This was meant to be posted in Boredom is a Crime (and was actually written right after the first chapter there), but this chapter just doesn't feel like it'd fit in with Boredom anymore. Enjoy, or something.
August 2004
It said a lot about Harry's life that when a squad of four armored wizards knocked on his Rhodes villa, his first emotions were anticipation and excitement. He was a week into his annual mandated (by Hermione) vacation time, and while he could appreciate culture, sightseeing and beach sex just as much as any other wizard, he was getting bored.
Assassination attempts weren't his preference for spicing up life, but they were never boring. And really, it's been at least six months since the last one, he mused as he mentally prepared to give the (presumed) hitmen the beating of their soon-to-be-cut-short lives.
"Harry," a voice Harry recognized interrupted him before he could get ramped up and start casting. "It's Su. May we?"
Su Weiyi was a high-ranking officer in the ICW's Enforcer Corps, a paramilitary force that was dedicated to enforcing the Statute of Secrecy. He was a distant cousin of Harry's old Hogwarts yearmate, who'd introduced the two when Harry expressed his boredom with the British DMLE and Aurors. Su had been his first commanding officer after being inducted into the Corps.
Harry didn't let his guard down. "What did you tell me in the last meeting we had when I was in the Enforcers?"
"I told you that you should resign, and that the Enforcers couldn't fulfill what you were searching for," Weiyi said, a small smirk appearing on his weather-worn face. "Good to see you're still a paranoid little shit, Harry."
"Welcome to my home away from home, old man. You should have sent word ahead of time that you were gonna drop by," Harry nodded, and let the squad into the villa's living room. "Take a seat. Tea?"
"No time, Potter, this isn't a social visit," Weiyi said as he placed a file on the living room table. "We need your help. One of Egypt's wizarding cults did... something in the Valley of the Kings. Cairo asked the ICW for help – and you know the House of Abaza doesn't do that unless it's really gone wrong."
Wizarding Egypt's Royal House was still seen in many quarters as foreign conquerors, thanks to its founder's South Caucasian heritage. The Abazas were consequently anal about maintaining their image of strength and control. Asking the ICW for help meant that the Egyptians were genuinely worried.
"I still don't see why you're asking for my help. The Levant is a hotspot for mercenaries, and the Corps should have quick reaction teams prepared for this kind of scenario," Harry noted as he considered the pros and cons of joining Su.
"We're stretched thin – most of the active units are in the Congo, and they can't leave without that shitshow spiralling out of control," Weiyi admitted with a frown. "And this doesn't seem like an issue that can be fixed with quantity. The Egyptians had already sent in a strike force of three dozen wands, from their own hit-wizards and hired wands. They weren't quite, well, you, but they weren't slouches either."
"I'm on vacation," Harry noted idly as he rifled through the files, which included the personnel files for the initial strike group. One of them caught his eye, and his blood ran cold. "But I suppose I can be persuaded to cut that short."
The portkey deposited Harry, Su and the other Enforcers into a camp filled with hit-wizards and aurors. Harry stumbled on his landing. Despite all he had been through, Harry had long resigned himself to never being able to land properly, unlike every other wizard he knew.
"Commander Su, just in time," a fresh-faced man in auror robes greeted the group. He only looked somewhat harried. "Welcome to Qena. Please, come with me. Director Nasr wants to meet."
Su gestured for the man to lead on, and the group quickly made their way to the big tent in the middle of the camp.
"Why are we based out of Qena instead of Luxor? I thought the Valley was much closer to Luxor," Harry asked the guide.
"Magical interference," the guide grimaced as he answered. "The Director thinks it's a result of a sacrificial ritual the cultists did. There's some kind of mental interference in the Valley, reaching into the city proper. It apparently comes with anti-transportation wards as well. It doesn't seem to affect muggles, but even squibs are susceptible. Are you an occlumens, sir?"
"I'm good at throwing off psychic influences," Harry said carefully as he noted the Enforcers with him exchanging concerned glances. "How powerful is the interference, exactly?"
"We received a patronus message from Captain Tahir – he was one of our top hit-wizards and attached to the strike force," the guide said. "Anyone with functional occlumency defenses won't be affected, but the average hit-wizard started exhibiting signs of mania after a half hour of exposure."
The group arrived at the big tent, where a guard lifted the flap and ushered them in. The guide gestured at the table dominating the center of the room, where a powerfully built wizard in dragonhide armor stood. This was presumably the Director of Egypt's Magical Law Enforcement. Other wizards – some in armor, others in auror and hit-wizard robes – filed in behind them.
