Chapter 32-Road to Azkaban
Dumbledore and Snape returned to Dumbledore's chambers after Hermione and Harry had been safely put in the dungeons. Dumbledore was happy that the plan was now in action. His fears that the plan would be discovered seemed to lessen as the weekend continued. The escape of Carl and Pansy was an unfortunate turn. Not so much the fact that they got away, but that the plan had called for their release this morning. They had no reason to hold them other than to say that they were being held for observation and for their own safety until Potter and Granger were safely sequestered.
"Severus, we must find out the whereabouts of our two young mischievous Slytherins. They have had a two day head start. Did we find them and follow them on Saturday?" Dumbledore was preoccupied with Minister Fudge both Saturday and Sunday. He was not able to follow everything as he would have liked.
"Yes, Headmaster, we did. They were able to get off the grounds. They stole some winter clothes from a nearby house. They appear to be headed toward Azkaban." Snape said with a sour look on his face. "I apologize, Professor, I should have known more about the members of my house. We could have prevented this."
"There is no reason to apologize. As it turned out, it has given us a break we would not have had." Dumbledore replied.
"We will be able to keep track of them. Hopefully they will give us a look at exactly where the house in which Mr. Weasley is located." Snape said with a look of satisfaction. He had suggested letting them go after he successfully performed a memory charm to reduce the information they had on their plans, if any. He and Dumbledore provided some new memories a la Harry and Hermione.
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Everyone at Hogwarts was on pins and needles all day. Draco and Ginny sat with Luna in stunned silence. No one in Gryffindor could concentrate. What were they to do? The most popular students in their house had been convicted by Ministerial Decree and sentenced to life at Azkaban.
Harry and Hermione had been taken by surprise when they were taken to the dungeons. Neither was prepared for the dark and damp conditions of the five by ten stone-floored, brick-walled cells. They were given just enough to eat and drink to keep them from feeling hunger pangs. The stark reality of the sentence to Azkaban was at their doorstep. The only thing that allowed them to maintain their concentration was the knowledge that this part was staged as part of the plan. Or, was it? Doubt began to creep in to both of their minds. They had not spent this much time apart in over two months. There was enough doubt and time to think that each of them realized how lucky they were.
Morning came earlier than expected for both of them. They were awakened at 6 AM and prepared for their journey. They were given breakfast at 7 AM. At 8 AM, they were required to remove all personal items from their person, remove their current clothes and put on the coveralls given them by the Azkaban escorts. They were placed in leg irons and handcuffs. The caravan was being assembled to transport them to Azkaban. The carriages would be brought by the castle one by one to carry the guards and the prisoners. This would be done to prevent anyone from knowing which carriage contained the prisoners.
At 9:45 they were removed from their dungeon cells and paraded in single file toward the carriages. The halls were lined with students and staff. Tears were on the faces of nearly every Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw. Some Slytherins turned out in support. As they passed, a chant of support erupted.
"Let them go. Let them go. Let them go. Let Harry and Hermione go. Let Harry and Hermione go." Nearly every person in attendance joined in. Dumbledore and Snape listened quietly. They realized how shocking this must be for all of them. When the door to the loading area was closed behind them, the chanting stopped. No one had ever expected this.
Harry and Hermione were helped into their carriage at precisely 10 AM and the caravan began. The trip would only take about nine hours since they would make about five miles an hour. The past three hours had seemed to take a lifetime to both of them. The next nine would be unbearable.
The carriage bounced and shook every bone in their body. As close as they had become they could not think of a single thing to talk about. There were no plans for beyond the next six hours.
There was no light in their carriage. The holes in the floor were there to allow air into the carriage. Harry fell asleep when the light began to fade from the holes in the floor. Hermione finally faded off to sleep as he listened to Harry's rhythmical breathing.
The caravan stopped. Harry and Hermione never heard the brake grind the carriage to a stop. The driver got off the seat and stretched his legs. He motioned to the drivers in front and in back of him. Each driver of the six carriages did the same. The stop had to be made now, because stopping closer to their destination after 4 PM would mean complete darkness. That's when the driver of the first carriage began running back to his carriage waving his arms. Out of the sky to the west, there appeared four men on brooms. They streaked toward the carriages. The guards from each carriage in front and behind came out of their carriage and ran to the side of Harry's and Hermione's carriage.
As they did so, the men on the brooms disappeared back to the west. It had been obvious that they had been watched for a great distance along their current path. This was undoubtedly a feint designed to identify the carriage carrying their precious cargo. No one of course knew this, because they thought they were delivering their prisoners to Azkaban. Night fell quickly and the commotion outside had scared both Harry and Hermione.
