In Her Darkest Hour ✞ Theseus Scamander

I

A Hit Witch. Possibly the most dangerous job that the Ministry of Magic had to offer. Only the bravest and most skilled witches could carry out the role due to the high-risk combat situations and the risk of life endangerment due to the ongoing riots regarding Gellert Grindelwald. Which is why Orla Kervoy was the only Hit Witch in the Ministry. On a team full of men, Orla was the man in charge.

Orla was offered this job at the age of 18 but instead turned it down to train under the wing of Professor Kitumba, the professor of Alchemy at Uagadou School of Magic. After 12 years working her way up from apprentice to a professor, Orla left Uganda and instead moved in with her fiance and taken the Hit Witch job after advice from her former Hogwarts professor of alchemy and good friend, Edmund Gowdie.

It was nerve-racking, to say the least. Orla had never been in a position like this, sure she had taught thousands of children in Uganda from all across Africa, but this was different. These were fully grown men, and she was the only woman on this team. So many intrusive thoughts rushed around her head as she tried to calm herself before she went into the office, but for some reason, Orla couldn't calm herself down.

The grandfather clock standing in the corridor chimed 9 times telling Orla it was 9 o'clock and the workday had officially begun. Orla thought she was going to throw up there and then as she walked through the door into her new department, somehow she managed to keep the contents of her breakfast down when she walked in.

Suddenly, the 24 pairs of eyes that were gathered around the Minister for Magic and landed on her as she walked in nearly making her breakfast come up again. Hector Fawley, the Minster, looked behind him and ushered Orla to come closer and to greet her new team.

"Right on time, Orla," Hector smiled as he shook her hand. "Gentlemen, this is your new boss, Orla Kervoy. Miss Kervoy has spent the last 12 years working in Uganda at the Uagadou School for Magic alongside Professor Kitumba, many of you have probably heard of him from Professor Gowdie and potentially heard of Orla from the same man. I would recommend to not piss Orla off in any way, Merlin knows what she'll hurdle at you if you upset her."

The joke about Orla's skill in alchemy actually made her laugh which helped calm her nerves a tiny bit. But her heart soon began racing when her name came out of one of her new colleague's mouth.

"Orla Kervoy?" A tall Asian man said, when she landed her eyes on him he was looking her up and down, trying to get an idea of who she was and what she was about. "You're the famous Orla professor Gowdie speaks so highly of. No offence, but you're not what I was expecting, I'm sure half of the men here will agree."

Orla actually knew who he was. Archibald Carrow was two years below her in school, he was always causing trouble with his fellow Slytherin classmates, Orla remembered her potions professor complaining about him one time to her and professor Gowdie.

Orla was a little taken back by his comment but knew she had to assert herself. "Oh, none taken honestly. Professor Gowdie was so kind as to take me on and mentor me during my final years at Hogwarts, he gave me private tutoring sessions to help me master the art of wandless magic and alchemy, I really owe him a lot as he taught me so much, one of the things he taught me that still stands out is to not be a judgemental arsehole when you meet new people for the first time."

There was a couple of snickers from some of the men's mouths, including Minister Fawley's. A few of the men had sly smiles on their face as they tried to stay professional as possible. And Archibald? Well, Archibald had a look of pure disgust on his face.

"And that Archie is the reason you keep your mouth shut," one of the men spoke up. He too was tall and spoke with a strong Welsh accent, Orla already knew the two would get on well, "you've already made a fool of yourself in front of your new boss and you've known her less than five minutes."