Gabriel was still bent over his notebook, hand and quill scribbling away uninterrupted. He needed a Quick Quotes for these occasions.....Why on Earth had he not invested in one before now?

On the other hand, the excessive writing seemed to be stimulating his own thought process...and everything, in turn, was recorded quickly after being offered up (his comments, included). Of course, Gabe was waiting to vocalize these comments; as it was easier to have constructive things to say with all the information on the table, so to speak.

After everyone expressed an opinion (for the most part, since both Sophie Brownand Hughbert were silent), he looked to Toby first; nodding slightly. "So, you're suggesting that after an assignment is chosen, we owl and get permission?" There was a pause and another nod. "I agree that some of our peers might be slightly awkward or embarrassed about this. Good point." Gabe, too, would (at least) want a head's up. As for the latter, his Hufflepuff friend earned a small smile. "Not everyone loves to write." WHICH WAS HORRIFYING, but true. "So, I think temporary 'celebrity' status could be fun."...if their peers were into that sort of thing.

Now, Grayson........Well, honestly, most of what he said was ignored. He could be a very crude individual...and was even more obnoxious when Ruby was around, but the Ravenclaw conceded to the end of his speech. That would be important since no one would care about winning otherwise. Bragging rights didn't account for much these days. "I agree with you..." Something Gabe thought he'd NEVER say to Grayson Whitlock. "There should be a distinction...and I think it'd be smart to do this in conjunction with a few options, as Eden mentioned." His fellow Claw had a point there. She actually had a few points...but he'd get to those in a moment. "I like the idea of gift cards and coupons to be used in Hogsmeade..." Jenna got a brief nod. Not a lot of his peers had much money to spare...and every little bit helped sometimes. "...but this would take someone owling the business owners, which I wouldn't mind doing. Also, I'm not so sure how special 'lunch with a professor' would be since the professors have their offices open and available to us if we need to talk."...and they got a chance to see them eat in the Great Hall...So, Gabe was a little lost to that idea. As for what their peers were interested in, he simply continued to be lost. He understood what grabbed his own focus. It was hard to speak for the population, however. ".....I could make an assortment of rock candy to give away." because SCIENCE EXPERIMENTS...and sugar. He'd made pumpkin flavored rock candy before, which would be no surprise to anyone as Gabes and pumpkins were OTP.

Moving on...

The Board of Governors mention from Ruby was met with a certain level of discomfort, as it only reminded Gabe of that detention and them rooting around in his head. Personally, he didn't want to reach out to them...but he wasn't dismissing it, either. His next question was directed at Quigley and Kitridge. "What do you think of asking them to sponsor prizes?" They'd know more about how to approach that sort of thing...and on that note, he revisited Eden's Daily Prophet suggestion. Cheeks flushed slightly pink, Gabe nodded. "I could owl Mr. Skeeter, I suppose." The man was eccentric. HARDCORE ECCENTRIC...but no one was judging. ECCENTRIC BUT BRILLIANT. Though, Gabe had to ask..."What are we hoping to get from the Daily Prophet, though? Sponsorship?"

And about the student spotlight...

"Returning to the topic of a Student Spotlight, I think it's a brilliant idea." Gabe nodded at Quigley, and everyone who had expressed their own agreement and thoughts on the matter. "I also think that Eden and Sophie Brown, both, raise a good point about shying away from a 'popularity contest', as some people will feel like our peers voting for this would be unfair and 'overlook' those more deserving...but at the same time, I think Rowan also touched upon something important. We can't possibly know what everyone has going on, so we shouldn't rule out 'peer nomination'...as we'll get the 'Professors are biased' argument." Gabe was trying to keep all these things in mind because some professors probably would've been biased; though, he didn't approve of the obvious favorites thing. "So, we could do a mix of both? I think at the end of the day, it'll be up to us in investigating whoever is chosen, no matter how they are nominated."

"Now, what to be looking for...isn't something I can rightly say. I'm not sure if I'm the best judge on what would be acceptable." He openly admitted to the table. Gabes valued different things than normal people, okay? Gabes were odd. "I DO think we should exclude Prefects and Quill staff for now." Or...that was his opinion. Everyone currently at this meeting got recognition enough, save for Rowan and Jenna, as they were new...and Prefects were badged due to their achievements. So, to feature them would be overkill. And the Yearbook featured them specifically, anyway. "Also, Toby makes a good point in that not all notable success is academic...and with that in mind, they should be selections people won't have issues reading about; taking into account whether or not their attitude is positive and how they treat their peers when professors aren't around." No one wanted to read about rude people or anyone being a toad to others on the lowdown. Even Gabe would snort and skip over that sort of thing.