Chapter 1
It took nearly a week for the container ship to slowly make it's way from the Dragon's Triangle to Thailand. In that time, Lara and Harry quietly grieved with their team mates over the loss of Roth, as well as talked at length over what had happened on Yamatai. In addition, thanks to the slow path Harry was able to take the time to 'get to know' the magical structure of Yamatai, for once being able to properly appreciate the advantages of having access to a Center of Power.
Also, and with Salim's assistance, Harry was able to take the time to assimilate the new patterns of knowledge he'd absorbed. Tom's skills were most useful in sorting that mess, mostly because Himiko was absolutely insane.
Magics for weather control dominated the pattern, and they were 'seasoned' with a wide breadth of knowledge of history, ancient political theory, and rulership. Also dotting through the matrix were rituals, methods of enchanting items, and esoteric magics that Salim had never heard of, but was eager to experiment with.
As for their time on the freighter, the survivors of Yamatai had stashed their weaponry in Harry's bag; traveling internationally with unlicensed guns and grenade launchers wasn't exactly a good idea. Alex and Harry mingled with the crew, while Reyes busied herself with helping with engine maintenance, Jonah assisted in the galley, Grim was always on the bridge (apparently the ancient Scotsman was a somewhat legendary figure among sailors). Lara and Sam mostly stuck to each other, Lara going through her journals while Sam recovered from her ordeal.
On August 6, 1994, the container ship pulled into the deep water portion of the docks of the Thai city of Roanapur. Both Grim and Jonah had warned Harry about the place. They both agreed that Alec Guinness had probably been referring to this city when he was describing Mos Eisley Spaceport as 'a wretched hive of scum and villainy'.
Within two hours, Grim (who was, as it turned out, second in command of the expedition) had managed to contact their insurance company to make arrangements, and that led them to the airport.
"Please tell me that you're joking."
"I'm afraid not, Mister Potter," the woman at the airline ticket counter calmly replied. "International airline policy is to not allow minors to travel across national borders without their legal guardians. This policy is to prevent human trafficking."
"Even if my legal guardian died in a shipwreck? Crap."
Lara put her hand on Harry's shoulder, asking the woman, "What about the British Embassy? Is there a train station or a bus that will take us to Bangkok?"
The woman sighed. "Unfortunately, due to the Muslim separatists' actions, the southern five states of Thailand have been sealed from the North. I'm afraid that it is quite inaccessible at this time, and for the forseeable future."
The seven stepped out, instantly coated in a heavy layer of sweat thanks to the August heat and humidity.
"So, what now?" Alex asked. "I mean, how do we get Harry out of Thailand?"
"I hate to have to ask," Reyes began in a low voice, "but is there such a thing as a magic embassy?"
Harry blinked at the question. It seemed perfectly obvious, and yet he hadn't even considered it.
"Aye, there is," Grim spoke up. "It's here, too, not in Bangkok. A lot of countries keep the embassies out of their capitals to keep the noise down."
"Makes sense," Sam added. "Keep other diplomats at arm's length, make it inconvenient to just pop in over piddly stuff."
"You know where it is, Grim?" Lara asked.
"This way."
Grim ended up hailing a taxi cart. Harry, whose exposure to taxis was limited to London's ubiquitous black cabs, marveled at the open-air covered taxi propelled by the front half of a motorcycle. The breeze was a godsend in the oppressive humidity, and within fifteen minutes the seven stood in front of a nondescript building in an area that seemed predominantly slavic.
Following Grim, Harry and Lara entered the building. The others had been warned to stay outside. As people without magic, someone inside might try to adjust their memories, as British magicals were wont to do almost on reflex.
"May I help you?" asked a young man of Hindi descent behind a desk.
"Hi. My name is Harry Potter; here's my passport. This is Lara Croft and Angus Grimaldi. We ended up in a shipwreck on an archaeology expedition, and the rescue ship brought us here. Since I'm a minor, muggle airlines won't let me travel internationally since my legal guardian died in the shipwreck. I was hoping to be able to arrange for a portkey or something back to Britain."
The man behind the desk sagged, saying, "Damn. You have my condolences, Mister Potter. Unfortunately, due to..." The man paused before standing up. "Eh, sod it. Come on; might as well do this in the conference room."
The three confused people followed the man to a modestly appointed conference room. All four sat as the man began to explain.
"My name is Eshan Pembrow. I am the designated secretary for this embassy. The actual ambassador is not in residence because the Minister put one of his friends in the spot. The ambassador had to flee Thailand because he told someone at a rather important society party that, and I quote, 'The Thai king is just some muggle. He needs to keep his nose out of the affairs of his betters.' Insulting the Thai king is a prisonable offense in Thailand, no matter who says it, magical or not."
"That's... that's just dumb," Harry commented.
