Here is the next chapter. I hope you like it. Please read and review love Hermione xxx
Lucius walked into the meeting with this head held high, his family pensive underneath his arm and entered the room leaving it on the table in the center of the table. "I have called this emergency meeting of the board as things at Hogwarts are seriously declining and we need to act fast now to save it. I have here with his permission some of my sons memories of his DADA class this past year. They are awful and show no level of skill demonstrated by the teacher. It would appear Albus hired him because he was famous and not for any other reason. I can see from looking at these that he is quite frankly no longer fit to hire proper staff for his own school so we will need to do that for him from now on. When it became rather obvious that this man had no talent he still did nothing which is almost worst then hiring him alone. I could understand maybe if he didn't initially realise that the teacher was wrong but as soon as then did he should have fired and hired immediately. Now I think it may have also been his hope to somehow expose the fraud that is Professor Gilderoy Lockhart but he went about it all wrong and I don't think anyone would disagree with me here. I have also memories of my sons' other classes so we can see if changes need to be made there. Please come and view the memory of his DADA class and we will talk afterwards!" he said as everyone present did so.
They all emerged ten minutes later scowling. "What the fuck was Albus thinking hiring someone like that? I mean don't get me wrong Lucius but usually you're not always right however this time you most certainly are. I can no longer trust Albus' judgement so a review of all staff is clearly necessary. I was also going to suggest an audit of funds because I received word that Madam Hooch put in a request for new brooms for the quidditch teams and indeed flying lessons but was told by the headmaster that there were no more funds left in the budget for them. I am bringing this up as she brought her complaint directly to me and I know for a fact there are funds available for her request he just didn't see fit to give it to her. I don't know why but I intend to find out why he's been lying to his staff in this manner. My Neville got hurt on one of those old brooms breaking his wrist in his first year and we need to get this sorted out at once!" thundered Augusta as he looked at her in surprise. She then surprised him further by bringing out her memories of her own.
"I have other memories from Neville not all of which are good I am afraid. It has become apparent to me that Severus Snape has seriously forgotten why he even became a teacher in the first place. He no longer helps students, punishing those who ask for help and merely expects them to get it right the first time. He even gets annoyed with his Slytherin students too. This is not aimed solely at other houses although he doesn't give his Slytherin's detentions it has been noted. He writes the instructions on the board and tells them to get on with it doing nothing to help them simply giving out to and sneering at the students as he walks past. Neville is afraid of the man and was very ashamed to tell me this as he didn't wish to get the man in trouble and only cause further trouble for himself. He is twelve and should not have to think like this! I mean the fact that he ever thought he'd get in trouble for telling anyone this goes to show how well or not should I say that Dumbledore is dealing with this situation at the school. No child anywhere should feel so afraid of telling someone in authority that the teacher is not nice to them however Neville said he did and was told that this was Sevreus' way. He was informed to simply keep his head down and get on with it quietly by whoever he told. He did not tell me who it was but I got the impression from him that it was the Headmaster although he never said that outright" she further thundered as Lucius really was shocked now. He along with the other members viewed her memories she'd taken from Neville and blanched at what they had seen there.
"To be honest with all of you Severus is a dear friend but this is inexcusable. He will always be my best friend but I cannot in good conscience allow him to continue teaching in this vile manner. He'll be brought up to scratch and then he may be allowed to resume his duties. He needs to be retrained in everything so I would suggest a teacher training course for him. I propose that we contact Horace Slughorn and see if he would be willing to resume his post as Potions master and head of Slytherin house. He was the best teacher I had in my youth!" said Lucius while everyone agreed with him. He was right. It was a hard pill to swallow but it was true. The Margaret Abbott stepped forward.
"Well as we are doing this then I should show you Hannah's memories of her history lesson as I requested memories of all her lessons what with being on the board of governors myself. I always wanted to have her memories in case they could be useful and this one is. I already saw her potions memories in which Severus sneered about Harry Potter all lesson but didn't berate any of them telling them they were at least tolerable in this hell hole they call school. I was most disturbed at her history lesson as it would appear Professor Binns is still teaching there and yes you did hear me correctly. He is not equipped to teach and I am ashamed to say Hannah is one of his only students who didn't fall asleep and I can honestly say I would not blame her if she had!" she said pouring her memory in the pensive and waiting as everyone watched it.
