I'd like to thank Balthazar23, Antar23, werewolfXZ, damadape, TheNarratingMan, WraithNX01, Vahktang, flixus, Lynix, TripsToTheRescue, fredfred, InquisitorCOC for betareading.

Chapter 27: The Prison Break Part 2

Algiers, Algeria, July 17th, 1996

"So… someone is hunting pirates," Sirius Black summed up their new information as soon as they were back in their hotel room. "And that's all we know. We don't know who, why, or where."

"We also know who they are hunting - which band of pirates," Peter added. "And we know their approximate location."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Approximate, as in 'somewhere along the Moroccan Coast'. And it's a hidden island."

"Which would fit what we know about the Portkey's location," Bill pointed out. "If Dumbledore didn't manage to find the kids, then they have to be in a hidden place - and a centuries-old pirate island perfectly fits the bill, doesn't it?"

It would figure that the Curse-Breaker didn't realise how little that would help. "And how are we supposed to find them if the island is hidden?"

"By finding out from those who have visited the place before, of course," Bill replied with a grin.

Fleur nodded with an almost feral expression. "They'll talk."

Sirius sighed. "Yes, so we have a chance - a chance, mind you - to find this hidden island. But we don't know if it is the island Harry and his friend were transported to. All we know is that a mysterious force of wizards is attacking the pirates." And as talented Harry was as a duellist, he had never fought for real. Sirius had fought in the war; he knew perfectly well that being a good duellist didn't help as much as most duellists thought when you had to fight outside the ring and without rules.

"Actually, we only know that the pirates think that they're under attack because someone killed their pet wyvern and spied on them," Peter corrected him again.

Sirius frowned at him. "You think that's Harry's doing?"

Peter shook his head. "I'm just trying to keep you from jumping to conclusions." With a small smile, he added: "Harry's a great wizard, but killing a wyvern? And spying on pirates? Lily and James taught him better than that."

"I'll have you know that I taught him everything he knows about duelling and pranking," Sirius protested. "And my godson is certainly a talented student!"

"Talented enough to kill a beast that is nearly as dangerous as a dragon?" Fleur shook her head. "I think not."

"I'm not saying that it was Harry!" Sirius protested. "But I'm not saying that it's impossible, either."

"So, you think there's a chance that Harry's on that island?" Peter sounded as if butter wouldn't melt in his mouth.

Sirius glared at him. "It's theoretically possible. But Haddad thought that we're behind the attacks. And we know that none of our friends are doing it." They'd better not, he thought. If any of his friends started something like this while Sirius was stuck in Algiers...

"You think they're bounty hunters?" Bill asked. "There isn't a reward for the kids' safe return, is there?"

Sirius nodded. "Not officially, but people know there would be a reward." Really, not rewarding people for saving your children or godchildren simply wasn't done. "But Haddad also mentioned that the pirates had a 'hostage'."

"Yes. Céline de Ciel." Fleur spat the words out. "I know of her family."

"And they could've hired bounty hunters." Peter nodded. "We don't have any evidence that Harry and Miss Granger are on that island, but it's the closest we have to a trace. And we know that none have admitted to having 'found' the kids."

"So…" Bill grinned. "We don't have anything better to do, then?"

Sirius sighed. "No, we don't." At least they would be doing something, even if the chance that Harry and his friend were on the island was low. Hell, Sirius hoped that the two weren't on the island - otherwise, there was a decent chance that the wyvern had killed them already. "So… we're going pirate hunting."

"Good." Fleur flashed her teeth.

Peter nodded. "I'll go and see what I can dig up. Haddad left us with some leads."

Sirius blinked. "He did?" He didn't recall that. Fleur and Bill looked confused as well.

His friend grinned. "Well, while you were talking to him, I took the liberty to look around."

Sirius frowned. "You didn't go to the bathroom, did you?"

Peter inclined his head. "Now that would be telling." He straightened, growing serious. "I've got a few names that seem promising." He pulled out a sheet of parchment and dropped it on the low table in the lounge. "I think I'll be needing some backup for this. Just in case those pirates have more friends here than I expect."

Sirius's grin matched Fleur's. Cursing some pirate scum? That sounded much better than sitting around and waiting for someone else to save Harry.

Magical Algiers, Magical Algeria, July 17th, 1996

Waiting. While Peter had the time of his life spying in the harbour tavern, they had to wait outside, in the cold, for a signal that might not ever come.