Eshan tiredly nodded. "Technically, Roland Timbul is still the ambassador. But he has a warrant out for his arrest, and his diplomatic immunity has been revoked for the crime. In all honesty, I am pretty much the diplomat here, and everyone knows it."
"I see how it's going," Grim said, sipping at a glass of water. "So, less politics means it'll be easier for the lad to get a portkey."
"Actually, no," Eshan sighed out. "Thanks to Timbul's actions, all incorporated magical travel for British citizens has been revoked. No portkeys or floo travel. The best you can do magically is get on a broom and fly over a border, or apparate there. And apparation is not recommended; there are a lot of old magical sites hidden in the jungles of Southeast Asia, and they can really mess up the travel."
"So Harry basically has to find a non-magical way out of Thailand?" Lara asked.
"Essentially. Actually, it would be better for him because he came in as a shipwreck rescue. Since his passport was marked by the local port authority, he's already in the local computer system. The higher-ups in the Ministry might not have a high opinion of muggles, but I know that their communications and record keeping are getting better every year. Odds are good that Mister Potter will be in the international database by sundown. If he drops off their radar only to reappear in, say, London out of the blue, people in Interpol are going to take notice."
"Right. Don't want to be stupid about that," Harry murmured. "So what would you recommend, sir?"
"Honestly? Get yourself a boat to Hong Kong. Since it's still a British territory for now, it'll be a lot simpler than going to Malaysia or Singapore. From there you can easily get a portkey, possibly an international floo. Or if you want to take the longer, less expensive way, take the ferry to Japan and get on one of the bi-weekly portkeys there."
"Makes sense," Lara said. "What about India?"
"Were you told about the Muslim separatist issue?" All three nodded. "Well, since the increased violence thanks to Malaysia, just getting to India is problematic. And that's on top of the British National Party lobbying to increase their own foothold in the Lok Sabha. Sorry, basically their House of Commons. But with the increased stress, well, basically being white, British, and without a security force in India is a fast way to catch getting dead."
"Damn. What a ruddy mess," Grim snarked out. "So, slow boat to China is the best, eh?"
"Pretty much, yeah," Eshan replied. "Personally, I'd go with one of the local smugglers with a good reputation. Roanapur is full of small firms that make a living getting stuff from place to place."
"Is there a way to contact Gringotts?" Harry asked. "I mean, if I'm going to be paying for, well, anything, I'll need money."
"That's an excellent point," Eshan admitted. "Thankfully, our international floo can still make calls. The 'independent magical currency' concept never took root here, so all the money in Roanapur will be in Thai baht or US dollars. Also, the Statute of Secrecy is a little, er... thinner here. We don't have a lot of magicals in Roanapur, so enforcement isn't really an issue. And it usually just gets written off as 'Weird Murder', if the local police bother investigating at all. If you're subtle about it, using magic here really isn't an issue."
"Wait, I don't understand," Lara said, confusion writ across her face.
"It's like this, lass," Grim said, cutting off Eshan. "Roanapur is at the tip of the Golden Triangle. Pretty much all drugs from Southeast Asia get shipped through this city. Organized crime runs everything, and small gangs wander the streets like feral cats. In Roanapur, it's only really illegal if the local police are paid to enforce it."
"That's completely mad," Lara breathed out.
"He isn't wrong," Eshan began, "but he isn't entirely correct, either. There are three major factions here, with small factions coming and going every day. For the most part, the big three factions want peace and quiet; better for business, you see. But there is a lot of violence here. Shootings, strangulations, and so on. Hell, the local body disposal expert is practically on the list of City Services."
"So, it's best if I can get out quickly," Harry summed up.
"Indeed," Eshan said while standing up. "I'll go ahead and contact Gringotts for you. Is it just you three?"
"A total of seven, actually," Grim replied with a smirk. "All under confidentiality contracts through Gringotts. Potter funded our expedition, and it isn't done until we're back in Britain."
"That... makes a lot of things easier," Eshan admitted. "I'm the only person here, so go ahead and bring the rest in to the conference room. You'll likely be a bit; no point in them suffering under the Thai sun at noon."
Lara left to collect the others as Eshan left the room. Harry turned to Grim, asking, "Give it to me straight, Grim. How much issue will me being here be?"
Grim sort of shrugged at the question. "Probably not a lot. The syndicates keep things mostly peaceful. It's not really that much more dangerous than the East End of London."
Harry nodded at that. "Just got to keep my head down, not stir up trouble, that sort of thing."
"And don't act like an idiot tourist," Grim added. "You may be fourteen, but acting like a gawking tourist is a fast way to get mugged. Just kind of blend in. And if there's time, pay someone to teach you how to apparate. If your life is on the line, teleporting away may be your best bet."
