Board of Governors Board Room

[BanaBatGirl]

"Hogwarts' School for Witchcraft and Wizardy's highest authority, the governing board consisting of 12 elected members of the community, will periodically and when necessary hold meetings and events in a provided room on the school premises."

-Hogwarts School Charter & Founding Documents

It just so happens that the room the BoG has been given used to be a dusty old classroom and practice room for student use. The dust is gone, the desks have been replaced by an elegant business table, and the governors all have comfortable, reclining executive chairs now. The long, green chalkboard on one side of the room is all that remains of the historic Classroom Eleven.

This room has remained pristine despite the state of the rest of the school. Clearly, whoever is left to do Hogwarts' cleaning was told to make this room a priority.

OOC NOTE: Only current Board of Governors Governors and Hogwarts Staff are permitted in this thread unless express permission has otherwise been given.

[LilFox06]

Carter walked into the Board room and looked around. Fancy. He made a lap around the classroom. Yeah. This was pretty brilliant.

He pulled out a chair and then reclined in it. Fancy.

And then he fought the urge to kick his feet onto the table. That wouldn't be at all professional. And that's what he was now.

He checked his watch. Huh. Early. Okay then. He set down a notebook that also contained a few letters from concerned students. He then took the pen from behind his ear and spun it between his fingers.

Alright. Bring on the Board meeting!

[Cassirin]

Cassandra Rae-Branxton bustled into her Board Room, rolls and rolls and rolls of parchments tucked under her arm. She dropped the parchments at her seat at the head of the table before moving over to examine her tea service. Yes, the room was still immaculately clean, but Cassandra could practically cry from disappointment when she discovered the tea pot was empty.

This. Was. Terrible. Was this what her children were dealing with every day here?

She turned back towards her seat and only then spotted Mr. Phillips seated at the table. Merlin, had he been there all along? How very ninja of him. "Mr. Phillips, I'm so pleased to see you. And you're so prompt too. I'd offer tea, but there isn't any. Nor biscuits." It was very disappointing.

[LilFox06]

Carter watched as Madame President entered the board room holding... a library worth of rolls of parchment. Merlin, what could one lady do with sooo much parchment?

Or maybe the question was: What can't she do? She was President after all.

"Carter is just fine Madame President." He was allowed to call her that, right? Because it was fun to say. Plus, she wasn't quite sure how hyphenated names worked. Did he have to say both parts? Was it offensive not to? He probably shouldn't be offensive. That was frowned upon.

He stood up and started walking over to the pot. "I can make tea." In case she was wondering. As long as there were some leaves or a tea bag.

Or as long as that wasn't really weird. Which it probably was. "And I wasn't really expecting any special treatment given... things I've been told."

[Lissy Longbottom]

Alright, board meeting time! Nolan walked into the room and was pleased to see that he was early - only Braxton and Carter were there. However his good mood vanished when he heard her announce that there were no tea OR biscuits. He was unsure which was worse...

"Aww, no biscuits?" he said with a small sigh. "Well, too bad. Maybe they're hoping the absence of treats will...motivate us more during this meeting," he chuckled. Certainly if HE were trying to get a group of people to come up with solutions to a budget issue, he'd take away the sweets and make them angry. It made sense to him!

[sarahlooo]

Another day in the castle, but today she finally got to speak with adults (for the most part), rather than keep her eye on children that were driving her insane. Ivy had an idea of what she had signed up for when she so generously agreed to teach Charms at this school, but Merlin... If she inhaled anymore dust bunnies, she wouldn't survive.

Ivy Knox entered the board room confidently, noticing that she was early, along with a few others. "Good day, Cassandra." Ivy nodded to the president and took a seat, completely ignoring the other two. Time to get to work!

[Steelsheen]

Corin knew where the BOG room was, but he didn’t proceed there right away. What he did was he went to do his rounds in the school, and what he’s seen could break his heart....

... if he wasn’t so ticked off about what caused all of this in the first place.

He wasn’t just about to go storming into the meeting room, despite how accurate that would be to indicate his mood. Instead he turned into the doorway and forced that thin displeased line that were his lips into a bit of a cordial smile “Good day everybody.” he greeted those present. He eyed the tea service near Cassandra. It looked neat—too neat. The kind that meant empty: props only.

