"How are things going, Tem?" Harry asked as soon as his office door was closed.
"That's what I wanted to see you about, Harry. I haven't heard from either of our deputies for nearly two days now."
"Is that unusual?"
Tempest scowled. "They have checked in every single day, so far. If it was just one of them I would say they'd been called to do something, some piece of work or some test. But they both stopped communicating on the same day. That doesn't feel right."
Harry ran his fingers through his hair as he sat behind his desk. "Did either of them say anything in their last messages?"
The auror sighed. "I didn't think anything of it at the time but Phyllis said the Activators were being very cagey with her. It didn't seem that unusual because she hadn't been in very long. But the day before she said she felt they were starting to open up. I wonder now that she might have said something that made them suspicious."
Harry flopped back in his chair, his arms folded and his brow furrowed. "There was nothing in her background to give her away, was there?"
"Not that I know. It's hard to be certain. There's been no face-to-face contact with any of our staff since we recruited her three years ago. Well, apart from the strictly private training sessions."
Harry considered for a while. "For them both to go silent at the same time suggests that either the organisation is doing something big or they've been rumbled. Something big happening to both cells at the same time doesn't feel right at this stage of the game. If one had been rumbled then I can't see how they could have given the other away. They wouldn't have that information, no matter how they were interrogated."
Tempest pulled a worried face.
"What am I missing, Tem?"
"It turns out, chief," the auror admitted. "Lew and Phyllis may have known each other… and quite well. I'm trying to find out for certain but they might also have met up recently, as in the day after Phyllis was recruited into the Activators."
"Damn it! This is exactly what we tell them not to do. How can we look after people if they won't take their own security seriously?"
Harry rubbed his temples while he thought. "Look, if you can get any indication they met we must immediately assume they've both been rumbled."
He snorted with frustration. "OK, Tem. Whatever the case, we need to prepare two extraction teams. We have to keep it to people who already know about the case. You get Dennis Creevey, I'll see if Hermione will let us use Ron – it's either him or Kingsley and I can't really put the Minister of Magic on the front line."
Tempest hissed. "What about Hermione herself?"
"The Head of Enforcement in an auror's job? Kingsley would kill me – so would Ron. And if I put Ron in danger Hermione will kill me, or arrest me for using a civilian. And if I use anyone else Kingsley will string me up for spreading the case."
Harry swore.
"Only one way out I can see, chief. Ask Ron and don't tell Hermione."
Harry snorted. "OK, in that case you get Ron. I'll go and explain things to Dennis. Why do I feel like a condemned man, Tem?"
"Goes with the job."
Dennis shut the door behind them. "What is it you wanted to talk about, Harry?"
Harry took his wand out and muttered something.
"Muffliato," he explained. "So we can't be overheard."
"Nice one," Dennis nodded. "You'll have to teach me that sometime."
Harry gave him a serious look. "Maybe I will. I need a favour from you first."
"Does it involve sticking it to the Death Eaters, by any chance?"
Harry could not help but smile. "Actually, it does."
"Cool, I'm in," the reporter replied. "Now tell me how dangerous it is. Does it involve that business a couple of years ago?"
Harry's face was serious again. "It could be very dangerous and, yes, it's that thing about rituals and making muggles magical."
Dennis nodded. "Is the girl, Lydia, involved? Ginny tells me she's doing well at Hogwarts."
Harry shook his head. "No, she's not involved at the moment. Look, I don't have time to chat about this, Dennis. Sorry. We managed to get a couple of undercover agents into Rowle's, the Death Eaters', organisation."
Dennis raised his eyebrows but let Harry continue.
"It's looking like they've been found out. Two agents in two different parts of the organisation suddenly went silent. These are, kind of, semi-civilians – not full aurors. If there's even a possibility they've been caught we need to get them out. And you're one of the only people who know about this, so I have to ask."
"I've already said I'm in, Harry. You know how I am about Death Eaters. And Rowle? We thought he was dead…"
Dennis's voice tailed off. Harry knew he was thinking about the Battle of Hogwarts and the night his brother had died.
"Do you have any potions that might be useful, Dennis?"
Dennis visibly returned to the present and nodded. "Veritaserum, Indifference Draught, one or two others. All at my place."
"OK. We'll go and pick them up then I'll take you to where we can get started."
