My beta-readers, fredfred and InquisitorCOC, deserve a huge thank you. They helped a lot.
Chapter 57: The Interception
No 12 Grimmauld Place, London, Britain, February 4th, 2006
"They've arrested their own attaché at the embassy?" Hermione blurted out. "And we need to spring him from a diplomatic transport?"
"Indeed. Needless to say, the situation is very delicate," Dumbledore replied.
"More 'delicate' than kidnapping the Russian president?" Ron asked.
"Touché, Mr Weasley," Dumbledore said with a smile. "However, operating on British soil does add some complications. Our country is, after all, responsible for the safety of the embassy staff."
"Even if they are being forcefully returned to their country for enhanced interrogation?" Ron shook his head.
"You mean to be tortured," Hermione added.
"The Russians would certainly milk any incident for all that it's worth," Dumbledore said, "especially to divert attention from their disgraceful attack on us."
"But we can't let Putin interrogate Ivanovich!" Hermione protested. "It would undo all our efforts."
Dumbledore nodded. "And President Putin would then certainly become aware of more of our capabilities than he currently is. Worse, should he decide that he cannot defend himself against mental manipulation…"
Ron drew hissing breath. "If he thinks we could easily do the same thing again…" Hell, no!
"What?" wizarding Ron asked. "What would he do?"
"It's not certain, but if he fears that we could take control of Russia by mind-controlling its government, he might think a preemptive strike is his best option." Hermione had grown rather pale.
"Well, I think it could be reasonably said that we've already attacked him," Dumbledore said, "so this would be more of a retaliatory, rather than preventive or pre-emptive, attack."
"I don't think the technical details matter," Ron said. Not when they were, in the worst case, talking about a nuclear exchange.
"Indeed, I agree, they would not matter. But it is of the utmost importance that Mr Ivanovich does not reach Russia," the old spymaster said. "No matter what."
"You mean we should kill him?" wizarding Ron said. He didn't seem very concerned about the prospect.
"Preferably in a way that doesn't look like an attack by ourselves or our allies." Dumbledore inclined his head. "But we should focus on extracting him. If he merely vanishes, that should fuel President Putin's paranoia."
"And you'd offer him sanctuary in exchange of information?" Ron asked.
"After his memories have been suitably tweaked. I don't think Her Majesty's Secret Service should be told the truth about this affair."
"No, I guess not," Ron agreed.
"Yes. I'd rather not have to deal with more spies," Hermione added.
"So, we apparate into the plane, stun everyone, grab him and vanish again?" wizarding Ron asked.
"I have no doubt that the people in the plane - sent directly from Russia by President Putin - will be ready for an attack," Dumbledore retorted. "And leaving a plane with stunned crew and security personnel seems a little too public for a mission that requires discretion."
"They wouldn't suspect a thing," Ron's counterpart protested.
"I think you underestimate them - and President Putin. Should the Russians miraculously lose Mr Ivanovich at the airport, they would be interrogated extensively - something, unless I am mistaken, which could affect an obliviated memory."
"Yes," Hermione chimed in. "We can't just kidnap Ivanovich and obliviate everyone. We need to kidnap him in a way that won't require memory modification."
"Attack the car on the way to the airport?" Ron suggested. "We've got plausible deniability, and we could probably stage things so that they'll suspect a Russian faction is behind it." Luna probably knew a few oligarchs that would deserve being investigated by the FSS and FIS.
"Their route will doubtless be covered extensively by cameras - Her Majesty's Government has become very fond of public surveillance since I retired," Dumbledore told him. "I don't think we could plan an attack on the fly that wouldn't run afoul of the surveillance at some point."
"But infiltrating an aeroplane would be even more difficult, wouldn't it?" Ron's counterpart said.
"I've got a few ideas about that, actually." Dumbledore flashed a sly smile. "But I think we should call the others." he checked his watch. "The plane is still an hour out. I can have it delayed a little longer if needed. But our time is not unlimited."
That meant disturbing Harry and Ginny. And Ron knew who would have to do that. Great. He sighed and stood. "I'll get Harry and my sister."
"I'll fetch Sirius," Hermione said.
"I'll call Miss and Miss Lovegood," Dumbledore added, pulling out a mobile phone from his jacket.
