Chapter 381 The Legend Of Azkaban And Slytherin
Evan was writing to his parents while listening to Mr. Weasley and Sirius conversing.
"I still remember Jorkins. She was at Hogwarts when I was there, two years older than me," reminisced Sirius. "A fool, very nosy, but brainless, absolutely brainless. Not a good mix at all!"
"She could drive anyone crazy; she had been working with me for a while," frowned Mr. Weasley. "Not bad, just not too useful. As you can see in the report, she causes more problems than she solves."
"What department is she in now?" Sirius inquired.
"I've been in the Department of International Magical Cooperation for many years, and then, I don't know why, suddenly Barty..."
Mr. Weasley stopped himself, realizing he shouldn't mention the name in front of Evan, so he quickly changed the subject, "She moved to the Department of Magical Games and Sports recently. In short, over the years, she has been transferred from one department to another, and only Ludo Bagman was willing to have her. Ludo is a good person. He helped me get tickets to the World Cup."
"Where is she now?" Evan interrupted. "I want to see her."
"What business do you have with Jorkins?" Sirius frowned, but upon seeing Evan's expression, he immediately understood. He said seriously, "Well, I know you suspect Crouch. Your reasoning before is correct. But now we must focus on removing the curse from your wrist. After breaking it, I will help you investigate, I promise!"
"You don't have a chance to see her now," Mr. Weasley said. "After this incident with the biting cactus, she went on vacation abroad, and probably won't be back for a few weeks. Ludo thinks she needs more fresh air and to wake up."
Evan's heart was pounding hard; if Bertha Jorkins went on vacation in the Albanian Forests, she might have been caught by Voldemort.
This was not good. She could be being tortured by Voldemort now.
It was only a matter of time before Voldemort knew that his most devoted follower was still alive and had successfully escaped from Azkaban.
But without the help of Peter Pettigrew, and without Quirrell to share his body with him, Voldemort should have great difficulties in returning and saving Barty Crouch Jr. He was just a powerless soul who could do nothing.
Just as Evan was pondering, a memo came through the open door, slowly falling in front of Sirius. He opened it hesitantly.
"Dumbledore has spoken to Fudge, and he has obtained permission to enter Azkaban!" Sirius exclaimed. "He is waiting for us downstairs."
Evan hastened the writing of the letter to his parents and also a letter to Professor Lupin, specifically asking him to pay attention to Barty Crouch's movements.
He handed the letters to Mr. Weasley and, after bidding farewell, returned to the elevator.
"How can we get to Azkaban?" Evan asked curiously. "Is it by Apparition?"
"Just like at Hogwarts, that place prohibits Apparition and any other spell that may sneak into it," explained Sirius. "Many spells have been cast over Azkaban to prevent prisoners from escaping and being found by others, but the Ministry of Magic has a Portkey to that place."
"Where the hell is Azkaban?"
"No one knows," Sirius said. "Although I was there for over a decade and managed to escape, I only know it's on an island in the North Sea."
He paused for a moment and continued. "I was floating on the sea with a piece of wood. I could only guess the approximate direction and had been swimming for a long time before reaching land."
The history of Azkaban, the wizarding prison, dated back half a millennium.
There were many stories about that famous prison that couldn't be told in several days and nights. Due to the numerous dark wizards who had been imprisoned there and the large number of Dementors gathered, it had played a very significant role in magical history and had been mentioned repeatedly.
After the incident with the underground ruins, Evan searched for many historical materials about Slytherin himself a few days ago.
He found a very intriguing record!
Surprisingly, it mentioned that the founder of Azkaban was likely Salazar Slytherin himself.
A thousand years ago, he proposed to the then Presbyterian Church (predecessor of the Ministry of Magic) the construction of a prison for the detention of dark wizards, and then led the prison's construction project.
Slytherin personally imbued Azkaban with a lot of magic, and also provided a large number of Galleons to maintain the prison's daily operations.
Of course, that wasn't the most important thing. What intrigued Evan was that, according to legend, Slytherin had traveled throughout the European continent after leaving Hogwarts, but probably spent his last years in that place.
According to information from the underground relics, Slytherin left with the body and brain of the Nightmare God he had dismembered. If that prison mentioned in the records was indeed Azkaban, and if he had lived in seclusion there in his final years, would there be any part of the evil god's body?
(Typical Translator: J.K. Rowling mentioned on Pottermore that Azkaban existed since the 15th century and was originally home to a little-known wizard who called himself Ekrizdis. Here, the author could be completely omitting information from Pottermore, basing their work solely on the books, or considering the author's words vague enough to introduce a hidden story behind them.)
Evan touched the Medallion on his chest. If there were any clues left there, he could find hints about Slytherin's Secret Treasure Key.
Though he may not have believed it possible, he could enhance his magical abilities as he did the last time.
Secondly, he was now very interested in malevolent spirits. According to the malevolent god he had seen in the illusion of the Centaur colony, it had many companions.
Evan wanted to study these terrifying creatures of the void, seeking ways to confront them. Malevolent spirits were summoned and bound by ancient wizards, but this individual who had been defeated and studied by Slytherin was the prime target.
It did not derive from the void and was likely created by Herpo the Foul himself. It was not as powerful and would not make Evan feel powerless!
Evan and Sirius took the elevator down and quickly returned to the main hall.
Now, having passed rush hour, there weren't many people there.
The golden gates slid open, and Evan spotted the golden statues in the fountain in the distance. No one entered, and they continued descending.
"Department of Mysteries," said the cold female voice, saying nothing more.
"Over here, Evan!" Sirius pushed him out of the elevator. "This is the most mysterious department of the Ministry of Magic. We must keep going down. I have only been here once before, thirteen years ago, to be tried and sent to Azkaban."
