Alastor had been a bit of a throwback in his own time. Being in this one was a lesson in the futility of education if this was what they turned out, a generation who catered to the politics and forgot what the real job was. By the time Potter was finished, the only thing he could think was "You survive Voldemort and you're a shoo in for Minister when you want it."
"No wonder this world is in such a sad state of affairs. Do people honestly think there are no more dark wizards? Or that getting rid of Voldemort and his Death Eaters will be the end of dark wizards forever? There are always dark wizards because there are always people who are willing to do whatever it takes, no matter how evil, to fulfil their own selfish desires. Or do you think that sort of evil only exists in werewolf packs? That trouble doesn't originate with Voldemort. That's normal. That's always there whether you can see it or not." The entire world had gone stupid and naive. Did they really think the Minister's husband wasn't still dabbling? That any of those who'd once followed Voldemort and still walked free today didn't still have a taste for it? That sort of thing didn't just disappear because you couldn't see the shadows at night.
"Reinstate the Patrol. Send any Auror who would rather do that sort of work to the Patrol. Leave the Aurors a small group when they aren't needed as often. Don't get caught up in this idea that capturing bad guys is the entirety of the job, preventing the bad guys from getting powerful enough to be a threat is also important. Always being on guard so that when the snake enters the garden you know where the blasted rake is to kill it."
Alastor sighed, hoping the girls never heard what he was about to admit because he was never going to hear the end of it from either of them after conversations he'd had with both women over the last few days. "Yes, they do have to be mutually exclusive, actually. When it's personal, you make mistakes that get you or someone else hurt. If you want proof of that, just look at where I've been for three weeks. There's a reason I'm not on the taskforce myself and it's not just that Homicide is a high profile unit You need to be able to step back and that gets harder to do when it's personal. Will you be involved with Voldemort if you're not on the taskforce? Of course you will. You're his primary target these days and in the Order. Should you be actively working the case, is that the right choice for the division?"
Alastor shook his head. "No, I'm sorry, I don't think so. I actually wouldn't mind having you in my unit if you did take the tests, but I can't in good conscious recommend you for the taskforce."