Disclaimer: Quoth the Raven, "JK Rowling."

Part of this chapter is quoted from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

A/N: I regret to inform you that I am going to have to scale back updates on Animagus at War to once per month for the foreseeable future. Real life has been interfering again, and I need to do this to free up time for my real job, to work on my original writing, and because I want to focus more on finishing the, frankly, better-developed Lady Archimedes. I do still intend to finish Animagus at War, but it may take a while to do so. I promise to inform you in the unfortunate event if I ever have to put it on hiatus entirely, but for the foreseeable future, Animagus at War will update on the first day of the month. I do hope to go back to a faster schedule eventually, but I don't know how long that may be.


Chapter 6

Harry and Hermione stopped short when they saw the notice on the bulletin board the next morning:

Gallons of Galleons!

Pocket money failing to keep pace with your outgoings?

Like to earn a little extra gold?

Contact Fred and George Weasley,

Gryffindor common room,

For simple, part-time, virtually painless jobs

(We regret that all work is undertaken at applicant's own risk.)

"Oh, I cannot believe them," Hermione said.

"I can," Harry replied. "This is totally something they'd do." But he ripped down the notice just the same. "I think I may regret asking Sirius to invest in their joke shop."

"C'mon, we'll see if we can talk to them at breakfast," she sighed, "and tell any firsties we see not to trust them."

Sure enough, the Weasley Twins were easily spotted at breakfast. Harry and Hermione took a page from their book and sat on either side of them. "We need to talk, boys," Hermione said.

The Twins looked back and forth between the two of them. "It seems we've attracted the prefects' attention on the first day, George," said Fred.

"Indubitably, Fred," said George. "That may be a record."

"Nah, Percy's still got them beat. So what do you want to talk about?"

"Interested in buying our products?"

"No, to talk about this notice," Harry said, holding up the parchment for them to see.

"You can't experiment on the first years!" Hermione said.

"Oi! We never said first years only," Fred protested.

"Yes, but everyone else in Gryffindor knows better," Harry said.

"Well, we're not experimenting on the first years anyway," George said.

"We experiment on ourselves," they said in unison.

"Yeah, right, then what do you need testers for?" Harry demanded.

"Oh, you know, calibrating dosages, making sure they work the same on everyone. We want to have quality products ready when it comes time to sell them."

"That sounds an awful lot like experimenting to me," Hermione said. "In the muggle world, we have rigorous safety standards for testing products like this. I'm sure there are standards for edible prank products in the magical world, too. You need to back up and do it properly."

"Yeah, and we know you've got the money, so you don't have an excuse there," Harry agreed. "If you call this off, I'll talk to Sirius about looking into the official rules."

Fred and George stared at each other for a moment and quickly whispered back and forth.

"Alright, then," Fred said grudgingly.

"You've got a deal," George finished.

"But don't think this means you're off the hook for pranks."

Harry rolled his eyes. After knowing Sirius and Remus for four years, pranks didn't scare him. Crisis averted, they went to their breakfast, interrupted only by a special announcement from Dumbledore.

"May I have you attention, please?" the Headmaster said. "As I mentioned last night, first year students will be given their wands in a special wand-matching ceremony this weekend. Mr. Ollivander will be set up here in the Great Hall between meals to sell wands. Students who wish to receive their wands in a public ceremony are asked to come today, and tomorrow morning if necessary. Those of you who wish to be matched to a wand in private will be able to do so tomorrow afternoon."

Harry and Hermione agreed that they would go in tomorrow to get their backup wands in private since they didn't want it widely known that they had them, but they would still watch the public part of the "ceremony" today. They hadn't had a lot of exposure to wand lore, and they thought they might be able to pick up a thing or two by watching Mr. Ollivander match a few more children.

Shortly after breakfast, the House Tables were cleared away, and a mess of tables and shelves were assembled into an approximation of the layout of Ollivander's shop right in the middle of the Hall—except more compacted. Instead of being in individual boxes, the wands were all laid out on the tables side by side and had little tags tied to them.

"Welcome to the Wand Matching," Ollivander announced to those who had stayed behind to watch. "This is a new ceremony, but similar to an old on in America. I'm told that in the American schools, students would just run their hands over the wands until they found the one that called to them, but I think we can speed that along a bit, don't you? Having a good wandmaker to help you makes it much easier to find the wand for you. Now, all Ollivander wands are made with one of three supreme magical substances…"

Ollivander spent some time expounding on his wands and the basics of wand lore. The first years seems enraptured by the fantastic description of magic. Finally, when he had finished extemporising, he called forth the first customer, and little Euan Abercrombie, the first new Gryffindor of the year, ran forward in excitement.

