The Kemmynadow Betrayal
by Jardyn39
Chapter 16 - Flying Bears
At last, Friday came. At four o'clock in the morning, Harry, Ron and Hermione left the Burrow and travelled by the Floo network to a deserted Ministry of Magic transport intersection in Yorkshire. This actually consisted of a small hut next door to a Muggle bus terminus.
The local night watch wizard, who just happened to be old drinking friend of Moody, was conveniently absent for their arrival as he was, at that moment, investigating a local failure in the charms that recorded each traveller through the Floo system.
They caught the first bus of the day headed deep into the countryside.
The three disembarked at a stop at a lonely road intersection. The only sign of civilisation was an ancient sign post, pointing to villages in three different directions. The bus roared off with diesel fumes billowing out the back.
"Which way is it?" asked Ron as soon as the bus was out of sight.
"Up there," said Harry, pointing up the hill. "It's only a short walk according to the map. If we get a move on, we should get there before the sun comes up properly."
They set off and a few minutes later they came to a small dilapidated shack with odd sheets of corrugated metal covering the walls and roof. Harry looked up and down the narrow winding road that looked like it was the only access to the place.
Everything was absolutely quiet and there were no lights at all.
"This has to be the wrong place," said Ron.
"Don't be so sure," said a familiar voice from nowhere.
The door opened and Bateman stepped outside.
"Come inside and warm up," he suggested.
"Thanks, Sarge," said the voice again. Harry looked around and saw the outline of Hagland's head pop above the ditch beside them.
"You can come in when you are relieved," said Bateman. "Not before!"
Leaving Hagland to mutter and mumble curses, they climbed the short flight of irregular steps to cross the threshold.
Once inside and with the door closed, electric lights flickered on to reveal the others.
Duke immediately stood and came over to greet them warmly before pulling them over to join them around the small stove in the centre of the room. There they renewed their acquaintances with the rest of Bateman's team. They were all there, apart from Hagland and Smith who were outside on lookout.
Careem interrupted his packing of some complicated looking timing devices to shake their hands, saying, "All the running water around here is paying havoc with my explosives. If you hear your rucksack ticking, shout out quick so the rest of us can run for cover."
Ron gulped.
"He's just kidding," said Carlyle, continuing to wind rope.
"Yes, we use waterproof timers and explosives," said Terri Hope, putting away the gun she'd been cleaning.
"We don't normally stray outside of the Regiment's boundaries this close to a mission," explained Bateman. "This time we wanted to avoid any attention in case news got out. We also wanted to show you some of the terrain we'll encounter tomorrow. We are currently standing right over a disused mine that has proved to be useful.
"There are a couple of things that you should be aware of. Firstly, the cave entrance in Kent is currently under guard. We have no idea whether they are Ministry or Voldemort people. For all we know they could be the Gas Board.
"Secondly, a number of people have picked up sprains and other minor injuries. We were rather hoping you could do the business, Harry. If not, we'll reconsider who goes. I'd rather not bring anyone else in."
Harry immediately dropped his bag and pulled out his wand.
Almost everyone had some form of injury, but the worst was Terri Hope's ankle sprain.
"Thanks, Harry," she said with a smile. "You're getting better at that."
"Well, you keep giving me plenty of practise," he replied with a grin.
Bateman switched off the lights again, opened the outside door and said, "Alright you two. Inside." He sounded much happier now that his bruised ribs had been healed by Hermione.
Duke opened the rear door to reveal a rickety iron staircase. He flicked a switch and festoon lighting extending far below lit up.
Bateman keyed in a number on an illuminated keypad adjacent to the entrance door.
"This is an intruder alarm," he explained. "We'll hear down below of someone attempts to break in. We can remotely blow this place and escape through an alternate exit if we need to. We also have several small arms caches in the area."
It took them some time to trudge all the way down carrying all their climbing equipment. They left the weapons and timers up in the cabin. The actual explosives were stored in a chamber somewhere deep in the mine system.
