Chapter 13
Fly Like an Eagle
Dobby apparated into Sirius' cell the next morning to bring him his breakfast. As soon as he had fully formed, Dobby stopped and looked around. There was no sign of Sirius. He put down the tray, walked around the cell and looked under the bed. He found nothing.
"Carpet is still on the floor." Dobby thought to himself, "So Mr. Sirius Black can't have gone far."
"Mr. Sirius Black." Dobby called softly, "Where you are? Dobby come with breakfast, but he can't give it to you if you are not here."
There was a flapping noise at the window of the cell. Dobby looked to see not one but two tiny owls. Both squeezed through the bars and flew to the bed. Then they stared and hooted at Dobby expectantly.
"Okay, Dobby get it." Said the Elf knowingly, "One of you is Pig and one is Mr. Sirius Black and you want Dobby to try to figure out which is which, right?"
Both owls hooted excitedly and did identical flips.
Dobby examined both owls. They were alike in just about every respect. The only difference was that one owl had a black streak on his head that the other did not. Did Pig have a black streak? Dobby could not remember. He had not looked that closely at the owl.
Dobby pointed at the owl with the black streak. "You are Mr. Sirius Black." He said triumphantly.
The other owl shimmered for a second and expanded into Sirius. "Good guess." He said, "and if I didn't know any better that would have been the one I would have chosen too. Sorry, it was Pig that had the black streak, but it shows that you were thinking."
Sirius clearly had not gotten much sleep. Apparently he had been up all night working on getting the correct shape of the tiny owl.
"Mr. Sirius Black," Squealed Dobby elatedly, "You did it. You can be the owl. But you look like Polyjuice Potion."
"I feel like Polyjuice Potion." Sirius replied. "Pig and I worked on this almost all night. I finally got it right about an hour ago so he and I went outside to get some fresh air and fly around a bit. I was able to see how the guard towers are laid out and that might be a problem. We could use a diversion, but I don't know how we would be able to do one or what it would be. A disillusionment charm might work. I know dementors can see through invisibility cloaks but I'm not sure about the charm. Once we are away, if we stay low over the ocean until we are out of sight, we should be okay."
"Let Dobby work on the diversion." Said the Elf. "We might think of something"
"If we can find out when the guard changes, we might not even need it." Sirius thought out loud. "Do you have any kind of schedule?"
"Sure." Said Dobby. "Elves bring stuff to the guard towers all the time, but they don't all change at once. Guards work four-hour shifts in the towers. There are four towers so there is a change in one every hour. That's so the other three can keep watch while the one is changing."
"The closest one to us looks like the east tower." Sirius mused. "Pig and I will go out later today and see if we can figure out the timetable."
"Dobby let you get some rest." Said Dobby, "Mr. Sirius Black look like he needs it."
"Not a bad idea." Sirius yawned. "But don't let me sleep too long. Come back and wake me in about two hours."
"Two hours not much sleep for somebody gonna try to get past dementors and out of Azkaban." Dobby observed.
"Then bring a pot of strong coffee." Sirius grinned, "This is urgent, Dobby. I can sleep later."
Dobby looked at Sirius reluctantly.
"All right, all right." Said Sirius "Make it three hours."
"Still not enough but okay." Said Dobby, "See you later." He disapparated leaving the breakfast tray.
Sirius and Pig looked at the tray of food, looked at each other and ate heartily. Sirius did not realize how hungry he was and Pig, for such a small owl, was eating a goodly amount as well.
"Good boy." Said Sirius to Pig. "Now let's get some rest. We've still got a lot to do and not much time to get it done."
Pig hooted and put his head under his wing to go to sleep.
~ ~ ~* * * * * * * * * * * * ~ ~ ~
Sirius awoke to Dobby gently shaking him. "Mr. Sirius Black. Dobby here to wake you like you asked." Said the Elf.
Sirius opened his eyes. "What time is it?" He asked.
"It been four hours since Mr. Sirius Black went to sleep." Said Dobby slowly.
"I thought I told you to wake me after three hours." Sirius said firmly.
"Well you know how it is." Dobby stammered. "Elf get busy, people tell him to do things and time sorta slip away. Besides, you need the rest."
Pig took his head out from under his wing and spread his wings stretching. He looked eagerly at Sirius and gave a hopeful hoot.
"Yes, yes, Pig. We are going." Said Sirius. "Just give me a minute."
Sirius sat up and shook his head to clear the cobwebs. He then became the black dog. He stayed in the dog form for a minute and then it shifted and shrank into a tiny owl the same size as Pig. Pig hooted with excitement and flew to the window with Sirius following. They both squeezed between the bars gave each other a glance, nodded and took off into the sea air surrounding Azkaban prison. Flying with Pig was one of the greatest experiences Sirius had ever known.
