Katy happily accepted the flower and tucked it over her ear. It was good luck to accept flowers from people in love, right? Was that real or had she just made it up? "Thank you. And he is quite the poop, but he's your poop. Lucky." There was a match for everyone, in theory, and Liv had herself a living embodiment of the romantic gesture. There were worse things, Katy supposed.

The professor began speaking about making the word a better place. Idealists. Katy didn't spend much time worrying about making the world in general better. She preferred attacking one problem at a time. Identifying the issue, working through the options, thinking outside the box for different resolutions... so okay. Perhaps she was an idealist too.

"Curiosity, Professor, and invention. We make the world better by asking questions and seeking solutions. It's made us healthier, by inventing medicines or indoor plumbing, and it makes us happier by inventing toasters and roller skates. Among so many other things."

Taking another sip from the steaming mug of hot chocolate, Sophie grinned. What a great way to start class, she thought, already interested by the lesson. She was so interested, in fact, that she was willing to lift her arm into the air and share her thoughts.

"I think that people can make the world a better place simply by being themselves. It is so refreshing to come across people who aren't afraid to show their true personality instead of the personality that is considered 'popular' or 'the norm'. On the flip side, I hate out when people are afraid to share who they truly are. It makes me feel uncomfortable being around them if they aren't comfortable with who they are."

Her remarks finished, Sophie dropped her hand back to rest on her desk. She lowered her eyes and stared at the wooden desktop, waiting for somebody else to answer. Gosh, she hated being the center of attention for anything!

Lucy opened her mouth to answer Daisy...only to be cut short by Professor Newton starting class. So she just grinned and nodded at her friend. She'll go into the details after class, maybe?

She took another sip of her hot chocolate while Professor Newton asked her question. ...That was quite objective, wasn't it? What was "better"? How better? Significantly? Minutely? And, as her classmates pointed out, which world?

"Contribution," she ventured to contribute, "Putting something into the world. Leaving something behind. An invention," as Katy said, "Or even just an idea." Basically, leaving an influence upon someone made the world better.

Shay smiled as her housemate came and sat down beside her. "Hey Noelle", she replied to the Gryffindor prefect. Their greetings were brief because the last student had entered the classroom. The professor didn't waste any time getting to the first question of the day and it was a doozy.

What could we do to make the world a better place? Wow. That was the $64,000 question. Where could she even begin? Shay decided to take a moment to think the question through. In the meantime, she listened as her classmates gave their thoughts.......all good, they were.

Finally, Shay raised her hand. She wasn't sure her answer was the best or most important, but it's what she came up with in a pinch. "Well, one thing that we can do to make the world a better place is to take care of the environment. You know, plant trees, don't pollute, things like that. In the muggle world there is recycling. We need to make sure that the earth is still livable for us and for future generations.

Derf dared a glance over at Professor Newton and had a feeling of unrest EATING at his stomach. WHAT IF...WHAAAAAAAT IF...SHE COULD READ MINDS?! Legilimens??? She was giving he and Abey LOOKS right now that were MAKING HIM NERVOUS.

"O-Okay," he stammered to his best friend. "If will help it s-s-seem like you're acting natural. Not rais-s-se s-s-suspicions." Suspicions that he was onto something BIG. He was going to need to get his poster making supplies out again soon and warn everyone. The Ilvermorny students needed to be warned about these things too, you know? "House elf food is-s okay," he nodded to Stasya. He was eating his three square meals a day in the Great Hall just fine so far, you know?

As class began and the Hufflepuff settled into his seat, he found himself appreciative again of the way Professor Newton often started things off. The vague theoretical questions always gave his imagination LOADS to come up and work with, but right now he was ruffling his hair wondering if he should answer this in terms of just looking at the present and forward ooooooooooor if he should draw on the past and THEN talk. His classmates SEEMED to be a mixed bag of answers - LIKE BERTIE BOTTS! - so it put his overactive imagination at ease. He wasn't so sure about a lot of the environmental talk to be honest...but he DID see the implications a lot of it would have on creatures so he soon found himself 'hmm hmm'-ing and nodding his head along. He was entirely on board for the idea of an increase in creature sanctuaries, so he was GRINNING at his classmates who were talking about that.

Uuuuuuuuh....he was feeling some kind of way about Skylar's answer and quickly turned his face away back to his parchment, ears slightly reddened, and started doodling a picture of Picketta in the corner. Basic bowtruckle sketches were really easy to doodle, you know? Especially he was already a pro at stick figures. He had just finished drawing Picketta's leafy "pigtails" when he herd what Rooney speak and oooooooh yes...that was nice. So he quickly added a little speech bubble so Picketta was now saying "Pay it forward!" Perfect.

Glancing up from his work, the Hufflepuff's eyes fell on Althea as she spoke about inequality among those classified as Beasts and he swore he could feel his pupils turning all heart shaped. WoooOOOoooOOOooooW.

The general consensus of contribution was also met with eager nodding from the Hufflepuff - although he also found that answer a bit obvious. Nothing improved without contributing something, you know?

