Specific groups? What?

Ugh... Katherine tried to focus...

"They all work for their specific goals," she said as she raised her hand, "and... I presume that you must be a member to attend to their meetings. So all require membership."

Perhaps he had made his question rather vague, but Ansley had done that for a reason. The groups he had chosen were more at random than very specific and perhaps that was why they seemed to not be so related or have much in common. But maybe that was why he had chosen to mention those three. He did want the class to think about them a bit broadly.

And they all pretty much hit the mark with their answers, even adding couple more groups and organizations that would fit in as well. "Even though the three groups that I mentioned and the couple that were brought up as well are all very different, they do have something similar in common. Something that many of you have said in your answers," he began when it seemed that all who were going to contribute had.

"They all have a central focus or a common goal in mind. They are organizations, clubs, or other types of groups that attract people who have a similar interest. Sometimes it is simply for recreation, other times an organization may have a more significant purpose, such as those intent on changing something important."

"Now, we've named a few of those organizations and clubs." Those that he had said and those few that a couple other had mentioned, and he put those on the board. "What others can you name? And please also tell their proposed purpose and why a person might join such a group."

Was there any other groups? Katerina read over her notes. There had to be. She thought about it. Oh, yes. What about that. Her hand shot up in the air. "Professor what about the International Confederation of Wizards? That's an organisation that works together with other wizarding countries to try to unite the countries." That was one too right?

As for the other part of the question. "I think someone would join to give them a sense of purpose to help out whatever the cause of the organization is pushing for." She added a few more a notes after she answered.

Azura bit her lip as she tried to think up more clubs that one could join, besides the obvious Quidditch teams..

She raised her hand and spoke of one she sort of knew due to her Mother being a healer.. "There is the Ministry of Divine Health Professor, which is a group that tries to observe and take care of Wizard health. My mother was a healer and she was in the group.." She said with a nod. "So, Healers, and people with an interest in Healing would be perfect for it."

Mostly.. at least.

Juno didn't want to take complete credit for this answer because her sister had already mentioned it, but She raised her hand.

"Well, as my sister, Esme, already mentioned there were, and some still believe today, still are, The Deatheaters that Lord Voldemort created. Their soul purpose was to terrorize muggle borns and anyone on their side as well as the famous Harry Potter who rid the world of that evil dark lord." She thought about the second question for a moment, "Anyone that is easily manipulated or had a bad life causing them to be evil instead of humble or just purely evil would want to join something like that. I, however, would be in the Order." Yep. She would never ever be caught in that terrible group of people.

Err...

Okay, thinking about groups was a little hard because Esme's mind immediately jumped to ones that were on the more muggle side of the fence than anything else. Even though she was a halfblood she still lived in a muggle community and took part in it. Professor Finch wasn't after that kind of thing, however, so any of those ideas would be disregarded. There was also Quidditch but other people would probably list some and it would be rather redundant for her to do so as well.

Juno's reply got a smile and a thumbs up. Yes, Esme would be on the Order's side too - obviously.

She raised her hand. "Isn't there a Society for the Support of Squibs?" Something like that??? "As the name says it's an organization that assists Squibs that live in the wizarding world."

History of Magic was definitely not Fiyero's strong suit! He listened to Professor Finch's first question, but the only answer he could think of had already been said. He thought his classmates had done a pretty good job explaining that all of the organizations named worked toward a common goal. Was it really worth repeating?

And the second question wasn't much easier. Sure, he could name every team in the British. and Irish Quidditch League, but that seemed a little too obvious, especially since Quidditch had already been mentioned. Somehow he thought Professor Finch might be looking for something a little in-depth. He searched his brain for the name of an organization that hadnt been said, but he couldnt for the life of him come up with anything... until he suddenly remembered something his grandmother told him. He raised his hand. "It didn't last very long, but There used to be the Inquisitorial Squad back when Dolores Umbridge was headmistress," he said. "It was established to enfore Umbridge's rules, sort of like the anti- Dumbledore's Army. Some people might've joined because they supported Umbridge, but I think others just liked bossing everybody around."

