Hmm.... if she really thought about it, Roxanne supposed that the Board of Governors was rather like the superintendent at a muggle school. So that's what guided her answer. "I think that the main responsibility of a Board of Governors is to make sure the school is running smoothly, the students are learning what they're suppose to and that they're safe." And stopping there would've been sufficient, but she oddly felt the need to say more. For whatever reason. "It is also their responsibility to make sure that the professors are professional," take that however you wanted "and teaching in ways that will actually reach the students. And setting aside biases that are detrimental to those they are teaching. The Board should also make sure that the students are ready for the real world, not just in their education, but their attitudes. Most people would argue that that is the job of the parents, but some parents fail at this and force the school to pick up the slack." Okay, she hadn't meant for that to come out! Her mouth was running away with her! She sat there for a minute biting her lip, trying to get her mouth back under control. Once she felt that she had it, she started speaking again.

"Anyway, the Board should work with Hogwarts to implement plans that would address these things, and push hard if the Headmistress or Headmaster refuses something that the Board feels is really important." And there went her mouth again. Something was going on here........

Oh silly Ivy. Thea didn't get up to speak she just turned slightly in her seat and commented to Ivy, loud enough for the woman to hear but likely not loud enough to be picked up by the microphone and therefore the audience.

"Actually I myself taught an Alchemy class here only a few terms ago." Thea said quietly, to her old friend. "And every term for several years now, several seminars covering a range of advanced subjects have been offered as tasters for students. I believe I'm not the only one here who has done that, either." Sherman Clark had done something on Bell Jars hadn't he? "Hopefully it can continue though."

She literally couldn't stop herself from speaking. It just came out, the words spilling over themselves oddly, her eyes strangely bright.

And now ALTHEA wanted to fall asleep. Seriously boring question. And not at ALL important since it was summed up word for word in the actual job description.

She stood up and went over to the podium. Her turn again.

"That is literally the most boring possible question anyone could ask. Boring questions are going to get boring answers. So its your fault if you get bored enough to fall asleep." She began, giving a pointed look at that little girl and then turning her attention out at the crowds.

"The founding documents of the Board of Governors say a whole lot of things about the duties, all of them are treated as equally important and oh so serious." She made a 'serious' face but barely stopped for a breath, instead continuing in a steady stream of words, more conversational than oratorical.

"I'm certain the students here today don't want to hear about all of that numbered and annotated and officially boring claptrap, and really that is where my answer lies. Our duty is to do whatever it takes to keep the machine that is Hogwarts --if I may borrow a muggle metaphor-- running. Your professors and Headmistress are the cogs that keep the machine running smoothly, and The Board of Governors are the tools that fix things when there's something blocking up the works. The machine spits you all out --theoretically speaking-- as useful and amazing parts that will soon enough find a fit in some other machine, but while you're passing through this one, through Hogwarts, nothing should get in your way. And the Governors have the duty of making sure that is true. The machine shouldn't have hiccups. It shouldn't run out of power. The cogs shouldn't be faulty or missing. That is what is important." She pointed at the student seating area, looking a little bit... sparky around the edges, like she'd been rolling in woolen sheets that had her both mussed up and shocked by the static.

"You're important. All of you. Even those of you that I don't like, and even those of you that don't like me or care what I have to offer you or say to you. Our duty, the Board's duty is to you and to your families, and subsequently to the Wizarding Community as a whole." It was a steady stream of words, loud and clear, and delivered with the kind of fervor one might find in an activist. The sentiment was certainly hers, but the word choices, the delivery.... something was not right. Not at all. Her eyes found those of Dash Scabior out there in the General Seating.

...

....

and she blew him a kiss before returning to her seat, though it could almost have been for anyone.

Coops found it amusing when people chitter chattered and whinged and whines about what others have said. Instead he opted to remain seated and silent, only nodding occasionally or shaking his head. SEEE! He COULD be professional and stuffs when he wanted to be!



Aaaaawwwwww... last question? Already?!

Cue sad face.

Awaiting his turn, and thinking over what he was going to say... well.... no. The only thing that mattered was HOW he was going to say it. Because essentially... the answer should be rather obvious. And really, Schirmer said it all.

Cracking his neck as he rose from his seat, Cooper felt a moment of finality. This was it. Make it or break it.

