Surfing [T. W.]

The wind was onshore when they woke up, so there was little surf to attract the buddies. There were squalls coming in off the sea; bearing sharp bursts of rain. Most people stayed inside visiting and sharing; running between tents whenever a lull came. Gordon and his mates had put up a marquee at the beginning of the season, knowing that these kinds of days sometimes occurred. By the afternoon most of the campers had gathered inside the large tent and a pleasant atmosphere pertained. The fun was helped by those who had guitars and other musical instruments, as well as the couple of table tennis tables that normally resided outside. When the Chippy arrived, a mass fish and chip feast got underway, add to that the usual tinnies and bottles; a mini festival atmosphere pervaded. It was two in the morning before anyone thought about leaving. The storm had passed by this time and in the moonlight many pairs went off to tents that were not necessarily their own.



§§§§§§



The surf improved as the wind veered, so by mid morning most campers were on the beach.



Gordon found the trio: “One of the young men on the list appears to be missing. His tent was empty last night, but with all the pairing going on it was possible he was with someone else. We quietly chatted to his nearest friends and we suspect he was abducted in the early evening, because no one can remember him after about Chippy time.”



“Thanks for the info,” Jimmy said. “Alarming as it is, it seems to agree with our supposition that the bully-boys are still around. He could just be having a love-in somewhere quiet, so we’d better keep a sharp look-out for him, and on the other two.”



“Yes I agree.” Gordon looked worried. “I’d like to warn the other two, but that might give the game away to the abductors. It’s difficult keeping a watch on them because of all the people on the beach and the volatile nature of the many friendships they have. We can only try our best.”



Gordon wandered off musing.



“That just makes things more urgent,” surmised Jimmy, looking at his two pals. “I had a look at Dirk’s camera last night and he had photographed a message for us. It says that the Ministry are stalling, after having had another note. This time one of your guys restrained the bird and sent a note back asking about certain particulars. We have eight days grace before something drastic happens – that’s the gist of the message.”



Each of them in turn had a read of the screen of the digital.



§§§§§§



That evening another of the young men was snatched. But the team also had some luck. Fred, one of Gordon’s men, followed the kidnappers with their limp comatose victim.



“They were making quite a lot of noise, so it was easy. They went towards the old mine entrance and disappeared. At least the ledge looked like it, but I could see no adit where I thought it should be. I left a few marker stones, so we can go and look when it’s light. There’s the old miners track from there. I could have sworn they didn’t use it.”



‘Transfiguration disguise, do you think?’



‘Mmm, quite probably.’



“Pity to loose another one, but at least that confirms what’s going on,” said Jimmy.



“If it is really the place you were thought it was, then it is possible to disguise such an entrance to look and feel like solid rock,” averred Draco. “That’s an area of our expertise.”



Harry caught on to Draco’s thinking: “Is there someplace where our group could go and not be seen or heard?”



“Yes. There’s a fogou behind our living quarters. The far entrance is earthed up, but we cleared the nearer one. It makes a good wine cellar. The middle bit is almost circular, about twelve feet in diameter. It’s under a huge mound of earth.”



“Right Gordon, that’ll do; please lead the way.”



‘I’ll cast a silencing charm, just to be sure.’ Draco felt his partner agreeing with him.



Inside the cave like structure Harry commenced: “Gordon tells me you were all in the Forces and have signed the Official Secrets Act; is that true?”



Everyone affirmed that it was.



“What you are about to be told comes under that Act. Understood?”



More affirmation.



“Draco and I have very special talents, about which Jimmy is already aware, at least partially. It all has to do with the power of the mind and our two minds are linked.”



“As well as your bodies?” Someone snickered.



“Mr Doubter, please sit down on the floor and hold yourself rigid.” Draco looked daggers at the muscle-man.



“This should be good!” the man grinned laconically as he complied. “Bugger me … How did you do that?”



“Is that an offer I can take up?” Harry looked archly at the man whom he had transported across the cave’s floor. The rest of his mates chuckled – many in nervous astonishment.



“Sorry Sir! I didn’t think that was possible.” The man stood to attention and almost saluted.



