Disclaimer:

I solemnly swear that the literature and works of the Harry Potter Verse belong to JK Rowling, Bloomberg and Warner Bros. The only thing I own are the one-shot ideas that popped into my head and whatever OCs I would create for them. This is a work of pure fiction made solely for fun, constructive reviews will be welcomed, flames will be ignored. Any references to characters in real-life or fiction are purely coincidental. If I could make money out of my ideas, it would be nice...

Mischief Managed Damn It!


Title: A Heist of Magical Proportions (Working Title)

Posted Date: April 30 2022

Tags: Gentleman Thief Harry, Good Ron / Twins, Demolition Seamus, Ocean 11 Inspired AU, Ron x Hermione, UST for Ron & Hermione, Possible UST for Harry & Susan Bones

Possible Challenges: WBWL, Manipulative Dumbledore, Slight Crack, Harry x Multi, Possible 3 part series


A.N: The story is set a few years forward to consider technology a little.

Harry pursed his lips as he looked through the folder of documents he had on the table while sipping tea in a hotel room with a balcony that overlooked Cote d'Azur, one of the more popular coastlines of France that had plenty of good looking women taking a dip into the ocean. As tempting an offer it was, Harry did not feel the urge and focused more on the task he had been doing for the past two days. He had done robbery and con jobs before, some of them that could be considered a national job depending on whom you ask, but this was going to be a very different task altogether, and he did not fancy a stay in Azkaban or an Avada Kedavra to the face as his final gift.

He paused as he heard the door open to reveal Ron entering with a bag of groceries and a bag of food, and turned in time to catch the bottle of water thrown at him while Ron packed the groceries.

"How is Bill?" Harry asked while tidying up the papers.

"He is fine, the goblin healers are patching him up good." Ron answered as he took a chair and started to take out their food to eat. "The more major injuries are gone, while the less problematic injuries are slowly being treated as they need him to have the stamina to keep up with the healing regime for him. No amount of Pepper-Ups can do that otherwise. But he is able to walk and talk properly, and that is quite good as he was able to tell them what really went on during his expedition."

"Were the twins there?"

"They were, along with Charlie, and they asked about you. Only reason they are not barging into this room right now is because they are handling something else for the time being." Ron took a big bite of the sandwich and sighed at the flavors from it. "They do send their regards and will visit really soon. So expect an inquisition in the near future. Oh damn, this is one good sandwich."

"That's nice." Harry let out a light sigh of relief at the answer.

"Fleur was also there, she was worried for him." Ron continued to talk. "She has been visiting him since the attack, and at least the healers allow her to visit since they are both curse-breakers." He then gave a smirk. "Gabrielle was asking about you a little when we were visiting."

"Seriously?" Harry blinked at that.

"Oh yes, she was going all 'Where is my prince Harry? I want to see him again!'" Ron gave an over-the-top impression of a young girl asking with an awful french accent, which earned him a pillow to the face. "She was really missing you, mate." Harry placed a hand to his face and groaned at that. Even after so long, the younger sister of Fleur Delacour was still chasing him. He should be a little happy that the young Veela was concerned enough to miss him, but it was also a little disturbing knowing what had happened in their fourth year back in Britain that resulted in the crush she was having on him.

And if he recalled correctly, she was currently in her final year at Beauxbatons before being declared an adult. Harry may need to plan a trip away from France to avoid Alain Delacour coming after him with his Auror buddies in an attempt to "save her purity".

"Anyone else visited Bill?" Harry asked. That got Ron to drop his smile and a frown to appear.

"The twins and I left a minute to enter a hidden room with one of those one-way mirrors before Arthur, Ginerva, and Molly entered the hospital room." Harry winced at the tone and the words. That was one minefield he should not be touching on, considering the brothers' disownment. The reason they were allowed to take on the family name from the mother's side was thanks to both Charlie Weasley, the current lord of the Prewett clan, and the previous Lord Prewett who had been at odds with the matriarch of the Weasley family long before she got married, and used the chance to take Ron and the twins in while finalizing Molly's expulsion in one swoop. The trio were grateful to the man and their now blood distant brother, but Ron was clearly still having many issues with Molly for pushing Arthur into disowning them. Harry knew the man a little in his youth, and the words 'hen-pecked husband' were an understatement to describe the man on the best of times.

