Tuesday, July 29th, 2014. 12:35 PM.

  Azkaban Prison, "The Rocks"

  The North Sea

  ***

  "There was nowt ah c'ld du, so ah carried on. Ah sealed th' door frum inside, an' used th' escape portal. Once outside, ah Summoned Brumhildr from her rack in th' Outdoor Rec Area..."

  "Brumhildr?" Daniel Weston interrupted. "Is one to take that as an homage to the Valkyrie Shieldmaiden, Brynhildr?"

  "Take it as ye loike, Sassenach," replied John equably. "But it turned oot t' be highly appropriate. Where was ah? Och, aye, thin ah tuk t' th' air, an' there was a bit of a curfuffle wi' some Zabinis, an' ah wuz hid where y'found me. End a' story."

  He stopped and fiddled with the top edge of the blanket that Hannah had conjured for him. When the silence had grown a bit long, he looked up to find everyone starting at him.

  "Whut?"

  Harry opened his mouth, closed it, then looked to Kingsley Shacklebolt as if to say, He reports to YOU. DO something."

  Kingsley sighed, and began to speak, but was forestalled. Hannah Abbott-Longbottom shot to her feet, her conjured sand seat collapsing as she stopped maintaining the spell. Her eyes were narrowed, her brow was clouded, and if her blonde hair had not been cleared for action, (i.e., in her signature pigtails), Harry was sure it would have bristled.

  "Look, you laconic old word-miser, if you think I am going to accept 'curfuffle' as an explanation for broken bones in the double-digits, internal injuries ditto, and the stink of Death Energy on everything you're wearing, you are sorely mistaken! Talk!"

  John's surly expression almost cracked into a grin, but only almost.

  "Fine, fine. D'nae fash yerself, lass." he grumped. "Who knew ye c'ld smell Death Energy? (Harry certainly hadn't). When ah tuk off, there were three o' the bastids flyin' overwatch. (Everyone that knew Hagrid's pups winced). Two were in plain robes, and one was wearin' a fancy get-up, a Slytherin House Quidditch Team uniform. Surprised th' poncey lookin' git could get off th' ground with all the quibbly silver folderols on 't."

  (Harry and Ginny exchanged a glance).

  Th' lot o' thim set on me, an' spells were thick as flies on dung. Ah had my wand stashed in the Solitary, and ah wuz givin' sommat back, but losin' ground." He chuckled grimly. "But th' auld gairl wus th' mos' help. She may not be as fast as she was back in th' day, but she kens more aboot aerobatics than th' fanciest trick flyer on th' circuit. Ah mostly j'st guv her th' reins and concentrated on m' spellwork. We spotted an opportunity, an' ah showed one wha' an Azkaban Body Block wuz loike." He gave Hannah a sheepish look.

  "Pro'ly where some a' th' broken bones came from. Ah w'snae holdin' back, not one bit. That 'un spun down alongside th' pieces o' his brum. He looked knocked out, an' ah hope he wuz, 'cause we's o'er rocks by thin. Thin a few minit's later, we got t' other in plain robes, blessedly on my other side. Ah was hurtin', no doubt. Me and th' auld gairl headed for th' last 'un, who'd been holding up out o' th' rummage. He stopped dead in th' air..." Talisker paused, his face a mask of hatred.

  "...An' he cast th' Avada Kedavra."

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  Several of the aides gasped, but not, Harry noted, Robin. Her already serious expression just grew a little more stern.

  John hadn't noticed, his thoughts back there, in the dusky sky over a volcanic plain.

  "Brumhildr moved on her own before he got th' firs' syllable out. Ah went frum atop her goin' faster than ever, t' behind her and braking so hard m' sternum snapped. An' she tuk th' spell meant f'r me."

  He shook his head. "Ah'm raight boggled it just cracked her shaft!"

  (Harry remembered a gravestone cracking as he ducked behind it, on one of the worst nights of his life).

