I took this off for a few hours, so I could add more to the ending. So if you've read it already, read it again. This is by far the biggest chapter I've written. Hope you enjoy, review.

Chapter 19

Harry thought that his meeting with Dumbledore would leave him feeling better and given him a new hope, but it only made the feeling that he was alone in this even stronger. Although he tried to accept this feeling at the beginning of the summer, losing the thought that he would be able to talk to Dumbledore all year had only made the feeling come back stronger. He had went to the Owlery and sent the letter to Scrimgeour immediately. He hoped that he would be able to prove to Dumbledore that he would be able to accomplish the goal he had set for him. When the owls flew into the Great Hall the next morning, Harry did not expect that Scrimgeour would return his letter for at least a few days.

"Harry," said Ron, "you haven't heard about when Quidditch is starting, have you?"

"No," said Harry, realizing that he had not been told anything about this years team, "I reckon I ought to ask McGonagall when I can set up tryouts."

"You ought to ask her about Azkaban," said Hermione, with a copy of the Standard Book of Spells open over her plate, "we've got to find a way to talk to Mundungus."

"I hope she can get us a visit," said Harry, "do you think she's got that kind of influence?"

"Worth a try," said Ron.

Harry got up and walked over to the staff table, seeing Professor McGonagall get up and head toward the door.

"Er, Professor," he called after her.

"Yes, Potter?" she asked.

"I was wondering when I should start tryouts for Quidditch."

"I'm afraid there will be no Quidditch this year," she said, sadly.

"What!" said Harry, "why not?"

"Well as you must have noticed, there have never been so many students to leave the school," she said, looking around the Great Hall grimly, "Due to the lack of players and the given situation, the staff has decided that the league will not take place this year. I'm sorry, Potter."

"Wait," he said, as she turned to walk away, "I wanted to ask you if you had any way for me to get a visit at Azkaban."

"And why would you need to go there?" she asked, her voice becoming more serious.

"Well, its for the horcruxes, we need to talk to someone who might know where one is."

"Well I don't know how much ability I have to get you in," she said, "but as I agreed over the summer, you will be able to leave the school, given the circumstances. I will ask that you make arrangements with me to leave at appropriate times, I will not allow it to interfere with your final year at Hogwarts, you may only leave on weekends."

"Er, okay," said Harry; who, although he trusted his new headmistress, was not sure how much he wanted to have to disclose to her about his task, "well then I guess we'd like to leave this weekend to go to Azkaban."

"Very well, Potter," said McGonagall, "report to my office and I will transport you away from the school discreetly. Who is it you need to speak to?"

"Mundungus," said Harry bluntly.

"I will try to do what I can to get you access to him, but you must remember that it is of greatest importance that nobody suspects what you are doing."

"Thank you Professor," said Harry, turning around and heading back to the Gryffindor table.

"What did she say?" asked Ron.

"We've got to go to her office when we need to leave," said Harry.

"Did she say she'd be able to get us into Azkaban?" asked Hermione.

"What did she say about Quidditch?" asked Ron, a little louder.

"Cancelled," said Harry, gloomily, "all year."

"What!" shouted Ron, "why the bloody hell would she do that?"

"Dunno," said Harry, "because there aren't enough people to play."

"Sure there are," said Ron, sounding frantic, "there are more than seven people in each house."

"It's very unfortunate that your Quidditch was cancelled," said Hermione, "but did McGonagall say she could get us in to see Mundungus?"

"Its not just any Quidditch season," said Ron, "It's our last season!"

"She said she'd try," said Harry, "if she can't do it, how are we supposed to get in?"

"We can't get in unless we're allowed," said Ron, who seemed to be calming down after such a shock, "my dad told me all about Azkaban, it's impossible to break in."

"I wonder how Voldemort broke in so easily," said Hermione.

"Maybe we can get Scrimgeour to let us in," said Harry, "he'll do anything to get on my good side."

"I don't know if we should let Scrimgeour know what we're up to," said Hermione.

"Hang on," said Ron, "the prophet said that you were working with the ministry, what if we show up and say that we're on ministry business."

"Maybe," said Harry, "I dunno if they'd believe us though."

"The paper said that Harry's got aurors with him at all times, they'll know something is wrong," said Hermione.

"What if we ask Tonks to come with us," suggested Ron.

"Yeah," said Harry, "yeah, that might work."

