Harry Potter and the Lost Cities

CHAPTER NINETEEN

"A breakout?" Harry repeated. Ginny and the kids, too, whirled around in shock.

Hermione's bushy hair, which was loose from her usual tight bun she wore for work, bobbed even more than her head. "I was just there. The dementors are furious, they have no idea how it happened."

"How many people escaped?" Harry asked, striding towards Hermione with his hand on his wand, even though there was no one to attack at the moment.

"Six," Hermione said.

"Who?"

Hermione glanced pointedly at James, Albus, and Lily standing there, clearly hesitant to speak freely with them present. Ginny, taking the hint, said quickly, "C'mon, kids, it's getting late, let's go have dinner..." She ushered them inside, and the fact that not even James objected showed the seriousness of what was happening.

Harry turned back to Hermione, his expression repeating the question. She took a deep breath. "Avery, Rowle, Dolohov, Carrow― Alecto, not Amycus― Mulciber, and..."

Harry raised his eyebrows. "And?"

Hermione's eyes were boiling pots of rage. "Umbridge."

Harry's jaw clenched. Maybe Umbridge hadn't been an actual Death Eater during either of the Wizarding Wars, but she was bad enough to be one. In many ways, she scared him more than any of the other escapees Hermione had named.

"And no one has any idea what happened?" Harry asked.

Hermione shook her head, frustrated. "No, not the dementors or the guards or anyone!"

After the Second Wizarding War, it had been decided that dementors would no longer be the sole guards of Azkaban. The dark creatures were too untrustworthy, even if they had volunteered to reunite with the Ministry when Voldemort had been defeated. Now, ten wizarding guards took shifts at the prison, patronuses constantly shielding them from the effects of the dementors.

"So what do we do?"

Hermione ran a hand down her face. "I need to go make a statement. Oh, gosh, everyone's gonna be so upset about this..."

"Should I go talk to the guards?"

"Sure, if you think it'll help. But they said they didn't see anything, I don't know why they'd lie. Can you get a team of Aurors out right away? We need all hands on deck..."

Harry nodded, and she started to turn away, but Harry said, "Wait."

He hesitated, unsure about what he wanted to say. Hermione raised her eyebrows. "Yes?"

He bit his lip. "Do you think the Neverseen did this?"

Hermione sighed, shaking her head. "I don't know. It seems likely because I think we really have done well preparing for any wizarding attack. And I'm fairly certain that the escapees must have had outside help. So it kinda looks that way..."

Harry clenched his jaw. He was really hating the Neverseen more and more.

"I have to get going," Hermione sighed. "See you later."

Harry ran a hand down his face, sighed, then hurried inside, heading towards the kitchen, where Ginny was pulling some food out of the fridge.

"I have to go," Harry said sadly, kissing his wife on the crown of her head. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry to leave you with all this..."

"I know, I understand. And you know I would come with you if I could, 'cause I would absolutely kick butt out there, but... I think with everything... the kids..." She didn't finish, but Harry knew what she meant. He didn't want to leave his dear children either, but he had to. They smiled sadly at each other, and Harry could see the worry in her eyes, although mostly, he just saw determination. That was one of the things he loved about her. Her strength and persistence, no matter how crazy things got.