Chapter 37: Careers Advice & DM's First Blood
The shock of what happened was still on everyone's minds as the students were swamped with pamphlets, leaflets, and notices concerning various Wizarding careers along with an extra notice, which told the students to attend a meeting with their Heads of House to discuss their future careers on the Monday after Spring Holidays. During Patrolling on Monday night of the Spring Holidays, Buffy, Faith and Mordred talked about what to apply for.
"Even though we won't be here forever," said Buffy, "we may as well get some fictitious jobs to apply for so that we don't draw too much attention. What's Dawn say she wants to apply for?"
"She wants the same job as Harry does," replied Faith, "she wants to become an Auror. I was also thinking, that since it's not that far from being Slayers, that we apply for the job of Vampire Hunters. It's not that different than what we're doing anyways, and we'd get paid better for it, plus not have to hide it at all times."
Buffy thought about this, before nodding her head in agreement.
"That's good for the two of us," she said, "but what about you, Mordred? What are you applying for?"
"I'm just going to wing it," Mordred replied, "take every course there is, and if I pass all of them, then great. The ones I fail will be the ones I avoid for future work."
"That's about twelve subjects," said Faith cautiously, "plus Apparation and Quidditch. You'll die taking that course load."
"Yeah well, since I've only been on this planet for less than a year, I may as well make it count," replied Mordred, "as for all I know, I'll need all of my options open until I know what I really want to do. Mostly I want to pull a Jules Winnfield and 'Walk the Earth', you know? Meet people, get into adventures, that sort of thing."
They then met up with Spike, who had some startling news for them.
"Most of the baddies that we've faced have been contracted out," he said, "the ones that we didn't wipe out, that is. Some Big Bad is hiring them all up, and telling them to hide until it was time to be ready."
"Ready for what?" asked Buffy agitatedly.
"Don't know." Was all Spike could say. The three students then went back to the Castle with Spike, who went down to the Chamber of Secrets.
"It's a nice place to stay at," he said when they left him there, "although awfully wet at times."
Before they went back to their separate dorms, Mordred handed Buffy an antidote for Veritaserum, mainly for Harry but also for other Gryffindor students who were friends of Harry. She went into the Gryffindor Tower to find the Golden Trio talking with the Weasley twins.
"Anyway," Fred was saying to Hermione, "we've decided we don't care about getting into trouble any more."
"Have you ever?" asked Hermione redundantly.
"Course we have," replied George, "we've never been expelled, have we?"
"We've always known where to draw the line," pointed out Fred.
"We might have put a toe across it occasionally," admitted George.
"But we've always stopped short of causing real mayhem," said Fred proudly.
"But now?" asked Ron tentatively.
"Well, now –" said George.
"–what with Dumbledore gone –" continued Fred.
"–we reckon a bit of mayhem –" added George.
"–is exactly what our new Head deserves," Fred finished off with a flourish.
"You mustn't!" Hermione said vehemently, but Buffy intervened.
"Actually, they should," she said, "the group called the DM will be most likely causing pranks so it's not like the twins won't be blamed anyways, so why not go out with a bang?"
"You read our minds," said George, smiling at her as Hermione scowled. Buffy then continued.
"I may know some people," she said smilingly, "that would very much like to help you guys out. When do you plan to begin?"
"Monday next week," admitted Fred, "there's not point in disrupting leisure time for us students."
"Ok, I'll talk with the Triumvirate," said Buffy, "see what they can rustle up."
"What about DA meetings?" asked Hermione suddenly, looking at Harry, "should we have any during this week?"
"Yeah, we should schedule some," said Harry brightly, "how's one every day for the members who are still here sound?"
"Sounds like a plan," said Buffy, "Even though exams are coming up, we still need the practice for the fight against Mouldy shorts and his Death Eaters."
"What about Umbridge?" Hermione asked worriedly, "her Squad is going everywhere once school restarts."
"That means they'll be coming into the Towers as well," said Ron, "so nowhere is safe."
