"I'm here today to visit Sirius Black. Have someone lead the way," Minister Bagnold ordered immediately, wasting no words.
"Yes, I'll take you two there," said a wizard with messy stubble.
The wizard led Alan and the Minister through a long corridor, then opened a heavy iron gate with a key. On the other side, rooms were lined up on both sides. As soon as they entered the area, a sickening stench wafted from the cells.
"Sir, we are about to enter the prisoner block. To reach Sirius's cell, we still need to go down three more levels. However, the prisoners here are not mentally stable, so please forgive them if they verbally offend you," the wizard on duty said cautiously.
"It's fine, just lead the way," Minister Bagnold said indifferently.
As Alan entered the area, the smell grew worse, and he could hear sounds coming from individual rooms. Some echoed with cries of injustice, others with meaningless babble, and there were even malicious curses and eerie singing.
"Sir," Alan looked at the wizard beside him with some curiosity, "Azkaban is such a large prison, how many people do you need to manage it? Just preparing meals for these prisoners must be a huge undertaking."
"You can just call me Slim," the man replied with a smile, clearly having a good impression of the young man who had spoken up for him. "Although it looks big, there aren't as many prisoners as you might imagine. Currently, only the four upper levels of cells are full, so there's plenty of room for everyone to have their own space. In fact, before the war ended a few years ago, it was even emptier here."
"Normally, at any given time, only two Aurors stay here on guard, rotating shifts every eight hours. After all, the environment is very harsh. As for the prisoners' food, it's handled by house-elves; they always complete their tasks diligently."
So, the two people at the entrance were the only guards? Alan raised an eyebrow in surprise, and Slim continued.
"Aside from patrolling every once in a while, we rarely linger in the cell area. After all, Dementors patrol the blocks. With them on guard, there has never been a mistake."
Just as Slim was speaking, a Dementor passed in front of the three. Seeing the creature up close was even more terrifying than imagined, like a demon appearing in the living world. When the Dementor saw the three wizards, the ugly face under its cloak immediately showed an expression of longing, and its mouth involuntarily split open. However, it seemed to sense the identification marks on them and did not attack. Instead, it glided straight to a cell and began to feed, followed by a scream from inside the room.
Witnessing such a chilling sight firsthand made Minister Bagnold frown. "Are they usually well-behaved? Have there been any prisoner deaths?"
"To answer you, Minister, although these Dementors often complain about insufficient food, they are quite obedient. Occasionally, when a Dementor goes mad, we use the Patronus Charm to help them calm down," Slim replied with a chuckle, clearly accustomed to the scene.
Alan looked at Slim with a strange expression. The Aurors responsible for guarding the prison must at least be wizards who can skillfully use the Patronus Charm. It seemed a waste of elite talent to leave them here. Slim did not notice Alan's gaze and continued his introduction. He seemed to have been here too long, as he was very talkative.
"The prisoners held on these two upper levels don't have long sentences, so they still have the strength to speak. When we go down two more levels, you'll see. The prisoners there are very dangerous, serious criminals. The density of Dementors guarding them is even higher, and we prefer not to linger there at all."
While he was speaking, the group descended two levels via the stairs at the end of the corridor. The stairs were designed in an exhausting way, with long corridors between each flight. Passing the third level, Alan found it was indeed much quieter, as Slim had said. However, he could still see disheveled prisoners peering out from their cells.
"Humans, living humans! Oh my goodness, besides those annoying guards, I finally get to see humans again!" A prisoner grinned, yellow saliva dripping from his mouth, a crazed expression on his face. "Hey! You young brat!" The man stared at Alan and shouted, "Come here and let me lick you once! Just one lick, and I can teach you magic powerful enough to destroy the world, hahahaha!"
Other emaciated, crazed faces peeked out, openly mocking the group. Alan's brows furrowed. He swept his sharp gaze across the prisoners, casting a powerful Fear Curse through his eyes. The prisoners who met his gaze immediately trembled and went silent. The eccentric man who had shouted at Alan convulsed and fell backward.
He continued muttering incoherently about "Herpo… this is Herpo's fear…" but his whispers were too faint to be heard by anyone outside.
With the area now peaceful, Slim, who had seemed harmless until now, cast a surprised glance at Alan. He noticed that the young man's magic was unusual. However, Slim did not waste any more words and continued to lead the way. Soon, the three arrived at the fourth level, where the truly dangerous criminals were held. Here, they could no longer hear any sounds. The surrounding cells were like abysses; they could feel something hidden inside, but a heavy silence reigned.
"Minister, ten more cells ahead is Sirius Black's room," Slim said, reminding Minister Bagnold.
"Very good, thank you for your trouble. You can return to the top level now; we can take it from here," Minister Bagnold nodded in response.
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