Hogwarts opened its doors at last today for the first class of students who will grow up without the threat of You-Know-Who. Though He Who Must Not Be Named was defeated just this past June, in the scant four months since the school has been fully repaired and rebuilt, employing the largest number of licensed magical contractors ever used on a single project, excepting the stadium for the Quidditch World Cup when Britain last hosted it in 1994.

Despite worries that the foundations would not be able to withstand the load, the four Houses' common rooms are remaining in their traditional places: Ravenclaw and Gryffindor in their respective towers, Hufflepuff in the basement near the kitchens, and Slytherin in the dungeons under the lake. New reinforcements were built over the Slytherin common room after investigations showed magical deterioration in the watertight seal surrounding that area. All of the school's towers, particularly those holding the dormitories, have been enchanted with the Slip-and-Fall-Not Spell, recently patented by Griswelda Yiplander, to prevent any further accidents like those witnessed in the past few years.

With much pressure from the students' parents, Professor Minerva McGonagall has agreed to remain this year as Headmistress, as well as teaching her usual Transfiguration classes. The oft-vacant post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher will be filled by John Dawlish, an Auror. The position of Muggle Studies, however, remains vacant.

It has also been revealed that Harry Potter and his two friends, Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley, will be returning to Hogwarts to complete their seventh year.

Minister Kingsley Shacklebolt, who enjoyed a landslide victory in the recent election, has once again shocked many of the conservatives by appointing Arthur Weasley as head of the Improper Use of Magic Office. Weasley, who has a history of "getting carried away with Muggle junk," as one anonymous colleague said, said in a formal statement that he was "thrilled" to have the appointment.

"As the fight against You-Know-Who has shown us yet again, magical power in the wrong hands can wreak horrible catastrophes, whether or not those using it intend good or evil," he said in his brief speech to the assembled press.

Though Weasley has not yet released any formal statements of his future plans in his new role, rumors are circulating among his colleagues and subordinates that he may soon make drastic changes to the department.

Minister Shacklebolt, when questioned about the appointment, said that Arthur Weasley's tireless committment to the wizarding world had long gone unrecognized, and that he could think of no one better to fill a role "perched within that fine line of equilibrium between the Magical and Muggle worlds."