Chapter 7: Pass the Glue
The cuffs came off, to Harry's surprise and Revy's more so, the cuffs came off! Revy raised her hands to her face and examined the wand in amazement. She opened her mouth to speak, but she couldn't find the words. The wand trembled slightly in her hands, and particles of dust started to swirl around her.
"REVY!" Harry shouted, trying to get through to her.
The gunslinger looked over to the wizard and her eyes were wide. "What the fuck is happening?" she asked.
"I'll explain it all later, but we need to get out. Hand me my wand and let's go!" Harry said.
Revy nodded and placed the wand in Harry's hands. He nonverbally unlocked his cuffs and stood up. He dug around in his pockets and gave Revy the pistols he had on him. Revy checked the slides and stowed away the spare magazines Harry also had.
Harry went up to the door first and Revy was stacked up behind him. He slowly turned the knob and didn't see any traps. He peeked into the hallway and as suspected, they were on the second floor. He saw outlines of footprints in the dust leading all the way down the hallway to where the stairs were.
The two carefully went into the hallway and worked their way towards the stairs, trying doorknobs as they went along to no effect. Eventually they made their way back down into the lobby.
"Hold on." Revy said as Harry went for the door handle to the first-floor rooms. Revy opened the front door and peeked out into the street where she still saw the Lagoon Company's car. The sky was dark however, the moon was almost straight up in the sky.
"Okay, our getaway is still there. It's about midnight." Revy reported quietly to Harry as she stacked up at the doorway.
Harry checked the door again for a trap, but the original setup was still there. They went towards the room with the tunnel and saw nothing out of the ordinary. But when they approached the hole, Revy stuck a fist up. Harry caught the signal, and they exited the room again quietly.
They each took a side of the door and prepared themselves as they heard footsteps coming from the tunnel. Thucrit emerged and Harry raised his wand, Revy clicked the safety of her pistols and they nodded to each other. Their target was looking about the same as they were when they last saw her, but she was wearing Revy's holster rig, Cutlasses sat inside.
Thucrit had sensed something as off however and she got her wand up just in time as Harry unleashed a barrage of spells at her. Revy fired her CZ at the witch and kept the 1911 in reserve. Thucrit was using all the focus she had to dodge Revy's bullets and Harry's spell-work, but the room was too small to let her go anywhere.
Something had to give, or Thucrit had to make a play, and that's exactly what she did. As Revy ran out of ammo in both her guns, the witch sent a Blasting Curse at the doorway. The curse was powerful enough to punch out all the way into the street, where Harry and Revy landed painfully. Thucrit took the opportunity she had created to run out into the street. She saw Harry and Revy were getting up in a stupor and she acted fast. She dashed over towards the Lagoon Company car and made a slashing movement with her wand. The tires deflated and just as Harry worked up the strength to send a Stunner her way, she Disaparated. Revy fired a few bullets at where the witch once was, clouds of dust popping up at the outer wall of the hotel.
"GOD DAMN BITCH!" the gunslinger shouted, lowering her pistols.
"She's gone, for now." Harry said. "We should find the others."
Revy was seething, but she followed Harry back inside and down the tunnel. They came back to the door. Harry turned the valve again and opened the bunker, where he found Rock and Hermione cuffed still.
The four were at the Lagoon Company's office, silently recovering from the altercation they had with their foe. Harry and Hermione had easily managed to repair the vehicle, in the process exposing Rock to their magical abilities, something Thucrit had apparently teased while she was giving Hermione and him the same rap that she had told the other two.
Dutch and Benny were out of town on a rush job for the Italians, so the four had all the time they could want to decide what's next. Revy was sitting on one end of the couch, Hermione at the other, Rock was in an easy chair, and Harry stood leaning by the dart board.
"So, let me get this straight." Rock started, "Magic is a real thing that some people can do?" He was still in disbelief at what Harry and Hermione had told him about the magical world, Revy having been easier to convince due to her experience.
"For the tenth fuckin' time they're telling the truth." Revy said.
"We've repaired your vehicle, levitated the coffee table, changed your hair color four times, and made a pot boil in an instant. What other proof could you want?" Hermione asked.
"I know, it's just hard to take is all." Rock said, leaning his head into his hands.
"So, I take it that you figured out I was the one at the morgue by now?" Harry asked.
"It's a given at this point." Rock admitted. "The thing I should do now is let Mr. Chang know, but I don't want to be on the receiving end of whatever tricks you have." The Japanese man looked down at his feet, he was being more honest than he probably should've. But there wasn't exactly a textbook in place on how to respond to the revelation that magic is real. "I think there is a path here where we all get what we want. I just need to find it."
