"Oh yes, an experience." Ignan agreed, his tone a little sarcastic.

"A lot of hard work too. I don't doubt these aurors deal with a lot every day, but they also deal with the mundane. The public persona is that its a life of excitement and challenge at every turn." He smirked. "I can confirm from my younger days its certainly a challenge, mixed with painstaking boredom and a lot of moral consequences. Then again, we're not in wartime now." His eyes had rested over the top of Regina's head as he kept his tone quiet enough for her to hear but not to travel to the guests. He didn't actually want to offend them, attracting the attention of aurors was a pretty bad move.

"Still, boredom does invite a rather overactive imagination, but imaginations must be fed from somewhere." He shrugged and leant forwards a little,
"Why don't you grill them a little?"

The blond kid's response couldn't have been scripted any better.  Jonas burst out laughing, flashing the Hufflepuff a delighted grin as he very nearly doubled over.

"Y-yeah, that Adon," he agreed, wiping a tear from his eye as he recovered himself.  "Can't reckon he'd respond all that well to mothering, though.  Gets enough of it from his own family."

Clearing his throat in a less-than-successful attempt to maintain some dignity, he gave the blond boy a much more considering look over.  Tall, probably a seventh year -- brash and to the point, but still polite, which meant he had at least a little bit of control.  He had a hint of a French accent, and a pierced lip that didn't look like anything that purebloods would approve of.  Seemed the sort who could go either way.  Brashness and bravery were both traits the Auror Corps could always use more of, but if the kid came across as too blunt or disrespectful, he wouldn't last the first year in training.

"He's a genius with alcohol and T9 alike," he replied cheerfully, flashing the blond a friendly smile.  "Don't know how he'd take to an apprentice, though.  You might have to feel him out on that one.  Jonas Trevelyan," he offered, sitting up straight as he extended a handshake to the kid.  "All these questions rhetorical, or are you looking to sign up?"

The other kid -- the teenaged Gryffindor with the prefect's badge -- was still chattering on as well.  Jonas glanced at him, his expression impassive, as he weighed the boy's words.  Obviously the kid thought he should be seen as some sort of authority on the Auror Corps; with two Auror parents, he no doubt had heard plenty about it at home.  Even so, he clearly didn't know how to express his enthusiasm in a politic way.  Jonas and Pratt made jokes at each others' expense endlessly, but it was another thing for a teenager to insert himself into the exchange.

Jonas refrained from glancing at Eddie as he studied the boy for a moment longer.  The unspoken goal of today -- aside from making as much extra work for Tamis as was humanly possible -- was to give Pratt a break from the family tragedy that had happened only a few days before.  The Harcrofts' kid, who seemed determined to prod and challenge without thinking of the consequences, was not helping the situation.  It probably wasn't worth telling him to lay off his coworker; much better to change the subject and let the boy have the attention that he wanted in a more positive way.

"Naw, I'll take the compliments where I can get 'em, Mr Harcroft," he replied cheerfully, flashing the boy a crooked grin as he settled back in his chair again.   "Must know plenty about the Corps then, if you've got two Aurors in the family.  And they've been in the MLE for years, yeah?" he asked with amiable curiosity, nodding to Joshua.  "Your dad was around long before I signed on.  Why'd they both decide to become Aurors?"

The extended hand - and the redhead's laughter - came as a surprise to Dax, who'd been expecting to be scolded. He grinned despite his risen eyebrows, taking Jonas's hand. "Dax Fayette," he said, saluting elaborately. "Lookin' to sign up with my brother, sir! He's not here yet or he'd have ruined the fun by now, askin' you questions about duty and statistics and also being a boring arse, sir!"

He relaxed back into the seat, crossing his hands behind his head. "Gonna ace my NEWTs like a breeze n'take the office by storm. Lemme know - Raynor prefer 'er men shirtless or should I be like my brother and show up in suit and tie?"

Jonas turned to Harcroft and Dax snorted. "That kid talks like a textbook. Y'could use him in the aurors, loosen him up."

