On Thursday, Harry woke up very early because he and Susan had decided to be at Hogwarts early to prepare the office for a meeting. He quickly ate breakfast and apparated to Hogwarts. At the gates, he met with Susan, and together they went to the Headmistress' office. As they expected her to be inside, they knocked and, after receiving permission, they entered.
"Miss Bones, Mister Potter," she greeted them.
"Good morning, Professor," they replied and sat down.
"Are you ready for today?"
"We are, Professor. We spent the last few days preparing for that meeting."
"You had that many ideas?"
"Yes, we did. Some of them were quite big and demanded a lot of our attention."
"Well, I'll find out soon. But there is something I want to talk about with you." The teens nodded at her, letting her know to continue.
"I have thought about it for a long time and I would like to give up my position as Headmistress of Hogwarts and remain here as the Transfiguration teacher," said the Professor.
Harry and Susan were surprised to hear this news. They had never suspected that the Professor was not willing to be a Headmistress.
"May we ask why, Professor?" Harry inquired.
"For the last 30 years, I have been working three separate jobs at once. I have been teaching, being head of the house, and deputy Headmistress, and I have taken on a big chunk of Albus's responsibilities. After all of that hard work, I asked myself a question: What would I like to do now? Those few days outside of Hogwarts gave me the answer. I love teaching, and it is something I want to do for many more years. But outside of that, I want to focus more on my family. I have two grandkids who will come to Hogwarts in a few years, and a couple more that will be born in two months. Being the Headmistress will not allow me to spend as much time with them as I want. And now that I know you have an available candidate with experience, I am not feeling bad about leaving the post."
Harry and Susan looked at each other and when the Professor nodded at him, Harry replied, "If that's what you want, Professor, then so be it. The only thing I would ask you for is to work with Headmaster Craig for a few weeks to help him acclimate here in Hogwarts."
"Of course, Harry. And thank you very much for understanding."
They spoke for a bit more, discussing further details of her position swap, but soon enough, all of the invited people started arriving. The first to arrive were the Abbot and Finch-Fletchley families, who were invited by Susan. Then the Hogwarts professors arrived one by one. They were followed by the Greengrass family, and finally, the entire MMA teaching staff arrived, along with Emily Graham and Henry Edwarts, who completed the list of parent representatives. The very last person to arrive was Terry Boot, who was the Head Boy at Hogwarts last year. Harry and Susan took their seats behind the headmaster's desk and began the meeting after everyone had arrived.
"I would like to welcome everyone present here. As you all know, we have gathered here to discuss upcoming changes in Hogwarts," Harry welcomed them. He then introduced everyone present and their respective roles.
"Let's get started. The first thing we need to discuss is the position of the headmaster. Professor McGonagall has decided to step down from the position and return to teaching Transfiguration. Professor Craig, are you interested in being the new Headmaster of Hogwarts?" Harry asked.
"I am surprised by your offer, but I would be proud to take the job," Craig replied.
"Very well. We have discussed it with Professor McGonagall, and she will work with you in the upcoming weeks to help you transition into the job," Susan said.
"Now that we have that established, let's move on to our next point. We will tell you about the physical changes to the castle and its outskirts and what has pushed us to make these changes," Susan said, giving the floor back to Harry.
"When Susan and I started thinking about Hogwarts, we decided that our main priority should be to establish Hogwarts' independence. In recent years, the Ministry and Board of Governors have used the school for their agendas. Today, that ends as we are very close to achieving total financial independence. Without the threat of cutting the school budget, they will not have the leverage they could use against us. Now, you may wonder, how are we going to survive without their help? The answer lies in three points," Harry explained.
"Firstly, we will create Hogwarts Farm on the outskirts of Hogsmeade. The purpose of this is to reduce our expenses significantly, as most of Hogwarts' budget is going towards that. House elves will be the main workforce there, and we will hire a few human managers to take care of managerial duties."
"Glad to hear that," Craig replied.
"Secondly, because the Acromantula colony was destroyed during the battle, and their nest burned by centaurs, the Forbidden Forest's ecosystem will change. We have already received information about magical creatures that are coming back to live there. We have confirmed sightings of Hippogriffs and Augureys that were not seen in decades here. So, in the upcoming months, stables for them will be built on the verge of the forest. It will give us a few benefits: a never-ending source of potion ingredients, which students can use, and any excess can be sold. The other benefit is fully educational - Care of Magical Creatures lessons will certainly get more attention from the students," Harry continued.
"How do you plan to communicate with the creatures? It's hard for me to imagine that they will simply come here and acclimate in those stables," Cyrus Greengrass asked.
"We have two ways. The first is centaurs, who have agreed to help us with that. Our second line of communication will be our Care of Magical Creatures teacher, Rubeus Hagrid. He has proven to have some instinctual abilities to domesticate animals. Moreover, all magical creatures want no nest close to highly magical places, and they are more intelligent than mundane animals. If we let them understand that they could stay inside those stables, they will do it as it will suit them well," Harry explained.
"Lord Potter is right," Professor McGonagall said. "I can't count how many times various companies have tried to poach Professor Hagrid from us. His skills are well-known not only in Britain, so I am sure he will domesticate the creatures in no time."
"Our third investment will be greenhouses. We will modernize and enlarge existing ones and build more. The reason is obvious; we can produce food and potion ingredients there," Harry concluded.
"Does Hogwarts have enough money to build everything you mentioned?" Flitwick asked.
"I will be open about our financial situation. Right now, we have about 1.5 million galleons available, but no more than a million would be spent. Any expenses above that will be paid by me from my accounts," Harry replied.
The discussion about investments ended, and Susan took the floor.
"Let's move inside Hogwarts; there will be a few changes here as well. Firstly, we will enlarge the whole hospital wing, hire more staff, and change all equipment there. This change is caused not only by the number of extra students we will have but also as some of them are cursed with lycanthropy and may require more visits to the wing."
"We will have werewolf students in Hogwarts?" asked Celine Abbott, mother of Harry's classmate Hannah.
"Yes, we will, along with several part-veelas, part-goblins, and part-vampires," replied the Hogwarts owners.
"Do you realize that the Wizengamot will not be happy hearing that?" asked Professor Sprout.
"They have no right to complain. Had they dealt with Voldemort and the Death Eaters earlier, we would not have that many infected kids in this country. And if they don't like that, they can try to send their children to any other school," replied the owners.
"Do you have security protocols prepared?" asked Professor Flitwick.
"We do. Werewolf students will be escorted from Hogwarts in the afternoon to a secure location outside of Hogwarts so they can safely transform. We will also provide them with Wolfsbane Potion, so there is no way for them to infect other students. As for the rest of the non-human students, they are all warned that any use of their power against the students is strictly forbidden. If they are caught doing that, the punishments are probation, suspension, or expulsion from the school."
"That sounds very reasonable, but I am still afraid of the reaction of our society," said Cyrus.
"Leave that to me. I will be the one to announce that, and I will take the damage to myself."
"I was planning to suggest that. You are the only one who can stop the outcry from them," replied Cyrus.
"Don't worry. I have a plan for that. Alright, so if we had talked about the hospital wing, it is time to go to our library. The situation here is straightforward. We will enlarge it as well and buy more copies of the most important books there. Also, we will add a section for Muggle subjects."
"I will need help to catalog the new books," said Irma Pince.
"Something is telling me that Hermione Granger will volunteer to help you with that task," Harry replied, causing the Hogwarts professors to laugh.
"And the last change for now is the allocation of classrooms. Every teacher will get their class. Your job will be to create the list of equipment you need there. Everything that is missing or needs replacement will be provided to you."
"I am very happy to hear that. Half of the items in my class are barely hanging," replied McGonagall.
"Alright, everyone, does anyone have questions about the topics we presented till now?" asked Susan.
There were a few minor questions, and the Hogwarts owners replied to them. After that, they announced a 10-minute break, as they had been sitting there for over two hours.
"Harry, can I have a word?" asked Cyrus.
"Of course," Harry replied, and they went aside.
"I hope you realize how much you are risking," said Cyrus.
"I am. But also, right now, I have the best chance to succeed."
"Alright, I will stand by you, but be prepared. They will try to attack you for that."
"It will not be the first nor the last time," Harry replied. Cyrus nodded in agreement, and they went back to their seats.
"Alright, let's get back on track. Right now, we will announce the changes that pertain to the teachers. And those changes will be massive."
"What do you mean?" asked Professor Vector.
"Up until now, a teacher's job at Hogwarts was 24/7. Not only were you teaching, but you were also responsible for supervising detentions, patrolling the halls, and many smaller tasks that took all of your free time. Since now your tasks will only be focused on education."
"Who will take care of the other tasks?" asked Flitwick.
"As you know, MMA had a small security team in the past. Here in Hogwarts, that team will be expanded, and they will get more tasks. The rest of that job will fall into the hands of the head of the house. But important information here: teachers will not be allowed to hold that position," Susan explained.
"And why not? We managed to do that in the past," replied Sprout.
"Yes, you did. But now our numbers have more than doubled. Also, Heads of the House should be focused only on their proteges and not on other tasks."
"So our only tasks will be to teach and correct homework?" asked Professor Sinistra.
"The only additional mandatory assignment you will have is creating a special class. Twice a week, in the evenings, you will be present in your classrooms. It will be a time for students who are behind or have a problem with understanding the material. You will be available to them to help them catch up with the rest."
"I was thinking about creating those hours in the past, but I never got time to do this," said Flitwick.
"You see? That's why we are hiring additional people, so you can fully focus on the students."
"Alright, what else changes for us?" asked Sprout.
"The most important change is simple: you will not be forced to live in Hogwarts anymore. Only the Head of the House will need to be a permanent resident here in the castle. The rest of the staff will be free to decide on their accommodations. And one more important change: if a teacher decides to live in the castle, they are free to move in with their closest family, such as spouses or children. The policy that discouraged teachers from having their families was ridiculous and is now revoked."
"Won't it cause more problems with security?"
"I have some mandatory tasks for all of you. However, there are a few things that we would like you to do, and the decision will be up to each of you. If you decide to do them, you will be paid a higher salary."
McGonagall asked, "What do you want us to do?"
"First of all, I would like all of you to create a club of some sort. It can be related to the field you are teaching in, like a Charms club, for example. Or it could be something completely different that you are passionate about, such as music, books, or travel. We want these clubs to exist as students are frequently bored, and bored students have more foolish ideas."
"That's true, and I like that idea, especially since we will have flexibility in club topics," replied Babbling.
"You will. The second thing we would like you to consider is to take an apprentice under your wing."
"You want us to train potential masters in our fields?" asked one of the teachers.
"Yes, I do. It will not only look good for Hogwarts, but it will also give us a positive reputation. Additionally, the students will benefit from this. The apprentices can live here and, while they are not doing their mastery work, they can work as tutors for those students who are struggling."
"You have given us a lot to think about," said Sinistra.
"I know, but remember that the decision is yours," replied Susan.
They discussed their new responsibilities further until it was time for their second break and lunch.