Chapter Twenty-four
The Search
Saturday April 6, 1996
The following Saturday at the follow-up home loan meeting, it quickly became apparent that the Account Managers had blinked first. Amelia had been sitting next to Sirius, who was carefully watching the proceedings. When they had finished, she whispered, "Things went as you'd requested today."
He smiled and replied, "They did the right thing and I didn't have to do anything." He added, "I was talking with Emma Granger yesterday. She explained that she thought it likely that many people would use Barclays if they worked at a firm that paid in pounds and would use Gringotts if they worked at a place that paid in galleons. Gringotts is never going to eliminate their currency exchange fees and converting their money every month would more than eat up the half point difference in interest rates. On a related subject, how does that work for taxes?"
She explained, "People paid the Queens VAT tax if they shopped at nonmagical stores and paid the ministry sales tax if they shopped at most magical shops." She added, "It falls to us to develop more clever things to sell to grow the magical business side. The extra estate tax gold coming in will buy us time but the fact remains that even now, the sales tax revenue is only a third of what it had been."
Sirius reflected, "Perhaps the change is permanent."
"Nothing is permanent but I agree with you; there's no going back."
… - …
Devlin and Harry bought regular tickets to the Cannons-Portree Quidditch game. The stadiums within the league were all about the same size. Two hundred people sitting in the stands of a stadium that was designed to hold 2,500 is uncomfortably empty. Since they both were wearing field jackets and hoodie sweatshirts, no one recognized them.
Willy Wentworth, the Cannons seeker was interesting to Harry. The long-haired teen remarked, "This guy can see magic." He's searching for the snitch."
Devlin watched carefully and replied, "You're right. He's flying towards it."
Harry observed, "This guy should be winning every game. The problem is, he has no flying technique."
As it turned out, the Cannons lost that afternoon. After the game, Harry went down, introduced himself, and offered to go for a fly the next day. He said, "I know that you can sense the snitch. You can see magic. I can too. I'll show you how to get to it without being obvious so you can get close enough to it to give it a proper chase."
Willy replied, "Thanks mate. That's the most useful offer I've had in, well, forever. Ten am tomorrow then. Thanks."
… - ...
Monday April 8
That afternoon, Amelia was in her office at her home in Welshpool catching up on personal Bones family business when Smidgen, the long-time Bones family elf came in with a letter. "Mistress Amelia, this letter just came from Hogwarts for you."
"Thank you, Smidgen."
She opened the letter and started to read:
"Madame Bones and Madame Longbottom; Hogwarts Board of Governors:
Amelia and Augusta, as the only two members of the Board extant, I direct this official notice to both of you. Identical copies have been sent by owl today.
I have dreamed of being Headmistress of Hogwarts for many years. I felt that after serving Headmaster Dumbledore as deputy for so many years, I was qualified to lead this ancient school and was honored to be placed in the role. But as this very trying year of enormous changes is ending, I find that I am not cut out to be what is needed to lead Hogwarts through the very necessary changes required for magical Britain to thrive, grow, and fit into the wider world of which it has become apparent to me, we make a very small part.
Please accept this letter as my resignation from the position of headmistress of Hogwarts as of the end of the current school year. I will help in any capacity and for as long as needed for a transition to a new head and wish to remain in the role of Transfiguration teacher only if you will have me.
Yours truly,
Minerva McGonagall
Headmistress, Hogwarts School
Amelia was thinking about the widely-held popularity of the current potions and transfiguration professors (Rose Moonshine and Sylvia Clearwater) and hadn't had time to fully assimilate what she had just read when Smidgen returned. "Mistress Amelia, Madam Vulture Hat is in the main reception room," she said with a little smirk.
Amelia rolled her eyes and set off for the reception room. Smidgen had been startled and very scared as a young elf when she first encountered the hat on a chair when she was learning how to clean and had hit it repeatedly with a broom, causing no end of embarrassment to the then ten year-old Amelia and her mother.
"Augusta?"
"Amelia, did you receive a letter from Minerva?"
"Yes."
"After our discussion yesterday, I think Director Ragnok must have a seer in his back pocket, or knew more than he was letting on. In answer to your question, Yes, I'll help you on the panel. We need to move faster now than you thought."
Amelia replied, "Well, let's go into my study and discuss who we should invite."
They sat at a small table and Augusta opened a wire bound notebook and a picked a biro out of her purse."
Amelia was dumbfounded at her overly-conservative friend who apparently had just taken a step to join the 20th century and stared at her.
"What? My Neville and his Luna introduced these to me. They're so much easier."
Smiling, Amelia replied, "Ok, you take notes. Write down you and I for starters."
Augusta suggested, "How about Healer Amanda Crabtree? She's solid, experienced and has taught potions and first aid at St. Mungo's for years. She's an excellent leader and knows what the challenges are."
"She's a great choice. We need a parent."
"How about Emma Granger? Neville tells me her daughter Hermione is smart as a whip. She has to get it somewhere."
"Yes, Director Ragnok indicated the same, lets invite her. We should also ask Hermione. She's a muggle born and will give a different perspective."
"How about Mr. Euan Abercrombie? He's got a child in the school. He's from an old family also. The conservatives who are left won't be able to snark at us for being excluded."
Amelia laughed as she poured tea for both and put a large dollop of Brandy into the cups. "What do you think of Ted Tonks for the committee?"
"You mean Andromeda Black's husband, the muggle born?"
Amelia nodded.
Augusta said, "I know him well. I had him checked out when I needed a lawyer. I know he does the occasional bit for Gringotts. He represents the Longbottom family now. He's respected, a good lawyer. He was a graduate teacher for three years in the muggle law school he attended. Top student. One of the few people I know who straddles both the muggle and magical world by working in both. Aye, he's one that can give us some insights."
Amelia replied, "It's too bad that we don't know if any of the students have a parent who works as a teacher in a public school."
"We work with what we have. That's seven counting us. How about Amos Diggory?"
"Not a chance. He's a pompus blowhard who can criticize a sunny day but never offers a workable solution. No. How about Remus Lupin – he's taught there for a year and was quite popular with at least three of the houses."
"Good pick. One more? To have an odd number. Sturgis Podmore from the Wizengamot?"
"Never. Too close to Doge and he was too close to that man Dumbledore. I don't like his inability to think for himself. How about Micaella Gamp? She's a retired teacher and from an old family. She's got a seat on the Wizengamot, is a grey, and has always been levelheaded."
"I agree, and she is no shrinking violet either. That makes nine. I know you're busy. You know the Grangers and Gamp, so you approach them. I'll take the rest. I'll start tomorrow morning. Now freshen up my tea with some more of that brandy; it's very good."
… - …
Tuesday April 9
Harry looked at the article in the Quibbler.
Minerva McGonagall Announces Resignation!
By Cheryl Whitehart.
Two nights ago, Headmistress Minerva McGonagall announced that she told Minister Amelia Bones to find a replacement for her role as Headmistress. She indicated "It is my desire to step down and reduce my responsibilities to teaching Transfiguration only. I will serve until they find a replacement. See page 6 for details.
Harry and Hermione read the article and Emma's commented about being asked to be on a search committee the day before suddenly made sense. Hermione commented, "I'd have loved to have been on that committee. I have loads of ideas about the school."
Harry replied, "I'm sure that you do love, but we're a couple of drop-outs and someone might say something that that effect. We have no vested interest in the school right now and let's face it; we don't appreciate unsolicited advice about how to run the wand shop."
… - …
Sylvia Clearwater read the paper with some sadness. While McGonagall had only offered her a one-semester contract, she'd greatly enjoyed the work and had hoped to be asked to stay.
… - ...
Sunday April 14
Barchoke's office;
"Barchoke it's good to see you again."
"You also, Emma. What do you have for me this morning?"
"I've finished the task I sent you a note about. First, thank you adjusting my watch to allow me to portkey to Hogwarts and setting up my tour and the interviews with the staff. Amelia asked Ted Tonks and I to put together a package for you as quickly as we could. We've completed the package to send out to our candidates once we identify them. It includes a questionnaire, and some background on the school. We've also drafted the position announcement and determined a list of school and international publications to send this off to."
He asked, "Should we send a notice to the people you wrote us about after your Salem tour?"
"I'm not sure. It seems a little underhanded to have a tour and then go after them for a role here. Anne Chambers is the only one I'd send directly. She told me on the tour she's in her last year of her contract and was thinking about the future. So perhaps she'd be interested. In any event, the distribution should cross her desk and perhaps she'll apply."
