Career Days: Aurors

Professor Cox looked around the Grand Hall at the group of children seated on the floor. He knew a group this size could get out of hand, so he was ready to give out detentions and send students to the office. He was strict on any disrespect and would not even attempt to tolerate it today.

Today was a day unlike any other. Today, this group of students would hear about various careers, and this session was about Aurors. Professor Cox had been an Auror himself and had a great deal of respect for those who chose the difficult profession of catching dark wizards. And he was glad that out of everyone who could give this lesson, Marie-Laure had volunteered to do so.

Professor Cox walked to the front of all the students. He cleared his throat to catch their attention. "This meeting," he said in his baritone voice, "is about Aurors. You should all be very grateful because we have an Auror here today."

Professor Cox looked at Marie-Laure and gave her his approximation of a smile. "We have Marie-Laure Sylvian here as a guest in the castle. She graduated from Beauxbatons about six years ago. While she was here, she was a Chaser for the Montagnard team and became captain in her fifth year. She was a member of Students Appreciating Quidditch, and became leader of that as well.

"When the other professors and I got word that Ms. Sylvian was qualified to be an Auror, we were not in the least bit surprised. She showed promise and had an excellent work ethic from day one. So with that, I'll turn it over to her," he turned to her. "Ms. Sylvian, you have the floor."

Professor Cox left his place on the stairs and stood by the door. He could keep watch over the students and the speaker from that spot.

Marie-Laure stood silently beside Professor Cox as he introduced her. It was a surreal feeling to be standing next to the man who'd taught her the beginnings of what she needed to know about fighting the dark arts. Seven years worth of lessons which were built upon much more rigorously for another three years after she graduated. Hearing him speak now of her accomplishments was something of a surprise. She knew what she'd achieved whilst a student but she had not been aware it had been noticed by the professors.

She gave a respectful nod to the professor. "Thank you Professor Cox." She then turned to the students who had turned up to listen to her speak. "Hello," she greeted the students. "As Professor Cox just pointed out, I'm an auror which is not only a very difficult career path to get into. It is also a very difficult one to stay in. And that's only the training phase." She paused. Speaking in front of a group like this wasn't something she was used to. "I work for the French Ministry of Magic where I completed my training. If anyone here wishes to catch dark wizards for a living then be prepared for a difficult three years. Provided of course your grades are good enough to get into the program in the first place. After my three years as a trainee I was partnered up with a wizard who'd been in the department for a very long time. This was where the real work began. I've had a few close calls, had to take prisoners to the wizarding hospital due to their inability to tell themselves it was time to give in, and even had a wand broken during one scuffle. The job isn't a nine to five either. A lot of surveillance is done at night. We don't always get weekends off. And even when I have time off I may be called in at any time. Once I was on holiday in Belgium when I was asked to return to help on a case. That's the not so glamorous life of an auror. Any questions?"

Isobel was one-hundred percent sure about a small number of things. One of the things she was sure of was that she had no idea what kind of career she was really interested in. Maybe it was a weird thing to consider at age twelve, but her brother unsure of his future was making her nervous. As much she admired him, she felt like he sometimes had his priorities out of order. So Isobel decided to go to some of the career day things, just to see what other people had chosen as jobs.

She listened closely and as soon as their speaker asked for questions her hand shot up. "What classes do you have to have the best marks in to be considered?" she asked.

Her first question coming from one of the younger students wasn't as much of a surprise as it might have been if it weren't for her conversation with Kayla earlier. Nor was the question anywhere near as challenging as some of the questions the other girl had asked.

"Defence Against the Dark Arts, Potions, Charms, Tranfiguration and Herbology," she answered promptly. "The first is obvious isn't it? There are very good reasons for the other four I mentioned as well. You need to be well versed in the various forms of magic and you never know when a charm or transfiguration spell will help get you out of a tight spot. Some of the dark arts are going to include some questionable potions as well as Herbology. They are very useful also for being able to brew your own potions for use on the job."