A Plan For Muggleborns
Harry eventually managed to detach himself from all the people who wanted his input. It was strange having grown wix vying for his attention and not just because he was famous but because his opinion apparently mattered.
He settled into the library with Sirius and Arcturus, pulling out his notes on his idea for a magical primary school.
”There’s a lot to do,” Harry said with a sigh. “I don’t even know where to start.”
”First, we need a building,” Sirius said.
Harry grimaced at that. He supposed he could buy somewhere. He certainly had the gold for it.
”I imagine we can find an appropriate property among one of your estates,” Arcturus said, “and if not, I can think of at least one Black property that would work. It really depends how big it needs to be.”
”Might be worth talking to the goblins about it,” Sirius murmured. They would know more about Harry’s properties than anyone. After all, they couldn’t exactly go and inspect them while they were out of time.
Harry hadn’t even considered that he might actually own a property big enough. But no doubt he must do.
”How big should it be?” Harry asked. He tried to think back to his own primary school. It had been significantly smaller than Hogwarts.
”I guess that depends on how many children will be attending,” Arcturus said. “When do you start primary school in the muggle world?”
”Four or five,” Harry said automatically.
”Wow. That’s young,” Sirius whistled. He couldn’t imagine sitting through lessons at that age.
”The younger years mostly learn through play,” Harry said, trying to think back. “They bake cakes and sing songs and listen to stories. Paint and draw and…”
He sighed. This was a massive undertaking and he wasn’t convinced that he was the right person to do this.
”Okay. So if you’re starting at age four,” Arcturus said thoughtfully, “that would mean you’d have seven years before Hogwarts.”
”That’s sort of perfect,” Sirius offered a grin. “The purebloods will like it because its what they’re used to and it’s the most magical number.”
”Is the school going to be mandatory?” Arcturus asked.
”It is in the muggle world.” Harry brushed a hand through his hair. “But I can’t see pure bloods liking it if they’re forced to enroll their kids.”
”I think it should be mandatory for muggle raised children,” Sirius said. “But if it’s mandatory for anyone, it should be for everyone.”
Arcturus nodded. “We probably need to get Narcissa plotting how to make this more palatable for purebloods. And Lucius will be able to help us draft a bill for the Wizengamot to make it a legal requirement.”
Narcissa had a knack for that sort of thing. She was a true Slytherin and she knew how to manipulate even the mostly slippery of snakes.
”That would probably be a good idea,” Sirius agreed.
”How many kids attend Hogwarts each year?” Harry asked. He tried to count how many people were in his own year but his year had been a particularly small intake because they had all been born during the war.
”Usually somewhere between eighty and a hundred and fifty,” Arcturus said. “Your year was going to be the smallest intake in centuries.”
”So working on one hundred and fifty being the largest intake we can expect,” Harry said, “we need a school big enough for a thousand children.”
Harry was beginning to think they might need a castle the size of Hogwarts after all.
”Yes. But if it’s only day classes, that reduces a lot of the space needed,” Sirius said. “No need for dorms.”
”Right.” Harry nodded. “Still sounds like we need a castle.”
Arcturus and Sirius both chuckled.
”If each year has up to six classes of twenty-five students,” Harry said, “with at least two teachers per class, more for the younger classes. That means we need almost a hundred teachers.”
Yes. This was a massive undertaking. Harry frowned. He wouldn’t even be able to do it himself because he’d be ten! Merlin. This was frustrating.
”Tell us more about how you see each year group working, Harry,” Sirius said, trying to distract Harry from just how big a task this was. Focus on the big picture first.
”Right, so the first two years would learn through play. They’d stay in their classroom except for field trips and to play outside. They’d mostly learn through stories, songs and art. They’ll learn how to read and count… They could learn about the differences between muggles and wizards by playing dress up. Throughout the year they could do small things to celebrate the sacred days and muggle holidays too. Some basic wand safety like what to do if they find a wand.”
”What sort of field trips would they take?” Sirius asked.
”They could visit the library, the zoo, the park in the muggle world. Not sure about the wixen world though.”
Harry really didn’t know what the wixen world offered for children’s entertainment.
