FicWad

Chapter 28 - Into the Belly of the Beast

Twelve-year-old Norman Williams watched the spectacle unfold with unbelieving eyes. On one side there was apale, red-eyed lizard-looking guy in what looked like a Goth evening gown. On the other were fifteen or twenty Russian guys in black Cossack uniforms. In the middle stood one completely batshit crazy bitch who appeared to be trying to be the peacemaker between the reptile in drag and the Russians.

Then there was the mousey little woman, Cheryl something or other, with the pitying eyes, who looked like she knew what was going to happen and desperately wanted not to.

"Steady on, mate," Harry Wales said, placing a reassuring hand on Norman's shoulder, "someone will be here soon."

"SAS, MI6?"

"Nope, better than that, /Wizards/."

At that point Norman was really worried, it was bad enough that monsters and Russians and one crazy lady were all arguing about how to best murder a couple of twelve year old boys, now His Royal Highness had, apparently, lost his last marble.

)O(

The Prime Minister had never summoned Her Majesty's Minister of Magic but he knew that the painting was the key. He knocked on the frame and cleared his throat. The wigged man asleep in the chair opened one eye just slightly to make sure no one else was in the room, then sprang to his feet.

"Milord?"

"I need Fudge. Prince Harry has been taken by wizards!"

The portrait man's eyes grew wide as saucers.

"Now would be good." The PM prompted.

The man in the painting was gone like a shot.

Not two minutes had passed when the fireplace in the PM's office of Number Ten flared to life and disgorged amiddle aged, monocled woman wearing a conservative business suit.

"You're not Fudge." The Prime Minster observed.

"Thank you."

"I need the Minister for Magic."

"Amelia Bones, Minister of Magic for the United Kingdom and territories." She said, extending her hand.

"And Fudge?"

"Retired, Prime Minister."

"Prince Harry has been taken, one of the students, a boy with magical relatives described a device called a portal-key?"

Amelia nodded her head, gravely.

"They can be traced, up to apoint, Prime Minister. Unfortunately, the farther the distance traveled, the harder it is to pin-point the actual destination. I have a team of aurors, Department of Magical Law Enforcement Constables, on the scene. Perhaps we could make use of your computators and "eyes in the skies" to help us narrow the search.

The magical portrait cleared his throat, "Beg pardon, Ministers, a message from a Lady Millicent Potter, quote,"Why not try an owl?" unquote."

Amelia was halfway to the fireplace, "Prime Minister, have a team of your best fighters stand by for my signal," she threw a simple compact mirror in the PM's general direction,"we'll send along transportation as soon as we've located the Prince."

The MoM threw a handful of powder into the flames, which flared bright green, and called out, "Lady Helena's Apartment!"

Then stepped into the flames and disappeared.

)O(

"My mum told me once that Queen Elizabeth the First used to keep track of goings on in the magical world and that there was always an owl in or near Her Majesty's rooms." Millicent shrugged, "Maybe Royals can be tracked by owls?"

Harry stroked his beloved snowy owl, "Hedwig, this is the most important message we'll ever send. Can you find Prince Harry?"

Hedwig barked once and bobbed her head.

Harry smiled, "Deliver this message and then get out as fast as you can, all right, m'love?"

The owl nibbled his ear and flew south by south east.

Harry and his Viper Squadron/:/Millicent, Glynda, Pansy, Tracey, Daphne, Bella and Cissy, mounted their brooms to tag along.

"Stay low ladies and follow me."

"Nice bum, Harry!" Pansy called out to the general mirth of the rest of the ladies.

"Focus, /Vipera/, focus."

"Oh, we're focused, milord, yum!"

The general gaiety lasted another few moments before Harry and his "Viper Squadron" settled into the grim business of flying Nap of the Earth at one-hundred eighty km per hour.

Twenty minutes into the flight two things happened simultaneously, Hedwig began to circle high above the entrance to an old mine and Harry's ward detector began to buzz angrily.

"That's my girl," Harry called out to Hedwig, "go on back home, now, I don't want to see you in the middle of a fight."

