Chapter 11: All Along The Watchtower
"Revy, he's alright." Harry said, placing his hand on one of her pistols and lowering them. She complied but kept a mean look on her face.
"I take it this is the woman you found with undiscovered magical ability?" Albie said.
"Yes, sir." Hermione said, "And Revy, like he said already, this is Albridge Stanley. Albie, this is Revy."
The room was silent for a moment as Revy sized the older man up. Albie knew her type though. At one point in his life, he played Ares, just like her. He was a killer, his path in life was that of rust, blood, and bone. Not the sun, charm, and love he sacrificed himself consistently to protect. Albie's intuition told him that Revy's path was not all dissimilar. That sort of person just knew. When one met another, all it took was a look.
Danger gleams like the sun in a brave person's eyes, and Revy recognized that as she stared back into his. Last time she had found a man like that, she took a katana to the leg. She deflated and holstered her pistols. If a man of his skill was an ally, the time for fighting would come later, if at all.
Albie motioned for everyone to sit, which they did. "Mr. Potter, Ms. Granger, there have been some developments regarding your target which I have come in person to relay." he said.
"I assume the Minister wants her gone?" Harry asked.
"Indeed" Albie said, "but I think there is something deeper happening here."
"Like what?" Hermione asked.
"I met with the Minister before coming here, and our conversation was very concerning to me." Albie said, "For some reason he was incredibly insistent on disposing of Thucrit rather than simply imprisoning her. And Mr. Potter, I am sure that you know Kingsley has never been that bloodthirsty."
"He didn't even consider mercy?" Harry asked.
"Not at all, my own efforts of persuasion were brushed off." Albie said.
"Sounds like your Minister is brainwashed or somethin'." Revy pitched in.
"Exactly Ms. Revy." Albie said as he took out a file from his coat's inside pocket. He handed it to Harry before explaining its contents. Revy scoffed at the honorific assigned to her before lighting a cigarette.
"During Voldemort's first war there was a taskforce that I led which was assigned to hunting and disposing of foreign Death Eaters." Albie said, "One of our more challenging targets was a Thai wizard named Saeng Siriporn who was responsible for influence campaigns here in Southeast Asia. The idea, at least from what we could piece together, was for Siriporn to set up a network of covert influencers within the governments of Southeast Asia which Voldemort could use once Britain fell. Something he was uniquely suited to do given his extensive mastery of the Imperious Curse."
"Not a bad idea." Harry said idly as he read through the file.
"Yes, but he ran into trouble when the Americans sent soldiers into Vietnam. This caused travel between his home in Thailand and the rest of the region to tighten. My taskforce also collaborated with the Ministries here to monitor the Floo Networks and portkeys. This forced Siriporn to conduct travel with Muggle transportation."
"Yeah, yeah, where's this all going?" Revy asked impatiently.
"Well, if you insist." Albie acquiesced, "I was embedded with an American unit in Vietnam, I ran into Siriporn when the Americans went into Cambodia along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. The two of us dueled but he got away, and since then his case has gone cold within the Auror Department."
"You were in Vietnam?" Harry asked.
"I've been everywhere Mr. Potter." Albie said, "But, the one part of magic Siriporn was extremely competent in was the Imperious Curse. Due to the circumstances with the Thai ICW delegation, the Minister's outlandish behavior, and my own knowledge of his abilities. I believe the moniker from our intelligence, 'Hidden Snake', is in fact Siriporn."
"Could you tell us more about your encounter?" Hermione asked.
"It's quite the long story, and I'd rather that we do not dawdle." Albie replied.
"You might want to rethink that." Rock said.
"Really?" Albie said.
"We just captured this witch bitch who's being hunted by one of the scariest fuckin' crews in the city. I don't think rushing all this would be the brightest idea. Better to lay low for a day or two at the least." Revy said.
"I see your point." Albie relented.
"Don't omit any details, anything could be crucial in figuring out this wizard's MO." Harry said.
"Of course." Albie said, "It was around the middle of May, nineteen-seventy…"
"There must be some kind of way out of here, said the joker to the thief."