Finally, Hermione spoke. "That shouldn't have happened. They were out of position and had been surprised. I was sure we'd have good escorts who were capable of protecting us." She had no idea what had happened except that all those voices should not have been around their carriage and what she could glean from their conversations.
"What did you hear?" Harry asked.
"They saw four men on brooms coming from the direction of Azkaban. They turned away and headed home." She said relating their conversation. "I wonder if it is distraction."
At that very moment they felt a strong jolt from behind their carriage. They were immobile the carriages they were in had locking bars for their leg irons. The carriage began to move violently side-to-side. Just as Hermione began to scream, the carriage flipped on its side leaving her and Harry lying on the wall of the carriage instead of sitting in their seats.
"It's the center one," shouted an unfamiliar voice. "Get them out of there." They heard a cracking noise as the side panel from the opposite wall as pried loose. The men who looked inside wore white ski masks and coats hoods with sign of the Death Mark on them. They must have been hiding along the road Harry thought. Harry could not believe his eyes. The person grabbing him raised his voice. "So, Potter we meet again." It was Lucius Malfoy. He was sure of it. He felt the sensation of a mist in his face and lost consciousness. So did Hermione.
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Bill and Charlie had just circled over the gates to Azkaban when the caravan appeared minus one carriage. Charlie motioned to Bill to and they flew off under the cover of darkness to find the missing carriage. It could not pass undetected. After fifteen minutes or so, they found it twelve miles from Azkaban abandoned and in a shambles. They became concerned because they had expected one of the other five to have a mark of an "H" secretly imbedded in the front portion of the carriage. However this was the one that had it. Harry and Hermione had been here. They were no longer anywhere to be found. There were six guards lying in odd positions as though it had just toppled over. No one appeared seriously hurt, but the one side of the carriage didn't appear normal. It had been pried open.
Charlie wondered why the guards were not dead if it were the Death Eaters that took Harry and Hermione. He was first to realize what had happened. Someone had hijacked the caravan carrying Harry and Hermione. But it had been done so as not to create an alarm. Harry and Hermione were probably still in one of the carriages. They flew as fast as their new Firebolts would carry them.
As they neared the caravan again, they found all five of the carriages stopped in an open field approximately two hundred yards from the main road and entrance to Azkaban. The doors were open.
Charlie and Bill were looking all over for the others. Where were Shacklebolt, Tonks, Snape, Dumbledore, and the other half-dozen aurors the ministry was supposed to have had assigned as surveillance. They remained at a distance to avoid detection. They nestled down in their polar white winter jackets so as to be undetectable in the snow.
They now saw what they had hoped for. The house Harry had described became visible as eight figures appeared out of the snow much the same way they had hidden. Charlie and Bill stealthily moved on their bellies to get as close as they could. It was unreal that no one was there besides them.
Just as the group entering the house climbed the stairs and disappeared into the doorway, Albus Dumbledore and Severus Snape apparated ten feet in front of them. The house disappeared almost as quickly as they had appeared.
"Professor…Snape…you're too late they took them into the house." Dumbledore wheeled on them with a look of exasperation.
"Sh. Sh. Everything is going as planned. Don't make another sound." Dumbledore warned.
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Wormtail laughed as Harry and Hermione were thrown to the floor in front of Ron. "There Weasley. We brought you some company. Lord Voldemort will be here shortly to help you all enjoy you reunion."
Harry's and Hermione's leg irons had been blown apart by one of the Death Eaters when the carriages stopped this time. They had been made to lie down in the snow. They still shivered. Harry looked around for Ron. Harry's sight was still a little blurry from the effects of the mist in his eyes. But he could make out his friends puffy and swollen face. The look of horror on Ron's face made Harry sick. He could still see the spider sitting over Ron's left eye. Everywhere the spider had bitten him a new swelling knot had grown.
They were all silent as Wormtail presented them with Nagini to keep them in check. "To think that Lord Voldemort will have plenty to feed Nagini tonight. We no longer have to keep Mr. Weasley alive." Wormtail's silver hand and forearm were a frightening sight. It brought the reality of death knocking at Harry's memory. Cedric Dig gory.
"Wormtail, you are a sick son of a bitch. Why did you have to betray my parents? I couldn't hate anyone more than I hate you and that freak Voldemort." His scar burned at the mention of the name of Voldemort.
Wormtail turned his wand on Harry. "You will call him Lord Voldemort or I will do something rather unpleasant to your lovely little girlfriend Potter. I know you don't care about yourself. That's the best part of the Ministry delivering you to us. We can kill you after you have watched Granger tortured to death. Oooh, what a Christmas present indeed!"