The snowy familiar double-barked, twice.

"I think I've just been told off by my owl."

The formation slowed and touched down lightly in the meadow just out of sight of the mine entrance.

Without a word the well drilled Viper Squadron shrunk and pocketed their brooms.

Harry signaled Pansy forward and signed "Rune schemata."

She nodded and placed three rows of runes; concealment, detection, and protection. The first row kept those within the wards from seeing them, the second pattern revealed the ley lines that powered the wards around the mine entrance and the third row made it impossible for the wards to physically touch any of the team - by simple virtue of denying their physical presence.

As far as the wards were concerned the members of Viper Squadron were all ghosts.

Harry opened his signaling mirror, "Mama Bones, this is Viper One."

"I'll give you Mama Bones when Isee you next!"

Harry chuckled, "Understood, Minister, you were right to hold back the SAS, the wards here would have turned most away and those not redirected would have been just so much hamburger by now."

"We've got the SAS here; they're getting acquainted with their opposite numbers in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. We'll be at your location in five minutes."

"Can you use a good curse breaker?" a slightly familiar voice interjected.

"Bill?"

"Yep, key the beacon."

Harry placed small, long ruby on the ground and faced it in the general direction of Hogwarts.

A perfectly cohesive red beam pierced the night.

Ten seconds later the crack of an apparition shattered the still air and Bill Weasley found himself staring at the business end of eight wands.

"Password?"

Bill gulped and made a very sour face, then choked out, "Snakes rule, lions drool."

Harry clasped the Curse Breakers hand, "Welcome."

"So, Harry, what we got here?"

Harry nodded to Pansy, who said,"I make half-a dozen cutting and bludgeoning curses, an acid bog and at least one necro signature, fairly large."

Bill whistled, "Let's see, then."

With a flick of her wand she keyed the eldest Weasley son to her rune scheme. "We can neutralize the bog with an application of alkaline, followed by a drying charm - nothing will grow there, but it's not like this is prime farmland."

"Harry," Bill said, "If you ever want to loan this one out she'd be one hell of a curse breaker."

"She can be or do anything she wants to, Bill."

"Oh good, I want to have lots of sex and babies with you, Harry."

When Bill managed to close his wide-open mouth, he asked, "Any more at home like you?"

Pansy shrugged and shook her head. "Just my mum, I could introduce you, she's about to get shot of my death eater step-dad."

Bill looked thoughtful, "Later, lets see about bringing this down."

"Pansy," Harry asked, "can I go on in?"

Millicent stood tall and imposing behind him, becoming his peripheral vision. "Can we go on in?"

Harry smiled as Millie's large hands encircled him protectively from behind.

Pansy smirked and drew her eyeliner from a thigh pocket.

"Kneel," she ordered, imperiously, and then proceeded to draw protective runes across both Harry and Millie's foreheads.

She kissed both their heads and said, in a voice thick with emotion, "Be careful, I'm off the potion as of this evening."

Harry kissed her tenderly then disillusioned himself and Millicent.

"Into the belly of the beast," Pansy whispered, "go carefully."

The mine shaft led down and into the mountain at a steady thirty-degree angle, it would have been difficult to find anyone in there if it hadn't been for two things. One, the torches that lit the way and two, shouted profanities in three languages echoing through the shafts.

They found the entrance to alarge chamber, well ventilated and lit. Two school-age boys in blue and white jerseys and shorts were inching toward them as the screaming match between Voldemort and Bellatrix and the Cossacks rose to a crescendo.

Harry cupped Millicent's ear and whispered, "Protect the Prince, keep yourself and His Highness safe."

"Yes, dear."

She moved to intercept the boys.

"Stop!" Bellatrix shrieked.

Everyone froze.

The Dark Lord's lieutenant strode away from the argumentative wizards and toward their captives.

"We're going to take you back to school, Highness. No harm will come to you."

The prince produced his best imitation of his Mum's disarming smile, "Very well, we'll just be going, then."

"Sorry, Highness, but your schoolmate stays."

