Chapter 1: The golden wolf
Professor McGonagall, Professor Sprout, Professor Flitwick and Professor Snape sat in the office that had, until that very morning, belonged to Professor Dumbledore. No one had been surprised when the former Headmaster had announced he was stepping down – after all, a girl had been nearly murdered in the Chamber of Secrets, and in retrospect, Dumbledore's judgement throughout the previous school year seemed questionable at best.
The heads of house were gathered to determine Dumbledore's successor. No one had any doubt that it would be Professor McGonagall, since she had been deputy headmistress for almost seventeen years. Yet as tradition dictated, it was up to Hogwarts herself to decide the matter.
The stone walls shuddered, as if the very fabric of the school was shifting to make way for a new era at Hogwarts. Then a ball of light appeared in the centre of the office, subtle at first but growing brighter until all four professors had to look away. If they had been watching, they would have seen a huge golden wolf materialise in the centre of the light, metallic in appearance but nimble in its movement. Instead, they just heard a booming voice proclaim, "The Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is… HANNAH ABBOTT!"
The ball of light swallowed up the golden wolf and disappeared, leaving nothing but an echo carrying through the corridors of the school… Hannah Abbott, Hannah Abbott, Hannah Abbott…
Hannah Abbott had just arrived in Sydney where she was looking forward to spending a pleasant and restful six weeks after a traumatic year of people, ghosts and animals being petrified left, right and centre. Hannah's Mum had lived in Australia for a few years now, and Hannah always looked forward to spending summers there. They were, of course, winters down under. Nevertheless, Hannah was quite sure she preferred the bright winter sun of Sydney to the dull and drizzly summers of Yorkshire where she had grown up.
One of the few things foreigners get right about Sydney is that it has a lot of beaches – so many that Hannah had managed to find a secret little beach that she called her own. It was on the outskirts of the city, far north of the towering office blocks and fancy restaurants, and it could only be reached by quite a precarious hike through thick bushland. Hannah had visited the beach at least thirty times, and never once had she had to share it with anyone.
And so it was with great surprise that Hannah arrived there on her second day in Sydney to find none other than Professor Sprout, looking quite lost, as if she didn't quite know what one was supposed to do on a beach.
"Professor!" exclaimed Hannah, "What are you doing here?" Hannah very much respected her head of house, but there was a time and a place for discussing the intricacies of her Herbology homework, and this was neither.
"Oh, hello Hannah!" said Professor Sprout cheerfully, somewhat dispelling Hannah's unease. But the unease quickly returned as Professor Sprout explained Hogwarts' choice for her new Headmistress. Of course, it must be some sort of joke, Hannah thought, though it didn't seem like the sort of joke that Professor Sprout would customarily be party to.
"For the fifth time Hannah," said Professor Sprout, "this is not a joke, and yes, we were just as surprised as you."
"But of course I can't actually be Headmistress," protested Hannah, and she began to list all the obvious reasons why this was a bad idea: she had no experience in the running of schools, she didn't know any magic beyond second-year (and even then, she was only an average student), she was too young and the other students wouldn't respect her – the list went on, and on, and on.
Professor Sprout listened patiently. They were rather reasonable objections. The other heads of house had raised all these same points the previous day, when Hogwarts had made her fateful decision. However, it had ultimately been Professor Sprout who convinced them that Hannah might not make such a bad Headmistress after all – and if she could convince Professor Snape of all people – Snape! – well then, she ought to be able to convince Hannah.
In fact, the more Professor Sprout had thought about it, the more she thought that Hogwarts might actually know what she was doing with this odd choice of Headmistress. Hannah was an amiable girl who didn't care much for house rivalries and had friends from all four houses. She wasn't exactly popular – she was a bit too quiet and reflective for that – but she was certainly liked and respected by her peers. Most importantly, Hannah really cared about the other students. She was perhaps the only student Sprout had ever taught who cared deeply about all the other students.
Professor Sprout doubted the other teachers had noticed this. But, being the head of Hufflepuff, Professor Sprout was well-attuned to some of the pleasant traits of typical Puffs.
Besides, the mere fact that Hannah had given such a comprehensive list of reasons why she shouldn't be Headmistress was a good sign. She wasn't naïve. She had good judgement. She appreciated how difficult the task that faced her was.
Still, Sprout knew Hannah well enough to take the conversation in a more practical direction. She listed fifty things Hannah could do before term started to familiarise herself with the job of being Headmistress: people to talk to, books to read, spells to master. By the end, Hannah thought it sounded like quite a fun summer project. She had almost forgotten about her initial objections, which Sprout had so artfully avoided answering. But not quite.
When Hannah repeated her initial objections, Sprout knew it was time to use her last trump card.
"How many times last year did you wonder if you could have done a better job than Professor Dumbledore?" she asked, "If you could have better protected the students against the terrible monster that lurked within the Chamber of Secrets? If Dumbledore really cared about the students as much as you do? You know deep down, Hannah. You know you could have done better."
Something in what Sprout said resonated with Hannah more than anything ever had. It was as if a fire had been lit within her. A fire of determination. Determination to be better than Dumbledore. To be the best Headteacher that Hogwarts had ever seen.