I count myself very lucky, for many reasons obviously, but one being that I love my job. I became the youngest Head of the Auror Department at the prime age of 28. I guess being the Boy Who Lived turns you into the Man Who's In Charge. I am not ashamed to admit that I cried that evening when I went home and told Ginny that I had gotten the promotion. Not ashamed one bit.
Ginny knew that I loved my job as an Auror. Putting away the bad guys seemed to be what I was meant to do. It came easy to me. I was calm and collected. I worked hard at it to do my best. Be the best. And I really did love doing it, but there was always a part of me that wanted to do more. Putting the Death Eaters in prison definitely made the Wizarding World a safer place, but it wasn't enough for it to just be safer. I wanted the Wizarding World to be better.
And like me, there was always a part of Ginny that wanted to do more than play professional Quidditch. Ginny always wanted to be a mom. She wanted to have babies to love and raise. And I always want to save kids stuck in homes that were no good for them. I wanted to be the man they dreamt would come every night who knocked on the door to take them to a better place.
By the time I got my promotion to Head Auror, Ginny's dream (and what was unknowingly was my dream too) had already begun to come true.
James Sirius was meticulous planned, by Ginny, to be conceived the moment her sixth and final season as a Harpie ended. And he was. Godric, is that boy wild.
Albus Severus was a surprise. But a very happy one. We were not planning for Potter number two to come so quickly after Potter number one, but plans shmans. He is my thinker. My very observant thinker.
And we had just found out about Potter number three about a week before my promotion. We hadn't even told all the Weasley's yet.
So there I was, sitting on our bed, head in Gin's lap, crying. She stroked my hair until I was ready.
"This is it, Gin. I can do it. I can open a department whose purpose is to find kids in shitty homes. Find them and help them. I can do it. I can finally do it."
And Ginny cried too. But she was pregnant so that was probably just the hormones.
And so I did. Thank Godric for Hermione. If it wasn't for her research, planning, and law writing skills, I would have never been able to start the new department under Magic Law Enforcement. But there she went, drafting laws about what the standards should be for raising a child, what was considered abused or not properly cared for, how a person could report suspicious behavior, and the process a member of the Magical Law Enforcement would have to follow should a child be reported to them.
And thank Godric for Ron. Ron was the very first Auror to volunteer to be apart of the new task force. Seeing three out of the three of the Golden Trio being involved in anything seemed to rile up the troops, and soon I didn't know what to do with all my volunteers. Don't worry though, Hermione found jobs for all of them. Great woman, that Hermione.
And I should also thank Godric for Ginny. Because she is my wonderful, beautiful wife who stayed at home with my wonderful, beautiful children to help me live out my dreams. Yes. Thank Godric for Ginny. I love her.
At first it was slow. No reports really came in, apparently the Wizarding World wasn't apt to report their neighbors for treating their kids badly. So I started thinking of when I was a kid. What were the indicators?
Auror Potter came out. "I want a list of all Hogwarts students. They are to be monitored for malnutrition. I don't care what Poppy tells them she's looking for, but she's going to check each of them. I want a list of all magical students who don't report to Hogwarts. The war is over, if your child isn't attending Hogwarts, I want to know why. Every student with failing or barely passing marks needs to be checked into. Do they need a tutor, or are they just doing the bare minimum that they're capable of for some other reason?"
Off they scurried. Operation Safe Homes was in motion.
Despite how much this tears at my very soul, there is one other person I thanked Godric for. Draco Malfoy. Let's make this very clear, we were not and are not friends. But after Malfoy manor got demolished in 1999 and the Aurors got out anything questionable, Malfoy rebuilt a much smaller home further away from the gates. He actually volunteered his land to us when he heard about Operation Safe Homes.
"Why would you think I would accept anything that you offer to me, Malfoy? Do you want me indebted to you or something?"
"Merlin, Potter, no. I do not want you indebted to me. In fact, my mother and I feel indebted to you. Malfoy's don't like to be indebted to anyone. So I'm offering you fifteen acres of my land. Build yourself an orphanage or whatever. Help these kids who are getting the shit beat out of them. Take the land, and we're square. No one owes anyone anything. We can pretend that we don't know each other."
"You're serious?"
"Do you really think I would take the time to come to the Ministry, where I am super welcomed by the way, and spend my afternoon talking to you for a practical joke?"
"All right, don't get your knickers bunched."
"How have they given you any authority around here? I just don't understand."
And that is how The Malfoy House for Children came to be. Well actually, I made him do all the legal paperwork with Hermione, and THAT'S how The Malfoy House for Discplaced Children came to be, legally. Neither were very happy with the arrangement, but it was for the children, guys.
