Clara recognized the pictured man immediately - she was good at putting names to faces - but, it seemed that most people knew, too. Actually, not true ... a lot of people had no clue but were trying to be funny.

....... Well, they tried.

She glanced across at Gabriel, a small smile creeping across her face. She knew that he also knew the answer, and that he was probably itching to exhibit his knowledge. After jotting down some notes, she also made her own contribution, adding to some kid's (Xavier) point. "Alexander Graham Bell. His wife and mother were both deaf." Apparently, that was something that had influenced his studies and work. Quite a remarkable man among muggles.

Henric turned to the girl named Clara who answered the professor's questiom. His wife and mother were both deaf....ohh...he didn't know that. He had known children who were born deaf or blind...he couldn't imagine how much they had gone through trying to lead a normal life. The man must be a genius to invent something so phenomenal in his life. He wondered if he got the inspiration from them...Henric would...no matter how small it was, he would make a difference in their lives. He quietly listened to the answers that was given and took notes while he at it.

So Cinna was just sitting there quietly in the back of the classroom. She was in the back today for no reason really other than there was no where else to sit sliding into the classroom right at the last minute. Of course she was not late and just not early either. She didn't even get to greet the professor. Oppsss, hopefully she wouldn't mind. The sixth year would just on stop by Moxley's office with a pan full of her famous Cinnamon rolls. The professor would love them, EVERYONE loved her Cinnamon rolls.

As the class started the professor showed them a picture of a man with a long beard. Being in the back of classroom, boy how did anyone see what was going on in the front of the room from back there. The lioness squinted her brown eyes, trying to see who was in the picture. Oh.... That's the "The dude that invented the telephone Alex Bell?" Not that it was real name it was Alexander Graham Bell. Yes Alex Bell sounded much better.

WHO was that? Caleb had never heard of any of the people his classmates were naming - except Santa, from Dot, which he had to agree seemed the most likely answer right now - but the picture was absolutely ZERO help. All muggles had large beards in the 1800's or whatever. But he obviously did SOMETHING important...

He raised his hand. "Is that that Albert Einstein guy? He looks like an Albert," he told the professor.

Kace saw Professor Moxley starting the lesson. He was pretty pumped that he was one of the very few that was early. He saw Emmy made her entrance and she was fashionably late as usual. He grinned and waved to her. Then he saw on the board a picture of some dude. Who was this dude? He wasn't Albert Einstein though. That is for sure. He didn't recognize him off the bat. Then he heard someone mention Alexander Graham Bell and he began to pick up the idea of the lesson. They were going to do something with telephones. He wasn't gonna repeat what was said because why bother right? He just sat there silently and waited for the next question.

Philipe looked at the picture... Was he supposed to know the muggle, but he followed to follow suit, raising his hand, "He's the inventor of the telephone, professor." He glanced over at the picture again, creepy... creepy looking man to him really.

Rorie nodded and sent a small salute to the professor, "Prof. Mox."

She watched him approach, a small smile on her face. It's meaning in life to completely masquerade the feeling inside. This boy made her grinch heart grow three times the diminutive size. Made it beat to remind her that, alas, she was indeed human. With human feelings and such. That kiss caught her off guard though. Not only did her cardiac organ flutter, but her eyes went wide. DAMIEN ANDERSON-BELFORT, SHE WAS TRYING TO STAY OUT OF TROUBLE.

Even then, she snorted. "Sit down, you dork. Before you get us both kicked out." Ror faced forward, trying to ignore the smirk on her face. Yeah, she knew the man. From somewhere. Probably some lecture her father was giving where she wasn't paying attention...again. Also, Rorie was kind of......afraid....to open her mouth in class. Maybe because like....bad stuff always happened when she did. Damien was also in the impact zone and didn't want him to get damaged. His face was too pretty for that.

Didn't Professor Moxely know? History was his weakness, his achilles heal so to speak. He just couldn't do it. AND on top of that, the dude in the photo looked ANCIENT, if he wasn't wearing clothes, Zeke would have thought the man was prehistoric, like, one of them EARLY HUMANS or something. Beard, the man had an ancient beard... the type of beard that could only be rivalled by an ancient wizard... but he must have been muggle cause it wasn't long enough AND it was Muggle Studies he was in.

Mmmhhhmmm.

Zeke sat there, listening to the others respond, there was no need for him to weigh in on this one, he'd chip in his two knuts when he had something worthwhile to say.

"Yes I am." She answered with a nod of her head and another smile to the Professors question of her having a nice day. It was still rather early yet but so far things were going well for her.

