Chapter One: Auror

There were two of them. The shorter man was dark-skinned, known by his surname, Barranca. The second, who called himself Satipo, had thinning dark hair, even though he was only in his thirties. The two of them had spent the years after the Second War in partnership. They had both fled to South America shortly after the resurrection of he-who-must-not-be-named had been acknowledged to the wizarding community across the world.

Upon meeting, the pair had gone into business together. They had guided many through the treacherous jungles, from adventurous tourists to up and coming treasure hunters, but mostly the second variety. Often, the treasure hunters would go missing inexplicably, their finds taken, later to be sold to private collectors, wizard or muggle. It was business.

He had come to them the day before, a slightly tall young man, with messy jet-black hair and round glasses that did nothing to hide his striking green eyes. More remarkable than his eyes, however, was the thin scar on his forehead, shaped like a lightning bolt.

While even though Satipo and Barranca had spent their recent years away from the wizarding world, they recognized the boy who lived, the 'chosen one', it was said that he had personally killed He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named in a wizard's duel at Hogwarts, the acclaimed wizarding school.

Neither of the men cared much about this; their schemes did not depend at all on whether or not Europe was controlled by the Death Eaters. Much more interesting was the piece of old parchment brought by the man with the lightning-shaped scar. Part of a map, the other half had been used by Satipo and Barranca since they had discovered it, to con and lure their victims into the jungle, where the two men stole their valuables and equipment, wiping their memory afterwards.

While it had occurred to the partners that their map might lead to some great treasure, they had not had any serious thoughts about the idea until the wizard had shown up, with half a map that matched theirs perfectly.

Now he walked a few yards ahead of them, wearing dark clothing despite the heat. In his hands were both halves of the map. Satipo and Barranca followed after him, the trees on either side closing in, blocking out the sunlight. He followed no set path, often making slight course changes and occasionally reversing direction completely.

Pushing through the jungle plants in his way, Barranca uncovered a statue of aging gray stone. It bore the likeness of a hideous native demon, its eyes bugged, its pierced tongue extended past sharp teeth. He stepped back quickly and cursed, taking a second glance at the statue.

"We've never been here before," he whispered, eyes wide. "I don't like it."

Satipo nodded, "Worse," he said indicating a small wooden dart embedded in a nearby tree. "Poisoned. The Hovitos are near." The Hovitos were a band of particularly vicious natives; their signature weapon was poisoned darts. The two men had met them before and the encounter had ended with three tribesmen killed and four more injured by magic. Satipo doubted that the Hovitos would have forgotten him, or that they would be at all pleased to see him.

"Kill him now, before he leads us into their camp and gets us all killed. We can take the map and find whatever it is he's searching for and keep it." Satipo pointed to their client; he had stopped near a shallow pool of clear water. Leaning against a tree, wiping the sweat from his eyes with his sleeve.

Barranca nodded once, he reached into the pocket of his trousers, pulling out a long carved wooden stick. He raised the wand to point at the small of the European's back. Opening his mouth he hesitated a second. It was all the time it took.

"Expelliarmus!" shouted Harry Potter. Barranca's wand flew from his grasp and into the pool, breaking the flat surface with a series of ripples. It was the same spell he had used against Lord Voldemort, when the dark wizard's killing curse had rebounded, finally killing Tom Riddle. Permanently. That had been four years ago.

With recommendation of the new Minister of Magic himself, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Harry had joined the reformed Auror office of the Ministry. Though he had only received his Auror status six months ago after undergoing the required training, he had yet to face anything compared to what he had gone through during his last few years at Hogwarts. Still, as this was his first assignment outside of the U.K., Harry was determined to do an especially good job. A simple con wizard with only a year's worth of magical education wouldn't stop him.

Barranca looked at his hand where his wand had been, and then, with one more furtive glance at Harry, he ran off into the forest.

Harry turned his wand to point at Satipo. The man was reaching toward his pocket, where his wand was most likely kept.

"Don't try anything," Harry said quietly, "We've already entered the magical boundary outside the temple, you can't apparate, at least not fully."

"No, no, no. You misunderstand Senor" Satipo said, thinking quickly. "I had no idea my friend would do such a thing. I will still follow you."

Harry sincerely doubted the validity of this statement, but he still expected he would need help. Reluctantly, he lowered his wand and put it back in his pocket.

Turning, Harry heard Satipo follow him as he trudged once more into the undergrowth. After a few minutes, Harry came to his destination. If he hadn't been right in front of it, he would have missed it. The temple was little more than a cave in the hillside, outlined by crumbling stone. On either side of the black yawning entrance were carved demonic faces, not unlike the one Barranca had discovered a few moments earlier.

As Satipo eyed the cave nervously, Harry raised his arm, pointing his wand into the darkness. "Accio medallion." He said. Nothing happened, other than Satipo hissing in pain as he pricked his finger on the bark of a nearby tree.

"Well, Satipo," said Harry, grimly. "Stay close behind me and don't touch anything, no matter how valuable it may look." And with that Harry stepped into the ancient temple and was swallowed up by the darkness.

Satipo took a furtive glance about, and only then, muttering furtively under his breath, did he enter after Harry. He had not seen fit to mention the Hovitos to his client.