The Shopkeeper of All Worlds in the British Wizarding World

Chapter 613 Azkaban
The wedding lasted until late at night, and the party didn't end until the early morning. Fortunately, everything went well at the wedding, no one attacked them, and there was no news of the Ministry of Magic falling.

However, because he was a little tired from playing the day before, Ryan didn't get up until nine o'clock the next morning. After he quickly packed up and went to the kitchen to eat a sandwich, Professor Dumbledore came in from outside.

"Ah, Albus, would you like some sandwiches? We slept a little late yesterday, so we had a late breakfast this morning too," Mrs. Weasley asked Professor Dumbledore.

"Not for now, I just need a cup of hot tea." Professor Dumbledore took the cup handed over by Mrs. Weasley and took a sip. "Your cooking skills are really good, especially today we are going to a very cold place soon, and it is very good to drink a cup of hot tea before that. By the way, Ryan, I suggest you wear more clothes later."

After drinking hot tea and saying goodbye to the people in the room, Dumbledore called Ryan to set off. After leaving the yard of the Burrow, they walked along the path for a while, and then crossed the hedge to an open space.

"Okay, I think there should be no one around." After looking around, Professor Dumbledore took out a black iron coin from his pocket. Ryan saw a skull pattern embossed on the iron coin. "This is a special door key to Azkaban. That place has complex magical protection. Only this special door key can get through. Ah, now is the time. Put your hand up."

Ryan put his finger on the iron coin as he was told. After another familiar feeling of weightlessness, Ryan found himself landing on a barren black island with Professor Dumbledore standing beside him.

"Is this Azkaban?" Ryan looked up at a triangular black castle a few hundred meters away. The castle stood on another independent island and occupied the entire island. There was only a slightly protruding piece of land that was not occupied by buildings facing the small island where they were now. Based on the pier extending to the sea and two black wooden boats on that piece of land, Ryan could be sure that it was the entrance to Azkaban.

Even though he was still several hundred meters away from the real castle, Ryan could still feel the strong negative emotions emanating from the castle. Those negative emotions even merged with the local special magical environment to form a thick haze around the castle, and even the morning sun could not penetrate the haze.

Because of the thick haze, the interior of the castle was dark all day long. Ryan could see dim lights in the windows of the castle made of black stone. But after a closer look, he found that the lights in the lower level of the castle were much brighter than those in the upper level.

"The people in the Ministry of Magic have been replaced one after another. They are always unwilling to transfer the Dementors in Azkaban. Even after most of the Dementors defected last time, I wrote to them and they told me that only some of them defected, and those who stayed in Azkaban were reliable." Headmaster Dumbledore looked in the direction Ryan was looking and said in an angry tone, "Fortunately, I don't know what happened a while ago, and most of the Dementors disappeared all of a sudden. The survivors only dared to hide on the top floor of the castle, which made us feel a lot more relaxed."

After that, Dumbledore threw the black iron coin in his hand into a black stone basin filled with silver liquid. Suddenly, a small black wooden boat docked on the pier at the entrance of Azkaban left the pier and headed towards the island. After the boat docked, Ryan and Principal Dumbledore boarded the boat. After sitting firmly, Dumbledore knocked on the side of the boat with his wand, and the boat quickly turned around and headed towards Azkaban Castle.

The closer Ryan got to the castle, the more depressed he felt. Especially when he stood at the castle gate, the towering black walls were like a cliff, which gave him great mental pressure. This might be because the entire building was designed to intimidate people who entered the castle. In addition, the wailing of countless prisoners at the end of their lives and the camping of Dementors over the past few hundred years have gathered a lot of negative energy here. After mixing with magic, it naturally gives people an extremely depressing feeling.

"Hello, we are here to pick up Lucius Malfoy from prison. This is the release certificate issued by the Ministry of Magic. I think the Ministry of Magic should have informed you of this this morning." After walking to the gate of the castle, Dumbledore knocked on the iron door. The iron door quickly opened a small hole at the height of a person's eye. Professor Dumbledore immediately stated his purpose and handed in a rolled-up parchment.

"Okay, come in." A few seconds later, the man appeared behind the door again after checking the documents, and used his wand to open the door of the castle for Ryan and Dumbledore. As a fortress, the door of Azkaban is not big, and at most it can accommodate two people side by side. However, the doorway is very deep and very dark. After Ryan walked in, he couldn't even see the exit of the doorway for a while.

Fortunately, the wizard who opened the door for them lit his wand and led them into the castle. He said as he led the way. "The job of being on duty in Azkaban is really terrible. If I hadn't been so tight on money before, I wouldn't have come here to do this--" After walking for five or six minutes, Ryan and his friends came to a hall. Unlike what they imagined, the style of this hall was completely inconsistent with the overall style of Azkaban. Under the soft light, several soft cream-white sofas were placed around the fireplace, and a row of bookshelves were placed against the wall, which were filled with books. There was a thick red carpet on the ground, and there was an iron shelf in the corner, on which were placed several pots of beautiful plants.

There were two wizards sitting on the sofa playing wizard chess. When they heard the door open, they looked up and saw Professor Dumbledore.

"Principal Dumbledore, it's a pleasure to meet you today." A witch with short, neat hair greeted enthusiastically. "Are you here——"

"Professor Dumbledore is here to process the bail procedures for Lucius Malfoy." The middle-aged wizard who brought Ryan and the others in earlier said, "Susan, bring some hot tea to Professor Dumbledore. Peter, use the two-way mirror to notify Albert and the others on patrol. Ask them to bring Lucius Malfoy over."

"This place seems different from when I came here before." Dumbledore and Ryan sat on the sofa facing the fireplace. After receiving the teacup and thanking him, Dumbledore asked the middle-aged wizard who had just received him. "At least when I came here two years ago, I remember that this house was still a dark stone hall, and there was even water dripping from the ceiling."

"You're right." The middle-aged wizard just said, "This house and the two dormitories next to it were repaired a few months ago. After most of the Dementors disappeared, the Ministry of Magic could only let us Aurors and strikers fill the gap. We have three Aurors and six strikers divided into three teams. Usually one team patrols, one team rests and serves as a reserve force, and one team sleeps. But because the environment in Azkaban is too harsh, we can only persist if we try to make the resting and living places better."

"At first the Ministry of Magic didn't want to spend the money, because most of the wizards who were willing to come here were Muggle-born or half-blood wizards." The young witch named Susan said angrily. "Fortunately, we collectively said that we would not come here without the corresponding protection, and they couldn't find anyone to replace us. In the end, they had to bite the bullet and spend the money to prepare this for us."

"I have repeatedly told the Ministry of Magic that Azkaban does not need Dementors. Evil creatures like Dementors will only be helpers of Voldemort. But magic never accepts what I say," said Dumbledore.

After hearing the word Voldemort, the two Ministry of Magic personnel in front of them shuddered. Then the middle-aged wizard said, "But this is much better than before. Before, I would tremble at the door when I sent prisoners here. Now I only feel that way when I go to the top floor where there are Dementors in the heavy criminal cells."

"Knock-knock." Just as Dumbledore was talking to the head of Azkaban, there were three knocks on the other door in the hall, one long and two short. The middle-aged wizard nodded apologetically to Dumbledore, then walked to the door holding his wand.

"Lightning." shouted the middle-aged wizard.

"Thunder." A deep voice came from outside the door, and then the door opened. A wizard with some graying temples walked to the front, and two wizards behind him came in with Lucius Malfoy in prison clothes.

(End of this chapter)