The Mystery of Sinistra and Astronomy

[hunting4harry]

in many times throughout the HP books, harry mentions taking an astronomy final and discusses lunar charts or something while in diagon alley in book 3. have we ever met the teacher? i wonder why harry never mentions it...astronomy sounds cool to me. :cool:

[Elangomatt]

I think we know the teachers name but that is all. Harry mentions having to goto astronomy at midnight a few times, but we have never been through an astronomy class. I don't know what that implies. I doubt that astronomy is all that important, but the centaurs pay attention to astronomy and believe it dictates the future. I don't think that it will ever come into play much though, but who knows?

[Bilbo]

We've never been to an astronomy class...I believe the professor's name is Sinistra or something along those lines. Maybe this could be the new area we see.

[Mr. Granger]

Harry has astronomy in the first grade every wednesday at midnight with prof. sinistra on the highest tower in hogwarts, but that´s about all we learn from the first 4 books.

[Ashkins]

hmm You mean his first year @ Hogwarts?

He was in the first grade when he was little and living with the Dursleys.

[Mr. Granger]

Yes I mean the first grade at Hogwarts of course, what else :) ?

[Tcieneb Delonra]

I thought that the lunar charts were for Prof. Trelawnys class divination. They are supposed to be able to tell you your future baded on the planets.

[Kneazle]

Yeah, they were for Trelawney.

I believe we have Sinistra twice in the books: when she helped convey a petrified Justin to the Hospital Wing (or something like that), and when she was dancing with Moody during the Yule Ball. I'd guess that we'll see more of the Astronomy, as it is an important part of the Wizard's World. I'd like to see how Sinistra is-- we've only seen how the centaurs and Trelawney go about the subject.

[jodiekins]

Didn't he also talk about it when he was talking about his huge workload? How he had to observe the stars or something every Wednesday night from astronomy? And he couldn;t have dropped it, could he? Because they said you can't drop your first classes (or else they would have dropped potions)

[gred&forge4ever]

Maybe he is too tired to tell us about Astronomy, as he falls asleep in Divination :lol:

[Qeomash]

One thing that I've always thought Harry would be doing was complaining about getting up at midnight that night. Or complaining about not getting to bed untill 1:30 PM or so. He doesn't seem to stay up that late normally, so it would probably take a toll on him.

I wonder, is there a potion that they take that has the same affect as Coffee?

[Mr. Granger]

I am pretty sure Snape could mix you sth that would keep you awake till you drop dead :D

[Emma]

Maybe on Thrusday, their classes start later so that they can get in the extra hours of sleep.

[Auror77]

I'm positive this hasn't been posted before because I searched myself! Anyway, why have we never got to see Harry and friends in their Astronmy class? We've saw him do classes in Charms, Transfiguration, Herbology, Potions, Defense agaisnt the Dark Arts, Care of Magical Creatures and Divination. But we haven't seen a Astronmy class, at least not a direct class where we read about him sitting at his desk or going out to his telescope labeling things while Sinistra wriyes their homework on the board. Anyone else have thoughts on this?

[hesdead-dealwithit]

I think they only have one class a week, on wednesday night at midnight. Not sure about this, but since the beginning Astronomy just hasn't been a class mentioned very much, unlike Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, and Herbology. By the way, I don't think we have seen a history class since CoS. Plus, how boring would astronomy be? You just look at memorize stars and planets - doesn't seem too fun.

[Mulciber]

They've recently discussed the lesser-known teachers and this topic here : http://www.cosforums.com/showthread.php?t=13034
It's because Harry didn't take those classes (i.e. they are elective), for whatever reason, so he doesn't see them much.

[IanB97]

i thought he took astronomy...

[Hammi]

astronomy isn't an elective, hes been taking it sine his1st year

[Auror77]

I've wondered about Astronmy class too. It's strange how we've saw Harry do other classes but never saw what he did in a Astronmy class. I'd like to read about one and see how he does in one.

[Hamish D]

its probably not mentioned because its sounds quite dull...

[Raven]

You know, I've been wondering why they take Astronomy. What does it have to do with magic? Why have they been taking it for five years, yet they are still learning things about Jupiter's moons?

I took Astronomy in college. Two semesters of it in fact. The first semester dealt with planets and their moons. The second semester dealt with things beyond the solar system, and involved a firm grasp of Algebra. I've seen no sign that Ron, Harry, and Hermione know that level of math.