Should he take a seat? He will, when the President has called the meeting to order. Right now he’ll just pace around the room and pretend to take special notice of that chalkboard. Diffuse that temper a bit more...

[AlwaysSnapesGirl]

This certainly was not how Atticus would have pictured the first board meeting to be. Who would, really? No one expected Hogwarts to lose its funds so suddenly. It was completely horrible.

It wouldn't due to dwell upon all that, however. All they could do now was move forward and try to recover and gain money for the budget as best they could.

Entering the board room, he found that there were already a fair number of fellow governors here already, though not all. Good, that meant he wasn't late. He hadn't expected to be since he had left early for this, but it was nice to have it confirmed.

"Good day, everyone." Atticus offered a polite smile to them all. "I hope you all are doing well."

[Erik Vinteren]

Erik was on time or early too for this meeting. He wasn't sure which, but he quietly trotted down the stairs from his office in the castle and into the board room. At least it was clean. And there was the President, she got a nod. Erik acknowledged the quidditch boy, Reynolds, Vanderbilt, and Aldredge with eye contact and that was about it.

He took a seat beside his co-conspirator professor (Ivy) and waited patiently for the meeting to begin.

[Harold Lagerty]

Hops wasn't late, no he was not.

The Board Treasurer entered the Boardroom on the first floor of Hogwarts and quickly shut the door behind himself. As he walked to his chair beside Cassandra he wanted to ignore the fact that some people in the room probably still blamed him for the loss of the funds in the school's vault but it wasn't true so their thoughts didn't matter to him.

"Hello Cassandra." He said with a smile to his neighbor as he took his chair. "Phillips, Vanderbilt, Aldridge, Reynolds, Ms. Knox, and Erik." The last two were professors now and were sort of insiders for this meeting, weren't they?

[Cassirin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LilFox06

Carter watched as Madame President entered the board room holding... a library worth of rolls of parchment. Merlin, what could one lady do with sooo much parchment?

Or maybe the question was: What can't she do? She was President after all.

"Carter is just fine Madame President." He was allowed to call her that, right? Because it was fun to say. Plus, she wasn't quite sure how hyphenated names worked. Did he have to say both parts? Was it offensive not to? He probably shouldn't be offensive. That was frowned upon.

He stood up and started walking over to the pot. "I can make tea." In case she was wondering. As long as there were some leaves or a tea bag.

Or as long as that wasn't really weird. Which it probably was. "And I wasn't really expecting any special treatment given... things I've been told."

"Carter, then," Cassandra gave the man a tight smile which soon morphed into an actual smile. If he was offering to make tea, then Cassandra would absolutely never turn such an offer down. She gestured toward the tea service.

"Please... make a pot for everyone to share. And you can call me Cassandra." Tea was an absolute necessity, considering the conversations that were about to occur. Taking a meal together, or tea in this case, forced a certain level of civility that might otherwise be lacking.

And Cassandra wasn't feeling very civil, to be honest, so she needed all the help she could get.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lissy Longbottom

Alright, board meeting time! Nolan walked into the room and was pleased to see that he was early - only Braxton and Carter were there. However his good mood vanished when he heard her announce that there were no tea OR biscuits. He was unsure which was worse...

"Aww, no biscuits?" he said with a small sigh. "Well, too bad. Maybe they're hoping the absence of treats will...motivate us more during this meeting," he chuckled. Certainly if HE were trying to get a group of people to come up with solutions to a budget issue, he'd take away the sweets and make them angry. It made sense to him!

"Do you suppose the absence of proper meals motivates the students more during class? Or does the rumbling of an empty belly drown out the professor and distract from the lesson?" She didn't mean to be pointedly disagreeable in Nolan's direction - she was rather fond of the former professor - but this was no laughing matter.

Some of the other governors wandered in, and Cassandra imperiously gestured at the table. Aside from Carter, the rest of them ought to just sit down and prepare themselves for what was to come.

"I've prepared an agenda, but honestly... I'm not sure I see a point in us talking about anything other than the immediate matter at hand. Hogwarts has no funds, and it is severely impacting the education our students are receiving. I know you're all eager to discuss your ideas, but are there any questions before we get started?"

