Chapter 1 Briefing and Farewells
"This is Tessa Akingbala." The Unspeakable, a woman with shoulder-length black hair and a power suit under her sleek robes, motioned to the magical picture on the wall displaying a dark haired woman with cold, black eyes. It was an old picture. She was in conversation with a muggle cartel boss.
The briefing room was a small, cold room in the DMLE department. Sat at a table at the center were Harry and four other Aurors. Ron, the new Head, stood arms crossed near the Unspeakable whom they called Sarah. She had worked diligently on this package. Everyone could tell she wanted Tessa. Wanted her bad.
Harry remembered Tessa. She was part of the group that kidnapped Draco Malfoy back in 2000. He was never seen from again.
"If there is a crime under the skies, she's committed it. During her Death Eater years she traveled the world, doing business with several muggle terror groups, drug cartels, and warlords, buying muggle prisoners to send to Voldemort and other members of the Death Eaters. She escaped capture and for the past fourteen years there's been no trace of her. Until a week ago."
Sarah turned her wand to the screen on the wall where she projected a still, muggle photo. In it, Tessa wore a black burka, the front part draped behind her head, revealing her face. She wielded a curved dagger. Three other women were behind her holding up identical daggers.
"This picture was secretly taken by American muggle special forces during an op. This was the only time she's shown her face in years, as far as we're concerned. We believe she is hiding among a muggle terrorist group called ISIS in Syria, posing as their leader's wife. It is likely that she manipulates him under imperio and is the real head in charge. Muggle terrorists tend to be involved with human and drug trafficking in order to fund their terror operations. It is also very common for these terrorist organizations to buy and sell western prisoners among themselves. Which is why her activities have gone unnoticed by magical authorities until now."
Another flick of the wand, another image, one taken from afar, perhaps on a balcony. It overlooked a busy street somewhere in the Middle East. There were five prisoners, their heads covered in sacks, their hands tied in front of them, being led by Isis members towards a building. A bearded man on a phone waited by that building, dressed in a button up shirt and gray slacks.
"And she's not just trafficking muggles." Zooming in on the prisoners, Harry noticed one of them had a tattoo of the Weird Sisters on their forearm.
"Based on this tattoo we've identified this witch as Gwen Gardener." A magical, moving image appeared next to the muggle one. It was of a blond girl no older than fifteen with the same tattoo. She looked to be on vacation in New York with her family.
"She was reported missing seven months ago by her parents. A Hogwarts student in Fifth Year. She disappeared somewhere on her trip back home for the Christmas holidays. Western females, especially young ones, are prized among these groups. Further more, this man here," she zooms in on the man on the phone. "Is a very wealthy muggle by the name of Nasir Hassad. Saudi national. Works for someone else but we don't know who. We do know that his boss has a fascination with witches and wizards, especially if they're foreign. He purchases them from Tessa regularly through Nasir. We're not sure why. I speculate he must use them for some sick entertainment." Sarah seemed to spit that last sentence. She felt strongly about these atrocities.
Harry wondered if this had been his old schoolmate's fate. As a veteran Auror for more than a decade the thought made him sad. He no longer held any resentment for Draco. They had been children.
Sarah continued, "Right now I want you focused on Tessa. To state that she's a high value target is an understatement. I want her alive. She's got a lot of information that can help us track some of these missing witches and wizards. And maybe even Nasir's boss."
"Okay," said Harry. "So we know the HVT's in Syria. There is no magical government there. I'm assuming you have some muggle identities for us?"
Sarah nodded and leaned on the table. "That's right. You five will be posing as Royal Marines. Get to know their speech and common behavior please. We're sending you to Syria to work alongside the YPG. They're a Kurdish rebel group that fight Turkish backed ISIS. Not to be confused with the PKK. However there are international volunteers among them. Don't assume they're all muggles. Don't blow your cover."
Aurors were regularly trained to behave as muggle enforcers and warfighters in order to work with them - some of their jargon had even seeped into the DMLE. A lot had changed in the UK for the past sixteen years. Voldemort had left scars in both the Wizarding and muggle world and while the Statute of Secrecy was still in effect, the Ministry of Magic worked more closely with muggle representatives cleared to know of their existence. Harry's team was especially experienced
Kareem turned to Harry and asked, "How we doing this, boss?"
"Seems straight forward. Put on your favorite muggle tees and caps. Let's go talk to the man in charge of the YPG."
Sarah interjected, "Actually, you'll be talking to the commander of their female unit, the YPJ. They were the ones working with the Americans during the op that revealed our HVT. Surly they know more."
Sarah straightened up and told Harry, "You've got full autonomy. Get me Tessa Akingbala."
"Yes, ma'am," he said. The Unspeakable gave a nod and walked out with her papers.
The five Aurors turned on their chairs to face one another across the table. Ron came up to lean his hip at the head of the table.
"Royal Marines," said Kareem, eyebrow raised.
"That must be why she asked me to pick only males from my team," Harry answered. "Anyway, let's focus on our HVT. If she is posing as an ISIS wife, she'll be located in a camp where they keep the females. The YPJ will know more. Once we find her location, we need a plan of extraction. Any thoughts?"
