#836 - Azkaban

Meanwhile, Gilderoy Lockhart, sent to Azkaban by Anduin, was also settling into his new life.

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Originally, he had only committed multiple counts of fraud and 'improper use of spells.' Although the Wizengamot deemed his situation severe, it wasn't a major crime, and his sentence was only 15 years.

But somehow, he was assigned to a cell in the area for the most dangerous prisoners. Not only was he placed in a single cell, but the walls were specially reinforced, and the Dementors patrolled more frequently than in other areas.

This made Azkaban's guard, Slim, feel very strange, but the order came directly from the Ministry of Magic, and he couldn't question it.

Slim guessed that Lockhart had most likely offended some important figure in the Ministry of Magic to be singled out like this.

The prisoners housed here were all vicious criminals, most of whom were Death Eaters captured after the last Wizarding War.

Passing cell after cell, Slim, holding a new type of magic lantern and wearing a magic warmer on his belt, checked the condition of the prisoners one by one.

Despite the harsh environment of Azkaban, Slim felt warm all over and didn't feel a trace of dampness.

"It's really thanks to the materials supplied by Silver Flash Trading Company that we've been able to persevere in Azkaban for so long. Normal wizards usually rotate every 3 years because they can't stand it anymore. Who would have thought I'd be working here for so many consecutive years?"

Recalling Anduin visiting Azkaban with Minister Badeno a few years ago, a faint smile appeared on Slim's lips. Thanks to this young alchemist, they were able to get rid of the working environment of wearing coats and using braziers.

It was just a pity that the Ministry of Magic didn't ask Silver Flash Trading Company to upgrade Azkaban's security system while supplying materials.

Perhaps this was the Ministry of Magic's concern for security, believing that such a commercial organization shouldn't control the security structure of a major prison.

Or perhaps it was out of confidence, believing that no one could escape the Dementors' layers of confinement.

"Ah… otherwise, perhaps we could renovate the prison and make the environment more suitable for living," Slim muttered helplessly, then turned his head to look at Lockhart in his cell.

This prisoner, whom he had just been thinking about, was now squatting weakly on the bed. However, perhaps because he had a severe obsession with cleanliness, the cell was very tidy.

After glancing at Lockhart, Slim couldn't help but frown.

Although he looked miserable at the moment, Slim felt that Lockhart's condition was a bit off.

Lockhart had been in prison for more than ten days, but why did he still look so good? Did the Dementors not like the taste of his soul?

Thinking of this, Slim shook his head slightly. He guessed that Lockhart might be a natural optimist. Perhaps it would take some time before the Dementors tormented him into a ghost.

Like Bella in the next cell…

Slim looked at Bellatrix Lestrange, who looked like a demon in the cell. She seemed to have heard Slim's footsteps and glared fiercely, her eyes filled with endless madness.

Slim didn't back down at all. He was used to Bella's madness. She looked at everyone with that life-or-death gaze, even her husband across from her.

However, unlike usual, Bella didn't glare at Slim and turn back to look out the window. Instead, she scurried to the front of the cell door like a venomous snake, using both hands and feet.

Slim was obviously startled by her actions and couldn't help but take a half step back. Of course, he wasn't afraid that Bella would hurt him or attack him. He had complete confidence in the security of Azkaban's cells.

But Slim was worried that Bella would suddenly have an attack and spit at him. This kind of thing rarely happened in the highest-security cells, but it wasn't unheard of.

"Slim…" Bella, who had scurried to the cell door, clung to the metal bars like a lizard, looking at him intently, her mouth making a hoarse, sawing sound.

"I'm going to ask you something. Answer me honestly!"

Bella muttered as if coercing or giving an order, and Slim showed a curious look upon hearing this.

Because in all these years, it was the first time he had heard Bella take the initiative to talk to him, or rather, talk to him so seriously.

In the past, apart from scolding and cursing, you couldn't get any other good words from this madwoman.

"Ask away. Whether I answer depends on my mood," Slim replied casually. Although they used to be influential figures outside, he had no reverence when talking to these serious criminals.

If it were normal times, Bella might have cursed, but now she looked eager and didn't care about Slim's frivolousness at all.

"Tell me honestly, did the Dark Lord… really commit suicide in public?" Bella stared at Slim with a ferocious look, while hoping to hear a negative answer from him.

"Oh, your information is quite good… How did you know about this?"

Slim looked at Bella with some surprise, then suddenly glanced at the cell next door where Lockhart was being held and nodded knowingly.

Although Voldemort had committed suicide a year ago, the news of these prisoners was extremely limited due to Azkaban's isolation. They could only get information from newspapers occasionally sent by their relatives.

But this was only limited to the upper floors, where the cells weren't very strict. In Bella's layer, to prevent any possibility of escape, all foreign objects they could obtain were strictly controlled.

This included any items with magic, even magical newspapers!

So it was normal for prisoners on this floor not to know what was happening outside for years, decades, or even decades.

Slim guessed that the reason Bella asked this today was probably because the newcomer Lockhart told her. Only he had the conditions to do so. After all, the prison guards rarely chatted with the prisoners.

Thinking of this, Slim smiled coldly in his heart. Seeing her asking so eagerly, she must be a loyal dog of Voldemort. After so many years, she was still so loyal, truly unrepentant.

"That's right!" Slim smiled triumphantly. "Just last summer, Voldemort chose to commit suicide on the spot during a public trial because he couldn't bear the humiliation!"

"That's impossible! You must have colluded to deceive me!" Bella looked incredulous, obviously unable to accept this result at all.