"What about, you know, my boss and the newspaper? Harry Potter waltzes into the office and we disappear together. I've got to give them something."
Harry grinned. "I'm sure you'll make something up, Dennis."
"I'm not bloody Rita Skeeter, you know," he protested.
"OK, we'll get Ginny to make something up. I'm sure neither of us will get embarrassed by it."
Dennis grimaced. "We'll talk about it afterwards. We might be too dead to care by then."
"Don't joke about it, Dennis," Harry warned. "When I say this could be dangerous I mean we really could end up dead."
Dennis gave a solemn nod. They disapparated.
"Hi, Rosie!" Dennis called as they walked through the front door of his house.
"Hi, Shnookles!" came the reply from deeper into the house. "I'm in the kitchen."
They walked through and into the kitchen. A curly-coated dog, who was asleep in its basket, stirred and raised its head. Its tail wagged.
"Is Little Colin with your mum?" Dennis said, looking around.
"He is," she grinned.
Then she spotted Harry and her face fell into a mask of concern.
She nodded to Harry. "Head Auror. Good afternoon."
"Hello, Rose. How are you?" Harry replied.
"We're just going to grab a few things," Dennis chattered on. "Then Harry and I are going out on a trip. Might be late back. I'll let you know when I know."
Dennis turned on his heel and went back into the hall and up the stairs. Rose grabbed Harry's arm.
There were tears in her eyes. "Bring him back. Please, if there's any way you can. We need him."
"We're only going…" Harry began.
Rose Creevey shook her head. "The Head Auror doesn't visit for the sake of it. And Dennis wouldn't go unless Death Eaters were involved."
Harry was silent for a moment. "I'll get him back to you both. I promise."
Rose nodded. "Go."
Dennis had gathered his potions and changed into muggle clothes. They were about to leave. As Harry did not know the area, he had asked Tempest to make a portkey, which Harry had authorised without registering in the normal ledger. As he was reaching for it he felt a buzz. He pulled out the replicating scroll – a small piece of parchment wrapped tightly around a pencil – and read it.
"Problem?" asked Dennis, adjusting his jacket.
"Yes," Harry confirmed. "We can't apparate or use a portkey where we're supposed to be going. Tem says there's a travel-suppressing charm over the whole of the Spring Bank West area."
"Where are we going? Hull, did you say?" asked Dennis.
"Yeah, it's a house down De La Pole Avenue in West Hull. I know Beverley to apparate to. I suppose we could get a taxi from there."
"I have a friend who has a place on Anlaby Road. We can walk from there," Dennis told him.
"A wizard friend?"
"Magical. A witch called Angela Foster. She's a schoolfriend of Rosie's. I was in the same year as them after having to take time out during the war. She won't mind me apparating us into her spare room."
"As long as she doesn't have guests," Harry warned.
"Not that kind of spare room, Harry. More a junk room. Be prepared to trip over boxes or whatever."
Dennis disapparated, taking Harry side-along. The room was, indeed, full of junk. Harry managed to keep his feet but they crushed a few things on the way to the door. As they exited the room, Dennis turned and used his wand to repair the things they had broken.
"Hello?" Dennis called.
"Hello?" came the reply from downstairs.
"Hi, Angie. It's Dennis. I'm sorry about apparating like that. I desperately need to get to De La Pole Ave. It's a scoop I'm chasing. Oh, hi."
Angie had appeared in the hall as they made it to the bottom of the stairs. She hugged Dennis, then noticed Harry.
"Oh, yeah," Dennis added. "This is Harry Potter. Well, you know who he is. As you can guess, this might be a huge story, so please don't mention anything to anyone until it gets printed."
"Of course not," she assured them. "Off you go and good luck. Do you want a brew and a sandwich before you go?"
"Sorry. Got to rush," said Harry before Dennis could reply.
Angela waved them off as they stepped out into the busy street.
"Which way?" Harry asked Dennis.
"Almost opposite. Across that pelican crossing to our right, then back this way, then it's the round the corner by the newsagents. What number are we looking for?"
Harry told him where they were to meet Tempest and Ron.
"That's just up the avenue. There's a junction where it dog-legs right then left, then it'll be on the right somewhere past there, I guess."
They set off.
After they had turned the corner into the avenue something occurred to Dennis. "I hope you're not relying on just the Indifference Draught to keep you from being recognised, Harry."
