Chapter 1368: Prison Break?
Chapter 1368: Prison Break?
"We're in."
Albert took one last sweeping glance at the raging inferno before him, extended his index finger, and tapped it lightly on his head, casting a Disillusionment Charm on himself. With a wave of his wand, he summoned his Patronus once more, driving away the Dementors that Cedric and the others had been valiantly fighting off. Without another moment's hesitation, he turned and strode through the large door behind him.
This ancient fortress had been expanded countless times using the Untraceable Extension Charm. As Albert stepped through the main entrance of Azkaban, he felt as if he had just entered Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. Instead of a narrow room, he found himself in a dim, cold, and damp corridor.
Although there were braziers placed every few dozen feet along the corridor, they burned with a deep blue flame that gave off no heat.
Albert narrowed his eyes, using the flickering light from the braziers to survey the surrounding cells, and he suddenly understood why Hagrid had been so afraid of this place.
If there was a hell in this world, it was surely Azkaban.
"Ugh, what's that smell?"
"Damn, do they use trolls as guards or something?"
Those who had entered behind Albert began to mutter curses under their breath. They had evidently forgotten his instructions to cast a Disillusionment Charm on themselves to block out the outside air, and now they were physically affected by the terrible conditions within Azkaban Prison.
This was understandable, as Dementors couldn't smell the stench, so they naturally didn't care about the prison's abysmal hygiene.
When there had been fewer prisoners, the environment, no matter how harsh, had been somewhat tolerable. But ever since the Death Eaters started cramming people into Azkaban, the sanitation in this wizarding prison had rapidly deteriorated.
This prison, originally a fortress, had been remodeled by the Ministry of Magic wizards centuries ago. Moreover, the wizards imprisoned here also had their basic needs for eating, drinking, and excretion.
Once the numbers grew, it became a nightmarish situation.
But the Dementors didn't care about any of that. They were completely indifferent to the life and death of the wizards imprisoned here. Albert even suspected that if the windows hadn't been left open, many of the prisoners might have been suffocated to death by now.
"Close the main door and seal it with magic."
Albert's voice rang in everyone's ears, snapping them out of their discomfort from Azkaban's harsh environment.
Although Albert knew the order sounded a bit ridiculous, a tightly closed door would at least provide some psychological comfort.
As the fortress's entrance was shut and transfigured into hard marble, the enraged Dementors surged towards the entrance on the second floor.
In fact, each floor of the fortress had similar entrances to facilitate the Dementors' movement.
"This place is a living hell. If those who are rescued don't have the courage to stand up and fight back, they deserve to die here."
Lee Jordan felt inexplicably irritable as he listened to the commotion.
"Stick to the plan!"
Albert took the box that Moody handed him and placed it on the wet and messy floor. He tapped it lightly, and the box lid automatically opened, revealing a human-height door. Albert instructed the others to rescue the prisoners who had been knocked out by Kingsley's group and transfer them all into the box.
Dobby, the house-elf, would be inside to help move these unfortunate souls to a spacious area.
"There are a large number of Dementors upstairs; we need help!"
Kingsley's voice suddenly rang out from the staircase on the second floor.
Without waiting for Albert's orders, Cedric led his team upstairs to reinforce Kingsley, just as they had planned.
"Can your box fit so many people?"
Moody, who was on guard, suddenly asked, having noticed that there were more unlucky prisoners here than they had anticipated.
If they hadn't shown up, at least half of the prisoners on this floor might have died in the prison within a short time.
"Let's hope Hogwarts can buy us more time," Albert replied without answering Moody's question. Instead, he turned to ask, "What's the situation with the Dementors now?"
"They're still relentless. They're pouring into the prison from the upper-floor entrances. Kingsley and his team are in a tough battle. I think you might need to go up and help them." The Dementors' frenzy was beyond Moody's expectations; usually, they wouldn't directly clash with Patronuses.
"Why do you think there are no Dementors on the first floor?"
Albert didn't leave. He was well aware that once he left this floor, the Dementors would swarm in from all directions, and the first floor, with fewer people, would be in an even worse situation.
This was actually quite normal, as this was the Dementors' lair, after all. And as the damned guards of this prison, they were the most solid line of defense in Azkaban, even more reliable than the Aurors.
If it weren't for the fact that everyone Albert had brought was skilled in casting Patronuses, they would have become the Dementors' prey when they broke into this island.
"How do the Dementors in Azkaban contact wizards?" Albert asked. Before coming to Azkaban, he had already asked a similar question.
According to Kingsley, the Dementors didn't have an emergency method to contact the Ministry of Magic. If they had to send a Dementor from Azkaban to deliver a message to the Ministry, it would take at least a few hours.
However, there was always the possibility of unexpected events.
Albert had a hunch that the Dementors might have a faster way to contact the Ministry, such as using the Floo Network or a Portkey.
Although he didn't know if those monsters could use such methods, the sense of urgency in his heart did not disappear. They had to finish the prison break and leave as soon as possible.
"There are more prisoners here than we expected!"
Kenneth, who had brought the first batch of rescued prisoners, pointed to the group knocked out by the spell and said, "Also, some of them are already half-dead. I don't know if they can be saved."
