I, Hogwarts Second Time Around.

Chapter 555 The New Hogwarts

"That's reality," Kingsley said.

He continued, "There are reports that the Ministry of Magic is about to establish a new department."

"A new department?" Hermione looked at him.

"Muggle-born registration," he said. "The Ministry of Magic is investigating so-called 'Muggle-born' individuals to understand how they possess magical secrets."

They falsely claimed that the Department of Mysteries had discovered that magic could only be inherited through the reproduction of wizards. From this, they concluded that all "Muggle-born" individuals were robbers who stole magical abilities from wizards.

The Ministry of Magic will expel those who steal magical abilities. To this end, every so-called Muggle-born person will be invited to an interview with the newly appointed Muggle-born Registration Committee.

"That's absurd!" Hermione exclaimed. "According to the ancient bas-reliefs at the Tower of Divinity in Canada, magic came from a star in the universe. In ancient times, all living beings possessed the ability to cast spells, and everyone was a wizard. However, some changes occurred later, which weakened this power, leading to the emergence of Muggles."

She did not tell Kingsley about the gods.

In reality, it was because the power of individuals in the "Age of Gods" was concentrated in one person, causing a decline in the overall magic power of the world, which led to some people losing their ability to cast spells.

"That's just an excuse," Kingsley said. "Whatever the truth is, the Death Eaters won't stop their decision to purge Muggle-born wizards."

"Then," Harry suddenly thought of something quite terrifying, "what about this year's freshmen?"

"What about those eleven-year-old Muggle-born wizards?"

"Don't worry." At that moment, Professor Sprout and Lupin entered the living room.

Although it's called a living room, it's actually a chapel.

Thornfield Castle is indeed very large; it is about one-fifth the size of Buckingham Palace.

But it's not big enough compared to the needs of the masses.

Expansion is necessary, but there's still not enough time.

So Owen proposed a more convenient solution—if we don't have time to repair them, we can just move other castles and manors that are already abandoned. There are at least twenty unwanted castles and manors on the European continent, and these are just some of the larger ones. If you include the smaller manors, the number is truly countless.

Why not just dismantle those uninhabited castles and move them over?

Although it was a bit of a hassle—but the good thing was that the people doing it were elves—dozens of elves who had come from Hogwarts to Thornfield Castle were very willing to help them.

Irving certainly didn't steal it; he didn't care about that little bit of money anyway.

He might feel a pang of regret about the Galleons—it's just pounds—to him it's nothing. Besides—the Queen still lives in the castle; they've set aside a small estate specifically for her residence and government offices—they can just ask her for reimbursement later. There's no way they're going to lose money; they might even make a profit.

The building where we are standing today was once a small church in Europe.

Thornfield Castle doesn't have a Great Hall as big as Hogwarts, so the Great Hall had to be located in this chapel.

In fact, Thornfield Castle is starting to resemble Beauxbatons School of Witchcraft and Wizardry more and more these days.

Unlike Hogwarts, which is a single castle, Beauxbatons School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is a collection of several manors nested together.

"Professor!" Harry looked at Professor Sprout with concern.

The professor was still wearing her thick, patched hat. But instead of being covered in mud as before, she was now covered in dust.

Her flowing gray hair began to turn white, and the wrinkles on her face deepened.

Although she still appears optimistic and kind, it's clear to anyone with eyes that the immense pressure she's been under lately has caused her great inner turmoil.

"Don't worry—" Professor Sprout said gently, "I've brought the Book of Admission and the Pen of Acceptance. We'll find those children faster than the Ministry of Magic."

"The Book of Admission and the Pen of Acceptance." Hermione was startled upon hearing this.

She naturally knew about these two legendary magical items.

It is rumored that this was created by the four founders.

It is the most important treasure of Hogwarts.

Its value far exceeds that of the founder's belongings.

