History of Magic was both a class he looked forward to, but sometimes dreaded too. So much of history was so dark, and he wasn't fond of when creative liberties and opinions were brought into discussion. Perhaps that was an attempt to run away from ever having to form his own opinions. Facts were easier. No emotion involved.

Reaching the door he took a small breath outside of it before entering...

And stopping for a moment.

What in the world? A courtroom? Were they practicing debate today instead? Maybe it was a recruitment attempt? Not that he minded that.

"Hello, Professor Holden." He offered a greeting, before making his way towards a seat and accepting a red card as he passed. "Do we need to sit near people with similar color to our cards or is it a free for all?"

Kins was hesitant as she entered the classroom. It was always a toss up with History of Magic and she reaaaaally just wanted today to be a normal one. Not because she wasn't interested in the cool places they could be transported to, but because there was always some sort of drama that came up during class and she was reaaaaally hoping they'd have a quiet lesson for once. The drama ones were overwhelming. She never felt comfortable during those.

That being said, her curiosity was ever-present as she saw the set up, her eyes immediately flitting from one side of the courtclassroom to the other. "Hi, Professor," she offered him a sheepish sort of smile as she took the card handed to her (blue! her favorite!). "Who's on trial?" Hopefully no one she cared about because that would be drama and she had made it explicitly clear that drama was not welcome in the History of Magic classroom from now on. (please). (it was too much). (her heart couldn't take it).

Not to be late for this class, Noah made it a point to get everything done and cleared before it was time to attend Professor Holden's class. Still, he wanted to make an impression. Or at least leave a good one...for Ethan's sake. His cousin was cool, just like the rest of the lot, but Ethan was not to be messed with when he said he'd behave and do his best in every Holden lessons...or die trying. WELL. Lucky for the both of them, he did quite enjoy History.

And my my, this was definitely going to be reported back to Ethan. The Courtroom?? Seriously? He'd never been to one...and hopefully not ever. Noah knew imposing rooms, but Courtrooms? Nah. It was too...claustrophobic. But anyway, he knew it wasn't really the Courtroom back at the Ministry. Just the usual illusion spell here and there, which was exquisitely done, by the way.

Noah coolly sauntered towards the man in the middle, with the usual grin on his face. "Greetings, Your Honour." he said as he took the white card from the professor. Given that he was neither given a blue nor red card, he assumed he'll be on jury duty. "It's a pleasure to be part of the jury today." did he nail that one? Was that reminiscent of his best friend? Noah was sure Ethan would've gone a tad overboard if he was there, but he tried.

Saluting with his white card, Noah took a seat away from Evan and Kinsay and-- oh. The vines. They were there too? Well, Scarlett was right to be upset. It did kinda ruin Professor Holden's setup. What a shame.

...

“Hi professor. Is that a phonograph?” Really? Ash was extremely curious about if wizards still used phonographs. Weren’t they like, ancient? Before the time of cell phones for sure. This was fascinating.

But Ash had manners or whatever. So instead of staring at the ancient muggle technology, she got a blue card and took a seat... muttering the word phonograph under her breath.

Aaaaaaaaaand the vine was here too. Of course it was.

Eeeeyye rooooollllll.

This Hufflepuff was going to try her BEST to IGNORE it this time. While stomping on it on her way win, obviously. Obbbbbbbviously. Silly thing.

She had to take a CARD. Okay, nice, NICE, a COLOURED card TOO. "Blue. NO, red. NO, b-- yeah, red." And she took a red one. Laaaa.

And a kick to the vine. Out of her WAY.

Cool setup, by the way. Even with the plant.

Valentina made her way to her next lesson. She wasn't the biggest fan of the subject - and she sincerely hoped the lesson would go smoothly, without any kind of drama whatsoever. She walked inside, raising her eyebrows in surprise. Interesting. Oh and vines too. UGH. They were literally everywhere!!

She accepted the white card that was offered to her ( so dull! she would have preferred red but aaanyway ), greeting the professor with a cheerful smile. "Hello, professor! Hope you are well!" Taking a seat, she looked around a bit, wondering what they were going to learn. Hmmm.

Stupid, stupid, stupid vines.

Claudine glared at them though she often mellowed when her eyes caught sight of the pretty flowers. She stepped over the things, her gaze now taking in the setting of the classroom. Oooh. Were they recreating a famous trial today? The seventh year could not wait to find out.

“Hi, professor,” came her greeting. The blue card was accepted with a word of thanks. Looking around at the students, she saw that each had one but some were white or red. With music enveloping her, Claudine made her way to a seat.

Violet paused momentarily in the doorway to the classroom, surveying its appearance. A courtroom! Funny, she had just been thinking this morning over breakfast that, now that she was seventeen and of age in the Wizarding World, she could be tried as an adult now if she happened to get into any trouble. Not that she planned to (but things don't always go as planned).

