CHAPTER THREE
DEMENTORS DIVERSION
It was like nothing Harry had ever seen; Tonks, Moody, Kingsley, and the stringy black wizard were all standing there in the bitter cold, holding out there wands in front of them, each one of them had already lit his or her wand tip, while towering black hooded figures were sliding at them from every direction. Even when Harry had encountered dementors before, in his third year at Hogwarts, there hadn't been so many of them like there was now.
"Expecto Patronum!" Harry heard everyone yell in unison, and silver figures burst out of the tips of the four wands; a silver lion burst out of Kingsley's wand, charging ferociously at a group of dementors causing them to glide away, while Tonks's silver swan chased off another group, Moody, however, had produced a silver eagle which was flapping its wings fiercely at a fleeing gang of dementors, and the stringy black wizard had set his silver cheetah on another group of dementors that slided away immediately. But every departing dementor seemed to be replaced by two fresh ones.
Harry strained his brain to conjure a happy thought but his brain seemed to be jammed, all his recent memories seemed to be sorrowful ones, he concentrated hard on the Outstanding he had accomplished in his Defense Against The Dark Arts O.W.L as the gathering dementors closed in upon them.
"Expecto Patronum!" he yelled with all his might but a mere wisp of silvery vapor issued out of the tip of his wand. The dementors were very close to him now; he could hear their rattling, hoarse breath. A shrill high-pitched laugh was ringing inside his head - a woman's scream was echoing somewhere in the back of his head - a cold ruthless voice said: "Bow to death, Harry …" - a familiar voice said sorrowfully: "There's nothing you can do, Harry … nothing …. He's gone …" While the horrible cold voice spoke again - "You have irked me too often, for too long. AVADA KEDAVRA!"
One of the dementors extended one of its scabbed slimy rotten hands toward Harry, who had lost now any ability to concentrate, and was drowning in the freezing cold. But before it could lay its slimy hand on Harry, the silver cheetah had appeared out of nowhere and was now chasing it and some of the other surrounding dementors off.
Harry felt some heat flow back in his veins, the screams in his head subsided a little bit, but he was still in a horrible state all the same. He was shaking so badly now that he felt his heart was going to stop beating at any moment, he had almost lost any hope of becoming cheerful again. But then something seemed to force its way into his brain; the image of his godfather, Sirius, swam into vision before his eyes and Harry suddenly felt that he might be able to meet Sirius again after all. He was hoping to freeze to death so that he could see Sirius, talk to him - at that very thought he felt a rush of happiness break the ice inside his heart.
"Expecto Patronum!" He yelled, and the silver stag erupted out of the tip of his wand, charging at the surrounding dementors so forcibly with its antlers that a wide circle around Harry was clear of dementors in no time.
The five silver animals continued to fend off dementors, but there were too many of them to fend off. Soon, dementors that were not being attacked by any of the five Patronuses closed in upon Harry and the rest of the battling group. Harry was starting to lose focus again - but just then, something odd happened.
There was suddenly a loud BANG, like a gunshot, and a dazzling silver light illuminated the dark sky so forcefully that it looked for a moment as though they were in broad daylight. Next moment, the surrounding streets of Hogsmeade were dark and deserted again.
Harry was feeling a bit better again, but before he could savor the victory, he felt horrible searing pain in his scar; it was like his head was going to split in two. His feet gave way, and he collapsed onto the ground.
"Are you alright, Harry?" said a familiar voice from somewhere above Harry, he opened his eyes to see a pair of bright blue eyes staring fixedly through half-moon spectacles into his eyes; Dumbledore was kneeling on the ground beside Harry and staring at Him with a concerned expression on his face.
"He's feeling pleased, Voldemort's pleased about something!" Harry mumbled.
"I know, Harry," said Dumbledore calmly.
But before Harry could say another word, a large chunk of chocolate was shoved into his mouth by Tonks.
"How do you know?" asked Harry through a mouthful of chocolate.
"Because that's why he has set those dementors on you, Harry," replied Dumbledore in the same calm voice.
"I don't understand," said Harry perplexed.
"I'm quite sure you shall understand soon enough, Harry," said Dumbledore, standing up, "but as for now, Alastor, Kingsley, and Tonks will be, kindly enough, escorting you to Arthur Weasley's place."
