Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
—
"Have you thought about what you're doing after school?"
I freeze slightly, my eyes on the silver knife that's dug halfway through my green apple. I can hear his fingers tapping against the table, so I clear my throat and set the apple and knife down on my plate before looking up to meet his eyes.
"After I graduate from Hogwarts?" I confirm, watching him flip through the Daily Prophet absentmindedly, as if he isn't paying attention to the conversation.
"That's right."
Shifting slightly in my plush chair, I glance to the side at my mother, but she's too busy sipping her coffee and sorting through the rest of our mail to notice our conversation. When I look back at Father, he's peering at me from over his newspaper, a moving image almost distracting me from his cold grey eyes. He then smiles at me stiffly before looking back down to whatever he's reading.
As distracted as he looks, I know he's not. There's a right answer here.
"I suppose I'll do Ministry work. Maybe international cooperation," I say in a lithe voice, though my chest grows slightly tight as I give my father a wary look. "Maybe become a governor for Hogwarts, like you were."
"Good. The Ministry ought to be filled with minds like yours," Father days as he licks the tip of his finger to flip a page, then crinkling his nose up slightly as he adds, "else there will be room to fill with Mudbloods."
I clear my throat before choking out a humorless laugh, saying, "As if they'd measure up enough to get the job."
"Please," Father sighs, setting his newspapers down to look me dead in the eye while picking his morning tea up. "They wanted Dumbledore for Minister. You think they wouldn't be foolish enough to appoint Mudbloods?"
"You're right," I say, picking my apple up once more to continue slicing it. "But that's only if we let them, isn't it?"
Father's lips curl up into something of a smile.
"Exactly," he says, reaching across the table to pluck the half-sliced apple from my hands, making my eyebrows rise. "It's always a good idea to have a hand in all matters. I see you have an eye on following my path?"
"No role model like your own father," I say quietly, picking up the half that dropped to my plate.
"Hm. So I take it you'd be a follower of the Dark Lord, then?"
