Chapter 13: Born Slippy
The morning after for Revy was a trip, to say the very least. For a moment she was forgetful about the fight, but when she checked herself for her wand, she remembered the entire exchange.
Albie was sat across from her reading a newspaper, the Daily Prophet. The headline was some drivel about summer fashion. The news from Roanapur had yet to reach home. And if Albie had his way, it never would.
"Do you have it?" Revy asked.
"Yes." Albie responded simply.
"Can I have it back?" she pressed.
"No." Albie said, not looking up from his paper at all.
"What time is it?"
"Noon."
"Fucking hell."
"Indeed."
"Are you going to say more than one word, like, ever?"
"Perchance."
"Fuck you."
"Declined."
Revy sighed and stood up. Her balance was shaky at best. She made her way over to the office fridge and opened it to try and find something to eat. After some rummaging, she found some leftover Chinese food and stuffed the take-out carton in the microwave after tearing out the handle.
The silence in the office was notable between the Auror and the gunslinger. Only broken by the microwave chiming, and Revy rummaging through a drawer for some chop sticks. She cracked a can of beer and plopped down back on the couch for her loser's lunch.
Albie got to the last part of his paper and set it down as Revy was finishing her noodles.
"Miss Revy." He said. Revy looked up from the carton.
"Wow." She said with fake enthusiasm, "You said two words this time!"
"Keep it up and I'll go back to none." Albie said.
"Whatever." Revy said as she slurped down the last of her lunch.
"The others are out wrapping up our business here." He said. "In the meantime, I have an offer for you which I would like to discuss that should make up for the loss of the wand you lost."
"Fine." Revy said. She figured that the moment he had taken it, she was never getting it back, so any restitution was better than none.
"The Auror Office in the last two years has been spending an outsized number of resources on gathering intelligence rather than conducting direct action. A big challenge that we have faced is gathering a solid and reliable source on foreign affairs from sources that we know are trustworthy." He said, Revy was following along, she felt like she knew where this was going.
"One thing that this operation has brought to perspective is the nature of Roanapur as a gathering point for criminal activity from all over the world. There are people here from every known international Muggle criminal syndicate in this city, hardly a thing imaginable even to myself." He said. "Due to the vast diversity present here, and our lack of a reliable source on the ground. I would like to extend you an offer."
"Hold on. I ain't no snitch if that's what you're looking for." Revy said authoritatively.
"I never said that, please, just hear me out." Albie said calmly. "As the head of the Auror Office, I would like to provide training in magic for you up to the standard of one of our Aurors. This would include weekly lessons, prepaid equipment, and a stipend to cover the cost of maintaining this safehouse. All I ask of you is to report any presence of unusual magical forces that would be beyond your capability to deal with alone. The jurisdiction of my office does not cover Muggle crime, and to be honest, I couldn't care less about the Muggle goings-on here."
"Unusual magic forces?" Revy asked.
"Anything like the case we are pursuing now. Say there is another Dark wizard or witch who takes refuge here and they start causing trouble. Would you prefer to deal with that yourself? Or would you prefer to have allies by your side who can assist you? Especially considering that barely anyone here even knows about our world." Albie said.
"I see your point." Revy said, her brow furrowed as she thought. "And what exactly would I receive in return? I want details."
"Given that you are an incredibly late bloomer regarding your magical ability. I would personally see to the creation of your own account at Gringotts Bank where enough money will be placed regularly for the upkeep of this safehouse which you can use at your own free will. Along with some extra compensation as a show of good faith." Albie said.
"In addition, once things have settled here, I will arrange for you and Mr. Rock to come to England. This will allow you to buy a new wand, materials for training, and more such items, all paid for by the Auror Office. Then I will also arrange for the staff at Hogwarts to create a curriculum and study plan for you to get caught up with the standards that our world holds Aurors to. I will send Harry here once a week to advise your development, it is my understanding that he is an unorthodox yet gifted teacher in combat magic." He finished.
Revy rubbed her forehead and looked down.
