Jory raised his hand. "The security,'' he said. "That isn't a bad idea. We probably could do with a bit more of that.'' To be honest, he hadn't paid that much attention to the Debates. Nope, he had other things to worry about.

They were going to talk about the people running for the Board of Governors. Okay, breath Selina. She could totally do this. James Bond and her had been going back and forth about what exactly he wanted her to do and this class was the perfect opportunity to try and get people interested in voting for him. They all did not know it, but he was the BEST person for the job. MI6 had sent him personally to try and clean up the castle, which meant that he OBVIOUSLY had their best interests at heart. And now was her chance to get people to see that, duh.

She brushed some hair off of her face to take a moment to gather her thoughts and then she rose her hand, "Well, I learned that Bon-". NO, NO, NO! Bond had an alias to protect his identity, she had to run with that, "Vinteren, I mean, spoke at the debate. And he expressed his views that EVEN THOUGH he did not go to Hogwarts he really DOES care about our school. I mean, he decided to run for the board because of that stupid plant last year," Yeah, she was still PRETTY bitter about that whole experience. "He thinks that our safety," BECAUSE HE WAS A SECRET AGENT THAT PROTECTED LIKE ALL OF ENGLAND, "Is important. I mean, he is the most logical choice." Dur, dur, dur.

So basically, vote for Bond.

When Seeker, picked up one of the small branched, Kaiden just gave him a small shrug. He had needed fifth item... and sticks off of the branches could do... something...

And when the older boy answered, Kaiden nodded. "Yeah, what he said. Some of those ladys were scary. And a few of them seemed to be angry with each other." Not in a way that grown-ups usually acted. "and most of them were really boring," Like the one that had put Miks to sleep. "But that old guy is cool."

Just when she was beginning to think that this politics stuff was over. Yeah she heard the music playing and had figured accordingly but then she thought about the Art stuff that they brought and convinced herself that she was over-thinking things. This would be a creative class thingy where they wasted away the time getting lost in colouring and the like. She wouldn't have minded that at all.

Lex had to try her hardest to keep the look of disappointment from her face. She didn't want to talk about those people. They were all boring and they all said things that she didn't particularly care about.

The only part of the debates she liked was the dunking and that wasn't even all that great because not everyone got dunked. What was the fun in that? Weren't they all excited for a little dunk? She thought they were and some of them just needed a good dunking for being mean.

Slowly she rose her hand, because you know, let other people answer first. "I learned that not all of them are clueless when it comes to campaigning for children. There was that one that gave Alice candy." HE had the right idea. Mr. Vinteren did too but she had learned that long before the debates.

Sierra hadn't really paid that much attention during the debate. She was still at that age where this was all 'adult talk' to her, so she mainly just tuned them all out. However, she had noticed a few things. She raised her hand. "I learned that a lot of them really don't have any more qualifications to work in education than I do. Meaning, a Hogwarts graduate," she said. Well, she was about to graduate, so that counted for something, right?

"So I'm still wondering how they can hold a position where they decide the hirings and firings at our school," she continued. Or...helped decide. "I bet they're really good at other things, like whatever it is they work with, but...I just don't know about these people who've never really worked in education."

Alice's eyes narrowed when Selina started talking about Vinteren. Really? She was way too obsessed with him. It wasn't healthy. "Professor," she called out, tossing her hand up and momentarily forgetting about Selina's Bond fascination when the question was asked. "I've noticed that loads of them have listed our safety and security as a concern. I don't really understand why, though, as I feel plenty safe. D'you think that's 'cause of the man-eating plant attacks from last term?" Were they basing their whole platforms around that one event? "'Cause, like, I think those plants only target Professors and Ravenclaw Captains, so I'm good."

Plus, it was super fine with her if Milton Shacklebolt was eaten. Just saying. The Quidditch Cup would be THAT much closer, you know?

Anya stared in open mouth disbelief at the girl that had been awarded the captain's badge in her house. Under normal circumstances they would have been friends.

"I nearly..." she began in a sharp voice eyeing her. Then she remembered she was in class. She quickly raised her hand and lowered it back down. Good enough. "I nearly lost my best friend to that stupid plant." And it irked her to no end that nobody seemed to care. She then turned her attention to the Professor. What was the question? Oh. What they learned. "I agree with them there. And it's obvious that everyone has the safety of the school in mind seeing as every single one of them mentioned it." she said with a little nod. She then shot a look back at Alice. "Of all the students." Even the ones that apparently Anya Phillips was the only one fond of.

And she also learned that Dylan liked her brother. But that wasn't relevant.