"We ought to send her a letter straight away," said Hermione.

"We've got to go this weekend," said Harry, isn't there a quicker way of reaching her.

"Ron, your mum might know a way," said Hermione, "the Order has ways of reaching each other."

"Yeah, yeah I'll ask her, erm later," said Ron, clearly apprehensive about talking to Mrs. Weasley in front of the school.

"Ron," said Hermione.

"Alright, alright," said Ron, standing up, "Lets go ask her."

Harry and Hermione stood up and followed Ron to the staff table. Ron walked up to Mrs. Weasley, who was talking quietly with Kingsley, and said, "erm, mom, do you know where Tonks is?"

"Why?" Mrs. Weasley asked, suspiciously.

"We need to ask her a, a sort of favor," said Ron.

"Her and Remus are staying at headquarters," she said, "what favor do you need from her?"

"Oh, nothing really," he said, backing away slowly, "thanks mum."

They walked to the entrance hall and headed back up towards Gryffindor tower.

"If she's at Grimmauld Place then we can talk through the fire in the common room," said Harry.

"We'll have to wait til tonight, though," said Hermione, "we can't do it while people are in the common room. Besides, we've got class, it's only the second day, we can't miss class on the second day."

"Yeah, I reckon your right Hermione," said Harry, "we should wait til tonight."

"We should skive off class anyway," said Ron, "it's our last year."

"It's also our N.E.W.T. year," said Hermione, seriously, "this is going to be the hardest year we've had."

As they weathered another day of lessons, Harry found that Hermione could not have been more right. They were receiving more homework than they had ever had to deal with. Flitwick, who using gave very simple assignments, had asked them to write three rolls of parchment on binding spells. Their new Transfiguration teacher, Professor Diggle, had given them a lot of complicated notes to copy down and assigned them the first four chapters of The Standard Book of Spells. Harry was glad at the chance to rest in the common room while he waited for it to empty. While Hermione sat at a table, with four books spread out in front of her, and Ron gloomily trimmed the tail of his broomstick; Harry sat in an armchair by the fire, slowly drifting to sleep.

Several hours later, Harry opened his eyes, he had fallen to sleep with his glasses on. Looking around he saw that the common room was empty, and Ron and Hermione were sitting on a couch talking. Harry noticed that they were sitting rather close to each other, their hands almost touching. Ron's face looked a bit redder than usual and Hermione seemed to be smiling excessively.

"Looks like we can talk to Tonks now," said Harry, standing up suddenly.

"Oh," said Ron, his face turning a deeper shade of red, "Um, yeah I guess we can."

Harry knelt down beside the fire, took a small pinch of floo powder, and threw it into the fire. "Twelve Grimmauld Place," he said, sticking his head in the fire.

After a brief cyclone of flame, his head appeared in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place, "Tonks! Lupin!" he shouted.

Tonks came running in from the dining room, followed closely by Lupin. They both looked extremely concerned as they hurriedly ran to the fire.

"What's wrong?" asked Lupin, worriedly.

"Don't worry," said Harry quickly, "everything's fine. I just needed to ask Tonks something."

"What's up Harry?" she asked.

"Well, I sort of need your, your help with something," Harry paused, not sure how to ask her without revealing why they needed to talk to Mundungus, "I wanted to go to Azkaban to talk to Mundungus, I thought you might be able to get me in."

"Why do you need to talk to him?" asked Tonks.

"It's about all the stuff he stole from this house," said Harry, which was true, "I want to find out what he did with it."

"I don't know if I can get into Azkaban, Harry, that wouldn't be too easy," said Tonks, but at that, Lupin pulled her to the side of the fire and spoke to her quietly, once they had turned back Tonks said, "You can meet us here and we'll go to Azkaban together."

"Okay," said Harry brightly, "can we leave tomorrow?"

"Alright," said Tonks, who was looking at Harry in a concerned way.

"Thanks" said Harry, pulling his head back into the fire and reappearing, attached to his body, in the Gryffindor common room. Ron and Hermione sat eagerly by the fire, waiting for him to reappear. After Harry had told them what Tonks and Lupin had said, they sat by the fire, discussing their trip to Azkaban.

"At least the Dementors are gone," said Ron, "that place sounded horrible with them there."

"They were under the ministry's control then," said Hermione, "now that they're taking orders from Voldemort, who knows what he'll make them do."

"Voldemort will have a lot more dangerous things than Dementors," said Harry.

