Albus was fit to be tied when he received separate resignations from Pomona and Filius, again they didn't require references so denying him the information he craved. Hogwarts had now lost three Heads of House and its healer - this was intolerable. The fact that he had no idea why this situation had come about was what really riled Dumbledore. Albus liked to think he had his finger on the pulse of Hogwarts, how could he possibly have missed what amounted to nothing less than a mutiny?
There was no doubt this would be turned around by the press to put the blame on him. Albus couldn't even fight back as no reasons were given in any of the letters of resignation. Albus honestly didn't know what he had done to deserve such disloyalty.
He would have to start filling those positions soon, as well as his annual search for a defence professor. A shiver ran down Dumbledore's ancient spine at the thought of losing any more. It was going to be a nightmare trying to replace the staff he had already lost, looking for professors of Ancient Runes, Astronomy and Arithmancy too might be beyond what he could manage in a single summer.
Albus decided he would write to each of those professors immediately, offering them a Head of House position. The increase in responsibility, and corresponding salary, should be enough to keep them at Hogwarts. His choice for the position of Deputy was now no choice at all. As the only remaining Head of House, Albus not giving the position to Severus might see Hogwarts looking for a potions professor too.
There was no doubt Albus would soon discover what was happening. Professors of this caliber moving schools would be hot news, news that would quickly spread around the education community. Everyone who taught knew professors from other schools, and those professors would know professors from elsewhere too. This could never remain a secret, the information superhighway that was the educational grapevine would soon be buzzing with this shocking news.
When the secret finally became known, Albus was already certain he wouldn't like what he discovered. Dumbledore still had only the faintest of ideas of how much trouble he was actually in.
...
Instead of holding a meeting before dinner, thus putting a set time on when said meeting would need to be finished for, they had the elves set up a buffet where people could go up and help themselves while still taking part. This also suited Ginny, who was almost attached to Poppy's side. It allowed her to sit quietly in the background, and everyone there respected Ginny's wish to do so.
Harry and Hermione stood in front of all of them with a portable display board to mark points on. When the name 'Potter Institute of Sorcery and Spells' appeared at the top, both could see Pomona wince.
"Harry, you're asking me to head an establishment with the acronym of PISS?"
They had expected nothing else, including the Weasley twins trying to hide their sniggering by holding their plates up to their faces. A smiling Harry had the answer she was looking for.
"My father was a renowned prankster, along with Padfoot and Moony here." That certainly put a sudden halt to the twin's laughter. "P.I.S.S. is there as a family joke, one I'm sure he would have appreciated. Our school though will be known as the Potter Institute, or Pi. We have steps in place to make sure this is how people will refer to us."
As Harry used is wand to pin an enlarged drawing to the board, Hermione took over the explanation.
"Pi, or π, is a number - sometimes called Archimedes' Constant. You might even say that its a magical number as its a mathematical constant whose exact value can't be calculated. This information about Pi is known the world over, and the symbol will be recognised worldwide too. We took this symbol as our inspiration for the drawings we gave to Remus. Please understand, this is nothing more than an outline of our idea. We're hoping the people sitting here will provide most of the detail. This is π, or the Potter Institute."
Harry had unveiled a drawing that was basically a building in the shape of the π symbol. He started explaining their ideas. "The 'top bar' of the π will be the classrooms. With only a hundred and forty students maximum, and only potions and herbology needing special teaching areas, we figured ten other 'general' classrooms would cover just about all possibilities. Remember we have a lot of outside space that can be utilised for teaching too."
Hermione was desperate to get the next bit in. "The curved part at the end of the top bar would make a wonderful library. Enclosing the curve would give us an outside reading - studying - working area too. As you can see, the building will only be two stories high. We thought the same curved area above the library would make a great infirmary. From personal experience, Harry and I can say that looking out on a beautiful view will have patients wanting to get out of there as quickly as possible."
It was a measure of how close they had become that Poppy felt comfortable joking along with them. "Hermione, I don't think anything could make Harry want to leave my infirmary quicker, he's practically got to be dragged into my care in the first place."
Smiling at the truth in Poppy's words, Harry continued with their presentation. "The left 'leg' of the π will house our assembly hall /dining area - so difficult not to say great hall - with the end of the leg being the staff accommodation. The remaining leg would then be the student accommodation. We're thinking rooms holding a pair of students, using both sides and the two stories. The ground floors would lead out into a small sitting area while the first floor rooms have balconies. Again, these are nothing more than general ideas to give the architect. They will hopefully take all of our ideas and turn them into a school we can be proud of."
It was now Luna who joked with them. "You two clearly kept yourselves busy while Dumbledore confined you to the infirmary."
Pomona was impressed, mightily so. If they had the acumen to come up with this, and the gold to make it happen, she wanted in on the ground floor. That gave her an idea. "If I had a ground floor room, I could have my own garden right outside my door."
Harry and Hermione didn't even look at one another as they internally did their version of a happy dance, their choice for Headmistress was hooked - time to land her.
"We thought the ground corner could be your suite, with the other corner facing the student accommodation as the Headmistress's office. You could easily have a private garden around the entire thing, with a path leading to your office the only necessity."
....
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