NOVEL NEXT Chapter 3: Escape
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So, while I was sorting out my new identity, it was getting close to five o'clock. In two hours, the master of the office would be here, so we had to hurry. Pulling two folders out of the safe, I quickly glanced through the contents. They were two dossiers, one of which was on me. It told me what I'd been convicted of, as well as a brief biography. It turned out that in addition to murder, I was also accused of spreading false information (I was not believed that the Lord had been reborn, of course). The last line of the dossier made me smile:
Status: executed.
The second file was much more interesting. It was on Fleur. I was afraid she'd been executed too. It turned out that she wasn't - she was just looking for proof of my innocence, and she was being watched closely, so that at the first step to the side she could be put in jail for complicity. Yes, I'll definitely have to find her, or the thought of her is causing me to feel a completely inappropriate tenderness at the moment. Apparently the merger was successful, as the tenderness is clearly not foreign.
I also noted the fact that the owner of the office is clearly obsessed with my modest person - all the newspapers kept in the safe contained information about various stages of my life, and to keep a separate dossier of a man who is not a man for half a year is also quite strange.
All right, we're done with that for now. After looking through a couple more papers on the table, I found the plan of the prison with the exit and apparition points, and also found out why, in fact, all these shells were kept here. It turned out that local scientists were conducting various experiments on the effects of dark-magic curses on humans. After looking at a couple of reports on how age affects the duration of Cruciatus, I thanked all the gods that these aids didn't get to my young carcass. Well, I hope they didn't, because the last six months still didn't register in my memory, and I don't think I'll ever remember anything.
It was time to look for the wand. Rubbing my hands together, I took them one by one and waited for a miracle. My own was broken in the courtroom, right after the verdict. After the tenth wand kept pretending to be a piece of wood in my hand, I seriously doubted that I was a wizard. But here, one of the last pieces of wood let out red sparks and warmed slightly. No wave of warmth went through my body, of course, I didn't deserve such happiness, but the wand made my hand a little warmer, and I thought that was enough. I searched my memory and remembered a couple of useful spells and, first of all, cleaned myself of half a year's worth of dirt and odour. I should have done that before I got dressed. It's okay, we're not proud people, we can undress again. There were a lot of different battle charms in the memory, apparently Harry had taken the job seriously. Among the others was knowledge of the theory of apparition, but Harry had only been able to put this knowledge into practice once, when he had escaped from the graveyard with Cedric's body. It would be a shame if I fell apart on the way, but there's no other way. I'll have to try.
When I was done fumbling around the office, I put everything back in the safe, redrew myself a plan of the prison, and went outside. As it turned out, the half-lab had its own exit to the street, bypassing the Dementors' fiefdom. For the wardens, guarding the kissed ones was something of a promotion. When I got back into my cell, I tried to create an illusion of myself at first, but when that didn't work, I just tossed my jumper back into my trousers in case anyone needed it and walked down the corridor.
This part of the prison was a lot bigger than I thought it would be. As I descended the stairs, I passed eight floors, each of which had a corridor with identical doors leading off into the distance. At first I wondered if all the floors had their own boss with an office, but then I realised there was no time to check. On the next floor, the more usual bars for any prison finally appeared. This was probably where those awaiting sentencing were kept, but there were still no dementors, though the sensation of their presence was stronger, the headache worse, more dreary. The bars were quite far apart, I think to prevent the condemned from talking to each other.
The first two cells were empty, and in the third cell some old man was asleep, looking like he'd been here for months. Looking into the next cell, I saw a man scrutinising me. A glance at his hair was enough to make me recognise him as Lucius.
- Who are you? You don't look like a local guard. - His voice was low and hoarse, as if he hadn't opened his mouth at all in days.
- I don't think we've met, Mr Malfoy," I didn't have any accent, thankfully. I continued to look at him and to my surprise I didn't see any signs of any beatings, which meant that they had decided to take him out quietly, without announcing the verdict to the public. And the fact that he was here in the first place was little known. Yeah, well, Fudge never admits his mistakes. - How did you end up here? Did the Lord decide he didn't need you? - He looked at me in surprise, but made no comment on my statement.
- The Dark Lord didn't like the fact that I'd lost an important item he'd left in my custody while he was away, so he decided he didn't need my services anymore.
I nodded, satisfied with the answer, and pointed my wand at the lock. In fact, spells came surprisingly easily to me at once. My muscle memory was still intact, and Harry's knowledge and constant practice had brought the actions to automaticity. Silently opening the lock, which surprised me a little, I stepped inside and pulled out a bundle of wands from my pocket.
- Here, see which one fits best," Lucius nodded silently, flicking the wands until one of them glowed. - It's not going to be any better, so you'll have to settle for this one.
- Why are you helping me? - He didn't seem the least bit surprised, asking the question only to keep the conversation going.
- I have no idea," I admitted honestly. - Think of it as intuition. I expect that if we get out of here, you'll take your family and leave the country," he gave me a long, unreadable look, then nodded and headed for the door.
The rest of the cells were empty, and we made our way to the exit without incident. Giving Lucius one of my jumpers, I pulled my robe tighter around me and pushed open the door.
- The Aurors will be here in about twenty minutes, and I know roughly where the apparition point is, but we need to hurry," I wondered where I should go. I think I'll go straight to the goblins. Maybe the fanfics are true, and I'll get a castle in Monaco.
- Let's hurry up, it's freezing out here," Malfoy said as he stepped outside and headed in the direction I pointed.
Upon reaching the place, we looked around. The fact that there were no anti-Apparition shields here was felt as soon as we stepped outside the dome. About ten metres away from us was a guard booth with a light on, but the surrounding darkness gave the guard no chance to see us.
- There are tracking spells here," Malfoy was as calm as a boa constrictor. I think he was sure from the start that he was going to get pulled out. - We'll have to jump a few times," I just nodded at that - I was thinking the same thing myself.
- Well, well, it was nice meeting you, Mr Malfoy, maybe we'll see each other again.
- Likewise. You still haven't told me your name," he looked at me expectantly. I had covered the scar with my fringes, and there was no way to recognise me as Potter.
- My name is too famous to say," I said pompously. - You'll be telling your grandchildren that it was I who pulled you out of Azkaban... - and with those words I apparated away.