"Like I said, all you would have to do is inform us of any major criminal magic that occurs in Roanapur. Muggle concerns do not apply." Albie said.
"Can I think about it?" Revy asked.
"Of course, but I would like an answer before this operation concludes." Albie said professionally. He stood up, walking away further into the house.
Revy sat on the couch for a long time thinking over the deal Albie proposed. It was a very tempting offer, something which was hard for her to put on hold when he had asked for an answer.
It went against everything she had ever known about being a criminal. Self-reliance, not snitching on your fellow bandits even if you hated them, not yielding to institutions of authority. But then again, did she really want to be left in Roanapur, knowing she had special powers, but unable to use them because she had stuck to a code of honor that has so far made her life miserable?
It just didn't seem fair. Like a bad ex she still held on to the thieves' code, whether it was good for her or not. She figured she should talk with Rock before she answered for good. He always knew what to say when it came to these things. Something she admired in him. Even though she would never tell him that face-to-face.
The chapel this time around seemed to be dimmer and more reserved compared to its usual luster, even with the sun shining through the windows. Harry, Hermione, and Rock had returned to not just settle their accounts, but to get one last tranche of information which Rico had so kindly prepared. Revy also joined in on them unannounced.
"How did you get all this so fast?" Harry asked.
"We have a mole in the FIA from another job." Eda responded from the altar. She was overseeing the transaction at Sister Yolanda's request.
"And the FIA oversees Formula One?" Rock asked questioningly.
"I'm honestly surprised that you three are so out of the loop with racing." Eda chided. "Silverstone and Suzuka are iconic. Drivers from your countries like Jim Clark, Jackie Stewart, Kunimitsu Takahashi. All household names by now, I'm sure." Eda said. The clients gave her blank stares.
"Desire without knowledge is not good, and whoever makes haste with his feet misses his way." Eda rebuked, throwing a hand up in disdain.
"Eda, what the hell are you talking about?" Harry asked simply.
"Proverbs nineteen-two." She said, more blank stares followed, "Your guy, this Siriporn, is going to a Formula One race in Hong Kong, and as you paid me for, I have gathered the knowledge you need. But is it so unreasonable for you to have at least tried the library first?"
"Because you say, 'I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,' and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked." Hermione responded.
"Revelations huh? Been a while since I read that one honey." Eda said demurely, a smirk joining her cloudy pink glasses.
"Just because you know something we don't doesn't make you all powerful." Hermione clarified. "And we've all been pretty busy otherwise."
"I know, but I don't think that verse means what you want it to." Eda said.
"How so?" Hermione challenged, the distance between them growing a few shades more hostile.
"I think you just want to see me naked." Eda said, a full-toothed smile rising. Hermione gasped and the nun chuckled, "I'm flattered sweetie, but I'm no dyke." She motioned to Rico to get started, to Rock and Harry's relief. Eda took the opportunity to leave as well, some other business needing attention.
"Anyways, pretty soon there will be the Hong Kong Formula One Grand Prix, this is a street race through Hong Kong that will pass through much of the city's more developed parts." Rico began.
"The pit has been built into the base of the Konpecki Palace building where your man will be set up. The rest of the paddock where the teams and drivers stay during the race is situated in the courtyard, here." The priest said as he laid out a blueprint with some photos on the altar, being joined by the others. He was pointing to a large group of trailers and other assorted equipment which were all sat within a large cement courtyard surrounded by hedgerows. In the background sat a large skyscraper. People in different team uniforms were milling around, pushing carts of tires, talking on phones, and writing on clipboards.
"These photos come from last year's race, the first for the city." Rico said, "Given how new the facilities are, the security personnel are still patching holes within their protocols, something which you can exploit."
"How do we get in?" Harry asked.
"I've made arrangements for tickets, you will just show up and get through as if you were any other ordinary fans." Rico answered.
"What about weapons? You expect us to go in without anything?" Revy asked.
"Well, I have an inside man on the maintenance who could arrange a stash for you, but I was thinking it would be less of a hassle if your weapons were simply Transfigured and stashed with you." Rico said.