Thinking a moment if he had anything of any REAL significance to share - he wanted to share something SPECIFIC - which naturally meant he drew from his idol and raised his hand. "Loads-s-s of people in his-s-tory left an impact becaus-s-se they taught us-s-s s-s-something. Like...expos-s-sing things-s wrong and kept s-s-secret that ought not...OR..." His eyes lit up and his voice began to quicken. "...going out into the world and doing all kinds-s of res-search and S-STUFF to write guides-s and things-s for us to us-s-se to better understand the world we live in. LIKE what Newt Scamander did with Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Making a guide to help people [i]understand why we should be protecting creatures instead of killing them."

WHICH played into what his friends and classmates were saying about the need for creature sanctuaries and protecting certain species and YES.

"Basically...being well informed about things-s. Imperfect unders-standing is-s often more dangerous than ignorance," he quoted for extra effect.

Etta agreed with what most of her classmates mentioned. Protecting creatures, making sure they had a safe environment and the perfect living conditions was very important. And to make that happen, protecting the nature was absolutely essential. She noted down all of this quickly but feeling a little thoughtful. She finally raised a hand to answer the professor's question.

"I don't think I have anything more to add to what others have already said, professor. I do think knowledge and awareness is very important. People should be more aware of all the pressing issues, problems that the world is facing.. however big or small.. be it magical or muggle.. and try to understand them. They could also help come up with a solution and contribute to the society in their own way. It maybe be small but it would still matter. Each person's contribution would matter. The thing is.. they should want to do it. They should want to take an intiative. It may not be very practical but it's still a thought."

SPOILER!!: Individual Replies

SPOILER!!: Olivia P :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Govoni

Now...about ways to improve the world. Olivia did have ideas about this. But before she could properly answer, Professor Newton's wording had thrown her off. Did she mean how one might make the world AT LARGE a better place? Including with the muggles? To be safe, she resolved to give a two-part answer. "I wasn't sure if you meant to include the entire world in this theoretical question or JUST the magical side, but...to the latter, I think more sanctuaries for endangered magical creatures would be a smart move. I think we've become more conscious as a people about the importance of protecting our own magical environments and ecosystems." Which included protecting the creatures that made those places their home, right?

"As for how we might help muggles, I think helping to purify their water supplies might be a good start." She'd read a brochure her mother had brought home over the summer concerning something called W.E.R.P.S. It was all about environmental protection. "Did you know that only 1 percent of the Earth's water is actually available to sustain people?" In her opinion, it was irresponsible for magical folk NOT to help out in the muggle world. IRRESPONSIBLE.

Yep, it was obvious that Olivia wasn't in a good mood today. That was perfectly fine and hopefully she would feel better soon. On top of that she had given very good responses. [b]"Both are okay. The focus is a bit more on the Wizarding world, but it is definitely nice to think of ways to help out muggles. "Very good suggestions! Endangered creatures need protection and so does the water supply."

SPOILER!!: Melbourne :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Optimist.Prime

Raising her hand she waited until she was called on before speaking ”I’d have to say a really good and helpful thing would be to try to protect the waning bee population” like did anyone else know about how few bees there were left in their world? They were already endangered back in the beginning of the century. Maybe maybe someday they could be back off the list like how Manatees were off of that list….she wanted that so much. "I bring up bees obviously because they're going extinct and...well, if they die off we don't have anything to pollinate plants and the plants are how we get oxygen...without oxygen or plants we have no life and therefore we'd all die" yes she was morbid and dramatic but it was needed to be heard.

Aaah, the bee population! Rosalyn liked the answer. [b]"Very good, Miss Sorin-Ward! We definitely need to do that both for ourselves AND the muggles.

SPOILER!!: Stasya :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by SilverTiger

It was an important question. She wanted to know if there was any food at the castle she could trust, but asking the professor didn’t seem like the right thing to do. Not when they were supposed to be answering the question that had been asked, and she had raised her hand nearly as soon as Liv had stopped talking. “I agree with Liv. Making the world better for creatures is just s important as making it better for people, and besides, maybe that would make it better for people too because then the creatures wouldn’t be scared that we were going to hurt them,” she said solemnly. Plus that stuff Mel had said about bees, but bees were creatures too.

Rosalyn smiled. "Very good point, Miss Dalgaard-Volkova. Animals definitely are important just like us and deserve to be protected." The last point, however only applied to some creatures; it was doubtful that chimeras for instance would ever be gentle with humans.

SPOILER!!: Vivian :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kimothy

Oh, time for the lesson. Vivian nodded as Professor Newton started off. When the question was finally asked, Vivian took a few seconds to think and... well, as always, she always spoke the first thing on her mind. The blonde raised her hand to answer. "Respecting human rights, Professor, as well as other creatures like goblins, centaurs, and house elves," she said with hand gestures and a nod after she spoke. Like what Miss Hermione Granger did during her fourth year... the S.P.E.W. thing. It was a brilliant idea, Vivian thought.

Rosalyn smiled as the girl took her hot chocolate and thanked her. It was no trouble at all. And more about protecting others. Wonderful! "Very good, Miss Fairfield. Everyone deserves to have their rights protected, be they humans like us, or the house elves."

