Order of the Phoenix, Sirius Black and Azkaban

[Briony Coote]

No: HPFGUIDX 55918

I believe that OOTP will bring the matter of proving (successfully or
otherwise) Sirius' innocence to the fore, for several reasons:
 
1.	Sirius Black will be of more use to the Light Side if he is a
free man, so proving his innocence will be one priority. 
 
2.	While he remains a fugitive, Sirius will be the weak link in the
chain of the "old crowd."  Voldemort could well try something (through
Pettigrew and/or Skeeter) to have Sirius recaptured. And if word gets
out that Dumbledore & Co. are protecting Sirius, they will be in big
trouble and this would deal a death blow to the Light Side. 
 
3.	There is the matter of whether Azkaban will be broken open.
Voldemort could engineer the recapture of Sirius Black as part of his
plan to do this - especially if those Dementors get secretly removed.
If the Dementors stay, then breaking Azkaban open will be much simpler. 
 
4.	Does anyone remember from GoF that the Lestranges and that
fourth man managed to "talk their way out of Azkaban" before being
re-arrested for the Longbottoms' torture?  Just how did these people
manage to talk their way out of Azkaban?  I can't see the Lestranges
snitching on their fellow Deatheaters, unlike sneaky Karkaroff or
declaring themselves repentant.  The only explanation I can think of is
that the Lestranges named some perfectly innocent people, who, like
Sirius Black, became victims of Barty Crouch justice.  Sirius did say
that he was not the only one tossed to the Dementors without trial.  
 
5.	Who was that fourth man in the Pensieve?  Voldemort doesn't
mention him as being entombed in Azkaban.  Why?  Why wasn't that man
named?  For that matter, why didn't Rowling specify which of the men was
Mr Lestrange?  We definitely have a thread here to keep an eye on.  If
it is related to the people who were thrown to the Dementors without
trial, this will certainly relate to Sirius Black's fight for justice.
 
I also believe that the Dementors would be more of a threat than the
imprisoned Deatheaters, so it will be more urgent to remove the
Dementors than the imprisoned Deatheaters.  We know that the Lestranges
are alive (Voldemort said so), but goodness knows what their mental
state is like.  The Lestranges & Co. may have clung to some thought or
other to keep them sane, as Sirius did.  But one must also remember that
Sirius also used his animagus form to give some relief from the
Dementors' torture.  To the best of my knowledge, the Lestranges & Co.
are not animagi, so they would not have the extra edge that Sirius did.
The Dementors, on the other hand "are Voldemort's natural allies" so
they pose the greater of two evils.
 
Briony
 


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