~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It had only taken two days.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

      He remembered back to when he first arrived back at his "home."  His uncle hadn't said anything to him the whole way home, and even when Harry started to take all of his things up to his room; his uncle continued to stay quiet. This put Harry in about as good of a mood that he could be in considering.... the circumstances.

      That, however, lasted only the 30 seconds it took him to reach his room. The first thing he noticed was the deadbolt lock put on the door so it could only be locked and unlocked from the outside. Then, when he entered, all hopes of having a tolerable summer flew from his mind. There was nothing. Absolutely nothing. His floor was completely bare, there was a broken dresser and bed frame next to each other, but that was it. There was no mattress either, just a piece of plywood. As soon as he completely entered the room, the door slammed shut behind him and he was locked in.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

All he could think about now was how the cold seemed to permeate every bone of his body.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

      When he woke up the next morning, Harry started to try and find a way out of this new situation of his. He examined the window to find that the steel bars had been reinserted and reinforced. He next went to the door, which was a futile affair, but he could not believe that he was going to be a prisoner in his own room.

      After ten more minutes of unpacking and creating a makeshift mattress with all of his clothes, a plate of cold eggs and a stale piece of bread appeared through the door slot. Harry hungrily made his was to the plate and ate it as fast as his body allowed. Now temporarily satisfied, he surveyed his domain trying to figure out what to do now.

      He walked over to his trunk and rummaged around the contents, looking for his broom care kit. When he pulled that out, the case on top of that fell to the floor, immediately recognizing that as the tool for unlocking and untying that Sirius gave him last year. Harry put that aside and started polishing his broom when he realized that he could use his tool to escape his room! So he walked over to the door and carefully unlocked it, making sure that it worked. After verifying that it did, he quickly shut and locked the door again.

He decided the best course of action was to write his friends asking for some help with his new situation.

Ron,

This is worse than I could have imagined. As soon as I got home, they locked me in my room and are not letting me out for anything. Thankfully, I have the tool that Sirius gave me last year but I am only using that so I can get Hedwig out of here with my letters to you guys.

Don't try to send anything here, because it won't get to me. The steel bars on my window have been reinforced and I don't think even your car could get me out of here this time. You've got to get me out of here somehow, I wont be able to handle another summer like this.

Your friend,

Harry

      Harry then wrote a similar letter to Hermione in hope that at least one of them could be of some help. His plan was to wait until late night to escape his room and send Hedwig away with the letters…….

      After a long day of homework and waiting, night finally came and Harry got Hedwig out of her cage and got ready to leave. He made sure that there were no noises outside of his room and unlocked the door and ventured out into the hallway. After creeping down the stairs, careful to miss the several creaky steps, he made it to the living room. Harry then let out a huge sigh of relief, which must have startled Hedwig because she let out a very large screech and bit him on the finger.

      Harry made it hurriedly to the door and practically threw Hedwig out of it, while trying to nurse his sore finger. That became the least of his problems, however, when he saw his purple-faced uncle standing in front of him.

      It only took Uncle Vernon two great strides to cross the room and he did something that Harry had never expected, not even from him. His uncle struck him across the face, sending Harry smashing into the wall behind him. Harry, still in a state of shock, was trying to brace himself for the next impact, but ten wizards dressed in a uniform Harry had never seen before, apparated into the room, effectively surrounding Harry and his uncle.

      Harry, for some obscure reason, thought they were there to save him, but that thought was stripped from his mind as three stunning spells were sent at him, knocking him out cold.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And the screaming, the never ceasing screaming.     

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~    

      Harry awoke with a blinding headache, have no idea where he was or even what time of day it was. After his eyes became a little more focused, he surveyed his surroundings. He was in what seemed to be a large office. He was lying on the floor in front of a desk that was unoccupied. The stone walls surrounding him were empty, save one window through which Harry surmised that it must be morning.

      Then a man who he didn't know entered and sat down at the desk. He was surveying Harry with a look reminiscent of distaste and spoke words that completely caught Harry off of his guard.

      "Harry James Potter, you have been arrested and detained for the murder of Mr. Cedric Diggory. There will be a trial in approximately two months in which we will decide your innocence or your guilt. Until then, you will be held at a place where you can do no more harm. That is all." This man spoke all of that staring directly into Harry's eyes with particular emphasis on the world "guilt."

      Harry tried to find his voice to protest but much to his dismay, no sound came out.

      "Oh yes, do not try to talk, for we have put a silencing charm on you and it will be removed at a time when we see fit." The man pressed a button on his desk and said, "Weatherby, come in here and take Mr. Potter to his cell."

      Harry was sure he remembered the name "Weatherby" from some place but he could not place it until he saw the familiar face of Percy Weasley. With a face showing absolutely no remorse, Percy stunned Harry, leaving him unconscious for the second time that day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

      Harry now sat in the far corner of his cell, shaking because of the almost unbearable cold. He had a stone "bed" in his cell and a hole in the ground which functions as a "toilet." But Harry had decided just hours ago that the best place to be was the corner.

      His mind kept racing through the events of the past two days, him arriving home to find the bare room, his uncle striking him, and being thrown into prison by none other than Percy Weasley. Harry then had a memory of a time when he was forced to help Dudley with his homework. Harry actually ended up doing the whole assignment, but now Harry knew how Caesar truly felt when he uttered his famous last words of "Et tu, Brute?"

      Harry felt that his mind was clouded by something, he couldn't concentrate on anything, and was forced to relive memories that he had no control over. It was like he was watching a filmstrip in his head of everything horrible that had ever happened to him. He couldn't figure out why he kept remembering the worst parts of his life until he felt it.

      It was that same draining, debilitating cold that he had felt only several times. Except now, the feeling was sickeningly constant. He was forced into hearing his mother and father countless times before he passed out into a sleep full of horrors and nightmares.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

      The dementors, after feeling that Harry had fallen unconscious, left the area next to his cell to move on to the other prisoners. They would return, however, when he awoke to feed off of his feelings and memories. That was, after all, the daily routine in the prison of Azkaban.                                                                                                            

A/N – Yes, the chapter is obscenely short, but it had to be. The next chapter is focusing on Harry at Azkaban and if I had combined the two, it would have been way too long. Please R&R. And I'll apologize for the poor formatting…… this is tough to upload here. Anyway, please review and have a nice day!