"Did Amelia finalize her screening panel?"
"I'll leave that to Amelia to discuss. I only know she asked me and a student to serve. I'm sure that there were others."
"As we promised Amelia, we will get this published."
He watched Emma leave and started to flip through the binder that needed to be copied. His eyes rose as he perused the information to be provided to candidates who applied and the questionnaire, they would have to answer.
Applicant Questionnaire:
Please read the Financial Report and Facilities Description packets before answering this Questionnaire.
Describe your teaching philosophy.
Describe how you would structure non magical curriculum instruction.
Describe how you would structure magical curriculum instruction.
Describe your approach to Physical Education.
After reviewing the current school course offerings what changes would you recommend?
Describe how you would structure continuing education including masteries.
Describe your views on Adult education.
At what age should new magical families be approached and introduced to the magical world and how would you educate them.
What is your opinion of allowing other magical and non-magical beings such as Goblins, Werewolves, Vampires, and non-magical formally called "squibs", to be educated in the school?
State your views on discipline and bullying.
Describe your views on Hogwarts being a boarding school.
Describe your views on Hogwarts being a day school.
Is Hogwarts's castle a sacred cow?
What is your response to: That's a sacred cow; we can't change that?
What's your opinion of the House system?
After reviewing the financial condition provided what recommendations do you have for funding the school and the level of tuition required to attend?
Describe how you would handle security and safety.
Describe the physical improvements you would recommend at the school.
Describe how you would educate both the non-magical and magical students into each other's world.
Describe the Hogwarts Head's ideal span of control. How should it differ from that of the school governors'?
The total written response should not exceed ten pages. Additionally, please give an expanded answer to any one question and include that. Please keep your recorded statement to a maximum of five minutes.
As she was being escorted back to the lobby, Barchoke thought, This gets more interesting every day.
… - …
Monday April 15
"Time for lunch kids," said Emma. She walked to the front door, "Dryeye, come in for lunch, we want to lock up for an hour."
Two of the four guards came in and locked the door behind them leaving two outside.
"We will eat in shifts, Wandcrafters."
Harry sat down with an enormous sandwich and a pile of crisps with a Orange Crush to wash it down. Hermione and Emma took their usual salads and just smirked at each other.
He opened the Quibbler to the sports section.
"Wow, tight race shaping up. Puddlemere, the Harpies and Magpies are all undefeated. After six weeks. The Cannons are in 8th place at 3 and 3. That's two more games they have won than the last three years combined."
Hermione asked, "Redeye, what sports do the people of the Nation play or enjoy?"
"We enjoy the pit on Sunday evenings. There is much speculation, discussion and wagering involved."
… - …
In Marseille, Felix closed his wand shop, intending to go back to repairing pleasure boats. He'd made ridiculously good money when he had quality core to work with, or the British wands to resell.
Two weeks after Harry made his speech in the Citidal courtroom, Felix turned the key to the wand shop back to the goblins. He saw no future prospects for functional core and the British Wand Shop proclamation that they would no longer sell to him eliminated his opportunity to make serious money.
When the Account Manager poured him a glass of wine in a farewell toast, he gladly accepted.
… - …
Friday April 21
Barchok's office;
"Hello Minister Bones, how are you today?" asked Barchoke.
"That remains to be seen," she said with a smirk. "Did we get any responses on the position available listings?"
"Yes, a great response. We have 39 inquires. We sent the packages as you had Emma request and deliver to us. We received 21 submissions as of the yesterday evening deadline. Each binder has their CV, their completed questionnaire, and a display cube with their five-minute statement.
"I think you have your work cut out for you, Minister. Have you put together your panel?"
"Yes, I think we have a fine team. Myself, Madame Longbottom, Healer Amada Crabtree, Ted Tonks, Madame Gamp, Mrs. Granger and Wandcrafter Granger, Euan Abercrombie, Sr., and Remus Lupin."
I think you will need them all to get through the applications. As we previously discussed, the Nation will provide portkeys for the ones you wish to interview."
"Thank you," said Amelia as she shrunk the box of files down and popped it into her purse. "I'll keep you apprised of progress."
… - ...
Thursday April 27
London Hilton at Park Lane;
"Welcome everyone and thank you for giving me the next few very long days of your lives to help Hogwarts. You all have rooms in the hotel and we will be using this conference room for the duration. All meals will be provided. You have all met a little earlier today. I'm Amelia Bones, and this is Augusta Longbottom. We are the last two surviving members of the Board of Governors. We are here to review applications for the role of head of Hogwarts. As you may or may not know, Minerva McGonagall, the current head has resigned. Our goal this long weekend is to review the applications we received and winnow it down to a finalist pool for in person interviews. "
"I'll ask Emma Granger to come up and explain how we advertised the position."
"Thank you, Minister," said Emma.
"The Goblin Nation helped us publish the add in the major newspapers around the world, including Japan, (Rising Sun), New Zealand & Australia, (The Koala
Times), USA, (NY Magical times & The Daily Brew) Europe, (Expression Magique), Africa and Great Britain (The Quibbler) on or about April 9. We also stated that neither British Citizenship, nor magical ability, read "Squibs" were a required status for consideration. We also sent the notice to every major school and asked they publish it internally to their staff. The following agreed to let their staff know: Beauxbatons, (France), Castelobruxo (Central Brazil), Ilvermorny (America), Mahoutokoro School of Magic (Japan), and Salem Witches, Salem (America)
"Durmstrang Institute (Northern Europe), Uagadou School of Magic (Uganda), Koldovstoretz (Russia), politely declined. We cast as wide a net as possible to ensure a good candidate pool."
"How many were received?" asked Micaella Gamp.
"We received 39 inquiries and sent full packages to them. 21 returned a fully completed package and/or CV, Questionnaire and a five-minute statement on a Goblin recording/ projection device. In addition, we received over 50 CVs expressing interest in other teaching positions if they became available."
There was stunned silence from the group.
Madam Gamp cleared her throat. "How are we going to do that? How do we keep them all straight?"
"What criteria should we use to rank all the CVs?" asked Ted Tonks.
"We will only being evaluating the 21 for who were applying for the Head position. The remainder will be made available to the successful candidate for their perusal for when they have to staff the school. My daughter, Hermione will present our evaluation plan to you. Hermione, you have the floor."
"Thank you, Mum. Welcome everyone. We need to start by sorting and reviewing the CVs. Each of you has a box filled with folders with a copy of the 21 applications with applicant statement. The CVs have the names hidden. This will be a blind evaluation to take bias out of the process. Behind me is a large white board. You will notice that there is a grid with 21 columns, one for each candidate, and down the side is all our names. For now, each CV is numbered 1-21. In your package is a felt tip marker and a different colored sticky note pad. As you read each CV I want you to write their number on the sticky note and put it up on the board. For now, I've charmed the notes to be invisible to anyone else but the writer.
"I suggest you start with the first one at the middle number 10 position. As you read each CV measure it against the preceding. Post your note on the board an arrange them as necessary after each review. As you go you will find your self moving the papers from spot to spot, higher to lower, as you read or reread each one. Once you finish, we will take a break to think about things and then come back and you can make any adjustments.
"After our rankings we will activate the personal statements one at a time as a group. You will only hear them, we will not be projecting the statement at this time. Once each is heard, re-rank your notes on the board. Once this process is completed we will uncharm the notes and compare the rankings.
"Then tonight I want you all to replay your top ranked personal statements in your rooms and tomorrow we will discuss and re-rank to come to a select group of finalists for in person interviews."
Emma stood up. "Thank you, Hermione. OK let's get started."
Almost nine hours later an exhausted team had reviewed and ranked all the CVs. The sticky notes were placed on the board. Then each CV was discussed. The top five and bottom 10 were very clear. The top five all appeared in slots one to five by each reviewer. Two names were split evenly in slots six and seven. Ten names all appeared in the bottom slots for all four.
With a tired sigh, Amelia commented, "OK, good work team. Let's have dinner and then retire to our rooms where you have your homework of re-viewing the statements so tomorrow, we can start discussing the rankings."
… - ...
That evening Emma was rereading the questionnaires and taking notes.
Applicant Questionnaire: Ms. Anne Chambers
Please read the Financial Report and Facilities Description packets before answering this Questionnaire.
Your school appears to be insolvent with no source of revenues but tuition which is set exceedingly low and is further eroded through the practice of offering discounts to some students due to meaningless factors. Simply stated, for a school or business to survive and thrive, the math has to work.
