Chapter 12: Leaving Jack Daniels, Arriving at Key West, Lunch, Harry and Daphne, and arriving at SFUWO.
Thursday, August 30th, 2018, 8:30 AM
The young Potter couple found themselves standing with the other twelve basic camp recruits at the boat dock on Jack Daniels Key the next morning, and they were ready to board the water taxi that was floating alongside the dock. It was a 42' fiberglass V-hull that looked like a small yacht, which in body it was, that was powered by two 150 HP V-8 Johnson inboards.
When they walked across the short gangplank, and onto the teak planked stern, they walked inside through the sliding glass doors, and found that it sat 38 passengers, as well as two crew in padded reclining seats much like the bus that they had taken. It was more like the bus than they knew.
After everyone was on board, they noticed that Mo was captaining the water taxi, where he informed all the "cupcakes" to buckle up.
After everyone was strapped in, the boat slowly pulled away from the dock, and out into the Gulf, where Mo placed a toothpick into his mouth as he slammed both throttles forward. Just like the bus, the boat set them all back into their seats, and they were off at an unbelievable speed for a sea-going vessel. Jimmie figured that they must be traveling in excess of 174 knots (200+ MPH), and the roughness of the water didn't seem to faze the smooth ride a bit.
The large V-hull was magical, as it was imbedded with runes, which made the sea part several feet in front of the bow, and where the sea met the sides and bottom, it kept the hull glass smooth, and with zero barnacles. In fact, the yacht wasn't pushing water, but was like a magical knife cutting through the water. Jimmie thought that he would have to tell his da' about this for the Spooky Too.
The water taxi headed south towards the end of Florida's peninsula, where it was to head south-southeast, and its course would take it to a dock at Key West, and close to the hotel where the recruits would be staying at for a few days.
As Jimmie and Goodnight were watching the small keys pass by on their left, Jimmie looked over at his wife, and smiled. "Glad that the ordeal is over, love?"
Goodnight snorted, but smiled back at Jimmie, as she poked Markie on the shoulder with her index finger, who was sitting in front of her. Beside him was Dewayne, who they had befriended. "No more Tower, nor Skyscraper!"
The Tower was a rappelling platform about forty feet in the air, which was constructed from telephone poles. Once at the top, and while on the platform, they had to learn to rappel down, known as abseiling, along a tall wooden wall while using climbing ropes. They had to climb the tower's columns and beams, and rappel down without magic, in case they were ever without a wand. Only at the last of this training were they shown how to jump from the top using the Slowing Charm. Here, Jimmie mastered it like his father without using a wand, which caused Goodnight to scold him, while the other recruits, except Markie, gaped at him in amazement.
The Skyscraper was part of the obstacle course, which was also made of telephone poles. It was thirty feet high, and it had five floors, or platforms, where a team of two or more had to climb from floor to floor to the top, and then back down. There were no ropes, ladders, nor stairs, and it was surrounded by nets if you fell.
Of course, Jimmie thought that the Confidence Climb and the Tough One were just as bad. The first was like climbing a huge ladder with wide-spaced rungs, and the latter forced you to walk widely-spaced beams after you had climbed up, and then crawl up a tall ladder and down a cargo net to the bottom.
"I would rate the Confidence Climb and the Tough One just as hard," Jimmie opined, "as the others were much easier, including the Slide For Life."
Here, both Markie and Dewayne nodded.
"The Belly Robber," Markie stated, while counting off on his fingers, "the Tarzan, the Low Belly Over, the Dirty Name, the Tough Nut, the Belly Crawl, the Inclining Wall, the High Step Over, the Swing, Stop, and Jump, the Six Vaults, the Easy Balancer, the Belly Buster, the Low Wire, the Hip-Hip, the Reverse Climb, the Weaver, the Balancing Logs, and the Island Hopper at the end weren't quite as bad."
Jimmie, Goodnight, and Dewayne all stared at him slack jawed, causing Mark to ask, "What?"
"You seriously remembered all their names?" Goodnight wondered.
"Yup," Markie retorted with a grin.
"Man!" Dewayne exclaimed. "Anyhow, I'm not gonna' miss the Tarzan, the Belly Buster, nor the Balancing Logs!"
