Chapter 24

Mount Justice

March 5, 16:43 EST

When Hermione showed up for training she looked annoyed. When she was asked why she brushed the question off and said it was nothing. She then reported that Sirius had finally managed to work out his legal troubles enough that he could go stay at Hogsmeade, and had asked the Golden Trio to come see him on the Hogsmeade trip the next day.

"Have you told Mr. Black that Kid Flash was taking a year off from Hogwarts?" asked Batman.

Hermione looked confused, and said, "No I don't think so."

"Then Kid Flash will accompany you to the meeting," said Batman firmly.

Hermione didn't complain, but Wally could tell she was disappointed that Batman didn't seem to trust her to get the right information.

Hermione also told them all about how Snape had accused Harry of stealing from his office, and had threatened him with a truth potion if he did so again. She then admitted that Harry had never stolen from Snape's private stores. She had been the one to do that two years ago, and Dobby the house-elf was the one who stole the gillyweed Harry had used in the second task. She also told them about the conversation Harry had overheard between Snape and Karkaroff, about something becoming clearer on Karkaroff's arm.

Batman then ordered the Team to keep an even closer eye on those two in the future.

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Hogsmeade

March 6, 12:45 P.M.

Wally was waiting for the Golden Trio to arrive at Hogsmeade for their meeting with Sirius. He was confident that no one would notice him in the bustle of all the Hogwarts students, but as a precaution he wore a hat to cover his red hair.

When the Golden Trio arrived they first took a detour to a clothing shop. Harry was extremely grateful to Dobby the house-elf for giving him the gillyweed for the second task, and wanted to get him something to show his gratitude. Since the house-elf apparently had a love for mismatched socks, the four teenagers had fun picking out the most outrageous sock combinations they could think of.

Once they were done they all headed to the Three Broomsticks for their meeting with Sirius. They found him in the back of the pub (which was loud enough that they wouldn't be overheard) reading a newspaper, but he put it down and smiled as they came up. He looked very different from the last time any of them had seen him. He was less thin, and he'd gotten a hair cut.

"Good to see you again Harry," said Black, as the four of them sat down at the table. "You two Ron, Hermione, and who's this?"

Wally held out his hand to the man. "Wally West, nice to meet you Mr. Black."

Black laughed. "Call me Sirius, and the pleasure is all mine. It's nice to finally meet one of the few people smart enough to figure out I was innocent."

Harry meanwhile was scanning the articles of the two newspapers Sirius had on the table. He was particularly interested in the one about Mr. Crouch being sick. "They make it sound like he's dying," Harry muttered. "But he can't be that ill if he managed to get up here…"

"My brother is Crouch's personal assistant," Ron informed Sirius. "He says Crouch is suffering from overwork."

"Mind you he did look ill, last time I saw him up close," Harry mused, still reading the article. "The night my name came out of the goblet…"

Wally had to stop himself from nodding in agreement with what Harry said. Wally West hadn't seen Crouch up close that night, Kid Flash had.

"Getting his comeuppance for sacking Winky, isn't he?" said Hermione with a sniff. "I bet he wishes he hadn't done that now- bet he feels different now she's not there to look after him."

"Hermione's obsessed with house-elves," Ron muttered to Sirius. Even with E.L.F.'s growing popularity, he still had resentment towards Hermione's campaign for some reason.

Sirius on he other hand looked interested in this tidbit of news. "Crouch sacked his house-elf?"

"Yeah, at the Quidditch World Cup," said Harry. He then told Sirius all about what had really happened at the Cup, since Sirius had had to mostly rely on Skeeter's articles for information.

"Let me get this straight," he said once Harry had finished. "You first saw the elf in the Top Box. She was saving Crouch a seat, right?"

"Right," the four teenagers confirmed.

"But Crouch didn't turn up for the match?"

"No," Harry confirmed. "I think he said he'd been too busy."

Sirius was silent for a moment and he tapped his chin. "Harry, did you check your pockets for your wand after you'd left the Top Box?"

Harry looked thoughtful for a moment before shaking his head. "No, I didn't need to use it before we got in the forest. And then I put my hand in my pocket, and all that was in there were my Omnioculars. Are you saying whoever conjured the Mark stole my wand in the Top Box?"

"It's possible," said Sirius.

Wally nodded. Batman had already theorized this scenario.

"Winky didn't steal that wand!" Hermione snapped defensively.

Sirius then asked who else was in the box at the time. Between the four of them they rattled off who had been there. The Bulgarian Minister, Fudge, the Blondies (Ron had jumped on that one, and insisted it might be Blondie Sr. who stole it) and Mr. Bagman.

