Chapter: 10/15
There's nothing I wouldn't do
Swim across the deepest sea
To show what you mean to me
Give the love that you've been missin'
Always take the time to listen
There's nothing I wouldn't do
~There's Nothing I Wouldn't Do, Paul Brandt
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Chapter 10- The Return of Dumbledore's Army
The early morning sunlight filtered into the library of 12 Grimmauld Place, falling on the weary form of a male youth. Harry Potter had been scouring the library since eleven o'clock the previous night. He was beginning to feel a bit like Hermione, but he was willing to put aside his night's rest to perform a favour to his best friend. At Christmas, Sirius had given Harry extensive tours of Black Manor, explaining each room and sharing in his plans for him. Harry would always look back on those winter days fondly. Even though he had been concerned over the fact that he had posessed a snake and thought he might have bitten Mr. Weasley, he had had his godfather near and it had brightened his mood considerably.
When Sirius had shown him the library, he had pulled out a map of Azkaban to show off to his godson. The wizard prison that usually dampened Sirius' mood and caused a haunted look to surface in his normally laughing black eyes, had managed to make him boastful on that crisp January day. Sirius had spent a week in October mapping Azkaban and the route he had taken to escape. Harry had been rightfully impressed by the details on the parchment. Sirius had been planning to enchant it so it was the Azkaban version of the Mauraders' Map. Harry did not think he had ever gotten around to it, but that was not what concerned him. Sirius had clearly marked the secret exit he had discovered- a back door into the house elf's quarters.
Unfortunately, the library was vast and Harry could not for the life of him, remember which book Sirius had slipped the map back into. The titles of the books blurred before his sleep deprived eyes- Famous Wizarding Castles of the Fifteenth Century, A Look into the Customs of Centaurs, A Study of the Benifits of Dark Magic, The History of Azkaban- Harry started realising what he had just read. How many times had he skimmed over this bookcase? He had never thought to look in the book that was about the place on the map. His brain must surely be suffering from the absence of schooling. He pulled the book out and made his way to a large walnut desk, sitting down and quickly flipping through the pages.
Stuck directly in the middle of the thick volume, folded in squares, was the piece of parchment he had been searching for. He unfolded it and smoothed it out, studying it eagerly. It was all there- Sirius had been responsible for drawing the Mauraders' Map and he had done his work just as well on this map. Each cell was clearly marked, including his own. Even more important though, was the direct path he had noted that lead from his cell, where Remus was being held, to the house elf's quarters and, consequently, the exit from Azkaban.
Harry sat back in his chair, thinking quickly. Breaking into Azkaban would be far from easy- surely a hundred times harder than breaking into the Department of Mysteries. Still, if you knew what you were about and had enough manpower, it should be possible. He wasn't worried too much about getting back out. On the way out, they would have three hundred qualified wizards and witches, if it all went according to plan.
Harry was acutely aware of a voice in the back of his head, reminding him of the trap he had blindly fallen into last year. Was this the same thing? A ploy to lure him into Azkaban and Voldemort's clutches? He couldn't see that it was. If anything, this would be sure to coax Hermione into Voldemort's lair. Most likely, Voldemort would be expecting a storm of the Order of the Phoenix or a few undercover opperatives sneaking in and opening the cells. What he wouldn't be expecting was a group of students, not even fully qualified wizards, fumbling into Azkaban. Besides that, he did have the advantage of the secret exit.
He stood and crossed to the window. The library window faced out into the backyard. The garden had flourished under the direction of Molly Weasley and a new member, Marian Fillyweed. A few gnomes were slipping out of the bushes, but not in such a quantity as to call for a degnoming. Yawning, Harry turned from the window and mused to himself. Maybe it was a trap, but he knew this was a trap he had to fall into. Maybe he was trying to play the hero and save the day, but he couldn't help it. Remus Lupin had shown him nothing but kindness since the death of Sirius, making sure that he had known he still had people he could turn to. He had to try to rescue him for that alone. If he had needed anymore reason, there was also the Patronus he had taught him in his third year. No, there could be no second thoughts. If the Order wouldn't try to free the werewolves, Dumbledore had other allies he was aware of, but did not understand to their full extent.
"Harry?" asked a voice behind him. He almost leapt twenty feet into the air, taken completely off guard. He turned to face Ginny Weasley.
"Ginny!" he gasped. "You scared me!"
"I surmised as much by your...leap," Ginny teased. "Did you sleep at all last night?"
"No," Harry admitted sheepishly. "Is it that obvious?"
"Between the dark shadows under your eyes and the rumpled clothes you wore yesterday, yes," replied Ginny. "You'd better try to clean up before Mum catches sight of you. She'll think you've been pining. I don't think she's gotten over the fact that she misjudged Sirius so badly yet and she wants to make up for it by becoming the best mum to you."
"What are you talking about?" Harry frowned, confused.
"Well, she hardly made it a secret that she thought Sirius was an awful godfather, did she?" Ginny shrugged. "Then he went and proved her wrong by dying for you." Ginny winced, realising the words were not exactly tactful the moment she said them. "Oh, I'm sorry, Harry. That came across wrong."
"Don't worry about it," Harry smiled softly. "I think I can handle it. Well, if you'll excuse me..." He hid the map behind his back, not wanting to attract Ginny's attention to it. He certainly didn't want to drag her into it- not after having her face the horror at the Department of Mysteries. If anyone did break into Azkaban, it would be him and Hermione, possibly Ron- no one else. His caution was in vain though.
