"Will you shut up already?" Umbridge screeches at Ron's dramatics a few days later. She still has a hangover from the firewhiskey she'd been drinking to forget the howlers the Ministry has been getting from citizens. How dare they complain about putting people in the bottom of the lake to be rescued, willing or otherwise? It would have made the second task much better than the travesty it was. Somebody had leaked the changes to the laws her pookie was trying to push through and people had howled louder. How dare they tell the Ministry what to do? When she's Minister, she'll push through laws making disagreeing with the ministry an offense that puts you in Azkaban and sending a howler to the Ministry sees you shoved through the veil. And to top it off, Pomphrey had refused to give her a hangover potion. Her! 'If she keeps those types of potions in the medical wing, it will give the students an excuse to drink.' Like she doesn't know the teachers drink. That lush Trelawny is a perfect example.

"My contract, my precious, precious contract." Ron whimpers.

"Get to work."

"How can I possibly work when my precious contract is laying at the bottom of the lake, ruined?" He sobs.

"Is there anything you can do for him?" She asks Pomfrey.

"Beyond a good swift kick?" She says sourly. Molly comes storming into the room, grabbing Ron by the ear and starts rollicking into him. Ron finally stops screeching and sobbing, being pushed under a cold shower and told to wash before she goes out into the hallway.

"If he starts that nonsense again I'll soon get him stopped." She says firmly. "Should we tell him that his precious contract was nothing more than a Chudley Cannons poster that you can pick up in Diagon Alley?"

"No, he'd be screaming about how it wasn't fair and we tricked him." Umbridge says sourly. "And if he still believes that a contract is at the bottom of the lake he might go out and try to get it, whether he can swim or not. The Giant Squid could use a new playtoy." Umbridge's lips twitch as she imagines Ron in one of the squid's tentacles in the windup position in that godawful american baseball that's corrupting the nation. If the children have to play a muggle game, they can play cricket. It's at least European.

Remus smiles as he finds Neville and Ginny waiting with Sirius, Hermione, and Harry when he comes back from London. A bag is handed over and Hermione nods. "Sorry I'm late, I spent most of the week reading the books. They are very similar to the wizarding story." The books are copied for the others and they start reading. By the end of a second week all of the muggle born students and a good section of the purebloods, including most of the teachers, have the books and arguments whether Tolkein is a wizard or just a no good thieving muggle who stole the idea from the wizards are being had in the halls. Unremarkably, most of the students using the second argument are Slytherins who have refused to read the books because they're muggle.

The first meeting of the new Governor's board for the school has them shaking their heads. How could all the problems at the school been aired like that? Not only are they the laughingstock of the European wizarding world by failing to keep a DADA teacher for more than a year, pensieve images of students sleeping while Binns drones on was printed in the papers.

"Except for Lord Black you've all known how bad the school was but refused to allow me to make the changes I've been requesting for years." Dumbledore says, glaring at the man who'd been complaining until he finally has to slump and nod.

"We didn't think it was such a big deal until. . ."

"Bagman opened his big fat mouth and people started investigating." Dumbledore says. "Now our classes are being looked at by the ICW and found seriously wanting. The only one that has a hope of passing is Severus. And that's because he only teaches the first five years in potions."

"As I have told you repeatedly, I have very little free time and refuse to teach dunderheads. If you want me to teach the NEWT level classes, hire me an assistant to handle the lower levels." Snape says sourly. "Black is tutoring Longbottom, Potter, and Granger in potions. He can tell you how much work it is getting the students ready for their tests. If there are no other complaints about how I teach my classes, I am off." Severus storms out, his robes billowing.

"Damn drama queen." Black snorts. "Now beyond DADA and History, is there any other current classes that need work?"

"Muggle studies. The muggle-born students refuse to take it, the teacher wouldn't know how to live muggle if life depended on it. Hermione dropped it last year because the teacher didn't know what they were talking about. Hell, Arthur knows more about muggles than the teacher does and he just plays with his plugs. Muggles outnumber us a thousand to one, there are more muggle-born students arriving every year and we have to show them we're not totally ignorant of their culture."

"What would happen to the current muggle studies teacher?" The same man who'd been complaining sneers.

"I'd like them to oversee the students who are currently taking muggle classes on their own."

