Chapter 1: Open Eye Signal
The stack of paper was almost too high to comprehend. It extended past the walls of Harry's cubicle from its origin, a metal desk tray which was taking the abuse remarkably well. Luckily Hermione had taught Harry a simple sorting charm a while back. He waved his wand lazily and the stack floated upwards by about an inch. One by one the individual papers and packets all started to sort themselves, the important ones floating back down to the tray and the ones Harry could do without crumpling up and darting into the trashcan sitting by the entrance to his cubicle.
Harry was relieved once again by Hermione's implacable knowledge of magic. In the last two years since Voldemort fell, she had taken a special interest in administrative magic, which Harry was also trying to learn. He went to his desk, hanging his coat on the back of his chair, he sat down and picked up the first item of his now neatly sorted in-box. He was reading through a memo on illegal potion dealers when Ron came by his cubicle.
"Harry!" he said gleefully, "How was your trip?" he asked. Harry had just gotten back from Hogwarts, having delivered guest lectures and Patronus lessons over a few days to some of the DADA students.
"It was good, Hagrid and McGonagall say hello and congratulations on the engagement." Harry said.
"Thanks mate, Hermione will want to send them a letter I bet." Ron said, leaning on the side of a cubicle wall.
"Anything I miss?" Harry asked, gazing at the still sizeable stack of paper on his desk.
"Not really, just a bust on an illegal potion outfit." Ron said, "By the way, you're being asked for over in the conference room. I think the spooks have found another for Loose Cannon." Ron said as he walked away. Harry looked again at the memo he was reading, and then at the stack of papers, knowing that if he left it there the stack would only grow. He sighed and stood up. Straightening his tie, he walked down the rows of cubicles, saying hellos to his fellow Aurors as he passed.
The conference room was occupied by a large wooden oval table which was filled with maps and reports, a stray coffee mug was sat here and there as well. Harry walked into the room and closed the door. His handler was there, a serious older man named Albridge Stanley, but he went by 'Albie'. Albie had been in the Ministry since the days of Grindelwald, he retired after Voldemort went down the first time, and came back after the Battle of Hogwarts at Minister Shacklebolt's request to fill out the ranks in the Auror Office.
Albie was busy looking through a stack of papers, standing in front of a board with schematics plastered on it. The only other person in the room was a younger witch with shoulder-length auburn hair, Harry didn't know who she was. He sat down across from her near the board where Albie was.
"Hello." Harry said to the woman.
"Hi, I'm Clarissa Kirk, I work for the ICW." she said. She stood up and extended her hand.
Harry took it, "International Confederation of Wizards, where are you from originally?" he asked.
"I'm from Ottawa, Canada." she said pleasantly. Harry nodded in approval as Albie turned to face the two.
"Good morning Mr. Potter. We just received a priority assignment regarding Operation Loose Cannon." he said.
"Who's up this time?" Harry asked. Operation Loose Cannon was a taskforce based out of the Auror Office with support from other Ministry departments. The primary function was to hunt down Death Eaters who were still loyal to their cause. Harry had been chosen to be an investigator for the taskforce given his extensive experience fighting Death Eaters.
"The target is a woman named Malee Thucrit. She was a Death Eater that Voldemort recruited sometime after he came back during the second war. She is a graduate of Manhoutokoro School of Magic in Japan, which she attended on a private scholarship." Albie said, pointing to a picture of an attractive Asian woman on the board behind him. She was maybe in her early thirties, the black and white photo was very grainy, not exactly giving Harry much to go off. Her reflection in the photo barely moved, but Harry was struck by her eyes, they were cruel.
"A Thai woman going to a Japanese school? Seems unlikely." Harry said.
"That's true." Albie said, "Clarissa, do you want to start?"
She turned to Harry, "I've had several meetings with the Thai delegation to the ICW and their intelligence indicates she is from a city called Roanapur, which is a lawless place ruled by No-Maj, sorry, Muggle, criminal syndicates. Thai sources indicate that she was sent to Manhoutakoro to study new magical ways to synthesize drugs to be sold by one of these organizations. While at school she excelled in herbology and potion-making, which gives some speculative evidence to this motive." she said.
