The Final Lesson
by Jardyn39
Chapter 11 - The Journal
Harry was late rising the next morning and found Bateman sitting at the kitchen table reading his own report. Next to him was Falcon's Journal.
"Morning. Where are the others?" Harry asked groggily.
"Edward is at the shop," he replied. "Mary and Hermione insisted upon helping Jennifer with her weekly shop at the other end of the village."
Harry nodded and sat.
"I was hoping that if I read my own report some of my memory would come back," said Bateman, putting down the file and gathering up some notes.
"What are those?" Harry asked, recognising Hermione's neat handwriting.
"These are notes and queries of things Hermione noted from going through the report. She asked me to review and comment on them."
Bateman picked up a pencil and began scribbling while Harry turned one of the other sheets around to read what she had written.
Harry was quite incredulous. He'd read the report thoroughly and hadn't noted anything worth making a note of; yet Hermione's collection of notes were thicker than the original report!
He returned the sheet, trying to convince himself that the spelling and grammar errors she had pointed out were not significant. Of course, Harry knew full well that these errors could very well be significant.
"If you wanted to conceal a message in a report like that, what would you do?"
Bateman snorted and looked up at him.
"Hermione asked me that very question this morning. Then she said good morning."
Harry smiled and nodded.
"I typed this report myself and I'm sure I didn't make any notes first," said Bateman. "These spelling errors look like mine and I've never been great at grammar. I also doubt that the erratic word spacing isn't a code. I couldn't work all that out in my head."
"Does the report look complete?"
"It follows the format I've used for years. Hermione asked me why there wasn't a recommendation or a conclusion, but it would actually be unusual for me to put them in. You see, as a grunt, I can be relied upon to report facts but drawing conclusions and making recommendations is traditionally several steps above my pay grade."
"So how does anything ever get done?"
"Sometimes it doesn't!" said Bateman with a loud laugh.
"So, there probably isn't a message hidden in there?" concluded Harry with disappointment in his voice.
"I didn't say that," said Bateman. "But, I must admit, it isn't immediately apparent what it might be."
"Hermione thought it could be something subtle; something deliberately hard to find."
"Mission accomplished then!" joked Bateman. "Seriously though, I keep wondering if my memory alterations are preventing me from seeing it. What if I gave Kingsley a clue?"
"Wouldn't he have said something, to us I mean?"
"Not if he didn't know it was a clue. I'd better get on with these comments. Let's see," he said before reading aloud. "The paper maker's watermarks show that sheets three and seven were typed upside down and sheets four and five were typed on the back of the paper. Could this be significant?"
An almost imperceptible expression of pain passed over Bateman's face as he considered his answer. Harry was sure he wanted to just throw the lot into the fire, but instead he diligently wrote a short reply. Harry hoped it wasn't too rude.
Harry smiled seeing the smirk that appeared on Bateman's face as he reconsidered his answer, obviously pleased with his response.
He then appeared to move onto the next question, when Harry noticed him stiffen and frown. As he tapped Hermione's notes with the end of his pencil, Harry asked, "Anything?"
"Hermione asked me about what way I typed onto the paper. That's nothing special, since I just grabbed the paper and shoved it into the machine."
"Go on," said Harry.
"Well, that's just it. Why on earth was I using plain white paper? All the paper supplies we had were pre-printed top and bottom."
"You had pre-printed plain paper for typing on? Why was that?"
"Well, you could see that each page was clearly Ministry of Defence and had the originating Department details. Anyone reading it would know it was genuine that way. It also meant that you typed it within the correct margins to make duplication and filing easier. There were spaces for the date and report numbers to be inserted too."
"Didn't you say you typed the report in the presence of Kingsley and the Prime Minister? Maybe they didn't have the correct paper where you typed it."
"Maybe," agreed Bateman thoughtfully. "You know, I've no idea where we were when I did the report?"
Bateman returned to commenting on Hermione's observations and Harry picked up the red Journal for the first time.
He opened the book and found the first page of obviously adult handwriting. Harry began to read but soon skipped forward.
In every passage he read, paranoia seemed to jump out of the page.
A few pages from the end he found a table of numbers and two pages after that he found several pages written in a foreign alphabet that he didn't recognise at all. On another page, all the "W" letters were in red ink and the one in the centre was circled as well. On several pages, Falcon had written in two directions.
Strange graphic characters were drawn in almost every margin and randomly tiny arrows pointing in different directions would be embedded in the manuscript.
Clearly, there was a lot of hidden information here.
The kitchen door opened and in came Hermione and Mary. They both looked frozen and hurried over to the fire to warm up.
