Chapter 28: The Coldest Christmas

That morning, Harry Ron and Hermione left for Azkaban. They left a note for Neville so that no one would wonder where they had gone. They had lied in that note. They wrote that they are going to meet some old wizard Dumbledore had told them to meet, who can teach them real advanced magic. Once they left the castle, they entered Hogsmede. There they apparated. Hermione helped them as she had seen the sea coast which was closest to Azkaban. There, Hermione conjured a boat, a simple boat, except for the face that it was unsinkable. It was a small boat that when put in water looked undistinguishable .They went in the boat and covered themselves with the cloak. Hermione also produced a small patronus inside the cloak so that they will be safe from the dementors. They left the shore. The boat was magically moving towards the direction of Azkaban.

It took them three hours to reach Azkaban. They could feel the chill. Even Hermione’s patronus wasn’t too much of a help.

‘okay, we’re about to hit the island. But we need to prevent it. If we hit, they’ll know someone is here.’ Said Hermione.

‘but how do we stop it?’ said Harry.

‘are you a wizard or not?’ she said. ‘and don’t worry. I already did it. It will stop before hitting. As soon as it stops, we’ll jump in the water and cast the air bubble charm we’ve been practicing. Oh and before we jump, Harry, can we have the snuid?’

They took out the snuid from the shell and ate it. It tasted like the most disgusting thing Harry had ever had. Even worse than Burty Bott’s vomit flavored beans. Eating it made none of them feel any different. They jumped and casted the air bubble spell which created an air bubble around their face and helped them breathe inside water.

And they went inside the sea. It was the coldest thing Harry had ever experienced. It was as if all his body except his face was frozen. They swam deeper into the sea until they could see pipes coming out of the island rock. These were the sewage pipes that came from Azkaban. They had to get into the castle through them. As Harry got inside the pipe, what he smelled made him puke. It was the rotting sewage of years stuck to the pipes. He started fainting. Even Hermione was about to faint. Ron then, shouted ‘Aromour’ and both Harry and Hermione came back to their senses. They smelled pleasant things. They moved further. Even though they could now no more smell the sewage, it was disgusting to be walking through it. Soon they came to a place where the pipes started distributing to separate toilets. They went to one of the toilets and through it they entered Azkaban. The snuid helped them come out of the toilet. From there the task became more difficult. Even though they could move through and wall, they were afraid to be seen by anyone. So they had to move under the cloak.

But there was a bigger problem than this. The castle was full of dementors. And their aura was making them sick. They couldn’t even produce a patronus as they would be seen. The breeze was sucking all the happiness out of Harry. It was his gloomiest Christmas ever. But then Harry remembered Sirius, and how he fought the dementors by memories. And Harry remembered his memories, his friends, his parents, Dumbledore. All this strengthened Harry. It wasn’t too much, but still it at least made him able to move. He told Ron and Hermione also to think of positive things. And they moved in search of the horcrux.