"Trans-what now?" Revy asked.
"Transfiguration, turning one object into another." Hermione said. She reached for an empty whisky bottle that was on the altar, she waved her wand and turned it into a dictionary, then a cat, before returning it to its original form.
"That's freaky." Rock said quietly.
"WHAT!" Revy burst at her partner, "That's fuckin' amazing!"
"I've done this sort of thing before. I've found turning what you need to hide into cash and then sticking it into your wallet is the easiest way to stash stuff." Harry said.
"That settles that then." Rico said, turning back to the map. "After you are inside the paddock, you'll have to make your way towards the building, however, the place is only for VIPs, so you'll have to meet my guy at a staff entrance here by the Ferrari Team's garage to get in."
"Is this guy of yours solid?" Harry asked.
"As solid as one can be. The Church is offering him protection from the Triads. We wanted him to skip town, but he insisted on staying. So, we have him doing whatever it is we need." Rico said succinctly.
"And with no more interruptions." Rico said. "You'll then have to get to this elevator." He pointed to a part of the blueprint that was on the opposite side from the entrance. "This is the only way to the penthouse level where your target will be, after you step off the elevator however, it's all improvised. I have no intel to give you."
"This takes us past the pits." Hermione mused as she looked at the blueprints.
"Correct, it isn't unheard of for rich fans to hang around in the garages, although it is rare." Rico said. "Just keep your cool and keep moving. There will be building security around."
"Is that security magical?" Harry asked.
"From my assessment they're non-magical but I'd count on there being some magical measures put in place." Rico said.
Harry nodded, "And how about getaway?" he asked.
"The plan for that is to have Rock stay behind in the paddock after you all enter the pits." Rico said. "There, Rock, you'll go to a dead drop where my agent will have left a set of car keys to a catering van. You'll drive that around here," Rico traced his finger along an access road that led from a building within the paddock into the side of the pit garages, "and wait for the rest to come back down. I would say just Apparate, but I anticipate wards that would disable that ability."
"Fair enough." Rock said as the others nodded.
"Why's this guy so obsessed with Formula One anyway?" Revy asked. "I get that fast cars are cool and all, but it just seems really damn niche."
"True, but the sport has a high-class reputation given how expensive it all is." Rico said. "Naturally, these races attract the richest of the rich, and make for good gathering places all around the world. He's also been making moves to buy one of the teams to help launder money. But that's just on the side."
"I bet that's how he got the Minister." Harry said. "When the race came over to Britain, he must have spent at least a little time in London meeting with FIA people then."
"Naturally." Rico said. "Any more questions?"
"What happens if this goes hot?" Revy asked.
"Preferably it doesn't." Rico said. "If you get made then everything else becomes much harder. Not to mention that there will be cameras and media everywhere."
"But what if it does?" Revy pressed.
"Then the Ministry will take care of it." Harry said calmly. "It's dealt with worse. But exposing this operation to the Ministry wouldn't be ideal until Siriporn is gone."
"Is this a capture or kill job?" Revy asked.
"That's up for Albie to decide." Harry said. "I've already asked him in private, but he hasn't made the call yet. Either way the plan would work the same way whether we're arresting him or not."
"I think I'm good then." Revy said.
"Great, and I've already contacted Dutch about getting you all to Hong Kong." Rico said. "I spun him a story about the Church contracting you two out," he nodded to Rock and Revy, "to help the others out with a special operation. They'll also be your exfil after you get out of the AO."
The others nodded and everyone except Harry made their way out, he was following but hesitated at the door.
"Rico," he said.
"Yes?" the priest asked, turning from the altar, where he was gathering up his materials.
"Thank you for everything." Harry said, "I know this op was a pain in the arse but I appreciate you sticking with it."
"Of course." Rico said, "As long as my pockets are lined proportionately with the amount of bullshit, I don't mind any job."
He smirked as he went towards the side door, Harry took his leave.
