Disclaimer: All characters belong to J. K. Rowling. I am only borrowing her characters to make Harry live a better life.
It was now the third day. Some Muggle-born and raised children had joined Harry's group, unofficially called the Muggle Studies Overhaulers. The previous day, they were given special permission after school ended to visit Muggle London under adult supervision and buy some 'study' materials to show to the teachers. Prof. Snape had been elected to chaperone them along with Auror Tonks because she has a Muggle-born parent and thus could easily blend in with the Muggle world.
"Prof. Burbage?" called Prof. McGonagall standing at the door to her office on the third day.
The Muggle Studies Professor looked up. "Prof. McGonagall, please come in," she said, and continued, "I assume this is regarding the concerns which the children raised about my subject the day before yesterday, isn't it?"
Prof. McGonagall sat down, took a deep breath, and nodded. "We would like you to answer a few questions asked by the parents of the Muggle-born and see where you stand on your current knowledge of their world," she said.
"Of course," said Burbage with false confidence. "When?" she asked.
"After dinner, the Headmaster, the other Heads of Houses, and the Muggle-born and raised children will be present here along with their parents. The children requested and were given special permission to go to London today again this time to meet their parents." said the Dy. Headmistress.
"Why the parents though?" asked Burbage.
"It seems when in London yesterday, few of the Muggle-born phoned their parents who on hearing about the happenings, wanted to refine their plans, and then the children came to me with the request. So, off we sent Severus and Tonks again this evening," said Minerva.
Just then the door opened and Prof. Snape came in and sat quietly staring at Prof. Burbage.
Snape had changed a lot since the revelations on Halloween night. He seemed more relaxed and also more friendly. Partly, it also had to do with the successful capture of Voldemort, who was still being kept under a body bind, and an enchanted sleep. He would not have to play the double role and live in fear ever again.
Charity took one look at Snape and broke into laughter. Minerva too looked at Severus but she was more restrained. One could surely see the hint of a smile though.
"You look like you want to both laugh and rage at the same time. Have I been that bad, Severus?" asked Charity honestly.
"Well, I don't know if it was your choice just to teach what's in the books and not bother to update your knowledge or whether you were being forced by the Dept to impart the outdated knowledge which would only help the magically raised if they were to go back few centuries in time?" asked Severus, still staring at her curiously.
"I thought not much had changed in their world and so, I was content to teach from the prescribed books," said Charity sheepishly.
'It can't be that bad, Severus, can it?" asked a now bewildered Prof. McGonagall.
"Worse, Minerva. Much worse. Charity just said that I was looking like I wanted to laugh and rage at the same time. Well, I and the Grangers and the Finch-Fletchleys actually did the same when the children showed us the Muggle Studies books and then we discussed things," said Snape.
"You will learn everything tonight," he then stated raising one hand stalling further questions, and the other two left it at that.
Soon, the time drew nearer and the concerned parties, including the Granger and Finch-Fletchley parents who had been invited to dine with their children in the Great Hall, made their way to the Muggle Studies classroom. The parents were clearly awed by the talking paintings, the moving staircases, the ghosts, etc, and the kids had fun observing their expressions.
Once everyone was settled, the interview with Prof. Burbage began. As a mark of respect, it was decided that instead of the children, it would be the parents who would ask questions and the children would only contribute with explanations.
"Tell me, Prof. Burbage," asked Dr. Emma Granger commencing the interview, "What do you know about the internet?"
Prof. Burbage shook her head. She said, "I don't know."
"Do you know about computers?" asked Mr. Finch-Fletchley, a rich industrialist.
Charity nodded but on asking what she knew, they learned that her knowledge was that of the computers at the beginning of their era. The parents and students then told her as well as the assembled Heads of Houses and the Headmaster about the computers of today and the internet, leaving them all awestruck. Snape being a half-blood was able to corroborate all that.
The parents then went on to ask her questions about laundromats, supersonic jets, Moon missions, Russian space stations, names of current Muggle PMs and Presidents of various countries, microwave ovens, J R R Tolkien, Albert Einstein, Mahatma Gandhi, the Cold War, nuclear bombs, Star Wars, automatic pistols, Spiderman, submarines, cricket, tennis, pagers, video games, Olympics, and many more things.
Prof. Burbage was unable to answer even a single question properly and she also expressed disbelief over the existence of some of the things or happening of certain events.
That's when Justin had a brainwave. Turning to Prof. Dumbledore hesitantly (never having spoken one on one to him), he asked, "Sir, could you arrange a Pensieve for us to show the memories of all those things which Prof. Burbage doesn't believe about?"
"Brilliant idea, Mr. Finch-Fletchley," said Dumbledore beaming at him. "I will go and fetch mine immediately."
"Why not have an elf bring it here, Sir?" asked Hermione.
Dumbledore looked at her in shock and then, embarrassment at not having thought that himself while Harry and Snape, of all people, shared looks of amusement. Dumbledore noticed it, and his embarrassment deepened.
