FicWad

It took about two hours and several practical demonstrations for Pamela Landy to get her head around the existence of the magical world. Life as an intelligence agent had taught her to expect the unexpected. Human nature was infinitely varied and unpredictable and where people and their motivations were concerned, things were seldom as they seemed. However, she had always assumed that the laws of the physical universe were fixed. Now she had to adjust to the fact that there was a class of people who could cause solid objects to change their form, make themselves invisible, pass through solid walls and tamper with other people’s minds. Furthermore, it appeared that some of this people had infiltrated the CIA and were messing with the minds of its agents, including her own.

She told Jason what had happened to her that day.

“It sounds like some kind of spell,” Jason said. “I’ve heard of wizards putting some kind of charm on their houses to keep Muggles away.”

“Can you break the spell?”

“No, I can only do some basic stuff. This is advanced magic. Sometimes only the person who casts the spell can lift it.”

“So what do I do?”

“Easy. Make a list of all the names in the security department in alphabetical order, go through the files one by one and cross of the names as you finish. When you have a memory lapse check for the first name that isn't crossed off.”

Pamela felt reassured. There was still a place for simple common sense.

“And when I have the names, how can I actually read the files?”

“I’ll have to work on that. But first I need two favours from you?”

“What?”

"First, I want to know what happened to Nicky."

"She was captured in Jamaica. We're trying to strike a deal with her where we would drop all charges in exchange for her evidence against Hirsch and Vosen, but she's not going along. The problem is that she won't tell us anything about what happened between the time she left you in Tangiers and her capture."

"The problem is that she's a Squib."

"A what?"

"Her parents were magical but she has no magical powers herself. She's been hiding out in the magical world. I think that she's not talking because she's more afraid of some people there than she is of you."

Pamela took a deep breath and tried to make sense of this new information.

"Okay, what was your other favour?"

“Go to the store and pick me up some clothes. I need pants, some shirts, a jacket and a few pairs of underwear. Here's a list and some cash.”

The key to success as an intelligence agent was self control in all circumstances. Pamela resisted the temptation to dissolve into a giggling fit at the thought of Jason Bourne sitting on her sofa with no underwear. Instead she asked, “How do you know I’m not going to come back here with a hit team?”

“Because I could hear you coming and Disapparate before you got to the door. Then if you tried to explain what happened they would put you on stress leave and send you for a psychiatric evaluation. I'll be back here in two hours.”

There was a loud crack and Jason vanished into thin air. Pamela stared in disbelief. Only the list of men's clothing and the wad of bills in her hand convinced her she had not been dreaming. She went to the store and when she returned with her purchases, Jason was already back.

“I got everything you wanted plus a cell phone for emergency contact.”

"Thanks. I got you something for you," he said, holding up a purple t-shirt with "Weird Sisters" emblazoned on the front in bright green letters that blinked on and off. "It's a shield shirt. They block magic spells. There was a new store opening up in the wizard quarter that sells them. If you wear it while you're looking at the files, the memory charms won't affect you."

Pamela screwed up her face as she studied the shirt and finally said, "Thank you Jason , but you've forgotten something, senior CIA agents do not wear t-shirts to work. Couldn't you get something a little more businesslike?"

"There wasn't much choice. The only other shirt in your size was yellow and the slogan read 'I'll show you my wand if you show me yours.' I made a special order for a blouse but it'll take a week to get here. You can cover up the shirt with a sweater."

"People would still notice. The only time I wear a sweaters to the office is when I have a really bad cold."

"I thought of that too. Try this," Jason said and handed her what looked like a cough candy.

Pamela popped the candy in her mouth and her nose plugged up and she began coughing and sneezing. She spat it out and her symptoms cleared instantly.

Harry had once more put the Jason Bourne file to one side. He had sent owls to Jason but received no reply. The Americans were not cooperating and there was little more he could do. Meanwhile, he had the half-horocrux. If the Prince brothers had Jason they would have to come looking for him. He was in his cubicle, wading through a particularly tedious pile of paperwork, when Ron Weasley called on him.

"Hello Ron, What's up? Miss the excitement?"

Too late, Harry realized that he had just hit Ron on his most sensitive spot. It had broken Ron's heart to leave the Auror service, but he had felt like he had no choice. You couldn't save enough to get married on from a junior Auror's salary and George had offered him a full partnership in the store.

Ron appeared not to notice.. "I just got back from Washington," he said. "We found a new American distributor for our stuff and we were helping open the new store when who should walk in but Jason Bourne."

"Did you speak to him? How is he?"

"I didn't get to speak to him. I think he was trying to avoid me so I just kept out of sight. He bought a couple of shield shirts and Skiving Snackboxes. But the good news is that he put in a special order for a couple of Muggle style shield shirts, one for a man and one for a woman."

"That's interesting, either Jason has a woman working with him or he's using Polyjuice potion. It doesn't help us much, though."