The rest of the afternoon had been spent re-telling the plan to Albie while Malee was finishing her preparations for the ritual. By the time the sun had gone down everything was ready. Amidst empty takeout containers and beer cans the crew sat, waiting for Hermione to brief them on the ritual.
"I've sat down with Malee and got a pretty decent grasp on what this ritual's process is." She said, unfurling a scroll of parchment. "Essentially, after drinking the potion, you must repeatedly perform an action while your brain's neural pathways are readjusted magically. This can be a physical motion, a verbal phrase of some sort, or a vivid memory."
"As you are doing this, Malee will non-verbally preform a spell on you that will lock these new pathways in place permanently." Hermione said. Harry looked uncomfortable.
"Does she need a wand for this?" he asked.
"Not at all, this ritual is still in the very raw phases of development, so she essentially has to force her own magic into it. She hasn't found a spell translation yet for verbal pronunciation." Hermione said.
"Can we really trust her to do all of that though?" Harry pressed.
"I'd hope so, she already did it on me." Hermione said. Everyone in the room stiffened.
"Did it work?" Albie asked simply.
"It did, I had her try to place me under an Imperius but I threw it off with my constant." Hermione said.
"That was very irresponsible Miss Granger." Albie said.
"I think you might be taking too harsh a stance on Malee." Hermione countered, "She wants to see her grandfather dealt with more than anyone else here if I had to wager." She paused, "If I had to guess as well, I'd think she will go after him herself once we let her go."
"I see." Albie said, "Maybe we can turn that to our advantage then." The other looked at him questioningly. "But by all means continue." He said.
"Very well." Hermione said, "After the ritual is complete you shouldn't feel any different, but you might feel a little bit nauseous. Any questions?"
No one spoke, and Hermione nodded at the silence. "I will go to Malee now and observe as she does the ritual with each of you. Try and think of a constant. It needs to be something intensely personal and something which you can vividly recall in a pinch. She also said that it would be wise not to tell anyone else what that constant is. She said that Siriporn might be able to work around it if he somehow knew what it was prior to using the Imperius."
"Did she recommend anything else?" Harry asked as she started leaving the room.
"She did say that memories were the easiest thing to make a constant out of. She didn't go into detail about what hers was, only that it was a memory of her mother." Hermione said before she went into the garage.
The others sat silently for a moment while they tried to recall anything that might work for a constant. Without speaking, Revy was the first to move, and she went towards the garage. Upon entering she found the cell bars having been vanished, instead, Malee was chained to a spike in the center of the room, the manacles going around one of her ankles. There was a large cauldron in the room with a simmering black liquid inside.
Malee looked at Revy with disdain but kept her demeanor professional as Hermione watched on.
"It's best that we don't talk much." Malee said.
"Fine by me." Revy muttered, a distinct edge in her tone.
"Drink this." Malee said, filling a small glass with the potion from the cauldron. "Recall a vivid memory, something personal, keep thinking about it, you'll know when you can stop."
Revy took the glass from her and looked at Hermione, who nodded. Revy raised the glass and shot the contents down in two gulps. Her expression fixed into a disgusted expression, but she started to think about her first kill, the moment where her world was flipped from light to dark.
The feathers from the pillow were falling around her in a blizzard. The trigger of the revolver firmly pressed between her index finger and the back of the guard. The trigger itself was polished, pure stainless against the cool blackened steel of the revolver's frame.
Below her was the man who'd sired her. The poor scion of House Lee had destroyed not just her own father, but any chance she had of any normal life. Unwarranted, tears came to Revy's eyes. It's not like she had wanted to do this, but in a world powered by money and blood, this was all she could do to escape.
The thoughts and scene lingered with her for what seemed like days, but soon she was being pulled out of the trance of that moment, the gunshot still ringing in her ears, the feathers brushing past the bare skin of her arms. She found herself sitting on the ground, her head hung low. Hermione was examining her, Malee was stood straight up, arms crossed with an authoritative expression.
"Did it fuckin work?" Revy asked.
