AN: Hi guys and ladies ;) here is the new Chapter.
I sadly have to inform you that my update cycle will change to a chapter every two weeks for now. I have a lot of stress at work right now but don't worry I will revert to weekly updates once it calmed down again.
Huge thanks to my Beta Reader PeachSchappes, you are the best :)
I hope you will like the new chapter.
Have fun!
"Normal speech."
"Death speech."
$Pareltounge$
'Thoughts'
Edited: 7th July 2018
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
Last time:
Lastly, I establish a few new rules. First, if a student is harassed or bullied, they are allowed to call for a Hogwarts elf to help them. The Hogwarts elves are hereby permitted to stun or bind all attackers for further questioning and investigation. Second, the rule that you have to sit at your own table in the great hall is hereby revoked, except for the start and end of term feasts.
Third, all teachers are required to take an oath. They have to vow on their magic that they will treat every student as fairly as possible and do everything to ensure their student's safety and privacy. They are not allowed to share any personal information about their students with another teacher or the Headmaster unless required for school-related matters and only then may their head of house be notified. The head of house may only share the information with the Headmaster if it's an educational matter. In case of a private matter, they have to do their best to help their student, they are allowed to share the problem with another teacher with the permission of the student. If it involves illegal or criminal matters, they are then required to inform the head of the DMLE. Furthermore, if a teacher deducts house points or assigns a detention, the amount and reason will be automatically written down into the new Hogwarts Log Book. At the end of every term the book will be reviewed by the Board of Governors. If they discover any unfair detentions or a stupid reason for losing house points, the teacher will receive a strike. After the first strike, their right to assign detentions will be revoked. After receiving a second strike, they will lose the ability to remove or award house points. After the third strike, they are to be put on probation. Any further problems and they will lose their job. If a student feels that any punishment they receive is unjustified, they can report their concerns to their head of house. If revealed to be unjustified, the head of house is permitted to revoke it. If revealed to be justified and the head of house revokes it regardless, they will receive a strike. If the punishment is justified the head of house has the option to double the punishment.
Once Gornuk was finished with that part, the students could not hold back and they began to cheer and shout with happiness. Sophie observed their reactions. Most of them were happy and liked the new changes and whilst some of them seemed a bit unsure, they still welcomed the changes. When she looked at Daphne, she began to smile. Daphne had that victorious and evil smirk on her face that Sophie absolutely loved.
Lastly, she looked at Snape and saw that he had a slightly sour look on his face, but as much as he tried to hide it, Sophie still saw the slight glint of hope in his eyes, and she hoped that the next part would help him to become his own man. When everyone had calmed down again, Gornuk cleared his throat and continued to read.
Now, every teacher has the time to take their oaths, but all oaths must be completed by the start of the next term. Therefore they have enough time to search for a new job if they aren't willing to take the oath. This is with the exception of Professor Snape. I know that you were a Death Eater and I know that you are an excellent Potions master, so you now have two options. Your first option is that once Gornuk has finished reading this letter, you can either pack your things and leave the castle and never come back or you can take the second option, in that you take the oaths immediately and agree to two more conditions. First, you will go to Gringotts and get your Dark Mark removed, but be prepared as it will be very painful. Second, you will swear another oath that you will never join any secret organization again, be it the Death Eaters or the Order of Fried Chicken. Furthermore, you will go to the DMLE and she will ask you a few questions, under the influence of Veritaserum, as to whether you have done anything wrong and if you are or aren't to be charged for being a Death Eater.
