Auror Potter (Training)
Meanwhile, whilst the raven-haired boy caught up on sleep, the other members of the infamous Golden Trio went down to the Great Hall once more after being dismissed by the Headmistress.
"Oi, is that you two?" Came a great booming voice "Good to see the twos of you! I am very glad to see that you've made it. I'da been even more choked up if the two of ye didn't make it."
"Hagrid," Ron said, not having to look up nearly as much as he had when he first met the behemoth of a man "I'm glad you made it alright."
Now, rather than standing only up to perhaps mid-thigh to the half-giant, he was more than half the man's height. Standing 6'6, Ron was not a small bloke by any means. He was massive and even pretty big by wizard standards where the national average was 6 feet. But standing next to the gentle half-giant, he could be mistaken for a schoolboy for how short and thin he was in comparison.
"Hagrid!" Hermione shouted, running up and embracing their old professor in a hug before pulling away and exclaiming "I saw you all tied and chained up by the Death Eaters, are you alright?"
The three did not quite notice how far their voices were carrying as many in the hall began to look over and blatantly stare or eavesdrop subtlely. Most of the school was in the hall, tending to the wounded as the dead had been moved.
"Oh yeah," Hagrid patted himself down "I'm just fine. Those blighters didn't even see fit to hurt me too much until they could make a spectacle of it. I s'pect they would have tortured me and killed me right before all the students so you lot would be forced to watch if Harry ain't've shown up in that forest when he did."
That tid bit of information seemed to get the attention of every last person in the Hall.
"What happened in that forest, Hagrid?" Ron questioned in a whisper that was heard by most because of how quiet it had become though the trio had not noticed it, "You carried Harry back and Voldemort seemed to think Harry was dead."
"I swear it, Ron, Mione, I've seen nothing like it!" Exclaimed Hagrid "And by Merlin, Harry was dead!"
"What!?!" Exclaimed Hermione as a few people began quietly muttering.
"Yeah!" Hagrid shook his head "Right stupid thing he did. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was standing there for hours, just waiting for someone to turn him in or for Harry to arrive. But he didn't show. Least, not til down bout past midnight, I'd wager. He came up out of nowhere, real quietlike slipped past most of them lot until he was right in the middle of the clearing where all the Death Eaters were."
"You're telling me Mr. Potter just went up alone and voluntarily stood before the Dark Lord? He gave himself up just like that?" Horace Slughorn -who had been sitting right beside them, talking with Professor Flitwick- asked, mortified.
"Tha's right." Hagrid nodded solemnly "He marched right up to the Dark prick, not an ounce of fear in him, eyes sharp as a knife. He stood right there so everybody could see, and did not even blink when he had a whole army of wands drawn on him. But He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named was the one who wanted to do it. He finally wanted to e-end him. Harry... Harry did-didn't even pull his wand." Hagrid was blubbering out tears now, pulling out his tablecloth-sized hanky before carrying on "And the bastard fired a Killing Curse, right into Harry's chest. I'd wager around his heart. And he died."
Hagrid was weeping now, he blew his nose and a gust of air blew through the partially destroyed room. It was the only sound being heard by anyone. Everyone was holding their breaths and staying silent, trying to unravel what the hell the man was talking about.
"Some Death Eater went forward to check. No pulse... "Dead." She had shouted. The entire army celebrated. I just fell to ma knees, how could that kid be dead. I love that boy; Lily and James' son. I tell you, I love him something fierce. And when I saw him fall to the ground, my heart hadn't hurt like that since I heard his momma and daddy dun got murdered the same way more than sixteen years ago now. The whole army was cheering, throwing spells, yelling out. Some were dancing, but it was celebrations all around. I'd've sworn the whole of the Death Eaters were hit with a cheering charm as I ain't never seen any of them as joyful as they were after Harry died."
"But how... How is that possible if Harry..." Hermione seemed to be having trouble wrapping her head around it.
"It gets worse," Hagrid said, stone-faced.
"How could it be any worse than Harry dead?" Asked a confused Ron.
