Redemption in Azkaban

A long, black metal corridor led to a pure white cell.

Bellatrix was frozen in her chair by magic, sitting motionless.

Malfoy entered the room, and the two Auror left the man and woman inside before closing the door and standing guard at the entrance.

As long as Malfoy doesn't kill Bellatrix and prevent her from escaping, they won't interfere in anything else!

Half an hour is enough for Malfoy to solve any problem.

Upon seeing Bellatrix, Malfoy was momentarily stunned, carefully trying to discern who the woman on the chair was!

Bellatrix in the past was absolutely a beauty: she had smooth, jet-black hair and bright, piercing eyes, and an innate, untamed, and wild charm!

This type of woman undoubtedly arouses men's hormones and evokes a desire to conquer.

Unfortunately, Bellatrix fell in love with a man she could never conquer.

Now look at Bellatrix?

A layer of skin covered the skeleton, and two crazed black eyes stared at his haggard face.

"How come it's you? Where's Xi...?" Bellatrix asked in a hoarse voice.

"She's sick, very sick," Malfoy said softly.

"Hehe, sick?! Too scared to come? You scared me half to death last time."

Bellatrix, in a high-pitched voice, mimicked, "Oh, sister, what happened to you... Ha, she's better off hiding in the Malfoy Manor as a little darling!"

"Don't say that. She cried for you many times after she went back," Malfoy sighed.

"That really touches me." Bellatrix forced a smile and eagerly asked, "Where's what I wanted?"

Malfoy pulled out the bag from the Undetectable Extension Charm, took out a piece of sausage, and tossed it over.

The sausage fell to the ground.

"I can't move... feed me!" Bellatrix stared at the food that had fallen to the ground, her throat bobbing.

Malfoy then pulled out a turkey sandwich and held it to Bellatrix's lips.

Bellatrix, like a mad dog, opened her chapped mouth and took a big bite, turkey juices oozing from her mouth. In no time, the whole sandwich was gone.

Malfoy then took out some other food.

She ate for a full five minutes, finishing everything Malfoy had brought.

Bellatrix looked longingly at the sausage that had fallen to the ground.

Malfoy, suppressing his nausea, picked up the sausage and held it to Bellatrix's lips.

Bellatrix stretched out her tongue, rolled up the sausage, and put it in her mouth. At the same time, she opened her mouth wide and used her black and yellow teeth to bite down hard on Malfoy's wrist, tearing off a piece of bloody flesh.

Malfoy punched Bellatrix on the head, and in excruciating pain, he rushed out to get the Auror to help stop the bleeding.

Five minutes later, Malfoy returned to his room with a gloomy expression.

Bellatrix had already swallowed the sausage, along with Malfoy's piece of flesh and blood.

She opened her mouth wide, seemingly chewing in the air, as if savoring the taste.

Bellatrix, looking like she hadn't eaten enough, glanced at Malfoy with burning eyes, completely regarding him as... food.

Malfoy was horrified and angrily shouted, "Are you insane?!"

She licked the blood from her lips, looked at Malfoy, and said without any emotion, "Your flesh is just so delicious. The ones I ate before didn't taste nearly as good."

"You eat... people?" Malfoy gasped.

"Yes, how can we survive without food?" Bellatrix laughed wildly. "Relying on the meager food provided by the Dementor?"

"Some wizards with minor offenses don't stay in jail for long. If Dementor is too difficult to kill directly, it will be sent to my cell."

I'll taste them first, and when they're almost dead, the Dementor will devour their souls. The blame will all be mine..."

"We've reached an agreement!" Bellatrix flashed a row of yellow teeth.

Malfoy felt a chill run down his spine and took two steps back. "How's your thinking about what I had Cissy tell you last time?"

"What?"

"Transfer your Gringotts gold to me, and I'll help you get Fudge to release you."

"Get out?!" Bellatrix laughed wildly, her voice echoing throughout the room. "Why should I get out?!"

"I've been in Azkaban for twelve years. I'm the Dark Lord's most loyal servant. I've suffered so much. He'll remember... He'll come to save me, he'll reward me."

Bellatrix suddenly started sobbing.

"I am tormented for my master, it is all for him! Just thinking about this makes me excited, and my whole body is trembling."

Lucius, you don't understand.

It's a kind of inner pleasure... The more I'm tormented, the more comfortable I feel... When I'm in pain, I imagine the Dark Lord torturing and ravaging me... and then I feel very comfortable."

