HP & The Prisoner of Azkaban

Harry

Harry averted his gaze and squeezed his eyes close. The eight of them stood transfixed with horror, invisibile. The very last rays of the setting sun were casting a bloody light over the long-shadowed grounds. Then, behind them, they heard a wild howling.

"Hagrid," Jéricho muttered pitifully. Charles made to turn back, but both Ron and Hermione seized his arms.

"We can't," Ron said, who was paper-white. "He'll be in worse trouble if they know we've been to see him..."

Hermione's breathing was shallow and uneven. "How -- could -- they?" she choked. "How could they?"

"Come on," Cedric murmured, whose teeth seemed to be chattering.

They set off back toward the castle, walking slowly together. The light was fading fast now. By the time they reached open ground, darkness was settling like a spell around them.

"Scabbers, keep still," Harry heard Ron hiss from a few steps behind. Harry frowned as he turned, "Keep quite, will you, Ron? If you get caught, we'll all be in trouble."

But there was a sudden thud, and Harry knew that the three under the cloak had stopped. Ron's voice came, "What's the matter with you, you stupid rat? Stay still - OUCH! He bit me!"

"Ron, be quiet!" Sera whispered urgently. "Fudge'll be out here in a minute -"

"He won't -- stay -- put --"

The wriggling and squeaking noises continued, and Harry wondered why Scabbers was trying to break free of Ron's grip. "What's the matter with him?"

But he had just seen - stinking toward them, his body low to the ground, wide yellow eyes glinting eerily in the darkness - Crookshanks, Hermione's cat. Whether he could see them or was following the sound of Scabbers's squeaks, Harry couldn't tell.

"Crookshanks!" Hermione moaned. "No, go away, Crookshanks! Go away!"

But the cat was getting nearer -

"Scabbers - NO!"

Too late - the rat had slipped between Ron's clutching fingers, hit the ground, and scampered away. In one bound, Crookshanks sprang after him, and before anyone could stop him, Ron had thrown the Invisibility Cloak off himself and pelted away into the darkness.

"Ron!" Hermione moaned.

He's an idiot. Adrian's voice echoed in his head and he sighed, exchanging a look with the others before following at a sprint after Ron. Charles and Hermione pulled the cloak off and it streamed behind them like a banner as they hurtled after Ron; Harry didn't have any time to tell them off for it.

They could hear Ron's feet thundering along ahead and his shouts at Crookshanks. "Get away from him - get away - Scabbers, come here -"

There was a loud thud. "Gotcha! Get off, you stinking cat --"

They skidded to a stop right in front of Ron. He was sprawled on the ground, but Scabbers was back in his pocket; he had both hands held tight over the quivering lump.

"Ron - come on back under the cloak -" Hermione panted. "Dumbledore - the Minister - they'll be coming back out in a minute -"

But before they could cover themselves again, before any of them could even catch their breath, they heard the soft pounding of gigantic paws... Something was bounding toward them, quiet as a shadow - an enormous, pale-eyed, jet-black dog.

Sirius...

Harry almost relaxed before he noticed Padfoot's stance. It was readied as if to attack, not defence. There was a strange maniac sort of gleam in his eyes... Harry reached for his wand, but too late - Padfoot had made an enormous leap and the front paws hit Harry on the chest; he keeled over backward in a whirl of hair; he felt its hot breath, saw inch-long teeth -

For a minute he was scared...

But the force of Padfoot's leap had carried it too far; he rolled off him. Dazed, feeling as though his ribs were broken, Harry tried to stand up; he could hear it growling as it skidded around for a new attack.

Ron was on his feet. Padfoot sprang forward and his jaws fastened around Ron's outstretched arm. Harry lunged forward, he seized a handful of the dog's hair, but Padfoot was dragging Ron away as easily as though he were a rag doll -

"PADFOOT, WHAT THE HELL D'YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" Charles shouted as he ran forward. Jéricho steadied Harry, looking ghastly white as he stared ahead at Padfoot.

Has the goddamn mutt gone insane?! Adrian's voice rang hysterically.

Then, out of nowhere, something hit Harry so hard across the face that he was knocked off his feet again. He heard Jéricho and Sera shriek with pain and fall too.