I doubt this is an oversight on JKR's part. She's extremely well educated herself, but I do wonder why Astronomy is apart of the cirruculum at Hogwarts.

BTW: the professor's name is Sinestra.

[Perdita]

I think the reason why we have not seen the Trio in Astronomy class is because none of what they've learned has had any bearing on their fight against Voldemort.

With things like Transfiguration, Charms and Divination, what they learn in that class either becomes useful to them later on, or it tells the reader something about an ability or spell that one of the adult characters use. This is not the case with Astronomy.

[hesdead-dealwithit]

You know, I've been wondering why they take Astronomy. What does it have to do with magic? Why have they been taking it for five years, yet they are still learning things about Jupiter's moons?

I took Astronomy in college. Two semesters of it in fact. The first semester dealt with planets and their moons. The second semester dealt with things beyond the solar system, and involved a firm grasp of Algebra. I've seen no sign that Ron, Harry, and Hermione know that level of math.

I doubt this is an oversight on JKR's part. She's extremely well educated herself, but I do wonder why Astronomy is apart of the cirruculum at Hogwarts.


Good question. Obviously, Astronomy would be very useful for Divination, but they did learn it two years before they took Divination. And not everyone does take divniation. Also, Dumbledore was thinking of getting rid of Divination, so why wouldn't he consider doing the same thing with Astronomy?

So why do kids take Astronomy? Anyone got any answers?

About the math, I have a feeling that magical ability kind of makes math irrelevant. I mean, doing daily dtuff like going shopping etc takes math, but magical kids don't have to go to Muggle schools before Hogwarts and calculators etc do not work. So I have a feeling that any math they needed to do would kind of work itself out, like adding up costs in Diagon Alley probably also does.

[Chrysalis]

I noticed the Astronomy thing too. Also, wouldn't it be better if they taught some mathematics and physics and chemistry? I mean, math is not a substitute for magic, all that stuff does exist. It would probably help in subjects like Transfiguration, same kind of thinking, but that is just my idea. Now Harry will have to leave school without knowing the laws of motion :p
Hogwarts does seem to have Magical 'equivalents' of muggle subjects:
Arithmancy = Math
Potions = Chemistry
Herbology/Care of Magical Creatures = Biology

[WeasleyIsOurKing]

I noticed the Astronomy thing too. Also, wouldn't it be better if they taught some mathematics and physics and chemistry? I mean, math is not a substitute for magic, all that stuff does exist. It would probably help in subjects like Transfiguration, same kind of thinking, but that is just my idea. Now Harry will have to leave school without knowing the laws of motion :p
Hogwarts does seem to have Magical 'equivalents' of muggle subjects:
Arithmancy = Math
Potions = Chemistry
Herbology/Care of Magical Creatures = Biology

Well, a lot of those scientific laws don't apply in the magical world. I mea, time travel isn't exactly realistic, is it?

Wizards probably have no use for those kind of things. There's got to be some kind of magical equivalent to a calculator for doing your basic math, but they're never going to need to graph the algebraic expression
y + x = z, are they?

[GryffindorSeeker]

Well, hasn't astronomy kind of been in magic myth for centuries? Nearly all of the civilizations have used astronomy in some way, shape of form.

[eggplant]

There are 2 astronomy errors in Order of the Phoenix. In the final exam Harry is looking at Venus and Orion, but Venus can only be seen near sunrise or sunset and this was about midnight, and Orion is a winter constellation and it was June.

Eggplant

[SnorkackCatcher]

I think they only have one class a week, on wednesday night at midnight. Not sure about this, but since the beginning Astronomy just hasn't been a class mentioned very much, unlike Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, and Herbology. By the way, I don't think we have seen a history class since CoS. Plus, how boring would astronomy be? You just look at memorize stars and planets - doesn't seem too fun.

Well, it would be quite cool in the real world. :)

In HP, though, I presume it's just a supporting subject for Divination (unless there are some spells or potions that need particular conjunctions of planets or whatever). I did wonder how they do much with it without a significant mathematical background (even medieval astrologers needed to be able to do the calculations).

There was a history class in OoP - something about giant wars in which Binns bores the class comatose in about ten minutes. I remember seeing someone complain (tongue-in-cheek) on one of the political blogs about how history teachers get a bad press even in the magical world ...

