“Sirius Black has escaped from Azkaban.”

I turned to Anja, a question already on my lips, but Father wasn’t finished reading the report.

“Black is a notorious mass murderer. 12 years ago, Black blew up a street, killing 13 Muggles and Peter Pettigrew, a wizard. Before Sirius Black killed him, Pettigrew revealed that Black was James and Lily Potter’s Secret Keeper and had sold them to He Who Must Not Be Named.”

“A murderer?” I gasped.

Father looked over the top of the Daily Prophet. “Indeed.”

Anja frowned. “But…how? I thought Azkaban was guarded by… creatures…that make it impossible to escape?”

Father nodded. “Oh, yes. Dementors take all the happiness out of a person, eventually driving them mad. So it would be near impossible to stay sane, let alone get out. Yet, somehow, Black has done it.” He grimaced, then turned back to the newspaper.

“Black is now at large, so the Minister for Magic would like to telleveryone to be vigilant. He should be found soon.”

Father paused and Anja and I exclaimed worried glances.

“He should be found soon,” I repeated sarcastically. “Yeah, it should be really easy – only he’s a mass murderer. And probably really smart. And not to mention he’s the only person who’s ever escaped from Azkaban.”

Father rose to his feet. “Sirius Black is not smart!”

I frowned. “How do you know? You didn’t know him…did you?”

I didn’t know how old Black was. He might be Father’s age…

“Oh yes, I knew him,” Father said sharply. “He was in my year at school.”

Anja looked at me. “So what was he like?”

“An arrogant fool. A bully.”

A bully turned Death Eater.

Hang on, if he was working for Voldemort, wouldn’t Father know him as a Death Eater?

“But, Father,” I asked in confusion, “that report said he sold the Potters to Voldemort…and you were a Death Eater…so was he actually a Death Eater?”

Father shook his head. “No. I have no idea what happened with that.”

Something very odd was going on here.

But I supposed I had to know more to find out what.