Change the Future

OOTP 19

During breakfast the next morning Hermione's Daily Prophet arrived, she smoothed it out, gazed for a moment at the front page, and then gave a yelp that caused everyone in the vicinity to stare at her.

"What?" Harry and Ron said together whilst Rory just looked at her. She spread the newspaper on the table in front of them and pointed at ten black-and-white photographs that filled the whole of the front page, nine showing wizards' faces and the tenth, a witch's. Some of the people in the photographs were silently jeering; others were tapping their fingers on the frame of their pictures, looking insolent. Each picture was captioned with a name and the crime for which the person had been sent to Azkaban.

Antonin Dolohov, read the legend beneath a wizard with a long, pale, twisted face who was sneering up at them, convicted of the brutal murders of Gideon and Fabian Prewett.

"Brutal murder" Gideon says looking at Fabian. Molly looks at her brothers with tears in her eyes.

"You went out with a fight" Charlie said smiling sadly at them.

"Yeah it took 5 deatheaters" George tells them.

Augustus Rookwood, said the caption beneath a pockmarked man with greasy hair who was leaning against the edge of his picture, looking bored, convicted of leaking Ministry of Magic Secrets to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.

The witch had long, dark hair that looked unkempt and straggly in the picture. She glared up through heavily lidded eyes, an arrogant, disdainful smile playing around her thin mouth. Bellatrix Lestrange, convicted of the torture and permanent incapacitation of Frank and Alice Longbottom.

"We were tortured" Alice says looking at Frank.

"Yeah" Neville says sadly. "You're both in St Mungo's"

MASS BREAKOUT FROM AZKABAN MINISTRY. The Ministry of Magic announced late last night that there has been a mass breakout from Azkaban. Speaking to reporters in his private office, Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic, confirmed that ten high-security prisoners escaped in the early hours of yesterday evening, and that he has already informed the Muggle Prime Minister of the dangerous nature of these individuals. "We find ourselves, most unfortunately, in the same position we were two and a half years ago when Sirius Black escaped," said Fudge last night. "We know the two breakouts are unrelated. An escape of this magnitude suggests outside help. We are, however, doing all we can to round up the criminals and beg the magical community to remain alert and cautious. On no account should any of these individuals be approached."

Hermione ripped open the newspaper and began to read the report inside while Harry looked around the Great Hall whilst Rory glanced at Neville. Up at the staff table Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall were deep in conversation, both looking extremely grave. Professor Sprout had the Prophet propped against a bottle of ketchup and was reading the front page with such concentration that she was not noticing the gentle drip of egg yolk falling into her lap from her stationary spoon. Meanwhile, at the far end of the table, Professor Umbridge was tucking into a bowl of porridge. For once her pouchy toad's eyes were not sweeping the Great Hall looking for misbehaving students. She scowled as she gulped down her food and every now and then she shot a malevolent glance up the table to where Dumbledore and McGonagall were talking so intently.

"Oh my" Hermione said wonderingly, still staring at the newspaper.

"What's happened now" Someone says from the Slytherin table.

"What now?" Harry said quickly.

"It's horrible," Hermione said, looking shaken. She folded back page ten of the newspaper and placed it on the table again.