[roberto]

Astronomy was very important to ancient mythologies, and those myths show up time and time again in these books.

One of the reasons we haven't seen the class is just to cut down on length. Keep in mind that in all five of the books, Harry has taken one bath and that was to work out a clue, so there are things that must be left out to cut down on length.

However, with that name, I have a feeling we will see more on Astronomy in the final two books.

[Molly Nest]

Here in Brazil we just know the name: Sinistra (scare)

[GryffindorSeeker]

Astronomy... That is the one class that is absolutely normal. I mean, muggles can take astronomy at college and stuff. There isn't really anything that's magic, is there? Just a thought.

[hesdead-dealwithit]

Well, a lot of those scientific laws don't apply in the magical world. I mea, time travel isn't exactly realistic, is it?

Wizards probably have no use for those kind of things. There's got to be some kind of magical equivalent to a calculator for doing your basic math, but they're never going to need to graph the algebraic expression
y + x = z, are they?

Probably not. I think that any math wizards would have to do is already magically done. Remember the accountant the Weasleys were ashamed about? If wizards had to do math, then there would be wizard accountants. Because they don't, there don't have to be wizard accountants.

[Serpentine]

Throughout history astronomy was always closely linked with astrology, which now in HP appears to be part of Divination. Only quite recently the two disciplines became separated (at least in the Muggle world). :p Besides it seems to have had some importance for the harvest of certain herbs - i.e. for potions I guess (Moon phases and such). So it would be important in the magical world.

On the other hand, as eggplant has pointed out, JKR seems to have made mistakes when she did write about astronomy. I also liked how she kept mentioning that "Mars is bright tonight" when actually, according to astronomers, Mars wasn't even visible at the time. :D

So maybe she just put it in because she had to, due to its importance for other magical procedures, but avoids to go into detail because she doesn't know too much about it? *ducks away* Don't kill me for suggesting it... She has gone into so much detail about other amazing stuff she certainly does know about, but come on, even JKR is only human. :)

[Alicia]

Some one mentioned something that asked why they are still learning things about Jupiter's moons. Jupiter has tons of moons. That may be why. I dunno, maybe this will play out later.

[The 8th Weasley]

Ok, am I the only one who finds Sinistra, the Astronomy teacher at Hogwarts, a tad suspicious. Think about it, what do we know about her? With all the other teachers we know pretty much all there really is to know about them. Even the lesser ones we know a little about. But we don't have a clue about Sinistra! We don't even have so much as a single description about her in five books. Also Astronomy is the only subject Harry takes that we've never read about a class taking place in. Considering that the lessons take place at midnight on top of a tower it seems you could write some interesting stuff about it. To top all that off-HER NAME IS SINISTRA! Why would any author give a name like that to a supposedly innocent background character?

So what does this mean? Well I have a feeling we're going to be learning more about the mysterious Sinistra in later books, I haven't decided whether I think she's evil or not. What are your opinions?

[crumseekerlynch]

Maybe JKR doesn't have enough room with the plots to talk about every minial detail ever in Hogwarts. She already served her porpuse with them taking the test thing when Hargrid went carzy on Umbridge and rean into the night and McGonigal got nailed with a spell.

[silvery orb]

I have to admit I am also intrigued by Professor Sinistra. JK talks about them being in all their other classes, but we only see Astronomy at exam time, and Sinistra is nowhere in sight.....

I take umbridge at her name being suspect! ;) Sinistra means "left" in latin. Left as opposed to right...like yin and yang/sun and moon/male and female.
Like these other word pairings
MASTER...MISTRESS
BACHELOR...SPINSTER
(plus words like hysterical)
history has given the female word a negative slant. All very fascinating....

[Yrraine]

I really can't buy that in the 1000s of pages of HP, you could never fit in a few paragraphs with astronomy class. I could believe a scene was cut from PS/SS, but as the books have increased in size, The Missing Astronomy Classes have stood out. Is this because a huge clue is hidden there that will be revealed in book 6 or 7? I would really love to believe that--I was intrigued by that room in the DoM, which is described by Luna but never seen by Harry. However, I don't see any reason for Harry to take Newt level astronomy--I don't know what you would do with an astronomy degree, except work in that room at the DoM, or as centaur liason. So my boring theory:

JKR initially thought astronomy was an appropriate subject for wizards, and included it. However, the topic would be the same as for muggles (outside of "computus angle" or however you do the math), so it never worked as an interesting background for the other action (as Charms, History of Magic, and Transfiguration often do) or as a good setting to teach them important clues (because naming Jupiter's moons hasn't yet been significant to overcoming dragons, LV, DE). The apparatus--telescopes, miniature models of the solar system--are used to add depth to other scenes, but the actual class just isn't interesting enough to include.