SPOILER!!: Emmeline :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by NifflerFan

Raising her hand, Emmeline smiled shyly up at the professor before giving her answer: "It's not just bees and creatures in general that need protection, but there are other endangered ones too. And some that get all crowded in certain areas, like dragons, because they need bigger and better sanctuaries to be really happy." The dragon thing was in one of the library books Emmeline had recently checked out, so she thought it was still correct. Anyway, dragons had HUUGE wing spans so she figured their sanctuaries should always be bigger so they could have as many babies as they wanted and all of the species could thrive. "Bigger sanctuaries would help make sure that all of the dragon species could have decent numbers, by having more babies." Baby dragons were important too.

It was interesting to note that most of the students who had responded so far were more interested in protecting animals/creatures over humans. That was interesting, and something that Rosalyn could fully support because they needed to be looked out for just as much as humans did, and many of them didn't have voices. "Good! I really like that. We definitely need to have better sanctuaries for both dragons and other endangered species," Rosalyn agreed with a smile.

SPOILER!!: Jessa :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaniDiNardo

Yeah, that would cover the question regardless of which the Professor was actually hinting at. This meant she'd have to consider it from both ends. "I can agree on the increase in creature sanctuaries, Professor. It'd help with the statute but it'd also make sure we don't lose our own creatures to muggle curiosity or fear." Whichever happened first.

"With the muggles, I think we could help them with their research. Maybe help them make greater discoveries that can help them with health or whatever other areas they may need the help." If they would even accept the help....and if they could actually find a way of helping without breaching the statute. It was always such a thin line.

Jessa added a good point on the statute. It was always nice when students brought that into account when it came to things. "Wonderful! The statute is definitely an important matter when it comes to such concerns. Dragons and muggles do not mix well." Hopefully the students were aware of such things happening in the past. "Research is a big one," she agreed. "It's harder to help muggles for that very reason, but it is nice to think of what we could do for them." But yes, there was that statue in place.

SPOILER!!: Skylar :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhoenixRising

And lesson was starting. How could they make the world a better place? Start by not spreading fake rumors. Raising her hand, because it was a fantastic suggestion, Skylar spoke, "Not spread lies or rumors. Because lies hurt people and feelings. And it leads to hard feelings."

Oh. Well, that was a different answer than the others were going with, but Rosalyn appreciated it very much. And it definitely worked to make the world a better place. "Very insightful, Miss Diggory. Everyone would be a lot happier if there weren't lies and rumors everywhere, and that would certainly make the world a better place."

SPOILER!!: Tenacius :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steelsheen

"Well we can work on being a little bit more generous and a lot less greedy." he replied upon raising his hand. "Part of the reason why theres this seeming scarcity of resources isnt just because its being mishandled or abused, but also greedy people just claim everything for themselves for the sake of saying its theirs. So whatever paltry resource is left for everybody else and they struggle over that. And then all the bad behaviors arise due to that struggle. Its a vicious cycle."

Another answer that wasn't too far off from what Miss Diggory had just suggested; working to make the world a better place by being more decent as human beings. "Excellent, Mr Salander! The world would definitely benefit from being more generous. Even things like giving a few dollars to a homeless person would help." It didn't have to be a huge thing to help better things.

SPOILER!!: Rooney :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shanners

Slightly panicked as their class got started, Rooney only half listened to the question given to them by their Professor before putting his hand into the air. "Paying the kindness forward, Professor." That was something good, yes? His brain was still with the horrible thought of him being a discussion point.

"Wonderful, Mr Bronwyn!" It was nice to see that there were quite a few people advocating for human decency. "I definitely believe in paying things forward." That was a good way to spread kindness and positivity throughout the world.

SPOILER!!: Dora :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Erindipity

Raising her hand she chewed her lip before beginning to speak. "Well if we are referring solely to the Wizarding world... well this actually help the Muggle world too. In its own way. If we could eradicate the prejudices of blood status and such it would help us greatly. Bring a sense of peace to our world. But the same could be said for certain things in the Muggle world, as well. Doing away with antiquated ways of thinking and what not." Yeah. That was all she needed to say, really.

Blood status was one of the things that Rosalyn felt was a non-issue now. Not in the sense that people didn't care about it anymore, but in the sense that they SHOULDN'T care about it. Of course that still happened, however... "Very good, Miss Umbridge! We definitely need less prejudice in both our community and the muggle one. They deal with things like racism and sexism even now." Of course she was not going to get into those topics in detail; they were controversial!

SPOILER!!: Althea :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by thekraken

She thought about the question for a few minutes, until a concrete idea came to her. Althea quickly raised her hand to offer her opinion. "If we're only focusing on the wizarding world, then we also need to reevaluate how wizards treat and view those categorized as 'Beasts'. We pretend that we see them as equals, but that is not the case at all. Preaching about peace and tolerance isn't enough, we have to critically evaluate our own social history and learn from our mistakes." This was particularly concerning topic for her, as she also did not understand how anyone could continue to have house-elves under their employment in 2092. It was ridiculous.

