Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.
The Time Meddlers
Chapter Fourteen - Escaping Azkaban
On Saturday, February 29th, Harry and Hermione were sitting at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall eating breakfast. Neville was sleeping in a bit late so they were alone. Harry was just spearing a sausage with his fork when a familiar white snowy owl came swooping into the room with the others.
"Hedwig," said Harry with a grin, "I see you've got my new comic." He carefully removed the latest issue of The Amazing Spider-Man from her while another owl approached Hermione. While he was looking at the cover of his parcel, Hermione took the Daily Prophet from the other bird and gave it some money. While it was flying off, Harry gave Hedwig a piece of sausage. "Anything interesting in the paper?" he asked.
"Some dodgy book shop in Knockturn Alley has been robbed and the owner was killed. Many books on dark magic were stolen."
"Really?" asked Harry. "Does it say what kind of spells are in those books?"
She ran her eyes down the article before finally shaking her head. "No, and according to this, the aurors have no leads as to who did it."
Harry leaned in closer to her before whispering, "Do you remember anything about it?"
"No," she quietly replied. "But I wasn't getting the Prophet at this time anyway."
In his normal voice, Harry said, "I'd best get to the Quidditch pitch for practice before Oliver comes and kidnaps me. I'll see you later." He winked.
"I'll walk you to the pitch," she replied.
"Okay." They both got up and left the Great Hall. Just before they got outside, they made their way into an empty room where no one could see them. They walked out of sight, but left the door open.
Checking her watch, Hermione said, "It's exactly 8:45." Harry pulled the Time-Turner out from under his shirt and put it around both their necks before spinning it twice. After putting on their Invisibility cloaks, they left the room and made their way off the grounds, finally apparating to their destination.
--HP--
"So," said Harry, staring at the fortress on the island that he could barely see, "this is Azkaban."
"Quiet," his companion admonished. "Remember the plan. We'll slowly work our way there and put a small hole in their wards that your form will be able to fit through."
"Should I change into Tox now?" he asked.
Rolling her eyes, Hermione asked, "Didn't you even glance at the plan? You'll need to stay a wizard and help until the hole is made. Then I'll maintain it." She sighed. "I hope you at least learned the spells."
"I did," he assured her. "and I did read the plan. I was just a bit excited."
"Alright. Let's begin."
--HP--
While Harry and Hermione were slowly working their way through one of the most complex warding systems in the wizarding world, following the plan made by the brightest witch of her age(s), no one inside had any idea anything was going on. That included the filthy, sickly-looking black dog that was lying on the floor of the grimy, dark cell.
`Grim,' thought Sirius, `is a very appropriate form for me. My whole life, just about, has been very grim indeed.' The dog snorted slightly as he thought about the irony that even the name of the street he grew up on was Grimmauld Place, which sounded like the `Grim old place' that it was. The only bright spot of his life was the time he spent with James, Remus, Lily and Harry. However, that was taken away far too quickly in one horrid night, all because he'd trusted Peter and convinced James and Lily to make him their Secret-Keeper. They were dead; Harry was taken to those horrid relatives Lily had spoken about. `Why did I let Hagrid take Harry from me that night?' he asked himself for the millionth time.
Although he had no clue something strange was going on outside Azkaban, he did know something weird had happened inside it. He'd been happy to see Peter brought into the prison months ago and thought he'd finally have a trial, but that hadn't happened. Apparently, he must have been sentenced without a trial as well. `Probably the Ministry doesn't want to admit its mistake,' he thought, but that didn't explain how they'd gotten him to begin with. That just did not make sense to him.
He'd just changed back into a man when the Dementors came with his daily `meal,' and was sitting in his cell, still wondering why he wasn't given a trial when a poisonous snake slithered into his cell. "What the?" he managed to exclaim in his weak voice that was hardly ever used. He was about to try stomping it when it changed form into a short cloaked figure whose face was hidden. He didn't know who it was. It pointed a wand at him and silently stunned him.