"Around half an hour ago, one of the hit-wizards attached to the strike force made it back to us. He was grievously wounded, and half-addled, but he did manage to relay vital information on the situation," Director Nasr said from the head of the table. A map of the relevant locales was placed on the table, with thumbtacks and little flags marking last-known positions.
Nasr then went on to outline the details that he thought were important. Harry listened carefully, making mental notes all the while. He was distracted, but that didn't stop him from being able to multitask. The initial force had vectored into the Valley in three squadrons – one from the Aurors, one from the Hit-wizard corps, and one from the mercenaries. They'd all suffered from ambushes and the mania-inflicting curse, with the surviving elements withdrawing into an underground structure to wait for reinforcements. The ambushers weren't noted to be particularly powerful, lethal or skilled, just immune to the mania and having the element of surprise on their side.
The plan was to sneak in a team of curse-breakers to drop the mania-inflicting curse and contacting the survivors, while raising anti-apparition and portkey wards to prevent the cultists from escaping. The bulk of the gathered army would then converge inwards, mopping up the stuck cultists. Getting in was the hard part – a large force could spook the cultists early and let them escape. A smaller elite strike team was to be assembled for that purpose. Harry would have bet a thousand galleons that was where he'd be headed.
"Under no circumstances are we allowed to let the cultists slip away – there's no telling where else they'll do that magical interference ritual, and if they try it in the Nile Delta it could conceivably destroy Wizarding Egypt," Nasr said in a tone that brooked no disagreement. "The King and the Royal Council have lifted all restrictions on the regular rules of engagement."
Murmurs started filling the room at that declaration.
Nasr hushed it all with a raised hand. "You are, of course, encouraged to stun and capture if it is viable. Just avoid taking any unnecessary risks. I'd much rather have a dead cultist, then a dead auror or hit-wizard. Squad captains, stay – everyone else, head to the staging ground."
Su placed his hand on Harry's arm, stopping him from leaving with the majority of the occupants. Harry noted that none of the Enforcers were leaving either.
"Commander Su," Nasr said in greeting. "I trust you have brought your finest curse-breakers and siege casters with you."
"They're the most experienced siege breakers the Corps has on this side of the Atlantic," Weiyi said confidently, causing Harry to reassess the other three Enforcers. He'd originally just pegged them as regular Enforcers. Skilled and powerful compared to the average wizard, but nothing exceptional.
"I also brought Potter," Weiyi continued. "He's the heavy spellcaster for the strike team."
"Only one heavy hitter?" one of the present squad captains asked, a dubious look on her face.
"Unless you have a way of getting an actual Lord on the strike team, Potter's your best option," Weiyi said. "I'm also a Warlock, if on the lower-end of the scale. If the two of us can't handle it, adding more numbers to the team isn't likely to help."
The captain nodded, as if conceding the point.
"Apparition and portkeys are blocked, but brooms and animagi are not. The latter is how our hit-wizard escaped," Nasr said once it was clear the short-lived discussion was over. "Now, here's the plan…"
The smell of decomposing corpses is really ruining the tourist-y attraction of this place, Harry thought as he gingerly made his way towards the last known location of the survivors. He's encountered half a dozen dead aurors, hit-wizards or mercenaries already. He didn't recognize any, which he optimistically told himself was a good sign.
He was under his invisibility cloak, acting as a scout for the strike team. While magical radios weren't a thing yet – at least, not in small, portable form – Weiyi had given him a pendant that was enchanted with a derivative of the protean charm, except it sent buzzes instead of words. It was a pair with the pendant Weiyi had, allowing them to send basic signals to each other. A short buzz meant stop, while two short buzzes meant go. A long buzz meant an enemy presence. Two long buzzes indicated that Harry was going to send a longer message in morse code. It was a ramshackle system, but the more advanced magical communicator tools didn't work here.
The team had disillusioned themselves before taking a portkey to the edge of the interference, before making their way in on foot. The interference was mildly annoying, in the same way a bratty schoolboy scratching his table was annoying. Harry figured his simple (but sound) occlumency shields were reducing it from the mania-inducing effect as hoped. He hadn't run into a single cultist so far, which was off-putting, but that also meant they were (hopefully) unaware of the infiltration.
Harry's ears caught a distant boom, and as he inched closer he could pick up the sound of spellfire.
I'm pretty sure that's the building the survivors holed up in, Harry thought as he neared the commotion. He sent the appropriate signals to Su, and wordlessly cast a color-changing charm green on a rock that was behind a boulder that provided cover. Green rocks weren't common (if they existed at all) in these parts, so the team had agreed that it would designate rally points.