"I'm not going without him."

The witch seemed to ponder for amoment then pointed her wand and shouted, "Stupefy!"

Only to have the bright red spell rebound on her.

She spun on her Cossacks and snarled, "Who cast that shield?"

None of the Cossacks had drawn their wands; half had their knives or whips out, but no wands.

Millicent managed to get close enough to the prince to disillusion him.

"Don't move, Highness, and they won't see you."

"Who are you?"

"A friend, shush now."

If Millicent had been visible she would have glowed red, she'd just told the Prince, third in line of succession, to "shush."

"Help Norman." he whispered.

The Prince's schoolmate was startled by the feeling like that of an egg being broken over his head, and even more so as he faded from sight.

"Quiet now." Millie whispered urgently.

"Who cast that /protego/?"Bellatrix demanded again.

The Dark Lord hissed, "Potter, it's Potter, he's here somewhere."

Voldemort closed his eyes, "I know you're in here, Harry, why hide? By now you must have guessed what the prophesy really means."

Harry cast his voice to a far corner, "Enlighten us, Tom."

"Think about it, Harry, our wands won't work against each other's; we've met and fought, how many times? We can't kill each other, and no one else can do it, for "one must die at the hand of the other".

"Don't you see, Harry? If we work together we're immortal, unstoppable."

Harry cast his voice a bit closer to the wall, giving the impression of movement.

"Sure, Tommy, I just have to get comfortable with the idea of murdering anyone who disagrees with my world view and adopt the pureblood agenda, oh wait, I can't. I'm only a halfblood. But then again, so are you. At least both my parents were mages, your father was less than a mudblood, he was a muggle.

"Doesn't that mean you should be bowing down to me?"

"/Crucio/!"

"Tsk, tsk, Tommy boy, what did that wall ever do to you?"

As Harry baited Voldemort Millicent was quietly ushering the two disillusioned boys out of the mine entrance.

"Vere iz Prince?" one of the Russians shouted.

Bellatrix, livid for having been distracted, screamed, "Potter's not alone, he's got someone with him, spread out, stupefy anything that you bump up against."

"Ve may hit Prince!"

"Idiot, that's why I said stupefy and not kill!"

The twenty Cossacks extended their hands in a parody of "blind man's bluff," trying to locate anyone disillusioned in the chamber.

As Millie cleared the mine entrance she heard a sound like a thousand window panes shattering.

The wards had fallen.

She grabbed each boy around the waist and ran like a footballer away from the cave entrance shouting, "I've got em', I've got em' both!"

She took cover behind a small hillock and cancelled the disillusionment spell.

As Millie rejoined her /Vipera/sisters, two SAS men in battle armor ran up to the trio, "Are you hurt, your Highness?"

"Fine, I'm fine, Lieutenant, let's get Norman here back to Ludgrove, shall we?"

Prince Harry knew that Norman would wake up the next morning with no memory of his brief sojourn into the world of magic. He and the other royals knew, of course, that there was a whole other society in the U.K., but that was a privilege of rank and position.

"You should go with him, Highness."

"In a moment, Lieutenant, let me just give you a quick sketch of the mine."

The officer nodded and produced asmall journal and biro from one of his many pockets.

"A good sized tunnel entrance here, four men could walk abreast and not touch the sides, then a large chamber, a good twenty by thirty meters, but no other tunnels leading away that I could see.

"Twenty Russians in black Cossack uniforms. The Cossacks are holding one woman captive, she might be magical but I couldn't really tell. Then there's a witch and one, well, I don't know what he is but he's in charge. Pale, snake-faced bastard."

"Thank you, Highness, now, if you please?" the Lieutenant gestured urgently for two more commandos to hustle the Prince away.

As the two SAS men rounded the hillock, the ground shook and a smell like putrid meat nearly overwhelmed those nearby.

The hill rose on short, stout legs and turned milky white eyes toward the retreating prince.

"Christ, Lieutenant, whot is that?"

