CHAPTER FIVE
The Prisoner Called Crouch
Within a few days of his imprisonment, Sirius Black was already feeling uneasy. With Voldemort now finally defeated, the Ministry of Magic, with help from the Order of the Phoenix, were tracking the last faithful Death Eaters down. Inside the prison everything remained constant, the screaming of the prisoners from Dawn and the screams did not seem to start dying down until well after mid-night. You had a small breakfast of stale toast and a dinner of stale un-toasted bread. They didn't feed much in Azkaban, and humans did not feed you, the dementors did. Sirius Black could not understand the babble of the prisoner in the cell next to him.
The first night he was here the prisoner was going on and on about a Double-Crosser. Saying, "The Double Crosser, double crossed." over and over again in his sleep. He gave up trying to interpert what this man was saying two days into his sentence, taking it as nothing but lunacy talk. But on Sunday of that first week in Azkaban something happened that Sirius had not thought possible: the prisoners were allowed to walk around in a large square in the middle of the fortress. It was enclosed, but any chance of walking around was always good enough, no matter if the walking area was inside or out. It was here that he made his first conversation with one of the high security prisoners.
"Hey," the prisoner had said weakly, "What's your name."
Sirius did not want to answer the prisoner, in fact he was not going to. But the prisoner continued, trying hard to make conversation.
"You might as well talk," he began again, "From what I hear you have a long time until you get out of here."
"I don't." Sirius finally said in a hoarse voice.
"Don't what?" the prisoner responded.
"Don't get out of here. I have a life sentence."
"Ooh-Wee, and I thought I had it bad."
Sirius realized at that moment that this certain prisoner was American, a Northerner by the sound of him.
"I have a sixty year sentence, and have served about ten of that, time goes by slow in Azkaban my friend. Ten years seems like a hundred."
"Do they usually let us walk around?" Sirius asked.
"Only once a week, usually on sundays." the prisoner replied.
Sirius was becoming fond of this man, at least it was some one to talk to besides the wall.
"My name is Marcus O'Dell." The prisoner said, extending his hand.
"Sirius Black." he replied, taking O'Dell's outstretched hand. After shaking hands, O'Dell looked over Sirius with extreme curiosity. And then finally said, "You sure you're Sirius Black?"
"Of course I'm sure," said Sirius, starting to look upon O'Dell with confusion. "Why?"
"Well," O'Dell began, "It's said that your the most guarded prisoner in the entire fortress and you look as though you haven't even been in Azkaban. You look normal."
"I've only been here a week."
"Even so," O'Dell began, "You should be weaker than weak can get."
"Maybe it's the fact that I'm innocent." Sirius offered.
O'Dell frowned at Black, then finally said, "We're all innocent men here in Azkaban."
"What about you," Sirius inquired, "Are you innocent?"
O'Dell waited for a moment, then finally responded, "The only guilty man in Azkaban."
"What did you do?"
"I was livin' in New York. Me and a friend walked into a muggle bar and bought a few drinks. Well, there were two drunken Muggle men in that bar, both of them prison escapees that had changed their appearances. Well they attacked us for no reason whatsoever, my friend didn't even have time to react, they killed him by slitting his throat. So I just took out my wand and said the first curse to come to mind: The Killing Curse. They gave me sixty years for murder and he breakage of the Statue of Secrecy. If it had been two wizards instead of muggles I probably would have gotten life."
Sirius was about to tell Marcus the reason why he was here, he was going to tell him what really happened the night that James and Lily died, but a gong sounded from deep in the castle and the prisoners began to make their way back into the hallways.
"MOVE QUICKLY," said the voice of the warden from overhead, "OR YOU WILL RECIEVE THE KISS!"
The prisoners, who had recovered a little bit of their sanity within the past twenty minutes, did not need telling twice. So, Sirius returned to the small cell that he had been asigned to.
