Career Days: Department of Mysteries

Professor Ellis was probably the most childish professor out of all the others. He enjoyed telling jokes and being silly with his students. But he knew when it was time to be serious, and now was a good time to calm the students gathered in the Grand Hall.

Today was an unusual day. The students had been excused from classes to hear about the jobs of the visiting graduates.

When Professor Ellis was asked to introduce Harley Fenwick, he agreed happily. Harley had been one of his best students, probably because she liked the subject, but also because she was a hard worker. He always had sympathy for students who try, and she was one of them.

"This session is about working in a section of the Ministry of Magic," Professor Ellis announced to the group of still giggling students.

"I'd like to introduce you all to Ms. Harley Fenwick, who is an intern working in the Department of Mysteries. Harley graduated from Beauxbatons nearly two years ago. She was in Montagnard, a member of Muggle Appreciation Club, and was a Beater for the Montagnard team for a year. " Professor Ellis turned to her, "Ms. Fenwick, it's your turn."

Professor Ellis left her on the stairs and stood to the side of the group. That way, he could see all the students.

Several years ago, Harley was just another face in the crowd, looking up to the professors and Headmistress like they were some kind of gods. Now, the roles had been reversed, with children and even a few professors eager to hear about her current role in the renowned Ministry, and her standing on the stage, being stared at with inquisitive eyes. It was a surreal feeling, like she was standing on a cloud.

“Thank you Professor Ellis,” Harley said graciously. Although herbology wasn’t often her favourite subject, she was fond of the teacher. He knew how to make a serious situation outstandingly funny. “Well, as aforementioned, I’m a current intern at the Ministry. In the level where I work, the Department of Mysteries, our main task is to catalogue, capture, and contain dangerous items that have been a harm to wizards and muggles alike. Recently, an Unspeakable was sent to procure a book that burn out the eyes of its reader, which had caused the deaths of eight muggles. Nasty thing, that one. We also conduct confidential research about mysteries of the world. It’s no easy job, really. You’re not allowed to talk about studies conducted in the Department, and the people who work there are referred to as Unspeakables. I love working there, though. You read so many interesting things and six months ago I was sent on a field mission, and perhaps in a year or so I’ll be promoted out of an internship. Any questions?”

Gregory's brother was always going on about the Department of Mysteries. Greg had honestly gotten to the point where he tuned Connor out as much as possible. So he honestly didn't know if his brother wanted to work there one day, or if he was just a history nut. He was already a general nut. Nothing surprised Greg anymore. He dreaded the fact that he was coming to Beauxbatons next year and would, no doubt, make a name for himself and the entire Bell family.

But Gregory was genuinely curious about what made his brother act so crazy about this place. So as soon as he saw the option, he decided he was going to learn something about it. Maybe it would impress his brother a bit.

Greg listened then raised his hand. His question was simple enough. "Does everyone start out as an intern?" he asked quietly. "Or do some people get hired right away?"

Kayla paid close attention as Harley spoke. She was interested in nearly all the Career Days, but this one was intriguing because of the mysterious job and the speaker. Kayla still remembered running into Harley a year ago at the pub. It had significantly brightened her day and gotten her off to a good start of the year.

Kayla was sitting behind Greg. She waited for him to finish his question before putting her hand up into the air. "Yes. First of all, hi." She smiled, hoping the woman would still remember her, as she had the last year. "My question is, doesn't it get lonely?" It certainly sounded like an interesting career so far. Less stressful and black-and-white than Auror but still stimulating and adventurous.

Harley wasn't feeling her normal aura of confidence. Perhaps it was because of all the familiar faces looking for her to explain how magical and mysterious her job was, and she hadn't come up to par. The most awkward thing she could think of was when guest speakers came and no one asked any questions, so they just left in an embarrassing silence. She couldn't thank whatever deity was up there well enough when two students raised their hand.

"Yes?" She asked, pointing to the boy sitting in the third year section. "That's a great question, actually. I started off as an intern due to my age having coming straight out of school and applying. Also, another reason is due to the fact that one day I would want a higher position, perhaps Head of the Department, and I'd have the training to do so. A person hired straight into the Department would get a lower position, not being an Unspeakable, but not have to go through internship. Anyone else?" She looked around, nervously biting her lip until she saw a familiar face raise her hand. "Ah! Kayla, what's you question?" The younger girl had been one of the nicest people Harley knew when she was a seventh year due to the surprising amount of people leaving and her introverted nature. "Sometime, yeah. When you're on a mission sometimes you get sent alone, and you have no time for anything but trying to find an item. But other times, the excitement and the chase makes up for it. Plus, you meet people in the office who become your closest friends. I get to choose my work hours since I'm an intern, so I don't have restrictions on vacation time like Aurors. Is that all?"

Autumn listened to everything the witch had to say about her job. It seemed interesting. It still wasn't the right kind of job for Autumn, but she was glad that she was able to gain some insight.

She could mostly follow what everyone was saying, but she seemed to be missing a few things. Living in the Muggle World didn't exactly make one a wizard expert. But it didn't bother her. Some of these kids probably didn't know what a lightbulb was or what it did. Or how to work a toaster. So she was wise in her own sort of way.

She raised her hand. "I don't understand. What is an Unspeakable? I know it's a job, but why is it called that?"

The amount of questions Harley was receiving made her quite thankful. It wasn't overwhelming, but at least people were interested. A blonde girl she had seen around before when she was a student raised her hand, so Harley nodded toward her. "Do you have a question?" She asked, awaiting an answer.

"That's another excellent question, actually. Unspeakables are what we call witches and wizards who work in the Department. They conduct highly secretive studies about mysteries in the world, so we can't refer to them by name, and the key part of their job is they are forbidden to talk about their work. They also aren't allowed to remove prophecies from the Hall of Prophecy. Doing so would trigger a boat load of curses and jinxes. I'm just an intern,t hough, so I don't know much about the studies, and therefore cannot be promoted to the title of Unspeakable. Does that answer your question?"

Harley thoroughly enjoyed answering questions and loved enlightening people on new information. Glancing around the room for any more questions, she smiled. "Will that be all, or are there more questions?"