Harry Potter The Application Process
- Thread starter zerohour
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Nymphadora “Don't call me Nymphadora or I'll hex you to bits” Tonks walked sulkily down the halls of Hogwarts. As an auror in training, she had been assigned to Hogwarts for the duration of the tournament, supposedly to help keep things running smoothly. Supposedly, it was a good training exercise, meant to give her some additional practice as a Auror under controlled conditions. Tonks had happily accepted. After all, the Triwizard Tournament was one of the most prestigious events in the wizarding world before it had been discontinued. Being involved in any capacity was bound to be exciting, right?
Tonks hadn't planned on the actuality of the assignment at all. She was supposed to be one of the Aurors in charge of making sure that the tournament ran smoothly, but there was so little to do outside of the events, that she could probably have spent every day drinking Firewhiskey in Hogsmead and no one would have noticed.
The Twin's competition promised to be much more interesting, and it was designed around the actual tournament events, so it shouldn't interfere with her work when it was actually important. The only issue was how to sneak her way into it. She didn't like to brag, but she had been fairly well known at the school, and though Dumbledore was flexible on a great number of things, she doubted he would allow a fully trained Auror to unbalance any of the teams.
Then again, she was a metamorphmagus. A fake identity among one of the visiting schools shouldn't be too hard to pull off. With a grin, Tonks turned to her mirror, her features flickering rapidly as she started to cook up a new identity. She was a tomboy, but even she enjoyed being a bit girly once in a while. How many girls could actually choose the perfect appearance to go with the perfect outfit after all?
Applications
She had eventually settled on posing as a Slytherin girl. Tonks had decided on a no nonsense appearance, with long straight dark hair, cool, grey eyes, and a mouth that seemed on the verge of a frown at all times. She elected to stick with the tried and true school uniform. It would help sell her no nonsense attitude, and might help explain why they hadn't noticed her.
Choosing a name had been a bit more involved. While she would have enjoyed something outrageous like Ebony Darkholm Bloodtear the Third, something meant to catch the attention like that was bound to raise questions about her identity, namely, how they had missed someone with such an outlandish name. Honestly, who in the right mind would give a name like that to a child? Sure, the wizarding world had plenty of strange names. Her own family had Andromeda, Narcissa, Bellatrix, and her own god awful name, Nymphadora. Even now, just thinking about the name made her grind her teeth. Not only was it ridiculous, but it gave the boys far too many ideas for terrible come on lines. Of course, she probably would have had more trouble getting into the Auror problem if she hadn't learned so many violent spells to educate them on their mistakes...
Maybe it was some sort of twisted revenge her mother was having by perpetuating the terrible names. If that was the case, she would have to come up with even worse for her kids, if she ever had them. But what could possibly top Nymphadora?
Promising to come back to that idea, even if it was just to show her mother what a terrible job she had done with naming her, Tonks settled on the name Melissa Smith for her alternate persona. A simple name, if a bit dull. She had chosen it, reassuring herself that she could still have plenty of fun in the process. As soon as she was certain that it was a reasonable enough name, appearance, and personality to pass muster, she walked quickly towards the room the Weasley Twins had commandeered as their headquarters.
Faking her transcripts had been the difficult part, but she had visited Professor Sprout, and after coaching her plans in a way that her old head of house found acceptable, had been allowed a doctored copy of her old school records. While she could have done with some higher scores on her OWLS and NEWTS, Professor Sprout had refused all of her pleas. She simply said that if she wanted better grades, she should have worked harder like the rest of the Hufflepuffs. Unable to refute her, Tonks had to accept her terms. It wasn't like she knew how to forge her records.
Still, it would have to do, and if all else failed, she could use a few curses she had learned during Auror training to properly motivate the Weasley's into accepting her application. As her mentor always said, a little persuasion could go a long way, regardless of what for that persuasion took. She stilled remembered the glares McGonagall had given her whenever she was caught napping in class, and made sure to include a bit of that for her appearance.
As she climbed the steps up the tower, she considered what team she would end up a part of. She wasn't a huge fan of Quidditch, but Viktor Krum was well known, and in every group, there was someone willing to rant and rave about sports to the detriment of everyone else. She didn't feel like playing the fan girl, so maybe it would be best to avoid his group. On the other hand, maybe he would appreciate someone who wasn't interested in brown nosing him throughout the entire year. He probably got more than enough of that on the Quidditch pitch.
