The 2005 Ordinary Wizarding Levels were destined to be special. The International Confederation of Wizards' Department of Education had sent a team, led by a dark-skinned woman in her thirties. At dinner, she sat beside Headmistress Minerva McGonagall and Wizarding Examinations Authority Director Griselda Marchbanks.
They would invigilate the students alongside the British Ministry of Magic's examiners, evaluating Hogwarts' qualifications as an educational institution.
While Albus had still been alive, they had not dared tell the school taught by the Confederation's president how to run things.
Now that Albus was dead, they could finally enter the school and assess Hogwarts' teaching staff "according to procedure."
Because of the Dark Lord's curse, even without the war, the quality of British wizarding education had been worrying.
Durmstrang valued Dark Arts, while Beauxbatons excelled in alchemy. After all, Nicolas Flamel had graduated from that school.
It was understandable that a little boy from the Muggle world like Harry Potter did not know about Nicolas Flamel, but Ron Weasley did not know either.
Hogwarts ranked at the bottom among Europe's several major schools. In recent years, it had not even been able to train Aurors. It was therefore understandable that pure-blood families like the Malfoys sent their children abroad to study.
The war had badly damaged Britain's wizarding world. Ollivander's was not open, and British wizards had to buy good wands from abroad.
And then there was the deeply entrenched prejudice that Muggles were all idiots.
Pomona also agreed with Kingsley's proposal to cancel Divination and replace it with Muggle Studies. Even among wizards, not everyone had the gift of prophecy.
But putting that class into practice would be difficult. They could hardly lock Muggles in cages and have young wizards demonstrate how to communicate with them.
"How did things go with old Slughorn?"