Arcturus nodded at that. “If you need Wixen equivalents, a quidditch match might work or a trip to one of the magical creature reserves.”
”I really don’t think they should be around dragons,” Harry started.
”There are reserves for all sorts of creatures,” Arcturus said. “We could talk to Lucius and Charlie about what sort of creatures will be on their reserve. And if not, Hogwarts has plenty of safe creatures that could be visited for a day.”
”A field trip to Hogwarts would be incredible,” Harry said eagerly.
”If the school had a pool or a lake, they could have swimming lessons,” Harry added thoughtfully. “And they could have a class pet that they have to care for together. The first two years, you’d probably want three or four teachers per class to keep everyone safe and to make sure everyone gets the opportunity to learn.”
”All right, what about the next year?”
”Third year would introduce some sat down lessons but still allow for plenty of learning through play,” Harry said seriously. “So English would be a sat down class with spellings and a chance to write your own stories, mathematics, they’d learn basic arithmetic… They could learn about household magic by learning to bake - even if they’re not using the magic themselves. Seeing it, is a good way to start learning. They could start learning about muggle and wixen history and maybe start learning about muggle technology. And they could start learning about magical creatures - you know the safe ones.”
”And fourth year?” Sirius asked, jotting everything Harry said down.
”Fourth year would be when things get a little more formal,” Harry sighed. “Less time to play. They’d have English and mathematics class still. Wizarding and Muggles Society Studies would become an actual class instead of something they just learn about through play. They’d have history lessons that cover both the magical world and the muggle world. And they’d start learning about the muggle sciences and magical theory. They would still learn about magical creatures but they’d also start learning Herbology and Astronomy.”
Harry paused as he thought it through. “Some lessons they’d have every day like English and mathematics while others would become something they learn weekly. So a weekly magical creatures lesson and muggle technology lesson.”
”This all sounds brilliant, Harry,” Arcturus said. “What about fifth year?”
”Nothing much would change there,” Harry said. “Except we might want to add that etiquette and comportment class, Narcissa wanted.”
The two Blacks laughed at that. “That will be a big hit with the purebloods.”
”There should also be sports lessons to keep everyone fit and healthy. Plenty of running around.”
Sirius nodded at that. All eight-year-olds needed to release their excess energy somehow or you would be sure to have accidental magic catastrophes every other day.
”Sixth year?” Arcturus asked.
”So this is where things change,” Harry said. “Where before most of their time will be spent with the other students in their class except when they come together for year group activities or assemblies or something, in sixth year, I’m thinking that some of the classes can be done in different groups so they can meet other people their own age. It will help them prepare for Hogwarts too as classes as split differently there. Also we’d introduce them to the other core subjects they’ll be learning at Hogwarts. Maybe they can take a field trip to the ministry and Gringotts and other places like that. They can learn other languages too.”
”And seventh year would follow the same way as sixth year,” Harry said finally, “just going a bit more in depth.”
Sirius and Arcturus were both nodding along and Harry could hardly believe that they hadn’t told him his idea was stupid.
”All right,” Sirius said, still making notes. “So approximately one hundred teachers. If we’re going to have a pool or a lake and magical creatures, we’re going to need a groundskeeper too. And maybe a caretaker too, and a driver for the school bus.”
“If we’re talking about a thousand potential students, we’re going to need more than one bus,” Arcturus said.
We’ll need a head teacher,” Harry said, “and probably a deputy. Plus some administrators. And probably some sort of board of governors - we could have parent governors.”
Sirius frowned. “So I guess the big question is how is this all going to be funded?”
”If we get Narcissa involved, she could arrange fundraising,” Arcturus suggested.
”Run it like a charitable organisation?” Sirius asked. “Free education.”
”Hogwarts is expensive enough,” Arcturus said. “And if the quality of teaching is good enough, the purebloods will happily donate if it means they don’t have to spend money on multiple tutors.”
Sirius nodded. That was true enough. His mother had always complained about the number of tutors he and Regulus required.
”We can always start with a loan from the Black family,” he said eventually. “I’ll happily donate too but we’re going to need a large influx of galleons to get started.”