Rosalyn couldn't help but smile as Miss Kenning gave her contribution. "Wonderful! Take five points for that insightful suggestion, Miss Kenning." This was an issue that she felt definitely needed to be considered. "This is part of the wonderful things about history; it can be used to look back on the past and evaluate what we have done wrong and how we can improve." And that was one of the reasons why she enjoyed this subject so much.

SPOILER!!: Kimi :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saz Hale

Kimi listened to the professor's question and raised his hand and said "We need to make sure we look out for one another and if we have done wrong then we have to work hard to make those wrongs right again" Kimi wasn't sure if it was correct but it sounded like it was along the right lines

Another response relating to human decency. It made Rosalyn happy to see so many of her students wanting to make the world better through simple means; these were the kinds of things that could easily spread. "Very true, Mr Kovalainen. We definitely need to do both things." Good job!

SPOILER!!: Katherine :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cassirin

"Curiosity, Professor, and invention. We make the world better by asking questions and seeking solutions. It's made us healthier, by inventing medicines or indoor plumbing, and it makes us happier by inventing toasters and roller skates. Among so many other things."

Aaah, a practical idea! Rosalyn smiled. "Indeed! Creativity is behind so much of what helps to make the world - including inventions. There are a lot of things that we have to be thankful to a person for inventing." That went for both the wizarding and muggle communities of course.

SPOILER!!: Sophie :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by DancingQueen

"I think that people can make the world a better place simply by being themselves. It is so refreshing to come across people who aren't afraid to show their true personality instead of the personality that is considered 'popular' or 'the norm'. On the flip side, I hate out when people are afraid to share who they truly are. It makes me feel uncomfortable being around them if they aren't comfortable with who they are."

Rosalyn had to admit that this wasn't a response that she had been expecting, but it was a VERY good one. She was impressed! "So very true, Miss Flightdatter! The world would be happier if everyone was themselves. It is never a good thing when you are scared to be yourself because you are worried about rejection or ridicule." Sadly is was something that a lot of younger people faced.

SPOILER!!: Lucy :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by HaRoHeGiNeLu

"Contribution," she ventured to contribute, "Putting something into the world. Leaving something behind. An invention," as Katy said, "Or even just an idea." Basically, leaving an influence upon someone made the world better.

Another student thinking along the lines of invention. Rosalyn smiled and nodded. "Leaving a positive mark on the world is definitely a very good thing. Inventions are definitely one of the best ways to do that." Be it an object, spell, or potion.

SPOILER!!: Shayla :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daydreamer11

Finally, Shay raised her hand. She wasn't sure her answer was the best or most important, but it's what she came up with in a pinch. "Well, one thing that we can do to make the world a better place is to take care of the environment. You know, plant trees, don't pollute, things like that. In the muggle world there is recycling. We need to make sure that the earth is still livable for us and for future generations.

Excellent! A suggestion relating to the environment! There had been a couple of those, and they pleased Rosalyn. "Very good! I am sure that Professor Myers would agree with you on the tree thing. We only have one Earth, and we need to do our best to make sure that it stays healthy."

SPOILER!!: Derfael :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie

Thinking a moment if he had anything of any REAL significance to share - he wanted to share something SPECIFIC - which naturally meant he drew from his idol and raised his hand. "Loads-s-s of people in his-s-tory left an impact becaus-s-se they taught us-s-s s-s-something. Like...expos-s-sing things-s wrong and kept s-s-secret that ought not...OR..." His eyes lit up and his voice began to quicken. "...going out into the world and doing all kinds-s of res-search and S-STUFF to write guides-s and things-s for us to us-s-se to better understand the world we live in. LIKE what Newt Scamander did with Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Making a guide to help people [i]understand why we should be protecting creatures instead of killing them."

WHICH played into what his friends and classmates were saying about the need for creature sanctuaries and protecting certain species and YES.

"Basically...being well informed about things-s. Imperfect unders-standing is-s often more dangerous than ignorance," he quoted for extra effect.

"Wonderful answer, Mr Ashburry-Hawthorne! We definitely need to be well informed about our world in general; researching and applying what we learned to teach others and make a difference. Newt Scamander is a wonderful example of this. Take five points for that well thought out contribution!" Rosalyn smiled at him.

SPOILER!!: Henrietta :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lady of Light

"I don't think I have anything more to add to what others have already said, professor. I do think knowledge and awareness is very important. People should be more aware of all the pressing issues, problems that the world is facing.. however big or small.. be it magical or muggle.. and try to understand them. They could also help come up with a solution and contribute to the society in their own way. It maybe be small but it would still matter. Each person's contribution would matter. The thing is.. they should want to do it. They should want to take an intiative. It may not be very practical but it's still a thought."

Henrietta might have felt like she didn't have very much to add to the discussion, but she still made a good point. "Wonderful, Miss Kramer.
That is a very good way to put it; there are so many things in the world that can be made better, and we should all be aware of them and help contribute in whatever way we can." That was the heart of the matter basically.

