Harry stood without speaking for a minute as he gathered his thoughts, "it was not long ago that most of us watched while a young man lost his life in this very hall because he made a bad decision, had this system been in place he would still be alive and annoying everyone with tales of how the mighty Cannons were actually going to win a game this year." Harry could see the tears in most people's eyes, there was sobbing coming from the Weasley table, "this rule is dedicated to Ron Weasley and you better believe it will be enforced. There will be no exceptions, no excuses and no family intervention; we have the minister's niece and my adopted daughter, as students and their treatment will be exactly the same as everyone else's. Using a wand on a fellow student to cause harm will see you expelled and, depending on the severity, escorted by aurors to be charged."
Harry noticed a Slytherin seventh year that he thought was called Warrington stand to ask a question, "Lord Gryffindor, does this rule apply to those of age?"
"Good question and the answer is no, those of age are expected to behave like the adults they are, but as an adult they will be charged with endangering children should they use their wand illegally. The minimum penalty for this charge is ninety days in Azkaban, and, of course, expulsion from Hogwarts. There is also the non-magical annex where no wands are allowed by anyone." Harry's answer had a few older students exchanging worried looks, ninety days in that hellhole was not something to take lightly.
"What if I choose not to take non-magical studies?" asked Warrington.
"That is entirely your choice but, as this and wizarding studies are mandatory subjects then I'm afraid you will be taking the floo home tonight with your belongings. Guys!" Four elves appeared silently next to Harry, "it would appear that Mr Warrington no longer wishes to attend Hogwarts, could you please pack and place his belongings in headmistress McGonagall's office as he will be returning home tonight."
Warrington just had his bluff well and truly called, "excuse me my lord, I was merely making an enquiry and will happily comply with Hogwarts regulations."
Harry nodded and apologised for the misunderstanding, before hammering his point home, "attending Hogwarts is a privilege, not your right. This is now a privately owned establishment that will be run by our company, Stag Industries, and anyone deliberately disrupting the smooth running of this establishment won't be here very long." It had been spelled out to everyone in language that left no room for error, behave or be gone!
"Now the real reason that I'm standing here is to pass on information about the new Tri-wizard Tournament, with the first elimination heat taking place this Saturday. All teams must contain a student from each school and you have until eight pm on Thursday night to give your team's details to our administrator, Percy Weasley. The top ten teams on Saturday will go through to the next round and all the information you're going to get is that all three members must work together to complete the task and it will definitely NOT involve dragons. I will now hand you back to headmistress McGonagall to introduce our last new initiative for tonight."
Minerva stood back up, "tomorrow the first parents will arrive and be staying with us for a few days, and they will be attending classes to see for themselves what their children are being taught. This will continue all year but the first recipients are the Creevey's, the Patil's, the Finch-Fletchley's and the Higgs." It was no accident that the mixture was of all houses and different blood statuses.
The heads of the four houses made their way to their respective house common rooms to make sure everyone knew how to key into and operate their lockers. For the first few days' prefects would be at the doors ensuring students didn't forget to put their wands in their lockers until everyone got used to it.
After all the hard work and planning the first day of the new Hogwarts was a resounding success for staff, students and visitors alike, and the atmosphere in the great hall at dinner was better than they dared to dream.
Tonks first class of the day had been seventh year snakes and puffs, she had kept it very simple, an aerobic warm up, some laps round the track followed by some cool down exercises. It was going to take a few lessons before they were fit for much more than that and the shorter program gave the knackered teenagers time in the café to drink some fruit juice and recover before their next class.
Harry knew they had won over the visiting parents by lunchtime, they had been delighted with their accommodation and began the tour at the annex just as first year snakes and claws were pouring into the mini-mall. The students had spent the first part of the morning learning about non-magical money and were then given some to purchase swimwear for their next class – swimming.
Harry could see the purebloods looking around in astonishment so, after introducing himself; he asked if they had any questions. Mr Patil couldn't wait. "Lord Gryffindor, I notice that these shops sell no magical items, I am concerned that the children might receive a biased view of the world."
.....
Want to read ahead by more than 60 chapters. Then join my p@treon Right Now.
Link: p*atreon.com/BookReaderBoy (Remove the *)
Also Free members get 2 advanced chapters for Free as well.