Ron knocked three times on Harry's door, then called out: "Harry? Ginny? It's me, Ron!"
"Go away!" he heard the faint voice of his sister reply.
"What's happened?" Ron's friend was more sensible, of course, and had already realised that something had gone wrong.
"We've got a situation. Come to the living room," he told them.
"That will take…"
"How urgent is it?" Harry asked, interrupting Ginny. That wouldn't improve her mood.
"Very urgent," Ron replied. "See you there."
He quickly went to the living room, where Hermione and the others had gathered. Sirius was leaning against the fireplace, Dumbledore was sitting at the table, the Lunas occupied one of the couches, Ron's counterpart was occupying an armchair and Hermione had been waiting at the door.
"They're coming," he announced.
"Good. Mr Potter is still monitoring the situation," Dumbledore said. "The car is expected to leave as soon as the plane gets permission to land. Which has been slightly delayed thanks to an acquaintance of mine."
And there came Harry and Ginny - in wrinkled, hastily pulled on clothes. Ron almost had a flashback to that memorable evening when Molly and Arthur had decided to make a surprise visit following a reception in London.
"Not a word," Ginny hissed as she walked past him - she must have remembered that evening as well.
He still smirked - at her and Harry's backs.
Dumbledore quickly filled them in. "As I've already told the others, President Putin had Mr Ivanovich arrested and has sent a plane to transport him back to Russia for what I believe will be a very thorough, possibly enhanced, interrogation. They'll be transporting him to the airport any minute now. Interception en route is not advisable due to the risk of being observed and collateral damage. Attacking the plane at the airport is equally inadvisable."
"Infiltrate the plane and strike mid-flight?" Harry suggested.
"I believe after our mission in Moscow, they will have strict protocols in place that will make it difficult to infiltrate the plane." Dumbledore inclined his head. "And given the lengths to which they went to hermetically seal off President Putin's office, I believe that infiltrating the plane is, while not impossible, not our best course of action." He smiled. "No, I think it would be best to use a few of Messrs Weasley's marvellous magical devices."
Ron heard Hermione groan next to him.
"Oh! They will be so happy to hear that! Which one are we using?" Wizarding Luna clapped her hands together, bouncing on her seat.
"I was thinking of combining the Skiving Snackboxes with the delivery system of the Deadly Distractions," Dumbledore said.
Oh. Oh! "You want the crew to get sick and have them land at a German airport," Ron said.
"Precisely." Dumbledore nodded at him. "They will, even if impaired by a magical illness, pick an airport at random - within the confines of German Air Traffic Control - and, therefore, not expect a trap on the very tarmac there."
"And if they won't land on German - or Belgian - soil?" Hermione said. "The Skiving Snackboxes are, ultimately, harmless."
"In that case, the more lethal selections of the Deadly Distraction should ensure that the plane, and with it, Mr Ivanovich, don't reach Russia." Dumbledore wasn't smiling any more.
"But…" Hermione bit her lower lip.
"We cannot risk President Putin realising that his mind and memory have been manipulated," the old man said.
"He'd launch nukes. No, he'd have a nuke or three delivered by 'Islamist terrorists'," Sirius said.
Dumbledore tilted his head. "I'm not convinced that it would lead to a nuclear attack - although in such a situation, the surviving members of Her Majesty's Government wouldn't be fooled by such a ruse - but President Putin would be forced to react to the perceived threat, and an escalating conflict between two nuclear powers would be an almost certainty." He looked at the others in the room. "We cannot let that plane reach Russia with Mr Ivanovich on board as long as his memories remain unchanged."
"I'll prepare the devices," Hermione said.
"No. let me do it," Ron's counterpart cut in. "I know them best, and you can work on how to smuggle them aboard a muggle aeroplane."
Ron saw Hermione stiffen for a moment, then she nodded - still a little reluctantly. "Yes, you're right. Here." She handed the other Ron the devices under discussion. The wizard looked a little surprised - but pleased.
"We've got blueprints of the plane, but we have to assume that it was modified," Dumbledore said. "Nevertheless, there are limits to the sort of modifications you can make to a plane without damaging crucial components. Fortunately, that includes the ventilation system and cockpit."
