Chapter 5

A round room with a large counter behind which were sitting twelve wizards. Lucius Malfoy, Aquila Greengrass, Marshall Fawley, Frank Longbottom, Corban Yaxley, Helen Abbott, Pavonis Parkinson, Sylvia Slughorn, Cantankerus Nott, Pandora Lovegood, Sappho Moody, Evelyn Prince.

It was quite the surprising turn of events that Severus Snape went back to his mother's maiden name when she was taken back into the family to avoid extinction as the male line was all but extinct. Less surprising was the fact that his wife was close in appearance to Lily Jane Potter. Professor Slughorn's daughter being here was refreshing and most probably meant that said professor isn't one anymore.

Helen Abbott was there which meant her husband was not available to be present today, surprising things, but knowing they have a daughter he probably had to take care of her for whatever reason. Frank Longbottom still had that distant look, he was never the same after his wife was tortured to almost insanity by Bellatrix Lestrange, she was still alive but really diminished and still at St Mungo, she will probably stay there for the foreseeable future.

Finally the anomaly, the woman that managed to steal the heart of the demon Auror. Alastor had a wife which was sitting here : Sappho Moody née Slughorn, she was Sylvia's older sister and she managed to conquer the most immovable of hearts. She also had a daughter who was named Haures.

Almost everyone of them had a child that either is going to or will go to Hogwarts. The deal was as good as done, of course Yaxley was the exception but he was proven to not be loyal to Voldemort through veritaserum, he only followed so that Dumbledore's policies would be stopped for good by putting the old man to rest or at least forcing him to retire.

Thomas smiled kindly to the board of directors before his hearing began, the one presiding was Lucius Malfoy so it was quite possible that the deal was done before even speaking.

"Today, Thursday the tenth of November Nineteen eighty-eight. We are hearing the point brought forth by Thomas Christopher Preacher, wizard of the first generation, ritual blooded since January nineteen eighty-five. Please Mister Preacher, plead your case." Said Lucius calmly.

"Thank you Lord Malfoy. I come in front of you today with quite a number of worries, as you may very well know as already exposed by my letters. As soon the last heir of the most ancient and noble House Potter, the son of the heir of the most ancient and noble House of Black, the heiress of the Bones noble family and many more will soon attend Hogwarts.

However, Hogwarts has fallen quite a lot since Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore became the Headmaster. He used the educational system as a tool to further his political agenda which is suspected to be the same as Gellert Grindelwald as many evidences suggest they were at the very least acquaintances before the war led by the latter.

I come here with four complaints, three of which you already accepted but still need to be mentioned for the record. The first one is the most crucial as keeping first generation wizards from our culture, our way of life is begging to see it destroyed over time. As such it was asked and granted to restore lessons named Wizarding culture integrated into the main curriculum.

For the record I had suggested to use muggle studies and rename the previous one, but Lord Malfoy has proposed the present name which is more fitting for obvious reasons, as such I'm sure many first generation wizards will thank you as I'm doing right now.

The second one was about the absence of a Dueling course in Hogwarts, which inevitably will lead to the loss of talent in the wizards that will later join the Ministry as Hit-wizards and Aurors. It was heard and as I've heard the Professor Flitwick and Prince are now managing the Dueling lessons under the impulse of Lord Parkinson.

The third one which is the most aggravating is the Divination elective. It needed either a competent professor or a curriculum that was controlled by someone that is competent, as Sybill Patricia Trelawney is a true seer and as such having the chance to witness a true prophecy as student is invaluable. The Divination elective is now put together by Sappho Moody and still taught by Trelawney.

These are the point of interest that I had raised and that were taken care of swiftly as they were concerning, now I'm here to suggest putting the Ritual magic teaching into the curriculum of Hogwarts, preferably as a core subject as every wizard should know how to do a Ritual as to prevent accidents, but in the worst case as an elective.

Ritual magic as everyone knows is the art through which our families can face not only foreign powers but also magical creatures. All of the families have Rituals that not only restore the bloodline talents in those that lack it or enhance it in those that possess it. Rituals are what makes every bloodline different and what protects us from the consequences of inbreeding, that and our complete and exhaustive genealogical trees.

Rituals are powerful tools that are in our belt, however as for every powerful tool there is a cost and massive consequences if used in the wrong way. Rituals are quite the complex thing and as such need to be taught to first generation wizards as much as pure-blood and half-blood, as otherwise we risk one of them doing it wrongly and as such we risk another Strige Incident."

At the mention of the Strige Incident, an event that led to the transformation of every single member of the Strige family into Owls after a Ritual that was sabotaged and badly reviewed because of the lack of understanding the family had, sent the board into a heated discussion. All were in agreement that such an incident was to be avoided at all costs, but they didn't know who would accept to teach Rituals as Dumbledore would go and try to throw them out at the first opportunity.

"Board of Governors, please don't let yourselves be manipulated by the alarmist words of the young Preacher. After all, the reason Rituals are not taught anymore at Hogwarts is because they are banned, for good reasons at that, as they are considered Dark Magic." Dumbledore suddenly said.

The intervention of the Headmaster, who was in attendance in the chair that was reserved to him on the other side of the counter meaning behind Thomas, stopped all discussions and half the board stared at Dumbledore with evident scorn. He then knew that he should have been careful of his words as Aquila slowly said, articulating each word clearly which caused them to resonate in the room.

"Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, while you are advocating for the ban of Ritual magic since you were named leader of the Wizengamot, you still lack the majority of approval to accomplish your goal. Lying openly to the board of Governors already led to the destitution of one Headmaster. While your achievements protect you to a point, please be aware that there is still a limit that you must not cross."

