Chapter one: a deal goes awry

It was new years day in Shanghai. Brightly colored magical rockets soared, engineered to burst into the shapes of dragons, hippogriffs, and other impressive creatures, which swooped about the muggle skyline, invisible to the thousands of muggles below. It was a beautiful sight to any wizard able to see it.

And it did not interest Harry Potter at all.

Club Obi-Wan resided at the tip of one of the tallest buildings in Shanghai, unknown to its muggle builders. The main dining room was built in white marble. Tables were arranged in a circle around a stage built into the mouth of a stone dragon. On this stage a pretty blond witch was singing something Harry didn't recognize, partly because it was in Cantonese. Magical balls of light, which hung in the air high above, illuminated the ballroom. They weren't even necessary this night; he view of the fireworks from the large windows did enough to light up the place.

Harry stood at the edges of the room, hiding behind a convenient pillar. From his hiding place he watched the man sitting at one of the tables furthest from the stage. He was short, slightly overweight, but in a way that made him look intimidating, rather then obese. He had graying black hair, dark eyes, and wore a black tuxedo. Younger, equally Asian men flanked him on either side, his sons, Kao Kan and Chen. The man's name was Lao Che, and he was the biggest crime lord in Asia. This was helped somewhat by the fact that, unknown to many of his employees, he was a wizard. He was also an enemy of the Ministry of Magic. All of the Aurors sent to spy on him earlier had disappeared inexplicably. Harry, however, would be taking a different approach.

"Are you sure you want to go ahead with this, Harry." That was Warren Yen. Another auror, one who had been assigned to accompany Harry to Shanghai, as backup. He wore the dark suit of the waiters of Club Obi-Wan, he would watch, and step in if anything went wrong.

"Its too late now, isn't it," said Harry. "Besides, after Dietrich, he's nothing." Less than a year ago, the dark wizard Hernon Dietrich had escaped for azkaban. Harry had embarked on a quest over three continents to keep Dietrich and his small army of ex-Death Eaters from recovering the mythical Ark of the Covenant. Though it was supposed to be confidential, most of the details of Harry's exploits had become common knowledge throughout the auror office. In Harry's opinion, the best thing that had come from the quest for the Ark, had been being reacquainted with his former girlfriend Ginny Weasley, finding her in an obscure tavern in Nepal. He had spent much of the last months with her; this was his first overseas assignment since he had returned from Egypt.

"Potion, please." Warren handed Harry a small vial of a muddy green potion. He downed it in a single gulp, grimacing. The taste was horrible, but worse was the pain as his body changed, growing in places, shrinking in others, his hair receding into his skull. Once the transformation was complete, Harry's clothes, a white tuxedo jacket over a white shirt and dark tie, with black slacks, fit much more comfortably.

"The Polyjuice will only last an hour, so don't take too long. Good luck." Warren disappeared, moving quickly toward the kitchens, where he would join the other waiters. Harry put his glasses in his pants pocket, he wouldn't need them for the next hour, and, taking a deep breath, strode out into the club, navigating tables and waiters as he moved toward Lao Che's table.

As he walked past, Harry glimpsed his reflection in a silver tray. He was a tall, brown-haired man, a bit bulkier than Harry usually was and, Harry noticed somewhat apologetically, handsomer.

The blonde finished her number as Harry reached the table. Lao Che clapped respectfully with the rest of the clubs patrons, as Harry sat down, opposite him. This was the plan, he had not come to spy on Lao Che, not yet, but gain his trust as a dealer of antiques, many of which were of questionable legality.

"Ah, Mr. Jirkens," Lao Che acknowledged him. It took Harry a moment to remember his false name and greet the crime lord in turn. "I've been awaiting your arrival with interest. Would you like anything?"

"No thank you, not yet." Harry glanced at the filled champagne glass at his place, and had to remind that as hospitable as he might seem, Lao Che was very much a criminal.

"You have Nurhachi?"

"Yes," said Harry. "But it wasn't as easy as you-"

"And you are going to deliver him. Now." Harry became aware that Kao Kan was holding a wand on him, under the table.

Harry held two fingers, "Now, be nice. Otherwise I may change my mind." Lao Che nodded, and Kao Kan hesitantly put his wand back into his jacket pocket.

Harry reached into his own jacket, and pulled out a small, intricately carved jade bottle. He placed on the rotating wheel at the center of the table, designed so that shared entrees would not have to be passed by hand. Chen spun the table and Lao Che picked up the bottle. He prodded it with his wand, and the bottle glowed. Satisfied of its authenticity, Lao Che tucked the bottle containing the cremated ashes of Nurhachi, first emperor of the Manchu dynasty, into his jacket.

With his father's approval, Chen brought out a small cloth bag, placing it on the wheel and spinning it around to Harry. Harry slowly picked it up and pulled at the drawstring to open it. Inside were Galleons, a small fortune of wizard money. If he had been himself, Harry would have taken the bag of money as sufficient payment. However, Mr. Jirkens would not.

"The deal was for the Eye of the Peacock." Harry replaced the bag of money and spun it back to Lao Che.

"You can not blame me for trying. I very much dislike to part with it," the crime lord sighed. He replaced the bag of coins with a different, smaller, cloth bag. Harry picked it up as it was spun to him. He upended the bag, catching the Eye of the Peacock as it fell. He was impressed. The pure, unblemished diamond fit his palm perfectly. It caught the light somewhere deep inside, trapping it in an unearthly glow.

"Beautiful," said Harry, trying to hide most of his amazement. "I can see why you wanted to keep it."

"Yes, but I do have an affection for my ancestor's remains," said Lao Che. "A toast, to a deal gone well."

"The first of many," Harry drained his glass. He was the only one to do so.

"What?" he said, as Lao Che's sons began to laugh. That was when the pain hit. Though the hour couldn't be over, the effects of the Polyjuice were fading. Within moments Harry looked like himself once more. The gangsters blurred in front of him, he unconsciously took out his glasses and put them back on, casting the world back into clarity.

"Harry Potter?" Lao Che said, with obvious surprise. "I apologize, I had no way of knowing it was you. Still, perhaps this will teach those British fools to stay out of my affairs."

Though his transformation was complete, the pain was not gone. It still lay clenched in the pit of Harry's stomach, making it difficult to breathe. Squinting through the raising blur, Harry saw Lao Che smile sadly as he lifted a slim vial of blue potion.

"What's…"

'The antidote, Harry Potter. To the poison you just drank."