Harry groped for his wand, blinking blood out of his eyes

"Lumos!" he whispered.

The wandlight showed him the trunk of a thick tree; they had chased Scabbers into the shadow of the Whomping Willow and its branches were creaking as though in a high wind, whipping backward and forward to stop them going nearer. In their urgency, Harry hadn't even noticed where they were.

And there, at the base of the trunk, was Padfoot, dragging Ron backward into a large gap in the roots... To the Shrieking Shack... Ron was fighting furiously, but his head and torso were slipping out of sight...

"Ron!" Charles shouted, trying to follow, but a heavy branch whipped lethally through the air and he was forced backward too.

All they could see now was one of Ron's legs, which he had hooked around a root in an effort to stop the dog from pulling him farther underground - but a horrible crack cut the air like a gunshot; Ron's leg had broken, and a moment later, his foot vanished from sight.

"Guys - we've got to go for help -" Sera gasped; she was bleeding too; the Willow had cut her across the shoulder.

"No! That thing's big enough to eat him; we haven't got time -" Hermione argued.

"He won't," Harry snarled. "Eat Ron, I mean. It's... it's Padfoot..."

"You saw him!" Charles shouted. "He's not in his right mind or he'd never attack us."

"What if it's a trap?" Sera asked in a quivering voice. "I mean, what if he's imperiused, or something?"

Harry didn't really think so, but he nodded. "We have to help them, no time. Look, I and Ech will go in - you know wer'e the best chances - and you all go and try to find Dumbledore or dad or Remus."

"Ron's our best mate; we're coming too," Charles growled.

Harry didn't have the time to argue with them. Another branch whipped down at them, twigs clenched like knuckles.

"Fine," Harry panted, ducking just in time. "We need to prod the knot..."

Harry was about to tell Sera to transform and do it, in his utter desperation, but before he could open his mouth to ask, Crookshanks darted forward. He slithered between the battering branches like a snake and placed his front paws upon a knot on the trunk.

Abruptly, as though the tree had been turned to marble, it stopped moving. Not a leaf twitched or shook.

"Crookshanks!" Hermione whispered uncertainly. She now grasped Charles' arm. "How did he know -?"

"He's friends with Padfoot," Charles revealed grimly. "I've seen them together. Come on - and keep your wand out -"

They covered the distance to the trunk in seconds, but before they had reached the gap in the roots, Crookshanks had slid into it with a flick of his bottlebrush tail. Harry went next; he crawled forward, headfirst, and slid down an earthy slope to the bottom of a very low tunnel. Crookshanks was a little way along, his eyes flashing in the light from Harry's wand. Seconds later, Jéricho slithered down beside him, followed by Charles and Hermione.

"Where's Ron?" she whispered in a terrified voice.

"This way," Harry said, setting off, bent-backed, after Crookshanks.

"Where does this tunnel come out?" Hermione asked breathlessly from behind him.

Charles said, "The Shrieking Shack."

Hermione flinched hard. "But-!"

"There aren't any ghosts here," Harry assured her. "In fact, this is my friends' and my favorite meeting place."

They moved as fast as they could, bent almost double; ahead of them, Crookshanks's tail bobbed in and out of view. On and on went the passage... All Harry could think of was what on earth was wrong with Sirius... Harry was drawing breath in sharp, painful gasps, running at a crouch...

And then the tunnel began to rise; moments later it twisted, and Crookshanks had gone. instead, Harry could see a patch of dim light through a small opening.

They paused, gasping for breath, edging forward. Their wands were raised just in case. 

The room wasn't very disordered or dusty, but was starting to slowly gather dust since The Prowlers hadn't visited in a week or two. Paper was peeling from the walls; there were stains all over the floor; the windows were all boarded up.

Harry pulled himself out of the hole, staring around. The room was deserted, but a door to their right stood open, leading to a shadowy hallway.

At that moment, there was a creak overhead, and they heard raised voices. 

The one that was clearly Sirius was saying, “You need to be more careful, brother. This isn’t about them.”

And the reply was also Sirius, sort of. Actually, it was the same unknown voice Harry had heard when he'd eavesdropped earlier, but Harry was now only realizing that it sounded exactly like Sirius. ”He deserves to die... He’s supposed to be dead!”

