Intro: "Those people we had back here, they just jumped out of the plane. They jumped without parachutes, sir. They just jumped."
Head cannon goes off with a sign fluttering to the ground. "I don't own Harry Potter but I do play in the Forbidden Forest."
Wind roared from the open cargo door as the aircraft flew though the dark night.
Cargomaster Sergeant Johnson looked at the strangest group of people that had ever ridden on his aircraft; dressed in black, he'd seen that more than a few times, but the only thing they all carried were funny looking sticks with twigs tied at one end. They reminded him of brooms. They had hard eyes but carried no weapons, not like on other drops with Special Air Services. No, this was one strange group of folks on his aircraft that seemed to have no reason for being there. They didn't have parachutes or anything when they got up from the bench seats and stood in the open cargo door with Johnson wondering what they were doing. One man had a small sphere of glass, Johnson swore it was a crystal ball, and was staring at it. It gave a flash, Johnson's eyes went wide and he yelled into the roaring wind at what he saw them all do.
"Flight, this is the cargomaster," came the exited yell over the intercom system.
"Those people we had back here, they all just jumped out of the plane. No parachutes,
they just jumped out, they jumped, sir. They just jumped."
There was a moment's silence then the intercom said. "Cargomaster, this is the flight station. The best thing for you is to forget what you just saw. It never happened because we didn't carry any passengers, this is just a routine cargo mission. Anything out of the ordinary is not our concern. Do you understand me, Sergeant?"
"Yes sir," the man said. "I won't say a thing. But they jumped without parachutes,
sir."
"It's best if you think you were mistaken about that as we never carried passengers, Sergeant Johnson. Close the cargo door and return to your duties. We still have a long flight to Bodo, Norway."
"Yes sir," the man said. He looked out into the darkness trying to see anything of the people he'd watched run out of the hold and jump into the night, reached up and held the switch to close the cargo door, closed and checked it then pulled off his safety harness and went for a cup of coffee to relieve his jangled nerves. He'd just seen a dozen people commit suicide, that was something he wished he could forget but knew he never would. He also knew he could never mention the incident, or the whole flight for that matter, he'd do as instructed as he always did. Best just to keep doing his job without wondering too much about things that didn't concern him. Still, they just jumped.
Five thousand feet below the retreating aircraft those dozen people were falling with their arms spread wide, smiles on their otherwise serious faces.
"Azkaban," Umfrey Delvosier mouthed and pointed down. "Ten seconds," and held up five fingers twice then counted down. "Three, two, one. Now!"
A dozen people whipped the brooms they had in one hand under their bodies,
found the cushioning charm's bounds and settled, changing their freefall to a high speed flight down to the landing area. The huge stone fortress loomed out of the darkness in front of them as they flew toward the crenelated roof before pulling back hard on the broom handles and touching down silent as ghosts.
Wands were held ready as they landed, all of them looking and listening for the guards or worse, the few Dementors remaining that had been given free reign to Kiss anyone, anytime by the enemy. There was only the sound of the chill wind coming from the North Sea, no alarm, no tramping of boots, no curses. They'd done the first impossible thing they'd volunteered to do this night.
Delvosier held up a finger, pointed downward then held up his fist and extended his fingers, he and his partner aiming their wands at the floor underneath them, the rest scattering then jumping over the side to fly down to their appointed attack level. In ten seconds there was a blasting sound coming from the roof then five more as each pair blew a hole into the side of the ancient rock prison and flew inside.
Alarms caterwauled throughout the structure as six pairs of wizards raced to their assigned positions. As one pair ran hard toward the prisoner level guards showed up in a hallway and were promptly stunned, falling in a heap with surprise on their faces.
They ran past dozens of cell doors without a glance, stopping in front of their assigned target. One raised his wand and muttered, "Alohomora" but the door remained locked.
He glanced at his partner to get her nod, raised his wand, moved the tip in a precise pattern then said, "Reducto." The door quivered a bit, iron flakes popped as cracks appeared around the edges and the whole thing just fell apart and crumbled to dust.
Inside, one weary and haggard looking person looked up with wide eyes and opened mouth, closing it when he saw a finger put to lips. He got off the bench and wobbled a little, forced his body to obey and stood straight.
"Come with us. Silence." the woman dressed in black muttered quietly. They led him out through the cold, stony-walled corridor, opening all the doors as they passed and gathered the small crowd of ragged prisoners in a tight circle. She pulled out a small cup and said, "Portkey to a safe house. One minute to go. When you arrive, do nothing. Anyone not supposed to be with us?"
The group looked around then one pointed out another and said, "Deatheater."
That man raised his hands saying, "Please don't. He'll kill me. Take me wi ..."
The woman flicked her wand and the man fell where he was, the rest reaching out for the cup. It flashed and they were gone. The two dark figures ran down the corridor, stopped when they heard sounds of others approaching and held their wands at the ready. The first row of guards fell, the next in line stumbled over their fallen bodies and were stunned as they struggled to get up.