Eventually, they got to the bottom and travelled along a wide corridor carved into the rock. Before they exited into an underground cavern, they all put their safety helmets on.
Bateman stood next to what looked like a shear rock face, holding a powerful torch which shone a bright narrow beam.
"This," he said patting the wet wall, "has been the cause of most of our injuries. Without wishing to sound modest," he said, pausing to allow Duke to mutter, "as if."
"We are experienced rock climbers," continued Bateman, "and yet we all struggled to get up here."
He shone his torch beam upwards. Harry couldn't see the top of the rockface.
"Now, listen. This can be dangerous," he stressed seriously. "When I shout at you, you have to listen. I'm shouting today, because I won't be able to do it later. If you fall on the mission, you stay where you fall."
They all nodded.
Hermione cleared her throat and said, "I'm afraid I haven't done anything like this, but I have read up about it."
"Well, Hermione, you can't really learn this stuff from books," Bateman said apologetically, clearly making an effort not to upset her.
"I didn't really mean that," she said smiling and pulling out her wand.
She walked over and stood on a large boulder close to the rock face. Pointing her wand at her boots, she said, "Lentescopedis!"
She then did the same thing, but this time pointing at her left hand before finally pocketing her wand.
"You won't laugh too much at me, will you?" she asked, slapping her left hand high up on the wall. She then lifted her right foot up to the wall before heaving herself up.
Harry thought she was doing the impossible. It was as if she had conjured hand and foot holds for herself.
Looking rather ungainly, she went straight up for about twelve feet before moving across a little and then coming back down. With a "Finito!" she jumped down onto the shale floor of the cave.
Bateman and the others were looking at her incredulously.
"That was amazing, Hermione!" exclaimed Ron as Hermione grinned and rubbed her left hand. Harry realised she had hurt herself. Waving his wand close to her palm, he closed her painful looking cuts.
"You need gloves, Hermione," said Terri, rummaging around in her kit bag for some.
"The trouble is, I can't take my left hand off the surface or I'd fall," explained Hermione.
"Why not use your right hand as well?" asked Harry.
"The sticky charm isn't as good cast using my left hand," she answered. "Besides, I can't let go of my wand then."
Harry laughed and suggested, "Can't we perform it on each other?"
"Good idea," said Ron. "Come on, I want to try!"
Soon, they were all practically running up and down the rock face. The running water coming down the wall made no difference at all to their ability to grip the smooth and slippery rock.
Harry was the first to discover why Hermione had stood on a boulder to begin. When Ron charmed his boots while Harry was standing on the shale, he could hardly lift his feet due to the amount of small stones that were sticking to his feet.
Against the rock face, however, the charm worked superbly. Harry could feel his feet and hands being pulled against the rock.
Harry also found a way to charm his own wand hand. He simply charmed his glove before he put it on.
Three hours later, Harry returned to the bottom of the wall again and joined Bateman as he listened to the shouts and laughter of the others high up in the darkness.
Exhausted, Harry pulled off his gloves and wiped his sweating brow.
"You know, with Hermione's trick we'll be in and out of there much quicker," said Bateman thoughtfully. "I was afraid that your inexperience would hold us up too much."
Harry nodded.
He was about to ask when they would start out when alarmed cries rang out from high above. Bateman reacted instantly, his powerful torch beam picking out a figure falling out of the darkness at an alarming rate.
Harry aimed carefully. He knew he only had one shot at this.
Thankfully, his cushioning spell caught Ron before he hit the jagged rocks. Harry released Ron but caught him again with a Levicorpus spell. Ron made a safe, if rather undignified, landing.
The others all hurried down expecting the worst.
"Are you okay, Ron?" shouted Hermione, still high up.
"I'm fine," said Ron, grinning. "It was my own fault," he said to Bateman. "I just got overconfident trying to jump a gap, that's all."