Leaning against a corner leading into a dark back alley, Sirius Black sighed. As loud as he could.

"Shh," Bill told him quickly and predictably.

"No one's going to hear us," Sirius told him. "There's no one around to hear us. And if they did, they wouldn't hear me over the noise from the tavern."

"That's no excuse to be sloppy," Fleur added in a whisper. "We're surrounded by pirate scum."

"A target-rich environment," Sirius joked.

Both of them frowned at him - obviously, they weren't familiar with the saying. Well, Sirius only knew it because Harry had heard it from his cousin.

"It's not funny," Fleur said, a little louder. "Those… crapules… have kidnapped so many of my family and compatriots."

"Well, not all of the sailors in the tavern are pirates," Bill pointed out.

"Pirates, friends of pirates, business partners…" Sirius shrugged. "Seems one and the same to me. And if anyone attacks us, we'll deal with them. And with whoever might help them."

"And Peter's target escapes in the confusion," Fleur retorted.

"Or he captures the pirate in the confusion." Sirius grinned. "Peter's a very good spy." He had infiltrated the Death Eaters under the Dark Lord's nose, after all.

"Yes. So… let's relax," Bill spoke up. "If everything goes well, we'll just leave without fighting anyone."

Sirius nodded. Though he would much prefer fighting someone.

Then he felt the mirror in his pocket vibrate. Once. Twice. Three times.

It seemed he would get his wish. "That's our signal!" he snapped. "Let's go curse some pirate scum!"

He rounded the corner, casting an Anti-Apparition Jinx on the tavern as he rushed towards it. Before he had crossed the street, an explosion shook the building, blowing out all the windows on the ground floor - a few shards even bounced off Sirius's shield.

The door was pushed open next, two figures stumbling out, looking over their shoulders - they were still looking at the scene behind them when Sirius's Bludgeoning Curse smashed into them and slammed them into the wall.

"Careful, we need our man alive!" Bill snapped, sending a stunner at a wizard trying to climb out through the window. The man collapsed, blocking the exit. Sirius reached the door and crouched down next to it. A flick of his wand conjured a cloak, and a wave sent it fluttering into the open door.

Three curses hit it before it fell to the ground, ripping through it and setting it on fire.

Fleur retaliated by sending a few fireballs through the far windows. Bill didn't tell her off, of course! Smart man.

But Sirius had a job to do. He leaned to the side, just far enough to catch a glimpse of the inside - which was filling with smoke - and sent a Reductor Curse into the ceiling, then swung around and cast another Bludgeoning Curse at the two wizards who ducked under the splinters raining down at them.

They broke the table behind them, and a yellowish curse - an Entrail-Expelling Curse! - hit his Shield Charm. Snarling, Sirius hit the scumbag trying to kill him with dark curses with a Blood-Boiling Curse. Dark wizards didn't deserve any mercy!

The man started screaming as his blood began to cook him alive, and Sirius used the distraction to slip into the tavern. A Stunner caught a pirate trying to push the unconscious pirate stuck in the window out.

Where was Peter? There! He saw his smaller friend duel a broad-shouldered pirate and moved to assist. His Cutting Curse shattered the man's shield, and the pirate quickly dove behind the bar. Sirius grinned as Peter suddenly seemed to disappear and sent a few more Reductor Curses into the mirror behind the bar and the ceiling above it until he saw a red flash behind the bar. A moment later, Peter reappeared from where he had sneaked past the pirate as Wormtail.

"Got him?" Sirius asked while he used a tripping hex to stop a charge of a pirate wielding a sabre of all things - was that a squib?

"Yes." Peter pulled out a card and dropped it. "And gone."

That meant the Portkey had worked. Time to vacate the premises, then.

Not that there was anything or anyone left to fight, anyway - Fleur and Bill had taken care of the rest of the pirates, those who hadn't fled at the first sign of trouble.

But the Bey's guards would soon arrive, and Sirius would prefer to avoid an international incident.

He knew everyone would blame him for it.

Unknown Island, July 17th, 1996

Risk shrinking themselves - and the little girl - or risk a pirate ambush outside the prison? Harry Potter clenched his teeth. His first urge was to use the broom to fly all of them out. "Would the pirates prepare an ambush? Without checking if we're actually still here?" Which would be the natural thing to do - if you found a hole in your prison, you checked if someone escaped.