Ah. That sounded like a workable plan. A plan that would, if it worked, avoid the cold-blooded murder of the aircrew and Ivanovich. And the risk of the plane crashing into a populated area - Lockerbie had proven that just because something was unlikely didn't mean it wouldn't happen.
But it was a mission for wizards and witches.
He pressed his lips together, briefly clenching his teeth. What mattered was that the mission succeeded, not who did it. The lives of his whole family depended on this. Perhaps the lives of countless families, should the worst occur.
But… "So we'll be moving to Germany?" Ron asked,
"To a staging area, yes," Dumbledore replied. "Ready to strike. It would be best if President Putin never noticed our ruse - and our manipulation - but if we can't achieve that, we should at least avoid any hint of advanced technology or magic. We don't want him to even begin to suspect that we have means at our disposal that he can't match."
"We're going to impersonate paramedics?" Harry asked.
"A sort of assistant Healer," Hermione explained to her friends in a low voice.
"Those who can play that role convincingly," Dumbledore said. Which excluded all the wizards and witches except for Hermione. And definitely included Harry and Ron, since they had received a remarkably comprehensive first aid course while working for CI5. Remarkably useful, too, given Harry's tendency to bite off more than he could chew.
Ron wondered - privately, and not for the first time - if this was just coincidence, or if Dumbledore had read him like a book.
The old man smiled at Ron as he got up from the chair. "Let's go, then!"
Heathrow, London, Britain, February 4th, 2006
"Oh! That's a huge aeroplane! I didn't know they built them that big!" wizarding Luna exclaimed.
Ron glanced at the plane at which she was pointing. "That's an Airbus A380," he told her. "The biggest passenger plane ever built."
"Oh! We should fly in one!"
Wizarding Luna was selling their cover very well - mostly because she was genuinely enthusiastic about the planes. Ron smiled as she stared at a Boeing 747, trying to compare its size to the Airbus. It also made it easier for him to play his role.
And it made it easier for Ron to watch and wait while the others risked their lives.
He would probably never grow used to watching his friends go on a dangerous mission without feeling guilty about staying safely home - or, in this case, on an observation platform disguised as a plane spotter. It wasn't a bad thing, he'd found - he wouldn't become another Dumbledore shuffling people, and even friends, around in his games.
"They're going in," Luna reported. Unlike Ron, she'd already been shrunk and was in the van serving as a staging ground - in case the wizards and Hermione suddenly needed a hacker.
He tensed. He couldn't help it. Even with magic, so much could go wrong. What if it was a trap? Putin might be willing to sacrifice a plane and its crew to get them. And to put pressure on Britain for an 'unprovoked attack'. Perhaps they had carbon monoxide dispensers to kill vermin and insects entering the plane? Wait, Bubble-Head Charms would prevent that.
He sighed - he had spent too much time watching paranoid Russians; he was starting to think like them.
Although that might also just be Moody's training coming to the fore in this sort of situation.
He studied the smaller jet in the corner. So far, the guards outside hadn't reacted as though they suspected anything. And those crew members of whom he could catch glimpses through the windows didn't seem to be fighting anyone, either.
He slowly released his breath - it seemed as if this part of the plan was working.
Flughafen Tegel, Berlin, Germany, February 4th, 2006
"Isn't this cutting it a little too close?" Ginny asked as they disembarked from the Phoenix Gruppe private jet. "If the fake illness doesn't work, they'll be halfway to Russia before the lethal stuff kicks in."
"That means they'll crash in Poland," Ron told her. "And that means there'll likely be trouble between Poland and Russia as a result." Something Grindelwald probably wouldn't mind at all. "Besides, we needed the time to overtake them so we'd have enough of a margin to set up things here." Fortunately, the Russian jet wasn't nearly as fast as the VIP transports of Phoenix Gruppe. It wasn't as if they could leave such an operation to others - Dumbledore's assets could still be compromised, and that threat would remain until he managed to dose every suspect with Veritaserum.
"Then let's get on with it," Ginny said. "We need to be disguised as good little German paramedics, right?"
"The uniforms depend on where exactly the jet lands," Harry reminded her.
"I can still put on my wig and makeup - and yours!" Ron's sister retorted with a toothy smile.
"You could use Polyjuice Potion; then you wouldn't have to bother with that," Ron's counterpart chimed in.