"If I had any idea that being a bird was like this, I would have done that form first." He thought to himself.
They circled the east tower noting the two dementors stationed there. Pig and Sirius flew to the top of the pinnacle of the fortress giving them a clear view of the entire grounds and especially, the east tower. They watched as the guard changed at the north tower and, an hour later the west tower. An hour after that, there was activity in the east tower. Sirius nudged Pig and they flew in that direction. The dementors seemed deep in conversation, or rather as deep as it gets for them, apparently informing the oncoming shift about any special orders or instructions and anything they thought should be passed on. The change took about fifteen minutes before the first two dementors left the tower and left it to their reliefs. As Pig and Sirius flew back to the cell window they noticed some commotion in the central courtyard. They circled back to investigate and saw, what appeared to be a group of civilians arguing with Warden Cromwell. They were holding signs saying things like "Azkaban is Awful" and "Better Treatment for Prisoners." They flew back to the cell window and went in. Sirius became human and described what he saw to Dobby.
"Dobby see what he can find out." Said the Elf and disapparated.
Dobby apparated back in the cell about twenty minutes later.
"Well?" Sirius asked.
"Dobby not sure if this good or bad." Dobby started. "Looks like we been visited by A.P.T. Azkaban Protest Team. They say they have permission from Minister of Magical Incarceration to inspect Azkaban to make sure 'Patrons' are not being mistreated."
Sirius almost convulsed with laughter. "We prisoners at Azkaban have been called a lot of things." He gasped between fits. "But 'Patrons' is a new one on me. They make us sound like we are checking into a hotel."
"If they had their way, Azkaban might be like that." Dobby said. "Dobby think they are making sure everyone got a rug for their cell."
"Well, we have a rug, so there is no problem, is there?" asked Sirius.
"Might be." Said Dobby, "All other rugs were pretty new. Nobody noticed that this one was different because nobody much care. If protesters start nosing around, they might be sharp enough to notice something not right. They could squawk at Warden saying you got a piece of junk and to replace it."
"That's not good." Sirius exclaimed, "We can't let this carpet get replaced. This is our ticket out of here."
"Leave it to Dobby." Said the Elf. "Dobby got a plan."
Dobby apparated into Sirius' cell the next morning to bring him his breakfast. As soon as he had fully formed, Dobby stopped and looked around. There was no sign of Sirius. He put down the tray, walked around the cell and looked under the bed. He found nothing.
"Carpet is still on the floor." Dobby thought to himself, "So Mr. Sirius Black can't have gone far."
"Mr. Sirius Black." Dobby called softly, "Where you are? Dobby come with breakfast, but he can't give it to you if you are not here."
There was a flapping noise at the window of the cell. Dobby looked to see not one but two tiny owls. Both squeezed through the bars and flew to the bed. Then they stared and hooted at Dobby expectantly.
"Okay, Dobby get it." Said the Elf knowingly, "One of you is Pig and one is Mr. Sirius Black and you want Dobby to try to figure out which is which, right?"
Both owls hooted excitedly and did identical flips.
Dobby examined both owls. They were alike in just about every respect. The only difference was that one owl had a black streak on his head that the other did not. Did Pig have a black streak? Dobby could not remember. He had not looked that closely at the owl.
Dobby pointed at the owl with the black streak. "You are Mr. Sirius Black." He said triumphantly.
The other owl shimmered for a second and expanded into Sirius. "Good guess." He said, "and if I didn't know any better that would have been the one I would have chosen too. Sorry, it was Pig that had the black streak, but it shows that you were thinking."
Sirius clearly had not gotten much sleep. Apparently he had been up all night working on getting the correct shape of the tiny owl.
"Mr. Sirius Black," Squealed Dobby elatedly, "You did it. You can be the owl. But you look like Polyjuice Potion."
"I feel like Polyjuice Potion." Sirius replied. "Pig and I worked on this almost all night. I finally got it right about an hour ago so he and I went outside to get some fresh air and fly around a bit. I was able to see how the guard towers are laid out and that might be a problem. We could use a diversion, but I don't know how we would be able to do one or what it would be. A disillusionment charm might work. I know dementors can see through invisibility cloaks but I'm not sure about the charm. Once we are away, if we stay low over the ocean until we are out of sight, we should be okay."
"Let Dobby work on the diversion." Said the Elf. "We might think of something"
"If we can find out when the guard changes, we might not even need it." Sirius thought out loud. "Do you have any kind of schedule?"