What is the yearly tuition for a boarding/day student at the school where you currently work?
Equivalent to 1,625G.
After reviewing the financial condition provided what recommendations do you have for funding the school and the level of tuition required to attend?
Ultimately the ministry, or school board decides the quality of education that is to be offered by means of setting a budget and establishing a high level vision. It could be to offer 500 galleons worth or 1,500 galleons worth. It could be to teach isolationism, or to have students learn the skills necessary to succeed in an integrated 21st century world.
Having a larger budget to work with allows a school to offer more options, electives and learning opportunities. Having a smaller budget diminishes those elements of education. In my opinion, having held the line against tuition hikes for 52 years at the cost of cutting everything (including in one case living professors) was not a successful trade-off. Selecting funding methods, making choices regarding accommodating low-income students, or students with special needs are choices of the ministry or school board.
Tuition must be substantially raised. Ministry subsidization should be considered until a proper endowment fund can be developed. A school store should be opened and selling basic supplies and books to swag, i.e. logo items such as hats sweatshirts etc.
Offering the options to attend on either a part-time or day school basis would at least allow an option for students of limited means and doing so may raise the student count.
At what age should new magical families be approached and introduced to the magical world and how would you educate them? At what age should they begin magical instruction?
The earlier the better. Once a child exhibits magic or another way is determined to find magical children, the parents need to be informed and introduced to the magical world. Provide mentors and periodic classes to help them integrate. Survey parents to see if interest exists for an integrated primary school.
Describe your teaching philosophy.
Students will choose to learn topics that they believe holds value. As such, any topic, be it from transfiguration, potions, or ancient runes should be introduced with a brief discussion of how that topic can be used outside of class – in a job, at home, or for personal protection. People will readily learn what they believe will benefit them.
Describe how you would structure non magical curriculum instruction.
Full immersion in a non magical setting. Start with early intervention, introducing new magicals to the world of magic. Begin primary education for all magicals in a non magical or mixed setting. Provide an introduction to magical society for the families.
Describe how you would structure magical curriculum instruction.
I believe there should be basic courses with numerous annual and single semester electives to provide for a broad range of interests. Life courses such as home economics, like cooking, financial management, driving etc should also be a part of the basic instruction. We must provide an introduction to non-magical society for the students.
Describe your approach to physical education.
Being active is an essential part of any child's development. A basic bi-weekly requirement and numerous electives to provide alternatives physical activity plus intra mural team sports such as volleyball, football, basketball, track and field, baseball and softball.
After reviewing the current school course offerings what changes would you recommend?
Introduction of non-magical subjects, financial basics, estate management, physical education, introduction to both magical society and non-magical society, enchanting, introduction to Healing, introduction to careers utilizing various aspects of magic, early childhood education, adult education, and mastery programs.
Describe how you would structure continuing education including masteries and your views on adult education.
Offerings must be expanded. Offering evening, part-time and summer sessions can raise revenue for the school. A comprehensive mastery program of two years will raise money and provide graduate students to help teach and reduce expense. Courses can be full instruction to international NEWT level or single specific classes for interest. Adults of Britain should be surveyed to evaluate interest level by area.
What is your opinion of allowing other magical and non-magical beings such as Goblins, Werewolves, Elves, and low/non-magical formally called "squibs", to be educated in the school?
Why not? More inclusion means more tolerance, more students and spreading the cost of school. Runes, Arithmancy, Care of Magical Creatures, much of herbology and the first three years of potions do not require the serious use of a wand. Inclusion also provides that the magical society will have greater population and help drive the economy. Any special safety concerns can be addressed.
State your views on discipline and bullying.
Discipline must be swift, sure, consistent and applied equally without regard to the status of the individual. Bullying should have a zero tolerance. There is no place for it in school.
What is your response to: That's a sacred cow; we can't change that?
Why not? The reasons of, It's always been that way, or it's tradition should stand behind in priority to the overarching goal of teaching students useful skills that will allow them to thrive in the 21st century.
Describe your views on Hogwarts being a boarding school.
It is a long-held tradition but the viability is in question. There is a fixed cost (supervision, laundry services, etc) with offering a boarding option. Parents should be surveyed and potential options discussed to gauge interest.
Describe your views on Hogwarts being a day school.
I think you need to consider this as an option for survival. With the current room/board/tuition being pegged at 500G of which a minimum of half is tied to room/board, setting a day school rate of 400G and a boarding rate of 700 would provide the perception of a low-cost option for parents. With the floo systems and portkeys, travel to and from school is not problematic.
What is your opinion of the house system?
The house system has been broken and non-functional for years, it's a breeding ground for bad behavior. I would eliminate it outright. I'd also keep the year mates together in one dorm for the full time at the school and have the classes together.
Describe how you would handle security and safety.
The wards need to be reviewed and updated as necessary. I'd have security guards, identification badges color coded for visitors, students, adult staff and teachers. Portkey, floo and apparition points will be in secure areas manned by security and each person will be verified when entering.
Describe the physical improvements you would recommend at the school.
Hard to say without an in-person visit. Based on my time there over 25 years ago, I think there must be much to do, including renovation of dorms, classrooms, adding electricity and lighting. Expanding the school greenhouse and farming operation.
Describe your vision for Britain's magical student education both in its near- and long-term future. A clear plan to provide a fully balanced education in life skills, and both mundane and magical subjects so that when the student finishes they can either go onto a mastery at the school or go on to mundane university or go out into the world prepared for life in general with skills to get an entry level job.
Please keep your recorded statement to a maximum of five minutes. Please see recording cube.
Emma smiled as she tucked the response back in her binder. She thought that the answers solidified her opinion to include her in the interview pool. She also appreciated her frankness and push-back.
… - …
"May I have a word with you and Augusta, Amelia?" asked Amanda Crabtree as the room cleared.
"Of course, let's sit down. What's on your mind?"
"I know this may be outside the purview of this committee, but I think it needs to be addressed and soon. You need to revamp the Board of Governors and think about how we pay for this school. You need a separate Finance Board also. We should ask the final candidates how they suggest approaching this problem."
Amelia's look of distaste did not go unnoticed. With a sigh she said: "You're right. Augusta and I have spoken already about that situation. I've put it on the list for future consideration; another item in an overly-long list of things to be done. We need to find a new head first. What are your thoughts on the subject, Amanda?"
"First, don't pick a new Board until after you implement the new Head and changes. You and Augusta can make decisions pretty quickly with no politicking now. But think about it for the future. We are going to pick a new Head. We're asking all sorts of questions about their vision of this and that, how they want to do things. But we can't let them be another Albus Dumbledore doing whatever they want and be totally insulated from any guidance and criticism.
"I've been thinking about it and how it will interact with the new head. Here, the Board's only authority it has wielded in the last thirty years has been a slight power of the purse and to meddle in trying to tie Dumbledore's hands and I'm not sure how much Albus was influenced by that. Tuition was not changed in 52 years! They abrogated their responsibilities by giving that man free reign over every aspect of the school.
"Look at all the classes he canceled and what he dumbed down. Standards slipped across the board. I've had to institute remedial positions for every healer trainee we've hired at St. Mungo's since Horace Slughorn retired. I've always thought his behavior was odious with his little social club, trading favors for this and that, but the man could teach. You have even sent me your Auror trainees for goodness' sake as they couldn't even recognize poisons! Albus allowed this school to slip into mediocrity with all of his little greater good secret agendas. A new board must provide leadership and guidance and not leave the direction up to the head.
"The Board should be there to set policy and vision and the Head should carry it out. A problem that I see is that the old board was hereditary, and most were on the board for the stipend and prestige and added nothing to the school. Too many were incompetent. Malfoy spread his gold around in order to politically undermine Albus. Nothing got done, there was no vision, no leadership. You both know it. And as a result, the board was a paper tiger. That man did what he wanted. His own personal fiefdom."
Amanda took a breath and looked at the two of them. "How often were you both on the wrong end of a 7 to 2 vote? Except for you and Augusta, everyone on the board was either from a dark or very grey family and were accepting gold from Malfoy who was manipulating things for his own devices. You can't allow it to happen again."
"All well and good to say, Amanda," said Augusta. "But what do you suggest?"
"I think you need a totally new board, nine people, three-year terms, stagger the start with three at one year, then three at two years and then three at three years. When their term is up, they can renew for another three years. Put yourselves in the rotation and rotate off when your terms are done. Two terms maximum so that you always have some new folks coming on. You need to mix it up with different viewpoints and experience and represent new magical and non-magical. Make the chair rotate every year.
