June Ficlet: Senior Auror Phil O'Shaughnessy (demented'verse, HP/SPN)
Today I rolled the dice and got a 3, then I realized I had accidentally rolled my d20 instead of my d12, so I rolled the d12... and got a 3. :P
Which means that today's prompt came from daily-prompt. The prompt is "New England", and well, the first character that sprang to mind was my OC from the demented'verse, Phil. For any of you who don't know, the demented'verse is my HP/SPN crossover series.
Since I've been toying with writing another update to that series, I decided to write how the next story might begin from Phil's point of view - but it also turned into a little exploration of Phil's character and how he views Harry.
Prompt: New England
Senior Auror Phil O'Shaughnessy
Words: 671
Phil wasn’t the head of the Auror Department of the American Ministry of Magic. Sometimes he wasn’t sure that Harry Potter understood that little fact. The head of the Department was a man named Brighton. He was a good boss, a good leader, a fine Auror, and a decent statesman. He and Phil had a companionable working relationship, but they weren’t exactly friends.
It wasn’t like Phil was too far down on the ladder either, though. There was that. The O’Shaughnessy family had a long history in both the Wizarding World and the Atlantic colonies - and in New England especially. Phil was respected for his last name alone and that was a privilege that he was well aware of and tried his hardest not to abuse. He didn’t necessarily have to work to keep that privilege, but he didn’t want to lose it either. He’d seen how far some of the old families had fallen back in Britain - the Blacks were decimated, the Malfoys disgraced. Granted, that was due to being on the wrong side of a war, of believing in hatred and blood-superiority and putting all your chips in with a megalomaniac obsessed with immortality, but still, the lesson was still there - if you used your privilege to oppress others or attempt to raise yourself even higher than before, you would get what was coming to you, either in this life or the next.
Which was why Phil shied away from the important titles, why he was reluctant to throw his weight around too much, or to use his name as an excuse to break the rules... he wasn’t sure Harry understood that. When Phil tried to explain it once, Harry had nodded and said that Albus Dumbledore had been the same, had been afraid of the lure of power and refused the job of Minister - and that was interesting to know, but it wasn’t quite what Phil meant. Phil wasn’t lured by power. He wasn’t fearful of what he might do should he get power. It was more that Phil believed that just because you could do something, didn’t mean that you should. Just because Phil could be the head of the Department, didn’t mean that that was what was best for the Department. Just because Phil could run for higher office, like Minister, didn’t mean that would be what was best for the colonies, the Ministry, or Phil, for that matter. Just because Phil could break the rules and get away with it, didn’t mean that he should.
Phil understood, though, that Harry was shaped by the war. Harry was an Auror, because he’d never given himself a chance to consider anything else, because Harry had chosen a career at a point in his life when he needed desperately to be an Auror. Harry broke the rules as he saw fit, because he grew up in a time and place in which following the rules would get him killed, in which the rule-makers were, if not in league with, than at least complacent towards the evil that threatened to destroy everything Harry held dear.
So now, even when Harry and his compatriots were the ones making the rules and were the ones enforcing the rules - Harry still didn’t necessarily follow the rules. If Harry were a little less moral, a little less good, he would be terrifying. Maybe he still was. But Phil had to concede that every time he had seen Harry break a rule, it ended up being for the best - it ended up being, maybe not wise, but a necessary gamble.
Harry had been shaped by the war - all he had known in his formative years was trouble. Phil couldn’t help but wonder, now that the war was over and there was no trouble to be had, if Harry didn’t know what else to do but to start inviting it.
And this was the thought that Phil had when he received a letter that simply said:
I need you to find the Winchesters.
-Harry.
The End
Which means that today's prompt came from daily-prompt. The prompt is "New England", and well, the first character that sprang to mind was my OC from the demented'verse, Phil. For any of you who don't know, the demented'verse is my HP/SPN crossover series.
Since I've been toying with writing another update to that series, I decided to write how the next story might begin from Phil's point of view - but it also turned into a little exploration of Phil's character and how he views Harry.
Prompt: New England
Senior Auror Phil O'Shaughnessy
Words: 671
Phil wasn’t the head of the Auror Department of the American Ministry of Magic. Sometimes he wasn’t sure that Harry Potter understood that little fact. The head of the Department was a man named Brighton. He was a good boss, a good leader, a fine Auror, and a decent statesman. He and Phil had a companionable working relationship, but they weren’t exactly friends.
It wasn’t like Phil was too far down on the ladder either, though. There was that. The O’Shaughnessy family had a long history in both the Wizarding World and the Atlantic colonies - and in New England especially. Phil was respected for his last name alone and that was a privilege that he was well aware of and tried his hardest not to abuse. He didn’t necessarily have to work to keep that privilege, but he didn’t want to lose it either. He’d seen how far some of the old families had fallen back in Britain - the Blacks were decimated, the Malfoys disgraced. Granted, that was due to being on the wrong side of a war, of believing in hatred and blood-superiority and putting all your chips in with a megalomaniac obsessed with immortality, but still, the lesson was still there - if you used your privilege to oppress others or attempt to raise yourself even higher than before, you would get what was coming to you, either in this life or the next.
Which was why Phil shied away from the important titles, why he was reluctant to throw his weight around too much, or to use his name as an excuse to break the rules... he wasn’t sure Harry understood that. When Phil tried to explain it once, Harry had nodded and said that Albus Dumbledore had been the same, had been afraid of the lure of power and refused the job of Minister - and that was interesting to know, but it wasn’t quite what Phil meant. Phil wasn’t lured by power. He wasn’t fearful of what he might do should he get power. It was more that Phil believed that just because you could do something, didn’t mean that you should. Just because Phil could be the head of the Department, didn’t mean that that was what was best for the Department. Just because Phil could run for higher office, like Minister, didn’t mean that would be what was best for the colonies, the Ministry, or Phil, for that matter. Just because Phil could break the rules and get away with it, didn’t mean that he should.
Phil understood, though, that Harry was shaped by the war. Harry was an Auror, because he’d never given himself a chance to consider anything else, because Harry had chosen a career at a point in his life when he needed desperately to be an Auror. Harry broke the rules as he saw fit, because he grew up in a time and place in which following the rules would get him killed, in which the rule-makers were, if not in league with, than at least complacent towards the evil that threatened to destroy everything Harry held dear.
So now, even when Harry and his compatriots were the ones making the rules and were the ones enforcing the rules - Harry still didn’t necessarily follow the rules. If Harry were a little less moral, a little less good, he would be terrifying. Maybe he still was. But Phil had to concede that every time he had seen Harry break a rule, it ended up being for the best - it ended up being, maybe not wise, but a necessary gamble.
Harry had been shaped by the war - all he had known in his formative years was trouble. Phil couldn’t help but wonder, now that the war was over and there was no trouble to be had, if Harry didn’t know what else to do but to start inviting it.
And this was the thought that Phil had when he received a letter that simply said:
I need you to find the Winchesters.
-Harry.
The End