Death is but the Next Great Adventure

Professional Idiot

In the last chapter: Harry surprised Tom at work. A few dramatic declarations of intent to court were exchanged. They had lunch. They took turns riling each other up because they can't keep their hands to themselves.

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Harry stepped off the elevator ten minutes to noon and set off down the empty hall. This area of the ministry was clearly less used than the rest, seeing as it didn't have any other function besides a floor of empty rooms to be used for testing—ranging anywhere from proctored OWL's and NEWT's exams for those who didn't attend Hogwarts, to specialized exams like the ones Harry was there to take to test into an apprenticeship/mastery of any given field, to apparation license testing. Harry would likely be back in a good two to three years to take an exam to see if he could start his residency at St. Mungos or some other magical hospital and work towards his mastery that would allow him to become a full Healer.

Harry was lucky to have gotten this opportunity when he did, since most didn't start their internship until after graduating Hogwarts, and then spent the next five-six years on their internship and residency. He'd received a hell of a head start and he would prove today that they hadn't been misguided in allowing him this chance.

He stopped when he found the door labeled 9A, and took a deep breath and shook out his hands slightly to rid him of his nerves before straightening his posture and entering the room.

The room was large—much larger than one would need for the six occupants of the room—and a little colder than he'd expected but it only served to sharpen his awareness. Harry plastered on his best smile as he stepped up to the table of five St. Mungo representatives.

"Hello, my name is Harry Po--" Harry's polite greeting was cut short by a dismissive wave of one of the older men's hand.

"Yes, it's wonderful to meet you, Henry. We're on a bit of a schedule today, so if you don't mind." He gestured to the single desk and chair facing their table from a few meters away, with a small stack of papers and self-inking quill sat on top. The greying man looked and sounded like this was the last place he wanted to be and that this was all just a waste of his time. Harry nodded his head and took his seat without another word, feeling a little out of sorts from the almost-rude interaction.

Harry was actually pleasantly surprised when he finally looked down at the exam and found the questions to be open-answered instead of multiple choice. At least with this he could show how much he really knew and wasn't limited to just proving that he knew enough. He picked up the quill they provided him and immediately started his test.

He was a bit disappointed with how vague and simple a lot of the questions were, but he supposed it couldn't be too hard for an internship, especially since Hogwarts didn't exactly provide any classes on the topic and so everything had to be learned either through self-study or with private tutors. No matter, Harry took the questions given to him and expanded on them, gave in depth answers and references to similar procedures or conditions and the methods of treating such afflictions in other countries. For the first time, he really went all out. If they were going to treat him like a waste of time, he'd leave them begging for more. He wouldn't settled for 'adequate.'

It took a little over an hour to finish the test. Harry signed his name with a flourish and stood from his seat, much to the relief of both his sore backside and vexation of the five older men whose modicum of patience seems to have dried up by the half-hour mark. Harry approached with a neutral smile and handed over his tests to the man who had snubbed him earlier and he in turn handed them off to the man beside him without even glancing at them.

"Healer Rostoff will evaluate your answers while we move on to a small practical portion of the exam." The man rose stiffly from his chair and with the flick of his wand, the door on the other side of the room swung open. A moment later, a woman walked in with a bright, open expression on her face. She was young—perhaps in her mid-late twenties—and had shiny straight blonde hair pulled up into a ponytail at her crown. She flashed a dazzling smile at him and there was a bit of a bounce in her step as she approached.