Chapter Eighty-Four

A Change of Staff

Tom made his way into Hogwarts where the Board of Governors were convening. He was the third to arrive – Marcus Flint and Haran Nott already there; the latter of whom was there to officially remove the curse although Tom already had to last time he was here. The rest of the Board arrived within the next few minutes.

'Ah, Cursebreaker Nott, you are here to look at the Wards?' asked Lord Smith.

'Yes,' Nott agreed. 'If you would lead me to where the ward-stone is located.'

'Of course,' Smith agreed readily.

Nott and the Board of the Governors made their way down to the lowest and centralist point in dungeons. Tom had, of course, found the place when he was in his final year of Hogwarts and like then he was blown away by the sheer power of the place. Meanwhile Nott began muttering under his breath and waving his wand around. He did this for a couple minutes. Then he smiled and stood back.

'Well?' asked Smith impatiently.

'It's quite an impressive piece of magic,' Nott admitted. 'You see these golden threads tying together these newer stones, they make part of a Fate Ward, which is a ward based on Divination which basically ensures that a certain outcome will happen – in this case make sure they cannot return for another year. It is sealed with blood, the blood of a Hogwarts Heir which has tricked the castle into accepting it.'

'Can you undo it?' asked Smith impatiently.

'Ordinarily no,' admitted Nott. 'As the wards are full of blood wards, we cannot remove those newer blood wards without deactivating all of them. Normally, I would recommend removing the ward and installing a full new set. Fortunately, for you there are two Heirs of the Hogwarts present whose blood can be used to alter the wards.'

'I have no knowledge of Warding,' Smith said.

'That is no trouble,' Haran said. 'I just need your blood and then I can remove the wards, myself.'

Both Tom and Lord Smith used a ritual knife to drop their blood over the already deactivated Fate Ward. Haran muttered some deactivation words then smiled and turned around looking satisfied that he had removed the wards. Of course, Tom had done that weeks ago when Dumbledore was first suspended but the other governors weren't to know that.

'That's it, you should be able to keep your Defence teachers for more than one year,' Haran said. 'If not let me know and I will see if there are additional curses or malignant wards.'

'Thank you, Cursebreaker Nott,' Tom said.

'No, problem I'll send you the bill,' Haran said.

The Board made their way back up to the Meeting Room they were utilising and took their seats. All looking pleased that finally they would have a consistent Defence teacher. Maybe now the grades would go up.

'Okay, first things first we are down three members of staff – Defence as per usual, the Headmaster and the Potions Professor,' Smith began stiffly.

'Let's start with the senior staff positions shall we,' Lady Kneen said primly.

'Professor Flitwick has kindly agreed to take over as Headmaster and Professor Vector as the Head of Ravenclaw House on a permanent basis,' Smith said.

'And that brings us onto the position of Head of Slytherin House,' Marcus said.

'Indeed,' Record Keeper Gleeves said. 'Out of the teachers only Professor Aurora Sinistra is a Slytherin so she should be offered it.'

There were nods of agreements all around.

'And that brings us onto the letter from Minerva McGonagall,' Smith said. 'She feels she has failed at her duties as the Deputy Head as she failed to notice Dumbledore's embezzlement and Head of Gryffindor as she failed to protect students in her care. Thus, has tendered her resignation, although she was kind enough to agree to stay on as Transfiguration professor only until we can find a suitable replacement.'

'We should reject it,' Representative said sharply. 'Minerva McGonagall has-'

'Failed to act when she noticed that my son was being abused!' Tom said harshly. 'If it wasn't for the fact that classes start in three weeks, I would say that her resignation be accepted immediately. But, definitely, she should no longer be in a position of power!'

'Well, who will replace her?' asked Representative Hobday harshly.

'Pomona is an ideal candidate for the Deputy Head position,' Lord Smith said.

'I agree,' Lord Longsword nodded.

As there were really no other candidates that was decided without much fanfare.

'And as for the position of Head of Gryffindor House, the current teaching staff is rather Gryffindor heavy,' Recordkeeper Gleeves said.

'Of course, it is,' muttered Marcus darkly. 'We let Dumbledore decide his staff for too long.'

'Well aside from Minerva we have Bathsheba Babbling, Sybil Trelawney, or Rubeus Hagrid,' Gleeves said.

