CHAPTER SIX
A MEETING WITH DEATH EATERS
The conditions in the prison were worse than Sirius had expected them to be. Although the prisoners were allowed to walk around the "court yard" every Sunday, most of the time in the prison was spent in isolation. The stronger ones who could at least keep a little bit of their sanity tried to make conversation during the night hours, but when the Dementors felt even the smallest of laughs, they would drop in and prey on the positive energy. Sirius could think of one reason to keep on going. He wanted to die, and as the weeks went by, the want to kill himself began to grow inside of him. It wasn't a happy thought, so it gave him satisfaction to keep this thought from being sucked away from him by those Dementors.
Another Sunday came and the Dementors reluctantly released the prisoners into the large, indoor courtyard. Sirius quickly found his talking buddies: Marcus O'Dell, Vincent Matthews, and Jason Linder. With an extra ounce of energy, he pushed on faster toward his prison buddies that were waiting for him.
"Have you heard the rumor that's making the rounds?" Vincent Matthews asked Sirius in a deep, booming voice.
"What's that?" Sirius replied, now huddled around his new-found friends.
"It appears that Bartemus Crouch has stepped down from the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement." Matthews continued, a smile now appearing on his face.
"Well, well, well," Sirius began, smiling for the first time in months, "the fact that his son was a Death Eater must have finally unnerved him."
He gave out a laugh that sounded like a dog barking. But he quickly stifled it when he saw a Dementor turn his way. The Dementors were still seemingly angry with him because he appeared to be the only prisoner that was not losing his mind. The Dementors were having a hard time getting any emotion out of him, and, for his sanity's sake, he wanted to keep it that way.
"So, uh, any other news," Sirius began nervously, still not taking his eye off of the Dementor.
"No such luck." Marcus said grimly, "This devil of a warden is trying to restrict our communications with the outside world. So that means that the Daily Prophet is not being distributed to the prisoners as much as it used to be."
Marcus sighed and then added, "But that only applies to the Maximum Security Prisoners."
Sirius turned away from the grim looking face of Marcus. News from the outside is all that Marcus had going for him at Azkaban. The canceling of his subscription by the Warden would surely KILL Marcus. Sirius closed his eyes and turned back to look at Marcus, pity etched in his face.
"I'm sorry Marcus." He said simply.
"Ah...that's all right." Marcus began, emotion beginning to spread over him.
"Marcus Stop it," Jason said pleadingly, "They'll sense emotions, stop it!
Only Marcus would have been able to stop the amount of emotions that were pouring into his body, for as soon as Jason ordered him to stop, Marcus felt all emotion leave him. It was as if God had blessed him.
"I'm all right," Marcus began, "Just thinking why the warden wants us to suffer so much. I mean after all most of us have been through in this place."
Sirius didn't know what to say. He sure couldn't respond to Marcus's inquiry toward the Warden because he had not been in this prison for as long as Marcus and the others he talked to had. There had to be some way to get out of this hell hole, but how?
"We could always escape." Sirius said aloud. Marcus, Jason, and Vincent laughed shortly, Marcus replied, "Sirius, in the whole history of this prison, there've been over two thousand escape attempts. Not one of those escape attempts came close. And the fate that those attempted escapees had to face when they got back was worse than death."
Sirius knew exactly what that fate had been: The Dementor's Kiss. It was the only time that a Dementor would show his face, and no one who has seen what their face look like were in too good of a position to tell others what they saw. The Dementor would suck the soul of the bodies of their victims, and the victim would live for all eternity with no thoughts whatsoever. The victim was reduced to nothing more than an empty shell.
Sirius gave a quick shiver at the thought of it. But before he could respond to Marcus's previous sentence a voice from behind called his name. It was a man's and it was spoken in a thick Russian accent.
