Prove Your Worth

Whight sat in the small cafe scribbling in his journal. His notes consisted of detailed information about every Order member he had encountered. He wondered how well this would look on him later. Just as he had finished writing a final sentence about his friend Jack, the waitress brought him his tea. After a nod of the head he took a sip and looked to his watch. 'Three minutes,' he thought.

Lately his work load had been almost too much for him to handle. Not that the tasks were difficult, but there was simply too much he needed done. Thus, Whight asked about and gather a few names. He had work that he would pay to have done for him now that he had a more than steady flow of income. Of course payment wouldn't always be money, but knowledge was also something he could part with. Whight was offering an apprenticeship.

Whight had received only one letter of interested from the many he sent out. A young Alice Longbotton had taken interest. She wasn't the first person he hoped would take up on his offer, but she wasn't the last. He responded to her and told her to meet him where he now sat. Today would be a day of feeling her out and testing whether or not she could competently work for Whight. He was picky about the way he had things done so he was going to be even pickier about who assisted him.

He looked out the window for the girl and noticed his reflection. She had 3 minutes before she was late. Being late was unacceptable. Period.

It took Alice almost three hours of a very confusing thought process to finally decide she would go. Sure, she was the one who actually responded to the letter. But at the time she was so surprised and impressed by the very idea of such an opportunity, that her mind wasn't functioning at its best. She simply wasn't thinking clearly. Rereading the letter a few times didn't help decision making either. To be honest, she had no idea what she was getting herself into to. This could either be one of the best decisions she has made in her life or one of the very worst.

She had to wonder, of all the students in Hogwarts why her? The only answer that popped into her head was: Longbottom. Her father had proven himself as both brave and competed in many areas. Alice on the other hand, no so much. Maybe this potential mentor of hers was hopping genetics would prevail in her case. After all, her father had told her in many occasions that he was clumsy just as Alice is now, but he had outgrown it. Perhaps this was the perfect chance for her to do so as well. Hopefully, he won't be disappointed in her before she could prove herself. After all, this Longbottom gene had to bring her something good, right?

Following the directions she was given very carefully, she found herself in front of a small cafe. As soon as she stepped in, her eyes gazed across the room to search for a familiar face. Not that she had ever met this man before, but a few of her friends had described him just enough so she could recognize him. Apparently, he had quite a reputation. Which Alice was of course oblivious about, just like of many other thing in the Wizarding world. As she spotted a face that fit her parameters perfectly, she took a deep breath and stepped towards him. "Alice, Alice Longbottom" she said introducing herself as she stuck her hand out for a handshake.

Whight stood, shook her hand , and motioned her to sit. He looked to his watch. She had arrived on time, therefore passing her first test. After another sip of his tea, Whight began the conversation.

"As for a formal introduction, my name is Whight Linstrum. It has come to my attention that I am in need of a few extra hands for my work, so I have decided to offer an apprenticeship. This is by no mean an easy position to hold, so you will take this very seriously should you accept the terms.

"In return," Whight continued, "you will receive payment for you work beginning almost immediately. In addition to payment, I plan to share with you my knowledge of magic and the wizarding world. If you work with me you will become a witch that no one will even think to cross.

"In the beginning you will have many questions for me and I will not answer them until either the right time or/and I feel that I can trust you completely. A lot of the work I do requires great secrecy and skill. Occasionally I will send you out on your own, but for the majority of the time you will follow me where ever I may go. There may be times where I need you not to speak and there may be times where I will refer to you as something other than an apprentice to keep you safe."

Whight knew he had said a lot, but if she couldn't handle his terms then she was not cut out for his line of work. "before we move much farther I would like you to tell me about your self. I need to know your current skills, your year in school, a bit about you past, and other general things you feel I should know."

Whight swallowed a gulp of tea once more and listened.

Alice listened to his words with great attention. His terms might have been overwhelming, but they didn't sound unreasonable. After all, she was expecting something like this. This was no fun and games anymore. The risk of this job was certainly great, but is she succeeded in it, the reward would be more than plentiful. Wasn't that exactly what she wanted? To stand on her own to feet and be someone. Wasn't that the whole point of her little rebellious duel against that Gryffindor girl and her long spell practices with Andrei? She wanted to prove her abilities not to the world, but more to herself. And for now it seemed that this man could lead and show her the way. But what would be the price of getting there?

