“Come in,” sounded Professor McGonagall’s sharp voice. Hermione pushed the door open tentatively, she always found herself intimidated when the Transfiguration teacher spoke. “Ms. Granger, thank you for your prompt arrival. Please take a seat.” McGonagall pushed a large pile of homework to one side, and instead pulled several leaflets and a piece of parchment towards her. “Now, when we conducted your careers interview two years ago you hadn’t really settled on an occupation. Has this changed any?” the deputy headmistress looked up from the piece of paper she’d been reading.
“Not really, I’m still not sure,” Hermione complained.
“I see. What do you feel your strongest subjects are?”
“Well, my favourites are Defence Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, and Ancient Runes…”
“Lets start with the options that those three leave open for you. Obviously, with the collection of subjects that you are taking, there is the opportunity as an Auror,” McGonagall suggested.
“I don’t think that’s what I want to do. Once everything with Voldemort is finished I’d rather do something different, I suppose that probably sounds a bit silly.”
“Not at all, Ms. Granger, it sounds like a very sensible idea. Your subject combination would also allow you to pursue a career in Curse Breaking, you are well acquainted with Bill Weasley, aren’t you?” she asked with just a hint of a knowing smile.
“Yes,” Hermione blushed for no real reason. “But I don’t think that Curse Breaking is for me either, I’d much rather spend my time at home,” she blushed again when some of the plans she had made with Ron came back to her mind.
“I understand. There’s also healing, certainly your research skills would be a great deal of use to the Spell Damage ward at St. Mungo’s,” McGonagall recommended.
“That sounds good!” Hermione replied enthusiastically.
“I can provide you with more information on that.” The teacher handed her a lime green leaflet. “I also understand from Professor Weasley that you would perhaps be interested in a position with the Office of House-Elf Relocation?”
“I would certainly be interested in any career where I can stop the appalling treatment of house-elves,” Hermione nodded eagerly.
“Well, a station within this office would certainly give you some control over where house-elves are relocated to and would also provide you with some necessary leverage to further S.P.E.W. I’m sure that the new Minister of Magic would be willing to hear the case for a new committee on the promotion of elvish welfare…”
“Really?”
“I certainly think so; Minister Bones is a firm believer in equality between all creatures.”
“I think that’s what I want to do. Elf welfare is something that I really care about, it would be perfect!” Hermione was thoroughly excited, this was the first time anyone had suggested to her that there could be a career in elf welfare. Although she was very dedicated to her work with S.P.E.W, she had imagined that she would have to let it go while she got her career going, after all a girl has to eat. This was perfect, she could combine the two.
“Very well, I shall contact the Head of the department with your details and you can expect an owl from them in the near future.”
“Thank you, Professor,” Hermione chirruped
“You are quite welcome, Ms. Granger.”
Ron knocked on Professor McGonagall’s door tentatively. He had to admit that she was really quite scary, she always sounded as though she was seconds away from telling you off. When he heard her calling, ‘Come in’ from the other side of the door, he took a deep breath and entered her office.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Weasley,” she said briskly.
“Afternoon, Professor,” he replied.
“Sit down,” she instructed. He obediently perched himself in the seat on the opposite side of her desk. “Right, when I saw you last you were considering a career in the Auror Division at the Ministry of Magic, is this still your ambition?”
“Yep, definitely.”
“You are absolutely certain?”
“Positive. Let’s face it, after all the stuff that Harry, Hermione and me have got up to during the last seven years there really only was one option. Although, for a little while I did think about playing Quidditch professionally,” he said as he eyed the gleaming Quidditch cup that was standing proudly on a shelf behind his head of house. He was so focused on the cup that he didn’t see the smile of appreciation that flickered across the woman’s face, she wondered if Harry realised just how lucky he was.
“Are you certain that Dark Wizard catching is where your heart lies?”
“Yeah, I want to get rid of Voldemort and all the scum that follows him,” Ron said rather viciously.