"Whats that behind your back?" Ginny frowned, moving to see it better.
"Oh, nothing important," Harry said gibbly. "Just a bit of summer homework."
"Really?" Ginny asked, sceptically. Before he could react, she had snapped it up. She unfolded it and as she took it in, her eyes grew alarmingly wide. "Harry, what are you doing with a map of Azkaban? A map with a path drawn from an exit to Remus' cell?" She didn't wait for him to answer. "You're going to break him and the others out, aren't you?"
Harry let out a long breath. "Yes," he finally answered. "But don't try to talk me out of it, because you'll just be wasting your breath!"
"Talk you out of it?" Ginny repeated, studying him over the map. "Don't be an idiot! I think its a wonderful idea. Surely you don't mean to go alone though? Hermione, Ron, you and I could probably do it alone, but it would be better if we had some back-up. Neville would come along, I'm sure of it- Dean too, possibly Seamus. Not to mention Colin and Michael...maybe Terry...I'll write to them right away! You have a plan, don't you?"
"Yes," Harry said sharply, taking the map back. "And it does not include you or Neville or any of the others!"
Ginny shot him a withering look. "So, its just going to be the terrific Three again, is it? Going to save the day and become heroes again?"
Harry winced, a little surprised at how quickly she had narrowed in on one of his greater fears. "Ginny, its not like that," he argued. "Its just- Ron and Hermione have proved they can take care of themselves. I don't want to risk anyone I don't have to."
"Oh, so I and the others haven't?" snapped Ginny, clearly not impressed. "Might I remind you that it wasn't Neville, Luna or I who were talking incoherently about the stupidest things in the Brain Room? Nor, I recall, did the three of us get knocked out! That would be your fellow Musketeers!"
"Look, I know you can take care of yourself," Harry pleaded. "Its just, this isn't going to be a walk in the park. This is a million times more dangerous than walking into the Department of Mysteries was. If we had gotten caught there, we would have gotten into a lot of trouble and possibly expelled. If we get caught in Azkaban, we will be killed. Don't you understand that?"
"Yes, I understand quite perfectly," Ginny said, only a little hautily. "However, I do understand something you seem to have missed."
"Whats that?" inquired Harry, fighting down a wave of curiousity.
"If you don't let me come along, I will walk downstairs the minute I leave this room and tell McGonagall and anyone else who listens what you're planning," Ginny threatened. "I doubt she'd be too impressed with your plan. She'd forbid it and keep a very close watch on you until you get back to Hogwarts!"
Harry stared, flabbergasted, at the young redhead. Where had the Ginny who seemed petrified of him and nervous around anyone else, gone? When had this fiery, stubborn and determined Ginny sprouted up? "You wouldn't do that," he said, hoping he sounded more sure than he felt.
"Oh, wouldn't I?" Ginny questioned. "Well, if you're so sure, than by all means, tell me I can't come. However, I reckon you wouldn't even have finished explaining you're plan to Hermione and Ron before McGonagall was beating down the door."
Harry desperately cast his mind around for a happy medium, but wasn't terribly shocked when he couldn't find one. He sighed heavily. Already things were going wrong. "Fine," he sighed. "You can come along."
"Not only me!" Ginny protested. "Let me write to some of the members of Dumbledore's Army I know we can trust. They'll be eager to help."
"No way!" argued Harry. "There is no way I am putting anyone else's life in danger. They'd have to be mad to agree to come with us. They don't really have any reason."
"Everyone was exceptionally fond of Professor Lupin," Ginny reasoned. "Not to mention the fact that the werewolves could be released anywhere...quite possibly around where their families are at that moment. The DA wants to be part of the war, Harry, and this could be our only chance. Let us help you."
Harry hesitated. The more manpower, the better really. No doubt they would encounter Death Eaters in Azkaban, not to mention Dementors. His one single Patronus could not possibly hold every Dementor in Azkaban back, and every little bit helped. Plus, they could give their wands to the fully qualified wizards when they broke them out. But it was risky, too risky. He couldn't justify bringing along his classmates on such a dangerous mission. Only Luna, Ginny, Neville, Hermione, Ron and himself and proved themselves against Death Eaters.
He glanced out at the rising sun and remembered how shocked Fudge had been when he had thought Dumbledore was raising an army to fight the Ministry wizards. Wouldn't it be glorious to prove that students could fight just as well? Hadn't Sirius always been adament that Harry was prepared to take on the real world. Surely his willing classmates deserved the same chance. He knew what he had to tell Ginny.
"Fine," he sighed. "But only contact the ones you are sure we can trust! Don't try to push them into anything, either. Just tell them what has happened and inform them we would dearly like their help. I only want those who are 100% willing."
"What are they supposed to tell their parents?" Ginny inquired. "I seriously doubt any of their parents are going to want their children going off to Azkaban!"
"Tell them to tell them I'm throwing a large end of summer party to keep spirits up," Harry advised.
"All right," nodded Ginny, beaming at him. "This is going to work, isn't it, Harry?"
"You decide to have doubts now?" he asked incredulously.
"No, no, of course not," Ginny shook her head. "I'll go and write to them!" She scurried off, already eagerly reciting what she would write.
Harry walked back to the desk and sat heavily. Had he done the right thing? Was he having too much false hope thinking that a group of students could break into Voldemort's Headquarters without being detected or killed? Well, he supposed it didn't matter anymore. Things were in motion and it was unlikely he could stop them once they really started rolling. Now all that was left was to tell Hermione and Ron.