Yup nailed it. Looks like he isnt doing too badly with History class yeah? Then again thats what he thought last time so....

What else kinda groups are there? He listened to his classmates give more examples, lots of which had great effects on the history of the Wizarding World, much like what he suggested with the Cult.

But oh here's something he noticed with great delight when he was a firstie getting lost in the dungeons "Professor, theres the Headless Hunt, it’s a group formed by ghosts with completely severed heads and they play games with their heads like quaffles." that sounds so bizarre but really that’s exactly what happens "Our own Nearly Headless Nick keeps getting turned away because they said he's not technically headless. Poor Sir Nick, all he wants is to join in the fun."

History was not Olly's strong suit. There was a lot of memorization, which he was not usually good at. There were a few things about wizarding history that he could remember because he had grown up learning them, but new information was harder. This question was pretty hard. He had to think for a long time about an established group. None jumped right to mind, but after a while he did start to remember one that he had heard of before so he raised his hand.

"There was the Order of the Phoenix. It was started during the first war with Voldemort, then came together again the second time he rose to power." That was pretty much all he remembered but he didn't think there was much else to it.

Katherine listened carefully to the professor as she always did while she compared his words with what was written on the book. She wrote down the second part of his explanation and then thought: what other organisation could she name..?

Cosgrach's Katherine's hand shot up when she found one.

"Most Extraordinary Society of Potioneers, sir," she said, "it's an organisation for, well, most extraordinary potioneers." What an arrogant self-description. "It was founded by Hector Dagworth-Granger. I guess entrance is only by invitation."

Was Professor Newton a member?

The group that Katherine had brought up was one of the few that Melbourne had always wanted to be a part of…oh and there were those adventurers ones out there. Raising her hand she chewed on the edge of her lip slightly before added in one of the groups she knew about. Deep breath.

“There is the Society for Distressed Witches…it was started around the 1830s to the 1900s by Dorcas Wellbeloved. It’s used to help impoverished, emotionally troubled, and generally unlucky witches.” She smiled, “I have Dorcas’ card in my chocolate frog card collection.” She added the last bit with a small grin.

Kitty's eyebrows furrowed in concentration as she tried to think of another group that hadn't already been listed. Vaguely she was aware that she was biting he nails; immediately she stopped. "Does the Ministry of Magic count as a group? Technically they are, but I'm not certain if that counts. It's purpose is to set laws for us to live by and to protect us from dark wizards and dangerous creatures, and to organize events like the Quidditch Tournament. My mom works in the Department of International Cooperation, by the way." Just throwing that out there...

Then another, sinister, idea came to her. She raised her hand again. "Most mugles are good, wonderful people - but a long time ago there was an evil muggle group known as the Inquisition who hated wizards and witches and drove us to secrecy. That is why we have the Statute."

Janelle took lots and lots of notes, as the class discussed clubs and organization, their purposes, their commonalities. When the second question was asked, she had to think about it for several moments. She continued to scribble notes about the organizations that her classmates mentioned. Then from she began to form an answer if her own.

Janelle raised her hand and when called on, she began to speak. "There was a Potions Professor at Hogwarts, Professor Slughorn, who created the Slug Club. It was made up of students that he felt had the potentional to go on to great things...... or those who had connections to famous people. I think the students were probably flattered to be asked to join. What they'd get out of the club was other exceptional students to network with.......not to mention the occasional dinner party. Really though, I think the professor was in it for the connections he could make and the perks he could get once the club members got famous. Just saying."

Okay. Ansley nodded as a few of his students named several more organizations and gave either reasons for joining them or a purpose that a group might intend to serve. All of those answers would hopefully help in giving them a more well-rounded reasoning when coming up with their own ideas.

