The Battle Standard
by Jardyn39
Chapter 3 - Alpha Store
Harry, Ron and Hermione Apparated right into the middle of the authorised wizard arrival point and were a little taken aback to find themselves surrounded by hooded figures each pointing a variety of automatic weapons at the three of them.
"Don't move until your identities have been verified," said a voice from speaker high above them.
There was a tense pause of several seconds before the voice continued, "Video identity match confirmed. Stand down Stage One and escort visitors to the Stage Two security verification."
The guns were immediately lifted and three narrow doors opened on the far wall.
Harry led the way across the room and entered the centre door which closed right behind him. He was actually in a small, brightly lit kiosk with a variety of cameras spying at him for an assortment of angles. On the far wall was another door, presumably the exit. The two other walls had full height mirrors that Harry guessed had security personnel behind to monitor him.
There was the humming sound of a speaker being turned on, and a new voice said, "State surname and first name."
"Potter, Harry," he said clearly.
"State pass-phrase," the voice demanded.
"Do what is right; not what is easy."
"Say the name of the Dark Lord."
"Voldemort!"
The second door opened at once and Harry stepped out.
"Welcome back, Sir," said the escort waiting for him. "If you'd come this way, Miss Alice is expecting you."
"Um, my friends-" Harry began to say.
"They will join us there, Sir."
Harry nodded and followed him along the long deserted corridor. A series of doors later, Harry was shown into the large briefing room where the giant red cauldron resided.
Almost at once, Hermione and her escort appeared and they walked together over to the central table where Mary and Bateman were talking.
Bateman stood at once to greet them.
"Hello, Hermione," he said warmly. "I'm sorry we didn't give you much warning."
Hermione smiled warmly and said, "Don't be silly, John," before kissing him on his cheek.
"Please, take a seat," said Mary. "John, perhaps you'd better go and remind Ron what his pass phrase is?"
"Sure," he said with a laugh. "Back in a moment."
"I'd offer you drinks, but you don't have time," said Mary with a smile. Her tone was friendly enough, but Harry knew that Miss Alice had business with them tonight.
"What is it?" asked Harry.
"Well, thanks to your note, Harry, I believe we have a golden opportunity before us."
"Hang on," said Harry, "I did warn you in my letter-"
"Yes, that Voldemort might have been tricking us? Indeed, that is still a possibility."
At that moment, Ron and Bateman appeared from another side door and came over to the table.
"Welcome, Ron," said Miss Alice before continuing. "We know the location of the Alpha Store and we were planning to raid it in a few weeks time anyway. Unfortunately we are not quite ready yet and I believe it would be a mistake to use the proposed unit."
"Are you afraid the improved security will make that difficult now?"
"Admittedly, the store may be of greater importance to Voldemort than we previously assumed. However, the main reason I want us to act now, tonight, is the chance to capture two of Voldemort's key strategists."
"Tetto and the girl?"
"Yes."
"Who is the girl?" asked Hermione.
"We only know about her from Harry's information," confirmed Miss Alice. "We don't know her name. She is female and either is still attending Hogwarts or has recently left. You should not assume she is in Slytherin House either. She may also be in disguise."
They all nodded, wondering who she could be.
"We also don't have much on Tetto either," said Bateman.
"I can recognise him," said Harry. "I got a clear look."
"Now," said Miss Alice seriously. "On no account is either Tetto or the girl to be killed. It is vital that we take them alive."
"How protected is the Alpha Store?"
"It is lightly defended, but we do know they are loyal Death Eaters."
"How many are coming with us?"
"I believe that stealth will prove to be more effective than brute force. The three of you will go alone."
"You're not coming with us, Bear?" asked Harry, sounding disappointed.
"Mary feels I'd just get in the way."
Miss Alice rolled her eyes and said, "I didn't say that, but the three of you will be free to Disapparate away cleanly if necessary."
Bateman looked at his watch and said, "Two hours until dawn. You should get going, if you're going."
"One final thing," said Miss Alice as they all rose. "If any of you are captured and are interrogated, keep thinking of that red cauldron over there."
"I've been hardly able to keep my eyes of it the whole time I've been here!" admitted Ron.
"Me too," said Hermione.
"Good," said Miss Alice with a knowing smile.
"Is it charmed somehow?" asked Hermione.
Miss Alice just smiled wider and said, "You'd better get going."
*
"What is with that cauldron, anyway?" asked Ron as the three of them crept along behind a low dry stone wall.
"It must be something to do with how they block Legilimency," whispered Hermione.
"But how?" asked Ron. "Anyway, I can't believe they really know how to do that. What do you think, Harry?"
"I think we'd better be a little quieter from now on," he replied from the front.
"I mean about the cauldron," continued Ron. "Didn't you say Bateman said there was some kind of message inscribed on it? I didn't see any message."