"HEY PRINCE!" Rory said in his signature Brooklyn accent. Albie opened his eyes to the sounds of rushing afternoon wind and an electric guitar. The crew had opened one of the side doors to their Huey and the chief, Rory, was shoving a headset into Albie's hands. The chief was a scrawny man, his race wasn't exactly obvious, ambiguously brown was the best Albie could rationalize.
The earpads were worn out and the mic probably just barely worked. The olive drab outer shell was marked by a mysterious rusty stain, Albie didn't have to guess too far to figure out where it came from. The undercover wizard internally shrugged as he put them on.
"You get enough beauty sleep sugar?" Rory asked, his voice clear as day through the headset.
"Ah, stuff it mate." Albie said gruffly.
"Ha ha! We're close to the LZ, check yourself now before them gooks is on us." Rory said. Albie nodded and reached for his M16, checking the chamber, and tapping his spare magazines on his helmet to shake free any spare dirt. He hadn't been in-country for too long, but Albie was quick to learn.
"No reason to get excited!"
"Say, what the hell are ya even doing down there anyways?" one of the door gunners asked. His name was Shaiton, his Scottish heritage showed off quite well with his broad shoulders and pastel orange hair.
"Business for Her Majesty." the pilot chided. Albie didn't know his name, but he knew he was an ARVN South Vietnamese soldier, a fill-in for this mission only.
"Really can't tell you, sorry." Albie said simply.
"Aw man you're stiff." said another voice. It belonged to Nance, a white guy from Chicago's version of Little Italy.
"I really can't tell you." Albie said.
"Hey now, leave Prince alone, we jus' need to get 'im to the SOG spooks and delta the fuck out." Rory said confidently, "No need to muddy the waters with shit we don' need ta know."
"Whatever!" Nance said squarely.
"So let us stop talking falsely now, the hour's getting late, heeeyyyy."
"LZ in two." The pilot said.
The crew stiffened up as the helicopter started to descend and as the song blaring from the speakers reached the crescendo of a guitar solo. Shaiton was looking nervous at the gun, an M60. Rory was trying his best to light a cigarette amidst the wind rushing in from the open door.
This was far from Albie's first time on a mission like this. To be honest however he had never expected his work with the taskforce to take him all the way to Vietnam. He had done missions in basically all of Europe, East and West Coasts of the United States, and a brief stop in Japan, but not this far down South, not this close to a Muggle conflict.
But oddly enough, it seemed fitting. During Grindelwald's reign of terror, the Muggle world underwent something similar in what they called World War Two. Albie had been a fresh-faced seventh-year graduate from Hogwarts when Dumbledore had defeated to first Dark Lord.
In the aftermath, Abie had left his original ambition of wand crafting to help Dumbledore in the ICW, a personal favor to the headmaster. Little did the young staffer know however, that path would lead him to that helicopter. That it would lead him to have one of the highest body counts of any Auror in the department.
But in the moment, Albie was hidden within himself. The time for any speechifying or planning was over. All he could do ow was keep himself in order, doing his best to keep Shaiton's fidgeting from his mind and the nervous clicking of Rory's Zippo from distracting him. But this inner peace was aptly interrupted by a lyric from the helicopter's speakers.
"AND THE WIND BEGAN TO HOWL!"
Several thunk-ing noises hit the helicopter in quick succession and Shaiton's eyes narrowed, he opened fire on the trees below where pockmarks of fire rang out from small arms. His efforts were wasted however as the rifle fire only kept coming on thicker and thicker.
"GET US BACK HIGHER!" Rory screamed at the pilot.
"Rotor's hit bad; I can't get it any higher than this." The pilot responded.
"FUCK!" Rory shouted, "NANCE, GET THE-"
He was interrupted by a loud crashing sound, Shaiton fell backwards from his mount, a star-shaped hole in his head. Rory looked shocked at the scene, but Albie was done sitting back. He kicked aside the body and got on the gun, laying down controlled bursts of fire into the trees. Nance was bent over Shaiton's body, trying to haul him back to little success.
"GET US THE FUCK OUT OF HERE YA GOOK SONUVABITCH!" Rory yelled to the pilot.