"And we would be endangering innocent muggles," Hermione told him as she left the jet. "Putin would hunt them down and interrogate them. Now let's go and get ready."
Twenty minutes later, they were back in the plane, putting on makeup while the aircraft was being refuelled - just in case the Russian plane ended up somewhere unexpected. According to their flight plan, the Russians would be near Berlin when the Skiving Snackboxes kicked in, but the pilots might be too stubborn to land at the first opportunity. Or use a pretext to refuse to land at the airport to which the German air traffic control would reroute them after they reported an in-flight medical emergency.
They should have split up - sending a wizard or witch to each corner of Germany, so they could gather the others rapidly anywhere nearby, but they didn't have more than one fast jet ready.
Well, they'd manage. If they couldn't impersonate an ambulance crew, they'd get to their target in a clinic. And Berlin was the best choice to gather, since there they would be able to stop the Russians from disappearing into their embassy.
"There!" Ginny declared. "You now look like a Spaniard."
Ron checked a mirror and frowned. "I look like someone with a bad spray-on tan."
"It'll look good enough on camera," she retorted. "Besides, it matches the fake moustache."
"It doesn't look bad," Hermione chimed in with an encouraging but not entirely honest-looking smile.
"Thanks," Ron told her, deadpan.
"Hey! I did all the work," Ginny objected.
He turned to her "Thanks," he repeated himself.
"Hey!"
"Now please do my makeup." Hermione stepped forward.
That seemed to distract, if not mollify, Ginny, and Ron focused on his gear. A stun gun, obviously, was perfect for the close quarters he expected. A pistol in case they had to shoot it out. A knife, as always. Flash-bang grenades? Couldn't hurt.
He smirked at his own joke, then went through the magical equipment. Potions first, then the more exotic items.
By the time he was done, Hermione's skin tone matched the platinum-blonde wig she was wearing. Ron frowned. "Is that one of Ginny's wigs?"
"Yes," Hermione confirmed, "Why?"
He sighed. "That's from one of her old costumes. She once went to a costume party as one of her Russian competitors."
Ginny sniffed. "My fans loved it!"
"They loved the pictures." He looked at Hermione. "There was a pool."
"Oh."
"Yes, 'oh'. That was Harry's reaction as well, I think."
Ginny huffed and went to the back of the plane, where Harry, whom she had disguised first, was going through more gear.
Then Dumbledore interrupted them. "I hate to interrupt, but I've just received news: The Russian plane has announced a medical emergency and been diverted to Berlin-Tegel."
"Great!" Ron smiled widely. That was the perfect airport for their mission. Finally, something was going according to plan!
But they had to hurry. He grabbed the paramedic uniform used by Berlin's emergency services and stuffed it in a sports bag, then left the plane and headed to one of the waiting SUVs. Ginny was already there, in the driver's seat.
Luna's voice sounded over the radio: "According to the tower, the Russians are on final approach. They'll land in fifteen minutes."
That would be cutting it close. Quite close. The prepared ambulance was in a garage about ten minutes away. If you drove quickly. Ginny gunned the engine as soon as Harry and Hermione had joined him.
"I'm in position," wizarding Harry reported. He would be on his broom, hovering over the waiting emergency services at the airport.
"I'm almost at the truck!" Sirius said over the radio. "And I'm keeping this bike!"
"I'd prefer to offer you another of the same model, rather than a potentially compromised bike, Mr Black," Dumbledore told him.
"It wouldn't be the same. We're bonding here."
Ron couldn't tell if Sirius had made an awful Bond pun or was falling in love with a motorbike. He wasn't sure if he wanted to be able to tell, either.
"The airport's called for two ambulances," Luna said.
"They won't risk handing over Mr Ivanovich to the German authorities," Dumbledore replied over the radio. "But they might use the pilots and cabin crew as distractions."
"We only need Ivanovich," Hermione reminded them. "Keep an eye on where he goes."
"Or where he is dragged to." Ron grinned on the way to the garage.
"Two limousines just left the embassy," wizarding Ron cut in. "I'm following them."
"The plane's five minutes out. They've got the fire brigade on stand by." Luna sounded almost like an announcer. "Oh! There's also the press! Yay!" Or not.
"Oh, goodie!" That was wizarding Luna chiming in. "Think I can join them? I've got my press pass from The Quibbler as credentials!"
