Chapter 5: In enemy country
Suddenly, the walls appeared to have turned transparent and Peter was experiencing a very strange sensation. It was s if as he was staring into the empty void of outer space decorated with millions of shooting stars. In addition, there was a strange and very unpleasant icy lump forming in his stomach......
But before he could start to worry about any of this, he fell to the ground. As he struggled to disentangle himself from Herbert's cloak, he felt what was definitely sand under his hands. He got up immediately and saw that he and Herbert were indeed standing on a lonely beach close to a choppy sea. The air smelt very salty and they were surrounded by the angry shrieks of thousands of seagulls that had been disturbed by their sudden arrival. 'This is definitely not the Black Forrest, Herbert!', Peter exclaimed. 'Where have you landed us?'. But before he could say anything else, he heard menacing shouts 'Stoy! Stoy!, Ruki werch! Ruki werch!' A group of armed men, obviously soldiers, were running towards them from the top of a large sand dune. 'These are Russians', moaned Peter incredulously. 'You idiot have transported us to the shores of the Black Sea!' 'No reason to get offensive', replied Herbert, a hurt look on his face, 'I may have slurred the words just a little bit too much, but that's nothing that can't be mended'. By now, the Russian soldiers had come much too close for Peter's comfort. Some seemed to fall down on one knee in order to take better aim with their nasty-looking submachine guns. 'Do something quick', he yelled as Herbert embraced him again and shouted "Black Forrest" once more.....
This time, they arrived at the brink of a large forest that seemed to consist mainly of firs. One glance around established that they were in the middle of a small valley in between two medium sized mountains. A paved street ran at its foot and in the distance they could see the lights of a village. Further away, on the third or fourth ridgeline, they saw what was unmistakably the sharp silhouette of a vast mediaeval castle. Ready to take cover at the smallest sign of danger, they carefully walked in the shadow of the trees until they had reached the first houses. Peter saw an orange and black sign that said "Hausach". From the village pub, singing voices and the tunes of what was definitely a German Wuftata band carried to their hiding place. "Du, Du liegst mir am Herzen, Du Du liegst mir im Sinn...". The next piece was Lili Marlen and Peter had trouble to keep himself from joining in, for like all soldiers of that time, he had a weak spot for that sentimental song. 'I have to apologize to you, Herbert', whispered Peter, 'this time you seem to have gotten us exactly where we are supposed to be. You even got the village right.' Herbert did not reply, but could not manage to completely hide the beaming expression of pride on his face.
The roaring engine noises made by a large column of approaching lorries swiftly brought Peter back to reality. After all, they were in the heart of enemy country and he did not want to think what would happen if they were caught, regardless of having a wizard partner or not. At least ten trucks with mounted infantry passed the ditch, they had jumped into, and Peter had a very hard time making Herbert keep his nose down instead of staring at the lorries in fascinated wonder. Once the they had passed, both men retreated further into the woods and Peter took out Dumbledore's map.
It was swarming with red dots and moving on would be out of the question. Behind the village began the first guard perimeter and on the map he could see at least a dozen patrols covering every road and trail, they might have used. A closer look, however, revealed the good news. Herbert and Peter, now both bowing over the magical map, could see that the German food lorry was approaching the village. It was about three miles away and would reach them within the next ten minutes or so. This was a chance that would not return! 'Can we stop them without anybody noticing?', Peter asked Herbert who nodded vigorously. 'Yes Peter, I already thought of something', he whispered, padding his wand confidently. 'We' d better walk back to meet them, then', said Peter. 'This is way too close to the village! Do you have the jerrycans with the potion?' He was awarded with a bewildered look from Herbert Weasley. 'No, of course not, I thought you had them!' Peter could not believe his ears! In their hasty departure, they had forgotten the most essential thing for the success of their mission!