Arcturus nodded his agreement. That was probably the best way to go about it initially. “We could probably apply for some ministry funding too. Especially as it will have the Prince’s endorsement.”
Harry held back a sigh. At least it was because he was Magic’s chosen and not because he was the boy-who-lived.
”Well, that’s the easy bit done!” Arcturus grinned. “Now for the hard bit.”
Harry grimaced. He didn’t even want to imagine what his new great-grandfather thought was the hard bit.
”Getting the muggleborns involved,” Arcturus said pointedly when both Harry and Sirius eyed him with confusion. “At the moment, muggleborns only learn about our world when they get invited to Hogwarts.”
”Right…” Harry nodded. “So, how does Hogwarts know about the muggleborns?”
”All magical children are recorded in the book of admittance from their first bout of accidental magic.” Arcturus explained.
”Can we ask them to share?” Harry asked. “Or do we have to work out the spell work for something like that?”
Harry really thought that was beyond his level of expertise.
”Perhaps,” Sirius nodded. “If not, I imagine the unspeakable can come up with something.”
Arcturus grinned. “Unfortunately, that isn’t the hard part.”
”Huh?” Both Harry and Sirius asked.
”The biggest challenge is going to be introducing the muggleborns to our world,” Arcturus said. “And I’m not sure it should be the responsibility of the school. Hogwarts did a terrible job of introducing you to the magical world, Harry. I think we need a ministry department or at least a sub department specifically for supporting muggleborns and muggle raised children joining our world.”
”How would that work?” Harry asked.
”At the first sign of accidental magic a couple of representatives of the department - let’s call them advocates - would visit the muggleborn and fix any accidental magic that might need undoing. At that time, they’d talk to the child and the parents and tell them about our world and the school.”
”They’d have to arrange for them to sign a secrecy contract,” Harry said. The statute of secrecy needed to be protected better than it currently was. “And monitor the family for signs of abuse.”
Both Sirius and Arcturus agreed with that.
”One problem you might find is that magical children all start showing signs of magic at different ages. For some it’s in the first few months while others they might be eight or nine. It means muggle raised kids might join the school later than their wixen raised peers.”
Harry listened to what Sirius said. But he couldn’t see any way of avoiding that.
”The school could provide classes for muggles raising magical children in the evenings,” Arcturus suggested. “I imagine it might be quite scary raising a magical child without magic. Basic stuff like who to contact in the event your magical child hurts themselves or you with accidental magic, and a basic overview of magical diseases and other health related issues. Muggleborns often wait until Hogwarts before getting their magical vaccines. That could be brought forward with a system like this.”
”Presumably their ministry advocate would continue to act as a liaison between the family and the magical world,” Harry said, “but the parents would also have the support of the school and other parents.”
”Yes. So all in all, they’d be in a much better position than they are now.” Arcturus smiled at his great-grandson. Even though he’d only known the young man a few days, he couldn’t help but feel immensely proud of him.
”You’re certain you want squibs to attend?”Arcturus asked.
Harry glared at him.
”I’m not saying you shouldn’t, I just want to make sure we’re on the same page.”
”All wixen raised kids,” Harry said eventually. “Hell, I’d even be willing to let muggle siblings in if muggleborns like my mum come.”
Sirius nodded at that. “They’re probably squibs if there’s a magical in the family.”
”And we can hire some squibs for some of the teaching roles. Anything that doesn’t involve magic,” Harry said.
Arcturus nodded. “I think if you do that you either need to make them subject specific teachers or make sure that each class has at least one magical teacher, just in case there are any magical accidents.”
“That sounds reasonable,” Harry said. “I just thought. We’re going to need a school nurse too.”
Sirius checked his watch. “Time for lunch. Let’s leave it here for now. I think we should talk to Narcissa and Lucius. Like granddad said Narcissa will be a big help with fundraising and Lucius will be able to help us with the legalities. And we should definitely talk to the goblins about a site for the school.”
They gathered their paperwork and made their way out of the library, each deep in thought. Harry had a grin on his face. That had been oddly productive. It felt so strange having adults take his ideas seriously.