Here, everyone laughed, including some from the other seats. Dewayne, as well as several others, had problems with them over balance.
"What about the twelve-mile hike," Jimmie asked Dewayne with a smirk, "where the returning six miles was through the swamp?"
"Aw, fuck tha', man!" Dewayne exclaimed. "Damn snakes, gators, leeches, and skeeters!"
This had most everyone laughing, including Dave and Debbie, who were sitting just behind Mo. Mo, on the other hand, was grinning around his toothpick. "Dat course is a copy of da one up at Fort Benning," Mo remarked, "'cept it's four-tenths of a mile shorter, ya pussies!"
Here, many laughed again.
One of the remaining Frenchmen spoke up. "What about the driver training, explosives, and the rappelling from a hovering carriage?"
"That was Oorah too, soldier!" Jimmie exclaimed with a huge smile, which made the Frenchman sport a huge grin.
"What I'll miss the most, though, is the BBQ in the afternoon," Jimmie reminisced, "and listening to McKnight play his swamp and delta blues on his steel slide guitar. Now that I enjoyed immensely, and of course, it had to be with a cold beer!"
This brought several "Hear, Hears."
"Don't think the dive training is going to a breeze," Debbie remarked, "especially when you have to fight while above water, and submerged."
That brought many groans from all the remaining fourteen recruits.
Thursday, August 30th, 2018, 11:00 PM
The water taxi pulled alongside a concrete dock on the southwest side of Key West called the Galleon Marina, where many yachts were moored. Here, they deboarded, and followed the elder Graves over to the Galleon Resort, where everyone checked in, except for the Graves, including Mark.
"Where are you staying tonight, Mark?" Jimmie inquired.
"Over at dad and mom's place," Mark replied.
"Is it close by?" Goodnight wondered.
"Yea, it's only a couple of blocks away over on Simonton Street. You're both welcome to come if you want."
"Naw, bud," Jimmie replied, "Goodnight and I haven't had any private time since we left our apartment, so we're looking to catch up tonight after a nice supper at the hotel."
"I understand," Markie replied, as he shook Jimmies hand, and gave Goodnight a one-armed hug, as well as said his goodbyes to Dewayne. "I'll see you three early in the morning, yea?"
"Yea," Jimmie replied, as Markie walked out of the front of the hotel with his parents. "Well, sweetheart and Dewayne, let's get checked in, and grab ourselves a late lunch."
The two Potters allowed Dewayne to go first, before they made their way up to the front desk, where they gave them their alias names as Mr. and Mrs. Black, who already had a room reserved. His uncle Seamus' wife, Tracey, had already reserved he and Goodnight a one bedroom suite, which had a view of the Gulf, beforehand. It came with a fully equipped kitchen, a spacious and comfortable living room, a Jacuzzi bathtub in their exquisite marble bathroom, and balconies off both the living room and bedroom via several French doors. Their bedroom contained a nice king sized bed as well. The living room had a large 72 inch flat screen telly, along with a good sound system.
Once inside their room, Jimmie made his way to the mini-bar, and noticed that they had a bottle of Bollinger Champagne, and a bottle of Thunderball Rum sitting out. MDOCS had thought of everything!
After the two unpacked, they made their way downstairs, where they flagged down Dewayne, and the three made their way outside, and over to the A&B Lobster House by the marina.
When they were seated, they each ordered a cocktail, with Jimmie talking Dewayne into trying a Thunderball and Coke, as Goodnight ordered a Thunderball Daiquiri. Next, they ordered a classic Caesar Salad, and for lunch, both Jimmie and Dewayne ordered a 'Berlin Surf and Turf,' which combined a medium rare Black Angus Filet with a Caribbean Lobster Tail, along with Leek Mashed Potatoes, and Asparagus, which included two small cups of Glace de Veau and Bearnaise sauce.
Goodnight, on the other hand, ordered the Yellowtail Snapper 'Meuniere,' which included Fingerling Potatoes, Green Beans, Lemon Capers, and Cherry Tomatoes.
