Chapitre 22: Prison Break
Stood, arms crossed over his chest, Harry looked through the forest and to the cabin. He could barely make it out through the trees, but it was there, and he could make out the sight of five guards waiting outside.
'It seems that despite believing me dead, my finding of their base has put them on edge.' Harry noted internally, his lips twitching up in pride at the thought. The sting of defeat was still strong, but he liked the knowledge that he seemed to have shaken them enough to increase the number of guards outside.
"Dragon." Pausing in what he was doing, Harry turned to look back where he found a group of Aurors stood, they having Apparated outside the defensive Wards of the Werewolf base moments ago. They had since spent their time preparing themselves for what was to come next. "My men and I need a debrief."
Harry rose a brow. "Haven't you already received one?" He questioned and the Auror Captain shook his head which made Harry frown.
"We were told that our commanding officer, an Unspeakable Agent codenamed, Dragon would be there to greet us on the other side and provide us with a debrief." By the tone in the Auror Captains voice, he too didn't seem pleased by this. Harry shared the sentiment, surely it would have been better to inform them before going in.
'Unless that was the point.' Harry theorised. 'The less information they know the more likely they are to not retreat. But I don't agree with that.'
Stepping forward, Harry looked around at the men and women gathered. A total of nearly two dozen, far more than a normal Auror squadron, but considering the task they would be carrying out, it made sense. And each of them was looking at him and silently demanding an answer.
"Well, I guess I'll start with what we've learned about our enemies."
"We know enough." One man spoke. "Enough that we don't need an Unspeakable to fill us in. We've been out there on the frontlines and fought these things. All you've done is see them from a lab, so you don't need to tell us anything we don't already know."
Harry chuckled lightly, attracting more than a few glares, but the Auror Captain seemed to stare them down, stopping a confrontation from breaking out. "Okay, why don't you tell me what you know?" Harry shot back, recognising that he wasn't trusted nor liked by them. To them, he was just a researcher, a scientist who was far away from the frontlines.
"They can transform into Werewolves without a full moon, and they can infect people with scratches, not just bites." A relatively small, but attractive young woman sharply explained.
Once again, Harry rose a brow in questioning. "That's it?" He asked. "That's all you know. Have none of you read the report on what's actually happening to the Werewolves and why they're evolving so rapidly?"
By the looks the Aurors gave to one another, that wasn't the case at all. "What more's there to know? That's the basics of it all, isn't it?"
"Well for one, you're right about them being able to transfer the Lycanthropy virus with just a scratch, but the transference has always been unstable. You either turned or you died, well now that's no longer the case. Whether it be a scratch or a bite, you always turn into a Werewolf, no if and's or buts." Harry started, and his explanation earned a few worried looks and Harry couldn't stop himself from getting a little dig in. "Didn't know everything, did you?"
Yet his words didn't receive any glares, just silence.
"And the evolution of the Werewolves isn't natural, it's manmade, produced and a result of experimentation with knowledge leagues beyond anything we've seen. The Werewolves have a benefactor that has allowed them to store moonlight within themselves and use that to access a partial transformation at will. As for a full transformation, that can be triggered in one of two ways. The first is under a full moon as always. The second is a theory, but we hypothesise that an Alpha may be capable of triggering them to access a full transformation as they have been."
Seeing the Aurors were fully in line, their little bout of arrogance quelled by the truth of what was happening with the Werewolves, the Auror Captain turned to him. "So what're our objectives?"
"Out there, under the cabin, is the Werewolf base." Harry pointed, all the Aurors squinting to see the cabin in the far distance. "A wide array of rooms, tunnels. It's a large catacomb expanding for miles and is their main base of operations. We're looking at a force numbering over three hundred in total. One thing I should clarify first is their hierarchy."
"At the top, is the Alpha, a man named Peter Hale." Harry continued. "He's the fastest, the strongest and the most dangerous of them all. Below them is the Betas, they're the elites. Over two hundred are battle-hardened from their brief campaign in Scandinavia. They have battle experience and are in full control of themselves when transforming, given access to Wolfsbane Potion beforehand."