"Don't you see, Harry, we can put a tracking charm on the buttons and use it to trace Jason and his ladyfriend."

"That's brilliant Ron. You see why we miss having you around."

Meanwhile, Pamela Landy was making progress. She started going through the personnel files of security technicians in alphabetical order. She had reached the B's when she suddenly remembered a major briefing was about to start. When she got back to her office, she found that the next name on her list was Septimus Brankovitch. Next day, she went to work with the shield shirt under her sweater and a supply of Weasley's Special Cough Drops in her purse. She read the Brankovitch security check notes and was shocked at how easily the agency had been duped. The computer science degree was genuine but everything else was as phony as a three dollar bill.

Pamela returned home early. Once her magically induced cold had cleared she was hot in her sweater so she took it off and carried it. No one was likely to see her in her apartment corridors. When she checked her door, she saw that the matchbook cover had fallen. Someone was waiting for her and she had a good idea of who it was. She called Jason on her cellphone and he Apparated into the corridor.

She opened the door and stepped in. "Hello, Mr. Brankovitch. You know, if you're going to do this work you really should learn some basic Muggle tradecraft."

She showed him the fallen match book cover.

"I'm sorry to disturb you, Ms. Landy, but there's been a magical security breach and I have to modify your memory. I'll be gone in a moment and you won't even know I was here. Obliviate."

The spell bounced off the shield shirt. Septimus looked at the logo on the shirt and realized what it was. He could remove the shirt with a spell, but he was a gentleman, so he hesitated. He knew he should have brought a witch along for backup. However, the job had to be done so he raised his wand and began. Before he could complete the spell he saw Jason standing behind Pamela. The look on Jason’s face made him lower his wand.

"If you do what I think you're going to do, you're going to regret it," Jason said.

"How do you know what I was going to do?" Septimus asked.

"Because I would have done the same thing in your place. Put your wand away and sit down"

Septimus nervously tried to explain himself. “You see, it’s not like I’m a foreign agent or anything. I’m and American and this is an ... er.... a jurisdictional issue between departments. We look after the magical world and you look after the Muggles.”

“So why are you tampering with our files?” Pamela asked coldly.

“It’s not really tampering, it’s just sort of cleaning up unauthorized information. If there’s something in a file that might expose the magical world we take it out. We don’t interfere with any of your stuff. There’s nothing to worry about. We guard all the records and keep foreign wizards out. That’s part of my job.”

Pamela and Jason appeared unconvinced, so Septimus continued, “It’s been like this for three hundred years. The wizards leave the Muggles alone and we keep you away from us. It’s always worked fine so let’s just carry on. Okay?”

“Except it’s not working fine,” Jason said. “Someone has infiltrated the CIA and has been using me as a guinea pig in Dark Magic experiments. I want to find them and stop them.”

“You don’t believe that story Potter has been giving out about the horocrux?”

“I don’t know if I believe Potter but I was there and I believe my own eyes and ears. Will you help us?”

Septimus hesitated and asked, “And if I don’t?”

“Then you get stunned and dumped in a ditch with your memory of this conversation erased and you have to explain to your boss why you messed up a simple mission. You’ve already got a big black mark on your record from that break-in at headquarters.”

“How did you know that?”

“Because I was the one who did it. I saw you on duty in the security office.”

“I’ll help. I’ve known for a while that something was going on that wasn’t right.”

Gaius Prince was worried when he reported to his brother and Dr. Hirsch. "My contact in the Department of Magic thinks that Brankovitch has turned. He may be feeding information to Bones and Landy.”

“How does he know?” Dr. Hirsch asked.

“It’s just a suspicion. Somehow Landy got past the charms on the Brankovitch file and he was sent to modify her memory. He says that he did and there’s no reason to doubt him. It’s just that since then he’s started to act differently. He used to be a bit of a loner but he’s started to spend more time talking with people. He seems to be looking for information.”

"That is excellent news," Hirsch said, rubbing his hands. "I hope your contact has kept his suspicions to himself."

"I don't understand your Muggle logic", Tiberius said. "This is a disaster. Brankovitch has high-level security clearances at both the CIA and Department of Magic. Bones has gained a valuable ally who can give him inside information he couldn't have got any other way. "

"We simply have to apply basic counterintelligence principles and we can turn this development to our advantage,” Hirsch explained. “ If we know that Brankovitch is passing information to Bourne and Landy, we can pass information to Brankovitch and use it to lead Bourne into a trap."

"Where do we start?" Tiberius asked. "Suppose we tell Bones that Potter wants to meet him ...."

"He would never believe you," Hirsch cut in. "First we need to establish trust all the way along the channel. Bourne needs to trust Brankovitch and Brankovitch needs to trust your contact. We have to start by passing on some information that is genuine and appears valuable. We gradually mix false information with true and slowly draw Bourne into the net. "