"With any luck, we wont have to deal with any of them to get the locket," said Hermione.

"If Mundungus stole it," said Harry, "and if he remembers what he did with it."

Harry was anxious during the next day's classes. He had dreamt of Azkaban, although he had never been there. He traveled down a long line of cells, occasionally stopping to gaze in at the prisoners. Hagrid loomed in the corner of a cell, his head touching the ceiling. Sirius, who was transformed into the black dog, was curled in a circle on the floor. Lucius Malfoy sat against the wall of his cell, muttering incoherently.

At six o'clock; Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked to the stone gargoyle and spoke the password they had been given. The gargoyle slid aside and they ascended the stairs to their Headmistress' office.

"Come in," spoke Professor McGonagall, after Harry had knocked.

"She sat at her desk, shuffling through sheets of parchment. She had a fire crackling in the gate.

"Good evening," she said, "I believe you need to go to Grimmauld Place."

Harry nodded, he was not surprised that she had known. Professor McGonagall stood up and walked slowly to the fire, holding up a bowl of floo powder, "Good luck," she said, as Harry took a handful.

"With a look at Dumbledore's painting, which smiled brightly at him, he stepped into the fire.

"Lupin? Tonks?" Harry called, walking through the kitchen. He pushed open the door to the dining room as Hermione stumbled out of the grate. Lupin and Tonks were sitting at the table, they smiled when he walked through the door.

"Hello, Harry," said Lupin.

"Ready to go then, Harry?" Tonks asked.

"Yeah," said Harry, "I guess."

"How are we getting there?" asked Ron; who had walked into the room with Hermione.

"The ministry has set up a portkey for me," said Tonks, "I've been given permission to interrogate Mundungus."

"The ministry doesn't know we're going with you, do they?" asked Hermione.

"No, it won't be a problem if you show up with me," said Tonks.

"Where is the portkey set up?" Harry asked.

"Not too far, you can apparate there," said Lupin.

"We should head out now," said Tonks, "the portkey is scheduled to leave soon."

"Good luck," said Lupin, with the same expression McGonagall wore when she had said it.

Harry, Ron and Hermione followed Tonks out of the doors of the old house, and onto Grimmauld Place. They walked for several blocks before she pointed down a long street at a shabby building. Focusing on the destination, which was about five hundred yards away, the four of them apparated down the street; reappearing at the doors of the building.

"Right, we're looking for a tin can," said Tonks, scanning the alley by the building. Hermione spotted it behind a few shopping bags and they all huddled around it. After about a minute, Tonks said that it was time and they all touched a part of the can. Harry's navel felt a sharp hook and they were spinning away from the alley. As Harry's finger remained glued to the can, they spun in a vortex of air until finally hitting the ground.

They were outside a large rundown train station, positioned only a hundred yards from the coastline. Although the windows and doors were boarded up, the station did not seem to be damaged in any way. On the contrary, it seemed to be built out of solid concrete. They walked up to the main door, which was blocked up by one enormous piece of wood. Tonks knocked twice on the door, calling aloud, "I am auror Nymphadora Tonks, here to see prisoner Mundungus Fletcher."

"Auror!" cried a shrill voice from within, "Come, quick, quick."

Tonks motioned forward to the three of them, then stepped through the wood; Harry, Ron and Hermione followed. Harry had not expected such a large crowd to be on the other side. Almost two dozen wizards were filing hurriedly toward a silver train, which lay on the tracks, horn blowing rapidly. The wizards had their wands out, and they were picking up light cloaks from a stern looking man.

"What's going on," Tonks asked the man at the entrance.

"Death Eaters," he cried in a panicked voice, "broke in about ten minutes ago, they're at the prison now."

"Let's go," said Harry, pulling out his wand.

"You three have to apparate back," said Tonks, who had also pulled her wand out.

"We have to help," said Ron.

"It's not your fight, you have to be kept safe," said Tonks.

"We're members of the order, this is what we swore to do when we were brought in," said Harry.

"We still must talk to Mundungus," whispered Hermione, over Harry's right shoulder.

"Right," said the security wizard, "you four get on the next train over."

They hurried toward the group of wizards near the train.

"Who are you?" one of them asked.

"I'm an auror," said Tonks, "we're here to help."

"You better get a defense cloak," said gangly looking wizard.

