~Auror Understudy Scorecards~
~Some Months Later~
'Well, now all we do is wait, right?' Ron asked for about the hundredth time.
'Yes Ron.' Hermione hissed. 'Would you stop, your making me nervous.'
'Yeah I can tell, your hair is graying!'
'RON!' Mrs. Weasley bellowed.
Harry sat in stiff silence. He hadn't said anything in the last hour. They were sitting in the Grimmauld Place kitchen, awaiting the return of Moody and Tonks.
'I think he's standing outside the doorway just to make us more anxious.' Ron gritted his teeth. Sirius smiled.
'I wouldn't be surprised.'
At that statement, Ron's eyes went wide and he ran upstairs.
'He's actually looking!' Hermione cried in amazement, going after him.
'And so is she.' Remus laughed. 'Are you going too Harry?'
'Err, no.'
'You look pale, Harry.' Mrs. Weasley fussed.
'He's nervous, Molly.' Sirius stated. 'Its natural.'
Ron and Hermione came barreling down the stairs looking agitated.
'He wasn't there!' Ron breathed, sitting down heavily. Harry couldn't help but crack a smile.
'Why don't the three of you go outside and get some fresh air?' Mrs. Weasley suggested.
'And miss our Auror reports?' Ron nearly bellowed.
'We'll give them to you when you arrive, that is if you're gone long enough. I don't want you coming back every five minutes to see if they've come yet.'
'All right.' Ron sighed. Harry stood. They exited out the back door of the upper level and walked around the block.
'I can't believe this!' Ron hissed, clenching his fists. 'I know they know our scores already!'
'How could they?' Hermione stated firmly, though her own expression was nervous, and Harry could have swore she was continuously glancing backward at the house, though it was gone from sight due to the charm around it.
'Because that's how mum and dad are.'
'I think Hermione's right, Ron.' Harry stated, the first time he'd spoken with them present.
'Easy for the two of you to say! You both probably passed with flying colors! Me on the other hand-' he gulped. 'I probably failed everything.'
'Don't be stupid Ron. You did just fine.'
'But still, Hermione!' he argued. 'I don't want to know I made it just by the skin of my teeth either.'
'At least you'll have made it!' she stated. 'Isn't that what matters in the end?'
There were a few auditory snaps behind them. All three of them turned.
'They're back!' Ron howled.
'All right, lets just make our way back calmly and-Ron! RON!' Hermione yelled, but he had already sprinted half way up the walk.
'You have them?' he cried breathlessly, reaching the small group in what Harry might have considered record time.
Moody smiled knowingly, with a wink at Harry. All his nerves settled at the knowledge that they all had to have passed.
'I do, young Mr. Weasley. But your parents get to see them first.'
'WHAT?' Ron bellowed.
'Yes, that's right. Except for Miss Granger here. Seeing as to hers are absent, she gets the pleasure of seeing hers first.'
'That's not fair!' Ron argued.
'Oh come off it! You probably did better than I did!'
She worked on opening hers, trying to be gentle about it, but Harry saw how her hands shook as she worked on breaking the seal.
'And Mr. Potter, I'm afraid I have to hand this off to your godfather before you get to see it.'
Harry nodded.
'Very well sir.'
'Good man.' Moody growled, and shuffled in. The rest of them following in his shadow.
'The reports are here! As well as the kids!' Tonks announced cheerily.
'You have Weasley to thank for that. Heard him shouting down the road I did.'
Ron blushed noticeably. Hermione was smiling over her reports.
'Well, let me see!' Harry whispered as Sirius was opening his own.
The Auror Understudy Scorecards were rated as such: There were a possible of ten grand points one could earn on each level based upon performance, cunning, stealth, speed, and overall handling of the situation presented to them, also called the H.O.S. rating. Along with that, there were ten different obstacles in which an Understudy was faced with where they would earn such ratings. No two obstacles were the same, no two levels were the same. That was just the way it went. It made the judging more interesting, and kept the Understudy on their toes, which was a grand part of what being an Auror was about.
Harry looked over Hermione's scorecard with sudden fearfulness. She'd received mostly nine's, and only one ten. That had been in charming. Harry hadn't known what she'd faced in that level, but didn't bother to ask. His eyes went up to see Moody and Sirius talking over his Scorecard. Remus had stuck his head in, both of his eyebrows raising. Harry suddenly felt his stomach drop. That was either really good, or really bad.
'WHAT!' he suddenly heard Ron bellow, his head hovering over his mother's shoulder. 'I got a five on my H.O.S. on the second obstacle!'
Moody smiled.
'Yes well, you did set yourself on fire in a panicked attempt to get away from the giant spider which, if you would have taken the time to notice, was only a boggart.'
Ron blushed, then turned slightly red in anger. Whether it was at Moody or himself, Harry couldn't say. Harry himself had thought he'd done quite well on his second obstacle. He'd faced a Dementor and had created a rather spectacular Patronus. When the Dementor had split into more, he'd also been able to do so to his Patronus. A neat trick he'd taught himself once, but had never been able to show Remus, the man who had originally taught him to make a Patronus to begin with.
'Potter did exceptionally well on that one.' Moody stated, more out of his own pleasure than to embarrass Ron, though Harry was certain a rather venomous glance had been cast his way from behind Mrs. Weasley. 'That trick you did with the Patronus was also quite startling.'
'What was that?' Remus asked, his eyes lighting up at the mention.
'Well, Potter also faced a boggart. When it turned into a Dementor, of course, the judges were thinking of maybe putting him through another run with something else. But Potter handled it just fine. What surprised me is that we had more than one boggart in there wanting to get a piece of him. When five of 'em started up, the judges started to close down, but Potter just smiled. Put his wand down, folded his hands together then pulled 'em apart, and the Patronus split! Right in two! The judges were absolutely astounded! Gave him some nice comments too.'
There were a few admirable looks glanced in Harry's direction. He felt the head rush to his face and turned to look at Sirius.
'So, how bad did I do?'
'BAD?' Moody growled. 'Bad? Potter you set the record!'
Sirius stood and placed the Scorecard in Harry's hand. His godfather leaned forward and whispered in his ear, though he comprehended little of it. He was looking down a row of complete tens and added comments of praise and satisfaction. Harry was left speechless. His godfather's arm wrapped tightly around his shoulders, beaming with pride.