"But where is the Death Eater connection?" Harry asked.
Albie spoke up, "After Voldemort's days of working at Borgin and Burkes post-Hogwarts, and after his murder of Hepzibah Smith, he disappeared from Britain. It's unknown exactly what he was doing, but our records indicate he travelled the world. There is circumstantial evidence that he encountered one of Thucrit's ancestors, who our Thai associates say are a traditionally pure-blood family with an affinity for the Dark Arts. We think that after Voldemort emerged again, he sent out some of his followers to start similar movements worldwide, that's when Thucrit was recruited." he finished.
Harry pondered the information, "Okay, so what exactly are we supposed to do about it?" he asked.
Clarissa took over, she handed Harry a folder, "In there are after-action reports from a detachment of Thai Hit Wizards that were sent to Roanapur to hunt down this Death Eater. Not many made it out of the city alive." she said. Harry nodded and saved the reports for later.
"The problem is," Albie said, "the Thai Ministry is asking for assistance from us. They claim that since Voldemort was our issue originally, it's our responsibility to help them clean up loose ends." Harry looked at him quizzically.
"But what about the ICW, surely there's a protocol for this?" he asked, turning to Clarissa.
"Sadly, there isn't a lot of precedent to work off, and negotiations for international law enforcement standards have been stuck in committee since the 1950s, so it's on you guys to fix this. I would like to do some more to help you on the diplomatic front, but I work for the ICW administration, not a delegation. I'm only here as a liaison." she said. Harry nodded. His expression was exhausted. He wasn't exactly in the right headspace to be a statesman.
Albie decided to move on, "Anyways, the Thai ICW delegation is pressuring us to do something about this loose end, and the situation has reached all the way up to the Minister's office. He came to me personally while you were at Hogwarts and requested that I send you down there. Your official assignment is to find and capture Malee Thucrit and bring her to Azkaban where she will be held pending a trial." he said. Harry was expecting it, but to say he was thrilled by the idea now that it was explicitly said was the wrong impression.
"This came directly from Kingsley?" Harry asked thoughtfully. Albie nodded. "Do we have any contacts on the ground in Thailand?" Harry asked.
"Maybe." Clarissa said, pushing another folder towards Harry. "His name is Ricardo, who goes by Rico. The Thai Ministry doesn't know much about him, but he's a Squib that's working for a Muggle gun-running outfit that poses as a church situated in Roanapur."
Harry opened the folder. A Muggle-taken photo sat inside. A younger man dressed in priest's clothes, Rico presumably, was sitting at a table with a blonde nun, an Asian businessman, and some woman dressed in daisy-dukes and a black tank top, two pistols at the sides of her body. Harry examined the photo some more. "Who're the others in this photo?" Harry asked.
"We aren't sure." Clarissa said, "We do know that the two women are from America, and the other guy is from Japan." Harry nodded.
"Can I trust him?" he asked.
"Both the British and Thai Ministry have no records of this man at all." Clarissa said.
"Then how is he a contact?" Harry asked.
"It's in those reports I gave you, but the short of it is that the original Hit Wizards struggled to find any magic-users in Roanapur, and after they came close to exposing themselves several times, Rico approached them." Clarissa said.
"I've read those reports too. He has taken great lengths to keep himself underground from both the Muggle world and ours." Albie said.
"Then how do you expect him to be willing to help us with this?" Harry asked.
"According to the accounts from the Hit Wizards, they had to bribe him significantly, and they only found him by asking around a dive bar called the Yellow Flag. But, given the Thai Ministry's size and resources, they likely got outbid." Albie said, "We aim to pay enough to retain him on our side. You'll be given an open line of credit to Ministry accounts at Gringotts to cover the expenses." Albie handed Harry another folder with the details of that part of his investigation.