"Remember, the Triumvirate are on our side," said Buffy, "so as long as they're with us, they'll be able to keep us from being expelled. Speaking of Umbridge, each of you gets one of these." Buffy said as she handed out some vials.
"What is this?" asked Ron as the others took a vial from Buffy.
"They're truth serum antidotes," said Buffy, "as Umbridge asked Snape to make some Veritaserum for her, so this will come in very handy against that. Remember to give some to Ginny and Neville. Mordred brewed up a lot of it, so if you need more, just ask."
"When do you think she'll try to use it?" asked Harry.
"Probably as soon as tomorrow," replied Buffy, "or as late as next week. I don't know when."
The six of them headed off to bed, with Harry doing some meditation before going to sleep.
On the Tuesday in the library, Ginny supplied Buffy with some chocolate eggs Mrs. Weasley had sent to be given to Buffy and the Triumvirate. As Ginny went over to Harry, Buffy had put the eggs away in her bag for the DA meeting later on that night that Harry had set out for the others, as she thought that that would be a good enough time to give them out. She tried to look over her notes, but her concentration was broken when Madam Pince, the school librarian, chased Harry and Ginny out of the library for eating chocolate. And I thought Giles was a strict librarian, mused Buffy as she saw some flying books whacking Harry and Ginny over the heads as they ran off, at least he allowed us some refreshments. She then fought down a pang in her stomach, as she realized that she was homesick in spite of all the stuff going on.
During the DA class that day, they worked on Patronuses again, as well as Boggart Banishing spells. Mordred then showed Harry some of his newer spells that he had learned from the Book of Unfound Spells.
"This is called Chain lightening," Mordred explained as he set up some Gnomes in a group, "it's a somewhat complicated spell that can only be done after one learns how to shoot lightening out of their wand. Observe."
Mordred then shot a bolt of lightening out of his wand, hitting the nearest Gnome. It then linked up to another Gnome that was ten feet away from the first, before linking up with another, and another. Soon a whole group of Gnomes were dancing in electrified spasms, as Harry and the others watched while the smell of burnt flesh and hair wafted through the room.
"The name of the incantation for it is Fulmenseries," said Mordred after the last of the Gnomes burst into flames and fell to the ground in a smouldering heap, "but I'd suggest we use it on single victims first before trying to chain them together. Otherwise it'll go all over the room and we'll be hitting each other."
The DA then began trying out the spell, with only a few perfecting the first part of it. However, Hermione and some others were disgusted by the use of it on Gnomes.
"Why can't we use it on non-living things?" Hermione asked after clearing up the burnt flesh of one of the Gnomes, "so that we don't torture the beasts?"
"Because the type of Magic used to chain the electricity from one target to another needs it to be similar life forms," said Mordred, "and since we'll be using this on Death Eaters, I suggest we get used to the smell of burnt flesh. They have no problems torturing and killing people, lets not give them the mercies they've refused others."
They then practiced various Charms, such as Gripping Charms, Confundus Charms, and Slug-vomiting (one of the few that Ron was better at than anyone else to start with). When the class ended Mordred went over to the Weasley twins and handed them a large hockey bag filled with Galleons.
"Take it to buy more products," he told them before they could react, "we're gonna need as many explosives as we can get. Also, if possible, you should hire an advisor for your shop. May I suggest Remus Lupin, since you guys owe him a lot since he's one of the people whose map helped you out so much."
"You really want to help out," suggested Ron, "add some more points to your spell. We're almost at zero."
Mordred agreed as Harry looked suspiciously at the money he had given to the twins.
"I take it that's some of the money you stole from the Zabinis?" he asked.
"Yes it is," replied Dawn from behind him, before moving next to Mordred. "How's Sirius doing?"
"Ask him your self," said Harry, pulling out the mirror and saying his name. When Sirius came into view the Triumvirate all crowded around to see him.
"Hi there," he said to the Triumvirate, "although the little stunt you pulled got the Ministry off my back, the Death Eaters still know what to look for."
