Luna the Moon Monster's Fanfiction Archive | home
Chapter 1 - Holiday Blues | Chapter 2 - The Train | Chapter 3 - The Feast and Other Matters | Chapter 4 - The Trial | Chapter 5 - Azkaban and the Only Way Out | Epilogue
Chapter 5 - Azkaban and the Only Way Out
***Two Months Later***
*Is this supposed to be part of the task? *
*I dunno. Wands out, d'you reckon?*
*Yeah.*
*Kill the spare*
*Avada Kedavra!*
*Lily, run, it's Him! Run, I'll hold him off-*
*No, James, I can't leave you here-*
*Run! Now!*
Harry huddled into the corner of the small cell and wrapped the rags he called a blanket around his too-thin frame. He didn't know how long he'd been there, and he didn't really care. The voices all blurred into each other as the Dementors sucked away his happy thoughts.
*Please, not Harry, anything-*
*Stand aside, silly girl-*
*No, please, take me instead-have mercy-*
*Make the breakfast, Boy, or I'll give you a hiding*
His worst nightmares were all that were left as scenes from his life flashed continuously before his eyes. Voldemort, Wormtail, Uncle Vernon. It was too much. The stream of images playing out in his mind was slowly driving him to distraction. Some of these images were more prominent than others, especially those of the Third Task and the events that followed.
*Kill the spare*
*Avada Kedavra*
*I, Cornelius Fudge, Minister for Magic, hereby find the defendant Harry Potter guilty of the murder of Cedric Diggory*
He had been here two months. Two miserable months of soggy gruel and sleepless nights. Two whole months of Dementors viciously sucking away any happiness that might have remained in him. He had started to go mad the first week he was there, hearing the worst memories of his short life playing over and over again in his head. He couldn't understand how Sirius had managed to survive in Azkaban for twelve years without losing his mind. Harry hadn't been there nearly as long and he already wanted the torment to end in any way possible. His time there was an endless blur, and he wasn't sure how long he had been there anymore. It could have been weeks or it could have been years. It was all the same to Harry. Yet there was no escaping his fate. His sentence was for life, and in the wizarding world life meant life. There was no parole like there was in the Muggle world. Considering wizards could easily live to be well over 100, this prospect was not very promising to a fifteen year old. It wasn't as if escape was an option either. Sirius had only managed to escape by turning into a dog, and Harry couldn't do anything like that. At the moment he wouldn't even be able to concentrate enough on the transformation even if he had been an animagus.
*Please, not Harry, anything-*
*Stand aside, silly girl-*
*No, please, take me instead-have mercy-*
*Kill the spare*
*Avada Kedavra*
Barty Crouch Jr. had escaped, but he had his family to help him. Harry had no-one. What would his parents and friends think of him now? Huddled on the cold floor of a prison cell with only his worst nightmares for company. And what nightmares they were. Harry had seen enough in his short life to keep the Dementors happy for years.
*BOY! If you burn that bacon one more time I'll wring your scrawny little neck*
At least the Dursleys would be happy. He wouldn't be getting under their feet anymore. And Snape was probably rejoicing. Knowing him he would have made a nice scrapbook of the newspaper reports from the trial, entitled `James Potter's son - Guilty of Murder'. It was the sort of thing he would expect from Snape.
*Mr. Potter. Our new celebrity*
Yes, that was just like Snape.
*Clearly, fame isn't everything*
Draco Malfoy would be pleased as well. This was just the sort of thing that would keep him taunting for months. And Ron and Hermione would be right in the line of fire.
Even in Azkaban I'm still hurting my friends, he thought as memories of Malfoy came swirling to the surface.
*Some wizarding families are better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there.*
Maybe the sorting hat should have put me in Slytherin. I'm no better than the Death Eaters, was Harry's next train of thought. After all, he was a murderer just like Voldemort, and he was the heir of Slytherin. Plus, Harry was a parselmouth, and all parselmouths were evil. This train of thought was getting him nowhere. He had been going over these points for weeks, and had never come to a conclusion. They just served to bring up more bad memories. Turning over, Harry decided to try and get some sleep. After all, he was going to be here a long time so he might as well get comfortable.