Apart from Bella, there were also bursts of weak cursing from around. These were all former Death Eaters imprisoned here. These guys were not only vicious, but also loyal to Voldemort!

"Hehe…" Slim seemed very satisfied with Bella's expression and said with a wicked smile, "This matter has spread throughout the international wizarding world, not just in the UK. Even the scene was made into a video. As long as you have a magic recorder, you can know everything that happened at that time."

"Ah… you probably don't even know what a magic recorder is?" Slim grinned smugly. "Why don't I apply to the Ministry of Magic to play the scene of Voldemort's suicide for you?"

"That scene was so beautiful. I've only watched it dozens of times. You should also appreciate the miserable state of your most beloved Dark Lord at that time. Voldemort was verbally abused to death. That scene was so exciting."

Slim deliberately provoked everyone with stimulating words, not worried that these former Death Eaters would do anything out of line.

After staying in this ghostly place for a long time, the Dementors had sucked away all their energy, and even the magic in their bodies was only a fraction of what it used to be.

Sure enough, facing Slim's provocation, the prisoners in the cells had no other way but to curse loudly and spit outwards.

Even after cursing for a while, most people were too tired to speak clearly.

Only Bella, who had stronger combat power, was still acting like a shrew. She cursed Slim again and again, her eyes so ferocious that she seemed to want to eat him on the spot.

However, Slim was used to all of this, so he didn't feel any pressure when arguing with them.

But after a while, another person came down the corridor of the prison. The other party was wearing a pink women's suit. Although she was still heavily made up in the prison and dressed like a pink toad, it was Dolores Umbridge, a former employee of the Ministry of Magic.

"Slim!"

Umbridge stomped to Slim's side, then glanced timidly at the vicious people around her, before muttering righteously.

"It's just a normal patrol mission. Why are you dawdling for so long?"

"What's the big deal about being a dozen minutes late? What's your rush?" Slim rolled his eyes at Umbridge. He didn't understand why the Ministry of Magic had arranged this annoying guy to Azkaban.

Since this toad joined Azkaban, she had turned the entire prison system into an office workplace and claimed to be a leader.

But there were only 4 people in the entire Azkaban! They were all guards. How could there be any superior-subordinate relationship? Moreover, no one usually came to inspect. Was it necessary to have so much formalism?

But Umbridge put her hands on her hips in dissatisfaction. "Slim! Failing to complete the patrol mission on time is dereliction of duty. If you talk back again, be careful I report it to the Ministry of Magic headquarters! And the regular meeting is about to start. What will happen if you're not there?"

Slim became even more unhappy upon hearing this. What else could this idiot woman do besides threatening to report? She really thought she was someone important? They had never had such a thing as a meeting before!

Seeing Slim's impatient look, Umbridge's mouth immediately chattered like a machine gun, annoying Slim to no end. He didn't lose out to these Death Eaters in arguing, but now he was defeated by the old toad.

Before long, Slim, annoyed beyond measure, left this floor of the prison with Umbridge.

After seeing Slim and Umbridge leave, Bella first calmed down, then shouted loudly to the side, "Lockhart! Talk to me!"

"What? You're willing to believe what I said now?"

Lockhart trembled all over from Bella's roar, but he quickly calmed himself down and put on a nonchalant posture.

"But I still can't believe that the master would die so easily, no…" As if thinking of something, Bella firmly denied, "The master is definitely still alive. The Dark Lord is immortal!"

"But you also heard what Slim said!"

Before Lockhart could reply, a questioning voice suddenly came from across Bella's cell, "I didn't want to believe that the master would disappear like this before. The fact that his soul reappeared afterwards also represents this, but how can we explain that he committed suicide in public, and still soul suicide?"

Don't look at how happily they cursed just now, but these Death Eaters could see the truth in Slim's words. In fact, from the fact that he dared to say Voldemort's name openly, it could be determined that he no longer had any fear of the Dark Lord.

"Shut up! Rodolphus, you have no right to speak about the master's life and death!" Bella retorted angrily.

"I'm your husband!" Rodolphus retorted dissatisfied.

"We are first the servants of the Dark Lord, and then husband and wife. You need to understand the priority!" Bella didn't save any face for her husband. Her loyalty to the Death Eaters obviously surpassed family relations.

Rodolphus didn't refute Bella upon hearing this, but complained annoyedly, "Then tell me, is the Dark Lord dead or alive?"

"This is the master's secret and cannot be revealed to you casually! In short, you only need to remember one thing, that is, the Dark Lord is definitely still alive." Bella seemed to know something, but she kept her mouth shut and didn't say much.

The Death Eaters, including Rodolphus, couldn't help but frown upon hearing this. To be honest, even they couldn't figure out whether what Bella said was true or if she was having another fit of madness.

"Bella is right, the Dark Lord is indeed not dead, he is still alive!"

Just as everyone was struggling, a calm reply came from Lockhart's cell.

"Good! Good!" Bella thought Lockhart was helping her and shouted in agreement.

However, several slightly questioning gazes came from the surrounding cells, "What do you know? Tell us quickly!"

Facing the sharp gazes of these fierce men, Lockhart couldn't help but feel his heart race and his back chill, but his years of scamming still allowed him to maintain his composure.

"I know the Dark Lord is still alive, and I also know that he was able to survive because of Horcruxes!"

Sorry, I had a fever for a week in a row, and I'm still not completely recovered. It's really torturous, but my mental state is barely enough to code now. After I fully recover, I'll find a way to make up for the chapters I missed before!

I also hope everyone pays attention to their health during this changing season and doesn't get sick.