Possible support for this: as others have mentioned, astronomy uses a lot of math. And JKR has said she was never good at math. So just as Arithmancy will always be off-screen (too hard to write without errors), so will astronomy. Earlier in the thread, two existing astronomy errors were mentioned--no one can complain that vanishing snails in Transfiguration doesn't follow the true way of vanishing snails, but a lot of people might notice problems with astronomy.

Does anyone have a more exciting theory? I'd really like to see astronomy, but I can't tie it to anything in the books--the height of its tower I think has had more page-time than Sinistra.

[Flee From Death]

I have to say, given the fact that I'm currently reading astrophysics at University and want to become an astrophysicist I always found the lack of astronomy disappointing. However, I think it's probably for very boring reasons that we don't hear more about it. I don't think that she knows much about it: look at the exam; she only mentions about 3 celestial bodies and manages to make 2 mistakes. I think it was included originally because she thought it might make for interesting situations, got dropped, and then became too awkward to start having classes in it. I mean if she started in HBP she would need to go into descriptions of the teacher, what a class was like, etc. It just got too hard to introduce it, wasn't pivotal and she doesn't know all that much about it.

Maybe I'm wrong, Sinistra certainly has interesting connotations, but I can't see how it would be introduced at this point in the series.

[laprincesamestiza]

I reckon we'll see Sinistra again, one of those - you barely noticed they were there teachers. There's got to be more to it than that. The two mentions of SInistra, as has been mentioned, are her helping JFF to the hospital wing and being with Moody at the ball. These parts could have been taken by anyone else so there was no need to mention her at all, yet mentioned she was. I also reckon we see a shot of her in one of the films (can't recall which one) - an attractive, young dark-haired woman, dressed in black, sitting at the professor's table. I reckon they slipped her in there, just like in the books, because although she has no immediate importance, she'll be very important later, and what about that name, eh - very interesting...
Please join me in wild speculations about her future role in HPB and the final book.

[Briar Filth]

I think it was the second film, but there was a lady professor sat next to Snape at the table, she had thin feathers in her hat (sorry I don't know what part of the film it was) but even though I don't know who it is for sure I came to the conclusion that it was Sinistra. She may have a slightly larger part. If it WAS Sinistra, they wouldn't have casted an actor for no reason would they?

Then again, I don't actually know if it was Sinistra, I'm just assuming things here.

[laprincesamestiza]

Yeah, that's the one I'm thinking of - I think you see her at the very end of the film as DD announcing the House Cup winners, we get a fairly good look at her as well, in a kind of "remember this face, it's important" kind of way. She does look like a Sinistra, all that black.

[fairy_lightz]

she is mentioned by JK but thats it, wen eating diner etc

[Mayzie]

I think they only have one class a week, on wednesday night at midnight. Not sure about this, but since the beginning Astronomy just hasn't been a class mentioned very much, unlike Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, and Herbology. By the way, I don't think we have seen a history class since CoS. Plus, how boring would astronomy be? You just look at memorize stars and planets - doesn't seem too fun.

We get history every year. Harry is in History when Hedwig turns up injured in book 5, they are studying Giant wars that year. Ron and Hermione are studying the Goblin Riots in History in Book 4. Notes are always passed in this class.

Sinistra is also mentioned in every book whether it be many references to the homework she sets, or a small cameo of some sort. Astronomy is incredibly important to the series and holds many clues. It is so important that it is being hidden in the same way as Sirius and Scabbers.

I have to say, given the fact that I'm currently reading astrophysics at University and want to become an astrophysicist I always found the lack of astronomy disappointing. However, I think it's probably for very boring reasons that we don't hear more about it. I don't think that she knows much about it: look at the exam; she only mentions about 3 celestial bodies and manages to make 2 mistakes. I think it was included originally because she thought it might make for interesting situations, got dropped, and then became too awkward to start having classes in it. I mean if she started in HBP she would need to go into descriptions of the teacher, what a class was like, etc. It just got too hard to introduce it, wasn't pivotal and she doesn't know all that much about it.

