Madam Cassi stretched as she made her way back towards her room.
It had been just over three since they had breached the Wards of the Island- which they were calling Victoriè Isle for the moment- and exploring the new territory had been exhilarating for the elderly Black matron.
They had discovered that the Wards were based on an intricate series Ward Anchors which were obsidian slabs that had been buried strategically on the sea's floor and on the island itself. They weren't even just single slabs, but clusters at critical points that managed to draw power from the island's magical plants and the sea's magical traces, from what little they had managed to unravel so far.
It was beyond fascinating.
The island itself was about the size of Tasmania from their best aerial reconnaissance guess-estimates, but the Wards made the space the roughly thirty-thousand or so square mile island seem to take up no space at all unless you were aware that it was there.
(They had experimented with that quite a bit. It was disconcerting to say the least, to know that there should be an island in front of you but not seeing it.)
The island must have supported several different families over the years, because there were several distinct architectural styles that they could see from the air, though most houses seemed to favor limestone- specifically Travertine-, there was a lot of the familiar terracotta stonework that Italy was known for in the remaining structures, (though many of them would need to be restored), and plenty of amazing granite stonework as well.
What they had deemed as the main house, which was in a sort-of valley that was formed by two large hills, was large and Cassi and Fon agreed that they would more than likely find a great deal of marble work in there, even with as humble as most of the outer dwellings seemed to be.
The Palmaria had been steadfastly housing them as Madam Cassi and the other leaders wanted to ensure that they had several 'safe zones' before they allowed the ship to sail back towards the mainland, which led her to her latest quandary.
It was now nearly the end of July- Hogwarts let out at the first Friday in June nowadays and she went to Japan shortly thereafter- so in the seven weeks since Hogwarts had ended she had repaired a ship, and received the Mastery of Wards of this island.
Not bad for a summer vacation, really.
However, she was only a Deputy, and she really needed to get young Adriano here so he could fully Master the Wards, and then there were the young ones who would need to head back to school in a few weeks, not to mention that now that they had a better idea of what they needed they could fully stock up on supplies so they could truly explore the island.
(That young Carmichael lad was truly a genius; it was a pity that there were no young Black daughters in his generation. Perhaps she should speak with Sirius about his duties to the family.)
Cassi glanced to the side and sighed, that was another issue.
She couldn't in good conscience send young William or Barty back to Hogwarts when they were so very alive here in the field. Cassi herself might have to return as Narcissa had given birth to a beautiful baby girl on the sixth of January and had named her Adriana Cassiopeia and might need Cassi's assistance. (Adriana could mean 'dark', so most thought that it was a play off of Lucius' name, but Narcissa had looked directly at Dr. Shamal when she had said the name, leaving little doubt that she had named the girl in honor of Adriano, whose real name she had learned by accident but had kept to herself.)
I need to speak with Adriano and Reborn, She decided firmly, We have to have an alternate solution.
Adriano sat with Blaise at his left and Marius at his right, listening patiently to Lady Cissa's report, with Sirius Black, Gemma Farley also sitting around the table in the rather luxurious conference room they had rented in Livorno.
"Alright, so in summary, even with all the changes and extra teachers, there are still some who are clinging to the old system, and McGonagall is refusing to give up her titles?" He said when she had finished.
"Basically, yes. The Disciplinary Committee has been wonderful, but there are still some issues with the staffing. There used to be twelve teachers, plus the Headmaster, Groundskeeper, and Filch as Staff for roughly eight-hundred students. Now we've bolstered our Staff but the hierarchy isn't clearly defined and with the new laws they're trying to dig in their heels."
Blaise hummed, "Hogwarts will also have an unprecedented amount of students in the next few years, as with the August session of the Board of Governors, and we will be bringing the monetary mismanagement issue to the table and pushing our agenda forward. We've sat on this until now as we wanted the DC fully established before we fully shook up the Staff, that way the school wouldn't fall into anarchy."
"We exorcized Binns already and made some changes, but we left some of their infrastructure intact, and now they are trying to use Hogwarts as some sort of last stand for the old guard?" Marius summarized.
"Basically." Gemma replied blandly, she'd been stuck in England covering all these issues all summer, "They're even talking about trying to shut the DC down."
Adriano raised an eyebrow. Blaise gaped. Marius laughed.
"Alright." Adriano said many, many hours later as he leaned his elbows on the table and tried to rub the grit out of his eyes, "The Headmaster of the school will be Oath Sworn to do what is best for the students and school as a whole.