Shifting about on her chair Hady moved to rest her feet on one of the bars under her table so her feet were set firmly on something. It made things a bit more comfortable for her. Her attention was pulled to the front of the room where an old photo was shown. The man in the photo she knew from her school days back home when she attended muggle schooling. However many already gave the answer she Hady kept quiet for now and waited to see if whatever they'd be doing today had something to do with the telephone. Surely it did.

Janelle was rather excited to be in Muggle Studies class. Besides Care of Magical Creatures, it was probably the class in which she felt most comfortable. She was wondering what they would be learning today. Just then, the Professor showed everyone a picture to be identified. She wasn't sure who it was, but she decided to take a very wild guess. Raising her hand, Janelle replied.

"He looks like that guy who was the captain of the Titanic.". Well he did. However the likelihood of that being the correct answer was probably slim. Most of Janelle's classmates seemed to think it was Alexander Graham Bell. She tried to think of what she knew about him that hadn't already been said.

Look at that, finally a Professor that called him by his full last name. Praise Merlin and all that, man. All the other Prof’s shortened it, which he understood, it was a mouthful, still it was nice hearing the whole thing. “Sorry Professor, I’ll abstain next time.” He said, giving Moxley a cheery wave.

Rorie, pls. she was making this not kissing her thing a serious issue. “Psh, so cautious… “ He teased, watching her rosy lips curve into that smirk that he was so impossibly fond of. The distracted boy took his seat, glancing away from the object of his affection to the picture of-

“That’s Bell, right? … Something Graham Bell?” Damien said. It was the beard that triggered the memory, because seriously, who could forget it? “I can’t remember his first name… Anderson? Alexi- no, Alexander.” He nodded, that felt right, felt like It clicked.

His father had taught him about Mr. Bell back when he’d been teaching him about beard history… Don’t ask.

Leah was sitting in the middle of the Muggle Studies classroom... with Jackson. As she was one of the last students to enter the room, she did not have a chance to chat before the lesson officially started.

So. A picture of an old man. The Hufflepuff stared at his face for a LONG time. Nothing really came to mind. She remembered seeing his face in her textbook though. DUH, Leah. This was class-related, after all. "Is he a Muggle?" she said with her hand raised.

Ah, yes, Muggle Studies. Not Adrienne's least favourite class, but certainly not one she was particularly passionate about either. Sure, it was fun to see some of the silly ways muggles had managed to get around the sad lack of magic in their lives, but... was it really worth dedicating an entire class to? She could be practising for Defence Against the Dark Arts, if this waste of time weren't obligatory.

Still, here she was, and here was Professor Moxley, obnoxiously cheerful as usual. And here was a picture of some dude she'd never seen before. Adrienne raised her hand, quirking an eyebrow. "Some old guy in dire need of a better beard," she said, tone cynical. Seriously though, it looked like a bum sticking out from his chin. Terrible, awful beard.

Moxley, as always, was pleasantly surprised by just how many students were able to identify Alexander Graham Bell from his picture. It pleased her to know that important members of muggle society were being learned about and remembered. As for some of the other answers, the brunette couldn’t help but laugh good naturedly at them, Mr. Mordaunt’s especially. She was okay with silly as long as it wasn’t over the top. Who didn’t like to laugh, yeah?

SPOILER!!: A guy who did a thing whilst having a beard

Quote:

Originally Posted by RandomRaven

Jackson just sat at the middle row, waiting for the class to be started while he took his notebook and made a doodle to keep him busy. So far he enjoyed muggle studies class, that's why he wanted Moxley to start soon.

As the Professor started, he closed his notebook and paid attention to her. The Korean guy did notice that she showed them a photograph of an old person. Okay, who was that man? He didn't know very well. "Well uh... I bet he's a very genius muggle that invented something." He raised his hand and answered.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cassirin

Did she know who that guy was? Nope. Dot did NOT know who that was. She squinted at the picture of the old bearded guy, first with one eye and then with another. Anything? No. Nope. No clue.

"I'm pretty sure that's Santa, Professor. Or someone's grandpa. I like his beard, though. It's very well maintained." Which was impressive, considering that he was probably Muggle who was alive before the electric clippers.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mordred

Yes, it's either he's in a good mood, or he consumed too much sugary food before class. The Slytherin was about to nudge his seatmate and discuss guy stuff with Grayson, but the door was closed shut, signalling them that class has begun.

Ethan, without thinking, mimicked Professor Moxley with the 'listening' bit and watched her get a picture of...a guy.