[TeafortheSoul]

So she'd gone and looked around to get a better handle on the state of things. The turnstiles were an interesting touch. Althea wasn't late however, and she had brought snacks from home.

"Hello, everyone." Thea greeted, and placed a tray down on the table. Club sandwiches, cheese and crackers, fresh fruit, and jam and miniature scones. "I brought some food from home..." And wasn't that lucky given there apparently wasn't anything? She'd brought more sandwiches but ended up giving them to some of the kids she'd run into while looking around. One tray was enough though.

She sat down on Ivy's other side and smiled at her, making a mental note to enquire how things were going. Perhaps they could meet in Hogsmeade later or something.

Business for now though. Did she have questions? You bet she did, but they would come.

"I'm curious about the practicality of the turnstiles." She said pleasantly enough, looking at Cassandra, who surely knew more.

[lemon]

As soon as Sherman entered the room, he had to try his very best not to immediately roll up to the middle of the table and make grabby hands at the food. That was IMPOLITE, and he was a gentleman, wasn't he? The elderly man wheeled as far away from the tray as possible and folded his hands in his lap, not wanting to disrupt the current discussion already started. It was impolite to interrupt, too, he knew.

Smiles for everyone, but comments for none. Not yet, anyway. Althea could start them off with turnstiles. He would save his agglomeration of questions for later.

[LilFox06]

"Cassandra." Carter repeated with a nod and a small smile. Yeah. It was still a little weird to call adults by their first name. Oh well.

He then busied himself with making a kettle of tea for the group. He'd have to remember to thank his mum later for teaching him random stuff like this. He nodded a greeting over his shoulder to each of the new members that walked in.

Once the tea was ready, he set it in the middle of the table with the food Althea had brought in. He then regained his seat.

He nodded at Althea's question. "I agree." He had additional comments. Lots of additional comments. But he figured he'd wait until the official start of the meeting to mention those.

[Steelsheen]

Questions? Corin only had one question.

And it’s THE question.

As he settled in his seat, his gaze flickered to Hops. No he wasn’t blaming the man for the loss of the funds--the man runs The Three Broomsticks, not Gringotts. What he’d like to know was...

“Are there any other details we should know about regarding the school funds?” Other than hastily whispered rumors in the middle of a celebratory party? Now would be a good time to formally communicate to the Board about certain things they should know about yes?

[Hera]

"Greetings all!" Cooper announced as he SLIPPPED into the rooom as quickly and as smooooothly as possible. He wasn't LATE was he? Nooooo. Surely.

Taking a seat at the fancy-pants table and the SUPER comfy chairs. Could he... stay here forever?

He'd only just come in to the tail end of whatever conversation was flowing, but he already found himself nodding in agreement. Particularly with regard to the turnstiles. It seemed over the top and DISRESPECTFUL to insist student pay a fee for their bed. Because that's what it was. A fee to access their sleeping quarters.

Corin's question was also a cracker. "Yessss...is there anything in particular we ought to be concerned about?" or doing?

[Cassirin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tegz

So she'd gone and looked around to get a better handle on the state of things. The turnstiles were an interesting touch. Althea wasn't late however, and she had brought snacks from home.

"Hello, everyone." Thea greeted, and placed a tray down on the table. Club sandwiches, cheese and crackers, fresh fruit, and jam and miniature scones. "I brought some food from home..." And wasn't that lucky given there apparently wasn't anything? She'd brought more sandwiches but ended up giving them to some of the kids she'd run into while looking around. One tray was enough though.

She sat down on Ivy's other side and smiled at her, making a mental note to enquire how things were going. Perhaps they could meet in Hogsmeade later or something.

Business for now though. Did she have questions? You bet she did, but they would come.

"I'm curious about the practicality of the turnstiles." She said pleasantly enough, looking at Cassandra, who surely knew more.

The food was a thoughtful touch, although Cassandra preferred just taking a cup of tea from the kettle Carter had prepared. Still, she gave Althea a solemn nod of the head before turning her attention specifically to the woman's question.

