Renouncing Magic's Child

Fleur and Viktor both sat forward eagerly as they heard the title of the chapter. They'd be making an appearance soon. As much as it had been interesting to see how Harry had grown up before meeting them, they couldn't wait to see what he thought of them.

Early next morning... completely normal. Harry

Sirius almost laughed. Even half crazed, just out of Azkaban without treatment, he'd never fall for that. All the same, it was nice to see how much Harry cared about his safety. Even if it was supposed to be him protecting Harry, not the other way around.

He then climbed out of the portrait hole ... sliding a little on the dropping-strewn floor.

"It won't work," Sirius said. Nothing would stop him coming to Harry if he thought he was in danger.

It took him a while ... allow him to tie the letter to it.

Everyone laughed. Hedwig could really hold a grudge.

"Just find him, all right?" ... "Before the dementors do. "

Sirius and Remus both sighed. It wasn't right that Harry had so many worries. He was supposed to be a teenage boy enjoying his school years.

She nipped his finger, ... scar hurting and you know it."

Hermione's parents both shot her an exasperated look. Couldn't she at least try and be empathetic? Had they really failed to teach her how other people felt? They hadn't seen this side of their daughter before the readings and they were beginning to wonder how they'd missed it. 

"So what?" ... because of me."

Sirius sighed. That wasn't Harry's burden to carry.

"Drop it," ... and fell silent.

Sirius rolled his eyes. That girl had almost zero compassion for her supposed best friend.

Harry did his best not to worry ... down some dark London street,

Harry grimaced. The pitiful looks were back.

but between times ... hard training session.

"If we'd had more teachers, the Quidditch tournament could have continued," Oliver grumbled.

"We could have even had a school team and competed against the other schools," Angelina added.

There was a lot of excitement at that idea. And the adults smiled slightly. While the idea of re-starting the Triwizard was downright ludicrous, they couldn't help but think that some sort of tournament between the schools was actually a very good idea.

"I don't really want the TriWizard Tournament to return," Harry said. "But I do think we should have some sort of competition between the three schools. We could have yearly dueling competitions between dueling clubs."

"We couldn't take the students away from their schooling every year!" Minerva complained.

"It would only need to be for a few days," Harry said. "It could even be held on a weekend."

The teachers considered that and Filius got a speculative look in his eye. He'd quite like to re-start the dueling club.

"We could have one weekend at each of the three schools," Harry continued. "One in each term."

"But the students need to focus on learning," Minerva huffed. She wasn't sure she liked the idea of the children leaving the school for a weekend. She could just imagine the sort of trouble the Weasley twins could get into.

"Participation would depend on their grades," Harry said. "Anyone failing any of their classes would be disqualified from participating in extra-curricular activities until their grades improved."

Several of the quidditch players looked up at that. That sounded like a terrible idea. What if someone on the team got disqualified? However, the teachers did look molified.

"And to be allowed to represent the school in the competition you would have to have an average of an EE in... I don't know... Defense... and any other classes the Head of the club determined relevant."

Filius was grinning. "Charms and Transfiguration," he said automatically. He would have to make sure he led that particular club.

"We could have other clubs that did the same thing too," Harry said. "A Quidditich tournament between the schools, even a magical theory or history quiz..." Harry was practically thinking allowed now. "They do it in the muggle world."

"We'd have to get rid of Binns for sure," Minerva said with a smirk, "if we wanted to have any chance at the history quiz."

She still wasn't sure she could trust some of her lions to behave when visiting a foreign school but she couldn't resist the idea of more competition. Plus, anything that would get rid of Binns, was a win in her mind.

"What other changes to the school would you make?" Filius asked.

"I'd have science fairs," Harry said.

"What's a science fair?" several people asked.

"They do it in the muggle world," Harry explained. "We'd all have to create our own project and present it at the fair. We'd have complete control over what it was about. So, the Weasley twins could show off their brilliance by using one of their inventions in the fair, or you might do something more research based, looking at the history of spell crafting," he could imagine Hermione would like that one, "or anything really... The main purpose, is to show independent learning."

The teachers all looked delighted at that idea.

"We'd need more teachers," Harry said. "It's stupid that each subject only has one teacher. For core classes, I'd have the head of Department teach first, fifth and seventh year as they are possibly the most important years between teaching the foundations and the exams. Then a second teacher would cover second and fourth year and a third would cover third and sixth. And all of the teachers would hire an assistant, or be allowed to take on an apprentice would could assist with classes. It's stupid that the masters we have at school aren't teaching mastery students."

"I'm not sure we have the budget for that," Albus said with a sigh. Ever since the war, the ministry had been restricting the school funding.