"Mr. Beardy McGenius?" Ethan bit his lip as he lowered his hand. Yup. Too much sugar indeed. "I mean, he looks like a genius..." the Slytherin shrugged as he sat back on his chair and allowed the other smartypants in the room talk.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19

Annnnnd start of the lesson! Adi eyed the bearded, ancient looking man before raising his hand. "I don't know his name but maybe he invented the earphones.'' Moxley had said something about 'listening'. Hehe. How long ago were the earphones invented anyway? Were they THAT old to be invented by that man?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Felixir

Toby didn't know who that was. Any muggle history stuff he'd learnt back in primary school simply hadn't stuck in his head, perhaps because back then he was even harder to be contained than now. So if he'd been taught it back then, it wasn't in his head now. But he'd give it a guess.

"That," said Toby, hand waving in the air and forcing extra enthusiasm into his answer even though he still wasn't feeling it. "Is a MAN with a PLAN. I mean, look at his FACE. Is that not a look of pure determination?" And a killer beard, too. French would have liked it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harry174

Angel knew who it was but since everyone was saying the correct answer and she wanted to be different she decided to say something else. "Professor it's a man competing in the worlds biggest beard contest right." Angel thought that beard was awesome.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nanyjj

Leah was sitting in the middle of the Muggle Studies classroom... with Jackson. As she was one of the last students to enter the room, she did not have a chance to chat before the lesson officially started.

So. A picture of an old man. The Hufflepuff stared at his face for a LONG time. Nothing really came to mind. She remembered seeing his face in her textbook though. DUH, Leah. This was class-related, after all. "Is he a Muggle?" she said with her hand raised.

Quote:

Originally Posted by aaetha

Still, here she was, and here was Professor Moxley, obnoxiously cheerful as usual. And here was a picture of some dude she'd never seen before. Adrienne raised her hand, quirking an eyebrow. "Some old guy in dire need of a better beard," she said, tone cynical. Seriously though, it looked like a bum sticking out from his chin. Terrible, awful beard.

Clapping her hands to grab everyone’s attention, Moxley first turned her attention to those answers that were a bit obvious, off the mark, and mostly about the man’s beard. It was sort of fabulous, wasn’t it? She’d always wanted a beard to stroke thoughtfully. ...Anyway-”This man was indeed a muggle and did have a beard, yes. Well spotted.” She winked and continued on. ”And actually, mustaches and beards were extremely popular during this gentleman’s lifetime. “ Just a fun fact for those interested. ”But no, this is not Santa or someone competing for the world’s biggest beard contest. I’d hope he’d have put in a bit more effort if that was the case, Ms. Valentine.”

SPOILER!!: Historical figures who aren’t quite right, sorry!

Quote:

Originally Posted by kayquilz

She tilted her head and squinted at the picture...who WAS that..."Um..I'm pretty sure that's George Washington." American historical bloke, right? He had a white beard and stuff. It made sense.

It was totally George Washington.

Actually, Eden had no clue, and it was the only old bearded guy she could think of right now. Plus, he looked American. Totally.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jessiqua

Zhenya's concentration perked up when Professor Moxley closed the door. Class was starting. WOOT! Zhenya looked up and gave the Professor her attention, giggling when she put on her listening ears. Zhenya, too, pretended to put on her listening ears, but had self-adjusting ones. They just slipped right on. More giggling.

Zhenya looked at the photo. It was a muggle, surely. Ummm... but who? In fact, what was this lesson about? Zhenya raised her hand, not really knowing who it was. "Uh... Professor is it J.R.R. Tolkien? He's an author."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lissy Longbottom

WHO was that? Caleb had never heard of any of the people his classmates were naming - except Santa, from Dot, which he had to agree seemed the most likely answer right now - but the picture was absolutely ZERO help. All muggles had large beards in the 1800's or whatever. But he obviously did SOMETHING important...

He raised his hand. "Is that that Albert Einstein guy? He looks like an Albert," he told the professor.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daydreamer11

Janelle was rather excited to be in Muggle Studies class. Besides Care of Magical Creatures, it was probably the class in which she felt most comfortable. She was wondering what they would be learning today. Just then, the Professor showed everyone a picture to be identified. She wasn't sure who it was, but she decided to take a very wild guess. Raising her hand, Janelle replied.

"He looks like that guy who was the captain of the Titanic.". Well he did. However the likelihood of that being the correct answer was probably slim. Most of Janelle's classmates seemed to think it was Alexander Graham Bell. She tried to think of what she knew about him that hadn't already been said.