His attention was distracted, however, by a swishing sound in the woods nearby. 'Down!', hissed Herbert, 'that's a wizard apparating!'. Both dove for cover in the ditch. Herbert had his wand out and was scrutinizing the little clearing ahead of them. Was the wizard a friend or an enemy? Peter sent a silent prayer to whoever would listen that Herbert Weasley would know what to do if the latter was true. Suddenly, they heard a strange sound. Somebody was whistling a song, Peter didn't know. It was a very rousing and wild melody. He shot Herbert a bewildered look, but Herbert suddenly looked immensely relieved. 'That is the Hogwarts school song!', he whispered, 'so it must be a friend.' He whistled the same tune in reply and after several seconds, Albus Dumbledore appeared in the clearing, carrying the jerrycans and looking sternly at them.
'Thank god, I found you', he whispered. 'Have you had any trouble so far?' 'The Aurors took Robert and Harold in for questioning, but I managed to escape just in time!'. Peter shook his head and was awarded by grateful grin from Herbert for not mentioning the incident on the Black Sea. 'You arrived in the nick of time, Albus', said Peter, 'the food lorry is approaching and we'll never have a chance like that again'. They could hear approaching engine noises and knew they had to act quickly. 'How do we put the drivers out of action?', Peter asked. Herbert cast Dumbledore a knowing look and said. 'I thought, we would first use the Urethra hex to get them out of the car and then, we stun them!' he added excitedly 'Excellent, Herbert, that is truly a brilliant idea! Much better than what I had in mind', said Dumbledore, a note of admiration in his voice. Peter looked bewildered 'The what…?', he whispered incredulously.
'Herbert and Robert invented that hex, while still at school', explained Dumbledore. As its name indicates, anyone hit with it feels a sudden and desperate urge to relieve his bladder. It is impossible to fight and therefore just what we need. It has proven useful on many occasions', he added chuckling, but was interrupted by the beams of two headlights now rounding the curve. They waited until the lorry had drawn level with them. Then, Herbert pointing his wand at it, muttered 'Urethra!'
The effect was immediate. The lorry screeched to a halt, its doors flew open, and they could see two German soldiers, running for their ditch, while desperately attempting to unbutton their flies! Now they had seen the three people hiding there, but before they could do anything, Herbert and Dumbledore pointed their wands at them and roared 'Stupefy!'. Without a sound, both soldiers collapsed and lay still. Hastily, they dragged them out of sight and into the woods. Ropes now shot from both wands and bound them tightly. Peter had gotten some cloth and gagged them. 'That was the easy part', he whispered. 'Now we have to put on their uniforms and deliver our cargo!' 'I am not putting on that uniform, at least not the pants', said Herbert in protest, indicating two dark spots on the soldiers' pants showing the results of the Urethra hex.
'Don't worry about that', said Dumbledore. Flicking his wand at them, Peter suddenly found himself wearing a German staff sergeant's uniform while Herbert had turned into a private first class. 'I will hide in the back of the lorry', continued Dumbledore. 'I can't magic away my hair and beard and those are in violation of German Army regulations!' Puffing, all three of them hoisted the jerrycans with the potion on the lorry where Dumbledore transformed them into beer barrels and then hid himself behind a pile of dark bread loaves. Peter and Herbert now had a hissed argument about who was going to drive the lorry. Herbert was eagerly insisting that it would look more convincing if a private was driving. Dumbledore had to intervene and told Herbert off. 'First, you have never driven a lorry and now is not the time to learn, second you do not speak a word of German, Herbert! So get in the passenger seat and keep your mouth shut!' A sullen expression on his face, Herbert obeyed. Peter cranked the engine into life and drove off.
