A/N: Yay, an update, FINALLY! Writer's block. Forgive me. Fun chapter. Long chapter. Guest star is Alastor Moody (Aeryn, this is for you!). But before we get on with the long-awaited (ha) Chapter Sixteen of our epic...
Lemon_Drops: Thank you for the lovely review, and I did do some updating, but not as much as I should have. *big innocent smile*
MK: Yes and yes. How Grindelwald "died" will be explained in the final showdown. *dramatic chord* And don't worry, Grindelwald will get what's coming to him.
Aeryn Alexander: Natalie witch, Ben Muggle. Natalie's a Muggle-born witch. (like Lily and Petunia Evans) Road trip? Not quite. And the Churchill quote was great. Hope you enjoy the new chapter!
Robin: Thanks. I'm working hard on Grindelwald. Thank you for the review!
insaneflautist: *blushes* Aw, shucks... thanks!
Madame Plot Bunnie: You know, I didn't even think of that, but now that you mention it... *laughs* Sure.
Minerva of Tortall: *cowers* I'm sorry! :-D Here's the update. Hope you like it, and thanks for reading!
Anndy Malfoy: I wrote more (finally) ^_^ Thanks for reading.
~~~
CHAPTER SIXTEEN: THE RESCUE
~~~
Two days later, five figures knelt behind a row of bushes in the French countryside and surveyed the sight before them. It was just past sunset, and on a hill about an eighth of a mile away from their hiding place stood a prison camp backdropped against the western horizon. It wasn't just any prison camp, though; it was the prison camp that held Benjamin Cypher captive, and as soon as they had the cover of darkness and if all went according to plan, Ben wasn't the only prisoner their enemy would be losing.
"I can't believe I let you talk me into this."
Minerva McGonagall groaned, rolled her eyes, and looked at her friend. "We've been through this, Alastor," she said. "No one made you come. I said I would like you to come, but I never told you that not coming wasn't an option."
Alastor Moody folded his arms across his chest and said, "I know, and I should have listened to that little voice inside my head that told me not to come."
"Ssh," Warrick Larios said, holding his finger to his lips.
The other two members of their party, Albus Dumbledore and Natalie Cypher, were busy assessing the situation. "We can't just walk up there," Natalie said. "It's too open. They'd see us long before we get there."
"I guess our only other option is Apparition," Dumbledore said. "Do you all feel comfortable with Apparating from here to there?"
Natalie shook her head sadly. "I'm not very good at Apparition," she confessed. "I could probably do it, but..."
"It's not worth the risk," said Larios. "We'll think of another way."
"Shouldn't we send one person over to get a closer look before we all go?" asked Moody.
Natalie pointed to one of the towers. "We could, but we'd have to figure out a way to get around the guards."
Moody glanced at Minerva for a moment, then looked at the prison camp. "Well, I'm sure Cat Woman would have no problem getting over there. Cats aren't very suspicious, are they?"
"Thank you, Alastor," Minerva said. Her voice had a sarcastic tone to it. "That's quite touching. I don't think anyone has ever called me Cat Woman before."
Moody smiled at her. "Maybe not to your face." Moody was the type of man that could joke around with his friends, but when the time came to be serious, he could switch into the other mood so completely that one would think there wasn't any sense of humor in him at all.
Larios chuckled. "I think we need to seperate you two."
Even Natalie was smiling by this time. "Cat Woman... that sounds like a superhero."
"Quick, someone patent Cat Woman," Moody said. "I want a Knut every time someone says it." He gave Minerva his full attention, smiled, and winked. "I always knew you were a superhero, Min."
"Only on Tuesdays," Minerva said dryly. "All right. I'll be the hot shot Animagus and do some reconnaissance. Natalie, what does your brother look like?"
"Like me, only male," she answered. "He's twenty-five, and he's about four inches taller than me. He has an appendectomy scar on his stomach, but I don't think that will help you at all."
"I'll see what I can do. Give me twenty minutes." She and Dumbledore made eye contact for a moment, and then she transformed into her feline alter ego and began making her way toward the prison camp.
"Hey, Albus?" Larios asked as he, Dumbledore, Moody, and Natalie watched Minerva maneuver through the large field before them.
"Yes, Warrick?" Dumbledore said.
"What day is it?"
A small smile crossed Dumbledore's face. "Tuesday."
~~~
As Minerva drew closer to the prison camp, she began looking for a way to get in. The bars on the front gate were spaced just far enough apart for a cat to squeeze through, so she elected to go that way. She mentally thanked herself for going through all the trials and tribulations of becoming an Animagus. The ability was far more useful than she ever thought it would be back when she was a student who was losing sleep due to the extra workload she had to take on when she decided she was going to become a member of the select few.