"Tail rotor isn't responding. I'm just barely keeping us from spinning." The pilot said, "We're going down."
"FUCK!" Rory shouted.
Albie meanwhile was still at the machine gun, not worrying about the pilot's struggles and more focused on the firefight. Rory came over and looked out at the jungle below, just as he did, a faint trail of smoke widened into a broad monster of fire.
"RPG!" Rory screamed.
The pilot yanked the sick hard and sent everyone in the back tumbling towards the unopened side of the cabin. Albie looked up, Shaiton's body on top of him. He saw between the gap of the pilot's seat and the outer wall a wand held in the pilot's hands. His eyes widened as a magical ball of energy formed at the tip.
Albie only just managed to get his own wand up in time, "PROTEGO!" he shouted as the helicopter exploded.
Albie and the crew were all in the air at that point. But the Auror wasn't perturbed and gained perspective of his situation. He sighted the two other crewmates close to himself and waved his wand, slowing the descent of the three of them. His Sheild Charm would've done a decent job at protecting himself from being knocked out, but he wasn't sure on the other two. He then looked around for the pilot, who surely would've escaped. He saw a faint dark figure falling far away from him and the crew. Albie looked at his watch, which had a compass built in, and noted the bearing.
Albie spent the rest of the fall maintaining a slow speed and shifting the direction of his fellow crew out of the way of trees.
"How come you haven't taught me that yet?" Revy asked Harry.
"What?" he answered.
"The Sheild Charm or whatever? It sounds really fuckin' useful if it can protect his ass from a helicopter crash." She said.
"All in due time Revy." Hermione said, her face sullen at her outburst.
"Whatever!" Revy said, throwing a hand up.
"If you are done, I'll get back to it." Albie said.
"And what about the shit he used to slow his fall? I think our witch bitch used it too." Revy said.
"Miss, I will personally teach you whatever you want to know. But magic can't be learned so hastily." Albie said. He gave where a look and she backed down, lighting another cigarette for comfort. Allowing Harry to take one too.
Rory was in a bad way. His eyes were rolled back in his head and there was a light stream of blood coming from his nose. Albie had propped Nance up on a tree, he had escaped the fall relatively fine.
Albie was about to start reviving the two of them before he had an idea. He raised his wand and said, "Accio M sixteen". At that, three rifles flung themselves through the woods and landed on the ground near the survivors. One of them was bent badly at the barrel, useless for combat. The other two looked fine, however.
Albie looked over to Nance and aimed his wand at the soldier, "Rennervate" he said, repeating the same for Rory. Nance took a sudden deep breath and coughed up a storm while Rory just laid down moaning in pain. Albie saw that Rory's nose was likely broken, "Episky" he said.
Rory's head jerked backwards, "Fuck!" he exclaimed.
"Hey, I need you two on your best form now." Albie said as he stood up. His intuition told him that they wouldn't be alone for long. The other two still looked half-dead.
"How, the fuck, did we live through that?" Nance said, his head still woozy.
"Don't know, but check these rifles, I think Charlie is coming for us." Albie said. The wilderness around them was densely packed with broad leaves and vines. Albie was lucky to have landed the three of them inside a small clearing. Good for a landing, not so good for cover. Nance nodded and scrambled over to the guns.
Albie turned back to Rory, who was leaning back on his elbows. "Listen, mission's changed. We must track down the pilot and then rendezvous with the Special Forces." he said.
"Like fuck we are! We gotta stay put and wait for rescue." Rory said.
"We'll get shot before anyone comes for us. We must go now before they can get a mark on us." Albie said.
"Fuck it, you lead the way then." Rory said.
"I'll need your pistol. You take a rifle." Albie said as Nance handed him one of the good M16s. Rory sighed aggressively and shoved his officer issued M1911 into Albie's hands and yanking away the rifle.
Albie checked his watch and turned towards the compass bearing where he saw the pilot falling, he led the other two into the greenery. Albie took the lead and Nance the rear. The wizard discreetly casted a few Charms to quiet the stack's footsteps and decrease their overall visibility. He would've Disillusioned everyone, but Albie wasn't confident he could maintain three at once. He also wanted to keep his fellow survivors as ignorant of magic as he could.