--HP--
Harry knew he didn't have time for a conversation. As a snake, he'd watched the Dementors (who completely ignored him) leave the area, but didn't know when they'd be back. He took off his watch, expanded it and opened a compartment. He carefully levitated Sirius into the trunk after taking a hair sample, and then put his watch back on.
He changed form again and slithered to another cell. As hard as it was to believe, this so-called wizard looked worse after a few months in this hell than Sirius had looked after years. But then, Sirius knew he was innocent, but Peter Pettigrew knew he was guilty. The traitor spotted the reptile and began trembling uncontrollably. "N-n-no. S-stop. You d-don't want to bite me."
Harry changed forms and pointed his wand at the coward. His green eyes were glaring into Pettigrew's very soul. "You're right, Wormtail. I don't want to bite you."
Peter blinked in surprise. "H-Harry? How'd you..."
"I'm the one who captured you and turned you in. I'd hoped that alive, you would free Sirius. I guess I was wrong. The Ministry is too corrupt to even care about justice, so I've come to deliver justice to you myself, since your life is of no use, anyway."
"Your f-father wouldn't have…"
"YOU KILLED MY FATHER!!!! DON'T YOU DARE SPEAK OF HIM!"
"P-Please. H-have mercy," he begged.
"Mercy? Like you had on my parents, on those muggles, on Sirius?" He shook his head. "You don't deserve any mercy." He pointed his wand at Wormtail's neck. In desperation, Pettigrew jumped toward Harry, who sent a cutting charm at him. It slit his throat, sending him to the ground, bleeding to death.
Harry closed his eyes, turned and vomited. No matter how justified he was in these executions, he still wasn't used to it. He quickly scourgified the mess, transformed, and slithered to the next cell on his list - Bellatrix Lestrange.
Harry had considered killing all the captured Death Eaters in Azkaban, but decided that he really couldn't justify doing so. However, there were a few that were just too dangerous to let live. Bella was one of those. She and the other Lestranges actually crucio'd Neville's parents until they completely lost their minds. To Harry's way of thinking, that should've gotten them the Dementor's Kiss. They showed they were capable of more cruelty than most of Voldemort's followers. That's not even getting into the crimes they committed after escaping in the previous timeline. Harry had decided to kill Bella's husband and brother-in-law before leaving the prison, and had another spell to perform on the rest of the Death Eaters, but first, he had a special use for her.
He crawled into her cell and transformed before she even noticed him. He pointed his wand at her as she started cackling, "What's an itty-bitty-boy doing in my cell? Maybe the guards are giving him to me as a present for good behavior. Come here." She began walking in what she obviously thought was a seductive way.
"Stupefy," he said, too disgusted to concentrate enough to cast the spell wordlessly. She dropped to the ground. Harry put her unconscious form in his watch/trunk with the still-stunned Sirius. He opened her door, transformed and slithered back to Sirius' cell. He then levitated Bellatrix out of his trunk.
Harry pulled a zip-lock bag and a pair of scissors out of his pocket and cut out a bunch of Bellatrix's hair, sealing it in the bag, putting it in his trunk. He never knew when he'd need it. He then pulled a vial out of his belt and opened it, revealing Polyjuice potion. He took one of Sirius' hairs and placed it in the vial, then forced it down the unconscious woman's throat, transforming her into his godfather. He then killed her, knowing that Polyjuice wouldn't wear off in a dead person. That's why they didn't discover that Mrs. Crouch had been the one who died in the cell instead of her son.
Once that was done, Harry killed the Lestrange brothers as planned, and performed a spell on every other Death Eater that made sure they would die if they weren't near a Dementor for forty-eight hours. That would make sure they'd never survive an escape. It was an obscure spell he'd found in a book he'd purchased in Knockturn Alley. The Ministry used to perform the spell on life-term prisoners, but the public didn't like it because there was no cure, so if someone (like Sirius) were proved to be not guilty later, they still couldn't leave the prison. Therefore, it hadn't been performed in over two hundred years. Another aspect of the spell was that it gave no signs that it had been performed, so that the victim might not even know it had been performed. He slithered out just before the Dementors returned.
