"Let's go, Wilkins! No slacking!" a drill Auror yelled at a slower trainee.
Harry remembered run days, and he hated them. Robes were not conducive for running in.
"Auror Potter! Welcome back! Trainees, form-up!" called Senior Drill Auror Hawkins.
Harry knew him from his days of Auror training. The senior Auror didn't care who the hell Harry was. The Senior expected perfection. Harry loved him for that. Thanks to him, Harry had earned his robes, that was for damned sure.
"Thanks, Senior Drill Auror Hawkins," he responded automatically.
When the twenty or so recruits formed up, they looked nervous. More than Harry had had in his class when he was going through Auror school.
"I have intern requests... do you want me to talk to you about it first, Senior?"
"You're not a trainee anymore, Auror Potter. I'm just Auror Hawkins to you. But you can put your request out directly. But if no one volunteers, I'll assign you helpers."
That would never happen, but Harry nodded and faced the class of new recruits. Some were third years, but most were fresh out of Hogwarts. "Good morning. I'm sure you all know who I am... but I'm Auror Potter. I'm looking for assistance in an active case and I ne-"
"The DEK case?" one trainee asked excitedly. Harry didn't have a chance to speak when the hapless recruit was swarmed by drill Aurors berating him for speaking without permission. The trainee was already on the ground doing pushups. Harry had to refrain from smiling.
A trainee raised his hand, and Harry called on him, "Yes, Trainee?"
"We heard you saved his 11th victim! Was it really Draco Malfoy?" the young kid asked. Harry could see the name "Harper" stitched into his closes. Doubtless, his brother or cousin had told him about Malfoy, as he had generally disappeared from social life.
"I can't talk about the case."
"But it was in the paper!" Harper said, and then dropped to do some pushups at the direction of the Senior.
Harry sighed. He hated reading the papers as an Auror was and is leaking good information to the press. He would have kept it under wraps that Malfoy was alive. "I'm not responsible for information getting leaked to the press, and whoever did it compromised the case. Regardless of your level, there is a responsibility not to reveal privileged information about a case to anyone, even fellow Aurors."
The trainees clammed up under his admonishment.
"Now, there's nothing glamorous about this assignment. I need two groups, one tasked with sending owl warnings, and the second will be doing data-sifting. I need volunteers with good instincts for records review, readable handwriting and data entry."
Another hand raised, and Harry gave permission to ask a question. The trainee stammered, "W-Will we get to see the crime scenes?"
Harry wasn't surprised by this and shook his head. "No, don't worry. Not even the pictures."
There were several groans, and the drill Aurors yelled for silence. Auror Hawkins leaned over and whispered, "I think they want to see 'em."
Harry frowned and growled, "I don't know what's in the papers... but these people were brutally tortured and killed. Rotten blood, fingers cut off, knife wounds all over the bodies... it's not something anyone should want to see."
The trainees looked at the ground, again, but a small girl raised her hand and said, "Sorry, Auror Potter. We haven't seen anything, yet."
Harry snorted. "And that's a good thing. Your first case doesn't need to be this one. You're just...."