"Don't see why it shouldn't have." Malee said, turning back to her cauldron. "I saw what memory you chose. I can sympathize."
"You didn't mention that!" Revy said, turning to Hermione.
"Don't you fucking blame her." Malee said, "Even I didn't know that would happen."
Revy still glared at Hermine before turning her attention to Malee. "And how would you know anything like what I've been through bitch?" she asked.
"Your Auror could tell you the full story, he helped murder my family." Malee said.
Revy grimaced and looked down again, Hermione eventually helped her up and escorted her back inside the house. Revy went straight to one of the bedrooms before anyone could ask her what happened. Hermione looked back at the group and Albie stood up next, entering the garage.
Malee looked up at the next arrival and all it took was a look. She handed the potion to Albie, and he drank it down measuredly, making sure not to choke on the tar-like concoction. He saw the bubbling black liquid go down and his mind morphed it into a bubbling puddle in the middle of a street, the rain wasn't hard, but the puddle made it seem so.
He was sitting at an open-air noodle bar, Sing Sing, the shop owner had called it despite no signs denoting the establishment's name. It was early in the night. The sun had set an hour earlier. Albie had managed to watch it through a slim crack that had impossibly burrowed its way through the towering stack of Kowloon's walled city from his stool at the bar into the bay.
The street where he sat was starting to get more and more wet, he was glad to have brought a poncho to this assignment. The Ministry had wanted him to wear his standard uniform, yet he had to be clever in his disguises. Voldemort's international agents were more able than his domestic ones.
Since the Dark Lord's demise, they had even more reason to remain underground and within stealth. This was the first and only lead on Siriporn they had gathered since Albie had last dueled him in Vietnam, the bastard couldn't escape this time. Since their encounter there had been numerous incidents of Death Eater activity in Southeast Asia, and someone had been putting a Dark Mark above the more gruesome ones. Some intelligence even indicated that Siriporn's proxies were attached to some of the more brazen Muggle terrorism incidents from the last few years. Wadi Haddad and Masahiro Takenaka had both been tied to Siriporn in some way or another.
He looked down at his watch and sighed, the time had come, hopefully he'd have his foe soon enough. Albie got up from his stool and left a few bills on the counter. Going across the street he entered a building and started climbing the stairs. A strange sense of euphoria hit him then, as if it were an Imperius Curse, but Albie was trained for this. He raised his Occlumency shields and surveyed his surroundings. But what was once a small staircase had extended. He was in the middle, and the stairs both above and below seemed to have extended into infinity.
Albie could feel the walls around him closing slightly too, his Occlumency wouldn't last long. He drew his wand and looked behind him. A strange shadow-like figure was trotting towards him up the stairs, everything was black except the eyes, which were a radiant purple. Albie tried to curse the demon, but his barriers were gone, only his obedience remained.
The figure was two steps below the Auror and pointed up the stairs, which had turned back to normal. Albie could feel his eyes glaze over, and his subconscious overtake the control of his body. Albie's psyche tried to resist, but the magic controlling him was much too strong.
Albie's body went to the top of the stairs and then up another flight, he shambled down the hallway and without skipping a beat kicked in the door. He raised his wand, green flashes, screams, the bodies of three children, a woman draped over them. The father had tried to defend, he lay there with a kitchen knife in his hand.
Albie lowered his wand, and his psyche was able to reoccupy its proper place. He was shaking harder than he ever had before, his eyes were starting to dampen from the sight of what his hands had unwittingly done. The normally composed and stoic man began to backtrack out of the door, yet he found someone blocking his way.
He had stepped on the foot of another girl, one with tanned skin and long black hair. A school bag was draped over her shoulders and her expression matched that of Albie's, one of utterly terrifying sadness, anger, and confusion. The Auror quickly Apparated away back to the hotel room he had booked in the city proper. He simply sat on his bed and fingered his wand.
In the present Albie was brought out of his trance, sweat was beaded along his brow, and he wiped it off with his handkerchief.
"I don't know what to say." He said, "That was the incident which caused me to retire."