The Book of Admission is a large book made of parchment with a black dragon-skin cover. It and the Pen of Acceptance have always been kept in a locked little tower at Hogwarts that has never been visited by any student.

Since the four founders of Hogwarts placed it there when Hogwarts Castle was completed, its pages have never been touched by human fingers.

Few wizards have ever observed the Book of Admission and the Pen of Acceptance at work, but some headmasters like to spend hours quietly in the tower hoping to see them take action.

Although some wizards may know the secrets of this book, no one has ever revealed them.

According to Albus Dumbledore, this would save faculty and staff from having to give lengthy explanations to parents who are furious that their children have not been accepted to Hogwarts.

The Book of Admission and the Pen of Acceptance make the final decision; there has never been a case where a child was admitted to Hogwarts but their name was not on the yellowed pages of the Book of Admission.

Wizards who have had the privilege of witnessing the work of the Book of Admission and the Pen of Acceptance believe that the Pen of Acceptance is more lenient in its judgment than the Book of Admission: even the slightest sign of magic is enough to tempt the Pen of Acceptance, but the Book of Admission will not allow the Pen of Acceptance to write a name on it unless sufficient evidence is found.

In fact, the Book of Admission's strict standards are meaningful: they perfectly prevent Hogwarts from accidentally admitting Squibs. Children born into wizarding families without magical talent may occasionally possess a faint aura of magic inherited from their parents, but once that magic fades, they become clearly incapable of casting spells. The sensitivity of the Pen of Acceptance, combined with the Book of Admission's rigor, ensures they never make a mistake.

The Book of Admission records the name and date of birth of every wizard child.

This tells people when a young wizard should enter Hogwarts to study.

Hogwarts' independence from the Ministry of Magic is largely due to the Ministry's lack of similar methods for verifying wizards' births, and its inability to access Hogwarts' birth records. Therefore, they established the Muggle Birth Registry to identify Muggle-born individuals.

"My God—these are two of Hogwarts' most important treasures. This is the first time they've left the school since the castle was built," Hermione exclaimed in shock.

"You are the real treasures," Professor Sprout said, his gaze fixed intently on the young wizards. "This is just a book and a pen. It can neither defend you nor feed you. The most important treasure at Hogwarts will always be its students."

"Thank you, Professor," Hermione said sincerely.

“No—I should thank you, Hermione,” Professor Sprout said. “Your plan will save many young wizards, especially those with bright futures who are just beginning to explore magic. You have saved them from the tragedy of being captured by the Ministry of Magic and imprisoned.”

"It's what I should do," Hermione said earnestly. "I think it's also what Professor Dumbledore would like to see."

"Albus—" Professor Sprout swayed slightly at the sound of her voice. She said in a hesitant tone, "I still can't believe he would—"

"We should hold a memorial service for him," the professor continued. "He was a great man and shouldn't be buried hastily. And I believe many people will want to see him off on his final journey."

"That's what I think too," Hermione said. "We're planning to hold the memorial service on September 1st."

"September 1st?" Professor Sprout said sadly. "Yes—school starts—its principal will want to see you."

A sudden silence fell over the chapel.

Everyone was immersed in grief.

After a moment, Lupin, who had come with Professor Sprout, said with difficulty, "This is the best possible outcome."

"Hermione, you're a clever witch. Do you have any suggestions for the new Hogwarts?"

"Suggestions?" Hermione wanted to say that everything should remain the same, but the thought only lasted for a moment before he dismissed it.

"Yes—" Lupin nodded. "There's an old saying in the Ming Dynasty: 'No destruction, no construction.' Since we're going to build a completely new Hogwarts, then appropriate changes are necessary."

"How about abolishing Sorting Houses?" Hermione blurted out instinctively, then realized it might not be so easily accepted, given that this tradition had been in place for over 1,400 years. She quickly added, "Perhaps we can start with this year's freshmen."