"Ron! Shhh!" Hermione said sharply.
"Alright, keep you hair on!" whispered Ron loudly.
Harry was about to turn and make them both be quiet when he heard a sizzling noise. This was followed by an, "Ow!" from Ron and the smell of skin burning.
"It's just over there," whispered Harry. "If you look through the cracks in the wall you can see what looks like a small hut. I think that's it."
"There are a couple of tents too," whispered Hermione. "I wonder how many of them there are?"
"Plenty, I shouldn't wonder," said Harry darkly. "Alright, I'm going to approach from the East. You two carry on and then come in from the opposite side. Don't reveal yourselves until you really have to."
"Shouldn't we stay together?" asked Hermione.
"No. I want to set off any warning charms they have set up. I'm hoping that our targets will reveal themselves. You'll also get a better idea of the numbers they have."
"Oh, Harry. Be careful."
"I'll be fine," he promised, moving off into the darkness.
*
Harry easily disabled three magical tripwires on his approach. Thanks to Bateman's teaching, Harry had learnt that the best way to anticipate where they were was to learn the best places to lay the traps himself.
Now that he was closer, Harry could see that the small hut was lit from inside and appeared to have guards posted just inside the open door. He was also sure there would be additional guards outside wearing invisibility cloaks.
Harry approached the first tent. After listening intently for any sign of activity inside for a while, he crept around to peek inside the entrance.
The tent was quite empty but looked like it was a lodging for at least a dozen watch-wizards. He was about to go when he saw movement inside.
He counted the number of cots he thought were occupied by sleeping wizards. Presumably this was the day watch.
He had a choice. He could either go in and stun them as they slept or leave them alone. He decided the former was too risky. It was still very dark and the red light of his stunners might be seen through the tent fabric.
Harry decided the best thing to do would be to lace a sticking charm on the tent flaps. That way at least they'd have some warning as they blasted their way out of the tent.
Harry moved on to the second tent which was slightly smaller but had the advantage of having the entrance obscured by the first so that it could not be seen from the hut.
He peered inside and found it to be quite empty.
The last tent was set apart from the other two. For the first time Harry had to cross open ground in order to reach the entrance.
As quietly as possible, he crossed the open gap of around twenty feet. He was almost there when he heard voices.
Without thinking, Harry dived for cover. Fortunately he found long grass and made hardly any sound as he landed.
He listened hard and realised that the voices were coming from inside the tent. He crept around the far edge towards the entrance, hoping to make some sense of the conversation.
*
"Why in Merlin's name did he kill Tibbins?" said an angry female voice.
"It was just an impulsive thing," replied Tetto. "Tibbins made him angry."
"I'm not coming back."
"You must if you wish to live."
"If I do come back, how much longer would I last than Tibbins? I have no idea about those stupid Muggle messages."
"He knows that. The Dark Lord knows you have other talents that will prove to be much more effective. Realistically, we are never going to understand the Muggle methods."
"So what can I do then?"
"Don't be so modest. You were the one who identified the Muggle woman who Tibbins used to crack the code."
"I also predicted this place would be raided, didn't I?"
"It may yet," Tetto reminded her. "Are you ready to return with me?"
"The additional wards around this place are not in place yet. This entire area was supposed to be protected, but I found I could get through with the minimum of effort."
"What about the original wards?"
"Let's just say the castor should have paid more attention in his Charms classes."
"I was wondering where Dapplewood was," said Tetto.
"I left his body by the hut as a reminder to the others. Is he really intent upon making me take the Dark Mark?"
"You make it sound like a punishment."
"For me, it will be."
"It would be a mistake to delay. He would think you had doubts."
"He already knows. How could he not, anyway?"
"Well, I think that Muggle's betrayal affected him more than he admits. He was completely duped, and he even apparently had the temerity to challenge the Dark Lord to read his mind."
"So, why didn't he?"
"Quite candidly, just between you and I, but I suspect he was quite unable to."
"Really?"
"There could have any number of reasons, of course. I have noted that the Dark Lord sometimes allows his temper to get the better of him."
"Don't let any of his loyal Death Eaters hear you say that. They may be stupid, but they would love any excuse to remove you from his confidences."
"They have become rather jealous, haven't they? No doubt their mood won't be improved by your new standing."
"Thanks. You're really doing a great job persuading me to come back."
Tetto chuckled and said, "We both know you have already decided. Can we go now or do wish to inform the guard?"
"I'd better tell them. Wait here for me. I'll only be a moment. What on earth?"
Harry fired two powerful stunners directly into the tent opening that the girl had just opened.
"Hey! Who's there?" shouted someone from the hut.
"Incarcerous!" whispered Harry and thick ropes erupted from his wand tip and bound his two unconscious victims.
"Relax, Jim," came another voice from some way off. "She's probably just taking pot shots at one of the sleeping sentries again."
"Who is there to shoot at?" called Jim. "Everyone on our shift is inside."
Harry stepped out of the tent and fired a volley of curses towards the small hut. His third hit the cloaked Jim but his main intention was to pin down the guards still inside the hut.
He had to dive to avoid their returning fire but he continued to have the upper hand until the shouting woke up the remainder in the larger tent. Soon he could hear them all blasting Reductor curses at the tent fabric to get outside.
Suddenly a new volley of powerful spells flew over his head. Harry looked around in alarm but quickly realised it was just Hermione firing into the tent. Ron was also firing from a few feet away.
Unfortunately, the guards inside the hut quickly realised where the new attack was coming from and immediately fired at Hermione.
Harry ran forward to distract them and fired again.
His curses bounced off high up into the sky. They were barricaded inside the hut and protected by a magical shield that made it almost impossible to get a clean shot.
To Harry's surprise, Ron ran up and blasted the hut with a volley of curses that Harry recognised were from the Rodium family. The hut remained unscathed but the ground underneath clearly hadn't been so well protected. The entire front of the hut wobbled and then fell into the gaping hole in the ground left by Ron's attack.
This broke the shield spells on the hut and Harry and Ron made short work of the remainder of the guards.
Finally, the area fell silent other than the crackling of burning timbers.
Hermione rushed up to them and asked, "You both okay?"
"Yes, you?"
"Fine. The two tied up in that tent are still unconscious."
"Good," said Harry. "You and Ron take them back to Miss Alice as agreed."
"What about you?"
"I'm going to take a look in that store. It looks like the hut was covering some kind of opening. There's a ladder down into a chamber."
"Harry, we didn't come here for that," Hermione reminded him. "If you want to go then we should come with you."
"No," said Harry firmly. "Miss Alice said taking those two alive was the top priority. Please, Hermione?"
"I'm going to regret this," she growled before storming off. "Ron, come on! If we hurry we can get back in time to rescue him."
Ron stood still with a questioning look on his face.
"I'll be fine," Harry assured him.
*
Harry stepped of the bottom rung of the rusting ladder and turned. He was in a small cave with a level floor.
Before him were several high racks.
He picked up a lantern and went over to the closest rack and found it to be brimming with potions ingredients. Harry held his lantern up but be couldn't see the end of the isle.
The second rack contained an assortment of made up potions. This rack was less populated and he guessed that they had been using the potions and not replacing them. He noted that the potions were almost exclusively poisons.
The third rack contained a poor assortment of brooms and several rolls of carpet. He tugged at a piece of material on one of the upper shelves and found it was an invisibility cloak. He held it up and noted its incredibly poor condition. It was frayed and worn, so that it really wasn't invisible at all.
Harry frowned and moved on to the last rack. This was full of Dark Magic books, except that none of them looked complete. Many clearly had entire sections torn out.
Harry reached into his cloak utility pocket and took out the device Bateman had given him.
Hiding it quite far down the isle and under the invisibility cloak he'd found, he set the timer and hurried back to the ladder and climbed up out of the cave.
He was only a few feet from the entrance when he heard a deep whooshing sound from down in the cave. Then red flames shot up followed by black acrid smoke.
The device was an incendiary, designed to burn rather than explode.
Satisfied that there was nothing else to be done, Harry Disapparated away.
*
"Harry! Thank goodness you are alright!" cried Hermione as soon as he entered the room. "We would have come back, but they wouldn't let us," she added with a dark look at Miss Alice.
Harry smiled and said, "It was for the best."
He walked over to Miss Alice who was standing before a window through which Harry could see their two latest captives. The interrogation room was much brighter than the subdued lighting of the room they were in.
"Don't worry, they can't see or hear us in here," said Miss Alice.
Harry nodded and looked at the pair with interest. Tetto was prowling the room like a caged animal but the girl was sitting quietly at the bolted down table.
"They can't Apparate away?" asked Harry.
"No, there are wards all around these rooms. Find anything interesting down in that store?"
"Quite the opposite. It was just a load of old rubbish. Hardly worth guarding at all, actually."
"As I suspected. I believe it likely that they moved the more valuable items before you arrived."
"Oh, right," said Harry. "I half hoped they were guarding it because they had nothing else."
Miss Alice turned and smiled at him.
"One day, Harry," she promised. "One day."
"Who is she?"
"Don't you recognise her?" asked Miss Alice.
"No, not at all," he admitted.
"But you do know her, Harry," said Hermione. "We all do."
"Really?" asked Ron. "What year was she in?"
"Ours."
Harry looked again, but shook his head doubtfully.
"She has lost rather a lot of weight, admittedly," said Hermione from behind them. "She also didn't have blond hair and actually wore rather more makeup that she's got on now."
Harry frowned as he slowly recognised the girl. It was her eyes that gave her away.
