Club Proposal (Murphy)

[Henry Whitmore]

Henry strode through the castle corridors with a determined glint in his eye. Clutched in his hand was a neatly written proposal for the Forbidden Forest Club—a passion project he had spent weeks outlining. If all went well, Professor Murphy, his Head of House, would approve the idea and back him to make the club official.

Reaching the staff room door, Henry came face-to-face with the two stone gargoyles guarding the entrance. He barely had time to open his mouth before one of them rumbled, "Password?" in a deep, gravelly voice.

Henry blinked. Oh. Right.

He hadn't considered that particular obstacle. Shifting his weight awkwardly, he tried his luck.

"Er... dedication?"

No response.

"Hard work?"

The second gargoyle let out what could only be described as a bored huff.

"Uh... curiosity? Ambition? Twelve uses of dragon’s blood?" Henry's list of desperate guesses was met with complete indifference. The gargoyles remained stone-faced (literally), refusing to budge.

With a resigned sigh, he stepped back, stuffing his proposal into his pocket. He supposed he had no choice but to wait. Leaning against the cool stone wall, he kept his eyes on the passing students and professors, hoping that Professor Murphy would come by soon.

Waiting wasn’t ideal, but Henry wasn’t going to let something as small as a locked door stop him—not when the Forbidden Forest Club was at stake.

[Declan Murphy]

Declan was walking out of his classroom, headed towards the staffroom to take a little breather, maybe get to catch Cabh for a minute. That wasn't in the cards, though. As he rounded the corner, he spotted the young Gryffindor leaning against the wall, waiting. "Well. Hello there... Henry, isn't it?" He asked, having made it a goal to know all of the Gryffindors by face and name so he'd never be caught by surprise by them.

He hummed, crossing his arms, "You're an ambitious fellow, is this conversation going to be better suited for my office than the hall?" he asked, raising a brow at him, "And I hope you've come prepared for questions on whatever it is," he added, watching Henry to see what kind of reactions he had. He could tell a lot usually about what a student might be wanting based on how they responded to that warning. If they weren't, they weren't serious about whatever it was, and they tended to fumble. If they were, and they were serious, well. Made for a more interesting meeting at least.

"So what is it? What's on your mind?"

[Henry Whitmore]

Henry straightened up a bit when he saw Professor Murphy coming down the hall. This was it. He’d been waiting, and now he finally had the chance to tell him about his idea.

"Professor Murphy, sir!" Henry said quickly, trying to sound confident but also a little bit nervous. "Yes, Henry Whitmore, Sir." He introduced himself. It was different talking to a bunch of peers, but speaking with a professor about something he was this passionate about, well it was a bit more than just a casual meeting.

When the professor commented on his ambition, Henry smiled awkwardly. “Uh, well, I wasn’t expecting to have to answer a bunch of questions right here,” he said, trying to keep things light. “Could we maybe talk in your office? I’ve got an idea I’ve been working on, and I’d really like to show it to you.”

He watched Professor Murphy closely, then quickly pulled the folded-up paper from his pocket. He wasn't going to present the whole idea right here, but he wanted to reassure the professor that he had meant business. “I have a club idea... I've written it all down-the plan, why it’s a good idea, all that."

Henry felt a little nervous as he looked up at the professor, hoping that he was able to at least speak more about it in the professor's office.

[Declan Murphy]

Declan hummed in thought before taking a deep breath. "Come along," he said, walking Henry to his office. He let him in before going over to his desk. He sat down, clasping his hands in his lap. "Alright, Mr. Whitmore," he said, looking to the student before him, "Let's hear this club idea." he motioned to him to begin."Also, I hope you included in there why you're coming to me specifically about this."

He was acting like a bit of a hardass for a reason. He would do the same with his interns and apprentices on job sites. If you were afraid to speak to him because he looked a little scary at that moment in time, then that meant whatever you had to say was probably not helpful, was dangerous, or just was not thoroughly thought out. However, as nervous as Henry seemed to be, so far he was doing a pretty good job keeping his wits about him.

Let's see how long it lasted.

[Henry Whitmore]

Henry followed quickly, gripping his proposal in his hand as he walked into Professor Murphy’s office. He felt a little nervous, but he wasn’t about to back down now. He had thought this through. He had a plan. He just had to convince the professor it was a good one.

As he sat down across from Murphy, he took a deep breath and tried to steady himself. The professor wasn’t making this easy, but that was fine—Henry had expected questions, and pushback. He straightened up in his chair, nodding.

"Alright," he started, unfolding the paper in his hands. "So, it’s a walking and exploration club. The idea is to take students around the grounds, through different areas of the castle, and even some of the safer parts of the Forbidden Forest. It gets people outside, moving, and learning about what’s around them. A lot of students don’t really get to explore much beyond the usual paths, and I think this could be a fun way to do that."

He glanced down at his notes, then back up at Professor Murphy. "It’s not just about walking, though. We’d learn about plants, creatures, and the history of different parts of the school as we go. It’d be a mix of exercise and discovery. It could even help students with subjects like Herbology or Care of Magical Creatures, even Hogwarts History too—kind of like hands-on learning outside of class, student lead."

Henry hesitated for a split second before adding, "And I came to you because you’re my Head of House. If I want to do this properly, I need a professor to back it, and I figured you'd at least hear me out. Plus, you teach History of Magic, and a lot of the places we’d visit probably have stories behind them. It makes sense to ask you."

He sat up a little straighter, keeping his eyes on the professor. "I know students aren’t usually encouraged to go wandering around, but this would be peer supervised, with set routes and rules. I really think it could be something good, if you think it's beneficial." Henry's eyes shone at the Professor. His whole idea to have this group was coming together and with a few hurdles to road block the progress, he wasn't going to give up on his expeditions.