It took Ollivander three tries to find the wand for the boy. Euan waved it, producing a shower of golden sparks. "Aha! Poplar and phoenix feather, ten inches. Reasonably supple," Ollivander declared. "A fine wand for a fine young man. My own grandfather always said 'If you seek integrity, search first among the poplars.'"

Euan thanked Ollivander with wide eyes and ran back to his seat while the next student came forward. Harry and Hermione soon realised that Ollivander must have organised his wands in some way. He himself ran his fingers over them as he regarded each child, unlike how he worked in his shop. However, he always started in a different place on the shelves. Sometimes, when he didn't get a match with the first few wands, he would have the student come closer and run their hands over small batches of them, which usually took care of it. Harry and Hermione hadn't seen enough wands matched to know, but the Weasleys said it was going much faster than usual.

There was only one student who was a particularly difficult match, a strawberry blond girl named Margaret Munch, who was soft-spoken, but had nonetheless been Sorted into Gryffindor. Harry and Hermione took special note of her as her matching dragged on, remembering the significance of Harry's own wand matching. After Ollivander tried well over a dozen different types of wands with the girl, Old Coyote came forward to help.

"I think you may be barking up the wrong tree, Garrick," he said gently.

"Oh?" Ollivander sounded slightly offended. "And what tree do you think I should be barking up, Master Coyote?"

"I cannot be certain yet, but if you seek the answer, you need only ask." Old Coyote leaned close to Margaret and asked, "Where are you from, child?"

"Aberdeen, sir…but I was born in Scandinavia."

"Ah, of course!" Ollivander said. "I should have seen it. I should have been focusing more on non-native woods. Let's see." He looked her in the eye with a strange sort of stare. "Spruce!" he declared. A few moments later, had had a match for her: "Spruce and dragon heart string, twelve and a half inches, quite flexible."

Margaret waved it, and a fountain of multicoloured sparks shot out, startling her and making her jump back.

"Ah, yes, I thought that might happen," Ollivander said with a chuckle. "That's a tricky wand you have there, Miss Munch. You need great confidence, and above all, a steady hand to wield it well."

Margaret examined the wand in her hand warily, but after a minute's consideration, she tightened her grip around it and smiled. "Thank you, Mr. Ollivander, she said, and she returned to her friends in Gryffindor.


Harry and Hermione approached Ollivander the following afternoon, after all the first years had bought their wands. They weren't the only students to buy new wands of their own, although they didn't know if any of the others were buying backup wands like they were or just replacements.

"Ah, Lord Potter and Miss Granger," the wandmaker said. "What brings you to my temporary shop? Your wands are still working well, I hope?"

"Well, I made it through the Tetrawizard Tournament with mine, Mr. Ollivander," Harry said, "so I guess it's pretty good. But with Voldemort being back, both of us wanted to buy backup wands."

Ollivander cocked an eyebrow, but he eyed them carefully and soon nodded in understanding. "Quite understandable. But that is a bit complicated," he said. "Backup wands are tricky. They not only have to be compatible with you, but also with your first wands. Some wands don't like to share, and there isn't really anything you can do about that. You'll just never get as good results with another. And both of you have unusually strong matches, so it may be particularly difficult, but if you want to try it, I'll do the best I can to help you."

"We would, Mr. Ollivander," Harry said.

"Alright. Well, ladies first. Come here, Miss Granger."

Hermione stepped forward, and Ollivander measured her again with his enchanted tape measure. Old Coyote took particular interest in his work now, and Dumbledore also came to watch. Second wands were unusual and interesting sales for a wandmaker, so they wanted to see it personally. They watched as Ollivander offered Hermione wands of walnut, beech, and elm, but he found a surprise match for her in sycamore.

"Very interesting," he said. "I wouldn't have expected that if your first wand were beech or walnut, but as a complement to vine wood, it fits well." She gave him a questioning look. "You see, a sycamore wand is easily bored, Miss Granger," he continued. "It's not content to sit still, nor will it choose an owner who is. It always seeks to move forward and is eager for new experiences."