"They might already know that thanks to alarm charms or similar spells," Hermione replied. She was biting her lower lip.

"'Might'," Harry retorted. "Or we could be worried about nothing and wasting time while they're still dealing with our distraction." He should just take the chance and find out. With his mangled foot, he couldn't do much else. But if Harry did that, Hermione probably wouldn't...

"We can't underestimate them. We did that already and almost got killed for it," she said.

But overestimating an opponent was a bad idea as well - if you counted on them realising an obvious ploy only to do something else, and they didn't spot your feint… But then again, this wasn't a duelling match. If they misjudged the pirates, they were dead. On the other hand, if they bungled the Shrinking Charm, they would wish they were dead. And they were running out of time.

He looked straight at her. "Can you do the charm?"

She hesitated a moment, then nodded. "Yes."

He took a deep breath. "Then let's do it." He dismounted the broom, standing on one foot, and shrunk it with a wave of his wand.

Hermione took a deep breath - he saw her chest heave - and pointed her wand at herself, then stopped.

"Do me first," he told her. She was better at casting spells outside a duel.

Their eyes met. He nodded at her.

"Alright." Clenching her jaws, she pointed the wand at him. And cast.

For a single, horrible second, everything shifted. Then everything grew. No - he shrank. The floor turned into a square, covered in rough stones. And he was standing next to giants twenty times his size. Or more.

He tore his eyes away from Hermione's huge form and checked his body. Everything seemed to be OK. At least he didn't find anything obviously amiss.

Then the girl shrank as well, almost disappearing from sight. Harry quickly grabbed his broom - now properly sized relative to him again - and flew over to her. "Are you alright?"

She was trembling. Panting.

"Qu'est-ce qui se passe?" she asked.

"What? We shrunk you so we can fool the pirates," he explained. Or tried to - the girl didn't speak English. And they hadn't told her what they were doing.

Damn.

Then Hermione shrank. And the short step she had been away grew to what looked like over two dozen yards. "Uh…" Harry looked at the girl. "Come on, let's join her!"

"Quoi?"

Right. He pointed at Hermione. "Let's go to her." Wait… "Allons-y?"

"Harry!" Hermione was already on the way to them. "We need to hide, quickly - whether or not the pirates are already aware of our break-in, they'll soon enter!"

That meant they had to go downstairs and find a hiding spot where a Human-presence-revealing Spell wouldn't show their presence - where the markers would be hidden in a wall or a piece of furniture. "Alright," he replied. "Hop on the broom. And tell her that, too!" They couldn't leave a trace on the ground for a dog to follow.

"Mont!" Hermione said, pointing at the broom. "Entre nous."

They mounted, the girl sitting between Harry and Hermione. He felt her short arms wrap around his waist before he guided the broom up.

With three people on it, the broom wasn't very much faster than their levitated pole had been, but it was easier to control - and Harry could use his wand to blow the air around, hopefully diffusing whatever trace a dog might follow through the air.

He rose until about a foot high - almost ten yards, or so it seemed - and then raced towards the stairs. The girl - they hadn't asked her name, had they? - shrieked, but Hermione muffled her.

And not a moment too late - he could see movement outside the building through one of the windows on the ground floor. "Find a tall armoire," Hermione said. "There should be one in the guards' room. We can hide beneath it."

He rose as they reached the floor - no need to fly too close to the bottom and leave an easy track for the dogs - then tried two cells before they found a room with an actual armoire. It looked old, with carved ornaments.

And enough of a gap beneath it to comfortably let them hide underneath it. "Bend over!" Harry snapped, then guided the broom under the armoire.

Shouting and yelling in a language he didn't understand was heard from above them, and the girl cringed and clamped on to him, but they were safe. For now.

Hermione Granger held her breath when she heard the sounds of giant steps coming closer. This had been a stupid idea. They weren't safe - at their size, even a small dog was a deadly threat. A huge monster. And the pirates...

The girl whimpered when a giant boot appeared in the doorway - they couldn't see much more from beneath the armoire - and Hemione pulled her closer. "Ne t'inquiète pas!" she whispered.

But the girl kept sniffling. Which was perfectly understandable, of course, given what she had suffered through so far.

The pirate stepped into the room, walking around. Each step made the ground tremble, and his muttered words almost hurt her ears.

Hermione swallowed, then clenched her teeth. If the pirate looked under the armoire…But he didn't. The boots left again.

"That was close," Harry whispered.

