The Deceiver's Distillation
by Jardyn39
Chapter 11 - Alison and Jack
Harry nodded and Bateman pulled the door open. They both entered quickly and closed the door.
It took a moment for Harry's eyes to adjust in the bright light. They were standing in a white tiled room with red quarry tiles on the floor. On the far side there were a row of white overalls hanging up and next to them was a wheeled stainless steel trolley. Everything looked spotless and there was a strong smell of disinfectant in the air.
Ahead was a darkened passage. Bateman took the lead but paused hearing movement further down the passage. They listened for a long while but it was again quiet.
Cautiously, they moved down the passage. Harry felt much happier as they moved into the darkness, and after a few yards he could see the faint outline of an open door. They peered out and found it was another corridor, only wider.
All along one side were strong cage bars that ran from floor to ceiling but it was too dark to see if there was anything inside.
Harry raised his wand but Bateman quickly grabbed his arm and shook his head. Harry nodded to indicate that he'd understood. Bateman didn't want anyone or anything inside the cages to wake and give them away.
They crept right along to the end and found an unlocked door.
Inside was what looked like a surgical operating theatre, complete with blood soaked dressings strewn around the floor.
"Alright, now we look into the cages. Silence anything as soon as you see or hear movement," said Bateman quietly, adding, "I'm beginning to fear we're too late."
Harry nodded. It did look like they were too late.
The first cage contained a large black panther, prowling silently up and down. The second was empty.
The third cage looked like it was recently occupied, but was empty.
They were about to move onto the fourth, when out of the darkness came a voice.
"Well, you certainly took your time."
"Jack!" exclaimed Bateman, quite forgetting himself. "Keep your voice down!" he added in a loud whisper.
"No need," said Gurnet. "We're the only ones here now. Usually a new batch arrives around mid-morning."
Harry's euphoria was short lived as he realised that Gurnet was probably the only survivor.
"How do we get this cage open?" asked Bateman examining the thick bars, and bringing Harry back to himself.
"I can try and cut through the bars, but it would be easier to find the door," said Harry.
"Don't cut the bars. I suspect they are electrified or something. The animals won't go near them. The door is on the opposite side. Just follow the corridor around. There's no lock. Just a bolt."
"Okay," said Bateman. "I'll go. Harry, stay here and look out."
Bateman hurried off down the dark corridor and Harry lit his wand and pointed it into the cage.
His narrow wand beam lit up a battered looking face. When Gurnet broke into a grimace he revealed several missing teeth.
Harry gasped seeing the extent of his facial injuries.
"Alright, Harry?"
There was no hint of friendliness in his voice.
"Can you walk?" Harry asked, seeing he was hunched up on his bunk with a rough blanket covering him.
"I'll manage."
"I'm so sorry," began Harry.
"Save it," said Gurnet shortly.
"We'll soon have you out and away from here."
"We're not going anywhere until we've dealt with the surgeon who was kind enough to operate on us."
"We have to get you away," insisted Harry. "It sounded like there were a lot of Death Eaters camping on the other side of the Arena."
"Thanks for reminding me," said Gurnet darkly. "We can destroy that place while we're here too."
Harry sighed.
"Did they make you fight?"
"Yes, they made us fight. I've killed at least two good men a day since I came out of surgery. They will pay for that."
"Yes, but it may be better to come back with reinforcements."
"Getting a little big for your boots, boy?" Gurnet said menacingly. "Who gave you the right to give me orders?"
"Let's just do what Bear thinks," urged Harry.
"I'm obviously still not good enough," continued Gurnet, his voice getting louder.
Harry prayed that Bateman would hurry and find the door.
"Of course you are good enough," Harry said reassuringly. "You were before."
"Don't you patronise me, boy!" shouted Gurnet and Harry decided he needed to be silenced.
Harry stepped back and pointed his lit wand at Gurnet again.
"Be quiet, Jack," said a female voice.
Harry started and swept his wand light around the cage again, trying to find the owner of the new voice.
"I'm sorry," said Gurnet gently, losing all of his aggression. "I didn't mean to wake you."
Harry still couldn't see her.
"Why don't you introduce us, Jack?"
Gurnet grimaced before lurching to his feet. He winced with pain from the effort as he staggered the few steps towards the bars. He looked slightly hunched as he leaned on the side wall for support, panting from the effort.
Harry was becoming increasingly concerned.
Gurnet loosened the filthy blanket slightly to reveal his neck. On Gurnet's left hand side a clump of blood matted dark coloured hair was revealed, in contrast to his own brown coloured hair.
Gurnet glared at Harry for a moment before turning his back to him. When Gurnet was facing the door at the back of the cage, he lowered the blanket over his back and a young woman lifted her head a fraction.
Harry realised that Gurnet must have been carrying her, except something wasn't right.
She smiled at Harry as Gurnet said, "Potter, this is Alison Weston, someone you aren't fit to even speak to. Alison, this is the scum kid that got us into this mess."
