Chapter 20 – Azkaban

It was just after midnight on a quiet suburban street near Manchester, when, with an almost inaudible pop, a blonde woman, enveloped in a long, black cloak, appeared from no-where. She looked around to gather her bearings, and then hurried along the pavement, her wand, clutched tight in her hand. As she walked, she was careful to read the muggle house numbers; knowing the information she needed resided within Number 73.

65... 67... 69... 71...

Finally she arrived at the house; it had a wooden gate over the front path with little white plastic numbers to mark it as "73". A tap from her wand and it swung open, with an angry, rusty creak of its hinges. She walked slowly up the path to the front door, determined not to make another sound until absolutely necessary. She knocked on the door.

'Who... who is it?' said a nervous voice on the other-side.

'April Fool's,' Legion replied, a smile curling at her lips. 'I've been sent to deliver a belated April Fool's gift to a Mr Barnaby Curd, on behalf of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.'

'Err, yes, just... just a moment.'

There was a moment of silence. Legion considered the situation; Curd was either trying to escape, or signal for help. If she acted now, he wouldn't have time to do either. She raised her wand.

BANG! The front door of Number 73 burst from its frame, and crashed down in the hallway of the house. A few bedroom lights turned on in the neighbouring houses; their residents disturbed by the noise. Legion turned, and pointed her wand at a street lamp. She muttered under her breath, and every lamp on the street surged for a moment, and extinguished. The bedroom lights went out too – the muggles would assume there'd been a power cut.

She turned back to the house, and stepped inside. She walked down the hallway, and entered the living room. She was unsurprised to find that the lights in here were still lit, illuminated by magic. She scanned the room for her quarry, only to locate him, cowering – pathetically – behind the sofa.

'Ok,' she said, 'I lied; I don't have an April Fool's gift for you.'

The man got to his feet; aware that it was too late to hide. He was young; perhaps in his mid to late twenties. He had mousey brown hair, a slender frame, and was shaking with terror.

'I take it you're Barnaby Curd,' she said, casually, looking around the room at the family photos adorned to its walls; the occupants of which were hiding too, peering around the edge of their frames to glimpse a look at Legion. 'Barnaby Curd, of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.'

Barnaby nodded, too scared to speak.

'I take it you're muggle born,' said Legion, gesturing towards the television set in the corner of the room. Barnaby opened his mouth, but no sounds came out. 'Not that it bothers me one way or the other,' she continued. 'Not like him; no, as far as I'm concerned, you're fate will be exactly the same, regardless of your blood status, Mr Curd. Do I make myself clear?'

Barnaby nodded again. Legion smiled, curtly. 'So, muggle-born?'

'Yeah... I mean... yes,' he replied, quietly.

'Good for you,' she said, though it was clear she didn't actually care. 'I'm here tonight, Mr Curd, because I'm trying to find the current whereabouts of Azkaban, and – as I understand it – you're one of the few people who knows it.'

'I'll... i'll never tell you...' said Barnaby, finding his voice.

'Tell me?' said Legion with a laugh. 'Come now, Mr Curd; I never dreamed you'd tell me. No, no, no. I don't need you to tell me, because in a moment, I shall know.'

Barnaby looked confused, and then terrified again, as Legion raised her wand to his face.

'Exedo,' she muttered. There was a flash of blue light. Barnaby Curd's wand fell to the floor, and bounced on the carpet a couple of times; its owner had vanished.

Legion's mind was suddenly bristling with new information; she knew that an ambassador from the Bulgarian Ministry of Magic was meeting with Shacklebolt the day after next; she knew how Arthur Weasley liked his tea, and most importantly, she knew where Azkaban could be found. 'Finally.'

She turned on the spot, vanishing with another – almost silent – pop, and reappeared on a strip of grass; a bitterly cold wind buffeting her unshielded skin. She stared up at the magnificence of the cold, three-walled, fortress before her. Azkaban.

Either side of her were several rows of jagged headstones, clumsily marking the graves of those prisoners who had died prior to the end of their sentence. Merely a few yards from her, was the Arctic Ocean – its waves crashing against the shallow coast of the prison's island, and its chill responsible for the wind on her face. She pulled her cloak tight around herself, and marched towards the castle's portcullis. With a lazy wave of her still drawn wand, the Iron Gate began to rise, feeding itself into the wall above.

Inside the fortress, voices could now be heard, shouting out in panic, as the guards realised they were under attack. Legion didn't care; whether they'd been alerted or not, they would be no match for her.