"No—" Professor Sprout immediately rejected the idea, "Sorting Houses shouldn't exist anymore. It's caused constant conflict within the school. The root of this system lies in the conflict between the four founders, and that conflict should have been resolved long ago. Besides, the young wizards who can return here to continue their studies are all on our side; this is an unprecedented opportunity."

The Sorting Ceremony should be abolished. All young wizards should be students of Hogwarts, not Slytherin, Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, or Ravenclaw.

"Yes—that's true." Lupin nodded. "When I came back from Sweden, Irving and I talked a lot about it. He had the same idea."

"When is Owen coming back?" Hermione asked.

"He's in charge of collecting the bas-reliefs brought from the Divine Tower. These things can't fall into the hands of Death Eaters. Professor Basilda Barbling will assist him."

"Hmm—not much stuff, should be back soon."

"Before that, we need to discuss some rules and regulations for the new school and class arrangements," Professor Sprout said.

Since there are no longer separate houses, there are too many junior wizards in each grade.

They need to be divided into classes.

"We can ask Prime Minister Harker for help in this regard," Hermione suggested. "There are thousands of schools in Britain. The Department for Education is certainly experienced. We can work together to develop a comprehensive system."

"That's settled then," Professor Sprout nodded.

The group then left the chapel.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

In the days that followed.

With the help of some of the brightest minds in all of Britain, the rules and regulations of the new Hogwarts were quickly established.

First, let's talk about personnel appointments.

Professor Sprout became the acting headmaster of the new Hogwarts.

Although she was reluctant, there really wasn't a suitable candidate at the moment. The heads of the four houses—Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick—didn't want to leave the school. They wanted to protect the remaining young wizards.

Snape is now seen by others as one of Voldemort's men.

Only Professor Sprout left Hogwarts at the urging of the other two heads of the house, and she could only reluctantly agree.

But the professor only said that he was just looking after Minerva for a period of time.

She preferred staying in her greenhouse to managing the school.

Secondly, a completely new board of directors was formed, including Her Majesty the Queen, the Prime Minister, and several highly accomplished professors, including Slughorn.

The Rozier family, having secretly contributed significantly, managed to secure a seat on the school's board of directors after losing over 100,000 Galleons.

Then came the absence of some professors from the school.

Lupin returns to the school as a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, but his position as director of the Federation’s Excavation Committee is now difficult to carry out due to the drastic changes in the situation.

Excavation work around the world has been suspended because the Federation needs to gather strength to deal with Voldemort, so he himself has become idle.

Of course, his department was not disbanded, and he still held his position.

Secondly, there was the course on alchemy—Victor chose to stay at Hogwarts.

The remaining professors at Hogwarts—McGard, Binns, Flitwick, and Witt—are not safe. They will have to maintain order at Hogwarts, resist the Death Eaters' persecution of students, and may even face attacks. Victor is their last line of defense; if anything goes wrong, he has the ability to lead the professors and young wizards away from Hogwarts.

The new professor of alchemy is Celsus Kunrath.

Celsus Kunrath: Chief editor of the newspaper "Alchemy Today", a master alchemist, whose book "Natural Alchemy" is hailed as the greatest alchemical work of the twentieth century.

He was given the title of "Sage" and was a master renowned throughout the world.

He and Dumbledore were good friends.

He was also the alchemist who awarded the Philosopher's Stone Trophy to Victor and Owen.

Hermione originally wanted to ask Roy, Owen's aunt, to become the new Professor of Alchemy.

She and Victor were both students of Vynda Rozier, and she must have been working in alchemy for a long time, but she was not well-known.

But in the end, Theseus Scamander chose Celsus Kunrat.

Because of the other party's fame and influence.

Winning over Celsus Quinrat would greatly boost the morale of the anti-Voldemort alliance.

In addition, there are professors of transfiguration, spells, history of magic, and divination.

Of these, Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick, and Professor Witt chose to stay at Hogwarts, while Professor Spencer, being a ghost, was unable to leave.

(End of this chapter)