Chapter 261 Anthony's Request

"The Dementor's Kiss," Scrimgeour whispered, the muscles in his face twitching. It seemed that he had no idea that the dementors would disobey the Ministry of Magic's instructions and do such a thing.

Under his glare, the leading Dementor made a grunting sound again, floated over threateningly, and took a provocative breath towards Scrimgeour.

There were also a few hovering around Sirius floating in mid-air. Sirius, who was in a coma, twitched and groaned in pain: "Don't..."

The silver phoenix rushed over angrily, and the dementors dispersed. Dumbledore's half-moon glasses flashed with cold fury as he held his wand high. Anthony had never seen him so angry before. His Phoenix Patronus spread its wings and flew around Peter Pettigrew's cell, forcing all the Dementors gathered nearby back a dozen feet away.

The last dementor rushed out of the cell, and the iron door slammed shut, with a trembling clatter echoing in their ears. Like opening an old curtain filled with moths, far more Dementors than Anthony had imagined suddenly floated up and flew away from the railing.

Under the silver light of the patron saint, everyone could clearly see that Peter was still lying on the ground in a daze, his eyes half-opened dully, and he was breathing mechanically.

Anthony had a feeling - a very uncomfortable feeling - that he had perfect control over the thing lying on the ground.

He could squeeze himself into that body and no one would notice anything was wrong. He can also command the body to stand up, kick its legs, or roll in place. This is all because its soul is gone. Anthony seemed to be able to hear the hollow echo of the heartbeat in that body, like the ticking of a clock echoing in an uninhabited room.

Anthony moved his eyes away from Peter on the ground. He felt his stomach curl up uncomfortably.

"How dare you do this!" Scrimgeour roared, pointing his index finger directly at the thing under the Dementor's hood, "This is absolutely unacceptable! You will be - will be - protected by the God of Evocation!"

A lion leapt out from the tip of his wand, twitching its mane and roaring. The silver light around them became brighter, and the dementors floated angrily in the distance, pouring out from all corners, surrounding them, but staying away from Dumbledore's phoenix and Scrimgeour's lion in fear.

"AWOL!" Scrimgeour looked even more angry, "What, what do you want to do?" The sweat on his forehead showed that he was not as relaxed as he looked.

The darkness surrounding them was filled with Dementors, and more and more Dementors seemed to be gathering. Anthony remembered that he had heard that all the dementors in the world were concentrated in Azkaban.

The lion charged into the group of dementors. The long corridor was briefly illuminated for a few seconds, reflecting countless tattered black robes, and then fell back into boundless darkness.

Snape threw Sirius to the ground, and Sirius immediately curled up unconsciously holding his head. Snape stroked his wand, a strange light flashing in his dark eyes.

Dumbledore's beard and hair were flying, and his wand circled his head several times. The silver phoenix gave a crisp cry and spread its wings across the corridor. The dementors suddenly dispersed.

"I will take Pettigrew away." Dumbledore said coldly to the Dementor, "Open the door. Severus -" His voice echoed throughout the Azkaban prison, and the iron bars seemed to be It's buzzing.

"Huh?" Snape said.

A burst of wild, high-pitched laughter erupted from deeper within the cell. Anthony initially thought it was a dementor, but he eventually realized it was one of the prisoners held there. From him, he could only see the other person's hands with long nails grasping the railing, and a pair of eyes shining with fanatical light in the deep-set eye sockets.

"Severus Snape!" the other party shouted, "traitors will be punished, just like that guy! He will come back to save us, and when that day-"

Scrimgeour looked at the cell with startled anger. Dumbledore waved his wand, and everything fell silent again.

"Open the door," Dumbledore repeated, taking a step closer to the Dementor.

The Dementor moved back a little, but the door to Peter Pettigrew's cell remained firmly locked. The environment of Azkaban and the number of Dementors seemed to give them more confidence. Sirius' eyes were squeezed shut and he groaned again.

"I'm sorry, can I say a word?" Anthony said, walking to the front, "I wholeheartedly suggest that you agree to Professor Dumbledore's request."

The Dementor in front of him stopped, floated down a little, and pointed its hood at Anthony. More dementors hovering in mid-air descended.

