It was the second of August, and that meant it was Harry's first day at work. Charlus had made Harry a large breakfast and Hermione had actually laid out his clothes for the day. "You need to look good on your first day. This will be a lot of people's first impressions of the real you." The whole family, including Dan and Emma, all made a big fuss over him.
When it was getting close to quarter past eight Harry made sure he had everything he needed: wand, money for lunch, a portkey to get to the hospital, a portkey to get home, and a stack of paperwork that he had shoved into an envelope for safe keeping. Then after giving everyone a hug and Hermione giving him a kiss for luck and wishing him a good day at work Harry made his way out of the Manor and down the long drive to where he could activate the portkey.
While he was walking he thought about what Hermione and her parents planned for the day. They were interviewing the potential security guards today. If all went well Dan and Emma would be moving back to London before he got home. Hermione was still determined to stay with him though. He supposed that he understood it. Waking up in your own room to find one of your parents bewitched and trying to kill you would cause all sorts of anxiety. And it wasn't like Harry was having a bad time playing security blanket. The only downside was a little frustration, and even that was a little enjoyable.
Once he stepped off the property, wand drawn just in case, he activated his portkey. The staff entrance was on the roof of the building and that's where Harry's portkey dropped him off. The security guard, like most British magicals, recognised Harry and after a quick check of Harry's paperwork gave Harry directions to administration.
If Harry had been expecting to jump right in and start helping people he would have found himself disappointed. His first client wasn't until after lunch, between then and lunch was all admin work. He was assigned to a healer who was heavily pregnant and on desk work and she gave him about a dozen lessons. Safety, how to fill out the paperwork, he was taught a few spells that were meant to stabilise a patient to buy time to go get a healer, he was taught the hospital organisational structure and who he was to go to if there was a problem.
He was issued three sets of sky blue over robes that were cut like healers robes but were definitely not the green the healers wore or the deep blue the mediwitches and wizards wore. Someone had decided that they wanted Harry to look professional while also looking different. Harry was also issued a St Mungo's silver pin. The pins were enchanted if Harry was needed for an emergency while on shift it would vibrate and hum. It was unlikely Harry would be needed for an emergency but apparently everyone who worked at the hospital had the same badge. The function Harry was more likely to need was if he tapped his pin with his wand it would summon help to his location in the hospital. Even if Harry wasn't likely to ever need to call for a healer for one of his clients there was still every possibility he would be the first to see something while he walked around and as the healer explained, "saved seconds save lives."
By the time Harry was finished half his lunch break was gone. Harry had just enough time to rush up to the cafe and wolf down two ham salad sandwiches and two pint glasses of pumpkin juice before running back down to his new office.
Someone had obviously thought ahead because Harry's office was on the ground floor. It wasn't a particularly nice office but Harry couldn't complain. Even if it was, as Harry suspected, an old broom cupboard that someone had put space expansion charms on. Inside was one of those doctors office beds for doing examinations, a large desk with chairs for him and his clients and in a locked room to the side was about twenty bags of pure silver filings for Harry to use.
Harry sat down behind his desk and checked the drawers. There was parchment, ink, quills and a stack of the each of the forms he would need. He was just starting to wonder if he should bring in a few personal items to dress up the room a bit, maybe a potted plant to keep the air fresh when there was a knock at his door. "Come in" Harry called out and the door opened revealing a forty something mediwitch with a no nonsense look on her face.
"Mr Potter, your first appointment is here." She told him.
Harry nodded. "Can you send them in or do they need assistance?" Harry asked, fully intending to go retrieve them himself if it was necessary.
"The patient is fully ambulatory Mr Potter, I will send them right in."
"Thank you mediwitch…." Harry drew out the pause so that she could supply her name.
"Loyd. Mediwitch Helen Loyd." She said, giving him an appraising look.
"Thank you Mediwitch Loyd." Harry said. If mediwitches were treated the same way a lot of muggle nurses were then Harry was going to have to prove he wasn't an arse before any of them actually got friendly.
Mediwitch Loyd left and soon there was another knock on the door and when Harry called for them to enter he got a surprise. "Afternoon Potter." Came the gruff voice of Alastor Moody, retired Auror and former professor at Hogwarts.
"Professor Moody. Please come in and take a seat." Harry said then he tapped the desk with his wand saying Moody's name.
