Okay, so... the easiest way to engage this particular Gryffindor was to praise her answer. It simply never failed. If Olivia felt like she could properly contribute to the classroom discussion, it encouraged her in a way that other things just did not.

Also, it was nice not to feel stupid. So, there was that, as well.

Finding her voice again, Liv was more quick to follow up the success of her previous answer; her blue glitter pen still moving against the page of her journal. "In my opinion, one would need to ask themselves if what they're trying to invent will improve more than just their own quality of life." Would the invention be a selfless one? Like, yea, what Ace had said, again, was perfect about necessity, but it shouldn't be just beneficial to that one person.

"...and they should probably consider whether or not they're a straw man." You know, someone who was easily defeated. If one is trying to invent something, one should be able to overcome a lot of failures, probably.

Err..... the professor was saying her name wrong all of a sudden. Charlotte blinked once the first time, and then a few times in astonishment when it happened again. Would it be rude to correct her? Eeep!

Focus on the question, Charlotte!

She put her hand up, a bit uncertain and thrown due to the mispronunciation, but she found her stride as she spoke. "You'd probably have to think about cost? Like not just the cost of you actually experimenting and probably messing up prototypes and stuff, but the cost of producing the final invention, and if the people that you intend it to be used by can actually afford to buy it!"

Okay so that was maybe a more practical concern, something most people probably wouldn't expect to come from Char's brain, but there it was.

His classmates did give good answers, and he was pretty much convinced by it. However, if he was to invent something, he would probably come up with something that is not of total necessity. Bertie Bott didn't actually create candy because it simply had to be consumed regularly...nor was it a necessity. He did it out of passion for confectionery, right?

Tilting his head to the side, Jace tapped his finger on his lap as he tried to catch that one single thought that would, hopefully, cover all the answers mentioned.

Hmm.

"I think it's not just inventing based on necessity, professor. Probably inventors would also consider ideas that are timeless. Something that will not go out of fashion..." he said with his hand in the air.

And yes, funding. That too, of course. Very important factor.

Nat wiggled in her seat a bit. She was listening, but she was getting a bit bored to be honest. There was lots of info about each person and she got the history of them, but it just wasn't interesting to her. She didn't care who invented what and so she went to doodling on her parchment. When the professor started talking again Nat only half listened with her quill moving around her parchment making stars, and hearts, and Cal The Sirens.


Her brown eyes looked up as a comment caught her attention, "But hasn't some inventions just happened by accident. People have stumbled onto things without realizing. Someone is just doing something and they come across it and say hey this could actually be a great product." She had remembered reading something somewhere about that. "So sometimes it isn't what you are striving for that will become the answer it could be something you didn't even expect."

Like he'd done when Jonah apologized, Blaise did little more than shrug when the Professor affirmed that it was alright to give the same responses. He was well aware of that, people did it all the time. It wasn't something to be stuck on.

Thankfully the lesson was moving on...to inventing...which sounded pretty heavy to him depending on how this discussion and the class would go.

The Gryffindor leaned back in his chair, doing his best to pay attention despite his waning ability to do so. It resulted in his catching little tidbits from what his classmates were saying but the boy was now certain that if his quill wasn't floating next to him taking skewed notes like it was, there was no way he'd know what was going on in class. The joys of being able to go over it all later.

"Novelty should be considered too. It's like...you don't want to go making purple sweaters if the entire world is wearing them. You gotta think of new stuff that people would be eager to try 'cause people, in general, love things they've never seen or had before." The idea of being novel was usually what drew people in. Of course necessity and cost and determination and all that was important too in the long run.

So, after the introductions and first questions Miranda had stayed quiet for a few minutes while thinking... Of the four famous witches and wizards one came to mind... she had remembered reading a bit about her not so long ago... So with confidence Miranda raised her hand and when called upon she answered....
" Professor... Perpetua Fancourt.. She was the astronomer that invented the thind that makes working out moon charts easier... Ummm... The Lunascope..! " Randa said with a bit of a smile.. Glad for knowing at least something worthwhile anyway...
" I think that one would have to consider a need for something before thinking to invent anything.. Why put time and effort into something unless it's useful, right? "

It seemed to the fourth year that everyone was already giving answers..and good ones at that, so there was not much more that he had to add to the conversation right now. For the reason the Gryffindor spent his time taking down notes.

He had made a quick glance on Blaise's notes and realized that his quill was completely bonkers so it was best that he took his own notes down.

