A Young Wizard's Journey - The Lost Tomb

Resentment

Y/N awoke early the next morning and gently extracted himself from within Hermione's grip before picking up his broom and making his way down through the Burrow and out across the snowy grounds, the visit with Scrimgeour still playing on his mind.

It hadn't gone particularly different to his own visit with the Minister during the summer. The request to be a beacon of hope for the Ministry, and the clear and evident refusal. Scrimgeour would not be happy about both boys outright refusing. He'd no doubt hoped to at least get one, and they use them to convince the other. But both Y/N and Harry had stayed true to their dislike of the powers that be.

Harry, however, had seemed rather put out when Y/N had said he wasn't "Dumbledore's man", even asking him about it once they'd returned to the Burrow.

But Y/N couldn't shake the feeling that what he was about to do today was a massive trap.

Perhaps it was because of the conversation he'd had with Kingsley and Hestia, or just gut instinct, but nothing about today's mission said that it was going to go well.

Y/N couldn't ignore his rising resentment for the Headmaster anymore either. A few years ago, being called Dumbledore's apprentice had been a source of pride. But now? It left nothing but a sour taste in his mouth to even be associated with that name. He didn't hate Dumbledore by any stretch. But he certainly didn't like knowing that the world saw the two of them as a combination.

Normally this would be the time when someone would interrupt him, walk up, and assure him that all would be fine. But no such person seemed to feel like wandering out of the Burrow this morning.

And so, with a deep breath, Y/N called his phoenix to his side.

'Eternus!'

With a soft woosh of flame, the bird materialised, giving a song-cry of greeting as it flapped down gently, coming to rest on his shoulder. Y/N reached up and stroked their plumage, smiling gently at the bird.

'You ready to go?'

The phoenix gave another cry.

Y/N hadn't been told what his time schedule was for this, merely that it would be today but as he was doing nothing else.

Eternus soared above him. Y/N tucked his broom between his legs, before reaching up, grasping their talon and immediately getting bombarded with sensations.

To begin with, the chill air of the winter morning. Then, the warmth embrace of Eternus' phoenix.

And then a chill that Y/N hadn't felt in years.

Azkaban was situated on an island surrounded by ocean. Already, the unrestrained air whipped through his clothes and hair, mimicking and amplifying the chill that he'd felt around the Burrow. But that was just on the surface.

That deep, set chill that could only be brought by Dementors was present too, and even as Y/N looked down, he saw several hooded figures beginning to drift in his direction.

'Expecto Patronum!'

The silvery white phoenix burst forth, emitting a cry that Eternus echoed and before long the two of them came to rest, side by side.

Y/N's patronus pushed that deep chill brought by the Dementors out, bringing with it instead a quiet and peaceful warmth as the Dementors that had found him interesting halted and then began to drift back towards the confines of the prison.

With a phoenix resting on each shoulder, Y/N urged his broom forward.

It was dull work.

How could it not be? He was flying around a prison that only one person had ever legitimately gotten out of. At least one person in recent years. The breakout chance was minimal, and the break-in chance seemed just as unlikely. Y/N wondered whether Dumbledore had simply asked him here to freeze him to his broom-