"Yeah, but we also took out one Death Eater," said Faith, "got some money out of it, gained trust from the Ministry, and sowed some discord among the other Death Eaters. And I even got a little action myself."
"They don't need to hear about that," cautioned Buffy, as Sirius looked on. "Is Lupin around?"
"No, he's out on Order duty," said Sirius, "do you need him?"
"No, we were just wondering if he'd like some of the money we looted," said Mordred, "you can have some as well too. We've got some books that might help us out as well."
"I'll be sure to tell Lupin you have some money," said Sirius, "where are you hiding it?"
"I have it on me," said Mordred, "using a spell I found in my book. I can carry lots of things in my shadow."
"Your shadow?" asked Sirius, to which Mordred just shrugged. "Ok, just send some over using Dobby and Winky. I'm sure they won't mind the extra work." Sirius then stopped as if remembering something.
"What's the Development: Mayhem group?" he asked suddenly, "who's a part of it, and what are they up to?"
"Hey, that would be breaking the first two rules of Development: Mayhem," said Dawn with a mischievous smile, "just know that they're a group that'll make Umbridge's stay here even more painful for her than it is already."
The group then split up as Buffy, Faith and Mordred went to Patrol while the Golden Trio went to their Tower. She worked on her homework and did some studying there, while wondering how her sister and 'cousins' were faring out in their Patrols.
The rest of the week had a DA class every day, as even though they had a lot to study for, as well as Quidditch practices to go to, the DA was seen as the best source for practical defences as well as a gathering area for discussion between the Golden Trio, the Slytherin Triumvirate, and others. On the Wednesday, the group practiced Shield Charms while trying out various attacking spells on the Shielded students. Curses such as the Babbling Curse, the Conjunctivitis Curse, the Sponge-knees Curse, and Tarantallegra were all used to try and break the Shield spells.
"That's very good Neville," said Harry while dancing away to Hermione after Neville's Tarantallegra spell got through his shield.
Harry fixed himself up before getting Hermione to work with Neville while he wandered around the room coaching the others. He saw that Mordred's shields were very different than the others, as he didn't use a wand for them. Instead, he just stood there and allowed his partners to shoot spells at him, where they hit an invisible sphere that was four feet around Mordred. Every time a spell would hit, the bubble would absorb whatever spell was sent at him, turning it into energy that radiated around the sphere. Patrolling that week turned into more of a scavenger hunt for the Slayers and Mordred, as Mordred went all over the forest grabbing up items to use in potions while the Slayers were searching for monsters to slay.
On the Thursday during DA, they worked on spells such as Flagrate to mark out areas for them to find, as well as homing spells to locate items of interest. They also worked on performing a Backfiring Jinx on each other's wands, as well as the counter-Jinx for it. Cho was by herself during it, but whenever Harry went near her she ignored him and practiced by herself, even ignoring Luna (who tried to practice with anyone around her) when she came around. Buffy tried to work with Cho but got a cold shoulder from her as well. And Cho literally walked away whenever any of the Triumvirate got anywhere near her, even when they gave Ravenclaw thirty points for a spell Cho did really well. Finally, Dawn had had enough of Chang's attitude, so she went up to Cho and took her aside.
"Hey Cho," she said in a hiss, "I know that your thing with Harry turned to crap, and I know that your friend Edgecombe is terrified of us because of what we did, but we're all here for the same reason and that's to learn on how to defend ourselves. So either drop the bad attitude and get practicing with the others or find somewhere else to be. We did the right thing to Edgecombe, so don't you dare defend her." Chang's eyes welled up with tears, but Dawn just glared into her eyes.
"And don't even try any of that crying crap with me," she whispered in a small growl, "it may work with boys like Harry, but it doesn't with me."
Cho then went over and began practicing with some other Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs, but she still stayed clear of the Gryffindors and Slytherins. After the class was finished, Mordred showed the Golden Trio his Spirit Containment Spell on Peeves, who had been floating above them while being his annoying self. He pointed his wand at Peeves, who had been spitting at them with a peashooter, and waved his wand in a counter-clockwise motion.