"BLACK!" the voice of Antonin Dolohov called from about ten yards away. Sirius turned and gave a small gasp of surprise, but that look of surprise quickly turned into a look of loathing. This was Antonin Dolohov, a Death Eater that he had encountered numerous times while he served in the Order of the Phoenix. Dolohov's once charming and rather handsome face was replaced by a thinning layer of skin that stretched across his face just like Sirius's. Dolohov also had a look of loathing, but was also sporting a look of amusement. Dolohov strolled quickly over to Sirius. Sirius balled up his fists, and was readying for a fight.
The three men behind Sirius were showing signs of backing Sirius up but Sirius hissed, "I handle this."
Dolohov stopped right in front of Sirius and both of them stared each other down for a few long moments before Dolohov's face turned into a wicked grin. Sirius returned to the grin in response and was beginning to feel rather murderous. Dolohov finally broke the silence.
"Who would've though," he began sneeringly, "that Sirius Black, long time thwarter of the Dark Lord's plans would be accused of the betrayal of the last people that he would ever betray. And I thought I had seen it all."
Dolohov chuckled. Sirius, teeth barred, and wanting nothing more than to strangle the man in front of him, replied, "Well Dolohov, we all make mistakes, and I know now that I made the mistake of sparing your life one too many times."
"How in God's name could they accuse the killer of five Death Eaters of murdering his best friend's family?"
"Well one of your own set me up, that's how." Sirius spat savagely.
"That's quite an accomplishment, Black," Dolohov retorted, "Seeing as how the true killer was a complete idiot."
Sirius did not respond, for he noticed that the entire court yard was staring at Dolohov and him, with a forced smile, Sirius bowed rather curtly and turned his back on Dolohov. But Dolohov was not through with him. Without warning, Dolohov tackled Sirius to the ground. Both men began fighting. The prisoners were cheering. He could hear the screams of Marcus, "SEND 'EM TO HELL, SIRIUS!"
Sirius finally freed his arms and proceeded to punch every piece of Dolohov he could reach. Dolohov rolled over with a painful cry and now Sirius was on top of the two-man pile up. Everyone was now cheering madly, and this became too much for the Dementors to handle. Too many thoughts of glee and joy. Sirius was now winning the brawl. Dolohov's nose was bleeding very badly as Sirius kept on punching it and the surrounding areas.
"STUPEFY!" A booming voice sounded from the distance. A jet of red light shot toward Sirius and hit him dead on. Sirius fell to the ground and knew nothing more.
It took a while for the warden and the Dementors to sort them out, but eventually all of the prisoners were back in their cells, all of them except for Sirius Black. Dolohov had the majority of the prisoners on his side, this majority claimed that Sirius had attacked him for no reason whatsoever.
When Sirius Black came to in the office of the Warden, he did not know where he was. He thought that he was at home, in his bedroom, and had just woken up from a very bad dream. But when the untidy office of the Warden came into view, Sirius Black knew that he was still in Hell. The office was devoid of anyone but himself. Would he receive the kiss, would he be doomed to know nothing for all eternity?
The door to his right opened rather quickly and the sweaty face of the chubby Warden of Azkaban Prison came into view, quickly followed by the rest of his body. The Warden Slammed the door very hard, and went quickly to his seat. He eyed Sirius with the utmost dislike before finally breaking the silence.
"So," the Warden began, "You've had a very busy afternoon."
Sirius did not reply, so the Warden continued, "You've been in this prison for what, six months? And you still haven't even learned your lesson? Mark my words, Black, your actions today have forced me to take action on you."
"And what would that be," Black said through gritted teeth.
"You will not be allowed to converse with the rest of this prison's population for three years. And you will be kept under never-ceasing surveillance for the rest of your life. This means more Dementors outside your doors, both day and night. You will become more than heavily guarded. No one will be even able to look into your cell. Dementors, at least thirty at a time, will be placed outside of your cell. You are to be moved to a new, more isolated cell tonight and will stay there for the rest of your sentence."
Sirius did not answer he just looked past the Warden and looked into space. I am done for he thought. Indeed, within the hour, he had been moved to that new cell, and, just as the Warden promised, no less than thirty Dementors took position around his cell. He did not see all of them, he could just feel their presence.