Now, I hope you all are pretty happy with the new changes that are going to be put in place this year, but I'm very disappointed in you all, especially those in Slytherin. I've heard from several sources that Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin have developed the habit of bullying and belittling the Gryffindors because the sorting hat's decision to sort Mister Malfoy into Gryffindor, due to his dormant traits of being bold, rude, and unmannered. I will not tolerate this behavior anymore! Let me tell you all a little secret. The sorting hat doesn't only sort you because of your good traits. No, he also sorts you for your bad qualities. The Gryffindors are brave, courageous, daring, and they will always do what is right and not what is easy, but they are also often times rude and unmannered. The Hufflepuffs are hard working, loyal, patient, kind and if you search for a friend you will most certainly find one in Hufflepuff, however, they are also jealous and don't think for themselves. Ravenclaws are smart, have wit and wisdom, and they will always try to find a solution to your problems, but they have stopped thinking outside of the box and have a habit of bullying everybody that doesn't agree with them. Lastly, the Slytherins. They are cunning, ambitious, resourceful and clever and if you need a plan or strong allies, you will find it there, but they are sometimes ruthless and narcissistic, and they will always look out for their own safety first. These are all the good and bad traits the sorting hat looks out for, and he sorts you into the respective houses so that the bad traits will get replaced by the good ones.
It doesn't mean that you only have these traits. No, it means that these are the ones most developed. However, what everybody fails to see is that there is not a house that is better than another. You can only all be great if you work together. That is the purpose of the houses. If I were to take four students, one from each house and put them together in a group, it would create a force that nobody would mess with. First the Gryffindor, the warrior and defender. He or she would do everything to protect their group. Next the Slytherin, the assassin and spy. He or she would undermine the enemy. Then there is the Ravenclaw, the strategist. He or she would plan and research how to bring the enemy down. And lastly we have the Hufflepuff, probably one of the most important people, the healer. He or she would do everything to help the others not fall apart in a conflict and heal their wounds. The Hufflepuff is the heart of the group. However, if just one of those four is missing, the group would fall apart.
So my dear students, I hope you all learned something from this small lesson and show more respect towards your fellow year mates. However, as a punishment for the Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs and Slytherins, you are not allowed to use the new study rooms until after Christmas.
Daphne's head snapped to Sophie and a huge outcry swept through the hall. Most of the students hung their head in shame or were enraged that they couldn't use the new study rooms. Most of the Gryffindors looked happy and relieved, but some looked upon the other houses smugly.
"Why did you do that?" Daphne asked Sophie quietly. Sophie looked at her and was surprised. She had expected that Daphne would be angry with her, but instead, she just was curious.
"You know how the rest of the school treated them for the last week, just because the git was sorted into their house, and I wanted to relieve Professor McGonagall of a little bit of the stress she'd had lately because of Malfoy and Weasley," Sophie answered her. However, Daphne looked unconvinced and glared at her, "OK, ok, maybe it's an apology for putting Malfoy into their house, but come on, where else should I have put him? He just doesn't belong anywhere. I thought that Gryffindor would hurt him the most and maybe he would learn to think for himself."
Daphne's glare softened and the corner of her lips lifted upwards. This was the first time Sophie had seen Daphne smile like this and it instantly lit a fire in her that burned so warm, that it crept up her face and she blushed. Daphne took Sophie's hand in hers and Sophie almost forgot her next sentence as she got lost in the feeling of Daphne's smooth pale skin.
"I know, and it was very nice of you and it comes with a second good thing. We now know which Gryffindors we have to look out for."
Sophie looked curiously at her, "How?"
"Look at them. Most of them are happy and relieved, but those few that have that smug look on their faces now think that they are better than the others, so these are those we will have to look out for future problems. And if you look at the other tables you see most of them are ashamed and feel guilty, but the other ones are angry. We will also have to look out for them. I can almost read it from their faces, 'How dare this Lady Slytherin to undermine my superiority?!'"
Sophie looked around and noticed that Daphne was right.
Most of them calmed down again and Gornuk continued to read.
So, that was about it for what changes will happen this year. However, there will come new changes next school year. I will only tell you that those that are most important changes and need time to come into effect. The most important change that will occur is the new Point System. There will still be the House Points, but you will only get them if you perform extraordinary feats for your house. The new Point System will be a Personal Point System. Each student will get their own little hourglass that will display the student's personal points. Later in the day a list will be posted on each common room notice board. It will inform you how to gain points and what new privileges you can get once you have enough of them.