"Sure." Said Dobby. "Elves bring stuff to the guard towers all the time, but they don't all change at once. Guards work four-hour shifts in the towers. There are four towers so there is a change in one every hour. That's so the other three can keep watch while the one is changing."
"The closest one to us looks like the east tower." Sirius mused. "Pig and I will go out later today and see if we can figure out the timetable."
"Dobby let you get some rest." Said Dobby, "Mr. Sirius Black look like he needs it."
"Not a bad idea." Sirius yawned. "But don't let me sleep too long. Come back and wake me in about two hours."
"Two hours not much sleep for somebody gonna try to get past dementors and out of Azkaban." Dobby observed.
"Then bring a pot of strong coffee." Sirius grinned, "This is urgent, Dobby. I can sleep later."
Dobby looked at Sirius reluctantly.
"All right, all right." Said Sirius "Make it three hours."
"Still not enough but okay." Said Dobby, "See you later." He disapparated leaving the breakfast tray.
Sirius and Pig looked at the tray of food, looked at each other and ate heartily. Sirius did not realize how hungry he was and Pig, for such a small owl, was eating a goodly amount as well.
"Good boy." Said Sirius to Pig. "Now let's get some rest. We've still got a lot to do and not much time to get it done."
Pig hooted and put his head under his wing to go to sleep.
~ ~ ~* * * * * * * * * * * * ~ ~ ~
Sirius awoke to Dobby gently shaking him. "Mr. Sirius Black. Dobby here to wake you like you asked." Said the Elf.
Sirius opened his eyes. "What time is it?" He asked.
"It been four hours since Mr. Sirius Black went to sleep." Said Dobby slowly.
"I thought I told you to wake me after three hours." Sirius said firmly.
"Well you know how it is." Dobby stammered. "Elf get busy, people tell him to do things and time sorta slip away. Besides, you need the rest."
Pig took his head out from under his wing and spread his wings stretching. He looked eagerly at Sirius and gave a hopeful hoot.
"Yes, yes, Pig. We are going." Said Sirius. "Just give me a minute."
Sirius sat up and shook his head to clear the cobwebs. He then became the black dog. He stayed in the dog form for a minute and then it shifted and shrank into a tiny owl the same size as Pig. Pig hooted with excitement and flew to the window with Sirius following. They both squeezed between the bars gave each other a glance, nodded and took off into the sea air surrounding Azkaban prison. Flying with Pig was one of the greatest experiences Sirius had ever known.
"If I had any idea that being a bird was like this, I would have done that form first." He thought to himself.
They circled the east tower noting the two dementors stationed there. Pig and Sirius flew to the top of the pinnacle of the fortress giving them a clear view of the entire grounds and especially, the east tower. They watched as the guard changed at the north tower and, an hour later the west tower. An hour after that, there was activity in the east tower. Sirius nudged Pig and they flew in that direction. The dementors seemed deep in conversation, or rather as deep as it gets for them, apparently informing the oncoming shift about any special orders or instructions and anything they thought should be passed on. The change took about fifteen minutes before the first two dementors left the tower and left it to their reliefs. As Pig and Sirius flew back to the cell window they noticed some commotion in the central courtyard. They circled back to investigate and saw, what appeared to be a group of civilians arguing with Warden Cromwell. They were holding signs saying things like "Azkaban is Awful" and "Better Treatment for Prisoners." They flew back to the cell window and went in. Sirius became human and described what he saw to Dobby.
"Dobby see what he can find out." Said the Elf and disapparated.
Dobby apparated back in the cell about twenty minutes later.
"Well?" Sirius asked.
"Dobby not sure if this good or bad." Dobby started. "Looks like we been visited by A.P.T. Azkaban Protest Team. They say they have permission from Minister of Magical Incarceration to inspect Azkaban to make sure 'Patrons' are not being mistreated."
Sirius almost convulsed with laughter. "We prisoners at Azkaban have been called a lot of things." He gasped between fits. "But 'Patrons' is a new one on me. They make us sound like we are checking into a hotel."
"If they had their way, Azkaban might be like that." Dobby said. "Dobby think they are making sure everyone got a rug for their cell."
"Well, we have a rug, so there is no problem, is there?" asked Sirius.
"Might be." Said Dobby, "All other rugs were pretty new. Nobody noticed that this one was different because nobody much care. If protesters start nosing around, they might be sharp enough to notice something not right. They could squawk at Warden saying you got a piece of junk and to replace it."
"That's not good." Sirius exclaimed, "We can't let this carpet get replaced. This is our ticket out of here."
"Leave it to Dobby." Said the Elf. "Dobby got a plan."