As students contributed, Rosalyn took each suggestion and wrote it down on the board:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Black Board

• (Bigger) sanctuaries for endangered creatures
• Helping purify muggle water supplies
• Trying to protect bee populations
• Respecting the rights of both humans and other creatures (eg. house elves)
• Helping muggles with research/making greater discoveries
• Not spreading lies/rumors
• Being more generous and less greedy
• Paying it forward
• Eradicating prejudice (eg. blood status for wizards and racism for muggles)
• Reevaluating how wizards view and treat those labeled as 'beasts'
• Looking out for each other and correcting wrongs
• Curiosity and invention
• Being yourself
• Contributing and leaving something behind
• Taking care of the environment (eg. planting trees)
• Being well informed/aware

A very good list if she said so herself! She was definitely proud of her students for coming up with so many ways that they could help improve the world for both wizards and muggles. Of course they were focusing more on the magical world than the muggle one, but it was still nice to get them thinking about that area as well. It would be wonderful to help muggles out, but a lot more difficult because of the Statue of Secrecy, and on top of that, this was a class on wizarding history. "Okay, wonderful job everyone! I am very pleased with what you have all come up with. Basically there are a lot of ways that you can help make the world a better place, be it through kindness or planting trees or inventing something. Helping to reevaluate laws and statues that need it. And so on." She paused for a moment before continuing. "Now as I am sure you all know, there are several people who have helped make things better for you and the wizarding world as a whole." Yes, they were leaving the muggles behind now. "They could have been inventors of some kind, advocates, politicians, researchers... anything." Really this was a broad subject and she was aware of it; but she knew that everyone had different opinions on stuff like this.

"I would like for you to tell me who you think has made the best contribution to the wizarding world. You can list more than one person if you want to. I just want to know who it is and a bit about what they have done to improve the wizarding world."

OOC: Great job, everyone! I think I got everyone, but if I missed anything I am very sorry! I will be moving things forward again in approximately 24 hours.

The question had hardly slipped out of Professor Newton's mouth when the Hufflepuff's hand went SHOOTING up into the air.

"Newton Artemis Fido "Newt" Scamander!"

And since he had kind of sort of already said WHAT it was the magizoologist had done with his previous answer that had just received praise...Derf wasn't sure if he should repeat himself or not.

"...for revolutionizing the way we think and view and understand and know magical creatures-s! And load-s-s of other things-s...the Ban on Experimental Breeding... or or or hi-s-s involvement with Grindelwald and how he was-s-s the FIRST wizard to ever capture him!"

...........

.................................

.................................................. .....

Luckily, Olivia hadn't been startled out of her seat this time, as she had been in Muggle Studies by her illustrious fiance, but....GEEZUS, DERFAEL. OKAY, OKAY, OKAY..... Excitable Hufflepuff, OKAY!

.....

Rattled, and properly distracted from whatever Katy Toussaint had been saying, the blonde took several moments before attempting to throw out her own answer. Tough act to follow, that was. Yeah, so... Liv thought she might say Albus Dumbledore, considering all the good deeds he'd done, not to mention the countless magical contributions he'd made to their world, but.... Well, history surrounding Dumbledore often made her angry. True, he'd done so much good, but at what cost? In her eyes, history didn't favor him. So, because she was in an especially spiteful mood, she wasn't going to say him. Hmph. Someone else would, anyway. People couldn't help themselves.

H M P H.

"Bob, Bill, and Barnaby Ollerton...who invented racing brooms, I think." It wasn't as profound an answer as the other one she'd given, but it was still true, right? "Brooms might not have an adverse effect on social economy, animal rights, the protection of our race...but they bring joy to the magical population. And also bring nations together, since they are a key factor in playing the game of Quidditch." Obviously... "and that bleeds into quidditch, which was brought about by several different witches and wizards over a long period of time." Some kids were playing it at first, right? Like, they'd made their own game up and Gertie Keddle had bared witness to the strangeness of it; having written about it a journal, because that's what some people do; her included. "The various leagues, championships, and things of that nature allow other magical nations to come together and enjoy the game." There was a long, long pause.... "I suppose that does have an effect on social economy. It helps us to grow, even though it's just a game."

Huh.

That was...what, two inventions? She'd wanted to add the bit about snidgets being replaced with golden snitches, but was starting to feel dumb in talking so much. Guh, Olivia loathed long-winded people, and here she was...having become one herself. Lolz.

Okay, so house elf-made food was okay to eat. Stasya felt a little bit better when Derf had whispered that detail back to her, since at least it meant she wasn’t going to have to starve to follow his rules. She hadn’t really seen a reason not to follow them, given the stories he’d told her before and the others she had found out about on her own. But then she also wasn’t about to give up the warmth of the cup of cocoa that had started the whole dilemma, so she was either going to have to pretend it was elf-made or just sit there holding it for the rest of class. She wasn’t giving it up, and she wasn’t going to stop paying attention to the lesson either.