Harry turned to look at him. "You've got Polyjuice, I hope?"
"Of course," Dennis grinned. "Have you got something from someone else to put in it?"
"Y-yeah," Harry admitted.
Dennis shook his head. "It's not, is it?"
"Not what?"
"Not," he grimaced, "Ginny? It is, isn't it."
"Only option I had," Harry protested, then looked a little shamefaced. "I always carry a locket of her hair. Not for this, just… like you do."
"You mean, to scare off vampires and werewolves," Dennis smirked.
Harry snorted with laughter.
"It's up here, Harry," said Dennis pointing.
They walked up to the house where Tempest had told Harry to meet him. Harry knocked an unusual rhythm on the door. It opened. They entered.
Tempest was inside the door. "Ron's in the back getting ready. Just remember this was your idea, chief. Y'know, when Hermione comes after me."
"Absolutely," Harry gave him a wry smile. "Tem, this is Dennis Creevey, ace reporter. Dennis this is Tempest Savage, the best auror I've got."
"I think I remember you from that ritual thing we broke up," Dennis said. "When we got Lestrange and Malfoy and the others."
"That's right," Tempest acknowledged. "You were busy trying to save Hermione. Maybe you could put in a good word for me."
It was a narrow hall and Harry was in the way so the two nodded to each other. They moved through to the back of the house. Ron was dressed in muggle clothes and putting on a dark jacket.
"Hi Harry," he welcomed them. "Dennis, long time no see."
"Yeah," Dennis nodded. "Must be, what, four days?"
The room was dingy and dark, with just four wooden chairs and a table. There was a faint smell of dampness and stale pipe smoke. The tabletop was ringed with marks from cups and glasses.
"Glorious place you've got here, Tempest," Dennis quipped.
"Yeah, it's a safe house stroke… poker den," he explained. "It kinda worries me that these Death Eaters chose a safe house on exactly the same avenue, out of the whole country."
"We've got safe houses in every city in the country," said Ron. "And it's one of those areas: not too respectable, not too dodgy."
Tempest did not look convinced. Harry took note but said nothing.
"So, what's the plan, my auror friends?" Dennis asked.
Tempest stepped forwards. "We have a muggle van which we'll drive up to somewhere near number 237, where Phyllis and Lewis both said they were going to their next meeting. We'll start by watching the place for signs of life."
"I thought they were in different parts of the organisation?" Dennis queried.
"Yeah," Tempest agreed. "I don't think they've really got the idea of cells. Either that or the cells were for training and they're coming together for something big."
"And that's our dilemma," Harry pointed out. "If they've gone quiet because they are on some mission for the organisation and we barge in, we could blow their cover. If they've been found out and we don't barge in, they could die. I've taken the view that it's better to play safe and get them out."
"Then the problem turns into how we get them out safely," Ron added.
"For that we need to find out how to get in without panicking them into doing something regrettable," Tempest said. "Which is why we need a bit of surveillance first."
Dennis spoke up. "Harry and I were talking about how we make sure we're not recognised. I have Polyjuice which will last up to eight hours, and an antidote for it. I'll probably be all right but you aurors and ex-aurors would be safer with it. I also have my own Indifference Draught which, for Tempest's sake, is a…"
"It's OK," Tempest told him. "Harry and Ron told me about it. And it hasn't gone any further, in case you were worried."
Dennis nodded. "Thanks. The doses I have here give you about an hour and a half, which is the maximum I can get out of a single dose. It's not going to hide a van."
"We thought of using a disillusionment charm on the van," Ron said. "But it's not 100% and if a muggle notices it, well, everything could go weird, quickly."
"Would a muggle notice it?" Dennis asked. "They don't notice much, as a rule."
Ron grimaced. "They'd notice if they tried to park where the van was."
They agreed to use their Polyjuice while in the van because it lasted eight hours. By that time, they would need to have acted if they were to rescue their agents alive. The Indifference Draughts they would take when they left the van to enter the house. Tempest had brought several phials containing hair from various subjects who were not involved with the Auror Office. They were ideal for Polyjuice impersonations. There were enough for them all. Dennis was delighted not to have Ginny apparently in charge of the rescue. Harry was relieved, too, that he was not doubling as his own wife. Dennis produced the doses of Polyjuice he had brought and they all changed into other people, before going out to the van.
