The Muggle Solution
by Teddylonglong
All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes.
Completely AU, partly OOC. More warnings might come up in possible later chapters.
"Could I simply dismiss the Board of Governors, considering that I'm the owner of Hogwarts?" Harry asked, shyly. "Do we really need them for anything?"
The Potions master let out a deep sigh, before he began to explain. "The Hogwarts Board of Governors consists of twelve wizards, who oversee the running of the school. They can appoint and dismiss headmasters and teachers, and if parents have problems with the school, they can address the Board of Governors, who will then talk to the school on their behalf to find a solution. Apart from Lucius Malfoy, who is indeed a member of the Board, I don't know who else are the members. If you dismiss it, which of course would be well within your rights as the owner, you should set up a similar organisation though, perhaps even with a certain number of parents in it."
"Maybe even a teacher as well," Hermione spoke up.
"As well as some witches, not only wizards," Daphne added, pensively.
"Considering Dudley's situation, I would recommend light members and not dark wizards like Lucius Malfoy, Snape suggested.
"All right," Harry agreed, "who else would we need, and whom would you recommend? Daphne, sorry, it's your turn here and the one of our Mistress and Master. As you know, neither Hermione nor Dudley or I know anyone in the magical world."
"Perhaps Madam Longbottom," Pomfrey spoke up, thoughtfully, "maybe along with Lord Greengrass. Harry, do you want to involve the headmaster in this decision? If so, I'd suggest that we continue this discussion in his office and also invite Professor McGonagall."
"All right," Harry agreed, shrugging.
"Harry, remember, however, that, whatever the headmaster says, the final decision lies with you – and you alone," Snape said in a firm voice. "Professor Dumbledore can be a little persuasive at times to say the least."
"Yes sir, thank you for the warning, and I think that I'll ask for your opinion and that of Professor Pomfrey and my fellow apprentices before deciding anything," Harry replied, smiling.
HP
After a longer discussion in the headmaster's office, it was decided that the new-to-be-founded Hogwarts School Board should consist of ten members. Harry invited Augusta Longbottom, Cygnus Greengrass, Amelia Bones, Arthur Weasley and Severus Snape to become members and set up a job advertisement to be posted in the Daily Prophet the following morning along with the notice of the dissolution of the old Hogwarts Board of Governors. All applications had to be sent to the owner of Hogwarts, which would automatically reach Harry, as owls recognised him as the official owner.
However, just when Harry returned from the owlery, a house-elf popped up in front of him.
"Master Harry, I is Lisa, Hogwarts' house-elf, and Hogwarts instructed me to serve Master Harry as the owner of the castle. She advised me to receive all the incoming mail for Master Harry, as there could be Howlers or poisoned mail as well. Please lets Lisa do this for Master Harry."
"Lisa?" Harry leaned down to look into the elf's eyes. "Won't you get hurt if you open bad mail coming for me?"
Lisa feverishly shook her head. "No Master Harry, Lisa wills be careful, and Lisa knows many spells to check the mail before opening anything."
"All right then," Harry agreed, contentedly. "Thank you so much, Lisa."
"You're welcome," Lisa replied, smiling, before she popped away with a barely audible crack.
HP
In the morning, the headline of the Daily Prophet screamed in red letters 'Dissolution of the Board of Governors!'
Underneath was a large picture of Hogwarts, followed by another headline.
'Hogwarts' owner accepts applications for a position on the new school board'
Underneath, it invited, 'See page 5 for all details concerning the former Board of Governors and the new school board.'
HP
It took mere hours, before the first applications arrived, and the four apprentices and their master and mistress gathered in the living room of the apprentices' quarters after curfew to take a look.
Harry picked up the first letter in excitement.
'Dear Albus,' he read to the others,
'as you know, I have seven children, who attended, are attending or will attend Hogwarts, and I know how everything is supposed to work very well. I wish to help the school by becoming a member of its board. Thank you very much for considering me.
Kind regards
Molly Weasley'
"Why in the world is she writing to Professor Dumbledore?" Hermione blurted out, glancing at Harry in apparent disbelief.
