Houses Competition, Hufflepuff, Sixth Year
Short
Prompt: [Event] Job Interview
Word Count: 836
Beta: Aya Diefair
Thanks for reading.
It had been several months since the Battle of Hogwarts. By that time the guilty had been imprisoned in Azkaban, which now had a new type of guarding system beyond Dementors, bodies had been buried, people mourned, and the heroes were honored on a new monument in the Atrium of the Ministry of Magic, replacing that horrible statue of muggles being crushed. It was a solid black cube with the names of every casualty of the First and Second Wars against Voldemort carved into the stone.
Harry preferred the monument rather than the statue of the smiling witch and wizard being looked at in adoration by a House-Elf and Centaur. This one was respectful and a reminder to every employee of what happened.
While Hermione was determined to complete her education at Hogwarts, Harry felt as if he had learned enough and Ron felt the same way. So, they both sent in applications to the Ministry for Auror positions.
Two weeks later, Harry received an owl summoning him for a job interview on Friday at 2 p.m.
So, he made sure he was ready.
"Why are they giving you a job interview?" Ron had asked incredulously. "You're the hero of the war! You defeated You-Know-Who. You could've just written your name on a piece of paper and they'd accept you!"
"The Goblet of Fire certainly did," Harry muttered.
Even so, Harry dressed as well as he could in khakis, a blue collared shirt, and a brown blazer Hermione bought him for the interview just before she left to go to Australia to find her parents.
Friday at 2 p.m. came. Harry sat in a seating area outside the Department Head's office. He checked the slightly battered pocket watch Mrs. Weasley gave him for his seventeenth birthday.
2:07
Perhaps the interviewer was just in a meeting.
Harry jiggled his leg anxiously and wished that he had something to occupy his time. The magazines in the basket beside him held no interest because they were all about him. Eventually the news would move on, but it was not that day.
"Mr. Potter?" called the receptionist, an older woman with reddish hair and an uncaring attitude. "Mr. Shacklebolt will see you now."
Kinglsey Shacklebolt was doing interviews? That was surprising. Harry would've thought he'd be too busy to deal with interviews what with being the new Minister for Magic and all.
"Thank you," he said to the receptionist.
She hummed and the old fashioned phone on her desk rang, probably another department calling about something urgent. She snatched the receiver off the hook with an annoyed roll of her eyes.
"Auror Department, what do you want?" she snapped.
Harry entered the office and found Shacklebolt sitting at his desk which was filled with stacks upon stacks of papers. The Minister himself looked rather stressed yet still held a regal air.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Potter," he said, "I do apologize, the new amendment I was looking over was a bit… heavier than I expected. Please, sit."
"I understand, sir," said Harry, taking a seat in the wooden chair.
"I see that you have applied for a position as Auror."
"Yes, sir."
"I find that a little surprising."
Harry furrowed his brow. "Why?"
"I hear you were quite the teacher for Dumbledore's Army," Shacklebolt explained. "Considering the difficult life you led, it seemed reasonable that you would go for a steadier career."
"Oh." Harry glanced down at his hands. "I hadn't considered that as a career option. Ever since I learned my parents were both Aurors, I wanted to follow in their footsteps."
"That does make sense. Your parents were some of the best Aurors the Ministry had."
"I do suppose that I'll have to settle down at some point," said Harry thoughtfully. "I'll consider it. For now, I would like to become an Auror."
"Also understandable," said Shacklebolt. "You are a very talented wizard Mr. Potter, but you are aware that an Auror needs to have a N.E.W.T. in each of the basic core subjects at Hogwarts, yes?"
"Er- yes."
"But you do not wish to return to Hogwarts?"
"Too many bad memories," Harry mumbled, subconsciously rubbing a hand over the faint scars on his left hand from Umbridge's detentions.
Shacklebolt nodded and made a note on the parchment in front of him. "We will overlook it. I think you proved yourself adept at Transfiguration, Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, and Potions."
"Thank you, sir," said Harry relieved.
"I also see that you do not have your Apparition license."
Harry inhaled sharply. "Uh…"
"You can apply for it after."
Shacklebolt asked Harry a few more questions and was silent for several minutes as he wrote on the parchment in front of him.
"You will report for your physical and psychological exams on Monday," said Shacklebolt at last. "Once you pass those, you will be assigned a mentor for six months to a year."
"So… I got the job?" Harry asked.
Shacklebolt looked at him incredulously, then chuckled.
"Yes."