The three worked their way through the foliage, heading in a straight beeline towards the compass bearing. They had climbed a few foothills and were at the top of one when Albie stuck his fist up to stop the others silently. At the bottom of the hill was a small squad of Viet Cong soldiers sitting around a campfire. Albie thought about sneaking around them, but he didn't want to leave enemies behind to come up later. If he was going to duel with the pilot, it would get loud.
Albie motioned for the others to take the left flank and Albie took the right, each of them drawing their KA-BAR combat knives. There was a total of four VC at the fire, one for each plus an extra. Albie had told the other two not to act until he did.
Albie crept as close as he dared to the VC, using bushes and the dying evening sun to shadow him. He picked up a small rock and threw it against a tree behind him and slightly to his right. The VC soldiers sprung up. Their rifles aimed aloft at the trees where the sound came from. After a small wait they bickered among each other, the conversation lost on Albie. Eventually they settled down and shoved one of their number towards the sound to check it out.
The VC soldier nervously crept into the foliage, walked just past Albie, and out of sight of his comrades. The wizard took his opportunity and crept up behind the soldier. He stuck a hand over the soldier's mouth before plunging his knife into the soldier's back, directly impaling his heart. Albie drew the blade back and let the soldier fall quietly to the ground.
The wizard crept back towards the campfire and saw the other three talking around the fire, not at all concerned about the fate of their scout. Albie felt bad for the man he had just killed. It seemed he was not well-liked amongst his squad.
Albie could see across the camp the eyes of Rory and Nance. He nodded to the two and they nodded back. Albie raised his bloodied knife and stuck up three fingers, counting down to zero. The three survivors sprang out from the bushes and the VC had barely any time to scream before steel found necks and blood found dirt.
"Well done." Albie said as he cleaned off his blade on the shirt of one of the VC.
"We should keep moving." Nance said, his voice wavering slightly. Albie guessed this was his first kill up-close.
"Agreed." Albie said reassuringly, "This way." Albie led the other two again into the jungle, their footsteps like those of a Dementor.
After a short time, the three arrived at the approximate location where Albie had seen the pilot land. "He should be around here somewhere." Albie pondered.
"Man, this dude could be anywhere, and it's getting dark. Let's jus' call it here and wait till morning." Rory said as Nance started looking around some more. Albie looked up, the sky was getting significantly darker, but he knew that they had to keep going. He opened his mouth to say something, but Nance beat him to it.
"Guys, I think I found a tunnel." He said. Albie and Rory were quick to join him.
Hidden by a pile of leaves was a worn wooden hatch that opened to a long shaft downwards, a ladder built into the side. At the bottom they could see a small oil lamp, the orange light extending into a passage.
"Let's get down there. I bet that's where he went." Albie said.
"Man fuck that!" Rory said loudly.
"Quiet down dumbass!" Nance hissed.
"Fuckin' crazy you are!" Rory said to Albie.
"This is the mission, if you want to stay here in the dark go ahead. I'll lead the way." Albie said confidently as he mounted the ladder. The wizard was a quarter of the way down when Nance nervously went after him. Rory swore again and followed behind, shutting the hatch behind the trio.
"This Rory guy sounds like a little bitch." Revy said, a fresh cigarette in her mouth.
"I wouldn't say that is a fair description." Albie said. "When I first met him in Da Nang he was quite the disciplinarian."
"Not as bad as McGonagall I hope." Harry said usuriously.
"Certainly not to her level." Albie said.
"Who's McGonagall?" Revy asked.
"A professor at Hogwarts, and head of House Gryffindor." Hermione said.
"Bless you?" Revy said.
"Hogwarts is the world's best school of magic, I can't believe we haven't told you about it yet." Harry said.
"Ya might've, I just don't remember." Revy said. "And the fuck is a Gryffindor?"
"It's one of the Four Houses. We'll tell you later." Harry said. "By the way sir, what House were you?"
"Ravenclaw." Albie said curtly before getting back into his story.