"Spiritus Entrapis!" he said, shooting out a hoop of black electricity that ensnared Peeves into a floating sphere. He then turned to Harry smiling.
"It works on ghosts as well," he said proudly, "just the other day I used it on Myrtle with her permission. She's a good ghost to know when you get through her cover as a constant crier." Mordred then freed Peeves, who then went away shrieking revenge.
"She's always wailing and crying though," Ron said, "how can you be friends with that?"
"She's not as bad as Cho is," countered Mordred, "and Harry was more than a friend with her for a while." Harry merely shrugged. Dawn looked over at him in appreciation.
"It's cool how you don't get bent out of shape over this whole Cho situation," she said admiringly, "most boys get really moody when it comes to things like break ups and such."
"Yeah, Harry's a cool guy," said Hermione, who was at Harry's side. Buffy went to Harry's other side and patted him on the shoulder as they walked down the hallway.
"He's not like other boys at all," Buffy stated smilingly, "he's totally and completely one of the girls!"
Harry's smile turned into a glare as Ron and Mordred both burst into laughter as the two teams parted for their separate dorms.
On Friday, Harry, Buffy, Hermione and Ron were working on their homework and studying when Hermione spoke up a bit.
"You know Harry," she said, "maybe we should lay off the meetings, cut it down to once every two weeks? Exams are coming up very soon, and with some people practicing for Quidditch as well there's just not enough time for DA practices along with everything else. Not to mention Umbridge is looking for any excuse to expel you."
"I'll bring up the idea today during our practice," Harry replied, "but I don't think the others will want to cut it down that much. Not everyone there is a Fifth Year."
Indeed, when Hermione mentioned this idea to the others she was met with howls of protest from most of the people there. Mordred was beside himself with outrage, and he vocalised it the second Hermione was done speaking.
"Hey, we're in Fifth Year too, yah know," he said, "and as far as I'm concerned, this is the most important thing there is for everyone here!"
"He's right," said Neville, surprising even himself for speaking up, "the Death Eaters won't care how good our grades are when they try to attack us, so why should we put this on hold for something as trivial as grades?" The others nodded in agreement.
"We all want to pass our exams," said Ernie Macmillan, "but if we get killed before or after them then our grades won't mean anything to anyone."
"I have an idea," Dawn stated to Harry, "why don't you set up secondary leaders so that the DA can be done in small groups when there's no time to do it all together? That way, we all get the training we need to fight against the Death Eaters."
Harry agreed with Dawn and then used their enthusiasm to go over most of the spells they had been learning so far, getting each student to hone their skills against each other while he determined whom he would pick out as the secondary leaders. Even Cho got more involved in the practice. By the time they were all done, all of them were at least were able to do an acceptable Shield Charm, and their Jinxing, Hexing, and Curses ranged from very good to excellent in Harry's opinion.
During the weekend the Gryffindor and Slytherin Quidditch teams practiced on the Saturday while the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw teams practiced on the Sunday, with the non-practicing teams watching the practicing ones that they were going to face off against soon. Harry was snuck out during the Saturday night by the Slayers and Mordred to get to Gringotts with Lupin, there Mordred divvied up some of his loot to Harry's, Sirius' and Lupin's bank accounts before they went back to Hogwarts.
On the Monday, each Fifth Year had to attend a meeting during the day with their Head of House to discuss their future jobs when they got out of Hogwarts, and what types of N.E.W.T. courses they should take. When Mordred went off to his meeting during History class, Buffy tapped Harry on the shoulder to get his attention.
"What you should do is ask about becoming a teacher," she suggested to Harry as Professor Binns droned on in the background, "Since you're pretty good at teaching."
"But I already want to become an Auror," said Harry.
"Moody was offered the job and he was an Auror," said Buffy, "besides, Umbridge will flip out when you mention becoming a teacher."
"How do you know Umbridge will be there?" asked Harry, "I thought only the Head of House would be there?"
