CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The Truth will Set You Free

(This chapter includes a word-for-word copy of a Daily Prophet clipping that can be found in Harry Potter in the Prisoner of Azkaban. Please don't sue.)

On the night of Gregory's death at the hands of the Warden, when Sirius had finally been revived after being hit with the Knock Out Spell, Sirius Black finally broke down. He cried the entire night, he could not think, he could hardly breathe, all he could really do was cry. He did not know why he was crying so hard, maybe it was the fact that McBride had been the only one who ever believed that he was actually innocent. He didn't know how to express his emotions in any other way at the moment, he couldn't even laugh. The Dementors had just simply sat back and listened to the weeping of Sirius Black, amusement beginning to course through their "bodies." Sirius Black had been through more than any man should have to. He had seen the corpse of his best friend, James Potter, staring up at him with lifeless eyes. That was bad enough. The day after James and Lily had died he lost everything when the Muggles claimed that it was Sirius Black, not Peter Pettigrew, who had blown the street apart.
During his time here he had seen the only people that he could call friends get killed off one by one. Now, when happiness had crept back into his heart with the acquisition of a new friend, Sirius had had that happiness leak out of his already cracked heart with the death of that very same friend. He could no longer call himself a human being. Humans aren't suppose to experience so much pain, he thought. Humans are generally happy beings that are known as the dominant species of the planet. He continued to weep on into the morning, before finally stopping because of his lack of sleep. After eating the usual meager breakfast, Sirius Black was able to drift off into a troubled sleep.

JULY 28, 1993

Sirius Black was still in solitary confinement when the Warden came down to tell him that the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, would be arriving to inspect the entire prison later on in the day. After a brief exchange of some very powerful swear words, the Warden left Sirius Black to his dark musings. It was around noon when Fudge arrived in Azkaban, clutching the latest edition of the Daily Prophet in his right hand. All through the afternoon the Warden and Cornelius Fudge walked through the halls of Azkaban Prison, with Fudge shooting the occasional question of things concerning welfare, food, prison cells, and also about the nasty rumors that had been circulating around the Ministry of Magic for the past ten years.
"There is no truth to these nasty lies." The Warden had told Fudge when asked about a rumor in which the prisoners were force to dig up, bury, and burn the dead prisoners who had been killed in that horrible epidemic a few years back.
Sirius had been sitting in his cell, thinking strongly of suicide, when he heard the approaching sounds of voices.
"You see Minister, I had no choice but to kill him, he was about to kill one of my Aurors."
"So you did not kill McBride in cold blood."
"No, sir. And speaking of McBride, our last prisoner on the tour is kept down here in solitary confinement."
"Who is he?"
"Sirius Black, Minister. He has been in confinement for attacking me after I was forced to kill McBride."
"Oh, did he?"
"Yes, sir."
Finally the two men reached his cell and Sirius came face to face with Cornelius Fudge for the first time in twelve years.
"Well hello, Sirius." The Minister said, frowning back at him.
"Hello Cornelius." Sirius answered back in a bored tone of voice.
Fudge seemed quite surprised to see Sirius answer him, for when he spoke again, it was in an awkward sort of way.
"So, I s-see that you've held up p-pretty well here."
"I don't know about that," Sirius began, "I'm just a little too normal aren't I?"
"I s-s-suppose." Answered Fudge, surprised that Sirius still had his sanity.
Sirius looked down and saw the latest edition of the Daily Prophet clutched in Fudge's hand. He looked back up at Fudge's face and said, "Have you finished with the Daily Prophet, Minister?"
"Yes," Fudge began, now beginning to get used to Sirius, "Why?"
"Oh, I just miss doing the crossword puzzle. If you're done with it, may I please have it."
"Why, certainly," Fudge answered, somewhat surprised.
Fudge began attempting to put the paper through the bars when the Warden suddenly piped up, "Excuse me minister, why don't you have me hand it to him?"
"Why?" Fudge asked.
"Just in case he tries something stupid."
"Oh," Fudge began, "very well."
Fudge handed the Warden the paper, who then handed it to Sirius. Sirius took it gratefully and began flipping to where the crossword puzzle was located.
"It's on page 3-E now Sirius." the minister said, slightly smiling.
"Thank You, Fudge."
"Well," the Minister began, turning to the Warden, "I'd best be off, I having dinner with Albus Dumbledore. We'll you see me to the Gate?"
"Certainly Minister."
With one last glance at Sirius, Fudge followed the Warden back down the corridor. Sirius was continuing to flip through the pages of the Daily Prophet, still looking for page 3-E, when a picture of a family smiling and waving at him, caught his attention. With one quick glance at the family, he scanned down to where an article read:

Ministry of Magic Employee
Scoops Grand Prize

Arthur Weasley, Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office at the Ministry of Magic, has won the annual Daily Prophet Galleon Draw. A delighted Mr. Weasley told the Daily Prophet, "We will be spending the gold on a summer holiday in Egypt, where our eldest son, Bill, works as a curse breaker for Gringotts Wizarding Bank." The Weasley family will be spending a month in Egypt, returning for the start of the new school year at Hogwarts, which five of the Weasley children currently attend.

He smiled at the family in the picture. Yes, he thought, you deserve it. He held the picture up closer to the candle that hung over his cell in the hopes of getting a better look at the family. He stood up, gave the picture one final good look. But then his smile faded slightly, and then faded away and was replaced with a look of fear and horror. There was something funny about the rat that was on the shoulder of one of the Weasley children. He had seen it before.
"Oh my God!" He breathed.
That was not a rat, it was a Wizard. An animagus by the name of Peter Pettigrew. Looking more closely at it he saw that the rat was missing a finger, that doesn't make sense, he wasn't missing a finger. But then it hit him: The only part of Pettigrew they found was his index finger. He had faked his own death, he was not dead.
"Harry. Harry's in danger."
He had to do something, he had to act. But how? Sirius was locked up in Azkaban and there was no possible way to get out of here. He couldn't just walk up to the Warden and tell him, "Peter Pettigrew's still alive and is at Hogwarts, and is in position to kill Harry Potter when he first gets wind of news that the dark side is rising again."
No, he had to escape, but how? And then it hit him. One night, some time soon, he would wait until they open his cell to bring him dinner and then give them the slip by turning into a dog. They are blind, they won't be able to tell the difference. They will be confused and won't know what's going on for at least a few minutes.
Would that give him time to escape? He didn't fall asleep until after midnight, the Dementors guarding his cell finally heard him drift off to sleep and began to go to work, trying to deprive him of good dreams. They became confused when they began to hear him mutter the same words over and over again:
"He's at Hogwarts, he's at Hogwarts. He can be found at Hogwarts, he's at Hogwarts." When Sirius Black awoke the next morning he automatically remembered something that Gregory McBride had told him nearly two years ago: "The truth will set you free."