"What I would like each of you to do next is to come up with a group, club, or organization. It should be something that could fill a need either here or out in society. Think about something that you would like to join, or your own interests and passions, and go from there. Think about who would be invited to join and what kinds of things they would do there, including any other details. Once you have all the details of your organization complete, I want you to share that with at least one other person in the room and try to "recruit" them to join."


OOC - Activity time! You have three days to complete this in at least five posts - RP your character thinking up a new club or organization, figuring out the details including who would join/what kinds of activities they'd do/their purpose/etc, then talk about/promote it to another character to see if they would join. This class will close the evening of July 31 (EST).

They got to design their own club? That was so cool. Hattie loved things like this, and she already had a cool idea actually. She'd thought back to the conversations that she had had with Henry in the common room, and the idea had popped right into her head. She'd been sad that they didn't have art lessons here at Hogwarts, so the idea of an art club was something that she was really interested in. Harriet had a passion for art, especially for drawing, so it was a subject that she was really interested in. So she knew it would make a great subject for a club.

Smiling, she pulled her parchment closer, and began writing her ideas down. She wanted her club to be really cool, so that people would join. She didn't know how many people liked art, but she knew it was fun, so she had a feeling that a lot of people wanted to join her club. Smiling, she began brain storming a name for her club. It couldn't just be the art club, that was boring. She needed a really good name for her club! If she had a cool name she knew that people would wanna join it, and that was the idea in the first place! So onto brain storming!

Well this was going to be interesting! Designing their own club?! Honestly there was only one thing that Skylar wanted more than anything that used to be at Hogwarts and wasn't anymore. That was the first thought that popped into her head, at least. Starting up a secretive society to play and learn quidditch.

But she was going to brainstorm a minute first before settling on a topic. Quidditch, House Elf Equality, Teaching Squibs to be more functional in the wizarding world, ... just a few of the ideas that Sky had. There were also some silly ideas she had, like maybe just a 'smiling club' or a 'friend club' or a 'chocolate club'.

Hmmm.. So they had to make their own club?

Azura bit her lip a little as she tried to think of what sort of club she would start.. What sort of things interested her? Hmmm, maybe a baking club? Or a music club?

Were those really a help to society though? Would it fill any needs? She wasn't sure about that..

Though maybe...

Maybe a "learning to cook/bake club? Or a piano lesson club might be more helpful? Then she could take the skills she had, and teach other.. Would that.. benefit anyone?

She hoped so..

She got out her quill and started to scratch away on her parchment..

"Teaching others to bake? Or Play piano?"

Now she just had to decide which one..

Noelle had been quiet throughout all the questions. It wasn't because she didn't know. But because she was taking notes. So many people had so many clubs that she didn't even know about. Her quill was scribbling down everything it could as the others on her class talked.

Getting a cramp in her hand, Noelle looked up from her parchment and at the others in her class like Tenacious, Azura, Hattie, and Skylar. Each one had good answers. Noelle was impressed with Noah's little sister too. Girl was smart!

But when Professor mentioned creating your own group and talking with another person to recruit, Noelle was all for that. Another piece of parchment was pulled out and Noelle started scribbling her ideas. Of course, Mel and her had already been talking about starting their own group. It was fate!!

She needed to consult with her partner.

Grabbing her parchment and quill, she headed over next to Mel. "Do you know what I'm going to ask you?" She asked once she was beside her friend.

Melbourne looked up as she heard Noelle’s voice and grinned. Of course she knew what she was going to ask her and beamed at her. “Of course this is absolutely perfect for our combat team idea!” She grinned at the idea. “We can even design the posters and the slogan and everything in this class and it’ll be perfect…should we ask anyone else to join in our idea?” She asked because would more brains be better than two right now?

Wow. Juno had no clue what kind of club she would want to start. The only things she was really good at was dueling, fighting, dancing, and singing. She liked to read as well but a book club would be...boring and maybe one person would want to join.