"Hello, Professor Holden," she remarked as she drew one of the cards. Hmm, white. Guess she'd find out later what that meant. Though she could see Claudine and Ashley, two students she felt she could now call friends, had chosen other colours, which meant they probably wouldn't be working together today.

Trying not to feel disappointed, Violet proceeded into the room and looked for a seat. And then she saw them--the vines! She felt a chill go down her spine--this was the third time now she'd seen plants behaving strangely at Hogwarts. Once was just another school oddity, twice may have been a coincidence, but three times--that meant there was definitely something going on. And, based on past experience, Violet doubted that it would be something good.

There had been a thought of skipping class, between not feeling perfectly well and just being stressed over NEWTs, but Gracelyn had decided against it. At the very least, History of Magic was bound to be interesting and somewhat less dangerous than other subjects. Besides, there were potions to make herself feel better and it certainly wasn’t Professor Holden’s fault. Nor was it anyone else’s, and she managed a bright smile as she took a red card from the professor. “Hello Professor Holden,” she added, even as she skirted around a vine on her way further into the courtroom.

Kinsay had asked a rather good question, as had Evan. Obviously they were going to be learning about some sort of historical trial, but which one. Not to mention the significance of the cards.

Phoebe really did trip over the vines on her way into the room, and she glared hard at them as she accepted an offered card (white, like her rage at the vines) and looked for a seat. Where were her people?

Baby sister was people. Phoebe dropped into a seat and tapped Kizzy on the top of her head. "Hullo, Professor. Nice day for it."

Oh, there was...a courtroom. And of course vines. Ivy assumed the courtroom was the only intentional change to the classroom, but maybe the vines would be incorporated too? They were showing up unnecessarily all over the place, but maybe they could be part of the lesson somehow. But at least they were pretty even if not.

"Hello, Professor," she said, offering a smile as she carefully stepped over one of the vines and accepted a red card.

What did these mean? Different teams they'd be on? She was very curious to find out.

Florrie was pleasantly surprised with the set up of the classroom that day - anything out of the ordinary was always welcome, and a courtroom was certainly interesting. Everyone knew courtrooms were full of dramas - there was a reason so much Muggle fiction centred around it. And if Florrie loved anything, it was draaaaama.

What they would be doing was less obvious, although if there was a mock trial she was ready to be involved. "Hey, Professor," she said with a smile, taking the proffered blue card and making her way to a seat by Ivy.

The first student to arrive was Evan Nam and Simon watched him take a red card. “Hello Mister Nam. You can sit next to whoever you want regardes of the coloured card they took,” he advised with a nod as he answered his question. He would still move the class later on but appreciated the Ravenclaw’s love for efficiency. “Students, if you didn’t catch that. Please take a card. Red, white, or blue and take a seat wherever you’d like in the courtroom.”

Kinsay James was the next to enter after Evan. He smiled at her as she took a blue card. “Hello Miss James. Good day so far?” he inquired before chuckling at her question. “An excellent question. A historical figure.” He couldn’t reveal who or whom just yet.

He glanced back at the cards and wondered if he should give them a shuffle.

He would have been delighted to know that young Noah Mordaunt thought the spell was exquisitely done. Simon was excessively detailed oriented. He had always been since his days at Hogwarts. Should have seen his notes… they were beautiful and all colour coded. Could have sold his notes back then. He smiled at Noah as he referred to him as His Honour. It certainly had a ring to it. “Mr. Mordaunt, welcome, glad to potentially have you as a member of the jury.” Smart boy. He reminded him of his former classmate who was always just as quick. Merlin. He missed Ethan. Ought to really give him a ring.

Ashley Fox arrived next, promptly took a blue card, and then asked a question about the phonograph. The question DELIGHTED Simon. “It is! I’m glad you asked. I found this a few summers ago on holiday with my wife in France. Well I was there on business but she insisted on looking at antiques so we did.” That was perhaps too much detail. He had, at least, left out the part where he was helping his mate do some Wizarding detective consulting work. “Do you have a preference on music selection, Miss Fox?”

Scarlett Mordaunt arrived shortly after Ash and Simon watched her debate which coloured card that she should chose. He wore a smug smirk as he watched her choose. “Excellent choice, Miss Mordaunt,” he said, offering a smile. All the choices were excellent and each group would have a part to play later.

Simon offered Valentina Nichols a kind smile when she took her card. “Thank you, Miss Nichols. I hope you are well too.” He hoped this lesson would be far less dramatic than previous ones but maybe that would make it far too boring?

Miss Blaze joined next. “Hello Miss Blaze. How are you?” he said, offering her a smile. The vines were annoying indeed.

