Global Citizenship (Spring Terms)

The Headmistress had honestly no idea how she had made it through a whole year teaching. And if she was honest with herself, it wasn't as unpleasant an experience as she'd feared. Given there were the odd stubborn ones who refused to take in any form of practical sense but to her surprise, Adelaide had found those youngsters few and far in between. Going into Global Citizenship, she had made sure to tell everyone of what was expected of them and for the most part, the students had delivered.

Now all she had to do was sit back, teach the final class and then await their exam results.

And pray the board discontinued this class next year, giving her a much needed moment of peace. But the peace would have to wait today, she reflected monotonously as she took her place behind her desk, crossing her legs in front of her and watching the students slowly trickle in fro the final time in her classroom before the holidays. Most teachers would have given them a freebie, a fun little activity to pass the time.

Most teachers were not Adelaide Goshawk.

No, the Headmistress had planned a war for their final lesson, a war in the classroom to prepare them for what was coming in real life.

The chalkboard beside her was blank as usual, blank save the short phrase written in big, bold fond.

Global Citizenship. Nerisei didn't really know how to feel about the class. It wasn't a bad one, no, but it was, most certainly, not her favorite one. Potions were always her First choice, and nothing had made her change her mind to this day. Truthfully, she doubted anything or anyone could change her mind on that. But a lesson was a lesson, and knowledge was power, so instead of whining, Nerisei decided that she should attend the final class of the year, before the exams took place.

Making her way to the Seconds Floor, Nerisei took some time to think about the turn her life had taken so far. When the term had started, Neri wasn't but a closed of, emotionally unstable girl. With the loss of her best friends, the girl didn't know what to do, to give meaning to her life. She had ended up believing that there was no hope for her anymore, and in order to be able to handle things, she shut down all feelings. She refused to feel anything, because nothing was better than feeling the pain.

But, of course, that was not what happened. As if God had been listening to her bubbling, Nerisei ended up meeting a lot of new people. People that gave a new meaning to her empty life, and made it almost impossible not to feel. First, there was Mimosa. The little cuteness stumbled upon her one day, and it was as if Nerisei had woken up from a deep sleep. She couldn't be mean, or cold to the young Slytherin. It was not doable. And so, a ray of sunshine came through, reminding Nerisei that there was still hope.

Next, there was that incident with young Riley. The Gryffindor First Year she had stopped from entering the Forest. Nerisei had always been caring and helpful. And no matter how hard she tried to shut that part of her down, in order to deal with the pain, she couldn't. That night, when she had stopped Riley, she understood that she didn't have to avoid the pain. All she had to do was let it in, accept it, and move on. It was the only way.

The witch, though, had managed to make a few new friends as well. Both musicians, Janet and Elenore, became the closest thing to a friend Neri had. Of course, that didn't mean they were anything close to what Max and Prim were, but it would take time. And now, the Ravenclaw believed that there was a chance for things to go back to how they used to be. Because there was still hope. There always was.

And last, but not least, there was Dimitri. Dimitri was not her friend, at least not anymore, but the young witch was still unable to figure out what they were exactly. Friends with Benefits? No, it sounded too crude, and it was, certainly, not the case. Nerisei, truthfully, couldn't define their relationship, but she knew there was something there. She couldn't deny that he made her feel, though. Dimitri awoke that part of her that didn't want to exist. And Nerisei was glad he did, else she would have lost herself.

Upon arriving at the classroom, Nerisei took a deep breath and walked inside. Last class of the term, here we go!, she thought. Her eyes landed on Headmistress Goshawk, and the Ravenclaw gave her a smile. "Hello, Professor." she greeted, before sitting in a desk towards the middle of the classroom.

Neri's eyes searched the board, and upon seeing the subject of today's lesson, she raised an eyebrow, groaning on the inside. This was going to bee a very long lesson.

Dominique walked into Global Citizenship. It was the final class of the year. So she was going to make sure that she at least ended on a good note. Even though she knew that she didn't do well on the homework. As she had left out two works and that was daggar and coin. But that wasn't going to stop Dominique. As she knew that she was impressing the headmistress. And she wasn't going to let the dragon lady get her down. As she was holding her weight with the older students. As she has been the only first year.

She smiled as she took her seat. “ Hello headmistress.” She was sure by now that the headmistress thought that she would have given up. But that wasn't in Dominique nature to give up on anything. And she wanted to see this class till it was over. She then grinned as she was waiting to see what they were going to be learning about.