Minerva squeezed through the bars of the front gate, and once inside, her keen feline vision began taking in the surroundings. The gate led into a large square courtyard of mud, and cells were set up along three of the four walls, the exclusion being the one she had just entered through. Most of them were empty, but she spotted a few prisoners of war here and there. They were all filthy and looked fatigued and malnourished as well. She wondered if Benjamin Cypher was in one of those cells.
Staying low to the ground, she crept toward the wall on her left to begin her search. All the cells on that wall were empty. On the wall opposite the entrance, two cells were occupied with one man each, and neither one bore any resemblance to Natalie. On the third wall, though, she got lucky. In the fourth occupied cell she looked in to sat a young man with light brown hair and eyes and a face that looked something like a masculine version of Natalie's underneath all the mud, cuts, and bruises. She looked up and memorized the number written on the wooden beam over the cell: thirty-seven. Knowing which cell Ben was in wasn't enough for her, though; there were still other things that needed to be done.
Repeating thirty-seven over and over in her head, Minerva crept toward what she guessed to be the camp's administrative building. If she could get in there and possibly find a way to knock out surveillance, their job would be a lot easier.
She spotted a pair of guards walking toward the building and started following them. If they opened the door, she could get inside. She could always transform back into human form, but if someone saw her, then the whole operation would be compromised. Cats weren't very suspicious, but a cat transforming into a woman or vice versa was extremely suspicious to someone who wasn't a wizard.
Her lucky streak continued. The guards opened the door, and she managed to squeeze inside just before it shut. She followed them, not knowing what else to do, and listened in on their conversation. The only language she knew very well besides English was Arabic (from being stationed in Egypt for a while when she first became an Auror), but she understood bits and pieces of German. From what she could gather, the two guards were irritated with one of their superiors and wished he would get on with whatever he was planning. For a moment, Minerva wondered if it had something to do with Benjamin Cypher, but realized that wasn't possible. Ben was a British spy, but if they knew that, they would have already killed him, and there was just no way they could know that his sister was a witch, and even if they did, what was it to them?
A few feet ahead of them, the hallway intersected another one. One guard went to the left, and the other went to the right. Minerva thought fast, and decided to follow the one on the left. They rounded a few corners here and there, but the hall didn't seem to be leading anywhere interesting. The guard soon reached a door, and began fumbling in his pockets for the key to unlock it. Minerva read the label above the door, and felt a glow of satisfaction as she translated it: Power.
However, after that, her luck came to an end. The guard pulled a key out of his pocket, but instead of sticking it into the door, he happened to glance over his shoulder, and in doing so, spotted her. Minerva's heart sank. Damn it! she thought to herself. Damn it, damn it, damn it!
The guard chuckled and said something that she translated into "What are you doing here?" He then knelt down and tried to pet her, but she hissed and scratched his hand. He pulled his hand away and began sucking on the skin that she had scratched. She hoped she drew blood. "Stupid cat," the guard mumbled, and rose to his feet. "Get out of here."
He kicked at her, but she backed away and hissed again. He reached into his pockets again, probably to find something to throw at her, and Minerva saw her opportunity. She just hoped she remembered everything Moody taught her about how to throw a punch.
While the guard's attention was diverted, Minerva changed back into human form. The guard looked at her and would have screamed, had her fist not made contact with his face before any sound could be emitted. He fell to the floor, and appeared to be unconscious. Minerva rubbed her knuckles. The punch was slightly off, but it got the job done. Now, to take care of that security room.
In his fall, the guard had dropped the key he took from his pocket, and she saw it lying on the floor a few feet away from him. She bent down, picked it up, and tried to stick it in the keyhole. As luck would have it, it didn't fit. She let out an exasperated sigh, threw the key down next to the unconscious guard, and pulled out her wand. "Alohomora."
She heard the soft click of a lock disengaging, and then opened the door.
~~~
In the meantime, the others were beginning to grow restless. "Where is she?" Dumbledore asked. "Shouldn't she have been back by now? What if something's happened to her?"
"Calm down, Professor," Moody said calmly. "I'm sure she's fine. She's Minerva. She doesn't know how to be reckless, no matter how often I tried to teach her."
"Spoken like a true Slytherin," Larios commented.
Moody smiled innocently. "What can I say? Of course, you're a Ravenclaw, so I wouldn't expect you to understand..."
"Funny, Moody," Larios replied. "Very funny." Larios had taken over as head of Ravenclaw, his old house, after the death of Quinn Grindelwald and the imprisonment of Rachel Revueltas.
Dumbledore sighed and looked at the lights of the prison camp. "I hope you're right, Alastor," he said, and then added, "About the idea that Minerva doesn't know how to be reckless."
