CHAPTER 9

THE AZKABAN BREAKOUT

"Of all the places I would expect to see him, this would be pretty low on the list," Scorpius said, through gritted teeth, and Rose glanced at Al nervously.

"We can leave if you want to," she said quietly, and he shook his head.

"No, I'm not going to—I'm not letting him ruin my day. Let's just—let's just order."

"Okay," Al said, "but, er… who's going to go to the bar?"

Min sighed. "They're not even there, they're in a booth next to it! At any rate, I'll go, he won't know me, I'm not even ginger." Min walked up to the bar and Al turned to Rose.

"I'd kill to know what they're saying," he confessed.

"They'd see us if we got any closer," Rose said.

Al smiled a little. "I've got my Cloak."

"How did you get it out of the castle?"

"Well, that's the thing, Rose, they can't see it."

"Right, er, okay, I'll go. Do you want to come with me?" she asked him.

Al looked suddenly a little nervous. "Really? You're really… okay. Sure." Rose motioned for Al to follow her and she walked to a dark corner near the toilets, then nodded at Al. He pulled the Cloak out of his bag and wrapped it around both of them. They crept closer to the table and nearly bumped into Min carrying four butterbeers back to the table, and leaned

against the edge of the bar so as not to get knocked over in the traffic of the pub.

"Well, I'm sure you know that I'm simply honored to be elected, Mr. Malfoy," Rose's mother was saying, and Lucius smiled an incredibly false-looking smile.

"Of course, Ms. Weasley. And I'm… interested to see what our meeting with the Hogwarts staff will result in. As I'm sure you know, I'm hopeful that we can find a more satisfactory defense strategy for the school."

"I don't quite understand your meaning, Mr. Malfoy," Rose's mother said, though Rose recognized her tone instantly as her 'warning' tone. "I thought we were here simply to oversee the Auror defense force."

"Well, initially, yes, that was the agenda. However, I have recently had some concerns about the quality of the defense given to the school by the Aurors."

Her mother smiled politely and said, "Whatever concerns you may have, I can assure as head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, the Auror office has always been staffed with the very best that the wizarding community has to offer."

"That is where we differ in opinion, Ms. Weasley," he said. Rose didn't like the way he pronounced their surname at all; it was as if he was tasting something awful.

"Actually, Mr. Malfoy, my professional name is still Granger," she said coolly, and Rose couldn't help but giggle a little. Al covered her mouth quickly, though, and no one appeared to notice.

"Of course," he said after slight hesitation. "My apologies. As I was saying, the Auror office seems to have, in recent years, shown a certain lax in its standards. I have no doubt that you're aware of the immediate hiring of certain… veterans of the Second War without any proper training whatsoever, no matter how little talent was shown."

"Well, that was before my tenure as Head of the Office, but if you're attempting to imply something about my husband—"

"No, no, Ms…Granger, not specifically, I mean no offense," he said completely unbelievably, "I only mean to say that there seems to have been a certain favoritism shown towards more… radical liberal ideals recently in the Auror department. Anyone without such beliefs hasn't been able to easily secure a job in the Ministry in a very long time. I don't mean to say that it has anything to do with you, and I only want further investigation to be done on the backgrounds of the Aurors stationed at Hogwarts. I'm merely thinking of the children, you understand."

Rose's mother was clearly finished being polite and did not smile. "To be frank, Mr. Malfoy, I don't believe you have much authority in matters such as unbiased acceptance of beliefs, or concern for children, considering recent events."

Lucius laughed and Rose got a slight chill. "Ms. Granger, I do hope you aren't referring to my personal life, which is hardly relevant in this discussion—"

"Actually, Mr. Malfoy, I happen to believe that it is. I'm going to go up to the castle now, and will request that our meetings with Professor McGonagall be separate." Without another word, Rose's mother stood and walked quickly out of the pub, leaving Rose and Al gaping at each other in awe. They followed her out and Rose called after her as Al took off the Cloak.

"Mum!" she called, and when her mother turned around, she jumped a little.

"Oh, hello, Rose," she said. "I didn't see you there. I'm sorry, I'm not really in the right state to talk—"

"We know, we saw," she said.

"That was brilliant, Aunt Hermione!" Al exclaimed, and her mother sighed.

"The Cloak?" she asked. They nodded sheepishly and she shook her head.

"Well, I'm sorry you saw that." But after a moment's hesitation she said, "However, I'm not sorry I said it."

Rose grinned and her mother smiled a little. "Run along, you two. I'll be at the castle later today and I'll try to come see you then." They nodded and she continued up the path. Rose and Al turned to go back into the pub and found themselves face to face with Lucius himself.

"Mr. Potter. Miss Weasley," he said, looking very annoyed. "Excuse me." He practically pushed them into the doorframe as he left the pub, muttering something about respect. Rose and Al sat down at the booth and Al began to recount the entire conversation in detail while Rose quietly sipped her butterbeer, thinking. She had to get to Owl Post somehow, and it wasn't long before she thought of an excuse.

"So then Aunt Hermione says, 'I don't believe you have much authority in—'," Al was saying, and Rose interrupted.

"I just remembered, I needed to tell my mum something, I'll be back in a few minutes." Scorpius and Min nodded absently, engrossed in Al's story, and Rose slipped out of the booth quickly. She hurried down the street to the post office at a speed that could almost be considered running, and had nearly made it when she almost walked right into two people crossing her path. She started to apologize, and then realized that one of them was Professor Barton. "Oh, I'm sorry, Professor," she said quickly, and he smiled.