West put his hand up. "Well I read the Daily Prophet after, and I guess I learned that some people are sore losers. Like about being dunked." Paaaaaaaaause. "But I also don't think that dunking was a good idea because like... it makes me not want to take it seriously? Like its for fun. Or something. And everyone keeps saying how important and serious all this junk is, but with stuff like dunking people in water its sort of like... like a show? And makes it hard to really care or take it seriously at all." Did that make sense? West thought it was a little sad to want to embarrass people like that, and that whoever came up with the idea obviously was bitter or had some kind of problem about candidate people in general.

She totally agree with West. All of the professors had been cramming the debate down their throats since day one, and then they turned it into a carnival affair? Don't get her wrong, she loves carnivals and fairs and all that stuff, but if they were supposed to take it seriously, that wasn't the way to go. She had also noticed they'd all just rambled on and not really said anything very important so...

"Professor, I thought they all sort of just...rambled on and on and strayed from the questions. They all ended up in the same general, vague, circle of wanting to make things safer and some mentioned getting more cultured here - but we already have all sorts of people here. And while things could be safer sometimes, those are fluke accidents that the professors try to keep under control but they aren't really all that preventable or foreseeable either you know? And...erm, well now I sound like the debate, going on and on. So, yeah." She was so ready for this to be over. When would the adults be casting their votes so it was all finished and the candidates could quit acting like they all walked on water?

Yawn.

He was bored with Board of Governors topic. Seriously. Okay, he knew that the election would coming soon but.. Didn't they have any more topic beside it? Well, hopefully this would be the last.

And what did they learn from the last debate? Correction: Actually what did HE learn? "Most of them were concern about the security." The Head Boy spoke as he raised his hand. He wondered why security seemed their main reason why they did want to be a Board of Governors member? Why didn't they become the Security squads of Hogwarts then? "And about the dunking, most of them disapproved it. Especially the one who get dunked, Layla Dacosta. I read in Daily Prophet that she stepped down as candidate."

Why so serious? He loved that dunking idea, maybe that's one way for students enjoying the political debate which was boring and could make them fall asleep.

Gemma pulled out a little notebook and began writing down all of the students' responses. She found it interesting to hear from their point of views. And she was impressed by their point of views. "I have to admit that you all have really great ideas and opinions! I am very impressed by how ya'll are handling the election fiasco....events." she quickly said events to cover up her fiasco slip...yes she thought it was a little out of hand, "And, I have to agree with many of you that the dunking may have been a little outrageous...but I feel like the student committee wanted to make things fun for the Hogwarts students...and all of the candidates knew in advance that there was a possibility to be dunked." she said with a little nod up and down...even though many of them acted like they were completely surprised.

She smiled at the class and then went on, "Yes, it seems that Security and Accountability are something that most of the candidates share. I find it interesting that many of you brought up their qualifications, as far having a job in education, etc. You all have great perspectives and opinions of what's going on." yes she had kind of repeated herself...but she was impressed...

Let's just share something, she clicked on the screen and the pictures of all of the remaining board members appeared, "So does anyone want to share whom they, in their own opinion, is the strongest candidate and why the believe so?"

Jake glanced at Anya when she raised her voice, frowning slightly. He was sure Ali hadn't meant anything by what she said about the plant. But of course Anya had taken it wrong. Jake sighed inaudibly, pressing his lips together. He almost wanted to laugh and say Ali was right. But he was trying to be good and at least pretend like he could be civil to Milton. So Jake kept his mouth shut.

Until the next question. Then he leaned back in his chair and raised his hand. "Carter Phillips." And not just because he wanted to make a good impression and was sucking up to Anya's older brother. "I think he's one that actually gets what's going on here. Everyone else cares about politics. He genuinely cares about the school and the students here. He's not trying to get publicity or power or whatever. I like that."

The strongest candidate? Mehhh... Sierra hadn't really been following the election process. She'd just paid somewhat close attention to what she'd had to do for classes. She didn't really know what to say. Finally, she raised her hand. "That Mr. Erik Vinteren seems to be pretty involved," she said. "I'm not sure about his qualifications, though." She shrugged. "He just...seems pretty involved." Another shrug.

Anya tilted her head to the side. Hmm. Jake apparently supported her brother. Anya, on the other hand, supported her brother as well, but she didn't believe he was anywhere near being the strongest candidate.

And that Erik Vinteren guy creeped her out.

She raised her hand. "I like Professor Schirmer." she said with a nod. "She was a Professor here so I think that means she knows what she's doing." It made sense.

Oh it was the student committee's idea? West looked around at them. Really? Alice? Jake? You came up with dunking adults? They may have been Gryffindors but West sort of doubted it. It just didn't seem like their M.O. He didn't think they did know about the dunking either, because why would people pretend like they didn't? West thought maybe someone didn't communicate like they should have? Who knew how adults worked though?

As for who was his favourite? West wasn't sure. His hand did go up though, "I really like Sherman Clark and Carter Phillips. They're cool." For reasons. Alice and Anya got winks.

Raisinghis hand, Jory answered. "In my opinion it's Professor Schirmer,'' he said. "I think she's the best because she understands this school much because of the fact that she was a Professor here.''

