Azkaban Conspiracy

The **Azkaban Conspiracy**, dubbed the **Azkabal** by Sirius Black and **Our Little Thing** by his brother Regulus Black, was the group responsible for the July 31, 1993 Azkaban breakout. The group was initiated by Regulus Black, who had been planning the breakout for several years.

## Goals

The Cabal's objective was to find and destroy the Horcruxes of the Dark Lord Voldemort. To this end they released Sirius Black, Bellatrix Lestrange, Rabastian Lestrange, Rodolphus Lestrange and Augustus Rookwood from Azkaban Prison. The latter four to interrogate them on what they knew about Horcruxes and the former because The Cabal believed he was innocent of all charges and did not deserve to be imprisoned.

## Members

The founding members of the Azkabal include:

* Regulus Black (began planning the breakout sometime before September of 1992)
* Harry Black (joined after the meeting in the Prince's Lair on 9 May 1993)
* Lucius Malfoy (joined after the meeting in the Prince's Lair on 9 May 1993)

Later additions:

* Augusta Longbottom (recruited on 23 June 1993 for use of the Longbottom Dungeons)
* Marcus Flint (recruited on 21 July 1993 for his proficiency with the Patronus Charm)
* Sirius Black (joined after being broken out of Azkaban on 31 July 1993)
* Severus Snape (recruited on 5 August 1993 for his skill as a Legilimens)
* Neville Longbottom (discovered the existence of the Azkabal after Bellatrix Lestrange's jailbreak on 19 December 1993)
* Buck Macmillan (joined 19 December 1993)
* Rufus Scrimgeour (discovered Harry Potter's involvement on 18 December 1993, joined the next day after meeting with Augusta Longbottom)
* Bellatrix Black (joined on 19 December 1993 after having Miss Demeaner erased through Tabula Rasa)
* Ted Tonks (recruited on 20 February 1994 due to Sirius Black's need for a Healer)
* Andromeda Tonks (recruited on 20 February 1994 due to Sirius Black's need for a Healer)
* Nymphadora Tonks (recruited on 20 February 1994 for her Metamorphmagic abilities)

## Azkaban Breakout

### Preparation

During his time at Hogwarts as Gilderoy Lockhart, Regulus Black assigned many talented students to Research Teams. Some of the research teams worked on topics unrelated to the Azkaban breakout, but some of the teams solved key problems. Team Backdoor created a Portkey that could enable an escape through Azkaban's Anti-Appiration and Anti-Portkey wards, and Team Chameleon created a version of the Polyjuice Potion that would last for several hours and could withstand common security measures.

### The Breakout

On 31 July 1993, on the same day as the Potter Birthday Gala, Lucius Malfoy, Regulus Black, and Marcus Flint used enhanced Polyjuice and Metamorphmagery to disguise themselves as Cornelius Fudge, James Potter, and Michael Proudfoot, respectively, and travelled to Azkaban under the guise of an unannounced Ministry inspection. After passing through Azkaban's meticulous safety measures they made their way to the Maximum Security Wing, where they Stupefied Warden Matthias Stark and his guards, which alerted the Dementors to the breakout. The five prisoners are placed under Draught of Living Death so they can be transfigured, with the exception of Rookwood, who retained residual brain function under the potion. After using their Super-Portkey to slice through the wards of Azkaban they took several other Portkeys across the British Isles to hide their tracks before making their way to Longbottom Manor.

## Consequences

There were many consequences to the Azkabal's prison break, many of them unforeseen by the conspirators.

Firstly, the Dementors were sent to guard Hogwarts in search of Sirius Black and the other escapees. Explained away by the Minister to the public as a safeguarding measure, in reality, the current Ministry had little say in the matter. A previous treaty gave the Dementors the legal right to pursue any escaped convicts regardless of any strictures confining them to Azkaban. What many perceived as an ill-thought-out and reckless move in placing Dementors near a school was, in actuality, a quickly-conceived plot to keep the Dementors occupied in a remote region where they were expected to do minimal harm while the Ministry frantically attempted to find the fugitives.

Secondly, the escape of so many fugitives risked invalidating the treaty entirely, as it drove the prison population down below the minimum occupancy limit agreed upon in the treaty. If Fudge could not refill the prison within a year and a day from the breakout, the treaty would be declared invalid and the Dementors would be free to torment Britain as they liked.

Thirdly, the escape of Sirius Black greatly altered Peter Pettigrew's plans, given that he knew his former friend would almost certainly attempt to kill him once he had recovered. This led him to focus more on hunting down the mysterious cabal and his enemy to the expense of his other plans throughout the third year. This greatly diminished his attempts on Harry's life and inheritance.

Finally, James Potter uses Harry's involvement in this cabal as an excuse to disinherit him as well as place him under the Ultimate Sanction. While Harry's use of the Time-Turner the next day has apparently undone this, this has still increased Harry's disdain and dislike of his father.

## References

Book 3 - HP&DEM - Ch. 119 - What's Past is Prologue (Pt 1),

"The remaining members of the cabal (or the Azkabal, as Sirius had jokingly christened it)".
Book 3 - HP&DEM - Ch. 116 - Families at Christmas,

"Why don't we compromise, and just refer to the group as 'our little thing?'".
Book 2 - HP&TSE - Ch. 79 - Meet Regulus Black,

Harry realises the true purpose of the Research Teams.
Book 2 - HP&TSE - Ch. 79 - Meet Regulus Black,

Regulus, Lucius, and Harry meet in the Prince's Lair.
Book 3 - HP&DEM - Ch. 89 - Azkaban,

Lucius summons Augusta Longbottom to Malfoy Manor to reveal their plan for a breakout.
Book 3 - HP&DEM - Ch. 89 - Azkaban,

Marcus is recruited by the Azkabal.
Book 3 - HP&DEM - Ch. 92 - Reactions & Overreactions (Pt 3),

The Azkabal reveals their existence to Mr. X.
Book 3 - HP&DEM - Ch. 115 - The Blackest Day (Pt 4),

Bellatrix nearly escapes and Neville, Buck, and Scrimgeour join the Azkabal.
Book 3 - HP&DEM - Ch. 111 - Dreamscapes, Memories and Nightmares (Finale),

Scrimgeour puts Veritaserum in Harry's drink.
Book 3 - HP&DEM - Ch. 129 - Redux (Pt 3),

The Tonkses join the Azkabal.
Book 3 - HP&DEM - Ch. 89 - Azkaban,

The Azkabal makes their move.