Chapter 10 – The Other Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry visited several worlds in quick succession after Harold's universe. One world had a Harry willingly sorted into Slytherin, one had a Harry that had been raised by Sirius, and another had a Harry that had run away before Hogwarts and needed a home and training. Ron and Hermione didn't really factor into any of these worlds, and Ginny was a drooling money-crazed fan girl in two of them. Dumbledore was a jerk on all three. There wasn't much challenging about their Voldemorts, who were each marginally stronger than Harold's had been. There wasn't much worth remembering about the experiences they gave. Harry left the last one with a smile and a wave, thankful for learning more advanced conjuring, but not overly concerned about the Harrys in them. The last guy was only six months from adulthood – showing him Potter Manor and Gringotts gave him the start he needed. Harry touched his portal-opening amulet and was off.
When the world stopped spinning, Harry found himself standing on the rocky shore of a small island in the dead of night. In front of him was a tall obsidian castle hewn out of the blackest stone he had ever seen. The wind was sharp and cold and the whole island had the feeling of death and despair.
"Azkaban" Harry whispered out loud. Was this Harry in jail then? He laid his wand in his flattened palm and incanted 'point me Harry Potter'. The wand snapped toward himself, and then lazily spun and pointed to the castle, up at window in an isolated tower. Hedwig was missing, soHarry scanned the night sky hoping for a glimpse of his snowy friend, but came up empty.
Pocketing his wand he glanced around to insure he was alone and unseen. Morphing into his crested eagle form, he flew one lap around the island to assure himself he wasn't being watched, then headed for the only window marring the smooth rock of the eastern tower.
Sharp claws hooked on the barred window sill and eagle Harry took a good minute to adjust to the light inside. It was a half round room, the flat wall consisting of stone and a large iron-barred door. A smoky torch outside the door cast feeble light inside the cell, and Harry could make out his 'twin' sitting on a filthy straw pallet leaning against the cold stone wall and watching him with glowing green eyes.
"Hello you handsome bird. That's quite a head of feathers you have" the prisoner spoke softly.
Harry cocked his head and examined the boy. 'I wonder if I land in front of him will he try to eat me' he pondered. But he decided to take the risk, and squeezed between the bars and landed on the floor a few feet from his twin. The boy was even skinnier than the Dursleys had ever left him, with open sores dotting his arms and legs, which stuck out of a thin shredded robe. He made no move toward the eagle but watched with intensity.
"Do you carry a letter for me?" he finally asked the bird. "This place is warded against owls, but perhaps you have been recruited to deliver a message?"
Harry changed back to his human form. "No – but I do have the means to get you out of here" he chuckled. His twin simply gaped in open-mouthed astonishment.
"Well – this is different. Am I cracking up?" the boy sputtered after a bit.
"I dunno – how long have you been here?" Harry asked while conjuring a meal for the starving prisoner. "Here – eat this slowly."
Greedily, shakily the boy grabbed the tray of conjured soup and bread and eagerly slurped it down. Finally he wiped his mouth on his arm and shrugged "about a year I think".
"What did you do to get in here?" Harry asked him, conjuring a pair of comfortable chairs, which they both sat in.
"I trusted my friends" he replied with bitterness. "So who are you – a polyjuiced auror looking for an excuse to kill me, or me from an alternate universe?"
"Wow – you're smarter than I'd be in your situation" Harry nodded with approval. "I'm from another universe. Seriously – what are you doing in this four-star establishment?"
With a sigh the too-skinny boy leaned back in the comfortable overstuffed chair, unconsciously rubbing his belly. "Early fifth year I return to the common room after flying my broom for a bit – trying to clear my mind, you know?" Harry nodded for him to continue. "Aurors are waiting for me – claim that I was seen strangling Ginny Weasley on the grounds in front of Hagrid's cabin. Ginny is dead, I claim I'm innocent, nobody will believe me."
"Why would anyone think Harry Potter is stupid enough to kill someone in front of witnesses out in the open?" Harry gaped at his ragged counterpart.
"Don't ask me" the boy rolled his eyes. "Gin and I were going out – why would I want to throttle her in the first place? And what is it with this ministry and not liking to use veritaserum. Anyway, everyone thinks I'm scum now – the Weasleys, Hermione, Dumbledore, Hogwarts… because of my age I'm here for life. Which won't be long, seeing how the dementors affect me and how well I'm fed."