The tunnel was relatively quiet and to the surprise of the intruders the passages were quite large. Enough for them to walk up straight in a line. The arrangement wasn't ideal in a tactical sense but at least they weren't crawling. Albie speculated that these tunnels were apart of the larger Ho Chi Minh Trail supply network, he figured it wouldn't take long for them to find VC.
Just as the thought crossed his mind, the trio came to a T intersection, down the left side was a dead-end tunnel that was still under construction, and down the right was another path guarded by two VC who were smoking near an air vent.
Albie assessed the situation and turned to the other two. He made a finger gun and motioned behind where they had come from. The other nodded, Nance got down on one knee and aimed down the tunnel they had come from, Rory stayed standing and aimed down the tunnel too.
Albie turned back and took out his wand. He cast a quick Blinding Hex on the two VC troops and quickly dashed over to them, slicing them dead before they could make a sound. The wizard whistled quietly to the others, and they broke their formation.
Seeing the bodies on the tunnel floor Nance turned to Rory, "How did he do that?" he whispered.
"I don't know man, let's just keep going and get the fuck outta this mess." Rory whispered back. Nance shivered and followed along.
Eventually the three of them came across a larger dug-out chamber. They were at the top of the room, the tunnel seamlessly blending into a metal catwalk that had stairs leading down into the chamber which held countless crates of supplies. Ammo, food, weapons, tools, and much more. The air was oddly quiet as the three went down the stairs and among the boxes.
The chamber was lit up by lighting at the top, but on the ground most of the light was lost, blocked out by the stacks of crates. So as the trio crept along an aisle of supplies, they were surprised to find a loud white light shining from around a corner.
Albie took cover at the corner and the others stacked up behind him. He peeked around the corner and saw that the light was coming from a flashlight on the floor. Just past the light was a dead VC soldier.
Albie crept around the corner and the others followed timidly. The wizard bent down next to the corpse and looked for any signs of what had killed the man. Nance meanwhile picked up the light and turned it off.
"He shot?" Rory whispered.
"No." Albie responded.
"Then how the fuck he get got?" whispered Rory.
"You don't want to know." Albie said, suspecting that the Killing Curse was involved somehow. Rory blinked at the Brit when a shower of gunfire came from another row of crates. Albie dashed off towards the noise and the other two reluctantly followed.
When they reached the scene, they encountered a clearing among the crates where several desks sat, presumably for the logistics officers to do their work. Among the desks, however, was a significant number of VC soldiers, all recently deceased from the looks of it. All of them had died from gunshots. Whoever had done this was either extremely skilled or had turned them amongst themselves. Albie had a feeling he knew which answer was correct.
"What the fuck!" Rory said a little loudly. Albie turned to shush him, but he instead found that Rory was raising his rifle towards himself.
"Hey man, cut it out!" Nance shouted, lunging to wrench away the gun. But both he and Albie were too late. Rory's eyes looked spaced out and his face was stressed as he pulled the trigger, erasing his grey matter.
Nance reached out towards the falling body and Albie watched helplessly. But the wizard's instincts were still sharp. He turned around quickly and raised his wand, "PROTEGO" he shouted. A blue shield formed around himself and Nance as a barrage of multicolored spells bounced around the clearing.
"Well done, Auror!" a voice shouted from the top of the crates across from the two soldiers.
A figure jumped down into the light coming from several desk lamps, a man dressed in pilot's gear. He removed his helmet and threw it aside. Albie and Nance stood off against the pilot, wand and rifle raised.
The pilot decided to break the stalemate first, however, he whipped his wand up, "Imperio" he shouted before diving behind a desk to avoid the bullets and spells coming his way.
Albie was quick to turn to Nance expecting the pilot's next move. Nance was unwillingly aiming his rifle at Albie, but the wizard was quicker, stunning the soldier before he could fire.
The pilot wasn't sitting around and watching, however. Albie only just managed to raise a Sheild Charm to block another barrage of spells. The Auror took cover behind a desk and readied himself again. He lunged out of his cover and dashed towards the pilot to close some distance. The pilot was quick however and he ran the opposite way, blocking and dodging what spells he could.