Harry nodded sternly. He wasn't exactly pleased about this whole situation, but his sense of duty was overruling whatever thoughts he had about this operation. He thanked the other two and went back to his desk, opening the reports he was given and writing down the things he would have to pack.
Light reflected off the pool table, giving the felt a glowing aura of green that clashed with the colorful resin of the billiard balls. Rock narrowed his eyes, shutting out the rest of the patrons in the Yellow Flag as he lined up his shot, focusing on the night breeze coming through the doors to the bar.
"C'MON ALREADY!" Revy shouted.
Rock ignored her. She had already sunk her striped balls, she was waiting for her chance to sink the 8-ball to win her pride, and the $40 bet she had with Rock.
With the last two solid balls lined up for a perfect ricochet into a corner pocket, Rock had to hit the cue ball just hard enough to sink the two solids, but not scratch the cue ball. He hit the ball and it hit the two solids. One, two, and to Rock's dismay, three balls went into the pocket. Revy laughed triumphantly and plucked the cue ball from the pocket and rolled it to the other side of the table.
"Rocky baby, I thought you had me there! Calling that corner pocket." Revy chided as she lined up the cue ball. The 8-ball was lined up perfectly near a corner pocket, but Revy had to hit it at just the right angle from across the table to not scratch like Rock did. Rock lit a cigarette,
"You know Revy, with the number of times you scratched last game I'm surprised you haven't shot up the place." he said.
Revy scoffed and lined up her shot. Her cue hit the ball and it sailed towards the 8-ball, but just like her coworker, she sunk the ball but also scratched, giving Rock the win.
"GOD DAMNIT! STUPID FUCKING BALLS!" Revy shouted as she raised up her pool cue.
"TWO HAND! DON'T YOU DARE BREAK THAT, IT'S BRAND NEW!" Bao shouted from the bar. Rock smirked as he stuffed his prize money into his shirt pocket, watching Revy seethe as she placed the cue back on its rack.
"C'mon, drinks on me." Rock said as he went over to the bar. Revy followed behind him reluctantly. Rock waved over to Bao and Revy leaned angrily on the bar from her stool.
"Anything interesting happening?" Rock asked Bao as the barkeep unscrewed a bottle of Bacardi for the two smugglers.
"Yeah, apparently some stuff went down with the Triads. A bunch of their guys got whacked out of nowhere." Bao said.
"Just another day in paradise, ain't it?" Revy asked as she raised her glass.
"Yeah, but it's the method that's weird." Bao said.
"How so?" Rock asked.
"From what I've heard, it was probably a rival crew trying to take down their competition. But instead of bullets and shrapnel, the cause of death for the guys that died can't be determined." Bao said.
"Did the cops not do an autopsy?" Rock asked.
"You've been here for years now man. You really expect the police to do anything on their own?" Revy said.
"Touché, but surely Mr. Chang would be curious if they didn't die by usual means, right?" Rock asked.
"You'd have to ask him, that's all I know about it." Bao said as he walked off towards another customer.
"You aren't gonna turn this into a thing." Revy said as Rock finished his drink.
"I wasn't planning on it." Rock said.
"No, I'm telling you, it's not going to become a thing. Dutch and Benny are out at sea again and I don't want to get into another 'Chicom hacker' situation." she said cynically.
"I won't turn it into a thing." Rock said reassuringly.
Meanwhile, a few stools down another customer had just taken his seat. He pushed his glasses up as Bao came in front of him. "What'll you have?" he asked.
"Some tea if you have it." the customer said.
"We got beer, liquor, and more beer. Take your pick." Bao said, "Say, what's that on your forehead?" Bao looked quizzically at his customer.
"Oh, that's just an old scar. I got it in a car accident as a kid." Harry said.
Bao looked at the scar silently, Harry wanted to break the silence, "I'll take a pint of whatever you like. I'll also pay for your ears, maybe you can help me find someone." he said, placing a billfold on the table. Bao nodded and filled a pint glass with some Singha. He placed it in front of his customer and looked at the bills.
