Chapter 1: The 11th File

Disclaimer: No duh Sherlock don't own it.

A/N: First fan fiction, please review constructively. Also a beta or two would be AWESOME. Harry will be the main character of this story, but as you can and will see, I will be introducing another character that will be playing a rather prominent role and will have a number of chapters (particularly early one) from his viewpoint. Still figuring out the pairings. Either Padma, Daphne, or Susan. Can post whichever you think would be best. Mystery character will also be paired with one of those 3, so you can weigh in on that if you would like.

Sitting in his office in early July, Minister Fudge was rather torn. On one hand his smear campaign against Dumbledore and Harry Potter had been working rather brilliantly. He had even done a little jig of delight last week when Dumbledore had been stripped of his title as Chief Mugwump of the ICW in their July session.

'Only a month and already the world is turning on Dumbledore!' Fudge thought gleefully.

The new Supreme Mugwump, however, was not acting how the Supreme Mugwump in Fudge's utopic dream world would. The influential German Hans Muller had been elected in Dumbledore's stead, and while Fudge did not have any particular problems with him per se, Muller's strong sense of justice had brought an unfortunate issue to play that Fudge would have much rather ignored.

This issue was Sirius Black.

As Muller's first action in office was to press for greater international cooperation in capturing dangerous criminals by creating a binding bounty system where ICW cleared agents could work across borders to, as Muller had but it, "capture ze darkest end moost heinous criminals".

Fudge thought this was all well and good but was not particularly happy that Muller had decided to make Sirius Black his poster child case by offering a massive 2,500,000-galleon award for his capture.

'Thank Merlin I have control of the Prophet' Fudge thought 'or this would have been terrible press like the World Cup all over again.'

Fudge let out a long sigh and lay back in his chair.

"Can't have everything in life I suppose."

Lockleap was sitting in his office in Gringotts Cairo as the official ICW missive he had been waiting for came through. The ICW was using Gringotts as the intermediary for the bounty hunters, as Gringotts already had the required logistics set up. Gringotts goblins were quite happy about the profits these new arrangements with the ICW would earn, they would be keeping retainer fees and charging fees on the bounties. Lockleap opened up the missive and read the official contract that would be sent out to the bounty hunters, or 'Independent Hit Wizards' as they generally liked to be known.

The International Confederation of Wizards officially issues a warrant on July 8th 1995 for the capture of the heinous criminal responsible for betraying the British Ancient and Noble House of Potter to Lord Voldemort circa October 31st, 1981 and the murder of a number of muggles in London on November 1st in the same year.

The criminal's full name is Sirius Orion Black. He escaped the British prison of Azkaban through unknown dark means. A recent picture has been attached. Little is known about his whereabouts, all that is known is he is extremely unstable and dangerous.

The capturer of the perpetrator of above stated crimes will be rewarded with 2,500,000 galleons (before Gringotts fees) and given ICW priority access to future bounties. Fifty percent of the prize will be deducted if brought in dead rather than alive.

By accepting this contract you will be given access to all ICW member nations (for full list see article 7, section II of the ICW charter) without visa and registration requirements using the attached magical badge and authority to operate under ICW laws in said member nations. Additionally the badge will give you access to all files needed and clearance to interview anyone that may potentially help your case so long as covered in Article 42 section IX parts A-G of the ICW legal charter. Attached is further legal information for your further reading explaining your jurisdiction, limitations,, and responsibilities. Also included are guidelines on turning in the criminal should you capture him and how to collect your reward.

Herr Herbert Muller

Supreme Mugwump of the ICW, Senior advisor in the German Ministry of Magic

As Lockleap perused the letter he thought deeply about the files on potential bounty hunters he had read. As the test case in a possibly highly profitable venture, Lockleap had great responsibility in choosing whom to send the contract out to. As one of the Managing Directors of Gringotts Cairo Lockleap had great experience with a number of what most ICW representatives would term 'unsavory' characters, ranging from professional Creature Hunters, Cursebreakers, and general hired muscle. He realized that the contract recipients must be chosen carefully, these contracts bestowed quite a bit of power and if the silly humans who received them managed to bollocks things up by abusing their power Gringotts would probably lose the contract. This would lead to Gringotts management having Lockleap's head for losing such a profitable venture, and Lockleap did not mean this figuratively. Gringotts management was particularly violent when it came to loss of profit.

Lockleap rolled his tongue as he looked through the files of the prospective contractors. Specifically one file; he had already settled on ten men and women, mostly ex-law enforcement types with a few Creature Hunters and a Cursebreaker thrown in, who had some prior experience with bounty hunting before.

The last file he was considering was the one that troubled him. This one had a much shorter record than most others he was considering, but it was a rather spectacular record in creature hunting, bounty hunting, and even some cursebreaking. Further digging as to why the files record was so short had shown a rather surprising fact that was the only reason Lockleap had not already confirmed the prospect as a recipient.

Lockleap flipped through a number of papers and came upon a short but strongly worded recommendation for the prospect from a Gringotts manager in New Delhi.

'Rare for one of us to trust or respect a human enough to give a recommendation'

Lockleap thought as he slowly put the file with the other 10 he had already decided on.

'Besides, his age is be plenty old enough for work, humans coddle their young too much.' Lockleap thought as he prepared to send out the contracts.

Miles away, at Privet Drive, Surrey, a certain teenager was laying on his bed in the smallest bedroom of a very common two story home. Harry Potter had just finished showing after another day of gardening and housework and was popping the blisters on his hands with a needle he had nicked from the Dursley's bathroom. Harry Potter was also quite cranky. Now most teenage boys would be quite cranky after having done fairly difficult chores and gardening work non-stop for weeks. Harry was not like most teenage boys; rather he probably was nearly nothing like any other teenage boy. For one, he was actually enjoying the mundane work being forced upon him. It was keeping his mind off a number of inconvenient facts, like how he had witnessed a schoolmate murdered in front of him, been apart of a dark ritual to revive his parents murderer, and now said murderer was undoubtedly after him.

'Oh, and a certain Headmaster has decided to lock me up in the muggle world with no information,' Harry growled softly. 'And for good measure my "friends" haven't even written me.' Harry popped up from his bed and stretched his back, shaking his head trying to clear his thoughts.

'I wonder what the look on Vernon and Petunia's face would be if I went down and asked for more work,' Harry thought to himself. 'Then again, considering how much work I've been doing I doubt there is any left I could do.'

With a frustrated groan Harry fell backwards back onto his bed, no idea just how the innocent wording of a certain document would cause some major shifts in his life.

Deep in the jungles of the Congo, a Gringotts Transfer Box hummed with magic as it delivered its contents. Or it hummed to the only occupant of the tent, who was one of very few who would actually be able to tell you that the box had hummed. That sort of magical perception, while not unheard of, was quite rare these days. The occupant looked at the box with eyes that swirled with brown, hazel, blue and grey. Ignoring the box and slipping on his boots and he finished off his preparations by slipping on his wand holsters and grabbing his two sheathed swords that were leaning against a chair. There was work to be done now. He slipped out of the tent into the darkness beyond to prepare for the hunt under the moonlight.