Chapter 2 Tartarus
Harry walked slowly along the perimeter, his wand in his hand and his eyes scanning the meadow around him in the early morning light. He wasn't scheduled for patrol duty but had found himself unable to sleep and so had offered to take Neville's shift so his second in command could have more time with his girlfriend.
What had once been a tiny quiet village in Southern England had been transformed into a military base. After the town had been swarmed by Dementors, its entire population of 63 people kissed, the Council had decided to take it over. Once muggles in hazmat suits had arrived to quarantine the so-called infected villagers, the town had been left taped off. A few waves of a wand later and the muggles believe the town was under heavy investigation from a team of scientist, and muggle-repelling wards prevented them from coming to the area to see this supposed science team at work. Once the Council had confirmed that the village was out of muggle hands, the engineering teams had been sent in. Buildings were altered to fit needs; walls being added or torn down where needed. Hallways and additional rooms sprung up overnight.
Most of the twenty-four houses had been connected and turned into barracks and personal mess halls for each of the eight, roughly fifteen man squads; Dragon, Katana, Bravo, Wolf, Hydra, Gladius, Hawk and Zeta. A cluster of three houses that were relatively close to each other had been turned into the bases medical center, where the two medi-wizards and seven healers took care of the wounded and lived. One house had been given to Gold Team, another two had gone to house the commanding officer and his staff.
The main section of shops, along with the small government building had been turned into the base's command center. The pharmacy had been turned into a potion's lab, mostly to help keep the medical center completely stocked. The remaining stores had been turned into storage for their supplies. A defensive wall made of every material they could get their hands on encircled the town; its mismatched assortment of brick, crushed cars, fallen trees and cement was enchanted to withstand quite the beating.
The Badger's Burrow wasn't the size of the Hog's Pen, the name given to the combined area of Hogsmeade and Hogwarts. Nor was it as impressive a sight as the Dragon's Lair, a former decaying fortress in south-eastern Ireland that had been magicked to look like new. However, it fit the needs required of it so it would do fine.
As he walked along outside the defensive wall, Harry sensed rather then saw the figure as it approached. He turned his head and spotted the witch as she slowly made her way to the Badger's Burrow. Harry tensed and sent a messenger patronus to whoever was on duty in command, warning of the approaching figure.
"A phoenix's fire burns brightest before it is reborn from the ashes," a familiar voice called out.
The phrase spoken was one of several used to identify fellow Phoenix Rebels. Such a phrase couldn't be spoken while under the influence of potions, nor could it be gleaned from a mind with legilimency. There were magics that prevented the phrases from being learned by Voldemort's agents. Still, it was better to be safe than sorry, even if he did recognize the voice.
"Two years ago, a few days before my birthday, I told you something I liked about you. What was it?"
The figure stopped short at the sight of Harry's wand. "Come on Harry. Do I really have to answer that?"
"Answer the question," Harry demanded, the tip of his wand glowing brightly with a curse eager to be cast.
The figure sighed. "You said you loved that I could deep throat you. That no other girl you had been with was able to."
"Hello Susan," Harry said as he lowered his wand and welcomed another of his ex-girlfriends to the Badger's Burrow. "What brings you to southern England?"
"I have a letter for you. A request from the Headmaster," Susan Bones replied, holding up an envelope for his green eyes to see.
Just then half of Bravo Squad came running out of the main gate, their wands raised. Harry waved them off and indicated that Susan should follow him.
"I got a message from the Headmaster. Someone want to finish my shift? Only fifty-three minutes left."
"I got you Potter," Bravo team leader muttered.
Harry tilted his head. "Thanks McNulty."
Susan followed as Harry led her through the streets of the former village and to the command center. It was still early in the morning, so only the graveyard shift occupied the building. He brought her to the conference room where they both took a seat.
"So what mission has the Council cooked up?" Harry questioned, leaning back.
"It's not from the Council. It's from the Headmaster and just the Headmaster. He has a request; an important favor to ask of you."
Susan handed over the letter but Harry didn't open it. He turned it over in his hands several times, fiddling with it before looking at Susan.
"You seem to know what the letter is about. Explain the favor to me."
Susan looked at him for several seconds before sighing. "Two days ago the Headmaster's great-granddaughter Alexis Dempsey was captured, along with several of her comrades. The Council won't approve a rescue mission; they think it's too risky. And the Headmaster is still weak from his encounter with Rookwood and Macnair several days ago. Unable to go himself, he's asking you to go for him. Besides his brother, she is the only family of his left in Europe and he feels it is his responsibility to protect her."