"Let's go back to wearing safety lines," demanded Carlyle, going over to the climbing ropes they hadn't touched so far. "We should be using these anyway."
Bateman nodded and they were soon practising again, all with a little more respect for gravity.
*
Bateman insisted that everyone listen to every aspect of the plan once again, just in case anyone became unable to continue. This meant that Hermione had to explain rather a lot about the mirrors, several times.
Harry, spent most of this time pouring over Bateman's maps of the cave systems while Ron attempted to understand how the radios worked.
"This was a real stroke of luck," Bateman told him between explaining what all the rock strata symbols meant. "Miss Alice managed to get us an unpublished geological survey done by a University research team only about two miles from the archive. It showed us the true nature of some of the rocks down there. Most of Kent is actually chalk, like the coastline."
"Oh, like the white cliffs of Dover?"
"Exactly. Have you been there?"
"No, never."
"Anyway, we're going to be quite a bit further inland, but we assumed from the records that it was chalk too."
"So the Ministry must have amended quite a few records, then?"
"It certainly looks like it, but they don't even know the University survey exists."
After bringing the explosives up to the surface they rested for a full six hours, all in their complete battle dress.
Bateman and his team slept for almost the entire time, as did Ron. Neither Harry nor Hermione could sleep at all though.
"Have you had any more dreams?" whispered Hermione as they sat huddled together, a little apart from the others.
"No, not like the ones before. I think he knows something. Perhaps he's found a way to stop me hearing and seeing through it."
"Maybe."
"Did you find the Lentescopedis charm in Dumbledore's book?"
"No, Harry," she said uncertainly. "I sort of made it up."
Harry looked at her wide eyed for a moment, and then he looked down. He wanted to say how clever she was, but somehow he just couldn't.
"Harry!" whispered Hermione sharply, interrupting his thoughts. "I know what you're thinking, and you're wrong!"
"What am I thinking then?"
"You're thinking that Snape made up spells, as did Dumbledore. You're thinking that if you haven't made up spells it somehow makes you inferior and-"
"Okay!" he whispered. "Give it a rest, will you?"
"All I'm trying to say is Voldemort isn't going to say, Wow! Harry made up a spell on his own so I'd better behave from now on!"
Harry snorted and laughed.
"Shh!" she ordered, laughing as well. "Shut up or you'll wake the others and I'd have to stop nagging you!"
*
Harry lifted a material flap on his sleeve to reveal two watches sewn onto the fabric. One was a conventional watch but the other had several hands and symbols that meant nothing at all to him. He made a mental note to ask Fred and George what that watch was for.
At exactly five seconds to the hour, Bateman stirred and rose silently to his feet. On the hour he said quietly, "Time."
Everyone apart from Ron got up and gathered their things ready to depart. Smith gave his boots a firm kick and then both he and Hagland pulled him to his feet.
Bateman held up a child's plastic play hoop and they all grabbed hold, each carrying a heavy rucksack.
At two minutes past the hour the unauthorised Portkey provided by Kingsley activated.
*
They landed on soft wet grass in complete darkness. By the time Hermione had vanished the Portkey, Bateman had got his bearings.
They walked off in single file, each being careful not to make a noise.
Gradually, Harry's eyes became accustomed to the darkness. They were moving cross-county, mostly through grazing fields but sometimes through crop fields.
Harry realised that Bateman wasn't leading them in a straight line. He was clearly avoiding paths and roads, but he was also making it less obvious where their intended destination was.
After about half an hour, they gathered together beside a dry stone wall.
"Okay," whispered Bateman, coming back from his viewpoint. "The cave entrance is about fifty yards beyond this wall. The entrance is still guarded and I don't think we can get past them without them knowing.
"We are going to split into three groups as planned. Alpha will approach from the west, Beta from the East. Gamma stay here. We attack on five."
Harry changed his crouching position to a more comfortable kneeling position while they waited. It felt wrong that he, Hermione and Ron, who were the Gamma party, to have to remain behind.