He would have been very intrigued by Violet Blackthorne’s thoughts regarding being tried and being seventeen. The world worked in mysterious ways. However, he would have assured her that she wouldn’t be on trial. “Miss Blackthorne. Hope you’re having a good day,” he nodded.

Simon went back to debating about re-shuffling his cards. He really hated waiting. He felt somewhat awkward. Fortunately, Gracelyn Abbot-Daniau arrived next. “Hello Miss Abbot-Daniau. Good day so far, I hope?” he offered as he watched her choose a red card.

He frowned as the older Miss James tripped over the pesky vines. “Im alright, Miss James. Are you? The pesky vines seem to be everywhere these days… Can’t get rid of them,” Simon said was he shook his head.

“Hello Miss Grimm,” he nodded as he watched her take a red card. The teams today would be well balanced. That was good.

He turned his attention to the next student who was Florrie Charbonneau. He gave her a smile as she took her blue card. Then he returned her hey with a hey. “Hey. Welcome to class.”

With that, he took a few steps towards the entrance of the courtclassroom and then peeked his head out the doorframe to see if anyone else was joining them today. If they did, they would be late at this point. Closing the door, he walked back over to the center of the room.

“Welcome students! Now, before we dive into our topic, I wanted to answer some questions that came up. The first is if you needed to sit with other students that had similar cards. The answer is not yet but if you’d like to you can. We have a few things to cover in the textbook before getting into our activity.” He paused. “The second question was about who was on trial? It is a terrific question. No one here is on trial. We will be doing a trial simulation later in the lesson…”

He pulled a chair into the centre of the courtroom and stood behind it, leaning both hands on the back of the chair. “I have attempted to transfigure the room to replicate the courtrooms in the Ministry of Magic. Please do mind our additional visitors. They were unexpected but they seem to be intent on visiting so please mind your step as you walk through the classroom.” He then moved the chalkboard that he had to the center so it was easier to see.

Safety hazard was addressed so now it was time to jump into the first topic. “I want to start our lesson today at a bird’s eye view and then narrow our scope finer and finer. We have the Ministry of Magic today but can anyone tell me about the Wizard’s Council.” Tapping the chalkboard with his wand, the questions he would ask the class next appeared. “Please answer one of the questions listed here. What is the Wizard’s Council? What was the purpose of the creation of this council? What did type of issues did they discuss? What actions did they provide? Who could someone become a member of the Wizard’s Council?”

OOC: Welcome guys!! Once again, so SO excited to have you guys here I’m late on posting- sorry- down visiting my brother. But please answer one of Holden’s questions about the Wizarding Council or add a fun fact about it!

Also I APPRECIATE how everyone drew a different coloured card

Easing into his (rather uncomfortable) seat, Noah pocketed his white card in his pocket and procured his notebook to jot down notes. Wizard's Council. It was something that Ethan would enjoy thoroughly. He can just imagine him throwing out the answer in full speed without any pauses.

But anyway, he did know a thing or two about the Wizard's Council. Well, Ethan and his Great Uncle Ames are both in the ICW, and both of his parents are currently employed in the Ministry, PLUS, well, it was just common knowledge among wizardfolk, correct?

Hand up. "The Wizard Council predates the British Ministry of Magic, together with the Wizengamot, professor." if the current classroom setup wasn't a giveaway...

Scarlett had taken a seat by now and was looking at and fiddling with her RED card as she listened to what professor Holden was saying. She was also kicking her legs back and forth because just LOOKING at a court room made her feel a bit boooooored.

It was all too dark. And the vines were still doing her head in.

The RED card was nice, though, and so she chose to focus on THAT.

What did she know about the Wizard's Council? "It's intense... and boring... and intense..." She said nonchalantly, as if thinking out loud, never taking her eyes off the card she was turning in her fingers and tilting her head from one side... to the other... then back to the other side as she said each of the adjectives. "And quiet... and loud... and louder." Did she mention boring?

NOT that she had many court room experiences. She had none, actually. But it was just the vibe she got.

The red card was nice, though.

Claudine caught Violet looking in her direction and gave the younger Slytherin a smile. Though she didn’t keep smiling forever as she watched the others file in. And at times, her gaze would find the pesky vines. Anyway. She was quite prepared for the lesson and couldn’t wait to get started. As for now, she opted not to go sit with the others holding the blue cards; that could be done later.

The seventh year’s eyes scanned the room again. So this is what a real Ministry courtroom looks like. Or at least, something like this. So… the Wizard’s Council. Claudine raised a hand and waited to be called on. “Adding to what Noah said, the Wizards’ Council was created to govern the witches and wizards of Britain.”