Millicent, trying not to hurl from the smell, choked out, "A toll, a dead troll - bloody bastard's made an inferi from a bloody great troll!"

The inferi had about as much intelligence as the creature it had been while still among the breathing, that is to say, "If it moves, smash it."

And it proceeded to do just that, bringing its club-like fist down on the first moving thing it saw, one of the SAS men, who thanked God and Kevlar for his helmet and armor.

"Take it down!" the Lieutenant shouted and opened fire on what had been a mountain troll."

Bill Weasley shouted, "Save your ammunition, Lef' tenant, we need /fyre/!"

Pansy cried out, "/Vipera/to me!"

The Seven Witches from Slytherin ringed the troll, circling the mountain of festering meat to keep it distracted.

Whatever brain cells remained in the troll's skull weren't enough to give it any kind of strategy. Smash, stomp . . . slap.

A massive backhand caught Pansy unawares as she was intently focused, concentrating on the /fiendfyre/spell.

She flew a good ten meters before landing in a heap.

"Panz!" Millicent cried out, and started to run toward her.

"Don't break the circle; we've got to keep this contained!" Glynda ordered, her face a mask of grim determination.

The remaining Witches traced aline on the ground, which flared into a hedge of flame, which grew to a column.

Fortunately for the troll, it was already dead, and beyond pain.

)O(

Harry felt, rather than heard, Millie leave the chamber with her two charges. Breathing a sigh of relief he edged toward the exit himself.

Bellatrix, more in control of herself, shouted, "Block the exit, stand guard at the mine entrance!"

Two Cossacks nodded and ran off through the tunnel. Mid-way through the tunnel the wards fell, but, professional soldiers that they were, the Russians still followed orders.

If the Cossack wizards had been so inclined, they would have learned a new English word that day.

"Tazer."

Both Russians fell, still jerking uncontrollably as thousands of volts of electricity coursed through their stunned bodies.

Using hand signals the SAS men advanced into the tunnel, along with their DMLE counterparts.

Everyone in the underground chamber heard the sound of the wards failing. Voldemort hissed, "/Revealo/,"and Harry's obscuring charm evaporated.

"Oh, great!" Harry exclaimed as he was ringed by eighteen Cossacks, Voldemort and Bellatrix.

Bellatrix felt her heart leap in her chest as she looked upon Harry for the first time.

Harry exploded into action, powerful spell-chains dropped Cossacks left and right, black clad men fell like so much winter wheat, but they were, first and foremost, warriors. Fanatically loyal to their dark lady and well trained.

Once over their initial shock the remaining Cossacks returned spell-fire, cutting, bludgeoning, blasting until alucky shot deprived Harry of his wand, spinning him about in the process.

"I may not be able to kill you, Harry, but you'd be amazed at how much pain a body can endure and still not die! /Crucio/!"

Harry writhed on the floor as the Cossacks laughed.

Bellatrix sashayed between Voldemort and his prey.

The Dark Lord, puzzled, asked,"Bellatrix, what are you doing?"

"Please, Lord, let me?"

Voldemort smiled. Bellatrix liked to play with her food before eating.

"By all means, my dear."

Bellatrix knelt down by Harry's side and caressed his cheek.

"How are you doing this, Potty?"

Harry's eyes were just beginning to refocus, "w-what?"

Bellatrix held his jaw in her hand, "I said, how are you doing this, you look at me and make me want to do//things - I have . . . feelings . . . I've not felt since my school days."

She stood and balled her fists, tightly. "Tell me how you're doing this and I'll kill you quickly. If not . . ."

She raised her wand, now extruding the glowing tendrils of a fire-whip and stood trembling over Harry.

"/Expeliarmus/!"

The wand-whip flew to the far wall.

Bellatrix turned to see who dared and saw herself, or rather an image of herself from twenty years before.

"Get away from him you /bitch/!"

A Cossack threw a cutting hex, which Bella dodged, mostly. A thin trickle of blood coursed down one pale cheek.

Bellatrix felt a sting and touched the cut on her own cheek.

