Auror Training

Harry nervously waited for the training to start. He was in a waiting room with a few other people around his age, but all of which were older. He felt uncomfortable and awkward in his red robes, and kept fiddling with his hands and rubbing his scar.

Finally a door opened, and a wizard game out, dressed in scarlet robes, but wearing them in a much more majestic style. He looked almost seven feet tall, and his chest was wide, his biceps almost splitting his sleeves. He looked around the room at each person with calculating eyes, trying to see what use they would be in the future. His eyes rested on Harry last. They watched each other for a second, then the Auror nodded and turned to the room in general.

'Good morning, juniors. I am Mr Dynham, but you will all call me Dynham. I am the head of the Auror department. Any troubles which your group teacher cannot sort out, you come to me. Keep in my good books, and you will spend your three years in Auror training happy. Mess me around, and I can make you life hell. But for now, come and meet your group head!' said Dynham. His voice was deep and seemed to reverberate through the room. Dynham smiled for the first time, and opened a door next to him.

The group was met by a man, almost as tall as Dynham, but thin and wiry, with weathered brown skin and a long scar running down the side of his face.

'I am Mr Sinyew, your group instructor. Call me Sinyew,' he greeted. 'Now, first things first, I want you all to get to know each other. Meanwhile, I need to fetch some paperwork.' He nodded to them and left the room.

The group turned to face each other, and there was an awkward silence. Harry realised there were only four new Aurors including him – Arthur had told him that usually there were at least ten, more if it's part time.

The silence was broken when a girl, who looked about twenty, with curly brown hair, freckles and bright brown eyes, turned to him and asked:

'Are you Harry Potter?'

Harry smiled: 'That's me!'

'Wow! I'm Sally Cairwell, by the way.'

'Yeah, and I'm Max Baker,' said a boy of around twenty one or twenty two. He, like Sally, had curly hair, but his was a golden brown, and the curls were untidy, and thicker. He had hazel eyes, a snub nose, and slightly chubby cheeks. He grinned and held out his hand for Harry to shake. 'I'm so glad to be in your group!'

'Well I'm not!' snapped the third person, a girl, who seemed older than the other two. She looked very different as well, with long, silver blond hair and white skin, rather like Fleur, but he mouth was a hard line, and her eyes were cold grey. She could have been very beautiful, but she ruined it by looking grumpy.

'Why, may I ask?' replied Max.

'He's what, seventeen? Far too young for Auror training – he'll just get in the way, and when we're on a mission, we can't waste someone holding his hand!' she cried angrily.

'Sofya, Harry has saved the wizarding world, with only a couple of friends his age to help. I think he's more than capable,' retorted Sally.

'Whatever. Suit yourselves!' said Sofya Snow, crossing her arms and looking out the window. The other three made polite conversation while they waited for Sinyew to appear again.

Sinyew appeared with their timetables, map and some info about Auror training.

Monday

Spell work

Combat course

Friday

Fitness work

Martial arts

Sunday

Combined lesson

Made up mission

'What's the combat course?' asked Max.

'It's an obstacle course, basically. We set it up in all different places, and you have to get past obstacles without getting hurt or killed. Don't worry!' he said when he saw their faces. 'You won't actually be killed – knocked out at the most. I mean if you get into a situation where you would be killed if it was the enemy.'

Harry nodded – the combat course sounded fine, maybe even fun! He smiled, and was glad he had chosen both, Hogwarts and Auror training.

As it was the first day, the spell work was just Sinyew finding out what spells they could do. Harry made immediate friends with Max. Sally, though liking Harry, seemed torn between him and Sofya, who continued to act cold and disapproving, even when Harry did Expelliarmus so well that poor Max, his opponent, was thrown against the wall and knocked out. He was quickly revived and healed though, and assured Harry that there were no hard feelings felt.

The combat course was similar to a muggle one, except that you had to do things like get across a hundred foot across chasm using only your wand. Little changes! The course was set in a circle, and everyone was started in different places, but they met up occasionally. Harry found Max at the chasm (did I mention it looked so deep you couldn't see the bottom?). Max was standing at the edge, completely white, with his hands balled up into fists and his teeth clenched.

'H-Harry,' he said in a tight voice. 'Thank god your here. I – I can't do this. I'm s-scared of heights.'

Harry nodded, understanding. 'It's okay, I'll help. Stand still and I'll float you across. Don't worry – I won't drop you.' Max nodded and shut his eyes. Harry did a spell that meant he could float Max across, but so that Max wouldn't get terrified, he cut a chunk of earth from the ground, and used it as a platform for Max. In the space of five seconds Max was across, and Harry quickly did the spell for himself.

'Thanks mate,' said Max.

'Don't think about it,' Harry replied, clapping Max on the shoulder. They had come to a fork in the path (this combat course was set in some dark woods) and Harry took the left, Max took the right.