After several minutes, they approached the first road block and had to slow down. A sentry stepped out of the little guard house and shone his flashlight at their lorry. Recognizing them, however, he waved them on. Peter breathed a sight of relief. They had cleared the first perimeter, but there were two more to go. The second one was no problem either, but on the third, another sentry and an officer remained obstinately in the street until the lorry had completely stopped. The sentry carefully approached them, submachine gun at the ready. 'Papiere und Marschbefehl!', he ordered curtly. His heart beating in his chest like a sledgehammer, Peter reached into his field jacket. Had Dumbledore thought about papers and driving orders? To his relief, he found both and presented them to the sentry with a short 'Bitte sehr.', trying to sound as self-confident as possible. The officer had now walked over to the sentry and both men were studying the papers carefully. 'Feldwebel Maier und Obergefreiter Wagner mit der Verpflegung? (Staff sergeant Maier and private Wagner with the food)' the officer asked. ‚Jawohl', answered Peter while Hebert simply nodded, both hoping that this would satisfy the man. The sentry now walked around the lorry and shone his flashlight into the cargo compartment in the rear! Peter desperately wished, Dumbledore had brought an invisibility cloak. 'In Ordnung, Herr Hauptmann, ich sehe Brote und Bierfässer…..(It's all right Captain, sir. I see bread and beer barrels)'.
But the officer was not satisfied so easily. 'Bierfässer ?', he asked sharply 'auf Wache ist trinken verboten! (No drinking on guard duty). Peter tried to make his voice sound as matter-of-factly as possible, but he could feel now the sweat slowly trickling down his armpits. 'Das ist natürlich nur für diejenigen, die nicht im Dienst sind! (Only for those off duty, of course)'. But the officer had already made up his mind. 'Passieren!', he shouted and the sentry raised the barrier. 'Sie sind mir dafür verantwortlich, Feldwebel, daß noch etwas da ist, wenn wir kommen! (I hold you personally responsible, staff sergeant, that some beer is left, once we get off duty!)', he shouted after the truck. His heartbeat slowly returning to normal, Peter drove on.
The regimental mess in the next village presented no problem whatsoever. Dumbledore had jumped off the lorry before they reached it and hid in the woods. They were already expected by a bunch of rowdy soldiers who broke into delighted hoots, once they saw the barrels. Soon, Steins were brought out and the German soldiers drank greedily. There was a nasty moment, when a fat Bavarian cook insisted that Peter and Herbert drink his health, but Peter gave him such a stern lecture on drinking on duty that he soon gave up, murmuring something about 'damn Prussian martinets'. The soldiers quickly unloaded the truck and they drove off again.
Peter steered the lorry back into the woods and rejoined Dumbledore. He was already bowing over the map, a look of deep satisfaction on his face. 'Praise to Lorena, the best potion brewing witch in the world!', he said excitedly. And it was true. Peter could see several red dots on the map moving to the outposts and after several minutes, more and more dots stood still and the signs next to them read "Soldier, fast asleep'. It would be several hours, however, before all the soldiers were put out of action. To cut their waiting time short, Dumbledore and Herbert entertained Peter with some stories on how they had used the Urethra hex on several occasions to cheat at exams during their school days and soon they were in a very merry mood.
'If we were enemy wizards, the three of you would be stunned or dead!', said a cold voice form the dark. Jumping to their feet, the three of them looked around wildly, while Dumbledore and Herbert reached for their wands. Harold Potter and Robert McGonagall, wands out and carrying the boarding hooks and the ropes, approached them from the forest. When they had reached them, they told Dumbledore immediately that the Aurors had indeed brought them straight to Octavian Snape's office, who, becoming more and more enraged as time went on, had threatened them with Azkaban and the Dementors for several hours, but they had stubbornly kept their silence. Unable to prove anything, he finally had to release them because of their parliamentary immunity. They had managed to shake off the Aurors, he had sent straight after them and come to Germany on their own initiative. Soon, they had run into German soldiers sound asleep and tried to find the remainder of the group with all possible speed.
'Well', said Dumbledore. 'Now it is time to split up!' Indicating Herbert, Harold and Robert, he continued. 'You three will go ahead along this path and clear our way off any remaining soldiers or wizards! After you have reached the castle, hide somewhere! Peter and I will follow you in a hour and enter the castle. Good luck to you, and remember what is at stake!'. Nodding grimly, the three drew their wands and looked once more at Dumbledore's map. 'Good luck to both of you, too', said Harold Potter. To Peter's utmost surprise, he then put on a shining garment and – vanished! Yes, he had heard the word invisibility cloak but until this second, he thought the others had been pulling his leg. The other two disappeared down the narrow path, that wound its way up to the castle in the distance.