"I don't take British pounds." Bao said.
"My apologies, what if I gave you something better?" Harry said. Harry was dressed for the warm climate, but he was still smart, he reached inside the khaki sports coat he was wearing and produced a small pouch. Bao was letting this eccentric man play for a bit, making sure he was ready to kick him out at the earliest sign of trouble. Harry pulled out a golden galleon and placed it on the bar, returning the pouch and his bills to his pockets.
Bao picked up the coin and inspected it. "That's real gold, and I have some more if you talk to me." Harry said. Bao looked around the bar and he didn't see anyone else in need of service. He was also bored, so he decided that even if he was going to get ripped off it wouldn't do any harm, and he could get the gold verified later.
"Fine." Bao said, leaning on the bar in front of Harry.
"Excellent, my name is Harry Potter. And I'm here looking for a man named Rico." Harry said.
"Okay, lots of Rico's around here." Bao said.
"This one is supposed to be a gun runner, something about a church as well?" Harry asked.
Bao nodded, "Yeah, I know him. But don't expect to be going up to the Rip-Off Church and get anywhere." Bao said.
"Well sir, would you be able to give me an introduction?" Harry asked, taking his pouch of gold out again.
Bao straightened up again and looked at the customer. "One thing first." Bao said, turning around and heading into the backroom behind the bar. Harry took this opportunity to look around the bar at the other patrons. He did his best not to stare, but some of the patrons a few seats down from him caught his eye, it was the businessman and the woman with the pistols from the photo he had seen of Rico, maybe they could be his next lead.
Bao came back out of the backroom with a glass of clear liquid in his hand. He placed it on the bar and dropped the gold coin inside. "Vinegar?" Harry asked. Bao nodded, eyeing up the coin as it sat inside the glass. Harry and Bao looked at the coin for a few minutes, the color not changing at all.
"Believe me now?" Harry asked.
"Fine, I'll make the call. They'll give you an appointment. I'll give you the address and time, make sure you don't show up late." Bao said as Harry piled a few more coins on the bar, which Bao stashed away into his pockets before he went to a phone he had behind the bar. Harry watched as he called someone and wrote down some things on a napkin.
"That was Rico himself. I didn't tell him that you were looking for him specifically. They think you're going to be buying something, so you better bring some cash with you." Bao said as he gave the napkin to Harry.
"Thank you, and one more thing. Who are they?" Harry asked, discretely pointing over to the businessman and the woman.
"That'll be Rock and Revy, she just lost a game of pool to him and is pissed, best leave 'em be." Bao said before he wandered off to serve another customer.
Harry looked at his pint of beer and he started drinking it. He didn't have much experience with alcohol, but he had built up a respectable tolerance since he had started working at the Ministry. He looked over at the other two and noticed their rum was almost gone. He flagged Bao as he came back around, buying a bottle of rum.
Harry loosened his tie and got up from his stool. He walked over to the two other patrons. They were talking about nothing in particular. "Excuse me?" Harry said, getting their attention.
"Whadda you want tweedle-dick?" Revy asked.
Harry smiled, "I just saw that you two were playing pool earlier. I have this bottle of rum, why don't we share it over a game?" he asked. Rock looked at him with a blank expression and Revy started laughing.
"Rock! Get a load of this fuckin' guy! HAHAHAHA!" she hit her fist on the bar and turned away.
"Tell you what then, if you win, I'll piss off and you keep the bottle. If I win, you enjoy the rum with me and tell me about this place." Harry said. Harry's measured tone only made Revy giddier, but Rock's expression softened some.
"Okay, I'll play you." Rock said, getting up from his stool.
Revy, still laughing turned to him, "Seriously? Alright then, you better cream 'em." Revy said as she followed the two towards the pool table.
Rock grabbed a cue and chalked up the end, Harry did the same as Revy pulled the balls from the pockets.
Harry set up the triangle, "You want break?" he asked Rock.
"You take it." Rock said, "By the way, what's your name?"
