Harry and Merope to the Rescue - Chapter 17

Disclaimer:

I don't own the HP universe, unfortunately.

Azkaban, Earlier That Morning:

Moody limped his way from the ferry to Azkaban and up to the gates with purpose, doing his best to ignore the feeling of dread that the presence of the dementors gave off. He had not gotten much investigation done the previous afternoon, but he did manage to get himself a small team together to help with the investigation, two of which were Kingsley Shacklebolt and Hestia Jones. Shacklebolt and Jones accompanied him now, and would be the ones that would guard Black in an undisclosed cell at the Ministry, restricting access to anyone except his mother, if she did come today to check up on their progress.

Shacklebolt asked in a low voice, "So, Moody, do you think he's truly innocent?" He slowly kept his pace with Moody and Jones, rubbing his hands together to ward against the chill of the weather, but also the chill caused by the dementors.

"It's starting to look that way," Moody responded quietly, white clouds puffing out of his mouth as he spoke. "I wasn't able to investigate very much yesterday, but just seeing a copy of his file reeks of something, whether it's bribes or a coverup is not clear yet."

Jones, joining in on the conversation, said, "Working closely with Sirius in the aurors, I never believed him capable of what was said, but we weren't the ones that were allowed to do the investigating. It was said we were too close to see the truth." She was the only one that had cast a warming charm before she climbed off the ferry, but she could still feel the nearness of the dementors.

Moody glanced over at Jones in speculation, "Who might have said you were too close to the case?"

Jones was quiet for a moment and then said thoughtfully, "You know, I'm not sure. I feel confident that I was instructed not to investigate, but I have no memory of where the order came from." She then had a faraway look on her face, as if she was going over said memory again. "Strange. I feel like it's just there under the surface, but I can't access it. It's almost as if I was obliviated of that specific moment." Moody looked at her sharply at that, but she continued before he could say anything. "I can clearly remember the words," she said, "but as to who said them, there's like a veil or a curtain making it all blurry and the voice is distorted now that I'm trying to focus on it." Jones shook her head, as if trying to clear away the fog.

Moody nodded and said gruffly, "That's just more confirmation that something isn't right. Someone or multiple someones have tried to cover their tracks, but we're going to find out who it was, one way or the other."

After a couple more minutes, they arrived at the gate and told the gatekeeper they were there on official business to transport a prisoner back to the Ministry. The gatekeeper was a little curious, but they had the proper credentials to be allowed through, and he tried not to get too nosey about things. He just wanted to do his job, and that was to make sure those entering were there legitimately, so he opened the gate, and let them through.

Entering the main doors was more of a challenge. The warden insisted on reading the transport form five times before he even allowed them to enter the doors. Then he held them for an hour to make sure they were not under polyjuice, which Moody pointed out to him was stupid to do after they had already been allowed through the gate, that should have been checked for outside the gate.

Finally, they were allowed inside and led to Sirius Black's cell, which turned out to be where all of the worst criminals were housed. Moody, Shacklebolt, and Jones all exchanged suspicious glances at the location, all three having their wands out in case they needed to cast a patronus quickly.

Casually, Moody asked the warden, "Say, Warden, you don't happen to have a copy of the original transport order that brought Sirius Black here, do you?"

The warden said, "No, we don't keep any paperwork here, we just check the paperwork associated with each prisoner when they're brought in, it's up to whoever does the transporting to file it at the Ministry."

Moody raised his eyebrows at that, "Are you telling me that you don't have prisoner records? I thought it was policy that each prisoner have a kept file."

The warden shrugged and said, "When I was hired and trained, I asked that very same question, but was told there was no need in keeping files here. If we felt that anything needed to be added to a prisoner's record, we were instructed to send the information to the Ministry and that it would be added to that particular prisoner's file there. It didn't make a whole lot of sense at the time to me, but, hey, it's less paperwork to have to do."

Moody nodded and said, "Yeah, I'll bet."

Finally they arrived at the door of Sirius' cell and the warden and waved his wand in the appropriate pattern to open the door. "Sirius Black," the warden said, "there are aurors here to transport you to the Ministry."

Sirius had had just enough time to lounge nonchalantly with his back against the wall, on top of his poor excuse for bedding. Upon hearing that the aurors were here to transport him to the Ministry, he said quietly to himself, "Well, I'll be damned, they actually did it."

Moody noticed how surprisingly well he looked and commented, "Well, Black, you're not as bad off as I would have expected you to be, after you've been stuck in this place for nearing a month and a half."

Sirius cocked his head to the side in amusement and said, "Well, Mad-Eye, you can blame that on my Guardian Angel, who visited me in the night and placed his protection over me, knowing I'm innocent." Smiling cheekily, Sirius stood up and said, "So, I hope I'm finally getting that trial I've been denied for so long."

Moody didn't know what to think about the Guardian Angel comment, so let it pass, it was probably one of his prankster jokes, so he nodded and said, "Yes, well, your mother came into the Ministry screaming like a banshee to all and sundry after having reviewed your trial records, only to find that there were none."

Even though Harry had told Sirius that he thought his mother would help, hearing that she actually had shocked him more than anything else, besides a time traveling adult godson who visited him in the middle of the night in Azkaban. He had to swallow back a bit of his emotions before he was able to speak. Finally, after a few moments of silence, Sirius felt able enough to speak without choking and said, "We haven't spoken in many years, my mother and I, I'm shocked and humbled that she would break her silence in order to help me get out of here."

Jones poked her head around the corner of the door and tried to give a smile, but the feeling of the dementors felt much stronger in this section and she said, "Hey, Black, you're not moving very fast for someone who wants to get out of this hellhole."

"Jonesie!" Sirius exclaimed as he skipped to the door, "It's great to see you, Jonesie." Seeing Shacklebolt just round the corner, Sirius said, "And you, Shacklebolt. I'm certainly glad it was you three that were sent to get me. Let's get going."

Sirius attempted to walk out of the cell, when Moody said, "Just a minute, Black." At Sirius' raised eyebrow he said, "Even though there is the probability that you're innocent, it's mandatory that you be shackled while you're walking out of here." When Sirius looked like he might object, Moody said, "I'll only make you wear them until you reach your cell at the Ministry, which we will portkey straight to, as soon as we get outside of the wards."

Resigned, Sirius said, "Very well. Let's get it over with, then," as he held out his hands for the shackles.

After the shackles were in place, the warden led the way, with Jones on one side of Sirius and Shacklebolt on the other, Moody followed the group at the rear. Finally they made their way back to the ferry and Shacklebolt helped Sirius keep his balance as they all loaded up to go.

As the ferry took off, Sirius looked back at the prison, watching it disappear into the distance, and swore to himself that after he was given his trial, he was going to do everything he could to to make sure that no one else would ever again be prevented from getting a fair trial, even if it meant he would have to enter bloody politics.

Finally, they left the wards and Moody held out the portkey for everyone to grab, leaving Azkaban behind forever.