If you were Headmaster of Hogwarts...

[christi0469]

No: HPFGUIDX 37074

Bill wrote:

> I am curious if anybody else has thought about what they would 
have 
> Harry learn if they were Headmaster of Hogwarts.  I think that we 
can 
> take it as a given that at some point, probably in his seventh 
year, 
> Haryy will face Voldemort, probably alone, and only one of them 
(at 
> most) will be still alive after that.  If that is the case, then I 
> would think that it is ESSENTIAL that Harry be given far more 
> preparation than he is getting now.


  I would not change the existing curriculum, but I would try 
awfully hard to get a good DADA professor. Instead of having Harry 
drop courses I would encourage the existing professors to emphasize 
anything that may be useful in the fight against Voldemort. I would 
not have Harry drop Quidditch or isolate him in any way. Not only 
would that be bad for Harry's mental state, but it would be giving 
into terrorism. Not a good thing. Since Sept. 11 not giving in to 
terrorism has been a very important topic. And the DE's are really 
nothing but a group of terrorists with a particularly terrifying 
leader. 

  One thing I would do is start up the duelling club again, only 
this time with a proper teacher, optimally an Auror. I would 
encourage various professors, including myself, to assist in order 
to display a variety of techniques and approaches. This might not 
enable anyone to prevail in a duel against LV, but it would go far 
in training the students to stay cool in a crisis. Training in 
martial arts would be good for this as well, but might not get much 
support in the wizarding world. The club(s) would have to be open to 
all students, but could have a lower limit by year. This would be 
for ideological reasons as well as preventing Harry from being 
further set apart from his fellow students. Harry would of course be 
STRONGLY encouraged to sign up. There would be a risk of training 
future DE's, but singling out certain students to be excluded is not 
only unfair and unethical, but it could have the unfortunate effect 
of being a self-fulfilling prophesy.

  If possible I would encourage a mentoring relationship between the 
new DADA professor and Harry. It certainly was effective when Lupin 
held that post. Getting Professor Lupin back would go far in this 
regard but might not be possible for obvious reasons. 

There is, of course, the fact that I am not the Headmistress of any 
school. Not even a teacher in one. I am a substitute teacher for my 
daughter's preschool, but that hardly counts for anything in the 
scope of this discussion. Still, I think that maintaining ideals in 
this time of war is very important to the theme of free choice. 
Turning Harry into a fighting machine at the expense of the 
curriculum would degrade Hogwarts as a whole. At the end of GoF 
Dumbledore stated that everyone in the Hall would be welcomed back. 
I believe that statement was directed at a certain group of 
Slytherins as much as the foreign delegations. Possibly dangerous, 
but much better than alienating them and possibly nudging them 
toward becoming truly EVIL. Judge not lest ye be judged and all 
that. I was taught in catachesis class that it is (theoretically)
possible to bind someone with your judgements of them, which in turn 
makes you culpable if you judge them incorrectly. Put simply, making 
judgements can bring very bad karma. I get this from my christian 
point of view, but I imagine that 'judge not' is a tenet of most 
religions. 

Christi