CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Escape from Azkaban
(Well this is the chapter that just about raps up Sirius's stay in Azkaban. It's not the last chapter, but it is the climatic chapter)
JULY 30, 1993 4:30 P.M.
The Dementors had been speaking to the Warden about their concerns toward Sirius Black on and off throughout the day. His emotions had all but disappeared, that much was clear, but there was something inside Sirius Black that the Dementors could not identify. It was a form of emotion that did not have feeling, it was just there, raging like a wildfire inside of his alarmingly sane mind. Yet the Warden did not worry, he was not afraid of anyone in the entire prison, so he did not seem to heed the warnings of the fearful Dementors, who had not feared anyone until now.
Sirius Black had not made a sound or movement all day. He just stared out into space, past the bars, past the Dementors, and past the walls, he stared past the fortress and saw freedom. But how to escape, that was a question that hadn't been answered by anyone who had ever been imprisoned here. Even if you got through the Dementors, out of the fortress, and into the ocean, it was a fifteen mile swim to the mainland. Sirius heard the distant sound of thunder. As the minutes went by it became apparent that the storm was heading toward Azkaban. Why tonight, he asked. Why send a storm to this godforsaken island on the very night he had planned to escape.
9:30 P.M.
The storm had turned out to be a very bad one and at 9:30 P.M., fifteen minutes away from the moment of truth, the storm appeared to be growing stronger. What luck, he thought. It was now 9:40, five minutes to go, and the storm outside was still raging. At 9:44, Sirius concentrated on the picture of a dog in his head, a few seconds later he had transformed successfully into Padfoot.
At 9:45 he heard them. They were moving down the hall, his dinner clutched in one of the Dementor's scabby hands. Here we go, he thought. If I'm caught I will receive the Kiss. The Dementor was at the entrance to his cell. With a wave of its free hand, the cell door magically opened with a loud CLANG.
This was it, it was either now or never. Without any hesitation, Sirius Black slipped past the Dementors and began to sprint down the long corridor.
"Doggy!" shrieked one of the insane prisoners, "Nice Doggy."
Sirius continued to run, he had a chance, the best chance that an attempted Escapee had ever had to do the impossible. He, as the dog, sprinted past the hallway that led down to the Warden's office and turned left at the next fork in the road. He followed this corridor all the way down until it veered right, and three it was, at the very end of the tunnel was the open exit. He could see the ocean, dark and active, with large waves being created by the raging thunderstorm.
He was running down the corridor and toward the exit, but about halfway, the alarm began to sound throughout the prison. The barred gate that remained open all of the time began to lower. He wasn't fast enough to make it before it closed on him. He reached the gate, which was now only two feet from the stone floor, and tried to slip under it. But it closed to quickly and he was locked in. Shit, he thought, and he began to look away for some other exit that he did not know about. He began to growl, he had failed Harry, and now Pettigrew would be free to act if he heard of Voldemort's return to power.
He hung his head low. He could hear the sound of fastly approaching foot steps. He looked up and and stared at the barred gate before him, you'd have to be very thin to fit through those bars, he said to himself. Wait a minute, he was very thin. He trotted up to the gate and began to try to squeeze his way through the bars on the gate. He was a quarter of the way through; the footsteps were getting very loud. He was now halfway through; he could hear voices mingled in with the footsteps. He was three quarters of the way through; the voices had almost reached the corner. He made it through, unseen, and slipped off into the stormy night.
The journey to the end of the island was difficult, he was very light, and the strongs winds coming off the storm were making it difficult for him to walk. Several times he was nearly lifted off of the ground. Twenty difficult minutes later, Sirius had reached the island's edge. He let out a gasp of surprise: The island did indeed end here, but the water of the Atlantic Ocean was a hundred feet below him. Well, he thought, I didn't come all this way to just give up on account of a cliff. He took a few steps back and, after a few moments of deliberation, took off for the cliff at a run. He was at the edge, and, pushing off the end of the land with his hind legs, began his hundred foot swan dive into the choppy sea below. As he free-falled, he did several flips, before landing in the icy cold Atlantic.
He hit the water and a stab of sharp pain coursed through his entire body. He sank about twenty feet before beginning his swim back to the surface, oriented himself, and began the fifteen mile swim to shore. About a mile into his swim, he realized that swimming to shore as a dog would take forever and a day. After turning back into Sirius Black, he resumed his swim through the angry ocean.
Wave after wave slammed into Sirius as he swam eastward, and each time he was forced underwater by the power of the wave. He had to waste precious amounts of energy to swim back to the surface and continue landwards. Come on, he told his body about thirteen miles from freedom, just a little longer.