As for the youngest daughter of the Weasley family, that was another issue left unsaid given his own issues regarding family.

"What about Percy?" That earned Harry a scowl and a growl from Ron.

"Apparently, too busy kissing up to the minister and Malfoy to bother visiting Bill. Not even a card asking what had happened." Ron crushed the can of cola that was thankfully empty with a bit more force than required. "Then again, he has not been contacting any of the Weasleys or other relatives for some time. He did reach out to the twins briefly asking what had happened when we were disowned, but after that we have not gotten much contact. He has embraced the pureblood dogma fully." That was going to be a problem to say the least.

"One other person did try to make a visit." Harry did not need to be a genius based on the deepening scowl on Ron's face, but figured he had to confirm.

"The old bastard?"

"Got it in one." Ron threw his sandwich wrapper and canned drink away into the bin with a bit more force than needed, making said bin tilt slightly before resting. "The old man evidently tried to force his way into the goblin hospital to get into Bill's favor, but he forgets that he had let off the Death Eater that attacked Bill with nothing more than a slap of the wrist. Not to mention that debacle at the tournament with Fleur's sister." A serene smile then appeared on his face, the type that was normally seen on his twin brothers' faces. "Fleur met him halfway and gave quite a loud tirade before literally kicking him out of the corridor with enough force to send him to the doors. The goblins were also watching and cheering her on." Harry snorted at that last bit. The goblins had many descriptions, but one that he shared with them was their dislike for the "old bastard" due to his constant interference into matters that did not concern him.

Including his own matters.

"Enough of that. What have you got?" Harry forgave Ron for wanting the subject changed and went to look back at the documents.

"It is a good thing I needed time to get back my strength and magic. I went to check on my set of contacts to make sure they are still active and to understand more of what we are facing." Harry answered as he pulled out one sheet of paper for Ron to look at. "Your contact is good, he was able to find out a lot of information regarding the casinos, but he was also off by a fair margin."

"Which part?" Ron asked.

"For one, the Runespoor Casinos are all having the upgrades, not just the Emerald Serpent. From what I understand, the events that are going to be held there have generated so much news that the Galleons have been flowing into the casinos by the players alone, and there are people trying to get early seats for the events even as we are here talking." Harry placed his bottle on the table and pointed to another sheet of paper. "I figured with Malfoy being the target, I had to reach out to my own network of contacts just to find more details, and I am so lucky to be paranoid, because each one of them stated a different casino being upgraded, including his older casinos."

"All of your contacts have different answers?" Ron paused in his reading.

"Yes, which leads me to believe that the information was intentionally leaked to get people like us interested in getting the money." Harry waved his hand to rearrange the papers into three different stacks. "We all know that people like Malfoy like to brag about their accomplishments, but fewer are like him in actually getting some of their actions validated. And this is not the first time people advertised the security to tempt others to steal the money so that they can make a point out of the robbers."

"So there is a chance that the money may not be there?" Ron frowned at that. Harry shrugged as a reply.

"That is the possibility, but with the events going on, he will need a minimum sum to keep the casinos going to ensure operations run smoothly without breaking the bank so to say. Malfoy needs to split the money in the vaults if he wants all three casinos of the Runespoor operating well. We will assume that he is willing to take the chance and have the money placed at the vaults on the night of the events. There will still be a majority held at one of the casinos, likely the one hosting the events, but that leaves at most forty-five percent of the remaining amount spread between the last two. And if the figures are correct, this will be a very big payout."

"How much?" Ron went to take a swing of his drink.

"At a glance based on the current status? At least eighty-seven-point-six billion Galleons for just the Emerald Serpent alone." Harry raised a hand to call up a shield to block the spectacular spit-take Ron performed at that detail.

"COUGH~ how many Galleons?!" Ron looked at him gawking.