'They shouldn't have got rid of the dementors,' she muttered to herself. 'They might actually have stopped me. Foolish old Dumbledore...'

She walked forwards, passing over the threshold, and raising her wand, ready. She entered the central courtyard, and looked up. Each wall had several landings, each on a different storey of the building. The landings were lined with cells, and Legion could just make out their occupants, staring down at her through the metal-barred doors.

'Madam,' said a voice, magically amplified throughout the building, 'the fortress is in lockdown. You are trespassing on Ministry of Magic property. Stand down and present your credentials, or we will be forced to use lethal force.'

Legion lowered her wand.

'Thank you,' said the voice, as over a dozen guards rushed forward, and formed a circle around her, their wands aimed at either her head or chest. The corners of Legion's lips curled into a wicked smile.

'On second thoughts,' she said, raising her wand again, 'I think I'll take the lethal force.'

Teeth-gritted, she spun on the spot; a wild look in her eye, as multiple flashes of green light erupted from her outstretched weapon, each striking a guard, who fell to the floor, dead. Now alone, surrounded by bodies, Legion waved her wand again, and every cell door clicked open. The prisoners stepped out on to the landings, peering down at Legion.

'My friends,' she said, looking up to address them, her arms out wide. 'I am the Legion of the Lost Ones; the Myriad of Souls; and I am your salvation. I intend to live forever, and I seek followers, willing to assist me in my cause. Many of you followed another master; a master who made promises he could not deliver, and now you find yourselves here; locked away from the world; away from your loved ones; away from your freedom. Where is your Dark Lord now?'

She turned her eyes from wall to wall, gazing up at each landing, and listening as a murmur of agreement spread from inmate to inmate. Legion smiled, and continued.

'My power grows every day. You have all seen me walk into this fortress tonight, and cast its defences aside as though they had not been there at all. There is only one, who believes he can stop me. One that, I believe, many of you seek vengeance upon yourselves. Join me, and we shall take down the Aurors; we shall extinguish the Order of the Phoenix; and we shall destroy Harry Potter. What say you?'

'AYE!' chorused the inmates.

'Actually,' said the magically amplified voice, 'I say no.'

The smile of triumph flushed from Legion's face in a heartbeat. She recognised the voice.

Harry stepped out of the shadows, wand ready, and pointed at Legion. 'Ladies and gentlemen,' he said, looking up to the landings above, his voice returned to normal, 'it is time to return to your rooms.'

Several inmates on each landing withdrew wands from within their prison robes, and pointed them at the convicts, gesturing for the latter group to return to their cells. The prisoners did as they were told, and their cell doors locked with a symphony of clicks.

'Aurors,' Legion sighed. 'You planted Aurors as decoy prisoners.'

'We knew you were coming,' Harry replied with a shrug. 'Barnaby Curd sent us a warning when you arrived at his front door. It didn't take him long; we gave everyone who knew Azkaban's location one of these.' He held up a galleon, similar to the ones Hermione had once created to allow Dumbledore's Army to communicate without detection. 'Then he wiped his own memory so you wouldn't know. Need I ask what happened to him?'

'Let's just say, he joined the Legion,' she replied.

Harry sighed; he'd liked Barnaby. 'Then he shall be your last recruit,' he said. A jet of red light shot from the tip of his wand, and streaked towards Legion. She batted it away with a flick of her own, and fired a purple jet back at Harry. He leapt out of the way, diving behind a stone pillar.

From the landings overhead, the other Aurors began raining hexes down on Legion, who had her work cut out to dodge them all. She dived, in the opposite direction to Harry, behind another pillar on the adjacent wall, and under cover from the attacks above.

'You can't win this one, Pascalle,' Harry shouted. 'You're completely surrounded and trapped in a prison.'

'Yet you can't kill me,' she shouted back. 'Not when it might kill someone you know; someone who's part of me. Sounds like a stalemate to me, Potter.'

'Oh, I have no intention of killing you,' Harry replied. 'I'm going to lock you up until I can free everyone you've ever consumed.'

'Good luck to you,' she scoffed, 'I made sure that all the people who knew how to do that are dead.'

Harry scowled. 'Then I guess you'll be sitting in your cell for a very long time.'

He stepped out from behind his pillar, and walked towards Legion, wand outstretched and firing hexes either side of her barricade to prevent her leaving that spot. But she wasn't going down so easily.

