"What could I possibly see? I was hiding down there too, just like you!"
Garr retorted irritably, then glanced at the distant sea again. He saw a shark swim past the ship and instinctively pulled his head back, still shaken.
"Anyway... that was definitely a powerful Wizard, and an Animagus too... I saw a bird fly out of the sea."
"What kind of bird?" Lockhart asked again.
"An eagle, probably," Garr guessed.
He didn't know much about birds.
The two fell silent for a moment, looking at each other.
"Peter's dead, what do we do now?"
...
The moment Lockhart seized a Wand and escaped his cell was naturally witnessed by the surrounding prisoners, who all clamored for him to release them too.
However, during his time in prison, Lockhart, besides having his happiness drained by patrolling Dementors and sinking into sadness and despair, was also frequently verbally abused and bullied by other inmates.
His good looks and fame, in this morally bankrupt place, brought him no benefits; instead, they relegated him to the lowest rung of the social ladder.
Therefore, after escaping, Lockhart not only didn't rescue his cellmates but instead went around casting the Obliviation Charm on them one by one.
Given the power of his spells, it was enough to turn those individuals into empty-headed idiots for the rest of their lives.
Then Garr, from the cell diagonally opposite, called out to him.
Garr was also considered a less serious offender; he was a vampire who knew a little magic.
He had been sent to Azkaban for theft and a serious violation of the Statute of Secrecy, after being witnessed using magic to steal blood from a Muggle hospital's blood bank.
Lockhart hadn't intended to release him, but Garr changed his mind with a single sentence—
"You can escape your cell, but do you know how to deal with Dementors?"
Lockhart assumed he knew the Patronus Charm and released him.
In reality, Garr didn't know such an advanced spell as the Patronus Charm; he hadn't even attended school.
When faced with Dementors, his only method was to transform into a large bat and then charge into them.
—These creatures, which feed on positive human emotions, seemed a bit clumsy when facing simple-minded animals.
However, after colliding with three Dementors in a row, Garr became so disheartened that he almost turned into a mushroom. Lockhart had no choice but to carry the despondent large bat and flee.
While running around, they encountered Peter Pettigrew, who was imprisoned in a special cell.
News about Peter had dominated headlines for a while, and both Lockhart and Garr recognized this notorious traitor, the Dark Lord's loyal subordinate.
At that time, Peter was pacing inside his cell. Upon seeing the two, his small eyes immediately lit up. He rushed forward, gripping the iron bars, and said, "Help me! Get me out!"
Even the windows of his cell were tightly grated, allowing only a finger to pass through at most, and food had to be delivered via special thin tubes.
The floor and walls gleamed with a metallic sheen, narrow and cramped, looking incredibly sturdy.
The facilities of this cell ensured that Peter, even if he transformed into a rat, couldn't dig his way out. However, he also suffered immensely because of it.
Seeing that Lockhart and the other had no intention of unlocking the door, Peter pressed his face tightly against the bars and loudly said:
"Even if you escape, you'll be wanted criminals! Besides... besides the Dark Lord, who else can protect you? Dumbledore?"
...
In any case, they eventually became a group of three.
Peter wanted to release more prisoners, but most of the short-term inmates refused.
If they didn't escape, they could return to normal society after a short while; if they escaped and were caught again, they would likely receive a Dementor's Kiss.
Moreover, whether they could escape was still up in the air.
Azkaban was in the middle of the vast ocean, and no one had ever escaped from it before.
As for prisoners with long sentences, almost all of them had been drained into a stupor by Dementors; some had even gone mad, making it impossible for them to be of any help, only dead weight.
Garr then suggested that Peter seek out his former companions—
Everyone knew that a part of Azkaban held Death Eaters serving life sentences. Those madmen were mad before they were imprisoned, and even after more than a decade, they hadn't completely lost their minds.
Peter's face turned pale with fright, and he firmly rejected this crazy suggestion.
The person he feared most now was not Voldemort, nor Dumbledore, but his former Death Eater comrades.
Especially the most loyal ones... they knew that Peter had delivered the message to Voldemort, and they also knew that their master had disappeared after that.
In the eyes of some, the culprit behind the Dark Lord's disappearance was Peter Pettigrew.
Like Bellatrix...
If she were released, Peter had no doubt that the madwoman would first cast a dozen Crucio spells on him, and might even kill him outright.
Only by finding the Dark Lord, and under the Dark Lord's protection, would Peter dare to meet those crazy "colleagues."
He painted a grand picture for Lockhart and Garr—as long as they helped the Dark Lord rise again, they would not only cease to be criminals but would also regain power, wealth, and fame!
The Dark Lord was never stingy with his subordinates!
The three of them began their escape.
Both Peter and Garr could transform into animals; a mouse was easy to hide, and a bat could fly. The Dementors could barely "see" them.
Lockhart had no talent for Animagus, but his Obliviation Charm actually worked on the Dementors.
Dementors struck by the spell would forget what they were doing and stand blankly in place for a few minutes. That's how the three of them managed to escape the Wizarding World's dead end, surprisingly unscathed.
The vast ocean made swimming back a difficult feat. Fortunately, Garr could fly, and he quickly found a nearby fishing boat...
Unfortunately, their luck seemed to run out there.
"Peter's dead, what do we do?" Lockhart asked.
The person who promised to take them to the Dark Lord was gone, and Lockhart immediately felt lost, unsure where else to go.
"First, let's figure out how to survive in Muggle society."
Garr thought for a moment, then grimaced, "The city is so big, it'll be hard for the Ministry of Magic to find us... but we can't just use magic freely anymore. We might even have to find normal jobs..."
Lockhart deeply missed his fans and his best-selling books, but at this moment, he had no other option but to follow Garr's advice.
The two devoured the fishermen's dinner, stuffing themselves.
"What about these fishermen? Should we throw them overboard too?" Lockhart asked.
"No, leave them. They can help us create a diversion. Just use the Obliviation Charm to make them forget they saw us," Garr said, worried. "Otherwise, if that killer comes back..."
Both of them shivered simultaneously, terrified.
Having made their decision, they slipped back into the boat's cabin to hide, sailing with the old fishing boat towards an unknown future.
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