Sofya appeared a couple of obstacles later, at a big trench filled with thick, stinking mud. She had a look of deep disgust on her face, and was standing by the edge with her arms crossed.

'Aren't you going in?' asked Harry as he approached.

She turned and looked at him, eyebrows raised. 'Er, no way, loser. Have you looked at that stuff?'

'Yes, and I was about to go through it, but ladies first?'

Sofya scowled. 'There is no way I'm going into that muck!' she hissed.

'Fine, go to Sinyew, tell him you have failed in the first combat course because you didn't want to get your hair dirty,' said Harry sarcastically.

Sofya deepened her expression to a glare, but dipped her foot in the trench. The mud gave a small burping sound, and Sofya made to pull her foot out, but Harry quickly stepped forward and gave a small shove in the back. With a small scream, Sofya fell face first into the mud.

'How dare you!' she screeched when she came up to the surface, her face covered in slime.

'I didn't do anything,' replied Harry innocently, jumping in after her and wading across. On the other side he did a quick scourgify charm and strode off.

He didn't see Sally at all apart from a glimpse through the trees. Half an hour later he emerged from the woods, with merely a cut above his right eye. He was pleased to find that he came first, and Sinyew graded him Exceeds Expectations.

After a quick chat about the day with Sally and Max, he apparated to the Burrow.

Ginny and Molly rushed up to him as he opened the front yard gate.

'How was it? What did you do?' asked Ginny impatiently.

'Oh Harry, your an Auror now! I'm so proud!' cried Molly, taking his bag from him and leading him up to the house.

The Weasley men also appeared one by one to ask Harry about his day, as did Hermione. Ron and Ginny seemed to be containing something, and were extremely excited, jumping around and being over-enthusiastic. They were driving everyone mad.

Finally, at the supper table, Ron stood up and clinked his glass, and waited impatiently for everyone to stop and listen. He scowled at George and Charlie, who were resolutely still talking just to wind him up. Ginny gave George a hard prod before they would stop.

'Family and friends, I feel this is a great day for the Weasley family,' started Ron in a dull, speech-like voice.

'Oh just cut to the point and let Charlie finish telling me about the guy who had flaming dragon dung fall on his head!' cried George.

'Okay, fine. Look, a week or two ago, me and Gin went to the Weasley vault the get out some cash. We thought that we would have trouble affording some robes, as we have always been short of cash.' Molly scowled at the sentence. 'But, low and behold, when we got to the vault, we were given a piece of parchment. This parchment said that, not only had Dumbledore left me the Delluminator, he had also left us a fair bit of cash. Quite a lot of cash, in fact,' said Ron.

'How much?' asked Charlie.

'Million or so galleons.'

'Million or so galleons!' replied Molly in a weak voice. 'Oh my!'

Harry grinned at Ginny, who winked back at him happily.

'Why are you telling us now?' asked Arthur.

'We decided to tell everyone when we were really happy, like on my birthday or something, but we were far too impatient, and so we chose today!' explained Ginny.

'Oh yeah, Mum? I was going to say, I can't come to dinner tomorrow,' said George.

'Why not?' asked Molly suspiciously.

'I've, er, got a date.'

'Oo who with?' asked Ginny, interested.

'Angelina.' Everyone grinned and Bill and Charlie, on either side of him, slapped him on the back. It was nice to see George finding happiness again.

'Meet me in my room after supper,' murmured Ron to Harry and Hermione. Hermione raised her eyebrows but silently agreed to, and Harry just shrugged yes, too overwhelmed and happy to say much more.

'Okay, what is it Ron?' asked Hermione as they entered the room. Ron grinned and sat back on his bed.

'Okay, basically, Dumbledore has also left us, as in, me and Hermione some money, as well as the Delluminator and Tales of Beedle.'

'How much is some?'

Ron grinned even wider. 'Five hundred thousand galleons, to be exact.' Hermione's mouth dropped open and she gave a little squeal before leaping into his arms.

'Oh yeah, and he also wrote, in the will, that he would have given you some money, but he thought that as you have so much, you wouldn't feel happy about accepting it,' said Ron.

'That's true,' replied Harry, shrugging and collapsing, exhausted, on his bed. 'Hermione, could you go down to Ginny and tell her I'm really sorry, but I'm absolutely exhausted, and I probably wouldn't be able to make it downstairs, and it wouldn't be much fun sleeping with her, so I'm going to sleep in Ron's room tonight?'

'Okay,' Hermione nodded and headed downstairs. A minute or two later a silver otter appeared, which proclaimed that Ginny did not mind but she hoped Harry would not always be this tired after training, that she loved him and would like him to get an early night, no later than eleven thirty please! But Harry was already asleep, spread-eagled on his bed, while Ron, smirking, transfigured his clothes into pyjamas (pink with white bunnies and flowers) and his shoes into a pair of purple fluffy slippers (bunny shaped, to match his pyjamas!).

