Legal Disclaimer: All posts and comments on this site are merely an exercise in creative writing inspired by Harry Potter fan fiction and should not be construed as factual or representative of any actual persons, places, or events. Seriously, no REAL administration would ever allow a REAL school to be run in this manner. The text is intended for entertainment purposes only.
As the result of Ministry interference in the administration of our beloved educational establishment, a recent regime change has occurred. Dolores Umbridge has become the new Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
We the faculty agree that certain sweeping changes must be enacted in order to return this school to its former glory after a regrettable period of mismanagement and a terrible lack of qualified leadership that endured for far too long. However we do not agree that appointing a Ministry official as High Inquisitor and Headmistress of the school is the proper course of action.
Our esteemed faculty and staff are quite capable of improving the conditions of instructor morale, student discipline, academic standards, and student achievement. However, we as a faculty fear that under this new regime, our opinions as experienced educators will not be valued or even acknowledged.
We hope that new policies can be drafted and implemented to encourage the improvement of the school as a whole, and that the focus of reform will not merely concentrate on improving standardized test scores.
Yes, student achievement on their O.W.L.s and their N.E.W.T.s are important, but we believe that these scores will not improve unless a holistic approach to school reform addresses the serious issues of student discipline and increased standards of academic rigor.
We as a faculty hope that our years of experience in this environment will be viewed as an asset and we would very much like to contribute to the reform process. We sincerely hope that the forthcoming educational decrees will not be enacted illogically, irrationally, unreasonably, impulsively, spitefully, or with malice or prejudice.
All of us would like to see the school return to its former glory. There is however, a right way and a wrong way to address the task before us.
All the educational decrees will be published here for commentary and public discussion. We welcome everyone to participate and voice an opinion regarding the quality and reasonable nature of these decrees as they are published.
We, the faculty of Hogwarts, sincerely hope that the changes enacted bring about a thriving educational environment that will engender the pride and respect that this fine institution deserves. The new administration has a profound responsibility and we truly hope these first steps take us on a journey and adventure toward a brighter future for the students and faculty as well.
We will continue to monitor the progress of the new administration, detailing herein the quality of the new educational decrees and their consequences for better or worse.
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A collection of news items and links:
From the Daily Prophet:
MINISTRY SEEKS EDUCATIONAL REFORM
DOLORES UMBRIDGE APPOINTED FIRST EVER HIGH INQUISITOR
“Having already revolutionized the teaching of Defence Against the Dark Arts, Dolores Umbridge will, as High Inquisitor, have powers to address the seriously falling standards at Hogwarts School.”
—Cornelius Fudge
Novelist Stephen King, calls Umbridge the “greatest make-believe villain to come along since Hannibal Lecter…”
Click Here for a Collection of Tributes to Our Leader
Reviewed by Bruce Peabody, Department of Social Sciences and History, Fairleigh Dickinson University.
The danger posed by the unfettered rule of ambitious individuals is also embodied in the figure of Dolores Umbridge. Umbridge initially comes to Hogwarts as an officious teacher seeking to reform its educational system. In short order, however, she is appointed by the Ministry as “Hogwarts High Inquisitor” with sweeping and ever increasing power. As Rowling puts it, Umbridge consistently exhibits a “furious desire to bring every aspect of life at Hogwarts under her personal control” (p.551). The result of this conflation of the law at Hogwarts with the predilections of the High Inquisitor is calamitous. The students and staff are, in turn, bored, stifled, and terrified by Umbridge’s restrictive decrees (p.351, 416) and highly personalized rule.
A recent conversation in our hallowed halls:
Dolores Umbridge: Pardon me, Professor, but what exactly are you insinuating? Minerva McGonagall: I am merely requesting that when it comes to my students you conform to the prescribed disciplinary practices. Dolores Umbridge: So silly of me, but it sounds as if you’re questioning my authority in my own classroom, Minerva. Minerva McGonagall: Not at all, Delores, merely your medieval methods. Dolores Umbridge: I am sorry, dear, but to question my practices is to question the Ministry, and by extension, the Minister himself. I am a tolerant woman, but the one thing I will not stand for is disloyalty. Minerva McGonagall: Disloyalty? Dolores Umbridge: Things at Hogwarts are far worse than I feared.
And of course, let us not forget her motto:
Each headmaster has brought something new to this… historical school. But progress for the sake of progress must be discouraged. Let us preserve what must be preserved and prune practices that ought to be…prohibited!
Stay tuned boys and girls. This should get interesting.
Dolores Umbridge's Educational Decrees 