This is when Harry paused, unsure whether he should tell them of the next aspect. It would make them less likely to hesitate should they encounter them. But he also understood that withholding information like this could be damaging later on down the line.
"You've all lost people to the Werewolves." The sudden shift in topic caught the Aurors off-guard. "You're all willing to risk your lives for a chance for revenge, but I want you to understand something. The Betas are in control, the Omegas on the other hand are not. Before the Werewolves began their assault, dozens of Muggles went missing every week. They were turned and brought here, held prisoner until they eventually gave in."
By the frowns that appeared on the faces of the Aurors, they knew what was about to come next. "When I found their base, infiltrated it and discovered the prisoners, many had refused to join. The Omegas are not only made up of the newly turned, but also those that refuse to join the cause. Therefore, they are denied Wolfsbane Potions are forcibly transformed and you know what happens when a Werewolf doesn't take Wolfsbane Potion."
"Pack mentality." One Auror spoke up, earning several nods.
"Exactly, they're slaves effectively," Harry said. "But that shouldn't affect you at all. I imagine when you assault the base, the only ones who will be used in its defence are the Betas. They'll be the ones capable of reacting quickest. I also doubt that the first dozen or so will be able to access their transformations. If you're lucky, none of them will, it just depends upon how much Wolfsbane Potion they have stockpiled."
"So that's our mission, an assault?"
"Shouldn't we have brought more men for that?"
Harry shook his head. "No, you're acting as a diversion, drawing them away while I sneak inside." He spoke. "I'll try to locate their stockpile of Wolfsbane Potion first, take that out, should make your jobs easier. But I don't know the make-up of the two hundred Betas. Could be all Wizards, all Muggles, or a mix of the two. Either way, except both magic and muggle weapons."
"We're acting as the diversion." The Auror who had first been confrontational to Harry spoke. "But what about you. I get that you're targeting the Wolfsbane Potion first and I'm thankful for that." He gave a respectful nod to accentuate his point, one Harry returned. "But is that it?"
"No, my primary objective is to free the Omegas. They're innocent in this and at least this way, we can lower their numbers." There were nods given in understanding.
"And what of the Alpha?"
"If the opportunity presents itself, kill him. But your primary objective is to stay alive as long as possible until I give the signal for a retreat. You all have Emergency Portkeys, yes?" There were affirmatives all around. "Good, then don't do anything stupid. If you can, take the shot do so, but don't risk the sake of the mission on it."
The Auror Captain stepped forwards. "Don't worry, son." He spoke. "We'll do our part, just make sure you do yours."
"I will." Harry then pulled out a small device from his back pocket, handing it to the Auror Captain. "This is a nifty little piece of technology, designed by our researchers recently. There's a Ward Stone over there, place this on it and it'll reverse the Wards back on those inside."
"Meaning any defensive Wards that would keep people out, will turn back on those inside." The Auror Captain chuckled, many of the others smirking as well. "How effective are we talking?"
"Not sure, it's untested in a combat scenario such as this." Harry had already handed one over to George to see what improvements he could make to the device. So far, however, it was limited to trial runs and hadn't been tested properly. "But it should be enough to severely injure, if not kill those outside. I don't know about those inside."
"Well, we'll get it done."
-X- Line Break -X-
Throwing the ball in the air, Derek lazily caught it again as he laid back in bed. He'd been stuck inside for a long time; Peter had kept him on guard duty whenever he went out to attack Magical Britain. Derek wasn't overly bothered by this. He didn't like being kept locked up, but he certainly didn't mind.
It was Peters idea to join up with Fenrir Greyback after meeting the guy. Derek hadn't agreed nor liked it, but he hadn't been able to get a say in the matter. Peter was too powerful and Fenrir even more so, and Derek, well he was a survivor and for now, the smartest thing to do was to play along. But he had no intentions of waiting forever, he'd break out on his own eventually, he just needed to bide his time.
'I'll kill you eventually, Peter. I won't let you live forever after what you did to Laura.' As he caught the ball again, Derek clenched his fist in anger, remembering the image of seeing his dead sister, mutilated and torn apart.
