So, after a long time of me just wanting to respect the series and leave it alone (even though it formed by childhood), I finally want to come here and write Fanfiction for it. I hope you like it.

Harry Potter: Auror Tales

Book 1: Those Left

By Obrusnine

Chapter 1: Training

Harry looked about, biting his lip nervously as he walked into the Atrium of the Ministry of Magic. It had only been a month since the end of the Battle of Hogwarts… yet here everyone was, bustling about as if nothing had happened. The statue that had rested in the center of the room during the Death Eater takeover of the Ministry was gone, replaced with a statue of an old wizard holding his wand in the sky.

On the base of the statue on every side, there was a plaque with a list of names of all of the Wizard's and Witch's known to have died by Death Eater or Voldemort's hands in honor of the sacrifices they had made during the Second Wizarding War. Harry smiled slightly at the knowledge that he would never see that horrible statue again.

He slightly wished Ron was beside him as he headed towards the elevators that would take him to the Second Floor Auror office. At the moment, Ron had decided to help his brother George at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, trying to figure out what he wanted to do with his life in the aftermath of the war. Hermione on the other hand was preparing to return to Hogwarts and finish her Seventh Year, something they had decided not to do.

Instead, Kingsley Shacklebolt, the new Minister of Magic, had decided to allow any Wizard or Witch who had fought in the Battle of Hogwarts to submit to Auror training regardless if they had passed their N.E.W.T.'s or not. Harry, who had always wanted to be an Auror, decided to accept this call.

He checked Fabian Prewett's old watch and noticed that he was actually a bit early. He wondered whether it was better to arrive fashionably late rather than early as he stepped off the lift onto Level Two. This level was rather less busy then the rest of the Ministry, and Harry guessed this was due to the large number of deaths during the Second Wizarding War. He sighed as he headed around the corner and to the right into the Auror Office.

He almost wasn't surprised to find the office almost entirely empty. There were several others his age sitting on a bench on the left side of the room, most filling out thick packets with an ink bottle sitting balanced on the chair next to them, and across from them a receptionist sitting at a desk and whispering incantations while waving her wand… causing several papers to jump from shelves or forms to fill themselves out. When he examined the others sitting on the bench, ranging from nervous to excessively calm, he recognized quite a few of them. But most prominent among them was Neville Longbottom.

"Hello Neville." Harry said as he crossed the room. "Everyone."

"Hello Harry." A lot of them said. The other few stayed quiet, looking up at him briefly before turning their eyes back to their shoes. He looked away and stepped up to the desk.

"Name?" The receptionist asked without looking up. She had a droning and disinterested voice.

"Um… Harry Potter." Harry said. She turned around and pointed her wand at a nearby shelf.

"Accio registration form." She said. A thick packet quite like the ones the others were filling out jumped to her hand and she set it down on the desk before Harry. "Fill this out please."

"Alright." Harry said. He took the packet and sat down at the end of the bench. He suddenly realized he had no quill and started to stand.

"Hey, you need a quill?" The man sitting next to him asked offering a quill and a capped ink bottle. "I just finished mine."

"Yes, thank you." Harry said taking it.

"Harry Potter then hm?" He asked.

"Yes." He said setting down the ink bottle beside him. He looked back at the man, and saw that he had blue eyes and long blonde hair. He offered a hand, the man accepted it.

"I'm John Lane." He said. "I probably shouldn't be here; my parents certainly thought I was too young."

"Well, I wouldn't know. I don't have any." Harry said returning his hand to take the cap off of the ink bottle. The man stood and took his packet over to the receptionist, who told him to wait.

"Well, I do. They can be quite bothersome they can." He replied. "But I got them to let me come all the same."

"Are your parent's Muggles or something?" Harry asked trying to make conversation as he filled out his packets. "I thought Wizards could stop answering to their parents at 17."

"No, my parents are Purebloods." He said. "I'm only 16. I managed to escape the group that was trying to evacuate us from the castle and fight."

"Really? What house were you in?" Harry asked as he turned the page.

"I'm a Slytherin." John said.

"That's surprising; most of your House didn't seem to want to help…"

"Well, those wankers can shove it up theirs." John said. "I cannot believe I was the only Slytherin who fought. Hogwarts was my home away from home, and you can bet bloody well I was going to defend it."