He was ten miles from shore now, and his legs and arms were beginning to lock up from exaustion. His muscles were aching, but if he rested for even a brief second, a wave would slam into him and all that regained energy would be wasted again in swimming back to the surface. He had to continue, he couldn't stop, and he wouldn't stop.
He treked onward and was now about five miles from shore. It was becoming more and more difficult to command his muscles to move his arms and legs. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a large wave collasped on top of him and pulled him under. He tried to fight it, but his arms and legs had given up. No, he thought, don't do this to me. He tried to continue, but it was in vain, he could not move his arms or legs. I'm sorry Harry, he thought sadly, but I failed to protect you. He thought of James and Lily. I am his Godfather, I swore to protect him. I SWORE TO PROTECT HIM FROM DANGER! He began to work his muscles again, this time with a new energy. His legs and arms began to obey some of his commands.
Come on you worthless pieces of shit, WORK! Miracuously, they obeyed, not reluctantly, but began to work as if they belonged to champion swimmer. He was almost out of breath, and almost to the surface. I need...AIR! He had made it back to the ocean surface and breathed heavily. He began to swim again, this time with a new determination to reach the mainland. He had to get to Harry. Pettigrew is at Hogwarts.
He was now only three hundred yards from shore. Come on, we can do this. Two hundred yards from shore. ALMOST there! He was fifty yards out, he could now touch the bottom. He was now wading to shore. Twenty yards from shore, he now began to sprint to shore. Five yards, four, three, two ONE!
He was at the water's edge and here he stopped, staring at the dark objects that lay in front of him upon the main land, staring at thme with disbelief. It noticed for the first time that it was raining Cats and Dogs. He knelt down in the surf, raised his head up to look at the heavens that were opening up on him, and stretched out his hands toward God. HE WAS FREE!!! It was a miracle. He began to catch rain drops in his mouth, drinking the water as if he had never tasted a liquid before. He was free, and for a long while, he had forgotten why he had escaped, he had forgotten about Harry, James, and Lily. And he had forgotten about Peter Pettigrew. All he could think about, at least for that moment, was freedom. Because, for the first time in twelve years, he was free to walk where he wanted, sleep where he wanted, and eat and drink when he wanted.
This was freedom, and he WAS free.
Escape from Azkaban
(Well this is the chapter that just about raps up Sirius's stay in Azkaban. It's not the last chapter, but it is the climatic chapter)
JULY 30, 1993 4:30 P.M.
The Dementors had been speaking to the Warden about their concerns toward Sirius Black on and off throughout the day. His emotions had all but disappeared, that much was clear, but there was something inside Sirius Black that the Dementors could not identify. It was a form of emotion that did not have feeling, it was just there, raging like a wildfire inside of his alarmingly sane mind. Yet the Warden did not worry, he was not afraid of anyone in the entire prison, so he did not seem to heed the warnings of the fearful Dementors, who had not feared anyone until now.
Sirius Black had not made a sound or movement all day. He just stared out into space, past the bars, past the Dementors, and past the walls, he stared past the fortress and saw freedom. But how to escape, that was a question that hadn't been answered by anyone who had ever been imprisoned here. Even if you got through the Dementors, out of the fortress, and into the ocean, it was a fifteen mile swim to the mainland. Sirius heard the distant sound of thunder. As the minutes went by it became apparent that the storm was heading toward Azkaban. Why tonight, he asked. Why send a storm to this godforsaken island on the very night he had planned to escape.
9:30 P.M.
The storm had turned out to be a very bad one and at 9:30 P.M., fifteen minutes away from the moment of truth, the storm appeared to be growing stronger. What luck, he thought. It was now 9:40, five minutes to go, and the storm outside was still raging. At 9:44, Sirius concentrated on the picture of a dog in his head, a few seconds later he had transformed successfully into Padfoot.
At 9:45 he heard them. They were moving down the hall, his dinner clutched in one of the Dementor's scabby hands. Here we go, he thought. If I'm caught I will receive the Kiss. The Dementor was at the entrance to his cell. With a wave of its free hand, the cell door magically opened with a loud CLANG.
This was it, it was either now or never. Without any hesitation, Sirius Black slipped past the Dementors and began to sprint down the long corridor.
"Doggy!" shrieked one of the insane prisoners, "Nice Doggy."
Sirius continued to run, he had a chance, the best chance that an attempted Escapee had ever had to do the impossible. He, as the dog, sprinted past the hallway that led down to the Warden's office and turned left at the next fork in the road. He followed this corridor all the way down until it veered right, and three it was, at the very end of the tunnel was the open exit. He could see the ocean, dark and active, with large waves being created by the raging thunderstorm.