Harry picked up his wand that was lying on the ground near him, pulled himself up and, with a little help from Tonks, climbed the steps back onto The Knight Bus. When he looked out of the window, however, Dumbledore was gone.
Harry did not care too much, at the moment, what Dumbledore had meant. His scar was still searing, and he still felt a little sick. He lay flat on his bed as The Knight Bus gave another echoing BANG, causing him to slide dangerously backwards, and was now rolling through dark countryside roads.
The Knight Bus screeched to a halt, and Harry heard Stan's voice call from somewhere in front:
"'Ere you go, 'Arry, The Burrow!"
Harry got to his feet again and hurtled toward the bus door, the pain in his head had almost subsided completely now, he stepped out of the bus to find Tonks, Kingsley, and Moody huddled around Mr. Weasley, a thin balding bespectacled wizard, who's remaining hair was flaming red just like the rest of the Weasleys. They were standing in front of a very crooked house, with many stories, that looked as though it were held up by magic.
Harry inhaled deeply as he walked toward the familiar house; he was going to meet his best friend, Ron, at last.
"Harry, are you alright?" asked Mr. Weasley, looking concerned, the moment that Harry was within earshot.
"Er .. yeah, I'm fine," replied Harry awkwardly.
"Right, we'll leave you here then, Harry," said Tonks cheerfully, and she gave Harry a tiny wave and strode back toward The Knight Bus.
"Constant vigilance, Remember that boy!" growled Moody as he and Kingsley, who waved to Harry as well, followed in Tonks's wake.
"Bye," Harry said, waving back, and he turned back to face Mr. Weasley.
"Lets get inside then, Harry, shall we?" said Mr. Weasley beaming at him, and he led the way into the Burrow.
When Harry entered, however, he found the weasleys awake and waiting for him in the tiny kitchen.
"Oh, Harry, how wonderful to see you dear!" Mrs. Weasley dashed toward him and held him in a very tight hug.
"Dumbledore's just told us what happened, oh I'm so glad you're alright!" said Mrs. Weasley, examining Harry closely as though she was making sure that everything was OK.
"Kingsley was just telling me how superb your Patronus was!" said Mr. Weasley cheerfully, beaming at Harry.
Harry felt everybody staring at him and blushed furiously.
"It .. I was just trying to help," mumbled Harry.
"Oh, come on, Harry!" roared Mr. Weasley, "you don't have to be so modest! Many fully grown wizards and witches could never produce a corporeal Patronus with so many dementors around!"
Harry blushed even worse and looked around furiously.
"Ron, Fred, George, Ginny how are you?" he said, grinning, as his eyes fell upon the four Weasleys, all of whom with flaming red hair.
"We're fine mate!" said Ron, beaming at him, he was wearing a pair of pajamas that did not cover his ankles properly; he was now clearly taller than the Weasley twins who stood on either side of him, and although he looked a bit thinner now, his freckles, and long nose were the same.
"Looks like we've missed the fun, Harry!" said Fred grinning.
"It's not fair! I've always wanted to test my Patronus Charm," said George, a dreamy look on his face. Ginny giggled.
Mrs. Weasley shot the twins a nasty look.
"Well, Harry dear, I believe you must be exhausted after tonight's events, why don't you go and get some sleep?" she said in a motherly fashion.
Harry nodded and strode out of the kitchen, accompanied by Ron, Fred, George, and Ginny.
"Sorry, mate but .. I was not allowed to give away precise information in the letters," muttered Ron, eyeing Harry fretfully, as though he was expecting another tantrum like the one Harry had had at number twelve, Grimmauld Place just after he had arrived at it last summer, "I mean, you've seen for yourself tonight why Dumbledore's been so secretive, haven't you?"
"It's alright, Ron, I don't blame you," said Harry dully.
"So, did you really take on a thousand dementors by yourself?" asked Ginny enthusiastically, as they crossed the narrow passageway, and were now in the process of climbing the uneven staircase.
"Er .. not exactly - " Harry began.
"Well, sorry we won't be able to stay and chat, Harry, but you know!" said Fred yawning widely.
"Work is murder! I think we're going to hire somebody to help us, pity our little bro here refused to take the job!" said George rumpling up Ron's hair. Harry noticed suddenly that the twins were both wearing what looked like brand-new pajamas.
"Get off!" said Ron, withdrawing his head away from George's hand.
"He wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of Mum," said Fred snickering, "ickle Ronnie the prefect, he's made us all proud!"
