The crispy, bright morning greeted Harry as he briskly opened his eyes. He could not have a lot of sleep from excitement, but he did not feel any kind of exhaustion. He put on his glasses and clothes to check the time. Fortunately, it was early enough for him to greet Hermione and Arthur to the door.

When he hurriedly came downstairs, he could see Hermione waving at the door. They were almost leaving, and he was glad that he could say goodbye to them. Hermione gave him a big hug as farewell. "I'm sure you will do great, Harry. Don't forget to write to me, OK?"

Harry nodded fervently at her request. He was not going to forget about his old friends just because he was about to meet new ones. Hermione and Arthur hurriedly headed to the Ministry. Following Hermione with his eyes until she could not be seen, Ron asked Harry if he was ready to go.

And so, they were at the Gringotts now. They entered the golden door excitedly. When they faced a goblin that was giving them rather hostile look, Harry could not help gulping in nervousness. Tentatively, Harry and Ron showed him their tattoo. The goblin did not look exactly happier, but his expression instantly softened. He waved his hand to make them lower their sleeves and silently led them through a maze of complicated corridors.

Harry and Ron marveled at the offices of Gringotts that not many people had an opportunity to see. There were goblins everywhere, carrying papers, envelopes, working with complicated spells for security. The marble corridor rang rather loudly as many goblins rushed through. The goblin led them to the very last door at the corridor. He opened a heavy door and they entered.

"What…?!" Harry gaped at the room incredulously. The room had white marble for floor and wall and had a tiny window near the ceiling that allowed just enough sunlight. Other than that, the room was very bare. But that was not the reason why Harry and Ron were surprised. They were not even staring at the room. They were staring at the big object in the room.

"The Mirror of Erised…" Ron mumbled. They had not seen the mirror since Dumbledore moved it in their first years. They vividly remembered what kind of desires they had in their hearts through this mirror. Many years had passed and they wondered if they would see the same image when they looked at the mirror.

"So what—?"

"Just look at the mirror." The goblin answered curtly and closed the door behind him.

With the goblin gone, the room was filled with unbearable silence. Ron stared at the mirror curiously. "Look at the mirror?" he asked, "but what is that going to do?"

"Well, I guess we have no choice." Harry answered him lamely. But he had no idea what to do with it either. How was this supposed to get them to Auror Office?

Rather confused, Ron stared at the mirror. "I… don't understand. All I see is having a good time with you and Hermione…."

Before he could finish his sentence, the mirror flashed and Ron was gone. Harry gaped at the space where Ron used to be. What just happened? He thought.

After a minute of unsuccessful analysis, Harry decided that it would be best if he looked at the mirror himself. He carefully stepped in front of the mirror. At first, he only saw himself, but he soon saw Ginny next to him, then Ron, and Hermione. They all looked genuinely happy, free from worries. Yes, this was a perfect life for him. Although they had never mentioned, there was a mutual fear of Death Eaters even though Voldemort was destroyed. There were still many Death Eaters at loose and they could be a formidable foe of wizarding society if they had a right leader. Harry was happy to see that in the mirror, everyone was happy from the fear and worry—

Before he could even finish his train of thoughts, the mirror flashed and he was sucked into the mirror. He could feel a slight tinge on his right shoulder where the tattoo was. He realized that the magic within the tattoo must be activating. Before he could make out what was happening, he was standing in an empty class room. Bewildered, he found Ron almost immediately, who was talking to a large man with fiery spiky red hair. But compared to Ron's, it was obvious that the man's hair was dyed. He was very tall, way above Ron who was not short at all. His muscular arms showed that he was athletic as well. Harry involuntarily gulped. He had no idea where he was, who the man was, or why he was here. There were so many things that needed to be explained that Harry could not do anything but gape.

While he was curiously watching them, someone tapped his shoulder. When he turned around he found a man…? No, he looked too delicate to be a man. When he glanced down, his face blushed slightly because he figured out that she was actually a woman. He desperately hoped that his face was not too red to give away what he was thinking.

