Lily Potter (Harry Potter's Twin)

Chapter 27

 Hermione smoothed out the Daily Prophet on the table in front of us and pointed at ten black-and-white photographs that filled the whole 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 there 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 twisted face who was sneering up at me, convicted of the brutal murders of Gideon and Fabian Prewett.

But my eyes were drawn to the picture of the witch. Her face leapt out at me the moment I had seen the page. She had long dark hair that looked unkempt and straggly in the picture. She glared up at me through heavily lidded eyes, an arrogant, disdainful smile playing around her thin mouth. 

Bellatrix Lestrange, convicted of the torture and permanent incapacitaton of Frank and Alice Longbottom.

I began to read the article.

MASS BREAKOUT FROM AZKABAN
MINISTRY FEARS BLACK IS "RALLYING POINT"
FOR OLD DEATH EATERS
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 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 the murderer Sirius Black escaped, " said Fudge last night. "Nor do we think the two breakouts are unrelated. An escape of this magnitude suggests that Black, as the first person ever to break out of Azkaban would be ideally placed to help others follow in his footsteps. We think it likely that these individuals, who include Black's cousin, Bellatrix Lestrange, have rallied around Black as their leader. We are, however, doing all we cab 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.

"There you are," I said. "That's why he was happy last night... "

I felt the guilt settle in, but I knew there was nothing I could have done. Dumbledore had already warned the Ministry about the potential break out but they ignored him. 

"I don't believe this, " snarled Harry, "Fudge is blaming the break out on Sirius?"

"What other option does he have? " said Hermione bitterly. "He can hardly say, 'Sorry everyone, Dumbledore warned me this might happen, the Azkaban guards have joined Lord Voldemort and now Voldemort's worst supporters have broken out too.' I mean, he's spent a good six months telling everyone Dumbledore's a liar, hasn't he? "

I looked around the Great Hall. I couldn't understand why my fell students were not looking scared or at least discussing the terrible news on the front page, but very few of them took the newspaper every day like Hermione. They were all talking about homework and Quidditch and who knew what other rubbish, and outside this walls ten more Death Eaters had swollen Voldemort's ranks...

I looked up at the staff table. It was a different story here: 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 Thaddeus 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 do her food and every now and then she shot a malevolent glance up the table to where Dumbledore and McGonagall were talking so intently.