Ask me anything!

[alt_rachel]

I am Rachel Brodie, former head of Albion MLE, Order of the Phoenix member, Dogstar member, and general troublemaker. Ask me anything!

Several of my old Aurors promised to come by and answer questions as well -- Ron Weasley, Hydra Finch-Fletchley, Draco Malfoy, Jason Montague -- and they can answer questions, too. And hey, some of our old friends promised to read along so WHO KNOWS what sorts of questions you might be able to get answered (ALICE) (#nopromises)

(If you have questions about the Battle of Penzance, which ended the Albion wizarding war 17 years ago this week, you'll want to ask someone other than me -- I was badly injured the night before it happened, and sat that battle out. But Lee Jordan talked me into this, he seemed to think people would have some questions.)

I actually have to step out for a bit but I promise I'll come back and answer questions later.

Comments

[jenett]

What do you think makes for a really excellent Auror?

And how do you think the Aurors you're training today are different than those who grew up during the war?

[alt_rachel]

Quick reflexes and steady nerves are helpful, but the thing I find most critical in a really excellent Auror is intelligence. Well, a certain sort of intelligence -- the kind that spots connections between things, that can suss out a lie or something that really needs to be double-checked. Fighting skills, you can train. Teaching someone to spot the detail that doesn't fit, and working out what it means without tipping their hand? That's a lot harder.

The Aurors from that very first 'class' -- Ron Weasley, Draco Malfoy, and Hydra and Justin Finch-Fletchley -- it's frankly unfair to compare later recruits to any of them. They were (and are) some of the bravest, most committed people I've ever known. They arrived with the sort of skills that are rarely found in Aurors today, simply because they'd trained so hard, with so much focus and dedication. It was an honour to work with them. Today's Aurors aren't ever going to come close, and it's not really fair to expect them to -- they grew up in a completely different world, they didn't decide at twelve or thirteen that they were willing to die to make things better, because thanks to the Order, they didn't have to.