A/N: The chapters of this story are all completely separate and not in chronological order.
Minerva McGonagall
Minerva McGonagall looked at the stack of papers on her desk, which had once been Albus Dumbledore's, and sighed. She knew the hiring process had always been frustrating, but it was even worse now that there were so many spots to be filled and so little candidates.
She looked out of the window for a moment, enjoying the view of the school grounds that were healing from the battle. Most of the castle had been restored, and just in time, because the school year started in two weeks.
She focussed on the paperwork again. At least some of the old teachers would stay: Horace, Pomona, Filius, Sybill, Rubeus Hagrid and Madam Hooch had all promised to return. Minerva knew Pomona was planning to retire in a few years, but she'd figure out what to do when the time came. For now, she was just happy to have a spot filled, even if it was temporarily.
The Defence Against the Dark Arts spot had been a lot more difficult to fill. She'd ended up asking Bill Weasley, who knew a lot about curses and had been very popular as a tutor during his time at Hogwarts. He accepted the position, but only for a year. Not so coincidentally, his wife, Fleur Delacour, had just been hired as Madam Pomfrey's assistant for a year. She was interested in pursuing a career as a Healer and decided that the best way to become familiar with healing practices was by following an internship at Hogwarts, where her husband worked. She was a very skilled witch, as she'd shown at the Triwizard Tournament, and she would help with healing scars, curses and insomnia.
Minerva hadn't only hired two nurses this year, she'd also hired two mental health professionals, because of the trauma's the students had gone through. One was a Squib who'd worked as a therapist in the Muggle world, the other was a psychologist who had been working to set up a mental health facility at St Mungo's, but fled when he was forced to use his research to undo memory locks and invent new curses and means of mental torture.
Hiring new staff wasn't the only thing that had to happen, though; there was also the coordinating the rebuilding, and the general reforms the school would need. The word "Mudblood" would be banned, of course, and using it would mean punishment. Dangerous punishments, like going the Forbidden Forest, would be banned too. Houses would still try to earn points the old way, but Quidditch was separated from the House Cup and points could only be added or subtracted for breaking the rules and academic performances, like it was meant to be. If teachers wanted to subtract more than twenty points at once, they had to turn in a note stating this punishment and defending it. Some new spells would be added to the hourglasses that counted the points, so that they kept a record of who added or subtracted how many points. And if a student thought a punishment was unfair, they could complain to their Head of House, the Deputy Headmister or the Headmistress at any time. They could decide a teacher had to be monitored more closely. Minerva didn't want any more Snapes.
Minerva took another look at the hiring papers. Hagrid had decided that he needed some time to rest and heal, so he would be replaced by Charlie Weasley for the first semester. She could just as well hire the entire Weasley family, she thought with a smile on her face. But no, Ginny hadn't finished her school yet. Percy was going back to the Ministry, like many members of the Order, to rebuild everything and make things right. Ron was taking rest himself, by helping George reopen his store. George was busy with Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. McGonagall had seen some of his work; it was very impressive. And she reckoned everyone could use some laughter right now.
Minerva got up from her chair and looked out of the window. The scorched ground next to the lake was starting to get green again, and the Quidditch field was being rebuilt. Soon, everything at Hogwarts would seem normal again; but she knew it wouldn't be, not really, not while the dungeons still felt unsafe and some parts were destroyed by dark magic, broken beyond repair.
For centuries, Hogwarts had prided itself on its reputation of being the safest place in the country, harder to break into than Gringotts. But it had only been safe from outsiders who wanted to intrude, not from villains within the castle. Minerva wanted to change that. She wanted to make Hogwarts a space that was truly safe, for everyone.
Yes, they could certainly use some safety and stability here at Hogwarts.