"Huh," Hermione said. Clearly, that wasn't what she was expecting.

"That sounds kind of like you, Mione," Harry offered. "I wouldn't have thought it was your strongest trait, though."

"Hm…maybe. I can see it, but…It's not what I thought I'd get."

Ollivander flashed a knowing smile and explained, "Wand often go in ways you don't expect. Remember, all the other aspects of a wand will influence the natural traits of the wood—the core, the length, and especially the flexibility. Secondary or hidden personality traits often come to the fore during a wand matching. Some people even I don't understand their match, but there is always a reason. Now, come here, Lord Potter, and let's see what new surprises you have in store."

For Harry, Ollivander remembered the difficulty of finding his first wand and skipped trying to match him himself and just had him run his fingers over the wands from the start. He focused on martial wands like aspen and blackthorn, but both he and Harry were surprised when a pear wood and unicorn hair wand jumped in Harry's hand with an odd twitch.

"Pear?" the wandmaker said, sounding genuinely surprised. "Pear…" He regarded Harry carefully with those piercing silver eyes. Harry couldn't help but think they looked a lot better on Luna. "Yes…I think I can see that in you. I told you a wand matching can bring out hidden traits, and that one is buried deep, but it's there."

"What do you mean, Mr. Ollivander?" Harry said. "What's so special about pear?"

"I don't describe many wands as 'stay-at-home wands', Lord Potter, but pear wood is perhaps the nearest to it. It speaks to people whose natures are often warm-hearted, generous, wise, certainly resilient, and dare I say incorruptible…But it is not a wand I expect to see in the hands of a warrior—though its owner can certainly fight when called to. It is much more a wand for a quiet life."

Harry frowned as he waved the wand a couple times. It worked well for him, but… "It doesn't feel right," he said.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked.

"It works, but…it's like it's not giving me the power I need," he said.

"It's not going to be the wand, Lord Potter," Ollivander said. "Pear wood is especially good at holding up to heavy use. Why, Arthur Weasley bought a pear wand from me thirty-four years ago, and it still looks practically as fine as the day I sold it to him. Hm…it may be the the wand's gentle nature is resisting your more aggressive personality."

Harry's eyes flashed at him. "The fact that I'm part of this war, you mean," he said. It was true, he had an aggressive streak from his feline side. The cat in its natural state was a flawless instrument of death in the sight of its prey, but he knew instinctively that that wasn't the reason. "I think…if I could be 'just Harry', I think it would be a good fit, but for the Chosen One, it's not," he reasoned. Somehow, he understood that the wand was calling to the part of him that truly wanted to settle down and live a quiet life—a desire that he didn't like to admit even to himself because it was just easier not to, and one he could never hope to attain until Voldemort was dead. Neither can live while the other survives, he thought.

Ollivander nodded in agreement. "I think I understand." He took the wand from Harry and put it in a place apart from all the others. "Lord Potter, this is quite unusual, but I am going to save this wand for you. I think that someday, when this war is over, this may yet be the wand for you. This is a very rare occurrence, understand. My grandfather did it for Headmaster Dumbledore. I've done it twice before in my own career: once for Minister for Magic Wilhelmina Tuft after she lost her wand in Grindelwald's War, and once for Lucius Malfoy, oddly enough." That didn't make Harry feel better, and it only made it worse when Ollivander thought for a minute and added, "Hm, now that I think of it, none of those three wands have ever been claimed."

"Er…they haven't?" Harry said uncomfortably.

"Well, Minister Tuft died in office," he said. "Lord Malfoy uses an heirloom wand, and the Headmaster…Albus, why haven't you ever claimed your reserved wand?" he asked, turning to Dumbledore.

"My current wand serves me just fine, Garrick," Dumbledore replied with a smile.

"Of course. A Gregorovich, isn't it? From Grindelwald's War? Well, no matter. Perhaps you will be the one to break the trend, Lord Potter. Now, let's find you a wand you can use now."

It took a while longer to do that. The backup wand Harry finally found was a "springy" cedar and phoenix feather one, which seemed to please Ollivander. "Yes, now that's what we're looking for," he said. "That is a wand for support for your main one, Lord Potter. Not as much of a complement—more of a subordinate, but it will serve you well. My father always said, 'You will never fool the cedar carrier.' They are most often paired with wizards with great instincts, and you certainly have that."