Harry extended his hand, "Harry Potter."
Rock nodded. "Bao already told you ours." he said, smiling as he passed the newcomer. Harry's expression went blank for a second, he hoped he hadn't underestimated these people. Either way, Harry was confident in his ability to magically push around the balls without his wand.
Harry placed the cue ball on the table, Revy lit up a cigarette, and Rock lifted the plastic triangle. Harry took the breaking shot, and through some subtle magic, he made three striped balls go into pockets. Revy looked unimpressed, but Rock's mouth pursed as Harry surveyed the table for a follow-up shot. He found a ricochet angle, but he intentionally missed.
"Good break." Rock said as he lined up a shot, sinking the solid yellow 1-ball.
"Thank you." Harry said. Rock lined up his follow-up and sunk the purple 4-ball.
Rock lined up another follow-up, but Harry made the ball curve off-course, disguising his hand waving by pushing up his glasses. Rock looked disappointed with his shot and ceded the field. Revy looked at Harry, and for a second Harry thought she had noticed his trick. But he decided to play it cool as he lined up his next shot.
The game went on almost normally, Harry's influence of the cue ball making Rock more competitive, and as a result less chatty, Revy already having less inclination to talk. Before either player knew it, they were down to just the 8-ball and one more solid for Rock, either one having the opportunity to win it with their next shot. Rock was first to get a crack at it. There was an almost perfect shot he had for his last solid.
"Harry, it's been a good game." Rock said as he lined up his shot.
"You too mate." Harry said as Rock bent down, he struck the cue ball, but Harry made it go off course and into the pocket.
"C'mon Rock, you gotta be shittin' me!" Revy said, she had been quiet for most of the game. Rock shrugged his shoulders and made way for Harry, who lined up a shot into the side pocket for the 8-ball.
"Well, ma'am it looks like you're stuck with me. I'm calling the side pocket there." Harry said as he lined up his shot. The 8-ball went inside, no magic needed.
Harry straightened up, "Ah, bullshit!" Revy said, wandering off towards a table. Rock placed his cue back on the rack and smiled at Harry, taking his cue as well.
"Good game." Harry said, extending his hand.
"Good game." Rock said as he took it. The two men joined Revy at the table and Harry opened the bottle he had promised to share.
"So, what exactly is the deal with this town?" Harry asked.
"Den of rouges and killers, not much more to it." Revy said cynically.
"Figured that much, but who're the power players?" Harry asked.
"You'll want to be careful." Rock said, "People around here don't like those who ask questions. But for what it's worth, the three big players are Hotel Moscow, run by Ms. Balalaika. The Triads, run by Mr. Chang. And the Italian mob, run by Ronnie."
Harry nodded, "I see. What about this 'Rip-Off Church' I've been hearing about?" he asked.
"They sell all in the world that's fun." Revy said, "If you wanna pop the guy next to you or invade Guadalcanal, they got you covered for hardware." she said gleefully.
"Hm." Harry mused. By this time the bottle was almost empty, and Harry figured once it was, his time would be up.
"So, Harry Potter, what brings to here anyways? You seem like an agreeable person. Almost normal." Rock asked cordially.
"Let's just say that I've been sent to assess the situation. Some business partners of mine back in the UK have been looking to break into the market here." Harry said, his tone implying that these men were not in the legal sort of business. Rock smirked and poured the last of the rum into Revy's glass.
"Well, it's been good talking with you. But I would tell your associates that there isn't much room here." Rock said.
Harry caught the message, "Duly noted. But one more thing, have you ever heard of the name, Malee Thucrit?" Harry asked.
"Not at all." Rock said.
Harry turned to Revy, "Nope." she said succinctly, shooting the last of the rum down her throat.
Harry nodded, "Okay, I won't take up any more of your time. Thanks for sitting down with me regardless." he said. Rock shook his hand and Harry waved to Revy, which she didn't reciprocate.