Rock wasn't left directionless, however. "The way that I see it." he began, "The one thing that needs to happen is for Mr. Chang to set his sights more so on Thucrit than on you. For that to happen, we need to make her act out in some way."
"As if we haven't done plenty of that already." Revy mumbled.
"I think the best way to do that is if we can bait her into directly fighting the Triad openly." Rock continued. "I would need time to plan it out though and I would also need to know where her new hideout is."
"I think I get what you're trying to do." Hermione said. "You're going to tell this 'Mr. Chang' that we are located where Thucrit is, have his men try to take her, and that will draw attention away from Harry and I."
"That's the gist." Rock said. "If it's alright with you, I'm going to head back and try to sleep. That 'Stunning Spell' or whatever hit me isn't doing wonders for my head." Rock then made his way out of the office.
The three left in the office stewed silently for a moment. Revy's mind was itching with questions about magic, and what had happened with the handcuffs earlier. "So, when are you gonna tell me about what happened with the cuffs?" she asked Harry.
The wizard smiled and took Rock's old spot in the armchair. "Well, the usual case for magical people is that their powers will manifest themselves in some form or another while they're growing up. In my case, it was a pane of glass disappearing from a zoo enclosure. As for you, I remember seeing the fighting outside of this building the other day. The bullets seemed to curve around your body as they approached, and I don't know if it was intentional on your part, but I think that your acrobatics might be helped along using levitation."
"But I don't control any of that. What if I'm just lucky?" Revy asked.
"That is always a possibility." Harry continued. "But there was just too much doubt creeping up in my mind. Combine that with you being able to sense my presence when I tried to Stun you and I was all but convinced."
"I still have to pay you back for that one." Revy grumbled.
"In all fairness, you did hit me in the arm. But the wound wasn't too bad." Harry said lightheartedly. "Anyways, once you were able to perform that Unlocking Charm with no training at all with a wand, the first question that came to my mind was how your abilities were missed by our world's detection methods. Hermione, have you heard of a situation like hers before?"
"No, I haven't. I do know of some cases of late bloomers whose abilities didn't show until they were teenagers. They were supposedly well versed in ancient magic, but you'd have to ask a proper historian for the details." Hermione said. "I'm also not sure how they detect magical births in the United States. Hogwarts has the Book of Admittance, but if Ilvermorny has an equivalent I wouldn't know about it."
"Revy, what was your childhood like? Were there any strange occurrences that happened to you as a kid? Things that you couldn't ever explain rationally?" Harry asked.
"I was a gutter rat for most of my life. I dropped out of school early on and lived on the streets in NYC." Revy said. "I never noticed anything too weird, but I've always been good in a fight."
"That much is evident." Harry said. "Did your parents ever receive strange letters or receive visitors who might've been interested in you?"
"You're getting into dangerous territory there." Revy said. "Best think of them as being out of the picture." Her tone and set expression told Harry all he needed to know. Whatever happened in Revy's childhood was too tragic to force her to recall.
"Well, as for what's next, maybe we should try to test your limits." Hermione proposed. "Harry, don't you have Draco's old wand still?"
"Of course I do, I won it from him after all." Harry said, not exactly knowing what she had in mind.
"You won it?" Revy asked.
"When a wizard or witch duels another and disarms them, magically or otherwise, there's a good chance that the wand will change to more readily obey the winner." Harry said. "Wands are weird in that way. They're almost sentient and many times the wand chooses the person, not the other way around."
Harry reached into his expanded coat pocket and took out Draco's old wand that he won off him at Malfoy Manor. While he didn't use the wand all that much since he repaired his original one, Harry liked to have a backup. "It's made of hawthorn; core is a unicorn hair." he said before handing it to Revy.
"So, you're telling me unicorns exist now too?" Revy said as she turned the wand over in her hands.
"Oh, there's loads you have yet to learn about." Hermione said. She then reached over to an empty beer can that was sitting on the coffee table and placed it in front of Revy. "Try levitating this. The easiest way to do it is to move your wand as such and say wingardium leviosa." Hermione did the standard 'swish and flick' motion with her wand and moved the can upwards a few inches before setting it back down.
Revy watched the can float up and down with amazement, her eyes were still not used to the phenomenon of magic. She then straightened her wand and pointed it at the can. "Wingardium leviosa." she said, flicking the wand slightly. The can was only pushed over and one of Dutch's books that was sitting on his desk at the other side of the room shot upwards before falling with a crash, startling the three.