*~*~*
Things took a serious turn for the worse a few days later when Fudge made a special visit to Azkaban. Harry was awoken from his nightmare filled sleep by the sound of his cell door scraping open to admit the irritating Minister for Magic. For the first time in ages Harry could think clearly.
They must have removed the Dementors for Fudge's visit. The coward probably can't stand their presence.
His thoughts were interrupted by Fudge, along with three body guards, moving fast towards him. The Minister gave him a condescending look, making his satisfaction at Harry's predicament clear. He took a newspaper out of his pocket and threw it on the floor in front of Harry.
“ Thought you might like some reading material. It must be pretty boring sitting in here day after day,” he stated before giving Harry one last smirk and turning to leave.
This thoroughly confused Harry. Why would Fudge be giving him something to read? Taking up the newspaper he looked over the front cover, his eyes instantly drawn to the bold headline and main article. A single tear ran down his cheek as he read.
SIRIUS BLACK FINALLY CAUGHT
Infamous criminal Sirius Black was finally caught yesterday after spending over two years on the run from the Ministry of Magic. Black, who was convicted on 13 counts of murder in 1981, escaped from the prison island of Azkaban in 1993. After numerous sightings over the last few months he was finally cornered in Hogsmeade by Aurors sent to protect Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The school has been on high alert since the controversial evidence given by Boy-Who-Lived Harry Potter at his trial two months ago. Reports of Death Eater activity have supported Potter's claims that You-Know-Who has indeed returned to power. Yet Potter's evidence was not enough evidence to release Black, as there is still no proof of Peter Pettigrew, the wizard Black supposedly killed 14 years ago, still being alive.
Black, still assumed guilty of following the Dark Lord, was refused a trial by Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge, who had this to say “ Black is guilty. There is no evidence in his defence. It is evident he was able to escape from Azkaban once, and he will not be given the chance to do so again.”
Sirius Black was administered the Dementor's Kiss earlier this morning.
Annabel Williams, Special Correspondent
*~*~*
*Harry was standing in the Riddle mansion. He had seen it enough times in his dreams to be able to recognise it immediately. As he was looking around he saw a short figure scuttle into the room from a side door and kneel before a chair. Moving around the room Harry finally saw the imposing shape of the Dark Lord sitting staring down at his Death Eater.
“ Wormtail, my faithful servant. It is finally time. Call all of my Death Eaters. With Potter out of the way there will be no stopping me. We move on Hogwarts at dawn.”*
Harry awoke with a start, clutching at his forehead. It seemed even the Dementors' presence couldn't drown out his dreams of Voldemort. But how he wished they could.
He's moving on Hogwarts. If I'd been there I could have warned Dumbledore. Ron and Hermione, and all of my friends are going to die. Voldemort'll take over again. And it's all my fault.
Harry couldn't take it anymore. He had killed Cedric, he had killed his parents, Sirius was as good as dead, and now he had doomed Hogwarts. If his blood hadn't been used, Voldemort wouldn't have been returned to power. If his parents hadn't been protecting him, then they would still have been alive. It was all his fault, and he couldn't live with it any more. There was only one way out.
*~*~*
This was it. It was all going to be over soon. He would see his parents again. He would see Cedric again. He wasn't sure if he would see Sirius again, after all, what happens to a soul sucked out of its body by a Dementor? His pain and suffering would end soon, and Harry couldn't wait. Was it the coward's way out? Probably. But did it matter? Not a bit.
As soon as the intense chill of a Dementor's presence grew stronger Harry knew it was time for his meal. A small flap opened at the bottom of the door and a metal dish full of lumpy gruel was pushed through the gap. As soon as he could feel the chill lessening and his mind becoming a little clearer Harry moved over to the bowl and emptied the contents onto the floor. He then took up the dish and held his hand over it, concentrating hard. After all, once his wand had been snapped he only had the choice of wandless magic. Putting all that was left of his mind into transfiguring the bowl, Harry finally felt a tingle in his palm, and when he looked down at the bowl, there was a new object in its place.
With a slight smile on his face, Harry brought the newly created blade to his wrists and pushed, waiting for the sweet release that would take away all of his troubles. His last thoughts swirled around his head as a delicious blackness enveloped him.
I'm coming, Mum and Dad. I'll see you soon.