In the memory Cuthbert droned on and on about the ancient goblin rebellion never asking questions or checking to see if his students were remotely interested. He didn't even say goodbye when he left. His course was old fashioned like him and seriously outdated. They would need someone sharpish to fill in his position. Why in gods name hadn't he been informed he'd died? It was rather obvious to them all he didn't know about it as if he had known about it he'd have been able to move on into the afterlife instead of lingering here teaching seriously outdated stuff or more to the point thinking he'd needed to do so.
"Does anyone else have any other memories for us to view before we summon Horace Slughorn here?" asked Lucius looking around the room. Maria Zabini raised her hand showing her memories from Blaise of his charms lessons. The actual lesson itself was fine however he couldn't see Professor Flitwick as he stood atop a huge pile of unsteady books squeaking each time he almost fell from them making the students jump each time.
"As we can see here folks his lesson is sound but he needs a platform on which to stand in his classes and I would suggest a long platform which goes in front of all of the desks. I can have my carpenter make one for a good price for him so he can focus solely on teaching his classes properly instead of worrying some of the time if he will fall from those books. In fact it would be my gift to him. I am more concerned with his safety then his teaching skills as they are excellent" she said as everyone agreed. They then viewed memories of Minerva's class and Professor Sprouts lessons. The consensus was that both classes were fine but needed more emphasis on both theory and practical elements instead of little bits of both all the time. It was decided to have a double period of these classes dedicated to practicals while the two single classes would be solely theory based. Professor Trelawney's lesson was viewed and it was deemed that she was solely unfit to teach and would be fired post haste. It was also decided to disband divination as a class as hardly anyone ever had the sight needed to attend a lesson on Divination. In it's place they would be bringing back music and art as a combined class so some days the students would study music and other days they would study art. This way it could be a relaxing retreat from the more serious classes on the curriculum. A school exam would be held for this class twice a year but nothing like the state exams would take place and questions such as which charm do you use for x would be on the exams. Margaret Abbott as it happened knew a woman who was qualified to teach both and a letter was sent to her at once after the letter to Horace had been sent.
Horace Slughorn was at home gardening when the summons to the board of governors arrived and he left post haste feeling rather confused. Why did they need to see him urgently. He entered their office seeing all of them smiling at him.
"To what do I owe the pleasure? Your letter left much to the imagination and I can't understand why you needed to see me so urgently!" he asked as he was asked to take a seat by Lucius and did so.
"Horace we have been reviewing our children's memories of their classes over these last two years and DADA falls short on both occasions so a new DADA teacher will be hired by us. Unfortunately it has come to our attention that Albus Dumbledore is no longer capable of hiring staff as he allowed a fraud to teach there all year and when he realised there was something wrong with the man he did nothing about it. I am ashamed to say that my best friend Severus Snape has forgotten why he even liked teaching in the first place and has been disgraceful in his recent classes of which we have seen memories. We wish to hire you to teach potions at Hogwarts once again because let's face it you were my best teacher I ever had and if my son can get the premium teaching I did I would be truly honoured!" he said as Horace looked faint indeed.
He didn't faint but did look for a while as though he might. "I would want too much to be hired by you and I am just being honest here. The last time I worked there I asked Professor Dibbett for things he didn't give me" he said bluntly as they all looked at him not sure how to respond when Margaret did it for them.
"What did you ask him for? He might not have been able to give it to you back then but times are different now and we may well be able to give you whatever it was" she said as he smiled at her.
"I asked him for a significant pay rise and larger living quarters!" he said as she smiled back at him obviously sure they could accommodate him.
"What did you make the last time pay wise?" she asked as he considered his answer.
"I made two hundred and fifty galleons a week ma'am. I wanted more but he refused my request!" he said looking sadly around the room. He had loved his job but hated the lack of good pay.
"Well how about this considering that we are in the process of seriously updating Hogwarts as a whole which may even mean some renovations inside we offer you higher pay. I am in agreement with Lucius as you were one of my favourite teachers in school and you can't buy that kind of quality anywhere. Please tell me exactly how much you wanted" she said as he looked fondly at his former pupil.
"Margaret Jones I could never forget you. Oh that's right it's Abbott now isn't it? I asked him for four hundred galleons a week" he said as she gasped.