"You should know that I will never forgive you." Malee said.
"I can sympathize, I still haven't forgiven myself. Who was the girl if not you?" Albie asked.
"My cousin, I was still coming home." Malee answered simply.
"I'm sorry." Albie said definitively.
Malee remained quiet and busied herself with the cauldron. Albie gave a look to Hermione and went back inside. It didn't take long for Harry, the final subject, to come into the garage himself.
Malee handed him the potion, the two barely looking at each other. He knocked back the concoction and felt the room around him swirl and change from a cube into the more circular form of a lighthouse. The room was cobblestoned, and the night outside hosted a storm.
In front of his now shorter form Harry was looking at his old friend Hagrid, the all too well-regarded phrase, "You're a wizard Harry." Enveloped him, driving away the storm, enlightening the room, and making him forget about the disaster that was the Dursley family. Almost as soon as it had taken him, the wizard was taken out of the memory, and stood before the two others in the garage.
"At least yours was quick." Malee scoffed.
"Is that good?" Harry asked.
"In a way, it will take you less time to recall compared to the others. Granger here is the same, something about an otter." Malee said, Hermione blushed and looked down a little. "Revy's was surreal, more focused on the feelings of what she did rather than the actions. The other one took the longest." The witch's face turned into a scowl and Harry decided that whatever she had seen of Albie's past wasn't worth asking about.
"Your memory was also positive." Malee posited, "I have yet to figure it out fully, but I think it uses the same principles as a Patronus Charm. Positivity can help bolster the defense it gives you."
"I see." Harry mused as Hermione jotted down a quick note.
"I think it's best that we get going then." Hermione said after stowing her pen and pad.
"And?" Malee asked.
"We keep our promises, you'll be released in the morning." Harry said before reentering the house. Hermione glanced back again at their prisoner as the cell returned to its former state.
X
Author's Notes:
-Almost to the finish line! Sorry for the longer-than-usual delay on this chapter and the shorter length, but as I said last time around this is setup and next time, you'll have a finale. In addition to some stuff happening in real life (que fic authors being the vainest people imaginable lol) I've also been working on this story's epilogue which is mostly written and has a bunch of scenes which I'm excited for you all to read. I'll release both the finale and the epilogue at the same time. So, when I'm done with the final chapter, you'll get double the content!
-There are a few reviews on this story that claim that I've somehow made Harry weak and such in the early chapters. But I'd like to respond with a few of my own ideas about how Harry is characterized. While he has a lot of experience fighting magical evils such as Voldemort, Umbridge, etc. I don't think he has too much experience with criminal organizations such as the Triads and Hotel Moscow (in fact the only "criminal" we ever really see in the books is Mundungus Fletcher, not exactly a great example of a criminal mastermind). I also doubt there's any sort of equivalent in the magical world that resembles a place such as Roanapur where all de facto authority comes from criminal enterprises where the sole goal is to perpetuate illegal profit rather than domination over others (i.e. Voldemort's goals).
I understand that having a power-trippy story is fun when it comes to Potter fics, Methods of Rationality, the Paradigm of Uncertainty series, and even Harry Potter and The Sword of Gryffindor are great in those regards for example, but that's not what I set out to do with this story. This story is basically a series of 'what ifs' that I answered and cobbled together within a narrative. I'm not here to just only make John Wick with wands.
However, thank you to everyone else who's been supportive of this story, it really does mean the world to me!
-Note on Eda's drivers, Jim Clak and Jackie Stewart are given British F1 legends but for as much as I like Yuki Tsunoda now, there really aren't many international Japanese superstar racers before Takuma Sato, who excelled post-F1 in IndyCar, and who started in F1 after this story takes place. However, my research did lead me to "The Father of Drifting", Takahashi, who did race in F1 once during the 1977 Japanese Grand Prix. Takahashi did quite well in Moto GP and won in-class at the 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans, so I think he's neat. I do apologize for all the race nerd stuff, but I find it all really cool, who in their right mind doesn't like cars going stupidly fast?