"Then change the funding structure," Harry argued. "We already pay for our tuition except where parents are unable to afford it. But that doesn't mean that we can't accept charitable donations. Besides, Hogwarts charges less than any muggle boarding school in the country. When did you last increase the price of attending?"

"Er..." Dumbledore frowned. "Certainly before I became headmaster."

They were all taken by surprise when Ragnok entered the chamber, several large ledgers in his arms. "Actually, headmaster, the cost of tuition at Hogwarts has never been increased."

"Never?" Albus asked, clearly surprised.

"Not once," Ragnok said. "Which is rather foolish as the cost of living has definitely increased and therefore so have the expenses of the school. A small increase would not be a problem at all. Perhaps ten percent. As the prince said, Hogwarts is the cheapest boarding school in all of Britain. It is worth noting that the Hogwarts charter does state we cannot increase prices more than once a decade. Ten percent is actually the maximum we are allowed to increase by, but under the circumstances, I think it is permissible to increase them that much."

Everyone was blinking in surprise at this.

"Not only that," Ragnok said, "as an heir has been found for more than one of the Hogwarts seats, we can with the heir's permission access the Founder's Hogwarts Vault. It would be nice to begin investing that vault's contents once again, but some of that money could be used to make any needed changes and improvements to the school. Unfortunately, it cannot be used for day to day business such as the payment of wages, but if you wanted to build an expansion or pay to fix the wards, that would be an appropriate use of the funds."

Albus smiled brightly. That was brilliant. "I don't suppose we could use it to create a... What do the muggles call it? Aurora has been asking for one for years."

"An observatory?" Hermione asked.

"YES!" Albus said, jumping to his feet with excitement. Funding the school had proven to be a wearying task over his time as headmaster.

"That could certainly be arranged," Ragnok said with a toothy grin.

"What else, Prince Myrrddin?" Filius asked. He was making notes on everything the young Prince suggested.

"Er... The elective classes would need a second teacher. So, again, the head of department could teach third, fifth and seventh years while the second teacher would cover fourth and fifth years. The second teacher would also be responsible for providing introductory classes to the second years once they had completed their second year exams."

"Introductory classes?" Minerva asked.

"For a week or so after exams, the students would have at least one or two lessons for each of the electives so they would be able to make a more informed decision about their elective choices."

Again the teachers seemed delighted by this idea.

"And the elective teachers would have assistants or apprentices too," Harry said thoughtfully. Then there's the houses... I'd have the head of houses oversee seven house advisors, one per year. They would be responsible for dealing with disciplinary action, only needing to involve the head of house in extreme cases. They'd also be responsible for looking out for signs of bullying and homesickness. The one for the first years, would guide them around the school in the first month or so. The second year's one would have individual meetings with the students to discuss their elective choices. Fifth years would go to their own adviser for careers advise and to discuss their NEWT choices and so on. They would liase with parents about any special requirements the children might have, be they academic, medical, or whatever... They could even offer tutoring for any of their students that are falling behind."

"That's a brilliant idea," Severus said. "Not to mention if they were all on the patrol schedule we could have more teachers patrolling the castle and still spend less time patrolling individually."

There was a murmur of excited agreement from the teachers.

"So what would the head of house actually do?" Minerva asked.

"They'd be responsible for overseeing everything," Harry said. "They'd arrange a house meeting for the first night back at school after every holiday to go over the house rules and any announcements and have regular meetings with the advisors to discuss issues and would oversee disciplinary action in extreme cases. The current responsibilities of the heads could be delegated meaning that each head would actually have more time to spend with their house students."

The four heads all grinned at each other. They liked that idea. It had always bothered them that they didn't have enough time to spend with their students.

"I'd also like more physical education options," Harry said. "We don't actually do anything physical after flying class in first year. Which only lasts a few weeks. That class should at least run all through first year too. You can't actually learn to fly in a few weeks."

"Unless you're Harry Potter," Draco muttered.

"What sort of physical education?" Severus asked.

"Running," Harry said, "stamina is essential for dueling. Also, some muggle sports might be interesting. Quidditch too could be part of the course. It's silly that only the house teams are allowed to play. Also some martial arts... and yoga... Both of those use meditation and meditation is useful for connecting with your magic, increasing your ability at non-verbal and wandless magic, not to mention that it helps with occlumency."

Many people found themselves nodding along. Yes, that did sound like a good idea.

"What else?" Filius asked once more, clapping his hands eagerly.

Harry was surprised that they were listening to him. "An inter-house common room. Maybe one for younger years: first through fifth year. And one for NEWT students. In fact it might be worth having a couple available for the younger years, but not divide it by year. It makes sense to have the fifth years around the lower years, as the fifth year prefects can help keep things ordered."

The teachers looked very thoughtful as they continued reading.