Harry slowly nodded his head. "What base was she stationed at? Lion's Den?"
"Alexis isn't a Phoenix Rebel. She's an Amazon."
Amazons were a group of badass witches. They were basically a group of all female battle mages, trained in all kinds of combat. There was no discrimination or race, ethnicity or blood purity for the Amazons, as long as they were witch. Harry knew about the group because both Katie Bell and Susan had been asked to join on their eighteenth birthdays, the age of recruitment. Of course both had declined since the Amazons had no loyalty to any nation or cause.
"If you are wary of accepting this, the Headmaster would also like for me to point out that by rescuing these Amazons, we might be able to solidify an alliance with their group."
Harry mulled it over in his head. Albus Dumbledore was like a grandfather to him, so to do him a favor and rescue his great-granddaughter was the least he could do. Not to mention the thought of having a group of battle mages working with the Phoenix Rebellion; it would definitely help their fight against Voldemort. Plus there was the fact that a group of females who could kick some ass turned Harry on. What could he say? He was attracted to strong women.
"What prison? Azkaban?"
"No. They weren't captured in the western zone. Then there is the fact that the Death Eater generals thought that with all the important prisoners already housed at Azkaban, bringing the Headmaster's great-granddaughter there would make it too tempting a target for us. She was caught in the southern zone and our spies have confirmed she was brought to Tartarus."
"Lestrange," Harry snarled. Who knew what the fuck that twisted bitch would be doing to the Headmaster's great-granddaughter. "I owe that cunt some fucking payback."
"So you'll do it?" Susan asked.
Harry nodded his head. "Of course. Captain Steele won't be happy I'm leaving but he'll have to deal with it."
Speaking of the devil, Captain Steele entered the room. He was a bald man of average height with a scowl permanently etched on his face. Steele had been an Auror Captain under the Ministry and had put the skills acquired under such a position of leadership to good use for the Phoenix Rebellion. Still, the man was a hard ass who got on Harry's nerves ever since Gold Team had been transferred to the Badger's Burrow.
"I heard we got a letter from the Headmaster. What are our new orders?" Steele asked, not bothering to take a seat.
"It's a personal letter. The Headmaster request a favor of me. Gold Team will have to leave the base for a few days."
Steele frowned and folded his arms over his chest. "If orders weren't issued by the Council—"
Harry held up his hand, cutting the Captain off. "Per my agreement with the Council, my teams fall outside the standard military control of the Phoenix Rebellion unless we are on a joint operation. My teams and I are free to follow no orders but our own unless they contradict those of the Council."
Harry saw Steele glaring at him and shrugged his shoulders in a 'what are you going to do' gesture. He knew his working outside the chain of command really irked on Captain Steele, a man who was set in stone in his ways.
"When will your team be leaving then?" Steele asked, his voice tight.
"In two hours' time," Harry answered. "Let my team sleep a little longer. Still leaves enough time to debrief my team, grab a good breakfast and say our goodbyes." He turned toward Susan and looked her over. "Will Silver Team be joining us on this mission?"
The leader of Silver Team shook her head. "I have to speak with Captain Steele about something and then report back to the Hog's Pen."
Harry nodded his head in acknowledgement. "Then I guess this is where I take my leave."
The members of Gold Team disembarked from the airplane separated from each other. Harry wore dark sunglasses that hid his eyes and some cover-up to hide his scar. He wore a wrinkled button up shirt over khaki pants and a pair of sandals over his feet. Hanging from a strap over his shoulder was a hemp bag magicked to hold all his equipment. He looked like your average young muggle tourist.
Travel via magic was heavily monitored, heavily guarded and highly restricted. That made is a lot easier to travel via muggle means. Still, there were magical guards who stood watch at airports, docks, tolls and train stations across Europe, looking for signs of witches and wizards traveling by such illegal means. One could never be too careful.
Harry smiled at a group of passing females as he handed his fake passport over. The group of females giggled to themselves, glancing at him over their shoulders as they walked away.
"Easy Casanova," a voice muttered to his left.
Looking over Harry saw that Neville was at the counter next to him, handing his passport over to another clerk.
"I'm just playing the part of the tourist," Harry murmured back. "You should try relaxing a bit."
"How do you expect me to relax when I counted twelve marks throughout the area?"
"Thirteen marks," Harry responded. "You missed the security guard by the metal detectors."
"Everything is in order," the clerk on the other side of the counter stated with a heavy accent.
