Chapter 26:
Everyone was keen to hear about the aftermath of what happened in the lake. Ron had said it was rather boring being stuck in the crowd waiting for the champions. Everyone wanted full details and Harry was swarmed by people more than usual. People even asked Alicia what had happened and what it was like being a hostage. People had been teasing Hermione so much about being the thing that Viktor Krum would most miss that she was in a rather tetchy mood. Ron had received the bad end of this quite a bit.
As they entered March the weather became drier, but cruel winds skinned their hands and faces every time they went out onto the grounds. There were delays in the post because the owls kept being blown off course. The brown owl that Harry had sent to Sirius with the dates of the Hogsmeade weekend turned up at breakfast on Friday morning with half its feathers sticking up the wrong way; Harry had no sooner torn off Sirius's reply than it took flight, clearly afraid it was going to be sent outside again.
Sirius's letter was almost as short as the previous one.
Be at stile at end of road out of Hogsmeade (past Dervish and Banges) at two o'clock on Saturday afternoon. Bring as much food as you can.
"Told you." Alicia sighed, shaking her head and clearly disappointed.
"He hasn't come back to Hogsmeade?" said Ron incredulously.
"It looks like it, doesn't it?" said Hermione.
"I can't believe him," said Harry tensely, "if he's caught…"
"Made it so far, though, hasn't he?" said Ron. "And it's not like the place is swarming with dementors anymore."
Harry folded up the letter, thinking.
"Come on, don't tell us you don't want to see him?" Alicia smirked knowing the answer.
"And you don't?"
Alicia sighed and Harry noticed.
"I do…"
"But…"
"I still haven't opened his letter."
"What's in it?" Hermione asked and Alicia didn't answer.
"Are you gonna tell us what's going on with you lately?" Ron asked. Alicia opened her mouth only to be interrupted by Anthony. She smiled and was immersed in a conversation with him, clearly glad she didn't have to answer Ron.
"You know you're gonna have to talk to us eventually." Harry muttered to Alicia as they descended the dungeons steps to Snape's double potions class.
"I will. Tonight. Before we see Sirius obviously." she said.
Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were standing in a huddle outside the classroom door with Pansy Parkinson's gang of Slytherin girls. All of them were looking at something Harry couldn't see and sniggering heartily. Pansy's pug-like face peered excitedly around Goyle's broad back as Harry, Ron, and Hermione approached.
"There they are, there they are!" she giggled, and the knot of Slytherins broke apart. Pansy had a magazine in her hands — Witch Weekly. The moving picture on the front showed a curly-haired witch who was smiling toothily and pointing at a large sponge cake with her wand.
"You might find something to interest you in there, Granger!" Pansy said loudly, and she threw the magazine at Hermione, who caught it, looking startled. At that moment, the dungeon door opened, and Snape beckoned them all inside.
Hermione, Alicia, Harry, and Ron headed for a table at the back of the dungeon as usual. Once Snape had turned his back on them to write up the ingredients of today's potion on the blackboard, Hermione hastily rifled through the magazine under the desk. At last, in the centre pages, Hermione found what they were looking for. Alicia and Harry leaned in closer, Ron looking over Harry's shoulder. A colour photograph of Harry headed a short piece entitled:
Harry Potter's Secret Heartache
A boy like no other, perhaps — yet a boy suffering all the usual pangs of adolescence, writes Rita Skeeter. Deprived of love since the tragic demise of his parents, fourteen-year-old Harry Potter thought he had found solace in his steady girlfriend at Hogwarts, Muggle-born Hermione Granger. Little did he know that he would shortly be suffering yet another emotional blow in a life already littered with personal loss.
Miss Granger, a plain but ambitious girl, seems to have a taste for famous wizards that Harry alone cannot satisfy. Since the arrival at Hogwarts of Viktor Krum, Bulgarian Seeker and hero of the last World Quidditch Cup, Miss Granger has been toying with both boys' affections. Krum, who is openly smitten with the devious Miss Granger, has already invited her to visit him in Bulgaria over the summer holidays, and insists that he has "never felt this way about any other girl."