There will be a Deputy Headmaster whose job will be to oversee day-to-day operations and do thing like conduct Staff evaluations- are they professional? Do they know their subject? Can they teach it properly?; make random classroom inspections- how well the teachers were engaging the students? Can they control their class or does the class control them? Do they need advice? Training? Is the environment conducive for learning?; observe the interactions of the students- are they being monitored properly or are they running roughshod? Do they have too much free time? Too little? How is their morale?"
"Granted, the DC will be taking care of a lot of this as well, to give a differing perspective," Gemma interjected, "But having two viewpoints for the Headmaster to see the issue from will be beneficial."
Lady Cissa nodded, "It will also help keep favoritism and nepotism down, if there are more eyes watching."
Adriano nodded, "Now after the Deputy Headmaster are two other positions in the Senior Staff. The first is the Secretary, who will be the one who will be responsible for introductions to the magical world, coordinating with the nonmagical families and being their point of contact, handing out awards and making sure that they can be displayed in nonmagical areas, and being responsible for all the non-expense-related and non-academic-related paperwork. This person is also in charge of the grounds and the way the school presents herself.
To round out the Senior Staff is the Steward, who is responsible for the expenses of the school. Not only managing the money and budgeting it, but improving the money, the way the school uses the lands, the student's projects, and all things of that nature. This person's job isn't necessarily to turn a profit- though that is expected- but to ensure that we are not being wasteful. Why buy something when the science class is making them in two weeks? Instead of throwing away or burning old art projects, save them for vanishing practice. That sort of thing."
"The Houses of Hogwarts are an important tradition, and the Heads of House especially so, as the House is supposed to be family." Blaise spoke next, "Some students look forwards to Hogwarts their whole lives, and I'm glad we're leaving that tradition in place. However, as a Head of House there should be certain qualities that are looked for and for most of the current ones-"
"They suck." Marius interjected smoothly.
"Flitwick wasn't bad." Adriano objected politely, "Well, not as bad as some of the others."
"Be as that may," Sirius spoke for the first time in a long while, "We're restricting the amount of responsibility a Head of House can carry. If they teach a Core Class, they must have two Student Teachers who teach at least two years' worth of classes, and assist in other duties so that the Head of House may attend to their duties properly. A non-Core class teacher as a Head of House will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. In addition to the four Heads of House, there will be a non-affiliated Guidance Counsellor who will be open to all years and all houses, if this person needs an understudy or two, they will be provided."
Adriano took it up from there, "The remaining member of the Senior Support Staff is the Medical Officer, Madam Pomfrey is one of the best in her field as a MediWitch, but she's not a full Healer, so she will be getting a boss. However, Healer Stimpson- you guys remember Patty from Gryffindor from the original Hogwarts DC, right? It's her mom- has been studying under Dr. Shamal, as she is a half blood and her father was a medical doctor, so she has always had a foot in both worlds anyways, making it fairly easy for her to pick up Shamal's new program. Being a Pediatrician has only made things easier, and I think that once they are through being territorial, she and Madam Pomfrey will along just fine."
"Annnnnd, that takes care of the top of the school's Staff. Headmaster transitions to the Senior Staff: Deputy Headmaster, Secretary, and Steward, which transitions to the Senior Support Staff: Guidance Counsellor, the respective Heads of House, and the Medical Officer, did I get that right?" Gemma asked, simply for clarifications sake.
"Yup," Adriano agreed cheerfully, "All the rest of the Staff falls in under them, so now our biggest issue is what to do about the Headmaster, since he hasn't really impressed me with his recent actions, I guess we could see if he choose to take the Oath and go from there?"
"He's not going to." Blaise said dryly, "He'll hem and haw, but he's so invested in trying to keep people from making mistakes that he's blind to his own. He could teach philosophy or elective Alchemy something, but as Headmaster he needs to go."
"Right," Adriano sighed, "So, Headmaster candidates?"
"Madam Cassi!" Marius chirped brightly.
The table burst out laughing, "Only-chuckle- if you tell her!" Blaise choked out from where he was doubled over.
Adriano wiped his eyes and patted Marius on the shoulder, "There are dragons to be slayed and countries to be conquered, let's not ever mention that to Madam Cassi, alright Marius?"
Marius seemed to think about what he'd said and went slightly grey, "I am so glad that she's not here today."
"Well, now that we've had that bit of hilarity, I do have some serious considerations for the Headmaster post." Sirius told them after they had calmed themselves, "There is Cyprill Greengrass, the grand-uncle of the Greengrass girl currently at Hogwarts and her little sister will be starting this year as well, he's a no-nonsense businessman who has always seen shades of grey instead of black and white, but he's fair and not easily intimidated nor does he really give a damn about popular opinion. He can be canny and stern but also kind and straightforward. He has been estranged from his family for decades, but he is a powerful wizard in his own right, and he was never forced to choose a side, he's my favorite choice.