"Despite the fact that Ms Shirmer's response summed things up pretty well, and I agree with her statement to a great extent..." minus the BORINGness of it all perhaps. Because he wasn't going to admit to that. "... I still have something to add by way of response to the final question."

After making eye contact with numerous members of the audience, Cooper then continued, a faint smile on his lips, beneath strong determined eyes.
"When you vote for me, come election time, you will KNOW, wholeheartedly, that my intentions and my role as a member of the Board of Governors is not only to ensure that the running of the school is not hindered by intrinsic or extrinsic factors, but also to ensure that the students' best interests remain the sole focus of the institution. Each individuals needs WILL be met, and their experience at Hogwarts WILL be a positive and rewarding one."

With a brief pause, to let the weight and the STRENGTH of his words set in, Cooper panned his glance to the student seating area. It was for THEM that he was doing this. For them AND their families.

"And with that being said, I hope that YOUR experience here, was an informative and comforting one ... enjoy the DUNKING!"
With a small bow, Cooper returned to his seat.


OMG! THAT WAS IT?!?!?!

IT WAS..... OVER?! Almost....

Wait, only three questions? But Nolan had so much more to say! He'd hardly even begun to make the audience LOVE HIM. Althea was doing a pretty good job of making everyone in the audience HATE her, in his opinion. She was so snippy today. Didn't she realize you got more flies with HONEY and not vinegar?

After that shocking answer from her, Nolan wasn't about to say outright that he agreed with her. He'd do it more...tactfully. Yes. Tactful. He stood up and cleared his throat as he approached the stand.

"To be honest, the most important duty of a Board of Governors member is, of course, to serve the students. It's not about us, not at all! Every one of us who is elected to the board must understand that this isn't a race for power, a podium of glory, a position to lord over all...no. Absolutely not. It is the STUDENTS that are the number one priority. Everything a member of the board does revolves around the well-being, both physically and mentally, of every student. We are here to help you, to listen to you, to make things better and prepare you for life outside of Hogwarts. That, by far, is the most important duty of the board, something that I am willing to take on responsibility for to my utmost abilities," he finished.

Well, that had gone very well, if he did say so himself!

Actually, Lourdes thought all the other candidates had good answers. This was surely going to be hard competition, then? Lourdes didn't really care about the competition, in fact she was here for passion. She wanted to help improve Hogwarts and everything else. One more question left, that meant Lourdes had to make this good and entertaining. But if she got boring, not her fault anymore.

The woman stood up and went to the podium for her turn. "Honestly, I don't think there is a 'most important' duty for a member of the Board of Governors. I say that each duty and responsibility must be treated equally with the rest to maintain balance." Just like Althea over there who seemed to have gone mad. Lourdes was STILL struggling from talking nonsense and, to be truthful, it was hard work. She couldn't talk too much and had to put most of her words in a nutshell. "I know that we make each and everyone, especially the students currently being educated at Hogwarts, one of the top priorities. Making sure that Hogwarts continues to run smoothly and that students, staff members, everyone is safe between the boundaries of the magical school. Hogwarts was built to provide adequate education to the wizarding youth so that they could choose the path they'd take in the future. Also encourage the students to continue to learn and enjoy themselves with whatever interests them...like magical sports, clubs, magical creatures, whatever floats their banana boats." Goodness, Lourdes, stop talking. "Oh, what gives? Each and everyone of the candidates have brilliant answers." Wait hold up. What was going ON with her mouth? It slipped, and she didn't even want to say that. Something was messing with her, and she did NOT like it.

Anyway. "If I am ever elected as member of the Board of Governors, I promise to fulfill my duties and take on whatever obligation wholeheartedly." And until her last breath. Gosh. "Thank you." And happy dunking!

Lourdes nodded and offered a smile to everyone in the place. She then returned back to her seat. So... how would it feel, being dunked? Consider it... an experience.

Erik had to agree with his competitors again, especially Althea Schirmer. Some of the other ones were being a bit rambly, but Schirmer and her cog comparison were spot on.

When it was his turn, he stood and went up to the microphone. There was a moment's pause while he gathered his thoughts, and then he spoke with an unrivalled, undeniable passion.

