Harry Potter and the Eye of Isis

Chapter 7 - Azkaban

Harry woke with Quidditch through the Ages spread across his face, in just about the same position it was the evening before when he'd fallen asleep while reading it. He peeled the book off and tossed it to the side, hurrying to the mirror to find that black letters, and what looked to be the end of a broom, were traced onto his forehead.

"You lot are no use!" he yelled at Dean and Seamus as he licked his fingers and began rubbing his forehead. "I'd pull a book off your face!"

"That broom's still moving, Harry," Dean pointed out helpfully as he and Seamus ducked out of the room for breakfast.

Harry ignored their departure as he continued to stare into the mirror. Dean was right; the tail of the broom was flickering slightly across his scar but the ink seemed to be turning a different colour. Harry leaned forward, to get a better look at it in the mirror. As he brought his hand to his forehead, the scar began to burn.

His face collided with the mirror as the burning turned into searing pain. Dizziness swept over him and he teetered backwards, his hand still over his scar. Tears of agony leaked from his eyes, and he became helpless to the power of his mind. There was nothing Harry could do to stop it, and in fact...he was enjoying it....

The light at the end of the corridor was growing brighter; it meant that they were nearly there. This task must be completed perfectly; he could risk sending in a handful of junior Death Eaters, but after the fiasco at the Burrow, and failure to acquire Harry Potter, he felt supervision was necessary to ensure not one more Death Eater be injured or killed.

He didn't like the lull of safety that the wizarding world had fallen into. In order to regain control of the wizarding world, fear must be instilled in the hearts of all wizards and the best way to do that was to get his numbers back in order, so that they may finish the war that had been suspended for fifteen years.

His masses would be restored to their glory, and this visit to Azkaban would help ensure that. Of course, there had been new recruits, and those freed in the previous year, but it wasn't nearly enough. Turning the Dementors had not surprised him in the least, especially once he pointed out how much more carnage he could offer them at his side.

Aurors had taken over security at Azkaban, and it was widely known that the prisoners were beginning to recover from the effects of the Dementors. Even those not yet Death Eaters would have no choice but to be grateful...dutiful for the freedom he offered.

"Nearly there," Bellatrix Lestrange whispered to the Dark Lord.

He stopped, held out his hand, and his seven Death Eaters immediately ceased walking as well. "One moment."

In the quiet, all that could be heard was the slow trickle of water that was running down the walls and the shallow breathing of the eight people standing just outside the prisoner-receiving chamber of Azkaban. The moment drew out into minutes before a soft noise approached. The noise never grew in volume but it became more distinct, it was the soft scratching sound of a rat running across stone. The rat stopped directly in front of the tall wizard, robed in black, and looked up into his eerie red eyes. It changed, growing into a stubby, cowering servant with a silver hand.

Peter Pettigrew bowed his head as he addressed Voldemort. "There are twenty total. Five just inside, and twelve walking the corridors of the common offenders, and the other three guarding the prisoners who have committed Unforgivables."

"Very good. Return to your rat form, and go back to the area were the Unforgivable prisoners are held. They will flock to that area and we will flank them."

"Yes, My Lord." Pettigrew bowed once more before returning to his rat form and scampering off.

"Take all loyalists, and release anyone grateful for the gift of freedom that the Dark Lord is offering. Kill the rest," Voldemort ordered.

"Yes, My Lord," A chorus of voices answered.

Seven Death Eaters rushed into the chamber, firing off spells. The screaming of the Aurors was mixed with the laughter of the Death Eaters. Voldemort watched happily.

"Death Eaters! Lestrange...He-Who-Must..."

"Visiting hour!" Lestrange laughed callously as she raised her wand and shouted, "Avada Kedavra!" A green jet of light shot from her wand, instantly killing the Auror.

It only took a minute to kill the five Aurors and begin moving on down the corridor. Avery and Higgs were unlocking cells as the other five continued fighting Aurors. Avery and Higgs would immediately free anyone crying 'My Lord' and the corridors began filling up with witches and wizards that were indeed grateful to Voldemort for freeing them.

Voldemort turned down a vacant corridor, dragging his wand on various doors as he passed them, tormenting those within the cells as he searched for one person. A lone Auror was standing guard in front of the cell door. Voldemort approached the tall black man with a smile. Kingsley stood without fear, his wand drawn, waiting for Voldemort to make his move.

Voldemort sensed that this man was not afraid, and decided to offer to spare the man's life. "Your determination is noble. Join with me and you'll I'll show you true power."

"Never."

"Avada Kedavra!" Kingsley fell the instant the green jet of light hit him in the chest. Voldemort simply stepped over the body, now regarding the Auror as no more than a doormat.

"Master?"

"Alohomora." The door opened and Malfoy stood before him.

"Thank you, My Lord." Malfoy, usually well groomed, had succumbed to the filth of Azkaban. His long white-blonde hair was tangled and dirty, and his hands were grimy from clawing at the small window in his cell as he'd tried to loosen it.