Next Moxley focused on those mentioning well known historical figures, though these figures weren’t the one she was searching for. ”I can see why some of you guessed like you did, considering the age and hair on the person in question. I can say that George Washington and J.R.R. Tolkien had less hair on their faces than this man, while Einstein and Captain Edward John Smith had a bit more in pictures often shown.” But still the kiddos had given it a shot and she could appreciate it. Not everyone could be right all the time.

SPOILER!!: The quiet ones

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoldenSnake

Slightly grumpy, Natalia took her legs off the desk and faced the front to where the professor was standing. While attempting to sit up straight, the fourth year managed to fall back with her shoulder blades hitting the top edge of the chair. Uncomfortable. Well, she tried. She was going to have to manage surviving the rest of this class in such a sullen mood. Smile, Nat, SMILE.

*BEAM*

Staring at the monochromatic picture on the board, Natalia recognized man the after a couple of seconds. It was Alexander Graham Bell, wasn't it? The inventor of the telephone. Yes, a great innovator whom Natalia had studied a lot about in muggle primary school. But instead of raising her hands to answer the question, the fourth year remained silent and waited for other students to respond. First of all, she really didn't have the energy to participate. And besides, it would be essentially CHEATING to answer such a obvious question for a muggleborn.

Quote:

Originally Posted by feeheeheeny

For now, Sophie squinted at the picture of the man on the board. She didn't know him, no, but she recognized the name when Emmylou and Tia both identified it as the same person. Yes, okay, she knew who that was, then, but even more interesting than the guy himself was everyone else's interpretation of who it was. Dot and Ethan's guesses got giggles out of her, which she stifled behind her hand.

Creative, they were, and unashamed to look silly. She admired them for that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Symphora

Henric turned to the girl named Clara who answered the professor's questiom. His wife and mother were both deaf....ohh...he didn't know that. He had known children who were born deaf or blind...he couldn't imagine how much they had gone through trying to lead a normal life. The man must be a genius to invent something so phenomenal in his life. He wondered if he got the inspiration from them...Henric would...no matter how small it was, he would make a difference in their lives. He quietly listened to the answers that was given and took notes while he at it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Expecto-Penguin

Kace saw Professor Moxley starting the lesson. He was pretty pumped that he was one of the very few that was early. He saw Emmy made her entrance and she was fashionably late as usual. He grinned and waved to her. Then he saw on the board a picture of some dude. Who was this dude? He wasn't Albert Einstein though. That is for sure. He didn't recognize him off the bat. Then he heard someone mention Alexander Graham Bell and he began to pick up the idea of the lesson. They were going to do something with telephones. He wasn't gonna repeat what was said because why bother right? He just sat there silently and waited for the next question.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Awarlesta Black

Rorie nodded and sent a small salute to the professor, "Prof. Mox."

She watched him approach, a small smile on her face. It's meaning in life to completely masquerade the feeling inside. This boy made her grinch heart grow three times the diminutive size. Made it beat to remind her that, alas, she was indeed human. With human feelings and such. That kiss caught her off guard though. Not only did her cardiac organ flutter, but her eyes went wide. DAMIEN ANDERSON-BELFORT, SHE WAS TRYING TO STAY OUT OF TROUBLE.

Even then, she snorted. "Sit down, you dork. Before you get us both kicked out." Ror faced forward, trying to ignore the smirk on her face. Yeah, she knew the man. From somewhere. Probably some lecture her father was giving where she wasn't paying attention...again. Also, Rorie was kind of......afraid....to open her mouth in class. Maybe because like....bad stuff always happened when she did. Damien was also in the impact zone and didn't want him to get damaged. His face was too pretty for that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hera

Didn't Professor Moxely know? History was his weakness, his achilles heal so to speak. He just couldn't do it. AND on top of that, the dude in the photo looked ANCIENT, if he wasn't wearing clothes, Zeke would have thought the man was prehistoric, like, one of them EARLY HUMANS or something. Beard, the man had an ancient beard... the type of beard that could only be rivalled by an ancient wizard... but he must have been muggle cause it wasn't long enough AND it was Muggle Studies he was in.

Mmmhhhmmm.

Zeke sat there, listening to the others respond, there was no need for him to weigh in on this one, he'd chip in his two knuts when he had something worthwhile to say.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpiritWolfe Malfoy

Shifting about on her chair Hady moved to rest her feet on one of the bars under her table so her feet were set firmly on something. It made things a bit more comfortable for her. Her attention was pulled to the front of the room where an old photo was shown. The man in the photo she knew from her school days back home when she attended muggle schooling. However many already gave the answer she Hady kept quiet for now and waited to see if whatever they'd be doing today had something to do with the telephone. Surely it did.