"You have students taking muggle classes? They can't do that. Make them stop."

"No, all of these students are muggle-born or second generation half-bloods and plan on going back to the muggle world as soon as they graduate."

"They can't, they're needed here." he bleats.

"Doing what? Most of the purebloods view muggleborn students as little more than trained animals and except for menial jobs with no opportunity for advancement. Unless you're from a prominent family that has their own business, the half-bloods are in the same boat."

"That's a lie." He bleats.

"No it's not. You can check the employment records of the ministry, a good 95 percent of the muggle-born students graduating do not find employment in the wizarding world and leave. And they find themselves at a disadvantage when they're asked where they've been for the last seven years that they're so far behind in the studies. That is why so many of our muggle-born or muggle-raised students continue their studies in their spare time."

"But they can't." he whines.

"Oh yes, they can. There has never been a reason for a student not to take classes outside of what is currently offered."

"I'll make you stop." He huffs, looking at the others. They're giving him disgusted looks and he sulks. "But what about the purebloods?"

"What about them, they've always had the option to take additional classes but choose not to. Currently a quarter of our school population is pureblood and the number is falling rapidly. We expect that number to be less than fifteen percent in five years."

"That can't be."

"The information is in front of you."

"What's causing the loss of pureblood students, Headmaster Dumbledore?" Augusta Longbottom asks.

"A combination of factors. The loss of so many purebloods in the last war, the loss of so many purebloods last year when the Death Eaters were taken out with extreme prejudice along with Voldemort. . .or Tom Riddle to give his true name along with his unmarked supporters, that's why Lord Potter is heir to so many fortunes now, the increase in the number of squibs to those families that can still have children thanks to the lack of fresh blood in their lines, and those children that are magical attending other schools or being homeschooled. A good portion of those pureblood students currently attending are already in betrothal contracts, which precludes bringing new blood into their lines."

"Not that the Slytherins would anyway." Sirius rumbles. "Crabbe and Goyle are nearly squibs, I don't expect either of them to have magical children unless they marry muggleborns."

"I don't like this."

"I don't care. We can't be the laughing stock of the wizarding world anymore. We have to improve our classes. And that means bringing in new teachers. Professors Snape and Sinistra are our youngest teacher by decades, at least a century if you count Binns."

By the end of several days wrangling they have openings for a second potions teacher to teach the first through four years, Dumbledore silently thinks that hopefully potions grades in the other houses will improve and a new history of magic teacher. They'd be advertising the jobs after the Tri-wizard Tournament.

"With Weasley probably leaving after this year, I should be able to afford them." Dumbledore mutters as he checks his budget. He's going to miss the extra money not having to pay Binns. Maybe they'll have another incompetent DADA instructor that he won't have to pay? At least with the need to improve their school rubbed in their face, the board of governors voted to increase tuition, it's been the same since Sirius was in school. And he'd sent a request to the Ministry for more money, not above telling Cornelius he'd tell the papers that the Ministry had refused a funding increase for the school.

"Sirius, would you be willing to help threaten Cornelius if he doesn't help pay for some of this stuff by threatening to pull Harry?"

"Damn straight, Remus and Mirna have been going over his classes and she's been reduced to swearing in French more than once. And I thought Lily had a temper. She's been ordering books for him. If Harry said the word, she'd have him in Beauxbatons in a second. And Remus is looking to head there after school lets out to get some advanced training and help with the wolfsbane."

"She knows he's a werewolf?"

"Yep, she was worried one day that he was 'sick' after the full moon then the next month she came looking for him after he'd excused himself from tutoring sessions. She found Harry guarding the door and pulled him aside, opened the door and just looked at us, sighed Remus, you should have told me, and said she'd see us in the morning."

"I'd hoped that I could offer Remus the history of magic position."

"You and I both know the hardline bigots may be gone, but there'd still be an outcry at hiring a 'werewolf' to teach their beloved children. They'd pull their kids and stick them in Beau. . .Ohhh, that's perfect. Get rid of two birds with one stone."

"Are they . . .close?"

"From the stunned stupid look Moony had that reminds me a helluva lot of Lily when she was pregnant with Harry, I'd say oh yeah."

"Werewolves cannot marry." Albus says patiently.