Harry nodded in agreement, feeling a lot better about this wand than the other one: "I can work with that."


Harry whistled when he saw the schedule for the first day of classes: "History, double Potions, Arithmancy, and double Defence. Gonna be a long day."

"Wishing you had a Skiving Snackbox now?" Fred asked.

"No," Hermione said. "Even if we were so inclined, Snape would never let us skive off, and we want to be there for the other classes."

"Yeah, I want to see what Mooney came up with this year," Harry agreed. "He spent all last year catching us up. We can finally have a real History class the way it was intended for once."

Hermione hummed her agreement before picking up a newspaper where, below the stories of the latest Death Eater sightings, the headline read, MUGGLE BOMB HITS YUGOSLAV MINISTRY FIELD OFFICE; FOUL PLAY SUSPECTED. Below that was another headline: EBOLA CONFIRMED AMONG BELGIAN MUGGLES; WHAT WILL THIS MEAN FOR WIZARDS?

"Trouble happening everywhere these days, isn't it?" Fred said darkly.

"I suppose," she said. "I don't think it's as bad as it sounds, though. The Ebola was only seen in aid workers returning from Zaire, and the bombing is in response to war crimes in muggle Bosnia. They're not really connected."

"I dunno," Ron said. "Dad's been saying there's a storm coming—like last time. Azkaban was just the start. And with You-Know-Who working with foreign wizards, it could get bad."

"Yes, but we've got foreign wizards on our side too, Ron," Harry said, trying to sound optimistic. "It can't be that bad, can it?"

"I dunno. I hope you're right, mate."

History class was with the Slytherins again, but Harry and Hermione weren't too worried, since they hadn't caused much trouble in this class last year. Indeed, Remus's lessons with the ghosts, which had revealed just how biased the pureblood view of magical history had become after the Statute of Secrecy, seemed to have really got them to think.

"Welcome to O.W.L.-level History," Remus greeted them. "I have to say I'm eager to teach this class properly for the first time, and I hope you are, too. Now that I've caught you up on A History of Magic as much as I could, it's time to move on and give you the citizenship education that all of us should have been getting for the past fifty years. This year, we will be studying magical history from Grindelwald's War to the present in the context of the current political and cultural state of Magical Britain. Along the way, we will also be studying other topics regarding how to be a good citizen of the wizarding world, including understanding the structure of our government and economic system, our rights as wizards, relations with other countries, and even how to manage personal finances. And yes, we will also be discussing current events in the context of government, politics, and history."

"Isn't this class supposed to be non-political, Professor?" Malfoy spoke up. It wasn't hard to guess that this kind of education wasn't particularly in the purebloods' interest, and probably not the Dark Lord's either.

"That is correct, Mr. Malfoy," he replied unreservedly. "We won't shy away from controversial topics in this class, including issues related to the war, but I will endeavour to address them in a neutral manner. Naturally, my own politics are no secret, as are many of yours, especially in this class, but I expect everyone here to be respectful of each other's points of view and, when the matter comes up, to back up your positions with reasoned arguments. If, after that, you feel I am being unfair in any way, you can take it up with your Head of House."

Malfoy and the other Slytherins looked wary—warier than they had during most of last year. To be honest, Harry and Hermione were, too. Despite Harry's efforts in the Wizengamot, they still weren't used to how the political discourse in the magical world still sounded like racist discourse from the mid-1800s sometimes, and even beyond that, it was a good guess that someone like Malfoy's true views on the war were outright seditious. The Wizengamot managed debates like this without devolving into honour duels, but the Wizengamot had decades of experience and no hotheaded muggle-borns in its ranks.

"Now, in many ways, the current political conflict has its roots in Grindelwald's War," Remus continued. "Today, Grindelwald is known mostly for his brutality and his use of dark magic. But you don't lead an army just by being a thug, even a very powerful thug. Grindelwald became who he was because of his ideology. We touched on this at the end of last term, but I want to explore how it has shaped the world since then. Does anyone remember what his ideology was? Miss Greengrass?"

"'For the Greater Good,'" Daphne answered.

"Not quite. That was his slogan, but it wasn't his philosophy. Mr. Zabini, what did Grindelwald consider to be the 'Greater Good'?"

"He wanted to take over the wizard and muggle worlds and rule over the muggles," Zabini said.