--HP--
Across from the island of Azkaban, under both a disillusionment spell and an Invisibility cloak (for extra protection) a twelve-year-old girl was pointing her wand at what appeared to be a large bubble of air in front of her, flicking it a bit every thirty seconds. She was maintaining something that could be described as a magical portal from this side of the island to the island itself. This particular method of travel required tremendous effort just to make one that small size for that short distance, so wasn't considered practical at all. However, it did make it through the wards of Azkaban.
Hermione was sweating from the effort, although it was much easier to maintain the portal than to create it. She knew that after this mission she should try to go the rest of the weekend without casting spells to let her core recharge. She was bored, yet terribly worried at the same time, wondering what Harry was doing, if he'd been caught, if the Dementors kissed him. Finally, a venomous snake stuck its head out of the bubble of air and slid the rest of the way out, landing on the ground with a small thump. It crawled under her Invisibility cloak and transformed into her boyfriend.
"How'd it go? Are you alright? Did you free Sirius?" She asked those questions too rapidly to allow him to answer.
"Hold on. I'm fine. The mission was a success. I'm holding Sirius Black in my wristwatch. Can we go back to Hogwarts? I'd feel more comfortable talking in the Come-and-Go room." They disappeared with two small pops.
--HP--
The young couple easily made their way back into the castle and to the Room of Requirement, keeping invisible the entire time. Once they were inside the room, Harry explained everything that had happened, and she was gratified that her plan worked perfectly, and he'd had no trouble navigating to the different cells because he actually had memorized the layout of the prison. They decided to introduce themselves to Harry's godfather.
--HP--
"Enervate."
Sirius slowly opened his eyes to see the cloaked stranger that had stunned him, along with another one. He really wasn't positive which one it was that stunned him. He could immediately tell he wasn't in Azkaban anymore - not only from the light in the room, but because he did not sense any Dementors. He also saw a plate of food on a table. He faced the two people, and in a raspy voice asked, "Who are you? Why did you break me out of prison?" He knew he was at their mercy for now, since they both had wands and he didn't. That's not even accounting for how weak his time in prison had made him. However, that didn't mean he couldn't ask questions.
"I broke you out of prison because you don't belong there," said one of the cloaked figures in a voice that sounded like a boy. "I think you'll be able to recognize your own godson."
The stranger took off his cloak, revealing himself to be a kid who looked almost exactly like James had at age eleven. "Harry?" The boy nodded with a grin, but that brought even more questions to Padfoot's mind. "How could an…eleven-year-old…" Harry nodded, glad that Sirius had been able to keep track of time while in prison. "…break someone out of Azkaban?"
"I had help. This is Hermione Granger." The other figure removed its cloak, revealing a bushy-haired girl about Harry's age. Harry laughed at the bewildered expression on his godfather's face. "You want to know how two first-years could break you out of Azkaban." He nodded so Harry continued. "It's a long story, Padfoot."
"Padfoot?" repeated Sirius with a slight grin. "I haven't gone by that name in years. Where did you hear that?"
"You and Moony told me."
With a surprised expression on his face, Sirius asked, "Moony? What did you…"
"Remus is teaching at Hogwarts now," interrupted Harry. Sirius looked pleased.
"Defense Against the Dark Arts," added Hermione.
"But that's not what this conversation is about. You want to know how we know about you and how we broke you out of Azkaban." Harry sighed. "It's complicated. You see, I'm not really…"
Harry and Hermione then explained about the future, his escape, Voldemort's return, Sirius' death, Horcruxes, the many other deaths and their time-meddling, not leaving anything out. All the while, Sirius was greedily emptying the plate they'd prepared him, only for Winky to appear with another one. At first, he seemed skeptical, but seemed to get more and more convinced as the story went on. He was speechless when they told him the story of how his brother had actually died. To lighten the mood after that, they admitted something Sirius had already guessed before they told him.