Those who remained quiet were still noticed by Moxley. Her eyes were scanning the room as answers poured in, making sure that notes were being taken and people were paying attention. She was glad to see that most of these were, though she was a bit worried about Natalia. Girl looked like she hadn’t slept in days. Hm.

SPOILER!!: Right on the money!

Quote:

Originally Posted by DinosaursOnASpaceship

Emmylou beamed at the professor. Ooooh! Yes! Class was starting. So exciting! The sixth year didn't know why she was so happy for Muggle Studies but she really was. Emmylou listened very closely as the Professor spoke. She nodded to let her know that she was listening. Then there was a picture! Pictures were always nice. So they have to figure out who he way. That was a really old picture but Emmylou knew who it was.

Her hand shot up in the air really fast. "That's Alexander Graham Bell, he was an inventor."He had a pretty cool name in her opinion. Her grandmother would lecture her on some history stuff. Mostly muggle but also wizarding stuff too. "He invented the telephone." She had a big proud smile on her face. It wasn't everyday that she would get an answer for a question like that everyday.

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhoenixRising

And then the professor was starting; with an old photograph. Listening ears. For some reason if Moxley hadn't said that, all the mental images of old inventors would have blurred in Tia's mind but at the mention of ears, Tia's hand shot up.

"That's Alexander Graham Bell, Professor." Tia said knowingly. "Invented the telephone." Yes, she had one of those at her house, so naturally being the inquisitive Ravenclaw she was, she wanted to know who invented each piece of muggle technology in her home.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ArianaBlack

Okay, an O or not, Zander had NO idea who that beard guy was. How DID people know exactly? It always amazed him how smart some of these Hogwartians were. Like they all decided to swallow encyclopedias for breakfast or something. Man, if only he had thought of that before he downed an entire plate full of pancakes. By the way, pancakes did not prepare you for naming some random beard guy. Zander would know. He had four of them this morning. If only Hogwarts served encyclopedia flavor.

But hearing not one, but TWO whole people name the guy as Alexander-von-telephone, Zander knew EXACTLY who that was. Actually, not really but if he was the inventor of the telephone he could figure out the rest. 'Cause Zander didn't really know anything about the creator-beard-man, but he did know a thing about the telephone. HA. So adding to what Tia had just said, "And the telephone is pretty important because before that was the telegraph which could only really send messages with pulses... and stuff... So yeah, he basically expanded on that stuff and made it possible to transmit sounds. So uh, he must be practical. And smart." Information was solid, but boy did he need to work on this presentation stuff.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Squishy

As things got started, Lux giggled at Moxley putting on her listening ears. This woman was silly, and it made Muggle Studies even more fun! Taking a careful look at the picture, she raised her hand. She knew a little about muggle inventors, so this question was easy. "That's Alexander Graham Bell. He invented the telephone!" Living around muggles and having parents with muggle jobs, she definitely knew about and had used phones before.

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhoenixStar

Listening ears... AJ could do that. In fact she made sure to adjust them all dramatically just like the professor. Now that they were on all straight she beamed and looked at the picture of the man they were supposed to guess. Hmm... no name was coming to mind. She bet it was something old like William because of his old beard and stuff. It looked like other people knew his name so need to bother with that one.

What did the old dude do? That was a good question too. Since they had to make a thing about their ears she assumed it had something to do with that. Adi had a good guess, but in the end she had to agree with some of the others. "I agree with him being the telephone inventor dude." Great things came from the telephone so mad props to you!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Presley Black

Alexander Graham Bell. Easy. Everyone knew that. It was like showing a picture of Bill Gates and asking what he did for a living. Since the correct answer had been said already, and in the interest of earning house points, Xavi scoured his brain for any random information he might have about AGB and raised his hand. "Wasn't his wife deaf?" he asked. He'd seen once a cartoon about the man, and either his child or his wife or somebody was deaf. Maybe.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Govoni

So, notes. Yes. He was....just going to carry on with those...and contribute, "'Mr. Watson, come here; I want you' was the first thing to be transmitted via his invention."

...and that was going in his notes, too.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sararara

Norah beamed at Dot and kicked yellow-high-top-clad feet under the table for house pride reasons. Hufflepuff stuff was ALMOST as good as sparkles so obviously it deserved shoes. Obviously.

