Exactly one month later Richard was not in a happy mood after receiving a letter from Headmistress Sprout informing him that Trelawney, Snape, and Binns had ignored every thing he had said and refused to relinquish their quarters, or even leave the castle at all. Snape had so far prevented the potion master she had engaged carrying out his duties without some form of interruption. Apparently already three times that week Snape had sent his own elf to take the Slytherin students from the new potions class room they were now using to the old potions class room in the dungeons.
Ex-Professor Bins had simply continued to appear in the former history classroom and carried on giving lessons as though the students were still there in front of him, he had refused point blank to give up his teaching career saying he was still needed as headmaster Dippet had informed him, it did not seem to bother him that he had no students in his class room.
Ex-Professor Trelawney, spent day after day locked away in her tower crying about the injustice of it all and then repeatedly announcing that she foresaw the return of headmaster Dumbledore any day now.
After a family get together at breakfast it was decided that Sarah and Helen would remain at home with Andrew while Richard and the two young ones went off to visit the castle and make sure that the unwanted ex teachers were removed from the school and measures taken to ensure they could not return.
Richard entered the Great hall of Hogwarts half way through the school's breakfast period. As he entered the large double doors he was flanked by the Potters. Harry walked on his right while Hermione walked on his left. Looking like a team of warriors the threesome marched up to the head table.
"Mr Snape, might I ask why you are still sitting at this table as if you belong there?" Richard asked in a rather dangerous sounding voice.
"Who the hell do you think you are talking to you disgusting little piece of muggle rubbish," Snape shouted as he pulled out his wand.
Severus Snape learned rather quickly why Harry Potter was called the chosen one, as with a simple stare at the greasy haired potions master Harry snapped his wand, and in the course of doing so he also broke several bones in the hand holding it. In the few seconds it took for Snape to look down at the snapped wand feel the intense pain in his hand, Hermione using her hand like a music conductor might use his hand to direct an orchestra, waved and lifted her hand and then waved it toward the doors of the hall. Snape lifted up into the air and then very rapidly flew down the length of the hall, out of the open double doors and only stopped when he came to the obstruction that was the far wall of the entrance hall.
Harry chuckled a little "I think you might have misjudged the distance there Mrs Potter."
Hermione looked at him with a smile "Hmmm, you might be right there dear. Oh well I will just have to put a little more power behind my magic if there is ever a next time. Don't you think?"
Richard turned and looked at his daughter "Hermione if you had used anymore power you might have hurt the fool."
"Yes dad, that was the general idea, he did pull his wand on you after all remember." Hermione said as she watched Harry walk toward the ex-professor.
Harry reached the unconscious ex-professor at the same time as the school healer stepped off the grand stair case and ran to join him in his examination of the injured man. After Madam Pomfrey had revived Snape Harry stared at him with an icy glare "You have one hour to pack your belongings and remove your unwashed body from the castle. If I find you here after that then you will discover why Voldemort was a fool to attack me. Now go, remove your self."
Severus Snape stared at the face in front of him and though he could see his childhood enemy there, he could also see what it was that his master Voldemort had been afraid of. With a quick scowl accompanied by a nod of his head Snape dragged him self to his feet and went off toward the dungeons to pack his stuff.
When Harry re-entered the hall Richard was just getting through banishing the old ghost professor Binns. Professor Vector stood up and asked quite politely, "Mr Granger, about Sybil, Sybil Trelawney, she has no where to go and no family outside the castle, do you think, I mean could you see your way to allowing her to remain in the castle while she looks for other employment and such?"
Richard looked around the hall but could not see the former divination teacher anywhere. Headmistress Sprout explained about Sybil staying in her tower apartments and only rarely coming to the great hall for meals. After a few minutes and a whispered family conference Richard gave his permission for Sybil to remain at the castle until the end of the school year.
Before they left the castle Sprout and several of the other teachers approached Richard about the house system that seemed to be the major cause of any altercations within the school, and asked if he might consider making some changes to the system. Richard left them with a promise to look into any ideas that the professors came up with in the very near future and then the three of them, one Granger and two Potters left the castle and made their way home.
That night Hermione watched as the door to their bedroom opened quietly and a little face popped into view "Me had bad dream, me sleep with you?" her little brother asked tears trickling down his face.
Harry's voice came from somewhere under the duvet "Come on Andy boy jump up here."
A few minutes later Andrew was trying hard to describe the happenings in his dream. He had been in a dark forest and was watching the unicorns playing when something black and evil smelling had killed the youngest unicorn before drinking up its blood. Something about her brother's dream had Hermione worried, it was as though she had been told the story before a long time ago and she only had a vague recollection of it. She was however quite sure that the dream was something to do with Hogwarts.
As the days passed both Harry and Hermione were truly enjoying their lessons, and both were rapidly becoming extremely powerful in all the magics they were being taught. Richard had received only short letters from professor Sprout as she explained that they were not really making much progress on finding a different system than the house system. Hogwarts was so famous and prestigious through out history that all the other magical schools they had looked at were all based on the same system currently in use.
Between them Helen and Sarah came up with an idea that they all decided they should put to the test. It was based on a normal muggle system. They would introduce two new subjects on which the students could be tested and graded each year. Though where they were to find a maths and English teacher for a magical school had them all temporarily stumped.
Paying a visit to the school Richard put their ideas to the staff, he was quite pleased to learn about Squibs which were apparently the exact opposite of the Muggle born's. they were born into magical families and yet had no real magic of their own. Many of them were forced to leave the magical world and make their way in the Muggle world. The old caretaker/cleaner of the castle informed Richard that he had a cousin who worked at a muggle school as the deputy head master. Asked by Richard Mr Filch agreed to visit his cousin and see if he could enlist his help in finding suitable applicants for the two new posts.
The house system was to be done away with and the new system based on intelligence and capability was to take its place. when the professors asked about their quidditch teams and the house cup, Richard was a little upset to find that quidditch was the only sport activity and each house only had seven players. He ordered that there be a physical education class established so that all the students attended and were kept fit and healthy. Other sports were also to be introduced and sports teams for all years would be on a voluntary basis with a winner's cup at the end of each year for each sport. The idea that the magical world had no idea about football or rugby as well as the other well known muggle sports had never entered Richards head before and the fact that the magical school offered no fitness program seemed plain ludicrous to him.
Mr Filch was good to his word and after just a few days he had a list of five applicants for the two new posts. Sarah was the one who did the interviews and chose the two new professors. One of the Goblins arranged for a physical instructor for the school and by the time the new term started the new system was already to be tested with live students. It turned out to be an interesting and educationally beneficial system for all the students. Except for one or two pureblood students who thought they were so much better than others and that they deserved far higher grades because of who their parents were. One in particular, a boy named Malfoy and his two friends were rather quickly expelled from the school by headmistress Sprout who was not willing to tolerate bigotry like previous heads.
Hogwarts was finally joining the twentieth century, which would eventually drag the rest of the magical world out of its Victorian period stagnation.