Janet ran a hand through her hair as she made her way to her Global Citizenship class. She was absolutely exhausted, she had been running to every class that day and was finally just fed up with it. Therefore, she took her time now, knowing she should try and get there early to have time to study, but it seemed that was all she was doing lately and she was just so tired!

She entered the classroom after what seemed like a lifetime of walking and trudged over to a desk in the front of the room. This way she would be less inclined to try and take a nap in the middle of class. She pulled out her notebook and the book for this class and started her studies back up. she glanced up after a moment, remembering she didn't know what she was even supposed to be learning about today. She had no idea what the words on the board were supposed to hint at so she just shook her head and went back to her work.

Clara entered the classroom feeling rather smug. She was glad she'd taken up this class, for it was proving to be much to her taste. Not only had she done quite well on the homework, she was actually enjoying herself with the little game the headmistress had set up with their daggers and coins. At first, she hadn't been confident in her abilities, but she'd soon made a discovery that changed everything. As an experiment, she'd cast a duplication charm on the coin, fully expecting it to be resistant to such magic. Much to her surprise, it had duplicated perfectly and effortlessly.

She knew, however, that the headmistress was not stupid, and would probably be able to tell if she had a duplicate coin, so she'd concocted a plan. She duplicated her coin several times over--ending up with about twelve. And then she'd found one of her other classmates--a younger one who was more likely to be gullible--and had used two of her fake coins to buy the other student's dagger. The younger student, thinking she'd gotten the better end of the deal, had accepted without question. Clara then repeated this process with several others, knowing that she herself was not conspicuous enough to draw suspicion. She now had 5 daggers in her possession, including her own, and several of her classmates were unwittingly carrying fake coins.

She hadn't noticed many others participating in the game, so she was fairly confident in her standing. Still, she'd keep going until it stopped working, figuring she may as well.

She glanced around the classroom for an empty seat, and found one next to Janet. She quietly greeted the other girl and sat down beside her, retrieving her note-taking materials from her bag. She looked up at the board: The Fourth Estate.

She had a vague idea of what that was concerning politics--someone who had unofficial influence over society was considered part of "the fourth estate," which included the media and entertainment industries among other things. She didn't know for sure if that was what they'd be discussing today, but it seemed likely given their previous topics of discussion. Either that, or maybe something to do with the French Revolution--she remembered the first, second, and third estates from her muggle history classes, perhaps the fourth estate was part of wizarding history from the same era. Either way, she knew she'd learn something new, so she was looking forward to the start of class.

Today's class with it brought a surprise even Adelaide could admit to. While she had fully expected students to run away before the finals - she had after all made it perfectly clear this would be a difficult class with no place for stragglers and no regard for age groups. Even first years like Miss Greene were subjected to the same standards as Seventh years on the cusp of sitting their NEWTS - she had not expected all the runaways to be of the less fairer sex. Indeed, her final class of the year seemed to be filled with only girls, a very nontraditional stance in the face of orthodox values which suggested females took less interest in politics and world affairs.

For the first time this year in this class, the Headmistress surveyed her female students and allowed herself a smile. The times were indeed changing.

"Ladies, welcome to your final lesson of the year," while her tone was clipped, the hint of quiet praise was also present in her voice. They were the ones who had made it to the end of a class she ah made as difficult as possible. Without preamble, she launched into their lesson for the day. "As you should remember, in the winter term we discussed the importance of images important people tend to create for the world. Today's lecture links to that, or rather, the tools used to create said image and the power these tools hold."

The lights dimmed once more and the blackboard became the sole focus of the room, the words on it glowing softly. "The Fourth state," Adelaide began. "It automatically brings to mind why fourth, what are the first and and second and third. And that is what we delve into today." As she spoke, the words were erased to give way to a large pyramid which began to fill up with words from the tip to the solid foundation a the bottom.

"Many sociologists class people within these pyramids. The top section is devoted to kings and rulers, the middle to the clergy. This order is sometimes reversed depending on the culture but the ruling class and the men and women of God have always resided at the top of the pyramid, often interchangeable with each other."

The first two layers of the pyramid faded into the background, the bottom layer growing bigger to take over the board. The words that had been roweled in it earlier now enlarged to show they were stick figures, figures with fruits and vegetables, figures working to build things, artisans, figured herding animals, figured feeding children and more.