“Understandable. Although it isn’t really necessary, I will pass your information on to Kingsley, and he will be in contact with you. I must warn you that if you wish to be enrolled on the Auror Training Scheme you will have to make sure that you keep all your grades up and Professor Flitwick tells me that in recent weeks your Charm work hasn’t been up to scratch.”
“That’s because I was a bit distracted but I’ll be fine now!” Ron protested; he didn’t want to lose his chance to fulfill his dream.
“I’m sure you will, perhaps you could ask Ms. Granger to help you catch back up.”
“I’ll do that,” he nodded vigorously.
“In that case you may return to your free lesson. I hope you are using it wisely?”
“Me and Harry have been writing an essay for Hagrid on Murtlaps,” Ron assured her. It was only a tiny white lie, they had started the essay before they got bored and moved on to a game of Exploding Snap.
“I assume you mean Professor Hagrid,” she said firmly.
“Um…yeah…sorry,” Ron shrugged.
“I shall see you in our lesson after lunch.” As she watched him leave she shook her head with a smile. Her group of seventh years certainly were something else all together.
Neville was a good deal less nervous than Ron had been, his confidence had been boosted significantly over the last year, and he was now more comfortable talking to teachers. This was owed to Professor Weasley, formerly Professor Potter, who had always treated him like an equal and had taught him that teachers were people too. As he sat down at her desk he felt a lot more comfortable with the situation than he had the last time. “Well, Mr. Longbottom, the last time we met you weren’t sure what you wanted to do, have you made any decisions since then?”
“I think I want to be an Auror,” he said semi confident.
“Your current grades would certainly allow you to take that path, although you would have to pass an aptitude test to make sure your Potions skills are up to scratch. Are you sure that is what you would like to do with the rest of your life?” she asked inquisitively.
“I think so, why?” He was quite confused by her tone of voice.
“I’ve spent a great deal of time discussing your prospects with Professor Sprout and we are both agreed that you might be better suited to something a little less violent.” McGonagall was being very careful not to quash Neville’s newfound confidence.
“But I want to help defeat Voldemort!” Neville objected.
“I quite understand that, Mr. Longbottom, but the Dark Lord will not be around forever. Are you sure that you would like to continue to be an Auror once the war is over?” She couldn’t help feeling that Neville only wanted to take this particular route to prove something to his grandmother.
“My mum and dad were Aurors…” Neville said thoughtfully to no one in particular.
“I’m aware of that, I remember them well. But what do you want to do?”
“I’m good at Herbology…”
“Professor Sprout agrees. There is an organisation attached to St. Mungo’s that is solely concerned with research in to magical plants and fungi we thought you might be interested in working there.” McGonagall smiled internally as Neville’s eyes lit up.
“What does it involve?”
“They breed plants and subject them to various experiments to try and establish the various qualities and healing properties, you would be able to put your Herbology studies to good use. Would you like a pamphlet to read through before you make your final decision?”
“I think so.” Neville was now very confused about what he wanted to do with his life, he had always said he wanted to be an Auror, because that was what his parents did, but something about this research project was very appealing to him.
“I’ll have to know within the week if you wish to pursue this path. Do you have any other questions?”
“No, Professor.”
“Well then, I’ll speak to you very soon about your decision, Mr. Longbottom.” McGonagall dismissed him and Neville went back to his common room to think things over.
The next day it was Harry’s turn to visit Professor McGonagall’s office for his careers interview. “The last time we spoke you wanted to be an Auror, do you still want that?”
“Yes,” Harry said confidently.
“You are aware that you’ll have to undergo a stringent series of tests to ascertain your suitability for the role?”
“I am, but Ell…Professor Weasley thinks that most of the DA members could walk it.”
“She certainly would know,” McGonagall gave him a little half smile of sorts. “You’ll need to keep all your grades up, and Professor Snape tells me that your Potions marks leave a lot to be desired,” she gave him that stern tone she used just before telling someone off.
“Yeah, well Snape doesn’t like me, does he?”