However, it might not be Miss Granger's doubtful natural charms that have captured these unfortunate boys' interest.
"She's really ugly," says Pansy Parkinson, a pretty and vivacious fourth-year student, "but she'd be well up to making a Love Potion, she's quite brainy. I think that's how she's doing it."
Love Potions are, of course, banned at Hogwarts, and no doubt Albus Dumbledore will want to investigate these claims. In the meantime, Harry Potter's well-wishers must hope that, next time, he bestows his heart on a worthier candidate.
"You've gotta be joking." Alicia sighed, sounding tired.
"I told you!" Ron hissed at Hermione as she stared down at the article. "I told you not to annoy Rita Skeeter! She's made you out to be some sort of — of scarlet woman!"
Hermione stopped looking astonished and snorted with laughter.
"Scarlet woman?" she repeated, shaking with suppressed giggles as she looked around at Ron.
"It's what my mum calls them," Ron muttered, his ears going red.
"If that's the best Rita can do, she's losing her touch," said Hermione, still giggling, as she threw Witch Weekly onto the empty chair beside her. "What a pile of old rubbish."
"Funny how I was supposedly Harry's love interest and now you are." Alicia smirked "She's not doing a good job at keeping her stories straight."
Hermione shrugged as she looked over at the Slytherins, who were all watching her and Harry closely across the room to see if they had been upset by the article. Hermione gave them a sarcastic smile and a wave, and she, Alicia, Harry, and Ron started unpacking the ingredients they would need for their Wit-Sharpening Potion.
"There's something funny, though," said Hermione ten minutes later, holding her pestle suspended over a bowl of scarab beetles. "How could Rita Skeeter have known…?"
"Known what?" said Ron quickly. "You haven't been mixing up Love Potions, have you?"
"Don't be stupid," Hermione snapped, starting to pound up her beetles again. "No, it's just… how did she know Viktor asked me to visit him over the summer?"
Hermione blushed scarlet as she said this and determinedly avoided Ron's eyes. Alicia smirked
"I'm sorry, what?" she asked teasingly, causing Hermione to blush harder.
"What?" said Ron, dropping his pestle with a loud clunk.
"He asked me right after he'd pulled me out of the lake," Hermione muttered. "After he'd got rid of his shark's head. Madam Pomfrey gave us both blankets and then he sort of pulled me away from the judges so they wouldn't hear, and he said, if I wasn't doing anything over the summer, would I like to —"
"And what did you say?" said Ron, who had picked up his pestle and was grinding it on the desk, a good six inches from his bowl, because he was looking at Hermione.
"And he did say he'd never felt the same way about anyone else," Hermione went on, going so red now that you could almost feel the heat coming from her, "but how could Rita Skeeter have heard him? She wasn't there… or was she? Maybe she has got an Invisibility Cloak; maybe she sneaked onto the grounds to watch the second task…"
"I don't know, that doesn't really match Rita Skeeter's personality." Alicia muttered "She'd have to have something else… something more… ears-drop-ish and scandalish." Alicia smirked "Something really dirty that'd get her in her own column if someone found out."
"And what did you say?" Ron repeated, pounding his pestle down so hard that it dented the desk.
"Well, I was too busy seeing whether Alicia and Harry were okay to —"
"Fascinating though your social life undoubtedly is, Miss Granger," said an icy voice right behind them, and all four of them jumped, "I must ask you not to discuss it in my class. Ten points from Gryffindor."
Snape had glided over to their desk while they were talking. The whole class was now looking around at them; Malfoy took the opportunity to flash POTTER STINKS across the dungeon at Harry.
"Ah… reading magazines under the table as well?" Snape added, snatching up the copy of Witch Weekly. "A further ten points from Gryffindor… oh but of course…" Snape's black eyes glittered as they fell on Rita Skeeter's article. "Potter has to keep up with his press cuttings…"
Alicia rolled her eyes as the dungeon rang with the Slytherins' laughter, and an unpleasant smile curled Snape's thin mouth. To Harry's fury, he began to read the article aloud.
