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"Ready?" Harry Potter said nervously as he met Ron outside an abandoned-looking telephone box in the middle of a rainy, bustling London.
"I suppose so…" replied Ron, anxiety and excitement ruling his expression.
Harry fingered the lightning bolt on his forehead, reminding himself of why he was there and what he needed to do. His scar, once a cause for concern, had become a source of comfort throughout the previous year and a half. It helped him to put small matters like his first day of Auror training in perspective.
You see, after a year and a half of adjusting to a new fright-free life, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley were ready to explore their ambition of dark-wizard-catching. They both knew, though, that being an auror was never going to be quite as thrilling, adrenaline-filled or exciting as it had been when they were at Hogwarts; nonetheless, they were all ready to accept it, what with the small advantage of not-such-a-high-mortality-rate.
Being an auror these days was less about duelling, and more about keeping peace and interrogating old death-eaters about the mechanism of Voldemort's organisation of evil, to prevent anything on the same scale happening again. Of course, you would always get not-so-friendly wizards, but the wizarding world doubted and hoped that none would come to the monstrosity that Voldemort had become.
Kingsley, the new minister for magic, was one of the reasons that Harry had come seeking his new-found ambitions. Seeing as Harry's goal was no longer to stay alive as long as possible, he thought he needed another one, and it had been Kingsley's statement earlier in the year that had made him think.
"The Battle of Hogwarts nearly defeated us – it stretched us to our breaking points, bringing out the best in some, and the worst in others. I hope that we can start to build up our world again, and let our battle scars be a reminder of the bravery and courage it took to bring evil to justice.
"I begin this journey of new ways right now, right here, with the refurbishment of the auror office – anyone who fought in the battle may come forward for auror training, with or without the necessary qualifications. I'm really looking forward to see how this decade pans out."
Harry thought of everything aurors had done for him and his friends all his life – sometimes without his knowledge, and how he had always hoped to repay them – somehow, someday – and he decided this would be an opportunity as good as any to help Kingsley with his 'new ministry.'
"Why do we have to use the visitor's entrance, again?" Ron scratched his head, thoughtfully.
"Well, think about it. We've only just passed our apparition tests, and I don't want to risk being splinched, do you? The Floo Network's still being fixed, as Piers Polkiss was controlling it in a completely public-free way, they need to allow loads of new fires, which they haven't finished doing yet. Also, we need MoM coins for those toilets we had to flush ourselves into…so, looks like it's the visitor's entrance for the two of us."
Harry and Ron hesitated slightly before opening the door (which shuddered) and squeezing inside.