This year we will run a test run. Every student will receive an hourglass which will earn or lose them points. This year however, the students will not receive the privileges. Those will come into effect in the next school year. However, if a student manages to have 500 Points at the end of the final exams, they will get a head start next year with 100 Points. Everybody else will start with the Points earned from the previous year, but divided by 10. If for some reason a student manages to get over a 1000 Points by the end of the year, which is highly unlikely, they will start the next year with 300 Points. Once the Point System is established next year, at the end of every year the Points you have left will be divided by ten and that's the starting amount for the following year. For all the seventh years who won't be with us next year, will get a small thank you gift for participating in the test run. If you manage to earn 500 Points by the end of your NEWTs, you will get 100G. For everybody else your Points will be divided by 10 and you will receive that amount of money, for example, if you have 234 Points, you will get 23G. If you manage to reach the 1000 Points mark, you will get 300G.
Next year the other changes to come will be announced. I hope this is the beginning of a wonderful way to improve Hogwarts as we know it and make it into an even great school than it already is.
Yours sincerely,
Lady Slytherin
When Gornuk finished reading the letter the great hall exploded. Students were clapping, clearly liking the changes to come. Most of the teachers were satisfied. A lot of them had feared at the beginning that she would change the school into an even more bigoted place, but they soon realized that Lady Slytherin deeply cared for the students and the new changes would help all of them to complete their education.
Sophie intensely watched how Professor Snape reacted towards the part that was addressed to him. She was surprised to see no anger in his eyes. However, he looked almost thoughtful with a little bit of hope mixed in. Dumbledore was a whole other case, even if he tried not to show it. He was furious. Sophie had destroyed quite a few of his plans. She knew that the Headmaster wasn't an evil person. He'd only tried to change the wizarding world for the better, but with the wrong methods. He was too firmly on the light side and even if he were to succeed in his quest for the greater good, it would never bring balance to the magical world. If the dark side is always oppressed, they will simply rebel again and a new Dark Lord would rise. If you look into the history of the wizarding world, you would see that since the light side has dominated over the dark side, the first Dark Lords have shown up and the time between them has gotten shorter. In the last 200 years, there have been four Dark Lords roaming throughout the world, killing, raping and torturing. So, one has to bring back the grey side and restore the balance again to satisfy both the dark and the light sides.
Sophie was interrupted from her thoughts when Gornuk turned to Professor Dumbledore and Professor Snape.
"Headmaster Dumbledore, here is a copy of the letter and copies of the contracts Lady Slytherin has signed to allow us to restore the wards and build our temporary shelter on the Hogwarts grounds. The students are allowed to come to us with any questions they may have regarding the changes, or if they are interested in economy, warding or in goblin culture. We will be happy to answer any questions they might have to our best abilities."
Dumbledore looked slightly sour, but still answered, "Very well. You can either put up your camp on the bank of the black lake or by the forbidden forest."
"Thank you Headmaster Dumbledore. We will take the black lake. Now, Professor Snape, are you willing to agree to the conditions stated by Lady Slytherin?"
Professor Snape wrangled internally with himself, not knowing how to decide.
"May I have a day to think about it?" He asked with a slightly unsure voice. A goblin that stood behind Gornuk looked at Sophie and she gave him a subtle nod. The goblin turned back to Gornuk and whispered something in his ear.
"You may. You have until tomorrow by dinner to decide whether you want to leave the castle or stay under the new conditions," Gornuk answered him and turned back to the students, "Thank you for your attention. We will inform the Gryffindor house when the new study rooms are ready. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask anytime, but please don't disturb the goblins who are chanting, as they are checking the wards and it wouldn't be good if their concentration were to falter."
With that, the goblins formed back into a group and marched out of the great hall.
