[Fic] "Career Advice" -- Harry Potter

[edenfalling]

lady_songsmith requested: HP, Bill Weasley, "You want to work with goblins?"

Bill Weasley didn't pay much attention to goblins until his fifth year at Hogwarts. (875 words) [AO3 crosspost]

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Career Advice
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"You want to work with goblins?" Professor McGonagall asked, her face and voice practically the dictionary definition of dubious.

Bill scratched his ear, confused at this response to his life goals. "No, I want to work with curses," he repeated. "But Gringotts has the best curse-breaking department in the world. It'd be daft not to apply there." He frowned. "Is there something wrong with working for goblins? They pay all right, don't they? They must do -- nobody'd work for them otherwise, and I know they have wizards and witches on staff -- I asked, this summer when Mum took us to Diagon Alley for school supplies."

"Of course there's nothing wrong in a Gringotts position," Professor McGonagall said. "I was simply surprised. It's not a career track many people aim for, particularly not with the bad blood remaining from the various Goblin Rebellions. But back to curse-breaking. You'll need a solid background in Arithmancy and Ancient Runes, which I note you had the foresight to choose as electives in your third year. NEWTS in Defense, Charms, and Potions are also advisable, and while it's a touch late to add Care of Magical Creatures to your schedule, you should brush up on the more dangerous beasts and their byproducts."

"I'll ask Charlie if I run into any trouble there," Bill said with a grin.

Professor McGonagall allowed herself a brief smile in return. "I'm sure he'll be thrilled to tutor you instead of the other way around. Now, do you have any further questions?"

Bill shook his head.

But later that afternoon, he found himself wondering why the professor had looked so surprised -- almost disapproving -- when he mentioned Gringotts. Obviously goblins weren't the same as humans. They had their own magic and culture, even if nobody seemed to know much about it -- or at least Bill didn't remember Binns saying anything on the subject. And while Binns being useless was business as usual, Bill didn't think the History textbook said much about goblins either. Which was weird, come to think of it. When she wrote about wars between wizards, or elections, or famous prophecies and the development of new spells, Bathilda Bagshot was careful to cover both sides of every issue in at least moderate detail. But when she reached any one of the various Goblin Rebellions, it was just dates and battles and maybe a paragraph to mention that a peace treaty got signed, without saying what the terms were.

Bill knew something fishy when he smelled it.

He thought about going to the library to hunt for answers, but he was tired and the sofa in the common room was incredibly comfortable, even if Charlie had claimed the other end so Bill had to scrunch up a bit instead of stretching out. Getting up and trudging through the castle sounded like too much work. Besides, he'd just told Professor McGonagall he'd ask Charlie for help with magical creatures, and that could technically include beings as well as beasts, right?

Bill unbent his leg and kicked his little brother, who was grimacing his way through his Divination textbook. "Hey, Charlie. Are goblins on the curriculum in Care of Magical Creatures?"

Charlie gave him an are-you-loony look. "No."

"Not even at NEWT level? I know you've been reading ahead and talking to Kettleburn."

"Goblins aren't beasts, they're beings," Charlie said. "Obviously. You can't lump them together with puffskeins and dragons and ashwinders and stuff."

"But centaurs--"

"--asked to be reclassified. Same for the merpeople. Goblins don't give up anything, ever -- they aren't about to give up any rights just to be sniffy. They're always after more rights, aren't they? That's bound to be why they keep rebelling. Don't like humans looking down on them."

"Huh," Bill said. "I never thought of that." Really, though, what kind of being would like being looked down on? He didn't like it when people got sniffy about his family being poor, and the Slytherins obviously didn't like it when people acted as if they were all miniature Death Eaters in training.

Charlie shrugged. "It stands to reason, that's all. Hey, I'm supposed to be keeping a dream journal but I don't remember anything I dreamed this week. D'you think Trelawney would notice if I just made up a bunch of shite?"

"Probably not," Bill said. "But don't tell Mum."

Charlie stuck his tongue out at Bill. "Not stupid, thanks. Anyway, if you want to know about goblins, why not go to the library and look them up? There's bound to be some book somewhere that's not just dates and battles."

Bill dropped a hand over his eyes and groaned theatrically. "Ugh. Research."

"Ah, shut it, you know you're a giant swot," Charlie said. "Now get over here and help me come up with some nonsense that I can pretend to interpret."

