The Apprentice Piece
by Jardyn39
Part One of "The Apprentice Piece"
Chapter 4: The Ministry
Harry slammed into a polished wooden floor. He picked himself up and dusted himself down. Where was he? Ahead of him was a large window with small panes of glass with a glazed door next to it. It looked like he was inside a shop. It was dark inside but moonlight showed the street outside was deserted. Harry stepped towards the door.
Behind him he heard someone clearing his throat. Harry span around and automatically pointed the apprentice piece as if he had his wand.
"Mr Potter, welcome. I … oh"
"Mr Ollivander. Sorry, you surprised me," said Harry and he quickly lowered his arm.
"Ah, is that the piece. May I see it?"
"Sure," said Harry and he held it out but Mr Ollivander moved away.
"I cannot touch it, Mr Potter."
"No, it's okay. No-one but me touched it until was varnished."
"I still can't touch it. Please hold it in the light so I can see it better." Harry held it up next to the lamp on the counter.
"Very nice. Very nice," muttered Mr Ollivander, getting very close to it.
"Is this a wand, Mr Ollivander?"
"It is." Mr Ollivander stood and looked at Harry with unblinking eyes. "Albus wanted me to check it was suitable. It is. You've done well. You notice the unusual profile? It starts as an octagonal shape at the handle end, changes into a square profile, followed by a round circular profile and ending with an eclipse."
"Shouldn't anyone else hold it then?" asked Harry.
"Oh, no. It will act just as a piece of machined timber in the hands of most people."
Harry nodded as Mr Ollivander opened an empty long thin box and indicated for him to place it inside. Mr Ollivander closed the box and handed it to Harry.
"The wand chooses the wizard, Mr Potter. You must not attempt to use it until you get back to Hogwarts. It would be best if you entrusted it to someone else until you get there. It should be safe in that box, but even so. Don't ask me any more about the wand or its purpose now. You will know very shortly. Albus will tell you. For now, just know that the power this wand can give its true bearer will overwhelm an untrained wizard."
"I may not be the true bearer?"
"No. You may not be. Albus will know only when you use it. Now, if you'll permit me I'll walk you over to the Leaky Cauldron. Tom has a room for you."
*
"Mr Potter, Sir. Good evening. I've been expecting you," said Tom the Innkeeper of the Leaky Cauldron as Mr Ollivander bowed them goodbye.
"Mr Shacklebolt is in the bar, Sir."
"Harry, Hi! Come and have a drink."
"Er, I'm not sure I should." said Harry uncertainly. Shacklebolt looked like he had a few already.
"Here, Mr Potter. This is a hot toddy. It will help you sleep," and Tom handed him a steaming tankard. Harry took a sip. He felt the hot sugary alcohol sting his throat. He took another, and immediately felt much more relaxed.
"How's George and John?" Harry tried to say. His voice was just a whisper. Shacklebolt suppressed a snigger.
"They are fine. Both asleep, which is what sensible folk do at this time of night."
"Sleep would be good," admitted Harry. Tom appeared at once to show him to his room.
"Nine o'clock, Harry."
"Pardon?" he asked, his thoughts on the bed waiting for him upstairs.
"You appointment at the Ministry is nine tomorrow morning. You can floo from here."
*
At 8:45 the next morning, Harry approached the security desk in the atrium to the Ministry of Magic. He queued behind an old visiting witch who thoroughly annoyed the security guard by spending ages searching for her wand.
Eventually Harry presented his wand and was told to take a seat in the waiting area. As Harry sat he watched witches and wizards move in an out of the atrium, all the time worried about why he had been summoned. He couldn't think what he'd done wrong.
"Mr Potter?" said a loud voice that startled Harry for a moment.
"Er, Yes?"
"Good morning. My name is Mr Wilkes. Thanks for coming in. Let's go up to my office shall we?"
Harry followed. Wilkes was as tall as Harry but quite rotund. He had a jolly look and said hello to everyone they passed.
"Here we are!" said Wilkes as they reached the end of the corridor.
Harry read the sign next to the office door and had a mild panic attack. It read "Examination Board - O.W.L." Resisting a strong urge to just run, Harry followed Wilkes into the room. There were only two desks but the entire room was surrounded with an odd assortment of filing cabinets and stacks of paper.
Two people were already present in the room. An elderly witch behind desk was chatting to Professor McGonagall. They looked like old friends. Wilkes greeted the Professor and started to make teas in the corner after indicating to Harry that he should sit.
"Hello, Harry," McGonagall said greeting him with a warm smile.
"Hello, Professor," he replied giving a nervous smile.
Wilkes started speaking with his back still towards the others. "I hope you don't mind my inviting Professor McGonagall, Harry. You should really have a parent or guardian present for the interview but I thought this might be better."
"Er, not at all," said Harry.
After handing out the teas, Wilkes took out thin folder from one of the filing cabinets. He opened it flat on his desk and suddenly masses of paper appeared. He picked up a summary sheet of parchment and considered it.
"Now, about these marks," he said seriously.
It turned out, however, that Harry got good marks in both practical and theory papers for most subjects and Wilkes complimented him on his DADA marks. Wilkes commented that this year Hogwarts had an exceptionally wide range of marks on DADA, a few rather good but most exceptionally bad. McGonagall smiled knowingly at him.
"The Minister stepped in and insisted we review your marks when he found out You-Know-Who might have been interfering."
"And we told him to shove it …" piped up the old witch.
"Yes, thank you Agnes. The examination board is independent, Harry. No-one can tell us what grades we may or may not award. However we routinely review and re-grade papers and we like to think we take into account any special circumstances."
"Now, there are a couple of subjects that we need to look at." Harry's stomach seemed to clench.
"Divination. Everybody fails this. Okay, what colour tie will I wear tomorrow?"
"What?"
"Pick a colour."
"Red," said Harry and Agnes snorted loudly.
Professor McGonagall took out her wand and transfigured a rubber stamp into a lurid red tie. It had "It's Wednesday" neatly stitched across it in gold. Harry stared open mouthed at her but she didn't look at him.
"Thanks, I'll wear it tomorrow. Sorted. Divination passed if prediction correct." Wilkes wrote a few notes before continuing.
"Astronomy. As Professor McGonagall disrupted the exam …" Wilkes paused as she gave him a severe look. "Sorry, couldn't resist. As there was a disruption during the examination, everyone's marks were adjusted. You scraped a pass, Harry. Okay?" He looked up at Harry who nodded.
"Now History of Magic. Not so good here but the Examiner noted that you were taken ill during the examination."
Wilkes asked Harry some History of Magic questions and, after considering his answers, asked if Harry thought he would have passed this anyway.
Harry looked down. "Not really. I barely managed to stay awake in Professor Binns' class this year."
"Well, your end of year tests before OWL weren't that bad," added Professor McGonagall, "I still think you would have passed."
"I'm going to mark this as a fail, Harry, but invite you to re-sit the examination in November."
"Okay, thanks."