"Got it. Thanks, Grim," Harry said as the whole group came into the conference room.
"So, the bad news," Harry began, "is that I may be here for a little bit. Politics has me restricted in my options. I plan to hire someone to sail me to Hong Kong, and Eshan is being really helpful by contacting my bank for me."
"At least there's something positive there," Alex admitted.
"As soon as I can talk with my bank, you all can grab a flight back to Britain," Harry said. "With everyone there, Grim can get the legal stuff moving about the expedition, and I can work my end through my investment manager. I figure get stuff set up from here, and when I get to Hong Kong I can finish whatever paperwork they'll have for me. Any questions?"
"How long will it take you to get out of Roanapur, Harry?" Sam asked.
"I'm not sure. Probably not more than a week. I can just get a hotel room or something. Maybe Eshan will be willing to let me stay here. But I won't know until I talk with someone about a boat."
"You can't be talking about staying here alone," Reyes commented. "You're fourteen! It's not safe!"
"I know," Harry began, "and that's why I'm still in the planning stages here. And like I said, I can just request asylum here if I need to."
"Don't worry," Lara interjected, "I won't leave until I know Harry is taken care of."
Eshan entered the room, followed by a rough looking man dressed in military fatigues. Tall, with hair the color of sand, the man introduced himself with a neutral American accent. "Jeremiah Darkraven, Gringotts Special Services out of Hong Kong. You're Potter?" Harry nodded. "Fantastic.
"Here's the deal, Mister Potter," Darkraven began in a no-nonsense tone. "We can easily transfer a sum of money from your accounts with the Royal Bank of Scotland to the local branch of the The Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank, or HSBC. In addition, we can make arrangements for temporary identification; that'll be less conspicuous than waving around a passport. My department can also make the necessary arrangements for your travel to Hong Kong, as well as local accommodations."
"That sounds great," Harry admitted. "Anything else?"
"A couple of items. Later, once initial matters are settled, someone from Gringotts will be meeting with you concerning your investments. As it's very late at night in London right now, we've already left messages concerning your current status. Thanks to Mister Pembrow, we have the basics of your situation and can read in a few more thanks to your paperwork.
"But for now, I personally recommend hiring a crew called the Lagoon Company. They're a dedicated courier service with a solid reputation for reliability. Once we're done here, I can take you there and conduct the negotiations."
"Damn, Harry," Reyes said with a tinge of admiration in her voice. "It's a hell of a bank that can pull all this off for someone."
"Yeah, Gringotts is the best," Harry agreed. "So what order are we working with, Mister Darkraven?"
"Your local identification papers are being made as we speak; they'll be here in a few minutes. Then Lagoon Company and the bank after."
"Great. That works out well. Mister Pembrow, I really appreciate all that you've done for me."
Eshan smiled at that. "It's no trouble at all, Mister Potter. Honestly, this just gives me something to justify my job with. And my job gets pretty boring."
An hour later (and not a small amount of paperwork), Lara and Harry were in a car being driven by Darkraven while the rest of the crew went back to the airport. He smoothly pulled the sedan into traffic, saying, "I gotta say, Potter, you really know how to stir some shit up."
"I'm sorry?" Harry asked, confused.
"Part of the investment package," Darkraven admitted, "included a long range tracking charm on the Endurance. When it went offline, my department began scrambling to try and find you. Then we get a call a few days later that you've been picked up from a shipwreck. We never expected you to end up in Roanapur, but at least it's a known quantity with us."
"Ah. Sorry about that. We weren't expecting the storms to be as bad as they were. At least we found Yamatai?"
"Wait, seriously?" Darkraven asked. "People have been looking for that place for forever! How'd you do it?"
Lara shrugged, saying, "We just went where everyone was told not to go."
Darkraven laughed long and hard at that. "Goddamn. I mean, really. See, I've been security on a few of those expeditions that turned up nothing. Most we ever found was a group of Japanese soldiers who didn't know that World War Two was over."
"Huh," Harry said, looking out the window. "You probably would've been better prepared than we were, then. Because we were screwed from landfall. Cannibal sun cultists, undead samurai, and so on."
"Oof. Sounds rough, man," Darkraven admitted. "But hey, you made it out, right? You're alive and can still count to twenty, yeah?" Harry and Lara both nodded at that. "So that just means that you can focus on getting better. More preparations, better skill sets, and mental prep now that you know what kind of things are out there. I mean, yeah, there's seeing a therapist, but that goes with the territory," he commented, making a right turn. "But now that you've seen stuff, you can get ready for more of it in the future."
Harry just sighed at that. "It just seems like nothings ever easy, you know?"
Darkraven laughed at that. "If it was easy, it wouldn't be worthwhile! Anyways, we're here," he said, pulling up to a building.