Voldemort pointed his wand at Malfoy and muttered a spell that immediately cleaned him up. "I expect that you will be eternally grateful for me coming to get you myself, and making you presentable again."

"As always, My Lord." Malfoy bowed his head slightly.

"Your wand." Voldemort handed the wand that had been taken from Malfoy after his trial, the same wand that was supposed to have been snapped.

"I have counted fifteen Aurors on duty today--"

"Not any longer." He began laughing, cackling at the thought, knowing that he had a witness.

Voldemort wanted Harry with him, he wanted Harry to know what was happening, and he forced Harry to come along, even if it had only been in mind. Voldemort wanted Harry to derive the pleasure from the experience that he himself received.

*

Harry's laughter filled the room. His vision was blurred with red from the blood that was still trickling from the scar. It had soaked his hands, face and clothes as he lay on the ground for the past twenty minutes.

Harry was revolted at the thought of being covered in his own blood. He stood, wiping the blood away as he ran out of the down the stairs. "Dobby!" he cried out as he entered the common room. "I need you!"

Thankfully, the common room was mostly cleared out, but a few eyes were on Harry as his house-elf appeared next to him. Dobby immediately began trying to clean Harry off, trying to assess where to wound was. He was hovering next to Harry as he ran out of the common room.

"Don't worry about me. Go tell Dumbledore that Azkaban is under attack!" He told Dobby urgently.

Dobby had no choice but to do what he was told. He disappeared but Harry didn't have the luxury of instant travel while he was in the castle, he had to run all the way to Dumbledore's office.

When he got there, Dobby was standing at Dumbledore's feet, and Dumbledore had his head in the fire talking to someone. Harry felt too restless to just have a seat and wait for his Headmaster, he wanted to do something, anything to stop Voldemort from emptying Azkaban, but he could only pace Dumbledore's office.

When Dumbledore emerged from the fire he immediately addressed Harry. "No one is able to communicate with Azkaban."

"That's because all of the Aurors are dead! He's freeing everyone that will serve him! What are we going to do?" Harry shouted frantically.

"Harry, you need to calm down, there's nothing that you can do," Dumbledore said softly. "I have already sent someone to assess Azkaban. You need to go to the infirmary."

"I'm not hurt!"

"You're bleeding still." Dumbledore pointed at the blood still slowly trickling from Harry's scar. "Madam Pomphrey may need to heal it."

"I think he's still there." Harry felt that somehow. "I was there. It feels as though I'm still there--"

"Harry, you need to close your mind to him. He's using your curiosity as a weapon. You're stronger now than you've ever been, you must master Occlumency." Harry could only nod. "Now, if you will go to the infirmary and leave Dobby with me, I have need for him."

Harry looked at his elf and nodded. He hoped that Dumbledore wasn't planning on taking Dobby to Azkaban. If Dobby were scared of Draco Malfoy, the sight of Lucius Malfoy would certainly terrorize him.

"Try not to worry about what is happening at Azkaban, Harry. I believe you have Quidditch try outs today."

"Professor, I don't think I'm going to be able to focus on Quidditch."

*

Madam Pomfrey healed his scar but wouldn't let him leave immediately. She fretted about checking to see how much blood he had lost before she let him leave. Katie Bell had turned up after hearing that Harry was in the infirmary. She badgered Madam Pomphrey as relentlessly as Harry did. Finally, Madam Pomphrey yielded to their repeated requests, and let Harry leave. They made it down to the Pitch at five minutes to one o'clock, and it was already full of Gryffindors.

Katie paced in front of the crowd, surveying who had come out before speaking. "Okay, normally those who were on the team last year are on it this year, but because of that Umbridge woman, our team was thrown a little off kilter. I know we won the Cup but in the end I have decided that every position will be up for grabs again this year. If you're the best person, you get the job.

"So, let's break up into groups. Those of you trying for Beater, to my left." She pointed. "Chasers to my right, Keepers in the center and Seekers behind me."

As the crowd separated, Harry quickly realised that he was the only one standing behind Katie. She looked back at him and smiled slightly. "I guess that's settled then." But it made try outs easier on her. "Since no one is challenging you, you can help me sort through this lot."

Harry was surprised, and somewhat disappointed, to find that no one was going to challenge him for Seeker. He had wanted to compete to get his job back, not have it served to him on a platter. "Better get started then hadn't we?"

"You up for this, Harry?"

"Right as rain. How do you want to do this?"

"I'll take two for Chasers, two for Beaters, and a Keeper for my team, and play this end." She pointed at the north posts. "You play Beater, take three Chasers, a Beater, and a Keeper for your end. That should work right?"

Harry nodded. "Right. Let's get them split up."

Katie split the teams up and they all took to the sky. The mock Quidditch games went for twenty minutes a piece until all candidates for Chaser, Beater and Keeper had an opportunity to play.