"Well that's not right at all. I mean there is no reason he couldn't have given you the raise he simply didn't want to and that's no longer an option. Everyone will be getting a pay rise and we'll personally see to it that this happens. When we give out the pay rises to everyone we expect only quality teaching and so that is what we shall be looking for in the new staff we hire. I am proposing that each staff member who is credible get five hundred galleons each week so as to inspire them to keep on working to the best of their ability. All those in favour say I" she said addressing those present and ignoring Horace for a moment. There was a large chorus of I and then she returned her attention to Horace who was sitting there utterly slack jawed.
"So now that this has been decided upon Horace old friend would you consider teaching potions and taking the head of Slytherin house post? Don't worry we'll insure you'll always have a large living space. I believe the living quarters of the late Professor Merrythought is available should you like it" she said with a knowing smile on her face.
His face lit up at this and he laughed. "Oh Margaret you should truly have been in Slytherin yourself. I do of course accept. I am sorry to hear Albus' standards have slipped so much. What do you intend to do with Severus Snape as he was one of my most gifted students?" he asked as Lucius was the one to respond for everyone. If he was honest he was pissed off with how much Snape had slacked in his career. For a Slytherin laziness was never tolerated and Severus should have known that.
"I have decided as head of the board that he will be given a choice. Either he accepts teacher training to improve his skills and refresh his memory on how one should teach a class or he will be fired and given a job at a local potions brewery I own. Is everyone agreeable with this?" he asked as everyone said they were.
Striding into Gringotts after the meeting Lucius met with the head of their curse breakers to arrange a meeting at Hogwarts to have the DADA classroom checked for any dark curses that might be at play in making the staff who teach that class unable to hold their job for more than a year.
"Unfortunately Mr Malfoy the only time I am free is now. We would need to go there now and I would need to examine it at once!" she said as Lucius smiled.
"Well then we will go now. The headmaster is at an ICW meeting abroad so we should be able to get this done quickly without needing to bother him about it" he said as she packed up her investigations kit and they flooed to the Three Broomsticks before walking up the path to the school. When they arrived to the school they were met by a confused house elf who directed them to the DADA classroom. Once she was settled Ms Grant got out her tools and began scanning the room. In three hours time she had her results.
"Mr Malfoy it would seem that some exceptionally dark magic was woven into the wards surrounding this room and it will take me several hours to dissect and remove. I will need some peace and quite while I work. Please make yourself useful elsewhere and I will get an elf to call you when I am done!" she said as she set out to work.
He decided to tour the school visiting all of the classrooms as no one was here and so he would be free to do so. He could see what people had been talking about as he noticed the huge pile of books in the charms classroom. As he toured he found many unused classrooms and used his wand to clean up and brighten them. At least now all rooms had a fresh coat of paint, new desks and chairs and podiums for the teachers while new blackboards rested on the walls. It was firm step up from where the school had been. He then went down to the potions room and brightened that up as well. Lastly he went to the Divinations room almost getting sick from the incense and sherry smell all over it. It was his honour that all of this would be gone soon. Waving his wand once again the smell was dissipated and as the fog cleared in there he could clearly see the hidden bottles of sherry and groaned. This woman was exhausting. He had spent a total of two thousand galleons on renovations in the school so far and that would be three thousand as soon as Mr Grant was finished in the DADA room. You see if you budgeted carefully and perfectly you never needed to spend too much money. Going outside to the broom sheds he found roughly one hundred brooms all of which were in awful nick and barely making it. Another three thousand galleons of the schools budget went on replacing all those brooms with the latest cleansweep editions charmed with self cleaning and repairing charms built to last.
At last after a tiring four hours she was done in the DADA classroom and accepted the thousand galleons for her work. In total so far they had spent six thousand galleons of the schools apparent none existent budget to brighten up the school. Albus would get a letter about those changes once he returned in a week from the international ICW meetings. While he'd been fixing the school Maria had, had her platform for Professor Flitwick commissioned and Margaret had worked on hiring a new teacher to teach art and music to the students. Also Muggle studies was getting a serious update with lessons focused solely on how things were done day to day in that world and a newly qualified muggleborn was hired for the job. This would at least educate magically raised students on how things worked in the muggle world. A Wizarding class was imposed for all muggleborn students to integrate into their world during their first year. They would only be expected to take it in their first year and it would become an elective after that. Students were in for a huge shock when they returned to school that's for sure as was Albus when he returned.