The lady smiled while her hand ran through her short, dark hair. "Don't worry about it." She said. "I get that reaction a lot for first timers. I'm Calista, Assistant Head of the Operation Division—"

"Calista!" The man bellowed. Harry jumped in surprise, but he could tell that the man didn't mean any malice. It seemed his voice was plainly loud. "I told you not to say that. You're not the Assistant Head. I am Head of the Operation Division Recruit Branch. You, on the other hand, are just my assistant—Not Assistant Head." He shook his head in disbelief and turned his attention to Ron again.

Harry, who was slightly confused about the conversation, just stared at Calista. She pouted in disbelief. "Che, the assistant to Head of the Branch is Assistant Head, don't you think so?"

"Er, sure?"

Rather satisfied with Harry's awkward response, Calista quickly examined Harry, making sure that he had no dangerous weapon. His swirling mind was finally coming to a focus and he had enough sense to ask questions.

"So… Where are we? And what happened back at Gringotts?"

"Ah-ha, good question. That was our first test to you; quite ingenious idea of Shacklebolt, I might add." She beamed at him proudly. "It's slightly modified version of Mirror of Erised. Instead of showing the one thing that you want most, it shows the future that you want."

"Why would you do that?"

"Well, if we are going to take you to the most reclusive department of the Ministry of Magic, we need to know what your intentions are."

Calista's explanation finally made sense to Harry. "So, if we want the return of Voldemort or something…"

"Exactly. The Mirror will show that future and will not accept you. That was your test and our barrier against those who still might be Death Eaters."

Harry marveled the idea; it was indeed a very clever one. The first line of defense to get to Auror Office was to see if the recruits wanted the power and status of Aurors for good or bad.

"Well, it looks like you don't have anything dangerous." She pointed to the big man who was talking to Ron. "He is Head of the Operation Division, Recruit Branch. His name is Doug Malone." She giggled.

"Why is that funny?" Harry asked, confused by her behavior.

She quickly grabbed his shoulder and turned him away from Doug and whispered to his ears. "Well, you see, his real first name is Dwight. But he absolutely detests that name, because it makes him sound like a weakling. So I suggest that if you want to make him angry, just call him Dwight. Although I don't see why you would ever want to make your Mentor angry."

"He is my Mentor?" Harry raised his eyebrows.

"For a while, yes. We are in charge of the recruits' training. There are four tests: Concealment and Disguise, and Stealth and Tracking. If you pass the first two, then you will be going on missions with your individual Mentors. But you will still study other things with us, of course."

Concealment, Tracking, tests, missions, individual Mentors… There were so many things that Harry wanted to ask, but he figured that he will get the explanation that he would need.

"OK, since we have to wait for few others to come along, why don't you and your friend unpack in your room? I put you and him as roommates if you don't mind." She winked. "The luggage is already there." She pointed to the door. "Get out through that door and get on the staircase. Once you and your friend are on the steps, say your name. The staircase will lead the way."

Harry raised his eyebrow again. It sounded a bit… too easy. He remembered the first day in Hogwarts; how he and Ron had to go through countless staircases and wrong doors before they finally managed to memorize the outline of the school. Come to think of it, Harry mused, that's how the found the trapdoor that guarded the Sorcerer's Stone…

Someone tapped on his shoulder again and he found Ron behind him. Ron smiled weakly and pointed to the door. Harry nodded and both of them headed out to the door.

As soon as they headed out of the door, Ron let out a big sigh. "Phew, I'm glad I'm out of that."

"Why? Doug isn't nice?" Harry asked. He remembered that despite Doug's strong physical attributes, his facial features seemed like a nice guy.

"He is nice, but he is mental about his job." He complained. "He just couldn't stop talking about how great his job as Head of whatever was. By the way, what is the Operation Division Recruits Branch anyway?"

