The Kemmynadow Betrayal
by Jardyn39
Chapter 8 - Smoke and Mirrors
"May I ask you something?" asked Harry.
Miss Alice smiled and said, "Of course, Harry."
The two of them were alone in the briefing room now. The Prime Minister and Kingsley Shacklebolt had departed for the House of Commons and Bateman was busy making arrangements for the four errant soldiers he had met earlier.
"Have you already started analysing wizard information?"
She smiled and almost reluctantly said, "Yes, alright. Yes, we have."
Laughing disarmingly she added, "We've been inputting everything we've been able to get our hands on. Mostly, these have been old newspaper publications like the Daily Prophet. Once we got over the moving images, it was fairly simple to scan and enter. We have entered editions that span back almost twenty years, but we have a long way to go. You see, we don't have every issue and it's very low grade information."
"Where did you get the copies from?" asked Harry incredulously.
"Well, I have worked for the Ministry of Defence for a number of years, and I began as an analyst. I always enjoyed making predictions based upon obscure data. I suppose I get it from my mother. You see, she worked for the MOD too, as a computer."
Harry frowned.
"Computers, Harry, before the advent of electronics, were people who did complex calculations or, as in mine and my mother's case, memorised vast amounts of information and recalled connections."
He raised his eyebrows interestedly.
"Few people realise their true mental potential, Harry. I myself am nowhere near as good as my mother was. I suppose that having electronic computers at my disposal has disadvantaged me. However, I did manage to spot one particular pattern that was rather relevant to us today.
"It probably won't come as too much of a shock to you, but quite a lot goes on, in the various Military Intelligence departments that few people, especially the elected Government, ever get to hear about. Well, at least the truth about it, anyway.
"One such matter under investigation was a phenomenon where certain individuals were witnessed that appeared to exhibit the ability to perform magic. This was and remains an absurd notion, but there were too many unexplained occurrences for them not to be investigated.
"The thing that I spotted wasn't anything to do with magic. No, what I realised was that the investigators would suddenly, and without any good reason, decide to forget what they were doing and all their records would vanish."
Harry smiled, realising that the Ministry of Magic must have been taking an interest.
"So, I decided to set a trap. Fortunately, my assumption that they would sent a very junior member of staff turned out to be correct. No only that, when the first one failed to return, they sent another who was just as inept as the first.
"I released the least experienced wizard, and told them to return with someone I could talk to."
"But," interrupted Harry, "how come the Ministry didn't just send a more experienced wizard who would just modify your memory?"
"I was rather lucky, actually. The scared youth decided not to go back to his superiors. He evidently didn't trust them not to get anybody hurt. No, he clearly wanted someone he could trust. He returned a short while later with a man who introduced himself as Albus Dumbledore."
"Dumbledore? You knew Dumbledore?" asked Harry laughing.
"Well, I cannot claim to have known him. I certainly met him, at least. I knew at once that he was not someone to be trifled with. I released my captive unconditionally and invited them to have some tea."
"But how did you hold them captive, anyway?"
"I tricked them. I didn't really have any power over them, but I fooled them. Smoke and mirrors, Harry, can be very useful sometimes. Dumbledore saw right through it at once, of course, but I think he was intrigued to know how it was done. I did rather enjoy teasing him about how it was done."
Harry smiled and looked down. He still felt a pang whenever he reflected upon Dumbledore.
"I was so very sorry to read that he had died," said Miss Alice gently.
Harry nodded slowly.
"It was Dumbledore who arranged for me to have copies of old Daily Prophets. I began cataloguing them as a hobby, actually. As I read I gradually began to learn more about your world. As I learned about memory modifications, I too began to wonder about why I was being given access.
"After some time, Dumbledore contacted me again. Over tea, he quizzed me. I think he was trying to satisfy himself on a point that centred upon his trust in me. Certainly, he knew that I had never revealed any of the information that I had learned, nor had I sought to exploit the magical community.
"He finished that interview by giving me various names and asking me to think of all the connections between them that I had read. I'm pretty sure he already knew most of what I recalled, but there were a couple that were new to him.
"After that he gave me a piece of parchment that I could write connections as they occurred to me. When the writing vanished, I knew he had read my message. We corresponded for years like that, with me analysing the Prophet and he analysing our Muggle papers.
"Anyway, when the Daily Prophet announced his death, I knew I had to act. I had read that the Prime Minister of the day knew of the magical community, so I contacted his office. Thankfully, Kingsley intercepted my request for an interview. You see, humble and lowly civil servants such as myself never, ever, get to see the Great and the Good."
"I can imagine," said Harry. "So what is Brigadier Colonel Falcon's involvement?"
"I'm afraid that I must take responsibility for his current state. Falcon comes from a long line of rather distinguished military officers, although none reached his current rank. His family line has earned an extraordinary number of medals for valour, but I personally feel they excelled best in positions of planning and logistics.
