School Club

• Type: Extracurricular student organization
• Location: Primarily Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
• Owner/Residents: Students and Faculty Advisors
• Key Features: Focus on specific magical skills, academic subjects, social networking, or activism; membership can be open, selective, or secret.

School clubs at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry are extracurricular groups that allow students to pursue interests outside of the standard curriculum. These organizations are typically supervised by a faculty member who serves as an advisor. The presence and nature of clubs often fluctuate, depending on the initiative of professors and the interests of the student body. For example, Professor Filius Flitwick mentioned having run a Charms Club in the past, and Professor Gilderoy Lockhart briefly established a Dueling Club. Some clubs are highly exclusive and serve a specific purpose for their founder, such as the Slug Club, which Professor Horace Slughorn used to cultivate a network of influential individuals. Other clubs are founded by students themselves to address a perceived need, like the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare founded by Hermione Granger or Dumbledore's Army, created to secretly teach practical defense magic. The existence of these groups demonstrates that student life at Hogwarts includes opportunities for specialized learning, socializing, and even organized resistance.

School clubs serve as crucial settings for character development and major plot advancements throughout the series.

• The Dueling Club is the stage for the public revelation of Harry Potter's ability to speak Parseltongue, which causes much of the school to suspect him of being the Heir of Slytherin.
• The Slug Club provides Harry Potter with access to Professor Slughorn, from whom he must retrieve a critical memory about Tom Riddle and his creation of Horcruxes.
• The Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare (S.P.E.W.) is a long-running subplot that showcases Hermione Granger's compassionate nature, strong moral convictions, and tireless activism for the rights of house-elves.
• Dumbledore's Army (D.A.) is arguably the most significant club, functioning as the primary vehicle for student resistance against the tyranny of Dolores Umbridge and later the Death Eaters. It empowers the students, forges strong alliances among them, and provides them with the defensive skills necessary to fight in the Battle of Hogwarts.

• Dueling Club: A short-lived club founded by Professor Gilderoy Lockhart in Harry's second year. Its only known meeting was overseen by Lockhart and Professor Severus Snape and ended after Harry inadvertently spoke Parseltongue to a serpent.
• Slug Club: An exclusive group for students hand-picked by Potions Master Horace Slughorn based on their talent, ambition, or famous connections. Members were invited to lavish parties and dinners with Slughorn.
• Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare (S.P.E.W.): An organization founded by Hermione Granger in her fourth year to advocate for the freedom and rights of house-elves. Harry Potter and Ron Weasley were reluctant, dues-paying members.
• Dumbledore's Army (D.A.): A secret student organization for learning practical Defence Against the Dark Arts, founded by Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger. It was outlawed by Educational Decree Number Twenty-Four but became a key resistance group.
• Gobstones Club: A club mentioned in Professor Slughorn's memory of a young Tom Riddle. Severus Snape's mother, Eileen Prince, was the captain of the Gobstones team during her time at Hogwarts.
• Charms Club: Mentioned by Professor Filius Flitwick as a club he used to run, which was likely disbanded under the restrictive regime of Dolores Umbridge.

• The inclusion of school clubs helps ground the magical setting of Hogwarts in the familiar tradition of British boarding school stories, where extracurricular activities are a common feature of student life.
• The Frog Choir, often depicted performing in the Great Hall, is an invention for the film adaptations and does not appear in the novels (film).