Being teamed up with Cedric wouldn't be too bad either. She had known him back when she was still in school, but it had mostly consisted of minor conversations in the common room when she wasn't having a good time or too busy studying. It might be worth getting to know him a bit more, especially sine he had aged up so deliciously.
And of course, there was Harry Potter. She hadn't been in school when he arrived, but like almost everyone in the wizarding world, she had heard stories about him since she was little. She was old enough to recognize that almost all lof it was bound to be exaggeration or just plain fantasy. After all, who ever heard of a second year slaying a basilisk with a sword? The whole idea was ridiculous! Still, getting on his team would be interesting, and hopefully help sort out the myth from the man.
Fleur was the only real unknown. Sure, she didn't have a solid, personal relationship with any of the boys, but she knew of them, either in passing, or because of their own fame. Fleur was doubtlessly capable, she wouldn't have been chosen otherwise. It might be nice to go in fresh, without any preconceptions of who the leader was.
Then again, being part of one of the rival teams could be fun as well. Most of the focus had been on Harry's rivals, since he was unlucky enough to be the outcast among the champions, and an easy target for anyone with half a brain. Still, there were bound to be rival teams springing up. There were bound to be plenty of students jealous of the champion's fortune, and a way to express their displeasure that was entirely sanctioned by the tournament heads would be an opportunity none of them would pass up.
Still, if she did that, she would probably have to change her image significantly. The no nonsense persona she had chosen wouldn't be particularly appropriate for such a thing. She would probably need something more along the lines of a muggle biker. Someone tough and mean. She could probably find a leather jacket for that, but she wasn't so sure about acting like that. Sure, she loved to make trouble occasionally, but that was a whole different level.
Finally, the young Auror had arrived at her destination, She stopped for a moment, trying to sink into the role she had chosen, and opened the door.
Melissa Smith strode across the room, not acknowledging the Twins until she arrievd at their desk. Even then, all she did was hand over her paperwork, before looking them over with a severe look that would have made McGonagall proud.
Fred tried to crack a joke, but when the full force of that glare was turned on him, he choked on it, before falling into old habits. When dealing with McGonagall when she was like that, the best thing to do was whatever she asked, so they could get away from her as quickly as possible. He only hoped that it would work on Melissa as well.
“Well, Ms. Smith, it seems your paperwork is in order, the only field you left blanks was the position you were applying for.”
“That was done on purpose, Mr. Weasley.” She said with a severe tone. “I am more than qualified for any of the positions, so I thought I would rely on your ” she sniffed, “expertise to select the most appropriate one.”
“Well, you can rest assured that we will do our utmost to ensure yoru get the position you deserve, isn't that right George?”
George remained silent.
“Anyways,” Fred hurried to fill the silence, “are there any questions you have concerning this at this time?”
She lightened her glare as she considered, before it returned in full force, “No, not at this time. Is there anythign you feel the need to inform me of at this time?”
“No, nothing at all!” Fred said quickly.
“Are you sure? I would hate for their to be any misunderstandings.”
“Rest assured, if there are, the fault lies entirely with us, and we will do everythign in our power to make sure that it is amended as quickly as possible.”
“Now, if there are no other concerns that need to be address...”
“Nothing at all, I assure you! If there are any problems, we are more than capable of taking care of them ourselves!”
“Excellent.'
“Alright, we'll be sure to keep you application in mind while we consider the positions that remain open.”
“See that you do.” Her glare intensified for a moment,, before she turned around and walked out of the room. The entire exchange had taken a few minutes at most, but for the unfortunate Weasley brothers, it had seemed to last an eternity.
The doors closed behind her, and several long seconds passed before they spoke.
“Think we should just toss this application and forget about her?” George asked, speaking up for the first time since she had entered the room.
“No, I think that would just make her come back and demand a reason for her rejection. If that's how she acts all the time, I don't want to see her when she's actually angry at us.” Fred said.
“Good point.” his twin agreed, and the two of them poured over the application, trying to find the position that would put as much distance between them and their most recent applicant.
Applications
Melissa Smith descended the stairs, but only until she was absolutely certain that she couldn't be heard by the Twins. Once she was sure she was in the clear, Tonks couldn't hold it anymore. Her body shook as the laughter she had been holding in the entire time erupted, her assumed form collapsing as she lost her self control.
“The look on their faces!” She snorted, falling ungracefully on her ass as she lost her balance. She didn't seem to notice, and just kept on laughing. The laughs just kept on coming, until they finally trailed off into intermittent giggles. Once they were under control (mostly) Tonks grabbed a nearby railing and hauled herself to her feet.