Moody nodded. "Yeah, I hope I am, too."
At that moment, the entire prison camp went dark.
Natalie almost jumped. "Did you see that?" she cried. "All the power over there just went out!"
"I know," came a voice from behind. It was Minerva, who had just appeared, presumably by Apparition. "I found the power generators and put them out of commission. While they all run around trying to fix the power, we get in there and rescue Ben." She then began rubbing her eyes and blinking rapidly.
Dumbledore, fearing that she had been exposed to tear gas or some other dreadful noxious fumes, asked if she was all right. She gave him a reassuring smile. "I'm fine," she said. "It's just dark."
Moody glanced up at the night sky overhead. "Yes, Minerva, it's night," he said. "My, my, aren't we observant?"
"Yes, Alastor, we are very observant, especially considering that the last time I was outside, I was a cat."
Moody held up his hands in defense. "I surrender."
"You can't surrender," said Larios. "We haven't even been captured yet."
"Warrick," said Dumbledore.
"Yes?" Larios returned.
"A little optimism, please."
"Oh, it's all right," said Moody. "I'm sure Professor Larios just forgot for a moment that we're about to walk into a Nazi prison camp and rescue a British spy."
"Then let's get on with it," said Minerva. "I don't know what I did to those generators or how long it will take them to fix them. We don't know how much time we have."
Natalie spoke next. "Then let's go."
~~~
They moved swiftly across the field toward the prison camp, not knowing how much time they had before their adversaries got the power working again. "Natalie, I think your brother's in cell thirty-seven," Minerva told the other woman as they approached their destination. "Of course, it's not like it really matters, but I thought you should know."
"How many cells are occupied?" asked Moody.
"Seven," Minerva answered. "There's one prisoner in each cell. There's two in cells on the west wall and five on the north. Ben's in the fourth one on the north side."
"Natalie, Minerva, you two get the prisoners out," Dumbledore instructed. "Warrick and I will set up the explosives." It took a while for Dumbledore to persuade Winston Churchill to let them rescue Ben, but once that was accomplished, Churchill provided them with enough explosives to demolish the small, isolated camp. Currently, they were transfigured into a pocketwatch, which Larios had in his pocket. "And Alastor, you create a distraction, preferably one that will get as many soldiers as possible out of here. I want as few fatalities as possible. This is not our war."
The others nodded in acknowledgement. "What should I do?" Moody inquired.
"Whatever you feel will work," Dumbledore answered. "Set something on fire if you like." Then he winked.
A smile played at the corners of his mouth. "You got it."
Minerva arched an eyebrow. "Are you going to do what I think you're going to do?"
Moody nodded. "If you're thinking what I think you're thinking, then yes."
"What?" asked Natalie.
Moody opened his mouth to speak, but Minerva cut him off. "You'll see," she said, "and when you do, remember to ask me about it sometime."
They reached the gate, and after making sure they wouldn't be seen, slipped it open enough for them to squeeze inside, one by one. Dumbledore and Larios went inside the main building, Minerva and Natalie made their way toward the cells, and Moody took off by himself. None of the others knew where he was going, and frankly, they didn't really care. As long as the job done, it was all right, and knowing Moody, it certainly would.
A quick stunning charm took care of the lone guard in the courtyard. While Minerva revived him, hit him with a memory charm, and made up a new memory, then sent him on his way to take care of an appointment in Paris he was late for, Natalie used the Alohomora charm to unlock cell thirty-seven. "Ben?" she called softly. "Are you here?"
Benjamin Cypher couldn't believe his eyes. "Natalie?"
She nodded, and the two embraced tightly. Both were in tears. "What are you doing here?" Ben asked. "How did you know?"
"It's a long story," Natalie replied. "We'll have plenty of time to explain once we get everyone out."
"You shouldn't have come here," said Ben. "Whoever's in charge around here knows who you are, and I was bait to lure you here. You have to get out now!"
"What are you talking about?" Natalie asked.
"There's no time," Minerva said. "Come on, we've got to get the others out."
They set to work freeing the other prisoners. The power still had not returned, and there was no sign of Moody or his distraction. It didn't take long to get the other six out of their cells, and once they were all out, Minerva gave them instructions. They were to follow Natalie out of the prison camp and then wait at the designated location until further notice. Minerva was to meet Dumbledore and Larios and help them finish with their part of the job.
They crept back toward the entrance, staying in the shadows. Suddenly, they heard screaming, and it was all they could do to keep from screaming themselves when they saw what it was. Something was running toward them, waving his arms and screaming as if all Hell had broken loose. Behind him were what looked like about two dozen soldiers, chasing him and waving around their weapons.
It was Moody, and he was on fire.