"It's just a hunch," said Buffy, "but my guess is Umbridge will be hovering around you and McGonagall when your interview happens, as she'll want to discourage you regardless of what you want to become."
During Potions class while Snape was shooting confused looks at Mordred, Buffy was called to McGonagall's office, whom she found sitting at her desk with a mound of paperwork in front of her. McGonagall began as soon as Buffy sat down.
"Well, Summers, this meeting is to talk over any career ideas you might have, and to help you decide which subjects you should continue into the sixth and seventh years," said McGonagall. "Have you had any thoughts about what you would like to do after you leave Hogwarts?"
"I was thinking of becoming a Vampire Hunter," said Buffy smoothly, even though it felt like a joke to say hunter instead of Slayer.
"You'd need top grades for that," said Professor McGonagall with a smile, extracting a small, dark leaflet from under the mass on her desk and opening it. "The Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures ask for a minimum of four N.E.W.T.s, and nothing under 'Exceeds Expectations' grade, I see." She then looked through her papers, looking for the requirements for a Vampire Hunter.
"Vampire Hunting may seem like a flashy job, especially since you're already a proficient Vampire Slayer," McGonagall said, "but it is a very difficult and sometimes thankless one for those who actually know what they're doing."
"Tell me about it," said Buffy under her breath.
"You'll need high marks in Defence Against the Dark Arts," said McGonagall, "and I would also advise Transfiguration, because Vampire Hunters sometimes need to Transfigure or Untransfigure at times. And I ought to tell you now, Summers, that I do not accept students into my N.E.W.T. classes unless they have achieved 'Exceeds Expectations' or higher at Ordinary Wizarding Level. I'd say you're averaging 'Acceptable' at the moment, so you'll need to put in some good hard work before the exams to stand a chance of continuing. Then you ought to do Charms, which are always useful, and Potions, as potions and antidotes are essential study for Vampire Hunters. And I must tell you that Professor Snape absolutely refuses to take students who get anything other than 'Outstanding' in their O.W.L.s, so if I were you I'd put a lot of extra work into his classes. Care of Magical Creatures, although helpful, remains an optional course although I'd suggest you don't slack it off as it does have some very useful techniques in dealing with aggressive creatures such as Vampires." McGonagall then looked directly at Buffy.
"I must warn you of the physical dangers as well as the mental ones. It's not always hunt and kill, as sometimes you have to just capture the Vampire in question for others to deal with. Although some people will reward you, not everyone is happy with Vampire Hunting, as the Society for the Tolerance of Vampires has been advocating that we leave them alone to their own businesses for quite some time now." Said McGonagall sternly. "I would advise you to concentrate hard on bringing your Transfiguration and Potions up to scratch. Your Charms and Care of Magical Creature marks are both in the 'Outstanding' section, so just keep doing well at both classes. As for Defence Against the Dark Arts, due to Professor Umbridge's style of teaching it seems that no one has really been graded yet, although I'm sure with a little practice you'll do well in the practical work. Do you have any questions?"
"How about catching Dark Wizards and criminals?" asked Buffy, "can I do that as well?"
"No, you're thinking Auror or Hit-Witch," said McGonagall, "which is done by the Magical Law Enforcement Squad. They ask for a minimum of five O.W.L.s each instead of four, including Defence Against the Dark Arts. They require that applicants be over 17 years of age and 'not of a nervous disposition'."
"Is it ok for me to apply for more than one job?" asked Buffy curiously.
"Yes it is ok," said McGonagall, "but I suggest that the jobs you apply for be related as taking too many courses has a tendency of breaking even the best of our students."
"Ok, thanks." Said Buffy, and she was sent out of McGonagall's office.
She managed to run into Faith after Potions, and told her what to expect if she applied for the same jobs Buffy had applied for. Faith thanked her as she went to Snape's office while Buffy went to Divination class. In Snape's office, Faith found Snape sitting at his desk looking over the papers that he had with him.
"Sit down, Lehane," he ordered with a whisper, "and tell me what you would like to become when after you leave Hogwarts."