"I think it's a little too late to change our plan, Luna."
"Aw."
Ron was shaking his head when they entered the private garage, and Ginny brought the SUV to a stop near the waiting ambulance.
Showtime.
Berlin, Germany, February 4th, 2006
"They've touched down…. Looks like… yes, they're braking," wizarding Harry reported.
That meant that the Skiving Snackboxes hadn't impaired the pilots to the point of making them crash the plane. Ron nodded, relieved.
"The ambulances are approaching the jet - and some police officers," the wizard went on. "And some… soldiers?"
Soldiers? "Perhaps they're afraid of a biological weapon?" Ron speculated. "An entire crew getting sick… that must be suspicious."
"I would hope that the German government would be suspicious of the Russians," Dumbledore said, "but their track record suggests otherwise, unfortunately. Let me check the camera feed… ah. Those are technically soldiers, but I think it would be more appropriate to classify them as special police forces."
"The GSG9?" Ron asked.
"I cannot confirm their unit from this distance, alas. But it would behove us to assume that they are. Though their presence is likely a coincidence."
It was a good thing they hadn't planned to make a move against the plane on the tarmac. Ron didn't want to tangle with the Grenzschutzgruppe - they'd earned their fame for foiling the Mogadishu hijacking, after all.
"Any sign of Ivanovich?" Harry asked.
"Nothing," his counterpart replied.
"They won't move him until the embassy's limousines have arrived," Ron said. "Where are they?"
"Stuck in traffic," wizarding Ron reported. "They'll take some more time."
"The journalists are reporting the incident," Luna said. "Check the local news."
Ron would, if he spoke German - since the fake ambulance wasn't equipped with a TV, the only media available would be the radio, which would be in German. "Just fill us in."
"Oh. They're just saying what Harry's already told us."
"The pilots are leaving the plane - and entering the ambulances." Wizarding Harry sounded excited. "How much longer for the limousines?"
"They've just about reached the airport," Ron's counterpart replied. "But the police have stopped them."
"I have no doubt that their diplomatic immunity will prevail," Dumbledore said, "but our operation may be a little delayed."
A little more time to set things up wouldn't go amiss, in Ron's opinion. Stressed people made more mistakes, so he'd prefer it if the Russians were the ones being stressed.
Ten minutes later, the limousines approached the plane - apparently, the ambassador himself had intervened. On Putin's direct orders, no doubt.
"Mr Potter, do you have eyes on Mr Ivanovich?"
"The cabin crew is carrying two people out - but both have their heads covered. I can buzz them and make it look like a gust of wind."
"I would advise against that," Dumbledore retorted. "Can you identify one or the other?"
"Cast a diagnosis spell and see which of the two is sedated," Hermione interjected.
"Good idea!"
A minute later, wizarding Harry reported. "Alright, I stuck the thing you gave me to the car with Ivanovich inside - just as he vomited on to the back bench."
"Ew!" Luna said. "But I'm tracking the car now. And here are the possible routes."
"Thank you. Just tell me which car to ram," Sirius chimed in.
"It's the one in the back."
"But check before you ram it," Hermione added.
"Yes, yes." Sirius sounded annoyed - and under pressure. "I have done this before, you know."
"By accident," Harry told him with a chuckle.
His godfather scoffed. "Just you watch!"
"They've left the airport now. Ivanovich is still in the second car." Ron's counterpart reported.
"I'm in position," Sirius said.
"Uh… they've changed routes." Luna said. "They're… going down another street. You need to move! Sending you the new data!"
"Bloody Russians!" Sirius cursed.
Meanwhile, Ginny had entered the steady stream of traffic with the fake ambulance and was circling the block. Ron tried to track Sirius's progress on his phone, but it wasn't fast enough.
"I'm almost at the new position!"
"They've changed courses again."
"Again? I'm going to crush one of the cars beneath this truck!"
"No, you won't!" Hermione cut in. "Just ram the cars."
"We're getting the device out of the plane now," wizarding Harry said. "Before the other Russians or the police enter."
"The police shouldn't be entering the plane," Luna told him. "It's flagged as a diplomatic vessel."
"I sure hope so," wizarding Harry replied.
Ron gritted his teeth.