"No way," he breathed. "She's completely different. I mean. Her voice is different too."
"People often reinvent themselves when they move from one phase of their life to another," observed Miss Alice. "It will take some time to process her."
"She wanted to refuse the Dark Mark," said Harry. "That must count for something."
"Oh, it does," Miss Alice said darkly.
Harry turned to face her having recognised that Miss Alice was once again several steps ahead of everyone else.
Miss Alice pushed a small red button in front of her.
"Subject Tetto," said a harsh computerised voice that was played in both rooms. "Proceed to Cell 19 and await interrogation."
The door opened and Tetto stepped out.
"Subject Parkinson," said the computerised voice, making her head come up with a start.
"Interesting," muttered Miss Alice. "She didn't think we would recognise her."
Miss Alice pushed the button again.
"Sentenced to death. Sentence to be carried out immediately unless subject wishes to co-operate."
A panel in the metal desk slid open to reveal a pad of paper and some pencils.
"The subject will write down everything she knows relating to Lord Voldemort and his followers."
She grabbed the pad and threw it across the room before uttering a loud stream of expletives to the empty room.
"Hey, that's Pansy!" cried Ron, having at last recognised her.
Miss Alice pressed another concealed button and Pansy collapsed to the floor, rendered unconscious by some invisible gas.
"I want your personal assurance that she will not be harmed," said Harry seriously.
"She will not be intentionally harmed," said Miss Alice, "unless she tries to escape."
"When do you plan for her to do that?" asked Hermione astutely.
"You plan for her to escape?" asked Ron.
"Well, that depends upon how well her interrogation goes. In her case it may take weeks before she is ready."
*
They got back to Grimmauld Place and had coffee with Kreacher in the kitchen.
"Was it just me, or was Miss Alice being a bit creepy today?" asked Ron.
"Yes, I thought that," agreed Hermione.
"Thanks, Kreacher," said Harry taking the cup of coffee he was offered. He immediately pulled out the chair next to him and said, "Don't forget your own cup, will you?"
Kreacher muttered something inaudible before returning to the table with a fourth cup and sitting down next to Harry.
Normally the house elf preferred to make himself absent when either Ron or Hermione were around, but Harry made it clear that Kreacher was to be included.
"I wonder what her plan really is," said Harry as he sipped his drink.
"Why would she want to let Pansy go?" asked Ron. "And, how come you were so keen on her not being hurt, Harry?"
Harry just shrugged.
"I suppose I believed what I overheard. If Pansy was only a reluctant Voldemort supporter, then perhaps she could be recruited for our side. If she is tortured by our side, then there would be no hope of that."
"Except that Mary doesn't believe it, does she?" said Hermione.
"No," agreed Harry. "She thinks that this entire thing is one of Voldemort's little games. Pansy is a plant. We are supposed to believe she would turn against Voldemort and immediately confide all our secrets to her."
"So, Miss Alice must be considering using her to get at Voldemort," added Hermione. "They will programme her just like they did John Bateman."
"Too complicated for me," observed Ron. "Any chance of some biscuits, Kreacher?"
Kreacher opened his mouth to respond but at once Harry said, "You know where they are, Ron. Get them yourself."
Ron got up and caught the dark look Kreacher was giving Harry.
"So, what do you think, Kreacher?" asked Harry. This appeared to shake Kreacher out of his annoyance with him.
"Kreacher knows Master has a habit of trusting where others might not."
"True," agreed Harry with a smile.
"Hang on," said Hermione slowly. "What are you thinking of?"
"We have a little time, but not weeks," began Harry as Ron returned with the biscuit barrel. "Miss Alice will discover for certain that Pansy will remain loyal to Voldemort, simply because she is too afraid to do anything else. Pansy can be relied upon to pretend to waiver whatever happens, simply because she'll see that as her best chance of getting out of there."
"Agreed," said Hermione.
"The hitch will come when Miss Alice finds Pansy can't be relied upon to do her bidding. There will come a point when it will just be safer all round to eliminate Pansy."
Ron looked up from the biscuit barrel.
"So, what are we going to do?" he asked cautiously.
"Um, I think we should rescue her and then let her go."
"And?"
"No and. That's it. No more."
"Great plan, Harry," said Ron returning his attention back to the biscuits.
"I'm not naive enough to think she might return the favour," admitted Harry.
"How do we know this isn't what Miss Alice intends for us to do?" asked Hermione.
"That's the point. This is exactly what she intends for us to do."
"Kreacher, has Harry always been this mad or has his recent episode affected him more than we thought?" asked Ron.
"Master's eccentricity is always surprising Kreacher."
"Thanks, Kreacher," said Harry with a smile. "Are you ever going to offer us one of those biscuits, Ron?"
Ron hugged the barrel protectively and shook his head no.