Harry honestly couldn’t tell them apart. They shared the same pitch, cadence, and desperation. He put a finger to his lips as he, Charles, Hermione, and Jéricho started up the stairs.

“First, we need to clear your name,” Sirius said.

The other voice laughed, and now it was clear that it wasn’t Sirius at all. The laugh held neither humor nor bitterness. There was no true emotion behind it. “Even without his crimes added in, I’ve done enough to earn a life sentence in Azkaban easily, Sirius, and you know it.”

Harry pushed open the door and saw that not only did it sound like two Siriuses talking, but it looked like two Siriuses talking.

One was the Sirius that Harry knew. The other had the same almost the same build, with slight distinctions: smaller shoulders, shorter hair; a face that was ruthless and much more expressionless than Sirius. It could only be Regulus Black.

But it also wasn’t the Regulus Black that Harry had seen in the Daily Prophet. That Regulus had been gaunt, with heavy shadows under his eyes, and a wild look to him. This Regulus looked like he’d had a few baths and full meals. He was groomed in a way Harry didn’t expect for someone on the run.

Harry tightened his grip on his wand, unsure whether or not he'd have to use it on his godfather or not. Could he even ever use it against Sirius?

Ron was sitting on an old bed that was broken in the middle. He held his injured arm and his leg was unnaturally bent. Scabbers was held against his chest. Hermione immediately ran over to him, ignoring the two Black brothers.

“Dad,” Jéricho stammered from behind Harry. “You-”

Regulus Black stared at them with an unreadable expression, and addressed Harry and Charles. “James Potter's sons, Sirius' godson, eh? I take it you’re here to help your friend?”

Regulus Black raised his wand at Ron and Charles jumped between them.

“No!” Charles said, and Regulus Black froze, wand half-raised, a spell halfway across his tongue.

“How extraordinarily like James Potter you are,” Black said in a quiet voice.

“Sirius,” Harry said, without taking his eyes off Regulus, “what is happening?”

“Regulus didn’t commit that mass muggle-murder,” Sirius said. “He didn’t kill Barty Crouch. He was falsely accused.”

“Liar!” Charles snarles. “There were witnesses to the crime, and he was on the scene, and-”

“Charles, calm down,” Sirius said.

“He’s a Death Eater! He killed Muggles and witches and wizards and-” Jéricho broke off and tried to steady his shaking wand hand.

Regulus Black frowned. “It is undeniable that I did terrible, horrible things in the services of the Dark Lord. But I did not commit the particular murder I was falsely accused of. Not that exact night, at least.”

Before they could do anything else, they heard muffled footsteps echoing up through the floor - someone was moving downstairs...

"WE'RE UP HERE!" Hermione screamed suddenly. "WE'RE UP HERE - REGULUS BLACK - QUICK!"

Regulus Black made a startled movement. The footsteps were thundering up the stairs...

The door of the room burst open in a shower of red sparks and they all wheeled around as Remus and James came hurtling into the room, faces bloodless, wands raised and ready. Their eyes flickered over Ron, injured on the bed, over Hermione, hovering on Ron, over Jéricho and Harry, standing there with their wands covering the Black brothers, to Charles, standing there defensively between Ron and Regulus, and then to the adult Blacks, looking all poised and aristocratic, wands at the ready. 

Without warning, Remus shouted, "Expelliarmus!" 

Sirius' and Regulus' wands flew out of their hands. James caught them both deftly, then moved into the room with Remus, staring at the Black brothers.

"What have you done, Sirius?" James asked cautiously, his voice wavering just the teeniest bit. Harry knew his father must be feeling very conflicted at the moment. On one hand, he was one of the senior-most aurors, on the case of a convicted murderer. On the other, his best friend was helping said convict and would have to be taken in too. Of course, James wouldn't want to have to arrest his best friend - no, brother - and was trying to give him a last chance.

Remus' wand was still pointed at the Black brothers, and Sirius slowly raised his hands in surrender.  

"Please, just hear us out, Prongs. Look, Reg didn't do it. The murder. He was framed. He's my brother, James, and-"

"I thought I was your brother!" James exploded angrily, and Sirius winced. "You are, too, Jamie - but Reg -"

"I suggest you back down, Sirius," Remus tensely said. "Or else I'd have to stun you."