Harry looked down at a pile of cloaks on a table in front of them. With a closer look he realized that they were the cloaks Fred and George had made in their shop. He took one that looked the proper size, and pulled it on over his shirt. Once Ron, Hermione and Tonks had done the same, they moved their way to the entrance of the train and boarded.

Once another half dozen wizards had climbed into their car, the doors closed and the train sped off. One of the guards who had boarded the train with them stepped up to Harry and said, "Harry Potter, my name is Fenwick. We are grateful for you and your friends assistance."

"Er, thanks," said Harry, awkwardly. Fenwick was a large, tough looking Wizard, with dark patchy hair.

Harry didn't notice how fast the train was going, he was too focused on the death eaters that were in the prison. How many of them had come? Was Voldemort with them? The train came to a halt and they ran out quickly. They had resurfaced on an enormous island; looking around, Harry could not see the shore they had came from.

The prison, Azkaban, was a huge stone building with high walls. Harry was reminded of an ancient castle, with towers at each corner. There was a door that seemed to be made of the same stone as the walls, it was slid open, ready for them. They followed the Azkaban guards through the entrance and met two hooded figures at the door.

The death eaters aimed jinxes at the first two guards through the entrance, knocking them off to the side. The taller death eater sent another flash of red light toward a guard, who blocked it. Harry moved forward, aiming his wand at the death eater, and shouted, "Stupefy."

He fell over, unconscious, as the other death eater darted around a corner, aiming a spell over his shoulder and hitting another guard. The wizard, Fenwick, ran around the corner after him, was hit by a jinx that bounced off his cloak, and hit the death eater with a disarming spell.

"Petrificus Totalus!" shouted Hermione, who had been second around the corner.

"Where are the others?" Fenwick shouted at him.

"Its no use," sneered the binded death eater from the floor, "you can't stop us."

"We'll see about that," he said, getting up.

"Do you know where Mundungus Fletcher's cell is?" Harry asked him.

"They've got a list of cells up here on the left," said Fenwick, leading the way.

When the turned the corner they saw a large board which appeared to have several signs torn off, "They've got them," he said, "They took the lists."

"We've got to find them," said Ron.

At that moment, they heard a loud explosion from somewhere to the right of them. Harry sped after the noise, with Ron, Hermione, Tonks, and half a dozen guards following. With another right, and then another left, they slowed down as they began to hear voices. Creeping to a stop at the end of a corridor, Harry listened around the corner.

"Welcome out, Lucius," said a cold voice that made Harry's blood run.

"Draco," exclaimed Lucius. Harry peered around the corner to see Snape standing next to Malfoy, who was pulling up his left sleeve to show his father the mark burned onto his forearm. Upon seeing the Dark Mark, Draco's father embraced him briefly. Malfoy had several lists in his hand.

Harry leaped out from behind the wall, aiming a jinx at Snape.

"Potter!" Snape cried, blocking Harry's jinx with a wave of his wand.

"Expelliarmus," Ron shouted, turning the corner and aiming his wand at Malfoy.

Ron's spell hit Malfoy, who went flying through the air, dropping his wand, and the lists. Malfoy's wand landed in front of Lucius, who seemed too weak to pick it up. Hermione yelled, "Accio," causing the lists to fly into her hand. As Harry aimed jinxes at Snape, Malfoy picked up his wand and started firing hexes back down the corridor towards them. The Azkaban guards jumped in front of Harry and Ron, running towards Snape and Lucius and Draco Malfoy.

"Harry, Mundungus is back this way," said Hermione, pulling at his arm as he shot another jinx at Snape.

"They can handle those three," said Ron, who had stopped sending spells toward them, "we've got to talk to him."

"We can't let him get away," shouted Harry, who was still watching Snape, who had already sent one of the guards to the ground, "he killed Dumbledore!"

"We'll get another chance," said Hermione, "we don't know how many of them are here, we've got to get to Mundungus."

"Right," said Harry, still not turning away from the fight, but backing up slightly, "right, let's go."

They sprinted away from the battle, following Hermione to the left. Down another corridor and a set of stairs, they reached a long row of cells. They ran down the hall, looking into the cells as they passed. Some lay in a pile in their cells, those that had heard the noises from the battle were propped up weakly against their bars, some stared amazed at Harry. Finally, Hermione stopped and they gazed inside the cell she was in front of. There was an unrecognizable lump in the middle of the room.

"Mundungus," shouted Harry.