"Not very practical, I imagine. Feel free to take up that question with the Headmistress and report back to us. I should think that in particular, we don't want to limit access to areas that the students must enter and exit. They must eat and sleep, so those turnstiles obviously must go. In general, I don't like them, but Headmistress Truebridge must have some feeling of autonomy for this working relationship to last," Cassandra responded thoughtfully. She figured Althea was perfectly capable of speaking with Annie on behalf of the governors.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steelsheen

Questions? Corin only had one question.

And it’s THE question.

As he settled in his seat, his gaze flickered to Hops. No he wasn’t blaming the man for the loss of the funds--the man runs The Three Broomsticks, not Gringotts. What he’d like to know was...

“Are there any other details we should know about regarding the school funds?” Other than hastily whispered rumors in the middle of a celebratory party? Now would be a good time to formally communicate to the Board about certain things they should know about yes?

Corin got a brief blink. What was that referring to? Details other than which, exactly. She sipped her tea and considered the broader question before finally responding, "I'm not sure what details are already known. Perhaps a recap is in order, and then you can clarify. I think the main fact I'd like to impart is that none of the actions done thus far have been Board sanctioned or planned, but we want to appear unified with the Headmistress. You all must absolutely NOT speak to the media about this without vetting it through the Board first."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hera

"Greetings all!" Cooper announced as he SLIPPPED into the rooom as quickly and as smooooothly as possible. He wasn't LATE was he? Nooooo. Surely.

Taking a seat at the fancy-pants table and the SUPER comfy chairs. Could he... stay here forever?

He'd only just come in to the tail end of whatever conversation was flowing, but he already found himself nodding in agreement. Particularly with regard to the turnstiles. It seemed over the top and DISRESPECTFUL to insist student pay a fee for their bed. Because that's what it was. A fee to access their sleeping quarters.

Corin's question was also a cracker. "Yessss...is there anything in particular we ought to be concerned about?" or doing?

Anything in particular? What wasn't of concern at this point? Cassandra sniffed a bit, but it wasn't mean-spirited. Mostly. Just impatient. "I think we should be concerned about a great many things, but let us take this one step at a time."

As if laying out a battle plan, Cassandra ticked out the main points. Her tea was forgotten as she counted points on her fingers. "Point one, we're flat broke. Not through any fault of our own, but we've been robbed. It's a fund that is generally very flush, and we were foolish enough to be keeping it all in one vault... well. Lessons learned. We don't have liquid assets at this time. Points two, in order to simply fund the castle staying open at this time, they've had to set up several means of cutting expenses and raising funds. In cutting expenses, I believe they've sold off the china and cutlery, among other things." Which made Cassandra a bit livid.

"If we could have someone volunteer to scour the shops for it, let's see if we can't buy it back and hold it until the school can reimburse us. I'll pay for it, but I need someone to do the foot work. In terms of raising funds, they've put in turnstiles in the common areas and Great Hall, and students must pay each time they access those areas." She'd already made her opinion on that known.

"Point three... the house elves have all resigned, aside from one small elf that cannot hope to keep up. The students are cooking and cleaning for themselves, which is not an appropriate use of their time. They are here to learn, not to do elf work. If anyone is able to donate the services of a personal house elf, that might help alleviate the workload. I have one I can offer immediately."

Now then... those were the salient points? "Any questions so far? I know we want to brainstorm, but let's stick to understanding the facts as they stand now."

[TeafortheSoul]

SPOILER!!: madame president

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cassirin

The food was a thoughtful touch, although Cassandra preferred just taking a cup of tea from the kettle Carter had prepared. Still, she gave Althea a solemn nod of the head before turning her attention specifically to the woman's question.

"Not very practical, I imagine. Feel free to take up that question with the Headmistress and report back to us. I should think that in particular, we don't want to limit access to areas that the students must enter and exit. They must eat and sleep, so those turnstiles obviously must go. In general, I don't like them, but Headmistress Truebridge must have some feeling of autonomy for this working relationship to last," Cassandra responded thoughtfully. She figured Althea was perfectly capable of speaking with Annie on behalf of the governors.

Corin got a brief blink. What was that referring to? Details other than which, exactly. She sipped her tea and considered the broader question before finally responding, "I'm not sure what details are already known. Perhaps a recap is in order, and then you can clarify. I think the main fact I'd like to impart is that none of the actions done thus far have been Board sanctioned or planned, but we want to appear unified with the Headmistress. You all must absolutely NOT speak to the media about this without vetting it through the Board first."