"Also appoint an independent fiduciary board that recommends spending and tuition rates! We had thirty-year-old brooms for Merlin sakes! What the hell did Albus do with the tuition? You need to take it away from the Governors so they cannot play with the funds as they did in the past. Also eliminate the stipend. Perhaps you and Madame Longbottom were the only survivors because you refused the stipend every year and put it back into the school? Think about that, dears! They also need to figure out how much to charge! We need equity. We have no capital fund anymore. It is clear from the Finance report that we lose money on every student. It is not sustainable. What do other schools charge? Ask the candidates. This has to be addressed! What's the right tuition, what do we do to leverage the wonderful property that is Hogwarts? How do we subsidize the school from a society viewpoint? We need to explore this as part of the process with the candidates.
"We've got a chance to really influence society going forward by showing these children the way. You also need to clearly articulate your vision for this school to whomever we pick. Let's not go down the same road we have for the last fifty years."
Both Board members looked at the St. Mungo's Head Healer and sighed. "You're right," said Amelia. Thank you, for your thoughts. Let's go have some dinner and relax to think over these things."
… - ...
Friday April 28
Day two at London Hilton at Park Lane:
Amelia stood up and summarized, "OK we've all had a chance to re-sort and rank the candidates. Revealing the names we can say Akihiko Daichi (Japan), Giuseppe Arata (Italy) and Anne Chambers (Salem), are the top three candidates with everyone ranking them one, two or three." They looked around at each other and nodded in agreement of her statement.
Amelia continued, "Well time is short, and we have been at this a long time today. It's getting late and we can't take more time even though we need to make a good choice. I think the majority opinion, 7-2, is to interview the top three and if not satisfied, we expand the pool after that. The Goblins and Barchoke have offered round trip Portkeys to Hogwarts for candidates and the panel. I want them to tour the grounds and we can do the interviews on site."
Lupin asked, "When?"
Emma asked, "Do you think we can have them here for a week from Monday or the latest Tuesday? I'd like to bring them around for a tour the day they arrive and talk to them and have dinner. Get to know them. Pick their brains for a full day in a casual atmosphere. Then as a group, we'll interview each one of their candidates for however long it takes up to three hours. We have the next day to finish interviews if we don't have enough time. Then we meet and discuss who we think should be the choice."
"Ted, since you're going to the bank after this, please talk to Account Manager Barchoke to make the travel arrangements," asked Amelia. "Euan and Remus, can you go to Hogwarts and let Minerva know what we're planning and make arrangements for accommodations and such? Ask her for some students who can do a tour with the candidates and be able answer questions."
… - ...
Wednesday May 1
The end of April brought a sort of tipping point to the wizarding world in Britain. Wands had been delivered to all of the new bloods, most of the half bloods and businesses that Gringotts wasn't holding a grudge against. When the June 24 deaths were excluded from consideration – the Daily Prophet, Ogden's Ltd, Borgon & Burkes, several Knockturn Alley businesses and another two dozen failing businesses were all that remained of the so-called Anti-Progressive list. Almost 22,000 wands had been fitted domestically.
Apothecaries were back in business, though there were still shortages of items that previously had been imported. Domestic production was up from new businesses such as the newly formed Longbottom Acres, which was nominally run by Augusta and in fact completely managed by Neville and staffed by a dozen elves, was doing an admirable job in providing previously imported plants. His adoption of grow lights had made it possible to successfully produce plants that had never previously been grown in Britain.
Sirius had reported that six of the sixteen professional quidditch teams had been wholly or majority-owned by former members of the tattoo club and as such, were on the market to be sold.
Amelia had done a masterful job of developing the dialogue with the goblin Nation and the elves; giving them voting voices in the Wizengamot. She knew that it was nearly time to set aside the emergency powers hat and either develop a tolerance for the art of negotiation and the compromise of politics, or step aside and let those who enjoyed it do their jobs.
… - ...
At 7:50 Emma, Hermione, Harry and Winky were at their stations. They had rearranged the selling room to have all three selling – Yabby-Dabby style. Dobby was slicing ½ inch blocks and would restock the shoe boxes as needed. They had run out of strand and had 9,000 wands in inventory.
At eight, they opened the doors and as expected, there were already a hundred people in line. Harry's first customer was Joscelind Wadcock. Winky Looked at her and placed a ten-inch maple wand in the empty shoebox to his right. As she was sitting down, forty-five seconds after Wadcock had been let in, Stephon Radford walked in.
Harry greeted Joscelind, took her card, placed the five galleons in the box and said, "Good morning. Are you ready to try out your new wand?"
She nodded and replied, "Yes. Please."
"Give this one a wave."
As expected, sparks flew from it. He smiled and remarked, "That looks like a great fit. I think it will do very nicely for you. I hope you'll enjoy it. Thank you for stopping in today."
As hoped, she got up and said, "Thanks again."
In the meanwhile, Regulus Moonshine was just sitting down in front of Emma. Winky had placed a wand in her shoe box.
A few seconds after Wadcock had left, Webster Boot walked in. By the time he had sat down, Winky had placed a wand in his box and Harry repeated the routine
When it was five pm, they had fitted a total of five hundred wands with everyone getting lunch and bathroom breaks. Harry hugged Dobby and Winky and told them, "Thank you both for your help."
"That was the most that we've ever sold in a day," remarked Emma. "We should be able to get pretty far through the list by the time you leave for Salem. By the time you get back, we'll be able to focus on making wands for the rest of Europe."
Hermione remarked, "I called Mr. Yasgur. He'll have 50 sheep ready this Saturday morning at eight and another 50 ready on Saturday the 18th."
… - …
Saturday May 4
Saturday morning, the wandcrafters, the elves and six of the guards took the portkey to Hagrid's home. Hagrid greeted them. "G'morning." Hermione gave him a hug and said, "Hagrid, this is my mum, Emma Granger."
Hagrid, replied, "I'm honored to meet yer, Emma."
"Me too, Hagrid. Your home is lovely." She meant it. "What's the plan for the morning?"
Harry said, "Dobby and Winky will bring the fifty sheep when we call them."
"Good. Let's go then." They walked to the meadow that had started to grow. The wind had blown most of the blackened sticks down, as the badly burned trees from a year ago appeared to be. As such, getting through this part of the forest was harder than it had been last October.
Once they reached the area where the spiders lived, there were webs as far as they could see. There were webs everywhere. Like before, some were smaller – five or ten feet across but many were absolutely massive. One stretched almost 200 feet across!
Hagrid called out "We're here."
Emma had to force herself not to scream as hundreds of rat-sized spiders approached then followed by bear-cub size spiders, followed by full-grown grizzly-bear size spiders. She steeled herself, pulled out her camera and took a picture.
Hagrid said, "Er Harry, now might be a good time..."
Dobby arrived leading two sheep followed by Winky. A few seconds later, he brought two more, them two more then again and again until there were fifty sheep bleating.
Aragog remarked, "You promised us forty tasty sheep and have brought fifty. Your friends are welcome to return as long as my sons shall live, Hagrid. You may take the webs that we made for you."
Dobby and Winky went to work. Soon all of the reels were full and they'd taken down just over half of the webs.
Harry said, "We thank you for helping us. We would like to return in fourteen days to bring you more sheep and gather more of your magnificent webbing."
One of Aragog's sons walked up to Harry and said, "You are the one who slew the unspeakable beast that lived under the castle. We will call you friend."
The raven hair teen said, "Thank you. My name is Harry."
The spider replied, "My name is Clawhook. We will spin many webs for your use, Harry."
Meanwhile, Emma was taking photo after photo with her camera.
Harry remarked, "I am happy to call you my friend, Clawhook. Thank you again. We'll be back in fourteen days."
… - …
Daryl picked up the phone, saw that it was Harry Potter and answered, "Good afternoon, Harry. How can I help you?
Harry replied, "Two things. I wanted to confirm that the flight information that I sent you is correct and I was hoping that you might have another box of empty fishing line spools."
"Certainly. When do you need them?"
"Soon. Dobby could pick them up tomorrow at this time if it is convenient?"
"No problem."
"I'll let him know. Thanks again."
… - …
After months of futile searching, Hermione suggested (via Sirius and Arthur) that Percy apply with the Metro Traffic Enforcement division. Making use of documentation supplied by the ministry, he applied and was hired to work with parking enforcement.
