Global Citizenship - Fall Term (Open to five)

Just as luck would have it, the first Global Citizenship class fell on Monday morning, the day after the feast and coincidentally the morning most students were still rubbing their eyes from trying to adjust to a school timetable once more. Another teacher may have taken pity on the children, given them an easy class to ease them back into the routine of Hogwarts life.

Adelaide was not one of those teachers. So despite having had only a few scant hours of sleep herself followed by an early morning briefing of her new duties as Great Britain's First Lady, the Headmistress had shown up to class ten minutes before everyone else. The preferred arrangement of her classroom had not changed. The tables and chairs were all where they should be, with the main point of focus being the large blackboard up front. Once again, her syllabus was catered to the academically inclined, and those who could not keep up would be shown the door non too subtly.

Outside the classroom, a list of students who had failed her class last year hung as a warning, both to ensure those individuals did not enter and to the rest that failure came with the cost of public humiliation. If the school board was going to insist on her running Global Citizenship again this year, the witch was going to do it on her own terms.

Taking her seat at her desk, the redhead flicked her wand towards the blackboard. A single word appeared in bold letters, the subject of today's discussion. Idly, Adelaide wondered how the students would interpret the multifaceted word and concept on the board.

Dominique was taking Global Citizenship this year. Even if last year it took everything she had to keep up. There was so many people that she was trying to impress. Her uncle Jackson and Victoria was one of them. And she hoped that she was able to impress the headmistress. As she knew that she ,might be the only second year in the class. But she wasn’t going to let that stop her. Having no idea what was in store for the year, she walked into the class. It was like Dominique had never left, it was still the same.

So she went and found her seat. It was the day after arriving back to Hogwarts. And she was ready to dive into her school work. “ Good morning Headmistress.” She then started to get her notebook out and was prepared to take notes. And she knew that she had to pay extra attention. And also hang onto every word that she said.

Elena got to the Global Citizen class room and only saw Dia and someone else she didn't know but from what she saw the girl was older and a hufflepuff. Elena gave a polite smile to the Headmistress and took her seat next to Dia. She hoped that she didn't mind that Elena was going to be with her that day.

She took her seat and waited for the lesson to begin. Elena began to set up what she would need for the class so that when the time came down to it she had everything ready to go. Elena began to doodle while waiting. She wasn't any good but she did do good when it came to flowers so she drew a Lily. She hoped that more students arrived before the start of class since the Headmistress is a little strict when it came to classes.

Clara had enjoyed the Global Citizenship class last year. It had been sufficiently challenging, and gave her enough to think about that she didn't have to pursue additional work on her own like she did in some classes. She liked that the headmistress expected them to work and think intelligently, and it helped that each class dealt with an important and fascinating topic.

When she saw that it was offered once again this year, she'd signed up immediately, curious to see what would be on the curriculum this year. It seemed the headmistress had a lot of freedom when it came to choosing what topics to cover, so she looked forward to a diverse range of thought-provoking discussions like they'd had last year.

On the first morning of the new school year, the newly appointed Head Girl woke up bright and early, having enjoyed a wonderful rest in her new private dormitory. Her years of hard work had paid off, it seemed, and the privacy was definitely worth it. She organized her bookbag, and made her way down to the second floor, entering the classroom with a nod to the headmistress. She took a seat near the front with a good view, and pulled out a fresh notebook and pen.

As the students entered, Adelaide noticed the number in attendance had decreased slightly this year. No doubt her failure list as well as the mostly independent study based subject matter had discouraged many to reapply for this class. And Adelaide was glad.

Finally the message was getting across.

The redhead also noticed that along with her class being made up mostly of familiar faces, it was also all female. It looked like when the going got tough, the gents got going.

"Welcome ladies, to Global Citizenship," the Headmistress began, making no open armed welcoming gesture. If they expected such warmth from her by now, they were the ones in need of managing their expectations. "For those of you took this module last year, congratulations. The reason you are back is because you managed respectable results in the toughest class Hogwarts has to offer. For those who are new, I will not repeat the rules of this classroom, either get them from a fellow student or sit quietly and figure them out as we carry on."