It took the prisoners a few hours to start losing it again, but once they did lose it, the noise was unbearable. The same screaming pleas, the same shouts of innocence, the same cries of "I'm not suppose to be here," echoed through the maximum security wing of the fortress. How am I to put up with this, Sirius asked himself. Why can't God have mercy on me and kill me right now. Please God, strike me down, please god strike me down. And then Sirius yelled it for the world to hear, "PLEASE, GOD, STRIKE ME DOWN!!"
Sirius only uttered this once before recovering his pride. It won't make a bit of difference, this is your hell and god does not look down upon those men and women who had lived the Wrong life.
A few days after he had his little chat with Marcus O'Dell, a new prisoner was brought in to the high security wing. He had sandy blond hair, and blue eyes. He was the exact image of Bartemus Crouch, only younger. What was he doing here, Sirius thought. But then he heard the talk between the Warden and the Aurors you escourted Crouch Jr. down to the cell next to Sirius.
"Shame that had to happen to them," the Warden said, conversing with the aurors, "I mean, the Longbottoms were good wizards, and to have that happen to them, I mean they're worse off than the Potters and the Potters are dead."
"Ay." the Auror said shortly.
"Anywho," the Warden piped up again, "We should'nt see Crouch's son in public again, nor should we see the Lestranges."
They closed the door to the cell and began to make their way back down to the main hall.
"Would you like some tea, Mr. Moody, before we you leave the island."
"I am a little busy," growled Moody, "Dumbledore and the Order are still trying to find a job for Remus Lupin and a few others."
"I see." the Warden said shortly.
"Lupin." Sirius whispered to himself, "I'm sorry that I suspected you, I hope that one day that I can see you again and tell you that."
He began to picture Lupin in his mind, but nothing came to him. I can't even organize a thought anymore. Everytime I try to picture Lupin I became a little depressed. Before he could think again a cry echoed from the cell next to him.
"MUMMY!"
Several prisoners near Crouch Jr.'s cell said, "Mummy." in mocking tones. The ones who were sane enough to laugh at Crouch Jr. did laugh.
"Little baby boy is afraid of the prison!" called a prisoner a few levels above Crouch's cell.
"Keep on crying little one, you're still a little on the normal side, you've got a long way to go." called the voice of Marcus O'Dell, but not mockingly.
"I WANT MY MUMMY!" Cried Crouch Jr.
"He wants his mummy." laughed one of the prisoners.
"Is it time for her to give you your bottle little baby prisoner?" called another one.
And with that, a new group of dementors strolled into the Maximum Security Wing, sucking all of the positive energy out of the jeering prisoners. All fell silent. Sirius could not get to sleep that night, partly because of his tries to picture Remus Lupin in his mind and partly because of the crying of Bartemus Crouch Jr. in the cell next door.
A month later, Sirius watched Crouch's mother and father walk into the prison and, with a hugh sigh, Crouch Sr. followed his wife over to the cell of their son. Sirius, who saw Crouch Sr. approach, gave him a look of pure loathing before heading back into the corner of his cell. He heard the conversation.
"Barty he's weak," cried Mrs. Crouch through her tears, "we need to get him to a doctor."
"It's the way it goes," muttered Mr. Crouch, obviously Crouch was trying to keep a low profile. Sirius began to feel sleepy. He hadn't slept in four days now. And because of lack of food and sleep, Sirius took on a different appearance. He now weighed under a hundred pounds. His face was stretched out over his skull, like a snake's, and his eyes had retreated deep into their sockets. He could barely understand the conversation that was going on next door. He fell asleep.
Waking up shortly after midnight, he realized that the cries from Crouch's cell had woken him up. He gave a soft cry of anger and lay back down. He couldn't go to sleep. I hope that Crouch dies soon or gets moved some place else, he thought to himself. He had slept a good five hours, which was the most sleep he had gotten in a day since the week before the death of James and Lily.
A few weeks later, the prayer of Sirius' was answered, for Barty Crouch Jr. died in his cell. He was buried in a rather large cemetery located on the backside of the island. Sirius was now fearful, it had never occured to him that Azkaban could kill you long before your sentence was up. It made Sirius feel sick inside. Maybe the fate of Crouch Jr. is my fate, he thought to himself.
