Azkaban
On the morning of the following Saturday, Roy Apparated invisibly in the small fishing harbour of Branness, where the fishing cutters returning from their night's fishing trip were just being unloaded. Countless seagulls were flying around the boats to catch a fish or two.
Roy waited until the hustle and bustle had died down a bit and most of the fishermen had left the pier to warm up in a pub or go home. Then, still invisible, he boarded one of the abandoned boats, on whose rail a few herring gulls had made themselves comfortable. He picked out one that seemed particularly strong and pointed the wand at it:
"Petrificus totalus," he muttered, and immediately the seagull, paralysed, fell from the rail. He laid it gently on the planks.
If one of the fishermen had returned at that moment, he would undoubtedly have been astonished by the bright blue streaks of light that pulsed across the gull's plumage for about a minute.
Roy lifted the Petrificus again. The seagull looked around in puzzlement for a moment, then spread its wings and hurried to get a good distance from this eerie cutter on which such strange things were happening. It sat down on the masthead of a sailboat some distance away and preened its feathering extensively.
On the deck of the cutter, another seagull now appeared as if from nowhere, also spreading its wings and flying off in eastern direction under the cloudless morning sky.
Roy had visited the Restricted Section again the night after the last meeting and learned about Animagus spells. It mattered little to him that it was forbidden to become an Animagus without the express permission of the Ministry: Pretty much everything he had done in the last three or four months was forbidden. However, the transformation into an Animagus seemed tricky and not entirely safe. Therefore, on Friday evening, he had visited Minerva McGonagall – a registered and approved cat Animagus – in her office, informed her of his plan and asked for help.
McGonagall instructed him thoroughly. Then she admonished him earnestly and insistently:
"You may consider it a great proof of confidence that I am telling you all this, MacAllister! I still wouldn't do it if it wasn't for Harry and you weren't the only one I trust to save him."
"I am honoured, Professor. I won't disappoint you. Oh, and since I'm here: We will soon, God willing, need a new Minister for Magic, a person of impeccable ..."
"I have already been contacted," the Headmistress interrupted him, "and I have promised that the replacement of the Minister will not fail because of the lack of an opposing candidate."
She rose.
"But that needn't be your problem, MacAllister, that's taken care of by people strategically better placed than you. Focus on getting Harry out in case he is sentenced."
"Of course, Professor. Have a good evening."
"You too."
Roy was already at the door when McGonagall called out again:
"MacAllister!"
"Professor?" Roy turned around. For the first time, he noticed something like a motherly trait in the otherwise stern face of the Headmistress.
"Take good care of yourself."
"I'll do so. I promise you."
Roy rapidly gained altitude. Since he could not use a compass, he wanted to have as large a radius of vision as possible so as not to possibly fly past the prison island. In the distance, he spotted something that looked like an island. He passed into a long descent and was able to make out details gradually: The island was about circular, perhaps four hundred yards in diameter, and in the middle of it there was an old castle with a high tower. The island coast was fortified with a wall about thirteen feet high.
Now that he had found Azkaban, Roy gave in to the temptation to join the other seagulls and play a little with the wind. Even for a wizard who was used to using brooms to get around, it was a unique pleasure to be able to fly autonomously. He let himself be lifted up by the strong sea wind, tilted to the side, started a short dive, circled back up in wide spirals, stopped in mid-air, dashed back down, shot just above the waves and moved up again.
He could have gone on like this for hours. When this is all over, he thought, I'll do it once just for fun. But now there were more important things for him to do. He flew to the top of the castle tower and sat there. From there he would have a good overview.
Roy preened his feathering – as a seagull he couldn't help it – then he looked around: The outer wall was lined with twelve watchtowers, under whose roofs there were windows that allowed the guards a panoramic view. Between the wall and the castle, there was an area about five hundred feet wide, without buildings and paved. They had been careful to ensure that there were no obstacles blocking the view. Whoever tried to cross this area had to be seen by the guards on the watchtowers and in the castle. On the west side, the wall was interrupted by a large water gate bordered by two towers. A kind of canal led through the gate – which was locked at the moment – and rose about thirty yards onto the prison grounds, where it led to a landing stage. A little to the north of the gate, a flat stone building about two hundred yards long and nine yards wide leaned against the wall. Its windows, unlike all the windows in the castle, were not barred.