" 'Harry Potter's Secret Heartache… dear, dear, Potter, what's ailing you now? 'A boy like no other, perhaps…' "
Harry's face went scarlet as he glared at Snape, who was pausing at the end of every sentence to allow the Slytherins a hearty laugh. The article sounded ten times worse when read by Snape. Even Hermione was blushing scarlet now.
" '… Harry Potter's well-wishers must hope that, next time, he bestows his heart upon a worthier candidate.' How very touching," sneered Snape, rolling up the magazine to continued gales of laughter from the Slytherins. "Well, I think I had better separate the four of you, so you can keep your minds on your potions rather than on your tangled love lives. Weasley, you stay here. Miss Granger, over there, beside Miss Parkinson. Evan's, Malfoy's table. Potter — that table in front of my desk. Move. Now."
Alicia packed her things and moved to the table containing Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle and Blaise and dumped them down before organising her things and beginning to continue on with her potion.
"Are we jealous Evans?" Malfoy smirked and Alicia paused looking at him trying to think about what he meant. She raised an eyebrow.
"About?" she prompted
"Potter's love life? Did you blow your chance?" he smirked. Alicia sighed.
"Oh yes." she sighed, her voice overly tragic. "I confessed but he only liked me as a friend. It was so heart breaking I couldn't be near him for a week." Alicia rolled her eyes.
"Like that'd happen."
"You were the thing he can't go without." Malfoy was trying to find some angle to provoke her and from the corner of her eye Alicia could see Snape doing the same thing to Harry at the front of the class.
"What do you expect? He's my brother." she shrugged innocently, not caring if it was the truth. Malfoy would just scoff it off and begin to torment her on possible feelings anyway.
Only he didn't. He looked at her with narrowed eyes and Alicia smiled as she slipped her now cut ginger roots into her cauldron.
There was a knock on the dungeon door.
"Enter," said Snape in his usual voice.
The class looked around as the door opened. Professor Karkaroff came in. Everyone watched him as he walked up toward Snape's desk. He was twisting his finger around his goatee and looking agitated.
"We need to talk," said Karkaroff abruptly when he had reached Snape. He seemed so determined that nobody should hear what he was saying that he was barely opening his lips; it was as though he were a rather poor ventriloquist.
"I'll talk to you after my lesson, Karkaroff," Snape muttered, but Karkaroff interrupted him.
"I want to talk now, while you can't slip off, Severus. You've been avoiding me."
"After the lesson," Snape snapped.
Alicia stared at the two, not caring if she was caught doing so. Karkaroff looked extremely worried, and Snape looked angry.
Karkaroff hovered behind Snape's desk for the rest of the double period. He seemed intent on preventing Snape from slipping away at the end of class.
Alicia looked at Harry and caught his eye. She nodded her head towards Karkaroff and he nodded. Alicia watched as her twin deliberately knocked over his bottle of armadillo bile with two minutes to go to the bell, which gave him an excuse to duck down behind his cauldron and mop up while the rest of the class moved noisily toward the door.
Alicia cleaned up her things and followed Ron and Hermione out before she stood by the door waiting.
Karkaroff came out of the room first quickly followed by Harry,
"What happened?" Alicia hissed as they walked down the corridor, slowing so Karkaroff vanished from their sight with his speedy pace.
"Karkaroff was showing Snape something on his arm. Something that was apparently clear and hadn't been since some time, Snape cut him off and didn't want to see it. Karkaroff thought Snape should have noticed."
"Did you see what?" Alicia asked but Harry shook his head. Alicia sighed. She suddenly gasped and almost tripped over her robes as Harry pulled her into an empty classroom.
"Now. What happened during the second task?" Harry demanded "I heard you voice! Several times. And someone squeezed my shoulder and held my hand the entire time. And this isn't the first time."