"Okay, so there might be some work to do." Harry said optimistically.
Revy meanwhile was looking more at the wand, an uneven expression on her face. She sat the can upright again and tried again. "Wingardium leviosa." she said, swishing and flicking the wand as Hermione did.
This time the can managed to move up a slight amount, but it didn't stay in the air for long, clattering back down on the table. Revy looked intrigued at it and bent down to look closer to it.
"That's an improvement." Hermione said. "Now, try saying the words with more force, and emphasize the 'oh-sa', don't say 'leviosaaaa'."
Revy straightened up again and nodded at the suggestion. She pointed the wand at the can, swished and flicked, "Wingardium leviosa" she said.
This time the can floated upwards with the motion of Revy's wand. She moved the tip of the wand up slowly, the can moving smoothly upwards along with it. Her eyes widened and Harry looked at the scene with a strange mix of accomplishment and pride. He broke a smile as Revy laid the can back on the table.
"That was excellent!" Hermione said.
"I… don't really know what to say." Revy said, turning the wand over in her hands more.
"Well, I think what we can say for sure that you have the quality of being able to use magic. I doubt that a Muggle would be able to do that well." Harry said. "But for the time being, I think we should call it a night."
Hermione nodded, "We will get in contact with our people back in England regarding your case. You might end up being asked to talk with some people from our Ministry if that's alright. And additionally, make sure you don't go around telling people about all this, Rock is an exception, along with Rico over at the Church. There are very good reasons why the public doesn't know about magic."
Revy just looked astonished still at being able to do magic, she just nodded absentmindedly before giving Harry the wand back. The two magic-users then departed and Apparated back to their hotel.
The morning hours at the Auror Office were always the favorite time for Albie to be at the Ministry. The late '90s chic and muted tones of grey and white seemed to put his mind at ease. He had taken the Floo Network in like normal and chatted with the security guard for a while before taking the elevator up to the office.
He stood in the doorway that led into the cubicles where not a single Auror was to be seen, it was a Monday morning after all, Albie didn't see anyone else coming into the office for another hour or two, depending on how hungover they were.
As he walked through the bullpen of cubicles he was struck with an intense feeling of melancholy. Perhaps it was the cubicle walls lit up with fluorescent light that was carving a path wherever Albie went. The office felt oddly liminal to him.
He had been with the Ministry well before Voldemort's uprising, back when Grindelwald was still a name to be feared. He had been relieved to had played such a significant role in keeping Voldemort at bay during the first war, acting as an intermediary between the UK's forces and the rest of the world. Maybe it was why he had so much faith in the Ministry and ICW not just as a group of people but as institutions.
Sure, the Order of the Phoenix's insurgency and Harry Potter's miracle were to be celebrated, but Albie was there through it all. He was part of Dumbledore's staff when he was first elected as Supreme Mugwump in the late '60s, helping enact policies that kept Voldemort at bay for a while. He was there pushing for harder stances against the Dark Arts throughout the '70s as an Auror. And he led one of the finest international anti-Death Eater Hit Wizard squads during the most desperate days of the war, making sure that the threat was contained to Britain.
Operation Loose Cannon was his own brainchild, modeled after his operations during that first war, and the recent revitalization of the project with the Roanapur Case was giving Albie an irresistible sense of nostalgia. He soon found himself sitting in his office, reminiscing with newspaper clippings from his Hit Wizard days. He had amassed a respectable record, over a dozen confirmed kills of known Death Eaters and even more captures. Mad-Eye Moody had the record for filling the most cells, and graves, during the War. But Albie's own efforts kept himself a respectable spot on the leaderboard.
He must have spent more time than he realized reminiscing, because there was a knock on his door. The Auror Office had come alive, a few washed-out and tired Aurors were milling around, organizing the day's work ahead of them. "Come in." Albie said, still looking at his collection of news clips.
The door opened and Hermione Granger greeted him. Albie looked a little surprised that she was there, having only just sent her away. "Ms. Granger, what a lovely surprise." he said cordially.
"Indeed. The Floo Network really is a marvel, but I have yet to set up a safehouse for a reliable connection." she said as she took a seat.
"Well, I assume that you've come here with good news, or at least I hope so." Albie said.
"Well, it's a bit of a mixed bag. On one hand we have a better picture of who Thucrit is." she said, placing a folder with a summary of what the target had told Harry and Hermione. "But on the other hand. Our task just got a whole lot harder after we had an incident with the target." she said, placing an after-action report on top of the other folder.
