Disclaimer: I do NOT own Harry Potter. This story is non-profitable, and is purely for entertainment purposes only. Also, please remember that I wrote this way before the fifth book ever came out. Any resemblance is simply a very freaky coincidence.

            Lyralei Maxwell apparated swiftly to the high-security conference building at about noon. According to her secretary, her meeting was to be not only with Crouch, but with several important others, including the Minister of Magic himself, Cornelius Fudge. Lyralei wasn't informed about what the meeting was going to concern, but as the Minister was present, it was bound to be a number one priority, and probably dangerous in nature. Things concerning Lyralei and her department often were.

            Lyr walked briskly to the meeting room and was announced in by an intern. After a quick round of greetings, she seated herself at the round Formica conference table and picked up her manila envelope. Then Steven Vasrien, the head of the Magical Enforcement Squad, stood up. Vasrien was a capable wizard, pretty good at his job, but he had a horrible tendency to prolong something, especially speeches, even at the most urgent of times.

            Clearing his throat for attention, he began,

            "Minister, ladies, gentlemen, I called you here today because I have some very astounding, yet grievous news to report," he announced, pausing for effect.  "Last night, we found out that prisoner Sirius Black had escaped from Azkaban."

            This was obviously news to everyone present, and for about five seconds, there was a dead silence. Then, the table seemed to explode.

            Almost everyone tried to talk at once. At least two people screamed. The Minister's aide fainted on the spot, and Rori Bellows, the Ministry's Media Head jumped up with his wand and started looking around frantically as if he thought that Sirius Black was in the room with them. The Minister himself finally found his voice and shouted through the din, trying to yell at Vasrian. Finally, Crouch let off a huge BANG with his wand, and everyone shut up for a moment.

            Lyralei, for the most part, was incredibly grateful to all the confusion, because she knew that if people had their heads screwed on properly, their automatic reaction would be to look at her to see how she was handling the news. Fortunately, by that time she managed to master herself enough to slip on an expressionless mask over her face, and just managed to temporarily blank out the turmoil that was raging through her.

            Focus on the task at hand she told herself, knowing full well how delicate her position was at the moment. If they got any sort of suspicion that she was happy about this, or relieved, or anything, she would be done for. Everyone knew how hard she tried to get Sirius off the hook before. For her own part, this had come as a complete shock to her, and when she heard just now, Lyr reeled in her chair and if she were standing, she was sure her legs would have given away beneath her.

            "Silence, all of you!" snapped Crouch. Then he focused on Vasrien. "How can this be? It is impossible to escape from Azkaban; there's no way he could have done it! Not without help, at least..."

            Vasrien sighed and looked at Crouch wearily. "We have no idea how he could have done it, sir. The dementors didn't know either. They are blind, after all. The only thing I could think of that might have got him out of there is dark magic, powerful, that too. Though how he had the strength to cast it is beyond me. And no one entered Azkaban after your visit Minister, that much is for certain."

            Then Fudge, who had turned quite pale, sputtered up, "This is preposterous! I inspected Azkaban just yesterday, and Black was certainly there then! Have you sent anyone out to find him?"

            Vasrien nodded, "I sent a whole team out. They've been searching since last night, but nothing's turned up so far. I was afraid of taking any more immediate action until this crisis was informed to you."

            Then Lyr decided that she had better get it together and say something. This was her job, after all, and besides, Crouch was looking at her in a most peculiar way.

            "Do you have any leads at all?" she asked. "Has someone interrogated the dementors that were guarding him? Something must have happened recently to aid or encourage Black to attempt an escape. A powerless wreck of a wizard doesn't suddenly escape for no particular reason after 12 years."

            "No particular reason?" scoffed Belinda Sores, who was part of Inter-Muggle Relations. "What about freedom? A chance to get back to his master and back into the world."

            The people in the room, if it was possible, seemed to pale even more when Sores mentioned 'his master.'

            "Don't be stupid," Lyralei snapped. "Azkaban prisoners are not capable of rational thought, at least not after 12 years in that hell. If Black wanted to escape for those reasons, he would have tried this years ago, not now, not after so long."

            Then the Minister spoke up. "Actually Lyralei, Black didn't exactly measure up to those criteria."

            Everyone looked up sharply. "What do you mean?"

            The Minister frowned, troubled. "When I saw Black yesterday, well, let's just say it was quite unsettling. He wasn't like the other prisoners. In fact, he was quite sane, just like you or me. He asked me, quite calmly, if I was done with my paper, because he wanted to do the crossword. I really couldn't believe it. I mean, he's one of the most heavily guarded in the place; with dementors around him day and night."