Peter and Dumbledore remained behind and waited. Several times, Dumbledore sighed deeply. 'I know what you are going through, Albus', Peter said. 'It is horrible having to send people close to you into battle or another uncertain fate. Young as I am, I had to do it countless times, and that's why I hate war so much!', he added, bitterness in his voice. They continued waiting. An owl was hooting in the distance and it was now pitch-dark. Suddenly a shrill cry rend the air, followed by an absolute silence. Both had jumped to their feet, trying to penetrate the darkness with their eyes. 'I could light my wand', whispered Dumbledore, 'but I don't want to draw any attention! They must have met at least one dark wizard' he continued thoughtfully, 'but to what result, I can't tell! How long have they been gone, Peter?', he inquired, a note of impatience in his voice. '56 minutes', replied Peter looking at his fluorescent watch. 'Let's follow them now!', he added urgently. Dumbledore nodded.
They picked up their equipment and followed the path. 'Remember what you said, Albus?', asked Peter, 'muggle tactics against wizards and vice versa', he went on. 'So, if we're up against wizards now, don't light your wand! I have brought something better.' He took a big flashlight from his rucksack and illuminated the path in front of them. It was deserted. It remained that way for at least half a mile, but it grew steeper and steeper and soon Dumbledore was puffing with exhaustion. 'That's what you get, when you can do everything by magic', Peter thought, proud of his own physical fitness. Finally, the castle towered ahead of them. They had almost reached their goal!
Rounding a curve in the zigzagging path, Peter saw a huge hazelnut bush with two feet poking from under it in the narrow beam of his flashlight. His heart leapt. 'It couldn't be one of their friends, especially not Herbert Weasley. Please let it be one of the others', he prayed silently. Dumbledore had his wand out and was moving forward cautiously, indicating for Peter with his other hand to stay behind. Now he bent over the figure hidden beneath the bush! After several seconds, he motioned for Peter to join him, a look of immense relief on his face. The motionless figure on the ground was long and thin, wearing emerald green wizard robes, a thin moustache and a monocle in one eye. He reminded Peter of a Prussian lieutenant's caricature, he had once seen in an old magazine. 'Stunned!', said Dumbledore, looking up at Peter. 'I bet that's Hartmut von Pasewalk, let's hope, they had the same luck with the others!' Together, they pushed the body deeper into the bush and continued.
Twice more, they found the bodies of wizards taken out by their friends and once the body of a beefy German soldier who obviously didn't like beer. Finally, they had arrived at the castle walls towering above them. 'Lucky, there is no moat', puffed Dumbledore, ' I don't think, I'd be up to a swim right now.' Peter looked at the map. This was the North wall, they were exactly where they were supposed to be. He looked around and saw a figure hiding behind a huge fir. It was Herbert Weasley who gave them the thumbs-up to tell them that the coast was clear. Having done this several hundred times, Peter expertly tied the ropes to the two boarding hooks. He grabbed the first and took careful aim, throwing it straight over the battlement 30 feet above them. With a slight clonk, it fell to the ground behind the battlement and Peter pulled it tight to test whether it would support his weight. He repeated the exercise with the other hook and now they were ready!
Inch by inch, Peter and Dumbledore pulled themselves upward, looking for footholds on the protruding sandstones. Peter could hear Dumbledore breathing hard. He was obviously not used to that kind of exercise. Peter was first to reach the battlement and pulled himself over it, standing on a stone path that covered the entire length of the wall. He grabbed the rope attached to Dumbledore's boarding hook and began pulling him up. After 20 seconds the wizard stood next to him on the path, breathing hard. On the opposite end of the wall, they could see a narrow flight of stairs that led up to a door at the foot of the castle's largest tower. Looking at that door, Peter was suddenly seized by an ominous feeling. He looked at Dumbledore who nodded. This had to be where Grindelwald was hiding! Careful not to make a sound they crept along the path and ascended the narrow stairs until they reached a small platform in front of the door. The decisive hour had come at last!