"Thank you," Harry replied, grabbing his passport. He turned around and left the counter, making his way through the crowd and heading toward the escalator that would lead him to the ground floor. As he rode the escalator down, he noticed Marco in the crowd below him, making his way to the exit. He also noticed, trailing behind Marco were two marks; magical law enforcement posing as muggles in the airport.
Stepping off the escalator, Harry moved forward with a brisk pace, easily navigating the crowd. He made it so he "accidently" bumped into one of the marks. The witch blinked her eyes in confusion for a few seconds before shrugging her shoulders and turning around, completely forgetting what she was doing. Harry looked for the second trailing mark but saw that Neville had already taken care of it.
Looking for the rest of his team, he managed to spot them all throughout the crowd and made sure none of them were being followed. Once able to confirm that, he double checked to make sure he wasn't be followed, and confirming that, left the airport.
Athens was a beautiful city, from what Harry could tell from the area outside the airport. However, despite the fact that he was pretending to be a tourist, he wasn't really here to check out the view. Bellatrix Lestrange had obviously known about Greek Mythology, or if you were magical, Greek Ancient history. She had set up a prison on one of the Greek islands and called it Tartarus, after the ancient prison of the underworld where the Greek gods sent those who committed the most heinous of crimes.
The Phoenix Rebellion had little intel on the prison. To be honest, most of the Phoenix Rebellion's efforts were concentrated in the western zone of the Kingdom of the Pure. They rarely focused in the other zones, trying to win back their own countries first. And it worked out better for them because Voldemort was busy in Russia, trying to conquer the vast country like he had the rest of Europe. No Voldemort around, made things a lot easier.
"Bus ride to the coast," Su said, nodding toward a double decker bus that was beginning to fill up. She was several feet in front of Harry, looking around as if she was deciding whether to take a taxi or bus into town.
"Let's move."
Still acting as if they didn't know each other, the group of six made their way to the bus, everyone moving at different paces. Harry made his way to the second level and found an open seat.
"Excuse me miss?" Harry asked, smiling at a lightly tanned brunette. "Is this seat taken?"
She smiled in return at him and indicated she didn't understand what he was saying. Harry shook his head, forgetting he was in Greece now. He pointed to the seat next to her with an inquiring look and she quickly nodded her consent.
The women tried having a conversation with him but it was a fruitless effort. Neither understood the other; all they had going was a physical attraction. When the bus stopped off at a spot on the coast, and Harry got off, all he could do was wave good bye to her.
"Do you flirt with every girl you meet?" Derek asked as they stood on a busy street that snaked along the coast line.
Harry shrugged his shoulders. "I'm a twenty year old male who has recently gotten back into the game. I can't help it."
"According to reports," Su started, getting the group back on target, "Tartarus is located on one of Greece's thousands of uninhabitable islands in the Aegean Sea. Most reports put it south east of Athens."
"Right. Well we haven't really had any time to enjoy ourselves, so here is what I suggest. It is," Harry glanced at the watch on his wrist, "ten o'clock in the morning here in Greece. I say we rent a boat, and spend the rest of the day searching for this island. And if we bring some water skis or a tube with us, then I guess we'd have no choice but to use them."
The purebloods in the group looked at each other in confusion. What in the name of Merlin were water skis? However, Marco grinned at his words and Su merely raised an eyebrow. Harry waggled his eyebrows in return.
"Let's have fun for the first time in three years."
Harry slowed the boat down as he felt powerful magic pressing against him. Derek, who had been water skiing at the time, sunk awkwardly in the water as his momentum died down causing the teen to shout in disappointment.
"We're near the island. We're near Tartarus."
Neville pulled on the rope and handle Derek held on to, dragging Derek toward the boat. Once he was close enough, Derek disconnected the skis from his feet, tossed them onto the back of the boat and climbed in. Together they observed an island about two kilometers from their position.
"You must be feeling the wards keeping people away," Marco observed. "Notice no other boaters are getting close to the island."
Harry glanced around and saw that Marco was correct. The handful of other boats in the area seemed to bend around an invisible wall that kept them at bay every time they moved closer to the island. Harry nodded his head as Su marked the location on a map. Instantly, the fun time was gone and the team got down to business.
"Gold Three and Four, map me out the ward schemes. I want to know our best approach vector. Gold Five, scan for magical signatures within the vicinity. I want to know if they have any guards stationed this far out. Gold Two, grab some omni-oculars and keep an eye on that island. Let me know everything that happens. Gold Six, get back to shore and get us another boat. I want the biggest one you can get."