Harry could only see half her face as the blanket obscured half her features. He guessed she was in her late twenties and thought she had a demure look about her. Her face was thin but not unnaturally so. He smiled seeing her rolling her eyes.
"Please call me Harry," he said gently. "I didn't see you before. Are you able to walk on your own?"
Gurnet and Alison snorted at the same time.
Harry wondered what the joke was.
"No, Harry," said Alison, "I can't walk on my own. I'm afraid the surgeon here did some elective surgery on us."
"I'm sorry, but I don't understand."
"Lower the blanket will you, Jack?"
Gurnet bowed his head slightly but didn't lower the blanket.
"It's alright, Jack," she said gently. "They need to know. I'm not embarrassed."
Gurnet pulled at the blanket and it fell to the floor. Harry gasped in shock as Gurnet turned around again. Harry felt he should avert his eyes and drop the light from his wand, but he couldn't.
Alison had somehow been grafted onto, or perhaps more accurately, into Gurnet's massive frame. It was as if he was carrying her, except that her torso had been sunk into his chest. At the top, Alison's head and neck emerged from Gurnet's shoulder. The side of her chin was fused to his skin, which is why her head had lain at such an odd angle.
Out of the side of Gurnet's ribcage came a slender arm which was wrapped around Gurnet's back. Alison's single remaining arm was covering an area of grafted skin with rough black stitches all around. Gurnet's abdomen looked normal but both his thighs looked unnaturally thick. It took a moment to realise that Alison's upper legs had been grafted on as well.
There was the sound of a sliding bolt and Bateman opened the cage door as Gurnet turned to face him.
Something of the revulsion that Harry felt showed on his face. He looked away when he realised what she was covering with her arm, feeling his face redden.
Bateman swore from inside the cage.
Harry knew that even in St. Mungos, nothing could be done for them. Alison had been twisted and broken by the operations they had endured. There couldn't be enough of her left to survive being separated from Gurnet again. By the look of the raw and bleeding stitches where their skin was joined, it looked like infection or tissue rejection would soon see them both dead.
"There now," said Alison tenderly, seeing Harry's anguish. "It doesn't hurt too badly, and Jack's finally got the eyes in the back of his head that he always wanted. Well, almost."
Harry smiled and looked back at her with watery eyes.
Gurnet brought his hand up to his chest and stroked the large area that was the remains of Alison's back.
"Do you know how many other prisoners there are?" asked Bateman shakily. "We've only found one so far."
"No, they make us train in the mornings and fight late in the afternoons. We've only seen our opponents in the Arena and the dead so far. Very few get selected for surgery. We're the only ones that have survived so far."
"Okay, we'll check the remaining cells and then get out of here."
"Give me a gun, John," demanded Gurnet.
Bateman pulled out a spare revolver and clip and handed them to Gurnet.
"Thanks," said Gurnet pulling the blanket over them again.
"What do you want to do?" asked Bateman.
"What you'd expect."
"Okay. I'm coming too. Duke can take Harry and any other prisoners."
"I'm not going if you're not," protested Harry. "If we do this, we do it together," he added, sounding far more confident than he felt. "Time's getting on. I'll meet you by the entrance passage."
Harry hurried back down the corridor and into the brightly lit room. He grabbed some of the overalls and selected a couple of the largest. He slit the shoulder of one and made another where he thought Alison's arm would be. He also slit the legs so Gurnet's widened thighs would fit.
Using his wand, Harry cut the second overall up so he had several large patches.
By the time he had finished, the others arrived.
"Here," said Harry. "Put this on."
"Those are white, you idiot," said Gurnet. "We'll be seen too easily."
"Jack," said Alison warningly.
Gurnet groaned and grabbed the overalls and quickly dressed. Harry held the patches over and used his wand to make the material threads weave themselves together. It was rough but it would do.
He adjusted the collar to allow more of Alison's face to show and then stood back.
"What colour do you want?" he asked, raising his wand.
Using Hermione's favourite colouring charm, he transfigured the white cloth to a mottled green and black before any of the others could answer.
"Thank you, Harry," said Alison as Bateman turned the lights out and opened the door.
The scene outside was very different from the one they'd left. A small group of prisoners were huddled in the corner and all of the remaining cell doors were wide open. Duke was just finishing tying up a man in wizard robes who looked unconscious.
Duke hurried over to them.
"Sorry, but we were disturbed. We got the keys so we thought we would get a move on. I was just about to come and find you."
Harry walked over and stunned the wizard, just in case he was faking.
Hagland came over and offered his backpack to Gurnet. He opened it and pulled out a selection of items including a lethal looking knife and several grenades.
"Hagland and Smith, you take the prisoners back to Bravo point and get the others to help them as best they can. Send the go code and then get clear. Don't wait for us to follow."
Smith nodded and they immediately ushered the small group of prisoners towards the exit.
"The bomb will be dropped at precisely twenty five minutes past the hour following the go code. I reckon we have fifty minutes, but if we give ourselves away too early they will just Apparate away," said Bateman.
"Apparate?" said Gurnet, sounding confused.
"Yes," agreed Harry. "If there's any sign of an attack like that they will just vanish."