"Madman!" Malfoy took two steps back in fear.

"Of course I'm crazy, just as crazy as the Dark Lord... It's a pity, why doesn't he see me as a good match?"

Bellatrix forced a smile, then spat a mixture of dark blood and saliva all over Malfoy's face.

She said dismissively, "Get lost, don't interrupt my enjoyment..."

Bellatrix was taken away and replaced by Sirius.

To be honest, after seeing Bellatrix's condition, Malfoy had almost no hope for Sirius.

Sure enough, the once handsome Sirius had become skin and bones. A clump of dirty, tangled hair hung down to his elbows, and waxy skin clung tightly to the bone structure of his face.

His sunken eyes stared blankly into the distance, like a walking corpse.

If Bellatrix still had any hope of living, Sirius was practically a living dead.

No matter what Malfoy said, Sirius just muttered, "I killed them both..."

Fudge walked into the room and said softly, "Are you done, Lucius? We should go. I can't stand it for another second."

Merlin, Azkaban is truly awful.

Malfoy nodded slightly; this was probably his last visit to Azkaban.

Black's fortune is out of the question.

Sirius suddenly struggled to his feet, staring at the Daily Prophet in the hand of an Auror next to Fudge.

"Want to see?" Fudge raised an eyebrow.

"Give it to him, Minister, let him see freedom," Malfoy said hastily. "You know, even the air outside tastes sweet."

Perhaps after reading the newspaper, Black will change his mind and be willing to leave?

Fudge nodded, not refusing his large golden pig.

"Take Black back." Fudge picked up the newspaper and threw it at Sirius.

Two Auror escorted Sirius through the corridor, shoved him hard, and threw him into a cell before locking the door.

Sirius didn't get up; instead, he eagerly lay down on the Daily Prophet, searching for the photo he had just glimpsed:

The Weasley family stood in front of the pyramid, waving enthusiastically. One of the boys stood in the middle of the crowd, a mouse perched on his shoulder.

Sirius's face was grim and terrifying. He knelt on the newspaper, tilted his head back, and let out a beastly roar that pierced the eardrums, causing the room to tremble and dust to fall.

"He's at Hogwarts..."

Tears streamed down Sirius's face.

James once said, "Hey Sirius, it's okay to die. Dying while fighting Voldemort isn't shameful. But you can't die. You're my son's the Godfather."

He refused, saying he would die before James so that James could take care of their mentally challenged son himself.

Having been imprisoned in Azkaban for years, Sirius has become less and less like a human being and less and less like a ghost. He feels like he is atoning for his sins.

For James and Lily.

He's been ransomed for twelve years... and now he wants to get out.

It's all for James and Lily.

At night, in a daze, Sirius dreamed of the Hogwarts Express.

Every time they came to Hogwarts and went home, the Marauders would sit in the same compartment on the train, from first year to seventh year.

For the first six years, on twelve journeys, Lily Evans would strut past the train door with an air of superiority. On the thirteenth, she gave James a smile. On the fourteenth, she joined the four men and sat in the carriage.

So, for more than one moment, Sirius, Lupin, and others felt that they might as well go out and find another place.

If he could return to Hogwarts, he would probably go to that carriage again.

At night, the prison gates were opened, and a Dementor slid into the prison.

It threw the moldy food on the ground and inhaled the overflowing joy in the air with a blissful intoxication.

But it suddenly stopped talking, because the joy had vanished. The Dementor had no eyes; it could only vaguely perceive its surroundings, searching for Sirius.

A thin, bony black dog bypassed the Dementor and squeezed through the narrow gap in the prison bars.

Not a single Dementor paid him any attention!

The black dog ran smoothly to the shore and plunged into the vast sea without hesitation.

Sirius simply needs to swim back to England from Azkaban.

The straight-line distance between the two sides is only a little over 300 kilometers!

I heard that cherry blossoms fall at a speed of five centimeters per second. Given his doggy-paddle swimming skills, at what speed would he need to swim that distance...?

Sirius doesn't care about that!

His most pressing task was to figure out... exactly which direction United Kingdom was in!

It seems to be in the southwest direction.

Sirius observed for a while, then swam off in the direction he had identified as "southwest".

England... I'm back!

A giant wave crashed in, and the black dog dove headfirst, continuing its doggy paddle with renewed vigor.

Judging from the direction, if all goes well, Sirius will arrive safely... in France!

(Thanks to "Hell Cat" and "Shadow's Mood 123" for their generous donations.)