Derek's body began to shrink and morph until a small sparrow occupied its space. With a little jump. The sparrow spread its wings and took off. The rest rushed to their equipment bags and began to get out the equipment they would need. Harry lent over the edge and observed the water below him. Underwater entry might work out well. Anchor the boats two kilometers off shore and make their way to the island under the water; much harder to spot them for any guards patrolling.
It took a while for the wards schemes to be mapped out. Derek had returned by then with a second boat, this one a 30-ft charter fishing boat; the biggest one the renting place had. Of course, Harry cringed watching the half-blood bring the boat over to the much smaller one the rest of Gold Team stood on but he handled it surprisingly well.
Harry was waiting for all information to be gathered before allowing his team to speak. He wanted to hear everything at once, so all the information was fresh when he decided their course of action. When Gold Three and Four were finally mapping out he wards, just as the sun began to set, Harry nodded for them to go.
"They have one four man patrol walking along the outside and it looks like it takes roughly seven minutes and thirteen seconds for the patrol to make its circuit. They also have an aerial patrol of three men on brooms moving in the opposite direction of the foot patrol and they make a complete circuit in two minutes and forty-two seconds. It's hard to tell do to the angle but it looks like there are two guards outside the main entrance as well," Neville explained.
"Any Death Eaters sighted?" Harry asked.
"No, just Sentinels."
Harry nodded his head. Nine men on the outside, unknown number on the inside. As long as there wasn't any of the top Death Eaters inside the prison, Gold Team shouldn't have a problem as long as they didn't take every guard on at once.
"The first wards are just to keep everyone at bay. Nothing too complicated, although there are some proximity ones that will go off if crossed. The real wards are half a kilometer from the shore. Smaller field to cover so the wards are stronger. And let me tell you, the wards are numerous, complicated and deadly. The only weak point we can find in the wards is on the side of the entrance. That must be the main dock where guards switch shifts and prisoners are transported in. But you can bet they got some security set up there."
Harry acknowledged Su's report. "What about under the water? Are they strong down there?"
"All the way down," Marco confirmed. "I checked them."
"Can you make a hole? Get us through?"
Marco and Su looked at each other for a moment.
"Yes," Marco said slowly. "The first set of wards will be easy enough. But the second set? It will be noticeable; like loud and a lot of light."
"Even underwater?" Harry questioned.
Marco scratched at his chin. "There is no telling how the water will affect the waves of the sound and light since they'll be magically created. Your best bet is to go all the way to Aegean's floor and hope there's enough water between you and the surface to block the sound and light."
"Any guards in the water, or are they all on that island?"
Katie twirled a piece of hand on her finger. "All the human guards are on the island. However, there appears to be some Merpeople under the water."
"Aren't Merpeople generally non-violent?" Neville asked.
"Something's off with them. There is a taint around their signatures, some unknown magic," Katie explained.
"Probably control collars," Harry murmured. He had seen many a creature forced to act under the bidding of Voldemort and his Death Eaters due to the control collars forced around their necks.
"So what's the plan then?" Derek asked.
"We're gonna anchor the boat and go straight down. That portion where the wards are the weakest will be our entry point. Once we're inside the wards, we're going to move to the side, to avoid the gate guards. We time it right and wait for the foot patrol to move out of the area and then we ambush the fliers. Take them down before they raise the alarm. Then we split up and take out the two guards and the foot patrol. Once all the outside guys are taken care of, we move in."
"Are we rescuing everyone?" Neville asked.
Harry had thought that over. While Alexis Dempsey and her fellow Amazons was their main target, the possibility of adding more wands to their cause was too much to pass up. Not to mention, if they potentially rescued someone important to another group, in a similar situation to what they were doing for the Amazons, then maybe they could forge another alliance.
"Yes. No one is getting left behind."
"That is most likely a lot of people. You sure we're going to be able to get them all out?" Katie asked.
Harry ignored her question and turned toward Su. "How long would it take for you to bring down both set of wards by yourself?"
Su mulled the question over. "Forty minutes for the first set and several days for the second one."
"Alright, what about opening a hole in the second set, where its weakest, and leaving it open? A hole big enough to fit a boat."
"Two hours I guess, if I leave the basic, non-threatening ones up."
"Good enough. Su stays behind on the boat, watching from the omni-oculars. Once we emerge from the water, she starts working on bringing down the first set of wards. After that is complete, she moves the boat forward and works on opening the hole in the second set of wards. While she's doing that, we're taking out guards and rescuing prisoners. By the time she is done opening our exit, we should be clear of the prison and waiting on the docks. She comes in, picks us up and we'll use the small boat as a buffer, in case any guards on brooms feel like following us. Then we're home free."