"Almost there… I see them!" Sirius announced. "Now they shall reap what they have sowed!"
"No change at the plane," Luna said - cool as a cucumber, or so it seemed.
"We've retrieved the device."
Then the sound of shrieking metal, screams and an air horn filled their radio channel.
Sirius had driven the truck into the Russian cars.
And Ginny accelerated as if the ambulance were a sports car. Which it definitely wasn't. But she did her best - or worst - to make it seem that way, taking the next turn at far too high a speed even before she remembered to switch on the siren and warning lights.
They ran a red light across a junction, and a Mercedes slammed on its brakes but still had to steer to the side, ramming a parked BMW. Fortunately, the sirens drowned out the car theft alert.
"Ginny!" Ron snapped. "Try not to get us into an accident on the way to the accident!"
"We need to be there before the cops are!"
"We need to get there, period!"
"I know what I'm doing! Who drove our getaway car in Kosovo?"
"I was shrunken at the time!" Ron retorted, holding on to the roll bar. "And you managed to get Hermione and me thrown out of the car!"
"That was your own fault!"
"Focus on the mission," Hermione snapped.
They were almost at the accident site, anyway. Just two more hair-raising turns that made Ron wonder if Ginny shouldn't have become a racing driver. Or if she wore a white suit and helmet on TV.
Then they were slowing down, stopping in front of an impressive display of wrecked cars and torn metal. Sirius had managed to catch the two limousines as planned - when they were waiting at a red light - and rammed the leading car with so much force that it ended up impaled from below by a pillar blocking the pavement before crushing the front of the second car as if it were made out of tin foil.
A crowd already surrounded the wreckage, but Ron couldn't spot any police yet. They wouldn't be long, though. He burst out of the ambulance, one hand pulling the stretcher behind him, and yelled: "Platz da! Platz da!"
The crowd parted for him at once, and he rushed towards the second car, which should be carrying Ivanovich. The passenger compartment looked alright - mostly; the driver's had its door caved in by a sturdy flower pot that had been placed on the pavement - but if the Russians hadn't secured Ivanovich with a seatbelt…
He pulled on the car's door, but it was stuck. Harry was already trying the other side, with the same result. Well, there was an alternative. Ron pulled out a small hammer and struck the door window.
It didn't do much - armoured glass, he realised with a muttered curse. Well, they had come prepared for that. He stashed the hammer and pulled out a much bigger, and much more colourful, one. Smashing Smasher wasn't the most original or funny name, but it did describe what the thing did perfectly. It took only one blow for the window to crumble to countless small fragments.
And Ron found himself staring down the barrel of a gun. "Diplomatenfahrzeug," the Russian announced with a heavy accent. "Geh weg!"
Ron wasn't about to go away. "Ambulanz!" he retorted.
"Geh weg!"
Then Harry smashed the window on the other side. The Russian turned his head, distracted, and Ron grabbed his gun, pointing the muzzle away from him and used it to smash the man's hand into the remains of the window until the Russian dropped the gun. Then Ron dropped him by grabbing his head and smashing it against the door as well.
The sight of the gun on the ground sent the crowd back. Judging by the growing volume of the murmurs, they were speculating about the Russian mob.
"Hey!" Ron heard, followed by a string of angry Russian from the other car - Russian reinforcements were on the way. And they had their guns drawn. Ron saw three men charging towards him and Harry.
That was too much for the crowd. Panicking, most of them ran away, screaming.
"Hilfe!"
"Die sind bewaffnet!"
"Polizei!"
Ron whirled, drawing as he turned and dropping to one knee. His own gun was pointed at the leading Russian before the man could bring his own to bear, and Ron shot him twice in the chest.
The Russian stumbled back - bulletproof vest. Ron's next shot hit him in the chin, and he collapsed with a wrecked throat.
On the other side of the car, Harry was shooting as well, but he had a worse angle and the Russian dived for cover.
Then Sirius opened up with a Kalashnikov from the truck's cabin - behind them.
"The police are on the way!" Luna alerted them.
"Get Ivanovich!" Hermione snapped through the radio.
Ron was already moving to the other side to help Harry drag Ivanovich out. The man was sedated, and dragging a limp man was always a pain.
But together they pulled him through the broken window and back to the ambulance. Sirius was already there.
