Death is but the Next Great Adventure

Call Me Mungo, 'Cause Darling, I'm a Saint

In the last chapter: It's back to Hogwarts for our sixth year, darlings! Tom is conquering the cubicles in his 9-5 as the hottest and most lethal pencil-pusher in history. Anthony discovers a familiar face in the seat of the new DADA professor and promptly has a meltdown because a Hufflepuff has never looked so dangerous. And Harry is basking in equal measures the joy of being reunited with his favorite Dark Lord, and anxiety over being sling-shoted right past an internship and into the residency program at St. Mungo's.

AN://Hello lovelies! I know it's been a minute since I've updated, sorry! Hope y'all like the new chapter. Also, in the time I've been gone, I may have made some Harry fanart while definitely not procrastinating finishing this update lol! Y'all can check it out on my twitter @quill_obsidian or at this link:

https://twitter.com/quill_obsidian/status/1425646295495151617

If anyone else makes any art they'd like to share, or if y'all would like to see me do some for Tom, let me know! Anyways, have a wonderful night, love ya! <3

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Seven minutes.

Seven minutes ticked by, measured by the mechanical percussion of the looming grandfather clock in the corner of the office, while the two occupants of the room sat in silence. It was half-past six in the morning and the room still smelled faintly of a bitter dark brew tea and the acrid odor of reproach. The potion's professor hadn't looked surprised when Harry had knocked on his office door that morning, but other than a quiet sigh through his nose, the man said nothing as he stepped aside to let Harry in and returned to his desk. Despite not being offered, Harry took the seat across from him and crossed one leg over the other.

They both knew why he was there. And yet when he opened his mouth to begin this inevitable meeting, he was silenced by a rough, calloused hand lofted at him as the older man continued to read a long parchment that Harry had apparently pulled him from. He had come early that morning in his eagerness for the day's events, so with what his therapist would call a 'monumental level of patience' he folded his hands in his lap and waited. And waited.

Though, as patient as he would like to claim to be, there were places he had to be, and unfortunately, this was a necessary detour on his way to getting there. It had been to his ultimate displeasure to find out that the Hogwarts faculty in charge of managing and overseeing all independent study and off-campus work was none other than the infamous dungeon-dweller, Severus Snape. Much to Harry's chagrin, he had to confess that it made sense once he thought about the logistics of it. From what he'd heard from the rest of his year, the majority of students that deviated from the standard curriculum and sought out apprenticeships before graduation were, in fact, Slytherins. Specifically, purebloods or influential half-bloods that were looking to take over the family business, so to speak.

Even Draco would be leaving Hogwarts every once in a while, in order to accompany his father to the Ministry so that the elder Malfoy could pass down all of the trade family secrets. From how to connive a room of older, more powerful men into being his lap dogs, to the importance of a proper cologne when meeting new potential business partners. One could only hope the future Lord Malfoy used such power for good when it was his turn to take the mantle.

Which meant that today, on what was supposed to be his first day at St. Mungos as a resident, he was being held up by their mutual reluctance to interact with one another. While the potions professor had ceased being outwardly hostile towards Harry back in his fourth year when their animosity came to a head, they had both fallen into the unspoken agreement to simply ignore each other's existence. The older Harry got, the more he realized just how childish some of their earlier tiff's were, but also the more he came to understand that he would never truly know the full context behind the man's past relationship with either one of his biological parents and how that would continue to affect him to this day. In the end, it was just easier to ignore each other than try to build bridges that neither of them wanted.