The others are all Reborn's bitches: Lucius Malfoy and their ilk- sorry Cissa- but I'd really like to see Cyprill in the Headmaster position because he's canny enough to read the writing on the wall, and for all that he's never married or had any children, he's fostered fourteen orphans at various points throughout the years."
Adriano thought for a moment, "You really feel that strongly about this guy's potential?"
Sirius nodded without pause, "I really think he's our guy. Not a 'yes man', but we don't want one of those anways, we want someone who will fight for the students and not for a personal agenda."
"Alright then, get him on board Siri. The August session of the Board of Governors is in ten days." Adriano decided, thoroughly tired of making decisions at this point in his life, "Deputy Headmaster, then? I think McGonagall is a teacher more than an administrator."
"Agreed." Gemma echoed.
"I nominate Lady Cissa." Adriano put forth firmly.
The lady looked startled, but Sirius echoed Adriano's nomination, and Blaise, Marius and Gemma were quick to offer their own agreements, "It's basically what you're doing now, Lady Cissa. You would, of course, have all the support you could possibly want from the DC, but I would really like for you to be the Deputy Headmaster."
"They'll want her to stay home with her baby, though, because of tradition." Gemma pointed out.
Adriano's eyes narrowed, "Lady Cissa will be provided will all the aid she could want, and it's her decision. If she wants to be the Deputy Headmaster then she can and the old farts that want to cage her can go jump off a damn cliff without their wands for all I care."
Lady Cissa's eyes watered and she swept around the table and pulled Adriano in a hug, "You are a treasure, Adriano Potter." She whispered as she tried to keep herself composed, of course that worked until the teen's arms came around her- he really gave wonderful hugs, that boy.
They had decided to take a small break after Lady Cissa's nomination, the lady herself still a little puffy-eyed a half hour later, but the proud tilt was still in her chin and her smile was warm as she regarded the flustered teen who was being teased by the young Zabini heir.
"Alright, so Headmaster Greengrass and Deputy Headmaster Cissa," Adriano flashed her a smile, "now we need a Secretary and a Steward."
"Actually, my sister Andromeda would make an excellent Secretary, if that wouldn't cause any nepotism issues." Lady Cissa spoke up, "She was disowned as a Black for marrying a muggleborn, Theodore Tonks, who is a lawyer on the nonmagical side of things."
"Tonks- like Nymphadora Tonks?"
Lady Cissa looked surprised, "That's her daughter."
Adriano grinned, "She was part of the original DC."
Sirius barked out a laugh, "I've met with Andy once since my 'release' and she did mention something about Nymphadora making friends her final year of school that helped her graduate with the grades she needed to make it into the Auror program. Shoulda known it was your DC, pup."
"Well, as a disowned Black in the height of Blood War Andy really couldn't do much in the magical world, so she's pretty well assimilated to the nonmagical world, but she was raised a Black. I think that the reversed perspective of going from magic to technology, the experiences of her own daughter going to Hogwarts, and her Black ubringing would make her the perfect Secretary."
The teen hummed, "Alright. Which one of you wants to talk to her?"
"We both will." Sirius said firmly, "We'll do this as a Black family matter."
Adriano noted Lady's Cissa's stunned look, but decided to keep the meeting moving, "Alright. Steward then."
"Trenton Higgs, the father of Terrence Higgs who is going to be a Sixth Year this year, he's a successful businessman who is scrupulous but frugal." Gemma put forth promptly.
"Ah, yeah, Terrence is with the Expedition isn't he?" Marius wondered out loud.
"Yes- the lucky bastard, he's on night patrol for the first two weeks- but his father really does a good job of being a good manager without being an over spender, it's how he's kept the family business clean and in the black all these years. I had a feeling we were going to need a Treasurer, so I prepared a dossier about him." She passed the file around, and they spent the next few minutes paging through the information.
"Well," Sirius said as he sat down his folder, "I can tell you that the information matches what I know about Trenton."
"Who is going to get him on board?" Blaise asked from behind his folder.
"I can." Sirius said, "I can get him and Cyprill at the same time, despite their age differences they are occasional business partners, so I can work with hat."
"But you only have ten days. Well, more like nine by the time we all get some sleep."
"You brats aren't the only ones who can work miracles."
"Alright, well, we've got structure and the Senior Staff ironed out, the rest I leave in your capable hands, guys, lets get some sleep."
Sirius glanced at the clock, "Hey, Adriano?"
"Yeaaaah?"
"Happy Birthday." Sirius' tone was disgustingly cheery.
"…..I hate you a little bit right now, Siri."
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