Harry Potter sat inside a cell in Azkaban. He was calm. His eyes were stoic. The Dementors steered cleared of him for they didn't understand him. This was a child that was sent screaming from them. Now he was something more.
Harry didn't smile. He didn't show any signs that there was a living breathing person inside him. The approaching footsteps signaled the arrival of Hermione Granger. He recognized her.
"So, you've come, is it because you're trying to face your only failure or because you just want to pity me?" Harry asked her.
"I don't know what happened," Hermione said. She honestly meant that. She now worked for the Ministry as a legal counsel for the Wizengamot.
"You'd become one of them, it's sad, but not unexpected," Harry said. He rocked back and forth when he looked at her.
"I have a deal for you and you can leave this place, if you just expressed remorse for the woman's death," Hermione said.
Harry laughed. It was the first emotion he showed in years and it was unsettling to see.
"I must not tell lies, is that how it went, Hermione?" Harry asked. "It was carved in my hand every night for six months. My blood spilled on the parchment. Do you understand what happened?"
"Yes, she should have burned for what happened but…..we have law and order for a reason, Harry," Hermione responded.
"Yes, we do," Harry agreed. Hermione blinked. "I agree with you. How's that working out for you, by the way?"
"You should take the deal Harry, you're up for the Dementor's Kiss," Hermione said. She looked absolutely frantic. "Just say that you regret killing Umbridge. Say that it was done out of self defense. The Ministry thinks that you murdered her out of cold blood."
"Hmmm, that's an interesting theory," Harry said. He hummed underneath his breath. "Do you think that there's a good reason why I allowed myself to get caught at the scene of the crime?"
"What the hell are you talking about?" Hermione asked. Her mind was completely working overdrive. "You mean you could have….you mean you could have got away with murder and you didn't."
"Yes, I could have, but I chose not to, because that will disrupt law and order," Harry said. "I killed a woman. I'm serving time for my crimes. Are you trying to tell me that I should have gotten away with the crime because I was able to?"
"But…no, you should be here, but you can't be here at the same time," Hermione said.
"Hermione, you always told me that Dumbledore looked at the bigger picture," Harry said. He remained emotionless. "I've seen the bigger picture. Do you see it? To be in Azkaban means that I'm freer than I've ever been before."
Hermione was trying to think of the logic in this situation.
"I never believed that you killed her in cold blood, even though we all considered it," Hermione said.
"Hmm, you're more idealistic than I thought, but you should tell me the real reason why you're here," Harry said. "Why you called in every favor to get this plea bargain?"
Hermione decided to get around to the point.
"It's getting worse," Hermione whispered. "He's killing more people. You've got to stop him."
"I don't have to do anything, except serve my debt to society," Harry commented. "The days of me saying people are over. I'm a criminal. That means I'm not a hero."
"You're the only one who could stop him," Hermione said. She was almost getting down on her knees and begging for him to him.
"You mean to tell me that there aren't wizards and witches more qualified than a Hogwarts dropout that got thrown into Azkaban," Harry said. He was amused by this. "You've gone native, Miss Granger. I'm disappointed in you. Next thing you know, you'll have your own house elf."
"I'll have no such thing!" Hermione yelled, mortified by the very thought. "He's a force of nature that can't be stopped. He took down twenty Aurors like they were pre-school children."
"And now you're coming to the murderous bastard for insight on how to stop a murderer," Harry said. "Touching, I'd admit that."
Harry stood up to face her. Hermione shuddered. She almost felt like she was staring down a Basilisk.
"How can he kill what is already dead?" Harry asked.
"I'm not following you," Hermione responded.
"I knew this was coming, just because Voldemort was dead, it didn't mean that happy days were here again," Harry said. "And when Umbridge got off free, I knew that there was only one thing to do."
"You killed Umbridge," Hermione said.
"I killed Umbridge and I got myself purposely thrown into Azkaban," Harry said. "Voldemort was just the tip of the iceberg of what could happen to this world. This world has been decaying for hundreds of years. It started with the founding of the very Ministry you whored yourself out to."
"I'm not….how dare…"
"Sticks and stones, Hermione, don't let them bother you," Harry said. He smiled, but it was unsettling. "There are more who are killing, but this time, you don't have a hero to bail you out do you. The world has relied on Albus Dumbledore for so long that they've forgotten how to stand up for themselves. And they've relied on me. You saw how quickly the magical people fell apart when Dumbledore died and I disappeared, didn't you?"
"What is this all about?" Hermione asked. She felt like Harry was playing word games with her.
"I just see a far bigger picture than your average foolish wand waver is able to see," Harry said. "I am in the safest place on Earth. I funded several efforts for the Ministry to revamp Azkaban in the months leading up to my incarceration. I'm sure the Daily Prophet had a field day pointing out the irony that my own pet cause was going to keep the big bad Harry Potter where he belonged."
Harry laughed. His laughter continued.
"You've gone mad in Azkaban!" Hermione whispered.
"Mad, no, you don't see the bigger picture," Harry said. He smiled. "Let me spell it out for you."
Hermione couldn't stop listening to him. It was like a car wreck she couldn't turn her head away from.
"Watch your world burn and despair because there's nothing that you can do about it," Harry said. "There's not one, there's many. See all of the bold defenders crumple underneath their attempts to save what cannot be saved. See as they all perish one by one. A storied hidden community implodes and crumbles. Magic will exist, believe me. You can't kill a force of nature. But the age of the wand waving wizard is at an end. This revolution will spread throughout all of the Wizengamot sponsored countries. But Britain, being the center, will be reduced to absolutely nothing."
"An entire civilization can't just die out!" Hermione shouted.
"Obviously not a student of history, is she?" Harry asked no one in particular. "Watch the world burn. There have been many proud civilizations that have said that they've lasted forever and a day. But they were the first to go when something stronger destroyed. Each passing year, the veil of secrecy hiding this world tears a bit more."
Harry placed his hand on the cell. If there wasn't a barrier, he would have touched Hermione's face.
"All it takes is a spark to start the revolution," Harry said. "My incarceration gave it gasoline."
"You son of a bitch!" Hermione yelled, realizing what Harry did.
"Leave my mother out of this," Harry said coldly. "I killed a woman who doesn't exist outside of an outlaw government. Once that government crumbles, I will walk out of Azkaban. That's justice."
Hermione remained shocked.
"Flee," Harry said. "Leave me. Or kill me."
Hermione held her wand in her hand. It shook.
"Kill me, if you think that it will do any good," Harry taunted her. "But you think that my imprisonment gave the revolution gasoline, you don't want to know what my death will cause. You've wiped people's memories. Both on orders from the Ministry and on your own, cross that final frontier."
Hermione thought about it. She stared him down.
"I'm sorry," Hermione muttered.
"Never thought I'd hear those words come from your mouth," Harry said. He thought that he'd might die of shock. "Are you going to tell the authorities on me?"
Hermione didn't know what to do. Harry gave her a problem that even she couldn't solve.
"Damned if you do, damned if you don't," Harry said. "Either way, I've won. There's a reason why the Sorting Hat wanted me in Slytherin."
"And there's a reason why the Sorting Hat didn't want to put me in Ravenclaw," Hermione admitted grimly. She turned away and walked off.
Harry smiled. The Dementors fled from the area around his cell. None of them wanted any part of him while he was like this.
He was the thing a Boggart turned into when a Dementor saw it.
Harry sat back and waited for the destruction of the Wizarding World. He had plenty of time.