"I don't know." Alicia hissed, keeping her voice low as she looked towards the door. She sighed. "The night you went to find out the clue of your egg I fell asleep while I researching the mermaids voices. And then suddenly, I wasn't in the common room I was standing beside you outside the prefects bathroom." Harry looked at her surprised "I followed you all the way to the staircase were you fell into the trick stair and the egg started screaming and you lost the map and Snape knew you were there and Moody saved you. I was there all the way until you left Moody's office."
"How?" Harry questioned, swallowing
"I don't know." Alicia shrugged "I woke up to find myself back in the common room. I thought it was all a dream but then you came into the common room and told me everything I'd just seen."
"What about the other day? In the lake?"
"Dumbledore bewitched me to sleep and everything went black. I don't know how much time passed but next thing I know I'm in the ocean, transparent almost and looking like a ghost trying to swim after you as you get attacked by grindylows and having Myrtle tell you were the merpeople are." she hissed and Harry looked surprised, he hadn't told anyone about Myrtle, for a reason obviously.
"And then when my head broke the surface I was in my body again. It's almost like an out of body experience but…" she huffed "I don't know what it is, but twice it's happened when I've been asleep and you've been out getting yourself into some kind of trouble. I don't know why it happens or how."
"After the first time I sent a letter to Sirius asking about it and that's what's in that letter I haven't opened." Alicia muttered.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because it was fricken weird and creepy and you had the second task to worry about without needing to deal with what ever the hell's wrong with me as well." Alicia admitted
"Did you tell Ron and Hermione?" Harry wondered
"And say what? I'm a freak? Hermione would consult a book and Ron would stutter over his words or just stare at me shocked." she sighed and looked at Harry "But each time it's happened I've been you, I've been looking at everything from your perspective and then I'm suddenly next to you like a ghost."
"You've been me?"
"The first time I was holding the map and had your egg under my arm as I stood under the invisibility cloak then I was standing next to you and that's exactly what you looked like. Don't even get me started on how I could see you through the cloak." Alicia admitted
"The only thing I can think of is the fact that you and I have a connection. Dumbledore said we're connected in a way more than just twins."
"But why would it only be happening to you?"
"You're the one in the tournament, I'm not exactly doing much to need the comfort of my ghostly twin's presence." Alicia muttered with a roll of her eyes.
They were silent for a second.
"Why haven't you opened Sirius' letter?" Harry wondered finally
"Cause I'm worried he's going to tell me it's got nothing to do with our weird connection and that I'm messed up and need to go see someone." Alicia mumbled.
"It's probably also another reason he's coming down here for I told him before he asked when our next Hogsmeade visit was."
"Well there's nothing we can do about that now." Harry muttered as he watched his sister, worried for now.
"Don't pity me please." Alicia said rolling her eyes and moving towards the door "Just reminds me of it all." Harry held his hands up in defence as he followed her down the corridor and towards the Great Hall "Let's just tell Hermione and Ron about Karkaroff." she decided with a grin.
They left the castle at noon the next day to find a weak silver sun shining down upon the grounds. The weather was milder than it had been all year, and by the time they arrived in Hogsmeade, all three of them had taken off their cloaks and thrown them over their shoulders. The food Sirius had told them to bring was in Harry's bag; they had sneaked a dozen chicken legs, a loaf of bread, and a flask of pumpkin juice from the lunch table.
They went into Gladrags Wizardwear to buy a present for Dobby, who'd given Harry the Gillyweed for the second task, where they had fun selecting the most lurid socks they could find, including a pair patterned with flashing gold and silver stars, and another that screamed loudly when they became too smelly. Then, at half past one, they made their way up the High Street, past Dervish and Banges, and out toward the edge of the village.