"Oh, yeah. We've seen them do that."
"We need to identify this surgeon. He's our principal target."
"Agreed," said Gurnet. "He's about five foot six inches tall and quite old looking. He's got short grey hair and these weird staring eyes. We never heard his name being used. They just called him The Healer, which is rather ironic considering what his hobbies are."
"How many were on his staff?"
"Just one nurse. She's a sadistic blonde and wears too much makeup," said Alison. "They had guards to move the inmates around, but they didn't do any cutting."
*
They got only as far as the other side of the old stable building when Gurnet had to stop. Wheezing and in obvious pain, he leaned heavily against the rough brick wall.
Harry turned to Bateman who was watching his old friend with concern.
Batemen walked over and stood beside him, waiting for him to recover.
"Alright, John. You win. I know you can't risk my giving away your presence."
"Thanks, Jack. We'll meet up with you later."
Gurnet turned and was lead away by Hagland.
"Good luck," whispered Alison with a smile as they headed off towards the undergrowth. They would take a longer but slower way back to the assembly point.
Harry felt rather relieved that Alison wasn't going to be put at further risk, although she hadn't complained at all about being there.
Harry turned and waited for Bateman to lead them off.
"No, Harry, you take point. You are the least experienced and you'll be using non-lethal force."
"Point means you go at the front," quipped Duke.
Harry set out and was almost immediately grabbed by Bateman and roughly put back on the correct course.
When they got to the first tents, they split up to go around them individually. As Harry caught up with Duke again, he was cleaning blood off his commando knife.
Harry was still staring at the knife when a tent flap opposite was flung open. Without thinking, Harry fired three stunners directly into the tent. The occupants collapsed at the entrance and Harry moved to look inside the spacious wizard tent. It was empty apart from the three unconscious wizards. Duke secured the tent flap closed and they moved on.
They heard a scuffle and they were about to follow when Duke shoved Harry into the shadow of another large tent, just as a dozen or so masked wizards walked past them towards the enormous carriage.
From their laughter and banter, it was clear that they had no idea they were under attack.
When they had passed, Harry looked around for the others.
They were nowhere to be seen. He assumed that Duke had hurried off to provide some assistance.
Harry turned suddenly. He was sure he had just seen movement in one of the shadows beside a group of smaller carriages.
Assuming it was Duke or one of the others, he followed as quietly as he could.
Making sure he stayed only in the darkest areas, Harry stopped often to look and listen. Then, for the barest instant, he saw her. It was Hermione, he was sure of it. He had no idea what she was doing here, but he had to make sure she was okay. He hurried to catch up with her.
Frustratingly, the open grassed area between them was lit by lanterns. Resisting the strong temptation to cut straight across, Harry went behind the carriages to stay in the darkness.
Just as he got to the other side, a door opened in the side of one of the carriages. Bright light flooded out for a moment as someone hurried out. Harry ducked down instinctively, but in the instant before the door closed again, he saw a familiar figure sitting inside.
Harry decided to investigate. As he continued along the shadows, he kept the image of what he'd just seen in his mind. He hadn't been tied up, as far as Harry could see. He did look very nervous, though.
He crept over and listened at an open window on the other side of the small caravan like carriage.
"The Dark Lord grows impatient, Ollivander. Any more delays or excuses and you can expect to make a guest appearance in the Arena," said a deep unfamiliar voice. "The Dark Lord has more than indulged your little peccadilloes, and now he wants results."
"But my hands," pleaded Ollivander. "How can I work shaking like this?"
"There's nothing wrong with your hands."
"Wand making is very delicate. That potion you keep making me drink makes my hands shake. If you want wands, don't give me the potion. It would appear to be a choice simple enough even for you to understand."
"Oh, it's simple all right. No wands, no life. That's your choice. And there is no way I'm stopping making you take that Anti-Apparition draft that Snape made up. If you got away, I'd get the blame."
Harry heard the door open and slam close again. He waited but heard nothing further.
He decided right then to take Ollivander with them if he could. It sounded like he wasn't a willing guest, anyway.
Harry raised himself up to peer into the open window. However, he found himself looking into the face of Mr Ollivander, who was looking back at him with a quite bemused expression.
"Mr Potter," he said quietly. "It may not be entirely safe for you around here. May I suggest you depart?"
"Mr Ollivander," whispered Harry, allowing the light from the window to light up more of his face, "I'd like you to come with me."
Mr Ollivander didn't react but a slightly confused expression grew over his face. He wiped his brow with a very shaky hand.
"They wanted me to make wands for them."
"Okay," said Harry, realising that Mr Ollivander clearly wasn't quite himself. "Can you turn all the lanterns out and then come outside?"
Mr Ollivander considered this request and then obeyed. Harry crept around the other side and guided an uncertain Ollivander down the two steps.
Harry whispered, "We need to be quiet. No noise at all. I'll guide you out of here."
He then grabbed Ollivander's shoulder and, just as Duke had done with him earlier, pushed Ollivander through the shadows towards what he hoped was safety.