Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter
Author's note: Harry's POV. Hope ya'll like this. It was inspired by an Instagram post actually, about how Harry would make a great professor, and I just couldn't get the idea out of my head. So here it is! :D I hope you like it. Enjoy and please review. I'd appreciate it.
Verity, I know you love Professor!Harry AU and you were the one encouraged me to write this, so I really hope you enjoy it and thanks for the support :)
Liz, thanks for beta reading :) Love you.
You are never too old so set another goal, or to dream another dream.
Harry and Ron stood at the foot of the bed, watching the healer press her fingertips to the young man's neck.
"He's gone."
Harry's hands tightened around the bedpost, his knuckles white. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ron, whose hair seemed to blaze even redder than usual, and whose eyes were flashing with anger.
Jake Tibet. A young and enthusiastic Auror cadet. He'd been begging to go on a mission with Harry and Ron for ages now. After graduating the academy last month, he'd been constantly asking the head Aurors about upcoming missions he could possibly tag along on. And finally, Harry and Ron had decided to let him come.
It was a routine mission. Nobody should've been hurt. But something had gone wrong. Harry, Ron, Jake, and two other Aurors had gone to an old, abandoned Death Eater home that had recently been discovered. It seemed that the many protective enchantments cast on the home by the inhabitant, who was now imprisoned in Azkaban, had finally faded and allowed the Aurors to find it and investigate.
They had cast multiple spells on the building to make sure it was safe to enter, but there must've been some spell they hadn't known about, for the moment they crossed the threshold of the front door, the floor had begun to shake. The ceiling had started trembling, and Harry and Ron called for their team to fall back. But Jake had been too eager for his own good, jumping to the lead of the group, so that when Harry and Ron called to him, he wasn't able to get out in time. He had been trapped by rubble and even with the four Aurors working to clear the rubble, he was buried and away from medical help far too long than was safe.
Once they had arrived at St. Mungo's, the healers had begun tending to him immediately, but it was already too late. One of his lungs had been punctured, his leg was twisted at an odd angle and cut, and a sheet of metal had been driven through his side. With the immense amount of blood loss from his leg and side and the damage to his lung, even the head healer wasn't able to do anything.
Harry and Ron exchanged a grim look. They had both experienced the pain of losing people more times than they could imagine, but they had never lost an apprentice. A student.
Harry wondered if this was how his old teachers like Dumbledore and McGonagall had felt when they had lost students to the war.
As he looked back at the pale face of the boy, a mere twenty-three years old, now being covered with a thin sheet, he started to wonder: is this really what he wanted for the rest of his life?
A week later, Harry and Ron sat in Ron's basement, drinking Firewhisky.
"What would you do?" Harry asked, a few minutes silence having passed since one of them had last spoken.
Ron shrugged. "I'm not really sure honestly. Maybe work full-time for George? I do love that place, full of cheer and life. It's so different from what we do now. But if I changed careers, that leaves Hermione then being the main worker of the family."
Harry laughed. "Ron, she's just under Kingsley and probably on her way to being the Minister one day. I think she's already the main worker."
Ron laughed too. "You're right," he said. "And I love being at the shop on the weekends. It's so nice, you know? Always hearing people laugh and joking around, seeing smiles everywhere, it's nice to see people living their lives. Kids getting to be kids; not having to live how – well – how we lived."
Harry nodded.
"What would you do?" Ron asked after a moment.
Harry gave Ron his own half-shrug. "Well, I haven't thought about it much yet, but Professor McGonagall did mention to me the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher a few weeks ago."
Ron straightened, his face serious. "You should do it, mate."
Harry snorted. "No, I'd be rubbish at it," he said before taking another drink.
"Harry," Ron sighed, rolling his eyes. "Don't remember our fifth year?"
"No, actually, I remember it very well," Harry said sarcastically, raising his left hand and gesturing at the scars that still lay on the back. A hint of grief triggered his heart for a moment as he thought of Sirius, but he brushed it away and focused on Ron again.
Ron rolled his eyes again. "I mean the DA, Harry! You were a great teacher. The kids in that group learned more from you than they probably had in their entire school career. I mean, you taught us Patronuses, Harry. Only a really great teacher like you could do that. And Remus too, of course."
Harry thought. He had enjoyed teaching the DA, despite how reluctant he had been when Hermione had first come up with the idea. It had given him a sense of purpose.
The next day, Harry sent a letter to Professor McGonagall, asking her if the position of DADA teacher was still open. She replied later that evening, the letter containing her utmost pleasure at the prospect of teaching alongside him. Although, the letter also bore an intense warning that Harry was not to think he could get away with visiting Chambers or forming exclusive defense groups.
Harry joined Ron later at the Ministry outside Kingsley's office door and knocked.
"Come in," the Minister's deep voice replied.
Harry turned the handle and he and Ron entered.
"Kingsley, can we talk to about something?" Harry asked. The two Aurors stood side by side in front of Kingsley's desk as the Minister looked at them with a curious expression.
"Yes, what is it?" he asked, without any preempt.
Harry took a deep breath, biting the corner of his lip. This was harder than he thought it would be, but Ron, sensing his friend's hesitation, started to speak for him.
"We're resigning from the Auror department."
Kingsley dropped the quill onto the desk in shock. "Repeat that, Ron," he said.
"We're resigning, Kingsley," Harry said, finally finding his voice. "Neither of us have the strength to do this anymore. We talked it over and we had enough of the dark-wizard-hunting and almost-dying-every-day stuff when we were seventeen. And it's not just seeing ourselves and each other get hurt every other day; it's seeing things happen like what happened to Jake all the time."
Kingsley looked at them as Harry finished speaking. "I'll admit I'm surprised," he said finally. "But I understand."
Harry blinked. "You do? But I thought you'd be ––"
"Angry?" Kingsley interrupted. "Irritated? Upset?"
Harry nodded.
The Minister shook his head as he stood up and approached them, leaning on the desk. "No, Harry, Ron. I'm not angry or upset with either of you. Listen, I was an a Auror for longer than I can remember, and it took a toll. That's one of the main reasons I took the position of Minister; I wanted off the field." He paused, and then nodded, as though to himself.
"Do you know what you'll do?" he asked.
Harry and Ron nodded.
"I'll start working full-time with George at the shop," Ron said. "With Fred and little Roxanne on the way, Angelina can only help out so much."
"And Professor McGonagall contacted me a few weeks ago," Harry said. "She said with the new term starting soon, they need a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher." Harry shrugged. "The position's still open. I figured what else could be better than helping kids like us who might one day have to face something terrible. Hopefully they won't, but maybe I can prepare them better than how we were prepared."
"You can't be worse than Lockhart," Ron muttered.
Harry and Kingsley both laughed.
"Well," Kingsley began. "I am sorry to see you both go, but I want you to be happy with what you're doing, so I will support you in any way I can; you will both be receiving full pensions, and of course, you're both welcome back any time."
Harry smiled. "Thank you, Kingsley." He held out his hand and shook with Kingsley, then Ron did the same.
Ron laughed. "See you Sunday for dinner at my parents' place?"
Kingsley laughed deeply. "Certainly. Good luck, boys."
Harry and Ron nodded again and excused themselves.