'Come along!' called the instructor on Wednesday. It wasn't Sinyew, surprisingly, but a wizard who looked a bit like the weightlifting champions. He was quite short, but massively strong, with abs like fists, biceps bigger then Sally's torso and legs that looked like they could kick over a giant redwood! His face was very cubic, with protruding lips and small dark eyes. His nose seemed to have been broken several times, so it was nose all lumpy and bumpy. He was dressed in a horrible, tight fitting mauve suit and juggling three kilogram weights while he waited.

Max and Harry glanced at each other, while Sally looked almost scared and Sofya was her usual ice queen self.

'Right,' said the wizard. 'I am Mr Brickhold, your fitness trainer. By the end of your training you will all be able to do this!' he spun and kicked the wall, punching a massive hole into it. 'But not yet. First things first, ten laps around the Ministry's indoor running track!' The class groaned and set off.

By the end of the lesson, Harry was exhausted. He grabbed a bottle of iced water and tipped it over his head, before doing a quick energising charm.

Luckily they did not have Mr Brickhold for martial arts. They had, for the first time, a girl as their instructor. She introduced herself as Viper – they didn't know if it was her real name or surname, but it was what they were told to call her by. And they soon saw why.

'Come forward, Baker,' she said, beckoning to him. He nervously stepped forward. 'I'll do a numbing charm so you don't feel the pain.' Max nodded then went strangely relaxed. 'Concentrate!' she barked, before stabbing down with the side of her hand on his shoulder. There was a nasty crunching crack, then Max fell onto his knees, his mouth open with surprise. Harry guessed that, even though Max could not feel the pain, it must be a nasty feeling. Viper followed through with a series of blows, too fast to see properly, but by the end Max was unconscious.

As if on qui, a nurse walked in and started doing healing charms. Soon Max sat up, rather groggy, but fine.

'That was not fun,' he mumbled. Viper nodded.

'It's not meant to be,' she said briskly. 'Anyway, as usual, someone from the class above is going to teach you martial arts. They should be here any moment.' A second later the door opened and four people of about twenty four walked in.

Harry was paired with a tall black guy, with dreadlocks and an American accent.

'Hey, I'm Jesse, your martial arts coach. First, I'm going to go through all the basic moves, and then I'll talk you through a battle. Okay?' he said. Harry nodded, and braced himself for the onslaught of the next hour.

Harry walked down the lane bruised and sore. Viper hadn't bothered to heal him, as it wasn't major injuries, just cuts and bruises.

'Ouch,' he mumbled as Ginny ran up and kissed him.

'Are you okay?' she asked worriedly.

'Just bruised.'

'Mum will clean you up. Come on, her and Hermione are desperate to ask you about birthday preparations.'

'What? It's like, a month and a half until my birthday!'

'I know, but they just suddenly get obsessed about something. Let's go inside, before they come outside to meet you via the chimney!'

Molly and Hermione were indeed frantic.

'Harry, who would you like to invite?' Hermione asked impatiently, transfiguring plain pieces of paper into red letter paper with intricate gold patterns in the corners.

'What shall I cook?' asked Molly, scrubbing the kitchen pans and pots.

'What special celebration? Fireworks?' asked Hermione.

'Look, thanks for caring about my birthday, but I don't really want to talk about it now, okay? Maybe tomorrow. I'm just tired and sore,' replied Harry, slumping down at the kitchen table.

'Oh, sorry Harry dear, let me heal you,' apologised Molly, quickly waving her wand and immediately Harry felt better.

'Thanks!'

'Right team, you have two hours to complete this mission. If you do not finish the mission within those two hours, we will assess your progress and decide your grade. Now, the mission itself. A Death Eater, let's call him Bob, has been spotted by someone. It is your task to track him down and capture him without causing a fuss, so that he can't get dangerous? Got it? Right, we've closed off some muggle streets and filled them with volunteers, who are also muggles, as you would usually be capturing people in the muggle world. So they will get scared if 'Bob' starts shooting curses. Of course, none of the curses will kill. Right, before we set you off, the Bob is tall, with long dark hair tied back in a ponytail, a red scar down one cheek and very pale skin,' briefed Sinyew. 'Right then, off you go!' He left them in an alley way before strolling off towards the Leaky Cauldron.

'Right then,' said Max, who had been put in charge of the mission. The rota for mission leaders was in alphabetical order, so Sally would come next, then Harry, then finally Sofya. 'Let's patrol the streets. Sally and Harry go together; I and Sofya will go together. Right? Okay, good. Harry and Sally, you patrol Banks Street and Oak Way, while Sofya and I will go down Tapper Street and Inkton Lane.' The other three nodded and set off in the right directions. There were only four streets where Bob could hide, but the streets were full of cafes, derelict houses and little alcoves for Bob to disappear into.