Roy pushed himself off the battlement, flew to one of the watchtowers and circuited it. The interior was in a half-light that he was unable to penetrate as he was making his circles in the bright sunshine. He sat down on the shady side on one of the outer ledges of the unglazed windows, gave his eyes a moment to adjust, and peered in. Two Aurors, recognisable by their dark blue cloaks, were on watch there – no Dementors; they were obviously only doing their service in the castle. Presumably the wide open space was not only to prevent the prisoners from escaping, but also to keep the Dementors at a distance from the Aurors.
Roy checked a few other towers to make sure that two Aurors each were the standard manning of a tower, then he took a look at the flat stone building. Apparently, it was the accommodation of the Aurors, some of whom he could see sleeping in their bunk beds. At the end of the building was a large kitchen and the spacious dining hall. After peering through several windows, Roy calculated that the accommodation provided space for about four hundred people. Since the permanent manning of the twelve watchtowers with two aurors each in three eight-hour shifts required no more than seventy-two Aurors a day, the normal manning, even if one generously added kitchen and administrative staff and a reserve of additional staff on standby duty, was unlikely to exceed two hundred Aurors, most of whom were staying in their quarters. However, the Ministry kept capacity for a crew of Aurors twice as large. That was something that they would have to reckon with.
Roy now circuited the castle. Although all the windows were barred, there were apparently no cells above ground, because behind all the windows he peered through he saw Dementors, not prisoners. Although they came very close to him, he felt none of the coldness they usually emanated when they tried to suck all the happiness out of people. Apparently their power did not work against animals.
From the ledge of one of the castle windows, Roy saw three Aurors on their brooms fly steeply upwards. Upwards? he thought. What are they going to do there? He followed them at a certain distance many hundreds of yards up, while the castle below them seemed to become increasingly smaller. Having almost reached the edge of the protective bell, the Aurors stopped in mid-air. They seemed to be waiting for something.
As if from nowhere, three more Aurors on brooms appeared above them. They stopped briefly at their colleagues while Roy flew closer. "Nothing unusual," he heard one of the newly appeared Aurors say. They did not seem to be particularly astute, otherwise they would probably have wondered what a herring gull was doing at an altitude of almost a mile. The Aurors high-fived each other, then those Roy had been following continued to rise and suddenly disappeared, while the others descended to the castle. Roy realised he had witnessed a changing of the guard. Apparently, three aurors circled invisibly above the fortress in order to be able to see any attackers from afar and, if necessary, fend them off without being seen by them themselves.
He now descended in wide circles again and landed on the tower to take a look at the castle itself. Deep below him he saw a square prison yard with sides about twenty-five yards long. The walls of the castle surrounding it rose so high that hardly any light fell into it. Nevertheless, Roy was able to spot a prisoner walking in circles in this yard, guarded by Dementors. Roy became curious, pushed himself off again and circled down into the yard, where he sat on a wall ledge about as high as a man.
The prisoner was Harry. He was unhurt and did not look unhappy or distressed at all, rather introspective, almost like a meditating Tibetan monk. When Harry had almost reached the wall ledge, Roy uttered the contact call of the herring gulls. Harry looked up and seemed to wonder, apparently seagulls rarely strayed into the dark prison yard. The prisoner, who continued his stride, and the seagull looked at each other steadfastly. Roy let out the contact call again and a smirk appeared on Harry's face for a moment.
A Dementor waiting at the door that apparently led to the cell wing beckoned the prisoner towards him. Apparently, the yard exercise was over. Roy flew off, circled Harry twice, giving the herring gull call again, and then rose to the sky in spiralling flight. Before Harry had to disappear into the dark building again, he looked up once more and gazed at the seagull. He smiled.