Especially since Professor Newton had said she’d made a good point. That made her happy, and she’d moved one hand away from her cup long enough to scribble down the list that had been written on the board, adding a few little creature doodles before she was startled by the loud, excited exclamation from nearby. Of course it was Derf, and of course he’d mentioned Newt Scamander. She just hadn’t expected the name to be mentioned quite so loud so close to her ear, but she’d scribbled that down in her notes too even as she listened to Liv give another answer. Including a lot of stuff, but she guessed it made sense with the question they’d been asked.

She just wanted to go in a different direction. Maybe sort of close to Derf’s, but not. Raising her hand, she spoke. “Hermione Granger. She campaigned for house elf rights while she was in school, and then she worked for the Ministry to actually really try to help them and other creatures who were not really treated right by wizards. And also she tried to end pro-pureblood laws too, which helped people.” Just in case the professor wanted a specific explanation and stuff that wasn’t just creature-related.

Woah. Etta almost jumped out of seat in surprise. Derf seemed to get way too excited when it came to Newt Scamander, didn't he? She grinned and shook her head before trying to come up with an answer. Who WERE the influential people who had made a difference in the wizarding world? She thought about the few people she knew about, including Hermione Granger but Stasya had already mentioned her so someone else.

"Professor.. the founders of this establishment. The founding of Hogwarts has changed the wizarding world completely, hasn't it? This school is one of the best wizarding schools there is and has been training students over the decades to achieve what they have achieved later on in their careers. It has produced people like Hermione Granger, after all. I'm not saying there haven't been problems here..." .. which she didn't want to get into. ".. but.. overall, I think it has made a difference."

Short and sweet, wasn't it? Etta looked down at her parchment for a moment before jotting down a few more notes. It seemed like this was going to be an interesting lesson. She looked up once again and listened to others give their answers.

Vivian was very interested with this lesson. Usually, history class wasn't a big deal for her because they were all based on facts, and memorization was not this blonde's forte. She was quite glad this lesson wasn't going to be like that, and it was bonus points that it caught her attention. And when Professor Newton thought her answer to the first question was "very good", it made the Slytherin beam.

She was liking this class even more. Yes, indeed.

Oh, and onto the next question. This was quite easy though, and immediately Vivian raised her hand for her turn to participate. "I believe all the people who sacrificed their lives and fought for our school during the Battle of Hogwarts, like Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks, almost a century ago have made one of the greatest contributions for the magical world today," the fourth year said and then nodded. "We wouldn't be here today enjoying quality education if it weren't for them. May they all rest in peace." And Vivian was really thankful for that. Otherwise... where would she have gone to school?

Okay, so... so... so it was okay to keep using the drink as a hand warmer. And to ACT NATURAL. And luckily, Abey was a PRO AT ACTING (sort of) (a bit) (actually). Anyway, Abey nodded to Derf, agreeing that he would not drink the hot chocolate (siiiiIIIIIIGGGHHHHH), then turned to the professor as she started the lesson.

Uh... huh. Okay, so... Abey supposed that question was sort of supposed to be an easy one, and it was definitely something he could answer without having to read the textbook first. But NOW he was having the complete opposite problem; there wasn't really a specific answer, just a LOT of maybe answers. Like... a LOT.

The only thing Abey could think of was for people to be kind to each other and help each other, but also to challenge each other and then everyone could spur on everyone else and then everyone could achieve really actually mega great things and then things would be really good. But he had trouble finding the right words for what he wanted to say, so he had simply kept quiet.

The next question was much, much easier for Abey. There were a BUNCH of solid answers and, as he had grown up magic he already knew a bunch of things to say that didn't require book knowledge.

Of course, because he could say anything, Derf's voice was VERY LOUD AND VERY SUDDEN AND VERY EVERYTHING, and Abey gave a startled, strangled yelp, starting in his surprise and nearly knowing over the cup of hot chocolate. His heart was going WHAM WHAM WHAM WHAM WHAM, but Abey did, at least, know that it really was just Derf being Derf.

Whew. Okay. So. As Abey's heart rate went back to normal, he threw in his own contribution to the class discussion. "Harry Potter did that whole thing that he did," he offered, still warming his hands over the hot chocolate. And also... "And also, my great-grandfather, Abraham Botros - not my grandfather who taught here, although he was an Abraham too, but actually his father - he helped hide Muggle-born wizards in that whole war that Harry Potter was involved in. Which probably helped improve the wizarding world because those Muggle-borns might have had kids who had kids who went on to invent things or help other people, and their kids might do the same in the future." Abey... wasn't actually very enthusiastic with his answer. Actually, he was a little subdued with it because thinking about Jaddi still made him sad, and also thinking about that whole war was sad too, now that he was a little older and understood things a little more.

Kimi listened to what his fellow students were saying and thought and raised his hand and said "Damocles because he was the creator of the wolfsbane potion" Kimi had to think hard on that one and it was one that nobody had mentioned yet so he was pretty pleased with himself

This question sounded an awful lot like the question on his History of Magic OWL exam, not that Rooney minded. And Rooney remembered clearly how he had struggled to make this decision in that very exam. So this time, he was going to use someone that he had put into a close second for that essay, but ultimately lost out to Orabella Nuttley. Hand up as he waited his turn, nodding along with the opinions of others but judging just a few of them, Rooney smiled at Professor Newton. "Dorcas Wellbeloved, ma'am. She founded the Society of Distressed Witches and really isn't given enough credit for how many witches that group has helped over the years." His mother included, but that wasn't the point he was wanting to bring up in front of the rest of his peers that definitely had no idea about his birth father.

