Debate #2 - Guests

Katherine Alicastell

Former Headmistress
Messages
1,971
OOC First Name
Jesse
Blood Status
Mixed Blood
Relationship Status
Divorced
Sexual Orientation
Heterosexual
Wand
Straight 9 ½ Inch Rigid Chestnut Wand with Unicorn Tail Hair Core
Age
October 1988 (67)
OOCOut of Character:
This topic is open to guests of the Education Debate, which can be found here Guests to the debate must match one of the criteria below to post:
[ul][li]Current Professors of HNZ</LI>
[li]Former Headmaster(s)
[li]Recent graduates of HNZ within the last five years

[li]Minister and/or Deputy Minister
[li]Department of Education Employees
[li]Department of Magical Law Enforcement Employees

[li]Immediate, adult family of the candidates
[li]Campaign managers/volunteers, and assigned Aurors of the candidates
<LI>[li]Reporters [/li][/ul]Please ensure your character fits one of these categories. Any aggressive or disruptive behaviour will lead to swift removal by a member of Magical Law Enforcement.


 
Cyndi Kingsley was quite interested in seeing how this debate would progress. It was a topic quite obviously dear to her heart, and she was quite interested in hearing what the candidates would have to say. Cyndi knew that her boss would not take any nonsense from the candidates, and she was looking forward to that aspect as well. Some of the discussions in the previous debate had gone a fair deal longer and more astray than she'd have liked. Cyndi was also quite interested in hearing just how involved these candidates planned on being in the school. She quite liked that Cameron had allowed the school to do its work with limited interference, and her vote would probably go towards someone similar in that aspect. Looking around for her husband, the woman wondered if he would be in attendance. It had been some time since she'd seen him last and though she was still quite angry at him, she missed him desperately as well.
 
Watching Claudia debate was an experience unlike anything James had ever felt before. On the one hand he was proud of his wife, so proud of the confidence, conviction and wisdom she spoke with, and on the other, a strange, uneasy worry. Claudia was pouring her heart and soul into this campaign, he saw every day how deeply she cared about doing the best for the people of New Zealand, and the thought that this would make her a target to some people was deeply scary. James's fears had been sitting relatively dormant until the recent article in the Prophet kicked them into overdrive. A Scitorari sympathiser had infiltrated the election so thoroughly that he had somehow been allowed to run. They had met this man, he had been close to Claudia countless times, he could have done anything. James knew his wife was a capable witch, and well protected by her Auror, but the dangers of politics felt like another world to him, and he just had to hope nothing else would go wrong.

Taking his seat to watch the debate, James spotted the current minister's wife sitting nearby, recognising her from the luncheon she had thrown, and took a moment to give her a small friendly wave. He wondered how she had handled this pressure so well for so long. James really only felt comfortable in the safety of his greenhouses, with few other people around. Claudia's work may as well be another world entirely to him. Looking up at the stage though, all of James's worries settled as his wife met his eyes and smiled. James smiled back broadly, heart warming with love. Of course, there was nothing to worry about. Claudia would be fine. There was nothing the capable woman he had married couldn't handle.
 
The debate on education had been marked on Jon's calendar ever since the date was announced, and understandably so given he worked at Hogwarts and anything involving education would affect the students, himself, and all the other professors and staff. It was important for everyone that had connections to Hogwarts to pay attention to what each of the candidates believed about education, and if they thought anything needed to be changed. Jon personally thought most of what was happening in Hogwarts was adequate the way it was, bar the lack of understanding many of the muggle born students had on the magical world when they arrived to begin their schooling. He did believe something to help the muggle born children adjust to their new lives would be helpful, but he could also admit it was a topic close to him due to his own life experiences, the subject he taught and the students he had needed to help during the years. It might not have been as much of a practical or plausible change as he wanted it to be. Nevertheless, Jon was ready to watch the debate unfold and see what the candidates thought. It was certainly going to be interesting, even if it turned out to be completely different from the previous debate.
 