5 enm, fcsd on surv door. It was crude, but the message should be clear to Su. Five grey-robed cultists were casting the occasional curse down a long corridor which led deep into one of the tomb complexes. The occasional curse was fired back in retaliation. It was clear the cultists were just keeping the survivors preoccupied, else they'd have stormed the tomb already.
It didn't take long for the rest of the team to arrive. They had a clear firing line, and Weiyi quickly designated their targets.
"Stun on three, one, two, three," Weiyi said, and the team rose and started casting. All but one of the initial stunners hit, and the single cultist that had managed to avoid being hit could only gape before Harry's follow-up stun hit him.
"Move to the entrance, I'll cover," Weiyi ordered, and Harry gladly obliged.
"Friendlies!" Harry said aloud as he approached the tomb's entrance.
"Halt, identify yourself!" a voice shouted. Relief flooded his veins. Oh thank fuck, she's alright. If the situation had been less dire, Harry would've gone back and tried to figure out why he thought that.
"You know, princess, if I was an Egyptian muggle I wouldn't have understood a word of what you said," Harry said amusedly as he lowered his scarf from covering his face.
"Harry?!" Daphne's head poked out from behind the corner at the end of the corridor, a shocked expression on her face.
"In the flesh," Harry grinned. "You know, there are easier ways of getting my attention than playing damsel in distress."
"You two can flirt later," Weiyi interrupted as he led the rest of the team in, levitating the unconscious cultists with him. "We need to bring down that interference quickly, and throw up interdiction wards to trap the cultists."
Harry and Daphne spluttered their denials, but Weiyi merely raised an eyebrow, and went to supervise his team.
"You can't say I'm the one who keeps making sure we meet in shitholes. This time the shitty locale is on you," Harry said with a genuine smile.
She was alright – mostly, anyway. Wizarding combat injuries, as a rule of thumb, either incapacitated you, or didn't. There was very little in-between. Her right arm had field dressings and her dragonhide armor was pockmarked with spell damage, but she was mobile and capable of being a sentry. That was unlike the clump of injured wizards off to one side of the tomb complex. Her light blonde hair was tied up in a ponytail, and caked with grime, sweat and mud, and her face had a few scratches here and there...but she was alright.
Daphne rolled her eyes. "Trust you to not recognize three thousand years of cultural heritage."
The team of curse breakers and siege casters quickly started pulling out ward-stones and making their preparations, while a number of the survivors set up a watch detail outside, reinvigorated by the appearance of backup.
"Where's Captain Tahir?" Weiyi asked as the group of curse-breakers got into gear, and made it clear he wasn't needed there to backseat drive.
"Stunned and tied up back there," Daphne gestured deeper into the complex, her countenance quickly turning grim. "We're not quite sure why, but he went berserk minutes after casting the patronus messenger."
"Give me a minute," Weiyi said and moved to the captive cultists. He rennervated one, cast a hyper-sensory charm on the cultist, and whipped the cultist in the groin with a conjured riding crop, eliciting a gasp of pain. A wave of the wand followed. "Legilimens."
Harry winced. Using pain to override any potential mental defenses when the target was disoriented was one of the less straight-and-narrow Enforcer tactics. It wouldn't work on a skilled occlumens – someone like Snape would have laughed off Su's legilimency probe even when using this tactic – but very few people were skilled occlumens.
Weiyi nodded, and stunned the silently weeping cultist, before moving onto the next one and repeating the process. This cultist was a woman, so Harry honestly wasn't sure if using a
"I suppose that's one way to discourage anyone from running afoul of the ICW," Daphne observed.
"Believe it or not, Weiyi's a relative softie for an Enforcer commander," Harry said, unsure if he was defending his old CO or not.
"He conjured that riding crop silently," Daphne said. "That's an indication of familiarity with it. Do you think he uses it a lot?"
"Princess, no," Harry said as he put his finger on her lips. "You are not going to put that image in my head."
Weiyi had moved on to a third cultist – probably to triple-check.
Daphne grinned and kissed his finger, shocking him into pulling it back. "I mean, he does seem a bit eager to go straight to the whips and riding crops. Almost as if he uses it often…in the bedroom."
Harry whined. It was probably a childish reaction, but he really didn't want to have a mental image of that in his head.
"We can't risk using the patronus to send the go-ahead to the main group," Weiyi said as he stunned the third cultist, confirming Harry's suspicions. "These are cannon fodder, so they don't know much, but any spell that requires emotion acts as a conduit for the mania-inflicting curse."