"You're as bad as Mum, I swear," Bill said. "Do this, do that, never a please or thank you. See if I ever do you any favors when I've got rich finding treasure for a bunch of goblins." He kicked idly at Charlie's leg and grinned when Charlie narrowed his eyes.

Charlie set his ink and parchment carefully on the end table and knocked his brother off the sofa.

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End of Fic

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Man, that ficlet just did not want to end -- not in the sense of "It wanted to be an epic!" but in the sense of "What the hell am I supposed to do for a final line?!" I'm still not thrilled with it, but I am tired of fighting what is supposed to be a quick and fun exercise. So here you go, lady_songsmith, and I'm sorry the ending kind of peters out like that.

Comments

[askerian]

i think i could totally read a whole multipart of bill learning more about goblins and being slowly accepted and things. i like all his preconceptions (care of magical beasts ffs bill) and his easy acceptance and the way he reasons things out for himself and sheds those easily once he's thought about it. also mmm deliciously biased wizarding world. >:E

[edenfalling]

Ha. If I were still properly in HP fandom, I might write that. But I'm not, so I have successfully escaped yet another novel-length WIP hanging over my head. Victory is mine!!!

More seriously, yeah, the wizarding world is SO BROKEN in so many ways, and while the Weasleys are far from perfect, they do at least seem somewhat more aware of the issues (and also more open-minded) than a lot of their fellows. It's fun to speculate when and how they stepped just that tiny bit out of sync with their culture.

[branchandroot]

Dawwwww. That was an adorable ending. Also a nice snapshot of the older brothers, to flesh out those little, careless hints we get that they're a lot more broad-minded than the average wizard.

[edenfalling]

Thank you! Yeah, the Weasleys aren't paragons of unimpeachable virtue or anything, but they do seem to be noticeably less narrow-minded than a lot of their fellows. Obviously they are still products of their culture -- particularly as kids, before they've had time and opportunity to question the assumptions of the wizarding world -- but I think Bill and Charlie turned out pretty good in the end. :-)

[autumnia]

Ooh, the eldest Weasley brothers! Loved seeing the interactions between McGonagall and Bill, and then between Bill and Charlie. It's kind of fun seeing how Bill ended up working for Gringotts since we don't know much about how he and Charlie ended up at their respective positions.

[edenfalling]

Thank you! I figured McGonagall's little career advice meetings were a good setting for the prompt dialogue (plus I just love McGonagall in general), and I am always a sucker for family relationships so it seemed obvious to toss Charlie in as well. I am actually very curious about Gringotts as a business -- what are its departments, how does its hierarchy work, does the wizarding world have international exchange rates and tarriffs and so on, are humans outside of the UK more or less willing to work under the command of goblins, and so on and so forth. But I don't really want to dive back into HP fandom to answer those questions myself, so they will remain as little niggles at the back of my mind. Oh well, so it goes. :-)

[hungrytiger11.livejournal.com]

Brilliant. I love seeing more of Bill and McGonagall, but I especially like seeing more of Wizarding World politics vis a vie Goblins.

[edenfalling]

Thank you! The wizarding world is so incredibly broken if you consider how it treats rights and rule of law. If I were still properly in the HP fandom (instead of hanging vaguely around the fringes), I would probably use that as a jumping-off point for novel-length fic featuring ALL THE WORLD-BUILDING. But since I'm not, I can get away with little ficlets instead. :-)

[lady_songsmith]

Quite all right! Brothers are such fun, and I love seeing the older characters as kids. :)

[edenfalling]

Thanks, I'm glad you liked it! Family relationships are like catnip for me -- when in doubt, have somebody talk to a brother/sister/parent/grandparent/child/whatever!

[akatsuki210.livejournal.com]

I like this ficlet! I'd love to see you write a longer piece about Bill and his work as a Curse-Breaker.

[edenfalling]

Thank you! If I were still properly in HP fandom, that is the kind of story I'd be interested in writing -- I am all about world-building -- but my imagination has largely moved on to other fandoms these days, sorry.

[erised1810.livejournal.com]

oh nononono it didn't peter out at all. it reminded me that i was supposed to start rereading hbp. there. thank you for that! yay for bill-fic!

[edenfalling]

Thank you! Good luck with your reread. :-)