"Shut up!" said Ron to more snickers from Fred and George.
"Good night!" said the twins in unison, there were two loud cracks, and they were gone.
"They've been a bit annoying, really!" said Ron scowling at the spot where his two brothers had just vanished.
Something suddenly came to Harry's attention.
"So where's Percy?" Harry asked tentatively, "I mean, he's not still convinced Voldemort's not back, is he?"
Ron winced a little, then said rather sadly:
"Well, the Ministry is not exactly friendly with Dumbledore yet, I mean, they can't ignore him anymore, but Dad says Fudge's still afraid that Dumbledore might be planning to be Minister of Magic and kick him out!" he paused for a moment, then continued bitterly, "and Percy's pride won't let him admit his mistake anyway."
They reached the third landing, but Ginny continued to walk alongside Harry.
"Where do you think you're going?" said Ron, staring at Ginny.
"I'm going with you of course, I haven't seen Harry in a long time - " she began.
"Harry needs to rest now, you'll have the whole day to bother him with your pointless babbling tomorrow!" Ron retorted.
Ginny shot him a scathing look and entered her room, slamming the door behind her.
"You shouldn't have been so mean to her," said Harry amazed at Ron's behavior.
"Well, she's being so stupid if you ask me, going out with Dean Thomas and all!" said Ron bitterly.
"What's wrong with Dean Thomas? He's our friend, isn't he?" asked Harry, still more amazed.
"I dunno, he's .." Ron looked as though he was straining his brain to find the proper description, "he's just not OK!" he spat.
Harry did not wish to argue with Ron as he was very tired and wanted to get to Ron's bedroom as quickly as possible so that he could lie down and rest his exhausted body.
Ron's bedroom looked as though Harry had left it only yesterday. Almost everything in it was a violent shade of orange and the wizards and witches of The Chudley Cannons, Ron's favorite Quidditch team, soared on their brooms and waved at Harry and Ron from the posters that covered the walls and the sloping ceiling. Ron's little gray owl, Pigwidgeon, was twittering in its cage.
Harry found that his trunk and Hedwig's cage had already been brought up, he changed into pajamas and slumped onto his mattress. He had barely said good night to Ron before he was fast asleep.
"Harry, Mum's made breakfast, come and get it!" Harry felt somebody prod him the next morning, and, blinking, he opened his bloodshot eyes to see Ron's face just above his.
"It's morning already?" mumbled Harry with a huge yawn. He felt as though he hadn't slept at all.
Ten minutes later, Harry and Ron entered the kitchen, fully dressed, to find a glum-looking Mr. Weasley reading The Daily Prophet, an abandoned piece of buttered toast lay in front of him.
"Just as we've expected, Dumbledore knew it!" groaned Mr. Weasley chucking the paper aside.
Harry's eyes fell upon the first page and his heart gave a horrible jolt. He picked up the newspaper and gaped at the front page. It was covered with black-and-white photos of wizards, some of whom were smirking, others were staring beadily at him in their frames.
Harry recognized many of the faces on the paper in front of him, but the face that caught his attention most, was a pale, pointed one, with cold gray eyes; it was the face of Lucius Malfoy, Draco Malfoy's father, who had been residing in Azkaban, the wizard prison, But, as it seemed now, he wasn't anymore.
Ron leaned in to get a better view of the paper and let out a gasp.
Harry tore his eyes away from Lucius Malfoy's smirking face to the headline over the photos:
MASS BREAKOUT FROM AZKABAN
MINISTRY FEARS YOU-KNOW-WHO IS RESPONSIBLE
The Ministry of Magic announced in the early hours of the morning, today, that there has been another mass breakout from Azkaban.
Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, confirmed to reporters, in his private office at The Ministry of Magic, that twelve high-security prisoners escaped from Azkaban in the earley hours of the morning, today, and that he has informed the Muggle Prime Minister about the highly dangerous nature of the escaped prisoners.
"It is with great regret that I announce that the wizard who calls himself Lord - well, You-Know-Who is believed to be responsible for the breakout, as all the escaped prisoners had been part of a group known as The Death Eaters, which is known to be the group of You-Know-Who's followers." Fudge told the reporters. "We are doing all we can to round up the escaped prisoners, but we beg the wizarding community, however, to remain alert and cautious. The escaped individuals are highly dangerous and on no account should any of them be approached."