“It is Professor Snape, Mr. Potter, and his personal feelings towards you bear no influence on your grades.”
“Yes they do! He sniped at me constantly last year!” Harry protested.
“And so far this year?”
“This year…he’s been… different,” Harry shrugged.
“In that case I would expect your grades to improve. I’d like to remind you that if you have problems with your teachers then you should let me know, I can’t help if I don’t know.”
“I know that, but Professor Snape and I, it's a personal thing,” Harry said defiantly. He wanted to deal with the Potions professor on his own; he didn’t want anybody else to fight the battle for him. It was a battle of the wills between himself and Snape and eventually one of them would win the respect of the other.
“It is no longer a personal thing when it begins to interfere with your studies,” McGonagall replied firmly. “I hope you realise that I have had more students than ever tell me that they want to be Aurors, Mr. Weasley, Mr. Longbottom, Mr. Finnigan and Mr. Thomas all expressed the same wishes, as did a fair number of the girls. They all want to aid in the fight against Voldemort; they are determined to stand by your side. You are very lucky young man, Mr. Potter.”
“Well, if it all goes wrong I’m not the only one that’s going to suffer. We’re going to need everyone we can get if we want to win the war.” Harry felt his heart swelling with pride for his housemates.
“I think you’ll find that you have a lot of support and a lot of faith behind you.”
“They’re a good bunch,” Harry smiled.
“They certainly are, if you’re certain that you want to be an Auror then I will set about passing your details on to Auror Shacklebolt.”
“I’m sure. I think I’ll quite enjoy working with Kingsley and Tonks.”
“I daresay you will. You can return to whatever you were doing, now,” Professor McGonagall said.
“I was planning the Quidditch try outs with Ron, we’ve got to find Katie’s replacement before our game with Ravenclaw. Ron’s got this mad training schedule planned out, and if I’m not careful he’s going to try and badger me into practicing everyday!” Harry was shocked with the intensive schedule his co-captain had planned out; he had a sneaking suspicion that his red haired friend had been getting tips from Ellie. “It’s all Ellie’s fault; she’s been giving him ideas. I don’t know how her house team coped with her; they must have had nervous breakdowns at the end of the year.”
“Surely a little extra practice wouldn’t go amiss?” McGonagall found Harry’s concerns rather funny. She distinctly remembered having a similar conversation with his father.
“There’s extra practice and then there’s what Ron has planned!” Those were almost the exact words that had come out of James’s mouth all those years ago. Minerva couldn’t help the feeling of sadness that swam into her heart. He had been such a talented young man and was stolen so brutally. She prayed that his son would escape such a sudden ending. “Are you all right, Professor?” he asked her with concern. Her cheeks had come over all flushed and her eyes were very watery.
“I’m fine, Mr. Potter, run along now.” She gave him a very brief smile to send him on his way.
In the many years she had been teaching at Hogwarts she had, of course, grown attached to some of her students. It was only natural in her line of work. They arrived at the school small, timid eleven year olds and left as confident seventh years. For ten months a year, for seven years, they lived in this castle under her watch. She had the pleasure and sometimes the pain of watching them grow, of the seeing them transform into the people they would become. There were students who she guarded more closely than others and in these cases she often felt like a proud mother watching her children leave the nest.
It had been out of necessity that she had observed James and his friends with extra care, you never knew what they would do next. Lily had been a very different case; she had been one of Minerva’s favourite students. She was undeniably bright and always willing to help those who were less able. The current batch of students were a very different kettle of fish. This group carried a heavier load than any that had gone before them, yet they would not buckle. They rose to meet the challenge that was awaiting them with compelling bravery and unwavering determination. They stood shoulder to shoulder, prepared to face the oncoming battle together. Minerva was immensely proud of her students and she smiled to her empty office as she considered the fact that you-know-who might have bitten off more than he could chew.
A/N: I know this chapter is almost irrelevant to the main plot but I thought it was a chapter that should be included.