"Hit it!" Ron yelled as he jumped in after Harry and Ivanovich and closed the doors.
Ginny made the tyres squeal before they shot away.
"So much for delicate and discreet," Ron muttered as he grabbed the stretcher to keep himself from being thrown around by his sister's driving.
Sirius, who had wedged himself between the bench and the wall, laughed. "Sometimes, you just have to shoot your way in and out."
"Luna?" he heard Harry over the radio. "What're the police doing?"
"They're still reacting to the shooting," she replied.
Good. "How's Ivanovich?" Ron asked.
Hermione, who had been casting spells while steadying herself with a hand on the bar mounted in the ceiling to hang infusions from, replied: "He's sedated and will have bruises, but otherwise unharmed."
He'd been lucky, then. Or not, depending on what Dumbledore had planned for the Russian.
"We're almost at the garage!" Ginny yelled.
Good. Ron ran a scanner over Ivanovich's body. "No locator beacon as far as I can tell," he announced.
"The police are looking for an ambulance, now," Luna reported. "And they've upgraded us to terrorists."
At least they had been prepared for that. If discretion failed, misdirection replaced it, as Dumbledore had said. Once the Germans found the material Sirius had left in the truck, and once they tracked the weapons, the Germans would be looking for Chechen terrorists. Putin would know differently, of course, but the public would blame the Chechens.
He looked out of the tinted rear windows. People were staring as the ambulance turned and entered the small garage. "We'll be made in a minute, tops," he told the others as the doors closed behind them.
"We won't need more than that," Hermione replied. "Sirius!" She grabbed for the older man's hand, placed her other hand on the sedated Ivanovich and disapparated.
"Alright, let's get out and sanitise the ambulance," Harry said.
Ron chuckled at the unintended pun as he left the ambulance and grabbed a white phosphorus grenade. A Russian model, of course. Kidnapping, and now arson - he was racking up the felonies. Interfering with a criminal investigation, too.
Hermione reappeared and grabbed Ginny and Harry. "I'll be back!"
Ron nodded, but she had already disappeared. He fired a few shots into the fuel tank of the vehicle. Looking out the small window in the door, he saw that the people on the street were running away. The police would be here soon, then. Not soon enough, though.
He readied the grenade as fuel started to leak.
Hermione reappeared again. "Ron!"
He nodded at her, pulled the pin of the grenade and lobbed it into the ambulance.
Hermione took him away by Side-Along-Apparition before the grenade went off.
Flughafen Tegel, Berlin, Germany, February 4th, 2006
They reappeared in the hangar where their plane was parked, and Ron managed not to stumble or show any other kind of reaction to the magical travel. He looked round. "Are we…?"
"The hangar's protected by a Muggle-Repelling Charm," Hermione told him. "Harry and Ron are on their way to Dumbledore and Grindelwald's villa, and will come back to fetch us as soon as they reach it."
"All according to plan, then," Ron replied.
"Apart from shooting it out with the Russians in a German street during rush hour," Hermione said, "everything went according to plan, yes."
Ron chuckled. "No one got hurt - well, none of us."
She frowned. "I could have stunned them."
"And tipped off Putin that we've got magic? Or really advanced technology?" Harry, who approached them with Ginny, shook his head.
Ron nodded. "And we couldn't really shoot to wound. Not against special agents." Who had also been wearing body armour.
"Who cares about a few dead KGB goons?" Sirius shrugged. "I bet Ivanovich wasn't the first man they'd kidnapped."
Hermione didn't look like she agreed, but she didn't contradict him.
Before anyone else could comment, the Lunas arrived, smiling. "They've already found the ambulance and are now locking down the entire area! We'll have a perfect alibi!" Luna announced. "And we get to see how the German government reacts to potential terrorist attacks."
"And what would we do with that knowledge?" Ron asked.
"It's knowledge for knowledge's sake. Unless the German government turns fascist and we have to fight it."
"Wouldn't they change procedures in that case?" Hermione asked.
"Institutional inertia is a thing. Especially in Germany. Or so I've been told," Luna retorted.
"Ah."
Fortunately, wizarding Harry and wizarding Ron reappeared in the hangar, apparently having reached the villa - or the safe house - already. They took the Lunas, Hermione and Ginny with them.
