A week has passed since the school shattering news that our former Headmistress has received a job promotion (of sorts) into the Ministry as the Minister of Magic. This position is the highest position in all of the British Magical World and is an elected position by witches and wizards who are of legal age and graduated from Hogwarts.
Hannah Fischer had been serving as the Headmistress of Hogwarts for the past four years with a sordid collection of events. But before then she had served in the ministry for several years prior to coming to Hogwarts (at least according to old Daily Prophet articles.)
It seems that when changes happen at Hogwarts, they happen at once, leaving the students and staff alike to sort through their thoughts of what this means to them. I sought out what other students thought. By asking them these three questions: “Why do you think people voted for Fischer? Did the news that she got elected surprise you? What do you think it means for the school, now that Deputy Headmaster Fox has been named Headmaster?” I felt like I could get a feel for what those of us who were directly impacted by Fischer’s rather dramatic leave had on the school as a whole.
I first sought out a professor and asked her what she thought and in brief, the professor had to admit that she did not know the headmistress very well but she did believe that the former headmistress had traits that would serve the ministry well. Others believe that Minister Fischer was elected to the position because she “kicked Dorchester’s butt,” however much I hope this is true, I’m not completely sure how much of the magical world outside of Hogwarts knew about the epic showdown between Fischer and Dorchester last year. While others believed that perhaps Minister Fischer was elected because she was the “most inoffensive candidate” in the possibility of ministers.
Very few people were surprised that she was elected once the news came out. I think we could all agree that there is something about the Minister’s personality that would hopefully allow her to remain strong as a minister. As long, that is, that the newly elected minister doesn’t allow herself to get distracted with tasks outside of her job. It seems that many people seemed to believe that perhaps Fischer saw the school as a stepping stone to something higher.
Finally, the hopes for the school. For the most part, everyone seems positive with Professor Fox becoming the new Headmaster. One student noted, “I imagine we’ll hear ‘roH HO” a whole lot more at dinnertime than we used to, at least from the podium…He’s a quite capable wizard, obviously, so I don’t imagine we’ll have safety concerns above and beyond the normal life-threatening issues we get here at Hogwarts.” Finally, a student from our new headmaster’s house noted, “I’d be in favour of some special privileges for Slytherins, but hey, that might just be me.”
Who knows what the future holds for those of us here at Hogwarts. I don’t. But I do believe that the future of magic…and our school is safe in the capable hands of both Minister Fischer and Headmaster Fox. Good luck to both. I’m sure you will need it.