This isn't going to be like my usual column. I mean, well, okay, maybe it will be because it's still me, after all. But what I mean is, I'm not quite sure where I stand on the whole idea of having an exclusive club that is by invitation only, and that one can be booted out of without seemingly any real reason. So I'm going to try something different and list some pros and cons of the Slug Club.
See, here's the thing. I've always wanted to belong to something that would mean I was one of the "cool kids." You know, the ones everyone else wants to be friends with? First to be invited to parties, never without a seatmate at lunch, all that sort of thing. It's not that I don't have friends, but I've never been exactly cool. I'm too quirky, for one. I'm more the type that everyone takes the mickey out of just because they can, and I generally fall for it. So having something like the Slug Club gives me something to aspire to that's not based on popularity or good looks, or smooth moves. Anyway, that's a pro for the Slug Club.
Also, the whole idea of the Slug Club is that it's filled with students that are going somewhere. They're destined to be really successful by all sorts of means. And that is also something that I want for myself. Don't most people? Don't most people want to be rich and famous and someone that others look up to? I just know that someday, I'm going to invent something that will blow the socks off of a house-elf. Possibly literally. Being in the Slug Club not only shows others that I really do have what it takes, but it also gives me a cohort of others who share my general ambition, even if our methods are vastly different. That's another pro.
But what if Professor Slughorn never taps me to join the group? What if I never get invited to one of his "little parties" at all. I mean - look at Ginny Weasley. The only reason she got invited was pure chance - she was there in the right place at the right time, doing the right thing. And she's now an amazing Quidditch player; she belonged there in the club for sure, but look what a close call that was. What if I'm glossed over because my timing was off, and Slughorn missed my best Hogwarts Express prank ever? Why have a club that is so difficult to join on purpose? That's not right, and that's a definite con in my book.
If there's going to be an Ambition club like the Slug Club, then there ought to be a way to be seen properly in order to be able to join. It doesn't sit well with me that it comes down to whether one finicky old professor likes you or thinks you have connections. Sure, it might have started out as his club, but it ought to be better than that.
Maybe I'll just have to start my own club.