"Molly's instinct to adopt strays" is such a fanon trope - but when do we ever see her adopt a stray that isn't the Boy Who lived? Not even the orphan witch in her own neighbourhood who's the same age as Molly's daughter...

There's got to be some procedure for getting rid of a bad Headmaster. Because Albus is a very, very bad Headmaster.

That... wow. Its been a long time since someone's words of love and pain made me actually weep. This was amazing.

I have a serious problem with Headbastards. I frankly enjoy this story. That said, please excuse any snarling of hatred toward the Headbastard.

That was a surprisingly delightful retelling. I don't believe I've read a fanfic entirely from the perspective of the teachers.

I particularly enjoyed Gred and Forge's reaction, first to test and then to celebrate finally meeting a marauder. Lupin's dominance game upon being the twins was fantastic as well.

Sorry for the garbled last. If you care to, you can fix it easily by deleting everything between the separation lines plus one of the lines.

Rereading: the English is much improved; many thanks!

Re. all the changes: Hogwarts will need a massive endowment to support all these additions, and no one set of pockets could be deep enough.* The ideas are fine in the abstract (except for expecting ~one~ teacher to cover all Muggle subjects; never mind competencies - there's no time!) but very expensive to implement. I wish them good luck; they'll need it.

-~-~-~-~-~
* though Lucius's dodge re. telling Narcissa of 'their' pledge was, well, Slytherin. The closest Snape has to a friend has just tossed him under the train. (The Knight Bus must move mostly by something like Apparation. Can't know where to dump one so the Bus lands on him.) At least this train isn't deadly, not for Snape at least; Narcissa is too canny to kill the : the English is much improved; many thanks!

Re. all the changes: Hogwarts will need a massive endowment to support all these additions, and no one set of pockets could be deep enough.* The ideas are fine in the abstract (except for expecting ~one~ teacher to cover all Muggle subjects; never mind competencies - there's no time!) but very expensive to implement. I wish them good luck; they'll need it.

-~-~-~-~-~
* Lucius's dodge re. telling Narcissa of 'their' pledge was, well, Slytherin. The closest Snape has to a friend has just tossed him under the train. (The Knight Bus must move mostly by something like Apparation. Can't know where to dump one so the Bus lands on him.) At least this train isn't deadly, not for Snape at least: Narcissa is too canny to kill the messenger.

I can't believe I didn't notice this before.

Why is Pomona being excluded from all this curriculum talk? It looks like a studied insult. If I were she I'd be down on them all like a Scottish thunderstorm, and I might well resign upon being given such a blatant demonstration of profound disrespect.

Just read the reviews for this chapter and am appalled at the number of people who want Black to get custody of HP immediately. His murderous past aside, the man has been in Azkaban for about ten years (actually a little short for the attempted murder for which he was never even charged) and will be mentally unfit to take care of a child anytime soon.

Let the nutcase visit HP under Bathilda's gimlet eye. She thinks him innocent of the Potters' betrayal, but I strongly doubt that she thinks him capable of raising any child, let alone a damaged one. In canon he remained a belligerently spiteful, cruel bully until the very moment he died - never grew older than fourteen except in his gonads.

Another excellent chapter, with too many fine points to describe in detail. Great parts include:

McG's increasing disillusionment with AD. Her noticing AD's disquiet. Her readily accepting that FF is unquestionably in AD's league as a wizard, just uninterested in grandstanding or in collecting worshipful lackeys - an excellent point subtly made. Her thoughts about the doe, and her noticing SS's flinch at her touch.*

FF's declaration of complete disillusion, and sticking the knife in with the remark about the binding.

SS's blowing his cover to quarks by offering in QQ's presence to testify, since he'd've by this time figured out QQ's true state.
_
* For a fine and eerily prescient fic on that subject - even though (just) one point has since been canonshafted - see "And Yet He Flinched," 2002, by H.L.B. God knows canon SS had every reason to flinch at an unexpected touch.

Much more satisfying than Snape's being set afire. No shame to him that he couldn't overcome TMR-plus-Quirrell given their head start.

Great that the adult took care of it - and correctly, unlike HG. The canonical know-it-all didn't bother to ~look~ at it all so failed to notice the second mumbler with eyes glued to HP. I don't recall the book's wording, but movie-Snape's expression in that scene (all hail the late Mr. Rickman) simply could not be seen by any thinking observer as one of ill intent.

Rereading...

Just realized I hadn't commented on the Snape-McG talk and its precipitant. Yours is the only fic I've read that showed Snape's noticing that his Mark reacted to Quirrell. He presumably noticed when they sat next to each other at table; maybe the delay in speaking was Snape's making sure before telling McG. In any event, congrats for including a point that escaped so many authors (including Rowling). Ingenious explication of the Mark's nature and that of its connection to TMR, too.

Interesting question about the Elixir, though. Does it really, as Snape seems to think, protect the drinker from all means of death? My own tendency is to think that no, it would protect against death from age or perhaps most natural causes but not against, say, swiftly mortal wounds, decapitation, etc. Can't remember what assumption (if any) you used.

The Seeker deal is still outrageous for a kid who is supposed to be taking it easy while recovering from brutal abuse and severe malnutrition. Furthermore, even with summers of gardening I'd expect him to be rachitic: it's England! Those bones should not be allowed more than two feet off the ground, not now and maybe not ever.

thank you for writing this. it was a wonderful balance of captivating plot with the stereotypical 'fixing Hogwarts' story. I thoroughly enjoyed this.

Nonono, Ronald wouldn't have been killed on McGonagall's watch. She was there, she's his head of house, she's depute. She's responsible for him. But her superior is ultimately more responsible, just for having his position. And he was there, too. His position, his job, his responsibility. Even if his staff behaves wrongly it's still his responsibility. He chose the wrong people then. Or allowed those dunderheads more than they were capable of. Dumbledore's fault! It only would've been different if he hadn't been in the school at that moment.

Okay, that sounds a bit more beneficial than usual. She wants to give him additional social contacts and positive reinforcement with something he's obviously capable of. However, she still didn't even ask him if he WANTS to risk his neck for the entertainment of the unwashed masses. She didn't clear it with his guardian (whoever that might be at that time) if they allow him to play a dangerous sport where injuries are daily occurrences and one of the opposing teams is almost famous for violently taking out the other team instead of playing the sport. Apart from not asking for "Mr. Wood", when she KNOWS about his physical punishment (she hinted at it only a minute previous), and when she SHOULD know that "wood" can just as well be the material of implements, some of which CAN be used for physical punishment. And it's unprofessional not to call them "Mr." and "Miss" all the time anyway. And even then she makes it clear that the trophy in her office and Snape's humiliation have the highest priority for her.

Usually she just gives a shit about the health of one of her firsties just to get her hands on that stupid cup, instead of seeing it in Snape's.