"And then then there's the third estate," the redhead continued, making sure she had everyone's attention. "The largest group of people, the foundation of the pyramid, and incidentally the people who have the least say in what happens to them and their environment." For those paying attention, it would be evident that the smallest group held the most power, and the largest was subdued by that power.

Once the students had a moment to consider the pyramid, it slowly faded into emptiness, leaving he board blank once more. "The fourth estate is not of a natural order like its predecessors, some argue it isn't even an estate, yet its influence today is greater than all three of them put together. Would someone like to take a gander at what the Fourth Estate is and how it effects our lives?"

Nerisei was not a fan of politics. It's not that it wasn't interesting, but the loopholes were too many, and most of the time, when a discussion of politics was brought up, Nerisei ended up more bored than she could handle. When she decided to attend the Global Citizenship class, Nerisei had hoped for something easy and fast. It was the last lesson of the term, for God's sake! Why did she have to try her hardest even during the last lesson?

Thankfully, her eyes found Elenore's, as she entered the classroom. The Clement Princess took a good look around the classroom, before moving towards Neri, taking a seat next to her and greeting her. Any other student would have asked whether Nerisei minded having company, but Elenore didn't consider this a necessity, probably. And to be honest, the Ravenclaw witch didn't really mind. Elenore was her friend, and she loved her company. Plus, this lesson was going to be a nightmare, so the company was much appreciated.

"Good morning to you, too, Lady Elenore."

The lesson started soon after, and Headmistress Goshawk began explaining today's subject. She started talking about the three estates of the realm, the clergy, the nobility and, finally, the commoners, and then provided them with a pyramid, where the three estates were visible. Once all that faded, and the Headmistress was done explaining, it was time for her first question. A question that, thankfully, Nerisei could answer.

"The fourth estate is not of a natural order like its predecessors, some argue it isn't even an estate, yet its influence today is greater than all three of them put together. Would someone like to take a gander at what the Fourth Estate is and how it effects our lives?"

"The fourth estate, or sometimes called 'the fourth power', is a division of society that, indirectly but significantly, influences the society, even though it is not a formally recognised part of the political system. The term 'fourth estate' comes from the traditional European concept of the three estates of the realm, whilst the term 'the fourth power' is used referring to the separation of powers in the government into a legislature, an executive and a judiciary.

"In its early use, the fourth estate was equivalent to the Press. Nowadays, the Press is still considered the fourth estate, but all of the mass media have been added as well. Television, the internet, they all wield an influence on our lives."

Giving the Professor a small smile, Nerisei fell silent once again, satisfied with the answer she had provided.

"Well researched Miss Gerber, take five points," Adelaide almost praised the Ravenclaw who had given a textbook definition. "The media is often referred to as the fourth estate, and how powerful it is depends mostly on how aware you are of it's influence," she continued, making sure she had everyone's attention once more.

"It would be foolish to presume that media is limited to what you see on television and read in newspapers. No, media refers to the sheer influence the mass communication industry has in your life. When you wake up every morning and decide to style your hair a certain way, when you go shopping and pick a color or pattern you've grown fond of over the years, all that is influenced by something. Friends, family, social media, celebrity culture, it all works to create an influence over the individual, to give an individual a cause. Brands struggle to make you strive to afford them, opportunities get cultivated into streamlined and easily accessible paths for your traversing pleasure. And all this happens subtly, making you think you make your own decisions when every decision you have every made is a result of clever marketing and media influence."

The Headmistress paused, letting the lights in the classroom grow dim once more. "However, the area of interest for us today is not advertising specifically, it is the power of the fourth estate over the other three, not the individual." The pyramid appeared on the board once again as she spoke, the three sections divided in the first three estates. But this time, a dark cloud hovered over the triangular structure. A cloud threatening rain.

"The fourth estate is not part of the pyramid because it doesn't come from any one particular section. Any person of any class can choose to dabble in media, be his noble or commoner. Similarly, the media influence hovers over the three estates, choosing which to highlight and how to highlight it." The cloud moved directly above the pyramid, rain drops splashing the top most section containing nobility. The drops seemed to contain acidic properties as they ate away at the top class until the pyramid stood without a tip.

"Would anyone like to provide an example in Muggle or Wizarding history when the press has targeted a person, an idea, and changed public opinion on it?"