“That wasn’t an illusion was it – telekinesis is what the textbooks call it. Now see if you can open the blocked up passage where the wine is stored?” Harry was aware that Draco had already transfigured a stone into a boulder.



“It’s stuck fast. You can unblock it can’t you? We’ve got some expensive vintages stored in there.”



Draco made the boulder return to its normal size.



Harry lit a small fire in the centre of the area: “This is an illusion. Jimmy would you go and stand in its middle please.” The Agent received a comforting wink from the black haired Blake.



The fire did not harm Jimmy at all.



“Mr Doubter, please put that stick on the fire.” The stick flared into flame. “That is an illusion with a bite. Anyone want to suggest that we don’t have special skills?”



Surprisingly, nobody wanted to.



“Enough of the party pieces. Fred said that he thought there was an adit where the nasties went with their victim. If someone with our kind of powers has something to do with it, which we are ninety per cent sure is true; then that person could make the mine entrance look and feel like rock. Yet, if the right and acceptable person came along they could pass right through, just as Jimmy was able to stand in the middle of the fire and not get burnt.”



“Are you able to detect one of these magic doors?”



“Yes!” replied Harry. “However we would have to be very careful that the person who made it didn’t detect us doing it, or we’d give the game away, wouldn’t we?”



“One of our minds can detect others who have the same very, very rare talent. Especially if they interfere with something we made,” explained Draco.



“Okay, now we can see why your two talents are kept very hush-hush. Thanks for the demonstration, it was very weird. Most people would call it magic, wouldn’t they?” Gordon chuckled.



Draco, Harry and Jimmy joined in the mirth, but from a very different perception.



Fred smirked: “So if one of you wizards came with me tomorrow morning you could verify this solid illusion, could you?”



‘You don’t know how near the truth you really are, Frederick.’



“We can try.” Harry put out his fire and they all trooped back to the outside world.



In the domicile afterwards the five of them discussed the new possibilities.



“What we really need is a plan of the workings,” suggested Jimmy.



“Where would they be kept?” asked Phealey.



“Most likely in the Stannary Records office,” replied Draco.



“They’ll be closed at this time,” put in Jimmy, “and you’ll have to fill in endless forms to find them, never mind borrow and copy them.”



“We have other ways, Jimmy. We could just pop there and borrow them without anyone knowing.” Phealey rubbed his hands together in the anticipation of some public larceny.



“Harry or Draco could make a copying spell and we can return them. Couldn’t be easier,” added Pullet.



Both elves popped off. They returned and hour and a half later, looking dusty, fatigued and with a number of rolled plans.



“It wasn’t as easy as we thought. I’m surprised they know how to find anything. They have a card index, but the bin numbers bear no resemblance to the ones quoted on the cards; so we sorted them out properly.”



“Someone’s going to have a shock when they go in, in the morning.” Draco was giggling.



“I doubt it! The dust was inches thick, we put the dust back after we’d finished.”



The next hour was spent copying what they wanted and studying it. The elves only took five minutes to return the originals to their proper places.



Whether it was the dust off the originals or just the idea of it, all five tent-dwellers felt dirty. The session in the bathroom was lengthy. Not only did they come out clean, but also sexually satisfied. Jimmy had no illusions left about the efficacy of elfin erogenous extremities.



§§§§§§



A bleary eyed Blake accompanied Fred for their dawn reconnaissance. The hour’s walk had Harry fully awake by the end of it. Fred checked his marker stones – he knew which ones they were – Harry could see no difference.



“Yes this is the place,” Fred whispered. “There should definitely be an adit over there.”



“Okay,” Harry whispered back, “we need some camouflage. Stand against this wall and I’ll create an illusion to make us look like the wall.”



“It’s slightly fuzzy,” said Fred.



“That proves it’s working. If the fuzziness disappears, run for your life. It will mean we’ve been sussed. Now let me concentrate.”



Harry looked to see the telltale edges of the illusion, hoping to peel it back. Knowing that to destroy it would alert the caster. Then he saw a hole about a foot round.



“Is that hole up there, roughly where the top of the entrance would be?”