Umbridge sneered, 'a half-giant…'

Tom took over, 'Professor Hagrid has no formal education past second year at Hogwarts … his appointment alone is circumspect at best. Although, he has a lot of practical experience his knowledge of what is needed to know for OWLs and NEWTs is patchy – he should have received additional training before being appointed as teacher. And as for Sybil Trelawney … my son has informed me of her drinking habits and the way she enjoys predicting his death every class.'

'Bathsheba is a critically acclaimed Ruinist,' Marcus contributed. 'And has been teaching for longer than even Minerva.'

Again, that was decided with little fanfare.

'Well, that leads us to the prospects of appointing new teachers to the Charms, Defence, History and Potions positions,' Gleeves said. 'As well as to the new English course.'

'To start with charms,' Lady Kneen said. 'I am sure we have all had a chance to read the resumes of the six applicants.'

Tom nodded, 'I think Esme Dearborn is the best candidate, a highly acclaimed Charms Master with about ninety years of experience.'

'Don't you worry that she is too old?' asked Lord Longsword.

'She is younger than me,' Lord Maguire said coolly.

'And you did not have that problem with Professor Dumbledore,' Marcus said sharply.

'Besides she comes with an Apprentice who hopefully will take over when she should retire,' Record Keeper Gleaves said.

'And frankly none of the other applicants come close,' Lady Kneen said. 'Two retired Aurors, an Unspeakable and someone who did not complete their enchanting Mastery. Esme Dearborn is the only individual that we can offer the job to.'

'Now onto defence,' Smith said.

There were sighs all around of people who had had to do the same thing for many years.

'Well, hopefully, this will be the last time in a few years we have to do this,' Smith said. 'Well, we've only received two applications.'

'One,' corrected Marcus. 'I have withdrawn my application due to the change in my circumstances.'

'Ah, right, of course,' Smith said. 'Well, then the only applicant is Lord Balthazar Crouch, who has just received the results to his Mastery – an Outstanding.'

'Best one we've had since Quirrell,' muttered Representative Wiblin.

'Okay, then that brings us onto the history position,' Smith said. 'Again, only two applications.'

'Not surprising given how few historians exist nowadays,' Lady Kneen said darkly.

'Well, both of them seem highly qualified,' Representative Orpington said. 'Kelda Bimp is one of the most prolific writers on ancient history, and Dhaval Thakur is an expect, on world history.'

'We should offer them both interviews before making a final decision as there is no clear decision,' suggested Lord Longsword. 'Now, onto the potions applications. Personally, I feel that Master Marisa MacGrory is the best option as she has a Mastery in Potions.'

'But Paul Karume does have plenty of experience as a Potions assistant,' Lord Maguire contributed. 'We know that a Mastery, doesn't necessarily translate to being a good teacher.'

'Well, interview them both,' Marcus said. 'Which brings us onto the English Professorship. I think it should be Virginia Orpington.'

'The squib,' sneered Umbridge.

Representative Orpington flushed at the reminder of his granddaughter's failure.

'She has a Muggle degree in English Literature and Philosophy, does she not?' Marcus asked coolly. 'Yes, she's a squib but she's the only one actually educated in the English language. Who else do we have an author of trashy romances only good for burning, a Healer and author, or a political columnist?'

'I'd personally go for Ida Lozzus over a squib,' muttered Representative Wilbin.

'Well, I'd prefer our children to learn something other than how to write about steamy sex!' Tom said. 'Its not like you need a wand to teach English.'

'But a squib,' sneered Wilbin. 'Surely, Eveline Toots who writes for the Daily Prophet would be a far preferred candidate.'

Tom sighed he knew that despite how much better suited for the job than Eveline Toots, most of the governors would still want anyone but a squib teaching their children. Tom wasn't exactly pro-squibs … but he was anti allowing squibs to go out into the Muggle world full of knowledge, bitterness and little oversight. He would much rather that they get gainful employment in the wizarding world … or be obliviated of all knowledge of the wizarding world.

'I understand your fears,' Tom said smiling warmly. 'I would not under usual circumstances want a squib in position of authority over our children. But she has knowledge that we are in desperate need of. Let us call both Miss Toots and Miss Orpington for interviews and she which is the preferred candidate.'

'Like a squib will ever outperform a witch,' sneered Umbridge.