"Correct. More specifically, Grindelwald wanted to do away with the Statute of Secrecy. He believed that wizards should not hide themselves away from muggles. Instead, we should rule over them with our magic. And—this was the crucial point—he believed that both wizards and muggles would benefit as a result—muggles benefiting from magic, and we benefiting from the service of their greater numbers. When Headmaster Dumbledore defeated him, his ideas were pretty well discredited, but during the war they were attractive to many wizards, which is how he built his army so successfully."

"Was that a pureblood thing like today, Professor?" Dean Thomas asked, earning glares from the Slytherins.

"No, Mr. Thomas," Remus said. "It cut across those political lines, which is why Grindelwald was the most successful dark lord of this century. His philosophy was attractive to many different people for different reasons. There were those purebloods who feared muggles and wished to bring them to heel—that's a very old position that goes back to before the Statute of Secrecy itself. He attracted them easily. But there were also muggle-borns in his ranks—particularly German muggleborns—who felt that a closer relationship with the muggle world would raise their own status. Remember, this was before Britain's first muggle-born Minister, before the squibs' rights marches, before the liberalisation that the Knights of Walpurgis claimed to oppose. In the 1940s, discrimination based on blood status was considerably more overt than it is today. You can see how it would be an attractive notion for them as well.

"Of course, Grindelwald was opposed by many. Most of the wizarding world still wanted the Statute of Secrecy and still does today. MACUSA still had Rappaport's Law at the time, which was the strictest secrecy law passed by a major magical government in history. Even here in Britain, look at the names of the leaders allied against Grindelwald: Albus Dumbledore. Abraxas Malfoy." He looked pointedly at Draco. "Henry Potter." He turned to Harry. "Leonard Spencer-Moon, a half-blood who was good friends with the muggle Minister Churchill." He looked at Lily Moon. "Wilhelmina Tuft. Nobby Leach, who would become our first muggle-born Minister. Harfang and Callidora Longbottom. Victor Emmanuel Zabini, a defector from Grindelwald's forces—not a list you would expect to see today.

"I want to explore how this debate led into the issues that gripped the country after Grindelwald's War and ultimately created the climate that led to the rise of You-Know-Who in the seventies." Remus wasn't afraid to say Voldemort's name, but unlike Dumbledore, he was deferential to the comfort of his students and didn't say it in class, not least because he knew his job at the school was precarious. (Dumbledore was disappointed, but he didn't stop him.) "But I want you to remember these names as this year goes on—and not just for your marks—to remember just how much things can change in a generation."


Potions and Arithmancy were difficult, but uneventful. Snape was in a worse mood than usual, but given his status as a reactivated spy, Harry couldn't blame him. Since Snape had privately confided to him that he was absolutely on the side of the Light, he didn't take it personally.

Meanwhile, the other class that much of the school was eager for was Defence. It looked like they would be getting a double dose of Grindelwald's War this year, since Professor Grayson was an actual veteran of that war and had set a book on it for the reading.

Defence class was with the Ravenclaws this year, which was definitely better than the Slytherins. They had muggle-borns Terry Boot and Kevin Entwhistle; Mandy Brocklehurst, who was from a nominally-neutral family which had trended more pro-muggle in recent years; and no obvious pureblood bigots. Michael Corner was the most disagreeable of the bunch, and he was still basically alright.

Grayson started the class by writing the course title on the board, then turning to the students. "Defence Against the Dark Arts," he said, laying his Australian accent on thick. "It's a nice, feel-good name. Light and Dark. Good and Evil. It's a name that says you're fighting against evil, dark magic, and it's a name that says the magic you're learning is nice and good and wholesome. But the thing is, neither of those things is true!

"You can kill someone with Aguamenti by drowning them. A Hover Charm can kill if you drop something heavy on someone's head. Even a Cheering Charm, while it can't normally kill, if you put enough power behind it, you can make them laugh till they pass out. Very, very few spells, like the Patronus Charm and the Riddikulus Charm, are pure light; and plenty of dangerous or destructive magic isn't dark, even by the loosest of standards.

"Some people like to talk about magic being 'grey', but they're missing the point. Magic is magic, and bad people are going to use it to do bad things. My job is to teach you how to protect yourselves against them. That's why at Uluru and a lot of other schools, we just call it 'Defensive Magic'."

Su Li looked up at Professor Grayson with a very sour look on her face and cleared her throat. "But what good is that against You-Know-Who, Professor?" she demanded.