"Of course, I may be biased, but defy anyone not to be moved by some of the accounts of the actions of these dedicated career officers. Many more lives were saved as a direct result of their endeavours. More than one railed against the senior echelons at the expense of their own personal prospects to ensure worthwhile improvements were made.
"Regrettably, young Falcon showed few of the attributes of his famous forebears and may have felt compelled to follow the family tradition with military service. Over the years, Falcon himself appears to have been promoted away from responsibility, a reflection upon his abilities, I'm sure."
"Sorry?"
"Well, it sometimes occurs that someone is so bad at their present job that simplest way to be rid of them is to promote them. Eventually Falcon got himself into a position where he was hopelessly out of his depth, something that was only exposed when he planned and executed a minor military action that resulted in some appalling casualties."
"Why wasn't he just sacked?"
"Perhaps he should have been, but the right thing rarely occurs in these circles. Simply, it would have been an admission that he was promoted in error. In fact, he was again promoted but this time given a joke desk job. Can you guess what the joke was?"
"To look for evidence of magic?"
"That's right. It was clear to me immediately of the damage such a man could do to the magical community. He had a powerful motive to succeed. If he did, his career might get back on track and he knew this was his last chance.
"The one thing he got right was to protect himself against the Ministry of Magic. He's lived underground for years now."
"That protected him?" asked Harry.
"Oh, no, but it lead the Ministry to consider him quite mad. His paranoia and insistence that magic existed actually guaranteed that no one sensible would take him seriously."
"So how could you be responsible?"
"I'm afraid I've been feeding him fake and doctored intelligence reports for years. I also arranged for reports to be amended after he read them, although I didn't use any magic. It became a kind of game, and it was rather easy since he had reports of every single unexplained occurrence that was reported.
"Problems began when genuine reports started to come in. This has happened over the last few months, although he still has no proof. Several reports concerned you, of course."
"Bateman said he had enough rank to cause problems," said Harry, who was beginning to regret his fun at Falcon's expense earlier.
"Yes, Bear has always considered him more dangerous than I," said Miss Alice. Harry smiled hearing her use Bateman's nickname. "Particularly since we found it convenient to assign him and his men to Falcon's staff, although he has no idea, of course."
"Actually, I think he must have found out," said Harry. "Miss Alice, Falcon said something about forcing him into retirement. That couldn't happen. Could it? I mean, not if he doesn't want to go?"
"Well, John is rather older than the usual profile," she said quietly. "But you have to remember that Special Forces have always kept experienced people on, usually for training purposes. That was John's main role before he met you. However, I felt that his worldly experience might be of benefit."
"You selected them?" he asked with a wide smile.
Bateman came back into the room and asked, "You talking about my favourite Officer?"
"Of course," said Miss Alice smiling.
"I can't tell you how often I've regretted not failing him from my survival course!"
"But, John, you did fail him, remember?" Miss Alice reminded him.
"Yes, but that was one Officer Candidate I should have left in the jungle."
Both Harry and Miss Alice knew Bateman better than to believe him.
"Here, Harry, this is for you," said Miss Alice holding out a scroll of parchment. "This was the parchment that Dumbledore gave to me all those years ago. A while ago, in a message he asked me to give you this should we ever meet. I assume it will reveal a message, but I suggest you wait until you are in private before reading it."
"Thank you," said Harry.
She reached out to hold his forearm and said, "Do as he directs, Harry. Trust him one more time."
There was a loud buzzing noise and an amplified female voice rang out saying, "Brigadier Colonel Falcon is trying to use his pass to get in here again."
*
Bateman escorted Harry up to a room on another level. Harry was by now becoming quite disorientated walking through identical looking corridors.
"You can wait in here for a few minutes while I go and change out of my uniform," Bateman said as he headed for the lifts.
Harry entered and found himself in a brightly lit waiting room. There was a single row of chairs and a small table with a stack of well-read colour magazines. He was about to sit down when someone shouted, "Harry!"
Almost at once he was being hugged.
"Mrs Granger, what on earth are you doing here?"
"We work here now. Well, we did. This is supposed to be our last day before we move on to another establishment. I'm hoping for one above ground next time!"
"This is where you've been?"
"Well, we insisted that we had to go somewhere where we could keen working, or do something useful. Apparently these kinds of establishments have all kinds of support staff like us. After all, it's important the people pressing the launch buttons aren't distracted by toothache," she added sarcastically. Harry noted she was proudly wearing several anti-war badges.
"Yes, I suppose. So Mr Granger is here too?"
"He's my assistant."
The door off to the side opened and Mr Granger said, "Hello Harry. I hope my assistant isn't bothering you."
"Hello, Mr Granger," said Harry smiling and stretching to shake his hand.
"Come on, Harry. You've got time for a quick check-up."
"No, honestly, I'm fine thanks," said Harry as he was escorted to the dentist's chair.