He hadn't known straight away but over time he had begun to piece the pieces together.
After the death of the Hale family, only he, Laura and Peter had been alive. Derek had known that Peter wasn't happy about Laura being the Alpha, but he had never thought that he would kill Laura out of greed. But over time, Peter got confident and cocky, cracks started to appear in his story till he eventually all but admitted it.
Derek had played along, pretending he hadn't pieced together the truth. But he always had revenge on his mind, and he'd get it eventually. It was why he allowed that Wizard to live and told Peter that he was dead.
It was then the base was rocked, breaking Derek from his train of thought as he sat upright, dust falling from the ceiling. Then, outside he heard rapid movement, shouts and screams of surprise followed by orders. 'We're under attack?' He realised. 'That Wizard, he survived!' And as that thought came to him, he let out a smirk.
Rising out of his bed and opening the door to his room, he grabbed hold of a random grunt, pulling him to one side. "How many are there?"
"Dunno, about two dozen or so according to the scents people have been picking up." Letting the man go, Derek remained where he was with a frown on his face. All the Betas were rushing down the tunnel, an eager smirk on their face, all had been recalled back to base after recent troubles on the frontlines. Britain had been fighting back harder than initially expected and it had caused a few problems and required a few changes to the initial plan.
Peter from what Derek had been informed, had been ordered by the higher-ups in the Pack to pull back all troops to the main base besides ensuring enough to keep the frontlines stable. The British had remained where they were, unmoving and suspecting a trap, which was working more in their favour.
If the British pushed they'd be able to retake all land north of Cornwall with very little resistance. 'So why have they come with so few? What's their objective?' And as Derek thought on it further, he eventually heard a cry of frustration further down the empty corridor, he suddenly realised that he was the only one left, all the other Betas having rushed up.
Heading down, Derek eventually found himself looking down a corridor filled with dead bodies. 'All the others are up on the surface; these must have been ordered to collect the Wolfsbane Potion.' It was then he saw fire peeking out of the supply room where the Potions had been stored. Derek paused, looking on in curiosity expecting to see someone come out at some point, but no one did.
Reaching within himself, Derek drew on the power and his eyes flashed blue. He couldn't pick up anything, no sight of heat or scent, whatever the figure was clad under kept them completely hidden as Peter had said. But one thing the Wizard didn't understand, was how to cover up his tracks. He could pick up the impressions made in the ground, unnoticeable to the naked eye, but no so to him when using his powers.
And so, he followed, making sure not to make a sound.
As he had expected, the Wizard was heading towards the prison cells. 'No doubt to free the Omegas, smart. But that means those up above are just distractions.' And as he deduced this, Derek felt his smirk returned. 'And Peter fell for it.'
Coming to a stop at the corner, Derek looked around the corner to find the Wizard had taken off his cloak and was opening the cells, speaking to those kept inside. Slowly, as to not cause the Wizard to attack outright, he stepped out, hands raised in the universal sign of surrender.
"I'm not here to fight," Derek said, the Wizard spinning around, and pointed at him and Derek stopped where he was. His eyes picked up the prisoners scuttling back into their cells, those that were already out, freezing in fear. Peter had taught them well, made them terrified.
"Revert." The Wizard ordered firmly.
Nodding his head, Derek let go of his partial transformation and reverting to his normal form. "Look, you're moving quick, left a trail of bodies behind you which means you need speed. I can give you that."
"How?"
"Down the tunnel, there'll be a small hatch, big enough for you to crouch down and fit through. It's used as a little pathway for people to sneak out and visit the town when they're not supposed to. Not many know about it." Derek had used it a fair few times himself and only a handful of people knew about it.
"And I'm meant to believe you? Could be a trap?"
Derek nodded his head. "Could be." He repeated. "But you want to get out of here without being seen and to do it safely. I'm sure you've realised that the base has its own set of Wards separate from those above. You won't be able to Portkey out of here like you probably initially planned, that pathway is the only way to get you out of the base without going up top."
"Why?"
"Same reason I didn't let Peter know you were still alive after you fell off the cliff. For my own personal reasons."
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone