Maintaining Hogwarts (2)

"What about the teachers?" Neville asked.

Hermione sighed deeply. "They aren't too happy with us either, for basically the same reasons. Even when I pointed out that they were being criminally overworked, and that we were trying to make their lives easier."

"Are they staying on?" Harry asked, pulling out his control paper for the stack he had given to Warclaw.

Hermione pulled out her own notes. "McGonagall elected to remain with the older Transfiguration classes and as the Gryffindor head. Flitwick was quite surprised by our offer, but accepted the Headmaster position. He was also quite pleased with the idea of still teaching, and volunteered for the NEWT dueling class."

"Excellent!" Harry noted that on his list. The trio had hoped that Flitwick would be willing to teach dueling. Part of the problem with Dumbledore was that he hadn't actually taught students in years, and that detachment had lead to problems. They intended to give their Headmaster enough support that he could actually take the time to interact with the students under his care.

"Sprout was torn," Hermione continued. "She wanted to continue on with Herbology and Hufflepuff, but was also quite interested in the new grounds positions. Eventually she decided to take the same option as McGonagall. Pomfrey will remain, and providing that we do hire an assistant healer, she is willing to teach the NEWT Healing elective."

"Sinistra was willing to take over for the older Slytherins, and also accepted the changes to her class. She is also open to inviting guest lecturers in different areas of divination and astrology to augment her strengths. Trelawney, of course, was fired. Kettleburn was actually thinking of retiring, so the option of a less dangerous job was quite appealing. He was very interested in taking on the younger years, and liked the idea of incorporating Muggle animals. He is also willing to help with the herds."

Harry quickly jotted that down as Hermione flicked through her notes. "Hooch is willing to head the physical education department, and will work with us to develop that. Of course she'll continue to teach flying. Burbage, like her predecessors, knows nothing about modern Muggles. She's elected to stay on, however, as an advisor and beginning charms instructor."

"Is she qualified for that?" Neville asked.

"She has her NEWT, and Flitwick offered to pass on his lesson plans. Of course we'll be making changes, but if he's willing to help her out…" Hermione trailed off.

"I'd rather keep someone who wants to stay and give them additional training, then fire someone who believes in our new system," Harry offered.

"I agree," Neville said.

"Me too," Hermione said. "Now, Babbling would like to stick with Runes, and has also agreed to take over the Ravenclaws for Flitwick. Vector has elected to take the upper years for Arithmancy, and will also be the secondary Ravenclaw advisor." They had decided to have two assistant heads for the older Houses this year, with the intention that they would become regular advisors as the Houses phased out. "And finally, pending his trial, Hagrid has accepted the option to become a student again. He would also like to continue to work with the animals."

"Is that all of them?" Harry asked. Despite what he had told Madam Bones that morning, it seemed like such a small list.

Hermione flipped back through her notes. "Dumbledore, Snape, Quirrell, and Filch are all out, Binns will be allowed to rest, and Trelawney is sacked. That's all that's left."

"We're lucky that all the others elected to stay, despite the changes," Neville pointed out.

"I'll let the Goblins know," Harry said, finishing his notes on the charmed paper. "Hopefully we'll be able to start interviewing tomorrow and get most of these positions filled by the end of the week. Now, how did it go with the testing committee?"

Hermione sighed again. "For starters, they didn't like the idea that their tests weren't up to snuff; some of them got quite stroppy with me. I sent an Elf for an IWC testing representative, and they read the British testers the riot act. Tester Winthrope also looked at our plans for the classes and was quite pleased with it. He's going to recommend we have an IWC tester working with us throughout the year for the next few years as we sort everything out, and recommends an official review in five years."

"He also said that they could come do a quick interview with some of our older students and go back over the scores from last year to come up with a partial review of the school under Dumbledore. That would give us a good example for comparison."

"Let's do it," Harry said.

Neville agreed, "That would give us something else to give to the upset parents."

"What about our fourth and fifth years?" Harry wanted to know. Their plans there would affect the teachers they hired, and he needed to let the Goblins know quickly.

"The group consensus is that our Fifth years don't have the time to catch up to the IWC standard OWLs in anything but Charms and Transfiguration, where we were only slightly low." Hermione said. "It would be a waste of time for them to continue with the old Divination, Muggle Studies, or History classes, however, and dropping those classes might make it easier for them to catch up in their other exams."

"The Fourth years will be in a similar position. By dropping their three useless classes, they might be able to get up to snuff on their others in time to roll out the new OWLs. I also suggested putting off the OWLs for a year, or allowing them to split their testing, and Tester Winthrope thought that was a great idea. Our teachers didn't like it, but agreed that we would present the option to the students."

Harry nodded. "Winthrope sounds like a good person to talk to in more depth. I'm glad that he liked the idea of splitting up the exams; that bodes well for our future plans."

"I thought the same," Hermione agreed. "He recommended that we get a retired IWC tester to join our Board of Governors when we reform them. He's going to give me a few names."

"Brilliant!" Neville said. "We can let the OWL students know the plan for them after dinner today."

"Well you're the one who talked to them before," Harry pointed out slyly. "And I've got my share of parent meetings…"

Neville debated for a moment which was worse, before deciding he'd rather face the students. "I'll get you for that yet, Potter," he joked.

Laughing, the trio hurried to finish their lunch before heading off to work again.