A MEETING WITH DEATH EATERS
The conditions in the prison were worse than Sirius had expected them to be. Although the prisoners were allowed to walk around the "court yard" every Sunday, most of the time in the prison was spent in isolation. The stronger ones who could at least keep a little bit of their sanity tried to make conversation during the night hours, but when the Dementors felt even the smallest of laughs, they would drop in and prey on the positive energy. Sirius could think of one reason to keep on going. He wanted to die, and as the weeks went by, the want to kill himself began to grow inside of him. It wasn't a happy thought, so it gave him satisfaction to keep this thought from being sucked away from him by those Dementors.
Another Sunday came and the Dementors reluctantly released the prisoners into the large, indoor courtyard. Sirius quickly found his talking buddies: Marcus O'Dell, Vincent Matthews, and Jason Linder. With an extra ounce of energy, he pushed on faster toward his prison buddies that were waiting for him.
"Have you heard the rumor that's making the rounds?" Vincent Matthews asked Sirius in a deep, booming voice.
"What's that?" Sirius replied, now huddled around his new-found friends.
"It appears that Bartemus Crouch has stepped down from the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement." Matthews continued, a smile now appearing on his face.
"Well, well, well," Sirius began, smiling for the first time in months, "the fact that his son was a Death Eater must have finally unnerved him."
He gave out a laugh that sounded like a dog barking. But he quickly stifled it when he saw a Dementor turn his way. The Dementors were still seemingly angry with him because he appeared to be the only prisoner that was not losing his mind. The Dementors were having a hard time getting any emotion out of him, and, for his sanity's sake, he wanted to keep it that way.
"So, uh, any other news," Sirius began nervously, still not taking his eye off of the Dementor.
"No such luck." Marcus said grimly, "This devil of a warden is trying to restrict our communications with the outside world. So that means that the Daily Prophet is not being distributed to the prisoners as much as it used to be."
Marcus sighed and then added, "But that only applies to the Maximum Security Prisoners."
Sirius turned away from the grim looking face of Marcus. News from the outside is all that Marcus had going for him at Azkaban. The canceling of his subscription by the Warden would surely KILL Marcus. Sirius closed his eyes and turned back to look at Marcus, pity etched in his face.
"I'm sorry Marcus." He said simply.
"Ah...that's all right." Marcus began, emotion beginning to spread over him.
"Marcus Stop it," Jason said pleadingly, "They'll sense emotions, stop it!
Only Marcus would have been able to stop the amount of emotions that were pouring into his body, for as soon as Jason ordered him to stop, Marcus felt all emotion leave him. It was as if God had blessed him.
"I'm all right," Marcus began, "Just thinking why the warden wants us to suffer so much. I mean after all most of us have been through in this place."
Sirius didn't know what to say. He sure couldn't respond to Marcus's inquiry toward the Warden because he had not been in this prison for as long as Marcus and the others he talked to had. There had to be some way to get out of this hell hole, but how?
"We could always escape." Sirius said aloud. Marcus, Jason, and Vincent laughed shortly, Marcus replied, "Sirius, in the whole history of this prison, there've been over two thousand escape attempts. Not one of those escape attempts came close. And the fate that those attempted escapees had to face when they got back was worse than death."
Sirius knew exactly what that fate had been: The Dementor's Kiss. It was the only time that a Dementor would show his face, and no one who has seen what their face look like were in too good of a position to tell others what they saw. The Dementor would suck the soul of the bodies of their victims, and the victim would live for all eternity with no thoughts whatsoever. The victim was reduced to nothing more than an empty shell.
Sirius gave a quick shiver at the thought of it. But before he could respond to Marcus's previous sentence a voice from behind called his name. It was a man's and it was spoken in a thick Russian accent.