"I believe vat the most important duty ov a Hogwarts Governor," because that's what they were called individually, not a Board of Governor, "is to support Hogwarts in every vay necessary. Ve must support the staff vith funding, supplies, opportunities for professional development, and anything else vey may require. Ve must support the students with chances for growth and development, not just for their academic minds but also for their souls. The Board of Governors is designed to vork as a team, so I think the most important duty of each individual Governor is to be a contributing, useful team member who supports the school vith Hogwarts' best interests at heart. Thank you all, and remember, a Vote for Vinteren is a vote for Hogwarts."

He flashed a wink out at a few in the crowd and then returned to his seat, confident that he would not be getting dunked today.

Most important duty. Mhmm, well good question! He was proud of these kids, they'd done a great job on the debate, and preparing for it. The questions had been fantastic! The dunking part? Just was amusing, to be honest. But they were kids after all.

"I believe the most important duty of a governor, is towards the kids. To ensure that they get the education that they should have, within all aspects, whether it's magic basics, or it is about muggles. Each student should come out of Hogwarts knowing more than they went in with, and have the ability to walk out those doors, as a full-fledged witch or wizard and be able to either find a job easily or get into the wizarding academy with nothing holding them back." Straight and to the point. "There should be no reason educationwise, that they cannot be successful graduates."

"The second important aspect I believe is the safety, and that will always be a part of it. We as governors, need to keep that in mind and do everything we can to ensure that the safety of this school is never compromised. Thank you." There, he'd done what he could on the questions part, he was interested in seeing who'd be dunked hopefully Erik but wasn't concerned, if he was, he was. If not? All the better!

Wooi wait wait wait there was movement in her belly! This was uncomfortable and awkward. Layla shifted uncomfortably in her chair and looked out into the crowd trying to catch the eyes of her husband. Baby was moving around again. This was a terrible time though. Layla completely zoned out the other candidates. They were all repeating each other anyways, using different words for the most part but still repeating.

Layla chose to not respond to the follow up question. There was too much to say and not enough time to say it and really most of everyone said what she wanted to say and repeating it would just become so annoying to her and everyone else in the crowd.

The baby finally settled down though and gave her time to tune into the debate again, in time for her to catch the other question.

This was going to be short..

"I of course I agree with what most of the candidates said...even though they could have used less words and less time to say what they did..." Ahem.."but yes I believe an important role of the BOG body is to provide." Not the most important because all roles were important..just one of.."The body should be ready to provide whatever it is the administration of Hogwarts need to perform their duties to the school. The Board of Governors may need to provide financially or maybe just to provide final decisions on important matters, whatever it is the persons on the board should be ready and willing and most importantly competent enough to be able to do this." You know and she was that so they should vote for her.

The most important job of the Board of Governors. There were so many important things that it was hard to decide. With a confident smile Amelia stood to take her turn making sure she had all of her ideas neatly organized in her head.

"I believe that the Board of Governors hold many responsibilities, but I believe the most important thing that they could do would be to take in the opinions of everyone and make sure that every voice is heard to help the school function to the best of its ability. Some people may say that the Board of Governors should be the only people to give input on how the school should be wrong, but I think not. I believe that if the people aren't happy then nobody is happy. I believe that for the Board of Governors to function they must be able to function along side the parents, students, and teachers of Hogwarts," after all if they didn't cooperate then the members of the Board of Governors would probably not be elected back.

"Though I think that it is very important for the Board of Governors to take the opinion of others I only think that is slightly more important than everything else. To be a member of the Board of Governors is a huge responsibility that comes with many responsibilities and all of them are important. After all the Board of Governors does help make sure that Hogwarts is the best place for our children's education. I believe that by providing as much support as possible the Board of Governors can help Hogwarts provide the best education for our youth so that our youth will be able to do amazing things in their future," Amelia said with a smile to all of the people. Now all she had to do was sum up her major point. "If I'm elected as a member of the Hogwarts Board of Governors please remember that by electing me you will be heard. Thank you."

Amelia felt successful as she sat back down at her spot. She felt that her points were nice and clear. Hopefully it was enough though.

.. ADVANCED CLASSES? Merlin, were these people nuts?! There was already enough school, and now they wanted to make education even more perplexing. As Alice finished off the candy bar Carter had tossed to her and crumpled up the wrapper in her hand, resisting the urge to flick it at Jake, she silented hoped for the old people to get on with their answers so she could watch them get drenched. That would be nice.