"You-Know-Who? It's not about Voldemort in particular, Miss Li," he said. Unlike Remus, he had no reservations about speaking Voldemort's name in class. "It's about defending yourself against any threat, large or small."

"But what good is that when he's still out there?"

Grayson titled his head. "I'm not sure I understand your question."

"My brother was murdered at Azkaban, Professor," Su said angrily. "He was burned to death by You-Know-Who's fire powers. No one could stop him, not even Dumbledore. How do we fight against that?"

Grayson leaned back a bit and nodded thoughtfully. Most people knew by now why Su was withdrawn and bitter this year, but it was a little jarring to see her take it out on a teacher. "You're right, Miss Li," he said, "there are situations you can't win…But you'll never get anywhere if you despair of that fact and don't fight to the very end. Voldemort can't be everywhere at once, and he'd be a fool to go up against an army alone. Yes, if you find yourself attacked by him alone, the best course of action, if you can, is to Apparate away very fast. But if you're with a hundred other half-decent duellists, that changes things. So that's how you fight against him.

"War is different from most situations where you'll use defensive magic," he spoke to the entire class now. "Most fights are like duelling with fewer rules—one on one, or at most a few on a few—and that's normally as far as your education would go. But in war, you have to be able to fight in large numbers and with complex strategy. More wars are won that way than with raw power. I've done that in my service against Grindelwald and just over a year ago in East Africa, and that is what I'm bringing to your education this year—or did you think I set Esterhazy's Memoirs for nothing? So yes, Miss Li, I do believe I can help you fight against Voldemort, but only as part of a larger force."

Su backed down and meekly nodded. The class could feel the power Grayson was radiating during his speech. They had heard he was as powerful as Dumbledore and quicker to use it, but not all of them believed it until they met him up close. However, in today's class, he didn't start by talking about large-scale strategy. Today was about the basic tactics of surviving a fight: shielding, dodging, and (even less commonly-addressed), finding cover. They didn't do much physical practice in the classroom, but he promised that they would be going outside for the next class and doing various drills throughout the year. It definitely looked like this would be the most hands-on Defence class they'd ever had.


Barty Crouch Junior (legal name David Monroe) easily weaved between the slower hexes of his sparring partner. "Come on, Gilly, you'll have to do better than that if you want to get by around here," he taunted.

"Stop calling me that!" Gilderoy Lockhart growled.

"Make me!"

Gilderoy Lockhart's normally-flawless hair was a mess, sticking out everywhere and flopping into his eyes. He was sweating and out of breath as he tried to land a hex on his tutor. Barty had been a year ahead of him at Hogwarts and at the top of his class, so he was the ideal choice—except for the fact that he was a slave-driver. "Okay," he panted. "Okay, I admit I'm out of practice—"

"You're not out of practice, Gilly," Barty sneered. "You were never in practice. I watched you in school. You were brilliant, but you never tried anything unless it was the easiest way or it made you look impressive. You can't do that in the service of the Dark Lord; you have to pull your weight." He dodged another pathetic salvo of jinxes, half of which fizzled on Gilderoy's wand. "Wow, did you actually forget everything you learnt in school except Memory Charms?"

"I've been in Azkaban!" Gilderoy snapped.

"So have a lot of people. You should consider yourself lucky. The Dark Lord could have asked Bellatrix to teach you."

Gilderoy shuddered and redoubled his efforts. His charms work might still be abysmal, but he wasn't going anywhere near that woman if he could help it.


The rank-and-file Aurors had not yet had much contact with the muggle government, despite the need for magical protection of the Royal Family, the Prime Minister, and other top muggle officials. However, thanks to Prime Minister Major's proactive moves, it was a lot easier for members of the magical community to get in contact with the muggle government, which still generally considered them the Queen's loyal subjects.

Of course, it was still difficult to get in touch with the Royal Court Magician, but Tonks had connections, and it was time to use them. The Ministry was on high alert, and after Azkaban, she decided she personally needed to step up her game, so here she was.

"Auror 'Tonks, no really, just Tonks' to see you, sir," she was introduced by the butler in Maxwell Barnett's sitting room. A human butler! She didn't think she'd ever seen one in person before.

"Good morning, Auror," Barnett greeted her. "I must admit this is a surprise. How may I help you?"

"Harry Potter referred me to you, Master Barnett," she said. "I need to learn Occlumency."