"Jennifer has gone over to the shop," said Hermione. "She invited us to stay for lunch but I thought we should go."
"Oh, alright," said Harry, sounding a little disappointed. He had enjoyed the short time he'd spent in the village. Part of it was Edward and Jennifer's good company, but he also knew that he felt far more removed from his troubles all the way up here in the North.
Mary looked over Bateman's shoulder interestedly, and he pointed at one of his responses with his pencil without looking up. Mary squeezed his shoulder and smiled.
"That makes sense," she said quietly. "Remember, we switched to non-standard stationery ourselves so it stood out as different from the regular MOD reports. We used coloured paper, but we couldn't get it pre-printed. Even if the printers were security cleared for sensitive projects, I wouldn't want them having anything to do with us."
Bateman nodded and added a short note to his amended response.
"Harry, we need to go somewhere safe to study both the Journal and John's report," said Mary.
"I was wondering if London would be the best place," said Hermione.
"Sure," said Harry, catching on at once. "There's plenty of room, although the company won't be up to much."
"Thank you, Harry," said Mary. "What we could really do with," she added, "is a means to recover John's missing memories."
"We'd need to talk to Kingsley about that," said Harry. "It may not be possible without permanently damaging Bear's mind. Unfortunately he's been out of contact for ages now. We can try though."
"Good," said Hermione. "We can Floo from here."
"No we can't, Hermione," said Harry.
"Yes," agreed Bateman. "I need to return Jim's car."
"Actually, I was thinking that as Muggles they might get lost or not be able to enter the Floo Network at all."
"Gosh, I suppose that's true," agreed Hermione.
"Come on, I'll Apparate you there," suggested Harry. "Gather up everything you need."
"Will they be able to Disapparate either?"
"Let's try."
"Harry, no! What if they get splinched? They could get really hurt."
"Try with me first," suggested Bateman. "Just a few feet."
The kitchen door opened again and Harry was relieved to see both Edward and Jennifer.
"We could use some advice," said Harry.
"What is it, dear?" asked Jennifer with interest.
"Is it safe for Muggles to Apparate?"
"No, dear, I wouldn't advise it. Even squibs can get into trouble using side-along Apparition."
"You can sometimes get away with it," added Edward, "but unless it really is an emergency, I wouldn't chance it. You need no distractions and must concentrate very hard. Splinching is really difficult to avoid and is almost always fatal for non-magical people."
Harry nodded and said, "Thanks. What about Portkeys?"
"Portkeys are safe," agreed Edward, "but the landings can be rough. Magical folk tend to bounce better."
"Good, we'll do that, then."
"But where will you get a Portkey from?" asked Jennifer. "Won't you need to apply to the Ministry?"
Harry grinned and asked, "Can we have a couple of bits of kindling?"
"Harry, are you sure about this? Remember what you learned how to do the Portus charm from," warned Hermione cryptically.
"Hermione and Alice can go straight there now. Bear and I will follow once we've returned the car. Agreed?"
The others nodded.
"Portus!" Harry spoke and the first twig glowed electric blue. The colour was never as vibrant as when Dumbledore had performed the charm. Harry supposed this was the Kemmynadow's influence.
He also knew that Hermione had been right to urge caution. Harry's Portkeys were not for the faint hearted at the best of times.
"Here," said Harry handing Hermione the twig.
"Just a moment," said Mary. She hurried over to kiss Edward and Jennifer goodbye. "Thank you so much for your help and kind hospitality."
When Hermione had said her goodbyes, she finally offered the Portkey up for Mary to take hold of. Hermione lifted the rucksack over her head and then nodded to show she was ready.
Smirking at the look of trepidation on Hermione's face, he touched his wand tip to the twig and said, "Three, two, one."
In a flash they were gone.
Harry turned and said, "Well, I guess we should make a move too."
Jennifer stepped forward and held both his arms. Harry smiled down into her watery eyes.
"Thank you for everything," he said gently. "If you ever need anything, please contact Arthur Weasley at the Ministry of Magic or Tom the Innkeeper at the Leaky Cauldron. They can both be trusted and can get messages to me. Remember, anything at all."
Jennifer hugged him and said, "W- We've read so much about you. What happened to you, and everything. I'm so glad you're nothing like the person the papers describe you as, Harry. I suppose with Dumbledore gone, You-Know-Who will be even keener to revenge himself upon you."
"I'm not alone," Harry said gently. "I'll continue to resist him any way I can and I'm pleased to say I have found many friends who want to fight with me."