"No!" Sirius took a step forward. "I'm telling you, just listen! Reg was framed, he's innocent! It was Barty, Barty Crouch Jr.!"

Charles

It was as if time stopped. 

The silence was broken by Hermione. "But... he's dead! Black killed him!"

"I meant to, believe me," Regulus snarled. "Got the better of me, though, that rat."

"What-?"

"Tell us. Everything." James demanded. 

Regulus let out a breath. "You remember that Barty, I, and Evan used to be best friends?"

"Thick as thieves, yeah," Remus nodded. 

"Well, one day I caught Sirius at our house reading a book on animagi. I think that I knew him best, back then. I understood he wasn't just reading for fun. I discreetly started spying on him - on all the marauders. And when I found out you all had become animagi... why should I be left behind, I thought. I expressed my idea to Barty and Evan - missing the part of your illegal activities - and we three also became animagi just as we were out of school. I transformed into a black cat, Evan was a white ferret, and Barty... he was a rat."

"Excuse me," Hermione timidly raised her hand as if in class. "You're... uh, illegal animagi?" she pointed at Sirius, Remus, and James. Remus smiled. "I'm not, but James and Sirius are, along with Peter Pettigrew, who turned into a rat. Sirius is the black dog you encountered earlier, and James is a stag."

"Proud git," Sirius chimed in. James shot him a glare.

Regulus sighed. "Anyway... all three of us joined the rank of Death Eaters. Evan and I weren't as devoted as Barty, but we never thought it'd get between us," Regulus let out a bitter laugh. "How wrong we were. I found out a secret of the Dark Lord's... one that was so gruesome that even I was horrified. What he had done... he had to be brought down. I told everything to Evan, and he talked me out of going ahead with my suicide plan and to wait and observe. When we told Barty, however... he told us off. We were being silly, he said. Or just big traitors. Said that for the sake of our friendship, he wouldn't say anything to the Dark Lord, but if we continued, he'd have no choice but to give us in... I was lost, to be honest. My best friend had gone insane. Evan and he had a big fight, and a week later Evan was killed with his wife and daughter. Barty and I didn't talk at the service at all - I didn't think he'd had Evan killed, of course, but the last fight was fresh in our minds. I caught Barty later, though. And I foolishly kept pushing. He tried to tell me to back down and apparated to that muggle street, but I grabbed his arm."

Regulus paused here. "He whirled around and tried a stunner at me, which I barely deflected due to close proximity. Then he started to duel... it was the first time I was seeing that manic glint in his eyes that Bella possessed. He started using spells to maim - to kill - and I lost it... We both were almost evenly matched, but it didn't matter in the end... He suddenly kept his want behind his back as I fired a spell and created a shield, immediately followed by an overpowered 'bombarda maxima' and blasted the street apart. Transformed into a rat in the commotion..."

All of them had horrified tears in their eyes by then. How could a man be cruel enough to do something like this? Peter Pettigrew hadn't been this bad!

"He fled." Regulus continued emotionlessly. "I didn't run; I was too stunned to do anything but laugh. And besides, even if I had run, I'd have had to go into hiding. Not only from the ministry but also from the Dark Lord... I stayed and I was thrown into Azkaban. When I found out about Jéricho... I pleaded with them to send my son to live with Sirius, knowing that he'd care for him as his own."

Regulus smiled bitterly. "Then, I saw this." he pulled out a photo from his pocket. It was a cutout from the Daily Prophet of the Weasley family on their Egyptian holiday. The rat... I recognized it as Barty immediately. How many times had I watched him transform?"

"You mean..." Harry said slowly.

"Yes," Regulus nodded and slowly pointed his wand at the squirming rat in Ron's lap. "That's Barty."

"You're insane!" Ron cried, but Charles wasn't too sure... it all fit. 

As if on cue, Scabbers got itself out of Ron's grip and scurried in the direction of the door. Remus was the quickest to react and a blue light shot out of his wand. The next second, a very tall and slender man was there, hitting the floor on his stomach. 

Regulus surged forward and grabbed the man by his neck, forcing him up, and pointed his wand at his neck. "Give me a good reason why I shouldn't do it and I swear I won't."