            Lyr almost grinned. She managed to catch herself in time, but couldn't stop the flash of something that looked suspiciously like pride on her face. She couldn't help it, even if she had no right to have the feeling. Crouch, with his sharp eyes trained on Lyralei's face, caught it, even though it appeared for less than a second. Lyralei knew this, and cursing inwardly, she tried to cover it up.

            "You gave him the paper?" she demanded in fake rage, "Then maybe that's what caused this! And what about the interrogation?"

            Vasrien spoke up. "Yes, there was an interrogation. All the guards said the same thing. There was only one change in the prisoner's habits, apparently, although it may be quite important. It could be the very clue we need, though I don't know what it means. It seems that Black had been talking in his sleep the nights before his escape. Always the same thing too. He apparently kept repeating the words: He's at Hogwarts."

            "Is that it?" someone asked, while another person voiced, "Who's at Hogwarts?

            "We don't know," Vasrien replied. "That's all he kept saying."

Meanwhile, Crouch, who had kept silent all this time, spoke up with an arrested look on his face: "Potter."

            Several people gasped, and looked sharply at Crouch. "What?"

            "Potter," he repeated. "Harry Potter. Black must be after the boy. It makes perfect sense. Something he saw in the paper must have informed him of the boy's whereabouts. Or maybe he looked at the date and deduced the information. It's not that hard to figure out. What better way to avenge his master's downfall than to get rid of the Boy Who Lived?"

            Fear was now present on all the faces in the room.

            "What shall we do?" asked someone frantically. "We can't let him get Harry Potter!"

            Fudge spoke up again, authoritatively. "The first thing we need to do is recapture Black. This escape will not remain a secret, and must be considered as a Code Red operation. Everyone in the Ministry must be informed so they can help find Black, and the Daily Prophet must hear of this from us, before some rumor leaks out."

            Various people nodded and started to get to work right there.

            "Minister, what about the muggles?" inquired Belinda Sores. "Oughtn't we to warn them of Black? He is a danger to everyone, not just us. Besides, they could help keep a look out for him."

            The Minister frowned slightly but agreed to her request. "Yes, you're right. Arrange a meeting with the Muggle Prime Minister. Black must be found!" he said. "At any cost!"

            "What is going to be done about young Potter, then?" someone asked.

            Lyralei spoke up, "Harry should be safe at his guardians place for now. He has been his whole life, and this shouldn't change that fact. Afterwards he will be off to Hogwarts, under the care of Dumbledore. I don't think the boy is in any immediate danger as long as he stays where he's supposed to be."

            Fudge nodded, "Yes, that's right. I'll go and inform Dumbledore myself of course, first thing."

            After that, the meeting went swiftly. The media people went off to inform the public. Then came the conflict.

            Lyralei took a deep breath and said, "Minister, I'd like to head the investigation on Black. I'll make it my top priority as of now."

            "No!" said Crouch immediately. "You can't possibly handle this. You have no right."

            Lyralei's eyes flashed dangerously. "This is as much my job as anyone else here. I am fully qualified and this does fall somewhat into my line of work."

            Fudge looked at the two, who were currently shooting daggers at each other. "Well..." he started.

            Crouch turned to him and said harshly, "Minister, you can't possibly consider this ludicrous proposal! Have you all but forgotten Miss Maxwell's history?! It is-"

            "History," Lyralei cut in. "Exactly Crouch. It's in the past, all of it, and I have long since put it behind me. I am the perfect person to lead this investigation, and you all know it."

            "That doesn't excuse you from anything!" Crouch yelled. "Do you take us all for fools? Did you expect everyone to forget your past with Black? How you attempted to free him, never believing in his guilt?! Besides, this is Vasrien's job, not yours!"

            Lyralei was at a loss for a moment, but then recovered and glared at Crouch murderously, "I was delusional then, Crouch. My best friends had just died. I didn't want to lose anyone else. I realized the truth long ago. Black was a horrid traitor who didn't deserve to live! He hurt me more than anyone else in the world, forcing me to wrap my life around him, and then destroying it when the time was right. It was a lie, damnit! My whole life concerning him was a lie!"

            By now Lyralei was shaking in rage and disgust at herself. Enough so that she probably even fooled Crouch at the time. She took a few breaths to steady herself, more than a little surprised at the passion in her voice, and went on more calmly, with a steely note in her tone.

            "Black betrayed me. He killed my friends. He ruined my life. And you know what they say," she said, letting out a humorless laugh, "A woman never forgets. If there is anyone in this world who has a right to want revenge on him it's me. Let me find him. Let me capture him, please." Lyralei then looked right into Crouch's eyes, then into the Minister's. "I won't fail you."

AN: No one reviewed the last chapter :(     I decided to post this anyway, but please please please review this one! It's quite depressing posting stuff when you don't know if anybody's reading it. Ciao!