Hermione studied Harry's face, that seemed a bit too carefully blank. He had pulled both her and Ron out of their blankets saying that he urgently needed to speak with them. His face was pale and deep violet shadows heavily underlined his eyes. He wore the same clothes he had yesterday and they were rumpled with too long a wear. She and Ron had been sitting patiently in his bedroom for almost five minutes now, watching him pace back and forth, clearly suffering from some inner struggle. She opened her mouth to speak, but Ron beat her to it.
"Harry, what is going on?" he demanded. "You wake us up at some ungodly hour and bring us here, then as good as ignore us while looking as though you've just found out you've got to break into Gringotts and rob a high security vault!"
"Actually, that would be less dangerous than what we're going to do," Harry said dryly.
"What we're going to do?" Hermione repeated, already anticipating what Harry had planned. She loved Remus more than anything, but was Harry actually sugesting they break into Azkaban and... She risked a glance at him. "Oh no, Harry! No way! Are you mad? We can't! There's no possible way we could pull it off!"
"I think we could," Harry said seriously. "Sirius left me a map, and he's clearly marked the exit he used. If we went in there and were cautious...we could charm the map- make it into another Mauraders' Map."
"Hold on a second," Ron broke in. "What map is this? What are we going to pull off?"
"We're going to break into Azkaban and save Lupin," Harry said bluntly.
"WHAT?" exploded Ron. "Are you off your rocker? I don't mean to dredge up bad memories, but you know damn well what happened the last time we decided we were going to break in somewhere and rescue someone!"
"Its different this time," Harry argued. "I'm sure we could do it. We have more time to plan and there will be more of us. Plus, like I was saying, if we could figure out the charm my dad, Sirius and the others used to make the Mauraders' Map, we would have unbreakable security."
"But, might I remind you, your dad and the others were smarter than anyone besides Hermione and they had forever to work on it!" Ron argued. "What do you mean more of us? Last time there were six of us, and this time I only see three. Plus this is a lot more dangerous."
"Oh, come on!" Harry burst out. "Hermione probably went and looked up the spell they used the moment she found out about the Maurader's Map."
"Well, maybe I have," Hermione admitted, fighting down the excitement rising in her stomach. "But, I want to know what you mean 'more of us.' Its not like you to drag people into dangerous situations, Harry. What is going on?"
Harry blushed lightly. "Well, if you must know, Ginny surprised me when I was looking at the map and figured out what I was going to do," he explained. "She demanded that we take her along. She...persuaded me with a bit of blackmail to bring her and the trustworthy members of Dumbledore's Army to come along."
"Ginny has been hanging around her brothers far too long," Ron said, obviously taken back. "We've been a bad influence on her!"
"Harry, I can do the spell your dad used," Hermione admitted. "But are you sure this is what you want to do? It will be extremely difficult and very dangerous! We could all end up dead."
"Don't you think I've thought about that?" Harry inquired. "I can't see any other options. You heard the Order- they're not going to do anything. Unless we want to lose Remus and let Voldemort lose three hundred werewolves on England, we have to save them."
Hermione stared at him, a scrutinizing look in her brown eyes. "I do not believe I am going to do this," she said, breathlessly. "Give me the map, Harry. It will take me a while to perform all the spells. Its a combination of a Recording spell, a Detecting spell, a Labeling spell and...well, I doubt you want to know the details. It will be done by tonight. When is everyone going to start arriving?"
"In a few days," replied Harry. "I thought tomorrow we could go down to the shoreline across from Azkaban and take a look around. We'll have to row over. Are you both sure this is what you want to do?"
"Absolutely," nodded Hermione. "I'm not going to lose Remus and you know there's no way the Order could possibly stop all of those werewolves if they get lose. We don't really have much of a choice, do we?"
Ron looked around, as though looking for a reason to why they shouldn't do it. Finally, when he couldn't come up with anything, he sighed and shot his friends a lopsided smile. "Looks like it, doesn't it?" he joked. "Its not as though I'd let both of you have all the fun without me."
"Something tells me this isn't going to be fun," Harry said omniously.
"You're probably right," Hermione agreed. "Before I go at this map, I've just one question. How are we going to get to the shore tomorrow?"
"I will 'appily drive you," said a voice from the doorway. Startled, the trio spun to face Harry's doorway. Fleur Delacour was standing in the doorway, looking as stunning as usual. Her shining blonde hair was in a long braid down her back and her large blue eyes reflected her fierce determination. "It is good to see zat someone from zis Order cares about their friends."
"Fleur!" exclaimed Harry. "How much have you heard?"
"More zan enough," she replied. "I know enough zat I must 'elp you in zis. My parents, zey insizted I get my driver's permit. I can drive you to the shore and back. I want to come with you to zis...Azkaban."
"You can drive us to the shore," Hermione agreed. "But I think we have a better use for you when we go to Azkaban. You can cover for us...make sure the others don't get suspicious to our whereabouts." Hermione didn't know what Fleur could possibly tell the adults, but she definitely did not want to carry out a mission with Ron watching the french girl openly with a dopey grin on his face. He couldn't perform to his highest potential when he was distracted by her.
"No," Harry said suddenly. "She can come along. The more fully fledged wizards we have, the better. So far we only have Fred, George, Angelina and Alicia." He smiled warmly at Fleur. "Fleur will be more than welcome."