Because of the one-way system, they had to go back down the avenue then back up a parallel avenue. Halfway up this avenue they turned right onto a short street and then left again. They were back on the original avenue but driving in the direction they needed. They parked not far from the end of the avenue, where it joined the dual carriageway of Spring Bank West. Across the road was the semi-detached house where the Death Eaters organisation met – or possibly where they held prisoners.
Ron had made sure there were plenty of supplies in the van for a stake-out. They did not have long to wait for their suspicions to be confirmed.
Forty minutes into their surveillance Ron hissed, "That's what's-his-name from the mine, Throakley Mine."
The nondescript shopkeeper who housed Harry Potter scrambled to look out of the window.
"Wellbeck," he pronounced. "Petrarch Wellbeck."
"I might enjoy this, after all," Ron observed.
Wellbeck and another man walked up to the front door of the house. They shuffled about for a second or two, unlocking some charm, then opened the door and walked in without looking round.
"Any idea what was sealing the door, Tem?" Harry asked the heavy-set young man, who was actually Tempest Savage.
"I thought I saw a pinkish glow," he replied. "That would be… I think it's called Riseborough's Seal."
"Roxburgh's Seal," Ron's bald old man corrected. "I know the countercharm for that, thanks to Ginny."
They took Dennis's Indifference Draught and the antidote to the Polyjuice Potion. They wanted the bodies they were accustomed to, in case there was any fighting. Harry had also learned the countercharm from Ginny. He elected to take Dennis and circle round to the back door, while Ron and Tempest were to enter by the front.
As they reached the back of the house Harry spoke softly. "Dennis, I want you to put this on. It's an invisibility cloak. You're our one civilian and this will give you an advantage."
Dennis accepted the cloak, there was no time to argue. They stepped up to the back door and Harry performed the complex wand movements and murmured the words of the countercharm. There was a deep pinkish glow over the surface of the door and a faint click. Harry went to open the door. The handle turned but the door did not open.
"It's the muggle lock, Harry," Dennis whispered.
"Alohomora," Harry muttered.
The door opened. Harry, wand at the ready, pushed it open far enough for them to slip inside. The door shut behind them, pushed by Dennis's unseen hand.
The space inside felt wrong. It was dark. It was cold. They were in a long corridor with light at the far end, coming through the coloured glass of the front door. A figure stepped out of the shadows beside the front door and waved at Harry. It was Tempest. He walked forwards. Harry approached him.
"Where's Ron, Tem?" Harry hissed.
"I'm right here," Ron muttered, appearing beside Tempest. "It's that draught of Dennis's. Works really well. Where is he?"
"Under the Hallow, where he should be," Harry whispered, taking care in case they were being watched.
"Ah, right," Ron acknowledged. "What's the story with this corridor? I mean, it's not normal for a muggle house to have stone walls inside, is it?"
"No," Harry confirmed. "This is something our lot have done."
Ron looked up and down the corridor. "Where are the rooms?"
Harry looked as well. "Try the walls. There must be a hidden door."
After a minute or so of searching Tempest caught Harry's eye with a wave of his hand. He gestured to the wall which should have been the outside wall – the wall none of the others were testing. Harry and Ron joined him. Presumably Dennis was beside them but Harry could not see him and he was keeping quiet.
Tempest tapped the wall with his wand. The outline of a doorway glowed a ghostly silver.
"Rock Veil charm," Tempest whispered. "Move slowly and you can pass through it, too fast and it goes solid. Hold your breath as you go through."
Tempest went first, leaning on the rock inside the pale outline and sinking into it, through it. Harry took a deep breath and pushed himself against the wall. It gave in to the pressure like pushing through wet sand. Harry closed his eyes and pushed his face through. He was tempted to speed up but the slightest rapid jerk made the wall start to set hard. Mercifully, the wall was only a few centimetres thick and he was through in a few seconds. It felt longer. He stepped away from the wall into the corridor that lay beyond. Turning, he saw Ron's hands appear, then a foot, then his nose. He was moving in jerks and took longer to get through than Harry had. Ron shook his head and scowled.
Holes started to appear in the rock of the wall. They realised it must be Dennis in the cloak. At one point there was nearly the whole outline of a man's body. Then the holes shrank and the wall became solid once more.
"That's not going to make for a quick exit," Ron hissed.
9