Josh looked steadily at Auror Trevalyn following jhis reply. somethign was off about him, thouhg Johs couldnlt qutie tell what it was[1] then he replied "A fair amount, you wouldnt believe the stories my father told. I could never quite tell when he was embellishing them. As for why they joined the Aurors, my family has a tradition of helping people. That usually drives memebrs of my family into the Auror corps, although some become Healers."Josh replied, still looking slightly oddly at Auror Trevalyn. Then he heard Fayette making the usual comparison between him and a textbook. It was times like these that he wished that the Prefect powers were more comprehensive, since he hated it when people said that.

1.	I doubt Josh knows that Auror Pratt's family were attacked, as he doesnt make cruel jokes. Sam would have told him an Auror's fmaily was attacked, but not who, and with the Prophet mentoning Senior Auror Fox's fmaiyl was attacked...

Extremely uncharacteristically Edward Pratt was quiet as he watched the students converse amongst one another and Jonas. His focus was no longer on telling the young girls of his exploits and instead it was judging the possible future members of their office. Ed feared for the country if this was what Hogwarts was now coughing up. Yes, Jonas and he were a lot of talk but they had balls to back it up. This blond kid just seemed to like talk and the lad that was apparently Harcroft’s spawn just...imitated his headstrong, rule book humping father.

Arms were folded over his chest as Ed looked at the older blond lad who was comparing Harcroft’s offspring to a textbook. A small smirk tweaked the corners of the auror’s lips. “And you don’t stop talkin’...” He paused, recalling the name the lad had just used to introduce himself to Paddy, “Fayette.” Bright green eyes flashed across to the Harcroft kid and he pondered Fayette’s comment for a moment before shaking his head.

“Two Harcroft’s is more than enough, mate.” Ed already didn’t like this Gryffindor kid. Especially after the misplaced comments. Banter was acceptable with people who knew each other and knew where the line was. It was acceptable between Ed and Jonas, they were forming quite the pairing. What wasn’t acceptable was for a kid no older than fifteen to make comments on Ed’s ‘bedding’ of the office’s female population.

“Reckon that tongue can cause trouble, lad.” Ed muttered to the Harcroft kid. “If yer hopin’ to sign up to the corps I’d censor it if I were you.”

And with that he looked up at the group and gave a large smile. “So who wants Head Auror Raynor’s contact details? And we’ve got signup sheet for the camp for over the summer which she’s runnin’ personally. Everyone is more than welcome, even if it’s just cus ye wanna get yer feelers in there and see. But bein’ an auror ‘ent just a job to give a go cus there ‘ent nowt else. May as well get a job ‘ere if that’s the case.”

It happened rather quickly, Joshua started running his mouth, the twin of a prefect running his mouth and managed to completely lose Erik with his more mature jokes,  which apparently managed to get the blond Auror snarky and talking. All the banter and the change in mood started to make the first-year Gryffindor feel somewhat out of place, made apparent by the twisted faces accompanied with a protruding tongue, as if he was making as if he chewed a bad-colored every-flavored bean.

But then Auror Pratt changed the subject again and Erik's eyes grew wide in anticipation, "I do!" his voice spiked a pitch as he threw his arm into the air as if he were a Miss Antonopoulus, except his underlying reasons were much more devilish: Make copies of the address, pass them out, hold a letter-writing session among his housemates, sing songs, and make doubles/triplicates/quartuintel-lets/quintuplets--Oh Erik.

Then his voice calmly fell as his hand smacked down on the table, "But is the camp like Summer Camp camp or camping outside of Head Auror office making smores kind of camp?" his smiled returned again as he folded his hands in front of him while looking between the ginger and the blonde, "If it's the former can there be a camping mini-camp?"

hearing Aror Pratt's mutter, Josh ran over what he'd said again, and realised that he'd probably stepped over the line. sometimes he forgot that the only Aurors he knew well shared a surname with him[1]. "Sorry. Forgot the only Aurors I know well enough for joking around like that share a surname with me. I normally have more tact than that." He muttered back  to Auror Pratt. Then he arched an eyebrow when Auror Pratt mentioned the signup sheets. "And does Head Auror Raynor actually know about this camp? As if she does, I might be interested." Josh said, it certianly wasnt unreasonable like soome of the things the two had said[2]'although he didnt like the look on Collins' face. Looks like someone had an idea to make life irritating for the Head Auror. which may be the exact point Josh thought suddenly, since it occured to him that this could be some form of punishment detail.

