Harry remained quiet for a few long moments before turning his head towards Sarah and asking "So, what else have I missed?"
In answer, Sarah picked up a copy of that morning's Sunday Prophet and handed it to Harry.
The front page was dominated by a picture of Cornelius Fudge, standing alongside Dolores Umbridge, Madam Bones and number of others, all of whom Harry recognised from his trial before the Wizengamot.
Above this picture was the headline "Wizengamot Seeks Hogwarts Reform."
The article below read;
In a surprise move last night, the Wizengamot cast a majority vote in favour of instigating a reform to education at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. So far the only known subject provided by the school's curriculum to be targeted is History of Magic.
In a press release immediately after the Wizengamot session concluded, Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge stated "We have been concerned about the standards of education received by our children at Hogwarts for quite some time now. Our initial major concern was with Defence Against the Dark Arts, a subject which has been taught by a new teacher every year for quite some time, leading to disjointed learning for the students. However a far more serious threat to the quality of education at Hogwarts has been brought to the forefront of our concerns. History of Magic is regarded as a dull lesson by almost every student within the school, and it is not helped in the slightest that the subject is being taught by a ghost. Further investigations proved that since his death in the early eighteenth century, he has not kept up with increasing standards. Nor do the more recent events of our history make it into his lessons."
Wizengamot Elder and Governor of the Wizarding Examinations Authority Griselda Marchbanks had this to say – "I've always liked and respected Albus Dumbledore, the current Headmaster of Hogwarts, but one thing that we have always disagreed on is the teaching of History of Magic. Albus likes to insist that Professor Binns is as capable a teacher as anyone, but the examination results of the past few centuries tell a completely different story. No one bothers to take the subject for their N.E.W.T level examinations, instead electing to drop what they perceive as a tediously dull subject altogether."
When asked how the Ministry planned to rectify this travesty, Minister Fudge replied "Well to start with we voted in favour of casting a ban on ghosts holding teaching positions. Now that is not to say that a ghost cannot pass on knowledge or advice if it so chooses, but they can no longer be a professor at the school. Of course with it having been several centuries since anyone took a higher level qualification in the study of History of Magic, our choices for a new professor were extremely limited. In the end we elected to send in Dolores Umbridge, the Senior Undersecretary to the Minister for Magic, to act as Professor and to get a full assessment of the situation we now find ourselves in."
Lucius Malfoy, a close friend and confidant of the Minister for Magic had this to say – "It pleases me to no end to see that the Ministry is finally stepping in to take control of the seriously falling standards within Hogwarts School. Concerns about the running of the school have been voiced for years, but Albus Dumbledore's supporters' have always managed to block all attempts to make some serious headway with reforming the running of the school. This is the first positive step, of what I hope will be many, taken by the Wizengamot to address the quality of education provided by Hogwarts."
However, not all parties appeared pleased with the outcome of the vote. Elphias Dodge, a long-time supporter of Albus Dumbledore, commented "Quite frankly it is an absolute disgrace. Albus Dumbledore has always run a tight and secure ship at Hogwarts and it will only be after the Ministry interferes that trouble will begin."
To read more on this story, see pages two, three, four, five, six and seven.
To read about Elphias Dodge's alleged dealing with rogue goblins, see page eight.
"Holy crap," exclaimed Harry, setting the paper down "Fudge got her into Hogwarts."
Sarah nodded and said "They circumvented Dumbledore completely. When they tried with the Defence Against the Dark Arts post they were just trying to slip someone into Hogwarts. Now that they have put someone in there to investigate the state of things, Dumbledore really has little to no wriggle room. He might be powerful, but even he cannot block a Ministerial investigation."
"I thought that Fudge was going to wait until just before the start of term to make this particular move," said Harry.
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