Harry put the paper down. His heart was hammering, and his head was throbbing so hard that it felt as though it was going to burst open.
"What do you mean Dumbledore knew it?" breathed Harry, looking intently at Mr. Weasley.
"Didn't he tell you, Harry?" said Mr. Weasley gloomily.
"Tell me what?" Harry replied, looking completely perplexed.
Mr. Weasley stood up, fidgeting with his fingers, and began to pace the kitchen.
"Let's say Dumbledore has been keeping an eye on Azkaban in order not to give You-Know-Who the chance to do what he's just done," he said darkly.
Something suddenly seemed to dawn on Harry; he remembered what Dumbledore had told him when Harry had asked him how he knew that Voldemort was pleased. "Because that's why he has set those dementors on you, Harry," that's what Dumbledore had told him then.
"So Voldemort set those dementors on me so that he could help his Death Eaters escape, while Dumbledore was busy saving me?" said Harry slowly.
Mr. Weasley nodded.
"So the whole dementor thing was a .. a diversion?" asked Harry, feeling the blood rush into his face.
Mr. Weasley nodded again.
At that precise moment there were two loud cracks, and the Weasley twins appeared in the middle of the kitchen grinning.
"Why's everybody grumpy? Did we miss something?" said George, the grin fading slightly from his face.
"We didn't do it!" said Fred quickly.
"Lucius Malfoy and some other filthy Death Eaters broke out of Azkaban!" said Ron looking appalled, and handing Fred the newspaper.
The smile had now faded completely from the twins' faces; they were both staring sulkily at the people in the photos.
"Well, with a great prat like Fudge as Minister of Magic, you'll have to expect more than that!" said George finally, munching at a buttered piece of toast.
"Proved himself to be even thicker than Percy," said Fred, also stuffing a large piece of toast into his mouth, as every face in the kitchen turned toward the twins.
"Blimey, Look at the time!" gasped George consulting his wristwatch, "We'd better run, or we'll be late for work!"
Fred and George waved at the staring faces in the kitchen, and with two other loud cracks they were gone.
"How can they be so calm?" asked Ron, looking amazed.
Harry spent the next day thinking gloomily about the escaped Death Eaters, and what Malfoy was going to say to him the moment he had seen his face, but Ron managed to get him out of that in the next few days by inviting him to such tempting activities, like playing Wizard Chess, de-gnoming the garden with him, and playing Quidditch with Fred, George, Ginny, and him in the orchard.
Harry was amazed at the huge improvement in Ron's Quidditch performance that he seemed to have obtained since the last time Harry had seen him at it. Perhaps it was the fact that there were no spectators in the orchard that were singing loudly: "WEASLEY IS OUR KING!" or maybe it was just the fact that Ron had Helped Gryffindor win the Ouidditch cup a few months earlier that was boosting his spirits, thus enabling him to block the great majority of the shots that had been sent his way.
Ginny, however, was showing a very high standard as Chaser that was much better than her standard as Seeker, the thing that made Harry have a strong feeling that she could make it through the Ouidditch tryouts and make a superb Chaser replacing Angelina Johnson, the great Gryffindor Chaser whom Harry had heard from Fred and George that she was now a graduate.
Harry and Ron were cheering enthusiastically, watching Ron's bishop throttling Harry's pawn, when a handsome tawny owl swooped through the bedroom's open window and landed on the chessboard between them, causing the pieces to run away frantically. There were two letters in its beak.
"It's our Hogwarts letters," said Harry, checking the two letters that bore the Hogwarts crest on them.
Harry handed Ron his letter and began ripping open his own, as the owl fluttered away through the open window.
Harry scanned his letter:
Dear Mr. Potter,
Please note that the new school year will begin on September the first. The Hogwarts Express will leave from King's Cross station, platform nine and three-quarters, at eleven o'clock.
We would also like to inform you that, considering your performance during your matches with the Gryffindor Quidditch Team, you have been appointed Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team.
A list of books for next year is enclosed.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress
Harry put down his letter looking shocked. Although he knew he was very good at flying and catching the tiny Golden Snitch, he had never considered actually being Quidditch Captain.
Ron was observing him closely, looking slightly puzzled.
"What's the matter, mate?" he asked tentatively.
Without saying a word, Harry handed him his letter.
Ron scanned the letter hurriedly, and his eyes widened, he let out a gasp and uttered a single word:
"Blimey!"