Anything in particular? What wasn't of concern at this point? Cassandra sniffed a bit, but it wasn't mean-spirited. Mostly. Just impatient. "I think we should be concerned about a great many things, but let us take this one step at a time."

As if laying out a battle plan, Cassandra ticked out the main points. Her tea was forgotten as she counted points on her fingers. "Point one, we're flat broke. Not through any fault of our own, but we've been robbed. It's a fund that is generally very flush, and we were foolish enough to be keeping it all in one vault... well. Lessons learned. We don't have liquid assets at this time. Points two, in order to simply fund the castle staying open at this time, they've had to set up several means of cutting expenses and raising funds. In cutting expenses, I believe they've sold off the china and cutlery, among other things." Which made Cassandra a bit livid.

"If we could have someone volunteer to scour the shops for it, let's see if we can't buy it back and hold it until the school can reimburse us. I'll pay for it, but I need someone to do the foot work. In terms of raising funds, they've put in turnstiles in the common areas and Great Hall, and students must pay each time they access those areas." She'd already made her opinion on that known.

"Point three... the house elves have all resigned, aside from one small elf that cannot hope to keep up. The students are cooking and cleaning for themselves, which is not an appropriate use of their time. They are here to learn, not to do elf work. If anyone is able to donate the services of a personal house elf, that might help alleviate the workload. I have one I can offer immediately."

Now then... those were the salient points? "Any questions so far? I know we want to brainstorm, but let's stick to understanding the facts as they stand now."

Feel free? So essentially Cassandra here was passing on taking point on that and dropping it on Althea? She raised one eyebrow. "I'm sure I could chat with her about it. Is she planning on dropping in on this meeting?"

Autonomy was important but so was communication. They might have been able to avoid a lot of the current issues as they impacted the children had there been a little of that before the term actually began.

She continued to listen. "Do we have a media statement prepared? I believe we need to get on that sooner rather than later, and today so that we are all on the same page." She wasn't going to volunteer to buy back the china by the way. Someone else could do that.

"I want to know what else was taken. There was more of value than just money in the vault. Do we have an official inventory? Additionally, I'd like to know if Magical Law Enforcement have been brought in yet or if are we hoping to address this autonomously. I'd also like to know if the goblins been questioned and if we have records of the last visits to the vault before it was discovered empty. And as for the house elves, were they not technically chattel and not free to actually resign, so the use of that word seems odd. Were they also taken?" Yes, she had a lot of questions.

Althea took a sandwich from the tray and looked around at the others. "I think there are two main areas of concern: firstly what are we going to do going forward so that the students are not inconvenienced any further, and secondly, what are we going to do to find what is missing and get back what belongs to Hogwarts? Neither aspect can be easily swept under the carpet and we need to be proactive both here at Hogwarts and within the Wizarding community to restore things to how they should be."

[Harold Lagerty]

The other Governors that entered after Harold each got a slight nod from the Treasurer. Hops had just wished that one of the first official meetings as a full body was under happier circumstances but that dream was killed by whatever son-of-a-hippogriff has robbed them bloody blind.

The questions were beginning and Lagerty turned his salt and pepper head to listen as Cassandra took them each in turn.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tegz

So she'd gone and looked around to get a better handle on the state of things. The turnstiles were an interesting touch. Althea wasn't late however, and she had brought snacks from home.

"Hello, everyone." Thea greeted, and placed a tray down on the table. Club sandwiches, cheese and crackers, fresh fruit, and jam and miniature scones. "I brought some food from home..." And wasn't that lucky given there apparently wasn't anything? She'd brought more sandwiches but ended up giving them to some of the kids she'd run into while looking around. One tray was enough though.

She sat down on Ivy's other side and smiled at her, making a mental note to enquire how things were going. Perhaps they could meet in Hogsmeade later or something.

Business for now though. Did she have questions? You bet she did, but they would come.

"I'm curious about the practicality of the turnstiles." She said pleasantly enough, looking at Cassandra, who surely knew more.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cassirin

[color=royalblue]The food was a thoughtful touch, although Cassandra preferred just taking a cup of tea from the kettle Carter had prepared. Still, she gave Althea a solemn nod of the head before turning her attention specifically to the woman's question.