She leaned forward to squint at the picture, trying not to grin at Dot's answer. The dude DID look like Santa Clause. Or a normal-er looking Dumbledore like the one on her chocolate frog cards, except he was magical so it wouldn't make sense to be in this class. See THAT? That was thinking before she spoke. Apparently it happened sometimes. But then multiple people mentioned the Graham-Bell guy and she decided to roll with it 'cause she HAD heard of that guy even if she didn't really know what he looked like. Sebby had read a book about him and kept going on and on about it for a bazillion years and believe it or not she HAD listened. Kind of. "I heard that he stole people's ideas and didn't actually come up with the whole phone thing all by himself but maybe people only say that 'cause they're jealous." You couldn't just believe EVERYTHING bad people said, 'cause if somebody was mean they probably weren't very trustworthy. Duh.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hermionesclone

But apparently he'd invented the telephone? Alright then, if they said so. Grayson wasn't about to argue with that. "You could say that he started a revolution -- a huge change in society and the way it works -- with his invention." Or something along those lines.

Quote:

Originally Posted by natekka

She glanced across at Gabriel, a small smile creeping across her face. She knew that he also knew the answer, and that he was probably itching to exhibit his knowledge. After jotting down some notes, she also made her own contribution, adding to some kid's (Xavier) point. "Alexander Graham Bell. His wife and mother were both deaf." Apparently, that was something that had influenced his studies and work. Quite a remarkable man among muggles.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saraie

As the class started the professor showed them a picture of a man with a long beard. Being in the back of classroom, boy how did anyone see what was going on in the front of the room from back there. The lioness squinted her brown eyes, trying to see who was in the picture. Oh.... That's the "The dude that invented the telephone Alex Bell?" Not that it was real name it was Alexander Graham Bell. Yes Alex Bell sounded much better.

Quote:

Originally Posted by PuppySara

Philipe looked at the picture... Was he supposed to know the muggle, but he followed to follow suit, raising his hand, "He's the inventor of the telephone, professor." He glanced over at the picture again, creepy... creepy looking man to him really.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nicole black

“That’s Bell, right? … Something Graham Bell?” Damien said. It was the beard that triggered the memory, because seriously, who could forget it? “I can’t remember his first name… Anderson? Alexi- no, Alexander.” He nodded, that felt right, felt like It clicked.

His father had taught him about Mr. Bell back when he’d been teaching him about beard history… Don’t ask.

Yes! Finally the answers she’d been looking for. Meredith beamed at the class and nodded enthusiastically, giving double thumbs up to the group as a whole. ”This is indeed Mr. Alexander Graham Bell! A man born on March 3, 1847. Right in Edinburgh, in fact!” Exciting, yes? ”He was an accomplished scientist, engineer, and inventor! So actually, you weren’t far off with the genius guess, Mr. Mordaunt!” Well done. ”And as Ms. Wilde and Mr. Fullmer mentioned, both his wife and his mother were deaf, a fact that had a great influence on his work. He actually went as far as to study the human voice.” Which was no doubt helpful when working to invent the telephone. ”He also worked at several schools for the deaf.” She paused here, allowing the class to get caught up with notes.

”Now Bell didn’t have to do all his work alone. He actually had quite the assistant named Thomas Watson, an electrical designer. Mr. Banner mentioned the name when he recounted the first words spoken over a working telephone!” And she’d been impressed by that so a smile for you, Mr. Banner.

“Ms. Kittredge mentioned that there is some debate about whether or not Bell should be credited as the inventor of the telephone as he wasn’t the only one racing to make it possible to communicate that way. A woman named Elisha Gray was also working at the same time to get a patent to make this possible but it is said that in the end, Alexander was awarded with that patent. “ But it was a good point to bring up.

”Now Mr. Whitlock brought up an interesting point. Up until the telephone, communicating to loved ones outside of your household wasn’t always easy so an invention like that definitely created new opportunities for people to reach out. What other ways do you think society was changed by the invention of the telephone?”

It was interesting that both the inventor's mother and wife were deaf. She wondered just how that came to be, but then it made sense when Moxley noted that he had worked at schools for the deaf. So the man had truly dedicated his life to working with the hearing impaired, a passion undoubtedly stemming from his mother's own impairment? That was pretty cool, when Sophie thought about it, for if his mother hadn't had that disability, Bell quite likely would've had a completely different line of work and a different wife. It was fascinating how such things could completely alter one's life, wasn't it?