  "Thin she leveled out and went for him agin! Ah wuz barely hangin' on, but ah saw th' poncey bastid's eyes go wide wi' fear. Ah s'pose he thought ah had thrown off th' spell somehow. He Apparated out, an' th' auld gairl found us a hideyhole, b'fore ah passed mostly out."

  He glowered. "Ah was j'st aware enow t' ken ah'd failed. And t'keep th' Sassenach from possibly pisenin' me." He did grin, as Daniel glared. The expression faded.

  "Ah hope she'll be awright."

  Daniel snorted. "Your Wood and Twig Valkyrie almost took one's head off, before one's Universal calmed her down. She will be just fine."

  John's expression relaxed just a bit. Then he winced at some internal pain.

  Hannah was on him in a flash. "Overdoing it!" she said sternly. "I'm going to put you under for a while, so you can heal..."

  "Nae, lass! Nae." He put a hand up, and winced again. "J'st... There's plans t'make, an' ah hev things... important things t' add. J'st... j'st a bit longer. Please?"

  Hannah glared, but relented. "A bit longer," she said reluctantly. She switched her glare to Harry and Kingsley, who quailed slightly. "Well? Get on with it!"

  ***

  "We're outnumbered," Kingsley said. "Fairly severely at that."

  Harry shook his head. "Quantity, maybe. Quality? I would worry if they were all Beauxbatons grads, but usually only the Italian upper crust send their scions there. From what we've seen of the rank and file, they're not even bottom crust. I'm not worried about people that came up through little hole-in-corner 'schools' like Roccafosca, Diropio, or even the Mist School in Rome. The problem is getting at them."

  "Aye," said John. "Th' most ye kin stack oop in th' Solitary is twelve, mebbe fifteen iffen they're all skinny. Th' only big entrance is th' drawbridge gate they use f'r bulk delivery. An' th' only way t' open that is frum th' central administration area. An' there are choke points gettin' frum th' warehouse into th' main complex."

  "Commando Group to take Admin. Those won't be able to help with chokepoints, though. They'll have to maintain control once they take the area." Kingsley scowled at the chalkboard they were using to sketch out plans.

  Oliver Wood's old board is really seeing the world, Harry thought. Aloud, he said, "What we really need is a diversion of sorts."

  "Aye," said John Talisker, making an abortive move, as if he were thinking of rising. He settled back under Hannah's gimlet eye.

  "Aye," he repeated. "A diversion. An' mebbe even some assistance." He looked at Daniel Weston, (while still keeping a weather eye on Hannah). "Danny, lad, how d'ye feel aboot visitin' some old friends?"

  Ginny surged to her feet, her seat actually imploding into a small whirlwind of sand. "Oh, no, no, no! I promised Daniel he would not have to enter this damned..." She paused, as Daniel rose, placing a gentle hand on her forearm.

  "Dear Ginevra," he said softly. "When one made you promise that, one did not know what he owed this man." He gazed down at John, then around the room. "Or this organisation. Every good thing in one's life since Azkaban has come from the Quidditch one learned here. John taught one how to hold a Beater's bat after one's first amateurish game. And," Daniel smiled sunnily. "...he never asked where one had found such an obviously magickal piece of wood for a bat. He noted that the magick just helped to teach me, and did not give me an unfair advantage in the game. My advantage came from being willing to learn."

  He patted her arm once, then removed his hand. "And the jolly old Westons always pay their jolly old debts." The sunny smile grew in the scarred face. "Noblesse oblige, don't you know?"

  John snorted at the affected pretension, then got solemn. "Are ye sure, lad? There's others who c'ld try what ah've t' mind, but y'r th' most loike t' get it done. An' ah cannae promise y' will nae run inta th' Bates man."

  Daniel's hand went unconsciously to his scars. Harry caught Ginny's eyes again. She had told him of her memories of Weston at school. He had been a handsome boy, in an almost ethereal way. Now, while not a horror by any means, 'handsome' was not the word for his appearance.

  Daniel's hand came down, and his eyes glittered strangely. "One..." he said softly. "...is looking forward to it."