Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I am not making and money or profits of this fanfiction. This is merely a fans imagination gone out of control so please don't sue me.

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The Black Legacy

Chapter 3 – Leaving Azkaban

"Harry."

Harry eyes instantly snapped open, his body lurching upward into a right angle. He started gasping for air as if his lungs were void of oxygen. Looking around himself he took in his surroundings, his emerald green eyes moving from left to right.

"Where am I?" He said with a ruff voice, while straining to stand. The years in Azkaban playing on his body as the malnourishment affected him.

It looked like he was still in Azkaban but things looked different. It was like a realm of shadow, where everything was but silhouettes of itself. Everything looked distorted and out of place, even the bared window was bent at an awkward angle.

Getting up on his feet Harry walked over towards his barred door. His eyes widened a little as the door opened by itself.

"Who's there?" He said in a raspy voice, emphasising how years of not talking affected him.

Harry question fell on silence. Though it wasn't weird for a door to open by itself in the wizarding world, you never know what lay beyond any door. So with steady steps Harry made his way through the cell the door into the dingy hallway of Azkaban, which was in a similar state of effect as the cell.

It was years since he saw the halls, the only time being when he was being escorted here on his first day after his trial. It was just as he remembered it he thought, except for the distortion around the walls.

"HaHaHaarry!"

Harry turned instantly to the voice calling his name, but by doing so caused himself some pain. Holding his side protectively he searched the hall. After a minute of looking down the hall for any movement, he finalized that there was no one else here, but then that he noticed for the first time that he couldn't hear anyone either. There was no screaming or echoes of the other prisoners. Even the guards were missing.

"What is happening?"

"You are finally awake."

Harry head snapped in all directions to the sound of the voice. "Who's there?"

"Never has a flesh and blood being made it to our realm and still maintained their form!" A deep ancient voice said.

"We have many names, as we have many voices." Another voice said cryptically.

Harry continued to look around the room for the owner of the voices, and not coming up with anything. It was like trying to find a needle in a haystack, as the room distortion made it impossible to see anything. The voice itself was like hearing one voice over another, which scared him a little.

'What is that supposed to mean?' Harry thought in annoyance.

"It means that we are more then one Harry James Potter."

Harry's eyes widened. "How do you know my name?" He asked curiously, wondering at the same time how they knew what he was thinking.

"We know many things, just like we know that you defeated Voldermort and that you were sent to Azkaban Prison for the murder of your relatives."

"I DIDN'T MURDER ANYONE!" Harry voice echoed.

"Indeed you didn't! However the rest of the world, your friends and family didn't look at it that way."

Harry eyebrow rose. "Who are you?" Harry asked in a low voice.

"As I said, we have many names! Names that will be revealed to you at a later time. What we can tell you though is right now, you are experiencing is what is commonly known as an out of body experience."

Harry eyes widened. "What has happened? Am I dead?"

"Not in so many words… you are still alive from what we could tell because you still have a fair form here."

"What do you mean?"

"All will be revealed to you in due time."

The questioning ended, as Harry grabbed his head in agony. A screaming sensation similar to when the Dementors attacked him was all he could feel. And in that moment all went dark, as colours and shapes vaporised like ash in the wind.

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Remus was sweating all over his brow. The journey to Harry's cell was getting closer by the minute, which didn't help how he felt. The question running through his mind was what he would do the instant he entered to see Harry. In the three years since the trial, he never even bothered to visit, to see how Harry was doing. Admittedly and inwardly he was afraid, afraid that if he was even within a foot of Harry presence he would do something to cause Harry pain. But circumstances have changed, and now he regrets everything he has ever thought or said concerning his best friends son.

"We are almost there Remus." Dumbledore voice echoed. His face was just as down at the moment as Remus's.

The walk came to a stop. After taking a few more turns and detours through the dank archways of Azkaban lower levels, Dumbledore and Remus found themselves in front of a door, with a the numbers 3-7-4 marked on a rusty sign above it.

Dumbledore watched as the guard brought out a very familiar key from three years ago. By the looks of it Dumbledore could tell that the key lost none of its colour, as it was just as new as the day he last saw it.

The door began to unlock. As it unlocked the guard took his queue by the door.

"I will wait here, if anything happens just shout." The guard said.