It had been a long time coming, but she finally got her revenge on those little first year pranksters. She couldn't wait until thew end of the year to reveal her prank to them. In the mean time, she would be sure to put the screws to them anytime the opportunity arose.
Tonks hadn't planned on the actuality of the assignment at all. She was supposed to be one of the Aurors in charge of making sure that the tournament ran smoothly, but there was so little to do outside of the events, that she could probably have spent every day drinking Firewhiskey in Hogsmead and no one would have noticed.
The Twin's competition promised to be much more interesting, and it was designed around the actual tournament events, so it shouldn't interfere with her work when it was actually important. The only issue was how to sneak her way into it. She didn't like to brag, but she had been fairly well known at the school, and though Dumbledore was flexible on a great number of things, she doubted he would allow a fully trained Auror to unbalance any of the teams.
Then again, she was a metamorphmagus. A fake identity among one of the visiting schools shouldn't be too hard to pull off. With a grin, Tonks turned to her mirror, her features flickering rapidly as she started to cook up a new identity. She was a tomboy, but even she enjoyed being a bit girly once in a while. How many girls could actually choose the perfect appearance to go with the perfect outfit after all?
Applications
She had eventually settled on posing as a Slytherin girl. Tonks had decided on a no nonsense appearance, with long straight dark hair, cool, grey eyes, and a mouth that seemed on the verge of a frown at all times. She elected to stick with the tried and true school uniform. It would help sell her no nonsense attitude, and might help explain why they hadn't noticed her.
Choosing a name had been a bit more involved. While she would have enjoyed something outrageous like Ebony Darkholm Bloodtear the Third, something meant to catch the attention like that was bound to raise questions about her identity, namely, how they had missed someone with such an outlandish name. Honestly, who in the right mind would give a name like that to a child? Sure, the wizarding world had plenty of strange names. Her own family had Andromeda, Narcissa, Bellatrix, and her own god awful name, Nymphadora. Even now, just thinking about the name made her grind her teeth. Not only was it ridiculous, but it gave the boys far too many ideas for terrible come on lines. Of course, she probably would have had more trouble getting into the Auror problem if she hadn't learned so many violent spells to educate them on their mistakes...
Maybe it was some sort of twisted revenge her mother was having by perpetuating the terrible names. If that was the case, she would have to come up with even worse for her kids, if she ever had them. But what could possibly top Nymphadora?
Promising to come back to that idea, even if it was just to show her mother what a terrible job she had done with naming her, Tonks settled on the name Melissa Smith for her alternate persona. A simple name, if a bit dull. She had chosen it, reassuring herself that she could still have plenty of fun in the process. As soon as she was certain that it was a reasonable enough name, appearance, and personality to pass muster, she walked quickly towards the room the Weasley Twins had commandeered as their headquarters.
Faking her transcripts had been the difficult part, but she had visited Professor Sprout, and after coaching her plans in a way that her old head of house found acceptable, had been allowed a doctored copy of her old school records. While she could have done with some higher scores on her OWLS and NEWTS, Professor Sprout had refused all of her pleas. She simply said that if she wanted better grades, she should have worked harder like the rest of the Hufflepuffs. Unable to refute her, Tonks had to accept her terms. It wasn't like she knew how to forge her records.
Still, it would have to do, and if all else failed, she could use a few curses she had learned during Auror training to properly motivate the Weasley's into accepting her application. As her mentor always said, a little persuasion could go a long way, regardless of what for that persuasion took. She stilled remembered the glares McGonagall had given her whenever she was caught napping in class, and made sure to include a bit of that for her appearance.
As she climbed the steps up the tower, she considered what team she would end up a part of. She wasn't a huge fan of Quidditch, but Viktor Krum was well known, and in every group, there was someone willing to rant and rave about sports to the detriment of everyone else. She didn't feel like playing the fan girl, so maybe it would be best to avoid his group. On the other hand, maybe he would appreciate someone who wasn't interested in brown nosing him throughout the entire year. He probably got more than enough of that on the Quidditch pitch.
Being teamed up with Cedric wouldn't be too bad either. She had known him back when she was still in school, but it had mostly consisted of minor conversations in the common room when she wasn't having a good time or too busy studying. It might be worth getting to know him a bit more, especially sine he had aged up so deliciously.