A file containing all of Moody's medical records appeared on the table and Harry opened it up. He couldn't read most of it because he wasn't a healer but Moody would have already spoken with a healer and released the information in his records that the healer thought Harry may need to know. Harry was also expected to add notes from this visit so that any healers who worked on the ex Auror would know what Harry had done.
Once Moody was seated, he and Harry talked over exactly what Moody wanted. Unsurprisingly Moody wanted a new leg and he wanted it as close to immediately as possible. Still, Harry had to go through all the paperwork, explain the connection, the magically binding contract that would keep Harry from exploiting that connection, and of course the payment situation. Harry had to go through everything properly even though he knew the answers because Harry was sure that he was being watched and assessed on if he could actually do the job properly. Harry was sure there was a healer waiting to barge in and fix whatever mess-ups he made. It was a test to see how hands-on his supervision needed to be.
Harry went through the paperwork with Moody and soon enough Harry was asking the man to remove his trousers, shoe and sock and climb up on the table. Harry used a charm to check the weight. It included the table and everything on it, but it wasn't Moody's weight Harry was after. Harry needed a before and after so that there was a record of exactly how much silver was used so that more could be ordered.
Then Harry did the spell and matched Moody's new leg to his old one minus a lot of scars. Soon enough Harry was watching as moody walked around the room without any issues whatsoever.
As Moody was testing out his new leg the two talked a little and Moody explained how he had gotten to the front of the queue for a new prosthetic despite being retired. He had agreed to go back to the Aurors not as an active field agent but as an instructor. With all the Malfoy money Harry had lent the Ministry they were using a good portion of it to increase the Auror forces and those new recruits needed a good teacher and the paranoid ex Auror who had lived through far more than he had any right to was considered a good choice if they wanted any of the new recruits to still be alive at the end of the war.
Moody soon walked out without his prosthetic leg, his walking stick more of an unconscious habit now than something he actually needed. Though from what Harry knew of the man the walking stick was probably an enchanted weapon of some sort.
After that it was more paperwork and record keeping. Harry had just enough time to finish that up when his next client was there, this one needing a new arm. That was how Harry's day went until quitting time. In total he had seen four patients that day and after speaking with Mediwitch Loyd he learned that there were another twenty priority Auror cases for him to deal with before he got to the civilization cases and there was even interest from the international community with the publicity of Krum's new hand.
When Harry portkeyed home he was glad of the time of year and that his new job wasn't physically demanding. That meant that the walk up the long drive in the evening summer sun was a pleasant stroll up a country walk and not a cold wet slog through a trail of mud. He was actually joined by Hermione who had portkeyed in just in front of him having been helping her parents move back into their home now that they had protection.
"So which of the candidates did your parents go for?" Harry asked as they walked up to the Manor, taking their time to enjoy the evening a little.
"Bradley. The one who quit because he is a new father and didn't want a risky career when he had a kid waiting at home." Hermione said leaning into Harry and resting her head on his shoulder while she snaked one of her arms around his back.
Harry nodded. "I liked the look of him, glad it worked out. When are the alert wards being set up?"
"Tonight. Bradley will know if anyone magical is within a quarter of a mile which should give him plenty of time to portkey them and himself here where they will be safe."
"What about the patients?" Harry asked.
"Fake fire alarm, a few confundus spells and a few quick healing charms for anyone in the middle of a procedure. After that all we need to do is blame it on a malfunctioning fire alarm. As far as everyone is concerned a totally mundane technical issue that's inconvenient but nothing to get worked up over. Now speaking of patients, how was your day?"
"At first lots of paperwork, then I had four clients. In between them I had more paperwork. I'd say you would be surprised how much of the job is paperwork but I guess with your parents jobs you have actually seen the amount of paperwork they need to do."
Hermione sighed. "Honestly they probably have to do more because they run their own business. In your case St Mungo's takes care of everything like water bills, payments to keep the lights on, government paperwork. My parents have to do it all themselves."
"And I got two more old prosthetics to add to my collection. And as you will recognise one of them I can tell you Professor Moody was my first client."
"What are you gonna do with them?" Hermione sounded genuinely curious.
"Shrink them down and put them in a display case in my new office. Except for Krum's and Moody's, those I want to mount on the wall, full size. I want a reminder of just how many people I'm helping." He then told her the number who had already booked an appointment. "So I'm going to be at the hospital quite a lot until September."
