Chapter eight

Kingsley and Minerva spoke quietly while Harry filled out the mountain of paperwork. They knew it would take him a while, so Minerva called a house elf to bring some tea. She didn't speak with Harry just placed a cup near him before taking her own.

'This last bit,' Harry looked up.

'Oh yes, the agreed term of your position.'

'But it doesn't say how long, it states until I wish to leave or I die.'

'Yes, that is one condition that everyone seemed to want, that you can never be forcibly removed as headmaster. You don't need to look worried Harry, you are not the type that wants power or wants to rule, you do not have a dark soul or even a dark bone in your body. As Minerva has said, Lady Hogwarts herself chose you because she saw your pure soul and kind heart. You are the type of person who will always make sure the students are safe and have what they need. You will do the same with your staff. Now just sign the damn thing.'

Harry's smile grew at the look from the minister and Minerva. He signed the last form then handed the file back to Kingsley who made a copy. One copy went straight into the file cabinet and Kingsley placed his inside his robes. Kingsley pulled out another file and placed it on the desk.

Harry groaned as he stared at the file, 'Not more surely?'

'No, no more Harry,' Kingsley laughed, 'That is all about the budget for Hogwarts. It shows what is required every year and what needs to be covered, like food, new blankets, books, chalk, etc. Only the headmaster can see that file, it is always kept sealed in a ministry vault until one is appointed, then it can be shared with the deputy head. This has not come out since nineteen forty six, naturally it's updated itself since then.'

Harry nodded the opened the file and started reading, 'Merlin, I never realise how much money it took to keep this place running. Apart from the wages of the staff, the food price is enormous.'

'Yes, it takes a lot to feed everyone,' Minerva said.

'Couldn't we do something to lower the cost without taking away the quantity or quality?'

'If you have an idea then let's hear it?' Kingsley asked.

'Well, can't we grow our own vegetables like Hagrid does with the pumpkins. It would need a one time outlay of funds which would go towards more greenhouses so the food and other plants that are here now are separate. We could have chickens to lay eggs, lots of fruit trees, bushes, plants, all that. The Hogwarts grounds are huge, parts of it don't even get used. It could be set aside for greenhouses that are for gardens. You know, maybe we could incorporate gardening with herbology; give the students another elective if they do not want to do care of magical creatures or divination. I always enjoyed gardening even if I let the Dursley's think I hate it, it was one way I could get away from them. I wasn't keen on herbology mainly because those plants are dangerous and there used for potions. But working in a vegetable garden for class is something I would have enjoyed.'

'A very good idea Harry, it would take a lot of planning. But let me ask this, what if only a few students wish to take gardening as a subject, who would look after the gardens?'

'Well, we could find out first, send letters about the extra subjects being offered, but we need confirmation on who wants what.'

'Very good,' Minerva smiled, 'You see Harry, you are already picking up things that you never thought of and making sure it will work without wasting time or money. So yes, we notify the students on the extra classes, but we could do more. We could suggest that any that want to use their free time to help in the gardens will earn points. As I'm sure you are aware of, some students do not always want to watch quidditch, swim in the lake or study in their free time. But gardening which is a subject but also a hobby and a quite enjoyable one, is something they might wish to do.'

'What if we do something a little different. Instead of house points, a student earns personal points which builds up during the year. They can still earn their house points in class and so forth. But doing extra classes or helping a teacher, looking after the gardens, volunteering to help Poppy or Irma, if they want help that is. These are extra, not mixed together with classes, so they earn the points and by the end of the year those points are tallied, the students earn a gift or prize. We make sure they cannot volunteer too much so their studies suffer, but one day a weekend or two afternoons through the week, we can work that out later.'

'Again very good, competition is always good as long as it does not take time from studying,' Minerva said.

'No, the kids are here for a reason; that will never change and always be the main priority. Now I do have one thing I would like to see if it's possible. First let me explain this. My very first potions class with…Severus, I was working with Ron at one table, Neville was at the next table with Seamus. Now poor Neville, Severus scared the living daylights out of him and he ended up melting his cauldron burning himself and a few others. But do you know what Severus did apart from calling Neville a dunderhead and making him go to the hospital?'