"We were lucky," she said. "So far, at least."

They heard more shouting and yelling from the floor above and from outside. More giant pirates stomped through the room. They sounded as if they were arguing, though that was a mere guess - Hermione didn't understand the language. She couldn't even identify it, though a logical deduction would point at Arabic.

Not that it mattered.

"They'll soon tire of searching an empty prison," Harry said. Then we can sneak out and look for the boat."

"If we expose ourselves, a spell might detect us," Hermione retorted. "We have to wait until they aren't looking for us any more. They will assume we have disillusioned ourselves, and that will make them extra vigilant." At least she would be if she were in place of the pirates.

"We can't stay here too long," Harry countered. "And they won't expect us to stick around."

"We don't know that," Hermione protested, though Harry was probably correct. And yet… they couldn't afford a mistake. And the pirates would be patrolling the village. "We have to wait a little longer until they relax and assume we're gone for good."

"But not too long. We…"

Barking interrupted Harry, and Hermione gasped. A dog. If a dog had found their trace… if the dog tracked them, even the dullest pirate would check under the armoire! "Use your spell to disperse the air some more," she whispered. Every little bit would help.

Harry looked a little pale as he nodded and swished his wand.

Hermione barely kept from biting her lower lip until it bled - blood would certainly attract a dog. Especially one trained to track people. But even Harry's spell might not be enough to sufficiently disperse their scent.

The little girl - she needed to ask her name, Hermione realised - was shaking again, whimpering. And latched onto her arm. This wouldn't… She took a deep breath.

Then she heard footsteps, loud ones. And… there was the dog. Its paws, at least. And its nose, down on the ground. Headed towards them. No!

She froze for a moment. They could leave their compromised hiding spot, return to their natural size and overpower the pirate and the dog. But they would be cornered - there were more pirates around. And shrinking wouldn't work any more. Even if she managed to shrink everyone without mistake once more.

The sudden barking made her gasp - and gag from the dog's hot breath as it tried to push its snout under the armoire. For a moment, she saw the wyvern's maw open up and shuddered. They were… No!

"Harry! Transfigure a mouse, now!" she snapped.

The pirate was saying something - asking the dog what it had found, probably. Any moment now, the man would kneel down and peer under the armoire.

He dropped a piece of coconut from his bag, then waved his wand, and the piece turned into a tiny mouse - which promptly tried to run away from them and the dog.

But Hermione was already casting her own spell. "Engorgio."

The mouse, almost out from underneath the armoire, suddenly grew to - relative at least - giant size. A moment later, it was out on the floor.

And the pirate cursed. At the dog, presumably.

The dog was still barking, but the man cursed it again.

A moment later, the dog was dragged away by its leash. His paws were scratching the floor as he tried to get at the armoire, right up until the pirate closed the door behind them.

Hermione sighed with relief. "That was close," she whispered.

"Yes. But we fooled the pirates. Once again." Harry, still astride the broom to keep from having to stand on his mangled foot, sighed as well.

Though the girl was still trembling and sobbing. Hermione patted her head. "C'est bon - on est sécure pour le moment," she tried to reassure her. "Quel est ton nom?"

She had to repeat the question twice until the girl replied. "Céline. Céline de Ciel."

Sitting on the broom, Harry Potter gritted his teeth as Hermione talked to the girl - to Céline - in whispered French. He was so useless! With his foot mangled, he couldn't stand well, much less run. He didn't speak French - well, not much - so he couldn't help explain their situation and plan to the girl. And he couldn't even scout at the moment since they were locked in a room with a dozen pirates outside looking for them.

At least he could do magic, he thought - Céline was too young to have a wand. No, that was a stupid, selfish thought. If Céline were older, they could give her their spare wand and would have three wands to deal with the pirates.

But he doubted that the girl could cast even a Wand-Lighting Charm. Which would be a good idea, actually - he could barely make out anything in the dim light from the small window. On the other hand, no light meant that they would be spotted if they created a light - though, given their current size, a Wand-Lighting Charm might be mistaken for a glow-worm or something.

Harry remembered reading about that - something about magic and Shrinking Charms affecting each other, but the Enlargement Charm not doing the same. Which meant making yourself grow to a giant's size wouldn't let you throw around giant-sized Reductor Curses. Hermione would probably know why things worked that way.

"I've explained to Céline what we'll be doing," Hermione said.

