บท 23: Recruits
As the last man disappeared with a pop, it left both Harry and Derek stood across from one another, silently judging the other. Never taking his eyes off the man in front of him, Harry rose his wand and fired sparks in the air, the signal that alerted the Aurors that they could retreat.
"Why?" Harry asked simply.
"I told you, personal reasons," Derek replied and Harry scoffed.
"I'm gonna need a little more than personal reasons. It's not every day you find someone in a position such as yours, willing to switch sides. And if they do, it's always for sentimental reasons." Derek frowned, realising that Harry wouldn't stop pressuring him for answers. "So, I'll ask again, why did you help me?"
Releasing a frustrated breath of air, Derek ran one hand through his hair. "Peter killed my sister to become an Alpha." He answered, Harry, remaining silent. "And I have a very strong suspicion, that he helped the Hunters that killed my family. So as you can understand why I want him dead. And I'm willing to help those that share a similar goal, you are one of those people."
"I see." Harry nodded his head, raising his wand. "If you don't mind, I'd like if you didn't resist." Suddenly a rush of memories passed him by, and Harry focused, attempting to wade his way through them to the most important ones.
Eventually, he found what he was looking for and withdrew from Derek's mind, both stumbling apart, breathing heavily. Taking a deep calming breath, Harry pocketed his wand and extended a hand to Derek who cautiously looked at it, unsure of what to make of the gesture.
"I can offer you the chance to do more damage to your uncle. I operate under a certain modus operandi that I think will suit you quite well if you want revenge." Harry explained. "I work for an organisation that currently has autonomy in dealing with threats to Britain. At this moment in time, you still are a threat, and we must do what we can to eliminate those threats. Your knowledge and also your skills would be quite useful to us."
"You want to recruit me?"
"I do, but whether my boss would agree is another matter. But I suspect that he has a good understanding of the situation we're in and what it's like in the field with no backup. Relying on Aurors is not a preferred tactic and the more recruits we have, the better it would be for us in the long run."
"I see," Derek said, both turning when they picked up the sound of movement down in the base, the Werewolves no doubt having returned to base after the Aurors retreated. They'd no doubt find the bodies and then the Omegas have gone very soon.
"Do you accept?"
Staring at the hatch a little more, Derek eventually nodded his head. Taking Harry's offered hand and the pair disappeared with a loud pop.
-X- Line Break -X-
"What do you think?" Harry asked, standing beside Croaker, reaching up to pull down his mask. Both men stood, watching as Derek was led down the corridor by a pair of Unspeakable Researchers.
"You're certain of what you found in his memories?" Croaker returned.
Harry nodded his head. "Yes, I'm certain. Peter Hale has all but admitted to killing Laura Hale to him. And the suspicion that Peter helped kill the Hale family is quite strong. I doubt he will be a spy unless he's so completely deprived of any love for his family which I doubt." Harry replied.
"Nonetheless, he'll be under a probationary period and heavy watch till he is being certified by myself." Croaker explained, before turning to Harry, patting him on the shoulder. "But other than that, good job, masterfully done. Now, Follow me."
As Croaker made his way down the corridor, Harry followed. "As you are aware, you are our only Field Agent, That is unacceptable in my view, especially considering what we need to do in the future. Those Aurors I had personally requested for the mission, not only because they've lost family members in the Werewolf attacks, but because they had skill."
"You've considered them as possible Field Agents." It wasn't a question, but a statement of fact and Croaker nodded his head.
"Yes, I have." He replied, a smirk coming on his face. "I just had to be sure that they had the will to do what was necessary."
"Then the whole reason you denied to give them a brief, was for what reason? A test for them?"
"Yes, and for you as well." Croaker responded, turning to Harry as they paused before a door. "You see, mister Potter, you were given the codename Dragon because, at their absolute peak, Dragons are one of the most powerful and destructive beings alive. That is what you symbolise, fear, strength, awe, terror, chaos, destruction. That is what you will become, but you can't do it alone. No man can grasp the moon, not alone and you are no different. I intend to make you the figurehead, the face of the Unspeakable Field Agent Department. You will be the Field Commander of all our operatives with authority second only to myself."
Harry felt his lips turn downwards at the thought of the power and responsibilities he was being given. As a lone agent, he'd made many mistakes in his short career, this being the biggest success so far, and to suddenly learn he was being given more authority and responsibility was quite an overwhelming thought to be sure.
"The lack of debriefing was to see how much information you would be willing to provide them. To know if you knew when to withhold and when to provide information." Croaker continued. "You, for example, judged it quite well. I would have kept the information about the Omegas secret, but you presented it in a way that it changed nothing about the way the Aurors would fight."
Harry nodded his head. "How many survived?"
"Four survived, not as many as I would have hoped, but enough that I am still quite pleased." Croaker then opened the door and Harry stepped in behind the man into what seemed to be a balcony room that overlooked a large chamber below. As soon as he stepped inside, sounds of movements, of clanking metal of spells whizzing across the area reached his ears. "But they will not be the only ones."
Coming to a stop before the glass window, Harry looked down to see three people clad in black performing various tasks down below. One was a large set man, bulky and looking quite strong as he blocked and parried the spinning armies of the dummy. The other skinny and small as he worked under the careful viewing of Adrian as he went through various katas. The final one was a woman with quite the eye-catching, curvaceous figure that moved around, firing spells at the dummies across from her.
"Who are they?"
"These three caught my attention first." Croaker said simply. "They lost the most in the Werewolf attacks. The first, Bear." He indicated to the large man. "A Wizard who pursued a career as a boxer in the Muggle world, though that failed when his entire family were killed, torn to shreds by the Werewolves. Not magically powerful or knowledgeable, but in terms of hand-to-hand combat, well, it speaks for itself."
Harry couldn't help but agree, Bear was parrying and dodging those arms with ease that not even he had, and he'd been doing it for weeks on end. "The second, Eagle, neither physically nor magically gifted, but he's quite well-known in Knockturn Alley for his information gathering skills. He built an entire network of spies and informants and I believe he would suit us quite well in the future."
"And the woman?"
"A Veela, quite a powerful one as well. Magically gifted and quite knowledgeable in Charms, Wards and Enchantments. She lost her husband and her unborn child in a recent Werewolf attack. So, I think my reasons for hiring her are quite self-explanatory." Croaker finished.
"They are," Harry muttered. "With myself, those three, Derek and the four Aurors, that brings are total numbers to nine Field Agents. What will the structure be like from that point?"
"You will be the overall Field Commander; the highest authority and I will trust you to make the decisions to see the completion of a mission." Croaker spoke, neither man turning away from the training of the individuals below. "Eagle will be a separate operative, I would rather he not be involved in combat unless necessary. His main goal is to be an overseer of information gathering and extraction. Not a combat operative. As for this moment in time, all operatives will be operating under the same squadron, your squadron. However, in the future, other squads will be formed."
"That's a lot of pressure, are you sure I'm ready."
Croaker turned to him. "Are you doubting yourself?" Harry didn't respond, remaining quiet. "Quite frankly, mister Potter, I don't like giving you such a burden so soon, you're not ready. But you see, you're the only one that's closest to being qualified. And considering the situation at hand, we don't have the time nor the luxury to wait for someone to be ready to take command."
Sighing, Harry ran one hand through his hair, turning to look down at the chamber below.
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