Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, or any of the associated characters.
Summary: Sequal to The Dursley Witch, which is required reading if you want this to make any sense. The Post-Hogwarts Years, where the closest Graduating Class in generations enter adulthood, and try to build a world to be proud of.
CHAPTER ONE
To the average observer, the group looked like any other bunch of university students, celebrating some personally important occasion. Certainly it wasn't a rare sight, this close to Rag Week, and at least they weren't getting up to mischief like far too many of their fellow students would be.
As long as no-one started to get Disorderly, there was no call to pay any undue attention.
The group themselves would agree with most of the statement, even if it was almost completely wrong.
In actual fact, rather than university students, the group was comprised of young witches and wizards, and the lack of undue attention was more to do with a subtle notice-me-not charm.
The celebration was several-fold, but mostly regarded a beginning to their new lives.
Nearly all of the graduating class had taken between a few months and a year off after leaving Hogwarts, to travel or simply to relax and recover from the war in which they had played far too large a part.
Cedric had taken his saved-up leave and joined Roisin, Harry and Parvati on a month-long tour of the highlights of Muggle Europe and Asia. With the scrambling around in the Ministry of Magic after the Battle of Hogwarts, the Head of Cedric's Department had managed to keep most of his staff by promising a month of paid leave, on top of what they already got on their work contract. The other three had only just graduated, so their taking five weeks to travel was nothing unusual.
Millicent had classed her trip to France and Spain, accompanied by Dean, as a 'working vacation', to get Madam Pomfrey to let her go for a fortnight. It was partly true, as Millicent did want to look at different Healing techniques, and the couple spent a good portion of the time touring museums and Art Galleries.
Now, they were all back in England and getting ready to start a new year. Some planned to go straight into work or setting up their own business, while others planned on more temporary work while studying further.
Dean and Roisin were prime examples of the latter catagory. Roisin, like a number of other Muggle-Born/Raised students, had chosen to get A-Levels and Certificates of Attainment in the Muggle world, to supplement their Hogwarts qualifications, and had taken Parvati and Lavender up on their job offer in the meantime. After that, she planned on finding a steady job while taking a night course on Teaching, but first things first.
In order to avoid uncomfortable questions regarding why someone old enough to drive and purchase their own alcohol and tickets to R-Rated films had no scholastic record, Hogwarts provided 'Muggle-ized' Transcripts, supposedly from a very exclusive private school.
Ancient Runes were marked as 'Focused Areas' of Ancient History (as they did do a brief unit on the cultures behind the various runes), and Seventh-Year History of Magic (when not taught by Binns) provided many of the high points of English History, both Muggle and Magical, as it wasn't until the beginning of the Stuart dynasty that the Magical and Muggle worlds separated, so History until that time tended to merge. It had been something of a shock to discover that Anne Boleyn, second wife of Henry VIII, actually was a witch, and the sheer number of Ghosts in the Tower of London was astounding!
Arithmancy translated to 'Calculus and Mathematics' while Herbology and Potions counted as 'Biology and Science'. Business and Politics needed no alternate name, but Care of Magical Creatures and Household Magic both combined into 'Home Economics'.
Besides that, it was easy to take a simple Aptitude Test to see if you were ready or needed some extra training before applying to collage. Roisin was counted among those who needed extra training, but Gryffindors were not the only ones who thrived in the face of adversary, and she had no intention of letting a little thing like a refresher course keep her away from potential future advancement.
Dean had managed to get a job at a showground after Hogwarts, at a sketch-artist stall. Every fair had at least one artist to draw pictures, and Dean's portfolio of landscapes, mini-portraits and fantasy art had worked in his favour, especially since the fairground allowed him to keep all of the money made from any of the works out of his personal portfolio.
Several sketches that he used as advertising were from Hogwarts, such as the picture of Roisin and her Dorm-mates at the Yule Ball, or Angelina, Katie, and Alicia flying, or a landscape of Hogwarts itself, or the lake, complete with Giant Squid. Magical Creatures that were also common in the Muggle World, like a Sphinx, a Centaur or a Pegasus, were also great attractions.
Other advertisement pieces were of various schoolmates posing in a role. Luna was stunning as a mystical sorceress, and Neville in a greenhouse was a surprisingly big hit. Harry had flatly refused to let Dean use a picture of him as publicity, even in the Muggle World, having had quite enough of that already, though Hermione and Anthony made a perfect scholarly pair. Ron and Sally-Anne looked surprisingly well as a normal teenage couple. Seamus would have been more than happy to pose as a Rogue, even if Dean hadn't been his best friend, and had grinned wickedly the whole way through, with busty, blonde, pretty Lavender as his captive. Cedric had been less enthusiastic about posing as a Hero, with or without a giggling Roisin pretending to swoon over him.
Muggle children, by and large, had a love of what they considered fantasy, but most of the Wizarding world considered fact. A sketch of them standing next to a unicorn or a dragon, or in the clothing of a knight, princess or sorcerer, had them lining up. There was certainly no end of parents more than willing to spend a few pounds to make their children sit still and be quiet for a few minutes.
Older children and teens were less inclined toward fantasy, but Dean had something for them, too. Millicent was not what one would call beautiful, but a portrait of her, drawn with such love and attention to bring out her wry smile and sparkling eyes, was practically a dream come true for teenage girls feeling insecure about their appearance. Pirates and Heroes were cool no matter what age you were, and there was no shortage of youths willing to be drawn as one. All in all, he was making a tidy profit as he saved up for an Apprenticeship in Magical Art.
Millicent was certainly proud of him, and made sure that everyone knew it, whenever she could spare a moment from her training with Madam Pomfrey. The formidable Hogwarts Medi-Witch did not hand out praise often, but Millicent seemed to be doing well, and her letters were full of how much she was learning.
Draco and Blaise were planning to join the Ministry, as were many others from their Graduating Class and the one following them. They might have to start at the bottom, but since there was no way that they could be more incompetent than most of the current Ministry Workers, they anticipated advancing within a year or so.
Hermione was planning to go into the Department of Magical Creatures. Hermione was determined to do her part in ending or at least lowering discrimination. She had even modified her aims for S.P.E.W after a long talk with House Elves that had decided that the opportunity to set the Dark Seamstress straight was worth spending a few hours answering questions. Other aims included better communication with those Creatures who could speak for themselves, like Goblins, Mer-folk, Giants, Centaurs, and so on, and improving conditions for Werewolves. She had some good ideas, like a safe place to go for the full moon, a fund to provide Wolfsbane Potion and search for a cure, which Anthony was more than happy to research. The young couple were joined in this by Pansy, who had a personal interest in better treatment for victims of werewolf attacks, and, unlike Hermione, had connections to drag in funding.
Witnessing Hermione's determination, coupled with Pansy's rare tenacity and enthusiasm when it came to things she was passionate about, Roisin almost pitied those whose prejudice or bigotry would put them in Hermione's way.
Roisin couldn't decide whether she was surprised or not at Greg and Vince also wanting to go into that Department. They had actually become quite good at combat and defensive spells, and jobs that involved going out to deal with Creatures that really were dangerous could always use some extra muscle.
Padma and Lisa Turpin had applied for a Research Grant, and recruited a few former classmates as assistants, working on something that flew way over Roisin's head, but which she thought had something to do with researching and re-discovering some of the nastier spells and rituals that Voldemort and his Death Eaters had used, and seeing if they could be modified into a beneficial use.
That was what Roisin thought Terry meant when he had tried to explain it in layman's terms, anyway. Looking for ways to counter those Dark Arts, or at least understand them better so that Aurors and Curse Breakers would have an idea what they were dealing with, the two girls were clearly looking forward to starting as soon as they could.
Harry and Ron, along with several other classmates, including Susan Bones, were certainly appreciative of the future research, as they were entering the DMLE training programs. Ron hadn't quite made the grades to qualify for Auror training, and would be going through the everyday Law Enforcement training, though graduates of that course could go on to Auror training later, if they showed promise.
The Battle of Hogwarts and, in most cases, the Department of Mysteries fiasco, along with a severe shortage of Aurors after the war with Voldemort, had convinced most of the DMLE to bypass some of the normal entrance tests, though the actual training would be as difficult as with any other recruit.