Percy learned to drive the small vehicle that they used as well as the process and procedures with writing up citations. He quickly became one of the top ticket writers. It was a perfect match; there were easily understood rules to follow along with and a black or white set of conditions to observe.
The pay was excellent in his eyes and he enjoyed wearing the uniform.
… - …
Monday May 6
The next afternoon, Dobby returned with an enormous box of empty fishing line spools.
Emma asked, "What did you bring, Dobby?"
Little D replied, "A hundred large spools and twenty smaller ones. Enough to hold 54,000 feets of strand."
She replied, "Well done. We'll go back on Saturday."
… - …
Gretta's financial reports have become a routine source of good news.
Sales tax revenue was 44,000G, expenses were, 77,000 and the cash balance was 4,250,000. Amelia was increasingly certain that it would be another year or so before sales tax revenue matched expenses but wasn't worried about it.
She was convinced that the growth would come from businesses that didn't yet exist. She found that challenge to be thrilling.
… - ...
Late in the afternoon, almost silently, one after another, the three head finalists appeared at the main gate, Akihiko Daichi, Giuseppe Arata, and Anne Chambers. Greeting them were the entire search committee plus students; Neville Longbottom, Head Girl Abigail Brown (Ravenclaw) and Head Boy Martin Twirlwind and Professors Flitwick and Sprout.
Amelia stepped forward, "Welcome to Hogwarts. I'm Amelia Bones, the current Minister of Magic and the head of this search committee." After everyone was introduced, Amelia continued, "We will have the committee and several students join us on the tour. We'll go up to the castle, show you to your quarters for the next few days. You'll have fifteen minutes to freshen up and then we will tour the castle and grounds."
… - ...
Fifteen minutes later, Amelia greeted the refreshed candidates, "Welcome everyone. We will start with touring the area around the castle. We have a large flying carpet, courtesy of Professor Flitwick that can accommodate all of us. Everyone on board."
As everyone took a seat on the expansive Flying Carpet, Hermione, thinking about the Disney animated movie Aladdin said with a smirk, "Please keep yours arms and legs inside the borders of the carpet at all times," as it took off. They climbed to about 100 feet and began a slow circle around the castle. As they moved along Professor Flitwick pointed out the different sections of the castle, the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor towers and the Astronomy tower.
"Wait, please," said Giuseppe Arata. "You hold astronomy class on top of an exposed tower? There is no domed facility? Do you use wards for keeping the students warm? Is class only at night?"
The color drained from Madam Longbottom's face. She thought "It took only one question for me to see how out of date we are."
They continued around the castle, pointing out various features. Neville Longbottom pointed out eight greenhouses. "They serve a dual purpose. Herbology is taught in the greenhouses, one for each year and dedicated to plants appropriate to that year group. In addition, the eighth one grows more exotic and potentially dangerous plants and is open to students only with supervision from Professor Sprout. We grow most if not all of herbal based potion's ingredients needed for the school here."
"Do you grow magical plants for sale to help support the school?" asked Ms. Chambers.
Professor Sprout answered. "We just have the eight greenhouses. I'm by myself with a few elves and the students for help. We can only grow enough to support the needs of the potion's classes."
Amelia and Augusta looked at each other, mentally ticking off another issue to address.
As they circled around, they saw the Gamekeeper's new building.
"Below us is the Black lake which has a Merpeople colony," Neville Longbottom pointed out. "This is also home to the Giant Squid. And there it is lazing on the surface to our left! It's generally benign, and the students often toss toast to the squid."
Continuing in its arc, the carpet passed over open fields that held some crops and others that had grazing sheep and cows. Amelia told them, "The school farm is run by the elves and produced a bit more than half of what is needed to feed the school.
Ms. Akihiko Daichi asked: "Why only grow for half the needs? You seem to have much arable land. You could easily expand the farm 3-4 times and easily meet your annual needs with surplus?
Professor Sprout said with some disdain: We have been short of funds for many years. As we lost resources, the farm shrunk."
Amelia wrote another note on her pad of paper. "Its only going to get worse, we'll have to pay the elves next year," she thought.
"Hi, I'm Head Girl Abigail Brown. We are now cruising over the forbidden forest. We are allowed up to 100 yards into the forest with an escort from the groundskeeper where many magical plants grow. Beyond that we are not allowed, as there are dangerous creatures that occupy the forest. In addition, this is a protected centaur reserve. They live in the forest and this is the last unspoiled magical forest in the Great Britain."
They continued the great circle around the castle. Amelia commented that the grounds extend a few miles in all directions before you hit a muggle village. The nearest non-magical town is about 15 miles due north and is Inverness." They headed south to Hogsmeade and flew towards the village. From the air it was apparent that it was bigger than it seemed. Amelia gave commentary as they flew along. "We are passing the famed haunted Shrieking Shack below us and to our left alongside the path to the Village. We are now in greater Hogsmeade and it is an all-magical village of about 900 witches and wizards. It is also a shopping center as most of the major wizarding operations have shops here."
They headed back towards the school and soon landed, and the head, boy Martin Twirlwind led them into the grand entrance. "Please follow me; we are going to a conference room for dinner. It's right up ahead on our left. To your right are the men and women's wash rooms. Please come to the conference room once you freshen up."
… - …
The setting was intimate, with small tables set up to form a large U with one end open for the servers. There was a place for the three candidates at the head of the rectangle with a tables was set up to sit the search committee plus the headmistress McGonagall, and professors Sprout and Flitwick.
Once they were all seated and served starters, Giuseppe Arata asked, "Madame Bones, in the Information packet you projected 390 students for next year. With all that has happened in Britain, are you not being optimistic? Your analysis indicates that level for the next two to three years and then a slight gradual increase over time.
"The Invitation letters for the September term have been prepared. It's the best analysis we have. We looked at the number of students in every year so know how many will graduate and we know on average how many join each year."
"Did you consider with the new curriculum that it will help enrollment? You imply that you want to have non magical students from magical families, as you call squibs, distasteful as I find that name. That perhaps after word gets out about the positive changes that you could double enrollment in four to five years?"
"We don't know what impact the changes will have. We have no data to support one position or another. Some families may embrace the change while others look elsewhere. Most likely, both will occur simultaneously."
"Considering all that has happened in the last year in your society, have you thought about the potential impact if the new magicals that left because of the blatant discrimination start to come back to Britain and enroll their children for school?" asked Ms. Chambers.
"No, we didn't specifically consider that, though It likely will occur," answered Madame Longbottom with a sigh as she made another note in her book.
"Do you have an estimate for bringing in younger children for primary education, or numbers for starting magical instruction earlier also? How about adult education, summer classes?" continued Ms. Chambers.
"No, we don't know and don't have an estimate at this time. At this point, we've just considered sending out interest surveys," sighed Minister Bones. While her point was valid, Amelia didn't appreciate being needled.
"What is the board's vision for the school going forward?" asked Mr. Arata.
"Madame Bones answered with, "It's a work in progress."
"I'm puzzled, I get the impression you don't know where you want to take Hogwarts," said Ms. Daichi. The background information you provided and the questionnaire we had to answer implies that you have a vision and imply that you want to expand the school substantially with earlier aged admissions and adding adult classes. But listening here today I feel you're wandering in the dark. I also get the distinct impression that you will allow the new head to develop that vision. Please explain why you think that is wise path?"
Madame Longbottom looked at Madame Bones and simply raised an eyebrow as she thought; This group asks tough questions.
Before she could answer Mr. Arata asked, "I concur with Ms. Daichi. In the last one hundred years you have had only several Heads and one for the last 45 years all were born in the 19th century. They had no modern vision. You are one hundred years behind the times. Your last head, Dumbledore let the program slip. With all the course cancellations and standards being reduced, this school was not even what it was twenty years ago."
"Tell me, Madame Bones and Longbottom, as the board currently exists, do they actually know what you want for the future or are you looking for outside help to determine that?" asked Ms. Chambers.
Minister Bones answered, "To be honest, Madame Longbottom and myself are the only two board members that survived. We have a general idea but need help with the tactics. We understand that we are woefully out of date and lack experienced people who can help, so this hire is the most important one for us. It is also a comparatively rare opportunity for an incoming head to offer a meaningful level of input as the vision solidifies.
