Ten Years Later (1)
Ten years to the day after he first stepped foot onto the Hogwarts Express, Harry found himself sitting alone at the Heirs' table, looking out over the Great Hall. In some ways, it still looked the same as it had ten years ago, and the same as it had over a millennia ago. Of course in many more ways it was completely different, and not just from twelve hundred years of smoke and grime accumulating. More shocking, however, were the changes of the last decade.
Waiting for Hermione and Neville to join him for breakfast before welcoming the students back, Harry took the time to reminisce.
They had finally implemented a system where students learned at their own pace; instead of classes being divided by year, they were divided by skill level. So a first-year student with a Potion Master or Healer for a parent would not be stuck in Year 1 Potions Class if they were already at a Year 3 skill level. All new students would take basic entrance placement exams and then be assigned into the class that fit them the best.
This choice had been largely approved by Purebloods, as they assumed that their children – surrounded by magic since birth – would quickly advance above their muggleborn counterparts. Of course, in the muggle-based classes, the opposite was true, and the language classes were a mixed bag.
However, the change had been crucial for the biggest upheaval that the Heirs had made – expanding the age range of the students. Potential students now received their Letters at age eight, and could begin as a day student the following September. Students born before November of that year, such as Hermione and other September and October babies, were also eligible, provided they could keep up in the classes. At twelve (or eleven for the fall babies) students switched to boarding full time. Students were eligible to live "off-site" at seventeen, and could continue to study until they turned nineteen. The more studiously inclined could then apply for Mastery studies – the magical equivalent of University.
Because of the placement testing, a class of students could have a wide age-range, but very similar skill levels. The new class system had helped to break down the barriers of year and age, and with the abolishment of the House system, tensions within the school were at an all time low. There were still friendly rivalries out on the various sports fields, and within the dueling and fencing clubs, but these were mild, unlike the hateful language and flying curses of before. The mandatory physical education classes and numerous physically active clubs meant that the students were also in better shape than before; a boon to those looking for careers in physical jobs such as law enforcement, professional sport, and creature wrangling.
After the OWL committee's decision to delay the OWLs for the first batch of fourth and fifth years at the new Hogwarts, the three Heirs had quickly jumped on the precedent. Now, when a professor agreed that a student was ready, they could sit their OWL, as long as they were fourteen or older. Similarly, students only had to be sixteen to begin taking NEWTs. So a student could sit their first two OWLs at fourteen, then two more the next year, and then finish their OWLs and begin on their first two NEWTs at sixteen. This reduced the pressure on students, allowing them to progress faster in the courses where their talents lay, and take their time on those that they needed more work on.
The trio of Heirs had been the poster children for the new system, taking their OWLs in their own specialties as soon as they were able. By the end of Hermione's third year, she had her OWLs in Maths, History, Transfiguration, Arithmancy, and Potions. Neville followed her a year later with OWLs in Herbology, Potions, Science, Defense, and French. At the same time, Harry passed his OWLs in Creatures, Defense, Science, and the languages of the Goblins and Merfolk. Of course, the fact that he had been one of the main writers of the Mermish OWL was less a sign of him cheating and more a sign that he was already at NEWT level there.
As soon as their OWLs were passed, the trio continued with their NEWT studies, but each also picked up other OWL classes. Hermione added Charms, French, Literature, Defense, Astronomy, and Runes; Neville added Maths, Runes, and Creatures; and Harry added Spanish, German, Transfiguration, Herbology, and Potions. As the three explained to anyone who doubted, by working at their own pace, and building upon foundational classes such as maths for Arithmancy and science, herbology, and creatures for potions, any student could achieve the same. And of course competent teachers and an environment conducive to learning were also key.
Soon other students were following in their footsteps, and some of the students who had been in their NEWT years when the Heirs took over even stuck around or returned for a few more classes. It meant that graduates were taking slightly longer to enter the workforce, but were also entering it far more prepared than ever before. The DMLE and St. Mungo's saw an immediate increase in applicants, and others soon followed.
Of course, as soon as Harry passed his first NEWT, Sirius cheerfully declared that he was an adult. When Harry pointed out that, as Earl Slytherin, he had been an adult since he was eleven, the Marauder's face had fallen. When Sirius then pointed out that, with a NEWT, Harry no longer needed to attend school, the young boy had scoffed and gone back to take the offered NEWT classes in Healing, Wards, Weapony, Finance, and Government, while also starting up the OWL level classes for Chinese and Greek. All three Heirs firmly believed that one never stopped learning, just as the Founders had taught them, and under their guidance, that philosophy bloomed again at Hogwarts.
Hermione's quest for Elven rights had made steady progress over the last ten years, helped along by a new generation of elves born at Hogwarts who were living their whole lives as free beings. She was by no means done, but she was also no longer the only one fighting that crusade.
Harry's passive magic sensor array had finally been completed and installed five years ago, with receivers and antennae at strategic points around the Isles. Instead of detecting bursts of accidental active magic, as the old Ministry sensors did, these detected the magic within the genes of a person. Those with dominant magic genes would ping the sensors, receiving a magical tracking tag in return.
The tracking tags were displayed on a large map in the Ministry's reformed Department for Underage Magic. Once a tag was created, department personnel tracked it down and identified the individual it was attached to. A dossier was created on each magical individual, which was added to as time passed. The families were contacted as soon as a magical child was identified, and they received a Wizarding Mentor. This person helped them deal with bouts of accidental active magic, identifying passive magic, and anything else they needed from the magical world.