Oh.

Volunteering.

Something that Esme probably should have picked up on sooner, but she couldn't really be blamed when the setting had made her feel rather off balance. Now she could relax and feel better again. She decided to ignore the visuals and focus on what was being discussed.

Raising her hand, she said, "I volunteered at a soup kitchen last summer. On top of that I volunteered at a thrift shop, where I also donated clothes." She would probably continue doing volunteer work this summer because it was a good way to help others and build community.

She couldn't help but think that some of her classmates' replies were aimed at her. For some reason they thought she couldn't be happy because she'd grown up like this. That her childhood must all have been awful. The words being sprayed on the wall just made it feel worse, the negative feelings far outweighing the positive ones. Luckily, most people here didn't know she came from a place like this; would they suddenly feel disgusted, scared and unsafe around her if they did? It was an awful thought, and it sat in her stomach like a stone sinking in a pond.

Sam did send a grateful smile at Tia's comment though, and to the boy that agreed with it.

The Professor's next words didn't ease her uncomfort. Getting accustomed to it wasn't a thing. It was what she had; what she made the most of. She wouldn't object to it being made better, of course, but IF and ONLY IF, people thought of the consequences after. There was no point sprucing it all up, building something all nifty and lovely on it, if the people that called it home then couldn't afford to be there any more - just moving somewhere else. Most likely somewhere worse. And that was aside from the fact most of the time it wasn't the people living there that made the mess. It was those that thought they had reason to look past it, and not care.

All these thoughts had put a decided scowl on Sam's face, and she might have been tempted to walk out had this not been the Headmistress' lesson. With a stifled sigh, she tried to think of a time she'd 'volunteered'.

"I 'elp give directions teh lost tourists in Lan-dan sumtimes," she said after a while. It wasn't much, but it was something.

Well.. this might be something usual for Raven, fact that he was raised by muggles once, makes him remember things that he done before entering the school. And this is the reason why he loved the Muggle studies class..
he raised his hand

"my nanny is a muggle, she raised me with muggles so sometimes she took me and my brother to join voluntary in giving old or new, free books to those who need it, or sometimes we go to shelter house and help the homeless giving foods, and sometimes she told us to gathered our belonging like shoes or clothes that we don't use anymore to give it to the homeless, Professor"


Raven looking proud with his accomplishment, as he was smiling, didn't realize he done many until he said it today. He felt lucky now to raised by his muggle nanny.

Ooohohooo, Blaise was in. YES. Together they would surely devise a foolproof plan to bring Haddie down. There she went again, being all flippant and perfunctory as she answered the professor's question with an OBVIOUSLY FAKE story about Thanksgiving. What a load of dragon dung! A holiday just for eating? Pfffffffft. America had gotten rid of that holiday YEARS ago. Or they SHOULD have gotten rid of it by now. Why would they have a holiday devoted JUST to eating after they went through the uber-health craze of the 2010s? It just didn't make sense. Haddie was using her Americanness to tell LIES.

David rolled his eyes toward the girl to show his displeasure, then nudged Blaise as he rolled his eyes a second time. The double-eyeroll was supposed to say get a load of that loser. That was what his nudge said too. Clearly. But since Davie was still putting together a plan for revenge on Haddie, he then tapped the side of his head to show Blaise that he was thinking.

Sign language, ya know. Blaise would understand.

As for the professor's question about volunteering, David OBVIOUSLY had the best answer. It was the realest answer, and it related to Dark magical creatures. BAM.

"About five years ago, Hogwarts was attacked by Chorts," he offered. "So the whole school was under an ice age, even when the school year ended, because Chorts are so hard to get rid of." They'd been living in the Forbidden Forest, which was kinda funny to think about. His mum had been Headmistress at the time (who DIDN'T know that by now though), and he hadn't seen her for months that year (lots of kids probably didn't care about that though) because the school was so snowed in. "I had to come in and help my mum defrost windows and clean up some of the dungeon passages that were still slick. It was crazy boring times, but I think that counts as volunteerism?"

It still counted even if he'd been forced to help, right? He would have helped anyway, maybe, but defrosting stuff as a seven-year-old in the middle of July was tedious work. ESPECIALLY without your own wand to use. Why couldn't the school have hired more House Elves was beyond him.

Ohh, okay, so that's what this was all about! Nothing violent had happened--as in, there was no intruder or dark wizard or whatever that destroyed the place. It was just the way some places looked due to neglect or maybe the weather or something like that. Right. So they were going to talk about volunteering and helping out people who were less fortunate than they were.