Harry snorted. "I can think of many reasons to wrap my fingers around the little red tart's throat, but I've met a lot of Ginnys in the past year. Most of them are less than desirable." He looked out the barred door. "How often do the guards come to visit?"
The prisoner shrugged. "Not often. Food is delivered by dementors. I've seen maybe three people since I've been here."
"Good" Harry quipped. "Hang tight – I'll be back in a second." He turned back into his eagle form and squeezed out the door into the hall. It was a small room – the other half-round of the tower- with stairs leading up and down. Harry flew down the stairs to see where they went.
A short time later he returned to his filthy twin and squeezed back through the bars.
"Have fun?" he dryly asked.
"Oh yah" Harry quipped. "The stairs go down to three more cells, all of which are empty. The bottom level has the door to the rest of this fine establishment. I warded the door so it will chime up here so we will know if you have company."
The boy raised an eyebrow but didn't ask any questions. He watched him with silent intensity as Harry pulled his shrunken trunk out of his pocket and enlarged it. Then he disillusioned it so it was invisible against the dark, dank corner of the cell. Opening the lid he gestured down the stairs and chirped "after you."
"You trust me? The dangerous Dark Lord Potter?" he sputtered with disbelief.
"Sure" Harry shrugged. "I put veritaserum in your soup." The two walked down the stairs and shut the trunk door. "OK, HJ – here's the guest room, and here's the bathroom. Leave your dirty rags right on the floor – we need them handy for the few times you need to make an appearance above. Here are some clean robes" he smiled, handing him a folded stack of clothing.
"HJ?" the boy asked with amusement as he gazed hungrily at the tub.
"Sure – HJ for Harry James. I'm Harry – you're HJ" Harry smirked at him. "I'll get your bed warmed and ready and get your potion regime handy."
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HJ gratefully soaked in the tub a good hour, then showered for good measure. He shared another light meal with Harry, and drank down many potions for malnutrition, strength, and general healing. Clean clothes, clean and healed skin and full stomach, HJ felt like a new person.
"So why are we staying here?" HJ asked him with curiosity as they sat in the parlor savoring tea by the trunk's flickering torchlight. "Why not run away – out of the country or something?"
Harry shrugged while gazing into space. "You're innocent, HJ. If you run you will have to spend your whole life with glamour charms and looking over your shoulder. Someone, at some point, will recognize you and kill you or bring you back. We will stay here, train you hard and I'll find the real criminal so you can be a free man again."
The boy cradled the cup in his two hands, sniffing deeply the perfume of the Earl Gray tea. He had missed such a simple beverage so deeply. "I don't know if I want to stay in England if they let me go" he sighed.
"Can't say that I blame you, but you do have a bit of a duty to fulfill before you disappear" Harry shrugged casually. "There's a prophecy – Harry Potter is the only one who can kill Voldy. I have the potion you need to take before doing so to break your link. Otherwise if he dies, so do you."
HJ raised an eyebrow. "So that's why Dumbledore was so vehement about locking me up here. Convinced the whole wizengamot not to 'waste' the veritaserum on me. I die a quick and painful death in prison and their Voldy problem is solved."
"Probably" Harry agreed. "But if Dumbles knows about your link, there's always a good chance Voldy does too. We have to make sure he doesn't break you out or imprison you himself."
The boy sipped the tea, looking at nothing in particular. "So why do I care if Voldemort takes over? Can you really say they don't deserve it? Why are you in my dimension – you must be running from something yourself, Harry."
Harry eyed the boy shrewdly. "Yes I am, and so are most Harrys in most worlds. But when all the Voldemorts are gone, we will truly be free." He refreshed his tea and looked at HJ with a serious expression. "You don't owe the jerks anything, HJ. But there are plenty of innocent people – muggle and wizard – who don't deserve the terror they are going through."
"True" HJ agreed, though without the concern Harry felt so deeply. "So it sounds like you've seen a few Voldys – why don't you simply do it for me."
The green-eyed wizard snorted. "I could, but if you don't hang around and take the bond terminator potion at the right time, you are gonna die. And it's a one time thing that only lasts an hour." He leaned back in his chair and smiled. "Anyway, you will enjoy getting some real training. Magic is great when you aren't getting dumbed-down by the current Hogwarts curriculum."