"I was thinking of becoming a Hit-Witch as well as a Vampire Hunter," said Faith confidently. Snape sneered at her before answering.
"I see you like the idea of getting 700 Galleons a month, as well as the fame associated with Vampire Hunting," Snape said, "at least you seem to have an idea as to what you want to become, as opposed to your cousin Mordred." Snape then frowned before continuing.
"I suppose you have been talking to your cousin Buffy Summers?" Snape asked knowingly, "and have decided, that, due to you both being Slayers, that the job of Vampire Hunter will not only help keep your identity as a Slayer secret but also get you some extra money? Very ambitious of you." Snape gave a wry smile before continuing.
"You'll need high marks in Defence Against the Dark Arts," said Snape, "and I would also advise Potions, as potions and antidotes are essential study for Vampire Hunters. And I should warn you now, Lehane, that I do not accept students into my N.E.W.T. classes unless they have achieved 'Outstanding' in their O.W.L.s, although you and the other three members for your Triumvirate seem to be easily pulling in 'Outstanding' in Potions classes." He then shuffled some papers before continuing as Faith gulped.
"Transfiguration would be necessary as Vampire Hunters sometimes need to Transfigure or Untransfigure at times. Since you are averaging 'Acceptable' at the moment like your cousin Buffy, you'll need to put in some good hard work before the exams to stand a chance of continuing. Then you ought to do Charms, which are also useful, and Care of Magical Creatures, as it does have some very useful techniques in dealing with aggressive creatures such as Vampires." Snape then looked over Faith. Faith cleared her throat and then spoke up.
"Who else knows B and I are Slayers?" she asked. Snape sneered and rolled his eyes before answering.
"Key members of the Order know," he replied, "and your Slaying of many various creatures every night has gotten the attention of the Death Eaters, so they too know that there is a powerful person. They do not believe it's a Slayer, let alone two, yet, although it is only a matter of time before they do find out. Do you have any other questions?"
"Yeah, I do," Faith said, "how well do you think B and I will do against Death Eaters or Dark Wizards in general in a fight?"
"That depends on how surprised they'll be when you reveal yourselves," Snape said, "there is a certain group who has been trying to join the Death Eaters that know about you, but they're being very tight-lipped about it. The Dark Lord has other concerns at the moment that don't deal with extinct beings coming back to life, other than that I will not say. This concludes our meeting."
Faith thanked him and left, running into Harry as they both entered the Great Hall. He was smiling to himself as he walked over to Buffy, Hermione, and Ron.
"Thanks Buffy," he said to her as he sat down, "that was a brilliant idea you had."
"What happened?" asked Hermione curiously. Ron leaned in to listen as Harry whispered to them all about what happened.
"Well, after I told McGonagall and Umbridge that I wanted to become an Auror, Umbridge tried to shoot the idea down every way she could," Harry said, "from saying I have a criminal record, poor marks in her class, and other nasty things. Then, when I suggested becoming a teacher here in Hogwarts like you suggested I do, her entire head ballooned up and she began foaming at the mouth. It was incredible." He finished with a grin as the others smiled back at him. Only Hermione looked worried at what had happened.
"You do realize that this will only make her try harder to expel you?" she asked, but before Harry could answer Buffy interjected herself into the conversation.
"What with the so-called 'DM' coming about," Buffy said, "I think there'll be more on Umbridge's plate than she can handle. She's going to be a bit too busy to bother detaining Harry every night."
When they all got to DADA class Umbridge came in huffing and puffing as if she had run a race, and before she began class she drank some water that was on her table when she entered the classroom. She gave her false cough before beginning, but the moment she tried to speak she began really coughing. The small coughs progressed into larger ones, finally ending with her coughing so hard that she dropped to her knees and began whooping for air. One of the Slytherin students went to fetch the school nurse while the others looked at the pitcher of water that was on her table. Words began to appear under the Smiley Face on it as they all crowded around the table.