The news of Metrophanes' arrest had surprised Monty, but it hadn't shocked him. He'd never expected the man to get very far, what with his criminal connections, but the professor still felt considerably more at ease knowing he was out of the running. It frightened him to think that Metrophanes - or Roman - had made it as far as he did. Who knew what kind of secrets the remaining candidates were hiding? Monty arrived and found a seat, nodding toward the Headmistress, though he wasn't sure she was looking his way. Even had he not been passionately devoted to education and welfare, he would have come to the debate to support Katherine. She started the candidates off with a question written in by Hayley Elridge, a student Monty knew best for her staging of a revolution in the school courtyard. This would surely be interesting. He listened to each candidate speak, privately thinking that though it was easy enough to impress with eloquent speeches and hollow promises, he was almost more inclined to suspect these people than he was to be persuaded by them. He didn't expect the candidates to be able to solve every issue; he just wanted to see somebody care enough about education to try.
 
As a new Professor at Hogwarts and as a campaign volunteer of her Aunt's campaign, Grace had plenty of reasons to be at the second debate. She felt excited to be this close to the action, especially when the candidates were discussing something as important as education. She spotted a few of her new colleagues, which wasn't a surprise as they were all invested in knowing what the candidates planned to do on the front of education. Grace made her way over to her uncle, giving him a smile before taking a seat next to him. She sat up straight and looked at the candidates and the headmistress as the debate began. The first question was an interesting one, and Grace felt like her aunt had given a detailed answer. She wasn't sure how many people here would agree with her views, but she knew she supported her. She glanced at her uncle James. "Not a bad start." She whispered.
 
It was only in the past year that Alana and her father had begun to mend their broken relationship. He'd wanted a relationship with his grandchild, and she hadn't wanted to deny him that. Still, it had come as a complete shock when Alana had received the issue of The Daily Prophet which announced the candidates and seen her father's face staring back at her. The teenager still wasn't sure if her father knew what all he was getting into, but curiosity and a desire to support him had pushed her to take him up on his offer to get her a ticket for the debate. Alana entered the space dressed in some of her best clothes, wanting to make a good impression for her father as she looked for her seat. She spotted several of her old professors and nodded to them before settling in and looking around.

Alana wasn't particularly interested in the topic. She'd graduated and it would be years before Eris would be attending school. She was intrigued by Carter Kaster's mention of something that had taken place in the school, her curiosity burning for the gossip. She didn't even think her father was all that interested, but she couldn't tell that by watching him onstage. Many of her father's friends described him as charming and engaging, and as she listened to him answer his questions, for the first time ever, she could see it. Alana was beginning to think that perhaps her father was right, perhaps he really did have a shot at this. She wrinkled her nose at his idea to bring in additional potions lessons, but knew that was typical of her father.
 
Although Kennedy had never seen being a professor to be a long term thing for her, the woman had grown quite fond of the position and found herself interested in the longevity of her career. Therefore the Ministry debate on education was quite important for her to attend, as it directly affected her. Before moving to New Zealand, Kennedy was keen on working her way up through the Ministry, certainly not to become Minister but to be a high ranking official, but over the last three years as a professor she felt that she was exactly where she wanted to be. She just hoped the future Minister had the children's best interests at heart the way she and her fellow colleagues did. She was glad her boss was the one in charge of the debate because it made sense for someone heavily involved in the school to press the candidates about any of their answers, if necessary. Kennedy was still undecided about how she would vote, so she hoped this debate could help sway her in a better direction. She had arrived early enough to grab her and her sister some seats and looked around to see some of her colleagues here as well.

Kennedy was surprised to hear most of the debate was revolving around muggle-borns rather than all other types of magical minorities, and she wondered what Jon thought of all the talk about Muggle Studies. She saw the merit in suggesting Muggle Studies be taught to everyone, as there was still prejudice within the magical society, but she was rather curious what the candidates thought of other magical minorities and how efforts could be made for them as well. The next question asked intrigued Kennedy, so she sat up straighter to hear the candidate's answers, since she liked the idea of further education other than what was already offered at Hogwarts. There was still so much to learn about magic as wizards, which is why she enjoyed the subject of Divination, because it required further research outside of wand waving.
 
Darcy wasn't particularly interested in politics, but Kennedy had lectured her about it being her civic duty, and Darcy had nothing better to do, so she obliged. Kennedy made some joke about Darcy needing to hang out with the living every once in a while instead of being surrounded by dead bodies all the time. Darcy understood why attending would be important for Kenny as a professor, but Darcy had only vaguely heard about the first debate and was even less interested in the second debate. It was awkward to come to an event where a lot of her former professors were at, and she hoped they wouldn't recognize her, but tagging along with her sister probably didn't make that any easier.