Thomas was quite grateful that there is someone that knows the law on the board, as his counterpoint would have been less than polite. However that mistake clearly cost the Headmaster the refusal of the teaching as an elective, now onto nailing the coffin a little more as being a core subject was now the objective.

"Dark magic, Headmaster Dumbledore, is not recognized by the Encyclopedia Magica. The term is too vague and only used to scare children. The terminology used to define magic that causes complication in healing is Tainted Magic, which is not something Ritual magic can be called, as a Ritual changes the basic state of the body and does not taint it. Which is more reason as to teach it correctly as we cannot risk either a Strige incident or a Nundu incident or a Chimaera incident or any other incident caused by faulty Rituals.

I shouldn't have to point out the fact that preventing the teaching of Rituals is also the best way to prevent first generation wizards from gaining political power, something that is clearly the objective of one Gellert Grindelwald who was imprisoned because both his methods and objectives are considered dangerous for all the wizards in the long terms, as decided by the International Confederation of Wizards."

Thomas hated to hit under the belt, but the old man deserved that one. Dumbledore didn't react at the veiled personal jab, but it was clear that he did not enjoy that one as he tried for the first time to use Legilimency discreetly, unfortunately for him the gem of Thomas' pendant shined a little and stopped the attempt before it even reached. Everyone knew what had happened but as neither Thomas nor Dumbledore said anything it wasn't mentioned.

"Thomas Christopher Preacher, your case was made with efficiency and was heard by the board, as the Headmaster did not find any valid counterpoint until now -" Began Lucius Malfoy.

"So. You want to allow more Ritual of the dark nature to happen, young Preacher ? By teaching Ritual this is what you'll cause !" Countered Dumbledore.

"Headmaster Dumbledore, perhaps are you willing to create more Dark Wizards ? By teaching magic this is what will happen." Exposed Thomas

"But, this is not the -"

"Oh but the level of bad faith and hypocrisy is the same dear Headmaster. You are confusing the consequence with the cause. Why are there dark wizards ? Because the parents and school fail them. Education is quite the sensitive and important thing, by allowing bullying through punishing both the bully and the victim when the victim finally begins defending himself you are a cause, by looking the other way when a wizard becomes high on his powers you are a cause. Simply put, by not doing your job properly, you are the cause of what you tried to put on the back of Tainted Magic."

This caused a deafening silence to spread through the room, the points were more than valid, but it never was pleasing to hear that you may be responsible for your mistakes. Now that the responsibility was all but pointed verbally to the Headmaster however, it allowed them to feel freed from the culpability of the birth of dark wizards and lords, which lifted a weight they never knew they had from their shoulders.

"No matter what the Headmaster has to say now, the board of directors has come to a decision. At the unanimity Ritual magic is to be brought back to Hogwarts as a core subject, effective at the start of next year. It is also necessary that you, Thomas Christopher Preacher, are to be brought to Hogwarts starting next week as a Disciplinary Authority. You'll be handed all the power for disciplinary action needed against the students." Said Lucius with finality while the other members were nodding.

The decision stunned the Headmaster, he now not only had to find a new teacher for the next year, a teacher for a position that nobody will want as they'd have to be more than perfect, but he also now had lost a lot of authority in the school and credibility publicly as he was accused of sharing the ideals of Grindelwald despite the accusation being veiled.

Dumbledore knew that while he wasn't considered evil by any means, he still objectively had an ideal that was now despised. Sure he had his ideal through good reasons, Ariana and his Father having their problems because of muggles and as such having firm control over muggle-born and isolating wizards seemed the best solution to that. Despite his solution being considered less than ethical by his peers.

Thomas was stunned, how did his speech backfire that swiftly and that badly ? He didn't want authority in Hogwarts or more precisely not more authority than a teacher's. Well, now that he had the power to apply what he was preaching, he would do well to do so. He also realized while thinking about it that prefects and head boys and girls now had to answer to him and not the house heads, while they still had the authority to nominate them, it was him that would determine the policy they had to follow.

He went to the Headmaster before leaving the ministry, though, as he knew it would lessen the headache that he would have.

"Headmaster Dumbledore, I know that I just gave you a mountain of work through my stunt, know that I am partially sorry. My objective, I'm going to be honest, was at first to be a teacher to protect the child that was put under my care during his stay, hence as a Master of Ritual magic, please accept me as the new teacher of Ritual. That way I can complete my objective of protecting Potter, an objective that you share if only partially, and you can avoid searching for a teacher that would not want the post."

Dumbledore sighed, he did not like the idea but he had little choice if he was to be honest with himself on the matter. Still he looked like he was thinking about it for longer than it actually had taken him to decide.

"Fine Preacher. It is quite true that you are more than qualified and obviously nobody would agree to teach it at Hogwarts until the rumor, true or not, that I am against Rituals disappear, which would take longer than I'll stay in post… or alive for that matter. You played your hand quite finely, if I am honest."

"Thank you for both the decision and the compliment, Headmaster."

"Please, call me Albus, you've just earned yourself that right."

"Then do call me Thomas, Albus."

The old wizard smiled a little, while looking and being defeated he still was the greatest wizard of his generation. He had and deserved the title of second coming of Merlin and it was showing as the man was still a good sportsman at the end of the day.

Thomas left the Ministry to go back home. Once home he told the event of the day and consequences of it to his wife and went to his office to prepare for what would be arguably the hardest job he ever had until now : managing teenagers that were left mostly to their devices until now.