Usually, if Daxton was late, he did not bother to go to his classes, but History of Magic was another one of those that he actually did not mind attending - for the subject matter. He almost enjoyed learning about history, so much so that it was one of the classes he frequented. And, seeing as his birthday was going to be the very next day, he decided it was probably a good idea to get out of his hideout before he ended up sequestering himself away for the day.

Neither knowing nor caring exactly how late he was, Daxton pushed open the door to the History of Magic classroom after making sure that the voices he could hear from within were actually talking about something worth staying for - inventions... perfect.

The heat inside the classroom was unexpected and unwelcome, but Daxton kept his - still bruised - face impassive as he took up the nearest empty seat by the door, as though it was perfectly normal to stroll in halfway through a lesson - though, admittedly, it sort of was for him. He pulled at his school tie to loosen it, and unfastened the top few buttons of his school shirt, quite unhappy with the climate of the room and wondering if this had perhaps been a bad idea after all. But he was here now, and more or less ready to listen.

Absentmindedly, he ran his fingers over his busted up nose. It no longer hurt when he touched it, which was a shame, as the after-effects of a fight were often good reminders of the experience. Still, it would likely not be long before he found himself in another one. Noting Asakura across the room, Daxton surveyed the other boy's own bruised and beaten up features for just a brief moment before looking away again.

History of Magic. Right. Pictures on the board. People. Inventions. Okay. Whatever.

Azura was listening carefully to Professor Newton and she tilted her head a little bit as she considered her question. The rest of the class seemed to have it down though so instead she just wrote her thoughts down in her notes.

SPOILER!!: Az's notes

• Reasons for invention:
• Necessity
• curiosity
• accident (in Bertie Botts case)
• Novelty
• Timeless

Just as she finished her notes she groaned as Daxton Prince walked in.. late

More points from Ravenclaw.. as if they aren't in last place already.

Rula jotted down notes as information was given on the four inventors. She knew some of these things about them already, but it wouldn't hurt to write down as much as possible anyway. It'd be easier to make sure she remembered it all that way.

Now for this question, what did you need to consider for inventing something? She listened to some of the other answers people were offering before raising her hand to give her own. "I think it doesn't always have to be something that you necessarily need. Sometimes you might invent something just because it's something you want or something you think would be cool, which isn't always the same thing as something you actually need. Like the Bertie Bott's beans. We don't actually need beans in every flavor, but they're cool, so he kept making them and people keep buying them."

Colt heard the Professor's explanations and he couldn't agree more. He was listening intently actually to this lesson because these people were wizards just like them. He was interested more in Bertie Botts since he loved his candies. He especially loved pranking his cousins with them giving the horrible ones while he ate the good ones. He heard her question and it got his gears turning. What do they have to consider when they invent something. He heard the rest of his classmates answers and he agreed with the necessity answer. He felt like he didn't need to repeat their answer. But then he heard a answer he couldn't pass up. "I agree with her answer.." He motioned toward his fellow Slytherin Rula. She seemed to voice his thoughts.

Kitty liked all the answers her classmates were saying. They were all correct (with variations depending on the circumstance) but she knew what her answer would be."Conviction. You have to believe that what you are inventing will be someone good and awesome. If you know that then it doesn't matter how many times you fail or how many people say you can't, or how strong you are, even how other people are doing something similar. Dreams are beautiful but they need conviction. That's my opinion anyway."

Was she the only first year who had really NO idea how to answer the questions? Or was it just her and had it something to do with the fact that this whole wizarding world was still new to her? Hmm… Just taking notes for her again during this question! Well, taking notes wasn’t such a bad thing, if she didn’t knew the answers then she could learn from her notes, at last…

Noelle settled in beside Kay as she began taking notes. The four people shown, Noelle only knew one of them. Bertie Botts. And only because it was her second favorite candy. (Licorice Wands being her first).

She began taking notes on all the things that the professor had listed. She wasn't very interested but she liked hearing everyone inputs on it. They all worked hard to get what they wanted.

"I think a passion is needed. A true passion. You will be working to make something you truely want or need... you don't want to do that with something you don't have that thrive and passion for. The product won't mean as much. It won't turn out as well." Noelle added.

So like Charlotte Kettleburn TOTALLY took the answer right out of her head. Seriously. Skylar was paying attention for the most part, because wizarding inventions were cool and it would have definitely been cool to get the recognition for something that made a contribution to society, for better or for worse. And like the first thing that Skylar thought about was cost, for both the experiment and the final product.

Chewing on the end of her quill, the second year tried to think of other things that must be considered. Raising her hand, Sky finally had something. "Safety. In terms of when creating the invention, what safety precautions are needed to ensure your own safety as well as those in the vicinity, but also safety of the final product."