"Enough to pay off Bill's medical fees, get us and the crew some nice vacation time for a year, and then some. And that is just the lowest estimation." Harry smirked at that knowledge and Ron's reaction. "Of course it will depend on the crew we need to put together." That stopped Ron from short circuiting his head from the amount told to him.

"Are we not bringing back all the guys?" Harry gave a so-so gesture with his hand.

"Some of the others are in the middle of their work, legit or otherwise, while some like Neville should not have to drop everything in their lives." Harry tapped one of the papers in thought. "At the least, I am thinking of the twins and Seamus for a start, maybe Dean if he is able to make it after completing that art job. We may need to consider fresh blood just to ensure that we can keep a low profile to avoid detection. We are known to a few people in Britain."

"What is on your mind?" Ron prompted noting the expression on Harry's face. His friend did not answer for a while, but Ron was used to letting Harry gather his thoughts before expressing them, knowing that what he had in his head was important even if he may not like it.

"I will be frank with you, Ron. I am really leery about this job." Harry slowly spoke as he gathered his thoughts. "This won't be like any others we have done. I mean sure, we have pulled off some pretty big heists in the past, and of course, who can forget the Monte Carlo Jewel Heist? But this?" Harry frowned before grabbing one of the sheets that had the profile of Lucius Malfoy.

"We are going to be dealing with Lucius Malfoy, a man with connections to the Ministry to let him walk away with a slap on the wrist, and a Death Eater who, if the rumors are true, is in the upper ranks of the terrorist cell, meaning he could potentially contact the head honcho personally. And there is still the minor issue of his son, Draco, who along with his buddies, could recognize us once we enter the general area. It is not quite like hitting Gringotts, which I am so thankful that we are not that suicidal, but this is close." Harry placed the sheet down a little harder than needed.

"I get that Bill was attacked and one of Lucius's buddies got away with the act since Lucius spread the money around. But if that was the case, why are we not targeting that man alone first? We could work on Lucius later if needed, but you really wanted this." Harry looked Ron in the eye. "Is there something else you are not telling me?" Ron leaned back in his chair and folded his arm while looking back coolly.

"Two days ago, you managed to leave the prison after 11 months in a cell. In the 11 months you were gone, the rest of us were trying to keep it together, not knowing whether you were safe or stuck in Azkaban or other prisons in the country. When we got the news, we were both relieved and scared out of our wits. We do not know whether you will be discovered by the Aurors or the people after us." Ron talked while tightly gripping his arms. "Then when Bill got attacked, we were angry but we understand that we cannot move without a proper plan. What we did do was find the bastard that got away and marked him first. The twins got the first shot at making his life miserable, but something Dean said got me thinking."

"He understood that Lucius was the issue, no matter how many we take out, they just keep on sprouting like hydra unless we take out the main head. Lucius Malfoy is one of the main heads. Yes, he is a Death Eater and also one of the major cash contributors for the terrorist cell. Yes, there is a high chance that we will be incurring their wrath on us with this job." Ron unfolded his arms and gripped his hands together. "But taking him out may also be beneficial for us in the long run when it comes to Britain." Harry frowned at that.

"So the guy who got Bill was already being handled, and you decided to go for a bigger target?" Ron gave a so-so gesture.

"I mean no offense, but we are getting a bit well known around the world, and some people are tailing us. You know as well as I do about the old bastard in Britain. He may not be after us for now, but once he knows who you are, and he will likely know very quickly, and if the situation in Britain gets worse, he will certainly come for you. What we need is an edge to stop that."

"And going after Malfoy will help with that?" Harry raised an eyebrow.

"Taking down Malfoy in such a manner would be a very big sign that someone has the balls to go against the man and hold him back. The old bastard would be wary and try to think of the different schemes while we move away." Ron answered. Seeing the look on Harry's face, Ron gave one last effort.

"When we play the game long enough for people to recognize our methods, that means the house is about ready to take you, because the house always wins. Unless you have the perfect hand. That is when you have to bet big and take the house." Harry looked calm as Ron poured it all out.

"... You have been practicing that line, haven't you?"

"I did." Ron looked sheepish at this point, the earlier seriousness gone. "Was it rushed? I think I may have overdone it a bit."

