The Battle Standard
by Jardyn39
Chapter 16 - The Train
"This is just insane," repeated Harry, rocking slightly as the train carriage crossed some points.
Miss Alice smiled and continued to pour them both cups tea.
"I rather like having my personal train to travel about in."
Harry laughed and said, "Yes, but it's such an obvious target!"
"Well, we have packed the entire train with enough firepower and explosives to make mincemeat of any attacking force. It is rather a disappointment that they haven't bothered up to now."
"Is the train really protected, though?" asked Harry. He'd seen nothing unusual and certainly no sign of the train's protection other than a small security contingent.
"The only way Voldemort will ever know for sure is by attacking us. He must weigh up the risk of what he might gain against what it might cost him."
"So while he decides we might as well enjoy the ride?"
"Absolutely!"
The train stopped at a checkpoint about five miles outside the village and Harry was much intrigued by the small teams of camouflaged men who climbed in and out of the carriages.
They generally entered the train for a few minutes and then reported back to an officer on the platform.
At one point he thought he heard, "Third carriage missile battery safeties on, Sir!"
As the train began moving again, he was left wondering what exactly the truth was. He supposed that was the idea, after all.
*
Five minutes later the train stopped again and Miss Alice got up.
"This is where I leave you, Harry. The train will continue right into the camp. Your guide will be boarding here too."
"Thanks," said Harry, rising from his seat.
Miss Alice hurried off and Harry smiled seeing John Bateman waiting on the platform. He boarded and there was a slight delay before Miss Alice alighted from the train.
Harry felt the carriage lurch forward almost at once.
Miss Alice gave a brief wave to Harry but was interrupted by someone handing her a small bundle of messages.
"Hello, Harry!"
"Hi, Bear," said Harry with a grin, standing to shake hands.
"How are Hermione and Ron?"
"Well, Hermione is still staying with her parents at Torvais. Ron's fine. He's still working with Fred and George most of the time."
"Good. So you managed to break through the village security, eh?" he asked with a grin.
"Hermione worked it out, but to be honest it was more difficult to find the place."
"Mary was convinced I'd told you where this place was, you know?"
"Sorry. It never occurred to me that this place was actually in use today, as it were."
"You are right to be concerned about security, though, Harry. I've been saying for ages we should mobilise the forces camped there. Of course, that would probably create as many problems as it solved."
Harry nodded.
"I'm rather curious to see what is going on there, actually."
"Sorry?" asked Harry incredulously. "Don't you know?"
"Me? No, I've only ever seen the village, and that was before the camp was established. I'm known to Voldemort, so it would have been dangerous if I knew too much."
"But you were allowed to know the location?"
"That couldn't really be helped. You see, it was me who rediscovered the place while on exercise once. The village was completely deserted and in a remarkable state of preservation. We later found out that the place had been abandoned because all the roads were cut off by the railways. It seems there were too few people to bother about building stations or bridges.
"The extraordinary thing is how the place is absent from every map we could find printed after the railways were laid. That's well over a hundred years."
"Couldn't the village be seen from the air?"
"Not clearly, no. The surrounding forests hide most of the tents even now."
Harry nodded, remembering that he hadn't seen the army tents clearly either.
"Even so, why did you decide to use it?"
"I agree, it seems strange, especially as most of the civilian residents live in tents on the outskirts of the village."
"So, there's something about the village?"
"Not really. To be honest, the village is just in the way. I wanted to bulldoze the place, but Mary wouldn't hear of it."
"Perhaps that's why it was moved to Norfolk," said Harry absently.
"Norfolk?"
"Yes. The village will be relocated at some point."
Bateman frowned slightly.
"Did Mary tell you my concerns that the village may be vulnerable? I've been worried that she has been waiting for an attack."
"I need to be careful what I say, Harry," said Bateman carefully. "I was only privy to Mary's broad campaign objectives, and an early one at that. I don't have any specific details and I might mislead you by speculating about her immediate intentions."
"I wouldn't have thought keeping you away from the planning and implementation of her campaign was the best thing to do."
