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.I still dream about it sometimes.Acrater in the middle of the street, so deep it had cracked the sewerbelow.Bodies everywhere.Muggles screaming.And Black standing therelaughing, with what was left of Pettigrew in front of him.a heap ofbloodstained robes and a few -- a few fragments --"Fudge's voice stopped abruptly.There was the sound of five noses beingblown."Well, there you have it, Rosmerta," said Fudge thickly."Black wastaken away by twenty members of the Magical Law Enforcement 'Squad andPettigrew received the Order of Merlin, First Class, which I think wassome comfort to his poor mother.Blades been in Azkaban ever since."Madam Rosmerta let out a long sigh."Is it true he's mad, Minister?""I wish I could say that he was," said Fudge slowly."I certainlybelieve his master's defeat unhinged him for a while.The murder ofPettigrew and all those Muggles was the action of a cornered anddesperate man -- cruel.pointless.Yet I met Black on my lastinspection of Azkaban.You know, most of the prisoners in there sitmuttering to themselves in the dark; there's no sense in them.but Iwas shocked at how normal Black seemed.He spoke quite rationally to me.It was unnerving.You'd have thought he was merely bored -- asked if I'dfinished with my newspaper, cool as you please, said he missed doing thecrossword.Yes, I was astounded at how little effect the dementorsseemed to be having on him -- and he was one of the most heavily guardedin the place, you know.Dementors outside his door day and night.""But what do you think he's broken out to do?" said Madam Rosmerta."Good gracious, Minister, he isn't trying to rejoin You-Know-Who, ishe?"I daresay that is his -- er -- eventual plan," said Fudge evasively."But we hope to catch Black long before that.I must say, You-Know-Whoalone and friendless is one thing.but give him back his most devotedservant, and I shudder to think how quickly he'll rise again."There was a small chink of glass on wood.Someone had set down theirglass."You know, Cornelius, if you're dining with the headmaster, he'd betterhead back up to the castle," said Professor McGonagall.One by one, the pairs of feet in front of Harry took the weight of theirowners once more; hems of cloaks swung into sight, and Madam Rosemerta'sglittering heels disappeared behind the bar.The door of the ThreeBroomsticks opened again, there was another flurry of snow, and theteachers had disappeared."Harry?"Ron's and Hermione's faces appeared under the table.They were bothstaring at him, lost for words.CHAPTER ELEVENTHE FIREBOLTHarry didn't have a very clear idea of how he had managed to get backinto the Honeydukes cellar, through the tunnel, and into the castle oncemore.All he knew was that the return trip seemed to take no time atall, and that he hardly noticed what he was doing, because his head wasstill pounding with the conversation he had just heard.Why had nobody ever told him? Dumbledore, Hagrid, Mr.Weasley, CorneliusFudge.why hadn't anyone ever mentioned the fact that Harry's parentshad died because their best friend had betrayed them?Ron and Herinione watched Harry nervously all through dintier, notdaring to talk about what they'd overheard, because Percy was sittingclose by them.When they went upstairs to the crowded common room, itwas to find Fred and George had set off half a dozen Dungbombs in a fitof end- of-term high spirits.Harry, who didn't want Fred and Georgeasking him whether he'd reached Hogsmeade or not, sneaked quietly up tothe empty dormitory and headed straight for his bedside cabinet.Hepushed his books aside and quickly found what he was looking for -- theleather-bound photo album Hagrid had given him two years ago, which wasfull of wizard pictures of his mother and father.He sat down on hisbed, drew the hangings around him, and started turning the pages,searching, until.He stopped on a picture of his parents' wedding day.There was hisfather waving up at him, beaming, the untidy black hair Harry hadinherited standing up in all directions.There was his mother, alightwith happiness, arm in arm with his dad.And there.that must be him.Their best man.Harry had never given him a thought before.If he hadn't known it was the same person, he would never have guessedit was Black in this old photograph.His face wasn't sunken and waxy,but handsome, full of laughter.Had he already been working forVoldemort when this picture had been taken? Was he already planning thedeaths of the two people next to him? Did he realize he was facingtwelve years in Azkaban, twelve years that would make himunrecognizable?But the dementors don't affect him, Harry thought, staring into thehandsome, laughing face.He doesn't have to hear my Min screaming ifthey get too close -Harry slammed the album shut, reached over and stuffed it back into hiscabinet, took off his robe and glasses and got into bed, making sure thehangings were hiding him from view.The dormitory door opened."Harry?" said Ron's voice uncertainly.But Harry still, pretending to be asleep.He heard Ron leave again, androlled over on his back, his eyes wide open.A hatred such as he had never known before was coursing through Harrylike poison.He could see Black laughing at him through the darkness, asthough somebody had pasted the picture from the album over his eyes.Hewatched, as though somebody was playing him a piece of film, SiriusBlack blasting Peter Pettigrew (who resembled Neville Longbottom) into athousand pieces.He could hear (though having no idea what Black's voicemight sound like) a low, excited mutter."It has happened, My Lord.the Potters have made me their Secret-Keeper and then came anothervoice, laughing shrilly, the same laugh that Harry heard inside his headwhenever the dementors drew near."Harry, you -- you look terrible."Harry hadn't gotten to sleep until daybreak.He had awoken to find thedormitory deserted, dressed, and gone down the spiral staircase to acommon room that was completely empty except for Ron, who was eating aPeppermint Toad and massaging his stomach, and Hermione, who had spreadher homework over three tables."Where is everyone?" said Harry."Gone! It's the first day of the holidays, remember?" said Ron, watchingHarry closely."It's nearly lunchtime; I was going to come and wake youup in a minute."Harry slumped into a chair next to the fire.Snow was still fallingoutside the windows.Crookshanks was spread out in front of the firelike a large, ginger rug."You really don' look well, you know," Hermione said, peering anxiouslyinto his face."I'm fine," said Harry."Harry, listen," said Hermione, exchanging a look with Ron, you must bereally upset about what we heard yesterday.But the thing is, youmustn't go doing anything stupid.""Like what?" said Harry."Like trying to go after Black," said Ron sharply.Harry could tell they had rehearsed this conversation while he had beenasleep.He didn't say anything."You won't, will you, Harry?" said Hermione."Because Black's not worth dying for," said Ron.Harry looked at them.They didn't seem to understand at all
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