The Hogwarts Apprenticeship Program

The Meeting part 1

Ch 2

Harry

The seventh years were all standing in the small room off the Great Hall, looking kind of sheepish. Barely anyone had escaped the battle without an injury. I could see Percy and Annabeth standing off to the side, his arm around her neck. They were part of the lucky uninjured few. Professor McGonagall was standing at the front of the room, trying to get our attention, but it was like trying to get Blast-Ended Skrewts into a box. Nobody was listening.

Finally she managed to get the crowd into a relatively quiet state. She shouted over our heads. "Everyone, may I have your attention please?" For once, the entire room quieted and turned - except Percy and Annabeth, who continued their quiet conversation in the corner.

Although I was friends with Percy and Annabeth, who were both seventh year Gryffindors as well, I really didn't know much about their personal lives. They were the only Americans at Hogwarts, they never accepted to come to the Burrow over breaks, they had both disappeared after winter break last year and only turned up a few months ago, and I swore I had seen Percy fighting with a sword and controlling water during the Battle of Hogwarts. Something was up with those two.

I realized I hadn't been paying attention to McGonagall's speech. "...thankful for everyone who fought during the battle, especially those whose lives were sadly lost." There was a moment of silence as everyone thought of the rows of bodies in the next room. Everyone had lost someone, and not a single eye was dry.

Hermione

After the post-battle meeting, McGonagall invited a group of people into her new office to talk, since she was now the headmistress of Hogwarts. The group was me, Harry, and Ron, Bella, my Ravenclaw twin sister, and Percy and Annabeth. For once, I had no clue what was going on, and I had a feeling nobody else did either.

Professor McGonagall cleared her throat. "Hem-hem. Okay. I have brought the six of you here because you are some of the heroes of this war. In honor of this,we have decided to reinstate an old program here at Hogwarts: an apprenticeship program.

"This program involves sending you off with another magical being to learn a different type of magic, one which we believe will help in whatever you choose to do. We will..."

Annabeth interrupted her there. "What do you mean by 'another magical being'? And also, will we all have to split up? Is anyone else going?"

McGonagall was silent for a moment as she thought. "I'll have to split you up into at least two groups, three and three. For this first test year, it will just be you six. And as for what I mean by 'another magical being' ... well.... I need the six of you to swear that what I am telling you will not leave this office and be talked about in front of others."

The six of us all swore we wouldn't reveal anything, although I noticed Percy and Annabeth glanced at each other.

"What if I were to tell you that if you've ever read about a fictional world, it's actually real..."