Truthfully, Ariadne was a little let down by the topic of today's lesson. It didn't seem as exciting as she imagined it to be, BUT...that may be because she wasn't as eager to volunteer as it seemed other people were. She was willing to have an open mind, though!

Her hand shot into the air. "I volunteered to help YOU when I first walked into the room!" she exclaimed. "You already know about that, though. Sooo...OH! I let a little old lady have my seat on the bus once! She didn't really look like standing and holding on to the poles was her thing." PLUS, her mother had elbowed her in the side and given her a LOOK, which helped Ariadne make up her mind REALLY quickly.

Hm... volunteering, something that Spencer did every summer with his mother, which was quite fun and he loved doing it. Spencer also spent his Christmas holidays down at the homeless shelter feeding the homeless people on Christmas Eve, so he volunteered quite a bit, but Spencer was a very selfless person, he cared more about others then himself. Maybe it was how he was raised perhaps, but Spencer was always willing to help others, no matter what the cost was.


Spencer was raised in the muggle world so he knew quite a bit about the muggle world although his father was pureblood and his mother was muggle born, he went to a muggle school before he came to Hogwarts. Although he hated it due to his friends turning on him, he came to love the muggle world, but he now loved the magical world a bit more then the muggle world. After all, he could do magic and people think that he was a freak, and he had fiends like him so he wasn't alone. What wasn't there to love in the magical world? it was amazing.


Spencer raised his hand. " I volunteer every summer with my mother Professor, we go to parks that been vandalized aand we clean them up and repair swings and paint whatever needs to be covered up, I also volunteered at the homeless shelter feeding the homeless soup past Christmas Eve."said Spencer.

Magical or Muggle? This was right up Jaemin's alley. He was both! The little boy raised his hand, waving it a little. His parents were all about this kind of stuff. They called it philen... philtan... philamprofy? He couldn't remember how to say the word. BUT THAT DIDN'T MATTER. He knew what it meant... at least in spirit.

"Mum and I take some plants from the nursery every so often and go plant them in places... like parks and old peoples' homeses and stuff. We usually gotta clean up the place we're gonna plant them first cause they're not set up for pretty plants." He nodded lightly, rocking back and forth a bit. "And I help dad when he's harvesting plant parts."

That probably didn't count as volunteering though. He really liked to do that, because it meant he got to touch things.

Azura was listening carefully as the Professor talked about volunteering. She had done that!! The little first year was so excited that she almost didn't wait for her to finish asking the question!

But she did, and then she waited for a second or two, so she didn't look to anxious and then raised her hand and spoke.

"My mom is a healer at St.Mungo's and during the summer I would go there and volunteer, I would go visit the patients and talk to them a bit, and then I would play the piano for them as well." Everyone said her playing was really good and it helped some of the patients feel better! She loved helping out at the hospital, because she too wanted to be a Healer some day.

Volunteering? OOOH Scarlett knew all about that! She raised her hand and when it was her turn, ran right in to her answer. "I volunteered all the time in my dad's shop. I consider that volunteering since I didn't get paid," she told her with a sly smile. "But really, I did help him a lot and the fact that he didn't have to hire any more help was good for business and I know he really appreciated me cleaning and helping customers," she explained.

She knew she was probably looking for more answers about helping in soup kitchens or animal shelters, but Scarlett hadn't done anything like THAT. And bookstore owners needed help too!

If it wasn't already somewhat obvious, the eyerolling had definitely helped. It was THAT Haddie, not the older Haddie that had Davie's glasses crossed. The boy made a mental note to ask what she'd done later while Davie obviously thought about whatever plan they would execute.

His friend was a good planner, whatever he thought of would work and he now almost felt sorry for Haddie--though there could be no real remorse. He'd never had a proper conversation with her.

"I've never had to volunteer, Professor," Nor had he ever wanted to, "but my mum does sometimes at this creature reserve and she sometimes takes me and my little sister with her. We don't really help, just play with the creatures."

Did that still count? Something told him it didn't.

Groaning. He was internally groaning.

.....

He did see the value in community things and helping out and volunteering... all of those things were well and good and he was appreciative of them. But at the same time, Zeke just wanted to NOT think about those things... especially not here. Not at Hogwarts.

Few people knew things.

He supposed though, this wouldn't necessarily reveal anything to people, so he played along for now. Hand raised, he supplied an honest enough answer. A half truth. "I volunteered at a muggle homeless shelter with my mum for a while. Sorted resources, managed activities, the whole soup and tea thing." Yep. Just ignore the fact that he'd also lived there for a few years himself.