"Shit," Harry cursed, fishing for the shrunken broom that he kept in his emergency pack. "That means one of us has to fly out of there on a broom, reach the edge of the interference, and call in the main group."
"It can't be you, Potter," Weiyi stopped his train of thought before it could finish. "Once we drop the interference the cultists are going to converge here. We're gonna need to hold until the main force arrives, and that'll require your firepower."
"It'll be pointless if our flier gets shot down," Harry countered. "I'm your best flier here by a country mile, unless there's a bird animagus among us."
Weiyi opened his mouth to argue, but Daphne interrupted with a cough.
"I don't suppose now would be a good time to say my animagus form can fly?" she said, looking incredibly reluctant.
"What is it?" Weiyi asked. He then made an assumption regarding the reluctance. "Don't worry about us informing your Ministry."
"I'm not worried about that," Daphne replied. "It's just-"
"It's an embarrassing form?" Harry teased. "What is it, Daphne, a pigeon?"
"Duck," she admitted with reddening cheeks, which Harry found to be his new favorite look on her. "An American black duck, specifically."
"How fast can you fly?" Weiyi asked in a no-nonsense tone.
"In theory, up to 75 kilometers per hour," Daphne said. "I haven't really practiced flying that fast though, only slowing down to make landings in case of falls from great heights."
A metaphorical lightbulb lit up for Harry then. "I can carry you up on a broom, speed up in the direction of the main force and catapult you there. You should be able to glide the distance, and that'll be faster in any case."
"It'll still leave you exposed in the air," Weiyi argued, although his tone made it clear he knew he was going to lose this one.
"Oh, please," Harry said confidently. "I'm not exposed to them. I have the high ground on them. They're exposed to me."
Harry was awaiting the go-signal (two short buzzes) from underneath his fastened invisibility cloak atop his disillusioned Firebolt, with Daphne-in-Duck-form in the crook of his left arm.
Heh. Daphne Duck. Daffy Duck. A giant shit-eating grin began forming on Harry's face.
"Daphne dear, I think I'm going to christen your animagus form with a nickname," Harry said brightly. The duck's head turned to his direction, followed up with an inquisitive-sounding quack.
"I'll call animagus you Daffy," Harry continued, unsure if the pureblood scion was aware of the cartoon. He'd call her that regardless, for his own personal amusement if nothing else, but it would undeniably be better if she understood. "Short for Daffy Duck."
Judging by the irritable quacks, Harry would bet that Daphne at least understood that the nickname was meant to be amusing for him. I'll show her the cartoons later, just to make sure.
The pendant buzzed twice. Harry's magical senses could also feel the mania-inflicting curse being lifted, and a set of anti-apparition and portkey wards being deployed.
"There's the signal," he said to Daffy Duck. "Get ready."
He quickly accelerated to the direction of the forward base, reaching close to the top speed in seconds. The cloak was still securely fastened, but it fluttered on the edges and so he wasn't completely invisible.
"Off you go, Daffy Duck!" he shouted. And, just because he couldn't resist. "It's duck season!"
Harry would swear he heard an annoyed quack from the direction Daphne – sorry, Daffy - flew off in.
Weiyi's prediction that the cultists would quickly emerge and converge on the tomb complex the survivors had holed up in was right. The surviving wizards and Su's team had set up rudimentary defenses, which would delay the cultists' approach, but from the number of cultists that had popped up (at least 40) – well, Su was right to think that Harry would be needed to buy time.
Harry carefully aimed his wand at the largest concentration of cultists. And just to indulge his inner child…
"Wabbit Season, Fire!" Harry shouted joyously as he began raining hell.
The plan actually went off without much of a hitch. Sure, there were little hiccups in the execution here and there, but the initial assessment of the cultists not being particularly powerful was on point.
Daphne had actually glided all the way to the forward base, and made it there quickly enough that the survivors hadn't needed to wait too long. Director Nasr's forces had been utterly ruthless in their advance, giving the cultists little chance to mount a proper defense. Most of the cultists were actually engaged with the survivors, but between their general ineptitude in battle and Harry wreaking havoc from above, it was little surprise that they'd surrendered en masse once the bulk of the main forces arrived. The Egyptian and ICW forces only suffered six casualties in the final attack, and only one of them a fatality.
The highlight of the battle for Harry had been the escape attempt that a few of the smarter cultists had tried. While the rest of their erstwhile allies threw themselves at the fortified tomb complex the survivors were holed up in, three cultists mounted brooms and attempted a getaway. It posed little challenge to Harry, of course – he was one of the best fliers in his generation, an accurate spellcaster, and hitting from stealth to boot.