"That bald, noseless, white-skinned freak desecrated his body." Hagrid bit out angrily "He fired spells at his corpse. Slicing and rendering his flesh. Bone breakers, blood boiling... He had the others join in to prove that he was well and truly gone. And eventually worked his way up to the bleeding Cruciatus Curse. He used the torturing spell on him and he did not even twitch! Now, either Harry well and truly died and came back in front of everybody, or he can withstand the Killing Curse, Imperius Curse, AND the Cruciatus Curse. And I ain't never heard of nothin' like that in my whole life."
"He-He just died and came back to life in front of all of us?" Asked Hermione.
"I dunno," Hagrid conceded "But the whole way, it was like holding a corpse. He was cold and lifeless the whole way I carried him from the forest ter here. And then then next thing I knew he flopped like a fish out me hands and sprang up and began cursing them left and right."
"Potter came back to life?" Someone asked.
"Harry must be Immortal." A first year said with wide eyes.
"That bastard seems to be unkillable?" Spoke a Slytherin.
"How could this be?""
"Crazy luck."
"How can someone cheat death?"
"The Killing Curse is unblockable!"
"Deathless."
"He also killed He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named."
"The next Merlin!
"He must be the most powerful Wizard in a Millenia."
"Did Potter achieve Immortality?"
"Maybe Eternal life?"
"Harry is undying."
"Too stubborn to let Death after him."
The whispers on everyone's lips were shocked and emotive as the entirety of the school now pondered and speculated on how he could possibly have come back to life and the fact that he had just taken out a Dark Lord on his own. The loudness grew to be nearly deafening as speculation filled the heads of everyone.
"He brushed off Mad-Eye Moody's Imperius Curse in our Fourth year." A Seventh Year spoke.
"He was the one to get rid of Slytherin's Beast."
"I heard he took on a Hundred Dementors at once with the Patronus Charm!"
"That's really advanced magic! Not even my Dad who has a Masters in Charms was ever able to cast that."
"He taught the entirety of the DA how to cast it. He trained them in al kinds of spells."
"He infiltrated the Ministry of Magic more than once."
"Harry won the Triwizard Tournament,"
"He outflew a Dragon!"
"He's never lost a fair Quidditch match that didn't have Dementors or other interference."
"I heard he had secret lessons from Dumbledore and Snape."
"My aunt told me that she knew someone who said that Avery was there and the Dark Lord used the Cruciatus on Potter back in Fourth Year when he came back."
"How extraordinary of a Wizard is Harry Potter?"
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April 3, 1998
"Y-Your eminency..." A nervous third-year boy cleared his throat only to find a wand pointed at it as he woke up the greatest wizard of all time.
Said tired bloke blinked open his eyes blearily, fingering quickly for his glasses somewhere to his right. He cleared his throat as he noticed it was a young boy.
"Ah, hey, sorry bout that Bakely." The groggy teen shook his head, black hair flying all over the place and spilling over his shoulders "Don't call me that, kid. I'm not an eminenothing."
With a stretch and a twist, his back gave a nice *Crack* and he let out a soft groan of relief.
"Did you need something?" He asked, putting away his wand and cursing his twitchiness. The Death Stick disappeared into nothingness and he felt a power crawl up his skin in the shape of a singular straight line that he knew was connecting the tattoo.
'Voldemort is dead. You don't need to be too threatened by everything.' He tried to tell himself.
The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
Harry cemented the idea that he would snap the Elder Wand with finality. As he finished up the reparations of the castle, the bridges, and moving of all of the bodies into neat rows in the courtyards he decided to head to a private spot. With a hand on either half, he easily cracked the wood and tossed one off a bridge. With the other half, he apparated to Dumbledore's grave island and placed the broken piece with his corpse.
It was not but ten minutes later that he felt a haunting feeling and looking under his robes and shirt found to his immense shock and horror, the wand had returned to him.
Well, at least
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"After only a few months of training in basic, you just set the record for fastest graduation time of the Auror Academy's history." Spoke the man "You are a credit to our great World as you have passed all of your exams and your tutors' expectations have been blown out of the water as your examination scores are above those we expect from you in almost every area except for in Magical Law and History in which you barely scraped by a passing grade. I would like to be the first to congratulate you on becoming the youngest witch or wizard to date to be granted this prestigious and long-time honored post of defender of the wizarding world. Now, at the age of just 17, I now present you with the ranks and hand to you the powers that come with your position... Junior Auror, Second Lieutenant Harry James Potter!"
