Chapter 8 – Yule Part 1
December 1991
Despite it being late into the year, the weather in costal Xiamen was mild. Thank Merlin for the little things.
"喂, 请问有没有人在家?" (Hello, is anyone home?)
The voice sounded like that of a little girl as the knocking on the door grew louder. The Chinese wizard grumbled in his window-side seat, he was comfortable and the flat offered a perfect view of the port. He was in his late thirties, sporting an impressive beer belly. On the table beside him lay a pair of omniculars, a wand and a pistol, he reached for the wand.
"大哥, 你去看一看是谁!" (Big brother, go take a look at who it is!)
A surly elder Chinese across the room grunted and moved to the door. He wasn't really the other man's big brother, it was just how hierarchy was established in the Chinese gangs.
The portly man eyed his partner's movements from his seat, before he disappeared out of view. Why on Earth would anyone – especially a little girl – be disturbing them was beyond the man. It was two in the morning and their flat was heavily warded, no one should be knocking on their door, no one should even be able to detect their flat.
Around the corner where the man last saw his partner, a young girl stepped into view. She had a large overcoat wrapped around her, it was too big for her, she didn't bother putting her arms through the sleeves of it. Her green eyes were shining from the reflection of the light.
"你到底在这里干吗? 阿暴在哪儿?" (What on Earth are you doing here? Where's Ah Bao?")
The man raised his wand at girl with suspicion, but he didn't fire off any spell, the girl looked totally harmless. He cast his eyes about searching for any sign of his partner, but had he paid more attention to the girl, he would have noticed a tiny hole on the overcoat facing him. It was hip high and was the size of a bullet entry – or exit, there was a small protrusion against the coat near the hole as well.
He never felt his own death as his head snapped backwards, his body toppling down and landing on the floor violently but silently, courtesy of a swiftly placed Silencing Charm. His passing was absolutely silent, just like his partner at the doorway, blood pooling beneath the body.
The girl glanced around the room of the flat, closing her left eye and solely using her right eye. She strolled into every room and checked them, making sure no one else was in the flat, using her wand instead of hand to open the doors. As she reached the last door, it burst open before she could open it. A lanky Chinese sprang at her and pinned her against the wall.
The man began to open his mouth, a curse at the tip of his lips. However, trigger squeeze was always faster than an incantation, it was the reason the girl favoured her Makarov pistol instead of her wand. She tilted the pistol hidden by her overcoat upwards, emptying two rounds into the man, one in the neck, one in the eye.
The man slumped down onto the floor as the girl staggered to find her balance. She checked the last room and found it empty, the flat was clear.
"Crow to all. Observation post is clear," she softly said.
"Nice work Anya," a singsong voice chirped from her earpiece. "Is there any good snacks there? I'm starving"
"Tanya, cut the chatter," the sound of an irate Aleks buzzed out. "Dimitri, Jen, where are the two of you?"
"We're in position already," said Dimitri. "Jeez old man, it's like you don't trust us."
"Damn right I don't, I'd rather be anywhere else than here chaperoning a bunch of kids," Aleks snapped. "I would gladly pay galleons to have an actual ward-breaker like Vlad here than two fucking clowns."
"Then why would Nathaniel be trusting this operation to a bunch of kids, of which two of them are fucking clowns," came Dimitri's snide reply.
"How the fuck am I supposed to know!?" Aleks' yell almost made Anya rip her earpiece out.
Everyone was holding on to their snickers at this point, an angry Aleks was always fun to poke at, provided there was a safe distance from him. Anya made her way over to the once occupied seat and looked out the window. She could see most of the port, ships and cargo freighters were docked in a neat line by the towering red cranes, piles of shipping container were stacked on the port grounds. Despite it being far from sunrise, visibility was still provided by the numerous street lamps and the occasional moving lights signalling a truck delivering cargo.
Beyond the calm, black waters was the shore on the other side of the narrow straits separating Xiamen Island from the mainland. Pinpricks of light could be seen from the distance in the mainland.
Kiel entered the place, grimly looking at the dead bodies, taking care not to have his combat boots stained by the blood. Slung across his shoulder were two Dragunov rifles, one was his, the other was Anya's. He had a lightweight ballistic vest over his shirt, the vest harness holding a number of pouches and a pistol holster. Over the vest was a black jacket. He laid his rifle on the table and picked up the omniculars laying there.