Maybe I'm wrong, Sinistra certainly has interesting connotations, but I can't see how it would be introduced at this point in the series.

What were the mistakes? I'm surprised to hear that actually because I remember when book 5 came out a local news report stated that astronomers were very impressed at the level of accuracy in the HP series. Especially given that Mars was at its closest point to the earth near the time the book was released.

Harry Potter and the Moons of Jupiter (http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2003/02jul_harrypotter.htm?list965714)

Mars reaches its closest point to the Earth (http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2003/25aug%5Fcloseencounter.htm)

[SyirenSlytherin]

I think it was the second film, but there was a lady professor sat next to Snape at the table, she had thin feathers in her hat (sorry I don't know what part of the film it was) but even though I don't know who it is for sure I came to the conclusion that it was Sinistra. She may have a slightly larger part. If it WAS Sinistra, they wouldn't have casted an actor for no reason would they?

Then again, I don't actually know if it was Sinistra, I'm just assuming things here.


that's Madam Prince, the librarian. you can see at lease in the cut scenes, her sitting in the library.


givin the fact that pretty much every name in HP is significant, with the name Sinistra i'd say there's something interesting about her that we don't yet know. as to what, i haven't got a clue.

[melusinafairy]

I remember they released Norbert in the astronomy tower... i dunno if this helps :)

[hazel_hifearnan]

It is odd that we haven't seen an atronomy class, it seems like it'd be an interesting backdrop if nothing else. My thoughts are that it will be important later on so Jo is saving it or maybe she just doesn't know much about astronomy and doesn't want to make more mistakes like these:

There are 2 astronomy errors in Order of the Phoenix. In the final exam Harry is looking at Venus and Orion, but Venus can only be seen near sunrise or sunset and this was about midnight, and Orion is a winter constellation and it was June.

Eggplant

[Mayzie]

It is odd that we haven't seen an atronomy class, it seems like it'd be an interesting backdrop if nothing else. My thoughts are that it will be important later on so Jo is saving it or maybe she just doesn't know much about astronomy and doesn't want to make more mistakes like these:

Sunset in Scotland during the first week of June is at nearly 10pm. Venus is visible for at least two hours after sunset depending on the year. Orion is on the celestial equator. It reaches its highest point in January, but it may be visible just after sunset during early June as well. It disappears sometime in June.

[Hectate]

Interesting. We know Harry takes Astronomy, but we've never seena real class of it. We've never even met Sinstra, unless you count her conveying Justin to the Hospital Wing and dancing with the fake Moody at the Yule Ball. There must be a reason why we haven't met her, yet saw Harry's Astronomy practical. I mean, a different exam could have been used to show Umbridge trying to sack Hagrid.

[laprincesamestiza]

that's Madam Prince, the librarian. you can see at lease in the cut scenes, her sitting in the library.

Aww, I was so sure...

[Nicole]

We get history every year. Harry is in History when Hedwig turns up injured in book 5, they are studying Giant wars that year. Ron and Hermione are studying the Goblin Riots in History in Book 4. Notes are always passed in this class.


I see that you are in California, Mayzie. The British school system works differently than the US system. I have been very fascinated with the differences.

It seems that for Book 6, Harry will only be taking 5 or 6 classes at NEWT level. Professor McGonagall said potions, charms, transfiguration and defense against the dark arts would be recommended courses for those pursuing a career as an Auror. She also said 5 NEWTs would be needed to qualify. So Harry has to take at least one other course, we just don't know which one would aid him most in his quest to become an Auror.

That said, I am not sure Harry will be having any more Astronomy lessons. I certainly don't see him continuing to take History. That means he will take at least one of the following: Care of Magical Creatures, Divination (also likely that Harry does not want more classes if he doesn't have to take them), Astronomy or Herbology.

[Mayzie]

I see that you are in California, Mayzie. The British school system works differently than the US system. I have been very fascinated with the differences.

It seems that for Book 6, Harry will only be taking 5 or 6 classes at NEWT level. Professor McGonagall said potions, charms, transfiguration and defense against the dark arts would be recommended courses for those pursuing a career as an Auror. She also said 5 NEWTs would be needed to qualify. So Harry has to take at least one other course, we just don't know which one would aid him most in his quest to become an Auror.