The two bars were clipped onto either side of his collar signifying his rank. A ribbon was pinned onto his chest above his medals from the war. An Order of Merlin First Class and the Victoria Cross.
Harry smiled at the Minister of Magic and shook his head "Come on, Kingsley, I graduated a day before my birthday, "Youngest Auror in History" is just for the newspapers. I'm only 17 for a few more hours."
"Ah, but Harry, that's the greatest part." Kingsley winked "For most, Auror Training takes three years. You completed it in four months because you tested out of every section immediately except for needing to take the courses in Wizarding Law, Tracking you technically passed but needed reeducation, Detainment, Magical History, and Arrest Training, and a few more specialized classes. But even those you took to like a natural. There is a reason you are being called a prodigy by the instructors. You really have flown through some of it. I saw you pick up one spell on your first try that took me seven months to master the way you controlled it. You were already up to snuff in Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, and Defense whereas it usually takes a few years for Aurors to learn the distinct control and finesse you have with your magic. Not to mention doing it all without an incantation or wand movement. And if we sensationalize you to ensure public support of the New Ministry and Auror Department... Is that such a bad thing?"
"Just means more bloody fame I have to deal with." He grumbled.
"Well, speaking of that, Harry, you have a very specialized mission." Something about the look in Shaklebolt's eyes did not sit right with him-
"This mission is from Robards?" Asked the newly minted Junior Auror.
"Well, he and I were the ones to plan it. Along with one other..." Kingsley was not being straightforward.
"What is it?" Harry asked, raising his brow with a slight frown.
"As you know, you have to spend one-month training under another, higher-ranked Auror before you can go into the field." Kingsley explained causing Harry to nod once showing he understood "Well, there is a proposition from the Department of Mysteries for you to become a Mage Ranger."
"A what?"
"Exactly." Kingsly nodded sagely
"What is a Mage Ranger?"
"There are generally less than a few teams in the world at any given time, but the three English members on the board of the Department along with one of the International Wizard Confederation wizards nominated you for the position on the training team. About a dozen wizards a year are allowed to attempt the trials and generally, none make it through. There are five Active duty teams that run specialized covert operations and two that are kept on reserves in case there are any issues or large-scale issues. Are you willing to go through this and the exam in place of your Auror post-academy acceptance training? It will take longer, but will also give you true field experience and more sway with the International community and Ministry. All Rangers get a vote in the Wizengamot and one for the ICW. Seeing as you have two already, one from the Potters and Blacks, having another would make you the most politically influential man in Britain. If you get it, you will also automatically recieve the rank of Major and that would give you the ability to lead teams domestically in the Auror Force. So that Mission you requested with Ron, Neville, Susan, and your other DA friends that was shot down would have been approved immediately if you had this training."
"I'll certainly try it out, I suppose. I would like the promotion and ability to be a bit more independent. But it sounds awfully hush hush, secretive, and a bit elitist."
"Seeing as I did not even know about it until I had been Minister for three months, Harry, yes, it is a very Classified Task Force. Mad-Eye was the last British Wizard who went through the training and actually succeeded in becoming a Mage Ranger with the DOM and ICW."
"Then I think I should definitely attempt it!" He declared.
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He found, after beginning his inclusion into the willing participation exam, that Mage Ranger training was actually to ensure that they were capable of things that other Militaries military, muggle, or otherwise were incapable of. In this case, it was trying to figure out who would best be suited for the highly competitive Special Forces. The Mage Rangers were the Magical Equivalent of the Muggles' Special Air Service.
The beginning of training was harsh, one of the first things that they put him through was a 24 km hike in the Brecon Beacons mountain range in Wales that served to "weed-out" most of the other competitors, but Harry had done it with less strain than most of the other participants. His hunt for Horcruxes had had him and his friend walking all over the United Kingdom. His physical capabilities were one of the few things he had never been lacking in. Running for his life had been commonplace so he kept in shape before, so Auror school had done him well with all of the physical and mental training that they focused on.