Mel saw that look…yes they had heard it. They were all going to hear it over and over it was a nickname after all. She didn’t answer how she felt when asked because really was it that important? The room wasn’t that scary like some of the students had said…or was it? She didn’t really see the danger of it.

Raising her hand when the second question was asked the little lion!girl just grinned. “I volunteer at a local muggle no-kill dog shelter…and I used to volunteer at a local library,” she added with a big grin. She loved books. “I wasn’t allowed to read to the younger kids but they used be as a teething toy some of the time in their stupid child care place” she just frowned at the idea.

Humans were not teething toys.

Moxley was being all inspirational and stuff, and Dot grinned broadly at the professor as she spoke. It wasn't specifically in her nature to do things she thought of as 'volunteering', but Dot liked to make the world more beautiful and interesting for those around her.

Probably shouldn't mention that she gave her fashion-stricken friends help, though. That didn't seem like the sort of thing the professor meant.

"Sometimes I babysit for free," Dot mused, quietly, as she tried to think of herself as the giving type. Surely she did stuff that was generous... sometimes? "Mostly my own brother, though. And my mum has taken me to St. Mungo's to read to some of the residents, keep them company... cut up their overcooked Salisbury steak." So she was a horrible human.

Being one that is sheltered all his life, and being in a clean and orderly setting ALL the time, it was hard for Jace to understand and accept the positive things the others have seen. He supposed, it had to do with taste too? Getting his notebook and pencil, Jace began to scribble down notes. He needed to widen his perspective next time, and try to see the good in bad situations.

While still scribbling down notes, Jace looked up when the professor started to talk again...and asking another question. Volunteering doesn’t sound bad...and he did volunteer countless times whenever he’s back in Japan for his summer vacation. Jace looked around, and slowly raised his hand to answer. “When I’m in Japan, I help visitors figure out our railway system, especially if they needed to board the local trains because, most of the texts are not in English.” And Jace found the act to be very rewarding. The smiles, and constant ‘arigatou’s (even if they sometimes mispronounce it) made his heart swell. There was that...sense of purpose that he can’t get enough of.

Rachel had not thought that there could possibly be positive feelings about a place that resembled a dump. But yet there was. Volunteering was something she knew about as she often helped out the elderly folks in her neighbourhood. She listened as her classmates volunteer their answers. Rachel cast a glance at Haddie. Her friend talking about her mom and her cooking made the girl smile. She positively adored Mrs Denaker's culinary skills. The older Denaker had even been kind enough to give her a few cooking and baking tips when she had stayed with the family last summer.

The Eagle then raised her hand. "I would volunteer to help take care of my neighbours' plants, especially the elderly persons. I would also decorate their plant pots, re-pot plants when needed. The ones that were too difficult for me to take care of by myself, I would enlist my mother's or father's help.''

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stefan

“When I’m in Japan, I help visitors figure out our railway system, especially if they needed to board the local trains because, most of the texts are not in English.” .

She heard a boy mentioned about Japan. He was in Japan before? Jessie raised in those country.



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Quote:

Originally Posted by LestrangeRaven

"my nanny is a muggle, she raised me with muggles so sometimes she took me and my brother to join voluntary in giving old or new, free books to those who need it, or sometimes we go to shelter house and help the homeless giving foods, and sometimes she told us to gathered our belonging like shoes or clothes that we don't use anymore to give it to the homeless, Professor"

Jessie turned her face at the source of familiar voice.Raven. She didn`t notice him being there. He looks so different with the cloth he wore.

She gave her attention back to the professor. Raised her hand again, Jessie begin to spoke loudly.


"I've never had to volunteer. But Mum brought me to the muggle hospital when I was a young girl. She gave her blood.... yes, her blood. She said that her blood would be useful to other people. And I will do the same as her,professor."

Ava raised her hand and answered the question. "I once helped my brother in his restaurant without getting paid, does that count as volunteering Professor?" She wasn't sure if what she had done at Dima's restaurant was volunteering too. Wasn't that doing something without getting paid called volunteering?

Ilia didn't like this place one bit. It felt unclean and desolate. She felt no different than those who answered negatively and she didn't answer. Her thoughts went immediately to Henric however. Though, she didn't want to alert the crowd so she walked up to him slowly and stood just a little in front of him. Her hand reached back to take his nonchalantly and she hoped that she'd managed to hide it from the Headmistress' view. It's okay, you aren't alone now. She was becoming less and less thrilled with this.

