* ~ The Eighth Year Universe Series ~ *
PART FOUR
Brave New World
Chapter 6: The Auror Training Selection Process
"Are you nervous?"
Draco shuffled from one foot onto the other and looked up at his friends as they waited in line in a large grey foyer, "We all are, aren't we? War heroes or not."
Neville nodded as they all took a step forward. They had been waiting in line for about ten minutes with everyone else who would be going through the Auror selection process today.
"I didn't think there would be this many people," Theo admitted.
Harry glanced around the foyer thoughtfully, "Neither did I, but I suppose that this is the hard bit. A lot of people can get the required grades, but not everyone can prove they can handle the pressure."
Draco swallowed harder than he needed to and nodded as they all took another step forward. They were almost at the front of the cue now, "Yeah, there isn't even any guarantee that all four of us are going to meet the mark."
"Try to stop worrying," Harry said quietly, "If you doubt yourself, then they're going to doubt you too. We all know you can do this, and I think deep down you do too."
Before Draco could comment any further on this, they had reached the front of the line, and he was the first to walk forward. He gave his name and his date of birth, then he was given a badge and told to head into the lecture hall down the corridor. As Draco walked away, Harry, Neville and Theo each stepped forward and were given name badges and told the same thing.
They filed into the lecture hall one by one. Draco had saved seats in the front row, everyone who had come in before them had instinctively opted for the back or middle row, and they had been towards the end of the line. Nobody in the hall was talking; they were all sitting in uncomfortable silence as they looked around for any sign of the people who could become their superiors.
After Theo had taken his seat, the main door to the hall slammed shut, making some people in the back row jump. Harry resisted the urge to roll his eyes as a side door at the front of the room opened and two men clad in Auror robes walked in.
"Good morning!" One of the men boomed. He was tall and stocky with greying black hair and a somewhat intimidating scar across his face. The other Auror was a man with dark brown hair who looked a little younger, scrawnier and shorter than his colleague.
"My name is Auror Sumner, and this is my colleague, Auror Sheppard," Sumner continued in his loud, clear voice, "And I would like to welcome you all to our selection process."
Sheppard stepped forward and continued, "Over the course of the next 48 hours, you will be put through your paces. If you don't come out of this weekend feeling black and blue, then we consider ourselves to have failed you."
"We want the best," Sumner added, "We don't get the best by giving you written tests and looking at your grades. We push people to their limits, and the ones who don't break are the ones we want."
Sheppard surveyed the room full of people, "Normally about fifteen candidates get to this stage, and we then cut that number down to five."
"But we've had a war since then," Sumner said, "So we loosened up our entry requirements last year, and we extended that offer this year. Last year we had 33 people throw their hats into the ring and war heroes or not; we only took on eight of them."
"This year, there are 34 of you," Sheppard continued, "And we'll be surprised if we take on double figures. Auror training in this country is the hardest to get into throughout Europe, and there's a reason for that. The people who are selected after this weekend will become responsible for the security of our country. They are going to be the ones fighting the next Grindelwald or the next Voldemort. That is not something that we take lightly, it's hard for a reason, and if you can't hack it now, then you'll never be able to hack it."
"With that being said, does anyone want to leave?" Sumner asked.
Harry turned around and looked at those in the rows behind. There was some shuffling, but nobody moved from their seats.
"Good," Sumner said as he clapped his hands together, "Right then, let me explain to you how we're going to do this. We are going to split you into two groups and test you on three different areas that are essential in our line of work."
"Those three areas are your physical abilities, your magical abilities and your mental capabilities," Sheppard said as he ticked each one off on his fingers, "We'll be testing your physical and magical abilities today, then we give you a night to recover before we test your mental capabilities tomorrow."
"We used to test candidates on all three in one day," Sumner added, "But we had too many candidates passing out by the time we got to the final set of tests, so we decided to change the formula a little bit."
"That doesn't mean any of this is any easier, though," Sheppard reminded them.
Sumner nodded, "So everyone in the front row is going to be in group one with me. You six in the middle row there, you're with me too."
"The back row and the rest of the middle row," Sheppard addressed, "You're going to be in group two with me."
"No more chit-chat!" Sumner said, "I want you on your feet. My group first, follow me, and we'll get started."
The front row and half of the middle row got up and followed Sumner out of the room by the side door. They emerged into a grey corridor that looked reasonably similar to every other grey corridor in the Auror training complex, and they were led along it for a little while. They passed various classrooms on the way, and eventually, they seemed to reach their destination; it looked like a hospital waiting area.
The grey walls had become white, and the room was filled with uncomfortable looking armchairs. At the far end of the room, a series of doors were labelled as "Testing Room 1" through to "Testing Room 5".
"Alright, listen up!" Sumner called in his loud, booming voice.
The room instantly fell silent, "As you can see, we have five testing rooms. We're going to test you on both your physical and magical ability, five candidates at a time. Each candidate will be assessed by a Senior Auror like myself and by a standard red robe. You won't see the Aurors assessing you but trust me; they can see your every move, so they will know if you try to cheat. Like many things in the wizarding world, these testing rooms are a lot bigger on the inside than they look on the outside. Once you go through that door, you will progress through a series of rooms. There is no time limit, and each room has a plaque that tells you what is expected of you. My best piece of advice is, read those plaques very carefully and ensure you understand exactly what is required of you before you start the task. Is that understood?"
There was a mumble of "Yes" and a series of nods.
Sumner continued, "Good. Now here is the crucial part, we have a different way of scoring each room, but every room that you are going to face today can be failed. If you fail a room, the Aurors assessing you will announce this, and you will be asked to leave. You will not get to proceed any further in the process, and only those of you who are left will be assessed on your mental capabilities tomorrow. Is that clear?"
There was another series of nods and mumbles.
"Right then, let's get started!" Sumner barked, "When I call your name and your door number, I want you to stand in front of your door, but I do not want you to enter that door until I say so!"
He clicked his fingers, and a list appeared in front of him.
"Agnew, Johnathon: Door 1.
Black, Draco: Door 2.
Carmichael, Eddie: Door 3.
Flanagan, Roisin: Door 4.
Harper, Maxwell: Door 5."
Draco looked incredibly pale as he took his place in front of the door to testing room number 2. Lined up with him were another three men (Maxwell had been a seventh year Slytherin that they vaguely knew) and a mousy, scared-looking woman.
"On the count of 3, you will enter the room, and your test will begin," Sumner informed them, "3…2…1!"
* ~ TBC ~ *