The next part to the original tests was that Harry and the other candidates had to complete a 64 km hike up and down the mountain Pen y Fan which was a lot harder than he had anticipated and he had nearly had to tap out in one of the more rigorous valleys 3/4 of the way through. But he pushed himself and made it to the finish line before anyone else. He had set a record as the fastest time with 13 hours and 42 minutes seeming like an impossibly rapid rate. He had done this without any application of magic and they had stripped him of his wand. During the hike, he had been carrying a 25 kg pack, his rifle, all of his food, and water. They were all forbidden from using established trails and had to navigate solely by map and compass. If he had not been watched the entire exercise, there probably would have been an inquiry about the legitimacy of his record-setting climb and descent.
After that, he got parachute qualified by jumping out of planes a bunch of times until some pro told him he was good enough to be considered Airborne. This is why he also got his Broom clearances. Followed by Broom combat Clearance. In addition, he got trained alongside his comrades to recognize and use the British Army Regimental Standard for signaling. Over the following four weeks, they receive training in magical and muggle weapons handling that included foreign weapons, demolition, patrol tactics, and other essential battlefield skills. Harry was really rather skilled with demolition and his knack for knowing exactly where to throw explosives ensured he got top marks in any test that required him to make something blow up.
The next portion of the training was a compass and map wilderness survival exam where he used what he learned while running in the woods behind his school back when he went to primary when he had to run from bullies, his experience on the run from the Snatchers, as well as when he had explored the Forbidden Forest with Hagrid, Ron, Luna, Hermione, or Fang to traverse the woods with somewhat comfortable ease. While they were not the exact forests he was used to, Harry had a much better time going through brush and dense plants better than others, and he was also good about not leaving a traceable trail to follow. The Swimming, aquatics, and maritime training that he got after that was tough. It was where he had to swim for 10 Kilometers without a break and practice all forms of naval and sea-faring combat and cram a bunch more information into his brain about water-based combat than he thought he was physically capable of.
A First aid test was quite easy when he could use his intimate knowledge of injuries and if they were treatable, he now had muggle and magical means to combat any harm. When they were learning to memorize and shorthand potion-making, Harry had a leg up from his very in-depth knowledge of some potions. In the Auror Academy, they had also focused on Healing potions, Area of Effection Brews, and Poisons all of which could be beneficial in combat. Many new potions were being discovered every few years and Harry had had the pleasure of being shown the International Potion Masters Convention where there were several Potions Masters that began to show Harry and his fellow trainees how to brew some of the newest, most potent and most interesting potions that they had invented or encountered.
The combat fitness test was where he truly excelled other than in raw magical talent or DADA. Hand to hand and melee came to him and he was called a natural by any who saw him fight. They were taught the basics of several forms and martial arts.
Jungle training came next and first aid alongside magical healing, hunting/trapping, and personal care came into play a lot more than he expected as He was shipped off to Brunei where he went with three others to undergo 6 weeks of strenuous training in the hot, humid environment of the jungle. The candidates were divided into patrols, each supervised by a member of the Directing Staff. During this phase, they were taught how to live, navigate, and fight in the jungle. Activities include hikes/marches, boat handling, combat drills, camp building, and more strenuous stuff that should never be repeated.
Weapons training, Stave handling, Wandless Magic crash courses, strategem tactics, more specialized hand-to-hand combat, and a few more things were drilled into them before they were ready for their final exam.
The physical and psychological test. A manhunt. Harry and his comrades were given nothing but a pair of pants, a tee shirt, a jacket, a compass, a sketched map, and information that they would be tracked by the entirety of the tracking force. Plus the Bloodhounds and German Sheppards were set onto them. At night. For as long as they could hide. No magic allowed.
He was not caught.
He arrived at the rendevous point and not a single man or hound had found him. He had aced escape and evasion training.
The next part was difficult, though. The interrogation resistance training was hard. He had lost any sense of claustrophobia from living in a cupboard under the stairs for the entire decade after his parents had died amd he had been sent to live with the Dursleys. He had lived in the cupboard in complete and total darkness. He had also managed to get better grasps at Occlumency to the point that the Legillimency, magical mental attacks, and verbal torment were something he was able to endure with only moderate struggle. When interrogated under beyond extreme conditions and being pushed to the near brink of death and exceedingly drastic mental distress, he gave no answers no matter what torture he underwent. It was as if living the life that he had, had prepared him especially for this. For three days, he was locked in a cage where he had to sit and sleep in his own feces and urine when the only times he was allowed out was when he was being interrogated or tortured for the information he had been given before the training. He had been hooded and handcuffed as soon as he had been informed of his completion of the previous exam and his eyes did not get to see light except that which could make it through the rough and itchy burlap.