It was hours later at sundown when the prisoners were processed and battlefield cleanup was well underway that Harry found himself at the big tent once more. His portkey back to Rhodes would activate in an hour, meaning he had time to gaze at the Egyptian sunset.
"You should really tell her, you know," Weiyi interrupted Harry's idle thoughts.
"I don't know what or who you're talking about," Harry said, perhaps too quickly.
"Prevaricate all you want, but if there's a good place to let go of denial it's when you depart Egypt," Weiyi said with a grin, showing that he knew exactly what he just did.
"It's just teasing, Su," Harry said firmly.
"Muggles have this trite saying about life being lonely at the top. It's not inaccurate for powerful wizards and witches – sycophants you'll have aplenty, which is why you need friends that know you from before," Su said, apparently going off on a tangent. "You're powerful, Harry. Not as much as Dumbledore, or that dark lord you fought. Definitely not anywhere close to old man Grindelwald. But in the same range. I suppose you'll know for sure when you turn 25."
"I'm sure this cat-and-mouse game is fun for you and her," Weiyi continued as Harry remained silent. The older man's tone took on a hint of bitterness and longing. "But it's just that. A game. You don't want to be left with regrets over what-ifs and could-have-beens one day."
"Ah, look at me, leaning into the advice-dispensing old man stereotype," Weiyi laughed as he clapped Harry on the shoulder, before leaving to check up on the rest of the Enforcers. "I'll see you around, Potter."
Harry muttered a quick goodbye, thinking over his friend and sort-of-mentor's words.
"Knut for your thoughts?" Daphne asked, interrupting his brooding. She was back in her wizarding robes, her armor and gear most likely in the mokeskin pack at her feet.
"They're worth at least a sickle," Harry complained, before suspiciously asking. "Did you sneak out of the infirmary?"
"Don't project your past behavior on me," Daphne said. "I'm pretty sure that's exactly what Madam Pomfrey expected you to do on your many visits to the Hogwarts infirmary."
"You haven't answered the question," Harry pointed out.
"No, Harry, I didn't sneak out of the infirmary. I was given a clean bill of health from the healers and released," Daphne said, her voice taking a teasing tone. "Keep asking me that and I'll start thinking you care."
"I do," he said after a momentary pause. "Care, I mean."
Oh sweet Merlin, reddened cheeks were nice, but blushing Daphne is probably the best Daphne, Harry thought as he saw exactly that happen. It wasn't the most obvious blush, just a hint of pink on the cheeks and a slight reddening of the ears.
"You had better not be joking around, Potter," Daphne said.
"I'm serious. I do care," he affirmed as he took her hands in his, looking into her ice-blue eyes.
"This is comfy and your eyes are magnificent, but if we keep staring into each other's eyes without moving people are going to get the wrong idea," Daphne said reluctantly.
"That we're petrified?" Harry rambled. "I mean, in my head I was going to start leaning in slowly and kiss you, but that hasn't happened and I'm still not sure why-"
Daphne laughed. "You're an idiot."
Then she leaned in, and kissed him.
Notes: The geography for the Valley of the Kings is highly unlikely to be accurate. It is closer to Luxor than Qena. In fact, the only reason Qena's mentioned at all is for chapter title symmetry (Qena, Quack Attack). Qena being further away than Luxor from the Valley, though, that part is accurate.
Foreign conqueror dynasty on the Egyptian throne is a wizarding mirror to the Muhammad Ali dynasty that ruled egypt from 1805 to 1953, which was formed by an Albanian. I actually have a 30-page document for worldbuilding (just for wizarding countries, plus other cultural and societal fluff) which I've updated on-and-off over the last three years, which is where this comes from. Gotta say, it feels good to use the old documents at last.
Su Weiyi is an OC. He won't be a major character in this series, but it's useful for me to flesh out some of the world in greater detail. Technically, he's Su Li's distant cousin, but that's just because 'Su' is one of the few Chinese surnames that are romanized the same in pinyin and Wade-Giles, and because it's convenient. Think of him as a pseudo-mentor to Harry – similar to the role Remus filled, but only PoA Remus (really short-term mentor).
Concerns I have about this chapter: Daphne's not meant to be a damsel in distress. If it reads like that (I don't think it does, but I've authorial bias on my side), it's not meant to. She isn't going to be as powerful (magic-wise) as Harry – but in fairness, few characters are. Power-wise I'd put her on the same level as one of the Weasleys, except she's ruthless in a fight.
