Aurors: The Fist of Mars

The Department of Magical Law Enforcement

Brynja Dunstan had been working for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement since graduating from Hogwarts four years previously. She had started as a clerk for the Hit Wizard Squad and worked there for two years. The paper test for the Auror entrance examination had never been the problem. It wasn't even jinxes and counter curses that had tripped her up, as she had been a Ravenclaw at the top of her class (second only to her good friend Penelope Clearwater.) It was the physical part of the exam that she failed three times before finally passing it. She had taken up jogging and worked to build up her stamina. Spells were fine and dandy, but sometimes the job required a good-old-mundane foot chase.

She had just passed the Auror exam in June before the war (the results came in July), but her results were never made public. Rufus Scrimgeour was murdered, and the ministry fell. Brynja's job from then on was strictly off-the-books. She was still not used to the view from her little desk at the Auror office, so it wasn't that startling when—on Monday morning—that view suddenly included Harry Potter.

"Er—excuse me," he said. Harry Potter was dressed in a pair of new dress robes with creases still in them, and despite being clean-shaved and well-dressed, his hair stuck up in the back. He was a lot taller than Brynja remembered him. She had last seen him during his third year at Hogwarts, and most of her memories of the famous Harry Potter involved him being followed around by Oliver Wood as he talked about aerial maneuvers and attack formations for chasers. Brynja had to admit that she had been paying more attention to Oliver in those sightings than the gangly thirteen-year-old he was badgering.

"Oh," Brynja said, only mildly surprised to see the hero of the wizarding world standing in the Auror office. It made sense, didn't it? They had plenty of open positions and Harry Potter was more than qualified. "Hello. You're Harry Potter." Another man had walked in behind him. He was very tall, obviously a Weasley, and his shirt collar stuck out of the top of his equally new dress robes.

Brynja Dunstan was a tall, fit woman with dark brown hair and caramel colored skin. She had large almond-shaped eyes and a heart-shaped face. She wore plain black work robes over a fitted white blouse, gray trousers, and high-heeled boots. Harry knew he had seen her somewhere before, but he couldn't quite place her face. "And you're Weasley?"

"R-Ron," Ron sputtered.

"I'm Brynja Dunstan, Auror."

Harry rushed to shake her hand. Ron just wiped his sweaty hands on his robes. "I thought—you're new?" Harry asked.

"Very. You're looking for Mr. Robards, yes?"

Brynja lead Harry and Ron back to the office of Gawain Robards. It was very early, and with the exception of the head of the department and Brynja (who was a bit of a workaholic) nobody else had come in yet. She smiled reassuringly at them because the boys—the young men—looked very nervous. Then she returned to her desk where she had been looking at a list of missing wizards. It was her job to track down who had been taken or killed by Snatcher squads and who might still be hiding out in the countryside, unaware that the war was over.

Some time passed as she compared an appallingly fastidious list of executions overseen by the Death Eater Ministry with the list of missing persons. Here and there she was able to cross off names, but it still left a few dozen witches and wizards unaccounted for. These were the people whose families still had hope.

While she worked, Williamson and Dawlish came in. A few minutes later, Alauna Savage staggered through the door nursing a thermos of extra-strong tea. After half an hour, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley came out of Mr. Robards's office clutching a mountain of paperwork each and purple employee handbooks for the Ministry of Magic. Harry dumped his stack on the empty desk adjacent to Brynja, and Ron dumped his on the desk opposite Harry's.