'Okay, now that that is dealt with,' Tom said. 'Let us go over the results of the survey. Let's start with the teaching standards. Most of the still present teachers have decent to excellent reviews. There are a few exceptions – we can ignore Binns and Snape. But then we have three still problem teachers.

'Professor Trelawney who several have reported to coming to class drunk and several students who were terrified when she predicted their deaths which I would say falls into the category of emotional abuse.

'Secondly Professor Rubeus Hagrid whose teaching is apparently haphazard. Last year, for example, they spent most of the year looking after something called blast-ended-skrewts which seem to be the result of an illegal breeding experiment and left students coming away from class with burns. And most of the year before was spent looking after flobberworms.'

'What would you expect from a half-breed?' sneered Umbridge.

'Thirdly, Charity Burbage who several Muggleborn and raised students have raised issues with the accuracy of the course,' Tom said.

'So, what would you suggest?' asked Marcus.

'Well, the Inquisitor should focus on observing these classes,' Tom said. 'In the next few months, we should come to a decision on how to handle them, and any other teachers that may need to be dealt with.

'The next point I think we need to discuss is the teachers timetables,' Tom said. 'All the core teachers – aside from Binns – have said that they have up to fourteen hours of teaching a day which they can only do with the help of a time-turner. That doesn't even include lesson planning, marking or additional duties in the case of the House Head. I think we should really consider hiring at least a second teacher for the core classes, possibly a third.'

'Can we afford that?' asked Umbridge sweetly.

'Now, that Dumbledore is not embezzling, yes, I think so,' Gleaves said.

'Certainly, when I was a student, we had two Masters for each of the students, and an apprentice who could often take the younger to OWL-level students depending on how close they were to achieving their Mastery,' Marcus said dryly.

'We had two promising looking potions professor,' Wiblin said. 'Could we perhaps hire both of them this year and if that seems to be successful, we do the same for all the core subjects for the new term.'

'We could do the same for the history professors,' Gleaves said excitedly. 'It is one of our very worst subjects so having an increase in staff could do no harm.'

'I would prefer to start advertising immediately,' Tom said. 'But I am aware that it will take time to receive more applications … so let us give it until Halloween and then put out a new survey for students and teachers about how they find the changes.

'Now, several students have requested other courses they would like to see,' Tom said. 'Most of the OWL and NEWT year students said that Magical Theory and Latin would be useful which I would agree with. Most Muggle-raised students requested a subject covering Wizarding society and many Heirs or people wanted to go to work within the Ministry of Magic suggested that Wizard politics would be a help. Then there are additional optional subjects that have been removed – alchemy, duelling and healing being the most common.'

'How would we even fit that into the timetable?' asked Gleaves frowning.

'Well, alchemy, duelling, Latin, and healing would slide neatly into the optional subjects for third year and up,' Tom said. 'That leaves us politics and magical theory. Currently, we have seven one-hour periods, five days a week equalling thirty-five class-slots.'

'First and second years have Friday afternoons,' Gleaves added.

Tom nodded, 'in addition, each of six core subjects, aside from Astronomy – which should really be an optional subject – have five teaching periods each. But if we were to limit them to four periods. Then English, Magical Theory and Introduction to the Wizarding World, could have three periods each. And if we did change astronomy to an optional subject that would mean that first and second years would still have two free periods a week.'

'And third to fifth years?' asked Gleaves.

'Well, the practical magic subjects would not change from the first and second years,' Tom said. 'But if astronomy is an optional subject and obviously Introduction to the Wizarding World is only for first and second years, with Wizarding Politics being an optional subject, and history was a three-period class. That would leave us with enough for six periods for two to three optional subjects.'

'That might work,' Gleaves said. 'But it would take us time to get the additional teachers for politics, magical theory, alchemy, duelling, Latin and healing.'

Tom nodded, 'well we have got Healer Rafaella Vane who submitted and Eveline Toots, a political columnist who both submitted applications for English who we could easily offer the position for Healing and Politics respectively. And there were a few recently retired Aurors and an Unspeakable who submitted applications for charms which would allow us to fill the duelling and magical theory spots. That only leaves Alchemy and Latin, which we could put adverts out now, alongside the reports for additional core teachers, and introduce them in January.'

