Deals…

"So, this is your first case… Having a good time?" Harry asked as he side stepped out of the way from what looked like a Killing Curse.

"Not really – is it too late to transfer to guarding the staff nursery?" came the reply.

"Yes"

"Damn"

"Alright, the fun is over" Harry said, took out his wand and stunned the trio of criminals before casting some binding spells to secure them. "Okay, Trainee, I want you to search them for evidence and examine their wands – I'll cover you"

"Thanks" and the young witch moved over to investigate what they might have on them and then to look at their wands for evidence of their crimes. As she did so, Harry thought about how good it was to be back in the field once again. In all the years he had been leading the Auror Corp, he'd made many improvements and brought it somewhat into line with the Muggle system with regards to evidence collection and the modern DNA testing – adapted, of course, to scan for magical traces and so on. Glancing around at the drugs den they were in, Harry regarded his Trainee with fondness as she worked quickly and efficiently. With her at his side, they'd actually made a massive difference in the crime rate and they had become not just a Training Officer and Trainee but also firm friends with them often eating at restaurants together but also attending theatre shows together. Some quarters of the public had voiced an opinion that Harry was playing favourites and was trying to sleep with the young witch which was something that amused the pair to no end. Firstly, he'd found that apart from being honoured by his fame and years of service, she treated him almost as much as any other person at the Ministry.

The second main fact was that she was a lesbian…

"Sir?" Harry turned to see another Auror pick their way through the debris to come up to him and salute – something else that Harry had brought about. Although not a military force in the traditional sense, he'd brought about the salutes in order to install a sense of pride in the Auror Corp that had been lacking for years before taking office. It had been a hot bed of insubordination, absences, bribery, back alley dealing and just general corruption before Harry had stamped it all out within a few years and made the group something to be proud of. After all was said and done, even the Unspeakables feared him and allowed a small detachment of three Aurors to work there in order to make joint operations more smoother.

"Report, Auror Jones" Harry returned the salute quickly as he kept scanning the area.

"Sir, we've managed to take out the rest of the criminals but we've discovered an underground facility. Its… It's a Muggle harvesting place" and Jones took a step back as he saw the anger flash in Harry's eye. Muggle Harvesting had been a thing when Dark Art practitioners would kidnap several dozen Muggles and use them as sacrifices for whatever rituals they were doing or else to take body parts for potions and so on. The last time he had found one, Harry had told his team to stay outside for five minutes before going in and blasting away with his wand each and every bastard there – emerging with a single survivor.

"I see" was Harry's measured response. "Have you found prisoners?" and the other Auror nodded sadly.

"Here and there, Sir. There are a couple of live ones in a cage, but they are so far mad that…"

"No – you will get them free and then taken for treatment straight away. If I find out that any of them were mercy killed, I will have that Auror's badge and in a cell faster than a heartbeat"

"Yes, Sir"

"As for right now, keep an eye on our newbie here. I… I want to have a look at this myself" Harry's joy at being out in the field once more was now replaced with a controlled anger which he quickly beat down. "Oi, you finished?"

"Yes, Sir" she replied, holding up several bags with items inside.

"Right… Let's get back to the Ministry with these lot and then question the hell out of them" Harry glanced at the other Auror for a moment. "I'm going to take a look at something, so Auror Smith will help you get the prisoner to cells and booked in"

"Have I done something wrong?" the young woman asked.

"Hmm…? Oh no, I just want to take a look around here because its been a fair few years since I was last here"

"You've been here before?" both younger Aurors blinked.

"Back wh–" Harry stopped and shook his head. "Look, do what I said and then grab a cuppa from the canteen or something. I shouldn't be more than ten minutes or so, but if I'm not back by the end of the shift, pop the reports on my desk and I'll look them over"

"Sir"

"Okay" and Harry waited until they were gone before casting a spell only a few knew, frowning at the results and then allowed his emotions to vanish…

#

The room was filled with people when he walked in, but the sudden appearance of Harry made everyone stop and look at him with fear – the most well known person in the country did not normally make visits to a brothel.

"You!" Harry pointed to a member of staff, "Is your boss in?"

"Yeah… He's upstairs with a client"

"I bet he is" Harry smirked. "Go and tell him Harry Potter wants a word" and then he turned to face the room. "If none of you want busting for drugs, I suggest that you all get the hell out of here and not come back tonight" and then sat in a plush armchair that he gave a quick clean with his wand and waited. It wasn't long before a door opened and a man wearing non magical clothing stepped through and smirked at Harry.

"Ah, so Zeus has stepped down from Olympus has he?"

"Cut the crap, Malfoy… I need information and I need it now"

"On what?" Malfoy asked as he settled in a chair opposite Harry.

"I was with a trainee today on what we thought was a routine mission – get her some real world experience and all that… Anyway, we found a couple of your men creating and distributing drugs and dark arts material"

"Ain't got anything to do with me"

"And we found muggles both alive and dead for the purposes of harvesting" and Malfoy blinked and opened and closed his mouth several times.

"Here, now you don't think I am into that, do you? I realise that my business are a bit on the shady side, but they are all above board and registered properly. Alright, I might sneak in a few things without paying dues on them but that's just British tradition" Malfoy paused. "What do you need to know?" he asked after a moment of looking into an emotionless Harry.

"I know you have monitoring charms set up in here to protect your girls and boys, so I want to hear them for clues. I want to know if any of your people have seen this man" Harry pulled a photograph from his robes and threw it on the table.

"Jason…?"

"You know him?"

"Yeah, he's called Jason Mode" Malfoy frowned as he looked at the picture. "He came to me for a job working during the days only so he could look after his daughter"

"Daughter?"

"Yeah, but of a sad tale about that really. His wife left a few years after she was born, he worked all sorts of jobs to keep her happy and in health but then she was attacked by Muggles and raped. Their Auror force punished them but the girl had suffered some sort of backlash and lost all of her magic and would never get it back" Malfoy hesitated before making a decision. "He was a good worker, I overlooked the occasional lateness but a few of the girls said that he would often comment about how he would do dark magic if that's what it would take to get his daughter her life back. At the time, I put it down to idle gossip but with what you told me…? I think I would have done the same if I was in his shoes"

"So would I" admitted Harry, "But then again I have laws to uphold. I want the names of everybody he has spoken to here, his friends and contacts and recordings of any private time with the boys and girls upstairs" he rose, shook his head and then went to the door.

"Hey!" Malfoy called out, "You said that you would do me a deal"

"You've got an import business in Portsmouth haven't you?"

"Yeah"

"Tax Office are planning a raid in three days – get the books in order" and he walked out. Malfoy watched him leave, gazed at the door in thought and then called out to his staff to start moving items from the warehouse to other places.