LAST TIME:

Crystal knelt next to Daphne while Mr. Singh patted Harry's arm.

"A lot," Harry raised his hand to point at the container. "First, we should secure that container hanging on the crane. And deal with the muggles."

"Niffler and Crystal!" De Luca snapped his fingers. "The container first. Go, go!"

Faizal gave them a nod and the two of them walked away swiftly toward the crane.

"Sher, the obliviator squad is arriving in two minutes," De Luca checked his watch. "And if a local Auror force comes, keep them away. This is an exclusive W.A.N.D. investigation site now! No one goes in or out without my permission."

"I will make sure of it," Mr. Singh drew himself up. "Take care, you two."

As Mr. Singh walked away, De Luca turned to Harry.

"Felix, take Khione with you to the HQ," De Luca glanced over at Daphne. "Med-bay first and then to my office where I need you both to give the memories of what happened here along with a detailed report. This might be bigger than we thought."

Ch.9 Team Up

The dark blue ink contrasted sharply against the white tip of the quill that sunk into it.

"Are you done?" Daphne's voice cut through the silence of the office.

"Almost," Harry's quill scratched against the parchment. "I am more worried that the rest of the team isn't here yet. It's been almost two hours."

"It is not every day someone unleashes one of the most dangerous spells known to wizardkind, Potter," Daphne's eyes darkened. "Nor is it every day that we face someone of high enough caliber to keep up a mage shield before unleashing the said spell."

"Fiendfyre," Harry dipped his quill into the inkpot. "I remember when Crabbe tried to kill me and my friends with it."

Daphne's head snapped up. "Crabbe? As in—"

"Your classmate, yes," Harry continued to write. "He died from his own spell while we barely saved Malfoy and Goyle."

"The idiot must have lost control of the fire," Daphne blew her hair out of her face. "He had no business casting the spell in the first place. Fiendfyre is devilishly hard to control. Out of Crabbe's league of magic."

"Whoever this woman was… she was bloody good." Harry scratched his jaw. "She knew her spells. And she could sense spells too."

"Magic sensitivity," Daphne nodded. "It is a rare talent to have and even tougher to learn."

"Dumbledore could do it," Harry said. "He could discern wards… even tell what they needed in order to be bypassed."

"That's Dumbledore," Daphne snorted. "Of course, he could do it. Heck, De Luca can do it. So could Cadros. And I suspect that even Natalie can do it to a certain extent."

Harry hummed.

'It isn't as special as it seems then,' his eyes ran over his report. 'If two people out of a team of seven can do it, many more could.'

"Talent aside, she was highly trained," Harry said. "And she had been in battles before. Not duels. Battles."

"We can get a list of Hit-witches and Aurors, both retired and in service." Daphne blew on her parchment. "We might get some clues."

"We could put in that request, yes," Harry signed his name. "But honestly? She could be anyone. Bellatrix Lestrange was never an Auror or a Hit-witch. But she was the most feared witch in the whole of Britain."

Daphne's jaw twitched. "You're not wrong."

"A better lead might be checking out hospital records." Harry put his quill away. "Burns are easy to heal with magic unless they are caused by something notorious. How many people could there be with their faces burnt off permanently and their voices damaged?"

"That's a good idea," Daphne summoned a file to her and plucked a requisition form out of it. "Fill this out."

Daphne placed the form next to Harry's freshly written report.

"Why me?" Harry pushed it back with his finger. "You do it."

"It was your idea, Potter." The corner of Daphne's lips twitched. "Don't be a baby. Gryffindors charge ahead, don't they?"

"Not toward paperwork," Harry stood from his seat. "Dibs on not doing it."

"I already said that you're doing it!" Daphne thrust the form back. "And it was your idea."

"You brought the form," Harry backed away from the table. "And—"

Sharp pops rang out outside the door and Harry turned, drawing his wand.

"Relax Potter," Daphne stepped 'round the table, leaving the requisition form next to Harry's report. "It is probably the team."

"There were more than five pops of apparition." Harry said as the door slid open.

Mr. Singh entered, followed by half a dozen men who had various containers and objects levitating behind them.

"Don't mess with this." He said briskly, levitating a trunk into the center of the room.