On the other hand, ... Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Moody actually flinched. He wasn't sure he wanted to know more about those lessons.

To their surprise ... they could resist its effects.

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Young Molly Weasley screeched.

She was not alone in her anger. All the parents were glaring at Moody and they'd apparently forgotten Harry's previous warning.

"That's illegal!" Mrs Granger said, folding her arms.

"It's barbaric," Augusta shouted. "I will not allow my grandson to be..."

"But - but you said it's illegal ... taught what it feels like," said Moody,

"What?" Albus breathed. Surely, that couldn't be true?

Everyone was glaring at him again and he couldn't really blame them. If that was true, his older self had lost all sense.

"If there is any truth in that, I will destroy you," Amelia threatened. She might feel certain that the man in that classroom was not Alastor but that didn't mean she would dismiss everything he said.

his magical eye swiveling ... You're excused. Off you go."

Everyone turned towards Moody. That had come very close to taunting the girl.

He pointed one gnarled finger ... miss such an important lesson.

Moody growled. He didn't think it was such an important lesson. He wouldn't even do this to trainee aurors.

Moody began to beckon students ... singing the national anthem.

Dean blushed heavily but his younger self seemed to think it was slightly funny. Even if he didn't like the idea of that spell.

Lavender Brown imitated a squirrel... his normal state.

Augusta looked ready to explode and her younger self was gripping her grandson tightly.

Not one of them ... Moody had removed it.

"Of course they didn't," Amelia said. "It would take years of practice to develop some sort of immunity. Or immense power..."

Kingsley nodded in agreement. In his mind, this lesson was utterly pointless.

"Potter," Moody growled, "you next. "

Sirius looked murderous as he pulled both his godsons closer, using them as a sort of shield to prevent himself from doing something to violate Mother Magic's no violence rule.

Harry moved forward ... "Imperio!"

Everyone was paying the book their full attention. Those that knew that Harry could fight off the curse, were fascinated in a weird, morbid sort of way. While everyone else looked ready to slit throats. Even Ragnok, who had decided to stay, was itching for a weapon. No one would harm the Prince on his watch.

It was the most wonderful feeling.

The others who had been under the curse gaped at him. That wasn't how they would describe the empty feeling. 

Harry felt a floating sensation ... untraceable happiness.

Bill frowned. That wasn't happiness. It was numbness. It was concerning that Harry had such a limited frame of reference for happiness that he couldn't tell the difference.

He stood there ... jump onto the desk. . .

Remus's eyes were glowing amber.

Harry bent his knees ... Jump onto the desk...

No one expected him to resist it. Not even those that knew he could. Surely, it was impossible to do it on the first try.

Why, though? ... back of his brain.

Amelia sat forward. That was unexpected.

Stupid thing to do, really, said the voice.

Several people laughed.

Jump ... no, I don't really want to...

The lions all cheered. Harry was amazing. They couldn't believe that he was fighting it.

Jump! NOW! ... considerable pain.

Sirius glanced at Harry in concern. What had happened?

He had both jumped ... fractured both his kneecaps.

Poppy let out an exasperated sigh. "And he wasn't sent to the hospital wing!"

"Now, that's more like it!" ... pain in his knees seemed to double.

Poppy tutted. That was unacceptable.

"Look at that, you lot ... We'll try that again, Potter,

"Over my dead body," Sirius growled.

Moody was both awed that Potter had succeeded and grimacing at what that - He had to be an impostor - was doing.

and the rest of you, ... They'll have trouble controlling you!"

There was a murmur of agreement. They might not like what Moody was doing but they had to admit that the Prince was impressive.

"The way he talks," ... "you'd think we were all going to be attacked any second. "

"FOUR TIMES?" Sirius roared, getting to his feet.

Harry grabbed him by the arm, forcefully trying to pull him away from Moody. He only succeeded when Severus helped and gave the man a vial of calming draught to drink.

"You threw it off completely after four attempts?" Amelia asked in amazement. "I can't even begin to explain how incredible that is."

"He should never have been under it in the first place," Moody growled.

"Of course, not," Amelia said soothingly, "but you can't deny that what he did was remarkable."

Moody gruffly nodded his head.

"Yeah, I know," ... out of earshot and went on.

The twins laughed at that. "Talk about paranoia."

"No wonder they were glad to get shot of him at the Ministry.

Moody grimaced. Was that true?

"It will be a sad day for the auror department when Alastor Moody resigns," Amelia said sharply.

Did you hear him telling Seamus ... April Fools' Day?

Alastor frowned. He had no idea what that was about.

And when are we supposed ... we've got to do?"

Molly glared at her son. He really needed to learn to prioritise his school work. Perhaps if he worked a little harder... instead of always trying to get Hermione to help him, or worse, let him cheat.