"It has been frustrating," admitted Bateman, "seeing her stressed out and not being able to help. I have wondered why, but I trust her. Actually, she reminded me just now that my original orders with regard to you still apply."
"She thinks I need protection here?" asked Harry.
Bateman shrugged as the train drew to a halt.
"How long do you intend to stay?"
"I'm leaving tonight, and I'll be taking Hermione and her parents with me, whether they want to or not."
"Okay, we should split up then. I'll inspect the outer perimeter defences and then make contact with them in the village. I'll get them out if you haven't already.
"I suggest you find out what you can about what's going on inside the camp."
"Okay, but don't you want to see too?"
"Yes, but there'll be too much to see in one day. Let's confer later."
*
The young Lieutenant who met them from the train made a valiant attempt at keeping to the itinerary he had prepared for their visit, but Harry felt his assumption that his rank would count for anything with Bateman was rather misplaced.
Bateman took immediate charge the moment he stepped onto the platform, and Harry could tell he had years of experience with making junior officers do exactly what he wanted.
Pembrooke had begun to read a list of security restrictions that applied to the camp and the surroundings and tried to get Bateman and Harry to acknowledge them with a signature.
Bateman, however, just took the pad and handed it straight to the Lieutenant's Corporal standing with them before grabbing Pembrooke's map.
"Lieutenant, you and I will inspect these areas here," said Bateman, pointing down at the Lieutenant's map right in the middle of the areas designated No Go. "Mr Potter will tour the camp. I assume your Corporal can manage that?"
"Yes, Sir!" said the Corporal, coming to attention.
"Good. Well, I imagine you'd like us to start, Sir?"
Bateman marched off with the blustering Lieutenant in tow and Harry managed not to laugh out loud until he saw the Corporal was also trying not to laugh as well.
They both gave in and laughed at the same time.
"Harry! It's good to see you, mate!" said Careem.
"You too!" said Harry. "The uniform suits you."
"Better than my tramp disguise, anyway!"
"How long have you been here?"
"Just a couple of weeks. I'm attached to the Muggle security here. We are responsible for patrolling the outer perimeter and the village."
Harry nodded and asked, "Have you seen inside the camp itself?"
"No, it has been completely off limits. Come on, we should get a move on before someone countermands my new orders."
Harry wondered for a moment why Careem was being allowed into the camp, but then he remembered Kingsley had told him about Careem joining the Muggle armed forces but actually being a Squib.
*
They walked along a wide forest path, passing through three checkpoints, before the path began to climb steeply.
Harry asked about the other members of Bateman's original team that had been assigned to protect him but Careem didn't admit to knowing what they were currently up to.
"We're at the outskirts the camp now," said Careem quietly. "I suspect we'll reach a point not too far ahead at which I'll be ordered to turn back. Let's see how far we can get, shall we?"
"I can see something through the trees."
"Yes, there are wizard tents all around here, hidden amongst the trees. You can see some of them from our regular patrol routes. It's tempting to go and look but I don't think we should depart from the official tour just yet, though."
"Sure," agreed Harry, who was now sure they were being watched. "How is Harriet?"
Harry hadn't seen Harriet Castle since Careem and Hagland had whisked her away to recover in safety after she had suffered under the influence of an Imperious Curse.
"Much better, thanks. I was hoping to get her transferred to stay in the village. My unit is classified as on active duty around here, so although we get days off, we are not allowed to leave the area."
"That must be hard. Do they allow any communication with the outside world?"
"It's all monitored, obviously. We can write, but we have to use the teletype. There are no telephones and all the radios are of limited range."
Harry was about to speak when Careen muttered, "Fifty yards ahead. Low down. On the right."
"Got it," whispered Harry, having also seen the camouflage netting spread out on the ground.
"I want to swap over as we go past," whispered Careem.
They continued on, chatting normally until they got almost level.
"I always have trouble getting my bearings in forests," said Harry normally. "The village is over there, right?" he asked, pointing in completely the wrong direction.
"No," said Careen, moving over to the right side of the path and saying, "more like over there."