1.	I figure it's a fairly reasonable explanation for why he would uncharacteristically run his mouth quite like that.
2.	in fact, it occurs to me that some form of event over the summer for thsoe interested in becoming Aurors might not be a bad idea.

Jonas cracked a grin at Fayette's salute, regarding the Hufflepuff bemusedly.  That was certainly one benefit to taking on a new group of trainees out of Hogwarts.  The constant pressure and stress present throughout Level Two was suffocating; it squashed all spirit, bore down on all good nature.  He'd been back barely two months and he already felt it on his shoulders.  Getting a new influx of energy and enthusiasm would go a long way towards lightening the mood, even if the incoming trainees could have no way of knowing what they were getting themselves into.

"Raynor probably prefers 'em in proper dress robes, to be honest," he replied good-naturedly, flashing Fayette a grin.  "Although I'd watch what I say about the women around the office, Mr Fayette.  Character tests count just as much as exam scores when it comes to being accepted into the training program, and the Aurors are pretty close-knit besides.  Can't work together like we need to if we're not respectful towards our coworkers."

The comment about the Harcroft kid made him raise an eyebrow, and he glanced toward the Gryffindor.  Like father, like son, apparently.  At least Harcroft seemed to realize his error, offering a muttered apology back to Eddie.

"Not really like either," he said in response to the first-year's question, flashing the boy a grin.  "Being an Auror's not like camping at all.  It'll be intense, but it'll give you lot some good practice and a chance to see what life is like in the Corps.  The first few Saturdays'll be basic investigative techniques -- how to gather evidence, interrogate suspects, hold your own in a duel, that sort of thing," he said breezily.  He was seizing on the first few stereotypes of Auror life that came to mind, but each one sounded more and more exciting.  "Then the last few weeks, the lot of you will get a case to solve.  You'll have to question witnesses, put the pieces together, and solve the mystery, culminating in a final showdown with a dark wizard to test your nerve and dueling prowess!"

"But I'm twelve, I'm not old enough to fight dark wizards..." Erik conceded pitifully, since at least he didn't think he was old enough to fight wizards; but dueling, mystery solving, investigating, it sounded interesting, but old people had a great way of making interesting-sounding things rather boring. Then the Gryffindor's twitched into curiosity, "Wait do you aurors keep them in a trunk or what?"

Suddenly materializing dark wizards sounded silly to Erik, but way too much fun to pass up, "So it'd be like a murder mystery party... with dueling?" he raised his head as his eyebrows rose with building interest.

Raine Almasy was feeling thoroughly underwhelmed by the Auror Corps booth at the fair. Her decision to come here had actually been a difficult one: she knew that whether or not she visited, her ambitions would be unchanged. It was the idea of meeting the aurors that gave her the final push to join in on the crowd of interested students. Many people wanted to be in Law Enforcement- not all of them for the same or right reasons. The Gryffindor had arrived in time to hear one of the auror handing out sign-up sheets for a 'summer camp' aimed at hopeful-aurors. Summer camp. The word oozed with images of group fires and sing-a-long songs that set her teeth grinding.

Auror Trevelyan's description fortunately did not confirm what the title suggested: "Then the last few weeks, the lot of you will get a case to solve.  You'll have to question witnesses, put the pieces together, and solve the mystery, culminating in a final showdown with a dark wizard to test your nerve and dueling prowess!" He concluded his explanation with zeal, addressing a first year that Raine recognized as Collins. The wizard seemed to know what it was that people wanted to hear.

Raine had deftly and unnoticeably made her way through the crowd to the front of the booth. People were busy chatting or listening so it was easy to stand around without drawing much attention. She eyed the auror skeptically as Collins went on with his questions. It was hard to imagine all those things coming to fruition- and that last phase especially, the young witch thought. The department might 'arrange' a great number of details to avoid unpleasant surprises. Her countenance was serious now as she considered the wisdom of this plan.