"Russian-made," he commented as he examined the equipment. "We're likely on the right track, Russia doesn't export the omniculars they make."
"Window's bulletproof and spellproof too," he observed. "Laminated glass and protective charms."
"Let's get a move on shall we?" Kiel asked as he handed Anya her rifle.
Anya shrugged off the cumbersome overcoat to reveal a similar apparel as Kiel, it was the standard dressing for all of them. She took the rifle and pushed the window slightly open, enough for the barrel to slide though. Resting the rifle on the windowsill, she began her surveillance. It was a tip-off, a cargo freighter docking in Xiamen had magical goods from the Reds in Russia. A sign of goodwill to possible allies in China as they needed help, desperately.
It wasn't the goods Nathaniel had sent them over for, those were secondary. It was information, they needed to know which ship it was and the port in Russia it came from. Finding the ship had been easy enough, Anya simply had to take a broomstick and fly around the area under Disillusionment Charms. The ship surrounded by a web-like sphere of magic was the one they were looking for, Spooks and wizards always warded their belongings. Incidentally, that was also how Anya found the observation post she was currently in now.
Spooks. It was a term coined by the Muggles they had worked alongside with, unable to understand the magic performed in front of their very eyes. They were the bane of the Statue of Secrecy, yet they required the least interference from Oblivating. They operated with both magic and Muggle technology, knowing how to integrate one with the other and they understood both cultures well.
Governments and syndicates - both magical and Muggle - had their own. Wetwork was their chief line of operations, a grim and dirty bridge between two worlds. Wizards have always outdone Muggles via magic, but Spooks had many advantages wizards did not. One was that they learnt to appreciate the range Muggle technology had to offer.
Anya and Kiel's rifle went off almost in sync, two soft thumps as magically accelerated bullets sped across eight hundred meters. The two wizards under Disillusionment Charms at the gates of the port collapsed onto the floor, the charms conveniently hiding the bodies - and thankfully the blood as well.
"Did I hit him? I can't see the bodies," Kiel asked.
"It's a hit, I can confirm," Anya assured him. "The bullets when right through the cords."
"You say it like as though it's something I can understand."
Anya watched as Dimitri and Jen slip through the gates, making their way into the port. Under Disillusionment Charms, they darted from corner to corner, shadow to shadow. Finally, they reached the line of cargo freighters, silent giants slumbering.
"Which ship was it again, Anya?" Dimitri asked.
"Merlin's sake Dim," Jen said testily before Anya could respond. "Were you listening? Blue ship. Second down the line from the Southwest. Ship name is Silver Glory. You're the clown Aleks keeps talking about."
"Shut your damn mouth and get going," Dimitri and Aleks' voice came out at almost the same time.
The two boys stealthily made their way down the line of ships keeping close to the shipping containers. When they reached the Silver Glory, they pointed their wands at the freighter and started to probe the wards in place. Anya could see the web-like lines surrounding the ship waver and shake, reacting to the intrusions of the two boys.
"Crow," Jen chimed in amidst his long string of incantations. "Mind giving us a bit of assistance?"
"The ward fluxes are concentrated on eight specific nodes," Anya described as she observed the strands of magic weaving and twisting around the ship. "Each node has its own colour and has three thick lines surrounding it, some broken, some unbroken."
"Eight nodes... different colours," Jen muttered, trying to visualise Anya's description. "Three lines... broken and unbroken... Got it! Dimitri, it's an Eight Trigrams-based ward pattern."
That had been one the beauties of working with Jen, he never failed to interpret what Anya could see, they were normally on the same page.
"Damn me," whistled Dimitri. "No wonder this seemed so strange, never dealt much with Oriental wards. This is all you, Mr I-use-soy-sauce-instead-of-salt."
"Crow, tell me," the Asian ignored the jibe as he continued working on the wards, linking his magic to it. "Where's the node that has three unbroken lines around it?"
"Forty to fifty meters from the stern of the ship. Same level as the deck."
"Thanks," said Jen, Anya could see him stowing his wand as he dragged Dimitri down the port, to the stern of the ship. "Come on Dim, I'm going to need your raw power for this."
"Mind telling me the plan?" Dimitri asked as he ran alongside Jen.
