Harry was surprised when he saw the three people waiting to see him when he came back from lunch the following day.
"Albus? Rose? Scorpius?" What are you doing here?"
"We need to discuss something with you," Rose said. She sounded oddly formal.
"We can talk in my office," Harry said, indicating the large office on the far end of the corridor. It had a large desk that was filled with stacks of papers.
"What do you need?" Harry said as they all sat down.
Albus looked strangely reluctant. Rose shifted on her chair. What was happening here?
"We, the three of us, have started discussing the future." Scorpius said. Harry simply nodded, wondering where this would lead.
"We have actually come to ask for something that could be a little irregular." Scorpius continued.
Harry frowned.
"I want to train to become an Auror." Albus suddenly burst out. Harry's eyes widened. Had he really heard that correctly?
"An Auror? I don't recall you ever saying anything about that before."
"I haven't really given it much thought before. And, I have to admit, I dismissed it because I didn't know if I could work under you. But now…"
"Now you have seen some of the things we do." Harry finished for him. "I would have thought that that would push you away from ever going near the Dark Arts again."
"It did. At first." Albus said. "But I have also realised that it will never really be over. I can try to ignore it, but the battle is never really won, is it? I never wanted to be mixed up in the Dark Arts, but I wasn't given a choice. I want to be able to defend myself. And others."
"I feel the same." Rose said. "I thought I wanted to go back to normal life, but there is no such thing as a normal life really, is there? I want to be an active part in the war against the Dark Side, not just a victim."
"I see. And what about you Scorpius? Do you have a sudden wish to be an Auror too?"
"Not an Auror specifically, but I have come to ask for a job in your department. I have many skills that can be of use, maybe especially in information gathering." Harry nodded. He knew how they felt. It was exactly how he had felt when he was their age.
"I am glad that you came to me. However, I cannot grant what you are requesting. Not alone. Wait here for a few minutes, please."
He left the three in his office and sent a paper plane message to Hermione. Luckily, she arrived fairly quickly. They went into his office again. Hermione was surprised when she saw who was there.
"These three," Harry said to her. "Have just come here and asked for a job in my department. Those two" he pointed to Albus and Rose. "Want to become Aurors."
"I see." Hermione said. She barely managed to contain a smile as she turned to look at them. "You are aware of course that there are very high standards that must be met to become an Auror?" They nodded. "Not the least is a minimum of 5 N.E.W.Ts, with at least Exceeds Expectations as a grade. I don't think you meet even that requirement, do you?"
"No, Minister" Albus whispered. Rose didn't say anything.
"I do seem to recall a similar situation about 25 years ago," Harry said. He too had a strange smile on his face. "Three young men wanting to become Aurors who had not completed their seventh year of school."
"That was special circumstances though" Hermione objected. "It was after a year of tumult and chaos, and they had already shown their ability to fight against the Dark Side."
"Well, they still had to pass the remaining tests. And these three have already been through something similar."
"That is a good point." Hermione said.
"Oh, stop it!" Rose said impatiently. "You are just taunting us now. Can't you just answer?"
"Patience," Hermione said without missing a beat. "Is one of the many abilities we require from our Aurors."
Rose sighed.
Harry laughed. "Well, I would be willing to grant an exception because of the circumstances of your interrupted education. But you will still need to pass the Auror proficiency exam. That involves a three-year apprentice period. Are you willing to do that?"
"Yes!" both Albus and Rose said at once. Hermione smiled.
"What about me?" Scorpius asked.
"Well, I have a sort of test for other people that work under me as well. It is not as hard as the Auror test, but I will need you to pass that before I can accept you. I don't think you will have much problem with it though."
Scorpius smiled and nodded. "Thank you."
"Was that all?" Hermione asked. "You drew me out of a meeting with the French Minister."
"That would be all for now then yes" Harry said.
"I'll leave these three to you then. I'll have their credentials drawn up by the end of the day."
Harry smiled as she left. It was clear that Hermione was delighted that her daughter had decided to get a job in the Ministry. For that matter, he was happy to have all three of them.
"Well, would you like to start at once, or would you want a day to prepare yourselves first? Auror training is tough. It's not too late to change your mind."
"When would it be too late?" Albus asked.
"Well, I suppose it is never too late. But after a certain point it would be called a failed exam instead of a change of mind." Harry replied with a smile.
"I won't fail," Rose said with a determined expression. "I intend to pass on my first try."
"Are you the one who will train us?" Albus asked.
"No. I have others to do that. And even if it were something I normally did, I would have had to send you to someone else. I can't judge the capabilities of my own family." Rose nodded. Albus seemed relieved.
Harry sent a short message, and soon there was a knock on the door and two people entered.
"Dawson, I have two new recruits for you." Harry said to the older one of them. "They seem to think they are ready for the Auror proficiency exam right now. Would you please show them exactly what that entails?"
"They do, do they? Very well, sir, I will show them how wrong they are." Dawson said with a mischievous grin. Rose and Albus rose and followed the Auror trainer out the door.
"Cooper, this young man has a slightly lower goal. He wants to join our more regular force. Would you be willing to help him prepare for that?" Cooper was a middle-aged man, possibly a few years older than Harry himself.
"I'll be delighted." he said with a smile. He motioned to Scorpius to follow. "I trust that they are already vetted and cleared then?"
"Yes. The Minister will sort out their credentials by the end of the day." Cooper nodded.
Harry smiled as the door closed behind Scorpius. He always wanted to protect those that he cared about. Getting these three some Law Enforcement training would be a very good way of making them safer the next time they got into trouble.
And Albus was right, unfortunately. There was always another battle. So, he had to be ready when it came.
That's all from the Wizarding World for now. I am working on a third volume, to make this a trilogy, so I may post that sometime in the future. If you liked this book, please leave a comment or a review, I would really appreciate it.
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