So the answer was no, they didn't have to sit with the same colored cards but... listening more it seemed like if they didn't start from the get go they might have to move later anyways, so Evan figured it would be easiest to jump straight to the second portion and he found himself a spot near the young, over excited Hufflepuff (Scarlett). He gave her a sidelong glance as she started talking while they were sitting there. Adjectives? Was she talking about the room or the wizard council?

Which.. speaking of, what could he remember about it? There were a few facts, so he raised his hand and waited for his turn to speak. "According to some texts, the beginning of the end for the wizard council, and the start for the Ministry, was actually when the Statute of Secrecy was signed in 1692 and it was determined a more structured form of government would be needed to keep up with this. Though it really was only the beginning, as the council was not officially disbanded until 1707."

"The Wizards' Council passed the Code of Wand Use in 1631," Violet added, "which included the clause prohibiting non-human magical beings from carrying a wand."

Phoebe agreed that the vines were pesky, but she wasn't sure she agreed there was nothing they could do about it. Weren't there some strong plant killers that could rescue them from this incursion?

Right, right, time to focus on the lesson. Ministry stuff, which was just as boring as it was likely to show up on the NEWTs. Phoebe raised her hand. "It seems like the Wizard's Council covered ruling on a lot of things that are now codified into law. Like now it's illegal to show Muggles magic or play Quidditch in the streets of London, but in those days, those things came to the court for decision."

Remy was so distracted with the classroom decorated as the Ministry court rooms. It looked pretty great. As she found a seat, Remy held onto the red card that she had chosen (obviously she chose red), and fiddled with it. They were doing a trial simulation later?! Remy definitely wanted to be the interrogator.

Scarlett received an eye roll, as usual, after her answer. It certainly wasn’t boring in here.

Evan Nam, however, received a longing gaze for his in depth answer. That kid was so smart… and so cute.

As for her own thoughts on the questions, Remy really wasn’t sure and even answered with the smallest of shrugs. “Didn’t they just do the same thing as the Ministry of Magic? Decided whether people needed to go to jail or not?” Remy said. It felt like a dumb answer.

So the cards were for the activity. Valentina was already looking forward to it.. the activity part of lessons were always a lot less boring than answering questions anyway. She paused for a few moments before raising her hand enthusiastically.

"One of their purposes is to keep the magical community hidden from the muggle word.. right?" At least, she tried to best to answer.

No, professor. I was just wondering if you have like, an iPod or something. Or a Walkman.” That was around the same time as phonographs, yes? Just kidding. Ash knew that phonographs were older. Like, ancient. Dinosaur age. But she didn’t point that out, in case it would make the professor embarrassed. See? Ash knew how to be quiet SOMETIMES.

”The council was like the ministry before the ministry. They made big decisions like Evan and Violet were saying, but they also did smaller things. Like the golden snitch used to be a bird called... something else, but the council replaced it with a ball so that the bird wouldn’t go extinct.” She tugged at her bracelets and contemplated for a bit, thinking about her overall opinion of the council and the ministry. They did good things... and bad things... and good things... she supposed they were good and bad. Complicated, or whatever.

“Considering our setting right now, I’d like to add that they enforced the law in addition to making it up.”

Daniel had been holding on to a white card that the professor had handed him after entering the classroom. Correction, the courtroom. Although he had seen quite a few Transfigured classrooms by now, the Muggleborn was still impressed by this kind of magic.

He wondered what the cards signified though. Had they been assigned roles? But a trial held more than three roles...The vines did ruin the mood, though.

As class began, the second year listened to what some of the students had to say. Like many times, he was impressed with Evan's detailed answer complete with dates and all. It was funny how he could tolerate this kind of answer from the older Ravenclaw but the moment Atlas would open his mouth to say facts he got annoyed.

He had to disagree with Scarlett though. Courtrooms were far from boring if the person on trial was interesting.

Finally, the second year raised his hand in the air and decided to mention something else. A small fact. "They developed the Werewolf code of Conduct. I can't remember the date though but they hoped that werewolves would sign it. Of course, no one ever showed up." He would label them idiotic if they had. "And i like to add to Ash that the Golden snitch used to be a bird named the Golden Snidget" he added.

Ivy grinned at Florrie when she sat beside her, but then the lesson began so no chance for a quick chat before the lesson. Also a little bit of a bummer that it looked like they'd be on different teams or sides when they got to the activity, but hopefully it'd still be fun.

Their topic was the Wizards' Council now though. Hmm. She'd covered this a few weeks ago in her studying, so most of it didn't take too much effort to recall. "They had a lot of discussions and rules about how to classify other magical creatures," she said, raising her hand. "Their definitions often caused a lot of problems though, like when they decided that anyone who walked on two legs were considered Beings and everyone else was automatically a Beast. There was a huge ruckus at the next meeting with all the Beings."