Both Dumbledore and Remus gave silent gulps as they began to open the door. The first thought on Dumbledore's mind as he entered was things had definitely changed. Azkaban cells always had a reputation for being dirty, but what he was seeing was a whole new definition of dirty. Filth littered the floors and a fowl aroma floated in the air making anyone who entered cover their noses. Even more peculiar was the walls, which had writings coloured all around. On close inspection Dumbledore's eyes widened, for he realized that the writing were not of ink, but of blood.

"Dear Merlin!" He muttered, as he looked from left to right.

Remus was shaking from the sight of the blood. Because of his Werewolf side, he could instantly tell it was blood, but that was not what made him shake. With his sense of smell he could tell a lot from blood. What he got from this blood could only be described as pain and agony.

"Where's Harry?" Asked Remus, noticing that he could not see Harry. Even with his night vision he couldn't tell anything apart in the cell, and his sense of smell didn't help with the stench and blood.

"Lumos." Dumbledore muttered, creating light from the tip of his wand enlightening the room. Looking around things became even more apparent. The writing on the walls were unlike anything he has ever seen. Symbols representing spirals and eyes covered every inch of the wall, with runic symbols written in anagramic forms.

"What is this Dumbledore?" Remus asked looking frightening at the symbols.

Dumbledore didn't answer. His attention was focused elsewhere. Turning to where he was looking, Remus saw what he was looking at and his eyes widened. Sitting in the far corner of the cell was a pile of dirty rags, but on inspection they were covering something. Walking up to it slowly Remus kneeled down in front of it. Hands shaking and anxiety sparking in his body Remus grabbed a part of the dirty rags, lifting it. What met his eyes made tears fall, for he was met with the face of Harry, whose body was scrunched up in a fetul position.

"Dumbledore, here!" Remus all but shouted, causing Dumbledore to move quickly towards him.

Dumbledore's heart sunk upon seeing Harry. Never in his life had he seen such a sight, and the worse thing is that he was responsible, like Sirius Black before him. Kneeling down he began to remove some of the dirty rags which served as a blanket, putting it to one side. He had to fight himself to keep his eyes from shedding tears at that moment as he looked Harry over.

"How is he?" Remus asked, sniffing now and again.

Dumbledore could only sympathies with Remus and not to long after him, started to cry through his inspection of Harry condition. Like before he has never seen anything like what he was seeing on Harry. Though malnourished and dirty from years of being in a cell, he saw a few things that were not there before his trial. His body was overly bruised; many of them old while others were fresh, leading him ask inwardly what was going on in Azkaban. The worse of them had to be the scars he had, which covered many random areas of his body, back to front. That was not the worse of it. On his chest, for the entire world to see was a mark, a brand burned into his flesh in the shape of the symbol which represented traitor.

"Dumbledore?" Remus said while noticing the mark. "We have to get him out now Dumbledore." Remus's voice blared.

"Right Remus." Dumbledore nodded. Using the levitation spell, Dumbledore lifted Harry body carefully of the cell floor, being careful not to do anything that could further injure Harry. Having a hold of him, he began to leave the cell.

Remus followed behind, moving in slow strides. The look on his face showed for the first time in years, the error of his ways. Thoughts on what he was going to do was all he could think about. What will he say to Harry when he recovers?

"I CAN'T DO THAT DUMBDORE!"

Remus looked up from the floor upon hearing the loud voice shout. The guard who was keeping watch on the cell was on the verge of blowing steam as he was talking to Dumbledore in a heated discussion.

"He needs immediate medical help Mr. Rev. I explained to you already that new evidence has been discovered involving the murder of Harry's relatives, and Harry was not the one who committed the crimes." Dumbledore explained the guard. "I know that this puts you in a difficult situation, being a guard for a prison run by the Ministry, but by the time we have explained all the details to you the Ministry would already have rectified Harry's innocence and be here to release him. So we need to get him to a medical facility quickly."

The guard Rev looked defiant and stood his ground between Dumbledore and the exit of the cell. "I am sorry Dumbledore sir, but I just can't do it."

Dumbledore wouldn't give up. Sighing he turned to look at Harry, who he had place gently on the floor. "Look at him!" He said, indicating to the guard to look at Harry. "Look at the state of his body. If we leave like this any longer he might not last the night and then it would be too late."

The guard looked at Harry, his eyes turning to worry at the state of his body. His heart beat quickened even if it didn't show on his outside appearance.

"Please Mr. Rev… let us take him now?" Dumbledore asked in a voice close to a whisper. "Because if you do not allow us, you will find that you and the rest of the prisoners of this prison will have a lot in common, by the time everyone finds out how you contributed to Harry's current state." Dumbledore's voice rang with malice.