They both dove into cover again. Albie drew his pistol. It was time to up the ante.
"Do you aim to kill me tonight Auror?" the pilot asked.
"Still haven't decided Siriporn." Albie said back.
"Ah, you come well prepared. The others they sent after me didn't know my name." Siriporn said. "I do wish they lasted longer."
"You like it long?" Albie asked caustically.
"Depends, it's not every day that I face an Occlumens either. My persuasion isn't working on you." Siriporn said.
"We knew after last time not to send amateurs." Albie said, preparing to jump out again.
"Then prove yourself!" Siriporn said as he came out from his cover.
The Dark Wizard was standing straight up, but Albie dove off to the side. And instead of using magic, the Auror instead decided to use his pistol, firing a few shots midair at his quarry. Only one of the shots hit home however, going through Siriporn's left shoulder. He recoiled in pain and ducked back down. Albie scrambled up and aimed his wand and pistol akimbo where his target was taking cover.
Albie started walking forward, being careful to not make too much noise.
"You dishonor this duel with those filthy contraptions." Siriporn cried out, his voice strained. Albie remained silent.
"If you refuse to fight like a true wizard, then I will not either." Siriporn said. He raised his wand and sent a Blasting Curse towards the ceiling of the chamber.
The roof burst open violently and exposed the night sky above it. Siriporn shot upwards in a haze of smoke, causing Albie to cover his eyes out of reflex. The Dark Wizard sent down a last goodbye in the form of a fireball which struck one of the crates. Albie didn't have a lot of time to react as the ordinance inside started to spark and explode. He dove for Nance's unconscious body and conjured a Sheild Charm in a small dome around them as the tunnels around them caved in.
It didn't take long for the explosions to stop as they had happened at roughly the same time. Albie watched the inferno around him lick at his Sheild Charm, but the flames died after a time, and he let the Charm fade. He then turned his wand over on Nance, dispelling the Imperious Curse and erasing his memory of everything that happened after the helicopter exploded.
Albie then hauled Nance and himself out of the crater that once was a tunnel. He got to the edge when he was greeted with a flashlight to the face.
"HANDS UP!" a voice said, the Texan accent hard to mistake.
Albie stuck his hands up, letting go of Nance. Then another voice came from the tree line, "HOLD FIRE!"
A soldier emerged, covered in camouflaged fatigues, the MACV-SOG emblem on his shoulder. "Are you Prince?" he asked.
"Yes." Albie responded.
"Major Shane Caxton, I believe we are your rescue party." The soldier said.
The story was finished, and the others were looking at Albie with mixed expressions of shock and respect.
"But what does all of this have to do with Thucrit?" Revy asked, breaking the silence.
"This is all speculation on my part, but I believe that after Voldemort's fall, Siriporn relocated to Hong Kong and used his abilities to gain control over the Triads there. Meanwhile, his daughter was born a Squib, and his granddaughter, Malee Thucrit, was born with magic. He then used his resources to get her the best education available in the region so that she could work for the Triads." Albie said.
"That makes sense, but like you said, it's speculation." Hermione said.
"Indeed, we would need a witness to confirm." Albie said, "Such as the one you have just brought back."
Harry sat back, "It would be a start." He said.
"I'd hold off on interrogation for the time being." Rock said.
"Why?' Albie responded.
"The way in which she was captured was very brazen and there isn't a guarantee that Mr. Chang will buy that she just died in an explosion. It would be worth waiting until at least tomorrow morning so we can see how the city reacts." Rock said. "There might be a way to bargain for something even greater."
"I see your point Mr. Rock, but this operation has already taken far too long." Albie said respectfully.
"I understand your concern, but please just indulge me." Rock said, looking the older wizard in the eyes.
Albie narrowed his face and relented, "Very well. I don't want any of you to do anything stupid. Unless it's necessary, stay inside." He said.
The others nodded and Rock went to the kitchen to prepare some coffee. Harry meanwhile turned to Revy.
"When we took out Thucrit, you took her wand right?" Harry asked.
"Yeah, ripped it out of her hand." Revy said, drawing the wand from her waistband.
"That's great!" Hermione said.