"Zan it iz settled, yes?" Fleur beamed, hightening her beauty a tenfold. Ron grinned back, Harry smiled knowingly and Hermione couldn't help but scowl.
Fleur turned out to be an expert driver, a rare gift for a witch or wizard from a pure-blood family. Ron sat up in the front with her, trying to make what would pass for decent, coherent conversation. Harry, Hermione and Ginny sat in the back, looking over the list of people Ginny had written to.
Neville Longbottom
Dean Thomas
Seamus Finnigan
Lavender Brown
Parvati Patil
Padma Patil
Luna Lovegood
Katie Bell
Alicia Spinnent
Angelina Johnson
Colin Creevy
Dennis Creevy
Ernie Macmillian
Justin Flinch-Fletchley
Hannah Abbot
Fred Weasley
George Weasley
Lee Jordan
So far, they had already received replies from over half of the list- only three refusing to come along. The Patil twins and Justin Flinch-Fletchley. Hermione had been sure that Lavender would refuse, especially after Parvati refused. However, mere moments after Parvati's owl flew off, Lavender's had arrived with eager acceptance. Apparently, the two girls were fighting- over Seamus Finnigan, no less. Hermione couldn't help but think their reasons for refusal and acceptance were more than a little trivial.
Fleur drove for almost one hour before pulling off the highway and heading down a small dirt road. Eventually they came out on to a beach. Fleur turned off the car, and everyone eagerly piled out. It had rained heavily the previous night and the heavy fog still hung in the air, obscuring vision just a few feet away. They stumbled and tripped down the rocky beach until they stood in a line, looking out across the bay. Hermione was surprised to see that Azkaban was almost clearly visible. True, in the fog it appeared no more than a large, black blur, but in daylight, anyone- Muggle or wizard could come across it and boat over. In fact, there were several small rowboats just a short ways on shore. "My goodness!" Hermione exclaimed. "I cannot believe its so easy to reach! Anyone could go and walk about it!"
"Do not be so sure," Fleur laughed. "Perhaps you missed it, but zere are 'eavy Muggle-Repelling charms around zis whole area. As a last precaution, zere is a boundry 'alfway across ze lake that cuts off all electronics. Muggles would turn back, I suppose. As for ze wizards, well, what sane wizard would walk into a wizarding prison?" She laughed again, but it sounded rather forced and her eyes darted around.
Hermione shivered, also feeling what was getting to Fleur. Harry and Ron also looked unhappy. Even at this distance, Hermione could begin to truly appreciate what Sirius had gone through and what Remus was going through. She had to struggle to remember sunshine in this dense fog. It was even a strain to remember the sound of laughter. "Well, lets get this over with," Harry said firmly. Hermione met his eyes and shivered all the harder. Those green eyes looked haunted and desperate. She wondered what memory of Harry's was beating away at him. Right now, she couldn't help but remember the awful morning of her parents' deaths. She fought against the pricking sensation in her eyes.
Harry and Ron strode over to the boats and begin inspecting them, making sure that there was nothing wrong with them. Ginny and Fleur would repair any hole or chip the boys found. Hermione forced her legs to start working and joined Ginny and Fleur, casually muttering 'Reparo' at anything Ron or Harry pointed out. By the time they were done, they had six boats in excellent condition. Twelve oars were laying beside the boats, all shining with a magical new coat of paint. "Is that all we need to do?" Ginny inquired, her voice trembling. "I don't want to stick around here any longer than we have to."
"You'd better get used to it," Harry said darkly. "Who knows how long will be in there come Friday?" They had decided they would invade Azkaban on Friday- two days from now. Hermione took a steadying breath, hoping it didn't take too long to get used to, but not really believing it.
"M-maybe we should practise our Patronuses?" suggested Ron, pulling out his wand with a shaking hand.
"Expacto Patronum!" they said together. Hermione felt a moment's happiness as her otter whirled around her. Harry was patting his stag's nose. A large tiger encircled Fleur protectively, Ginny was smiling happily at her timber wolf and Ron was beaming proudly at his large black bear.
"At least we've all mastered that particular charm," Harry said, not sounding very enthused. "No doubt it will be fairly mandatory."
"Maybe we should go, Harry," Hermione suggested. "I know you said we should try to get used to this feeling, but if Voldemort has any spies out and about, it will look fairly suspicious if we just hang around here."
"Hermione, she 'as a point," agreed Fleur. "Besides, we do not want to be gone too long or ze adults, zey will become suspicious."
Harry nodded slowly, looking reluctant. He climbed into the car beside Hermione, who couldn't resist patting his hand reassuringly. "Don't worry, Harry," she said with more conviction than she felt. "Everything will turn out just fine."
Harry didn't appear to have heard her. He looked out the back window as the silhouette of Azkaban faded into the distance. "Twelve years," he murmured. "He put up with that for twelve years."
Hermione sighed and fought back the all too familiar warning of tears pricking at her eyes. She squeezed Harry's arm and felt Ginny grasp her hand. 'Why does everything always happen to us?' she thought angrily.
Amara Vector glanced up at the ringing of the doorbell.'Strange,' she mused. 'I don't believe any of the Order was coming today.' Just to be careful, she pulled her wand out of her robes. The house was pretty much deserted at the moment. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny were upstairs, holed up in Ginny's room, while Tonks and Molly Weasley were up in the attic, helping the house elves. Everyone else was out and about on one mission or another.