With that Wormtail walked out with the Death Eaters and let Hermione and Harry sit on the floor beside Ron.
"Ron, are you okay?" Hermione asked.
"No, not really." Ron vomited at his feet. It was then that Hermione realized the stench in the room. Ron had been ill many times from the non-lethal poison of the spider bites. This was much worse than the slugs. Ron's face was drawn and his wrists and ankles were blood red with open chafe marks from the ropes.
"Ron, mate. We have to think of something. We can't die like this." They heard howling outside the house. It seemed to come from the forest to the south.
"Yeah, right Harry. I've been thinking that too, once or twice," Ron said without a smile as he vomited again. "Ahhhh." Ron's left cheek was swelling from a new bite. "I want death, Harry. I want it now."
"Ron Weasley. You shut up about dying. Luna and your family are waiting for you." Hermione said in protest. She felt nauseous also. But she felt nauseous because she could feel death approaching."
They could hear footsteps coming closer to the room. "You two disgust me." Said Wormtail. "Even though it resulted in Potter being delivered to us, why would you attempt to attack Malfoy in a public place with a hundred witnesses? And, Parkinson, all you had to do was report to our friend from Scotland Yard. Isn't that right McDougall."
"Yes sir." That voice sounded familiar to Harry. Then he realized that was the Scotland Yard Inspector who had been conducting the investigation into Malfoy's disappearance and the murders. He helped devise the search plans for Ron.
They all heard Carl and Pansy scream as they were picked up by the hair and pulled into Harry's room.
"Do you want to see what real hate can do with the Cruciatus Curse Potter? What you did was a parlor trick that caused a lot of pain. He will beg for mercy when he can speak." Wormtail removed his wand from his robe pointed it at Carl. "Crucio."
The spastic grin on Carl's face made them turn away. The veins in his forehead were so blue and protruded as his face turned red from the lack of oxygen. The muscles in his half-clothed frost bitten body tensed until they were so defined that many of the smaller muscles could be detected as they convulsed. The blood curdling scream was captured in his throat because he had no oxygen to use for his voice.
Harry was angry. Hermione was terrified. Ron was unmoved. This had happened to him time and again over almost three months. "What your boss won't let you touch me though, huh? You only get the small fish."
"No, Potter, I get to watch Granger convulse the same way." Wormtail turned toward Hermione.
Just as he turned toward her, there was an odd sense of the house shuddering…and then…Harry's scar burned so bad he had to close his eyes. "Hermione, I love you. I can't take it. He's here."
Hermione turned to her left and looked. Standing before her with six Death Eaters stood Lord Voldemort. He began to laugh as he put his hand over Wormtail's wand to lower it. Harry's scar burned even more.
"So this is the little tart that keeps Potter from becoming a madman. Not bad Potter. Too bad she had to get involved with you. She'll only live a few more minutes." Voldemort's eyes burned a hole into Hermione's. She refused to look away.
"You can kill us but you can't take away what he stands for. And, you know what kind of a man he is and that's why you hate him. You wish you were half the wizard he is." Hermione protested.
"Ha! Ha! Ha! You are as delusional as they said you are." Voldemort turned to Harry. "Which one do I kill first, Harry?"
"Should I do it in the same order I did your parents?" Voldemort paused. "You know, dear Ronny and then your little girlfriend. The people you loved most in life could choose for you, too, if you can't make up your mind."
"First a test and demonstration." He said.
"Crucio!" He pointed his wand at Pansy. She screamed. It was so different to hear a girl scream. It reminded him of his mother. This was more torture he thought. The sound of that voice screaming. He looked at Pansy. Blood was coming from her eyes, nose and mouth. Voldemort was capable of using the Cruciatus Curse to the point of causing a horrible death. His hate was that strong. He could see the veins in Pansy's neck bulge to the point that they might burst killing her instantly. Her eyes were now protruding in a mask of horror.
"Stop. Please stop." It was Hermione's voice as she sobbed.
Voldemort stopped, but strangely the warped smile had disappeared from his face. The house shook and a loud powerful voice commanded, "Now! Now! Now!" The room erupted in a series of blinding flashes of green, orange, red and yellow beams of light. New voices, more people. Curses flew from the lips of voices as yet unheard tonight. Familiar faces had appeared that had not been there moments before. Two Death Eaters had hit the floor before they could get their wands to the ready. Two others appeared to be attacking them. It had to be an illusion.
"Voldemort, how does it feel to be deceived?" Dumbledore's voice rang out above the din.
Harry had been able to kick Ron's chair hard enough to get Ron to the floor. He crawled to Hermione and covered her as he felt the sting of burning pain on his back. Everything went dark.