Others had followed the example of the Weasley Twins, helped by the fact that many shopkeepers had fled or disappeared during the war, and not all of them had returned.
Desdemona and Theo were working in the company run by Millicent's family as they learned the ins and outs of administration and trading, and built up their own connections network, in order to start their own business.
Parvati and Lavender had already done the studying, and had started the production line and advertising almost as soon as Parvati had returned from travelling. Their shop was due to open in a month. Given that they had been widely admired for their gift for fashion during Hogwarts, and had even contributed to several other things outside of Hogwarts, such as the Shield Clothing sold in WWW, they had more start-up capital and the beginnings of a very good reputation.
Seamus Finnigan was working under Aberforth Dumbledore in Hogsmeade, slowly taking over more and more of the responsibilities. It made sense, given that he was well on the way to retirement, being one hundred and fifteen years old. He would have to look elsewhere for a successor, however, as Seamus had already stated that he wanted to eventually open his own bar.
Hannah Abbott was also undergoing a similar apprenticeship, to her great-uncle Tom, who owned the Leaky Cauldron. Roisin thought that the personable young former Hufflepuff would be good at it, eventually, once she got some experience and learned the running of things.
Neville had taken an Apprenticeship under Professor Sprout, who was apparently looking for someone to take over when she reached retirement. Studying for a Herbology Mastery and Teaching Certification at the same time was likely to be difficult, but Roisin thought that he was almost certainly up to the task.
Accommodation was another issue.
In addition to the changes to the re-built Diagon Alley, the contracted builders for Hogwarts and Hogsmeade had gone on a spree, and decided that having only one all-magical village in the entire UK was stupid, especially when it was in the middle of the Scotland Countryside. Two more had been under construction during Roisin's Seventh-Year, one half ways between London and Milton Keynes, around the South-East part of Aylesbury Vale, the other in West Devon, near the Cornwall border, and had been completed only two months ago.
While both Roisin's parents and the O'Conner Clan had been perfectly happy to have her live with them, Roisin wanted a degree of independence. She still had dinner at Privet Drive three nights a week, and visited the O'Conner Keep when she had Saturdays free, but had still moved out.
Besides, even with magic, it would have been hard to sneak Cedric in and out of her room if she had still been living with family. It was a bit surprising that no-one had put the pieces together yet, but Roisin supposed that after two years denying being in a relationship, people probably just saw Roisin and Cedric continuing 'as usual'. Since neither of them wanted a media storm like when Harry and Parvati or Hermione and Anthony confirmed being a serious couple, this was fine with them.
The Patents for Roisin's rune-spells, like the Universal Translation she had first used at the Quidditch World Cup, the Projected Vision cluster she had cobbled for the Third Task and the Morning People spell had expanded her Gringotts Account enough to afford a nice townhouse in Hope's Promise, the new Wizarding Village in Aylesbury Vale, and to keep her going while she studied by correspondence.
The smallest bedroom had been converted into a study, and the second set up as a guest room, usually for Hermione, when she got fed up of attempting to work or study around her two male friends. The Gryffindor Trio would also be living not far away, only a few doors down, and Michael and Cho were living in a duplex a block or so away, as they planned to start up a second outlet of Cho's parents Apocathary.
Luna was still living in Ottery St Catchpole, with her father, but the Quibbler was setting up a proper headquarters in the Business District of Hope's Promise, now that their subscription base afforded them enough that they could hire more employees and no longer had to operate out of the Lovegood's garden shed, so Roisin would have friendly faces nearby.
All in all, it was looking to be a good start in life.
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A/N: Updates for this fic will be less regular than 'The Dursley Witch', and there will probably be more than a few time jumps. Even so, I hope I live up to expectations. This is mostly an introductory chapter, but the next one will move things further on, such as relationships and slowly building up their own lives.
"Rag Week" is a long-running tradition among university students. While it started out, and in some respects still is, a week of raising money for charity or student loans, 'Rag Week' is also a week of university students sponsoring each other in dangerous and/or ridiculous dares, bar crawls, parties, and pranks that often fall on the level of 'Public Nuisance'.
Thanks,
Nat
