Iris tapped her wand on a panel in the wall behind Percival's desk, revealing a hidden cabinet she'd charmed about a week earlier. Inside she had stored phials containing memories. Some of them were hers, but most were from other people who held vital bits of information regarding cases. Reaching inside, she pulled out one that had been sitting near the back labeled 'Officer Training Finals- 1911'. It was rare she ever delved into her own memories, but lately she found herself looking back to the past, searching for guidance for the days to come.
Her new position as the DMLE had become highly conflicting, and it was looking as though Piquery was going to make the appointment permanent. Ever since the news surfaced that Percival was found, many questions and rumors had begun circling about his possible involvement in Grindelwald's plans. Everyone on the outside of the situation had an opinion, which they strongly voiced through the news and in Congress. Gindelwald certainly had made an example of him… one that grew more and more dangerous with every passing day.
Soon Percival would wake up in a world where he was a suspect and thought of as much worse. Iris also knew that the moment he woke, she would have to review his memories and judge him based on what she saw. It was an impossible position to be in, especially if she actually found something incriminating.
Iris took out the pensieve from the bottom shelf and placed it on her desk. Taking off the stopper from the phial, she emptied it into the shallow dish and watched the glowing silvery threads spread and swirl in the viscous water before leaning down and falling into the memory that would take her back 15 years.
The dueling hall at the MACUSA Officer Training Academy formed around her out of billowing clouds of silver mist. All the trainees had been gathered to begin their first round of final assessments to determine class ranking. MACUSA's grading was based combination of three scores: dueling skills, a written examination, and a grueling flying course. Officer training at MACUSA was fast drawing to a close and the dueling examinations had already begun.
"Up next is Samael Yannis and Iris Faeborn," the referee called out, looking up from his clipboard to spot the two in the large crowd of wizards. There was movement from both the left and right sides of the large arena as they respectively made their way through the crowd. Yannis was getting encouraging pats on the back and cheers from the overwhelmingly male crowd while Iris, on the other hand, was avoided like the plague. Yannis had a lot of old schoolmates and fans whereas, being a female, Iris was more of an oddity to be gawked at rather than admired.
"Look, look! The Fairy Princess is going up next," sniggered Rowley as he nudged his friends and pointed out Iris who was ascending the stairs. "Is she wearing heels?"
"Someone should have told Her Highness this isn't a ball," laughed the young man nearest Rowley.
Iris kept her head held high and pretended ignore them. Even though she wished to shoot Rowley and his friends a scathing glare, this was not nearly the time for it. Besides, it wasn't anything she hadn't heard before and she wasn't going to let them distract her. This was her chance to earn top marks and show the MACUSA academy instructors exactly what she could do. If she could earn the highest rank in the class, they could not ignore her application for Auror status. It wasn't any secret that, at the time, MACUSA's witch to wizard ratio had been sorely lacking in the DMLE. And Iris was determined to be the exception to the trend.
The wizards carried on with their jokes until a confident voice cut through the group's cruel laughing.
"I'll bet you ten Galleons Faeborn wins."
Rowley turned to see Percival Graves staring back at him with his usual businesslike air. Even in his worn-in robes, Graves cut an impressive figure. Rowley wanted so badly to comment that Percival didn't have two sickles to rub together, but thought better of it. He didn't want to be hexed into next Tuesday, after all.
"Against Yannis?" Asked Rowley, looking up at the burley wizard on the other side of the dueling platform. If the wizard's meat-and-potatoes build was any indication of skill, Iris had more than her work cut out for her. "Fine by me. It's your funeral, buddy."
"More like her funeral," replied one of Rowley's cronies before breaking out into hyena-like laughter.
"Anyone else want in?" Inquired Graves, coolly.
A few heads nodded and a couple hands went up, all of them betting against Iris and potentially digging Percival deeper and deeper into debt. Outwardly, he appeared unflappable, though, on the inside, he was beginning to sweat. So much for standing up for the little guy (or in this case girl), he thought.
"Wands at the ready!" Called the referee.