The lump gave a shake and rose slightly, "Who's that?" it called.

"Harry," he said, loudly.

"Harry!" Mundungus cried, pulling the rags off him and standing up, "Harry, have you come to break me out? They haven't even given me a trial!"

He looked terrible, his face gaunt and dark. His normally untidy hair was absolutely filthy, with patches falling out. He seemed to be covered in dirt, and was wearing moldy rags that smelled as if he had not moved in weeks.

"Mundungus," said Harry, firmly, "you need to tell me if you ever took a golden locket with an 'S' on it from Sirius' house."

"I'm right sorry about all that, Harry," said Mundungus, in a weak voice "you'll still get me out of here, right?"

"The locket," said Hermione.

"Now you mention it," said Dung, thinking hard, "I almost sold a gold locket to some bloke in Diagon Alley."

"Did you sell it to someone," asked Ron.

"No," he said, regretfully, "it was with me when I got brought here."

"Is it still here?" asked Harry, hopefully.

"It'll be at the ministry, they keep everything in a locked section," said Mundungus.

"Your sure its there?" asked Hermione, "your sure it was the same locket."

"Gold one, heavy, yep, it had that 'S' on it alright," said Mundungus, "now how about some help here."

"We, we can't," said Hermione, "it's not right."

"It's not right I'm in here," said Mundungus, "it's the corrupt ministry at work."

"If we let you out now," said Harry, "the ministry will think you left with the Death Eaters."

"Death Eaters?" asked Mundungus, obliviously.

"They've broke into Azkaban," said Ron, "they're breaking out all the Death Eaters."

"I can't be here with Death Eaters around," said Mundungus, with a terrified look down the hall.

"You'll be fine," said Harry, "we've got to go find the others."

"Thanks, Dung," said Ron, as they turned to leave.

"Were did Tonks go?" asked Hermione.

"Lets check back at Lucius' cell," said Harry, running back the way they came.

When they reached the broken cell door, they saw that Snape and the Malfoy's had moved on. Two guards lay unconscious on the ground, Harry guessed that they must have headed down the far hallway. They raced down the corridor for a few minutes before they heard voices again. It was not the fierce cries of a battle though, the voices were lighter. Rounding a corner they saw Tonks and several guards, all of which seemed to be nursing injuries. Tonks had a small cut across her cheek and a slightly fat lip.

"They're still inside," said Tonks, "we're blocking the exit."

"How many of them are there?" asked Hermione.

"About half a dozen, plus all the prisoners they've freed," replied Tonks.

"Is there any other way out?" Harry asked.

"There's no other way back to the shore," said Fenwick, who had a welt on his arm, "but we've shut down the train."

"How do they expect to get out?" Ron questioned the wizard.

"We can't wait for them here, they might be finding another way right now," said Harry, moving down the corridor, "we've got to find them."

"I will assist you," said Fenwick, stepping forward.

"Er, okay," said Harry, who had liked the wizard so far, "Lets go."

"I'll stay to guard the entrance," said Tonks, "there aren't many left."

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Fenwick raced down the corridor, listening for any sound of the Death Eaters.

"They have broken through," Harry heard Snape shout, "Lets go."

"The passage to the towers," cried Fenwick, "they managed to break the spells that close it."

They turned the corner and saw Snape, Malfoy, and several other Death Eaters leading the freed prisoners up a flight of stairs.

"Snape!" cried Harry, sending a non-verbal spell at him.

"You've been practicing, Potter," said Snape, slamming Harry into a wall with a flick of his wand.

Last around the corner, Fenwick sent a stunning spell at the tallest Death Eater, causing him to crumple in a pile. Snape sent a hex flying at Fenwick, who still had his wand pointed at the fallen Death Eater, but Hermione stepped in front of him shouting, "Protego."

Snape's blocked hex bounced back at the Death Eaters, sending one of them to the floor, "Reducto!" cried Snape, causing the stone ceiling to cave in on them.

Harry dove out of the way and heard Snape call, "Grab Avery and move."

"Reducto," Harry yelled, pointing his wand at the wall of rock in front of him. A few of the rocks were reduced to rubble, but the pile still blocked their way, "Reducto, Reducto!" More rocks were blasted apart, but it was no use.

Snape had gotten away, and they had gotten more Death Eaters out of Azkaban. He was no closer to finding the horcruxes, and Voldemort had more of his servants loose on the world.