"Moving forward, it's clear we need work closely with the head to implement the new vision and to engage the new magical families far earlier than we do now. We'd like to offer a primary education. We also want to introduce a day school option, part-time and adult programs. A mastery program is essential. We cannot continue the old ways with master and apprentice. Our society needs Potioneer's, Aurors, Enchanters and Healers. We need to provide that infrastructure and not have our population go oversees to further their education and live. Our society was on a path to Oblivion."
Giuseppe Arata said, "This castle is certainly storied and respected, possibly revered but it is also behind the times. Do you have the funds for modernization and your vision?"
Madame Longbottom answered: "That is also a work in progress."
Ms. Daichi asked, "Do you have a long-range plan for funding? According to your financial disclosure your tuition does not even cover your costs. You take advantage of one class at the expense of another. With boarding you barely have enough funds to pay instructors and they appear to be overburdened. By my calculation, you charge about a 500G a year, but your costs must be about 300 a year to house and feed the students. That only leaves you about 200 for everything else. With your enrollment it, is inconceivable how you keep Hogwarts open. How can you invest in the facility and the teachers if you don't have the revenue? This to my eyes are not sustainable. You are close to insolvent."
"Where do you think tuition needs to be?" asked Healer Crabtree.
Ms. Daichi immediately said: "At least 1,000G a person, if you stay a boarding school."
"I concur," added Mr. Arrata. "Assuming that you also implement plans to up the utilization of the school by adding adult classes and mastery programs."
Sensing Amelia's annoyance with here previous remarks, Ms. Chambers diplomatically interjected, "Every major university and magical school I know of has an endowment fund that helps level tuition year to year and provide for capital improvement. There is an active program to raise money by dedicated people and or events. When I was a student here and the first few years after I left there was an annual ball at the ministry that benefited the school. I saw no mention in the disclosure you provided. It seems like it fell by the wayside. Have you considered the development of an endowment as part of the future turnaround plan?"
Amelia thought; "Damn Fudge and his skimming."
Madame Longbottom answered: "An endowment has not been a topic but funding and tuition have been. We'll add this as a priority to our list of things to consider. We completely agree that there needs to be an overhaul of tuition and funding."
Ms. Daichi asked: "I want to bring us back to the question of boarding. Have you considered cutting back the number of boarders?"
The Hogwarts contingent were speechless. The silence hung in the air for almost a minute while everyone looked around.
"Surly you have considered that with your small numbers you could turn this into a day school only? The money you would save on feeding the students two less meals a day would be significant. With your floo network and portkeys the students can travel back and forth from home. This would save enormous costs."
Minister Bones cleared her throat. "We have not considered that but as you say it could save a quite a bit of coin and we will have to consider that as an option. Perhaps we should eat the main course, as it's ready and then pick up the discussion over pudding."
Minerva McGonagall thought: "I can't believe I'll be the one in charge to see the end of boarding. I'm thinking this decision to step down is getting better and better by the day." It never occurred to her that the three underlying problems were declining enrollment, Albus draining the endowment account to to fund his various crusades and tuition not increasing in 50 years.
When the pudding was served, a delectable concoction of chocolate mousse, fudge brownie and clotted cream Mr. Arata asked: "What do you think of expanding the greenhouses and farm to feed the school and sell the surplus to support the school. As Ms. Daichi pointed out there is certainly much arable land lying fallow. This will provide an opportunity for students to earn masteries in agriculture and herbology and to set up and run business. You could tie it into estate management and basic personal financial management. It is a safe way for the children to learn what they must to exist as adults. Alternatively, some of the land could be leased to magicals looking to get into the magical plant business."
Madam Sprout looked aghast. "I'm a teacher and not a farmer."
"Well perhaps you can just teach and someone else can manage the agriculture operation," answered Mr. Arata.
Pomona Sprout sat there in annoyed silence at the idea.
"You have an enormous asset that is underutilized. Dumbledore's fault, your fault, the boards' fault, no body's fault, it does not matter. To recognize the opportunity is the important thing here. And to put the right resources in place to exploit it for the benefit of the school. A path forward."
Hermione Granger then asked: "What is your philosophy on discipline, Ms. Chambers? The former Headmaster allowed too much to go on, too many chances with just a slap on the wrist and no incentive to change. The bullying here was rampant and the teachers did little to reign it in. In one case, a teacher was an active participant."
Minerva McGonagall again thought, I can't believe I let Albus get away with allowing Snape to behave the way he did. I'm not even cut out to be Deputy. When I listen to Ms. Granger, I realize how much I deferred to Albus and ignored what was right.
Ms. Chambers thought for only a second, cleared her throat and answered. "I have little tolerance for misbehavior and zero for bullying. The simple infractions can be dealt with detentions and demerits. You acquire a certain number of demerits and you're on probation, too many and you're expelled or fired. I think the point system here at Hogwarts needs to be retired. The same as the House system. It only breeds trouble. Once you leave here as an adult, your house is meaningless. Does that answer your question, Ms. Granger?"
"Perfectly, thank you. Do you feel the same, Mr. Arata and Ms. Daichi?"
Mr. Arata looked at Ms. Daichi and nodded. She answered, "Discipline must be observed at all times. Punishment must be swift, sure, applied equally and appropriate to the misdeed. Status should have no impact. Everyone should be treated the same. I have no problem expelling someone for a serious infraction, especially if it results from injuring someone."
Mr. Arata added, "I concur with the others on the importance of discipline. I want to add we need to be firm and consistent always."
Madam Gamp asked, "Ms. Chambers, what would you do with no House system?"
Ms. Chambers replied, "Assume you board students. The entire year group would board in the same dorms. Each year or two years to its own dorm. They stay together for their duration. Classes would be all inclusive. No distinction to breed the problems that House rivalries bring. Students could still earn points, but for themselves. Give awards and prizes at the end of the year for the top students in each year."
More than a few people on the committee were thinking the same thing as the dinner wound down: How did we let this school decline so far? We have so much work to do to save this school.
After the dinner concluded, Mr. Arata found Hermione and asked, "Are you with the wandmaking firm in London?"
Hermione replied, "Yes. I'm one of the owners."
Mr. Arata said, "Irrespective of the outcome of the interviews, the children in the school in Naples where I'm currently working need wands." He handed Hermione her business card.
Daichi was nearby and added, "Our wandmaster would be very interested in purchasing core material."
She handed Hermione her business card and Hermione replied in kind, saying, "I will pass the information to the managing partner and ask him to contact you both in the coming weeks."
… –- ...
Tuesday May 7.
Early the next morning Amelia and Augusta met in Amelia's chamber to have tea.
Augusta mentioned, "I took ten pages of notes at last night's dinner and inquisition. That was a brutal eye opener for how much work needs to be done."
"I agree. They gave us a lot to think about. Some great ideas. What's apparent is we are going to need several years to turn this around. But the three of them were very insightful. We can learn a lot from these three. The question is who is the right one for the head?"
Augusta replied, "Much as you frame it to be, it's not strictly a matter of a vote. There are always intangibles. Until a full board and finance committee are in place, the Hogwarts head will report to you. Who would you would prefer to work with?"
"I'll keep that in mind," replied, Amelia, acknowledging but not directly answering Longbottom's question. In the back of her mind, she also considered which candidate had the charisma to raise the millions that were needed to solve these issues. Somewhere in the back of her mind was the adage, If you don't take a consultant's advice, fire them.
Amelia thought scrapping the house system made sense, as did housing the students by year, rather than personality type. She expected that it would eliminate most of the institutionalized divisiveness.
Adding a handful of electives made sense, which would necessitate dropping the requirement of taking every core course through fifth year. That would allow the students too take a college preparatory path or a path leading to NEWTS or masters degrees.
Modernizing the castle wasn't a debatable point; everyone was in favor of it. Adding electricity, fixing the roof and the horrible drafts would go a long way toward making it a better learning and living environment.
Increasing interactions with nonmagicals was a sound strategy. No one had suggested any tactics. Obviously they couldn't move the castle. A set of reusable portkeys would allow them to hold outings in London. The school could purchase them, number them, issue them to the students for the school year and collect them at the end of term. All they would need is a reliable set of chaperons.
Ninety percent of the parents' objections to boarding their students could be solved by reusable portkeys or cell phones. Tuition needed to get to 700 galleons and the school needed a three to four million galleon endowment fund. Both were important. Starting the endowment fund was urgent. The tuition could be raised 50 galleons per year until it matched the spending level. Chamber's observation that The math had to work, was sound advice
… - ...