"The Society of Distressed Witches helps witches living in poverty, needing advice or just a friend. It''s fundamental kindness, which we shouldn't have to create groups for it to happen, but that seems to be the world we live in now."

Yes, very insightful indeed. Skylar was actually proud of that answer because it was different and unique from the direction everyone else was going with the question.

And they were talking now about witches and wizards who had made significant contributions to the wizarding world. Or no, wait, the question wasn't specifically significant but rather the best contribution. Which, in Skylar's humble opinion was a very subjective and loaded question. There were soooo many great contributions and really that was such a broad question, because well, best at what? Creatures? Quidditch founding? Charms? The number seven? She needed the categories narrowed down, because the question was way too broad. Listening to her peers speak, Skylar tried her best to think of someone related to perhaps History. And then she had it; the person who taught her parents.

"Anjelica Lainey, former History of Magic Professor at Hogwarts, changed the way History of Magic was taught by integrating unique storytelling to make the subject more interesting and appealing." Hey, there was no timeframe on the contributions, so why couldn't it be someone from this century?

See, it was definitely things like these that made it difficult for her to appreciate History of Magic. All these discussions about past things and past people. Most of this stuff either came from prior knowledge or prior reading. Contrary to popular stereotype, Jessa didn't enjoy scouring through her textbooks for general information. All reading served a purpose for her. Each book was a means to another end.

Being able to know the answers during her History of Magic class wasn't exactly motivation enough for her to dive that deep into history.

What started out as her scribbling down the answers her classmates had given, slowly but steadily turned into the young girl doodling along her piece of parchment. Little dragons breathing fire, a couple stars here, a bunny with a carrot. Her imagination took her places far far away from the History of Magic classroom until the voices that seemed faint and resembling background noise disappeared altogether.

She wasn't in the classroom anymore, she was back in her dorm checking in on her potion. That was when the doodles turned into cauldrons and little potions ingredients.

There was nothing to be done for her concentration. The eyes that occasionally glanced up in a gesture of paying attention now remained firmly planted on her parchment. Her shoulders slumped and her breathing slowed to a more restful pace. By all indication, Jessa Cambridge had checked out of the lesson, having very little in the way of stimulus to keep her attention.

Even the hot chocolate that sat by her hand seemed to be forgotten.

Sophie listened quietly to the ideas of her classmates. They all had such great comments and she could honestly see the validity of each of their points. But she had something to share as well, and nothing was going to stop her this time. Raising her hand, she took a deep breath.

"I think that I have the potential to be the one to make the best contribution to the wizarding world. Not just me, either. All of this in this room, in this school, each of us could make the difference for the future. Until then, all of us are making our own contributions, however small, to the history of magic."

Finished with her answer, Sophie settled back into her chair. Wait, she realized with a sudden thought, Was that even close to what the professor was asking?

Shay copied notes from the board. A summary of everyone's responses was now written on her parchment.and now the second question of the day came along. This one may have even been more difficult to answer than the first one. The professor really wanted to challenge them today. There was no easy answer and no right or wrong really.

Shay thought and thought. She couldn't narrow it down to just one best contribution. Then, she thought of something......someone. It was a little outside the box. Well really, it was way, way outside the box. Shay raised her hand, to give her answer. "Someone who made a great contribution to the wizarding world was Garrick Ollivander. He was known as possibly the best wandmaker there was. So many witches and wizards got their wands from Ollivanders. His wands were thought to be a level above all others. Without his superior wandmaking, many witches and wizards ability to perform magic could have been negatively affected.. Maybe not the greatest contribution, but a very important one.

Hmm. Katy drew triangles and circles across the top of her parchment as she considered who had contributed significantly to history. There wasn't really a best invention. There were all sorts of ways to contribute. How did she pick medicine over art over politics? Simply stated... she couldn't. So she'd just go with one of her favorites.

Katy raised her hand. "Damocles, Professor. He invented Wolfsbane Potion, which alleviated the effects of lycanthropy. Essentially, it allows those who are infected as werewolves to be part of society without fear of being ostracized or excluded. It was a remarkable medical discovery."

Kitty felt proud of the answers several of her fellow classmates were providing. Jessa had mentioned helping Muggles with research and discoveries. She eyed her curiously. Might she be recruitable to her cause? Hmmmm...

So caught up was she in observing her classmates answers that she didn't have time to answer the first question. Really, Professor Newton couldn't fault her, because it wasn't like she wasn't paying attention to the class.

Etta's answer (the founders) almost - almost compelled her to answer, "Well, not ALL of them. Salathar Slytherin was a bigot who hated Muggleborns and half-bloods and would have killed half this school." But that would have been a repeat of the terrible fight she'd had just last year in this very classroom, and she was by no means eager to repeat it right now. She still hated Salathar as strongly as she did back then, but now was not the time to say so.

