OOP: Department of Mysteries and its ordinary room.

[innovan]

No: HPFGUIDX 63986

The astronomy room is too ordinary for the Department of Mysteries. 

There's twelve rooms, of which we know six: the THINK TANK, DEATH 
CHAMBER, TIME IN A BOTTLE, PROPHECY PILLS, LOVE LOCKED ...and then 
there's "See Uranus up close".

How drab and ordinary. No matter what the pyrotechnics, floating 
about, or exploding planets, it just doesn't fit in as even remotely 
"mysterious".

There's planetariums everywhere. Dumbledore's got dozens of them in 
his office alone. What's such a big secret about *this* planetarium 
that it'd need to be locked away in the Department of Mysteries? What 
could a planetarium at the Department of Mysteries possibly tell 
that's different? The planets are the same for everyone, afterall.

Firenze and the Centaurs are big on astronomy.

CoS's DVD makes an overbig too-do about the investment in Dumbledore's 
office telescope ...which still has yet to be used once in any of the 
books. I imagine Firenze is using Dumbledore's astronomy tools now in 
secret under the cover of teaching at Hogwarts. 

A centaur designed orrery carved of magical woods and stones in the 
middle of the forest would be far more interesting than the one at the 
Department of Magic came off in OOP. JKR seems bored by the human's 
model of the stars and planets. She's missing a big chance if she 
doesn't switch to the centaur's version instead.

Innovan