That said, I am not sure Harry will be having any more Astronomy lessons. I certainly don't see him continuing to take History. That means he will take at least one of the following: Care of Magical Creatures, Divination (also likely that Harry does not want more classes if he doesn't have to take them), Astronomy or Herbology.

That's not so different really :)

Our high school Juniors and Seniors take between 5-7 classes. One of them is definately PE (physical education). That being said, Harry only took something similar to that in year 1 (flying broomsticks with Madam Hooch.)

If he takes six classes I predict them to be the following:

Transfiguration
Potions
Care of Magical Creatures
Charms
Astronomy
and History of Magic

Either Divination or History of Magic will be dropped. I'm not convinced which one yet. Divination is not recommended for Auror training. Both Divination and History of Magic have been used as literary devices to deliver important information. I don't see Astronomy being dropped because I think that we will finally see some classes (however it might be awkward to finally see more of the class after so long. :shrug:) And perhaps the Astronomy material would be covered in Divination if Firenze continues on. :huh:

But the most compelling reason for Rowling to have him take Astronomy is that it completes his schedule without requiring that she include scenes from every single class. We know he has a full schedule, but she doesn't have to prove it, does that make sense :)

[Nicole]

If he takes six classes I predict them to be the following:

Transfiguration
Potions
Care of Magical Creatures
Charms
Astronomy
and History of Magic

Either Divination or History of Magic will be dropped. I'm not convinced which one yet. Divination is not recommended for Auror training. Both Divination and History of Magic have been used as literary devices to deliver important information. I don't see Astronomy being dropped because I think that we will finally see some classes (however it might be awkward to finally see more of the class after so long. :shrug:) And perhaps the Astronomy material would be covered in Divination if Firenze continues on. :huh:

But the most compelling reason for Rowling to have him take Astronomy is that it completes his schedule without requiring that she include scenes from every single class. We know he has a full schedule, but she doesn't have to prove it, does that make sense :)
So you think Harry will drop DADA, too? I notice it isn't on the list.

Some of Harry's classmates may be taking less than 5 NEWT classes.

History of Magic has been utterly worthless to Harry. And while it has been hinted that Astronomy might come in handy for something (like knowing what cycle of the moon is best for adding potion ingredients), it, too, has not really enriched Harry's life and I expect he has learned enough of it to get by on--without having to take advanced classes.

Now, if Astronomy is needed to learn some Ancient Magic that would be useful to an Auror...Then I could see him taking it at NEWT level.

Just a difference of opinion, Mayzie, nothing wrong with that! :cool:

[Mayzie]

So you think Harry will drop DADA, too? I notice it isn't on the list.

Some of Harry's classmates may be taking less than 5 NEWT classes.

History of Magic has been utterly worthless to Harry. And while it has been hinted that Astronomy might come in handy for something (like knowing what cycle of the moon is best for adding potion ingredients), it, too, has not really enriched Harry's life and I expect he has learned enough of it to get by on--without having to take advanced classes.

Now, if Astronomy is needed to learn some Ancient Magic that would be useful to an Auror...Then I could see him taking it at NEWT level.

Just a difference of opinion, Mayzie, nothing wrong with that! :cool:

You're right! I forgot DADA....that will definately be on his list for sure. I also forgot Herbology. ;)

hmmmmm....I don't know what she'll do with his schedule really. But I doubt he'll only have 5 classes if he had 9 last term. Let's see....this was his last schedule, correct me if I'm wrong:

Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, Divination, DADA, Astronomy, Care of Magical Creatures, Herbology, and History of Magic.

If he drops any courses, I still think that Divination or History of Magic will be it. Herbology and Potions are sister classes. DADA requires competance in Charms, Transfiguration, and Potions. History of Magic is important in understanding what has happened, the motivations, and how to prevent it from happening again. Divination is wooly and may not help him towards his career. But Astronomy is important in potion making.

Also, regarding Divination there are now two teachers. It is possible that he will interact with both of them on school grounds, but we all know that he doesn't really like the subject even with Firenze as the teacher. But it does seem like such a colorful class with all of these interesting methods of fortune telling that Rowling may decide to keep him in it, unless she's already covered all the methods. :huh:

[tarachristwen]

the teacher is sinistra,if i am not mistaken..perhaps she is not a really important character in the books or perhaps we will hear more about her soon in the future books? :evil:

[Allemande]

In the PoA movie, the classroom that Lupin was teaching Harry the Patronus charm in was the astronomy classroom.
I found it a little odd how they would have changed the location, because in the book Harry learned the charm in the History of Magic classroom.
Maybe this is the accidental foreshadowing JKR talks about in the DVD interview?