The Prisoner Called Crouch
Within a few days of his imprisonment, Sirius Black was already feeling uneasy. With Voldemort now finally defeated, the Ministry of Magic, with help from the Order of the Phoenix, were tracking the last faithful Death Eaters down. Inside the prison everything remained constant, the screaming of the prisoners from Dawn and the screams did not seem to start dying down until well after mid-night. You had a small breakfast of stale toast and a dinner of stale un-toasted bread. They didn't feed much in Azkaban, and humans did not feed you, the dementors did. Sirius Black could not understand the babble of the prisoner in the cell next to him.
The first night he was here the prisoner was going on and on about a Double-Crosser. Saying, "The Double Crosser, double crossed." over and over again in his sleep. He gave up trying to interpert what this man was saying two days into his sentence, taking it as nothing but lunacy talk. But on Sunday of that first week in Azkaban something happened that Sirius had not thought possible: the prisoners were allowed to walk around in a large square in the middle of the fortress. It was enclosed, but any chance of walking around was always good enough, no matter if the walking area was inside or out. It was here that he made his first conversation with one of the high security prisoners.
"Hey," the prisoner had said weakly, "What's your name."
Sirius did not want to answer the prisoner, in fact he was not going to. But the prisoner continued, trying hard to make conversation.
"You might as well talk," he began again, "From what I hear you have a long time until you get out of here."
"I don't." Sirius finally said in a hoarse voice.
"Don't what?" the prisoner responded.
"Don't get out of here. I have a life sentence."
"Ooh-Wee, and I thought I had it bad."
Sirius realized at that moment that this certain prisoner was American, a Northerner by the sound of him.
"I have a sixty year sentence, and have served about ten of that, time goes by slow in Azkaban my friend. Ten years seems like a hundred."
"Do they usually let us walk around?" Sirius asked.
"Only once a week, usually on sundays." the prisoner replied.
Sirius was becoming fond of this man, at least it was some one to talk to besides the wall.
"My name is Marcus O'Dell." The prisoner said, extending his hand.
"Sirius Black." he replied, taking O'Dell's outstretched hand. After shaking hands, O'Dell looked over Sirius with extreme curiosity. And then finally said, "You sure you're Sirius Black?"
"Of course I'm sure," said Sirius, starting to look upon O'Dell with confusion. "Why?"
"Well," O'Dell began, "It's said that your the most guarded prisoner in the entire fortress and you look as though you haven't even been in Azkaban. You look normal."
"I've only been here a week."
"Even so," O'Dell began, "You should be weaker than weak can get."
"Maybe it's the fact that I'm innocent." Sirius offered.
O'Dell frowned at Black, then finally said, "We're all innocent men here in Azkaban."
"What about you," Sirius inquired, "Are you innocent?"
O'Dell waited for a moment, then finally responded, "The only guilty man in Azkaban."
"What did you do?"
"I was livin' in New York. Me and a friend walked into a muggle bar and bought a few drinks. Well, there were two drunken Muggle men in that bar, both of them prison escapees that had changed their appearances. Well they attacked us for no reason whatsoever, my friend didn't even have time to react, they killed him by slitting his throat. So I just took out my wand and said the first curse to come to mind: The Killing Curse. They gave me sixty years for murder and he breakage of the Statue of Secrecy. If it had been two wizards instead of muggles I probably would have gotten life."
Sirius was about to tell Marcus the reason why he was here, he was going to tell him what really happened the night that James and Lily died, but a gong sounded from deep in the castle and the prisoners began to make their way back into the hallways.
"MOVE QUICKLY," said the voice of the warden from overhead, "OR YOU WILL RECIEVE THE KISS!"
The prisoners, who had recovered a little bit of their sanity within the past twenty minutes, did not need telling twice. So, Sirius returned to the small cell that he had been asigned to.