DEMENTORS DIVERSION
It was like nothing Harry had ever seen; Tonks, Moody, Kingsley, and the stringy black wizard were all standing there in the bitter cold, holding out there wands in front of them, each one of them had already lit his or her wand tip, while towering black hooded figures were sliding at them from every direction. Even when Harry had encountered dementors before, in his third year at Hogwarts, there hadn't been so many of them like there was now.
"Expecto Patronum!" Harry heard everyone yell in unison, and silver figures burst out of the tips of the four wands; a silver lion burst out of Kingsley's wand, charging ferociously at a group of dementors causing them to glide away, while Tonks's silver swan chased off another group, Moody, however, had produced a silver eagle which was flapping its wings fiercely at a fleeing gang of dementors, and the stringy black wizard had set his silver cheetah on another group of dementors that slided away immediately. But every departing dementor seemed to be replaced by two fresh ones.
Harry strained his brain to conjure a happy thought but his brain seemed to be jammed, all his recent memories seemed to be sorrowful ones, he concentrated hard on the Outstanding he had accomplished in his Defense Against The Dark Arts O.W.L as the gathering dementors closed in upon them.
"Expecto Patronum!" he yelled with all his might but a mere wisp of silvery vapor issued out of the tip of his wand. The dementors were very close to him now; he could hear their rattling, hoarse breath. A shrill high-pitched laugh was ringing inside his head - a woman's scream was echoing somewhere in the back of his head - a cold ruthless voice said: "Bow to death, Harry …" - a familiar voice said sorrowfully: "There's nothing you can do, Harry … nothing …. He's gone …" While the horrible cold voice spoke again - "You have irked me too often, for too long. AVADA KEDAVRA!"
One of the dementors extended one of its scabbed slimy rotten hands toward Harry, who had lost now any ability to concentrate, and was drowning in the freezing cold. But before it could lay its slimy hand on Harry, the silver cheetah had appeared out of nowhere and was now chasing it and some of the other surrounding dementors off.
Harry felt some heat flow back in his veins, the screams in his head subsided a little bit, but he was still in a horrible state all the same. He was shaking so badly now that he felt his heart was going to stop beating at any moment, he had almost lost any hope of becoming cheerful again. But then something seemed to force its way into his brain; the image of his godfather, Sirius, swam into vision before his eyes and Harry suddenly felt that he might be able to meet Sirius again after all. He was hoping to freeze to death so that he could see Sirius, talk to him - at that very thought he felt a rush of happiness break the ice inside his heart.
"Expecto Patronum!" He yelled, and the silver stag erupted out of the tip of his wand, charging at the surrounding dementors so forcibly with its antlers that a wide circle around Harry was clear of dementors in no time.
The five silver animals continued to fend off dementors, but there were too many of them to fend off. Soon, dementors that were not being attacked by any of the five Patronuses closed in upon Harry and the rest of the battling group. Harry was starting to lose focus again - but just then, something odd happened.
There was suddenly a loud BANG, like a gunshot, and a dazzling silver light illuminated the dark sky so forcefully that it looked for a moment as though they were in broad daylight. Next moment, the surrounding streets of Hogsmeade were dark and deserted again.
Harry was feeling a bit better again, but before he could savor the victory, he felt horrible searing pain in his scar; it was like his head was going to split in two. His feet gave way, and he collapsed onto the ground.
"Are you alright, Harry?" said a familiar voice from somewhere above Harry, he opened his eyes to see a pair of bright blue eyes staring fixedly through half-moon spectacles into his eyes; Dumbledore was kneeling on the ground beside Harry and staring at Him with a concerned expression on his face.
"He's feeling pleased, Voldemort's pleased about something!" Harry mumbled.
"I know, Harry," said Dumbledore calmly.
But before Harry could say another word, a large chunk of chocolate was shoved into his mouth by Tonks.
"How do you know?" asked Harry through a mouthful of chocolate.
"Because that's why he has set those dementors on you, Harry," replied Dumbledore in the same calm voice.
"I don't understand," said Harry perplexed.
"I'm quite sure you shall understand soon enough, Harry," said Dumbledore, standing up, "but as for now, Alastor, Kingsley, and Tonks will be, kindly enough, escorting you to Arthur Weasley's place."
Harry picked up his wand that was lying on the ground near him, pulled himself up and, with a little help from Tonks, climbed the steps back onto The Knight Bus. When he looked out of the window, however, Dumbledore was gone.