'I could just imagine when it comes to Severus,' Kingsley smirked.

'He blamed me, said I was trying to make myself look good by making Neville look hopeless, they weren't his exactly words but the meaning is the same. So I lost points again for no reason and he kept doing that even when he knew the Slytherin's had thrown something in my cauldron. Is there a way we can work a charm to stop this, like if a teacher unfairly takes points from Hufflepuff then the teachers own house loses those points but Hufflepuff will gain those same amount of points?'

'I think he's getting the hang of this Minerva. Yes there could be a charm placed on points to make sure they are given or taken fairly. If a student did something wrong, then there are set points that they will lose. The ministry received a lot of complaints about Severus and his favouritism towards Slytherin. Other teachers had their fair share of complaints but nothing like Severus.'

'There is a part in Hogwarts: a history that shows the charm to activate so the points the teachers give students are automatically added to the house. It would not be difficult to add another charm to stop favouritism. I remember when I was a student; there was this one teacher that had a few favourite students. Every class they received lots of points while everyone else was ignored whether they did a good job in class or not.'

'That shouldn't be allowed, all teachers should be fair and impartial, like you and Filius. I know I deserved to lose points when you did it, but I never deserved to lose those points that Severus took. He took points for breathing too loudly, yet Crabbe snorted when he breathed, and he was given points. Also, the Slytherin's were given points when their potions were sludge. Not once did he give Hermione points when her potion was perfect. Does he know about this yet?'

'No and only because he is still healing and as we did not want tell anyone until you decided to take the job so he would not have heard about this through other means. Now that it is official you will need to call a staff meeting. It does not have to be done straight away as there is still much to do around the castle.'

'Okay, I'll leave that meeting for a while. Now one more thing I'm curious about. The way letters are addressed to students, how is that done exactly?'

'There is a book inside the department of mysteries that magically records all children born with magic. Once the child reaches the appropriate age, the letters are sent automatically. They do get sent here first where the deputy head will add the list of what is required for the term,' Kingsley said.

'Is there a reason why you asked that question even though I can see you wish to know as much as you can?' Minerva asked.

'Well,' Harry sighed, 'I used to think that Dumbledore knew how I was raised because of that first letter Hagrid gave me. The Dursley's kept destroying all the ones that the owls delivered, but they panicked because they saw how it was addressed. I figured the staff must have known and since they didn't say anything or do anything, then there was no use mentioning it.'

'Explain what you mean?' Kingsley asked but he had a feeling he was not going to like what he hears.

'The letter was addressed to Mr. H. Potter, the cupboard under the stairs number four Privet drive Little Whinging, Surry.'

'I'm not sure what this cupboard means,' Kingsley said looking confused, but he also felt something deep inside him and it wasn't a nice feeling.

'That was my room from the moment I was left there until I got my Hogwarts letter. They only gave me Dudley's second bedroom in the hope I would forget what the letter said. They also believed people here were spying on them.'

'You were given a cupboard, that is child abuse,' Kingsley growled, but he could tell there was a lot more to this than Harry being made to sleep in a cupboard and he was going to find out exactly what. Now he knew why that feeling told him something was wrong. He couldn't do much today, they were here to get Harry settled into his new role as headmaster of Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry. So Kingsley forced himself to calm down before he continued on with what Harry would need to know, how often they might need to meet. Minerva continued to explain more about the running of Hogwarts and she hadn't been surprised by some of the questions Harry asked. All relevant and insightful, something no student or young adult would ever think to ask. She smiled knowing that yes, Lady Hogwarts had found the person who was the rightful head of this school. She knew many would ask why she was not offered the job as head, but she enjoyed teaching and even though she could do the job it was not something she would enjoy. It was not a job she wanted. Harry on the other hand was made for this job and she knew he would make a wonderful headmaster.