Back To The Start

7

"Flitwick." Mia answered immediately when I finished asking for her opinion. I raised my eyebrows and gestured for her to continue as I looked around my room, where we decided to lounge. "I love McGonagall, don't get me wrong... It's just, how many times has she put off your concerns? Let alone anyone elses."

She had a completely valid point there. Memories of my first year with the stone and Quirell. Then my second year with Lockhart and again with the chamber of secrets. Last year over the broom and, then Sirius' innocence, and now this year, with me not putting my name in for the tournament.

"Yeah, Flitwick, it is. Here's another question: Should I even continue to let McGonagall be deputy head and a head of house while she's a professor? Or should I make all heads of staff people who aren't professors?" I mused as I leaned back against my headboard. Mia sat at the foot of my bed, facing me. At the new question, she got quiet. It only took 10 minutes of contemplating before she answered me.

"No. I think she needs to choose the job she enjoys the most. We can look for new people to fill the other position. If she chooses to still teach, we can let her keep the Head of House duties. I think we should go ahead and figure out someone for both of the positions just so we're ahead and not scrambling to find new people. We could make all administrators non-professors." She explained. I tapped my chin for a moment before I leaned forward.

"If McGonagall chooses to keep the transfiguration position, we could employ Remus for deputy headmaster. He would be fair, yet firm if needed." I mused. She nodded along with my idea.

"We can always look into calling on a past student to take the teaching post if need be. I'm sure Andromeda Tonks, Dora's mum, would be thrilled to be offered an opportunity to teach." Mia mused. "Is Hagrid going to be doing night classes so he can get his O.W.Ls and N.E.W.Ts done quickly?" She asked.

"Yes. I asked Bill to get in touch with Charlie for me while he was here earlier. I wanted to see if he was interested in temporarily, or maybe even permanently, teaching COMIC for me. I can't just have no teacher for the class." I explained. "Who should we ask to cover the charms classes if Flitwick says yes to being headmaster?" She thought for a few moments.

"How about we ask Sirius to cover something?" She asked. In alarm, I went to contradict her, only for her to stop me short. "Wait, hear me out! Hogwarts predates the Ministry. So, technically, they have no say what-so-ever here. We are, for all intents and purposes, a sovereign nation from magical Britain. We could offer Sirius asylum and offer him a trial in the great hall with all the staff and students present." She explained.

"That could be arranged. We could even make sure there was a press present for it." I grinned. "Do you think he would go for charms, though?" I asked, earning a giggle.

"We'll ask Luna and Collin's opinions in the morning, then we can contact him to find out." She yawned and stretched before standing up. "It's getting late, so I'm going to turn in for the night. Tomorrow's going to be a long day. Night, love." She bent down and kissed me before retreating to her room.

I sat, thinking over the situation for a few more minutes; then got up and made my way over to my desk. I pulled out a fresh sheet of parchment and began writing down all the ideas on how I wanted the staff to be situated. I even made a backup plan, just in case. After I was finished with those, I drafted a letter to Padfoot and Moony. I was going to write to them either way, but I made it out to be a calm invitation to meet up in Hogsmeade. Not letting them know about the open positions gave me the chance to use the puppy dog eyes on them if they tried to refuse.

I cast a quick tempus, then groaned. I knew I had stayed up later than everyone else, but 3am was overdoing it. I set my alarm for 6, giving me 30 minutes to get dressed and make it to breakfast in the dining room here with everyone else. Morning came much too quickly for my tastes. I showered quickly and dressed, then made my way to the dining room.