"Greetings from Development: Mayhem," the note read as Umbridge began coughing up blood and retching violently, "in appreciation for what you have done for us, we figured that you would prefer a nice drink while you read this. It has been said that a person can swallow a pint of blood before he or she gets sick, but that leads to one to wonder how much blood a person can spit up before they get sick? Is it a pint, two, or ten? So, in the name of experimentation, we've whipped up a brew to see how much of your own blood you can spit up for us and still remain conscious. It won't kill you, as that would be no fun at all and would ruin future experiments we have in store for you. However, it might just make blood ppour out of other holes that you already have, as this is an experiment and susceptible to mistakes. Thank you for being our main test subject (there will be others) and have a nice day."
Umbridge's nose and eyes began gushing red streams now as she began vomiting blood onto the floor, covering the ground and a few student's feet in dark crimson liquid. The nurse rushed into the class and Levitated Umbridge and the glass away with her to the hospital wing, leaving the class without a teacher.
Dawn had to go to Snape's office, so she wasn't able to see what else had transpired afterwards. She made a mental note to herself as she walked down the corridors to Snape's dungeon to ask Faith and Mordred about it. When she entered into Snape's office she found him sitting behind the table, waiting for her. When she sat down he asked her what she wanted to become after Hogwarts.
"Well," she said slowly, "I thought of, maybe, being an Auror."
"You'd need top grades for that," said Professor Snape, extracting a small, dark leaflet from under the notes on his and opening it. "They ask for a minimum of five N.E.W.T.s, and nothing under 'Exceeds Expectations' grade. Then you would be required to undergo a stringent series of character and aptitude tests at the Auror office. It's a difficult career path, Summers, as they only take the best. In fact, nobody has been taken on in the last three years. What do you know about it so far?"
"I know that I'll need Defence Against the Dark Arts," said Dawn, "as well as Transfiguration, because Aurors frequently need to Transfigure or Untransfigure on their work. And I'll need Charms, and your course in Potions as well, for potions and antidotes are very useful for Aurors. And I know that the character and aptitude tests at the Auror office will include the need to demonstrate the ability to react well to pressure and so forth with perseverance and dedication, because Auror training takes a further three years, not to mention very high skills in practical Defence. It will mean a lot more study even after I've left school, so that means I'll have to stick with it whatever happens." Snape smiled at her in a rare, warm way before answering.
"Very correct," he said, "from the sounds of it you seem to be more ready for it than most other people are even after three years of post-educational studies." He then leaned in close to her.
"Your ambition and cunning will do Slytherin proud," he said to her, "and they will both lead you to whatever successes you should envision for yourself. Do you have any questions?"
Before Dawn could answer, there was a loud rapping at the door. Professor Snape looked up as Draco poked his head in.
"Professor," he said breathlessly, "Madam Pomfrey needs your help. Headmistress Umbridge has been poisoned!"
Snape leapt to his feet and went to the door as Dawn waited until they were gone before going to the Slytherin Dungeon where she found Mordred and Faith going over their notes. Mordred was scribbling into some parchment various spells and potions he learned from his books as Faith looked up at Dawn.
"How'd the interview go D?" Faith asked curiously as Mordred finished up his scribbling and looked at Dawn.
"It went really well," said Dawn, "until Professor Snape had to be called away for Umbridge. What did you put in her drink anyways?"
"I modified one of the Weasley twins Nosebleed Nougats to cause all orifices to bleed instead of just the nose, and I mixed it with a Puking Pastille and Fever Fudge as well as the antidote to the Fainting Fancy. I also added some of the venom taken from Mr. Weasley, although I diluted it enough to keep her alive. The Fainting Fancy antidote will keep her awake for a long time, so she'll probably spend the rest of the night puking and bleeding. What do you think of it?"
"On any other person, I'd say it was really cruel," said Dawn, "but on Umbridge it's just the right thing. You sure it won't kill her?"
"Absolutely sure," Mordred said proudly, "all I have to do is feed her the antidote I made here, which I will do sometime tomorrow. You wait and see, as today marks the beginning of the reign of Development: Mayhem."