When on the fifth day he told them nothing but his ID number, his interrogators strung him up and doused his body in ice water before exposing his skin to unimaginable temperatures, boils and blister spells on his skin, blood boiling, bone breakers, and anything to cause pain. They then set magical fires in the room and began throwing various spells at him. They hooked him up to cables and batteries and shocked him before cursing him with fulminis or other light and dark curses. They tried the Cruciatus and Imperius curses to try anything. They did everything they could, but he gave nothing but his Id Number and name. Running on no sleep, no food, no water, and not being able to see anything for one week was hard, but he had done so before so it was really just a matter of Harry shutting off a part of his mind.
They allowed him to spend three days in a medical ward with a team monitoring his mental and physical health afterward. He was given a perfect score on resisting torture and keeping cool under duress.
As such, he became a full-fledged Ranger. A member of the most impressive and lethal Magical special forces in the world. A Muggle and Magical title and a place in the Department of Mysteries, as well as the Aurors, was what he had earned from his completion. He earned his sand beret that would be worn with the winged dagger and wand unit cap badge that gave others the inclination of just who he was.
It was not until after he went to be tutored by the two spy agencies that he actually got his rank, however. Under MI5, they taught him the importance of counterintelligence and information gathering. Military superiority and manipulation through strategy gave him insight into how wars were fought. The sessions at MI6 were able to teach him the intricacies of foreign affairs and the covert collection and analysis of data that could be acted upon in the most intelligent manner. When that was completed, he was a full-blown Officer. Auror Major Potter, Redacted Title: The Blade - Black Phoenix. At just eighteen and a half, Harry felt ready to take on the world beyond what he had ever experienced.
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He limped into the Auror Office from the floo, hardly even stumbling anymore as he nursed his cuppa with a bit of firewhiskey snuck in as he handled his mail under his right arm. Feeling both groggy and completely not ready to deal with being ready to do anything, the young wizard let out a sigh as he sat across from his "boss", the Department of Magical Law Enforcement's top dog, Gawain Robards.
"We are thankful that you dealt with the outpost of Dark Wizards in Eaton, Potter." He started off with "It is good to see you back and in good condition. Especially after the DOM and ICW just had you out of the country for so long."
"You call this good condition?" Harry asked in exacerbation "I feel like shit warmed over."
"And you look like it too, Potter, however, I have seen you looking much much worse." The man smirked.
"That's because I went on missions that were at the time were too much for me." He scoffed "Especially solo. I thought the first rule of Auror training was always have a partner. Why did I never recieve my second?"
"That tells me that your performance has improved!" Robards afforded him a rare compliment "And there are none currently on our pay role that are keeping up with you or being paired with you. Plus, with your schedule constantly booked with mysterious international missions assigned to you by a governmental body that none of the other aurors below the rank of Senior Auror even have the clearance to know the name of? Well... I determined it would just be easier to have you work by yourself until you can find someone who is capable of and crazy enough to out into the field with you and support you in combat, cases, and missions."
"Of course I'm fucking improving," Harry grumbled "I'm in life or death scenarios multiple times a day. The DMLE usually takes three years to train proper Aurors and I have been in the field and arresting or even killing enemies of the state before some of my friends even Graduated Hogwarts. We both know that's fucked up. And how is anyone supposed to keep up with me if all you ever do is force me to adapt and come up with ways to operate and survive on my own?"
"Imagine what you will be able to do when you're my age." Robards sighed wistfully "You are already worth Ten fully trained Aurors on a good day in any field and your baseline magic is a few times the levels of the average wizard in this country."
"I REALLY don't care about my stats or the mid-year report, Robards, please, just tell me why you called me in. I'm supposed to be taking my day off today." Harry said, pointing at the Playwitch calendar on the wall "It's Friday, you know. I told you that I like to take time off to spend with Teddy on Fridays."
"I need you working for a just few hours today. Just for a bit." Robards promised, turning serious and eyes rigid "You are being Promoted."
"What?" Harry snapped "Is this a joke? I'm not ready. Are you listening to the clowns in the Ministry to make me an Senior Auror? That's ludicrous. I've only been active a half year because of my Ranger training."