Albie picked up the after-action report and skimmed it. "Sweet hippogriff, you two really fucked this one up." the older man said frankly.
Hermione was taken aback by her superior's crass language, but she had to press on anyways. "Well, sir, that isn't even the weirdest part of last night's events." she said, trying to figure out a way to properly phrase what she wanted to say.
Albie's eyes were blazing more and more with anger as he read the report more. The last thing he needed was something 'weird', but he collected himself, learning long ago that anger wasn't going to help anything, unless correctly applied of course.
"That mercenary who helped Harry and I, Revy, is magically sensitive. According to her she was never approached by the magical community at any point. But she can use a wand and has preformed both the Unlocking and Levitation Charms." Hermione said. "With your permission I would like to go to Hogwarts and look at the Book of Admittance to see if her name is there. I would also like to confer with some of the Professors there."
Albie breathed heavily through his nose and pinched between his eyes. "Fine, do what you will. Just know that I'll be taking this to the Minister directly. And don't be surprised if this assignment turns from 'capture' to 'kill'." he said before gathering his papers.
"Kill?" Hermione questioned, her eyes wide.
Albie stood up from his desk, a grave look on his face. "Miss, if the events of what's happening over in Thailand are as bombastic as they seem to be in these reports, the Ministry is going to have a hailstorm to deal with in the ICW which we can't exactly afford given we are still trying to rebuild our reputation from the last war."
"Or reputation? Is that seriously the only thing that you care about?' Hermione asked, blocking Albie from the door.
"IT'S NOT UP TO ME!" Albie said, his outburst startling the younger woman. "When Voldemort took over this Ministry, he sent a new delegation to the ICW which completely alienated Britain from the rest of the world. Even the damn Russians weren't as gung-ho about Voldemort's anti-Muggle policies as our delegation was. Do you know how many sanctions we picked up as a result? How many censures? How many prospective trade deals went under because of him? Why do you think there are still so many Muggle-borns who were stripped of everything living in poverty still? Why the galleon isn't worth as much as it was before?"
"It's not like we can fix all this overnight with a new administration, even two years afterwards we are nowhere near close to the previous status quo. And if this Roanapur situation gets any more out of hand, Merlin-forbid breaching the Statute more than you have already, then we are going to be back in the same exact place we were when Voldemort was running things. No one will trust us, nor will they have any faith in our Ministry being able to conduct itself properly." he said.
Albie's rant was enough to stun-lock Hermione, her idealism not knowing how to respond to the nuts and bolts of politics very well. She let the older man pass her by and her head sunk when the door slammed behind her. But she had a job to do, recollecting her wits, it was off to Hogwarts for her.
"When I'm watchin' my TV; And a man comes on to tell me; How white my shirts could be; But it can't be a man 'cause he does not smoke; Same cigarettes as me; I can't get no; No, no, no; Hey, hey, hey; That's what I say"
Revy huffed into her cheeks and blew out air slowly. She was waiting by herself at a stoplight, the red light sitting in the blue noon sky like a rash. She wasn't exactly into what was on the radio, but she figured that Devo had a time and song for everyone at some point.
Since last night when Harry and Hermione had confirmed her magical abilities, she had been suffering from a crisis of self. Not as if she were having a mental breakdown per say. But she was definitely asking questions which she didn't know if she could answer. She hadn't felt this way in a long time, not since she made herself clear to Rock in the submarine ages ago.
Right now, however she was on the way up to the Rip-Off Church, one thing that she had almost forgotten to be pissed at was Thucrit stealing her favorite pistols. Revy didn't exactly have the scratch for another exact pair, but she did have enough to get some generic temporary replacements. She also wouldn't admit it, not even to herself, but she wanted to just have some company who wouldn't try to seriously pick into her brain too much. A job perfect for Eda.
Revy got out of the company car and went up to the chapel doors. She knocked twice and didn't have to wait long before Rico answered the door.
"Hey Two Hand, should I get Sis for you?" the young priest-in-training asked.
"Sure." she said, walking past him into the Church.
She looked around at the place, her more tempered mood allowing her to appreciate the rustic charm the place had. She turned to Rico however, "Hey, are you a wizard?" she asked bluntly.
Rico hadn't been expecting the question at all, and he blinked at her in shock.
"Harry and Hermione said you were in the know." Revy said, her eyes bored into him.
"I-uh." he stammered. "I'm not magically sensitive myself, but my parents are, so I kind of have a foot in both worlds."