In the hallway, the doorbell had startled Mrs. Black, who was quickly letting her unhappiness known. "BLOODY FILTH!" she hollered. "WAKING ME UP FROM MY SLUMBER! I FINALLY GET SOME PEACE AND QUIET NOW THAT MY ACCURSED SON HAS GONE AND GOTTEN HIMSELF KILLED AND I'VE GOT PEOPLE RINGING ON THE DOOR!"
"Silencio," Amara said coldly, pointing at the potrait. Sirius had always been loathe to use magic against his mother's potrait, though it was obvious he despised her. Now that he had passed on, Amara took every chance she got to perform the Silencing Charm on Mrs. Black.
She slowly opened the door, ready to Stun a Death Eater. She was pleasently surprised to find several of her ex-students standing on the doorstep. Katie Bell, Alicia Spinnet, Angelina Johnson and Lee Jordan had all graduated last year. Amara had taught Katie and Alicia and knew them to be nice girls, but she was more than a little wary around them at this moment. "Hello, Professor Vector," greeted Katie.
"Good afternoon, Katie," smiled Amara. "Forgive me for being rude, but however did you find this place? It is supposed to be hidden."
"Ah, about that," said a voice she knew all too well. Fred Weasley pushed his way to the front of the group. "That would be my doing. Harry's told you about our little party we've decided to throw, hasn't he? Of course he has, glad to hear it. I'll just show them to their rooms, shall I? Naturally. Know my way around the place of course." He pushed past his old Arithmacy teacher, ushering his mates into the house. "Now, on your left you'll see the potrait of old Mrs. Black, being the mother of Sirius Black. He was innocent, did I tell you that? Oh yes, innocent as a lamb. My but that man could pull a jest. Better than George and I if you'll believe it."
"You've told us so much about him," Katie mused. "I feel as though I knew him myself. Its so sad he was killed before he was proved innocent."
"I'm still not sure," Lee argued. "There's too much evidence he was guilty."
"Are you not going to take the word of your best mate?" Fred said, pretending to be hurt. "Shocked at you, Jordan, shocked!" He turned back to Amara. "Oy! Are Harry and the others upstairs? Smashing! Come along, come along."
"I don't care if he was innocent," Angelina whispered to Alicia. "He was so dreamy! Did you see that picture George had of him?" Katie laughed, but Alicia scowled.
"As if thats what matters!" she huffed. "He killed thirteen people with one curse! I don't see why Harry wants us to meet here of all places!"
"Didn't I tell you?" Fred called down to her. "Sirius was his godfather!" Alicia's startled look was the last thing Amara caught before she was distracted by another mass of students, this time lead by George Weasley.
"'Allo, Amara, dearest," grinned George. "Harry's told you about our little shingding, hasn't he?"
"I've heard," Amara replied, dryly. "Might I remind you, Mr. Weasley, that, unlike Professor Lupin, I do insist to be treated with the respect due to a professor even after my student has graduated."
"Why of course you do!" George nodded. "Its because you deserve it! You've met the children, haven't you? Allow me to introduce- Neville, Seamus, Dean, Lavender, Ernie, Luna, Colin, Dennis, and Hannah! Fred and the others already here? Well then, we won't keep you!"
Before Amara could get a word in edgewise, George had lead the students upstairs, Luna eagerly whispering she could hardly believe she was in the house of a dead singing sensation. Absolutely floored, Amara closed the door behind her and leaned against it. Was the Potter boy in his right mind, revealing the whereabouts of the secret headquarters to twelve students who could easily be passing information back to You-Know-Who? She sighed, gathering her wits about her. She would hope he wouldn't tell any of them who he was not sure could not be trusted.
Hermione sat down in the study. They had spent the morning rearranging it and scounging up as many chairs as they could. The map of Azkaban, newly magicked into a version of the Maurader's Map was stretched out in clear view to the eighteen assembled students, witches and wizards. Fleur and Alicia were sitting down, talking seriously, while Katie and Angelina laughing at their feet. Fred, George and Lee and easily gotten distracted and were in an indepth discussion of the latest Quidditch match between the Tornadoes and Puddlemere United. Seamus, Neville, Dean, Ernie, Hannah and Lavender were sitting in a circle, being briefed by Ginny. Luna was explaining to the Creevy brothers that anything they managed to sneak away from the famous Stubby's house would be worth millions of Galleons. As Harry stood up from his conversation with Ron, she was eagerly wondering why Harry had offered guided tours of his house yet.
"Hello, everyone," Harry said in a strong voice that carried over the loud conversations. Immediately, silence fell and everyone's faces became rather grim. "Its good to see everyone again. I believe the last time we were all together was that last disasterous meeting."
"You mean where that bitch ratted on us?" sniffed Angelina. Clearly her opinion of Marietta had gone down hill.
"Well, thats putting it diplomatically," Harry said dryly, earning a few laughs. He looked a little surprised at the young witches and wizards, as always, shocked when they seemed ready to follow his lead. "But, anyways, I'm afraid, this time around, I'm suggesting something a bit...dangerous." By now, the laughter had completely faded and grim determination was evident in every face.
Harry strode over to the map of Azkaban and pointed to it. "This is a map of Azkaban, the wizarding prison," he explained. "Its not any ordinary map though. When my dad and his friends were kids at Hogwarts, they mapped all of Hogwarts and bewitched the map so it would show moving people on it. They could actually see where Filch, Mrs. Norris and Dumbledore were. Naturally, this made it easy for them to sneak around and they rarely got caught. Hermione, here, took this map of Azkaban my godfather drew, and cast similar spells on it."