One moment Careen was standing casually with his back to the camouflage, now almost impossible to see, when he kicked out.
A muffled cry told them that there had been someone hiding under the netting.
Harry helped Careem pull the unconscious bundle into the undergrowth. Once there, Careem pulled off the netting to reveal a young man who looked barely older than Harry.
"Do you recognise him?"
"No," said Harry. "Um, should you have done that?"
"I didn't kill him, did I?"
"They are supposed to be on our side, though."
Careem searched the wizard's pockets and pulled out a map of the area. He also produced his own map and compared the two.
"Not very trusting, are they?" observed Harry seeing that Careem's map had hardly any of the detail shown on the new map.
"Let's cut across here," suggested Careem. "We are supposed to report to the CO's office in the centre of the camp. We still ought to do that, but I'd like to see the hospital tent and the punishment block."
"Why?"
"Well, you can tell a lot about a place from those kinds of places. The mere fact that we aren't supposed to see them just has to mean something."
"Okay, but if we're outnumbered, we shouldn't put up a fight. We can claim we just got lost."
"Alright."
Harry bent down and carefully pocketed the wizard's wand and then covered him with the camouflage netting.
They then set off deeper into the forest.
*
"Harry, what do you think those cages are for?"
"I'd have guessed animals of some kind, but all the gates are open."
"Maybe they use guard dogs?" suggested Careem. "We've never heard any, though."
"They look too big for dogs," observed Harry, and then a shiver ran down his back.
"Werewolves," he whispered. "They must keep them locked up at the full moon."
Careem swore, but quickly composed himself. They were crouched down at the edge of a clearing, overlooking the main camp now.
"Pity we've run out of tree cover," said Careem. "We can go a bit further, following the trees."
"No, I think we should continue under my invisibility cloak."
"Okay."
"Where is it we are supposed to report to?"
"Um, right over on the far side," he replied, pointing to a large tent around two hundred feet away. "From all the activity down there, I think they must know we are missing."
"Then we should hurry," said Harry, pulling out his cloak.
*
Harry led the way and Careem directed him silently as they made their way through the camp. It was fortunate that Careem knew how military camps were typically laid out, because not only would Harry have become very lost, he would also have gone down the main access routes.
People were now running backwards and forwards now, perhaps in search of them.
Finally, they reached the hospital tent. They went around the back and observed that there were currently no resident patients.
Careem pushed Harry on towards another inconspicuous tent, but didn't look inside. Instead, he directed them around the side and Harry noticed Careen pause beside a freshly cultivated patch of earth.
Careem sniffed the air a few times before they proceeded.
"What?" whispered Harry.
"I'm not sure, but we may have to fight our way out of here after all. I suspect we just walked over a shallow grave, and there's an open pit ahead."
"Do you want to get out of here now?"
"Don't tempt me."
"They knew we were coming. If they were killing prisoners, they'd hardly leave the evidence around for us to see."
"True."
"Anyway, wouldn't they just transfigure or vanish the bodies?"
"I want to see the barracks and then get closer to the CO's office. We can decide what to do then."
"Agreed. Which way?"
Careen turned Harry in the right direction by directing his shoulders and said, "Not even whispering from now on. I'll speak when it's safe."
*
They entered a quadrangle formed by four large tents, each with large entrances all facing into the centre. They could here voices of the people inside the tent and paused a couple of times to eavesdrop.
After listening to several complaints about the food and lack of decent alcohol, they heard something of interest and stopped to listen.
"Is there any news of the attack?"
"No, but the order remains that we are to be ready at all times."
"It must be soon!"
"Perhaps. It will certainly begin shortly. Perhaps even tonight."
"I wish the order would just come! I can't stand all this waiting around."
"Be thankful. When the fighting really starts, you'll soon change your mind."
They heard a laugh, and the other voice said, "The irony of it all!"
"Quiet, fool! You know the orders. We are not to even speak of such things here."