"That doesn't seem unreasonable." said Alice nodding her head at him. She desperately wanted to appear to have it all together and figured out. For him to think she was brave, stable, competent and the perfect candidate for this position was crucial. Without that, she wouldn't even get her chance to learn. So she constantly reminded herself to be her best possible self. All she needed was to get through this interview. After that... well, after that she would manage somehow.

"I am a forth year at Hogwarts, a Hufflepuff" she started, not really knowing what exactly to say as her answer. "Also a chaser for the Hufflepuff Quidditch team. I do well in school, mostly high marks in all of my subjects. Transfiguration is my strong side and I'm pretty decent at Charms. Defensive magic... well I have been working on that recently and I'm improving" she said talking about her lessons with Andrei Dolohov. Before that however, she was completely clueless about dueling in every aspect. Not that she's any expert right now, but at least she was improving in that area.

She wondered if she should mention anything about her parents, but then again there was nothing much to say. Other than they would never approve of this job, ever. Her mother won't let her play Quidditch for the fear of getting hurt. Her father, no matter how open minded he was, would certainly not appreciate the dangerous she was putting herself either. So she decided to just skip that part if she could.

Whight was happy with what he heard. He had found himself a blank slate that he could develop. "I can work with that. You do have a lot to learn, but you must know that anything I teach you you will have to keep to yourself. Young students who know advanced spells tend to get questioned a lot and that's the last thing you will need. Secrecy will become a new life style for you"

Whight removed his journal from the table and placed it inside his jacket. "You have a lot of work ahead of you, but in time comes a steady career. The simple fact that you came here today tells me a lot about you. You are confident, willing to take chances, and you wish to make your own name instead of resting on the one you inherited. I could care less about the family you come from or where you were placed in Hogwarts. Titles mean very little to me. Your hard work and dedication will prove your value.

"I have work that needs tending to soon, so I need to know if you accept my offer. Know that no matter what we get into I will have your back even if it seems I don't. I know you are taking a chance doing this, so I want you to feel as safe as you can. Also know that if you double cross me or back stab me, there will be life threatening consequences. I have worked for many years to become who I am and I will not have it ruined.

"I want you to think very hard about what you are getting into, because once we shake hands upon agreement, I will hold you to my every expectation. There will be times when I may seem cruel or harsh, but you will learn and you will quickly become a powerful little witch," he finished with a smile.

"What do you say?" he asked. "Think first, and let that be lesson one."

Secrecy was not something she was used to or the way she was raised. She simply never had any reason to hide things before, until now of course. But she agreed that keeping this for herself was the best decision. The last thing she wanted was people asking her questions and getting into even more trouble. This time though, she had a legitimate excuse for secrecy. If she agreed to do this, she wouldn't be doing anything bad. Quite the opposite, she would be learning and advancing her knowledge. Besides, hiding thing and lying are not quite the same thing.

She had never considered the possibility of this evolving into a career. But since she had no idea what she wanted to do with her life, it was a thought worth having. The thing that frightened her the most thought was not the danger, but her own capabilities. Proving herself suddenly became very important to her. If she took this chance, she could either learn so many things or just end up failing completely and disappointing herself and others. Just this time, failing to successfully complete a task would cause consequences much serious than Hogwarts detention. It was a serious risk to take.

"Secrecy would not be a problem, neither the risk of danger" she finally said. After carefully listening to his words, she had truly believed that he would do everything to keep her safe. Of course Alice wasn't a cynical person to begin with. Some may even call her naive. But something about Whight had told her that she could trust him. This was her gut instinct and she had to follow it.

"I believe what you just said is true. And I have trust in your intentions and skill. Hopefully, one day you will have the same trust in me. So yes, I accept the position if you would still have me" said Alice with a slight smile on her face with a nod of her head.

Whight was pleased. Alice seemed like she would be a good fit for the job. Young, teachable, and innocent were all things he could use. Who would expect such a young witch to be working for an established wizard. The only problem Whight foresaw was that there may be a need for him to hide some of what he was really involved with until a later time.

