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"Astronomy is not Divination. You won't find the mysteries of the cosmos charted out on your palms, or at the bottom of your teacups. Alas, the heavens remain hazy to the starry-eyed. Now if you were to devote yourselves to persistent and painstaking observation, you might just catch a glimpse."
— Professor Shah to her students[src]

Professor Satyavati Shah was a witch who worked as the professor of Astronomy at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the late 19th century.[4] Professor Shah had a sister named Suchrita who also studied Astronomy and had contact at Cambridge University. They seemingly had a close relationship, taking at least one trip together to Jantar Mantar in late 1890.[3]

Biography[]

Early life[]

After being raised largely in the Muggle world, Satyavati Shah took an interest in the sciences, which she carried with her into her schooling at Hogwarts.[5] She also had a sister named Suchrita.[3] In her youth, she began attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry where she was Sorted into Ravenclaw house.[5]

Teaching career[]

Professor Shah teaching Astronomy HL

Professor Shah teaching Astronomy

After graduating, she eventually took up a position as professor of Astronomy and devoted herself to her subject in a way that most would find monastic and extreme. Like her scientific subject, she could come off to her pupils as a bit cold and demanding. She was easily carried away when talking about the heavens and viewed many of the other Hogwarts disciplines (like Divination) as wishy-washy.[2]

Personal life[]

Professor Shah's sister Suchrita, with whom she kept a correspondence through letters, had a similar interest in Astronomy. In 1890, Satyavati and Suchrita were planning to take a trip later in the year to the site of Jantar Mantar, New Delhi, a place that consisted of 13 architectural astronomy instruments. Suchrita mentioned in one letter to Satyavati and expressed joy in getting to go on such an adventure with her sister. In the same letter, Suchrita also disclosed to Satyavati regarding Satyavati and Suchrita's theory that her Cambridge contacts had been wrong in their understanding of meteor showers, and told her that Muggle astronomers had developed a way to calculate the position of dust at Earth's orbit in order to link meteors to comets.[3]

Magical abilities and skills[]

Etymology[]

Satyavati may come from the queen of the same name. Satyavati was the queen of the Kuru, wife of king Shantanu of Hastinapura and great-grandmother of the Pandava and Kaurava princes, principal characters of the Hindu epic Mahabharata.

Shah is a common surname in various countries and regions, including India. In the Gujarat and Rajasthan regions, the name could come from the Gujarati word "sah" meaning "merchant" or Prakrit "sahu", with the actual spelling being popularised by the Persian word for "king".

Behind the scenes[]

Appearances[]

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Notes and references[]

Astronomy
study · class
Astronomy Pottermore
Professors: Satyavati Shah · Aurora Sinistra
Astronomy at Hogwarts: Astronomy classroom · Astronomy Corridor · Astronomy Club · Astronomy department · Astronomy homework meeting · Astronomy reading room · Astronomy Room · Astronomy Stairs · Astronomy Tower
Astronomers: Aurora Sinistra · Copernicus · George von Rheticus · Perpetua Fancourt · Hesper Starkey
Objects: Astrolabe · Astronomy Table · Globe of the Moon · Lunascope · Moon chart · Orrery · Sextant · Star chart · Telescope
Planets: Jupiter · Mars · Mercury · Neptune · Pluto · Rogue planets · Saturn · Uranus · Venus
Satellites: Callisto · Europa · Ganymede · Io · Moon
Constellations: Aquila · Bartholomeus · Canis Major · Capricornus · Centaurus · Cetus · Corvus · Crater · Dark cloud constellations · Draco · Horologium · Hydra · Leo · Lupus · Orion · Ursa Major
Stars: Arcturus · Canopus · Sirius · Vega
Other topics: Black holes · Celestial Studies · Cosmic ages · Dark energy · Dark matter · Eclipse · Galaxy · Lunar phases · Meteor showers · Space weather · Wormholes
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Teaching staff Bartholomew · Bathsheda Babbling · San Bakar · Herbert Beery · Cuthbert Binns · Brindlemore · Charity Burbage · Herodiana Byrne · Camelia · Alecto Carrow · Amycus Carrow · Bartemius Crouch Junior (disguised as Alastor Moody) · Clodagh Dromgoole · Albus Dumbledore · Archibald Eagleton · Eleazar Fig · Firenze · Filius Flitwick · Fortinbras · Mirabel Garlick · Mirabel Garlick's predecessor · Jakub Gorski · Olivia Green · Rubeus Hagrid · Dinah Hecat · Rolanda Hooch · Bai Howin · Arsenius Jigger · Igor Karkaroff's Yule Ball partner · Silvanus Kettleburn · Chiyo Kogawa · Gilderoy Lockhart · Neville Longbottom · Remus Lupin · Elspeth MacGillony · Mazoni · Minerva McGonagall · Galatea Merrythought · Isidora Morganach · Mudiwa Onai · Prendergast · Quirinus Quirrell · Percival Rackham · Patricia Rakepick · Abraham Ronen · Charles Rookwood · Concordia Rowle · Luna Scamander · Satyavati Shah · Aesop Sharp · Arif Sikander · Aurora Sinistra · Horace Slughorn · Severus Snape · Pomona Sprout · Swoopstikes · Sybill Trelawney · Trocar · Dolores Umbridge · Septima Vector · Matilda Weasley · Matilda Weasley's predecessor · Unidentified professor · Charms professor (medieval) · Potions professor (16th century) · Holidaying professor (before 1890s) · DADA professor (1984–1985) · DADA professor (1985–1986) · DADA professor (1986–1987) · DADA professor (1987–1988) · DADA professor (1989–1990) · DADA professor (1990–1991) · Muggle Studies professor (1990s) · Music professor · DADA professor (1998–?) · Potions professor (21st century) · Charms professor (?th century)
Hogwarts house-elves Bilm · Boil-ridden house-elf · Cooky · Cosa · Deek · Dobby · Feenky · Filk · Gimkey · Gosby · Krafty · Kreacher · Nonsuch · Pitts · Retch · Ringkull · Rooky · Vekey · Wigby · Winky · Wooby · Unidentified house-elf (I) · Unidentified house-elf (II)
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