He was running down the corridor and toward the exit, but about halfway, the alarm began to sound throughout the prison. The barred gate that remained open all of the time began to lower. He wasn't fast enough to make it before it closed on him. He reached the gate, which was now only two feet from the stone floor, and tried to slip under it. But it closed to quickly and he was locked in. Shit, he thought, and he began to look away for some other exit that he did not know about. He began to growl, he had failed Harry, and now Pettigrew would be free to act if he heard of Voldemort's return to power.
He hung his head low. He could hear the sound of fastly approaching foot steps. He looked up and and stared at the barred gate before him, you'd have to be very thin to fit through those bars, he said to himself. Wait a minute, he was very thin. He trotted up to the gate and began to try to squeeze his way through the bars on the gate. He was a quarter of the way through; the footsteps were getting very loud. He was now halfway through; he could hear voices mingled in with the footsteps. He was three quarters of the way through; the voices had almost reached the corner. He made it through, unseen, and slipped off into the stormy night.
The journey to the end of the island was difficult, he was very light, and the strongs winds coming off the storm were making it difficult for him to walk. Several times he was nearly lifted off of the ground. Twenty difficult minutes later, Sirius had reached the island's edge. He let out a gasp of surprise: The island did indeed end here, but the water of the Atlantic Ocean was a hundred feet below him. Well, he thought, I didn't come all this way to just give up on account of a cliff. He took a few steps back and, after a few moments of deliberation, took off for the cliff at a run. He was at the edge, and, pushing off the end of the land with his hind legs, began his hundred foot swan dive into the choppy sea below. As he free-falled, he did several flips, before landing in the icy cold Atlantic.
He hit the water and a stab of sharp pain coursed through his entire body. He sank about twenty feet before beginning his swim back to the surface, oriented himself, and began the fifteen mile swim to shore. About a mile into his swim, he realized that swimming to shore as a dog would take forever and a day. After turning back into Sirius Black, he resumed his swim through the angry ocean.
Wave after wave slammed into Sirius as he swam eastward, and each time he was forced underwater by the power of the wave. He had to waste precious amounts of energy to swim back to the surface and continue landwards. Come on, he told his body about thirteen miles from freedom, just a little longer.
He was ten miles from shore now, and his legs and arms were beginning to lock up from exaustion. His muscles were aching, but if he rested for even a brief second, a wave would slam into him and all that regained energy would be wasted again in swimming back to the surface. He had to continue, he couldn't stop, and he wouldn't stop.
He treked onward and was now about five miles from shore. It was becoming more and more difficult to command his muscles to move his arms and legs. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a large wave collasped on top of him and pulled him under. He tried to fight it, but his arms and legs had given up. No, he thought, don't do this to me. He tried to continue, but it was in vain, he could not move his arms or legs. I'm sorry Harry, he thought sadly, but I failed to protect you. He thought of James and Lily. I am his Godfather, I swore to protect him. I SWORE TO PROTECT HIM FROM DANGER! He began to work his muscles again, this time with a new energy. His legs and arms began to obey some of his commands.
Come on you worthless pieces of shit, WORK! Miracuously, they obeyed, not reluctantly, but began to work as if they belonged to champion swimmer. He was almost out of breath, and almost to the surface. I need...AIR! He had made it back to the ocean surface and breathed heavily. He began to swim again, this time with a new determination to reach the mainland. He had to get to Harry. Pettigrew is at Hogwarts.
He was now only three hundred yards from shore. Come on, we can do this. Two hundred yards from shore. ALMOST there! He was fifty yards out, he could now touch the bottom. He was now wading to shore. Twenty yards from shore, he now began to sprint to shore. Five yards, four, three, two ONE!
He was at the water's edge and here he stopped, staring at the dark objects that lay in front of him upon the main land, staring at thme with disbelief. It noticed for the first time that it was raining Cats and Dogs. He knelt down in the surf, raised his head up to look at the heavens that were opening up on him, and stretched out his hands toward God. HE WAS FREE!!! It was a miracle. He began to catch rain drops in his mouth, drinking the water as if he had never tasted a liquid before. He was free, and for a long while, he had forgotten why he had escaped, he had forgotten about Harry, James, and Lily. And he had forgotten about Peter Pettigrew. All he could think about, at least for that moment, was freedom. Because, for the first time in twelve years, he was free to walk where he wanted, sleep where he wanted, and eat and drink when he wanted.
This was freedom, and he WAS free.