The Dark Mark | Death Eater

6- Mass Break Out

ALTA WASN'T QUITE ENJOYING her time at Hogwarts as she had the previous year. She absolutely loathed Professor Umbridge. There was nobody Alta hated more than unintelligent people, and Fudge, Professor Umbridge and his entire Ministry reign had proved to be extremely unintelligent. The Ministry's interference with Hogwarts' matters had made attending the school less enjoyable. Even though Alatea didn't need to be taught Defence Against the Dark Arts herself, the entire idea of it forbidden from being taught in a practical manner was ridiculous.

The only thing which cheered Alatea up was back and forth lettering with Hayes. They would criticise the Ministry and theorise what Lord Voldemort was up to. His most recent letter had read,

Alta,

They are still searching for something in the Ministry of Magic. I heard Lucius and my Aunt talking about it during Christmas. I heard them mention the Department of Mysteries. The people who work there are called Unspeakables. Lucius has never told us what's in there and I doubt even he knows everything. But there's something there what the Dark Lord wants.

I am impressed to hear you've made progress on Wandless Magic. I think the only known wizards to perform such magic well has been Gellert Grindewald, Albus Dumbledore and the Dark Lord.

As our N.E.W.T.s are drawing closer we are being loaded with work and revision. I performed the killing curse perfectly on a goat in class the other day. On our exams it will be something bigger. I am becoming excellent at the Imperious curse as well.

I think about you, night and day. Especially at night.

Yours, Hayes

After reading these ink letters on the piece of parchment, Alta had grown very curious about the Department of Mysteries in the Ministry of Magic. To her great disappointment, she couldn't find any actual information about what it withheld or what the Unspeakables did in the Hogwarts library. Most of her classes and meal times she spent obsessing about things it would have inside, magical items and secrets which weren't recorded in any literature. Ever so often her daydreams would be occupied by Hayes, performing the Unforgivable Curses with ease while she watched.

***

Alatea stared at eleven black and white photographs that filled the entire front page of the Daily Prophet, nine showing a wizard and two showing a witch. Some of the people in the photographs were silently jeering, others were tapping their fingers on the frame of their pictures, lacking any sense of civility. Each photograph was captioned with the name and crime for which the person had been sent to Azkaban.

She read out the headline over the photographs,

MASS BREAK OUT FROM AZKABAN MINISTRY FEARS BLACK IS "RALLYING POINT" FOR OLD DEATH EATERS

Alta's eyes immediately drew to the picture of the second witch. Azkaban had taken its toll on Rosalie Vipera's beauty. She appeared skeletal. Her hair wasn't in the neat bantu knots which Alta knew it used to be in before her incarceration. Rosalie's coiled curls fell past her shoulders loosely, clearly unkempt. Even with the loss of her dark beauty, the resemblance between Rosalie and Alta was still recognisable. She was smirking cunningly up at Alta. It suddenly felt as if she didn't have a stomach at all.

Rosalie Vipera, convicted of the participation in the torture and permanent incapacitation of Frank and Alice Longbottom and the brutal murders of Marlene McKinnon, Angus McKinnon and Elspeth McKinnon.