"Here." Sirius smirks. "They don't have those pesky werewolf laws anywhere else. Remus can also apply for French citizenship. Madam Maxine has already promised him a position there. He's got until the end of the school year to say yes, no, or hold that for me. The only thing keeping either of us here right now is Harry."

"Sirius, you promised us a year to set things right."

"And you have that year. But you haven't been doing much, have you? The snakelets are smarting because they lost a lot of power with so many students being pulled when their families died or went to Azkaban. What's to keep them from turning into another Voldemort in twenty years?"

"The former Slytherin students are being watched closely, if they cause trouble they will be taken out immediately by the international community. We've been shown we cannot govern ourselves, putting an innocent man in Azkaban, allowing a terrorist group to continue to cause problems, allowing criminals off with a slap on the wrist because 'oh, I was under the imperius', and accepting bribes."

"That moron Fudge is still in office."

"I don't see him staying Minister long, the tournament was his last attempt to keep power and he's failing miserably. He's barely hanging on after his attempts to force Mr. Potter to allow himself to be a hostage to Mr. Weasley. And we all saw how that ended up. People are furious that the Ministry would have used humans as hostages and the fact that Mr. Weasley just stood there on shore screaming and waving his wand would have led to his death. And Fudge trying to change the laws so he could force Mr. Potter to participate meant it could happen to anyone."

"About time. I can tell you that 'it can't happen to me' doesn't exist anymore." Sirius rumbles. "You're trying to improve the classes, and you can't tell me that if Bagman hadn't shot himelf in the foot trying to blame Harry for the second task not being exciting you'd still be butting heads with Malfoy about the curriculum and punishing the Slytherins for misbehaving in potions class."

"But . . .but . . .but throwing things in the other students cauldron's is tradition." Dumbledore says in a perfect imitation of Fudge at his stupidest. "Professor Snape always let me do it." Sirius whines in a perfect imitation of Draco at his worst. "You can't tell me what to do, my father will hear about this." Sirius drops the act. "That's exactly the problem, Snivelous lets his precious snakes get away with everything. He's blatant in his favoritism for his house and nobody can miss his utter hatred of the other houses. Hell, just look at his track record of taking points for the most frivolous things."

Albus nods. "I should have made him behave years ago. His little problems with Harry is common knowledge."

"Problems with Harry?" Sirius asks sarcastically. "Are you truly that stupid? The man hates Harry and has been belittling him every class since his first year. The man goes out of his way to cause problems for Harry and you refuse to leash your pet death eater. He doesn't have the protection of Malfoy on the board now, one more complaint against him and he will be terminated, maybe even literally."

Albus tries to bluster and tell Sirius that Severus treating the students the way he does is for the greater good but all his usual platitudes sound like what they really are. . .excuses even to him. He finally nods. "I can hire Slughorn back."

Sirius snorts. "That man and his slug club is just as bad, he's a user. I fully expect him to suck up to Harry as soon as he had a job if you brought him back. Hogwarts needs to hire unbiased teachers. I always felt that having teachers be heads of house was a stupid idea, it creates favoritism. Snape just takes it to the extreme. You have one teacher covering all the years, you need to start breaking it down so there's at least two teachers to a subject. Hell Durmstrang and Beauxbatons already do it, that's why Mirna's been able to help Remus with the students he's tutoring."

"I would dearly love to Sirius, the others complain constantly about not having any free time. And they have their own careers to think of, but I simply cannot afford it. I'd have to raise the rates and the purebloods would have a fit and pull their children."

"Then let them pull them." Sirius snorts. "Durmstrang is a good half again what we charge and Beauxbatons is double. They'd have to pay more to send their precious child to any other school. So they'd either have to teach them at home or keep them here. They've lost all the power they used to have, that fool Fudge is grasping at straws to keep things the way they are. Hogwarts is being left behind Albus, like you said yourself, in ten to fifteen years you don't expect to have any purebloods attending Hogwarts. And muggle parents won't keep sending their children to Hogwarts if they can't keep up. Not when there are so much better schools out there. And trying to put through a law forcing them to attend Hogwarts would see the wizarding world destroyed by the international community."

"I believe Fudge had already thought of that and was disabused of the notion. Telling him no didn't have an effect, even telling him Hell no had no effect, threatening to shove an explosive device up his stupid arse and blowing what few brains he had out might have done the job."