Natalie's eyes grew wide. "Minerva, is that what you were talking about?"
Minerva nodded. "Yes, Natalie, that is what I was talking about. I don't have time to explain. It looks like Alastor has gotten the soldiers out of here, and that's what matters. Now it's your turn. We'll see you back at the rendezvous point."
~~~
"That's the last charge," Larios said as he finished tying two fuses together. "Got the detonator?"
Dumbledore tapped the small metal object in his hand. "Right here."
"Great. Let's get out of here and blow this place."
"Wait," said Dumbledore. "We haven't found Minerva yet."
"I'm right here," came a voice from behind. The men turned around, and saw Minerva jogging toward them. "Natalie got the prisoners out, and there's twenty or so soldiers following Alastor. They should be out by now."
A smile flickered across Larios's face. "I'm sure they were quite surprised when they saw him."
"Well, it's not every day that you see a man running around on fire," Minerva replied. "The others should be a safe distance away by now. Let's get going."
Apparition got them back to their starting point, where Natalie and the seven freed prisoners were waiting. Moody hadn't arrived yet. One of the prisoners demanded an explanation. "Of course," Larios calmly said. He pointed his wand at them. Their memories of this incident, even Ben's, had to be erased. Unlike the others, though, he knew it was coming. "Obliviate."
All of their expressions went blank.
"The prison camp caught fire," Larios told them. "You broke out of your cells and got out just in time. You're all going home now."
They blinked.
Larios leaned toward Dumbledore. "Blow it," he muttered.
"Not yet," Dumbledore said. "We don't have Moody yet."
Just then, Moody appeared next to Natalie. "I'm here. Let's get this over with." He and Minerva instantly made eye contact, and before she could speak, he said, "Yes, Minerva, I know, ended a sentence with a preposition, please forgive me."
Minerva kept silent.
Dumbledore pulled out the detonator and depressed the small button in the center. A second later, they had to shield their eyes from the bright light of the blast as the prison camp went up in flames. When the blast faded, Dumbledore looked at the detonator for a moment, then slipped it into his pocket. "Let's go home." They were getting home the same way they came in, by an airplane loaned to them by the British government. It was located on a large field that served as a runway about five miles away from the prison camp. They had to walk to there and hope they wouldn't be spotted.
Natalie looked at Moody. "You - you're not on fire anymore! You don't even look like you were on fire!"
Moody smiled innocently.
Natalie turned to Minerva. "You told me to ask. I'm asking."
"Well, we've got five miles," Minerva said with a sigh.
Dumbledore started to chuckle. Larios, too, was grinning.
Minerva shot her two companions a look of warning, but it had no effect on them. "Just tell her, Minerva," Larios said.
"It was in our fifth year," Minerva said. "It was just another normal April day, and classes had just gotten over. Suddenly, we hear screaming, and down the hall comes Alastor Moody - a prefect, I might add - on fire. We were all certain he was dying when he stopped screaming and began laughing. And I don't care what you think, Alastor, it wasn't funny."
"Yes, it was!" he insisted. "You should have seen your face!"
"He should have been expelled for that stupid prank," Minerva said, "but he wasn't, and Professor Grindelwald was so impressed with his skill with flame-freezing charms that he awarded Slytherin house twenty points! Twenty points! For lighting himself on fire and running through the school, screaming like a madman!"
Natalie laughed. "Sorry, Minerva. It IS funny."
"Yes, and now I'm going to have to do another memory charm," Larios said, nodding his head in the direction of the seven Muggles.
They stopped so the memory charm could be performed. While Larios made up another memory for the prisoners and Moody chatted with Natalie, Dumbledore and Minerva walked several feet away in hopes of getting a few seconds alone. "Well, it's over," Dumbledore said, gazing at the burning camp.
"For us," Minerva replied. She glanced toward the Muggles and said, "Not for them." She rested her head on his shoulder, and he slipped his arm around her waist. "At least we saved Natalie's brother, but..."
"But what?"
She sighed softly. "He said something that bothered me; that it was a trap and he was bait to lure us there. I don't know if he meant Natalie or all of us, but that's what he said: it was a trap."
Dumbledore nodded toward the giant bonfire in the distance. "I think we win this battle, Minerva." Suddenly, he spotted something. It was a vehicle, a truck, driving away from the camp. There were two people inside, a driver and a passenger. "Do you see that?" he asked.
"Yes, I do," she said. "What's so special about it?"
He didn't answer. His mind was frozen with shock. Even from this distance, he could see the face of the passenger clearly in the glow of the inferno. At first, he didn't believe it. It wasn't possible. And yet, there he was, sitting in the passenger seat of the truck driving away from the camp. His eyes were not deceiving him, and neither was the sudden burst of realization that hit him when he put all the pieces in this mysterious puzzle together. Finally, everything made sense. He knew who it was.
