Lord Phantom

Chapter 15: Date

Hermione's Daily Prophet arrived during breakfast and she smoothed it out, gazed for a moment at the front page and gave a yelp that caused everyone in the vicinity to stare at her.

"What?" said Harry and Ron together.

For answer she spread the newspaper on the table in front of them and pointed at ten black-and-white photographs that filled the whole of the 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 their 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, pale, twisted face who was sneering up at Harry, convicted of the brutal murders of Gideon and Fabian Prewett.

Algernon Rookwood, said the caption beneath a pockmarked man with greasy hair who was leaning against the edge of his picture, looking bored, convicted of leaking Ministry of Magic secrets to He Who Must Not Be Named.

But Harry's eyes were drawn to the picture of the witch. Her face had leapt out at him the moment he had seen the page. She had long, dark hair that looked unkempt and straggly in the picture, though he had seen it sleek, thick and shining. She glared up at him through heavily lidded eyes, an arrogant, disdainful smile playing around her thin mouth.

Bellatrix Lestrange, convicted of the torture and permanent incapacitation of Frank and Alice Longbottom. Hermione nudged Harry and pointed at the headline over the pictures, which Harry, concentrating on Bellatrix, had not yet read.

MASS BREAKOUT FROM AZKABAN

OLD DEATH EATERS ESCAPE

Harry, Ron and Hermione read more. Death of Broderick Bode, who worked in Department of Mysteries, and was healing at St.Mungo's. They understood that it was a murder, committed with the help of poisonous plant. They looked at each other for a moment, then Hermione pulled the newspaper back towards her, closed it, glared for a moment at the pictures of the ten escaped Death Eaters on the front, then leapt to her feet.

"Where are you going?" said Ron, startled.

"To send a letter," said Hermione, swinging her bag on to her shoulder, "It ... well, I don't know whether ... but it's worth trying ... and I'm the only one who can"

Suddenly the doors of Great Hall opened wild. It happens a lot last time. There were two people. One was Danny, obviously, who was holding a half finished bottle of Fire Whiskey. Another person was scary. He was a young adult, about twenty years old, but he was the same height as Danny. He had white skin, auburn hair and crimson red eyes, much to everyone's fear. He was wearing black leather jacket, torn jeans and boots. Man was also very thin. He also had a Fire Whiskey, and he and Danny had hands on each other's shoulder. It made them look like drinking buddies, because they were.

"And finally we have a Great Hall!" Danny said, making a gesture and taking a gulp.

"Nice," the man said in deep voice, "But it's still better at home"

"Eh, no offense, pal, but you live in an abandoned shack in a middle of nowhere"

"And you know the reasons," he glared at Danny.

"Pff, you aren't THAT scary," Phantom shrugged, spilling some drink on the floor.

"Easy for you to say! You faced Pariah!"

"Okay, okay. Good point. Still, you could use some company, besides me"

"Fine! Don't complain later, then. I will be on my way!" With that the man dissappeared in a cloud of smoke. Danny shook his head.