11 OCTOBER 2009

And it's official!  The summer-long campaign of former Chair of the Hogwarts Board of School Governors Persepolis Zephyr to replace Marcus Annwyl has come to an end.  The 80 members of the Wizengamot have decided by a clean margin to appoint Zephyr to our society's highest post. 

This morning at 8:15 am, Wizengamot Elder Elspath Q. Badd made the official announcement in a special convention of the Wizengamot.  In attendance were honored guests, members of the press, and high ranking Ministry of Magic officials.  In the short ceremony, the Wizengamot requested the Resignation With Thanks from Marcus Annwyl who acquiesced gracefully and played his role with panache and the bearing of a military wizard.  Then, Persepolis Zephyr was called forth to officially request and accept the role.

The Wizengamot relied heavily, as is tradition, on the enchanted Waters of Acclimation that measure the Of-Age public's feelings about the candidate.  Already, Zephyr has had to win the vouchers of seven Elders to even gain consideration. 

Zephyr will take the post up immediately, although her time for these first weeks will be filled with banquets, ceremonies, interviews, hand-shaking and other pomp, or so say her aides.  But subsequent to that, we will all certainly learn what her rhetoric thus far actually means to day-to-day magical life in Britain.

Will she address the growing controversy over werewolf rights vs. regulation?  Thus far she's done much to indicate she'll continue on riding the delicate line between the two ends of the spectrum.   She's met with the student group Students Against Werewolf Segregation, and source in Hogwarts tell us that her influence was key in Headmaster Reid's decision to allow three werewolf students to attend this year.  But on the other hand, recent breaches in security have prompted her to speak out staunchly in favor of stricter enforcement.

And what will her position be on the newly formed Muggle Affairs Office?  Formed under Annwyl's watch, it would fall under her prerogative to continue the office or revoke its funding.  Rumors abound that Zephyr accepted funds from purist-leaning high society, but her decisions for the School Governors are decidedly pro-Muggleborn.  Only time will tell.

Perhaps the most puzzling thing about our new Minister of Magic is her interest in Divination and prophecy - more so than any other Minister of Magic before.  Some find the idea of a public figure taking stock in a field of magic so infamously rife with charlatans and magicians to be unsettling, while others appreciate traditional wizarding values in the big office.

What do you think of our new Minister?  We await your letters.


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