Gramps Bertie! Katy waved merrily at the chocolate frog card, fully expecting a wave back. He usually knew who she was, even in painting form, but Bott men were known to get lost in their work. Even if they were long dead and not working on anything, per se.

Inventions were interesting, though. "I think there's a certain amount of practicality, right? I mean, just because you can make something new, doesn't mean that you should. I could invent a machine that makes socks dirtier faster, and that might make me impressive and clever, but what's the use of something like that?"

Tak had barely finished speaking when I sound gabbed his attention and started speaking to him. Jonas. That was really all he knew of the other boy, his name, and only because but they were dornmates. Leaning back in his chair Tak kept his expression neutral. "It wasn't really random." It was a fact. He looked like he was sneezing. And the professor had asked for a fact.

Anyways, this whole class was about inventing things then? Newton had listed off a bunch of facts that he would probably need to know but they were already floating out of thought. Following orders, Tak racked his brain to what someone would have to keep in mind when inventing something his attention was quickly drawn to the door as it opened.

Daxton Prince. A slight smie tugged on his lips seeing the bruises on the other boys face. Yeah, he had gotten beaten up again, but at least he had caused a little bit of damage.

Chloe was still being icy cold but she had an opinion on the subject matter which made holding a grudge very hard. Or at least holding her tongue. She was a Ravenclaw whose sole purpose in life was to remind people just how much smarter she was than them.

Rude? Probably. But she was a Chloe.

She raised her hand to say something but the swiftly realised everyone else had pretty much said what her answer was. Inventions were born out of necessity or innovation. And in some rare cases lunacy. There were those kinds of people out there who liked to try new things just because they could, to see what happened. Chloe liked to call those people Gryffindors.

It made Rosalyn INCREDIBLY happy to hear all of the different things that her students were able to come up with. The room was full of intelligent people and she nodded as she listened to each suggestion writing them down on the board as she went:

Quote:

• means
• determination
• a reason (cause, motivation)
• necessity
• improving life for others
• cost
• timelessness
• novelty
• pubic demand (want, indulgence)
• passion
• safety
• practicality

"Wonderful job, everyone! You all listed important considerations that a person should make in the process of inventing something." She smiled at all of her students. "Ms Franks-Mundie raised a very good point that inventions can happen by accident. That is very true, and something that has definitely happened many times." So kudos for her mentioning that. "Also Ms Kettleburn and Ms Diggory are right that cost and safety are important. VERY much so! No one wants a product that is too expensive or dangerous." All the criteria was important, but those were two things that people should definitely take into account when working on an invention.

About to move on to the activity part of the lesson, Rosalyn's attention was turned to the door. "Nice to see you Mr Prince. I'll have to take two points from Ravenclaw." Rules were rules. She doubted the boy would even care, but she was doing it regardless. Made her sad since this was her former House. Oh well...

Back to the lesson. "Okay, keeping everything that we just discussed in mind, I would like to move on to the activity portion of the lesson. Nothing too crazy. I would like each of you to think of an invention that you would like to make. Something that you feel that the wizarding world would WANT or NEED. Everyone has passions, so it's generally a good idea to go off of them." She had total faith in her students and their ability to give her some really good and creative work! "Thinking of the considerations listed on the board, I would like you to write a paragraph about the invention you would come up with. It doesn't have to be a long paragraph, just something that says what your invention would be, the purpose it would serve, who the target audience is.... and etcetera." No essays required for this portion!

"When that is finished, I would like you to make a poster for your invention! Just a name for it and a picture of what it would look like. Keep in mind that your invention can be anything that you think would be beneficial for wizarding kind. It could be a candy, a form of transportation, a potion... whatever!" Lots and lots of potential for this. "Art supplies are at the back as usual. There are different kinds of papers, markers, crayons, paint, pencil crayons... everything that you need to create a poster." If she had forgotten anything, she could head off to her work room and retrieve it for them. "I would like the paragraph and poster handed in at the end of class."

OOC: Sorry for the shorter reply this time around. I am heading out of town for a couple days so things are a little crazy. I read all the replies and responded to everything as best I could. If I missed anything it was not intentional.

There is NO post requirement for the activity. You can spread things out however you want. Just as long as the content is there you will get the points. All I need is a short paragraph about your character's invention and the process of creating a poster! Extra credit is also available for providing an image of the poster. Can be either hand drawn or made with graphics software.

