Plans (3)

"Would either of you like to be at the meeting with the goblins, or would you like to be scheduled before?" Neville asked. "There will also be a meeting later tomorrow with the OWL and NEWT testing board, but I don't think either of you would be needed for that, unless of course you wanted to attend."

The two exchanged a long look before turning back to the trio. "I shall attend the Gringotts meeting," Madam Bones decided. "But we shall both decline to meet with the testing board."

Harry nodded; they had predicted those answers. "Then we will see you both an hour before breakfast tomorrow, Minister." Then, looking at the crowd of parents standing a slightly-less-than respectful distance away, waiting for the trio to finish, Harry snapped his fingers. As soon as a House Elf appeared, Harry grabbed Neville and Hermione's hands. "To our common room, please."

The Elf grabbed Harry's knee and immediately popped them away to the founders' common room. Breathing a sigh of relief, Harry sank into his chair. "Well, we've put them off until tomorrow, at least."

"Hopefully the ones who just want to yell at us for being children or making changes or whatever will have blown off their steam by then," Neville added.

Hermione quickly drew up a list. "If we're meeting with the Aurors before breakfast, and the Goblins immediately after, then we'll be able to meet with parents starting around… ten?" she guessed. "No, wait, the testing board…"

"I reckon it'll take longer to figure out the boundaries," Harry was well familiar with them, having often patrolled the borders in the past. "But I can do that on my own, once we tell them what we need. I think half an hour and then you two can start meeting with the parents. It'll probably take me until lunch, and that's if I don't have to help the aurors in the forest."

Neville frowned. "Didn't Sir Nicholas say that the current centaur herd have not followed their part of the agreement to keep the forest clear of dangers?"

Harry quickly skimmed through his memory of the meeting with the three ghosts the morning after they returned. "Bugger. Yes he did. That means I'm going to need to talk to them before we send any aurors into the forest."

"Is there enough inside the castle to keep them occupied tomorrow?" Hermione asked.

"It depends on how many aurors Shacklebolt brings. If he's got a half-squad, then we can keep them busy inside all day. But if he's got a full squad they might be done by lunch."

"Well we'll know tomorrow morning. If you can hold them off until lunch, then you can escort them into the forest. And if there's only a half-squad, then you'll still have the afternoon to treat with the centaurs."

"So you won't really have time to meet with the parents at all tomorrow," Neville said thoughtfully, looking over Hermione's schedule.

"Is there anything that you have to take care of tomorrow?" Harry asked.

"I wanted to look at the fields and greenhouses; see what state they're in," Neville said. "Then I'd need to talk to the House Elves about them. But I suppose a quick fly-over would give me the general idea, and I could certainly meet with the Elves during a meal."

"What if you missed the meeting with the aurors tomorrow morning?" Hermione suggested. "That would give you an hour to figure out the state of everything, and then you could figure out what you wanted to do over breakfast. You could meet with the Elves while Harry is meeting with the Goblins."

"What about you?" Harry asked, turning to Hermione. "Anything pressing?"

"Not as such. I want to start interviewing the candidates, and meeting with the current faculty to discuss their new roles, but I suppose that could wait a day. Of course we wanted to meet with the testing committee to discuss the OWL students as soon as possible. Oh, and I want to get my notes and things from the past, but that requires all three of us to open."

Harry thought about that for a minute. "Is that a complicated process? Getting in to where the things from the past are stored?"

"Helena said it should only take about ten minutes."

Harry nodded. "Then let's do that before we meet the aurors in the morning. They really only need to deal with one of us, so I'll take that meeting, as well as the one with the Goblins. You can use that time to meet with the teachers and the testing committee. If you and Neville switch off during the day, that makes one Heir free at any time to deal with parents. I'll take the evening, and the late afternoon if I'm able. Divide and conquer, as Godric would say."

"What if we convert the room beside the Great Hall into offices and meeting rooms?" Neville suggested. "We could each have an office, and have a handful of meeting rooms. That way people could find us, and we would have a place to talk to the parents."

"We could put a timer on the door," Harry added. "Ten or fifteen minutes, and that's all they've got. If parents want to talk to us for longer, they can make another appointment after everyone else has gone. And that way if they only want to yell, you can guarantee it won't go on too long."

"Perfect!" Hermione added that to her notes for the following day, intending to ask an Elf to take care of it first thing in the morning. "Now we'd better get to bed. Tomorrow is going to be another busy day."

Groaning in agreement, Harry and Neville quickly bid her goodnight and the trio retreated to their own rooms.