.. really? That was the question? It was a decent question, yeah, but Sherman couldn't give a creative answer to this one. There was only ONE that anybody could think of, and it was to make Hogwarts a better place for all these youngsters, right? How did they expect innovation and imagination to spout out of candidates with a question like that? The old man waited for his fellow candidates to answer nearly the exact same thing every time, with little additions here and there. And then came his turn.

BREAAAATHE.

"I wouldn't know what the most important duty of the Board of Governors is, as I'm not a member," he clarified after minutes and minutes of thinking. That was a STUPID thing to say, wasn't it?! They knew THAT obviously. The crippled little senior inhaled deeply before opening his mouth to speak again. "But I believe that the most important and crucial responsibility of the Board is to sustain, support, and improve Hogwarts. To listen to the voices and complaints of the inhabitants of the castle, to do all in their power to satisfy them, to ensure that everyone's best interests are the focus of the school." Same old, same old. Nothing new.

"Also, I think the role of the Board of Governors is to.. to give the residents of the institution figures to rely and depend on. Hogwartians should always be aware that there are people constantly working on bettering the school, and that those people are the members of the Board of Governors." Did that make sense? Fingers crossed that it did. "Thank you VERY much, lovely people!" Beaaam.

.. wait. Was he done? Was he going to get dunked?

Who cared? The nerve-wracking part was over, and all the anxiety and fear seemed to have evaporated from his being. The little old man GRINNED from ear to ear at the crowd, waving g'bye and even giving them a hearty salute as he wheeled and rolled around the stage, back to his seat.

Carter listened as the other candidates. Then Professor Schirmer Althea spoke. And the twenty-one year old was nearly blown away. So much so that he wasn't even sure what to say. Or think. In fact, he kind of felt stupid sitting next to someone that gave that answer.

And Carter Phillips planned on being true to his word.

"I loved Althea's answer." he said simply. "And it would be really foolish of me to attempt to say anything remotely as good." Because. You know, it would be. He couldn't even pretend to be capable of saying anything better.

Gemma waited for the last few candidates to speak and then she stepped forward, “Thank you, Amelia, Jake, and Alice, and candidates for sharing your views." she said leading the applause and looking at each of the three MCs before letting her sight scan the chairs of the candidates.
"We are now going to take a break for about thirty or so minutes. During this time, please take a break and enjoy the snacks at the refreshment table. Also, on your chair is a special ballot. Please mark your selection for whom you believe was the winner of this debate. Your vote will automatically be added to our tally card. At the end of the break, we will come back and announce the top three candidates. AND....we will dunk the bottom three candidates!!!!” she said excitedly as she raised her hands in the air. She waited for people to start standing up before she stepped down from the platform.

She hurried back to her seat and picked up the master tally card to watch the votes come in.

OOC: Please vote for your favorite three candidates in the poll above. We are going to leave this poll up for twenty four hours and then reconvene the debate, so make sure you get your votes in! Feel free to rp about the debate and eat and drink and be merry!

Last question? Already? Wow, that went by really fast.

And it was a pretty easy question. Another that he generally agreed with the rest of the candidates on.

"I think everyone has covered very well what the most important duty or duties that a Hogwarts governor has." He could just leave it at that, right? That way he didn't bore people. But no...he couldn't. He still felt oddly compelled to continue speaking even though it wasn't necessary. "And I particularly agree with Ms. Black who said that all of the duties given to governor are actually important and should all be fulfilled in order to maintain balance. Paying too much attention to one particular 'important' one at the exclusion of others is not the way a Hogwarts governor should behave. All of the required duties are important in their own way to ensure that the true job is accomplished - to keep Hogwarts running and working the best it possibly can for students and professors alike." Was he done now? Mm, nope, not quite it seemed. "Both are essential and key parts to Hogwarts' existence. The professors to impart knowledge to the students, the students to attend and hopefully apply that knowledge to better their lives. That is the true duty that all of the duties of a Hogwarts governor point toward and that a governor must support. And that is what I will do if elected: I will support you all."

Finally he managed to force himself to end it. "Thank you all, and I hope you've enjoyed your time here." And finally he was done.

And now they were taking a break to vote? Oh boy. He was just going to sit here and hope that strange, compelling urge to speak didn't take over again.

Food time. That applied to them too, right? Because... you know... food was awesome.

Carter looked around the other candidates. "Anyone... want a cookie or anything?" he asked. It would be weird to be the only one eating. "And... you all did well." He felt like that should be said. He gave a small smile to everyone. It really could be anyone's game.