Once they had seen all of the hopefuls play Katie conferenced with Harry. "What are we going to do?"

"Don't panic." He said coolly. "It's not that bad."

Katie took a deep breath and looked over the crowd. "Ron is still the best Keeper of the lot, and Ginny is the best Chaser. So we need one more Chaser and two beaters. I'm not all that impressed with Sloper today."

"I've got an idea." Harry's eyes focused in on the Creevey brothers. "Dennis seems to be an adequate Beater, and Colin is a mediocre Chaser, at best, but what if they were the Beaters. Fred and George were awesome together, maybe they will be too."

"Good idea, Harry, but what about another Chaser?"

"Give Sloper the chance. He was on the team last year."

She nodded, but continued to exam the crowd for possibilities. "We need at least one reserve Chaser, Beater and Keeper. Ginny can play Seeker if you get hurt, so she'll be the reserve Seeker." Katie remained silent as she thought about the prospects. Finally, she approached the crowd of Gryffindors.

"Right then, if I call your name, you've made the first cut. Both Weasleys, both Creeveys, Sloper, MacDougal, Abercrombie, and Finnigan. Everyone else, thanks for coming."

After a few more rounds of Quidditch, and the changing of players and their positions, Katie finally settled on a line up. Herself, Ginny and Jack Sloper would be Chasers, Ron would remain at Keeper, and the Creevey brothers were Beaters. Morag MacDougal, Euan Abercrombie and Seamus were the reserve players.

After Quidditch try outs were over, the team retired to the Quidditch changing rooms to clean up. When Harry came out of the shower he noticed that Ron was still sitting on a bench, just staring at the floor.

"What?" Harry asked as he sat next to him. "You've made the team again. Why do you look like you've been tossed out?"

"I don't know." Ron finally moved his head. "I guess I'm just surprised, and relieved. I've just been thinking about Quidditch practices..."

"Don't remind me. I've got to have Charms lessons, detention with Snape and start Defense Against the Dark Arts lessons with Neville soon. Add Quidditch practice to that, and I don't think I'll be sleeping."

"Professor Lupin asked you to be in Neville's Defense Against the Dark Arts lessons? Why?"

"No, he didn't, not yet anyway."

"How do you know that he's going to?"

Harry realised that he still hadn't told Ron or Hermione about the prophecy, or the wands, yet. "Well, I'll tell you and Hermione later. It's a little complicated, and I don't want to go into it where other people could hear everything."

Ron just nodded. "Hermione will be sore if you tell me and not her. I suppose we could find a quiet place in the common room tonight."

"Okay," Harry swallowed, figuring it was time to tell them everything. "Now go shower would you? I'm famished."

Ron finally got himself cleaned up and he and Harry went to the Great Hall for supper. Harry ate like he hadn't all day. He remained relatively silent as he thought of how he would tell Ron and Hermione about the prophecy, and how Neville played into everything now. He wasn't sure if it sounded crazy, but he imagined the best way to tell them was to just lay it all out, and wait for their reactions. And that's just what he did.

For a long moment, neither Ron nor Hermione said a word; they just stared at Harry. Hermione seemed to be digesting it, and looking for a logical solution, while Ron simply looked overwhelmed.

"Dumbledore is sure it is you and not Neville?" Hermione asked for clarification.

"I lifted the prophecy from the shelf at the Ministry, so he says there is little doubt that I am the one prophesized about. But there is more about Neville," Harry continued. "Do you remember what is at the core of Neville's new wand?"

Hermione thought back and nodded. "A phoenix feather."

"And do you remember what's at the core of mine?" Neither seemed to know and Harry wondered whether or not he'd ever told them. "A phoenix feather. And Voldemort's got one too. In fact, all of the feathers came from Fawkes. That's what saved me in my fourth year, our wands didn't want to work against each other."

"Brother wands can do very powerful magic together," Hermione stated. "I've read all about it. That's why Professor Lupin is giving Neville lessons." Ron still looked a bit confused. "Don't you see Ron, Harry and Neville will be able to do tandem magic."

Ron looked over his shoulder at Neville tucked away in a corner, reading a book. "He doesn't know yet, does he?"

Harry shook his head. "I don't think so."

"Poor chap, how's he going to handle that?" Ron wondered.

"Don't be ridiculous, Ron, Neville will be fine. Besides, I think there may be a reason why Neville is so forgetful, and clumsy." The two boys looked confused at Hermione's statement, and she rolled her eyes. "My goodness, how did you two get into N.E.W.T. Charms? Don't you ever pay attention?"

"No, Hermione, we just copy your notes." Ron cracked a smile.

"Professor Flitwick said we would be studying memory charms this term, and I've already read the book he assigned. I think might Neville might be suffering from the side effects of several memory charms."

"Who would have put a memory charm on Neville?" Harry, too, looked in his direction. "And why?"

Hermione cleared her throat, getting Harry and Ron to look at her again. "I think the better question may be, why?"