The three candidates were served breakfast in their rooms while the search committee met in the same room as the dinner held last night for breakfast to enable them to review. The first interview was to be at nine am. But shortly before nine am. the first candidate Ms. Daichi arrived and told a shocked search committee, "I thank you for the opportunity to interview for the headship. I am honored that you considered me. There are far more problems here than I imagined and I feel that I'm not up to this job, so I'm withdrawing my candidacy." With a final bow she said, "Thank you again," turned and left the room.
... - ...
"Welcome Mr. Arata. Please sit down, as we all met yesterday, we'll dispense with the introductions," said Minister Bones.
"Mr. Arata, Healer Crabtree, How would you staff Hogwarts if you were the Head?"
"First let's assume that you have taken care of the funding problems and let's assume that we will have a partial day and partial boarding situation. I think we need more teachers; I'd like to see classes of no more than 20 students. If they were available, I'd also utilize graduate or mastery students to assist in the classroom. Further no staff member would have more than one position. We also need student advisors, or "Dorm Parents" to provide oversight to the dorms. A head of house, who is also a teacher cannot do both adequately. I'd also hire as many elves as needed to help defray the cost of running the school."
"Emma Granger, Mr. Arata, how do you envision adult education?"
"I believe phased in approach is best to start off. We need to offer a mastery program so the students can stay when they finish regular school or they take a break and come back later. I'd suggest a mix of day and evening and full time boarding. Some programs take longer but the reality is that it will be attractive to accommodate people of differing means. We can offer summer programs, some with degrees but some with just a specific class or discipline offered. For example, introduction to enchanting. Or into to potion making. I recognize not everyone went to school."
"Madame Longbottom, Mr. Arata please describe how you would integrate the magical students into the non-magical world."
"I believe we need to start with early intervention. Anyone with magic needs to be brought in and taught primary school in a mixed situation. Preferably in a facility located in a non-magical location. They need immersion and the earlier the better. Younger students take to it more easily than older students. They are more comfortable as time goes on. Those born of magical parents, the earlier you get them involved in the greater world the easier it is for them to assimilate and blend in. New magicals need to be introduced earlier to the magical world. They are just like the magicals in being integrated into the non magical world. When they reach nine or so, we introduce a few hours a week of magic education, simple spells and theory so when they start more intensive training at eleven, they have a foundation. We also must split the instruction day or week to allow equal time to magical and non-magical studies."
Madame Bones looked at her watch and was surprised the two hours had passed so quickly and stood up. "Thank you, Mr. Arata. That's it for now. We appreciate your time." She liked his idea of an integrated primary school. Far too few of the young magicals attended formal school prior to Hogwarts. She feared that by then, their basic personalities had largely formed.
Madame Bones watched him walk out. "We'll take a twenty minute break and have our final interview with Ms. Chambers."
… - ...
Meanwhile at the Wand Shop, Harry was on very long days. They had scheduled 500 fittings a day everyday in May before being invited to search for a headmaster for a school that none of them were attending. He opened in the morning at six and didn't finish until well after seven Essentially he was selling a wand every 90 seconds with no lunch and two short bathroom breaks.
Winky was doing everything she could and Dobby collected the cards and coins but long days were long days.
… - …
Wednesday May 8
Amelia Bones was the last one to come into the conference room and closed the door behind her and cast privacy charms on the room. She sat down and looked at the committee and said: "Well this has been an exhausting two days to say the least."
She got a few gentle laughs from the committee and continued: "I think I'd like to take secret ballot on your choice before we start to debate the finalists. We broke after we interviewed Ms. Chambers and did not discuss the interviews. We've had a night to think on it I like to see where we have landed initially. "
She passed out slips of paper. "Please write your choice and put it in the hat."
Once it went around the table she gave it to Ted Tonks. "Ted, please do the tabulation."
"Seven votes for Ms. Chambers and two for Mr. Arata."
For those who voted for Mr. Arata, would anyone care to give a reason?
Remus said, "He seemed to place a higher value on expanding into a primary school. My thought is if the goal is to make magicals comfortable with nonmagicals, ages six through eight is the time to do it. Additionally, when I sat with him at lunch, I was impressed with the actions taken at the school in Naples regarding the Wandout."
Ted said, "I was the other one and completely agree with Professor Lupin's point. Additionally, I question if starting a masters program is viable. There have been no surveys with respect to measuring potential interest by subject; either from employers or potential students."
Amelia said, "Those are all good points and I want to follow up of each of them. That said, it seems that we have an overwhelming agreement on Ms. Chambers. I think I should meet her and discuss this. Is anyone interested in joining me? I'd like to keep it small."
Emma Granger raised her hand. "I'll go with you. I've met her in Salem."
… - …
Thursday May 9
Three Broomsticks Lunch
Rosmerta greeted her guests. "Welcome Madame Bones, Mrs. Granger and...
"This is Ms. Anne Chambers," said Emma.
"Please call me Anne."
"A pleasure to meet you, Anne. Please call me Rosmerta," she said with a smile. "Your room is ready, let me show you the way," said the proprietress of the Three Broomsticks. "Tea and rolls are on the table; I'll be along in a few with your lunch."
"This place hasn't changed since I was student," commented Anne. "Still the quaint pub I remember. It's quite a bit cleaner under this owner though. I don't think old Constance could keep up at the end."
They sat quietly drinking tea while Rosmerta put several platters on the table between them along with a small bell. "Now you just give this bell a shake if you need anything, dears," said Rosmerta as she swept out of the room.
Madame Bones started; "Ms. Chambers, the committee has made a decision and would like to offer you the position of Headmistress of Hogwarts."
Ms. Chambers looked first at Madame Bones then at Mrs. Granger. "What exactly are you offering?"
"A five-year contract at 30,000G a year," answered Madame Bones.
Ms. Chambers simply answered, "And?"
"That is not enough?" asked Madame Bones."
"It's about what I earn now," answered Ms. Chambers. "You have to make it worth my while to come here and climb Mount Everest and turn around mountains."
Amelia looked questioningly to Emma.
"Mount Everest is the tallest mountain in the world. She's saying this is an enormous task."
"How about 40,000G. I really can't go any higher," stated Amelia. "It includes a suite of rooms in the castle and board. If we move to a different facility we'll provide housing. And we will provide 10,000 for moving assistance."
"I'm not opposed to the idea with that compensation model, but I need certain assurances and I want them in any resulting contract we sign."
"What do you mean?" asked Amelia.
"For starters, since your current board of governors is just you and Madam Longbottom, I require your and any future board's, unconditional backing for the program we implement."
"I can assure you."
"No, stop right there Madam Bones. If I accept your committee's offer, I'm stepping into a hornets nest. Let's discuss a few issues first.
"One: We are going to have to change over a thousand years of tradition and pull the student body kicking and screaming into modern times. We need to force them to learn to fit in the wider non magical world. We will have bumps in the road.
"Two: You have serious financial hurdles. Tuition. Do you have the guts to raise it to 1,000G and charge everyone the same? You know as well as I do that the surviving purebloods will be up in arms that they are paying the same as the muggleborns they have taken advantage of for decades. Will you keep the ministry from meddling?"
Amelia replied, "Those are reasonable points. Over three years, we'll set the tuition to the level you need to be sustainable and you wont have to worry about the pureblood faction. They are now a severe minority and ineffectual as a political block."
Anne continued, "Three: Capital improvements. Where's the money coming from because the tuition raise won't cover it? That raise is only for ongoing operations. The castle is a dump. It was dump twenty-five years ago when I attended. From your financial package, it's clear no investment has occurred in the interim and I'm not sure it's even suitable anymore. You also need a new building in a muggle area for primary education."
Amelia took a deep breath. Anne was close to beating a dead horse. "I can assure you we'll support you in these items. That said, the composition of the board changes slightly from year to year with three year terms. You may have to continuously sell the value of your programs. We understand that tuition has to go up and I'm working on a substantial one-time ministry infusion of capital. I guarantee you will have the funds to carry out the new vision."
Ms. Chambers looked at her and replied, "I believe you." She soldiered on.
"Four: We will kill a whole heard of sacred cows. We have to blow up the house system and cut back on boarders. We will be predominately a day school until we can get the population up."
"If money wasn't an object, would you still feel that way?" asked Emma. Assuming the two levels of tuition made sense for boarding vs. non-boarding students, she didn't see an advantage in forcing a change.