"Before we jump right in, you might as well know, my godfather was Sirius Black. He was innocent, wrongfully accused and spent twelve years in Azkaban because he was betrayed by his friend. Peter Pettigrew killed those Muggles and, in his Animagus form of a rat, fled down the gutters, after cutting off his fingers. Sirius never killed anyone. He drew this map when he got out of Azkaban, showing how he escaped."
"Now, some of you might be aware of the fact that Voldemort-" there was a collective gasp at the use of Voldemort's name. Harry broke off. "I'm going to say his name, whether you like it or not. Fear of a name, only increases fear of the thing itself. I would strongly advise you to start using it as well, if you can manage it. Anyways! Some of you might be aware of the fact that Voldemort has captured three hundred werewoves. Professor Lupin is included in that three hundred."
The news fell heavily on the group. Most of them were in complete agreement that Professor Lupin was the best teacher they had ever had. "Now, as Ginny told you, we are planning to break into Azkaban to save him," Harry continued. "Now, I don't expect you to risk your lives for Lupin. I do want to tell you this. Voldemort plans to unleash the werewolves during the full moon. They'll bite or kill anyone they come across. Now, some of you may never have seen a werewolf, but I have and let me tell you, three hundred werewolves will be near unbeatable. We cannot let them be let loose."
"Hang on," interrupted Ernie Macmillian. "Now, this is all very well, and naturally I will be more than willing to help you. But, why aren't the adults doing this? Surely they would be more capable."
Harry exchanged nervous glances with Hermione, who tried to convey her faith in him in her eyes. "They...the adults don't think it can be done," he finally admitted. "They think it would be suicidal to save the werewolves."
"Oh, so fully fledged wizards can't do it, but you expect us to?" demanded Alicia, obviously not impressed.
"Listen," Harry said urgently. "We have a few advantages the adults don't. One, we have this map. Two, Voldemort isn't going to expect an army of kids to break into Azkaban. He'll be looking for a large group of wizards storming the gates, not some kids sneaking in the back door. Three, we have something the adults don't. We've got hope. You can't do a task if you decide at the beginning it can't be done. I'm not going to tell you its going to be a walk in the park. Its going to be dangerous and we will probably all receive injuries. I...I can't even tell you that you will walk away alive. But, isn't it worth it? I'm telling you it can be done if we believe we can do it!" He hesitated and glanced around at all of their upturned faces. "I can understand if you don't want to do it, and I'm not going to hold any of you to it. But, please...think about it. The werewolves aren't going to not bite you because they think you're young, or because you're a good person. If they get out, no one's safe. From what I understand, death is better than life as a werewolf."
He exhaled heavily and looked at all of them meaningfully. "If you don't want to this, please, leave now so we can start getting ready. Those of you who do stick around, we leave tonight at 2:30."
Several people shifted in their seats, but not a single person made any move towards the door. Harry grinned. "Thank you so much," he smiled. "I promise, you won't regret this!"
He returned to the map. "Now, Fleur, Fred, Jordan and George have all agreed to drive us to the coast, where Ginny, Ron, Fleur, Hermione and I have readied some boats to take us over to Azkaban," he began. "As you can see on the map, there is a secret enterance into the house elf kitchens..."
"Harry Potter!" said a squeaky voice. Harry turned to face Winky, who was juggling several trays. "Winky is bringing you some treats."
"Oh, thanks, Winky," smiled Harry warmly. Hermione went up and helped Winky lay things out on a table. "Everything looks delicious."
"Winky is happy to be serving you," Winky declared.
"I'm happy you're here too," Harry agreed. "Say hi to Dobby for me."
Winky nodded happily and disappeared with a crack. "You guys, help youself," Harry motioned towards the trays. "Dobby and Winky are both brilliant cooks." There was a rush towards the refreshments. As soon as it had quieted down, Harry continued. "So, we'll row over here to the secret enterance. Its fairly rocky, but from what Sirius told me, its pretty easy to scale. Ron conjured us some rope, so we should..."
The afternoon progressed quickly. Harry explained the plan in full. They would scale the wall and then sneak into the house elf kitchens. Fleur, George, Fred, Hannah, Ernie and Lee would at that point break away from them and make their way around the island to the barge. They would overpower the guards and then sail the barge around to the house elf kitchens to wait for the others. Meanwhile, Harry would lead the remaining members using the map to where the werewolves were being held. Once there, they would probably have to overcome a few guards. They would free the werewolves and then the underage wizards would surrender their wands to the most powerful of the werewolves. They would make their way back to the kitchens and get as many werewolves loaded on to the barge as possible. Harry hoped it would take no more than two trips to get everyone across.
If anything went wrong, Harry planned to break away from the group. He had not shared that part of the plan with anyone. Surely Voldemort would be more eager for the person who might be his downfall than for a group of werewolves. At least, that was what Harry dearly hoped. Something was still bothering him though. After explaining the plan, he had set his 'army' to practising hexes, patronuses and charms. He pulled Colin Creevy aside.
"Heya, Harry!" grinned Colin. "How are you doing?"
"Pretty good, Colin," Harry admitted. "How are you feeling about tonight?"
"Eager, mostly," Colin answered. "But nervous, of course, but I guess thats to be expected. Right, Harry? Were you nervous the first time you did all of this kind of stuff?"
Harry tried to remember back to his first year. "Yeah," he agreed. "I was pretty nervous. Still am."
Colin barked a laugh. "Sure, Harry! You don't expect me to believe that?"