Harry did not care too much, at the moment, what Dumbledore had meant. His scar was still searing, and he still felt a little sick. He lay flat on his bed as The Knight Bus gave another echoing BANG, causing him to slide dangerously backwards, and was now rolling through dark countryside roads.
The Knight Bus screeched to a halt, and Harry heard Stan's voice call from somewhere in front:
"'Ere you go, 'Arry, The Burrow!"
Harry got to his feet again and hurtled toward the bus door, the pain in his head had almost subsided completely now, he stepped out of the bus to find Tonks, Kingsley, and Moody huddled around Mr. Weasley, a thin balding bespectacled wizard, who's remaining hair was flaming red just like the rest of the Weasleys. They were standing in front of a very crooked house, with many stories, that looked as though it were held up by magic.
Harry inhaled deeply as he walked toward the familiar house; he was going to meet his best friend, Ron, at last.
"Harry, are you alright?" asked Mr. Weasley, looking concerned, the moment that Harry was within earshot.
"Er .. yeah, I'm fine," replied Harry awkwardly.
"Right, we'll leave you here then, Harry," said Tonks cheerfully, and she gave Harry a tiny wave and strode back toward The Knight Bus.
"Constant vigilance, Remember that boy!" growled Moody as he and Kingsley, who waved to Harry as well, followed in Tonks's wake.
"Bye," Harry said, waving back, and he turned back to face Mr. Weasley.
"Lets get inside then, Harry, shall we?" said Mr. Weasley beaming at him, and he led the way into the Burrow.
When Harry entered, however, he found the weasleys awake and waiting for him in the tiny kitchen.
"Oh, Harry, how wonderful to see you dear!" Mrs. Weasley dashed toward him and held him in a very tight hug.
"Dumbledore's just told us what happened, oh I'm so glad you're alright!" said Mrs. Weasley, examining Harry closely as though she was making sure that everything was OK.
"Kingsley was just telling me how superb your Patronus was!" said Mr. Weasley cheerfully, beaming at Harry.
Harry felt everybody staring at him and blushed furiously.
"It .. I was just trying to help," mumbled Harry.
"Oh, come on, Harry!" roared Mr. Weasley, "you don't have to be so modest! Many fully grown wizards and witches could never produce a corporeal Patronus with so many dementors around!"
Harry blushed even worse and looked around furiously.
"Ron, Fred, George, Ginny how are you?" he said, grinning, as his eyes fell upon the four Weasleys, all of whom with flaming red hair.
"We're fine mate!" said Ron, beaming at him, he was wearing a pair of pajamas that did not cover his ankles properly; he was now clearly taller than the Weasley twins who stood on either side of him, and although he looked a bit thinner now, his freckles, and long nose were the same.
"Looks like we've missed the fun, Harry!" said Fred grinning.
"It's not fair! I've always wanted to test my Patronus Charm," said George, a dreamy look on his face. Ginny giggled.
Mrs. Weasley shot the twins a nasty look.
"Well, Harry dear, I believe you must be exhausted after tonight's events, why don't you go and get some sleep?" she said in a motherly fashion.
Harry nodded and strode out of the kitchen, accompanied by Ron, Fred, George, and Ginny.
"Sorry, mate but .. I was not allowed to give away precise information in the letters," muttered Ron, eyeing Harry fretfully, as though he was expecting another tantrum like the one Harry had had at number twelve, Grimmauld Place just after he had arrived at it last summer, "I mean, you've seen for yourself tonight why Dumbledore's been so secretive, haven't you?"
"It's alright, Ron, I don't blame you," said Harry dully.
"So, did you really take on a thousand dementors by yourself?" asked Ginny enthusiastically, as they crossed the narrow passageway, and were now in the process of climbing the uneven staircase.
"Er .. not exactly - " Harry began.
"Well, sorry we won't be able to stay and chat, Harry, but you know!" said Fred yawning widely.
"Work is murder! I think we're going to hire somebody to help us, pity our little bro here refused to take the job!" said George rumpling up Ron's hair. Harry noticed suddenly that the twins were both wearing what looked like brand-new pajamas.
"Get off!" said Ron, withdrawing his head away from George's hand.
"He wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of Mum," said Fred snickering, "ickle Ronnie the prefect, he's made us all proud!"