Anne replied, "If we agree that the initial marching orders are, that finishing students should be prepared to thrive in an integrated 21st century environment, then objectively, the castle itself is a part of the problem. Did it make sense that you couldn't see Hermione for months at a time or see what she was doing? Were you properly notified the different times that she'd been injured? How many of her classmates could go to Selfridges and purchase a pair of jeans and a shirt, or take the tubes to get there and not accidentally end up in Paris?" Emma nodded at her point.
"My intent is to copy the system I helped implement in Salem. We need to utilize the Floo system and portkeys to move the students around. We set up secure points with security and have the students Portkey or floo in and out daily. Our own enchanters cab mass produce the portkeys for us. At first, until we have a program set up, we can buy them from the Goblins. But long-term, having a mastery program for enchanting will be a huge cost savings."
Amelia said, "Backing up for a moment – assuming that the money issue was solved, at least on a temporary basis, do you have an inherent issue with the school being a boarding school?"
"Yes and no. Clearly it is some parents' preference that their children are gone ten months a year. Hogwarts has accommodated that desire for a millennium. If Hogwarts was somehow nestled away in Diagon Alley and the kids went to Pizzaland twice a week for lunch, and took in a movie at Everyman theaters on Sunday nights they'd acquire an exposure to the outside world. They need to ditch the Gandalf look and dress like teenagers. If we want to put them in uniforms, they could wear blue sweaters and dockers, or wear jeans like 99 percent of the other teens.
"The isolation of the facility itself has been a double-edge sword. It's protecting the magical creatures living in the forest and making uninformed shut-ins of the students. Keeping that blasted Binns around to espouse bigoted half-truths for eighty years has done a huge disservice to Britain's wizarding world – for what? To save Dumbledore from having to go to the board and ask for a simple cost of living raise. The driver on the Knight Bus probably makes more money than the instructors; that's just wrong. So no, I don't want to eliminate boarding but the kids who are students right now need a chance to become comfortable in the larger world."
"Agreed," said Amelia.
"Five: We need to change the curriculum far more than you already have and provide physical immersion into the muggle world to meet your aims. We need many new core classes and electives as we discussed in my interview yesterday.
"Allow me to give you an example. I'd previously mentioned to Emma that Salem offered what we called 25/75, 50/50 and 75/25 percent options meaning 25 percent of the magic traditionally covered at Hogwarts when I was a student and 75 percent of a traditional high school curriculum. That would be a reasonable choice for a low powered magical, or someone who would need to make their living in the nonmagical world, or wanted to attend university when they finished Hogwarts. They would have a few OWLs, could own a wand and safely make the third-year potions.
"On the other end would be a 75/25 – someone who had taken a handful of NEWTS but still had taken composition, mathmatics, a few science and history classes. They could hold a conversation with a nonmagical and not have a blank look on their face if someone mentioned, the Titanic, the moon landing, Dunkirk or Charles and Diana."
"I like that. Agreed."
"Six: Security must be implemented. We will need a guard force or several Aurors."
"Agreed."
"Seven: Hand me a budget and a vision; I'll make it happen. I get to hire and if necessary, let go of the staff. All aspects and roles."
"Will you seek to hire people you work with at Salem?" asked Emma.
"No, not at first. I don't think it's ethical to poach former co-workers. I don't want to have to buy out contracts as money is short. Salem uses one-to-three-year contracts. I'd like to approach several people in the next few years as their deals are about to expire. I'll let them know I'm interested so they give me a chance before they renew their contracts. I'll be upfront on this; I have concerns about Professor McGonagall. If she's going to stay, she'll need to be onboard."
Wanting to cut that conversation off before Anne went to far with it, Amelia sighed. "Agreed."
Eight: Electricity goes in at least part of the facility – an out building, the dormitories, or the East wing. The location isn't the issue. Everyone needs to learn how to make a call, use a refrigerator, turn on a television and the like."
"I completely agree with that," commented Amelia.
"Last is the length and type of my contract. The vision you want cannot be accomplished in just a year or two. I really think all the changes will take time. A full turn around will not be rapid, and I think we are really in a five-to-seven-year plan. I don't think we will break even with our tuition even set at the new level for at least two years, maybe three. I will accomplish it as fast as I can but I want an additional two years on the contract. With a four percent raise each year beginning in year four and a no cut clause. "You understand that with our directives to kill sacred cows and implement a very new program, we will get a lot of flack from people. I need your commitment to stay the course with all these changes if I'm to come back to British magical society and tackle bringing the school into both the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
Amelia nodded. "Agreed, subject to the resulting contract terms and the like."
Emma looked at Anne. "Yesterday we ran out of time before I could ask you a question that has been on my mind since I read your application. With everything we have disclosed and what you have seen, and what you are faced with, why do you want this monumental job?"
"That's not an easy answer, Emma," as she paused and collected her thoughts.
"Are you up for this job? You just negotiated a number of concessions and guarantees. You asked us some tough questions. Are you fully committed yourself?" asked Emma.
"In brief, yes, I'm fully committed. I had a lot of soul searching to do. I'm a new magical, born of two non-magical parents. I think maybe someone in my family was a squib, but I don't know for sure. I attended Hogwarts and became more disillusioned every year as I saw the on-going bullying and bigotry in our society. I watched Dumbledore and staff turn a blind eye to it. When I graduated, I realized that unlike the non-magical world, I had no equality, no chance of making anything of myself in the magical world. Essentially I had wasted seven years. I didn't fit in and I wasn't wanted. The privileged rich and in-bred controlled everything. I had been duped. The war was going badly with new atrocities printed every day.
"My parents were older when they had me. Both had lost their only siblings and parents in the Blitz. There was nothing to keep them here. They wanted to move to a warmer climate to retire so they moved to Florida in the United States. I followed a few months later when I realized they were right. I had nothing to keep me here. After my time in the magical world, I was ill equipped for life in the non-magical world."
She took a bite of her sandwich and a sip of tea. "I told myself I'd never come back, that there was nothing here for me. I immersed myself in both worlds in the United States, earning masteries and going to Uni and getting my non magical education completed. Along the way, I read about a baby who stopped the war. I thought that there would be changes. I kept up with the news but I saw little change. The same things that drove me out were still in place. Then you came to Salem. Wandmaster and Vice Chairman Daryl Whitehorn set up your tour. After I met you, your daughter and Harry, I felt something I hadn't felt in a long time about Britain - hope."
She paused to drink some tea.
"I've been friends with Daryl a long time. We had a long talk about you, Harry and Hermione and what was happening in Britain. Then I was browsing in a bookstore and I picked up a book on Churchill's speeches. I happened to just randomly open to his speech after the Dunkirk miracle. He said:
"We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender."
"I was sad at first, started to cry right there in the bookshop. Then I got angry, and I felt ashamed. I'd given up and walked away. I started to do my research. After seeing what was going on and seeing the advertisement for a head, I thought this may be my one chance to come back and make a difference. To make a life for me in my home country. To give the two-finger salute to the pure bloods who drove me away. To help change our society. So, I threw my hat in the ring."
She starred at Emma and then Amelia for a long moment,"Give me a chance, I won't let you down."
Emma observed, "More than half of the issues that have come to light can be solved by the thoughtful application of money. What is your experience in fundraising? Ultimately, you will be the face of the school, the one quoted in the paper and the like. Asking for five million galleons is a skill that you'll need to develop."
Amelia applauded Emma's question but didn't want the deal to fall apart. She didn't pile onto Emma's question, rather looked up, waiting for Anne's reply. Parroting the replies that she and the other finalists had frequently been given the day before, she replied. "I'll look into it."
Amelia replied, "I'll have your contract and moving allowance ready in an hour. We'll spend the day together on July 1."
A/Ns
Tom wrote the search arc. It felt much better as one chapter. He put a lot of thought into it. As we were talking about it, it became so clear that they simply weren't charging enough.
Will Anne become a great Headmistress? Did you see any limitations?
Thanks for reading.
… - …
Short OMAKE
Arthur had spent a few weeks cleaning, vanishing and verifying that there was nothing in the home related to the former owner. Along the way, he'd found another small stack of British fifty pound notes that was inside one of the empty truck batteries.
Sirius had refused them, so Arthur had twenty thousand pounds that they could spend furnishing the home.
The stove and refrigerator shined like new. The mail box had been replaced and said Weasley.
Saturday morning came. Arthur side-alonged Molly to the fruit orchard, near the house. He said, "Welcome to our new home."
She looked up and said, "..."
Arthur replied, "I'm sorry, Molly. I wasn't listening. Let's drive to the home furnishings store. I borrowed the truck for the weekend.
… - …
What did she say?