Harry exited the bar and Rock and Revy were left at the table. "I wonder what he's up to." Rock pondered out loud.
"Whatever it is, he isn't very good at lying." Revy said.
"That's true, but what is he doing going over to the Rip-Off Church and paying Bao in gold no less." Rock said.
"Dunno, maybe you should go buy one off of him." Revy said.
"Good idea." Rock said as he got up from the table.
"I was only joking!" Revy said as she went after him.
Bao saw the two Lagoon crew approach. "You sober yet?" Bao asked lazily.
"No, but I was wondering if I could see one of those coins that guy paid you with." Rock asked.
"Sure." Bao said, placing one of the coins on the bar. Rock picked it up and examined it.
"How much you want for it?" Rock asked.
"Twenty bucks." Bao said.
"Deal." Rock said as he placed a bill on the bar.
"And." Bao added, "I want you to promise me that if this guy turns out to be a problem, you keep whatever storm comes his way away from here." he said.
"I'll promise that I'll try, but I can't do much more than that." Rock said. Bao nodded, and Rock slipped the coin in his pocket as Revy turned her nose up at the deal.
The chapel stood proudly disposed against the clear sunny sky above it. Harry pushed up his glasses and looked at the napkin again, he was five minutes early, right on time by his measure. He climbed the stairs and knocked on the door. There was no answer.
He knocked again, with a little more force this time. Still nothing. He discreetly took out his wand and unlocked the door, pushing it aside. The chapel was built in line with classic Spanish architecture, surely a holdout from the Jesuits and conquistadors who came here centuries ago. Harry was observing the place, looking for anything that stood out.
The first place he was drawn to was the altar, which had the remnants of a card game on it. Liquor bottles and playing cards scattered over it, two chairs sitting at the opposite ends. Harry was looking at this when he heard footsteps coming from a hallway to his left.
"It's rude to intrude you know." a man said.
"I knocked, didn't I?" Harry said back.
Rico came out of the shadows, "To borrow a quote from Sister Eda, 'God's not home, he's on vacation in Vegas.'" he said slyly.
Harry nodded, "I see. Regardless, Bao from the Yellow Flag called you last night."
Rico smirked and moved towards one of the chairs and sat down, motioning for Harry to do the same. "Now that we are here, what is it you're really after? Any two-bit thug down in the city can sell you a Saturday Night Special." Rico said.
"I'm not here for weapons, I already have one." Harry said, "What I'm really here to do is follow up on an incident you were involved in."
Rico nodded, "Thucrit?" he asked.
"Indeed." Harry said.
"I told those wizards to not bother with her. She's too small-time for the effort going into beating her tricks. But that isn't the real story I'm interested in." Rico said, "Why are you, the famous Harry Potter of all people, here in this city?" he asked.
"I'm flattered that you know of me, but the incident with the Thai hit squad is putting pressure on the British Ministry. Did you know Thucrit was a Death Eater?" Harry asked.
"I knew, but if you're going to learn one thing from being in this town, no one sticks to an ideology for very long. People have a habit of making their own." Rico said.
Harry chose not to respond, "In any case, the Minister has ordered me to find and apprehend this woman. You are the only person that we know of who's in the know on both our world and this city." Harry said.
"Well, I won't deny that you came to the right place for information, but what's in it for me?" Rico asked.
"The Ministry has given me a line of credit to Gringotts, name your price and we can pay it." Harry said, keeping his attitude professional.
Rico sat back and nodded, "Okay, we can sort out the details later then. But I won't take your galleons, I want American dollars." he said.
"That can be arranged." Harry said, "Now, can you give me something to go from? Where did the Thai wizards fail?"
"Well, after they met me and paid my fee, they didn't exactly follow my intel and advice. I imagine you were told that they were outbid, but that isn't the case. We value customer loyalty here." Rico said, "Instead of playing it cool, they rushed their operation and got themselves killed. They didn't do their due diligence."
"The thing is, Thucrit isn't actually from here, she's from Kowloon City." Rico said.
