment. "Yes, thanks!" She said breaking off a piece and handing it back to her with a grin. "They're really quite good, I'm sure you'll enjoy it."

[mistressofdarkness]

Erika accepted the piece with a grin and slipped it into her bag. "Thanks, I'll have to eat it later."

[Prof. Algernon Moncrieff]

Finally, Algernon deemed that there were enough students present. Standing up from the stone wall upon which he had been sitting, he gestured to the students to come closer to him. "Gather around, everyone, we're going to start. Quickly, I need to brief you all on what is happening before it gets here."

[Thom Moen]

Thom was the first to stand up, and struttered over enthusiastically.

[auntgreta]

Ryanne picked herself up from the wall she leaned against, walking shyly over to the gathering group. Looking behind her, at the small cat sleeping on her discarded cloak, she smiled and turned attention to Moncrieff with a small yawn.

[mistressofdarkness]

Erika garbbed Lisa's hand and said enthusiatically as she pulled her over to where Professor Moncrieff was standing, "Come on! I don't wanna miss anything!"

[Thom Moen]

Thom watched Lisa and Erika move closer, and he gave a polite nod towards them, offering a brief wink to Lisa in particular.

He then turned his attention to Ryanne. "Hufflepuff too eh? Ain't seen you around before. What's your name?" he said quietly so as not to disturb Moncrieff.

[mistressofdarkness]

"So Professor, exactly what is so special about this particular comet?" Erika asked curiously.

[auntgreta]

Ryanne turned toward the voice, surprised. Glancing at Thom appraisingly, she let her eyes drift to Moncrieff then back to the other Hufflepuff once more. "Ryanne Mason." She said timidly, her voice barely above a whisper.

[Thom Moen]

Thom watched her for a moment, considering. Then a friendly smile grew across his cheeks. "Nice to meet you at last, Ryanne Mason," he mimicked her fragile glance at Moncrieff. "I'm Thom Moen." he held his hand out to her.

[Helia Ollivander]

Halo continued to sip her coffee in the seat closest to the professor. She smiled, 'Finally some enthusiastic people'. she looked up at the professor and hoped he'd start explaining about the comet soon.

[Lisa Lycott]

Lisa grinned as she was pulled toward the rest of the class. "No, neither do I." She said, laughing a little as Erika excitedly prompted the professor to continue. She noticed Thom's wink and sent him a mischievous smile before focusing her attention on Moncrieff once more.

[Prof. Algernon Moncrieff]

"Alright, hush now." Algernon waved a hand, distinguishing the lanterns which had been lighting the area. Now the only lights were from the stars and the moon behind them, excepting the dull glow of light from the school below. Algernon stood beside the telescope although he could barely see it, one hand resting on the eye-piece.

"Today," he began, "we are going to watch a comet. As I said to the few of you who were so kind as to help me set up earlier, this comet is called Breburr's comet, and as it only comes by every three hundred and fourty seven years, we are very lucky to have it go by in our lifetimes. Now, Breburr's comet was discovered by Breburr in the year five hundred and seventy two. Breburr, it's a strange name, no? Can anyone tell me what species it could be from?" He gave the Ravenclaws a wink, knowing they had heard him give the answer earlier.

[mistressofdarkness]

Erika quickly spoke up. "It's centaur. Right?"