Chapter Eight

Onboarding Hope

When Hope walked into the governor's board meeting room she was still steaming, her face covered in soot and her leather RBF style jacket smelling like smoke.

"I'm not late, am I?" Hope asked Eric, ignoring the range of expressions coming from the others.

"Not at all, we still have five minutes," Eric replied. "Did you just get back from the same capture that Tonks has been warning me about lately?"

"Oh, yeah... she's fine," Hope reassured him. "In fact, she tripped and fell out of the way just in the nick of time when the Dark Wizard used his Dragonbreath Staff. Harry got his hands around the staff, and Eben and Aurelius were able to get him down after that... so no harm done... except maybe to my flight jacket."

She frowned and took it off, inspecting it critically.

"What happened to the Dragonbreath Staff?" Norman wanted to know.

"Minister Delany's looking at it in the Artifacts Department," Hope replied, sitting down on the other side of Eric. "Don't worry, it's disarmed. Aurelius stuck a golf ball in its mouth."

"Good evening," Minerva said as she came in and walked to her seat. "My goodness, Hope, what did you do to your jacket?"

"Dragonbreath Staff. Do you think I should have Grandmother take a look at it?" Hope ponderered.

"It would depend on what she's wearing," Minerva decided, sitting down.

"Are we going to have the final vote on that recommendation before Severus gets here?" Horus Crumb asked impatiently.

"Yes, we can, now that we finally have a chance of letting in our newest member so that we have a full board," Eric agreed. "You see, we have a recommendation that needs a unanimous vote to make certain it gets into the official school rulebook," he explained to Hope.

"What about Mari?" Hope pointed out, nodding at the empty seat.

"I vote for Mari as her proxy as long as she's on leave of absence," Horus said evenly.

"I see," Hope said. "What if there's a regular kind of absence? With my job, things can come up."

"Oh, trust me, no one knows that better than I do," Eric said with amusement. "You may pick whoever you like to be your proxy voter. Typically it's someone of your own political leanings, of course, but you may pick whoever you like to stand in for you."

"Thanks! I'd like to think about it," Hope decided. "So what's this unanimous recommendation you want me to vote for?"

"We are recommending that there should be a rule that states that Hogwarts faculty members may not publish or sponsor any controversial articles without the approval of the school board," Eric replied.

"Oh," Hope said, pondering a moment. "Nah, I'm not a fan of that idea."

A number of members, especially on the Traditionalist side of the room, let out groans and sighs of exasperation.

"Don't tell us we're going to have to go through with that debate all over again," Horus moaned.

"It would seem so. We'll have to probably wait until after Severus leaves again to have time to discuss it," Eric decided.

"I don't think more time is going to change my mind," Hope warned, then looked over at Minerva. "Just why are you going along with this, anyway?"

"I'll admit to having my reservations," Minerva told her with a thin smile. "In fact, I only changed my mind after our last meeting. We've been debating this rule since the article on Salazar Slytherin went out last spring."

"That much was obvious," Hope commented. "Although it was high time that part of history was cleared up."

"Yes, that is what Tonks said as well," Minerva said with a thin smile.

"Oh, now I get it," Hope said, glancing around. "Certain people on the board wanted this to be passed, and even though they were able to convince you to go along with it, albeit reluctantly, Tonks probably wouldn't budge on it," Hope surmised. Minerva looked increasingly amused while the traditionalist and solidarity members looked increasingly annoyed. "I bet they even pressed to get someone in here before the new school year so that you'd have enough votes to force the Headmaster to add the new rule. How come you changed your mind, Minerva?" Hope asked.

"It wasn't because of the article about the founders," Minerva assured Hope. "It was because of a point that Eric made. You see, this board is here as a check and balance system to protect the school from a headmaster and faculty going down a path that would be detrimental to its students," she explained. "While I have absolutely no concerns over Severus and his current faculty, who are the best professors I've ever known, it would be foolish to assume that every headmaster going forward will be as successful. What if someone inappropriate were to become headmaster down the line, and they or a faculty member decided to publish articles concerning Hogwarts in an attempt to damage the school? They might want to cause a political uproar for their own sole benefit, or use knowledge of historical facts to blackmail certain families. If the board has the right to peruse all articles, we can check for those sorts of malicious attempts before things get out of hand."

"But it they're being malicious, they would publish that stuff anyway and probably wouldn't care one crater about what the board thought," Hope pointed out.

"That's what Tonks said," Eric admitted. "But if such a thing did happen and there is a written rule in the book, not adhering to such a rule would give us a way to sack the person responsible for the article and ban them from the school."

"Ah ha! Someone wanted to punish Ambrose for helping the students write that article and they couldn't because you discovered there was no rule against it," Hope concluded. Stella and Horus in particular looked extremely annoyed. "Now I understand why Tonks wanted another Auror to take her place. It didn't have anything to do with what family I belonged to, it was a matter of having someone on the board with an Auror's perspective to point out how flawed certain proposals are. Well then, allow me to give you an Auror's perspective," Hope went on, seeing how flustered they became when her guesses hit close to the mark. "Eric, you said yourself that the whole point of this board is a check and balance to make sure the school is doing what it's supposed to, right?"

"That is the point of any school board, I would say," Eric agreed.

"Well, what's our check and balance?" Hope inquired. "What I mean to say is, can the headmaster sack the board if the board happens to go bad?"

"Generally, the other board members get rid of bad board members. That's the advantage of there being twelve of us," Eric explained.

"That doesn't always work, does it? And before anyone claims that it does, how was Regina Coventry able to put together that outrageous book list together when my uncle was going to school?" Hope challenged Eric, causing him to look uncomfortable. "Seems to me that board members can cause just as much havoc to the school as the headmaster can, and since that's the case, I respectfully refuse to sign such a recommendation. Having the right to publish an article about controversial topics is one of the few ways that the faculty of Hogwarts has to fight back against educational bureaucracy. Therefore, I consider writing articles as a check and balance against a board that already has too much power already. So unless we want to disband and model a new school board based on the Whitebridge system where teachers have a place at the table, I think we ought to let them have the right to free speech, even if the board doesn't agree with it."

"You know, Eric, I do believe I've changed my mind again," Minerva decided, nodding at Hope approvingly. "She is right, after all. Checks and balances should work both ways."

There was a familiar knock on the door.

"Let's table this topic and discuss it during our next closed meeting," Eric decided. But it was evident from Horus Crumb's expression that he already knew there was little chance of it ever getting out of discussions. Eric waved the door open, and Severus stepped in.

"Good afternoon, Severus," Eric said.

"Good afternoon," Severus greeted them, taking out a folder. "I brought a list of all of the projects that were completed over the summer, and a budget that shows all five houses in the proper columns for a change," he informed them, handing out copies. "Here you are... Hope, here is yours. I see you haven't taken over the board yet."

"Not yet, but I'm working on it!" Hope promised him cheerfully.

"Yes, so she is," Eric said dryly, then turned his attention to the budget.