Harry and Daphne watched as a score of things— ranging from a sack of galleons to weird potted plants and a set of potion flasks were brought into the room and stacked neatly around the trunk.

"This is all that was confiscated?" Harry blinked just as the last of the material was placed and the men left.

"This is not the worst of it." Mr. Singh spat. "In the container, there were nine Veelas in a cage. Nine. Bound, gagged, and drugged."

Harry winced sharply.

"Wait, the Veelas who were kidnapped from Bulgaria?" Daphne blurted.

"The looks do match," Mr. Singh said. "But we need to wait for confirmation. Oh, and of course. Those potions you see? They are Mandrake-tentacula droughts."

"Oh, Valkyrie's gonna be pissed." Harry said. "That's two of our old cases. Bulgaria's Veela kidnappings and the potion smuggling."

"Fate is favoring us it seems," De Luca walked into the room, looking tired. "Maybe not a lot. But it is at least when it comes to pulling one over Valkyrie." De Luca snapped his fingers. "Khione, Felix, in my office. Now. Bring your reports with you."

Daphne sprang into action, Harry following a step behind as they picked up their reports and hurried up the stairs after De Luca.

"Alright, reports and memories." De Luca walked around his table and tapped his desk with his fingers. "And have a seat."

Harry and Daphne pushed their reports and memory vials across the desk. With a tap of De Luca's wand, multiple copies of them formed.

"Alright. I need you to photograph any evidence from your memories." De Luca picked up Daphne's report and glanced over it. "Use the pensieve in the conference room. The dock's photographs and the confiscated items' catalog will be arriving soon."

He switched to Harry's report, his eyes running down its length.

"Be ready to face some scorn though." He put the reports down "We have probably taken at least four cases out of other teams' noses. Even if two of them were our old cases given to Valkyrie."

"Sir, pardon me but doesn't this seem a little…" Daphne's forehead creased. "Overly connected? I mean, what are the odds? Three out of our four active cases turned out to be connected, not counting the Myers mission."

"It does seem fishy," Harry nodded. "Maybe—"

"I can connect the dots too, thank you," De Luca cracked his neck. "There's a chance that this is a level six case now. Someone is pulling the strings behind this. Smuggling, kidnapping, currency forgery, and if Myers was acting on orders: terrorism." De Luca's fingers curled into a fist. "Organized international crime in the wizarding world is rare. To this level, it raises flags. Mage will be calling all of us shortly. And before that happens, I need everything properly documented. Get to work."

"Alright, what have we got?" Natalie leaned over the conference room table. "And where the fuck's Faizal?"

"Research and Development department." Crystal replied. "The guns we confiscated were dismantled and analyzed. He has gone down to get the report and briefing."

"Right," Natalie tossed her ponytail over her shoulder. "What do we have on the woman?"

"Nothing on the woman herself," Crystal looked at Harry and Mr. Singh who shook their heads. "But that mask of hers was an Egyptian illusion half-mask. It changes the features of the person but it is not limited to the face like our necklaces. It can change hair color, eye color, voice, and skin color too. Everything except their height and core body structure."

"Then that means these photos are useless as shit?" Natalie crumpled a photo of the woman and threw it into a bin. "Fuck."

"You could say that. For all we know, the burn could've never been there." Crystal said. "But the mask might not have hidden it if it were."

"So, we can still be on that track," Mr. Singh said. "We've put in the requisition for the hospital records. But that would take time even with our authority behind it. Time we might not have."

"Though finding this woman might get us nothing," Natalie said. "She won't be in command with that voice of hers even if her wand can do all the speaking. For all we know, she could be a wand for hire."

"A wand for hire wouldn't be delivering a package." Harry said. "And a package deliverer won't be someone who could fight like that."

"It was brutal." Natalie massaged her neck. "That shield of yours would've had some power to take the battering she gave it. And she dodged spells while fighting the chains."

"I am also interested in how her detection spell didn't work on you." Crystal looked at Harry. "She cast two different charms. Yet none worked."

"It's a family secret, I am afraid." Harry gave her a smile. "I cannot tell you."

"You British families," Natalie sorted. "Family secrets. Nowhere else in the world do they have that."

"India does," Mr. Singh said. "They're more of a community secret, but it is close enough considering how small some communities are now."

Natalie rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah. Go—" A knock rang on the door, cutting her off.