Revy kept looking at him, not exactly knowing what to ask. For his part Rico didn't know what to think, but he was wary of the femme gunfighter's temper.
"When did you find out about Harry's, little, uh, secret?" Rico asked carefully.
"Last night, and I think I'm one of them too." Revy said.
"You're a witch?" Rico asked.
Revy grimaced, not knowing whether she should be offended or accept it as fact. "Last night, after we got away from Thucrit, Harry and Hermione gave me a wand and taught me a spell that let me levitate stuff." she said. Rico nodded somberly and sat down in a pew, Revy taking an opposite seat.
"Can you tell me everything?" Rico asked. Revy nodded and told him about last night and how the four hunters were captured by their prey, letting Thucrit slip away once again. Rico nodded along to the story, trying to piece together how best to get this situation resolved. It was going to be tough, but if there was one benefit to all this, he didn't have to try and outsmart both the city's rulers and Rock. Rather, he could join forces with the former salaryman.
She finished up and Rico scratched his chin. "Okay." he said benignly. "I think this shouldn't be too bad." he said. Revy blinked at him.
"As I see it, with Rock's smarts and the Church's intelligence, I don't think getting rid of Thucrit will be too hard." Rico said. "What we ought to do is lure her into fighting with the Triad. That will draw Mr. Chang off Harry's trail."
"That's what Rock was sayin'." Revy mumbled, lighting up a cigarette.
"Great minds think alike, right?" Rico said, Revy waved him off. "Well, regardless of what comes next, I think we should all meet up and hash out a game plan at some point. You and Harry could be one hell of a team."
"Maybe, but I don't have any guns, the witch bitch stole 'em." Revy said, sliding down the pew a little more.
It was just as she said that when the back door to the chapel opened. Sister Eda walked into the room and looked at the two already there.
"Just what's goin' on here?" she asked, her gum forming a bubble in her mouth right after.
"Telling this twerp what's new." Revy said aggressively.
Eda's bubble popped, "Do not slander a slave to his master, or he will curse you and you will be found guilty." she said.
"Let me guess, book of Dumbassticus chapter fuck, verse you?" Revy said, putting her feet up on the back of the pew in front of her.
"Proverbs thirty-ten bitch." Eda said. "So, what's it you're here for."
"Well Sis, there's a development with Harry Potter's case." Rico said.
"Goddamnit… and its sister to you." the nun said.
At that Revy and Rico filled her in on last night's events, making sure to keep any mention of magic out of the story. The nun looked more and more dejected as she heard the story, but her pink shades were helping hide her real emotions.
The chapel stood in silence as the other two finished catching Eda up. The nun thought for some time and sighed. "Fuck it, I guess it was inevitable that we ran into each other." she said.
Since she didn't know about magic, she didn't have the same motivation everyone else had to work together, Revy realized. "I think it's probably better if we team up on this." she said. "We already had close calls with those twin freaks and the fuckin' maid. Thucrit's just another to add to the list." Revy said.
Eda nodded, "Yeah, I was about to say the same thing."
"Sis, I wanted to arrange a meeting with everyone soon to plan what to do next." Rico said. "Can we use the chapel?"
"Not like there's any other place we could use." she said, hands firmly on hips.
"Rock might be out of action for another day or two." Revy said. "He took some heavy hits during the fight."
"So that's why boy-toy isn't with you then?" Eda jabbed.
"Fuck off, he's fine, just needs some time to walk it off." Revy said.
Eda grinned and nodded, "Well, if that's everything, I'll be off." the nun said.
"One more thing." Revy said, chucking her cigarette on the floor. "I'll need two new Berettas."
Eda looked back, "Thucrit really screwed you, didn't she?"
"Yeah." Revy said, her humility shutting down any urge Eda had to fuck with her some more.
At that, Revy received her pistols, and Rico got to planning.
X
Author's Notes:
Sorry for the shorter chapter and delay, but I recently moved and got set up at a new job so I just haven't had much time to write. But hopefully I'll have more time now. And I also hope you are enjoying the story, the endgame is near!
Regardless, I'd like to ask if there is any interest in a spinoff prequel to this with Albie as the main character recounting his days in the Ministry during the first war. I kind of previewed it here in this chapter but I would best describe the concept I have in mind as "The West Wing with duels", a mix of a political procedural and an action movie. I know that OCs aren't too popular, but I have so many cool ideas with this character and Potter lore has a lot of gaps with the first war from the Ministry's POV. If y'all are interested, please let me know!
Anyways, thanks for reading, and have a lovely day/night :)