Harry merely shrugged, placing the letter on the left side to make a pile of applications, which he was going to refuse, only to take the next parchment into his hands.
'Dear Sir, whoever you are,
I have been on the Board of Governors for years and have much experience with the running of the school. As a pureblood wizard of one of the old families, I apply for a position on the new school board.
Best regards
Lucius Malfoy'
"Definitely not," Harry mumbled, adding the parchment to the refusal pile.
'Dear Mr. Potter,' the next letter began, immediately attracting Harry's interest,
'I offer my assistance to the board, as my insight as an Unspeakable might be of value for you as the advisors of the school.
Greetings
Unspeakable Raros'
"That sounds interesting," Harry blurted out, placing the parchment onto the right side.
"That's a definite yes," Daphne agreed, eagerly.
"I wonder who Raros is," Snape added, pensively.
"Oh well, I guess we'll get to know soon," Dudley quipped.
"No, you won't," Snape informed him. "The Unspeakables never show their faces. They always wear grey robes with hoods. Only their colleagues seem to know who they are."
The next letter was also one to peak Harry's interest.
'Dear owner of Hogwarts,
since I am only a Squib, I don't have experience with Hogwarts. However, I would like to work on a new magical world, in which Squibs would be accepted and not removed from their family and tossed into the muggle world. I believe that this should be part of the education, which witches and wizards are supposed to get at the school, since the families are too bigoted for their own good.
Sincerely
Regina Lestrange (the hidden and banned sister of kind Rodolphus and evil Rabastan)'
"They have a Squib sister?" Snape said in apparent disbelief. "I've never heard of her."
"Let's accept her onto the board or at least invite her to Hogwarts and speak with her," Daphne demanded, and everyone immediately agreed, before Harry turned to the next letter.
'Dear Mr. Potter,
if I am not mistaken, you must be the owner, even if I only know that you're the heir of the Gryffindor-Ravenclaw family through your late father. I am Albus Dumbledore's younger brother, however, old enough to have observed many of his mistakes, all for his so-called 'Greater Good', and thus, I would like to have an eye on the school to perhaps be able to prevent or at least remedy his future mistakes towards the students.
Best regards
Aberforth Dumbledore'
"Good," Harry nodded, contentedly.
Pomfrey nodded. "He's the owner of the Hogs Head in Hogsmeade and as such would be an opportunity for the students from third year onwards to easily address a member of the board. I know, they could speak with Professor Snape and Harry at any time, but some matters might be easier to discuss with people, who are not at Hogwarts."
Everyone concurred. Consecutively, they accepted Andromeda Tonks onto the board and rejected applications from Rita Skeeter and several pureblood wizards, whose letters Harry did not even have to read for Daphne and Snape to shake their heads in refusal.
Harry quickly penned the replies, glad when Pomfrey kindly copied them for him, so that he only had to add the names, and Snape called his raven familiar asking him to deliver the letters. Finally, Harry gave the professors a questioning look.
"Masters, where can we meet with Regina Lestrange without the headmaster knowing about it?" he enquired.
Snape and Pomfrey let out a collective sigh.
"We can't," Snape was the first to respond. "The headmaster will know, as soon as someone enters the wards."
Before Harry could do as much as voice his opinion, Lisa popped up in front of them.
"Master Harry, Hogwarts just told me that she has changed the wards from the headmaster to you," the elf informed him. "She also said to inform you that you can use the founders' quarters if you wish to meet with your guest."
"Thank you so much, Lisa," Harry replied, feeling very grateful at the castle's thoughtfulness. "Will you tell me where the founders' quarters are though? I've never heard of them."
Lisa let out what sounded like a small chuckle. "Of course Master Harry, if you pass the hospital wing and go straight on in the nowadays unused corridor, you'll see a painting of the four founders of the castle. They will let you and your friends in."
Harry profusely thanked the elf and decided to visit the founders' rooms at the next opportunity.
"Let's check the founders' quarters out tomorrow, and then you can reply to Mrs. Lestrange," Daphne suggested, and everyone agreed.