For their meal, Goodnight ordered a glass of Matua Marlborough, New Zealand 2019, and Jimmie and Dewayne had a glass of Simi Alexander Valley 2018. When they found that there was no dessert offered, they each had a couple of glasses of Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label Brut Champagne from Reims, France.
When it came time to pay, Jimmie told Dewayne to not worry about it, and that he was their guest. Lunch was courtesy of the British MDOCS.
After that, the three made their way back to the hotel, and out by the pool to the tiki bar. Here, Goodnight would order her a dessert form the hotel's restaurant, since she had a sweet tooth, and they had a few more cocktails before heading to their rooms.
That night, after supper, was the first time that the young Potters had slept in the same bed in two weeks.
The Ministry of Magic, 5:00 PM GMT
Harry and Daphne were sitting in Kingsley's office, while the minister studied them both. Finally, he looked over at Harry, and sighed.
"Harry," Kingsley remarked, "you'll have to give the Prophet an interview over what you stated in the Wizengamot. A few within Dumbledore's old bloc are trying to make a big deal out of it, and they've been telling some that you're siding with the hard right."
"Bullshite!" Harry exclaimed. "Because I laid out both sides bare to them, they didn't like it, and especially because that killed Lady Perks' prohibition legislation."
"Be that as it may, Harry" Kingsley said, "you need to straighten this out with the public before it does any more damage to not only your reputation, but that of MDOCS."
"It's been two weeks, Kingsley!" Harry complained.
"Kingsley's right, Honey," Daphne said, as she shook her head. "You need to do this quick."
Harry stared at the carpet for what felt like a few minutes, before he finally glanced up at the minister, and replied, "All right! I'll e-mail Cho once we've made it home, and set something up for tomorrow."
"Good," Kingsley remarked. "I'll let you two get on with it then."
Here, Harry and Daphne said their goodbyes, left the minister's office, and flooed to Potter Manor. Harry was still in a bad mood over having to deal with the bloody Prophet.
Friday, August 31st, 2018, 7:30 AM
Jimmie, Goodnight, Markie, and Dewayne boarded one of the three extended black mini-vans that would seat six, each, along with the other ten recruits, where they left the hotel and made a right on Front St., which they followed to Simonton St., where they followed it for two blocks to Caroline St.. There, they made a left, and followed that street to Main St., which run north by the docks. Here, they took a right onto Whiting Ave., which ran through the old naval base to Fleming Key Rd., where they turned left, and followed it across the bridge to Fleming Key. There, they followed Mustin St. all the way to the end of the key, where they had to stop at a guard gate, as the drivers handed the guards their paperwork.
Once the gate was opened, the three black mini-vans continued on, until they parked in front of the main office at the SFUWO School, where their diver training would begin in earnest by the Special Section 7 of the US Navy, which was staffed by wizards that taught the MIA recruits
"It's going to be a long two days," Jimmie remarked to his wife, Markie, and Dewayne.
"Yea," Markie replied, "I have a feeling it is."
Goodnight, nor Dewayne, looked happy at that prediction.
As the four stepped out of the van, Jimmie began asking Dewayne questions about his grandfather's magical shop in New Orleans. That was something that he had forgotten to do since starting basic.
When everyone was signed in, Jimmie and Markie were taken to the side after showing their diver's training credentials. They were to help the "newbies" with the rest of the crew, when it came to the tanks, breathing apparatus, and other magical means of breathing underwater. That would last for the first half of the day, where they were to hit the pool after a light lunch.
They found themselves, after check-in, standing at attention, as a CPO shouted at them about the importance of safety, and the buddy system, especially in waters that may be filled with sharks, which were around their area.
Later that afternoon, the CPO explained that they would practice offence and defense in waist to neck deep water. The next morning would be dive training from an inflatable dinghy, and later, underwater offence and defense training. On their third day, they would practice underwater demolitions.
The young Potter couple had one thing on their mind after receiving their certificates, and that was heading back to Jamaica for the last leg of their training. At least it was all classroom.
A/N: In the last chapter, when basic was over, that should have been Wednesday afternoon at 5:00 PM, not AM. I corrected that.
For the obstacle course, see the video titled: Ranger School Obstacle Course From Hell: THE DARBY QUEEN, at YouTube. It has everything but The Tower.