"Each part of the Eight Trigrams has its own nature," Jen explained as he ran. "The one with three unbroken lines is 乾(qian), the Heaven nature, each nature has its own seasons. In wards, this affects where the weak and strong points are. At this time of the year, Heaven is at its weakest."
"So we hit it at its weakest?"
"More or less."
Anya watched from her position as the duo got to work, waving their wands as the node of lines began to shake uncontrollably. The shaking climaxed as the node erupted into a mass of broken coils and the entire sphere of lines collapsed, the ward was broken.
"Ward's down, Aleks," Jen's voice sounded through the earpiece.
"Roger. Tanya and I are coming, keep yourselves out trouble in the short few seconds. Anya, Kiel, ensure that for me."
A few moments was all it took for Aleks to apparate to the bulwark in front of the freighter, bringing Tanya along with him. The man and girl joined up with the two boys and they checked the area for any threats, placing down their own temporary wards.
"Alright, everyone by the ship stay here, stay sharp. Crow, I'm apparating you over here to check for traps. Your eye might be good, but spotting small booby traps from your current location is liable to mistakes. Kiel, you can keep watch on your own."
A crack brought Aleks into the flat and Anya made to grab his arm, wishing that Nathaniel would start teaching her the Portkey Charm. One unpleasant trip brought her onto the port with the rest of the group. With their walking trap detector next to them, the group made their way onto the freighter, walking up the gangplank.
"You see any threats?" Aleks asked, keeping his eyes on the sights of his AK-47 as he scanned the deck of the freighter.
"No magical signatures that indicate a trap," Anya replied, swapping her Dragunov for her Makarov and sliding the rifle in her magically expanded knapsack. "So far no Muggle traps too."
"Tanya, with me up to the bridge," said Aleks, taking charge. "Crow, you and the two clowns comb the deck and see if you find what the Reds have to offer."
Tanya followed Aleks up the stairs of the freighter, Silencing Charms cancelling what would have been the loud clanking of boot on metal steps.
"Shall we?" Jen asked, whirling his wand in excitement. The three made their way through the deck, weaving through the containers on the freighter. It was mostly empty, except for the two gun-wielding Muggles they had to Confound. Soon, a particular crate caught Anya's eye.
"That container there," said Anya, pointing a finger that the blue metal container. "Has magic on it, wards and protective charms. Likely a locking spell of sorts."
"Nothing ol' thermite paste can't solve," Dimitri said, opening one of the pouches on his vest and pulling out a plastic tube. He uncapped the tube and squeezed out a reddish-brown paste on the hinges of the container door.
"You know," Anya said nonchalantly. "You and Jen could have broken the wards magically and just open the door."
"And miss the chance to set things on fire? Fuck off. Plus, it feels good knowing their protective spells are useless against plain old fire. Incendio."
The thermite paste lit up into a blinding flare as Dimitri's spell connected, biting into the steel door with ease as the reaction reached scorching temperatures of beyond four thousand degrees Fahrenheit. The steel hinges did not stand a chance as they melted away, leaving the disconnected door toppling onto the floor, the sound of its almighty crash silenced by a jab of both Anya and Jen's wand. The three poked their heads in, wands and pistols raised.
"Lumos." Jen muttered.
"Well, if the tip-off called this a goodwill gift," said Dimitri, looking at the contents of the boxes within the container. "The Reds are really damn desperate for allies."
"No kidding," Anya looked over the intended gifts. It would have cost quite a sum, dragon's blood and hide, various potions and a baby dragon – a Siberian Twin-Tail if Anya was not mistaken – sedated and bound in a cage.
"What'd you think we do?" Jen asked, inspecting a bottle of dragon's blood.
"Burn them all?" Dimitri shrugged, reaching for another tube of thermite paste. "Not like we brought the equipment to load them all back to Russia."
"Yes, burn the dragon, Dimitri," Anya said sardonically. "Who would have thought of that?"
"Top that off with potential collateral damage," Jen added, now bending over to check on the sedated dragon.
"Come on," Dimitri protested. "We've done more collateral damage than that."
"Crow, Dimitri, Jen. Where are you?" Aleks' voice crackled in their earpiece. "Tanya and I are done searching the bridge, we got our location."
"Where?" Anya and Jen asked in unison.
"Vladivostok."