"Good!" He grinned, though he wasn't sure she could see it in the darkness. "Now, you just have to explain the same to me."

She snorted. "We'll have to wait until they stop searching for us."

"That might take too long," he said.

"We can wait a day - we have enough food," she countered.

"A day? The pirates know we're a threat to them - this is their secret base, after all," Harry said. "They can't let us escape… Oh."

"Oh?"

"If they think we already escaped, they might evacuate the island before we might return with reinforcements," Harry said.

Hermione gasped. "But… wouldn't they already be evacuating then?"

"They might not think we've escaped." Harry nodded. "Hence, we might not be able to wait them out."

"And if they evacuate, they might take the fishing boats with them." Hermione sighed. "So, we can't wait until they evacuate, or we risk getting stuck on the island until the pirates return - at which point we're back to square one. And we'll have missed the train to Hogwarts."

"The other possibility is," Harry told her, "that they want to know how we managed to get onto the island in the first place."

"Would they risk an attack for that?" Hermione asked.

"If we were going to attack them, why wouldn't we have done it with more people?" Harry pointed out. "It wouldn't have taken too much effort to hire a few mercenaries, I think." At least the stories Uncle Peter sometimes told him and Rose featured wands for hire regularly.

"So… We have to assume that they assume that we're stuck on the island," Hermione summed up. "That means they won't give up looking for us. And they might have a decent idea that it's just us two - they saw us, if at night and from afar, before."

Harry nodded in agreement. "They might even suspect it's us if they know about the Portkey."

Hermione shook her head. "If they had suspected that, they would have started their search for us much sooner. They know that there's two of us - at least we have to assume so - but they won't have identified us."

"Yet," Harry said. "But if they do…"

Hermione nodded. "...they might want to erase all traces of our presence."

Which included their presence. "They might want to obliviate us and then claim they saved us for a reward," Harry suggested.

"Do you think so?"

Harry scoffed. "After we did our best to sink their ship? No. They'll want revenge."

"So, we're committed then." Hermione nodded once more. "We need a plan to reach a fishing boat without being caught."

"Tunnelling?" Harry shrugged. "If the building isn't protected against it, it's an option."

"We'd dig blindly, and there's the risk of getting spotted when we return to the surface. Or we dig into the sea. We wouldn't drown, but we would be in the same position - they might spot us before we reach the boat." Hermione said.

"We only have to get out of their spells' range," Harry said. If the broom weren't much slower, relatively, we could just fly up and be away before they realise what happened." But as it was, they would be caught while shrunk. Or cursed if they returned to their normal size.

"There has to be a way to escape from this prison," Hermione insisted. "We'll have to take a look outside."

Their original plan wasn't feasible any more. Hermione Granger was well aware of that fact. They had no chance at all to grab a fishing boat and sneak out while the pirates were distracted - even if they shrank it and took it with them on the broom, to drop it into the water outside the cove, odds were they would be spotted on the way, now that the pirates were actively looking for them. And they would likely notice a missing boat. "We need a way to get a boat without being noticed," she said.

"Unless they're stupid, they'll keep an eye on them. They might even have trapped them," Harry pointed out. And the pirates weren't stupid, as they had proved before.

"If we manage to leave a decoy in place of it…" Hermione shook her head before she finished her thought. "No. We can't create a convincing boat." Stupid. And they hadn't even thought of a way to get out of the prison without being spotted. "Let's take a look outside - through the window."

"Alright." Harry nodded and let them mount the broom - they weren't leaving Céline alone under the armoire.

Harry took them up and onto the windowsill, remaining on the broom while Hermione dismounted and moved to the window proper - hidden by its wooden frame. Any marker from a Human-presence-revealing Spell would float too high above her head to be visible through the window, either.

Unfortunately, that was it for good news. Hermione pulled herself up and peered through the window, but what she saw confirmed her fears. The village outside was brightly lit by spells of all kinds, and she saw two pirates on brooms fly past, with more on the ground. The area between the prison and the beach wouldn't offer any cover.

"The ship's a loss, I think," Hary commented next to her, on his broom, Céline clinging to him.

Hermione took a look. The ship was on her side, mast and rigging in the water. "They might be able to save her," she said. "Ships have been recovered and raised in worse conditions. And without magic."

Harry muttered a curse under his breath.

"It might be a good thing for us," she told him. "That should keep the pirates busy. If all of them were free to hunt us down…"

"Right." He still sounded as if he preferred it if the ship had been sunk. She could understand it - sinking the pirate ship would have been a blow against their filthy business.