Suddenly, an errant thought swept through her brain. The witches of the wizarding world were all proficient at dueling. You had to be to get by in this world, but how were they at protecting themselves without magic. For instance, say their wand either got broken or they lost it, yes of course there was wandless magic but it was much harder to do if you didn't constantly practice and on the fly makes it more difficult.

What if she created a self defense group for the witches of the wizarding world. Women should really know how to protect themselves at all times. She could call it Wandless Self Defense or.....Witches of Self Defense....

Juno diligently started writing down possible names for the group. It had to be catchy.

They got to come up with their own idea for a club or organization of their own choosing??? That was a very interesting concept for an activity and Esme rather enjoyed it except for the fact that there were so many ideas that she could go with. She could do something with unicorns, something to help people in need in some capacity or another, or something purely for fun and amusement like a club that watched old muggle cartoons.

Now that would be a lot of fun!!

Turning to her notebook, she began jotting down some of the possibilities that she could work with figuring that they would be narrowed down by the process of elimination or some other method. When she looked up again she saw Juno beside her writing away. "Let me guess, you're going to do a group that relates to dueling."

She knew her sister well.

Juno looked up from her writing and stuck her tongue out at her sister. "No. A self defense club for witches." She snuck a peak at her sisters list of ideas. There were a lot of good ones on there but one really stuck out to her.

"What about the Unicorn Therapy thing that you said Oliver suggested to you as a career option? You could make a club or group out of that." Her sister was a healing soul, unlike herself...she was a fighter. Though Esme was doing a lot better with dueling, she could learn a thing or two about fighting and self defense.

Juno was down to three different names for her club. "Es, which name do you like best?" She slid her paper over so Esme could see it. The list was as such:

Witches of Self Defense
Wandless Self Defense for Witches
Witches For Self Defense

She just couldn't make up her mind on this. It needed to be strong so that Witches would want to get involved and take classes. But all 3 options were good.

She needed her sister's help.

So they got to think up their own club? Now that sounded fun! Fiyero thought for a minute. What if he started a photography club? Or a quidditch one? Or maybe a club for animal lovers? Maybe a club for people who like to pull pranks... that sounded like a fun time!

He pulled out a piece of parchment and quickly jotted down ideas as they came to him. So many ideas! How was he supposed to pick just one? Now he had a real problem on his hands...

Okay. So Hattie was still trying to think of name. She thought that she was quite creative, so she knew she would be able to come up with a creative name for her club. She wanted it to be fun, and stand out, so that people would want to join her club. Her 5 minutes of brain storming had come up with a couple of name ideas. She'd wrote them down on her piece of parchment



She'd come up with a few ideas now. She was kind of stuck on two now. She liked Paintbrushes and parchment, but she wasn't too sure if that made it seem like it was a painting club, which it wasn't. It was an all around art club. But she liked that one, so she'd just need to make sure it looked like it was more than just painting. Maybe she could add a tag line to go alongside it, so that it was clear it was a art club, and not just for painting. She returned to brain storming, so that she could come up with a tag line.



Looking at her notes, she smiled. She totally had her name now, and it's little tag line, and she was really happy. On a fresh piece of parchment, she wrote that down. Now she needed to try and work out how to explain her club, in a way that would get people to join!

Hmmm.. Azura looked at her parchment and tapped her quill on it.. She still wasn't sure what she was going to do.. But.. perhaps helping wizards learn how to bake would be the best thing?

After all, teaching people how to cook was helpful.. right?

She hoped at least. She sighed softly as she frowned down at her paper and then looked around. Seeing if she could find someone who could help her out!

Noelle seemed to be busy with Mel, Esme and Juno.. of course were together.. The teen wished she had a sister.. She sighed more as her eyes turned and landed on Hattie!

She got out and moved over to her friends desk and slid into the one next to her..

"Can you help me out?" She asked her as she looked down at her parchment.