"Shut up!" said Ron to more snickers from Fred and George.
"Good night!" said the twins in unison, there were two loud cracks, and they were gone.
"They've been a bit annoying, really!" said Ron scowling at the spot where his two brothers had just vanished.
Something suddenly came to Harry's attention.
"So where's Percy?" Harry asked tentatively, "I mean, he's not still convinced Voldemort's not back, is he?"
Ron winced a little, then said rather sadly:
"Well, the Ministry is not exactly friendly with Dumbledore yet, I mean, they can't ignore him anymore, but Dad says Fudge's still afraid that Dumbledore might be planning to be Minister of Magic and kick him out!" he paused for a moment, then continued bitterly, "and Percy's pride won't let him admit his mistake anyway."
They reached the third landing, but Ginny continued to walk alongside Harry.
"Where do you think you're going?" said Ron, staring at Ginny.
"I'm going with you of course, I haven't seen Harry in a long time - " she began.
"Harry needs to rest now, you'll have the whole day to bother him with your pointless babbling tomorrow!" Ron retorted.
Ginny shot him a scathing look and entered her room, slamming the door behind her.
"You shouldn't have been so mean to her," said Harry amazed at Ron's behavior.
"Well, she's being so stupid if you ask me, going out with Dean Thomas and all!" said Ron bitterly.
"What's wrong with Dean Thomas? He's our friend, isn't he?" asked Harry, still more amazed.
"I dunno, he's .." Ron looked as though he was straining his brain to find the proper description, "he's just not OK!" he spat.
Harry did not wish to argue with Ron as he was very tired and wanted to get to Ron's bedroom as quickly as possible so that he could lie down and rest his exhausted body.
Ron's bedroom looked as though Harry had left it only yesterday. Almost everything in it was a violent shade of orange and the wizards and witches of The Chudley Cannons, Ron's favorite Quidditch team, soared on their brooms and waved at Harry and Ron from the posters that covered the walls and the sloping ceiling. Ron's little gray owl, Pigwidgeon, was twittering in its cage.
Harry found that his trunk and Hedwig's cage had already been brought up, he changed into pajamas and slumped onto his mattress. He had barely said good night to Ron before he was fast asleep.
"Harry, Mum's made breakfast, come and get it!" Harry felt somebody prod him the next morning, and, blinking, he opened his bloodshot eyes to see Ron's face just above his.
"It's morning already?" mumbled Harry with a huge yawn. He felt as though he hadn't slept at all.
Ten minutes later, Harry and Ron entered the kitchen, fully dressed, to find a glum-looking Mr. Weasley reading The Daily Prophet, an abandoned piece of buttered toast lay in front of him.
"Just as we've expected, Dumbledore knew it!" groaned Mr. Weasley chucking the paper aside.
Harry's eyes fell upon the first page and his heart gave a horrible jolt. He picked up the newspaper and gaped at the front page. It was covered with black-and-white photos of wizards, some of whom were smirking, others were staring beadily at him in their frames.
Harry recognized many of the faces on the paper in front of him, but the face that caught his attention most, was a pale, pointed one, with cold gray eyes; it was the face of Lucius Malfoy, Draco Malfoy's father, who had been residing in Azkaban, the wizard prison, But, as it seemed now, he wasn't anymore.
Ron leaned in to get a better view of the paper and let out a gasp.
Harry tore his eyes away from Lucius Malfoy's smirking face to the headline over the photos:
MASS BREAKOUT FROM AZKABAN
MINISTRY FEARS YOU-KNOW-WHO IS RESPONSIBLE
The Ministry of Magic announced in the early hours of the morning, today, that there has been another mass breakout from Azkaban.
Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, confirmed to reporters, in his private office at The Ministry of Magic, that twelve high-security prisoners escaped from Azkaban in the earley hours of the morning, today, and that he has informed the Muggle Prime Minister about the highly dangerous nature of the escaped prisoners.
"It is with great regret that I announce that the wizard who calls himself Lord - well, You-Know-Who is believed to be responsible for the breakout, as all the escaped prisoners had been part of a group known as The Death Eaters, which is known to be the group of You-Know-Who's followers." Fudge told the reporters. "We are doing all we can to round up the escaped prisoners, but we beg the wizarding community, however, to remain alert and cautious. The escaped individuals are highly dangerous and on no account should any of them be approached."