"Hmm, it is okay. A little much, but fine." Harry gathered up the papers and checked his watch. "Fine, I am giving a tentative go-ahead. But we really need more information, and our contact networks will not be able to provide that information. Once we have that, we can decide on the crew."

"Got it. Thank you, Harry." Ron let out a breath.

"Thank me later, after we pull this off." Harry took the folder and placed it into his extendible pocket. "I am going out for a while, I am going to need some sun."

"See you later then." Ron waved his hand while partaking on his second sandwich. "I recommend the store by the beach. At least you can get good food and one heck of scenery." Harry snorted with a smile and exited the room with a wave. He could trust Ron with the former when it came to food, as for the second?

He had not seen a woman up close for a while.

Harry made it to the lift landing and pressed the button for the elevator. As it came to his level and opened the doors, Harry had a brief thought.

"I wonder how Aberforth will react to this?"

~ooOOoo~

(2 days later)

"You two are out of your goddamn minds!"

The two in question looked at each other with amused smirks while doing their best to ignore the glare directed from the old man sitting across from them in one of the private rooms at one of the local cafes in the area. The man in question appeared to be around his seventies with a trimmed beard and semi dated vacation clothes that still worked well in their current beach setting, and a pair of dark blue eyes set on them. The intensity of his glare was slightly offset by the spread of food before them and the foam from his drink staining his beard.

"Are the both of you listening to me? You are both bloody nuts!" The old man took a big swing of the drink he had ordered before setting the bottle down, evidently taking the alcohol first instead of his coffee would help with the situation. "Look, I know we have been through some crazy situations, and have robbed a fair number of people ranging from the lowest of clerks to the dignitaries of different countries. I have seen the crazy ass shit you two can cook up, but this is by none the stupidest idea to date!"

"Abe." Ron tried to speak only to be interrupted.

"Don't 'Abe' me, Ronald Prewett!" The now mentioned Aberforth or "Abe" as his nickname growled at the red head. "This is insanity even by your standards."

"Come on, it only sounds worse than it is. We can do this!" Ron tried to sell the idea while Harry was sipping his drink and leaving him to talk about it. "I mean, you can claim that you pulled one over your brother when it comes to the Death Eaters." Aberforth paused in his ranting, and for a moment it did look like he was considering the thought before he shook his head.

"Not like this, we have done. The security from the Runespoor is tight, they have multiple watchers on hand and guards to look after the vaults, not including the ones looking out on the casino floor. They got wards strong enough to repel most of our usual tactics, and delay the remainder long enough to have their armed personnel come after us. Said personnel would be enough to take on the Ministry." Aberforth spooned some food into his mouth before shaking his head. "Okay, maybe a bad example. It does not really take that many to take over the British Ministry in their current state."

"We have robbed a couple of casinos in the past. Yes, they are small attempts compared to what we want to achieve with this, and yes, this would be a first for us to go after magical casinos since it has never been tried before, but we have some rough idea of what to expect to aid us." Harry stepped in at this point to relieve some pressure off Ron.

"It has never been tried before." Aberforth repeated his words with a mocking tone. "It has been attempted before, a few guys had the same idea as you two when I was still a wee lad. Let me break it down for you geniuses, so that you can understand the difficulty of what you are trying to accomplish." Aberforth held out three fingers for them to see. "Let's see if you crazy bastards remember any of your history on the three most successful robberies of magical casinos in the world." Harry shared a grimace with Ron at his words.

Oh boy, here they go again.

"Number three, the Onyx Bull Casino from Greece, 1828. A snatch-and-grab routine with an expendable bag containing 1.2 millions Galleons worth of chips. The guy got 20 steps closer to the door than any other person alive before him. Granted, he did not live long after the guards slammed him to the floor. They gave him up to the hellhounds for their dinner." One finger went down.

"Number two, the Flamingo of Seventy-One, Mac-USA. This guy actually tasted fresh air as he ran away with 5 million Galleons before they caught him." Aberforth paused to lower a second finger before moving on. "Of course, he had to breathe out of a tube down his throat designed to remove the air out of his lungs and replace it with fresh air while handcuffed to a hospital bed for 3 months. Goddamn hippie." Harry nodded while looking at the speaker above them acting up with a glare. He pulled out his wand and sent a repairing spell at it to at least get it working briefly.