Harry smiled as he continued to fill out his form. A door opened at the end of the room, causing all of them to look up. A middle-aged man wearing non-descript black robes stepped out, keeping his hand on the doorknob. Everyone including Harry looked up to see who it was, but he did not recognize the man.

"John Lane." He said simply.

"Well, that's me." John said. Harry put the Quill down and shook John's hand again. "It was nice to meet you Harry."

"Same to you John." Harry replied. John stood up and headed towards the door. "Don't you want your Quill back?"

John looked back grinning.

"You can keep it Harry." He said. "Just remember that you'll owe me one."

"Yea, I will." Harry said as John went with the man into the back room. As he continued to fill out his form, people came and went into the back room. After a few minutes, Neville seemed to complete his form and stood up, accidentally spilling the ink bottle all over his robes, the floor, and the witch next to him.

"Oh no!" He said. "I'm sorry about that."

"Don't worry about." She said. She pointed her wand at the center of the ink and said, "Scourgify."

The ink was all sucked into the tip of her wand, disappearing into nothing and leaving them with clean clothes. When she turned around to sit, it was revealed to be Hannah Abbott.

"Thank you. Thank you a lot." Neville said blushing.

"It was no problem." She said smiling back. Neville seemed to stutter for a bit.

"Well… I… I need to go turn this in." He mumbled. He walked over to the desk and handed the packet to the receptionist. Harry concentrated on finishing his own. When he was finally done, the ink bottle was nearly empty. He took out his wand and pointed it at the ink bottle. "Rillio."

The ink bottle was suddenly full again. He stashed the bottle and quill in his pants pocket before standing up and handing it to the receptionist. It was almost as if they had been watching, as the door immediately opened. Before, the same man had stepped out every time… this time it was someone different.

He wore long blue robes and had a long brown beard accompanied by long brown hair. He appeared to be middle-aged as well, although, he had a few more wrinkles then the standard middle-aged man. He examined Harry with a examining stare before speaking in a deep grating voice.

"Harry Potter." He said. Harry put his wand back in his pocket before walking up to the man. The man guided him into a long dark hallway. The man made no move to light the dark place, so Harry pulled out his wand and, without asking cast a spell.

"Lumos." Harry said. The tip of his wand lighted, revealing that the hallway was covered in doors on either side. The man did not react to his spell, so he continued to look around. There were torches, but they were not lit. Harry waved his wand whispering another incantation and all of the torches flared up before they disappeared nearly instantly.

"You will find that those torches are not for lighting Mr. Potter." The man said.

"Well then… what are they there for?" Harry asked.

"That is for me to know, and you to find out."

Harry lifted an eyebrow, but kept following him down the long hallway. It took several minutes, but eventually, the man stopped and opened a door into a room. Harry blinked as he realized that this room was fully lit.

"Nox." He whispered, and the light on the end of his wand went out. He stashed it back in his pocket as Harry waited for the man to step inside, but he did not. Eventually, Harry figured out that he wanted him to enter first, so he did.

"I will return Mr. Potter." He said. He closed the door behind Harry.

He looked about the room. The walls were lined with torches, and in the center was a platform made from dark black stone. Harry stepped up onto it and looked around. He waited for what seemed like hours. He paced and paced until it seemed like he was going to cut a rut into the floor. His legs began to get tired, so he sat down, but found it freezing, so he stood back up.

Harry was just about to go outside and see if there was anyone to ask how long he would be waiting when suddenly; all of the lights went out. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end as he immediately went for his wand and flipped around. A jet of red light materialized out of thin air, and Harry jumped aside as the spell narrowly missed him.

"LUMOS!" Harry cried. The light on the end of his wand flared up like a bright sun, illuminating the entire room in fierce light but revealing no one. "What the?"

Suddenly though, there was a flash of white light from nearby and another spell flew towards him.

"Protego!" Harry yelled. The white spell flashed against his shield, but otherwise, did nothing further. He realized then that the user must be using an invisibility spell. "Homenum Revelio!"

A yellow flash of light resembled into a glowing area of dust in an area a bit to Harry's right.

"Stupefy!" Harry yelled. A jet of red light leaped from his wand and towards the spot, which moved to the left to dodge Harry's spell. "Aguamenti!"