"Huh?" Revy questioned.
"There's a very decent chance that wand switched allegiance to you." Harry said, "A similar thing happened when I took a wand from another wizard directly."
"Yeah, I think you mentioned that before." Revy said, examining the wand closer.
"Mind if I take a look?" Albie said, "I trained as a wand maker before I became an Auror. I might be able to tell if it has switched."
Revy hesitated but handed the wand to him. Albie accepted it and turned the wand over in his hands. He pondered it for a while before returning it.
"It seems to be a wand made of Sakura cherry wood, highly prized within Asia's wizarding community, eleven inches, quite… flexible, by wand standards. The core is a dragon heartstring, a lethal combination. I would exercise extreme caution Miss Revy, that wand might grow a mind of its own if you let it." Albie said.
"But has it switched allegiance?" Harry asked.
"I don't know, my ability isn't that advanced. I sense an aura of confusion around it, however. It may yet choose to obey its original owner more readily if she comes back into possession of it." Albie said.
"I ain't letting that cunt take this back." Revy said as she twirled the wand in her hands.
"I'd hope not." Harry said.
Meanwhile, Hermione stood up from her seat and wandered towards the kitchen where she found Rock talking on the landline.
"Really? That's interesting. Do you think we could meet up?" Rock said to the other person on the line. "Yeah, we are all at a safehouse right now, I trust that you won't give us away." Hermione caught his eye, he waved her down. "Yeah, the address is, uhm, hang on, I thought I had written it down somewhere." Rock checked his pockets.
"This place is Unplottable. You'll have to bring them here yourself." Hermione said quietly.
Rock nodded, "Actually, it might be easier if I just pick you up and bring you here. Is that all right?" There was a pause, "Okay, I'll be there soon." Rock hung up the phone.
"Who are you bringing here?" Hermione asked.
"A friend of mine. She's a former PLA hacker, Revy and I saved her life multiple times, and she owes us quite a lot. I made a copy of the hard drive we stole from the heist and had her decrypt it. Some of the things she found would be good for us to know." Rock said.
"I see, and who does she work for now?" Hermione asked.
"We set her up with the Italians, she has no connections with the Triads or the Russians." Rock said succinctly. Hermione nodded and thought for a moment. Rock meanwhile took out his keys and made to leave.
"Let me come with you." Hermione said. Rock looked back at her.
"It could still be dangerous out there. Let me protect you just in case." She said.
Rock could see that he wasn't going to shake her off easily and figured there wasn't much harm in letting her come along. He sighed and beckoned her along. They told the others what they were up to before they left.
X
Author's Notes:
-Very sorry for the slow update here. I have been going through some disappointing life events and time just seems to be melting away in the meantime. I've also been making my way through Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality which is an amazing story. Hell, if anything, that story has been a kick in the ass to up my game. Although I don't know much about physics, and I doubt political science (which my degree is in) would be very interesting to most people. Not to mention that a lot of political theory tends to challenge people in a much more personal way compared to how hard science does, especially today.
-Song choice was honestly hard, I went through Led Zepplin, The Doors, The Stooges, MC5, and even Janis Joplin for a Vietnam-era track but I settled on Hendrix even though it is a bit cliché. But God dammit that song just rules from a lyrical and musical standpoint and sounds fresh even to this day. I also thought about CCR but they're a little too corny for me.
-Albie's Vietnam story was honestly made up on the spot, I just really wanted to include more of his past. I don't really know how y'all, the readers, feel about him as a character (please give me feedback!). But given the gaps in Potter lore regarding the First War I think he could be a vehicle for lots of good war stories. By the by, it was mainly just to provide context for why the gang must go to Hong Kong. I'm also a huge dork when it comes to war literature, and I wanted to give it a try myself even if it's a bit cliché.
-The wand lore surrounding Japanese wands is not very extensive, but I saw it mentioned on the wiki that Sakura/heartstring wands could be extremely powerful and lethal. Perfect characteristics for Malee and Revy I'd say. Really wish there was more lore for East Asian magical communities, but Rowling doesn't seem to care all that much about it so whatever, leaves the door open for fic authors to fill in :P