"You are of course, right, Miss Granger and as Hary once quoted you, I too like other wizards and witches seem to lack logic or common sense," said Dumbledore, smiling.
"Oh no, Professor, that wasn't my intent," cried Hermione, horrified.
Laughing, Dumbledore said, "I know that, my child, and I merely commented that I indeed acted without using logic. I will have an elf bring it now. And yes, one more thing. Ten points to both you and Mr. Finch-Fletchley each."
Soon, they began viewing the Pensieve memories. The parents were awed by what was certainly (in their words) an advanced holographic projector, but they were disappointed because Muggles could not use it.
The magically raised people in the room were blown away by what they saw in the memories. Even Snape didn't know some of the things.
The interview soon began to wind down and then, at Harry's request, the Muggle parents told the teachers about the curriculum at the non-magical schools and asked about the lack of subjects at Hogwarts like Maths, Geography, Economics, languages, Phys Ed classes, no other physical sport apart from Quidditch, educational field trips, lack of competitions like elocution, debate, general knowledge quiz, chess, etc.
Again, the Pensieve was used to show examples of what was mentioned.
In the end, it was decided that the Headmaster and the Heads of Houses along with Prof. Burbage would show the memory of the interview to the Education Dept along with the memories that the Muggle-born and raised students had contributed.
The next day, true to their word, they visited the Ministry, canceling some of the classes and putting other teachers in charge. The Board of Governors were also called for an emergency meeting with them in the offices of the Education Dept. Somehow, Croaker also learned of this and he along with a few Unspeakables of his, invited himself along. Also present were the Head Obliviator and Arthur Weasley and Perkins of the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office.
The skepticism of the Board and the Head Obliviator, on the first broaching of the topic first turned to amazement at the wonders of the mundane world then to horror on learning about the modern weapons and more so, on learning about the CCTV cameras which were being installed almost everywhere and to which the Obliviators were oblivious of.
After a long moment, where no one uttered a word, Croaker quietly spoke up. "The Muggles already know about the Obliviators due to our Ministry's underestimation and ignorance of the CCTV cameras. That is why many of their surveillance teams are nowadays staffed with people who know about the magical world. This has also unfortunately given rise to secret groups of people who have Dursley-like or a more medieval attitude towards wizards or witches or are simply envious of the power we wield." This shook the rest.
Madam Griselda Marchbanks, the Head of the Wizarding Examinations Committee spoke up for the first time. She was the oldest of the lot and everyone respected her words. Glaring at the Board of Governors, she said, "Magic haters aside, a part of our Committee has been keeping tabs on the number of Muggle-born and half-bloods leaving either the magical world and returning to the Muggle world or leaving these shores altogether and going to countries like America, France, Canada, or India where they have laws against discrimination. Imagine this! Many of our most talented wizards and witches contributing to the progress of other nations, all because you people think that only Purebloods should be in the important places whether they have the skills to handle the position or not!"
All the Governors hung their heads in shame.
It was Dumbledore who spoke next. "The time is for us to decide that knowing the truth about the mundane world now, can we afford to continue with the current syllabus which is fifty if not a hundred years out of date?"
Madam Bones who also sat on the Board of Governors got up. "Absolutely not! It's also time to stop calling them Muggles which is such a derogatory term for people who are actually advanced in many fields. It's better to, like Albus, call them mundanes or non-magicals. Also, there's the fact that they outnumber us in population by a vast number."
She also suggested creating a simulation with the help of the Muggle-borns. It would be for those who frequented the mundane world like Obliviators, members of the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office, Aurors, Hit Wizards, etc. This would teach them how to blend in with the mundane world easily and identify and avoid/charm the CCTV cameras not to capture them in their act of Obliviation.
One of the other Unspeakables also told them how the Americans considered it a crucial life skill to be able to blend into the non-magical world and not only had Non-Magical Studies as a compulsory subject for everyone at their schools but also had the normal subjects and activities which the mundanes offered as mentioned in the memory by the parents. This way, if a wizard or witch wished to pursue higher studies in the mundane world, they could easily do so. They also have wizarding colleges or universities as part of the non-magical ones but hidden from mundane sight offering higher magical studies. The British magical world only has apprenticeships where too the students are subject to prejudice based on blood status. Not many mundane-born could hope to be taken in on as apprentices here no matter how intelligent they were. The British too needed to have an education system like that of the Americans.
All the ideas including this got approval. Now, they only had to sell it to the Wizengamot where the main battle lay. It did help that they had many Wizengamot members amongst them and few others could be counted on to provide support plus they had the Pensieve memories to aid them. It also helped that some Death Eaters who had been a part of Wizengamot were now incarcerated in a newly warded wing of Azkaban awaiting proper public trial.
There was still a long way to go to modernize the British Magical World but a part of the battle had at least been won.
There endeth my new chapter. Sorry for the delay, folks. I was unwell. Slight fever and then a persistent cough. Hopefully, I will post the next chapter soon. Stay tuned!