Harry merely shrugged and looked around the hall way, or more like a tower. They were standing at the stall of a giant tower with endless staircases. There were hundreds of them, moving at their own speed. Harry gulped, noticing how similar it looked like Hogwarts. Harry and Ron tentatively stepped on the only staircase that led from where they were standing.

"So all we have to do is say our name?" Harry asked.

Ron nodded and said rather defiantly, "Ron Weasley and Harry Potter."

The stairs began to move as if they understood exactly where they were supposed to go. Harry and Ron instinctively grabbed onto the handle when the stairs moved. After the ruckus, they realized that the stairs made a way so that it directly led to their destination. Or so it seemed.

Harry and Ron stared at each other in amusement. It was amazing that they did not have to memorize where to go just like the days in Hogwarts. Rather gratefully, Harry and Ron hurriedly walked on the staircase to their room.

After countless staircases, they finally arrived in front of a small wooden door. They exchanged excited and curious glance before they finally opened the not-so-special-looking door. When they did, they saw a small hallway that led to two other doors. A little bit confused, they tentatively walked down the hallway when they bumped into a girl.

"Ouch! Sorry!" A strangely familiar voice rang through Harry's head. When he opened his eyes, he saw a familiar strawberry blond curls bouncing around her exquisite face. Seeing the familiar face, Harry uttered out the name that he never thought would say again, "Raquel?"

She stopped fussing around her clothes and looked up to meet his eyes. Her eyes grew wide in astonishment and she squealed, "Harry Potter!" She scrutinized his face with absolute interest. "It's great to see your real face," she said, winking. She glanced around to find Ron gaping at her. He quickly closed his mouth as Raquel giggled. She extended her hand and shook his. "Raquel Parshall. Nice to meet you."

"Ron Weasley," he said weakly. It was no wonder that Ron was in such a daze because Raquel was a beauty. Her entire being exuded with cheerfulness, energy and confidence. It was somewhat hard to believe this bubbly girl had such a sharp eye to detect ever so slight disguises.

"I was wondering why you suddenly wanted to get a robe," said Raquel. "I was hoping that you might be joining this program as well, but I never thought it would come true!"

Harry nodded, bemused. "So you're one of the recruits as well." He commented.

Raquel nodded her head in excitement and pride. "I've been working in Madam Malkin's so that I could afford this program. As much as I love working in that store, I was dying to get out of there. I am so ecstatic about this! It's going to be a great year."

Chucking at their rather dazed statute, Raquel hurriedly headed back to her room. "Well, I will leave you boys wondering there. I have to go finish unpacking. Ta-ta."

After Raquel was gone, the hallway was filled with unusual silence. "Wow," said Ron, scratching his head. "She certainly has a presence." Then he curiously glanced at Harry. "She seemed to know you already."

When Harry explained what had happened between him and Raquel, Ron raised his eyebrow. "Really? She didn't seem like that kind of person at all. She just seemed… mental."

Harry scoffed. "You were staring at her awfully a lot for someone who is mental."

Ron could not help blushing and bashed back at Harry. "Look who is talking."

They laughed nervously, silently agreeing that they would not tell their girlfriends about Raquel. They hurriedly went to the room that read, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. They gingerly opened the door to find a spacious room with big window, two beds and desks with luxurious red carpet. The room was about the same size as the one in Hogwarts, but instead of four, this was for two people. Harry found Ron staring out the window which displayed a beautiful country landscape.

"Do you think we are close to Hogwarts?" Ron mused.

Harry did not blame Ron for his wonder. The striking countryside did remind him a lot about Hogwarts. The beautiful meadow and a big lake held a striking resemblance to their old school. His mind immediately wandered back to his six years of school. It was definitely the happiest time of his life… Instead of answering him, Harry sat on one of the comfortable beds. He was excited to begin this new chapter of life with full heart.