When Sirius asked about Bagman, Harry revealed that Bagman had been giving Harry repeated offers for help in the Tournament. Harry hadn't taken him up on any of those offers, but said that Bagman claimed to have taken a liking to him, and probably was trying to give Harry an advantage since he was the youngest champion in the tournament.

Hermione then mentioned that Bagman had been in the forest near where they had been just before the Mark had appeared. Ron said that he disapparated, but none of them could be sure to where.

Sirius then asked what Crouch had done after Winky had been discovered in the bushes under the Mark. The Golden Trio told him that he had gone to search the bushes again before firing Winky. Sirius confirmed that that sounded like something Crouch would do. When Ron tried to go off on Hermione's house-elf obsession again, Sirius said, "She's got the measure of Crouch better than you have, Ron. If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals."

Sirius than began musing about all the disappearances Crouch had been doing. First when he didn't show up for the match, and then at the tournament which he had worked so hard to reinstate.

"D'you know Crouch, then?" asked Harry.

Sirius' face darkened. "Oh I know Crouch all right," he said quietly. "He was the one who gave the order for me to be sent to Azkaban- without a trial."

"What?" shouted Ron and Hermione in unison, making several nearby patrons look over at them in surprise.

Ignoring this, Harry said, "You're kidding."

"Somehow I doubt it," Wally grumbled.

"No, I'm not," said Sirius. "Crouch used to be Head of the department of Magical Law Enforcement, didn't you know?" Sirius then smirked. "I got the pleasure of receiving a public apology from him when it was discovered that I was innocent."

Sirius hen went on to tell them all about Crouch's history. How he was set to be the next Minister of Magic. How he started ordering high measures to stop the Dark Wizards back during Voldemort's reign, such as killing the bad guys rather than capturing them. Sirius wasn't the only person to be sent to prison without trial. Most of which Wally already knew from Batman's numerous background checks, but Sirius still managed to surprise him when he told them how Crouch lost his favor to become the next Minister. Apparently Crouch's own son had been captured along with a group of Death Eaters. While it was unknown whether or not Crouch's son was actually a Death Eater or not, Crouch had sent him to prison without mercy all the same where the boy died soon after. He and his wife were allowed a deathbed visit, and Crouch's wife died soon afterward as well. That is what Crouch to loose his favor to the public's opinion. After his wife and son died, people began wondering why he didn't care more about his family. Because of that, Fudge won the Minister job and Crouch got demoted to the job he had now. Sirius then concluded that Crouch might have been snooping around Snape's office because he believed he could win back his popularity by catching another Death Eater.

Wally and Hermione had their doubts about this theory, but Ron and Harry were all for it. Especially since it painted Snape as a bad guy.

Sirius said that both sides had good points. Snape had always been fascinated by the Dark Arts, and had been friends with several people who turned out to be Death Eaters later on in life. But on the other hand, Dumbledore trusted the man, and that trust went a long way as far as Sirius was concerned.

Sirius then asked Ron if he could ask Percy about Crouch, to see if he could shed some light on his illness. He also asked him to ask about the disappearance of Bertha Jorkins, a Ministry witch who had gone missing several months back, and the Ministry was just now looking into it.

"Seriously?" asked Wally, picking up the article Sirius had on that and speed-reading it. "It's taken them this long to start looking? She could be dead by now for all they know," he finished in disgust. "Another reason why I prefer muggle law enforcement, there they consider you missing if you've been gone for two days. Less if they have a reason to suspect foul play."

"Bagman told me they hadn't found anything yet," said Harry quietly.

Sirius nodded and said that the article had said as much. It also had him reporting about how Bertha Jorkins had a terrible memory for things, and would probably turn up somewhere soon. He then said that that sounded just the opposite of the Bertha he'd known in school. Back then she'd been a girl with an acute memory for gossip, and an inability to keep her mouth shut.

By then they realized how late it was getting, and Sirius told them they should return to their school, but he was staying in the area so they could contact him at any time if they needed anything.

As they walked out of the tavern, Ron mused whether or not Percy knew about what Crouch had done to his son. He then answered his own question, stating that Percy would probably admire him all the more if he knew. Since Percy loved rules, he would probably admire Crouch for refusing to break them even for his own son. As cynical as Ron's idea was, Wally found himself unable to argue with it as he and Hermione broke off from them to return to the Cave and report to Batman about what they had found out.

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A/N So now they all know how much of a jerk Crouch is. Since Sirius is a free man he can meet them in public, rather than in a cave like in the book, but he had to leave Buckbeak behind at his house. I be Kreacher loved that.

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