Quote:

Originally Posted by LilFox06

Food time. That applied to them too, right? Because... you know... food was awesome.

Carter looked around the other candidates. "Anyone... want a cookie or anything?" he asked. It would be weird to be the only one eating. "And... you all did well." He felt like that should be said. He gave a small smile to everyone. It really could be anyone's game.

Offering food? Ivy sat in her seat and eyed the young man from a safe distance. She was slightly parched... but she didn't trust anyone she didn't know. And even then, she didn't trust... anyone. A little paranoia didn't hurt anyone, right? So Ivy just continued sitting there. She was going to keep her eye on this one...

Carter blinked. Several times. Merlin. You'd think he'd just offered to steal someone's first born child by the looks he was getting.

Right. So. He was alone in the food department...

He left the stage and returned a few minutes later with a few cookies. He tossed one to each of the three kids before returning to his seat. Then he happily munched on his remaining cookies until the debate continued.

Woo! It was almost dunking time. He was tempted to ask if he could still be dunked even if he did well. For like... charity or something. Yeah. For that. ... that seemed like a better thing to suggest than for his own enjoyment.

So this was the last question.... which didn't feel like a last question. Was he looking for something more challenging? Perhaps. Old habits and expectations die hard of course.

He listened to the other candidates say their piece, and really the question was a pretty general one of which many have already touched upon most of what he wanted to say.

Casually he stood, and glanced at the other candidates, specifically the Head of the A&C "Professor Schirmer have put it so eloquently what I want to say. There is not just one specific function of the Board of Governor that is important, in fact I dare say it would probably adjust and grow just as the education system would--and should-- adjust and grow with the times. Do know that the Board of Governors are here to provide support in every reasonable way and I would do my utmost best if you would allow me the opportunity to do so."

And there you have it. Short and sweet.

Amelia wasn't sure how long it would be before they found out how well they did, but she did know that she was scared. What if she wasn't as good as the other people? She felt that her speeches went well and people would like what she said. But they might not think that she was as good as the others. It was starting to scare her. One of the younger boys was offering food, but Amelia just sat there and stared straight ahead. It was very hard waiting to find out what was going to happen.

*BREAATHEEEEEE*

Yes. It was all over. Selena just smiled before hearing something. Dunking what? She didn't remember any of this. Was that what all that stuff was from before? SHEDIDN'TKNOWHOWTOSWIM. What if she drowned in that tank?! Nope. Selena did not approve of this.

Evil Muggle Studies professor. Hmph.

Gemma kept a close eye on her tally sheet and on the clock and stepped up to the platform, "Everyone, if you will start taking your seats, we have about five minutes left to vote and then we will get down to some dunking business..." she said excitedly.

OOC: We will leave the Poll open for about two more hours and then start with the dunking.

When everyone had seemed to have made it back to their seats, she started talking again. "Before we get to the dunking, I want to say a few thank yous to some people." she paused and then continued as she glanced at her list in her hand, "Thank you to the Headmistress and Professors that helped put together today's events, to the students on the the Committee, and to the Board of Governor Candidates, and to Hogsmeade." she said leading the applause for everyone.

Once the applause had died down she continued again, "Well, it's that time of the debate for us to recognize our top three vote recipients and the bottom three vote recipients. Remember the bottom three in attendance today will be dunked. " she said motioning towards the charmed dunking areas. "Now to ensure that no one sneaks away before they are dunked, " she flicked her wrist and instantly the candidates were stuck to their chairs, "your chairs were charmed before hand with a VERY advanced sticking charm. If you are not named as one of the bottom three candidates, the charm will disengage....Buuuuuutttt, if you are one of the bottom three, you're chair will instantly rise up and you will be dunked at the same time into the booth."

She glanced at her tally card and started making the announcements, "If you will give me a drum roll....." she said encouragingly to the crowd and once she heard the slaps that created a drum roll she said, "Our top three candidates for today's debate are Althea Schirmer, Eric Vinteren, and tied in third, Carter Phillips and Sherman Clark." she said and then waiting for the applause to die down.

"And now the moment you've been waiting for....the bottom three vote recipients." she waited to add a little bit of drama and continued, "At the bottom of the pack....Layla Dacosta." as soon as the professor said the woman's name...her chair rose up in the air and levitated to the first dunking booth hovering just above the charmed colored liquid, "In second from last, Amelia Thorne," and just like that her chair followed suit and hovered over the second booth, "And finally third from last....Nolan Reynolds," and just like that his chair rose and hovered as well.