"Thank you so much for your help, everyone," Harry finally sighed, letting out a jaw-cracking yawn. "Let's keep quiet about the matter until our conversation with the Squib please," he added, and everyone agreed.
"Go to bed everyone. Good night," Snape finally said, causing a quadruple, "Yes Master."
HP
The founders' quarters consisted of a living room that was equipped with a life size painting of the four founders, the parlour, in which they could freely speak with Hogwarts, and many small bedrooms along with two larger bathrooms.
Harry and his fellow apprentices immediately felt comfortable and, while Harry and Dudley held a longer conversation with Hogwarts, Hermione and Daphne spent the time entertaining the founders in their painting with never-ending questions.
Finally, they decided that it was the perfect place to meet with the Squib, and Harry quickly penned his letter, inviting Regina Lestrange to meet him at Hogwarts on Sunday. Since Hogwarts promised to connect the fireplace to the Floo network, so that only people whom Harry had told her were allowed into the founders' quarters could floo in, he invited the Squib to come through the fireplace "Founders quarters, Hogwarts" on Sunday morning at ten o'clock.
As early as the next morning, he received a very kind letter from Regina Lestrange, telling him that she gratefully accepted his invitation and would arrive through the fireplace.
HP
At half past nine on Sunday morning, the four apprentices made their way to the founders' quarters – together with Snape, whom they introduced to Salazar Slytherin in the painting as his successor as Potions master and head of Slytherin. Both Potions masters seemed to be lighted to finally be able to meet.
Shortly before ten o'clock, Harry walked into the parlour. "Hogwarts, we expect a guest, Regina Lestrange, to arrive in the fireplace shortly. She's a Squib, and we've invited her as a possible member of the new school board," he informed the castle.
"I know," Hogwarts replied, gently. "Don't forget that I'm aware of all conversations that take place within my walls."
HP
Mrs. Lestrange was very nice. At least that was the four apprentices' impression, when the Squib arrived and introduced herself.
"Until I was six, everything was all right," the Squib told them. "I was raised together with my older brothers, and, while Rabastan was always a git, Rodolphus was a very kind big brother. However, when my father realised that I was a Squib, he sent me away. He made a house-elf rent a room in the muggle world and raise me while having me attend a muggle school. Ever since then, I've really suffered. It's bad enough to know about the magical world and be unable to be a part of it, however, being rejected by my own family was the worst," Mrs. Lestrange informed them.
"Nevertheless, I chose to not wallow in self-pity but enjoy my life as far as possible," she continued, "so I finished school and finally went to university. At least my parents saw to it that I had money. Right now, I'm a school teacher at a muggle school."
"What are you teaching?" Hermione enquired with apparent interest.
"Biology," the woman replied, smiling. "I was always interested to find out in which way magical people and Squibs like myself differ; however, without any magical people available, I didn't get far," she added, letting out a deep sigh.
"Mrs. Lestrange," Snape, who had so far followed the conversation wearing a blank expression, "would you perhaps be willing to give up your occupation in the muggle world and come to Hogwarts to work together with me and my apprentices?"
The Squib stared at the Potions Master in apparent shock. "Professor," she then said, sounding devastated, "what good could I do at Hogwarts except for trying to teach the pureblood people so see the magical world in a different way? I am a Squib."
"We know that," Hermione spoke up, "however, the four of us are apprentices of Professors Snape and Pomfrey. We study Healing and Potions, and it would be interesting for us to work together with you considering your knowledge in the field of Biology. Daphne here is a pureblood witch, Harry a half-blood… Oh no, you aren't, you're a pureblood as well," she interrupted herself. "Oh, anyway, I am muggleborn, and Dudley is a muggle."
Suddenly, the Squib's eyes lit up in apparent excitement. "Yes please, I agree. Please accept me as your apprentice as well, so that we can all study together and try to find out about the differences between magical and non-magical people through science in combination with magic."
"Apprentices?" Snape spoke up. "Do you all agree to have Mrs. Lestrange become our fifth apprentice and have her study together with us?"