With great effort she kept her mouth shut and waited until there was an opening to raise her hand. "May I answer the first question too? I like what Jessa said about helping Muggles with research. It's the most COMPASSIONATE thing we as witches and wizards could be doing. Think of all the lives we could save if the Statute was repealed tonight, and we could go into all the hospitals and cure people. Of course our magic has limits, but we could certainly save a lot of lives. Unfortunately, if someone were to do this today, the Ministry would arrest them." Pause for dramatic affect. "As to your second question, I believe Albus Dumbledore has done the most for wizardkind. In his youth he defeated Grindleward, one of history's most feared dark wizards. Many years later he provided Harry Potter with the tools he needed to kill Lord Voldemort."

Althea stretched her fingers out before taking her time to copy down the notes from the board. Normally, she would pick and choose which pieces of information she thought were relevant, but with all her anxiety over OWLs she chose to write down everything whenever she went to class. That way she could cover her bases and make sure that she didn't miss anything. She didn't want to assume what they would or wouldn't test her on, so she would write and write until her hand cramped and would write some more.

When she was done, she listened quietly to the answers being given. There were so many wizards to choose from, so she thought for a moment before raising her hand. "Gaspard Shingleton," she figured he was relevant enough to add to their discussion, "inventor of the Self-Stirring Cauldron. A handy and innovative invention that has certainly helped modernize potion brewing." She thought so, anyway. There were a lot of things that were archaic about the way wizards - at least in their part of the world - used magic. She always wondered when they would finally propel themselves into the future and leave tradition behind.

As she heard what her fellow students suggested as well as watching the professor add anything she might not have caught, Cassie jotted the ideas down in her own notes. She didn’t know if they would be useful to her at any point but there was no harm in including them. That was why Professor Newton was making them front and center on the board…right? The Ravenclaw had just finished adding the last when the woman moved them on, asking another question to get them thinking.

A witch or wizard with the best contribution?

That could be a tough one. Who could she possibly pick? There was Scamander being mentioned…and Hermione Granger. The broom designers that Cass didn’t catch their names on. And of course the Founders of Hogwarts. Harry Potter and the group that fought the Battle of Hogwarts came next among other assorted witches and wizards. Cassie bit the inside of her lip as she tried to choose one to give herself. “Alexander Greingoth…” she finally answered after raising her hand. “Ministry official that helped revolt and save the British Wizarding World from some shady characters.” As per her dad.

He might have toned it down for her.

The surest way to pull Jessa from her thoughts was to call her name. Didn't have to be trying to have a conversation, just needed to have her name in it. The Ravenclaw came to just in time to hear something about the statute being repealed. "No."

She lowered the quill she'd been doodling with, her expression unreadable but her words firm. "No, that's a terrible idea. Repealing the statute won't suddenly change the way some of them think of us. It won't make them warm and friendly, it won't make them grateful." Why would anyone even suggest that? The idea alone had her losing a bit of the colour in her face.

As best she could, the young girl tried to remain calm, figuring Kitty had only ever seen one side to muggles. In such a case, you could hardly blame one for their ignorance. "History is enough reason to keep the statute in place. How eager are you to be exploited or destroyed because of a lack of understanding and acceptance?"

She took a deep breath, willing herself to drop it entirely. "Sorry Professor, I didn't mean to interrupt." Helping them was one thing, blowing the secret and leaving themselves exposed was another thing entirely and she was NOT up for that. Jessa shook her head, trying to remove the thought completely before returning to her doodles. This was simply not something she'd like to have discussed.

There was stuff written on the board, and Emmeline had no idea why. Her mind had wandered out to the nursery, where she hoped the babies were all okay. She would rush down there (in a cloak this time) as soon as lessons finished; in the mean time, she was going to keep a tight hold on her cup of hot chocolate.

Except that there was that stuff on the board. Sighing heavily but almost silently, Emmeline dove down for her bag and extracted her history notebook, spare parchment, some ink, and a quill. She flipped her notebook open to a fresh page and hastily scrawled down what was written on the board. By the time she had finished doing that, the professor had asked a new question.

Emmeline thought there were only two obvious answers to who had made the best contribution to the magical world: Newt Scamander and Hermione Granger. But Derf and Stasya were quick to mention both of those; she grinned at them, thinking that creature lovers all thought alike.

Still, she was trying this new thing where she'd pay attention -- sort of -- and answer questions and such. This meant she had to answer the professor's question. Her classmates had given other good answers, of course, and as Emmeline tried to think of someone they hadn't mentioned, she had returned to her habit of doodling creatures on the margins of her notes. It wasn't until she realized that she had doodled a picture of her snowy owl, Minerva, that an answer came to her.

Raising her hand, Emmeline answered: "Minerva McGonagall made a big difference for the wizarding world. She was a big deal during the wars, and then she was headmistress here." The first year said that last bit like it was obvious that any headmaster of Hogwarts had made a great impact on the wizarding world just by heading up the school.