Coming back to the current discussion just as Moxley posed her question, Sophie gave a thoughtful hum before raising her hand. "Welllll... in our society, our equivalent of a telephone might be... like... two-way mirrors, or head-only transport with the Floo Network, or patronuses for quick exchanges of messages. With our ways of magic, we can really easily call for help in case of an emergency... and I'm thinkin', before this guy Bell invented the telephone for Muggles, getting help in an emergency situation was probably a lot harder and it wasn't as easy to get help like that, right? With a telephone, they could phone to the other side of town for a doctor instead of... having to send someone there to retrieve 'em or somethin', y'know?" Was that the kind of thing Moxley had been looking for?

She didn't know what they'd even used before a telephone, but she envisioned messengers running by foot to seek help when something went wrong. A dreadful thought, really. Wizards had it so much easier - they could floo and apparate at the drop of a hat and provide assistance in seconds. Those poor, poor Muggles.

Aha. So Mr Beards was actually Mr Bell, inventor of the telephone and NOT the earphones. Oh, well. The telephone was just as important as that. Adi made the necessary notes with his pen, shaking with laughter still at some of the funny answers that had been given. Angel's was the most hilarious, by the way.

As for the next question, Adi raised his hand without much thought. "Partners in businesses can have a conference call with each other even if they are in various parts of the world to discuss there ideas and strategies.'' Mhmm. Adi knew. His dad did that all the time even at home.

Woot. 5 points to AJ because she had been right. Okay, technically she just made an educated guess based off of what others were saying, but it was still a winning answer. And she didn't actually get any points. Ahem. Moving on.

Hmm... how else has society changed? She could go so many different ways with this one. AJ listened to Sophie and Adi's answers. Both were great. What could she add? Thinking for a minute, AJ's hand shot into the air.

"It helped let people know when you were mad at them. I hear that nothing is more satisfying than slamming down the phone into its receiver after telling them they were a git... from dramatic affect you see." Beam.

Benny had remained quiet as some of the other students had ventured guess at who was in the picture, preferring to listen to what was brought up. It wasn't like he was the best and reconizing figures, especially muggle ones. An inventor it seemed, the Gryffindor writing down the man's name in his notes while Professor Moxley further explained to the class just who he was.

Alexander Graham Bell.

Digesting the information that they were being given, Benny was taking notes as best he could. Family deaf...partner named Watson...worked on the telephone. Oh...the telephone. He might not be too familiar with the muggle world but that invention was something he had heard of, even used. "It made long-distance communication faster and easier."

Oh, that's right, the telephone. Adrienne remembered that Maman had had to use those at work sometimes, back when she was still a muggle journalist. She had a few vague memories of a toy 'fellytone' when she was a kid, but thinking about her parents and her childhood was already making bitterness rise in her throat like bile. She shoved it all down and tried to focus on the teacher.

Alexander Bell. 1847. Edinburgh. Right. For all that Adrienne didn't care about this class, she still took fairly diligent notes, jotting down everything Professor Moxley said into a notebook page neatly labelled with her name and the date. She didn't have much to add that the other three hadn't already said, but raised her hand nonetheless.

"People wouldn't be as afraid to leave the place they grew up in, yeah? They knew they'd be able to ring someone up and talk to them quickly, so it didn't matter as much if they were around their families for their whole lives."

What other ways do you think society was changed by the invention of the telephone?

"Ridiculously annoying companies can phone you up at ridiculous hours of the morning and offer you PPI or a new network or phone provider or something else you're not interested in. But it made it easier for society to just ignore salespeople because it's easier to put the phone down on someone than it is to slam a door in their face. You feel less rude."

And he should know, he'd done both of those things many a time. Dalton was sure that secretly, everyone he lived with was bloody overjoyed when it was him who answered the door or the phone - communication with the other party seemingly ended fairly quickly when that was the case. Unlike a lot of people, he didn't have a problem with being rude, just an opinion that they should have chosen different jobs if they didn't like his reaction.

What even was PPI?

Something NO one cared about, he was sure.

Some of her classmates were going cute and funny answers to the question. LOL. Santa. Lux had to try not to laugh at the adorableness of it.

As Professor Moxley went on to explain things a little further, Lux proceeded to take notes. Even though she knew a little about Alexander Graham Bell there was a lot more that she could learn. As the next question was asked, she raised her hand. "It makes it MUCH faster to speak to someone. Instead of sending letters back and forth which could take AGES, you can simply call someone on the phone and talk to them! Sort of like how we have two-way mirrors." She absolutely loved her mirror!

Okay, so they were talking about telephones today. Today had been the first time Ophelia had ever actually SEEN a telephone, though she had heard about them. Apparently, they made communication faster between Muggles and their other muggle counterparts. Her father told her that one.