"Yes Master," the eleven-year-olds chorused.
"Very well, Mrs. Lestrange…"
"Please call me Regina," the woman interrupted him.
"All right then, Regina," Snape continued, "do you mind attending first-year classes together with your fellow apprentices?"
"Of course not," Regina confirmed. "I'd be happy."
"Dudley, please inform Regina about your classes," Snape instructed the boy. "Harry, please ask Hogwarts if she could kindly add one single bedroom to your apprentices' quarters."
Harry immediately strode into the parlour and saw to it, and by the time, the six entered the apprentices' quarters, the room was already made.
After inspecting the room and agreeing to Snape's and Pomfrey's conditions, Regina returned to the muggle world to inform the school about her retirement, cancel her flat and fetch her belongings with the assistance of Lisa, whom Harry asked to assist Regina.
"I'm looking forward to working together with her," Hermione spoke up, when the group sat in their living room waiting for Lisa to return with Regina.
"Yes," Snape agreed, seemingly pleased. "A scientist in the field of biology is just what we needed, and her field of interest matches our own I suppose."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
HP
"Harry, shall I pen a letter to the Daily Prophet with the names of the members of the new school board?" Severus offered, noticing that the boy seemed to be tired.
'Thank Merlin Harry is not like his father in spite of looking like him. From the inside, he is Lily through and through, and he and Dudley are as competent at brewing as Lily was,' he thought, feeling extremely happy with his decision of taking the cousins as apprentices. 'The girls are almost as good,' a voice spoke up from the back of his mind, and he nodded, contentedly. 'Regina surely will be as well,' he thought, 'and she's about my age in contrary to all the other adults at the castle, who are much older than us.'
HP
In the morning, the front page of the Daily Prophet introduced the new school board of Hogwarts.
'Aberforth Dumbledore is on the board, surely predestined to meddle with the school after hearing a lot of gossip at Hogsmeade. Next are Amelia Bones and Unspeakable Raros to involve the Ministry of Magic. Several pureblood families are on board through Arthur Weasley, Augusta Longbottom, Cygnus Greengrass and Regina Lestrange, although we have never heard about this specific witch and wonder who she might be. Lastly, Andromeda Tonks, a former member of the Black family, who was cast out because of marrying a muggleborn, as well as Professor Severus Snape and Harry Potter Gryffindor-Ravenclaw Slytherin-Hufflepuff from Hogwarts belong to the board.
We wonder how young Harry Potter received his many family names and became the owner of Hogwarts, at the age of eleven to say the least, as it is well-known that his mother was muggleborn. Oh well, let's see what the future of our next generation is going to look like. We wish the new school board good luck.
Rita Skeeter.'
"Regina," Harry addressed the fifth apprentice, who was sitting together with them at the Ravenclaw table, "will you come with me, so that I can introduce you to the students, before you attend classes with us respectively Dudley?"
Regina cast him a grateful look. "Yes, maybe that would be great," she agreed, smiling.
Everyone looked up, when Harry approached the high table together with a young woman, whom no one had ever seen before.
Instead of addressing the teachers let alone the headmaster, however, he cast the Sonorus charm at himself.
"Hello all," he addressed the students, "this is Regina Lestrange. She is our fifth apprentice and will attend a few classes together with you, just like Hermione, Daphne, Dudley and I. She has been working as a scientist in the muggle world but now decided to return to the magical world to do research together with my fellow apprentices and me."
Only when they were back in the apprentices' quarters a few hours later, Regina said to him, "Harry, you never told them that I'm a Squib. You made it look as if I spent my time in the muggle world out of my own free will, and I thank you for that. It means a lot to me."
"You're welcome," Harry replied, smiling.
"It's no one's business anyway," Hermione added, matter-of-factly.
tbc...?
Thank you so very much for the reviews for the previous chapter. Please let me know what you think of this chapter and what you expect from this story. Any ideas or opinions are welcome. Somehow, this seems more difficult to write than my previous story, of which I am going to post the final chapter tonight...