Harry put the paper down. His heart was hammering, and his head was throbbing so hard that it felt as though it was going to burst open.
"What do you mean Dumbledore knew it?" breathed Harry, looking intently at Mr. Weasley.
"Didn't he tell you, Harry?" said Mr. Weasley gloomily.
"Tell me what?" Harry replied, looking completely perplexed.
Mr. Weasley stood up, fidgeting with his fingers, and began to pace the kitchen.
"Let's say Dumbledore has been keeping an eye on Azkaban in order not to give You-Know-Who the chance to do what he's just done," he said darkly.
Something suddenly seemed to dawn on Harry; he remembered what Dumbledore had told him when Harry had asked him how he knew that Voldemort was pleased. "Because that's why he has set those dementors on you, Harry," that's what Dumbledore had told him then.
"So Voldemort set those dementors on me so that he could help his Death Eaters escape, while Dumbledore was busy saving me?" said Harry slowly.
Mr. Weasley nodded.
"So the whole dementor thing was a .. a diversion?" asked Harry, feeling the blood rush into his face.
Mr. Weasley nodded again.
At that precise moment there were two loud cracks, and the Weasley twins appeared in the middle of the kitchen grinning.
"Why's everybody grumpy? Did we miss something?" said George, the grin fading slightly from his face.
"We didn't do it!" said Fred quickly.
"Lucius Malfoy and some other filthy Death Eaters broke out of Azkaban!" said Ron looking appalled, and handing Fred the newspaper.
The smile had now faded completely from the twins' faces; they were both staring sulkily at the people in the photos.
"Well, with a great prat like Fudge as Minister of Magic, you'll have to expect more than that!" said George finally, munching at a buttered piece of toast.
"Proved himself to be even thicker than Percy," said Fred, also stuffing a large piece of toast into his mouth, as every face in the kitchen turned toward the twins.
"Blimey, Look at the time!" gasped George consulting his wristwatch, "We'd better run, or we'll be late for work!"
Fred and George waved at the staring faces in the kitchen, and with two other loud cracks they were gone.
"How can they be so calm?" asked Ron, looking amazed.
Harry spent the next day thinking gloomily about the escaped Death Eaters, and what Malfoy was going to say to him the moment he had seen his face, but Ron managed to get him out of that in the next few days by inviting him to such tempting activities, like playing Wizard Chess, de-gnoming the garden with him, and playing Quidditch with Fred, George, Ginny, and him in the orchard.
Harry was amazed at the huge improvement in Ron's Quidditch performance that he seemed to have obtained since the last time Harry had seen him at it. Perhaps it was the fact that there were no spectators in the orchard that were singing loudly: "WEASLEY IS OUR KING!" or maybe it was just the fact that Ron had Helped Gryffindor win the Ouidditch cup a few months earlier that was boosting his spirits, thus enabling him to block the great majority of the shots that had been sent his way.
Ginny, however, was showing a very high standard as Chaser that was much better than her standard as Seeker, the thing that made Harry have a strong feeling that she could make it through the Ouidditch tryouts and make a superb Chaser replacing Angelina Johnson, the great Gryffindor Chaser whom Harry had heard from Fred and George that she was now a graduate.
Harry and Ron were cheering enthusiastically, watching Ron's bishop throttling Harry's pawn, when a handsome tawny owl swooped through the bedroom's open window and landed on the chessboard between them, causing the pieces to run away frantically. There were two letters in its beak.
"It's our Hogwarts letters," said Harry, checking the two letters that bore the Hogwarts crest on them.
Harry handed Ron his letter and began ripping open his own, as the owl fluttered away through the open window.
Harry scanned his letter:
Dear Mr. Potter,
Please note that the new school year will begin on September the first. The Hogwarts Express will leave from King's Cross station, platform nine and three-quarters, at eleven o'clock.
We would also like to inform you that, considering your performance during your matches with the Gryffindor Quidditch Team, you have been appointed Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team.
A list of books for next year is enclosed.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress
Harry put down his letter looking shocked. Although he knew he was very good at flying and catching the tiny Golden Snitch, he had never considered actually being Quidditch Captain.
Ron was observing him closely, looking slightly puzzled.
"What's the matter, mate?" he asked tentatively.
Without saying a word, Harry handed him his letter.
Ron scanned the letter hurriedly, and his eyes widened, he let out a gasp and uttered a single word:
"Blimey!"