"What do you think sixth year will be like?" Hermione asked, they were at the doors of the Manor now.
"From what I have heard, sixth year is the only year that's easier than the year before. The work is more complex just like every year, but the pressure to pass is nowhere near as much as it was for our O.W.L.s. but I guess it depends on how many classes someone takes. Too many and you just have too much work." Harry mused
"And too few and you don't have any kind of meaningful future." Hermione rejoined.
Sirius and Charlus each made a big deal of Harry as soon as he walked into the family room. If Harry was honest with himself he was pretty proud of himself as well. No matter how he looked at it, that day he had made four people's lives better. That was something to be proud of.
There was also a surprise waiting for both Harry and Hermione. Their Owl results had come. Charlus handed them each a letter saying. "They arrived just after Hermione left with her parents. Hermione, knowing you'd be back today I decided to save the owl a trip trying to follow you to London considering there was a chance you could be back here before the owl could find you."
The teens were barely listening, in their hands were the letters that determined the rest of their lives. Harry built up the courage to open his first.
Official Ordinary Wizarding Level results for: Potter, Harry James.
This letter is to certify that Potter, Harry James has achieved the below results in his/her O.W.L. exams sat in the 95/96 school year, at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Pass Grades:
Outstanding (O), Exceeds Expectations (E), Acceptable (A)
Fail Grades:
Poor (P), Dreadful (D), Troll (T)
Results:
Ancient Runes O
Astronomy E
Care of Magical Creatures E
Charms E
Defense Against the Dark Arts O
Herbology E
History of Magic A
Potions O
Transfiguration O
Should you choose to return to school and continue as N.E.W.T students, Please present this letter to your head of house when selecting the subjects you wish to pursue to a higher level.
"Nine passes, no fails, four Outstandings, four Exceeds Expectations and one acceptable." Harry said out loud. "What about you Hermione?" And then Harry looked over at Hermione.
While she had opened the envelope she hadn't taken out her results yet. She was that nervous about her results her hands were trembling. Harry walked over and put an arm around her, kissed her on the top of her head and whispered. "Trust me, you've got this."
Harry's words seemed to have been enough because Hermione quickly pulled out the letter and opened it up to start reading. From his position Harry could easily see what was written.
Official Ordinary Wizarding Level results for: Granger, Hermione jean.
This letter is to certify that Granger, Hermione jean has achieved the below results in his/her O.W.L. exams sat in the 95/96 school year, at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Pass Grades:
Outstanding (O), Exceeds Expectations (E), Acceptable (A)
Fail Grades:
Poor (P), Dreadful (D), Troll (T)
Results:
Ancient Runes O
Arithmancy O
Astronomy O
Care of Magical Creatures O
Charms O
Defense Against the Dark Arts O
Herbology O
History of Magic O
Potions O
Transfiguration O
Should you choose to return to school and continue as N.E.W.T students, Please present this letter to your head of house when selecting the subjects you wish to pursue to a higher level.
"Straight Outstandings across the board! I knew you had it in you" Harry said loud enough for both Charlus and Sirius to hear.
It took Hermione a few moments for it to sink in that yes she had just gotten a perfect score on her O. . Then she went nuts in an over excited kid on both a coffee rush and a sugar high type of way. She was bouncing up and down, hugging everyone, kissing Harry and in between it letting out excited squeals.
Harry thought it was incredibly cute. Hermione had worked hard for this and deserved to finally have a big win. He was proud of her. He was proud of himself as well, he had passed everything and with only one acceptable. But it was nothing compared to how proud he was of his cuddly bookworm.
"Harry I know it's not what we scheduled but can we sleep at my parents house tonight? I really want to show them my results." Hermione asked.
Harry had to think about it for a second because he had work in the morning but he quickly realised that he could just as easily take a portkey from there as here. "Shouldn't be a problem. Why don't we pop by the burrow first. See what Ron got, maybe hear what Susan and Hannah got, then we can portkey over to yours and order a pizza or something?"
Hermione agreed and before Charlus or Sirius could even congratulate Harry he was off packing an overnight bag with stuff he would need for work in the morning and having a shower and changing his clothes from work to something comfortable.
When he got back to the family room his grandfather told him that Hermione had also decided to go shower and change as well. Which made sense if they were going to visit the burrow.
