Harry Potter and the Order Of the Phoenix [85]
“Alright, we’re short on dementors in this section, and I need you three to guard this hallway,” he said. Then he gave them a smile, “This section is like a gold mine for you though. All the newbies usually have many fresh, happy memories for you. Especially these two we just got in about two months ago, they’re still pretty good. They both claim they’re innocent, and if you could maybe do them a bit more to break them down, that’d be great.” He shot off of his broom, and was soon out of sight. Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at each other.
“Do you think that those two new ones he was talking about are Sirius and Lupin?” asked Ron.
“I think so,” said Harry. “He said he got them in about two months ago, and that’s when they were found guilty. Let’s look for them.” Harry shot ahead of them, and started looking in each of the cells. These prisoners didn’t look as though they had it as bad as the suicidals did. Most of them looked half-way decent, though they were huddled up in a corner of their cell, crying and shaking. Harry saw none that were standing up or sleeping, a sign that would tell him who Sirius and Lupin were; since they thought they were innocent, they’d retain their sanity, but the torture that Azkaban gave them would still make them almost unrecognizable.
Harry heard Hermione call for them, though it wasn’t a human yell, it was a very high pitched click. Harry and Ron ran over to her. She was pointing at a cell that had two people inside. One was writing something on the wall, and the other was standing there watching him. They both appeared malnourished, looking like little more than skeletons. Immediately, the one watching the other one write on the wall looked at Harry.
“Hey look Sirius, they’ve sent us some more to try and break us down! I guess they really want us gone, don’t you?” He gave a weak laugh. Harry tried to hold his breath, he didn’t want to suck any happiness out of them.
“They are Sirius and Lupin!” yelled Ron.
“Oh, talking to your friends now, on how to best destroy our minds? Well, I tell ya, nothing you do will work, nothing!” yelled the same man again. When Harry tried to mentally erase some of the bruises all over his skin, the huge bags under his eyes, and added a bit more weight to him in his mind, he came up with a perfect image of Lupin.
This was going to be difficult, thought Harry. How could they talk to them when they were dementors? Lupin glared at him, and Harry decided that a good way to start showing them who they were would be to prove that they weren’t really dementors. Harry lowered his hood, and Lupin stepped back ins surprise.
“Hey Sirius!” yelled Lupin. “Come and tell me if I’m crazy! Does that dementor have… eyes!?” Sirius stopped writing on the wall and came over, his eyes opened wide.
“Those aren’t just any eyes Lupin, those are Lily’s eyes!”
“Lily? Lily! Is that you?” asked Lupin, shaking the bars of the cell. Sirius came over and began shaking the bars as well, and banging his head against them as well. Both of them were going to kill themselves if the situation they were in did not improve.
“Epistrefus!” said Harry, taking out his wand and pointing it at himself. He felt the cloth and scabby skin all over him quickly turn back into the clear liquid and then it all fell off of him and onto the floor creating a large puddle that quickly disappeared. Ron and Hermione did the same. It was a very unusual and grotesque sight, seeing someone’s skin fall off like water. Sirius and Lupin must have thought this as well, because they were both gaping at the three of them, lost for words.
“H- H… Harry?” stuttered Sirius.
“Yes Sirius, it’s me,” said Harry in a defiant tone. “We’re here to rescue you.”
“Harry!” yelled Lupin, suddenly snapping back into reality. “You shouldn’t have come! You are in extreme danger!”
“Oh, don’t worry,” said Harry. “We got past the dementors and everything easily.” Sirius shook his head.
“The dementors are the least of your worries Harry,” said Sirius. “There’s going to be an invasion here… today!”