Quinn Grindelwald.
Lemon_Drops: Thank you for the lovely review, and I did do some updating, but not as much as I should have. *big innocent smile*
MK: Yes and yes. How Grindelwald "died" will be explained in the final showdown. *dramatic chord* And don't worry, Grindelwald will get what's coming to him.
Aeryn Alexander: Natalie witch, Ben Muggle. Natalie's a Muggle-born witch. (like Lily and Petunia Evans) Road trip? Not quite. And the Churchill quote was great. Hope you enjoy the new chapter!
Robin: Thanks. I'm working hard on Grindelwald. Thank you for the review!
insaneflautist: *blushes* Aw, shucks... thanks!
Madame Plot Bunnie: You know, I didn't even think of that, but now that you mention it... *laughs* Sure.
Minerva of Tortall: *cowers* I'm sorry! :-D Here's the update. Hope you like it, and thanks for reading!
Anndy Malfoy: I wrote more (finally) ^_^ Thanks for reading.
~~~
CHAPTER SIXTEEN: THE RESCUE
~~~
Two days later, five figures knelt behind a row of bushes in the French countryside and surveyed the sight before them. It was just past sunset, and on a hill about an eighth of a mile away from their hiding place stood a prison camp backdropped against the western horizon. It wasn't just any prison camp, though; it was the prison camp that held Benjamin Cypher captive, and as soon as they had the cover of darkness and if all went according to plan, Ben wasn't the only prisoner their enemy would be losing.
"I can't believe I let you talk me into this."
Minerva McGonagall groaned, rolled her eyes, and looked at her friend. "We've been through this, Alastor," she said. "No one made you come. I said I would like you to come, but I never told you that not coming wasn't an option."
Alastor Moody folded his arms across his chest and said, "I know, and I should have listened to that little voice inside my head that told me not to come."
"Ssh," Warrick Larios said, holding his finger to his lips.
The other two members of their party, Albus Dumbledore and Natalie Cypher, were busy assessing the situation. "We can't just walk up there," Natalie said. "It's too open. They'd see us long before we get there."
"I guess our only other option is Apparition," Dumbledore said. "Do you all feel comfortable with Apparating from here to there?"
Natalie shook her head sadly. "I'm not very good at Apparition," she confessed. "I could probably do it, but..."
"It's not worth the risk," said Larios. "We'll think of another way."
"Shouldn't we send one person over to get a closer look before we all go?" asked Moody.
Natalie pointed to one of the towers. "We could, but we'd have to figure out a way to get around the guards."
Moody glanced at Minerva for a moment, then looked at the prison camp. "Well, I'm sure Cat Woman would have no problem getting over there. Cats aren't very suspicious, are they?"
"Thank you, Alastor," Minerva said. Her voice had a sarcastic tone to it. "That's quite touching. I don't think anyone has ever called me Cat Woman before."
Moody smiled at her. "Maybe not to your face." Moody was the type of man that could joke around with his friends, but when the time came to be serious, he could switch into the other mood so completely that one would think there wasn't any sense of humor in him at all.
Larios chuckled. "I think we need to seperate you two."
Even Natalie was smiling by this time. "Cat Woman... that sounds like a superhero."
"Quick, someone patent Cat Woman," Moody said. "I want a Knut every time someone says it." He gave Minerva his full attention, smiled, and winked. "I always knew you were a superhero, Min."
"Only on Tuesdays," Minerva said dryly. "All right. I'll be the hot shot Animagus and do some reconnaissance. Natalie, what does your brother look like?"
"Like me, only male," she answered. "He's twenty-five, and he's about four inches taller than me. He has an appendectomy scar on his stomach, but I don't think that will help you at all."
"I'll see what I can do. Give me twenty minutes." She and Dumbledore made eye contact for a moment, and then she transformed into her feline alter ego and began making her way toward the prison camp.
"Hey, Albus?" Larios asked as he, Dumbledore, Moody, and Natalie watched Minerva maneuver through the large field before them.
"Yes, Warrick?" Dumbledore said.
"What day is it?"
A small smile crossed Dumbledore's face. "Tuesday."
~~~
As Minerva drew closer to the prison camp, she began looking for a way to get in. The bars on the front gate were spaced just far enough apart for a cat to squeeze through, so she elected to go that way. She mentally thanked herself for going through all the trials and tribulations of becoming an Animagus. The ability was far more useful than she ever thought it would be back when she was a student who was losing sleep due to the extra workload she had to take on when she decided she was going to become a member of the select few.