It came as a bit of a surprise when someone in the crowd shoved a clipboard into her hands; her concentration broke and she looked down curiously at the sign-up sheet they were passing around. She pulled the quill from its clip and held it in her hand, indecisive. This was what she wanted to be. An auror. It was the driving force behind everything she did at Hogwarts now. Still, Raine paused and stared down at the list with hesitation.

Ignan would remember to remind Erik that he was never too young to defend himself, but it was mildly amusing to watch him irritate the aurors.

Lurking behind still, having talked with Regina, Ignan spotted another of her classmates indecisively holding the clipboard.

"I believe the letters you are looking for are, R, A, I, N, E, Alamasy, and once you've signed do pass it over to Grayson." He spoke from behind the Gryffindor.

"I believe the letters you are looking for are, R, A, I, N, E, Alamasy, and once you've signed do pass it over to Grayson."

Raine would have jumped in surprise but she knew better and turned around instead to find the Defences professor standing behind her. It figured; few voices could sound quite so patronizing. The Gryffindor managed a forced smile, her jaw tense. "But then they'll have my name- and Merlin knows what they'll do with it," she muttered sardonically- mostly to herself. Her own words surprised the witch a little, mostly because she hadn't realized how bitter her attitude towards the Ministry really was.

But now was hardly a time for introspective and Raine looked down at the sign-up sheet again, scribbling her name with a flourish before passing it over to Regina. Her fellow fifth-year was closer than she realized. Glancing back at Storm, Raine's smile widened into something more genuine but less sweet: "You're raising a whole fleet of aurors, sir."

"You're raising a whole fleet of aurors, sir."

"Ah yes, Almasy, just as the Ministry request, its at the top of the examination requirements for OWLs - each student must be led to believe they will make a perfect candidate by the often glamoured profession of auror, and not allowed to know the reality of any statistic about death, serious injury or susceptibility to drink, potion abuse or loss of any social or romantic intent."

Professor Storm gestured with one hand as if pointing out the words in the air, before his gaze landed back on Raine with a smirk.

"Then again, who knows unless they try?" He slid his hands into his suit trouser pockets and looked towards the visiting aurors.
"I'm sure they'll be more than happy to have a couple more girls to make chauvinist jests about." Traditionalist he was, to the point where Tapendra wanted to throttle him, but Ignan never underestimated a woman. He'd tried to explain it to Callum only the other day...

"Ah yes, Almasy, just as the Ministry request, its at the top of the examination requirements for OWLs - each student must be led to believe they will make a perfect candidate by the often glamoured profession of auror, and not allowed to know the reality of any statistic about death, serious injury or susceptibility to drink, potion abuse or loss of any social or romantic intent." Professor Storm painted a grim picture, indicating towards the air at some invisible portrait of the unseen auror's lifestyle. Raine noted his smirk, resented it. Her own smiled faded. It was hardly the glamour that drew her towards this ambition- it was nearly attractive, this notion of a non-existent social life. Nearly.

"Then again, who knows unless they try?" The Gryffindor followed her teacher's gaze as it shifted to observe the aurors Pratt and Trevelyan, "I'm sure they'll be more than happy to have a couple more girls to make chauvinist jests about."

The colour reached Raine's cheeks indignantly and she stopped herself from turning a glare onto the professor. Her eyes remained steadfastly on the auror corps; cold and blue and critical. "Maybe," she responded in a careful tone, "but their jests are defensive." A small wave of laughter came from a group of younger girls surrounding the booth and the tiny, heated feeling of disgust in Raine's chest flared.

"Surely, sir, they know that any good witch is a calamity and not a joy." Trusting her expression to be neutral again, she stared back up at Storm, "Their jests serve to protect, not maim. And probably all for the better," Raine couldn't hide her frown now, "We can be a most agressive sex."

Perhaps it was her prerogative as a female to think so but Raine knew that no world- muggle or wizarding- was easy for a woman to work in. So often perceived as prey, she coveted the role of predator.