"Don't worry about that. We're just responsible for emptying Azkaban. Tell the others to speed up!"
Even though things were going more smoothly than Albert had anticipated, he was still dissatisfied with the current progress.
Realizing the rate at which they were progressing, Albert knew that they would be unable to evacuate Azkaban within the predetermined timeframe.
This was not good news; the longer they stayed, the greater the risk.
To be honest, although they had prepared for the worst, Albert did not wish for such a predicament.
"Don't worry, the situation isn't as bad as you think!"
Noticing Albert's frequent glances at his watch, Moody croaked in reassurance, "The Ministry's efficiency is notoriously low, and those Death Eaters are even worse. I doubt they would have realized what's happening in Azkaban even if we had cleared out all the prisoners and left. It took them several hours to react when Black escaped, if I recall correctly."
It took them a full fifteen minutes to clear the first level, where a total of forty-three individuals were held. Among them, several unlucky souls perished in their cells before help could arrive.
As they ascended to the second floor, the enraged Dementors were finally brought under control. Albert's Patronus caused the dark creatures to feel an innate fear, and they surged out of the fortress like they were on fire, stabilizing the shaky defense line once more.
"Proceed with the third plan," Albert reminded the group.
In this situation, it was clear that rescuing people floor by floor would not improve their efficiency. It was better to have Albert focus on driving away the Dementors while the others concentrated on rescuing the prisoners.
With the team reunited, their efficiency noticeably improved.
Of course, this was also due to the fact that there were far fewer wizards imprisoned on the second floor compared to the first, according to Kingsley. The higher the floor, the longer the prisoners had been there.
The number of prisoners on the third floor of Azkaban was even smaller. The inmates in the iron-barred compartments were agitated, probably because they never expected anyone to come to their rescue. However, their enthusiasm only served to irritate the rescuers who had just arrived on the floor.
"Quiet down and wait," Albert said, his voice carrying an air of authority that immediately silenced them. But there were always a few individuals who couldn't see the situation clearly and liked to stir up trouble.
"Who cares about him? He's just going to cause trouble anyway."
Albert merely glanced at them, seeing through their intentions, and his voice turned cold, sending a chill down their spines.
Those who had been about to say something else immediately shut their mouths, afraid that they, too, would be left behind.
As for the three individuals who had been directly addressed, they finally realized that Albert truly intended to leave them behind, and they began to beg for mercy.
"How foolish," Albert commented.
"There's no need for that," he added.
"Legilimens," Albert said, and Moody, seeing the expression on Albert's face, nodded in understanding.
"Since they harbor ill intentions, why bother rescuing them? Are you looking to create more trouble for ourselves?" Albert calmly explained. He would not tolerate any traitors within their ranks.
As they made their way to the fifth floor, the very top level, it was inevitable that they would encounter trouble. The enemy had arrived—and faster than Albert had anticipated! The Ministry's response was quicker than he had expected. They seemed to have used some faster method to communicate with Azkaban.
In fact, if they had been able to complete the rescue within half an hour, the Ministry would likely not have reacted at all. Unfortunately, things often spiraled out of control.
"Robards, you should have pretended you didn't know about this instead of getting involved," Moody said, pointing his wand at his former colleague.
"Sorry, they're threatening our families," Gawain said helplessly.
"That's your own fault," Kingsley sneered. "If you hadn't betrayed Scrimgeour, that safe house wouldn't have been so easily breached by Death Eaters. Don't forget, Anderson was your Secret-Keeper."
At the mention of Scrimgeour, all the Aurors fell silent. Indeed, the minister had faced Voldemort to protect them, but their subsequent betrayal the very next day was despicable.
The members of the Defense Association, already frustrated by the Dementors, were in no mood to listen to their excuses. Seizing the opportunity, they launched a surprise attack.
Caught off guard, half of the Aurors fell within moments, and the rest were quickly subdued and disarmed.
The whole incident, from start to finish, took less than a minute, and the arriving Aurors found themselves prisoners.
"Perhaps Azkaban is where you traitors belong," Fred said as he took away their wands and had them locked up in the nearby cells.
"Wait, you can't do this to us..."
Dexter, finally coming to his senses, gripped the iron bars, his eyes following the retreating footsteps, his voice filled with anger and desperation.
However, no one responded to him.
"They didn't kill us, and that's a blessing," Gawain said with a bitter smile. "Maybe we were wrong from the start."
"I should have pretended I didn't know," another Auror muttered.
Most of those who had been locked up regretted getting involved in this mess.
"We had no choice," Savage said coldly. "After killing so many Death Eaters, they would never let us or our families go, even if Scrimgeour had died. That's why we chose to side with the Ministry instead of becoming the backbone of Harry's resistance, as Scrimgeour had hoped."
"There's no use talking about this now. Think of a way to get those Dementors to let us out," one of the Aurors said urgently.
"It's too late. I can hear the sounds of Apparition. How did they manage that?" The Aurors could all hear the popping noises in the corridor.
Apparition was forbidden in Azkaban, but house-elves were unaffected by wizard magic, and most arrogant wizards tended to overlook this fact.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