It took the prisoners a few hours to start losing it again, but once they did lose it, the noise was unbearable. The same screaming pleas, the same shouts of innocence, the same cries of "I'm not suppose to be here," echoed through the maximum security wing of the fortress. How am I to put up with this, Sirius asked himself. Why can't God have mercy on me and kill me right now. Please God, strike me down, please god strike me down. And then Sirius yelled it for the world to hear, "PLEASE, GOD, STRIKE ME DOWN!!"
Sirius only uttered this once before recovering his pride. It won't make a bit of difference, this is your hell and god does not look down upon those men and women who had lived the Wrong life.
A few days after he had his little chat with Marcus O'Dell, a new prisoner was brought in to the high security wing. He had sandy blond hair, and blue eyes. He was the exact image of Bartemus Crouch, only younger. What was he doing here, Sirius thought. But then he heard the talk between the Warden and the Aurors you escourted Crouch Jr. down to the cell next to Sirius.
"Shame that had to happen to them," the Warden said, conversing with the aurors, "I mean, the Longbottoms were good wizards, and to have that happen to them, I mean they're worse off than the Potters and the Potters are dead."
"Ay." the Auror said shortly.
"Anywho," the Warden piped up again, "We should'nt see Crouch's son in public again, nor should we see the Lestranges."
They closed the door to the cell and began to make their way back down to the main hall.
"Would you like some tea, Mr. Moody, before we you leave the island."
"I am a little busy," growled Moody, "Dumbledore and the Order are still trying to find a job for Remus Lupin and a few others."
"I see." the Warden said shortly.
"Lupin." Sirius whispered to himself, "I'm sorry that I suspected you, I hope that one day that I can see you again and tell you that."
He began to picture Lupin in his mind, but nothing came to him. I can't even organize a thought anymore. Everytime I try to picture Lupin I became a little depressed. Before he could think again a cry echoed from the cell next to him.
"MUMMY!"
Several prisoners near Crouch Jr.'s cell said, "Mummy." in mocking tones. The ones who were sane enough to laugh at Crouch Jr. did laugh.
"Little baby boy is afraid of the prison!" called a prisoner a few levels above Crouch's cell.
"Keep on crying little one, you're still a little on the normal side, you've got a long way to go." called the voice of Marcus O'Dell, but not mockingly.
"I WANT MY MUMMY!" Cried Crouch Jr.
"He wants his mummy." laughed one of the prisoners.
"Is it time for her to give you your bottle little baby prisoner?" called another one.
And with that, a new group of dementors strolled into the Maximum Security Wing, sucking all of the positive energy out of the jeering prisoners. All fell silent. Sirius could not get to sleep that night, partly because of his tries to picture Remus Lupin in his mind and partly because of the crying of Bartemus Crouch Jr. in the cell next door.
A month later, Sirius watched Crouch's mother and father walk into the prison and, with a hugh sigh, Crouch Sr. followed his wife over to the cell of their son. Sirius, who saw Crouch Sr. approach, gave him a look of pure loathing before heading back into the corner of his cell. He heard the conversation.
"Barty he's weak," cried Mrs. Crouch through her tears, "we need to get him to a doctor."
"It's the way it goes," muttered Mr. Crouch, obviously Crouch was trying to keep a low profile. Sirius began to feel sleepy. He hadn't slept in four days now. And because of lack of food and sleep, Sirius took on a different appearance. He now weighed under a hundred pounds. His face was stretched out over his skull, like a snake's, and his eyes had retreated deep into their sockets. He could barely understand the conversation that was going on next door. He fell asleep.
Waking up shortly after midnight, he realized that the cries from Crouch's cell had woken him up. He gave a soft cry of anger and lay back down. He couldn't go to sleep. I hope that Crouch dies soon or gets moved some place else, he thought to himself. He had slept a good five hours, which was the most sleep he had gotten in a day since the week before the death of James and Lily.
A few weeks later, the prayer of Sirius' was answered, for Barty Crouch Jr. died in his cell. He was buried in a rather large cemetery located on the backside of the island. Sirius was now fearful, it had never occured to him that Azkaban could kill you long before your sentence was up. It made Sirius feel sick inside. Maybe the fate of Crouch Jr. is my fate, he thought to himself.