"Good," he said. "I hope you will not be disappointed with what is to come. First things first though. We must begin some defensive training and studying. Whight reached down beside his chair and brought up a small bag. From within it he grabbed three books. "This book here," he pointed at the first, "is a book on the dark arts. I find that there is no better way for one to protect themselves from then dark arts than to know what may be thrown at them. It's a bit of an advanced read, but with the help of your class books you should do just fine.

"Here," he said pointing to the second, "is a basic defensive spell book. This is what I studied in school and I find it more useful than what they make you study at Hogwarts.

"The third book here is a book on spell casting technique. This will discuss non-verbal magic, using intent, wandless magic and so on."

Whight pushed the books her way. "I expect all this material to be read before our next meeting, you will need to know as much of it as possible for what we will be doing. I don't expect you know know much or master what you read, but be aware of it and everything else will come in due time."

"Now the next thing we need to discuss is your identity. Your identity is something you should protect to the best of your ability. At out next meeting I will have a gift for you that will help with this issue, but until then you may want to rethink the name you go by when you're around me. The last thing we need is you real name out and about. Hogwarts would not look kindly on that at all."

Whight readied his things as to prepare to leave. "I will send you an owl within the next few days in regards of our next meeting. Do you have any questions?" he asked.

Just looking at those three huge books on the desk made Alice lightheaded. This was only the first example of the commitment she will need to show for this job. Next to her Charm's homework and Potion's essay and all of her other homework, she had no idea when she would read all of that. But finding time seemed crucial. And unlike her homework, Alice found herself rather motivated and excited at exploring those books. She will finally have a chance to learn what she always wanted to know, and under proper guidance this time.

She pulled the books towards her, one by one. Examining their covers, she saw they were old and heavy. Just by their tittles she knew these books weren't anything like the ones you could find at the Hogwarts library. Keeping them hidden from people's view would also became important. She didn't want to answer any questions about their origin.

The first two books he explained were somewhat familiar to her, at least the general topic of them. The third one however was far beyond her level of magical abilities. Non-verbal and wandless magic was something most adult witches and wizards couldn't do, let alone a fourth year at Hogwarts. But that was what she was striving for, advancement. And she would just have to be patient until she reached that part.

"I will read them" said Alice nodding her head and already planning and trying to find free time in her head. It will be a tight schedule this week but nothing is impossible. It would take just a bit more work than she was used to.

What Whight said made complete sense. If someone knew her true identity, it could put everyone in real danger. Not just her but her family as well. "So I'll change my name. Sophia for example." she suggested. Sophia was the name of the first doll she got from her mother. It was a name she couldn't forget so that's what made it perfect. And it was different enough from hers that she doesn't suspect anything. "No...no questions" she said shaking her head. He had given her enough to work on and keep her busy already until their next meeting.

At that,, Whight stood and grabbed his things. There was little more that could be discussed today, everything else would unfold eventually. Whight knew he was placing a heavy burden on his new apprentice. If she took her studies half as seriously as Whight did in school then he knew she was in for a life of studying. This would just be the first of many tests.

"If there is nothing else then it is time for me to go. Here is you first payment." Whight placed a small bag of coins onto the table. "This should be enough to get you started. Go out, buy some new robes and even some tools you may think will be useful. " Whight held out a hand to shake. "You will hear from me soon, Ms. Sophia."

Whight appararted from the cafe after she met his hand shake.

Alice stared at the small bag of coins on the table. It felt so strange being paid for a job. All of the money she had ever gotten was from her parents and as an allowance. Not that her parents had leave her wanting for pretty much anything, but this was the first time she actually had her own money. I was a small amount but for her it felt like she just got millions.

"Right I will" said Alice nodding her head. He was right, she did needed some new robes and probably a few basic potions as well. Just something that could come handy during her lessons. "Goodbye Mr. Whight" said Alice standing up and shaking his hand. After she had watched him disappear behind the doors of the cafe, she took a deep breath. This was certainly a lot of information to process in a small period of time. But she didn't have any time to waste. With her school duties, buying the new things she needed and reading the books she was given, she didn't have much time left. She took her coat and left the cafe, still under the impression of the whole meeting. As she said before, this could have been her best life decision or her very worst. She had honestly hoped it was her best.