The rest of Gold Team processed his plan with various reactions. Neville and Derek seemed to agree with it. Su looked pissed at being left behind. Marco was trying to play the scenario over in his head, to see if it would work out as easily as Harry said it would. Katie looked at him with cross arms.
"It never goes that easy," Katie pointed out.
"True but what plans ever go according to plan anyway?"
Neville snorted at that. With a wave of Harry's wand, everyone's bathing suits transformed back into their underwear. They all quickly put on their underclothes, to prevent chaffing, and then their armor; layered Hungarian Horntail hide covered in the fur of a re'em, to give it its gold color. Next they attached spare wands, knives and swords to their bodies; hips, ankles, forearms. Harry checked to make sure everything was where it should be on his combat belt.
They hooked the smaller boat they had used for water skiing to the larger one. Then, Harry had taken control of the larger boat and steered it near the weak point in the wards Marco and Su had been talking about. He stopped several meters from the wards edge, just to be sure, and dropped anchor.
"Don't forget spells to make sure the pressure at the bottom doesn't affect you," Harry reminded them. "Last thing I need is one of you guys dying from the bends."
When all the proper spells were applied five of the members of Gold Team dropped into the water. They conjured some weights so they sank all the way to the bottom, several thousand feet down. Once hitting bottom, they got rid of the weights and just floated around. It took Marco five minutes to open up a hole big enough for all of them to swim through. As Marco worked on taking down this set, the rest stood guard, so to speak.
"Harry," Katie's muffled voice shouted.
Harry turned his head toward her and saw that she was pointing at something. He squinted his eyes and got a good look at nine Mermen approaching, their weapons raised. Harry kicked his legs, propelling himself in the direction of the charging Mermen. His wand flashed and a large blast of water sent the Mermen tumbling backwards.
They recovered quickly and charged again, except this time they were more spread out. Harry hesitated, remembering that these Mermen wore control collars and were under the control of Voldemort. Neville didn't appear to have such problems though, as a stream of scolding water rocketed from his wand and slammed into the nearest Merman. The being shrieked in agony as its skin blistered. Neville shot another blast, but this one was dodged.
Harry jabbed his wand forward, bindings flying from the tip. A Merman tried to defend himself from the bindings with his spear but it was no use. Soon his hands were hog tied to his tail, and he bobbed along the Aegean Sea's floor. Harry turned to take care of another one, only to see that it had closed the distance and was now within reaching distance. The Merman jabbed its spear at Harry's midsection but Harry grabbed it and yanked it away at the last second. He kept one grip on the spear, and used his other hand to send a stunner into the being. The Merman slumped to the ground unconscious. Spinning quickly, he caught the Merman trying to spear him from the side with a stunner as well.
Derek had blown half of a Merman's chest cavity out. Another lay decapitated from where Derek had sent a thin piece of metal through its neck. The one Neville had been aiming at lay dead due to severe burns across its body, a second one lay next to it and was just as dead. Katie had used one's own Trident to pin it to the ground, jamming the three pronged weapon through the Merman's tail. The Merman was trying to free himself but looked too weak due to blood loss to lift the weapon.
The last Merman had fled the area after seeing four of his friends killed and the other four captured. Harry swam over and stunned the Merman pinned by his own trident. Pulling the weapon out of the ground, he waved his wand over the wound and stopped the bleeding. Neville gave him a strange look, but Harry ignored it as he poked the control collar around the Merman's neck with his wand. Immediately the collar shattered into dozens of pieces.
He moved over and did the same to the two Mermen he had stunned during the brief fight. Then he went over to the hog tied one and destroyed his control collar as well. Once he was sure the Merman was under his own mind, Harry untied him and indicated his three stunned friends. The Merman seemed to get the drift for he quickly gathered the three that were still alive and quickly swam away with them.
They waited in silence as Marco continued to work on the wards. No more Merpeople bothered them, though Harry thought he could sense more nearby. If the person who controlled their collars, probably the warden of the prison, commanded the Merman to attack then they would without thought to their own personal being. However, without such a command, while more aggressive than normal, their survival instincts still overrode passive commands, such as defend the prison from underwater attacks.
A bright flash of light lit up the dark waters and a loud gong like sound echoed around him. Harry knew at once Marco had created a hole in the wards, whether it be from sheer power or more of a finesse method, Harry didn't know and he didn't care. When he looked over he saw a four by four section of glowing green light.
"That's our entrance," Marco said, his voice muffled by the bubble around his head.
"Then let's move Gold Team. We got some prisoners to rescue. Let's just hope no one noticed Gold Four's light show."