Full Name: Calixo Xellor Lorr
Position: Astronomy Professor
Previous Education: Hogwarts [completed 7 years]
Qualifications: Being an alumnus of Ravenclaw House, Calixo is naturally quite intelligent. He did reasonably well on his O.W.Ls and N.E.W.T exams while attending Hogwarts as a student. His interest in Astronomy was not fully realized until he became a vampire, after which he invested an enormous, almost obsessive, amount of time into as a hobby, and then passion. After decades of self-study on the subject, Calixo has a lifetime of experience that could rival anyone else in the field.
Activity: I plan to be very active!
It was a crystal clear evening- perfect for star gazing. Calixo moved fluidly in his office, a small turret that stuck off of the enormous North Tower of Hogwarts castle. He was late. Nothing struck his nerves quite like a late student and he felt instantly guilty for his strict attendance policy which he was now about to break himself. The reason for his tardiness was understandable enough; he had to leave the grounds through the Forbidden Forest to apparate off the premises and to his summer home in Scotland where he had forgotten a small trunk of brand new telescope lenses that were convex enough to provide a significant visual boost over the old handhelds that he had used the previous year. These were much nicer- copper exteriors with crystal lenses and leather grips. They were also much more expensive and nearly drained his department budget allotted by the school to him but he knew they would make all the difference. It was a smart investment.
Calixo glanced at the ancient grandfather clock that stood solemnly in the far corner of the spacious room. The face was aglow from the fire that still breathed within the opposite wall's fireplace.
Five to midnight. Calixo frowned and in two long strides made his way to a large shelf covering the remainder of the wall next to the clock. It contained hundreds of scrolls and parchments. He gathered a small collection of them from a bottom section and tucked them under an arm. He glanced over his shoulder at the 3x4 metal trunk of telescopes he had retrieved only minutes before that now sat on his large oak desk. The container immediately rose into the air upon his unspoken incantation -a result of decades of practice in wandless spellwork- and drifted eerily behind him as he stepped out onto the steep staircase that continued upward another one-hundred steps to his classroom.
The professor could hear the quiet, slightly sleepy murmurs from his students above as he drew closer to the top of the tower. Having a class at midnight most nights was both a pro and a con for the kids. The pro was that it tended to naturally weed out those who did not take the class seriously (an impatience). The con was that even his most passionate students were still often tired from the rest of the day. Calixo ascended the staircase quickly- the perks of having long legs that supported his six-foot frame and his trunk floated behind just as urgently. The professor reached the top just as a distant belltower rung in the first hour of the new day.
"Good evening." His tone was always quiet, yet commanding and powerful at the same time. He demanded attention not through his body language but through his vocal chords. He smiled at the weary students scattered in cliques throughout the room
"Tonight we will examine the constellation Lira, specifically, her star, Vega. I trust you recall last Wednesday's class where we mapped Arcturus. Vega is in the same celestial hemisphere."The tower itself was very large. The staircase was a rail-less hole in the floor and the space was very nearly open on all sides. Only several stone columns supported the pointed roof and there was a wide walkway that wrapped around the entire tower along with a black metal rail as a safety measure. An enormous brass Armillary Sphere floated magically in the center of the room and turned itself quietly, as if in operation by some invisible giant. Under the sphere was Calixo's work desk. The room was deskless otherwise; the students either stood at their tripods on the wrap-around terrace or left their belongings on the wooden floor planks. It was a very hands-on subject.
As he spoke he made his way to his lab desk in the center of the circular tower. A cool breeze blew in from the west and relieved a few strands of his shoulder-length blond hair. Calixo tucked them behind an ear quickly and dropped his constellation maps onto the desk. The trunk followed behind on it's own accord and then dropped to the floor, unlocked itself, and opened with a 'click'.
"I have new stuff for you. Come get a new telescope from the trunk and a map from the desk. Please map Lira again for practice and I will go over tonight's lesson in twenty minutes." Calixo spoke since his arrival at no one in particular and failed to meet eyes with any of the students as he arranged the maps on the desktop but he knew they were watching. His voice remained soft and he never repeated himself so the students were trained to listen intently or miss the lesson. After a moment he looked up for the first time to look at everyone gathered and smiled slightly again.
"I didn't realize that the sixth years in this class had O.W.Ls at the end of the week so the essay on Galileo will be due by Saturday next instead." He heard sighs of relief.