"But we need to find a way to get out of here - and to the shore," she repeated herself. "Before they either save or lose the ship."

"There are a lot of pirates out either way," Harry retorted.

"Don't even think about trying to draw them away," she hissed.

He didn't flinch, But the way he pressed his lips together… She sighed and shook her head. "I can't do this alone," she said in a lone voice.

"Qu'est-ce qui ce passe?" Céline asked.

"On est en train de décider comment on va fuir l'île;" she told the girl.

"What?"

"I told her we're looking for a way to escape the island," Hermione said.

"Vous n'avez pas de plan?"

Hermione refrained from rolling her eyes. "On a eu un plan." They'd had a plan. It hadn't been perfect, but it had been a plan. They just needed to adjust it. Significantly.

"Pouvez-vous nous déguiser comme pirates?"

Disguise themselves as pirates? Hermione drew a sharp breath. It sounded ridiculous, straight out of a cheap movie, and they didn't have any Polyjuice Potion, but… "Je pense qu'on peut faire ca. Peut-être."

"What did you say?"

"Céline suggested disguising ourselves as pirates," Hermione told him. "I think it would work - if we can capture one or two pirates and take their clothes."

"They'll see through our disguise. We don't have Polyjuice Potion," Harry replied. "And we don't speak the language."

"We only need to reach the boat and sail away," Hermione retorted. And if we move at night, they won't see our faces." It was bright enough outside to spot anyone walking around, but not bright as day. And while the village was small, there should be enough residents so that most people wouldn't realise they were a stranger without seeing their face. Especially with the distraction of a sinking ship and a burning jungle and animal attacks.

"They'll still stop us - at the very least, they'll ask what we are doing with the boat," Harry pointed out. "They might suspect we want to desert. And once they take a closer look…"

Hermione pressed her lips together. "Then we need to capture a pirate and convince him to come with us to avoid such trouble."

"And how can we prevent them from shouting for help - or telling them about us while acting as if they're playing along? We don't speak their language," Harry said.

"They won't do it if they're too scared to cross us," Hermione replied.

"That's a rather risky bet you want to take."

"I know. But what else can we do? A distraction won't work again. Or not long enough for us to get away with the boat," Hermione retorted. "Unless… if we cause a distraction that sends everyone into the air, then someone already on a broom, disguised as a pirate, wouldn't look out of place!" She smiled. "You could land at the boat, shrink it and take it with you before anyone realises it. Without us weighing the broom down, you could outrun them."

"And you?" Harry stared at her.

"We'd stay shrunk. At least until we're on the boat - far from prying eyes on the other side of the island." She licked her lips. It was still dangerous - and they still needed to ambush a pirate without alerting the other, somehow, unless… "Oh. We need to see if there's some laundry hung out to dry! Then we don't need to capture a pirate!"

Harry frowned, but he was mulling it over - she could tell. And she could also tell that he was coming around - he usually made that face when he'd really liked to find a fault but couldn't.

"We still need to find a way out of this building," he finally said.

Hermione frowned as well. He was, unfortunately, still correct about that.

They couldn't just fly out of the building - the pirates would be expecting them to disillusion themselves, which meant every pirate would have the Human-presence-revealing Spell cast. Harry Potter knew that. He still wanted to fly - he felt safest on a broom. Even when his foot wasn't mangled. On a broom, he was in control. He didn't have to depend on anyone - and he could outfly anyone.

"We could attempt to summon clothes for a disguise," Hermione suggested.

"I would have to unshrink for that," Harry said. "And the pirates might spot clothes flying through the air. If we had seen such clothes in the first place to summon them."

Hermione frowned with a pouty expression, and Harry smiled a little - he was sure that she was not just annoyed because her idea didn't work, but because he had pointed it out to her. His amusement didn't last, of course - they were still in a bind. They needed to get away. "We could start a fire here," he said. "Create lots of smoke - we could escape in the confusion." It worked for escaping the wyvern, after all.

"There won't be too much smoke, and the pirates would wonder why anyone would set an empty prison on fire," Hermione retorted. "Even if they don't, they would probably use Water-Making Spells from above and afar, encircling the prison."

"They know we've freed the prisoner. Destroying the prison could be revenge for her - and for everyone else kept captive here," Harry replied.