Realization came rushing in as aurors, along with the rest of the SAS troops, poured into the cavern, firing non-lethal rounds - or spells - at everything that was standing.

Voldemort roared his defiance but could not afford to underestimate these magical or muggle warriors.

"Portkeys!" he screamed to the Cossacks who were still standing.

The Dark Lord, Bellatrix and perhaps ten Cossacks disappeared in a whirlwind.

"Can we track them?" Pansy asked.

Glynda ran to the center of the portkey point of origin and pulled a small scrying mirror from her cloak, along with a crystal hung from silk thread.

She suspended the crystal just above the surface of the mirror and interpreted the crystal's movements.

"Due south, looks like they're somewhere in Wales."

"They'll have portkeyed to five different locations by now, it'll be impossible to track them."

"Wotcher Harry!"

"Cheers, Tonks, we've got some prisoners for you, looks like half of Moldishort's new recruits."

Cheryl, who had endured the non-existent mercies of the Cossacks for weeks separated herself from the shadows and walked on unsteady legs to the fallen Russians.

Several wands were leveled at the abused girl until Nymphadora recognized her, "Cheryl?"

The girl turned haunted eyes to her old schoolmate.

"Tonksy?"

"Yeah, it's Tonksy."

Cheryl looked at the fallen Cossacks, "Sasha's here."

With eyes as cold as flint, the auror bound each Cossack with anti-portkey and anti-apparation chains, then began to revive each one.

"Sasha?"

"Nyet."

Then on to the next, and the next in turn, until one finally said "Da."

Tonks grinned evilly, "We're going t' have a nice long chat, /Sasha/."

A simple statement, delivered with absolute professional courtesy, yet somehow, something about the delivery made the Cossack's blood run cold and, for the first time in his life, he questioned his career choices.

)O(

Sasha looked around his cell in disgust. He had endured rougher conditions in his native Siberia. There was acomfortable cot with a blanket, good food and those entertaining wizards who asked him questions over and over again.

He'd answered all their questions, without reservation. He was proud of his heritage. Rape, torture and murder were simply tools of war and he was very good at war.

His trial before the hastily convened war tribunal was brief. His punishment agreed upon by the members of his victims families.

)O(

Sasha came awake as a rough hand back-handed him with enough force to loosen two teeth.

"Wha?"

The Cossack was shocked that his voice was high pitched, feminine.

He looked down at his body and, where he'd expected to see his Cossack uniform, or the striped uniform of aconvict, he was dressed in a peasant girl's dress.

More to his horror, his beard was gone, and his arms and legs were thin and soft, ending in delicate hands and bare feet.

He scrambled to his feet to face his attackers, three Cossacks, scraggly beards reeking of cheap vodka.

"Why are you doing this?" his disgustingly weak, female voice pleaded.

"To send a message to your family, Zaichik, besides, we're going to enjoy this."

The lead Cossack pushed Sasha down and laughed as the lithe form struggled vainly.

"You wish to keep your precious virginity?" the man laughed.

"You will loose that immediately, first your precious /manda/, then your /zhopa/. By all three of us, then the fun will begin."

Some time later, Sasha lay on the dirt floor of the barn trying to gather scraps of clothing to his, no, make that her, bruised and bleeding body. The men had all used her in every disgusting way, now they would leave her. Wouldn't they?

The tormentors, still naked from the waist down surrounded Sasha and uncoiled their whips.

Full realization came crashing home as the first whip cut deep into her tender, unprotected flesh.

Sasha the Cossack, rapist and murderer would know what it was to be a victim.

Death, when it finally came, would be a blessing.

)O(

Sasha woke in a soft bed, snuggled under soft, warm blankets.

A dream, it had all been a dream.

She was warm and safe and . . .

The door of her bedroom crashed in, torn off its hinges by a heavy boot.

Sasha screamed as the black uniformed man with a scraggly, greasy beard laughed cruelly.

He was followed by four of his comrades.

Sasha realized that even death would not release him from his torment.

He had hundreds of deaths to atone for.

And this was just the beginning.