"Next target area one floor down," the man said as they found a stair. They repeated the actions of opening cell doors, stunning a couple prisoners not to be trusted, put a battered tin can in the hands of another and told them all to hang on. A flash and they were gone, the second impossible task of the evening completed.
"That's our primary targets. Rally point," the man said and they took off up the stairs. As they ran they blasted open any cell doors they came upon, gathered what prisoners they could and tossed them the last portkey. They'd be screened at their destination so they continued running up stairs until they found a small fight going on,
stunned anyone not of their team and ran up the stairs once more with another team on their tails. On the roof Delvosier nodded and mounted his broom, all of them launching into the night air in six different directions. They flew for the prescribed amount of time then slowly circled around, turning to the west to gather in close.
Delvosier had a grin on when he said, "We got all our target individuals out along with a bunch of others. Good work people. Head to Durham after we hit the coast.
Break up into pairs and avoid being seen by anyone, Muggles or wizard kind. Now that we have our people back we will need to finalize our plans to take the fight to the enemy. We will win this war. See you all in an hour."
With that they split into their pairs again to fan out as they crossed the coastline,
descending to treetop level before turning toward Durham to meet up. There were a good number of the escapees waiting for them, some were strong enough to shake their hands when they arrived, many had tears of gratitude in their rheumy eyes..
The first thing they did was divide them up into their rescued comrades and the extras brought along for the confusion factor. The "extras", mostly Muggleborn and so-
called mixed bloods, were herded out and ported off to another safe house in the far north to be sent to their homes with instructions to go into hiding and forget how they got there, the rest were held back for assignments. To most observers, having so many taken out of Azkaban looked more like a mass breakout rather than a pick up of specific personnel. That would not hold up to careful scrutiny but it would hold long enough to scatter their teams far and wide.
Delvosier held up his hand. "Are you all ready to get back into the fight?" he asked the gathered group and got a few cheers and a lot of thumbs up. "Good. We have a collection of wands available along with brooms. I also have assignments that we'll discuss with each of you. From now on do not discuss anything dealing with operations amongst yourselves or anyone else. Do not use names. The less you know the better. What you don't know you can't reveal if you get captured."
One voice came from the group to say, "I'll die before I'll get captured. I'm not going through Cruciatus again. They won't get a thing out of me when I'm dead and I'll take as many as I can with me."
There were murmurs of agreement before Delvosier held his hand up again. "We will endeavor to impart as little information to you as possible so you have just as little to reveal. There is no need for suicidal last stands. If you are taken, consider yourself as a soldier making trouble for the enemy, make him expend resources to keep you under guard."
"Not many resources left in Azkaban after they took over," another voice said.
"Damn little food either."
"True enough, but don't give up and choose death over life," Delvosier said.
"Eventually we will win and prisoners will be set free so there will always be hope. Now,
if we can move on, we have food available for you. After that we'll split into groups and get your orders. Expect to take at least a week to recover your strength during which time you can train for your duties. See you all in a couple hours."
When all had cleaned up and eaten, Delvosier addressed them in the dining hall.
"We got you out for a reason. We have a battle plan to defeat the enemy's forces and all of you are needed in the upcoming fight. Anyone unwilling to continue on see me personally. Now, line up and we'll give you your assignments. Again, no names are to be used to ensure security."
When they were lined up he and his lieutenant passed among them, softly whispering team numbers as they passed, looking at the pictures in the folder to make the assignments then directed each group to gather up. When they were separated his team led each new group out of the dining room to settle them in different locations.
In one room he told a group of five men and two women, "You are assigned to Shacklebolt's operation. You will be a tracking and deception group, locating and gathering information on Deatheater safe houses and seeding confusion. We need to know their identities, numbers, their hidey holes and their leadership personnel. You will have a group leader to report to where you will receive further orders. Again, no real names will be used for the safety of your families. And those that have families we can relocate them on the Continent or elsewhere so that you can feel they are safe from harm. I want you to rest today, eat a good dinner then we'll issue brooms and you can travel when it's dark. The dark of night is your best protection as you can only be detected visually and if you plan your routes there should be little likelihood of that. Any questions for me before you head out?"
There was a moment of them looking at each other then back at him to give nods.
"Good," he said. "I wish you well. Know that eventually we'll be able to go on the offensive and defeat You Know Who. By the way, his name has been tabooed and using it will disrupt charms then trigger Deatheater and Snatcher teams immediately.
We lost quite a few people before we figured that one out. Be careful and be secretive from now on. We will win in the end, there is no doubt of that, so use everything you have available to accomplish your tasks. Get rested and well fed then head out tonight.
All the best fortune to you and confusion to the enemy."
He went to the next room and briefly surveyed the group of people looking at him expectantly. "Good evening to you all. I hope dinner was sufficient to fill bellies." He got some nods and a few chuckles. "Good. You will be given brooms to ride out tonight to your assigned positions. We need you to be careful observers, more to the point, spies.