Harry knew he could waste time arguing over the fact that when ever he had to do something like this, it felt as though his heart was in his throat, but that was hardly the reason he had brought Colin off to the side. "Listen, Colin," he began. "I'm a bit worried about Dennis."
"Why?" Colin frowned. "He looks perfectly fine to me."
"No, thats not what I meant," Harry explained. "He's only going into his fourth year. He's really young to be doing this. Are you sure you want him along?"
"Well, we're all pretty young, Harry, aren't we?" Colin questioned. "But, I guess you're right. Still, it'd break his heart if he couldn't help out somehow!"
"I think I know how he could help out," Harry said slowly. "Go get him for me, will you?"
"Sure thing, Harry!" agreed Colin, He sauntered off, narrowly avoiding getting hit by Ginny's infamous Bat Bogie Hex.
Soon Dennis Creevy, who was even more in awe of Harry than Colin, came hurrying over. "Heya, Harry!" he squeaked. "How are you doing? I'm really excited about tonight! Do you think I could get a picture of the two of us together and you sign it and I could say that I worked with Harry Potter? All my mates at school are going to be real jealous and I bet they'll try to go on a secret mission with you and it won't be the same, will it?"
Harry fought the urge to roll his eyes. Surely he had never been this young! "I guess we could get a picture together, Dennis," he agreed readily. "But, I've got a serious business proposition for you."
Dennis immediately sobered up. "What is it, Harry?" he inquired. "Anything I can do to help? You know I'd do anything for you!" He looked up at Harry with what was undoubtably worship in his eyes. Harry was reminded quite forcibly of the Wormtail he had seen in Snape's Pensieve. Had his dad found Wormtail this annoying and yet had felt guilty about feeling annoyed?
"Dennis, I'm afraid I need you to stay behind tonight to do me a big favour," Harry explained. He went on quickly, seeing the dismay on Dennis' face. "We need someone to cover for us. The adults are going to get very suspicious when none of us are around tomorrow morning! Do you think you could come up with a reasonable excuse to why we're not around?"
Dennis nodded, a gleam in his eye. "The whole mission is resting on me doing this, isn't it?" he asked seriously.
Taken back, Harry recovered his start by nodding fervently. "You're right, Dennis," he agreed readily. "This whole mission hinges on you, mate."
"I'll do it, Harry," Dennis piped eagerly. "Are we really mates, Harry and do you think maybe you could tell Milly Railen that you're my mate and you think I'm a good guy and do you think maybe we could eat lunch together one time and you ask me if I want to play Quidditch with you sometime right in front of Milly, because I kind of like her and I think that would really impress her and then maybe she'd go out with me, maybe!"
Harry blinked, shocked at how fast Dennis had said that run-on sentence. "Sure thing, mate," he grinned, ruffling Dennis' hair. Positively in his seventh heaven, Dennis dashed off to tell Colin the good news. Harry watched him go, uneasily thinking that he had come off looking a lot like his father. He smiled wistfully. Well, perhaps that wasn't such a bad thing. Sirius had said that Harry's dad had improved immensely in his seventh year.
"Harry...Harry, I think you'd better come and take a look at this," Luna said, peering owlishly at the house elf ears she had somehow managed to make appear on Katie's head. "I'm not quite sure what I've done and I can't seem to make them go away."
"GET THEM OFF THIS MINUTE!" squealed Katie, tugging desperately at her new ears. Harry hurried over to look at the damage Luna had done, strongly suspecting he would soon be enlisting Hermione's help.
Hermione cast her eyes over Dumbledore's Army. They were all swathed in dark cloaks and making as little noise as they mustered into the front hall. Harry very carefully pulled the curtains over Mrs. Black, obviously anxious not to wake her up. "I think we're all here, mate," Ron said confidentally, recounting everyone. "Dennis is upstairs, pretending to be asleep and oblivious to the fact that every other person he was with is sneaking out."
"Oy!" hissed one of the paintings. Everyone froze, darting fearful glances around to see what potrait was aware of their movement. Harry caught sight of the painting first. It was the old Headmaster, Phineas Nigellus. "You, over there, Harry Potter!"
Harry cautiously treaded over to the painting, careful not to make more noise than mandatory. "Hello, Headmaster Nigellus," he greeted respectfully. "How are you this evening?"
"What are you and those other hoodlums doing, sneaking out in the middle of the night?" he demanded.
"Um..." Harry stuttered. It was Dennis' job to think up their alibi, not his. "We're..."
"You're going after Remus Lupin, aren't you?" Phineas inquired sharply.
"How did you know?" asked Harry, incredulous.
"Its what Sirius would have done," Phineas explained, smiling almost fondly at Harry. "He would have been proud of you, my boy. Well, don't worry about me. The Order won't hear head nor tail of your whereabouts from old Phineas. I've been sleeping all night, you know." He gave Harry a wink and settled back into his slumber.
"He won't rat on us, will he?" Angelina asked worriedly.
"No, I don't think so," Harry answered. "He was quite upset when Sirius...when he died. If he thinks I remind him of Sirius, he's liable to try and adopt me."
"Mental, that one," commented Ron. Harry nodded his agreement.
"Well," he said softly. "I guess this is it. Lets-"
"Harry Potter!" squeaked two voices. Harry turned to face Dobby and Winky, both grinning at him eagerly.
"Is it true, sir?" Dobby inquired. "Winky says Harry Potter and his friends are sneaking off to Azkaban. Dobby doesn't believe her, but now that he sees Harry Potter and his friends..."