"This is what they do best, Harry," whispered Hermione, as if reading his mind.
"I know," he replied. "I'm just worried about what might happen. It could be a trap."
"Shh," said Ron. "Listen."
They strained their ears to hear. Only one sound reached them. It sounded like something heavy hitting the ground.
After a few more minutes of silence, two radio clicks were heard over their earpieces. That was the signal to proceed.
The three of them got up and followed the stone wall to a wide gap. The iron gate was open and they walked through and down into a hollow.
Harry felt his shoulder being grabbed from behind. It was Duke, and Harry knew that behind him, Hermione and Ron were also now being guided towards the cave entrance.
He managed with difficulty to resist asking what had happened. He knew that now was not the time to make any kind of noise.
Underfoot, the grass changed to mud and then coarse gravel. Then their footsteps began to echo.
Harry couldn't see a thing, but they were entering the mouth of a large cave. Almost the instant he realised this, the smell of the air changed. It was now cold and damp.
They kept walking until Duke whispered, "It narrows ahead. Turn right as soon as you can."
It did indeed narrow. Harry had to struggle to get his large rucksack through and he suspected it was Duke who also gave him a generous shove from behind.
As soon as he was clear, Harry turned right and saw Bateman standing a few feet away, examining his map with a dim torch.
"All okay?" asked Bateman, not looking up.
"Yes," answered Harry, although he realised he was probably asking Duke. "What happened?"
"There were only eight. They were wizards, but we have no idea who they worked for. They were pretending to be tourists."
Harry didn't ask what had happened to them.
"Right, let's get going. Our first passage is actually an old mine working. Shame we haven't time to examine it more closely. Centuries old, probably. Watch for trip hazards."
Bateman set off at a fast pace. They had torches and wands lit now, so it was a little easier to keep up. Every now and again, Bateman would stop and so they could catch their breath.
After the third stop, he changed the order in which they walked in. Hermione, who was finding it the most difficult to maintain the pace, would now follow Bateman. Harry and Ron followed her.
Half an hour later they stood before a large rusting iron gate. The padlock and chain had rusted solid.
Harry tapped it with his wand and the padlock, and a fair amount of the gate, fell to the wet ground. He tried the gate but it still didn't move. Harry was about to raise his wand again when Bateman put his shoulder to it. With a loud screech, the gate opened.
"Right," he said, not bothering to lower his voice. "From now on it gets interesting. A few feet inside, there is a shear drop. We will descend down on ropes for speed."
The prospect of dropping into complete darkness from a great height didn't appeal to Harry at all, but with the encouragement of the others he allowed himself to be secured to the ropes and dropped over the edge.
They had practised only one drop each like this the day before; but it hadn't been in pitch darkness and not from this height.
He knew he was braking himself by pulling on the ropes far more than the others had done. His problem was not knowing how fast he was descending with no visual reference. It was just pitch black now.
Eventually, he was caught in Bateman's strong torch beam from below. Be quickened his pace and was relieved more than he could say upon hitting the floor of the cave.
He was quickly released and shouts went up for the next one to follow. Harry held his wand out ready in case there was another accident.
Far quicker than he had anticipated, two figures were picked out in the light beam. It was Terri and Hermione descending together, with Terri in control of the descent.
For a moment, he thought they were dropping way too fast, but Terri braked hard as they approached the floor.
Hermione had her eyes shut tight the entire time and it was a moment before she opened them again.
Next to descend was Ron, again accompanied by Smith. Hagland, the last, came down at an incredible speed.
By the time they were all ready to proceed, Carlyle had found the best route for them. Clearly the most experienced in cave climbing, even Bateman was happy to defer to his directions.
They made good progress until Carlyle halted them at the entrance to another cavern.
"Check the safety lines," he ordered. "The next chamber has both an unstable roof and a shale floor. We need to go straight across, but it is very unstable underfoot. If you feel yourself slip, shout out immediately so we can all take the strain."