“Yes!”



“Shh, someone’s coming. Stand quite still.”



Liam appeared, as if walking through the solid rock. Harry gripped Fred tightly in case he caught his breath in surprise. Respiring carefully the pair watched Liam fish his cock out of his flies and pee at the hidden pair’s feet. Carefully Harry muttered a few charms and cast them at the unconcerned Irishman. Liam zipped up, took a cursory look round and walked back through the solid rock.



Two sighs of relief escaped the watchers.



“Well we know that they are in there, at least.” Fred’s whisper was almost inaudible to Harry.



“Mmm!” Harry agreed quietly, “Now to peel the illusion away.” The edges nearest them curled slightly, and they could see Liam sitting on a chair looking bored.



“He’s on sentry duty,” observed Fred quietly.



Harry peeled the other side open; not much could be seen in the stygian darkness beyond. Nothing new appeared when the bottom was inched up, either.



Harry carefully refixed the artifice and widened their covering illusion so that it finished well out of Liam’s sightline. They walked away and Harry set the imaginary wall to slowly fade into nothing.



§§§§§§



“What we need is a plan of that infernal mine,” said Gordon when they all sat round a conjured table in the fogou.



“Wheal Janet plans coming up.” Draco produced the parchment copies with a flourish.



“How did you get hold of those? It’s like milking granite to get the Stannary people to release their secrets.”



“Friends in the right places? Possibly also, that they didn’t know where they’d put them and didn’t want to disturb eons of dust, searching.”



The group had a great laugh about Liam peeing on Fred’s shoes and then got down to studying the plan identifying two more possible entrances.



‘I fixed the medallion recognisers to Liam, with ten minute delayed anchor fixers. I also tried that new infuser charm Hermione gave us. So we should be able to walk through the illusion without alerting the caster.’



‘Good one, Harry. If the infuser works properly, we should be able to get in those other entrances as well.’



It was lunchtime when they emerged from their troglodyte’s cave, over the meal the trio started to fill in the elves.



“Stop it! We already know what you discussed. If you are able to breach the wards put one of these talismans inside; then we can pop in and out as well.”



“So that’s how you do it!”



“Not really! We can go wherever an elf has been before. Mines are goblin territory and we avoided them. Hamish gave us this talisman, just in case we needed it. He said the Spirit had prompted him. Once we’ve been inside, any other elf can go. We’ll report its use to Hamish and he’ll clear it with the Goblin Witan people.”



“Will he get into trouble?”



“I doubt it; he was voted Chief Evaluator last year. They might grumble slightly, but he’ll invoke the great Harry Potter’s name and they’ll not go against our hero here.”



“Chief Evaluator, what’s that?” asked Jimmy.



“The equivalent of Chief Warlock to the Wizengamot.”



“I’m not much wiser, really.”



“The Wizengamot is the Magicals’ Parliament and also its highest court, Jimmy. The Chief Warlock is its president. The Witan is the Goblins’ Parliament and its president and Minister is the Chief Evaluator.”



“What’s a Goblin; another of your magical creatures, Harry?”



“Not creatures, Goblins are sentient beings like ourselves or the elves. At one time we were at odds with each other, but now we are not.”



“When Harry defeated Voldie, we were helped by goblins and elves in the final battle, plus a number of other magical beings and creatures. So he and his little team made sure the Wizengamot passed radical laws granting all the sentient beings equal rights.”



The rest of the afternoon was spent teaching Jimmy who Voldie was and sketching in magical history, trying not to be as boring or complicated as Professor Binns. The nearer they got to the present day, the more embarrassed Harry became. Eventually he went to hide in the loo when the elves started to describe his prowess in various battles and in the killing of the evil one. Draco’s obvious hero worship helped Harry’s embarrassment not one bit.



Dinner was fish and chips again, sitting outside the tent in a glorious sunset. Draco pretended to grumble when he had to forgo plates and eating irons.



“God made fingers first,” Jimmy informed him. “And there’s no washing up afterwards.”



As the evening drew in Draco went off with the doubter – now a fervent apostle, Harry had Fred as his companion.