You have until 11:59 pm EST on October 9th to get this portion completed. If you need me or Rosalyn for anything, don't hesitate to send a PM/VM or address her in your post. Just write in the title that you need help.

Olly didn't really care who any of those people were. They all invented boring things that were of no use for him. Okay maybe perpperup potion was useful to a lot of people so that was alright. And it was hard to imagine a time before floo powder was invented because it was so normal now. He could admit that those things were useful, but he had already forgotten the names of the people who had invented them. Maybe he should have written them down as soon as he heard them so he wouldn't forget. Oh well, he could look them up later if he really needed to. He did remember Bertir Bott though. Of course! That man did some good. He made candy, and that was important.

Necessary for an invention? Everybody was already giving pretty good answers so he wasn't sure at first what else he could contribute. But then he thought of something and raised his hand. "The thing they were inventing would have to be useful. I mean what's the point of inventing it if there's no use for it? And if they want to sell their invention is has to be something that someone else would want to buy."

Hmmm..they had to invent something ehh? She titled her head and bit her lip as she looked down at her notebook, wondering what on earth she would invent..

She didn't think her passions would help out the wizarding community.. Piano playing and baking? Healing was already a thing.. so that was out.. people could appparate or floo.. Though not in Hogwarts..

Hmmmm.. flooing would be super handy when it came to getting to her common room, cause honestly.. the stairs? Fwoopers.. there were so many of them and like.. she was clumsy!

Why couldn't the Ravenclaw tower be on the second floor? Why couldn't there be a magical device that would get them up to the 7th floor without having to worry about stairs!

Ah ha! That was it! That's what she could invent! Some sort of magical way to get to the 7th floor without stairs. But huh.. how would it work. And what would it be?

He'd be lying if he said he didn't figure this was where the class would ultimately be going. It wasn't clear at first but after the Professor made the long list on the board and went over a couple of the things in more detail, he supposed it was only natural that they'd then be asked to make something themselves. Unfortunately for him, the tiredness that he walked into the lesson with wasn't very conducive to making ANYTHING.

Merlin's beard, he was going to have to stimulate himself somehow. Blaise looked about the room, then back at the quill that floated near him oh so dutifully. Something he'd need to invent? Something the wizarding world needed? Something people would wanna buy?

Seemed to him that whatever they needed they could just magick and if not, it was already sitting on a shelf somewhere. There wasn't much you needed when you had magic, even he could admit that.

This, of course, wasn't very helpful as he still needed to think up something to hand in by the end of class. The boy fished a regular quill from his bag, idly gnawing away at the tip while he thought. What to make? What to make?

She watched as things were put up on what was needed for an invention. She was getting a bit annoyed that by accident wasn't being put on, but Professor Newton had mentioned it and said she was correct, which she knew from reading. No friends for the three years at her old school made plenty of time for reading. While the professor explained what they were doing Nat couldn't help but glance at the door and wonder if she could get out of it without anyone noticing?

Art was just not her thing and she didn't want to invent anything so why was she doing this? She sat quietly just looking at the board. What on earth could she even invent? Her mind went to a few different things, but then something that she felt should be came to mind. Her parchment out she started to writing things down.

SPOILER!!: notes

pocket button

That was a lot of things to do in the remainder of class, which meant they had lots of time to finish. Genny let out a small groan and stretched out on her desk, trying hard not to look too bummed out. The professor was doing her job afterall.

Anyway, as for an invention? Hmm. Thinking under pressure was not Genny's best quality. She grabbed her quill and with her head lying on her arm she started drawing circles on the parchment. An invention... an invention... well, she'd want to come up with something useful in Quidditch or dueling. But everything was already done in both! Ugh, what would she want to invent? Hmmmm... maybe something to put the beater's bat in during those little breaks up in the air? Or maybe a moving platform for the commentator? Or a magnifying lens for them to follow the match closely? Were those already invented???

Ugh. Her head hurt.

She wanted them to create an invention. Part of Chloe really, really liked this assignment but a larger part of her was still in a bad mood and she refused to admit this was a project that appealed to her. ALSO, she had so many ideas narrowing them down would be very hard. And the Ravenclaw did not think she could anything quality in such a short period of time. She would need to go to the library and research every last stitch of her hypothetical invention.

Speaking of which, she had no idea what it would be.

She yanked a piece of parchment out of her bag and started to write down ideas. Some of which were cosmetics but she was more invested in creating something for women. Means of protection to wear on a woman's person to ward off any attacks. An extra set of eyes.

Because, GOSH, women should be able to walk down the street worried about every person who approached them.