She looked out at the crowd excitedly and said, "If you will, please rise and help me with the countdown...10....9....8...7...6...5...4...3....2. ...1..." and with a flick of her wrist the chairs plunged into the water.

HOLY SMOKES!

Cooper had been sitting, WAITING, for his name to be called out, casting him to his watery DOOOOOM. But it didn't come...

Instead, he BEAMED as three of his COMPETITORS were levitated to the dunking tanks and DROPPED!

Yikes.

Talk about embarrassing.

Turning to Carter, Coops gave the boy a MANLY nod, "I'll have a cookie."
After all, surviving the dunk tank did call for a celebration.

Annie prided herself on doing a better job of paying attention for the next set of questions, though she was still feeling overall... sleepy. Darn those warm air charms... and the cushiony-ness of her chair... oh no, she was starting to doze off again. Probably a bad idea when everyone was talking about changes they'd make to her school...

She shook herself into a more alert state just as Gemma took the stage. Right, they were announcing the winners now. Had she forgotten to vote...? The redhead leaned over and frowned as she spotted her ballot still under her chair. Oh well, now no one could accuse her of favoring one candidate over another even if she really did. She sat up and listened for the results.

"Congratulations," the redhead called out over the clapping, giving happy LOOKS to the winners Althea, Erik, and Sherman/Carter. Surprise surprise on those last two, but really, all four had had good answers overall. And as for the losers... Annie subtly scooted her chair out of the path of any water splashes and put a hand over her mouth to hide her laughter as they were quite suddenly... dunked.

Haaaaahahahaha. Poor pregnant Layla Dacosta. She kind of deserved it though, she had such an uppity attitude. And poor Nolan Reynolds --- he had looked quite confident on the stage. He probably didn't even see this coming. That other woman though, the educational expert... well her answers were some of the ones that had bored Annie to sleep, so she had no complaints about her being dunked.

Annie politely applauded anyway as the whole thing ended. She'd never been to a dunking before.

WHAT??? THIRD TO LAST?

Had everyone in the audience gone crazy?? There had to have been some mistake! He gripped the edge of his chair as it slowly started to levitate into the air. Nolan felt so many feelings right now. He was scared of getting wet, he was annoyed that he wasn't in first as he should have been...seriously, Althea was in first? With her crazy rants that put everyone to sleep? What was WRONG with the audience here??? Oh how he wished this debate had taken place a few years earlier, when he was still a popular ex-professor among the students. Yes, that had to be it...no one knew how awesome he was because they hadn't had the pleasure of being his pupil. Yes, that was it!

"Wait! There has to be a mis--" but it was too late. Before Nolan could finish his sentence...PLOP! His chair flipped and he fell headfirst into the water. He rose for air a mere second or two later, and blinked, taking off his glasses in order to wipe the water out of his eyes.

Now, he could either shuffle off the stage in shame...or make the best of this situation.

He got out of the tank, soaking wet, and bowed to the crowd with a grin. "Well, I guess i have to congratulate my fellow candidates for avoiding the tank," he said with a chuckle. Honestly though, he was seething. SEETHING. He was just a good actor and able to hide it very well. Plus if you couldn't laugh at yourself...what was the saying again? Whatever, he didn't care, all he cared about was the squishy feeling in his shoes right now.

Was he allowed to dry off now or....?

Banner day for Roxanne! She got to avoid being dunked and she got to watch as one of those arrogant Dacostas did get dunked. So, she may have been smirking a bit. Though, she did have to worry about the sanity of the audience in putting Althea as one of the leaders. After all, she had LITERALLY bored people to sleep. Did people honestly like that? Not to mention, the evil woman had baited her into losing her cool. But she would have her revenge, she decided. Right when the slimy woman least expected it. And that thought only made Roxanne smirk more.

Schooling her face into a kind smile, she responded to Nolan's congratulations. "Thank you. But I'm honestly surprised that you were on of the ones being dunked. I thought your answers were good and solid." Truly. Besides everyone up here knew who REALLY should've been dunked. But now was the time to test the waters a little. "It really should've been Althea, what with her boring everyone to death. Do you think maybe she rigged the ballots somehow?" she said in a low enough voice that only he could hear what she said. There, let that percolate a little.