"Well," said Edward, giving Harry's shoulder an encouraging squeeze, "I hope you'll count us amongst those friends, Harry. If there's anything you need, you can always count on us to help."
Harry shook the old wizard's hand and smiled knowing he would never ask anything that would put them at further risk.
*
"Can I ask you something?" asked Harry as they walked back over to the far side of the village.
"Sure," replied Bateman easily.
"Well, it's nothing, really, but whenever I call you Bear, I get the impression you don't like it much."
Bateman looked over to him before shrugging and nodding.
"Yes, I suppose it does seem strange. I'm just used being called Bear by friends that I've known, and who have known me, for years. I honestly can't remember anything about you or Hermione. Not a single thing."
"I'm sorry, John," said Harry. "I'll try and remember."
"No, it's me who should be sorry. Mary told me that it was me who told you to call me that."
Harry smiled and nodded, remembering.
"You see, I don't generally allow new acquaintances to call me Bear. When I reminded Mary that she just tore me off a strip, asking me if I'd really let anyone I didn't consider a friend to call me by my nickname.
"That's why I haven't said anything, actually. She can be quite biting, when she wants to be."
Harry snorted.
"I can't remember the last time she called me Bear," said Bateman sadly.
Then he perked up a little, saying, "I think you'd better just carry on calling me whatever comes to mind, Harry. I'd never get a moment's peace otherwise.
Harry smiled back at him. After a short walk further, Harry and Bateman got to Jim's car.
"Let's drive out of the village and find somewhere quiet," suggested Harry.
"I thought we were driving all the way back to Jim's house?"
"No, we might was well Portkey there as well. It'll be quicker."
Bateman drove down the road until they found a quiet track with thick bushes on either side. They got out and listened but heard no sign of activity anywhere.
"There's not much petrol left," observed Bateman. "I'd like to return it with a full tank, but I've no cash left for the fuel."
"My uncle had a spare tank for emergencies," said Harry.
"So does Jim," said Bateman, "but that won't get us very far."
Harry opened the boot and brought out the small metal tank. He unscrewed the plastic cap and fitted the filling nozzle. Meanwhile, Bateman had opened the fuel filling cap in the side of the car.
Realising the spare tank was only part full, Harry took his wand out and lightly tapped the rim of the opening. There was a gurgling noise and then the petrol level slowly rose to the top. Harry lifted his wand away just before it overflowed.
"Now, that is a handy trick."
"I've never tried it with anything like petrol," admitted Harry. "It smells like petrol, anyway."
Fortunately, the charm seemed to have worked perfectly. After several refillings, both tanks were full to the brim.
"Right, now we need to shrink the car down a bit."
Harry pointed his wand at the car bonnet and performed a shrinking charm until the car was only a foot long.
"How heavy is it now?" asked Harry.
Bateman struggled to pick it up with both arms.
"Yes, I'm afraid it will still retain quite a lot of the weight of the original," said Harry. "Can you manage?"
"Just about," came the strained reply.
Harry created another Portkey from a discarded can he found on the verge and soon they were ready to go.
"Remember," warned Harry, "this will be a rough landing. If we drop and smash the car I may not be able to repair it."
*
They landed at the precise point that Bateman had shown him on the road map. After a brief moment when they both struggled to stop the car from falling to the ground, all was well.
"If this grass hadn't been so soft and wet we'd both have broken legs now," observed Bateman after swearing heartily.
"Sorry about that," said Harry, rubbing his sore knees. "Hermione hasn't been too impressed with my efforts up to now, either."
"Can you walk?"
"I'd rather drive."
"Good point!"
Harry restored the car to its original size and they drove the short distance to Bateman's friend.
Harry thought that Jim looked terribly disappointed that Mary hadn't come with them but Bateman assured him that she was hurrying home to check her telephone messages.
*
Harry and Bateman arrived safely back at Grimmauld Place.
"You wizards do enjoy being thrown around, don't you?" observed Bateman once he'd stopped bouncing up and down on one of the many mattresses that Harry had asked Dobby to cover the floor in.
"Where are we, by the way?"
"This is one of the spare upstairs bedrooms," replied Harry. "I inherited this house from my Godfather, Sirius Black."
Harry stood and held out his hand to pull Bateman up but he didn't immediately take it.
"Have I asked you all these things before?"
"We've spoken about them," agreed Harry. "You've never actually been here, though."
"It's so strange. I keep getting flashes. Well, more like feelings. Sirius. It's like I know he meant a lot to you, only I can't remember what."
"Come and see the rest of the house."