Minerva squeezed through the bars of the front gate, and once inside, her keen feline vision began taking in the surroundings. The gate led into a large square courtyard of mud, and cells were set up along three of the four walls, the exclusion being the one she had just entered through. Most of them were empty, but she spotted a few prisoners of war here and there. They were all filthy and looked fatigued and malnourished as well. She wondered if Benjamin Cypher was in one of those cells.
Staying low to the ground, she crept toward the wall on her left to begin her search. All the cells on that wall were empty. On the wall opposite the entrance, two cells were occupied with one man each, and neither one bore any resemblance to Natalie. On the third wall, though, she got lucky. In the fourth occupied cell she looked in to sat a young man with light brown hair and eyes and a face that looked something like a masculine version of Natalie's underneath all the mud, cuts, and bruises. She looked up and memorized the number written on the wooden beam over the cell: thirty-seven. Knowing which cell Ben was in wasn't enough for her, though; there were still other things that needed to be done.
Repeating thirty-seven over and over in her head, Minerva crept toward what she guessed to be the camp's administrative building. If she could get in there and possibly find a way to knock out surveillance, their job would be a lot easier.
She spotted a pair of guards walking toward the building and started following them. If they opened the door, she could get inside. She could always transform back into human form, but if someone saw her, then the whole operation would be compromised. Cats weren't very suspicious, but a cat transforming into a woman or vice versa was extremely suspicious to someone who wasn't a wizard.
Her lucky streak continued. The guards opened the door, and she managed to squeeze inside just before it shut. She followed them, not knowing what else to do, and listened in on their conversation. The only language she knew very well besides English was Arabic (from being stationed in Egypt for a while when she first became an Auror), but she understood bits and pieces of German. From what she could gather, the two guards were irritated with one of their superiors and wished he would get on with whatever he was planning. For a moment, Minerva wondered if it had something to do with Benjamin Cypher, but realized that wasn't possible. Ben was a British spy, but if they knew that, they would have already killed him, and there was just no way they could know that his sister was a witch, and even if they did, what was it to them?
A few feet ahead of them, the hallway intersected another one. One guard went to the left, and the other went to the right. Minerva thought fast, and decided to follow the one on the left. They rounded a few corners here and there, but the hall didn't seem to be leading anywhere interesting. The guard soon reached a door, and began fumbling in his pockets for the key to unlock it. Minerva read the label above the door, and felt a glow of satisfaction as she translated it: Power.
However, after that, her luck came to an end. The guard pulled a key out of his pocket, but instead of sticking it into the door, he happened to glance over his shoulder, and in doing so, spotted her. Minerva's heart sank. Damn it! she thought to herself. Damn it, damn it, damn it!
The guard chuckled and said something that she translated into "What are you doing here?" He then knelt down and tried to pet her, but she hissed and scratched his hand. He pulled his hand away and began sucking on the skin that she had scratched. She hoped she drew blood. "Stupid cat," the guard mumbled, and rose to his feet. "Get out of here."
He kicked at her, but she backed away and hissed again. He reached into his pockets again, probably to find something to throw at her, and Minerva saw her opportunity. She just hoped she remembered everything Moody taught her about how to throw a punch.
While the guard's attention was diverted, Minerva changed back into human form. The guard looked at her and would have screamed, had her fist not made contact with his face before any sound could be emitted. He fell to the floor, and appeared to be unconscious. Minerva rubbed her knuckles. The punch was slightly off, but it got the job done. Now, to take care of that security room.
In his fall, the guard had dropped the key he took from his pocket, and she saw it lying on the floor a few feet away from him. She bent down, picked it up, and tried to stick it in the keyhole. As luck would have it, it didn't fit. She let out an exasperated sigh, threw the key down next to the unconscious guard, and pulled out her wand. "Alohomora."
She heard the soft click of a lock disengaging, and then opened the door.
~~~
In the meantime, the others were beginning to grow restless. "Where is she?" Dumbledore asked. "Shouldn't she have been back by now? What if something's happened to her?"
"Calm down, Professor," Moody said calmly. "I'm sure she's fine. She's Minerva. She doesn't know how to be reckless, no matter how often I tried to teach her."
"Spoken like a true Slytherin," Larios commented.
Moody smiled innocently. "What can I say? Of course, you're a Ravenclaw, so I wouldn't expect you to understand..."
"Funny, Moody," Larios replied. "Very funny." Larios had taken over as head of Ravenclaw, his old house, after the death of Quinn Grindelwald and the imprisonment of Rachel Revueltas.
Dumbledore sighed and looked at the lights of the prison camp. "I hope you're right, Alastor," he said, and then added, "About the idea that Minerva doesn't know how to be reckless."
Moody nodded. "Yeah, I hope I am, too."
At that moment, the entire prison camp went dark.
