"I should be asking how you know he was an Animagus, same as Peter, but I don't think I'll get a straight answer," Lupin muttered, mostly to himself. He then sighed, before nodding. "Okay, I see the plan, now. You want me to convince him to escape on his own, is that right? But how will we do that? They don't allow visitors to the prison!"
"Not as simple, but still doable. If the Dementor's ignore animals, why not take advantage of that weakness?" I asked.
"But there's an anti-owl ward around the island," Lupin pointed out. "As well as Anti-Apparition and portkey prevention wards. Not to mention it's Unplottable."
"Yes, anti-owl. But what if we use something else? Something that isn't even a bird at all?" I asked, and Lupin blinked at me in confusion.
"What did you have in mind?"
The smile I gave him in response was nice and wide and full of teeth, and I savored the flinch he made. "Ever heard of Project X-Ray?"
111 ^^^ &&& ^^^ 111
The plan was simple. If owls and other avians couldn't reach Azkaban, why not try a different animal? Like, say, a bat?
It wasn't going to be easy. Bats weren't as magically attuned as owls were, nor as easily trainable, but there were ways around those issues.
Looking up the enchantment that was placed on owls so they could be used to deliver mail had been easy. I'd just bribed a clerk at the pet shop in Diagon Alley and he taught it to me and Lupin.
Attaching it to a bat was also very easy. Bat wings and other parts had been used in potions for ages, and bats themselves, while not as magical as owls, were probably the second most magical mundane flying species in the world.
The hard part of the plan to free Sirius Black was finding the proper kind of bat to attach it to. The most common breed of bat in Great Britain was the Common Pipistrelle. It was, however, way too small to act as a courier, weighing only five grams.
In the end, Lupin and I went with the Noctule Bat, the largest bat in the UK. It was pretty common, and could be found almost anywhere in woodlands within Wales and England, as well as parts of Scotland, though was absent in Ireland. It was also just barely big and strong enough to carry a letter. Wouldn't be able to handle a package like a delivery owl could, not even with a weightless charm on it, but a single letter was fine.
Obviously, we tested to make sure bats were unaffected by the owl and bird repelling wards, and it seemed we had found a loophole, just as I'd hoped.
I briefly worried that maybe Azkaban had wards to prevent flying altogether, but dismissed it. If it did, it would interfere with the Dementors. Although they technically 'floated' more than 'flew.' Still, I hoped the ward schemes weren't that restrictive.
And so, after a month and a half of hard work, a few warming charms alongside a helpful anti-owl charm to keep predators away, and Wiggles von Snubs the messenger bat was dispatched to find Sirius at Azkaban.
"Will it work?" Lupin asked me as we bobbed in a boat we'd rented and rowed out into the middle of the North Atlantic to make it easier for Wiggles to make it to his destination.
"We just gotta have faith," I replied. "We did all we could. Now we just wait."
Lupin nodded, not exactly thrilled, but he knew like I did that there wasn't much else to do.
"Well, let's get back to port. It's way too cold out here," I suggested, shivering a bit as a chilly wind blew past, stirring up choppy waves.
"Yes," Lupin agreed. He turned on the motor and we returned to shore. And I didn't need to use Divination to know some hot chocolate was in our future.
...
....
Join my P*atreon for 100 premium chapters ahead of the public release.
Link: pa*treon.com/MysticVerse (Remove the *)
Free members also get 2 advanced chapters for free.