Percival watched intently as the two opponents saluted one another and took their dueling stances. Iris held her wand out, her other hand hovering near her face as a guard- a sign to Percival that maybe she knew a bit of wandless magic. On the other side of the platform, Yannis rooted himself to the ground in a firm, intimidating stance, looking much like a Wamping Willow about to pummel Iris into the ground. Percival silently grit his teeth.
"BEGIN!" Cried the referee, loud enough to startle half the room.
Yannis attacked first, sending a Stinging Jinx right at Iris's face. With a step to the side and a slight tip of her shoulder, the jinx sailed right past her. Iris's counterattack was swift and merciless as she sent a rapid stream of icicles shooting at him from the tip of her wand. Surprised by her quickness, Yannis threw up his shield charm a bit too late, unable to stop several shards of ice from stabbing into his foot.
With a pained and angry howl, Yannis threw down his shield charm and bombarded Iris with several nasty, explosive curses. Each one was increasingly stronger than the next as he pressed her. Despite his strength, Iris held her ground, defusing each of his curses with a counter curse of her own. She could hear Rowley and his friends yell from below, cheering Yannis on as the wizard continued his rage fueled attack.
Finally having had enough of the lug's tantrum, Iris reached out with her left hand and made a firm grabbing then pulling motion. Then, as if a rug had been ripped out from under him, Yannis became airborne before being slammed down onto the mat. An audible gasp filled the room.
Coughing and gasping for air, Yannis sat up in a daze and pointed his wand at her in a desperate attempt to save the match. He shot two more ill aimed curses at Iris who deflected them effortlessly before disarming him. Realizing he was utterly defeated, Yannis slumped back down onto the mat. The sight of the platinum haired witch standing over him holding both wands in her hand brought the trainees to their feet. The duel had a clear winner.
Percival grinned triumphantly, joining the crowd in giving her a hand. He thought she would win, but he had no idea by how wide a margin. She'd never shown so much proficiency in training- clearly, that was merely her strategy. It was clear to him now that she was definitely stiff competition. Percival, however, was more intrigued than intimidated by this notion.
Percival turned to Rowley and his group of friends then, barely hiding his smugness.
"I believe you owe me some money, gentlemen," he told them.
Each wizard begrudgingly dug into their pockets and coughed up ten galleons a piece for him.
Meanwhile, Iris made her way off the platform and stopped in front of Rowley and his friends on her way to the judges.
"Not bad for a fairy princess in heels," she told them, her gaze sharp. She then cast Percival a very disapproving glance. He could feel himself begin to cringe beneath it.
"Enjoy your money, Mr. Graves," she told him before passing by him.
Hurrying to catch up, he said, "Forgive me Miss. Faeborn, I didn't mean to single you out."
He was smooth, but Iris wasn't buying it. She kept her eyes forwards, her jaw tightened in indignation. All she wanted to do was receive her scores without any further embarrassment.
"It's a little late for that isn't it?" she muttered hotly, before quickly pushing forwards and loosing him in the crowd.
Percival slowed his pace and let her go. He really didn't mean to insult her. He was just trying to teach Rowley and his gang a lesson. It was then that he decided he was going to find a way to apologize to her.
Iris on the other hand was determined to steer clear of Graves for the rest of her time at the academy. Though never having officially met, she knew who the devilishly dashing Percival Graves was. Practically everyone did. He graduated from Ilvermorny top of his class, was the prefect of Wampus Cat House, mastered wandless magic in his seventh year, and won first place for his team in the Cross-Country Flying League. In short, Percival Graves was a wizard destined for great things.
She on other hand was only known for being the History of Magic professor's daughter. A nobody with a whole lot to prove. Still, she wasn't going to let old schoolyard politics deter her from getting what she wanted. Iris was there to do one thing and one thing only: score top of her class and become the first female Auror assigned to the Investigative Team straight out of the academy. Not even Mr. Perfect Percival Graves was going to stand in her way.
The dueling hall filled with silver smoke, obscuring the crowed, Percival, and Iris.
AN: Favor Follow Review! I'm still alive and writing! Thank you for hanging in there with me 3