He also mentioned how terribly expensive they could be, and how apparently everyone always had them glued to their faces. Which when she was a little kid, brought images of special face glue to stick phones to cheeks. This was hilarious, of course, until her mom found the little blonde in the living room attempting to crazy glue a piece of paper made to look like what her depiction of a cell phone to her cheek. Her mother was none too pleased with that.

Anyway, Alexander Graham Bell. The guy who invented the telephone. The thirteen year old couldn't help but wonder what was running through his mind when he thought of the idea. Faster communication? Was it possible he was just bored? Sometimes great things happened when you were bored. Like once, Ophelia got bored and started mixing soft drinks together for a taste test. The results made her sick, but the testing led to a better understanding of science, and the creation of her new favorite drink of all time.

Writing down his name in her quill and making sure her left hand wasn't smudged with ink, the shorter girl listened to the rest of the Professors words. Had an assistant named Watson. Deaf family members, worked in a school for the deaf, studied the human voice. Very important stuff.

But.... why? For the life of her, the kid couldn't figure out why this man felt the need to invent such an object. Obviously the thought of faster communication was a luxury, but with a guy who seemed to spend most of his life caring for or studying the deaf, this seemed to have nothing to do with the afflicted. Heck, Ophelia couldn't even see any way the deaf would use this device!

HAND RAISE.

"Professor, I'm a tad confused. You mentioned how he spent a lot of his time caring for, or studying the human voice and people who are deaf. But there doesn't seem to be a way for deaf people to use that device at all! Why did he invent the device?" The question. Don't forget to answer the question at hand here. "Besides all of that stuff about faster communication that mostly everyone said. But for a guy who spent a lot of his life studying people who couldn't use a device like this and then make said device, it's kind of interesting, right?" Did that make sense,? She hoped it made sense. Because if not, then she probably just asked an awkward, slightly offensive question. And she was sorry. But if so, then she took a crack at it and hit a goal-run! Okay, so having a muggle father taught her nothing about their sports. But still, important questions.

He made an interesting point? Well of course he did. Smirking to himself, Grayson picked up his quill and started jotting a thing or two down on his piece of parchment. Kinda needed to know this and all. Maybe.

Eh.

Now for the next question: how had the invention of the telephone changed society? Eaaaaaaasy! Or it would have been if the first few answers hadn't already been said out loud. So, the boy started tapping his quill lightly against his desk as he tried to think of something else. Why did HE like to call someone?

Bingo! "It means you don't have to see someone all the time. Communication I made easier and faster and you can talk to people without actually having to see them. Great, isn't it? Especially if you're a lazy git and want to stay in your pyjamas all day long. Sounds fantastic to me." Shrug.

Aha! So she was right! It was Alexander Graham Bell. The only reason Natalia remembered the face was because... well, he kinda looked like a nice teddy old-man.

Natalia continued to take in around sixty-percent of the information the professor was throwing out at the class. A couple of times, Natalia had to ponder 'really?' before absorbing in the new facts. She did not know ANY of the information on Bell's personal life, yet they were quite interesting and somehow relevant to the inspiration his innovation. Of course, all of this would have been quite interesting to Natalia if she wasn't so exhausted. The fourth year remembered to make certain mental notes to each of the information she received: Thomas Watson? Ew, what a common name; Elisha Gray? Never heard of that name, but what a shame that she couldn't receive the patent.

How society was changed by the telephone?

The muggle world was of course, deeply affected by the new way of communicating. To more, um, traiditonal wizarding family, it barely made a ripple in the pond. But she had to say, magical or not, a world without the telephone was a world without... LIGHT.

Okay, maybe not to that extent, but telephones were pretty significant. Besides all the points her classmates had mentioned, Natalia was not impressed by any of them. Grinning slightly, the Lioness believed she had thought the most ingenious point of all. Perhaps she should raise her hand and contribute to the class discussion this time. Yes, she couldn't contain her ingenious idea all to herself.

"No telephone, no telephone booth." Grinning wider, the fourth year felt her weariness diminishing slowly as she spoke aloud in class. "No telephone booth, one less convenient way of entering the Ministry of Magic." INGENIOUS, wasn't it? Come on, who would want to get in the Ministry by using the public toilets? DISGUSTING.

Angel raised her hand and smiled. "Professor! It made it easier to get your messages to other people, like before the phone if something happened say at work then someone would have to go and run and tell someone probably." Angel was sure that must have been the case. "Now though they could just ring up and tell who they needed to right." That was a lot easier, say if the store or something was shut because of something then going around to everyone.