The door slid open and Faizal came in with a gun in his hands, clenched together with a thick file.

"Hey," his eyes ran around the room. "You all got something?"

"Not much," Natalie said. "What's with the gun?"

"I got something maybe," Faizal placed the gun and the file on the table. "There are several enchantments on the gun. Whoever made it, considered a lot of possibilities. Like, you cannot summon the gun or any of its parts. Each part had an anti-summoning charm weaved on it. It also had an anti-disarming enchantment."

"So you cannot just rip the gun out of the user's hand," Harry said. "Clever."

"Yes, that's one thing," Faizal nodded, picking the gun up. "But get this. This gun has a special crystal in it. The Trivian pearl."

"Oh, damn," Crystal pulled the 'n' out. "They have deep pockets. Even a small piece costs nearly a hundred galleons."

"I am sorry, what is the Trivian Pearl?" Harry waved his hand.

"It is a crystal that can hold a very negligible amount of magic but amplify the hell out of anything that passes through." Crystal said. "They were in high demand when staves were more commonly used. The thing with crystals is that they can either store a lot of magic or amplify it. This is one of the best crystals where amplification is concerned."

"Yes," Faizal said. "And get this. This gun uses a very sophisticated metaphysical augmentation mechanism. The spell you put in first undergoes a process of magical amplification with the Trivian pearl. Then a runic array deconstructs the magical essence and then expels it in rapid sequential discharges."

"Tone it down, kid," Natalie scowled. "Easy with the words"

"Think of it like you're firing an overpowered blasting curse." Faizal sighed. "Now, instead of letting it hit in one go, I divide its power into three normal blasting curses and then shoot. That's what the gun does. It overpowers your spell. And then, it splits it into pieces and shoots it one after the other."

"That's… interesting." Harry frowned. "And what lead did we get from this?"

"The Trivian pearl, of course." Crystal said. "There are very few places where it is mined. It is not something you can buy in bulk easily. Not unless you're a licensed staff maker."

"There's the black market," Mr. Singh pointed out. "Someone could've bought it there."

"Yeah, but these things would be ridiculously overpriced there," Faizal frowned. "Bulk buying could be a problem. But if you own a mine, it is rather easy. You can go under the Ministry's nose and you don't have to worry about the price."

"Uh-huh. No can do." Natalie drew an 'X' in the air with her finger. "Trivian Pearl is mined in and around the Aegean Sea and the Black Sea. Most of those mines are owned by wealthy people and only a few by the government. So a huge part of its production is private."

"Yes, but we can get a list of those who own these mines. See if some names come up." Faizal shrugged. "Whoever is behind this would've access to an enchanter and a runic master if not a team of them. So they're rich. Smuggling aside—"

"YOU FUCKING SON OF A WHORE, DE LUCA!" A loud voice rattled the walls of the conference room. "COME OUT YOU ASSHOLE!"

"Looks like Valkyrie got wind of the fact that we just got leads on two of her cases," Natalie grinned. "I am gonna go and rub it—"

"Natalie," Mr. Singh gave her a piercing look. "No."

"Natalie, yes," Natalie skipped toward the door, only for Mr. Singh to block her way.

"Sit." Mr. Singh glowered at Natalie. "You are not going out of this room."

"But—"

"Let's not make this worse than it already is, Agent Fern," Mr. Singh's eyes hardened. "Back."

Natalie cursed under her breath as she turned and returned to her seat.

"Good girl."

Natalie shot him a rude gesture in response.

"Ten galleons say that Valkyrie's gonna go running to Mage," Crystal hummed.

"Suckers bet," Faizal replied. "I'd say he was on his way."

"Probably." Crystal said.

"Children," Mr. Singh glared at them. "Get back to work now."

"This is an official level six now, Mage," Valkyrie slammed her hands on the table. "An international criminal organization of some sort. De Luca and his team at once found leads for a total of six active cases and two dormant ones spread between five teams of our teams."

The room was filled with several people. Mage's desk was surrounded by the five team leaders and their second-in-commands.

Harry, Daphne, Mr. Singh, Faizal, and Crystal stood to one side of the room, watching them silently.

"I recognize that, Agent Valkyrie." Mage replied, calmly looking over a file. "Perhaps it will be better if we let Agent Hippogriff brief us."