Half a minute later, the witches and wizards returned to end the spell on the hangar and ferry Ron and the others, as well as Ivanovich, to Dumbledore's villa.
Villa Sonnenschein, Outskirts of Berlin, Germany, February 4th, 2006
"Rest assured, the villa's not connected to the Phoenix Gruppe or Gellert and myself in any way. We're perfectly safe here," Dumbledore said as he took a glass of whiskey and a seat in a large yet still cosy living room.
"Good to know," Harry said. "Putin must be spitting nails. He might retaliate against your group."
"Oh, he has to retaliate - the Russian public will demand it," Dumbledore replied. "But with the 'evidence' we left, they will focus on the Chechens. And that means Putin will have to move against them to show the Russians that any attack on them will be avenged."
"So the Chechen will suffer for our mistakes," Harry said.
"The Chechen terrorists will," Dumbledore replied. "No great loss. With a little luck, they'll keep Putin's forces too busy to bother us."
"Russian counter-terrorism doesn't strike me as caring much about civilian victims," Hermione said with a frown.
"With Germany affected, the eyes of the world will linger for some time on Chechenia. That should curb the Russians' more indiscriminately violent responses." The old spymaster smiled.
But would it curb them enough? Ron had his doubts. "What about Ivanovich?" he asked.
"He should regain consciousness soon," Dumbledore replied. "And then we can debrief him properly."
"What if Putin blames us for the attack?" Harry asked.
"He can't do that without drawing attention to his own attacks on us. And he will be worried about what Mr Ivanovich will have told us and done for us, since he, obviously, was a spy rescued by his backers." Dumbledore grinned. "I have a feeling that Mr Ivanovich would be cooperative since he will now be considered a traitor regardless. Not that we have the time to wait for his cooperation. However, despite anything he might do in the future, Putin will never trust him again."
So the old spymaster had managed to acquire a Russian turncoat. He might even have planned for this outcome. "And after he's told us everything he knows?" Ron asked.
"That depends on what he's done so far," Dumbledore replied.
Or, Ron thought with more than a little cynicism, whatever would further Dumbledore's plans better. He didn't think the Russian would survive for long, though.
Which was a stark reminder that, for all his jovial smiles, Dumbledore wasn't the harmless old man he liked to portray himself as.
He glanced at Hermione, but she was looking at the books on the shelves behind Dumbledore.
The Headmaster had a lot of books. A lot. She tried not to be obvious as she looked round and tried to read the words on the books' spines - tilting her head would give the game away - but she so longed to read then. All of them. That one in the corner was a guide to Alchemy! And this one looked like a first edition of 'Hogwarts: A History'!
"Have you already finished with the school library, Miss Granger?"
"What?" She gasped. Of course the Headmaster would notice - he was Dumbledore! "I'm sorry, sir, but the books are… fascinating," she managed to blurt out.
He smiled gently. "Books generally are fascinating. They open new worlds to us, provided we are daring enough to brave them."
What did that mean? Did he think she was too timid? The Hat had chosen her for Gryffindor, which meant she was brave! "Sir?"
"Not that that would be a flaw of yours, Miss Granger. Quite the contrary, in fact." His smile didn't change, but her heart sank into her stomach.
Oh. It looked like last night they hadn't been as sneaky as they had thought they were. But it had been necessary - Hagrid couldn't have kept a dragon in a wooden hut. But now they were caught, and it was time to pay. She grimaced. "I need a lawyer, I think." A good one. Breaking the law against dragon breeding was much, much more serious than breaking curfew!
"Oh, no, Miss Granger - we are merely talking about hypotheticals here. Although should you have suffered a bite as well, please visit the Infirmary before your wound gets as bad as Mr Weasley's."
"Hypothetical?" She blinked.
"I am quite sure that you and your friends didn't smuggle a dragon into and out of Hogwarts."
Oh. He knew everything. "Sir, it was all my idea!" That would protect Harry and Ron. "From start to finish."
He held up a hand. "I am familiar with the circumstances, and I approve of your friends' initiative. You might have picked a better location for the drop, and more planning would not have gone amiss either, but I cannot fault you for having the courage to do what is right instead of what is easy. Too few people, of all ages, have that kind of courage."
Oh. He was… supporting their actions.
Hermione blinked. That would explain a lot…