Legion darted forth from behind her pillar, using a shield charm to send Harry's hex back at him, before firing a jinx of her own along after it. Harry's own shield belt prevented either spell from hitting him, but now, they were both undercover, and out of the other Aurors' line of sight. It was just between them.

'Do you really think you can take me, Harry?' said Legion, derisively.

'Do you really think I can't?' he snapped back.

'I guess one of us is about to look pretty stupid.' Legion raised her wand at Harry, and vice versa. There was a moment's pause, as they stared at one another, each filled with hate for their opposite.

'Exedo,' Legion bellowed, as the flash of blue light streaked towards Harry. He leapt out of its way, and fired two bolts of red light back at her; one missing, the other knocked away by its target.

A surge of flame left Legion's wand, and pulled itself up into the form of a dragon, which roared angrily, and pounded its feet towards the wizard attacking its mistress. Harry turned, and ran across the prison courtyard, diving behind a pillar as a jet of flame left the mouth of the fire-dragon. It just passed Harry by as it blew beyond his shelter and scorched the fortress wall. Appearing from behind his pillar, and feeling the sweltering heat of the beast on his skin, Harry laid eyes on the fire-dragon as it took another breath, preparing to strike again. Muttering an incantation, water poured from the tip of his own wand, and twisted itself up into the form of a giant sea serpent; its aqueous teeth exposed, as it shrieked at the fire-dragon. The water-creature threw itself at the fire-beast, under direction from Harry's wand. Its body crashed into the flames, billowing through the fire to extinguish the beast, and soak Legion, who couldn't get out of its way in time. The serpent crashed into the wall, and precipitated to the floor in a deep puddle.

Seeing Legion off her guard, Harry fired another hex towards her. She just managed to compose herself in time to deflect it, but now she was on the back-foot. Harry knew he had to find a way to restrain her, but how? He fired off three stunners, a body-bind jinx, and a bludgeoning curse. Each one met its target, and although Legion managed to magically shield herself, the force of each spell knocked her backwards, as she struggled to regain her balance. She stood just a foot from the prison wall, and an idea formed in Harry's head.

'Deliquesco!' he shouted, as a beam of pink light burst from his wand, and flew towards Legion. She ducked, and it missed her by an inch, striking the wall behind her.

'Haha, missed me!' Legion squealed, gloating at Harry's poor aim.

'Did I?' said Harry. 'I think my aim was perfect. Vercundus!'

Another bludgeoning curse shot from Harry's wand, and struck Legion square in the chest, who couldn't raise her wand in time. The force knocked her off her feet and into the wall. Except, the wall appeared to have melted, leaving a gloopy, concrete-like substance, which Legion hit with a loud, wet, splat.

'Induresco,' said Harry, causing an orange jet to strike the wall. The concrete substance set immediately, returning to stone, and trapping Legion in the wall. Her head, arms, and feet were still exposed, but the stone was gripped around her torso, preventing her from getting free.

'Expelliarmus!' Harry muttered, pointing his wand at Legion's. It flew from her hand, and was caught by her captor. 'Turns out you were right,' he said, with a smile, 'one of us does look pretty stupid, Pascalle.'

'Curse you, Potter,' she growled. 'That was cleverer than I gave you credit for. But this won't hold me forever.'

'No indeed, and we've got a range of lovely cells for you to try after this.'

The other Aurors appeared from a nearby staircase, hurrying to join Harry with their wands raised at the new prisoner.

'Good work, Harry,' said Savage, glaring at Legion. 'I haven't seen a duel like that in a while. Liquefying charm on the wall, eh? Very clever.'

'Thanks,' said Harry, handing him Legion's wand. 'Take this to the Ministry, for cataloguing. She won't need it for a while.'

'Don't you want to take it?' Savage replied. 'I'm sure Proudfoot will want to congratulate you personally for this.'

'No, I've got to interrogate the prisoner.'

'Oh goody,' said Legion sarcastically.

'Also,' Harry continued, bitterly, 'see to it that the guards' families are informed of their deaths.'

'That won't be an issue,' Savage replied. 'Azkaban guards know the risks. They're all unmarried, orphans from one-child families – there's no-one to tell.'

Harry sighed. 'Well, tell the Minister then. Their sacrifice should be marked somehow.'

Savage nodded. 'I'll see you back at the office.'

'Yeah, though I imagine I'll be here for a while.' Harry turned back to face Legion.

