Global Citizenship - Spring Term (Open to five)

Perhaps Adelaide Goshawk had been premature in thinking there would be no more drop outs from her class. The two names printed on the door this time around clearly denoted who was no longer welcome for the year. The redhead had made it known upon her very first lesson that those who simply attended her classes to sit and not contribute in any other way would find themselves shown the door, and she had remained true to that for the past two years.

Sadly, some of her students had gotten complacent. The wake up call was much needed. A perfect record did not exempt anyone from one mistake, not in the Headmistress's books.

April had crept quietly across Hogwarts, almost overnight with its slanting rays of sunlight streaming through the window and green leaves and shoots sprouting up everywhere. In response, her classroom had been shut off once more, immune to the warmth of the sunny grounds outside and retaining the harsh, businesslike learning atmosphere the witch was so fond of.

As always, once the students walked in, they would find Adelaide at her desk. However this time, one unusual item would catch their eye. A plain silver bowl rested atop her desk, dull light glinting off its ordinary surface. A closer examination would reveal about a dozen tiny half moon shaped packages recognizable to anyone who had ever consumed a fortune cookie.

Needless to say, Adelaide was not in the habit of giving out treats to her students, quite the opposite. Treats made for dull, empty minds. So the small card that rested against the bowl inviting everyone to "Please take one." in her official curly script would be even more of a surprise.

The blackboard only boasted a few words, giving a hint at today's lesson for those intelligent enough to understand it. The script in slightly luminous chalk simply read:

TYPES OF GOVERNMENTS

Clara could feel the atmosphere of the school shifting like it did every year as exams approached. It was her second favourite time of the year, following only the beginning of September when they started classes. There was just something calming about the rest of the castle finally settling down to focus on their studies like they were supposed to. It made her feel normal, and somewhat vindicated, as she watched the rest of her classmates suddenly leap to do what she had been quietly doing by herself all year.

She stepped into the Global Citizenship classroom as promptly as usual, nodding to the headmistress as she passed. Her eyes fell upon the silver bowl, the slight change in the classroom setup catching her attention. Fortune cookies? She frowned slightly, but took one, following the directions on the sign. She wasn't a huge fan of fortune cookies, but she rather doubted the headmistress was passing them out as a snack. It seemed entirely out of character, unless she had gravely misjudged the older witch. Clara figured it would become clear soon enough, and sat down, placing the fortune cookie neatly on the desk in front of her, still in its plastic packet.

She turned her eyes to the board next, and the words there triggered a flood of vocabulary which passed through her brain for a split second - monarchy, oligarchy, democracy, bureaucracy - as she quickly flipped through all the information she already knew. She believed she had a passable knowledge of the main types of governments, so she let herself relax a little before the class began.

Slowly, the class filled up as it always did, her students coming in quietly and taking their seats. It gave Adelaide some satisfaction to know that after so many semesters, they had finally got down e routine. A routine that would only help them in life once they honed it well enough. Many of ehr students would be graduating this year, and it was more important to them to have a routine down than the ones who were staying, who had another year of being coddled in this school.

When everyone was seated and all the fortune cookies gone from her desk, the Headmistress finally began. "Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to governance." As always, when Adelaide spoke she commanded attention. No distractions were tolerated in her lecture and that was how it would always be.

"As a somewhat organised and intelligent species, we decided long ago that we needed governing. Nether it was an idea imposed by the powerful few to subjugate the many or if it arose form the masses in its need to get organized is up for debate but today, nothing gets done without good governance." As she spoke, the chalkboard beside ehr got to work, erasing the words and forming a globe across its dark surface, a globe that looked very much like the planet they currently inhabited with certain areas glowing in different colors. The globe turned on its axis on the board, highlight certain regions before moving on again.

Before we get into the more interesting forms of government, I expect everyone to have already read up on this from your textbook. So please, when the globe stops at a country you feel comfortable describing, raise your hand and do so. You will inform the class what system of government this country follows and what are the current major conflicts plaguing its nation."

As she spoke, the globe spun, pausing at brief intervals at Portugal, Greece, France, The Americas, Pakistan, China and the UAE. one by one, hands began to rise as students picked a country to speak about.

Harper was exhausted by the time Global Citizenship came around for the day. She'd spent all day studying and attending classes, and she was ready to collapse. But, instead she entered the classroom, grabbing a fortune cookie as instructed and sitting, looking to the board. Aaaand totally blanking. Of course she couldn't remember. She pursed her lips, pulling out her books as she attempted to find something, anything that would refresh her memory.

She sighed to herself as the class started, looking to the globe on the board as it spun. She raised her hand as it landed on The Americas, hoping to at least take this one, which she seemed to at least partly remember. "The americas use democracy. And the only major conflict I really know of is how they rejected their icww proposal and aren't in the international coalition anymore." She finished her statement, though the end ended up sounding more as a question, for she wasn't really sure if she was correct.

Clara paid attention to the answers that were given by her classmates. She knew the most about America due to her family's connections, but that was quickly snatched up by someone else. Personally, she felt that more could have been said about their system of government, as it technically was not a perfect democracy, but she figured the headmistress would probably address that soon enough, so she focused on one of the other lit up countries spinning around the globe. She raised her hand when Elenore Clement finished speaking.

"Greece is a democratic republic with a representative government. Like the UK, they have a Prime Minister and a Parliament, as well as a multi-party system. They also have a president, who performs some legislative and executive duties, but is mostly just a figurehead. They have a written constitution which gives power to the president, who is elected by Parliament. Government officials are elected by the people, and voting is compulsory, though not necessarily enforced.

"Recently, Greece has been in economic decline and deeply entrenched in national debt. The Clements of France have offered their assistance in bailing out the Greek government," Clara's eyes flicked briefly to Elenore Clement, wondering if this might be awkward to talk about with one of the involved parties in the room. She mentally shrugged. Personally, she figured no matter who was present, the truth remained the same. "And Greece has accepted their aid. Negotiations are still ongoing, but essentially, the Greek government is at the mercy of France for the time being."

"Well done, ten points apiece," Adelaide congratulated the ladies who had braved answers. Of course, each of them had soemthing lacking but for the most part, they displayed knowledge she had expected them to possess by this time in their education. And meeting Adelaide's expectation was no easy feat.

"Now, each of you have pointed to different aspects of a system of governance," she began as the chalkboard behind her finally became animated, highlighting the finer points and illustrating parts of her lecture. The next hour was spent discussing the pros and cons of types of government with eh conclusion left as food for thought for the students.

"Once you've left the class, you may open your sliver pouches. I'm afraid there are no food items inside but I'm told you get regular meals at the Great Hall." A small pause for a smile. For the first time, the Headmistress had made a subtle joke. "There s however, a chit of rolled up parchment with a style of government in it. Your homework is to define that style and highlight its pros and cons. This homework will not be graded so it does not need submitting. But if you still do it, you would have truly learned something from our time together."

With that, the redhead dismissed her class, for the very last time. She did not tell her students she would no longer be seeing them. No, that would have bordered dangerously on emotional attachment to the young witches and wizards who attended her lectures. they would find out eventually, and deal with it in a cold, rational way, she hoped.

All except one.

"Ms. Goldstein, kindly come up to my office in your next break. My secretary will show you in."