As Belle's carriage pulled up to the castle gates, the sights and the smells of the entire place filled her senses. A bright smiled dawned upon her face. Hogwarts was like another home to Belle. After all, she did live there for two thirds of the year. With a wave of her wand, the large iron gates opened, and the entire world of Hogwarts was open to her. She prodded the thestral along, coaxing it through the magic barrier.
The gates slammed right behind Belle, making her jump. She wasn't often used to it, but she had grown accustomed to it. She was in the Great Hall with her bags in no time.
The Great Hall was alive with happiness, cleaning everything up for the new year at Hogwarts. All of her colleagues were alive and happy to see each other, everyone bright and happy. "Belle! You're almost late!" Fairy Godmother gleefully hugged Belle. "We almost were going to start without you!"
"You wouldn't," Belle smiled.
"Well, we were all going to be very hungry soon," Snow White smiled.
"I'll be just a moment, I'm going to put my bags away. Lovely to see all of you again!" Belle grabbed her bags and skipped down the hall.
The smell of the school filled her nose. Old books, paintings, tapestries, the history filled her. She opened the doors to the charms room and smiled. The books seemed to say, Welcome back. The study and room was connected to her classroom, slightly off to the right. Her room was filled with books on charms, history, literature, all sorts of things. She unpacked a few items, such as pictures and new books, and raced downstairs for dinner.
The welcome-back feast was always a tradition for the teachers and staff atHogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, they all caught up of the events of each one's summer, and told every tale they knew. This went on late into the night, making the walk back to their studies difficult and perilous.
Belle woke up the next day, the sun shining brightly through the glass panes of the window. She groaned. Maybe a bit too much butterbeer last night… She thought as she reached for a glass of water on her bed. Despite her feelings, she had to get ready for the day. The students would arrive tomorrow, and she would have to have everything ready for them by tomorrow. The staff meetings on a curriculum overview would be all day today.
Despite being roughly 9 AM, the Great Hall was already alive. Candles were being lit and set to 'hang' from the ceiling, and the tables and benches were being polished and shined. The mid-morning sun shone through the windows, and lit up the entire hall.
Belle helped in hanging the candles, and soon, the Headmistress came from her quarters and invited them all to sit down.
"Well, we have another year before us!" The headmistresses voice rang throughout the hall with happiness. "It's going to be long, we all know it. But just think! New students, new curriculum, and a new year!" The teachers all nodded in agreement. "Now, to get down to business…" The headmistress talked about a variety of important subjects, ranging from wizards who needed special attention, to how to handle students, to new Ministry of Magic guidelines.
The Headmistress handed out thick packets of new Ministry of Magic guidelines. "Sadly," The Headmistress said with sorrow, "You have to abide to these guidelines. The Ministry of Magic will be sending representatives to observe your teaching habits, and our school will be graded as such."
Belle knew that it would be a particularly wonderful year. She would teach the first years simple things like Lumos and Knox, and get into Wingardium Leviosa, and maybe teach the second years a little more advanced things. The Ministry of Magic guidelines were going up, become increasingly difficult to teach everything to kids all in one year.
Often, a brilliant 7th year would come to assist Belle in her teaching, leaving her to do boring paperwork, that had to be regrettably to be done. But she got incredibly worried. Flipping through the pages of these books made her realize the Ministry was cracking down on what she was doing, restricting her from teaching the things kids though was truly fun, the acutal, practical, day-to-day life skills. "Headmistress, why does it say that they've changed all these standards? I can't teach all of these in a year!"
The Headmistress sighed. "Sadly, you have to. You might even have to change your entire curriculum. But it has to be done. Otherwise you won't have a job, and we'll have someone from the Ministry fill in your job. And I WILL NOT let them do that."
Belle sighed. She knew it was a fight she could not win. The meeting was excused, and the teacher all headed to their rooms to completely revamp their teachings. It was mid-afternoon, and Belle would be up late into the night changing courses.
One could only hope, the Ministry was not going to be involved in the teaching anymore than they were at the moment.