XXXXX
December 1994
With the Yule Ball arriving in weeks, Anya noticed that the festive air in Hogwarts was simply bounding with energy. Classes had slowly started to lose their tempo as student became more and more eager for what many had considered to be 'the highlight of the year'. The teachers had tried to reign in some control over their class, to varying degrees of effect. McGonagall, Snape and Moody firmly remained in control, but other teachers were beginning to slowly lose their class as the days ticked closer and closer to the Ball.
"Ms Seryy, see me after this class is over," Snape called out to her as she was working on her antidote, the main topic for this year's Potions.
Anya glanced up at the man, trying to get a read on his intentions, but the man remained as inscrutable as ever. She could also notice the stares she was getting from the class, Snape calling to see someone after class never bode well.
"Yes sir," she nodded before returning to her work.
When the bell rang and the students began packing their bags, Anya stayed behind, patiently waiting for Snape.
"Ms Seryy, it is my duty to remind you that the champions need to bring a partner of the opening dance of the Yule Ball," Snape said uninterestingly, sounding as though he had much better things to do. "Had Professor Dumbledore not pestered all the Head-of-Houses to ensure this, I would not have bothered with this conversation. In order to placate our Headmaster, I will have to ask, have you found a partner for the Ball yet?"
"Not yet, sir," Anya replied casually. "Rest assured, I will ensure that it is done."
"I would expect so," Snape said offhandedly, waving her off in dismissal. "You have proven your self-sufficiency adequately and I question why our Headmaster finds all this necessary, but my job is done. You may go."
As Anya left the dungeon, she found Nott and Zabini waiting for her, leaning against the stone walls of the Hogwarts corridors, both of them with a fag between their fingers. The three of them started making their way to the Great Hall for lunch.
"So what did Snape want you for?" Zabini asked as he let out a puff of smoke, the mild smell of burned tobacco tainting the air.
"Wanted to know if I had a partner for the Yule Ball."
"Do you?" Nott spoke up, raising an eyebrow in question.
"Not yet."
The three had reached the Slytherin table and began placing food on their plates, Nott and Zabini had disposed of their fags long ago.
"Worry not," Zabini said, digging into his potatoes. "I'm sure there'll be herds of boys asking for your hand, you're good looking and a Junior Champion. Heck, I may even be part of the herd."
"Are you asking?" Anya inquired, giving the dark-skinned Slytherin a sidelong glance.
"Not yet," Zabini grinned. "At the moment, you're second choice. I've got my eyes on this smoking hot Ravenclaw at the moment."
Anya and Nott snickered into their pumpkin juice, Zabini's numerous flings at many of the female population had been a source of amusement. Or rather, the backlash he suffered whenever he dumped one to switch targets, Anya could still clearly recall the screeching third-year Ravenclaw girl who hexed Zabini so badly he had to stay in the Hospital Wing overnight.
"Oh! You're going to ask Cho Chang?" giggled Davis. "Good luck with that Zabini, you're going to have stiff competition. What about you Seryy, anyone in mind?"
"None at all, Davis," said Anya with a shake of her head. "Not going to fuss over such things, it's not life or death."
"Not life or death?" repeated Davis in shock. "This is going to be the biggest social event Hogwarts had in years, it is life or death. You get to ask your crush out and an admirer may ask you out, it's the perfect situation for love to bloom."
Merely humming in acknowledgement, Anya continued on with her meal, allowing Davis to stew in her thoughts.
"Sure wish I was you, Seryy," Davis said enviously. "I'd have people dying to ask me out, especially Potter."
"What?" Anya snorted with surprise and disbelief, holding back the laughter that was building in her throat. "You're kidding, Davis."
"No, I'm not!" the other girl exclaimed. "Look at the way he stares at you, he even tried to intervene when Malfoy tried to pick on you, knight in shining armour and all. I would gladly go to the Ball with The-Boy-Who-Lived."
"That was hardly an intervention and he doesn't stare at me anymore, it's probably because I was a new student," Anya waved it off with a light chuckle.
"Whatever you say Seryy."
Zabini and Davis had been right though, the days approaching the Yule Ball saw Anya starting to receive more and more gifts from admirers. Morning posts had owls bearing Anya the usual gifts of flowers and chocolates, the suitors had slowly started to appear as well.
