Chapter II: Death Eaters' Escape
"Mercy, no," Mister Weasley shouted as he entered the Ministry of Muggle Artifacts. He slammed the Daily Prophet onto the desk of a lofty woman with long yellow hair and a black, v-neck dress.
"Calm down. What is all the fuss about?"
He pointed at the front page of the newspaper. Covering most of the sheet was a photograph of a large group of hooded figures. They stood outside a dark and dreary castle that pierced its surrounding sky with black.
"Oh, for goodness sake. It's just Azkaban Prison. I've seen dozens of pictures of it before," the woman said as she scanned over the front page.
"Turn it over, woman!" he yelled and flipped it over for her. "Right here!" He pointed at a rather bright article filling up most of the paper. In red, huge letters it read,
"Voldemort's Followers"When the woman read the words out loud, she immediately wrapped her slender fingers over her lips. She couldn't believe they would actually print his name, but they did. And that was not all. As her eyes looked into the article, she read it,
"The number is now ninety-nine. They have all been sentenced to life here at Azkaban Prison. With the final trial set, it seems that almost all of the Death Eaters have been captured including Lucius Malfoy. Every day we are uncovering more traitors; however, many readers are concerned that there are still Death Eaters gathering. We have no positive source of this rumor, and we are dismissing it as just that, a rumor.
Tomorrow, two more traitors may be sent to Azkaban. The last group includes Justine Yellowbird-Corryton and Theodore McGonagall (didn't we tell you! You see, we do not lie). They have been accused of aiding Voldemort; yes, we said it again, Voldemort. When questioned Theodore about this accusation, he responded and I quote,
"Ludicrous! I am a noble wizard who would never do such a thing. My political standing is none of your business, but I never did nor will aid Him. Now, get that thing out of my face!"
There you have it. 99 confirmed Death Eaters, and three more to go. Read tomorrow's article in which we will interview Justine Yellowbird-Corryton, 38 years old, single with one child, about her falling."
Mister Weasley stood baffled next to the woman who read the article out loud. She sat down and stared at it blankly, letting her hair ruffle against her now reddened eyes.
"I have two friends who have been convicted already," she said quietly. "And now, Theodore is being tried… He hasn't done anything!"
"Yes, I know, Loretta. And it's not just that. Look around you," he said as he pointed at several empty cubicles. "Close to thirty people here are related to some one who is going to Azkaban. I am glad that some Death Eaters are locked away, but do you really think there are that many?"
"No," she said lowly. "We could be next. We work with people related to them…"
"Once you start thinking like those damn reporters, then you will be. Until then, we shall not give into this trash!" Mister Weasley shouted, grabbed the paper and tore it into small pieces.
"His mum?" Ron asked, sitting at the Sorting Hat Ceremony.
"Yes," Hermione whispered back.
They both ogled as Chester or rather, Chad, sat down on the stool. The hat cringed and became to talk out loud.
"Quiet you are and not so courageous too…
Brains you have but where to place you…
Young and clever you may be…
But heart of gold is what I see…
And so I must tell what I saw…
You belong in Ravenclaw!"
Chad smiled and rushed over the table next to Gryffindor. As he passed by Ron and Hermione, they stared at him intensively. After the young boy sat down and made his new Ravenclaw friends, Ron turned to Hermione.
"Does he even know?"
"I think so," she responded. "I mean, well, his mom is being put on trial. Of course he knows."
"Yeah. Look, Harry's coming," Ron said as a disheveled Harry raced toward them. He parked himself next to Ron who asked, "Why so glum, mate?"
"I don't want to talk 'bout it, okay?"
"Alright, alright," Ron said, not wanting to seem too pushy.
Ron turned his red haired head back to the Sorting Hat. A very young girl with wavy silver hair and red streaks everywhere sat on top of the stool. Her face had a simple complexion with pale white skin and pale pink lips. She seemed rather scared about what the Hat was going to say.
"A toughie we have here I see…
Slytherin is where you should be…
But not so dark as I would hope…
Perhaps another house you rope…
And so I say with nothing more…
You belong in Gryffindor!"
The girl jumped out of the stool and ran over to the end of the table. Whispers spread throughout the table until her identity finally reached Ron's ears. When the rumor was whispered into Ron's ears he shouted,
"Her name is Kimberly Hooch. Madam Hooch's daughter!"
Hermione laughed and so did Harry. They didn't think that Madam Hooch was even capable of bearing children; yet, obviously they were wrong. After a good thirty minutes, the remaining students were sorted, and the Gryffindors gained seven new students, some of which included Maybelle Radbury, Kimberly Hooch and Daniel O'Grady. Ron was in charge of taking the boys to the Gryffindor Tower while Hermione took the girls.
Harry was left taking no one since he was not a Head Boy or a Prefect. And so he sulked behind the rest, trying not to make eye contact with anyone. As he approached a painting of an elderly woman wearing a slinky purple dress, a boy's nasal voice squeaked behind him.
"Excuse me, Harry," Chad said.
"Why aren't you with your Ravenclaw buddies?"
He shook his head. "I got separated from them."
Harry sighed and looked over to his right. He saw the Head Boy of Ravenclaw leading a pack in the other direction. Quickly, Harry pushed the young boy in that direction and shouted,
"Keep better track of your newbies! Don't want another troll eating them! Remember last year? Ha!"
A few new students screamed, believing every cruel word. It was so much fun torturing and lying to the new wizards and witches. Especially since they were so naïve that they believed any upper class student, no matter how ridiculous they sounded.
"Thanks, Harry. Now, don't scare my group! You know that troll didn't kill that student, only put him in a coma!"
"Oh, yes, my mistake. I was thinking of that Dragon that was set loose throughout the building."
"Come on, Harry! You know that's not true! It was a Giant, not a Dragon. And only four students were killed that time."
"Yes, but three of them were Ravenclaws."
"Oh, shut up, Harry, I can't keep track of all of them."
At least Ravenclaw's prefect had a sense of humor. Harry chuckled at his comments and peered over at the first years that believed everything the two had said. It was fun scarring them for life. And so, after a good laugh, Harry continued on his way to the Gryffindor Tower. So far, nothing terrible occurred. Harry had actually stopped thinking of Sirius for a few minutes, making him realize that his whole year might not be a foreshadowed doom.