Tom cleared his throat knowing that he was going to bring up his most controversial point. It was something that Tom himself was in two minds about. Tom was proud of his house, but he knew that had he and James gone to school together they might never have ended up together because of how deeply ingrained house rivalries were in their very society. Plus, they had to unify Wizarding Britain and they had to do that from Hogwarts-up. How could they unify when many refused to associate with certain houses or would only befriend other houses?

'I would like to bring another point to the table,' Tom said, '… the sorting system. Currently, many children will not talk to members of other houses and despise each other at worst, and that follows us into our careers, our relationships … everything!'

'For good reason,' sniffed Lady Idris Jones glaring at Representative Oakden Hobday.

'But is it really good for our children to be taught to hate one another?' Tom asked coolly.

'Wouldn't expect a Durmstrang to understand,' sneered Lord Smith.

'It is exactly because of my outsides point of view that I can see how dangerous these house rivalries are,' Tom said.

A giggle came out, 'I am sorry, Lord Slytherin, but are you suggesting we abandon our age-old traditions?'

'Not at all, Representative Umbridge,' smiled Tom politely. 'Merely, adapt them for a better world.'

Marcus leant forward looking intrigued, 'adapt them, how?'

'Well, instead of having a single-house dormitory and common room, we could have year common rooms and dormitories with four students each – one from each house,' Tom explained. 'Of course, it would depend on how many students each house had.'

Hadrian's year may have exactly the same number of students in each house – but this was the exception and not the rule. Although, that would not be true now that Hadrian and the Granger girl were no longer there.

'For example, there are thirty-two incumbent female second years,' Tom began. 'Eight Gryffindors, nine Hufflepuffs, seven Ravenclaws and eight Slytherins. Thus, we could have eight female dorms – seven with one of each house and the final one with our final Gryffindor, Slytherin and two Hufflepuffs.'

'Gryffindors and Slytherins in one dormitory there will be blood!' Lady Kneen said darkly.

Beside him Marcus appeared to deliberate, 'how about we start with the first years only? There rivalries will not be so deeply ingrained. If there shows a marked improvement in their mental and educational wellbeing, then next year we can implement it across the school as a whole, or just slowly phase it in so as not to disrupt the older years schooling. And if it does not work, well, the first years will have time to re-adapt to traditional schooling.'

Elderly Representative Wilbin nodded, 'I do think that something has to be done to tackle the … unrest that is rife in Hogwarts. My sons … have never really made up after one was sorted into Gryffindor and the other Slytherin. I would like to see something like that no longer happen.'

A hem-hem sounded again, 'and how would we implement this?'

'There are sixty students due to start in a couple of weeks,' Gleaves said. 'We will already be sending out a letter with the new courses that will be being offered to students for the third years and up. We can also send one out to the first years detailing the possible changes to the way the house system is worked.'

'And what about the welfare of the students whilst in this most noble institution?' questioned Umbridge sickeningly sweet. 'It has always been the Head of House who is responsible for the welfare of students, including the dorms and common rooms.'

Marcus snorted, 'the Head of House who usually have anything between seventy and two-hundred students to oversees which includes administration for their house, supporting students in the OWLs, NEWTs and subject choices, looking for their students physical and emotional welfare. As well as teaching their own classes and marking their own classes.

'How many heads of house do you think actually have the time to speak to their students more than once a year. If we were to have Years Heads who were only in charge of one year group – that would greatly alleviate that burden. The Year Head could be responsible for the common rooms and personal welfare of their students. Then the Heads of House could be responsible for administration and communication with parents.'

Lady Kneen leaned forward, 'that is not a terrible idea … even should this … experiment fail I would like the idea of having a year head and house head re-discussed.'

'What about seating arrangements and classes?' sniffed Umbridge clearly unhappy that "tradition" was being challenged.

'There will be no change to classes – they will still be grouped together by House,' Tom said.

'And as for seating arrangements … aside from feasts there is no rules against house mingling at mealtimes,' Marcus reminded them. 'It's just not usually done but if we were successful in correctly integrating the houses then it would become the norm.'

There was a vote – fifty-nine percent for and forty percent against. Umbridge scowled making Tom worried that the new High Inquisitor would attempt to sabotage this trial from her authority. He would have to ask young Heir Malfoy to keep an eye on the conniving witch.

'Well, it is decided we should send the letters to the first years,' Gleaves said.