Alyssa spent some time thinking about the next question that Professor Cerulean had posed them before she raised her hand.

"I have to agree with Anya. I have to go with Professor Schirmer. Not only is she a former Hogwarts student but she was also a Hogwarts staff. So she not only has the knowledge of how the school was run during her time as a student, but also how it was managed by the staff, since she had a part to play in that too."

Alyssa paused to think for more reasons, before adding.

"Coupled with her knowledge of how to administratively manage a department plus it's staff, she has the qualities to become a good member of the Board of Governors." Alyssa nodded.

[a=Lezleighd;11320840]G
"Let's get the lesson started by thinking about the debate. Did anyone learn something new about any of the candidates from the debate...this could be their platforms or personal information or anything?" she asked sweetly.
[/QUOTE]

One of the things Sarah learnt that some people had BIG egos.
Sarah raised her hand, "well I like some for different reasons. I like the Carter guys as he is honest and straight forward and with no ego and boasting. I feel he wants it for Hogwarts. Then I like that Sherman fellow yet that Vinteren guy makes me feel VERY uneasy." she said. She sometimes had it, it felt like a strange intuition that was hard to shake off.

The student committee had decided on the dunking? If she remembered correctly, they had been told that part of the debate had been decided on beforehand, but she supposed it really didn't matter anymore, considering the class had moved on from that subject. Strongest candidates now, was it? It would have been good family support to express how AWESOME she thought her grandfather was, but that didn't seem appropriate, so she went with another one of her favourites.

"I like Althea Schirmer." Mostly because her gramps said she was a good candidate, and because she was tall. Alice wanted to be that tall someday. "She really seems to care about us and our futures, unlike some of the other candidates who just want to be on the board because of perks and power and stuff." Who else? "And Carter Phillips. He's really honest and straightforward, like Sarah said. And he gave me a candy bar." So, obviously, she adored him.

Oh. And all those people naming her grandfather? They were mentally added to her favourites list. West even got a wink back, mhm.

Who had her vote? Was that what the Professor was asking? This was easy. She raised her hand. "Mr. Vinteren seems like the best bet! He's really nice and he gave me a chocolate frog when I was upset so I think it shows that he really cares and stuff and that's all I really care about in the candidates. I don't like stuffy older people. They're mean."

She gave the question a bit more thought.

"I guess that Carter person's nice too because he also gives away candy and the Schirmer woman...I saw her in Herbology and she was nice enough." That really was how she saw this whole election thing. If you weren't nice then you didn't deserve a vote.

No one else really stood out. Maybe they should have tried giving her candy too?

Well, this was a 'No Brainer' for the Slytherin Captain. After raising his hand, he nodded politely to those who'd already given their opinions. "Professor Schirmer is my choice, Professor...and I have reasons." Clearing his throat, he settled back in his seat before continuing. "She was a teacher here, yea?...So, she would know first hand about the situation and inner workings..." It made sense to him. "...and she's pretty."...because that was important.


Anya Phillips was earning points.

More hand-raising. "Her brother, too. Like I said...He seems really down to earth."

Who did Ella think was the strongest candidate? She thought on this for a moment or two before raising her hand. "I also think that Professor Schirmer would be the best choice. I mean, she's worked in this school so she knows how things run and how they could be improved." And well, she seemed to have lots and lots and lots of official-like qualifications and things. That sort of thing was really important when picking a candidate, yeah? "She also seems like she really really wants a spot and erm...well passion is important. It shows she cares a lot."

Who was the strongest candidate?

"Well, as the others had said I think Professor Schirmer is the one who is eligible as the Board of Governors." He spoke as he raised his hand. He wasn't here yet when Schirmer taught Charms for two years. "Because she cares about the education, not just the security." Not to judge the other candidate who cares more about that. Well, security was important, but they did forget about the educational quality. And seriously, if they thought about security what would they do? Hire aurors as the security squads? Pardon his sarcasm.

If they kept talking about Board of Governors again, the Head Boy would just keep silent because he was sick of this topic.

Laura raised her hands. "Well Professor I have found out that some are good at debating and some well they aren't so good at debating." Laura was really sure that she was right with this answer, which would be a change.

Strongest candidate. Too easy.

Kat already felt and even knew who would be placed in the Board after these elections. Well... she only knew one. Just one. And it was an obvious candidate. Who else would it be, hmm? Kat raised her hand. "Professor Schirmer for the win," she said. And why though? "She did really great in the debate, Professor Cerulean. She seems so passionate about getting into the board and she did, as usual, a great job. She deserved the votes." If Kat had to vote, she'd just have Professor Schirmer in her vote paper. Only Professor Schirmer. Who in the name of Merlin's underpants were the other candidates anyway? Kat didn't care.

Schirmer all the way.