"There are a total of 500 Aurors in the Magical UK, Potter. We need Senior Aurors to take over a Battalion each. Senior Aurors Dawlish, Savage, Proudfoot, Berrycloth, Garret, Hawth, and Williamson have unanimously agreed that you are the Auror with the most potential to do well in the position. That is more than the half-vote ratio needed to promote you. Yet, the Minister of Magic, the Head of the Department of Mysteries, the Supreme Mugwump, myself, and the Head Auror have all also signed off your approval for the position. Yes, it was suggested by some other departments that we promote you quickly for PR and political reasons, however, your case solve rate per week is dozens of times higher than any regular field officer and you have the most experience against Deather Eaters. Your detective skills beat out Auror Inspectors who hold years of experience since before you were born. Also, after reviewing your performance in the field and simulation tests, you are the most athletic and have the highest reflexes amongst us. Physically, Mentally, Magically, and any other ally you wanna talk about, you are the best choice."
Harry looked at the floor. He had been rather proud of getting the first place rank on that damnable thing. But now, he would have even more work he needed to do. He already had damn near 2 different jobs. The International Confederation of Wizards sent him missions weekly through the Department of Mysteries where he commanded a strike force that was given International Operation clearances to arrest, take out, or infiltrate foreign regions to affect different states and benefit the global populations.
"Do I get a say in this?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.
"No. It has already been decided." Robards pulled out the ranks and slid them across the table "Auror Potter, you are now the Head of Auror Squadron 10. Rank Colonel. Designation unit S-10 of several fine men and women. They all have much more experience than you but are all informed and have accepted that you shall lead them."
Harry let out an annoyed sigh "It is unfair of me to skip ranks so quickly. Fine, I'll lead the buggering people, but immediately after then, I am going to see my Godson."
"I am glad to hear that, your squad is composed of 50 people. 30 Wizards 16 Witches, 2 Werewolves, and 2 Vampires. Now, will you accept your responsibilities and obligation active immediately?"
Harry's feet snapped together and he pulled his arms to his sides in an Attention.
"Yes, Sir!" His voice was strong in the quiet office.
"I and the Nation thank you, Mr. Potter. Dismissed."
"Sir, I must ask you politely to shove it, you and the nation don't give a shit about me." He threw a light glare that he couldn't put his heart behind over his shoulder as he left.
Apparition through the Ministry of Magic, London's impressive Ward schemes would have been impossible for any average wizard. Average is the word that stuck out in that sentence as something not very descriptive of Harry James Potter as he was and would never be average.
Robards' eyes bored into the spot where his newest Senior Auror had just apparated directly out of his office, something which no one was supposed to be capable of, and shook his head.
"He's already a monster, I can't wait to see what he becomes one day..." He drifted off wondering what kind of amazing things he would eventually be capable of and how much good he could do for them all.
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He was walking through the halls of the Ministry, on his way to work when he reached out to open the door to the Department of Mysteries only to feel a presence behind him.
"Touch me and you burn, Nott." He commented, feeling the reaching hand for his shoulder steady as he whipped around, sending a fist to the man's Solar Plexus before crushing his Larynx between his thumb and pointer finger.
Nott Sr. threw curses at him which he had quite a large amount of difficulty dodging, the man was an expert. The fantastic dueller and a cruel few curses had Harry dancing more than he would like to admit.
"You must have it so easy, being the Chosen One. I know Dumbledore himself trained you and that's the only reason you are half the Wizard he was. Killing Voldemort was not something a weakling such as yourself should have been capable of," Nott spat out blood as his twisted arms hung limply by his side.
"My life was and remains to be a warzone. I have never known the life you lot seem to thinkthat I lived. You are blinded by your hatred and the treatment you think I had. I was not Dumbledore's golden boy or learning magic before Hogwarts, I didn't even know I was a Wizard until I was 11, so shut up about life being unfair."
With a circular motion then flick upwards, the body immolated and the screams of the burning man filled the hall. Some would call him brutal or savage. His rate of bringing in criminals dead was higher than some entire Auror divisions combined. Not even Moody had made as many bodies as he... And yet, Harry had never found himself caring, for he knew what they would face after death. He had crossed over himself, and thus knew more than he would ever admit of the process of the afterlife. That place where he still wound up sometimes in his nightmares.
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