"Not very practical, I imagine. Feel free to take up that question with the Headmistress and report back to us. I should think that in particular, we don't want to limit access to areas that the students must enter and exit. They must eat and sleep, so those turnstiles obviously must go. In general, I don't like them, but Headmistress Truebridge must have some feeling of autonomy for this working relationship to last," Cassandra responded thoughtfully. She figured Althea was perfectly capable of speaking with Annie on behalf of the governors.

"If it's not too much, I would like to agree with Cassandra here, and I assume with yourself, Miss Schrimer." He didn't want to assume anything but by the tone behind her question he assumed she was disliking the turnstiles as much as the rest of them.

It obviously wasn't one of the Headmistress's brightest ideas. "They need to be removed as soon as possible but in order for Madame Truebridge to continue to comfortably feel her autonomy as leader of this school and to preserve the working relationship we have with her administration I think that if we plan on removing the turnstiles we must first come up with at least one other form of fundraising to replace them."

Removing one of their prime fundraising vehicles without replacing them would just leave them feeling as if they were abandoned, high and dry.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cassirin

As if laying out a battle plan, Cassandra ticked out the main points. Her tea was forgotten as she counted points on her fingers. "Point one, we're flat broke. Not through any fault of our own, but we've been robbed. It's a fund that is generally very flush, and we were foolish enough to be keeping it all in one vault... well. Lessons learned. We don't have liquid assets at this time. Points two, in order to simply fund the castle staying open at this time, they've had to set up several means of cutting expenses and raising funds. In cutting expenses, I believe they've sold off the china and cutlery, among other things." Which made Cassandra a bit livid.

"If we could have someone volunteer to scour the shops for it, let's see if we can't buy it back and hold it until the school can reimburse us. I'll pay for it, but I need someone to do the foot work. In terms of raising funds, they've put in turnstiles in the common areas and Great Hall, and students must pay each time they access those areas." She'd already made her opinion on that known.

"Point three... the house elves have all resigned, aside from one small elf that cannot hope to keep up. The students are cooking and cleaning for themselves, which is not an appropriate use of their time. They are here to learn, not to do elf work. If anyone is able to donate the services of a personal house elf, that might help alleviate the workload. I have one I can offer immediately."

Now then... those were the salient points? "Any questions so far? I know we want to brainstorm, but let's stick to understanding the facts as they stand now."

No fault, that was correct.

At this statement Harold's eyes darted around the room quickly before settling on the tea that Phillips had made. He leaned forward to make himself a cup as the President continued to lay out their agenda.

"I can speak with the other shopkeepers in Hogsmeade and have them help me keep a look-out in the village for the china. Saul's shop sees its fair share of pawns and trades." he said calmly to the others in the room.

As for the House Elves he couldn't help there. Harold had always cleaned the Broomsticks with his own efforts. Surely though the witches and wizards around him who were able to afford running for office so recently would have the means and perhaps a spare Elf in their homes.

[LilFox06]

Alright. Finally down to business. Carter poured himself a cup of tea just to gather his thoughts. Robbed. Vault. He assumed that was in reference to Gringotts. He racked his brain trying to figure out if he'd heard anything about that. But, he couldn't remember anything. Which, was odd. You'd think something would have been mentioned considering all the things going on at school.

He sipped his tea slowly as Althea asked questions. She was definitely good at this. Carter was actually a little envious at how quickly and well she formed thoughts.

Carter nodded as the topic was turned to the turnstiles. He agreed that those needed to be removed right away. And it made sense they'd need to come up with another solution to raise the funds. "A way that doesn't take away from the students." he agreed with a nod. "Considering how well the library fundraiser went last term, perhaps we ought to reach out to the community in general." It made sense. Of course, there'd have to be some kind of assurance the money and funds would be better taken care of this time around.

He then nodded again at Althea's next point. A media statement. "Perhaps something in combination with... the bank or law enforcement. Assuming we're cooperating and trying to get this all figured out." Of course, that was an assumption. "I'd even suggest an apology to the students and their parents. I've received a few letters from concerned students..." (or at least his sister and her boyfriend, but that was beside the point) "I can understand that Hogwarts needs the money... but a collection blocking their beds and their meals?"