'Any chance of a cuppa?' she asked. 'Milk, two sugars?'

x x x

An hour later, Legion was still trapped in the fortress wall, but Harry was now seated in front of her. As he'd predicted, Azkaban's new resident was in no hurry to answer questions.

'Ok,' said Harry, rubbing eyes, having finally given up hope of her telling him how to reverse her consumptions. 'Let's try this, why did you really attack Azkaban? You've never wanted followers before tonight; so why try to recruit the Death Eaters?'

'Haven't I?' she replied, coyly. 'I wouldn't say that – I think there's a lot to be said for followers; after all, Harry – you have so many of your own.'

'Friends are not followers,' Harry snapped.

'And Death Eaters are not friends. They weren't the Dark Lord's friends, and they wouldn't have been mine either. I intended to use them exactly as he did.'

'Which was?'

'Cannon-fodder,' said Legion, simply. 'That's all they are. Less talented witches and wizards who want a share of power, but with nothing to offer in return besides their lives. Sure, I could fight you and your little gang of Aurors on my own each time we cross paths, but why waste time defeating you myself, when I could just send the cannon-fodder out to do it instead, leaving me to get on with more important matters?'

'Big talk from someone currently trapped in a wall,' Harry retorted.

Legion sighed. 'Yes, I suppose that's difficult to argue with.'

Harry smirked, and moved on to his next question. 'How did you invent that consumption curse?'

'Invent?!' Legion scoffed. 'I didn't invent it! Honestly, Potter, I thought you'd worked out more than this. Invent it, indeed!'

'But it was scratched into the wall of your prison cell. Exedo, it said.'

'Yeah, that's the curse, genius, but I didn't invent it. I was given it.'

'By who?'

'By Nurmengard's most famous resident.'

'Grindelwald?'

'No, Agnes the hump-backed witch,' Legion snapped, sarcastically. 'Of course, Grindelwald.'

'Then why'd he give it to you? Why not use it himself?'

'I was meant to be his insurance policy against Dumbledore. I don't think Gellert ever really expected the Dark Lord to defeat the old fool, but...'

'He didn't,' Harry interjected.

'What?'

'Voldemort didn't defeat Dumbledore.'

'Didn't he?'

'No.'

'Oh, well, could you bring him to me? I'd love a catch up with dear old Albus.'

Harry scowled. He wasn't going to let Legion provoke him with comments about Dumbledore's death. 'You were saying...'

'So I was. Gellert never thought The Dark Lord would defeat Dumbledore, but he knew his own days were numbered. He didn't have the strength to defeat the Dark Lord himself, but he presumed Dumbledore would triumph in the end.'

'Which he did,' Harry interjected again. 'He gave me all the tools I needed to win.'

'Yes, you and I appear to have a different definition of "triumph", Mr Potter, as I personally don't consider being killed in your own school a resounding victory.'

Harry ignored this and pressed on. 'So, when you say a backup plan?'

'Grindelwald intended me to take on the Dark Lord if Dumbledore fell, and vice versa. He never imagined that they'd both be dead within a year of each other. So here I am; a free agent. All this power, and no-one left who can rival me.'

'Once again, I remind you that you're stuck in the wall.'

'Yes, it's not escaped my notice.'

'Are the people you consume dead?'

'Not exactly. They're a part of me; anything they knew, anything they could do, anything they might've done is mine. I have their life force; each and everyone. I'm...'

'The legion of the lost ones, the myriad of souls, blah blah blah,' said Harry, unimpressed. 'Yeah, I heard your speech; why do you people always think up these nicknames for yourselves?'

'Something to pass the time,' Legion replied. 'Did I mention I'm planning to live forever?'

Harry sighed. 'Well you're going to be living in here forever,' he said. 'Unless you tell me how to free the people you consumed.'

'Can't do that, Harry – sounds like I'm going to need the company anyway.'

'You know, I could just get some Veritaserum down here and make you tell me.'

'A reasonable sounding plan,' she said, nodding. 'Unless, of course, I've consumed a being that's resistant to Veritaserum's effect, like say... a Gringott's goblin.'

Harry rolled his eyes, and got to his feet. 'Ok,' he sighed. 'I guess we're done for now. If you decide you'd like to talk properly, tell the guards, and an Auror will be along to chat.'

'Lovely,' said Legion, 'I look forward to the visitors.'

'You'll get plenty of them,' said Harry, walking to the centre of the prison, and turning back to look at Legion, suspended inside the stonework. 'If you just hang around there.'