*
Harry quickly introduced Bateman to the Dursleys and explained that he and Mary would be staying as his guests for a few days while they did some research. Although Bateman didn't know it, he had met the Dursleys at the beginning of the summer. Fortunately they were prudent enough not to mention anything.
He also introduced them to Dobby and Kreacher while Hermione cooed over Phryne whom, Harry was relieved to find, had not suffered under Kreacher's care.
Immediately after that, though, Hermione had dragged him away.
"I Flooed Mrs Weasley while you were gone," she said hurriedly. "Mr Weasley is visiting Diagon Alley. If we hurry we might catch him!"
"What's the hurry?"
"He might be able to get a message to Kingsley for us!" she reminded him, throwing Floo powder into the fire. "You also wanted to ask him about the village and what Ollivander's interest there might be?"
"Oh, yes."
*
They emerged from the Leaky Cauldron and made their way towards Fred and George's shop.
"It's busier here than I've seen it for ages," commented Hermione as they wound their way through the gathered people.
Harry found a small leaflet was thrust into his hand. Annoyed that he hadn't been asked if he wanted one, he looked down and read, "Visible Ministry security presence stepped up in Diagon Alley. Shoppers are assured of safety in the run up to the Christmas holidays."
He looked around to see who the Ministry had sent to watch over them but nobody stood out.
"Not very visible, are they?" he said quietly to Hermione.
She shrugged and said, "Hey, there's Ron!"
"Where?"
"He's gone now but he was headed towards the shop. Let's join him there."
Harry followed looking out for Ron but only caught sight of him when they'd almost reached the entrance.
As they waited by the doorway they were amused to see Ron trying to get around shoppers who had no idea what direction they wanted to move in. He had to retrace his steps several times.
Just as the crowd cleared, Ron stopped in his tracks.
A hooded man stepped out from the crowd and walked past him, giving Ron the merest hint of a nod. Ron hesitated and then turned to follow the hooded figure.
"Where is he going?" asked Hermione. "They're going down towards Knockturn Alley!"
"Let's follow them," said Harry at once.
"But it's too busy to put the cloak on," said Hermione, now hurrying to catch Harry up.
By the time they got to the entrance to Knockturn Alley they were quite some way behind. Fortunately, Harry spotted Ron coming back out of a door further down. He was now accompanied by a shorter wizard that Harry did not recognise as well as the hooded man.
The three of them appeared to finish their discussion and nodded to each other before all three Disapparated away.
Harry turned back to Hermione.
"Please tell me you saw who was under that hood too," said Harry.
Hermione just looked up at him shakily.
"Hello there!" said Mr Weasley from behind them. "I thought I recognised you two. If you want to go down there, I'd like to accompany you. Don't worry, Molly need not know."
"Thanks, Mr Weasley," said Harry, dragging his eyes from the spot where Ron had just been standing. "As a matter of fact, we came here to find you."
"Really? How nice," he replied smiling. "I'm still on duty for another hour or so, but there's no reason why I can't patrol somewhere warmer while we talk. Shall we step into Fred and George's shop for a moment?"
Mr Weasley led the way. Harry followed but Hermione grabbed his hand.
"Say nothing about this for now. Please, Harry. We need to think this through first."
Harry nodded. He didn't know how he would tell Mr Weasley anyway.
*
Harry and Hermione stepped into the Room of Requirement. Mr Weasley had been called away before they had a chance to ask him anything, but before he dashed off he invited them to dinner that evening so they could talk.
They declined dinner, saying they had plans for the evening, but promised to call in when they could. They had decided to return to Hogwarts for the remainder of the afternoon to talk things through in private.
"We mustn't jump to conclusions," said Hermione, sitting down as all the fires died around them.
Harry brought over the Kemmynadow book and placed it on the centre table before sitting down opposite her.
"It may have been an entirely innocent meeting."
Harry looked down, feeling ashamed that he was unable to voice an agreement in support of his best friend.
"He could have been gathering information for us."
Harry opened the book and slid it over so it was within easy reach of her.
"What are you going to do, Harry?"
"Well, first off," said Harry, speaking for the first time since they stepped out of the fireplace, "I'm going to seal this room so that Ron can't gain access. We need this place to be secure. If Ron is compromised then we can't afford to let him come here any more."
Hermione nodded sadly.
"The second thing we're going to do is find him and give him a chance to explain. I don't think he saw us this afternoon. Of course, he might still lie; but that's his choice."
"Oh, Harry," said Hermione, her cheeks reddening. "What on earth does he want with Ron?"
"More like, what does Ron want with them?" he replied darkly.