A jet of water shot from Harry's wand and onto the floor near the dust. There was the sound of slipping shoes on wet floor and a thump as someone fell over. Harry followed the dust with his wand as a human shape appeared, revealing the same man from before.

"Very smart Potter." He said. He hopped to his feet. "Decargo!"

The glowing dust faded.

"Why are you doing this?" Harry asked keeping his wand pointed at his adversary.

"Why would I be doing this Potter?" He asked.

"This is a test…" Harry whispered to himself.

"Indeed." He replied. "Relashio!"

There was flash and suddenly Harry was forced to let go of his wand. As he dived down to grab it, the man waved his wand again.

"Flipendo!" He cried. There was a flash of blue light and Harry was thrown backwards and away from his wand. Harry rolled as he set a storm of Stupefy spells at where he had just been laying. He then got up and ran as fast as he could, managing to grab his wand as the man cried out another spell.

"Expulso!" He cried.

"Protego!" Harry yelled again. He had managed to cast the spell in time and the shield was raised, but Harry had been off-balance, and the forceful explosion knocked him off of his feet and onto his back. Instead of staying still, he used the momentum to go into a roll as he got back onto his feet. "Expelliarmus!"

The man's wand started to leap from his hand.

"Epoximise!" The man said. His wand seemed to stick to his hand, preventing it from being let go. "Flipendo!"

"Stupefy!" Harry responded. The spells collided in mid-air, causing an explosion of light so bright Harry had to cover his eyes.

"Stupefy!" Harry heard over the noise. He tried to cast a shield charm, but it was too late and he felt it as the stunning spell collided with his chest, sending him flying backward and onto the floor. He managed to barely remain conscious, but found that he could not move. The man approached nodding approvingly.

"Congratulations Potter, you managed to give me quite a run for my money there." He said. "Rennervate."

The effects from the stunning spell suddenly disappeared and Harry climbed to his feet with a groan of pain.

"Thank you sir, I think." Harry said as he dusted himself off. The torches lit back up. "May I at least have the honor of knowing your name before you try to kill me again?"

He laughed.

"Very well. I am the head of the Auror office, Oliver Jaggerweld."

He shook Harry's hand.

"Isn't it customary to bow before a duel?" Harry asked.

"Of course, but the Auror's don't hesitate, and we don't let custom dictate how we destroy our enemies." Oliver said.

"So… did I pass the test?" He asked.

"Oh Mr. Potter, the test has just begun."

He was led from the room then. He was put through several trials. He had to mix a common potion without referring to instructions, he had to fight his way through carnivorous plants without damaging them, he had to decipher whether or not people were lying without resorting to any magic, and several others.

Hours later, Oliver was leading Harry to his next trial.

"I have to ask, what is the point of all of this?" Harry asked.

"It is both to gauge your ability Mr. Potter, and to make sure you are worthy of even being considered for training." Oliver said. "You have already made it farther than most. You have of course failed in some tests, yet you have excelled in others. You have great potential, and that is what we look for in recruits for the Auror training program.

"I am in fact surprised that so many of you are doing so well at this testing. I was initially quite worried when Minister Shacklebolt lifted the N.E.W.T. requirements for those who participated at the Battle of Hogwarts. I am disappointed I was not there myself, as it appears that battle hardened you and everyone else."

"People died." Harry said.

"People die all the time; it's the survivor's that truly matter."

This angered Harry, as he was implying that those who have died should be forgotten. That only people that were still alive mattered. He saw that there was some truth to that philosophy, but it was just now how he thought. He calmed himself though, if he wanted to be an Auror, the last thing he wanted to do was anger him.

It was as though he had read Harry's mind.

"You can speak how you will Mr. Potter." He said. "I do not restrict the words of my underlings. Sometimes they know better than I, and I would be foolish to deny their observations."

"It's just… I think we should remember the dead sir." Harry replied. "We should honor their sacrifice, use those memories to help us fight."

"Empathy will get you killed in this business Harry, I urge you to lose it. You must be impartial. Feelings may have helped you in your battle against Voldemort… but it will not help you here." Oliver said.

"With all due respect Mr. Jaggerweld, I'll stick to my philosophy and you can stick to yours."

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Oliver said. "You'll see the truth in time, one way or another."

"Well, it's a bet then."

"I guess it is."