With proper disguises, the simpler the better, your task will be to wander around Diagon Alley, Knockturn Alley, the Leaky Cauldron, Ottery St. Catchpole, Hogsmeade, Godric's Hollow and other wizarding villages to see who is there, who goes and who stays. You will be given means of communication to report back.
"This is a vital mission as, at the moment, we don't have enough information to act effectively," he told them. "Eat dinner, rest up and you will have your orders before you leave. The most important thing is to not be seen by anyone and while you are engaged in operations hide in character. Don't break and don't panic. Also know that we will win eventually so keep the faith. My lieutenants will speak to you later. For now,
rest up."
In the next room he made a similar speech, only this time he knew one of the group was a traitor. He'd been sent to Azkaban as a spy along with the people he had betrayed but had made a small mistake: he'd been seen giving information to a Deatheater sympathizer. Shortly after, his small group was rounded up to be given a summary sentence of life in Azkaban So now he was going to be given the bait to trap the informant circle.
"We have a vital mission for you all. London isn't ours anymore so our main headquarters is in Wales. If you run into trouble, head there. Someone will find you one way or another. You are to go as individuals to follow Deatheaters, track them to their lairs and report back. Do not attack yourself, send word through your assigned leaders then find another target and track them. We will gather them all in, one by one if necessary so don't concern yourself with the long plan, just do your job and report.
"We have means to send you to your destination after you have rested up today and get a couple good meals to put something on your bones," he told them. It was difficult at first to not look too long in the direction of the traitor, others were doing that from concealment, but he felt the desire to just go over and stomp the vinegar out of him for the sheer pleasure of it, the lousy little rat.
"I'll see you tonight. Rest up and eat while you can. It may be a hard road for you in the future," he told them all. "We will win this fight. Do your part to ensure our eventual victory."
He left as the small group talked amongst themselves for a bit then wandered off toward the dining area. His lieutenant came over and said, "You were right. We could feel him plotting a way to become important enough to know everyone involved. The first thought in his petty little mind was how much a reward he was going to get."
"I didn't like using the others to set the trap," Delvosier said and raised his hand to prevent the expected denial and reassurance. "It had to be done no matter how unpleasant and I have no regrets. I just had to tell someone how I felt about doing it."
He got a nod of understanding and went on, "Do we have him set up for the fall?"
"It's all done. We set a situation where he should come across a list of names then we'll see who he sends his report to," Lieutenant Rivers said. "We've assigned half a dozen experienced people, trackers and ligilimens included, when he goes for it. I do have a question about what we do with him afterwards, though."
Delvosier sighed. "Obliviate him. Be thorough, take no chances. He made his choice and now it's going to come back and bite him right where it hurts. Pity he won't remember feeling the teeth sinking in."
"Sir, I was also wondering how you got us to Azkaban," the lieutenant said. "It was a Ministry of Defense aircraft, you know, Muggles. How did you pull that one off?"
"Gamel, I'm afraid there are some secrets I must hold close," he answered. "Just know that friends in high places can be most helpful, along with a bit of Confundus. I only hope we haven't hurt the Colonel's RAF career with our little stunt. We won't be able to hit Azkaban like that again, no doubt. Even the enemy isn't so stupid to ignore aerial attack again. I hope they think we flew all the way across the North Sea on brooms in the middle of the night as it will give them the idea were are far stronger a force than we are. One more bit of confusion as they try to work out how we could find it and not freeze in that cold air."
"The more I work with you the more you scare me, sir," Lieutenant Rivers said.
"But it's taught me to think on many levels when I plan something. The Muggles talk about it as asymmetrical warfare, we are far smaller but willing to risk much to accomplish our goals and you seem to be a master at it. We have the advantage in that we do not fear reprisals from our own while they are controlled by fear and we are fearless. It might take some time but we are going to win for that reason alone if nothing else."
Delvosier studied Rivers a moment and said, "Spending four years in the Royal Marines certainly made you a different person, Gamel. There was a time when I thought you were too flighty to become an Auror or anything else that required dedication of that level. These days I hope to be able to scare you a little bit now and then. I would never have thought of Muggle paratroop tactics, that was brilliant on your part. You are a special asset to me and I hope this war is short, but I have to say I'm looking froward to spending more time with you in the trenches, as you would describe it."
Rivers grinned and said, "The best way to win is fast and ferocious to minimize casualties. Casualties slow you down."
Delvosier gave him a look and said, "Which is why you're good at leading operations. I leave the traitor in your hands to deal with as you think right. Don't get caught."
"I won't," Rivers answered. "I'll contact some friends and let them know what is going down then I want to be in on the red herring ruse. I have a personal stake in seeing him roasted."
"You do that, but let it become personal and it will cloud your judgement,"
Delvosier said. "For now get some food and see the new groups get off okay, then we have a lot more planning to do before the next big op against the Deatheaters. We have a war to win."
Head cannon goes off with a smoldering sign fluttering to the ground. "Please Review."