"You really shouldn't do this," Anthony said. "Can you please open the door before things get worse?"

The Dementor hesitated, lowering his hood as if in a nod of approval. Anthony heard Scrimgeour take a breath of horror behind him. With a creak, the iron door opened.

"Great." Anthony said, "If you agree, I also suggest that you apologize to - well, everyone affected by this incident. This is really scary." He still restrained himself from looking at Peter Pettigrew.

The Dementors seemed annoyed. Several Dementors stretched out their rotten hands and gestured to Anthony as if explaining. Dumbledore's phoenix fell back on his shoulder, but Anthony did not look at Dumbledore.

"This is just my suggestion." Anthony said calmly.

The Dementors made dissatisfied, horrible, gurgling sounds. When so many Dementors made this sound together, it sounded like they were really in some kind of swamp. Anthony frowned and heard Sirius's groaning getting louder.

"Excuse me, can we leave first?" He asked the Dementor closest to him cautiously.

More sticky gurgling sounds. Several Dementors quietly floated near Sirius and wandered hesitantly. Dumbledore's phoenix flew over and forced them away. With a final cry, the phoenix emitted a bright and dazzling light beside Sirius, and then dissipated. They were suddenly plunged into darkness, with only Anthony's fluorescent flicker still illuminating a small area.

The Dementors surrounding Anthony still maintained a calm demeanor, but behind him, more Dementors seemed to be approaching others. Sirius' teeth trembled. Anthony looked sideways, and Dumbledore lowered his eyes, as if waiting for something. Snape's wand was already raised, and the Patronus Charm seemed to be on his lips, but he was also looking at Dumbledore and Anthony.

"Exude--" Scrimgeour said with difficulty.

Anthony sighed.

"Exude... Guardian." He said.

Scrimgeour stopped, and the Dementors stopped too.

As if a whirlwind had blown, a huge bear appeared in the corridor in front of them, its fur almost embedded in the railings on both sides, and its body blocked the fluorescent flashes of Anthony's wand tip, plunging the corridor into a deeper darkness.

Anthony breathed a sigh of relief, and only then did he feel that Peter Pettigrew's vague attraction to him had disappeared. He felt a dull anger belatedly, as if he suddenly understood what the Dementors had done to make people fear and resent.

"This is really--" he said, unable to suppress a wave of nausea. He closed his eyes, and the feeling of swallowing souls seemed to reappear in his throat.

His bear growled low, and the grunts of the Dementors suddenly stopped. Anthony felt better, opened his eyes, and was surprised to see the Dementors scattered quickly. It was not until he heard a muffled thud that he realized they were trying to avoid the bear's slap.

Before he could react, the bear had twisted its body to squeeze through the narrow corridor and pounced on one of the Dementors at an unimaginable speed.

Its claws-also black-seemed to hook the other's tattered robes, and the other hand immediately slapped the Dementor's hood and slapped the Dementor to the ground.

In silence, Anthony's thing, which he didn't even know if it could be called a patronus, opened its mouth and bit the Dementor's hood.

A very crisp snap sounded in the prison. The Dementor collapsed to the ground and turned into a pile of black ash.

Peter Pettigrew, who was lying on the ground, trembled, sobbed softly, tilted his head, and stopped breathing completely. For some reason, Anthony knew that Peter's soul had been taken away by death.

The pile of black ash slowly floated up again. From the hood to the tattered black robe that hung down, the Dementor reappeared in front of the bear's huge head.

The bear watched it hurriedly fly away without interest, and slowly returned to Anthony's side. All the Dementors retreated in fear, and Scrimgeour panted rapidly and said nothing. Sirius also calmed down, still unconscious.

The bear lowered its head, and Anthony met its eyes.

"Thank you." Anthony said, reaching out to touch its prickly fur, "Yes, I think we should go."

The Dementors quietly made way for them. Anthony waved his wand and floated Sirius first. Snape took charge of Peter Pettigrew's body without saying a word.

"What do you say, sir?" Anthony asked Dumbledore.

Dumbledore stared at him and whispered, "Let's go."

Scrimgeour helped light the Lumos, but it was unnecessary. The Dementors guided them along the way. His bear followed them, occasionally nudging Anthony's shoulder with his huge trunk, trying to get him to sit on him.