He then proceeded to change the order they went in, making sure Harry, Hermione and Ron each had experienced climbers on each side.
Harry was pleased to find himself behind Bateman. Carlyle took the lead again and Harry watched as Bateman played out the rope as he set out across the cavern. The floor to the cavern had been filled with small stones that had formed a small mountain inside. Carlyle was attempting to cross following a line that formed a winding ridge.
Every cautious step he took created a mini land slide as the stones tumbled down into the dark far edges of the cavern and possibly beyond.
Soon, though, Carlyle was out of view. Bateman continued to play out the rope until they heard stones falling and the rope slid through his hands. Assuming Carlyle had slipped, Bateman and Harry grabbed the rope.
"I'm okay!" came an echo out of the darkness. "Let out some more rope. I think I can make it to the other side."
"Okay!" shouted Bateman, playing out more rope slowly.
There was the sound of Carlyle swearing loudly and then he shouted, "I'm home. Give me a moment to secure the rope."
They waited a moment and then Carlyle shouted, "This is more unstable than I thought. Harry, you come across next. You're lighter, so it should be a little easier for you. Remember, stick to the centre and follow the ridge line."
Bateman had unclipped himself and pushed Harry to the edge before Carlyle had finished talking.
"Remember, we'll have hold of both ends this time," said Bateman. "Shout out as soon as you feel yourself slipping."
Harry was about to step out, when he unclipped his rucksack.
"I can summon these across after," he explained.
The stones were incredibly slippery underfoot. The slightest movement sent them tumbling down into the darkness. For a while, he seriously considered dropping on his hands and trying to crawl across. He realised, though, that he would have little chance then to correct a slip. He had needed to do that several times already.
He had got a few yards when the route he was following began to descend. This was the point that Carlyle had gone out of view.
Carlyle flashed his torch so Harry could see where he was aiming for. Harry stepped forward, but he soon felt himself accelerating under the assistance of gravity. Worse, he seemed to be falling away from where Carlyle was.
Harry grabbed the safety line just in time. His feet gave way and he fell. Just as he thought he would fall to the very centre of the earth, he felt himself slam hard into the rock face. He had reached the other side of the cavern.
"Harry?" shouted Carlyle.
"I'm okay," said Harry, winded and still seeing flashes before his eyes.
"Can you climb up?"
"Yes, I think so."
With some difficulty, he managed to climb the safety rope. The ledge where Carlyle was waiting was actually only a few feet up. Carlyle pulled him up the final bit and then allowed Harry to collapse to get his breath back.
"Hey, what happened to you?" asked Harry seeing Carlyle looking very pale and nursing his left arm.
"Broke it on my last jump," he said between short pants of breath. "Misjudged in the darkness. Only just made it. Lost my pack." Harry was amazed that he had been able to pull him up to safety.
Harry pulled out his wand and examined Carlyle's forearm. It was twisted horribly and clearly broken but the skin was intact.
"I think I can fix the break and make you a little more comfortable, but I'm afraid I'm not good enough to fix you up entirely," admitted Harry.
"What's happening?" came Bateman's shout from across the cavern.
"Harry's fine," Carlyle shouted back. "Give us a moment."
Harry pointed his wand and performed the charm. The bone fused and the bruising eased a little but it was still twisted and bent slightly.
"I'm sorry," said Harry.
"Sorry?" said Carlyle incredulously. "You're kidding right? This is good enough for me to climb and fight with. I didn't fancy just waiting down here to die. Now, let's get the others across, shall we? It'll be much easier with both of us pulling. Hey, where's your pack?"
Harry pointed his want into the darkness and shouted, "Accio rucksack!" A moment later he caught it.
"I take it we're ready to proceed?" shouted the unseen Bateman. "I'm coming now."
Harry looked guiltily at Carlyle who laughed and said, "Go on! It's got to be done!"
"Hey, what are you two plotting?"
Harry pointed his wand once more and shouted, "Accio Bear!"