Darcy listened to each candidate politely, unsure who she agreed with. Nothing seemed to stick out to her yet. But the mention of post-education of sorts did catch her attention. She'd been an ambitious student while in school, but she had allowed an emotional break up to consume her and had thus done terribly on all her NEWTs, something she was still ashamed of. She had taken the break up pretty badly because she'd finally accepted her sexuality and allowed herself to openly date someone, so to have it end so terribly had really wrecked her. So now, the idea of post-education or outside education aside from Hogwarts was something that really appealed to Darcy. Perhaps this would give her a chance to redeem herself for her terrible final year.
 
Cameron was interested in the second debate on education. Education was something he felt strongly about though he had allowed the school to operate with limited interference. He thought Ava King was an intelligent woman and the school had run well. Of course, Katherine Alicastell was running the school just as well. He thought they accomplished more without him interfering, but it would be interesting to see what the other candidates thought. One of them would be his replacement, and he wanted to make sure he or she ran the country well. The Minister arrived shortly before the start of the debate. He saw his wife already there and sitting in a row near the front, but he didn't join her. He missed her terribly, but he wasn't sure where they stood and if she would even want to see him. Maybe he could catch her after.
 
Protecting Cade was a breeze, when compared to what some of the others aurors had dealt with, with Metrophanes Matthias turning out to be a rude dude. If Allison was honest, she was disappointed to have missed out on all of the action. Interrogating the man would have made for a fun afternoon. Cade was squeaky clean, as far as she could find, and it was kind of boring. At least he was easy on the eyes. And single, somehow.

The woman half-listened to the debate, and half-watched the spectators who had gathered there. Nothing shady happening for the time being, it seemed. Shaw didn't think there was going to be a real threat. The Scitorari were mostly quiet these days. Some of the aurors acted like that was worse than them making a noise, as if they were hatching some ultimate scheme in secret. Shaw didn't think so. She figured most of them had realised how stupid their motivations were and left. Going up against the Ministry was ridiculous. The government was fair, and it did a far better job of protecting and benefitting the community than some radical dark wizards could, that was for sure.
 
Professor Kingsley's feelings towards politics in general were complicated. She enjoyed the competition of it all, especially at this stage, and she enjoyed challenging herself to think about where her values lay and what was important to her. But, she also disliked the implication that there was one person who could be trusted to be in charge of them all. It was true that while the Minister was the voice of the country that he didn't make decisions entirely on his own, their advisors certainly played a part in this all, but it still didn't always sit well with her. And that wasn't even considering her personal feelings of having lost her husband to the position. Over the past decade, she wasn't sure she could even put a number to the number of cancelled dinners and events, the number of life interruptions that her family had needed to withstand because of her husband's position as Minister. Cyndi knew it was selfish of her to think this way, but she missed the relationship that she and her husband had prior to him becoming Minister. The old Cameron would never have made a decision like the one he'd made prior to the school year starting. The woman gave a glance around, spotting her husband some rows back. She lifted a hand in greeting.

One of the biggest things she'd learned during her interactions with other politicians while escorting her husband to this event or that was that it was often what they didn't say that was the most important thing. In light of the revelations regarding Metrophanes Matthias, that was startling, she knew that it was even more true today. As the debate came to an end, the professor remained silent for a moment before turning to the professor beside her, a good friend, Monty. "Well that was enlightening" she stated as she stood. The woman had come into this debate favoring one of the opponents, but now she wasn't so sure. She liked Claudia Holland but something about her laser focus on muggleborn children didn't sit well with her. Would children like her own, who had been raised in the wizarding world and experienced their own form of difficulties because of who their father was, not receive the assistance they needed? She wasn't sure that she could answer that in the affirmative based on this debate. Carter had been uncharacteristically silent, which had sent a pang of sympathy through her that she was uncomfortable having. Cyndi was still not on speaking terms with him. Alexander Cade and Ioan Finch's comments had struck her the most, giving her pause. "Do you think they'll send us for training?" she chuckled, wondering what it would be like to have to sit in a classroom again to learn. It had been years since she'd done so.
 

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