Careem pushed Harry forward and out through the gap between the tents on the far corner. Just before they continued, Harry felt Careem pause. He looked back over his shoulder and they watched as a single chair was dragged out into the centre of the quadrangle.
Harry made an audible gasp as he recognised the wizard.
Careem pushed him forward again as another bored looking wizard appeared with a bucket of water which he poured over the blood stained chair.
They paused again and Careem gave Harry an encouraging squeeze of his shoulder. Harry nodded, knowing they had to witness as much as possible and then get away cleanly.
They slowly made their way over to the large tent Careem referred to as the CO's office. This was tricky because there was now a lot of activity around the front of the tent.
They stopped around the side of the tent to assess their situation, and while they did so two people came outside.
One was dressed in a Muggle battledress and the other wore conventional wizarding clothes.
"I think you'd better give the word, Colonel."
"We're not ready."
"Events are about to overtake us. The Muggles have been reinforcing the perimeter all week and Bateman was seen arriving this morning to inspect. They may not tell us what is going on, but it's pretty obvious that they are anticipating a significant attack."
"There is no indication that the Dark Lord will order an attack so soon."
"We've always known there would be no notice of an attack."
"The Muggles are there to defend against an attack from all corners of the compass. The plan for them to buy us time to respond is a good one, if one that may be expensive in terms of casualties."
"When was the last time you received a communication from Miss Alice?"
"Yesterday. She advised me that she was sending someone to look around and that I was to extend them every courtesy."
"So what happened to them and young Barlow?"
"I don't know. I'm still waiting for all the patrols to report in."
"Surely they must have kidnapped Barlow and taken him back for interrogation?"
"Why would they do that?"
"I say we grab a couple of Muggles and see what we can get out of them."
"For the last time, we are not going to do anything that will jeopardise the operation. Capturing Muggles and making them talk is hardly showing co-operation, is it? We know they don't entirely trust us yet, but there is still time."
*
Harry and Careem eventually got to the opposing tree line and then hurried back to join up with the regular Muggle patrols who were making their way back to their billet just outside the village.
It was a welcome change to move around without a cloak over their heads.
They had only been walking for a few minutes when a fast approaching open top Land Rover skidded to a halt behind them
"Get in, you two," ordered Bateman, who did not sound like he was in a good mood.
They jumped in the back and Bateman drove off at once.
"Sergeant," shouted the Lieutenant from the front passenger seat and desperately clinging on to stay inside the vehicle, "we have our orders. I can't just change all the field positions without proper authorisation."
"Authorisation?" yelled Bateman back as he threw the vehicle into another corner. "Your first responsibility is to the people under your command, Lieutenant. I'm not saying you should go against your orders. However, it would seem to be prudent, at the very least, to consider how vulnerable you will be. There are always alternatives."
Bateman was driving faster than Harry thought possible for such a narrow and winding track. Several infantry soldiers had to dive out of the way.
The four-wheel drive Land Rover skidded to a halt outside a large wheeled cabin that had a variety of complicated looking aerials on top.
Bateman jumped out of the Land Rover and turned to the Lieutenant who was looking nervously at the open door of the cabin.
"I'll take your advice, Sergeant," he said at last.
"Very good, Sir," replied Bateman before giving him a smart salute. Careem followed suite but the Lieutenant ignored him, obviously thinking about what orders he needed to reinterpret.
The Lieutenant had driven off before Bateman had placed a boot on the lower step up to the cabin, but Bateman stopped a moment to listen.
He then turned and marched across the makeshift road towards a wider clearing. Harry and Careem hurried to catch him up.
They approached what looked like a concrete base, but Harry realised it was actually a brick building set down below ground level. Bateman went straight for the steep concrete steps leading down to two sentries who suddenly looked alarmed at his presence.
As he climbed down the steps, Harry noticed that the surrounded earth that had been graded back looked freshly dug. There were a few weeds but no grass had grown yet.
The building itself looked new and hurriedly constructed.
"We are not authorised to let you pass, Sarge," said one of the sentries. His companion continued to look terrified that he might actually have to try and stop Bateman.
"Step aside, son," said Bateman quietly.