They sold china. Important china? He didn't quite see why they couldn't just buy more when they had more money. But. He wasn't a girl. He assumed it was a girl thing. "I could look around." he said with a shrug. He had a wife he could just casually hint at pawn shopping to. Destiny would probably even think it was her idea. Unless this wasn't something that was supposed to be secret. Then. Yeah. It would be kind of fun to see if he could convince her anyway.

"And I've got a house elf as well." In fact, Destiny would probably be glad to have it gone for awhile. He was pretty sure that she was still convinced house elves were out to poison her.

[lemon]

"Has the bank already contacted Magical Law Enforcement themselves, even if we're handling this autonomously? We should check up on that. Has there been any communication between us and those at Gringotts?" Sherman fidgeted with his hands at all the bank talk, his thoughts still flickering to his wife, who he STILL hadn't interrogated about this all yet. And he needed to. Did they know he was married to the bank manager? Did that help any? No? Okay.

Turnstiles, though, right. "I agree. I like Carter's idea of reaching out to the community again, since our last fundraiser seemed to go especially well. Also, I'm sure parents will be more than willing to assist, seeing their children's educations are at stake, but I politely disagree with ideas of directly extracted payment from the young ones." So Mr. Clark wasn't in favor of the paying, along with everyone else, not to mention the WHINING letters he'd received (Merlin, those were a pain).

No house elf to offer up, but Sherman still had words. "I'm with Mr. Phillips on that one, as well. An apology to the families seems to be in order." The amount of trouble this could be causing some tight budgeted folks was heartbreaking to the elderly man. "I'll have my wife keep an eye out for the cutlery and will do so myself, as well. I'm elfless, though, unfortunately." He slumped a bit in his chair, rolling the wheels back and forth anxiously.

"So we've got to work on a media statemenf, possibly with DMLE and/or the bank, as well as brainstorming for fundraisers?" He started wracking his brain for ideas almost immediately, frowning thoughtfully at the sandwiches in the center of the table, no longer hungry.

This was difficult.

[sarahlooo]

Ivy gave a nod to Althea when she sat next to her. It was nice having her around again after all those years. And it was nice having someone decent and qualified on the board besides Erik and herself. Anyway, on to business...

Clasping her hands on the table, Ivy listened to her fellow board members rattle on about the impracticality of the turnstiles, particularly in the common rooms. "In all honesty, the idea wasn't that absurd," she objected to everyone. "Desperate times call for desperate measures, do they not? Like Cassandra said, we are flat broke, we have to start somewhere. But, the other hand, I do agree that we shouldn't keep them for much longer. I expect we'll start receiving more parent complains soon about their children's money being wasted on such things."

Ah, yes, the house elves. "My house elf is already here, assisting the young one when needed." Or, in other words, assisting Toddles when Ivy wasn't using her. Aaand Ivy shut her mouth for the rest of the house elf discussion.

Merlin, Althea asked a lot of questions. More than her (which was really saying something).

The thought of a fundraiser had already crossed her mind, so she wasn't going to give Mr. Quaffle-Brain-Phillips any credit for that idea. "I've been brainstorming, actually. Maybe we could hold a sort of Ball or a Holiday Gala and invite the general public, charging them a fee for entry. The students could earn points for decorating the Great Hall or trying their hand at cooking with magic for the event." How FUN would that be? Ivy loved a good party and showing off her fancy dresses. And the students got to practice their magic, as well.

The one thing that definitely did not settle with Ivy was the idea of an apology to the parents. It didn't matter whose side she was on, that idea was just... shameful. She shook her head in response to Carter and Sherman. "No, no, no, I completely disagree. We have nothing to apologize for - we are not at fault. We did not willingly empty the contents of our vault and send ourselves into debt. Yes, it may have been careless to keep it all in one place, but we do not owe anyone an apology for getting robbed."

"Our public statement should be firm and confident. We will recover from this tragic event and we will not let our students' educations be affected by this terrible crime. Life has many bumps in the road, and this is one of them. We are trying our best and we will come out conqueror." No reason to apologize. Merlin's beard, were they all spineless?

