Harry looked at Draco.
"Are you sure you want to hear this?" Draco just nodded. Harry sighed. This was probably as empty as he was going to get it. He pulled out a chair and sat down so that he was on the same level as the tied-up man in front of him. Ron and Draco stood behind Sam, both with their wands out. Ginny sat on the floor next to him.
"Sam, isn't it?" The man nodded. "Why don't you tell us your story. We will let you tell it in full and ask questions if something is unclear when you're done, okay?" Sam nodded. He still seemed terrified but less so than when he had first seen him. Ginny, surprisingly, held his hand, though none of them had suggested untying him.
"I, I have done scenarios used for testing ministry employees with Dawson several times," Sam said. "Occasionally, when he wanted to, my brother helped. The last one we did before this one was for the Malfoy and Potter Auror exam. That was the most complicated thing we had done, and it didn't go exactly as planned, as you know. After that, we didn't hear anything from Dawson for over a month. That is not unusual, he calls on us when he needs assistance, but otherwise we don't interact. Then my brother went missing. I contacted Dawson to ask if he had called on him for a job without me. Dawson seemed different that day, though I didn't think about that until later. He said that my brother had been arrested, that he had tried to find me, to inform me about it. He said my brother was sent to Azkaban but that he might be able to help get him released early. If I helped him with a rather unorthodox project, one he had been wanting to test out for a while. He was concerned about the security in Azkaban, with how many had escaped from there in the last years. He said that since I had been a guard there before, I should know how to make more secure cells. I hesitated but he persuaded me eventually. I got the feeling that he trusted me, that I was the only one he trusted enough to get this done for him."
Harry listened in silence. Had this young man built all of this practically on his own? That was quite the achievement. He also suspected that Dawsons "persuasion" had involved some form of Confunding. He would need to get Sam checked out by a Healer as well.
"Then we came to this island. I was surprised that he wanted it to be so far out of the way. I thought it was just another small scenario build, like he normally had me do. But he said it was the potential of a new, more secure but less depressing Azkaban we were making but that very few in the Ministry could know about it for now. We were here for about a week making sketches and brainstorming ideas. Everything about the top-security was his idea, I thought that was a bit too extreme, but he insisted it was the only way to make sure it was secure. The only addition I made was to have some lights in the ceiling, so that the prisoners wouldn't be in complete darkness."
That must have been the week Dawson took a vacation about three months ago. Harry had looked up all of Dawson's activities to try and figure out when the switch had happened. It seems it was even earlier than he thought.
"When we returned, he left me in charge of gathering materials, saying he couldn't do most of that since it had to be a secret. When I started expressing doubts about this idea, when I tried to tell him this was too much for one person, he threatened to place my brother in a cell with an insane Death Eater in Azkaban. I couldn't risk that. I-I had to do what he said. At first, he wanted me to simply make the plans, but then he wanted me to do more and more. I requested to meet with him, and tried to reason with him but he wouldn't listen. I agreed to go here and make the cells myself, in exchange for him not making my brother's situation even worse."
That must have been the conversation James had seen. Harry wished he had taken that information more seriously, but it was useless to think like that. They got several such tips every week.
"He took me here a few days later. He checked on me a few days a week, but rarely stayed long. I had no way of getting away from here without him or any form of communication.
Then one day, about two weeks ago, he comes in with a very tied up Scorpius Malfoy. I wondered what he was doing, but he reassured me that it was only a game, a test. Malfoy was to test out the top-security cells, to see if it was possible to escape from them. I believed him, though it was obvious in hindsight that this was a lie. If it was only a test, why would he need to be so tied up and gagged? But I was just glad that he had found a test person. He had first suggested we could use my brother for that test. I wouldn't want anyone to have to be down there for long, but certainly not my own brother! So, I didn't question it. He walked along quietly, I didn't see him struggle or even protest through the gag. I made sure that he got plenty of food but didn't listen when he tried to tell me that it wasn't a game. After a while he stopped shouting up at me. Dawson had said that we were to give it a week, then we would take him out of there."
Harry saw that Draco clenched his fists. He looked at him sternly and Draco relaxed again, though he looked furious. Harry didn't blame him. Dawson must have held Scorpius very tightly, if he couldn't struggle at all. He would get the full story from Scorpius later.
"Then, about 5 days later, Dawson comes back again, this time with James Potter! I was shocked and afraid that we would get in trouble if anyone discovered we had taken him here. At first Dawson tried to give the excuse that Potter had snapped and killed someone and that you had reluctantly arrested him, but when I asked if the test was over, and we would take Malfoy out of there he just laughed at me and told me that it was not a test and that I had been a helpful pawn. That was when I realised what I had done, what I had inadvertently been part of. I had been hoodwinked and I know you may not believe me, but I didn't know about his plan, I swear!" Sam started crying at this last part. "Dawson then said that I had two choices, either continuing doing what I had been doing, or to be placed in one of the cells myself and my brother with me. It wasn't that hard to choose. I knew all would be lost if I was placed in a cell as well. But that was also when he brought in Marietta. I have no idea who she is, but she acted as if this was perfectly normal and smiled with Dawson. I didn't dare to try anything because I was certain she was here to make sure I didn't try to free the prisoners. She took over feeding them while I worked with finishing the buildings. Then a few days later, Dawson came with another person, I didn't know who it was, he had a hood over the person's head. He threw that person down the other top-security cell. I had stopped trying to understand what happened at that point.
Then he came again just a day later with that large group of women and placed them in the regular cells. I was in charge of feeding them, he didn't want Marietta near them after they had been placed in the cells. When they first arrived, Marietta talked to them like normal as if she was their friend. I don't know any of their names or if they have done what Dawson said.
I was working on finishing the third top-security cell today when I suddenly heard a sound and saw Malfoy standing there pointing a wand at me. I have no idea how he got there or where he got the wand. I don't blame him at all for tying me up. I'm just glad he didn't kill me." Sam said that last with a very quiet voice, as if he was afraid Scorpius would come bursting in and do just that at any time. No one said anything for several minutes. Then Ron asked one question.
"When you realised that this was real and that it was all illegal, why didn't you overpower Marietta and open the cells?"
"What good would that do? I have no way to get away from this island, except by Dawson's boat. I know he could take us all in a duel. I didn't know Malfoy had a wand. Dawson promised he would release my brother if I cooperated, that was all I could hope for. But then, when he said that he had released him, I realised that that actually made my position worse, as it meant that no one would believe me if I said I only did what Dawson said so he wouldn't hurt my brother."
Ron shook his head, but Harry thought he understood. Sam had been so scared of Dawson that he hadn't even been able to consider working with the other people on the island to overpower him.
Harry had never been so uncertain about a verdict before. Was Sam a victim or an accomplice? Or maybe a bit of both. He wouldn't give judgement right here anyway. Better to get some distance first and hear what Vane had to say. Harry dreaded that conversation.