[Mayzie]

In the PoA movie, the classroom that Lupin was teaching Harry the Patronus charm in was the astronomy classroom.
I found it a little odd how they would have changed the location, because in the book Harry learned the charm in the History of Magic classroom.
Maybe this is the accidental foreshadowing JKR talks about in the DVD interview?

I'm quite sure that was Dumbledore's office, not the astronomy tower.

[Iceager]

Dumbledore's office has astronomical instruments in the CoS film, which are used again for the patronus lessons scene in PoA, I think... So Dumbledore's interests in astronomy might be an important detail in the future books.

[Cheri]

Why is it important to learn astrology at Hogwarts? Would it be more effective to have a class on Occlumency or something? In what way does one use their knowledge of the stars? It must be important but in what way I wonder...

[siriusblue]

We probably haven't read about an Astronomy lesson because some people in our Muggle world (real life) take courses in Astronomy for real. JKR wouldn't risk writing about something that some of her readers do know more about than she.
She cannot make up this stuff like Potions or Transfigurations.

[Allemande]

I'm quite sure that was Dumbledore's office, not the astronomy tower.

I bought this Prisoner of Azkaban Warner Brothers official calendar thing, and there's a pic of Harry and Lupin in the room where he practices the patronus, and it says "The Astronomy room where Professor Lupin teaches Harry how to conjure a Patronus is filled with celestial objects"

[Mayzie]

I bought this Prisoner of Azkaban Warner Brothers official calendar thing, and there's a pic of Harry and Lupin in the room where he practices the patronus, and it says "The Astronomy room where Professor Lupin teaches Harry how to conjure a Patronus is filled with celestial objects"


hmmmm...that's bizarre because it is the exact same room used on the COS DVD for Dumbledore's office :)

[Allemande]

really? i'll have to watch CoS and PoA again

[NYCwitch920]

I think the reason why we have not seen the Trio in Astronomy class is because none of what they've learned has had any bearing on their fight against Voldemort.

With things like Transfiguration, Charms and Divination, what they learn in that class either becomes useful to them later on, or it tells the reader something about an ability or spell that one of the adult characters use. This is not the case with Astronomy.

Not necessarily! I think we've all noticed that JKR mentions certain things very vaguely in certain books. Remember her very small mention of the Lovegood family in Book 4? (It was in the chapter when they're all about to take the Portkey to the Quidditch World Cup) Just because it's not mentioned a lot doesn't mean it's not important. It very well may end up helping Harry. I don't think JKR would mention it several times throughout the books for no reason. Also, remember when we were given that little clue about Mars being "bright" and how it was related to the second war beginning? Astronomy could come out for handy than you think.

[SyirenSlytherin]

Not necessarily! I think we've all noticed that JKR mentions certain things very vaguely in certain books. Remember her very small mention of the Lovegood family in Book 4? (It was in the chapter when they're all about to take the Portkey to the Quidditch World Cup) Just because it's not mentioned a lot doesn't mean it's not important. It very well may end up helping Harry. I don't think JKR would mention it several times throughout the books for no reason. Also, remember when we were given that little clue about Mars being "bright" and how it was related to the second war beginning? Astronomy could come out for handy than you think.

isn't Mars being even visible at that time one of her mistakes? i can understand her avoiding the actual class to avoid mistakes but why the total lack of discription of a professor named SINISTRA! somehow i doubt JKR decided on a name like that, just because.

[ArtemisiaDax]

Well...Sinistra could just mean she's left-handed (coming from sinistral, "left." ) It doesn't have to mean sinister.

[meghana]

We saw the astronomy OWL in Book 5 (if I remember correctly)
Doesn't the Bloody Baron live up there? It's out of bounds except for classes? Why?

ArtemsiaDax stated:
Sinistra could just mean she's left-handed (coming from sinistral, "left." ) It doesn't have to mean sinister
That is true. But, in the old days (Dark Ages), ppl who wrote with their left hand were thought to be evil (or had the line going to the left; something like that). There are many cases of kids (who should be left-handed) that were forced to be right-handed.
Left ->Evil (the words lead to each other)

Why does she want to equate this with the Astronomy teacher?

Meghana