Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Harry Potter, or the man himself. I wish I did, but that's a whole other story!

Chapter 2: The Attack of Azkaban

John Kent was about to go off duty for the night. He was a barely experienced auror sent to Azkaban to guard for a while to gain a bit of experience. That's what usually happened to new aurors with no experience. They were sent to the 'rock.'

He had been doing this for a while, and the only thing wrong with it was the damp quarters and, even through the protections, he still felt a chill as he passed a Dementor. He had no family, so this was a good idea for him. No one would miss him as he stayed at the prison for long amounts of time.

He was a good auror, brave and quick with a wand. He was an above-average dueler with a large repertoire of spells. John was the second-in-command at the 'rock.' The only people above him were Senior Auror Adam Spinnet, commander of the forces, and the warden, Liam Hilt, a Russian wizard that ran the whole of Azkaban.

Kent was proud of his position. He had worked hard to get to it. He was also proud of the fact that he had rapidly advanced in ranks. John sighed in relief when he thought about the mainland. Just two more days before I get to go home, he thought.

He was interrupted out of his daydreaming by the sound of shouting. He hopped to his feet, wand immediately coming to his hand from his wand-holster. There isn't a drill today, was the immediate thought that came to him. He knew that this was either a brawl between two of the guards or an invasion.

John rounded a corner and ran into two guards about to round the corner. The three of them fell, but John was immediately on his feet. "What is happening?"

One of the guards turned a terrified face toward Kent. "We've been invaded. We were sent to get you and Commander Spinnet!"

Harry strode through the door, entering a large, damp, cold room. He looked at Narcissa, who was in front of him, with Rabastin in front of her. "Where do we begin?"

"At the moment, we're in the 'entrance to hell,' or that's what the guards call it," she replied, still looking around the room to make sure they weren't surprised by guards. "From here, we go down that passageway there." She pointed at an opening in the wall to their left.

The large cavern, which was what it looked like, had several large holes in the walls, which Harry presumed were passageways. The one that Narcissa had pointed to was smaller than the rest, about seven feet tall and six feet wide. The torches that lit the cavern barely gave any light.

"This place is horrible," whispered Rabastin. He had barely been saved from going to Azkaban. He closed his eyes for a second, and Harry knew that he was silently thanking Narcissa for saving him.

Narcissa shook her head and took the lead. She walked to the passageway she had pointed out, and turned back to them. "Come, we must do this quickly," she said.

Harry nodded his agreement and joined her with Rabastin. They were going to continue through the passageway when they heard echoing footsteps coming from it. There was no way to tell how far away the person, or persons were, so they dived to the side, where they could hide behind the wall and peek into the passage.

Harry ended up on one side by himself, with Narcissa and Rabastin on the other. He looked through the wall with his Mage Sight, and saw three wizards standing around the corner, huddled together and speaking.

In order to be able to hear them, Harry put a Supersensory Charm on himself. "I saw a flash on shadow on both sides," came a feminine voice. She sounded confused.

"Are you sure?" came a deep baritone. He sounded calm and collected.

"Yes, the warden was monitoring the prison one last time and he noticed the fact that there were three unauthorized people in the entrance hall, and the front gate was open," said the feminine voice. "I came to check it out with the two that came to get you and Henry here."

She paused to take a breath. "We rounded the corner, and I saw someone jump behind those walls."

The man took charge quickly. "Okay, Commander Spinnet should be on his way. We'll have to wait for him to get our orders."

There were two quiet "yes, sirs" and then they were quiet.

"Muffliato," Harry said. He looked over at his companions and said, "There are three, with more are on the way. One of them sounds like a good soldier, calm and collected. The other two are lowly guards."

They nodded and Cissa motioned for him to continue. "They know we're here. The warden has a monitor that shows him if there are unauthorized people in here."

Rabastin swore quietly and Narcissa shook her head. "Looks like we have to do this the hard way," she said. Harry nodded, silently happy that he had a chance to do more than sneakily disposing of a few guards.

Harry nodded." We should attack now, while they're waiting for their superior officer," he decided. Narcissa nodded approvingly and Rabastin grunted.

They stood and Harry let his Muffling Charm fall. Harry went into Mage Sight again, and noticed the guards still standing there, doing nothing. He nodded at the other two, and started to walk down the passage.

John leaned against the wall and sighed. I wish they would hurry, he thought, thinking about the guards that had gone to get Commander Spinnet. They had been waiting for about fifteen minutes and it was extremely quiet.

John closed his eyes and, without having to use that sense, caused his other senses to sharpen. His hearing caught the faint sound of walking and he stepped away from the wall. "Get ready. I can hear footsteps coming from the passage," he signed in auror signs.

They nodded and their wands snapped into their hands. Kent's was already out. He stepped around the corner and sent a stunner into the dimly lit passage. There was no sound, which suggested that it had been stopped by a shield.

"Please, just lay down your wands, and we'll do this the easy way," said John, hoping to either get them to answer, or give their positions away. He swore quietly when there was no answer, but it also gave him a thrill. The invaders knew what they were doing.

Harry led the way down the long corridor, using as much stealth as possible. There were faint footsteps from behind him, and he knew that they would soon be discovered. That's probably Rabastin, Harry thought. He has never been very stealthy.

When they were about halfway down the passage, there was a red jet of light that came from the shadowy corner. Harry was quick, though, and had a shield up before it was even close to them. The Stunner splashed harmlessly against the shield and dissipated.

Harry smiled. He knew exactly which one had to be doing this. This was the calm and collected one. A leader in his own right. He continued walking, holding the shield in case of other attacks. He looked forward to a duel with this man eagerly.

There were a few other tries to get through Harry's shield before they were almost out of the passage. He turned and motioned for Rabastin and Narcissa to get close to either wall, so that they wouldn't be hit. They nodded and moved in close to the walls on either side of the passage.

Harry let the shield drop as he moved to lean in close to the wall on the right. There were two more red lights, and they made a sound as they hit the wall. A deep silence filled the passage as Harry and his companions moved forward.

They were soon at the end of the passage, and they could see a light coming from around the corner. There were two shadows slanted across the wall. There was the faint sound of breathing. Good, Harry thought to himself. They are smart.

He paused as he came to the corner, and leapt around the corner, wand already flashing with red. Two of the guards dropped immediately, stunned, while the other already had a shield up. The man had a smile on his face as his wand flashed from red to purple.

Harry tried to take him down with a Stunner, but the man was quick. He smiled and switched to harsher curses. "Confringo," Harry whispered, making sure that his mind was shut tight, and he said it under his breath. He had learned early in his training that shouting a curse didn't help.

The curse blasted through the man's shield, but he dodged it agilely. The man sent back another Stunner. I guess he doesn't want to get violent, he thought. That's his worst mistake.

Harry swept his wand forward and said, "Crucio!"

The yellow flare hit the man, and he screamed out in pain as he dropped to the floor.