"Sir, as I had informed you, we solved the Myers case and confiscated the magical firearm he had with him." De Luca stepped forward. "A few days later, while we were pursuing a lead in the Rookwood case—"

"Which I gifted them," Valkyrie cut in.

"—We raided the residence of Thedeus Nott where we found a cache of the same weapons hidden behind a secret door." De Luca continued, ignoring Valkyrie. "At the same time, Agent Valkyrie and her team were investigating a case where MACUSA had found the same type of magical firearms that were later stolen. When the conflict of jurisdiction over the case arose, you sir, handed us the whole case while giving our old ones to Agent Valkyrie's team."

"And having the firearm case stamped as a level five, barely two days ago." Mage nodded. "I told you to produce results in two weeks."

"And we did, sir." De Luca nodded. "Yesterday evening, Agent Felix and Agent Khione checked out a lead from the MACUSA Theft. They went to the docks from where the firearms were brought onto the shores of America. There, they found a witch— a rather powerful, trained witch who had put a couple of muggles under the Imperius in order to load a container."

De Luca took a deep breath.

"My agents confronted the witch and a duel broke out where the witch unleashed Fiendfyre to escape." De Luca looked at Valkyrie. "But in doing so, she left the container there, which my team took into custody immediately. In the container, we found a total of thirty-six magical firearms alongside contraband and… the Veela. It is what led to this shit show."

Mage put his file down and leaned back in the chair. "Well, what shall we do now? Though, I must admit, Agent Hippogriff, that your team has done exemplary work. They even contained the Fiendfyre without the loss of life."

"Thank you, sir." De Luca stood straighter.

"That being said, this is a level six case now," Mage continued. "It spans over a total of nine cases if we include your own. I hope that you recognize the fact that it is too big for your team to handle alone, Agent Hippogriff?"

"I understand, sir," De Luca said. "It is a whole criminal organization that has some capable combatants amongst its ranks and probably a good amount of funding."

"With it being a level six case then, we must follow the protocols." Mage stood up from his seat. "Since Agent Valkyrie has been related to this case from the beginning, she and her team will be joining you for this case."

"I will take the lead on this case right away, Mage," Valkyrie beamed. "I—"

"Agent Valkyrie, I am afraid that your team is the one being added to this mission," Mage cut her off. "Agent Hippogriff will have the lead on this. You will be his second in command."

Silence reigned through the room as Valkyrie sputtered.

"Sir, respectfully, I am more experienced than Agent Hippogriff." Valkyrie said. "I have led a team for—"

"Agent Valkyrie, my say is final." Mage gave her a sharp look. "This is Agent Hippogriff's case. He will be in charge. Hand all your active case files to me, Agent Valkyrie. They will be distributed amongst Agents Mandrake, Unicorn, and Peanut Butter as you've taken on their active cases."

Harry blinked at the last name while the team leaders and their second-in-commands nodded.

"I hope I will not have problems between the teams. Dismissed." Mage said. "De Luca and team, wait."

The other team leaders filtered out, shooting looks at De Luca and Natalie who kept looking at Mage's desk.

Once the door closed, Mage gestured for the rest of the team to come forward.

"Team seven," Mage sat on his chair. "Nine bloody cases in one go. Congratulations."

De Luca gave him a weak smile.

"Now, I know there might be… problems with Agent Valkyrie," Mage's gaze flitted to Natalie. "I would like for you all to behave civilly. Remember that we are on the same side. Do not antagonize her or her team and she will keep to herself. Agent Valkyrie is one of the best to have ever graced these halls even if she tends to be a little difficult."

"I will keep my team in check, Mage," De Luca nodded. "Especially Fern."

"I do not want any trouble from either of the teams. Am I understood?"

"Yes sir." De Luca nodded.

"Brilliant. Take some rest and begin your work after a few hours alongside Valkyrie's team." Mage declared. "I know you fellas have been up all night. All of W.A.N.D.'s resources remain at your disposal. Keep me updated on the case. Dismissed."

"This is going to be a nightmare!" Natalie declared. "Working with Guerro! She's an insufferable bitch. Why did Mage have to pair her with us?"

"Because we took three of her cases, one which was originally hers," De Luca said. "And she has been related to this case from the beginning."