"Yes, I'm going to Azkaban," Harry answered, looking more than a little annoyed at the delay. "Please, don't tell anyone where we've gone or I'll get into frightful trouble."
"Oy!" Fred's voice broke into the darkness as he opened the front door. "George, Fleur, Jordan and I have been waiting in our cars for ten minutes. We do want to get this done tonight, don't we?"
"Go," Harry motioned to the others. "I'll be there in a minute."
"Winky and Dobby will not tell where Harry Potter has gone," Winky said faithfully. "Winky and Dobby is coming with him!"
"What?" hissed Harry. Winky fell to the ground, cowering and even Dobby cringed. Harry sighed and helped Winky up. "There, there, Winky," he said soothingly. "I'm not angry with you, I was just shocked." He paused. He could order Winky and Dobby not to come along, and they would have no choice, but somehow it didn't seem right. He was a member of SPEW and it wouldn't be proper if he ordered his house elves to do something against their will. Besides, house elves had very powerful magic, and Harry could use all the help he could get.
"I can't believe I'm doing this," he growled. "C'mon, get in the car." He lead the house elves outside, quietly closing the door behind him. He crawled into Fleur's car, which already held Hermione, Ron and Ginny. Winky sat down on Hermione's lap and Dobby made himself quite at home in Harry's.
"What are ze 'ouse elves doing 'ere?" Fleur demanded. "I do not remember zem being part of ze plan."
"They wanted to help," shrugged Harry. "Who was I to refuse?"
"Are you mad?" demanded Ron, but Hermione overrode him.
"Oh, Harry, what a wonderful idea!" she exclaimed. "You know, if everything works out right, this could be a big jump for SPEW! We could use it on campaign- 'Two Freed House Elves Play Major Part in Rescue of Werewolves!' Oh, it will be wonderful!"
"Drive, Fleur," Harry said through clenched teeth,
"Are you sure?" Fleur asked. "We 'ave everything zat we need?"
"Drive now, Fleur," snarled Harry.
Harry and Hermione supervised the boarding of the boats. As they piled out of the cars, their classmates were happily chatting, none of them were especially worried about the task in front of them. However, mere moments of standing around on the still foggy beach, quickly dampened their moods. "Is it going to be like this everywhere?" Angelina asked, hugging herself tightly.
"Its only going to get worse," Harry said omniously. Lee put a protective arm around Katie and Dean did the same for Ginny. Harry couldn't quite explain why that made his jaw tighten. However, he was strangely happy when, after Ron's continued glare, Dean released her.
"Everyone into the boats," Hermione said briskly. "Three to a boat." Harry, Ron and Hermione sat together, taking both house elves as well. Soon everyone was ready and they shoved off.
Hermione sat in the front of the boat, soothing Winky, who was now quite distraught. Harry and Ron rowed, their muscles straining. It was just their luck that they were going against the current. Harry didn't know how long they rowed, time seemed to cease. No one spoke, everyone's eyes were focused on the looming bulk of Azkaban.
"Here we go," Ron said darkly as they entered the shadow of the wizard prison.
Amara Vector frowned. Something was wrong. 12 Grimmauld Place was quiet...too quiet. Rare were the occasions when the Manor could sink into silence. However, when the Black house was occupied by eighteen teenagers, quiet could not be more opposite of what she expected.
Curious, she began a thorough search of the grounds. She was quite surprised to find that none of the teenagers were outside. It was only eight in the morning, but she remembered in her youth, six thirty was considered sleeping in. She returned inside and climbed the stairs, poking her head into doors as she went. All of the beds were made so neatly that they appeared unslept in. Her fear mounted as she neared the end of the hall.
In the last door, she found a single boy, sleeping peacefully. She recognised him as Dennis Creevy, who had taken her Arithmacy class for the first time the previous year. She shook him awake, hoping he knew where his friends were.
"Oh, good morning, Professor Vector," he said cheerfully when she woke him up. "I suppose you're going to ask me where the others are."
"Yes, I w- wait, how did you know?" Amara frowned suspicously.
Dennis' face blanked. "Oh, no reason," he shrugged. Amara's sharp eyes swept around the bedroom and fell on an open book entitled The History of Azkaban. She crossed over to the desk and picked it up, all too aware of the wary looks Dennis was shooting at her back. The inside cover had a map. Several notations had been made. She recognised the handwriting- Hermione Granger.
Her heart in her throat, she left Dennis' room and hurried into the kitchen, grabbing a handful of Floo Powder. She had only had one dear childhood friend and that friendship had carried on into adulthood. Not to mention the fact that he was now her coworker. Although Severus Snape had remained as lonely and unpopular as ever and her life had taken a change for the better, they both knew they could count on each other for anything. In fact, she was the first person Severus had come to see upon deciding his life as a Death Eater was over.
"Severus Snape!" she called into the Floo Powder, bending her head into the fire, for once not even pausing to think about the uncomfortable position. She soon found herself looking into Snape's potion lab at Hogwarts. He had returned there to plan his lessons for the coming year on his day off.
"Good morning, Amara," he greeted when he saw her. "How may I be of assistance?"
"Its the children," Amara said frantically. "Potter and the others. I...I think they've gone to Azkaban."
Author's Note
Hey, I'm back! I just want to extend a formal apology for chapter nine which I still think is rather appalling. I wrote it rather late at night, but thats still no excuse. Hopefully, this chapter is more enjoyable.