"So you passed everything." Charlus said in the same tone he would use if he was commenting on the weather. "One acceptable, four Exceeds Expectations, and four Outstandings. I heard you say that much before getting distracted by Hermione's impressive results. What did you get Outstandings in?"
"Ancient Runes, Defence, Transfiguration, and Potions." Harry said proudly.
"Well I knew you would score an Outstanding in potions. It's in the blood. You did good kid." And Charlus finished by pulling Harry into a congratulatory hug.
When Hermione got back the two set off again. It didn't take long before each of them activated their own portkeys and arrived just outside the wards of the burrow. After Harry took a moment to put his stomach back where it was supposed to be he and Hermione took a quick stroll up the garden path. Before they could knock on the front door they could tell someone had gotten good news because it sounded like there was a party going on inside.
When they knocked Ron was the one who opened the door and put them through a question and answer test to confirm who they are. As soon as they were inside both of them got hugs from Molly who as usual was fretting about them, and everyone else, every minute she couldn't see them.
"So Harry, how was your first day working at St Mungo's?" Asked Arthur as he pocketed his wand from where he had it out in case the people knocking on the door weren't who they claimed to be.
"It was good I got to help four people get new limbs." Harry smiled.
"Rumor in the D.M.L.E is that you have pushed Aurors to the front of the line." Auther said, his tone making it a question.
"Yeah, I want to help everyone but the sooner the Aurors are back on their feet the more people they can help. Given what you-know-who and his death eaters are doing to people it just seemed like the right thing to do."
"I'm not sure I like the idea of you being so open, Harry. What if the death eaters attack St Mungo's?" Mrs Weasley asked.
"Honestly I don't think there is much to worry about. The hospital has decent security, and death eaters don't like attacking places they can't disapparate or take a portkey from." Harry pointed out
"Yet they took over the Ministry building and that had some of the best security in the country." Mrs Weasley sounded concerned for Harry's safety.
Hermione, seeing that that discussion wasn't going to bear anything useful, changed the subject. "So Ron, what did you get on your O.W.L.s?"
That was enough to change the subject, Ron was really happy with his results. Ron actually managed two Outstandings, one in Defence against the Dark Arts the other in Potions. The extra lessons the trio had had over the summers had really paid off as well because almost all of the rest of Ron's subjects were Exceeds Expectations. Astronomy, Care of Magical Creatures, Charms, Divination, and Transfiguration were all Exceeds Expectations with only Herbology: Acceptable, and History of Magic: Poor, falling below that. For Ron who wasn't particularly academically inclined only having two subjects below an EE was a real achievement.
Of course the entire Weasley family were suitably impressed with Harry's and Hermione's results as well. Ron even went so far as to ask Hermione if she was happy with her straight O's before she even revealed that was what she had achieved, showing his confidence in her ability.
Fred and George had also gotten their N.E.W.T. results. Each of them had gotten five N.E.W.T.s: Potions, Charms, Runes, Transfiguration and Defence. Defence was the only class where each of them had done well. Fred had outstandings in Potions and Runes but Acceptable in Transfiguration and Charms, George had the exact opposite. By the look of it knowing that they were going to be working together they had split their focus to avoid doubling the work.
With three, now five people who had all done well on their exams the Weasleys were in the mood to celebrate. Harry and Hermione were immediately invited to one of Mrs Weasley's excellent dinners and as usual Mrs Weasley had no intention of accepting no as an answer. So they had a huge meal in the garden in the summer sun.
It was quite a bit later than they intended when the two arrived at Hermione's home. Dan and Emma were already settled in front of the television for the rest of the evening and were surprised to see Harry and Hermione as the last they heard the plan was for the two teens to spend the night at the Manor. However as soon as she pulled out the letter and said it was her exam results her parents were all over her wanting to learn how well their daughter had done.
It took them a minute to understand that an O meant Outstanding and that it was the equivalent of the mundane A. However once they did understand that, they got that their genius of a daughter had achieved the equivalent of straight A's.
That was immediately a cause for celebration. Dan actually opened a bottle of champagne and they each had a glass as they talked about what possibilities this opened for the two teens.
It was two happy but exhausted teens who collapsed into bed together at the end of the day and they were asleep almost as soon as their heads hit the pillows.