"BLACK!" the voice of Antonin Dolohov called from about ten yards away. Sirius turned and gave a small gasp of surprise, but that look of surprise quickly turned into a look of loathing. This was Antonin Dolohov, a Death Eater that he had encountered numerous times while he served in the Order of the Phoenix. Dolohov's once charming and rather handsome face was replaced by a thinning layer of skin that stretched across his face just like Sirius's. Dolohov also had a look of loathing, but was also sporting a look of amusement. Dolohov strolled quickly over to Sirius. Sirius balled up his fists, and was readying for a fight.
The three men behind Sirius were showing signs of backing Sirius up but Sirius hissed, "I handle this."
Dolohov stopped right in front of Sirius and both of them stared each other down for a few long moments before Dolohov's face turned into a wicked grin. Sirius returned to the grin in response and was beginning to feel rather murderous. Dolohov finally broke the silence.
"Who would've though," he began sneeringly, "that Sirius Black, long time thwarter of the Dark Lord's plans would be accused of the betrayal of the last people that he would ever betray. And I thought I had seen it all."
Dolohov chuckled. Sirius, teeth barred, and wanting nothing more than to strangle the man in front of him, replied, "Well Dolohov, we all make mistakes, and I know now that I made the mistake of sparing your life one too many times."
"How in God's name could they accuse the killer of five Death Eaters of murdering his best friend's family?"
"Well one of your own set me up, that's how." Sirius spat savagely.
"That's quite an accomplishment, Black," Dolohov retorted, "Seeing as how the true killer was a complete idiot."
Sirius did not respond, for he noticed that the entire court yard was staring at Dolohov and him, with a forced smile, Sirius bowed rather curtly and turned his back on Dolohov. But Dolohov was not through with him. Without warning, Dolohov tackled Sirius to the ground. Both men began fighting. The prisoners were cheering. He could hear the screams of Marcus, "SEND 'EM TO HELL, SIRIUS!"
Sirius finally freed his arms and proceeded to punch every piece of Dolohov he could reach. Dolohov rolled over with a painful cry and now Sirius was on top of the two-man pile up. Everyone was now cheering madly, and this became too much for the Dementors to handle. Too many thoughts of glee and joy. Sirius was now winning the brawl. Dolohov's nose was bleeding very badly as Sirius kept on punching it and the surrounding areas.
"STUPEFY!" A booming voice sounded from the distance. A jet of red light shot toward Sirius and hit him dead on. Sirius fell to the ground and knew nothing more.
It took a while for the warden and the Dementors to sort them out, but eventually all of the prisoners were back in their cells, all of them except for Sirius Black. Dolohov had the majority of the prisoners on his side, this majority claimed that Sirius had attacked him for no reason whatsoever.
When Sirius Black came to in the office of the Warden, he did not know where he was. He thought that he was at home, in his bedroom, and had just woken up from a very bad dream. But when the untidy office of the Warden came into view, Sirius Black knew that he was still in Hell. The office was devoid of anyone but himself. Would he receive the kiss, would he be doomed to know nothing for all eternity?
The door to his right opened rather quickly and the sweaty face of the chubby Warden of Azkaban Prison came into view, quickly followed by the rest of his body. The Warden Slammed the door very hard, and went quickly to his seat. He eyed Sirius with the utmost dislike before finally breaking the silence.
"So," the Warden began, "You've had a very busy afternoon."
Sirius did not reply, so the Warden continued, "You've been in this prison for what, six months? And you still haven't even learned your lesson? Mark my words, Black, your actions today have forced me to take action on you."
"And what would that be," Black said through gritted teeth.
"You will not be allowed to converse with the rest of this prison's population for three years. And you will be kept under never-ceasing surveillance for the rest of your life. This means more Dementors outside your doors, both day and night. You will become more than heavily guarded. No one will be even able to look into your cell. Dementors, at least thirty at a time, will be placed outside of your cell. You are to be moved to a new, more isolated cell tonight and will stay there for the rest of your sentence."
Sirius did not answer he just looked past the Warden and looked into space. I am done for he thought. Indeed, within the hour, he had been moved to that new cell, and, just as the Warden promised, no less than thirty Dementors took position around his cell. He did not see all of them, he could just feel their presence.