"Hong Kong, so she's with the Triads?" Harry said.
"That's right, and she's all the more dangerous for it. Her parents are both non-magical, but her grandparents were, and her grandfather specifically was a very influential Triad member due to his magical abilities, having specialized in the Imperius Curse from my understanding." Rico said.
"This is all relatively speculative mind you, but Malee was born magical, and was sent by her grandfather to some Japanese school where she learned all there is to know about combining drugs with magic." Rico said, Harry nodded along.
"This is just speculation now since the Triads have kept all of this under lock and key. But I think once she got out of school, she was sent by her grandfather here to Roanapur to help Mr. Chang, that was maybe eight or nine years ago, well before I got here. The connection with You-Know-Who is news to me." Rico said.
"How would the Voldemort connection be unknown if she was recruited outright?" Harry asked.
"Think about it. Thai Ministry wants to crack down on crime, specifically when magic is used in non-magical cases. They only have speculative evidence that Thucrit is behind a lot of it, so they can't build a legal case for her arrest. Instead, they make up a Death Eater connection as justification. It's a lot easier to sell to the community if she ends up dead at the end, isn't it? Besides, are you sure you have hard evidence she was recruited?" Rico said.
Harry pondered this, "I see. Regardless, the British Ministry wants her captured and brought to Azkaban. Where can I start my search?" Harry asked.
"Well, I think your best bet would be the city morgue on Satanam Street. The fight between the Thai wizards and Thucrit wasn't all that long ago, maybe the Thais had something on them that could help you." Rico said. Harry nodded and made to leave.
"Before you go." Rico said, "The morgue is under protection from the Triads right now. Although, the morgue is also close to the Russians' headquarters, and the increased Triad presence is causing tensions. The Triad boss, Mr. Chang, is supposedly trying to fly in specialists from Hong Kong to do autopsies on the bodies since the local mortician couldn't find a definitive cause of death."
Harry nodded, "That's how the Killing Curse works." he said.
"Well, despite my parents being magical, I wasn't born with it, so you might be able to find something a normal person wouldn't." Rico said, "And just one more thing." the young priest said. Harry turned to him. Rico reached into a pocket and produced a pistol, keeping his fingers well away from the trigger.
"People won't trust you or take you seriously unless you're packing, consider it a part of my information fee." Rico said.
Harry took the gun and looked around at it, "What if someone like Revy quizzes me on this?" Harry asked.
"Ha! Two Hand is a gun nut. That's a Colt forty-five government model. Holds seven rounds plus one in the chamber. Just don't point it where you don't want to shoot and keep your finger off the trigger when you're not using it, safety is ambidextrous." Rico said, handing Harry an extra magazine and a box of ammo.
Harry nodded, "Thank you Rico. I'm sure this won't be the last time we see each other." Harry said as he started walking towards the doors, stuffing his new gun into the inside pocket of his sports coat.
"Psalms thirty-three thirteen, 'From Heaven the Lord looks down and sees all mankind.', I'll be keeping an eye on you, Harry Potter." Rico said, shutting the door behind the wizard.
X
Author's Note: Thanks for reading my story, this is a little side project of mine, so updates might be sporadic
In terms of canon, this takes place after Hogwarts for Harry of course. On the Black Lagoon side, this is taking place after the Wired Red Wild Card arc from the manga, but before the current L'homme Sombre arc. If you're coming into this having only watched the anime, that is fine, you won't miss anything except a few inconsequential references here or there. I'm also playing it fast and loose with the times, I know that the end of the HP series and Black Lagoon don't match exactly, but I don't think a few years' difference will do much harm. I'm also not an expert in Potter lore, but I'll be doing my best using the Wiki.
And hey, if you're a returning reader, I've gone over the first five chapters and fixed some of the dialogue formatting so it's easier to read. I also buffed up some dialogue here and there but you'd honestly have to go over the story with a microscope to notice most of the changes
Constructive criticism is always welcome, thanks again for reading this and I hope you have a lovely day/night :)