The next few months saw Harry and HJ first concentrating on his healing. It was slow at first, helping the young wizard through his nightmares and getting his strength back up. Harry presented HJ with one of his Voldemort wands, which was completely compatible.
Once HJ was strong and healthy again they concentrated on physical training and dueling. Harry took off on occasion in his eagle form to check out the wizarding world. HJ had been correct – everyone was convinced Harry Potter was Death Eater scum and had murdered Ginny Weasley in plain sight of a whole school full of students. Wizards sure can be stupid sheep.
HJ was an interesting person. He was sharper and more intelligent than Harry, with a keen analytical mind. But on the flip side, he was far more bitter and cynical than Harry was – he hadn't been a very trusting person before the set up, and the betrayal had successfully removed what little faith in human goodness there had been in the boy.
Harry enjoyed flying with Hedwig during the outings, who was staying at the manor. Azkaban's wards prevented owls from entering the island's boundaries. Slowly, gradually, he found that in his bird form he could communicate with his beloved owl. The more they 'spoke' the clearer it became. There wasn't the ability to carry on a detailed conversation yet, but single words, simple commands and strong feelings were easy now.
Harry gave HJ the anamagus potion, and HJ was delighted to find he was a black panther, complete with a white lightning bolt in the fur on his forehead. Harry felt it was a little typical for a Harry, but it was cool. And like a panther, this world's Harry Potter was ill-tempered and volatile. Harry was attempting to convince him to stay put in jail while he found Ginny's murderer.
"I think it's stupid" HJ huffed, arms crossed angrily across his chest. "Once we find the murderer they will drop all charges – let me go with you now!"
"Will you be patient for once?" Harry whined at him. "Let's do this right. I'll check in once a week and let you know how it's going." With that the Boy-Who-Lived transformed into his eagle shape and flew out the window. "Hedwig? Could you come here?" he called in his mind to his owl.
"Coming, Dear Friend" she replied, and in the distance Harry's sharp raptor eyes spied a glimmer of white wings heading his direction.
As she neared Harry explained the best he could "Hedwig, please take me to Malfoy Manor." Magical owls had the ability to find anyone, no matter what the wards were. Often wards were adapted to keep out owls (or people) with tracking charms on them, but no matter how secretive they might be, wizards needed their mail. With a blink of her yellow eyes the snowy owl veered and changed directions, leading Harry to his destination.
An hour of flying later and Harry found a good sturdy branch in a tree outside of Lucius Malfoy's private den. The room wasn't charmed for silencing since the grounds were so heavily warded against visitors. 'Idiot' Harry thought smugly to himself as he listened in.
The eldest Malfoy was sitting behind a large desk, facing his son who was standing stiffly in front of him. "I expect you to keep your mouth shut tonight, Draco" he purred in his silky voice.
"Yes father" Draco replied, with the faintest touch of impatience tingeing his voice.
Lucius gave him a sharp look. "I'm serious, son. The Dark Lord isn't please with the heavy-handed way you handled that girl's murder. Goodness – Malfoys are supposed to be smart and subtle! In plain daylight in front of a whole castle of witnesses?" The man slammed a book down sharply to drive him point home. Draco winced at the loud sound.
"I'm deadly serious, Draco" he put a meaningful emphasis on the second word. "If the ministry wasn't full of imbeciles they would never have fallen for it. Our Lord is just looking for an excuse to punish you. Watch yourself, because I can not help you."
"I don't see what the big deal is" the blond haired boy sulked. "As far as everyone is concerned Weasley is dead and Potter's a murderer. The job is done."
Harry almost squawked out loud, but caught himself. What did the ferret mean by that?
"Every detail is important to the Dark Lord" Lucius glared at the boy. "If you expect to rule with him when he triumphs you had better perform more to his standards in the future."
When the men left the room Harry flew out of the tree calling for Hedwig. "Hey, my friend, lead the way to Tom Riddle." The two birds winged away from the manor, silent and unseen.
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Author Notes: I hope that nobody is upset I didn't go into detail about the few worlds mentioned in the start of this chapter. Many other fan fiction authors have done those, and written them extremely well. I want to dwell on Harrys that are unique, or Harrys that inspire me. And yes, Azkaban Harry has been done to death – I'm just amazed that so few of them are ever finished!