"And finally number one, the closest that any man has ever gotten to robbing a magical casino, which happens to be from outside of Lucius's first casino, the year 2000." Aberforth placed his entire hand down on the table just as the speaker above finally worked and started playing a tune. "The man managed to grab 9.5 million Galleons through a mix of summoning charms and good sleight of hand; he even made his way out the door before the security found out and forced him to run out of the premises. I will summarize what happened in three sentences."

"He came for the money."

"He grabbed the money."

"And they conquered him."

"Take my breath away~"

The trio blinked before looking at the sound speaker as one, each one thinking that the song was ominous despite it being a love song, before looking back at each other and moving on with the conversation, with Harry overpowering a silencing charm on the speaker just in case.

"But hey, what am I saying? You two are professionals. The best! I am so sure that you guys can get out of the casino with all of the money." The two young men waited for the punchline as Aberforth took a slice of the salmon, and were not disappointed. "Oh! Lest we forget, once you are out of the front door, you are still in the middle of the FUCKING DEATH EATER TERRITORY! With many of Malfoy's buddies likely to be around!" Aberforth appeared to be testing the silencing wards with his volume, and Harry was so glad that they asked for the private booth as his gesturing would have gotten them thrown out of the premises.

"Oh, and in case you geniuses have forgotten, you guys would need to enter Britain to even plan part of this heist. And last I recalled, none of you wanted to be seen there. Especially you kid!" Aberforth pointed at Harry. "Given the absolute shit fest that is going on in that country, you are the last person to be seen." Harry closed his eyes and took a breath. Aberforth was right about that, it did not make him feel better hearing it.

Time for plan B.

"You are right." Harry shrugged. "You are very wise."

"He is right." Ron nodded in solemnity. "Not sure what we are thinking."

"Don't think I do not know what you two are doing." The old man growled as he settled back into his seat and grabbed the cup of soda, having drained the alcohol from earlier. "If you want to butter me up that much, better start emptying your wallets because I am going to be stress-eating and drinking at this point." He looked at Harry at this point. "Why would you even consider this plan?"

"I am just getting my creative juices flowing and helping Ron deal out some damage with the guy who attacked Bill." Harry answered while looking at Ron, who went on to answer Aberforth's questioning gaze. By the end of it, his frown was lessened a little and Aberforth sighed.

"Okay, I get that much. But you guys need to remember something." Aberforth leaned back in his chair. "Most people used to be civilized when it came to dealing with people like us, stealing vaults and money. You hit a guy, he will wrack you back. You're done, end of story. But with Lucius Malfoy? Even without the whole Death Eater shit attached to him, you guys better make sure he will not know your names, not know how you are involved or even think you are dead. Because he'll kill you, and then he will work on you. And you better pray that he does not decide to use your corpses as resources to create Inferi." Aberforth looked at the two younger men while they shuddered at that idea. "And while Harry may not have much holding him down, you do, Ronald. While you may not care about the Weasleys, he will attempt going after your brothers and what is left of the Prewetts." The booth was silent for a while as they all processed this before Harry grabbed his drink and downed the remainder in one gulp.

"We understand that, Abe. We will be careful, we will be precise. We will make sure to be well-funded enough to get the necessary equipment for this, and we will plan out as many scenarios as we can to deal with this fellow." Harry placed his cup on the table. "I do not fancy a stay in Azkaban, a date with the Dementors or Death Eaters, and certainly not a conversation with the old bastard. But what we really need right now is information. Information you can give us with your contacts." The two young men looked to Aberforth.

"Can you at least help us with this?" The old man gave them an exasperated look before grabbing his cup.

"You two are absolutely nuts, and whoever you are picking for your crew had better be as nuts as you are." Aberforth took a big gulp of his drink and set the cup hard on the table before looking at the two with a gleam in his eyes and a crooked smile. "Who do you have in mind?"