"It's quite all right, Miss Weasley. Ah, this is Ms. Jones, one of my former colleagues from my days as an Auror. Hestia, this is one of my best students, Rose Weasley."

"Pleasure to meet you, Ms. Jones," she said politely, and the woman shook hands.

"And you, Rose," she said.

"Ms. Jones is going to be one of the new Aurors on the grounds for the next month," Professor Barton explained. "She's here straight from Azkaban."

Hestia Jones wrinkled her nose. "Don't mention the place. It's dreadfully boring most of the time. And I wasn't even on duty that night, by the way, but I was called in to clean up, of course," she said, smiling.

"Sorry, what night?" Rose asked, confused. She hadn't heard anything about Azkaban recently.

Hestia and Barton exchanged surprised looks. "You haven't heard?" Barton asked.

"I don't get the Daily Prophet, Professor," Rose said.

Hestia chuckled a little and muttered, "Smart girl."

"There was a breakout at Azkaban, a few nights ago," Barton explained. "Some of the Death Eaters from the Second Wizarding War escaped. But there are several Aurors looking for them, and you shouldn't worry too much about it."

"Was there a motive? Or… names?" Rose asked, and Barton sighed.

"It's not anything you need to concern yourself with, Miss Weasley. The Aurors are perfectly capable of handling this situation." Rose didn't understand why they were all stationed at Hogwarts if they were needed to catch Death Eaters. But she simply nodded and smiled.

"Right. Sorry, Professor. I should go now," she said, and he nodded.

"I'll see you in class, Miss Weasley," he said, and Hestia nodded to her before they continued on their way. Rose dashed into the Owl Post as soon as possible and pulled out the short letter she had written the day before from her cloak, which sounded nearly identical to the last one she had sent. She took it to the counter and handed the worker a few Sickles. He tied the letter to an owl and it took off. Before she left, she pulled out a handful of Knuts.

"Can I have a Daily Prophet, please? From… Wednesday," she added to the worker, who looked at her a little oddly before pulling out the paper from under the counter. As she left the shop, she read the cover and felt a sinking feeling in her stomach.

FIRST AZKABAN BREAKOUT IN OVER 20 YEARS

Late last night, five dangerous convicts of Azkaban prison escaped from the high security facility. The convicts seemed to have escaped with the help of an outside source, though the source in question has not yet been determined. The convicts were all serving life sentences for war crimes related to the Second Wizarding War and allegiance to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Azkaban prison's security has been increased in the last few years by the Auror office as a revision to the reforms brought on by Minister for Magic Percival Weasley in 2011. Despite rising rumors that the escape was made possible by Minister Weasley's reforms banning the use of dementors, the creatures previously used for Azkaban guards, these accusations fall short when considering the consistent success of the Auror department's control of the facility. "The security of Azkaban remains one of the Auror office's top priorities, and I strongly believe that this escape was not a result of lesser security measures," Harry Potter, Head of the Auror office, remarked in an official statement released this morning. "The use of dementors is inhumane and an attempt to harness uncontrollable Dark forces that will not be tolerated in the Ministry again."

The escapees are Antonin Dolohov, Rabastan Lestrange, Walden Macnair, Augustus Rookwood, and Edward Mulciber. Their pictures can be seen below; they are highly dangerous and have been known to use Unforgivable Curses. If seen, please DO NOT APPROACH and call the Auror office immediately.

Rose hurried back to the Three Broomsticks and found the other three waiting for her at the table, along with the addition of James and Stephanie, looking annoyed. "Took you long enough," Min snorted.

"I ran into Professor Barton and an Auror. There was a breakout at Azkaban." Rose set the paper on the table and the others crowded around to read it. After a while, James sat back looking grim.

"Dolohov killed Teddy's father," he said darkly. "And I think Rookwood had something to do with Uncle Fred's death."

"This is really bad," Al said.

"Do you think Nott was the one who broke them out?" Scorpius asked.

Rose shrugged. "I don't know. Seems likely. Who else has the power to do something like that?"

"Maybe the Order of the Cobra," James suggested.

"Are they still associated with the Death Eaters? It didn't sound like it when they attacked," Al said.

"Whoever it is, things are getting pretty dark," Stephanie said. "Have you, er, heard anything, Scorpius?"

Scorpius rolled his eyes. "They wouldn't have told me anything they didn't want you all to know. But no one showed up at the door in black cloaks and asked for my grandfather, if that's what you mean."

"All right, well, maybe that's a good thing," Min said. "But can we just forget about it for now? I want to go to Honeydukes."

"Yeah, we can talk about this at the next meeting," Al agreed, and they all gathered their things to leave.

Scorpius walked up to Rose as they left the pub and said quietly, "This is much worse than even they think. Lestrange is one of the most dangerous Dark wizards alive even by himself. And everyone who escaped was right in You-Know-Who's inner circle. You didn't get there unless you were the best."

Rose sighed. "I figured as much. I wish I knew what Nott was planning. Maybe we could figure it out if we just knew what that symbol meant."

"We'll keep looking," he said. "But in the meantime, I'm actually glad there are Aurors at Hogwarts. They won't be able to attack us here with a guard on the grounds."

Rose nodded as they kept walking up the road. "I hope you're right."