She ignored little Rachel, but yes she caught that look. No, she was not falling into a dirty bucket. Eww. Now if you wanted her to sit on dirt outside though, that'd be fine. As for answering..... Umm...."My family hosts a charity ball every year around Christmas time. The funds that we raise go to wizarding children in need and creature based charities.It is usually my job to help acquire toys and clothes to bring to the children." Although with her and Henric's 'disagreement going on, she hadn't helped last year.

Okay sitting on this tire wasn't the most comfortable of places to sit. Using her foot Hady pushed whatever was on the floor out of the way before opting to slide down off her 'seat' and onto the floor. Resting back against the tire she lifted her head to watch as Professor Moxley began listing the words they had said on a walk in chalk. Interesting list they had there. Most of the words seemed negative as her own had...inspired though was a nice word that she had saw being added.

Volunteering? Did anything count? Like giving assistance to her friends when needed? Probably not. However it wasn't anything she had been told to do or asked to do she had offered to do these things so therefore it sort or counted. It was all she would say right now anyhow as she didn't feel like bringing up anything from home. "I've been helping a few of my friends with things they want to learn like dancing and learning to cast a corporal patronus," Hady replied with a small shrug adding a second later, "Not really sure how much that counts though." She wouldn't be giving out names either.

Olivia had listened as the professor laid out a bunch of situations they could have been in, asking how they would feel had they met their current surroundings on other terms. How would she feel? Like all the various descriptive words her classmates had managed to come up with. Lost definitely, since it didn't look like any place she had ever been near and certainly not lived. Unsafe...because of the somewhat eerie feeling it gave off as well as the unkown factors. However she remained quiet herself, even as the headmistress began spray-painting the mentioned words on the wall and then they moving on.

Volunteering.

Was she a bad person for not having a story like so many others had?
The first year couldn't think of a single example that fell into the similarities of others' experiences. Sure she helped people...but random things..and she worked with her extended family in a bunch of ways. Just not really publically. Out there in the world. Not like the others had.

Huh Bentley really did have a good point didn’t he? Tenacius looked around again at the seemingly desolate place. He found it bad because he was used to his surroundings always looking good. Places like these didn’t last very long whenever he tagged along with his dad. So to think that this was normal for some people.... Well that opened up this boy's mind it sure did.

Volunteering? Given his classmates' replies it sounds like the altruistic projects his grandma is always involved in. But it sure didn’t involve anything that looked like this place. It was always someplace that had tables and fizzy drinks and photographers. "Uhm... I tagged along with my grandma when she went to charity events and held her purse when she had to get her picture taken." Did that count?

a familiar voice coming to Raven's ears.. he turn his gaze and found... Jessie..

he smile as he notice the girl was there..

he was hoping he could steal some attention from her, despite they are in class..

with a low tone voice almost like a whisper "Jessie.."

Sebastien was completely enamored with this classroom, and this class. It made him want to climb walls and jump over fences. Hop across the roofs of abandoned buildings like he did the summers he spent home, and watch the kids below do whatever it was they did with the canned paint.

And this class. He had never been to a muggle studies class! When did they get to do actual muggle studying? The third year was rocking on his feet, hands shoved deep into his pockets to contain his energy. Live here? Sure. He could do that for as long as his mum allowed, and then he would go back home to his bedroom. No sweat.

What was the next question? Oh! He raised his hand eagerly. "Back at Durmstrang I would help the younger kids on the combat team with their kicks and flips. And I'm wicked with the bow and arrow, so I helped them with that as well." He helped wherever he was needed, but also where it made him look good. Team captain was a serious goal.

Where they gonna get to muggle soon?

Bast was like a mini Angelo in the making, did he know? Dima could see it.

"I've tutored kids in piano and painting and Charms for free," the sixth year supplied after a moment of thought. That had been before this year, of course, when he'd started charging, because.... because.

That was sort of all he did, though. He was pretty sure his family donated as well, but that involved no time or effort, so...

Yoongi looked at Norah and smiled at her excitement. That smile of hers could make his day seem brighter , did she know that? Of course she didn’t…he didn’t have the guts to tell her that. “Are you just going to stand there or sit next to me?” he asked as he moved to the side a little to give her some room.

Sharing a tire to sit on, no big deal.

As class continued and a list of positive and negative emotions were made. Yoongi read them all, seeing his own in the negative list. Had they or do they know someone who volunteered? He listened to the other students answers, grinning at Hady as he heard hers. She was his Patronus Tutor after all. “Well, I volunteered to rescue the students and previous Headmistress from the Acromantulas in the forbidden forest two years ago” he said, raising his hand. Did that count? “And my oldest sister Victoria used to help out her best friend who worked as a mascot at a muggle shopping centre. Helping her handing out flyers”