And of course, there was Harry Potter. She hadn't been in school when he arrived, but like almost everyone in the wizarding world, she had heard stories about him since she was little. She was old enough to recognize that almost all lof it was bound to be exaggeration or just plain fantasy. After all, who ever heard of a second year slaying a basilisk with a sword? The whole idea was ridiculous! Still, getting on his team would be interesting, and hopefully help sort out the myth from the man.
Fleur was the only real unknown. Sure, she didn't have a solid, personal relationship with any of the boys, but she knew of them, either in passing, or because of their own fame. Fleur was doubtlessly capable, she wouldn't have been chosen otherwise. It might be nice to go in fresh, without any preconceptions of who the leader was.
Then again, being part of one of the rival teams could be fun as well. Most of the focus had been on Harry's rivals, since he was unlucky enough to be the outcast among the champions, and an easy target for anyone with half a brain. Still, there were bound to be rival teams springing up. There were bound to be plenty of students jealous of the champion's fortune, and a way to express their displeasure that was entirely sanctioned by the tournament heads would be an opportunity none of them would pass up.
Still, if she did that, she would probably have to change her image significantly. The no nonsense persona she had chosen wouldn't be particularly appropriate for such a thing. She would probably need something more along the lines of a muggle biker. Someone tough and mean. She could probably find a leather jacket for that, but she wasn't so sure about acting like that. Sure, she loved to make trouble occasionally, but that was a whole different level.
Finally, the young Auror had arrived at her destination, She stopped for a moment, trying to sink into the role she had chosen, and opened the door.
Melissa Smith strode across the room, not acknowledging the Twins until she arrievd at their desk. Even then, all she did was hand over her paperwork, before looking them over with a severe look that would have made McGonagall proud.
Fred tried to crack a joke, but when the full force of that glare was turned on him, he choked on it, before falling into old habits. When dealing with McGonagall when she was like that, the best thing to do was whatever she asked, so they could get away from her as quickly as possible. He only hoped that it would work on Melissa as well.
“Well, Ms. Smith, it seems your paperwork is in order, the only field you left blanks was the position you were applying for.”
“That was done on purpose, Mr. Weasley.” She said with a severe tone. “I am more than qualified for any of the positions, so I thought I would rely on your ” she sniffed, “expertise to select the most appropriate one.”
“Well, you can rest assured that we will do our utmost to ensure yoru get the position you deserve, isn't that right George?”
George remained silent.
“Anyways,” Fred hurried to fill the silence, “are there any questions you have concerning this at this time?”
She lightened her glare as she considered, before it returned in full force, “No, not at this time. Is there anythign you feel the need to inform me of at this time?”
“No, nothing at all!” Fred said quickly.
“Are you sure? I would hate for their to be any misunderstandings.”
“Rest assured, if there are, the fault lies entirely with us, and we will do everythign in our power to make sure that it is amended as quickly as possible.”
“Now, if there are no other concerns that need to be address...”
“Nothing at all, I assure you! If there are any problems, we are more than capable of taking care of them ourselves!”
“Excellent.'
“Alright, we'll be sure to keep you application in mind while we consider the positions that remain open.”
“See that you do.” Her glare intensified for a moment,, before she turned around and walked out of the room. The entire exchange had taken a few minutes at most, but for the unfortunate Weasley brothers, it had seemed to last an eternity.
The doors closed behind her, and several long seconds passed before they spoke.
“Think we should just toss this application and forget about her?” George asked, speaking up for the first time since she had entered the room.
“No, I think that would just make her come back and demand a reason for her rejection. If that's how she acts all the time, I don't want to see her when she's actually angry at us.” Fred said.
“Good point.” his twin agreed, and the two of them poured over the application, trying to find the position that would put as much distance between them and their most recent applicant.
Applications
Melissa Smith descended the stairs, but only until she was absolutely certain that she couldn't be heard by the Twins. Once she was sure she was in the clear, Tonks couldn't hold it anymore. Her body shook as the laughter she had been holding in the entire time erupted, her assumed form collapsing as she lost her self control.
“The look on their faces!” She snorted, falling ungracefully on her ass as she lost her balance. She didn't seem to notice, and just kept on laughing. The laughs just kept on coming, until they finally trailed off into intermittent giggles. Once they were under control (mostly) Tonks grabbed a nearby railing and hauled herself to her feet.
It had been a long time coming, but she finally got her revenge on those little first year pranksters. She couldn't wait until thew end of the year to reveal her prank to them. In the mean time, she would be sure to put the screws to them anytime the opportunity arose.