After lunch, all the students went back into the common rooms to look at the conditions for earning new Personal Points. Everybody gathered at the noticeboard and read:
How to gain and lose points
(Following letters resemble grades)
O+ (Outstanding with extra credit)
O (Outstanding)
EE (Exceeded Expectations)
A (Acceptable)
P (Poor)
D (Dreadful)
T (Troll)
Class:
Homework
O+: +3 Points + 1 House Point
O: +2 Points
EE: +1 Point
A: 0 Points
P: -1 Point
D: -2 Points
T: -3 Points
Exams
O+: +15 Points + 5 House Points
O: +10 Points
EE: +5 Points
A: 0 Points
P: -5 Points
D: -10 Points
T: -15 Points
Questions
Correct answer : +2 Points
Incorrect answer, but at least tried: +1 Point
No answer: 0 Points
Incorrect answer and stupid answer in hope to get a point: -1 Point
Other
Fooling around in class: -1 Point
Ignoring the teachers instructions: -1 Point
Helping a classmate: +2 Points
Cheating on an exam: -20 Points
Helping the teacher with a demonstration: +5 Points + 1 House Point
Hogwarts:
Bullying: -100 Points - 20 House Points
Insulting (e.g. Mudblood, Blood Traitor): -20 Points -5 House Points
Helping a student in need: +10 Points + 5 House Points
Destroying school property: -30 Points -10 House Points
Helping the younger years with their work: +3 Points
Doing the work for the younger years: -5 Points
Pranks:
Further down is a list where the students can write their names if they want to participate. If the student writes his or hers name on it, they are allowed to prank and get pranked. You are only allowed to prank the students who are on the list, or if the prank affects the whole student body in the same way, for example, turn everybody's hair green.
Successful pranking a student on the list without getting caught: +2 Points
Successful pranking a student but got caught: +1 Point
Publicly pranking a student not on the list: -10 Points
Pranking a student with a harmful prank: -50 Points -10 House Points
Pranking the whole student body without getting caught: +10 Points + 2 House Points
Pranking the whole student body, but got caught: +5 Points
Teachers are allowed to give or take Personal Points if they feel like that the situation is not covered by those cases.
The Personal Points can be given or taken by Portraits. They will also oversee the pranksters, but they will not report them, unless they play a harmful prank or prank a student not on the list.
The List will be expanded accordingly over the year.
The students looked wide eyed at the paper and a few had already written their name on the pranking list. Underneath the Point list was the list of privileges.
Privileges according to your Personal Points (Will come into effect next year)
Every student starts with 0 Points and the basic privilege
-750 Points - Expulsion (Will also happen this year if a student reaches that point)
-600 Points - Last warning before getting expelled
-500 Points - Informational talk with your parents regarding possible expulsion
-400 Points - Detention every weekend
-300 Points - No more entry into the study rooms
-250 Points - Detention every Hogsmeade weekend.
-200 Points - Curfew moved down by an hour
-150 Points - No Hogsmeade weekend for you
-100 Points - Curfew moved down by half an hour
-50 Points - Two days of detention
0 Points - Hogsmeade weekend once a month, normal curfew, normal access to the library
50 Points - +1 extra Hogsmeade weekend a month.
100 Points - Curfew moved up by an hour.
150 Points - Entry into a part of the restricted section, accompanied by Madam Pince, a prefect, or a teacher
200 Points - +1 extra Hogsmeade weekend a month (3 in total)
250 Points - Curfew moved up by another hour.
300 Points - Entry into half of the restricted section, accompanied by Madam Pince, a prefect, or a teacher
400 Points - Allowed to visit Hogsmeade every weekend
500 Points - 1 free request to upgrade your study room (upgrade will be able to transfer into the study room for the next year)
750 Points - 1 Free School day with one of your friends (has to have at least 400 Points). You are allowed to visit Hogsmeade.
1000 Points - Take 200 Points with you next year (Or 20G if you are a seventh year), another free school day and a one-time exam pass with an EE. (Not valid for the end of the year exams, the O.W.L's or the N.E.W.T's)
Every further 500 Points you will get the same reward as for 750 points.
AN: I hope you liked it and feel free to leave a review or write me a PM if you find any mistakes so I can edit it out.
See you next time :)