They scoured the streets for quarter of an hour, trying to find Bob. Finally they spotted him, dressed in a blue shirt, black jeans and a black cowboy hat, sitting at a cafe drink a beer. He was almost totally hidden by a large family of eight, and a massive toy tiger they had.

Harry quickly changed his features (something he had learnt on Monday) so that he had light brown hair, a rather red face, chubby cheeks and baby-blue eyes. His scar couldn't be changed, so he thickened his hair so the fringe covered it. His glasses were also transfigured into a pair of square, steel rimmed glasses. He casually wandered into the cafe, ordered a coke and sat down a couple of tables away from Bob. Sally ran off to find Max and Sofya.

A few minutes later they returned. They couldn't capture him just yet – they had to wait until he went to a less crowded area. So they sat down with Harry, and started chatting, as if they were a normal party of young adults. Finally, after another quarter of an hour, Bob left. A minute or two later, Sofya left, then Max and Harry, and finally Sally. Sofya would follow Bob, while the other three spread out over the streets.

They each had a tracking device, concealed as a mobile phone. If they wanted to find someone, they just typed in their name and what sounded like a ringtone would go off. If they were far away, they ringtone would be slow, and as they got nearer, it would get faster. Also, if one of them was in trouble, they would press the red button, and small alarms would go off, very like the tracking alarm, which would tell and lead the other three to them.

Harry walked down Tapper Street, absent-mindedly looking at the shops. After a few minutes the alarm went off. He checked his phone, and realised Sofya was in trouble. Immediately he ran off, phone held to his ear as if he was calling someone. The alarm got louder and then quieter as he passed a small alley way connecting Banks Street and Tapper Street. He stopped and turned off the alarm, and silently stepped into the alleyway.

It was filled with crates and boxes, old rubbish and rats. Disgusting, but useful if you didn't want to be seen. Harry hid behind a stack of crates, and looked for Sofya. Finally he spotted two shadows half way down the alley. He disillusioned himself and crept down the alley. He was virtually invisible, and Bob only noticed him when he was about a metre away from him.

Bob spun round, wand at the ready, but before he could react Harry tried to stupify him. Bob deflected the curse back at Harry, who merely ducked and sent a non-verbal body bind. Bob's eyes widened, before he fell to the ground, stiff as a board. Harry wiped his hands on his trousers and stepped towards Bob. Immediately there was a flash of white light, and Harry felt something slash down the side of his face and arm. He yelled in pain, but quickly stupefied Bob.

'Are you okay?' Sofya spoke for the first time. She was tied to a barrel; her wand lay in a gutter a few inches out of her reach and her eyes were slightly unfocused and dazed. A large bruise was forming on her forehead.

'Y-Yeah,' replied Harry, patting his sleeve against his cuts. Sally appeared with Max a few minutes later, looking frantic.

'We were stopped by some policemen! Oh my god are you okay? Oh I'm so sorry!' cried Sally.

'Don't worry, we're fine. And we completed the mission!' said Harry.

'Wow guys! I can't believe you did it! Aw, I suck as mission leader!' moaned Max.

'Hey, don't worry, it wasn't your fault. Anyway, let's wake Bob up and get back to the ministry,' said Sofya.

'Okay. Oh, sorry! You need to be untied!' replied Sally.

'I was wondering when you would notice.'

Sally slashed the ropes, and handed Sofya her wand. Meanwhile Max woke up Bob, and Harry tried to do something about his cuts.

'They won't heal!' he complained.

'Oh, yeah, I'm afraid that the cuts I gave you don't heal magically, they need to heal naturally. Anyway, my real name is Carlos, and I'm actually an Auror at the Ministry. Come on, I'm going to take you Harry to St Mungo's, while you three go back to the Ministry to tell Sinyew what happened. Now, Harry, before you faint from loss of blood,' said Carlos, holding out his arm to Harry. 'Side along Apparation, I'm afraid. I can't trust you to Apparate in your state!'

Harry nodded numbly, and let Carlos apparate and lead him through the corridors of St Mungo's. Without him realising, he looked back to normal and a Healer was bandaging his cuts. He was fed some Pep-Up Potion, and then suddenly he was back at the Ministry, with Carlos staring at him.

'Are you okay Potter?' he asked worriedly.

'Yeah, fine,' replied Harry.

'Cool. Sorry mate, I didn't realise that the cuts were so bad,' apologised Carlos.

'No, don't worry,' said Harry. 'Let's just go and meet Sinyew.'

Sinyew cut the briefing short, telling them that they did a good job and what they needed to improve on.

Finally, after a very long day, Harry was back at the Burrow. He went straight to bed, and fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. But he smiled as he slept.