'Oh, aren't we funny?' Legion tutted, as Harry turned on the spot, and disapparated.

x x x

PASQUALLE CHEVALIER (AKA THE LEGION) CAPTURED BY MINISTRY AURORS

A Ministry of Magic statement was released to The Daily Prophet this evening, announcing that the dark-witch, Pasqualle Chevalier, has been detained by the Auror Office.

Chevalier was wanted for the abduction, and presumed murder, of multiple witches, wizards, and magical beings, and has been hunted by the Aurors for almost two years.

The Ministry haven't released the name of the Auror responsible for her capture, nor the circumstances of her arrest, though it is believed to involve an attack by Chevalier on Azkaban prison, and rumours abound that none other than Harry Potter was the arresting officer. If true, this is likely to lead to a major promotion for Potter, who has quickly become the rising star of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

"I'm not confirming any of the rumours you may have heard," said Kenneth Raventree, Head of the Aurors, when interviewed. "All our Aurors are valued members of the team, but we don't believe in individual credit. Whether Mr Potter was present at the scene is frankly neither here or there, so perhaps you could ask me another question – I'd be delighted to discuss anything to do with the upcoming match between Appleby Arrows and Chudley Cannons this Saturday..."

Mr Potter himself was unavailable for comment, though his fiancée, Ginerva Weasley, did tell the Prophet, "he's not answering any questions, so will you leave please, as you're interrupting our training session."

Mr Potter and Miss Weasley (a Chaser for the Holyhead Harpies), are due to marry this July, in just under three months time.

'Oh great,' said Ginny, dropping the newpaper's evening edition onto the coffee table. 'Now the wedding's on the cover of the Prophet; as if we weren't having enough trouble keeping the guest list down!'

Harry pulled her into a hug. 'I'm sorry, Gin,' he said, 'I was trying to avoid that – that's why I didn't want to speak to them in the first place.'

'Oh, be reasonable, dear,' said Mrs Weasley, 'you're the most famous couple in the entire wizarding community right now, and the date of your wedding is its worst kept secret.'

They were all at the Burrow. Mr and Mrs Weasley had insisted on throwing Harry a celebratory dinner for capturing Legion, and Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Bill, Fleur, Victoire, Andromeda and Teddy had joined them. Teddy and Victoire were playing together on the rug, while the adults sat watching from their chairs.

Ron was laughing, as he had been for most of the night. 'But seriously,' he said, 'you trapped her in the wall?'

Harry grinned, and shrugged. 'I had to improvise.'

Ron laughed again, near breathlessness, and clutching his sides.

'It seems a bit odd though,' said Hermione, 'you spent all that time trying to catch her, and then when you do, it's in the prison of all places.'

'Yeah, tell me about it,' Harry replied, as Ron attempted to control himself, only to burst out once more.

'Doesn't that seem a bit easy though?' said Hermione.

'Oh, come off it, Hermione,' said Ron, 'she's got no wand, and she's trapped in a wall. What's she going to do?'

Hermione shrugged. 'I hope you're right,' she replied.

'By ze way,' said Fleur, 'you must all come to Victoire's birthday party next week.'

'I can't believe she's nearly one already,' said Mrs Weasley, beaming at her granddaughter.

'Indeed,' said Mr Weasley. 'Lots of good news today! We should have a toast; Harry, come and help me find the bottle of Firewhiskey, will you? I've left it in the kitchen somewhere.'

Mr Weasley led the way to the kitchen, closed the door behind them, and pretended to be searching through the cupboard.

'Hermione's got a point you know,' he said, whispering to Harry.

'I do know,' said Harry. 'Legion went down way too easy – every previous time I've duelled her she's disapparated away before I could make a dent. Why would she want to stay for the full fight all of a sudden?'

'Maybe she was testing herself,' Mr Weasley replied. 'Maybe she wanted to see whether she had enough power to actually take you on.'

'She knows she has; she just didn't use it.'

Mr Weasley scratched his head. 'I'll see to it that extra guards are positioned on her cell tomorrow, or rather, her hole in the wall.'

'Probably wise,' said Harry, nodding.

'Though as Ron says,' Mr Weasley replied, pulling a fresh bottle of Firewhiskey down from the top of the cupboard, 'she's not got her wand; she won't escape without that.'

'Yeah,' said Harry, with a grin. 'Her magic's been literally stonewalled.'