Natalie almost jumped. "Did you see that?" she cried. "All the power over there just went out!"
"I know," came a voice from behind. It was Minerva, who had just appeared, presumably by Apparition. "I found the power generators and put them out of commission. While they all run around trying to fix the power, we get in there and rescue Ben." She then began rubbing her eyes and blinking rapidly.
Dumbledore, fearing that she had been exposed to tear gas or some other dreadful noxious fumes, asked if she was all right. She gave him a reassuring smile. "I'm fine," she said. "It's just dark."
Moody glanced up at the night sky overhead. "Yes, Minerva, it's night," he said. "My, my, aren't we observant?"
"Yes, Alastor, we are very observant, especially considering that the last time I was outside, I was a cat."
Moody held up his hands in defense. "I surrender."
"You can't surrender," said Larios. "We haven't even been captured yet."
"Warrick," said Dumbledore.
"Yes?" Larios returned.
"A little optimism, please."
"Oh, it's all right," said Moody. "I'm sure Professor Larios just forgot for a moment that we're about to walk into a Nazi prison camp and rescue a British spy."
"Then let's get on with it," said Minerva. "I don't know what I did to those generators or how long it will take them to fix them. We don't know how much time we have."
Natalie spoke next. "Then let's go."
~~~
They moved swiftly across the field toward the prison camp, not knowing how much time they had before their adversaries got the power working again. "Natalie, I think your brother's in cell thirty-seven," Minerva told the other woman as they approached their destination. "Of course, it's not like it really matters, but I thought you should know."
"How many cells are occupied?" asked Moody.
"Seven," Minerva answered. "There's one prisoner in each cell. There's two in cells on the west wall and five on the north. Ben's in the fourth one on the north side."
"Natalie, Minerva, you two get the prisoners out," Dumbledore instructed. "Warrick and I will set up the explosives." It took a while for Dumbledore to persuade Winston Churchill to let them rescue Ben, but once that was accomplished, Churchill provided them with enough explosives to demolish the small, isolated camp. Currently, they were transfigured into a pocketwatch, which Larios had in his pocket. "And Alastor, you create a distraction, preferably one that will get as many soldiers as possible out of here. I want as few fatalities as possible. This is not our war."
The others nodded in acknowledgement. "What should I do?" Moody inquired.
"Whatever you feel will work," Dumbledore answered. "Set something on fire if you like." Then he winked.
A smile played at the corners of his mouth. "You got it."
Minerva arched an eyebrow. "Are you going to do what I think you're going to do?"
Moody nodded. "If you're thinking what I think you're thinking, then yes."
"What?" asked Natalie.
Moody opened his mouth to speak, but Minerva cut him off. "You'll see," she said, "and when you do, remember to ask me about it sometime."
They reached the gate, and after making sure they wouldn't be seen, slipped it open enough for them to squeeze inside, one by one. Dumbledore and Larios went inside the main building, Minerva and Natalie made their way toward the cells, and Moody took off by himself. None of the others knew where he was going, and frankly, they didn't really care. As long as the job done, it was all right, and knowing Moody, it certainly would.
A quick stunning charm took care of the lone guard in the courtyard. While Minerva revived him, hit him with a memory charm, and made up a new memory, then sent him on his way to take care of an appointment in Paris he was late for, Natalie used the Alohomora charm to unlock cell thirty-seven. "Ben?" she called softly. "Are you here?"
Benjamin Cypher couldn't believe his eyes. "Natalie?"
She nodded, and the two embraced tightly. Both were in tears. "What are you doing here?" Ben asked. "How did you know?"
"It's a long story," Natalie replied. "We'll have plenty of time to explain once we get everyone out."
"You shouldn't have come here," said Ben. "Whoever's in charge around here knows who you are, and I was bait to lure you here. You have to get out now!"
"What are you talking about?" Natalie asked.
"There's no time," Minerva said. "Come on, we've got to get the others out."
They set to work freeing the other prisoners. The power still had not returned, and there was no sign of Moody or his distraction. It didn't take long to get the other six out of their cells, and once they were all out, Minerva gave them instructions. They were to follow Natalie out of the prison camp and then wait at the designated location until further notice. Minerva was to meet Dumbledore and Larios and help them finish with their part of the job.
They crept back toward the entrance, staying in the shadows. Suddenly, they heard screaming, and it was all they could do to keep from screaming themselves when they saw what it was. Something was running toward them, waving his arms and screaming as if all Hell had broken loose. Behind him were what looked like about two dozen soldiers, chasing him and waving around their weapons.
It was Moody, and he was on fire.
Natalie's eyes grew wide. "Minerva, is that what you were talking about?"
