Chapter six

Harry went into his rooms to see what they were like and couldn't believe how much space he had. A living area with a small kitchen and dining area to one side, a good size bedroom with queen size bed and his own bathroom. Harry saw all his clothes were unpacked and knew a house elf probably unpacked for him, maybe even Kreacher or even Winky.

Harry stepped into the great hall, Minerva waved him up to the staff table then indicated for him to sit beside her, but Harry looked at Snape first who nodded, so Harry sat.

'Severus told me that you have permission to stay here and learn under Horace. I'm so please for you Harry.'

'Thanks Aunt Mini, I'm excited about it. I don't think Hermione is sure how I will go.'

'I'm sure she will when she sees how you are in class. You do not have to worry about Voldemort anymore.'

'No, I don't and you know what, it's a great feeling. So do you think the school will be open by the first of September?'

'We spoke about that today, yes, we believe it will. Naturally there might be some areas we will not finish, so they will be closed off until they are. It will take a lot of work to make sure the rest is finished and ready, but all of us want Hogwarts back the way it was.'

'So do I, I can't help feeling guilty about all the damage.'

'Why would you feel guilty Potter?' Severus asked.

Harry turned to face Snape, 'He knew I was here, that's why he turned up. I had no choice but I would have preferred that the fight happened somewhere else, somewhere that couldn't have caused so much damage.'

'If you think of this logically Potter, the school was already under his control, so to get this place back under our control would have taken a fight. It would not have mattered if you were here.'

'I never thought of that, but your right, thanks Professor,' Harry gave him a smile and actually got a small smile in return. After that Harry spoke with Horace Slughorn about his three years of study after leaving Hogwarts. Minerva listened to her nephew talk about his career and what type of a life he would be looking at while he is studying. She knew that being a potions master would take a lot of long hours and hard years, and he would have to be dedicated. But hearing how enthusiastic Harry was as he spoke with his teacher, Minerva knew he had made the right decision.

Harry heard the staff all talking about a meeting they were having right after dinner, so the moment Harry finished eating, he stood ready to leave.

'I'll see you before I go to bed Aunt Mini.'

'Actually Potter, I would like your input about the agenda of our meeting,' Severus said.

'Oh, but it's a staff meeting.'

'Yes, but what we are talking about is in regards to the returning students, mainly your age. So will you join us for the meeting?'

'Um, yeah, sure,' Harry linked his arm with his aunt as they made their way to the staff room where Harry sat beside his great aunt. But he wondered why Snape asked him to join in with the meeting.

'Going over the amount of students returning, we have some decisions to make. There will be two lots of first years, the new first years and the muggleborns who could not attend last year. After some discussions with Minerva in regards to the students who were here, will they go up a year or will they need to redo their last year? We believe that all the students learned enough in their normal structured classes that they could go up a year. As an example, Miss Weasley was in sixth, now she will be in seventh, so what do we do with all the returning students such as Mr. Potter? There are not enough dorm rooms or beds to house those returning to do their seventh year. All house rooms only accommodate first years up to seventh and we have to accommodate the extra first years.'

'Couldn't we put an extra bed in each dorm there is enough room to add extra beds which would free up some of the other rooms for the older students?' Filius Flitwick suggested.

'That would work for the first years, but not the returning older students, it will make it a bit too crowded in those rooms. So is there anymore suggestions?' Severus asked. All the staff gave their ideas on what to do with the students Harry's age, 'I have a bit of a radical idea for Hogwarts, but first, Mr. Potter, what do you think of the ideas so far?'

'All could work, and going on how Hermione thinks, as long as she had somewhere to study after curfew, and somewhere to sleep, they would work. Thinking of Ron, he used to complain that there were too many students in Gryffindor for him to get a shower of a night unless he stayed up. I'm used to roughing it, so as long as I have somewhere to sleep, I'm happy. But one thing that I used to see from a lot of the older students, they found it hard to study and do their homework with the noise of the younger students, first and second years mainly. I remember when I was a first year that I didn't think of the older students and how much work they had to do, now I do. So if there was all these extra students, I'm not sure how we will go trying to study.'

'Yes, the older students do need quiet to study so my idea might help with that. What I suggest is that all the older students or eighth years as they will be known have their own separate rooms, like a their own house you could say, their own dorm rooms with a common room just for them. These students are now over the age where they would have normally left, they are adults, but due to the war they could not do their N.E.W.T.s in the normal required time. Mr. Potter has his own room right now, if you could, tell us how that would feel as a student?'

'I know studying would be easier, so would showers. Studying for our N.E.W.T.s is going to be hard and the ones like me who haven't studied in over a year, it's going to be a lot to get back into that routine. We are used to sharing, so we could still share.'

'You could, but as you said, studying for your N.E.W.T.s after not being a student in over a year will be difficult to begin with. Having your own rooms will allow any of you to read in bed without disturbing others. Like with all adults, some need less sleep than others, so spending that extra time studying and not having to keep waking your companions would benefit all.'

'That's true, I often read in bed, it's more comfortable, warmer and quieter, so I usually will take in more but I also don't need as much sleep as others. One other thing that would help, most of the staff know I suffer from nightmares, I often wake the others. I know Neville has trouble sleeping if Ron's snoring before he gets into bed.'

'Minerva, what is your thoughts on separate rooms for the eighth years?'

'For their studying, I believe it is the better way to go. Harry is already reading up on what he will be learning once school starts, he will not disturb anyone, none of the students will.'

'Then I think we've made a decision. So the Gryffindor eighth year rooms can centre around Mr. Potter's room that he is using right now with a common room that leads to the personal bedrooms. So your living area Mr. Potter, will be part of the common room, but the kitchen will remain for all to share as I do know that working in the evenings you sometimes wish to make a cup of coffee or even a snack. But it will be up to those students to supply your own food and beverages from your own money, not from the kitchens.'

'I'm sure they all will Professor, this is great, thanks,' Harry smiled but got a few sniggers from some of the staff who saw his enthusiasm. Harry knew now he would be able to concentrate on his studies, and he knows Hermione will love the idea of being away from the younger years. He also liked the idea that if he did have a nightmare, he wouldn't wake the others in his room like he had done many times before. If he felt that memories were getting to him, he could exhaust himself by working and making sure he was really tired before going to sleep which usually did help keep the nightmares away.