"We both know that would hardly matter." Natalie scowled. "Yes, she was related to this case but come on. Anyone can pick up on a case if it has been properly documented."

"I think Mage is somehow punishing Valkyrie." Harry said. "You know how he chose us over her when she fought for this case? And now, he made De Luca the team leader over her— no offense."

"Not so much punishing as preparing, I'd say," De Luca waved him off. "Mage is slowly preparing her to be his successor. He has a good few years left as the head of W.A.N.D. But he's not getting any younger. No one can deny that Valkyrie is a terrific leader. But well, she can be stubborn and has her flaws."

"She is an insufferable bitch," Natalie repeated.

"So, the next head of WAND will be Valkyrie?" Daphne asked.

"Unless she dies or does something that doesn't bode well with W.A.N.D." Mr. Singh said. "If that happens, it is probably Peanut Butter who would get the mantle."

"I have a better question." Harry said. "Who in their right minds would name themselves Peanut Butter?"

"Their whole team is named after food." Daphne snorted. "His second in command is Agent Marmalade."

"And wait till you meet Team Chocolate." Faizal snorted.

"Oh, they hand out chocolate whenever they meet an agent from outside their team." Crystal grinned. "They would've been a fun team to pair up with."

"That would've been wonderful," Mr. Singh nodded. "I quite like chocolates."

"Well, we have to face it," De Luca said. "We're stuck with Valkyrie. You all must follow Mage's instructions and not antagonize her or her team. Especially you, Natalie."

"Why does everyone keep—"

"We don't even need to get into history here." Mr. Singh pointed out. "You were about to go and purposefully rub it in her face that we took back our cases. That counts as antagonizing."

Natalie pursed her lips and stormed away to her quarters, slamming the door behind her.

"I will keep her in check," Crystal looked at Natalie's closed door. "But yeah. Don't get into squabbles with them. If anyone in her team is giving you trouble, go straight to De Luca."

"Or suck it up and deal with it," De Luca snorted. "You're adults. Don't come whining to me and don't challenge Valkyrie to duels."

"Is it bad that I actually want to see her in action now?" Harry frowned. "I mean—"

"Oh, she's terrific." De Luca said. "Best fighter I have ever seen in my life and I have worked under Cadros. Valkyrie is a sight to see in a battle. The opponent, not so much at times."

Harry winced. "She's a brutal fighter, I take it."

"In her words, the only good enemy is a dead enemy," Faizal made quotes with his fingers. "At times, I do tend to agree with her."

"What about the rest of her team?" Harry asked. "We all always talk about Valkyrie but never her team."

"Good ol' Ares is fun. He is the other combat specialist on the team." De Luca hummed. "Apollo and Horus are their analysts. There's Loki, their warding specialist, and Diana, their creatures specialist."

"So all names are based on mythology," Harry raised his eyebrows. "Does everyone except us have a theme?"

"Well, our team never really followed the codenames stuff that some other teams do." Mr. Singh said.

"Maybe we should get a theme." Daphne said. "We could name ourselves after desserts. I could be Agent Ice-Cream."

"That would be three teams named after food." Harry's forehead creased. "But if we are doing it, I will be Agent Treacle Tart."

"We are not renaming ourselves." De Luca coughed. "Now, go to your rooms and get some good sleep. In a few hours from now, we will start working the case further. And for better or worse, we will be teaming up with Valkyrie."

AND… DONE! Hope you all liked the chapter.

Next, we will see Valkyrie's team teaming up with Harry's team and work to close this case once and for all. We are in the endgame now!

A huge thank you to Mughil, Nanu, and Anax for betaing this chapter!

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DZrex & Deal with itt: I am unsure why it shows up as 'updated'. I merely deleted the announcement chapter so I could post the new chapter today.

HowlnMadHowie: It is something for the media and local government to handle than an institution like WAND. With magic, honestly, the obliviator squad just wiped their memories and made them chalk it up to an explosion or something.

Daphne Potter Kimbi: Yeah, a few months back I just lost my muse for this fic, idk why. But no, I will never abandon a fic. It just happens sometimes that I cannot write ahead or get stuck with something. So, instead of fixing it, I write my other stories and come back to it. That's what happened with this a few months back.

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