Minerva nodded. "Yes, Natalie, that is what I was talking about. I don't have time to explain. It looks like Alastor has gotten the soldiers out of here, and that's what matters. Now it's your turn. We'll see you back at the rendezvous point."
~~~
"That's the last charge," Larios said as he finished tying two fuses together. "Got the detonator?"
Dumbledore tapped the small metal object in his hand. "Right here."
"Great. Let's get out of here and blow this place."
"Wait," said Dumbledore. "We haven't found Minerva yet."
"I'm right here," came a voice from behind. The men turned around, and saw Minerva jogging toward them. "Natalie got the prisoners out, and there's twenty or so soldiers following Alastor. They should be out by now."
A smile flickered across Larios's face. "I'm sure they were quite surprised when they saw him."
"Well, it's not every day that you see a man running around on fire," Minerva replied. "The others should be a safe distance away by now. Let's get going."
Apparition got them back to their starting point, where Natalie and the seven freed prisoners were waiting. Moody hadn't arrived yet. One of the prisoners demanded an explanation. "Of course," Larios calmly said. He pointed his wand at them. Their memories of this incident, even Ben's, had to be erased. Unlike the others, though, he knew it was coming. "Obliviate."
All of their expressions went blank.
"The prison camp caught fire," Larios told them. "You broke out of your cells and got out just in time. You're all going home now."
They blinked.
Larios leaned toward Dumbledore. "Blow it," he muttered.
"Not yet," Dumbledore said. "We don't have Moody yet."
Just then, Moody appeared next to Natalie. "I'm here. Let's get this over with." He and Minerva instantly made eye contact, and before she could speak, he said, "Yes, Minerva, I know, ended a sentence with a preposition, please forgive me."
Minerva kept silent.
Dumbledore pulled out the detonator and depressed the small button in the center. A second later, they had to shield their eyes from the bright light of the blast as the prison camp went up in flames. When the blast faded, Dumbledore looked at the detonator for a moment, then slipped it into his pocket. "Let's go home." They were getting home the same way they came in, by an airplane loaned to them by the British government. It was located on a large field that served as a runway about five miles away from the prison camp. They had to walk to there and hope they wouldn't be spotted.
Natalie looked at Moody. "You - you're not on fire anymore! You don't even look like you were on fire!"
Moody smiled innocently.
Natalie turned to Minerva. "You told me to ask. I'm asking."
"Well, we've got five miles," Minerva said with a sigh.
Dumbledore started to chuckle. Larios, too, was grinning.
Minerva shot her two companions a look of warning, but it had no effect on them. "Just tell her, Minerva," Larios said.
"It was in our fifth year," Minerva said. "It was just another normal April day, and classes had just gotten over. Suddenly, we hear screaming, and down the hall comes Alastor Moody - a prefect, I might add - on fire. We were all certain he was dying when he stopped screaming and began laughing. And I don't care what you think, Alastor, it wasn't funny."
"Yes, it was!" he insisted. "You should have seen your face!"
"He should have been expelled for that stupid prank," Minerva said, "but he wasn't, and Professor Grindelwald was so impressed with his skill with flame-freezing charms that he awarded Slytherin house twenty points! Twenty points! For lighting himself on fire and running through the school, screaming like a madman!"
Natalie laughed. "Sorry, Minerva. It IS funny."
"Yes, and now I'm going to have to do another memory charm," Larios said, nodding his head in the direction of the seven Muggles.
They stopped so the memory charm could be performed. While Larios made up another memory for the prisoners and Moody chatted with Natalie, Dumbledore and Minerva walked several feet away in hopes of getting a few seconds alone. "Well, it's over," Dumbledore said, gazing at the burning camp.
"For us," Minerva replied. She glanced toward the Muggles and said, "Not for them." She rested her head on his shoulder, and he slipped his arm around her waist. "At least we saved Natalie's brother, but..."
"But what?"
She sighed softly. "He said something that bothered me; that it was a trap and he was bait to lure us there. I don't know if he meant Natalie or all of us, but that's what he said: it was a trap."
Dumbledore nodded toward the giant bonfire in the distance. "I think we win this battle, Minerva." Suddenly, he spotted something. It was a vehicle, a truck, driving away from the camp. There were two people inside, a driver and a passenger. "Do you see that?" he asked.
"Yes, I do," she said. "What's so special about it?"
He didn't answer. His mind was frozen with shock. Even from this distance, he could see the face of the passenger clearly in the glow of the inferno. At first, he didn't believe it. It wasn't possible. And yet, there he was, sitting in the passenger seat of the truck driving away from the camp. His eyes were not deceiving him, and neither was the sudden burst of realization that hit him when he put all the pieces in this mysterious puzzle together. Finally, everything made sense. He knew who it was.
Quinn Grindelwald.