"Won't be easy," said Gary. He had muggle parents and was more aware of the muggle world. "I've seen videos of what these ISIS women do when an outsider tries to get near their camp. Those knives they were holding aren't for show."
"Couldn't have picked a more perfect place to hide and continue her sick business," Ron said, darkly.
Kareem said, "Then we have to find a way to get her off camp. We can't plan further until we're on location."
Harry nodded. "Remember, people. We have to do this the muggle way."
"Royal Marine style, baby!" Cried Bill Muller, their newest and youngest member. Bulky man who liked all things American and anything with the Star-Spangled Banner.
Thomas, who was always the silent one, smiled at Bill and nodded with approval. Guess young Aurors really like muggle marines, thought Harry.
Ron scowled at him. "This isn't a game, Muller. Focus up. You leave in 0200."
They all stood and walked out to get ready. Have dinner with their families. Say their farewells. Never knew if they'd come back from these missions.
Harry stayed behind with Ron. His best friend looked at him seriously. Age, training and fatherhood had tempered Ron. He made a good leader. But some of the missions they had fought in the past eventually put a permanent scowl between his brows.
"I'd be good to get the last Death Eater," said Ron.
"Is she the last?"
Ron shrugged. "Last one of the ones who mattered. Who did some serious damage."
Harry leaned back against the edge of the table. His hand went up to his face as if to adjust his glasses, which were no longer there. Years since he corrected his sight, but that little habit returned once in a while. "Death Eater or not, Magical or not, scum are everywhere. It's like for every evil person we kill or put away, two more pop up in their place."
HIs best friend sighed, shaking his head. Once, long ago, he would have told Harry he can't save the whole world. Now he lamented that fact along with him. Something about seeing the world with your own eyes did that to you. What was it that muggles said? Once outside the wire, there's no coming back?
Ron padded his shoulder. "Get some rest, brother. This one's going to be tough."
Back home, Harry sat alone in his kitchen with a half-drunk bottle of Dragon Scale in hand. It was a small, open flat near Grimmauld Place. While still in Wizarding London, it was a newer build with more modern concepts. His generation of wizards and witches were very in tune with muggle culture, younger ones even more so. The war saw to that.
He was thinking about Draco Malfoy - which he hadn't in fourteen years. Not since news of his kidnapping. At the time, Harry was fresh off of training, a brand new Auror. And because he had been so experience in tracking and fighting dark wizards, he thought he was hot shit, knew more than the veterans. He had thought he could crack that case, save Draco, maybe get a pissy reluctant thank you from the git.
Turned out that he knew jack shit. His team leader at the time discovered an old broch in Scotland where a group of fugitive Death Eaters were hiding. They had taken them by surprise and arrested most of them, with only one casualty among the Death Eaters. But there had been no sign of Tessa or Draco.
Harry drank the last of the beer, and looked at the wall clock above his fridge which read seven on the dot. Right then, Ginny popped in from the Floo. One look at him and she pursed her lips disapprovingly.
"I knew it."
"Knew what, Ginny?" Harry sighed as he got on his feet and tossed the bottle into the trash bin next to the fridge.
Ginny looked at him with that serious face that Harry never met. The one that figured out Harry wasn't good enough husband material. He didn't begrudge her that. He wasn't.
"I thought this was just a place to lie your head," she said. "You promised you'd spend more time at home with the kids." She scoffed and rolled her eyes. "But of course, divorce wouldn't have made those promises any more valid. Even getting a flat so near home. Nothing's changed. Now you're just physically not there."
Harry put his hands on his hips and said, "I got a big one. Real big."
Ginny's vexation dropped instantly and she asked, "When do you leave." She knew she couldn't ask for any other details.
"In about seven hours."
And just like that her vexation returned, but for a different reason. "Then you should be in bed! Not drinking!"
Harry rolled his eyes but let her usher him to his bedroom. Meanwhile, he asked, "How're the kids doing?"
"Fine. I don't know if you know but your son's been sorted into Slytherin."
This made Harry laugh. "Not surprised. He's got that resourcefulness." Ginny smiled at him and he went to go sit on his bed. While removing his shoes, he said, "I was almost sorted into Slytherin myself."
"No way."
Harry nodded. "Hat said I'd do well in Slytherin but I kept telling it to sort me anywhere but Slytherin. So that's how I got into Gryffindor."
Ginny dropped her jaw and went to sit next to him. "I have never heard this story before."
Harry shrugged, "I had forgotten it until now."
A comfortable silence, then Ginny said, "I better get going then. Gotta cook dinner. You be careful and come home."
"Always," said Harry with a grin.
Ginny frowned. She never liked how Harry downplayed the seriousness of his job. She looked about to say something, then thought better of it and left.
Harry stripped to his underpants and fell back on his bed. If he didn't get enough sleep now, he could always sleep on the flight to Syria. The long ass flight, on a big ass plane, all because the nearest place that had portkey ports was Turkey - the ones unofficially backing ISIS.
Pretend to be muggle special forces, play nice with rebels, lure out Death Eaters from the Islamic terrorists, make sure Turkey's Ministry of Magic doesn't get wind that British wizards are helping out the Kurds at their border.
"If I wanted easy I wouldn't have signed up for this job," he told himself.