That ought to hold their attention, the woman decided as the lights began to dim, the words on the blackboard glowing softly as the atmosphere in the room changed. uncharacteristically though, the door remained open, almost daring any stragglers to come in late.

"Freedom," the First Lady began, her voice carrying around the class even without ehr having to raise it. here was pin drop silence in the room, just the way she liked it. "It is far more than a word, it is a concept that means different things to all of us. From the freedom to dress as we please to the freedom of making major life decisions, we dally with this concept on a daily basis without giving it much thought." The usual graphics that accompanied her lecture did not dominate the board this time, simply because the concept was too broad to be captured by simplistic diagrams.

"Before we dive into what Freedom actually means, and debate upon its existence, I would like you to try and define freedom in your own way. A textbook answer will not be appreciated. I would like you to examine what freedom means to you and speak up on what kinds of freedom you currently, personally enjoy."

Elena thought about what was being asked from the Professor. Freedom. Elena knew that there were different kinds of way for freedom to be defined. No text book could really do this word justice, there were a lot in life that could really mean freedom, it's just what you decide to do with the freedom of it all. Elena thought about her family and it did bring tears to her eyes but she forced them away. She was not going to cry over her family in class. Elena raised her hand.

"In all honesty no book can do this word justice, the word freedom that is. Freedom can mean a lot of things, like when you're in so much pain and you're suffering, your soul finds freedom in the afterlife" Elena thought about her family who were murdered and hoped they found freedom in death that they couldn't find that night. She knew they suffered but she hopes they're at peace with the rest of her family.

Dominique listened as the headmistress asked them what freedom meant. But she didn’t want a textbook answer. This seemed like it was going to be easy. Since freedom is something that everyone has. But when you start to think about it, it could be hard. As Dominique knew that there was no wrong answer as the headmistress also asked what personal freedoms do they enjoy. She actually thought about it though before she raised her hand. As she was sure that her uncle and parents would be proud of her answer. “ Freedom would be like when people used to own slaves. And they were freed from their master or mistress.” She thought that one would be good since she was from the states.

“ Some of the freedoms I can enjoy is doing what I want. As long as I listen to my parents.” There was so much that Dominique could say. But she was going to limit herself. As she wanted to give others in the class .

Once again, it was the girls who raised their hands, ready with their own version of the answers and for once, the answers did not disappoint. In fact, they lay perfectly where they were and helped segue the lesson where Adelaide intended it to go.

"Well done ladies, five pints each," she commented after everyone's take. "Your many different variations of the answer show that freedom means different things or all of you, but is often defined by whether you have it or not." As the spoke, words began to appear on the chalkboard behind her, words like "liberty", "rights" and "democracy". The headmistress rather hoped her class was paying attention to both the words and the lecture being delivered.

"No more wars have been verged on a single issue more than that of freedom. It is a cause that is easy to get behind yet hard to define when it comes right down to it. And hat happens after you've won a freedom, do you truly get it? And if you only attain freedom by changing your mindset, were the wars worth it?" On the chalkboard, the scene changed, depicting e iconic scene from the French Revolution, he masses tearing down the House of Noir in Paris.

"The idea behind the French revolution was to be rid of the ruling class," she spoke, her tone casual as she addressed the direct product of the revolution seated before her. "And yet a ruling class still clearly exists. Except the people of France now consider themselves free." The board cleared once again, now to redraw itself into a scene from the famous police shooting of 2017 where law enforcers had opened fire on an unarmed, autistic African american man. "Some say slavery was eradicated with the end of the civil war and yet the African American community continues to exist with severe disadvantages.Yet we call America a free country."

Once again, the board cleaned itself, providing more examples f wars that were waged and left the masses with the idea of a victory even if he facts contradicted so otherwise. "It should be noted that throughout history, though we have waged many a conflict in the name of freedom and it has done little to clarify the concept for us Yes it remains one of he most - if no the most - popular cause to strive for."

The chalkboard stilled, the lights still dim, the silence around the room so quiet, Adelaide would have thought everyone was holding their breath.

"Would anyone care to explain why that is? Why a concept so intangible, indefinable, incalculable, be the thing that drives us to the very edge, why it compels us to sacrifice life and liberty in hopes of attaining something we do not know the real nature of?'