"It would be revenge for all of them," Hermione agreed. "They could rebuild it, of course - but they might not be able to recreate the wards. Though we might have trouble actually destroying the building without getting exposed since we'd have to cancel the Shrinking Charms for that."

Harry nodded. At their current size, they would barely make a dent in the wall with their strongest Reductor Curses. And the prison would be protected against fire, even though they might be able to set some furniture ablaze, though… "What if they think the fire is a distraction? Make them think they have seen through our plan, and when they move to the other end of the village, we can get out."

"After dealing with the half a dozen pirates - at least - whom they'll send to deal with the fire?" Hermione shook her head. "We're too far from the shore for that to work. And the village is too small for this to give us enough time to get out, through the pirates, to the boat and then away before the other pirates return."

Harry sighed. "If we can't create a distraction, can't just fly out and can't tunnel out…"

"We could use a tunnel, but we would have to be lucky to avoid the sea and getting spotted when we climb out and end the Shrinking Charms," Hermione cut in.

He rolled his eyes for a moment. "In any case, if we can't get out or summon robes to us, then we either have to make a disguise ourselves or lure a single pirate into the prison so we can ambush them and take their clothes."

Hermione bit her lower lip again. "I don't know if we can recreate a convincing disguise using our own robes. A few Colour Change Charms could help, but we'd need to alter our own robes significantly to match the fashion here." She pointed at one of the pirates standing between the shores and the prison, looking around.

"It doesn't have to be perfect," Harry pointed out. "Just good enough to fool an observer at a distance at night." And moving as if they were perfectly at ease would help. Fewer people questioned you if you acted with confidence.

Hermione seemed to mull it over. "It's possible, then. But anyone taking a closer look won't be fooled."

"That leaves luring - or summoning - a pirate into the prison, stunning them and taking their clothes," Harry said. "And for that, at least one of us would have to be their normal size." Which meant there would be a greater risk of being discovered.

"And we would need to find a pirate who would either enter alone without alerting the others - or one who can be summoned without anyone else taking notice," Hermione told him. "I don't know if we should base our plan on such a coincidence."

"No, we shouldn't," Harry said, sighing. But they might have to. If only… Oh! He grinned. "I think I have a solution!"

Harry Potter eyed the robes Hermione had altered. She had been correct - they didn't look like much. The vest looked rough, as did the trousers and shirt. And the… what did you call the hat? Fez? - looked, well… Hermione had tried her best, but the hat looked as if it had gone through a battle already. And had lost.

Hermione looked apologetic. "It's the best I can do - I don't know enough about tailoring."

Harry nodded. Céline had helped with the design, which had probably been embarrassing for Hermione, but that hadn't done too much either. "It should work," he said. "It only needs to hold up long enough to fool one pirate."

"Provided we can catch one of them alone," Hermione pointed out.

"Nothing ventured, nothing gained," he retorted. "If this doesn't work, we'll have to think of something else."

"Well, let's put it on," Hermione said. Her frown told him that she still didn't like this part of the plan. But Harry was the obvious choice - he was the better duellist. And his mangled foot wouldn't be too much of a hindrance. And if Hermione took his place instead, and something went wrong, then she would need to take Harry and Céline and flee on the broom - they couldn't afford to weigh the broom down with more than one person at their natural size. And they both knew who had the better chances to escape the pirates on a broom.

Harry sighed and pulled the disguise on - with Hermione's help. It felt weird, but he would manage. He had to. "Alright. Let's check if we can find a target."

They flew up to the windowsill again. It was late at night by now. Not quite dawn, fortunately. In theory, the pirates should be at their most vulnerable now. And it seemed their numbers - the numbers of the pirates out and about - had thinned somewhat. The ship was still half capsized, and Harry could see two wizards on the hull. Some would be in the air as well. And…

"There's a man walking towards the prison. No, along the shore," Hermione said. "But going in our direction."

Harry saw the man - and he didn't see anyone else around. His field of view was limited, but it was late, so… "Let's do it!" he said with more confidence than he felt.

"Alright," Hermione replied.

They flew down to the floor, then quickly made their way out of the room through a small gap under the door, to the entrance of the prison.

The door was closed, but through the small gap at the side, they could see the man walking past. It was now or never.

Harry landed and dismounted - carefully so he didn't stand on his bad foot. Leaving Hermione in control of the broom, he pointed his wand at himself to cancel the Shrinking Charm.

"Finite!"