The first to ask her was a nervous Gryffindor first-year, Anya had to give him credit, his bravery befitted his house. She politely turned him down. Then, there were the waves of egoistical seventh-years whose heads were so inflated she rejected them outright. However, she wasn't that picky and the event seemed of little importance to her. In the spirit of international cooperation, or more likely in hopes of not having to talk as much due to a language barrier, she accepted a charming Beauxbatons student's request to accompany her for the Yule Ball.
"I can't believe you went out with a foreigner," said Zabini one day as the three Slytherins hung out in the corner of the school for a smoke break, Anya the only one without a cigarette in her mouth.
"That's rich, telling that to a foreign transfer student."
"I would have gone with you," Zabini said in mock furiousness. "I did say you were second choice."
All of them laughed at that, even Nott let out a small rumble of amusement.
"What a shame you got rejected by Cho Chang," Anya said mirthfully, turning another page of her Charms textbook. "Guess pretty boy wasn't pretty enough."
"Hey! How was I supposed to know that Cedric Diggory, the freaking Hogwarts Champion, had already asked her," Zabini defended himself. "Not to worry though, I've got myself an almost equally hot Durmstrang girl in my arms."
"I knew Diggory was better looking than you," Nott said softly the from side, sending an amused glance at the dark-skinned boy as he jibed at his weak spot.
The statement drew astonishing results as Zabini launched into a furious tirade against the Hufflepuff, sending Anya and Nott into fresh waves of laughter.
"Uh... Seryy? Can I have a moment?"
Anya turned her attention to the newcomer and was surprised to see her brother standing there, nervously fidgeting.
"Well, I'm not assisting you in the next task, but sure."
Anya left the two smokers and followed Harry, walking beside him.
"Was that Zabini and Nott smoking?" Harry asked suspiciously.
"Are you going to keep that to yourself, or am I going to have to try my hand at a memory charm?" Anya sighed.
"No, I'll keep it to myself," Harry said quickly as he came to a stop and faced Anya. "I want to ask you something actually."
"And what's that?" Anya asked casually, but brought her guard up.
Harry seemed to hesitate for a moment before taking a deep breath and opening his mouth.
"Will... you go to the Ball with me?"
Anya forced herself to keep a straight face as Davis' mocking voice found its way into her head, repeating itself like a broken recorder. Anya looked at the Gryffindor and saw her brother surveying her with a blush on his face, to say that she found the situation awkward was a complete understatement.
There's absolutely no way.
In the end, as soon as the words 'accidental incest' formed in her mind, she could not keep her straight face any longer. She smacked her hand to her face and bent over laughing, tears forming in her eyes. She couldn't care less if she looked in front of Harry's eyes, but the stupidity of the scenario was too hilarious to Anya, it seemed straight out from one those dumb soap operas Dimitri had binged on.
"I'll take that as a no?" Harry said depressingly, looking hurt by Anya's reaction.
"Yes, it's a no, Potter," said Anya as soon as she calmed herself down, wiping the tears off her eyes. "But don't take my laughter the wrong way. I've already gotten a date, you just reminded me of the last person who asked me to the Ball a few hours ago. And let me assure you that he did much, much, much worse than you."
"Oh," Harry said softly, looking mollified by her half-truths. "What'd he do?"
"Dropped his pants accidently while he was asking me," Anya fibbed easily. "Not the most impressive of displays."
"I can imagine," Harry chuckled at the image of it. "So who are you going with?"
"Some Beauxbatons bloke, couldn't bother with his name. It was Arno or Andre something, I can't remember."
"You can't remember the name of your date?" Harry asked in surprise.
"I'm not really into this Yule Ball thing. It's fun I guess, but very tedious from the sound of it. What about you Potter? You don't look like you're having luck."
"I asked Cho Chang and- well... she was already taken. Then I thought you'd be alright, you seemed quite nice back when you helped me in the First Task and you're very good looking too."
Being called good looking by her own brother only turned up the scale of awkwardness and Anya decided to halt the conversation in its tracks. "Well, happy hunting then."
"Yeah, well. I guess I'll see you at the Ball."
"Indeed, and Potter."
"Yes?"
"Don't be afraid to ask the girls to the Ball, you're already a good catch and confidence builds a good image. Trust me when I say most girls will not be impressed if you stammer your way through things like these."
"O-oh," Harry stuttered, surprised to find the girl offering some advice before nodding and waving a hasty goodbye, making his way back.