"A steady girlfriend at eleven," he replied with a grin. "James would be so proud."
"I was actually seventeen when we started dating," corrected Harry. "I was fifteen when I had my first date."
"Fourteen," interrupted Hermione.
"No," argued Harry. "Cho and I…"
"I'm talking about the Yule Ball during fourth year. You were Parvati's date, although you weren't a very good one."
"I suppose not," said Harry. "I should've asked you. You were the most beautiful girl there."
She blushed. "I wasn't."
"Yes, you were," said Harry sincerely.
"I'm sure you were quite fetching at this ball that hasn't happened yet," interrupted Sirius with a smirk, "but I want to know where those Horcruxes are located."
Hermione shot him a look of surprise, like she'd forgotten that he was in the room. "Oh, no, you need to recover first."
"But I…"
"Hermione's right," said Harry.
"Words to use daily in order to keep your girlfriend happy," said Sirius, winking at his godson.
Harry chuckled while Hermione glared. "Seriously, Sirius," said a still-grinning Harry, "I just got you back and I don't want you to lose you again. You've spent over a decade in Hell and you need to recover before continuing the fight against Voldemort."
"I guess so," conceded Padfoot before changing the topic. "Harry, how much did I tell you about your parents before I…died?"
The three of them talked some more, and Hermione came up with a cover story for Sirius, just in case her parents actually did use their vanishing cabinet and meet him. She was glad that Padfoot wouldn't be the escaped prisoner on the news. That would've complicated things. As it was, they hoped her parents wouldn't meet him until he didn't look like death warmed over. They also told him that there were new clothes for him in his room and they'd get him a black market wand once he was recovered. The last thing Harry said to Sirius before leaving was, "Take a shower."
--HP--
Under cloak, Harry and Hermione exited the Room of Requirement. He was glad that Sirius couldn't try getting out of the trunk while it was in wristwatch mode (although he could apparate out if he weren't inside Hogwarts) because it would be really weird for a man to climb out of Harry's watch in the middle of a Potions lesson. The young couple got to the empty room they'd left from and used the Time-Turner to be there at precisely 8:45 a.m. Harry gave her a quick kiss before they visibly left the room and separated, Harry going to Quidditch practice and Hermione going to the library.
--HP--
The next day, Harry, Hermione and Neville were at breakfast when an owl delivered Hermione's Daily Prophet. After she'd paid for it and the bird flew off, she said, "Look at this article." She held it up for Harry and Neville to see. The front page of the Daily Prophet had a huge picture of Bellatrix Lestrange on it. When Neville paled, both Harry and Hermione realized why and immediately regretted it. They tried to comfort him as other people started staring at the clearly shaken-up boy.
Bellatrix Lestrange Escapes Azkaban - Kills All Her Family Members There
By Rita Skeeter
Death Eater Bellatrix Lestrange, who was in Azkaban prison for torturing aurors Frank and Alice Longbottom into insanity by means of the Unforgivable Cruciatus Curse, has somehow escaped jail. However, on the way out, she stopped by her family. `Did she free them?' you may ask, but the answer is no. She brutally murdered her husband - Rodolphus Lestrange, her brother-in-law - Rabastan Lestrange and her cousin - Sirius Black and another Death Eater before leaving. Rodolphus and Rabastan Lestrange had aided her torturing of the Longbottoms while Black had murdered twelve muggles and one wizard with one curse.
It went on to say that Bella's face was also all over the muggle news as well, warning them that she is extremely dangerous.
--HP--
At the same time, in an old abandoned warehouse in London, someone else was reading that same article in the Daily Prophet. Speaking to no one in particular, this person said, "It sounds like Azkaban has gotten even worse. I'm glad I wasn't there. Pity about the Lestrange brothers, though. They could've been useful servants. I wonder if I can find Bellatrix." The newspaper was set down on a table next to a stack of dusty books. The one on top was a large, obviously old, black tome with the title printed in faded gold: `Dark Rituals to Make You Invincible.'
--HP--
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