[Lissy Longbottom]

Nolan had been keeping his mouth shut after that SASSY comment from Braxton, but now that they'd gotten to brainstorming he found himself coming up with a few ideas himself. He nodded at everyone's ideas of fundraising, which was obviously the best place to start.

"At this point, I don't even think it would be that out of line to ask for a small donation from parents before we do anything like planning a fundraiser, which will of course cost us a bit of money to hold, I'm sure," he said. "Muggle universities do it all the time - they ask their alum to give a small donation from time to time. Would it be that uncalled for for US to do that as well?" he suggested.

"That could be done hand in hand with a ball or something of some sort, to give people something to look forward," he added. "Both of those are options. Considering that parents are probably aware of the situation, I don't think many wouldn't be willing to donate a few galleons here and there if we sent a nice owl to them asking them for a favor. We can always hold a ball or party, free of charge, as a thank you when we finally have the money," he added.

He knew that if Scarlett's school needed some money, he'd be more than willing to toss in some galleons to help the cause. Surely other parents were that willing too!

[Erik Vinteren]

Erik remained quiet at first, preferring to listen rather than jump in and say something he might regret. Privately, he thought that seeking out the cutlery that had been sold seemed like a waste of time and a frivolous suggestion by a sentimental former head of the school. Publicly, his face remained neutral and emotionless as he watched the ideas and questions being tossed around.

He was most suspicious of how come Schirmer just knew things other than the school's gold had been stolen from the vault. Had she been down there before? She was too sharp, too sharp...he might have to think up a distraction for her...not now though, Erik should likely speak up now and contribute something.

"I vhink the idea of a fundraiser sounds fine," Erik remarked. "It vould be a nice distraction for vhe students, give vhem something to look forward to. To save on costs, ve could ask for sponsors from Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade. Perhaps even vhe Three Broomsticks vould be willing to cater vhe event." He glanced at Hops with that suggestion. What was wrong with having the students cook their own food and make their own beds though, he didn't know. Muggles had to do that too and they turned out fine and educated enough.

"Vot about putting in different payment centres if ve remove vhe ones in vhe Great Hall and Common Rooms?" he added after a moment of thought. "Ones in places vhat aren't necessary to students' basic needs? Such as vhe astronomy tower, the extracurriculars, vhe...greenhouses, potion stores..." Just a suggestion.

[Lissy Longbottom]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Erik Vinteren

Erik remained quiet at first, preferring to listen rather than jump in and say something he might regret. Privately, he thought that seeking out the cutlery that had been sold seemed like a waste of time and a frivolous suggestion by a sentimental former head of the school. Publicly, his face remained neutral and emotionless as he watched the ideas and questions being tossed around.

He was most suspicious of how come Schirmer just knew things other than the school's gold had been stolen from the vault. Had she been down there before? She was too sharp, too sharp...he might have to think up a distraction for her...not now though, Erik should likely speak up now and contribute something.

"I vhink the idea of a fundraiser sounds fine," Erik remarked. "It vould be a nice distraction for vhe students, give vhem something to look forward to. To save on costs, ve could ask for sponsors from Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade. Perhaps even vhe Three Broomsticks vould be willing to cater vhe event." He glanced at Hops with that suggestion. What was wrong with having the students cook their own food and make their own beds though, he didn't know. Muggles had to do that too and they turned out fine and educated enough.

"Vot about putting in different payment centres if ve remove vhe ones in vhe Great Hall and Common Rooms?" he added after a moment of thought. "Ones in places vhat aren't necessary to students' basic needs? Such as vhe astronomy tower, the extracurriculars, vhe...greenhouses, potion stores..." Just a suggestion.

Nolan liked the idea of putting the booths in OTHER places where students didn't necessarily HAVE to pay to get in, but the ones that Vinteren had mentioned made him wrinkle his brows slightly. "I do like the idea of placing them in other areas, but we have to remember that some professors tailor their homework around those areas. Especially the tower and the greenhouses...I could see a few parents getting upset that we are hindering their child's grades by imposing a toll there," he pointed out.

"What about the Quidditch games?" he suggested. Seemed reasonable to him - you paid to get into professional games, why not this one?