At the mention of this, the gaurds eyes widened with extreme worry. How did he know was all he could think, Rev's heart gained speed to the beat, and in a silent gesture he nodded, moving out of Dumbledore's way.

"Thank you." Dumbledore said, lifting Harry up once again and continuing on his way out of Azkaban.

As they made it through the halls to the outside gates, they made their journey towards the carriage that brought them here.

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Deep with in a dark hallway a man wearing a dark cloak walked briskly, but with haste. His face was covered by the shadow created by his hood as he walked, but it was obvious that he was frowning.

Making his way to the end of the hall he confronted a pair of large oak doors, with the engraving of a snake on them, where he waited patiently.

"Enter!" A voice shouted.

On invitation the man entered through the doors. The room he came into was a large lavished room, decorated in aristocratic carpet and furniture. Paintings hung on the walls of people wearing old Victorian clothing of the rich days of old. All around the room were a number of men and women talking, dressed in dark robes, but with their hoods down for every one to see.

The mans breathing became haggard as he made his way to the end of the room, where sitting on his throne was the one man he feared, if not everyone feared above all others in the wizarding world, Lord Voldermort. Everyone in the room, the Death Eaters of Voldermort, stopped their conversations upon noticing his presence.

Standing in front of his lord, the kneeled. "My Lord." He said while kissing the hem of Voldermort's dark robe.

"What news do you bring of Wormtail's mission?" Voldermort voice hissed, making everyone in the room look on with fear.

The man could feel his lord's eyes on him. He didn't even have to look to know he was sneering at him.

"My lord, I went to the location you sent Wormtail to. The whole area was occupied by a group of Aurors." His breathing started becoming deep with each breath. "It wasn't good! Wormtails mission was a failure, and the book you wanted was taken by the Ministry."

Voldermort's eyes turned into slits, his eyes glowering red in anger. Standing from his throne, pulling out his yew wand he took one step forward, making his loyal follower look up only for a moment. This was a big mistake!

"CRUCIO!" Voldermort's voice echoed.

The curse struck the man with malicious force so great that it caused him to bend his back so far that it strained to break. His screams filled the room, his pain evident to everyone who just watched the scene play out. Among these people was Bellatrix Lestrange who smiled gleefully and with an almost hypnotized look in her eyes. Another was Lucius Malfoy, who held passive look on his face, showing no emotion to the pain the man was experiencing.

The screams ended with Voldermort releasing the curse. Disorientated and in pain the man crawled away backwards, being sure not to turn from his master, unless he wants to feel another session of pain.

"Damn Ministry!" Voldermort hissed. "I must have that book."

"If I may my lord?" A Death Eater who was obviously new to the group piped up. "What is the significance of this book?"

Voldermort turned to the new Death Eater, but he didn't answer his question. Instead he curded him with the Crucio curse also.

"That is none of your concern." Voldermort replied, while continuing the curse.

When he was finished he sat back down on his throne, looking over at his fellow followers.

"I can not stress to you pathetic beings how important that book is. For that reason I want thirty of you to go and retrieve that book, do what you must to get it, but I warn you, if you return empty handed…" Voldermort trailed off, not needing to finish.

The Death Eaters understood well what he was implying, and like lightening fast shadows, all of them trailed out the room, till only Bellatrix and Lucius were left in Voldermort's presence.

"Bellatrix, what have you uncovered on your mission?" Voldermort said a little more calmly.

"Nothing thus far my lord, all we need to do now his wait for the will-reading of my late cousin. My sister says that the information we seek is within the Black Family Vaults."

Vodlermort smiled evilly at this. "That is good, you have done well Bella." He then smiled viscously. "CRUCIO!"

Bellatrix fell to the curse, but only to her knees. She didn't scream either, only whimpered through closed lips. When Voldermort released her from the curse, she got up instantly, showing no sign that the curse affected her.

"When the time comes Lucius, use your wife to gt us the information I seek." Voldermort commanded, earning a nod from Lucius.

"Yes my lord."

All conversations ended as Voldermort ordered his to trusted subordinates to leave and get on with their missions. After bowing, both Bellatrix and Lucius left the room, leaving Voldermort to his own thoughts.

'Soon…very soon!"

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AN: Sorry for the lateness of this update. I am thankful for how much everyone demanded that I update and will try with all my will to uphold this honor. In any case I hope you enjoyed this chapter. So R&R for me please.