"Why don't you adopt Ron?" Harry suddenly said, "I think Ron would be the perfect pet for you—look, he's healthy and can eat. You don't have to worry about feeding him, and he can understand what you say..."
"Forget it, Harry," Hermione rolled her eyes at Ron, "He understands human speech? Ha, I've been telling him to finish his homework properly for ages, and what happened? He still copies mine! That's tolerable. But then he even considered copying my exam answers, which is absolutely unacceptable."
"That's an insult!" Ron retorted, "I've been revising according to the study plan you set for me. Don't believe it? Test me!"
Hermione snorted, ignored him, and turned to Harry, "By the way, Harry, why haven't we seen Sister Vivi around lately? She doesn't come to the Gryffindor table during meals."
"She's been busy with other things, so she hasn't had time lately," Harry said, absentmindedly tugging Pabi's ear, "I heard from her that Dumbledore agreed to let her study at a Muggle university in her spare time... She seems to have applied for a Time Converter to help with her studies."
Hearing Harry's words, Hermione couldn't help but feel a kindred spark in her eyes.
Oh my, so diligent and hardworking.
"How will she commute?" Ron suddenly asked, "I remember Hogwarts doesn't allow Apparition, right?"
"She has a Phoenix," Harry explained succinctly, "Fiona, her Phoenix..."
"It's the two of yours, right?" Pabi suddenly corrected, "I know about this—"
At this point, Pabi suddenly fell silent.
The matter of the Phoenix wasn't a secret, after all, it was a trophy for both Harry and Vivi.
Phoenix?
Hermione's heart skipped a beat. She knew what pet she should buy.
The entire weekend passed without a sight of Vivi, except in the mornings when Harry would be dragged into the second-floor girls' bathroom by Vivi for a quick chat. Otherwise, he wouldn't see her until the evening.
According to Vivi, the admission process at the London School of Economics and Political Science was entirely handled by Gringotts.
In this respect, Gringotts was quite professional, adhering to the six non-disclosure policies, without inquiring about any details.
On Saturday morning, the school board meeting convened as scheduled.
The meeting was held in the Headmaster's Office, and early in the morning, Hogwarts's school board members hurriedly arrived at Hogwarts.
Of course, the students knew these board members, as most of them were the fathers of the students present.
Pabi was a bit nervous, accompanied by her relatives Newt and Tina, while Harry gave them an "OK" gesture and entered the Headmaster's Office.
The side chamber of the Headmaster's Office was a spacious conference room. Harry could guarantee that this room was definitely expanded with a Traceless Stretching Spell.
After all, from the outside, no one would have imagined that the Headmaster's Office could house such a spacious and bright conference room.
Seeing Harry, Lucius nodded at him.
Harry sat to the side, with Dumbledore sitting beside him, listening in.
Soon, under Lucius's leadership, the school board officially began the meeting.
"The reason for this gathering is to appoint a new board member," Lucius began straightforwardly, "This board seat comes from Gringotts's seat and the Lestrange family, decided by 'Cross-eyed' Bodrick, President of the Elf Brotherhood, witnessed by Gringotts's manager Scard, and transferred to Mr. Potter, who holds absolute authority over the board seat. Following his decision, the board seat is transferred to Miss Pabi Swedding."
"Now let's vote. Those in favor, please raise your Magic Wand and light blue sparks; those opposed, please raise your Magic Wand and light red sparks... Abstentions don't need to raise their wands."
Nearly half the attendees were Lucius's friends and had no intention of opposing.
There were also a few neutral parties who went along with the gesture.
After all, Harry was the one who defeated Voldemort, and both emotionally and rationally, they were inclined to do him a favor.
As for those on bad terms with Lucius, they were in the minority, so opposing was futile, so they simply didn't oppose.
Out of twelve board members, nine agreed, three abstained.
Seeing that everyone agreed, Lucius smiled at Harry and said, "Then, Mr. Potter, please have Miss Pabi step forward."
Harry nodded, got up, and left the conference room.
Soon, he returned with Pabi and the Scamander couple, entering the conference room.
"Hello everyone," Pabi waved her hoof and said, "I'm your new colleague, Pabi Swedding."
Everyone was shocked as they looked at Pabi in her Unicorn form, including Lucius.
They never would have guessed that the new Hogwarts board member was a Unicorn?!
"This is an insult!" an old bald man stood up and said, "We absolutely cannot allow a Unicorn to enter the Hogwarts Board of Governors and serve as a board member!"
"Yes!" "Exactly!" "Absolutely not!"
The board members who didn't get along with Lucius agreed, unwilling to let a Unicorn sit alongside them as an equal on the board.
"I think you should show some respect to Miss Swedding," Dumbledore suddenly said, "She's a Magic Mage, only temporarily trapped in Unicorn form for some reasons—by relationship and age, she is older than everyone present, and by generations, she's Newt Scamander's aunt."
The board members were stunned, realizing this Unicorn had such a status, leaving them momentarily speechless.
Although having a Unicorn as a board member was unacceptable, the board members had their flexible bottom lines.
Firstly, Miss Pabi Swedding wasn't strictly a Unicorn—she's a Magic Mage, essentially still a... person.
Secondly, the board chair, Lucius, strongly supported her, as did Mr. Potter.
Lastly, Headmaster Dumbledore and the Magical Creatures expert, the Scamanders, strongly supported Miss Pabi as a board member.
This was basically a done deal, and no matter how much they opposed it, it was futile, better to go along and do someone a favor.
"If that's the case..." the bald man who spoke first sat down, "then we have no objection."
With the ringleader acquiescing, the others saw no point in persisting, so they each expressed acceptance of the established fact.
Dumbledore's half-moon glasses gleamed, and no one knew what he was thinking.
"Let's welcome the new Hogwarts board member, Miss Pabi Swedding."
Lucius was the first to applaud, followed by the board members on either side of him.
Pabi joyfully stomped her front hooves on the ground with a clopping sound, as if she were applauding.
With the decision of Pabi becoming a board member made, the other board members congratulated her and left Hogwarts one by one.
Remaining were Lucius, along with Pansy's father, Old Parkinson, and Daphne's father, Old Greengrass.
"I must thank you, Mr. Potter," Old Parkinson began, "If it weren't for your help last year in saving my daughter from You-Know-Who's control, she might have caused great trouble, even her life would've been at risk..."
"No need to be polite," Harry replied with a smile.
"So in the future, whenever you need, just let me know," Old Parkinson said, "If I can help Mr. Potter, I'll do it wholeheartedly!"
(I'm posting a chapter first to adjust my state and patch up the upcoming plot; there will be another 12,000 words coming today.)