Neither Alicia or Harry had ever been in this direction before. The winding lane was leading them out into the wild countryside around Hogsmeade. The cottages were fewer here, and their gardens larger; they were walking toward the foot of the mountain in whose shadow Hogsmeade lay. Then they turned a corner and saw a stile at the end of the lane. Waiting for them, its front paws on the topmost bar, was a very large, shaggy black dog, which was carrying some newspapers in its mouth and looking very familiar…
"Padfoot!" Alicia grinned and ran towards him, climbing the stile to hug the animal. She patted his head and he gave a happy sort of yelp.
"Hello, Sirius," said Harry when they had reached him.
The black dog sniffed Harry's bag eagerly, wagged its tail once, then turned and began to trot away from them across the scrubby patch of ground that rose to meet the rocky foot of the mountain. Alicia began to follow as Harry, Ron, and Hermione climbed over the stile and did the same.
Sirius led them to the very foot of the mountain, where the ground was covered with boulders and rocks. It was easy for him, with his four paws, but Harry, Alicia, Ron, and Hermione were soon out of breath. They followed Sirius higher, up onto the mountain itself. For nearly half an hour they climbed a steep, winding, and stony path, following Sirius's wagging tail, sweating in the sun, the shoulder straps of Harry's bag cutting into his shoulders.
Then, at last, Sirius slipped out of sight, and when they reached the place where he had vanished, they saw a narrow fissure in the rock. They squeezed into it and found themselves in a cool, dimly lit cave. Tethered at the end of it, one end of his rope around a large rock, was Buckbeak the hippogriff. Half grey horse, half giant eagle, Buckbeak's fierce orange eye flashed at the sight of them. All four of them bowed low to him, and after regarding them imperiously for a moment, Buckbeak bent his scaly front knees and allowed Alicia and Hermione to rush forward and stroke his feathery neck. Harry, however, was looking at the black dog, which had just turned into his godfather.
Sirius was wearing ragged grey robes; the same ones he had been wearing when he had left Azkaban. His black hair was longer than it had been when he had appeared in the fire, and it was untidy and matted once more. He looked very thin.
"Chicken!" he said hoarsely after removing the old Daily Prophets from his mouth and throwing them down onto the cave floor.
Alicia left Buckbeak and over to Sirius who immediately hugged her back as she wrapped her arms around his thin frame.
"How are you going Alicia?"
"Oh you know, same ol', same ol', Harry's almost gotten killed a couple of times but what's new?" Sirius chuckled at her as Harry pulled open his bag and handed over the bundle of chicken legs and bread.
"Thanks," said Sirius, opening it, grabbing a drumstick, sitting down on the cave floor, and tearing off a large chunk with his teeth. "I've been living off rats mostly. Can't steal too much food from Hogsmeade; I'd draw attention to myself."
"Urgh." Alicia muttered "I'll send you an owl in the mornings if you want with some food." He grinned up at Alicia who sat down with him before turning to grin at Harry also, but Harry returned the grin only reluctantly.
"What're you doing here, Sirius?" he said.
"Fulfilling my duty as godfather," said Sirius, gnawing on the chicken bone in a very doglike way. "Don't worry about it, I'm pretending to be a lovable stray."
"You are at heart." Alicia said ruffling his hair. Sirius looked at her annoyed and she only smirked.
He was still grinning, but seeing the anxiety in Harry's face, said more seriously, "I want to be on the spot. Your last letter… well, let's just say things are getting fishier. I've been stealing the paper every time someone throws one out, and by the looks of things, I'm not the only one who's getting worried."
He nodded at the yellowing Daily Prophets on the cave floor, and Ron picked them up and unfolded them. Harry, however, continued to stare at Sirius.
"What if they catch you? What if you're seen?"
"You three and Dumbledore are the only ones around here who know I'm an Animagus," said Sirius, shrugging, and continuing to devour the chicken leg.
Ron nudged Harry and passed him the Daily Prophets. There were two: The first bore the headline Mystery Illness of Bartemius Crouch, the second, Ministry Witch Still Missing — Minister of Magic Now Personally Involved.
Harry scanned the story about Crouch. Phrases jumped out at him: hasn't been seen in public since November… house appears deserted… St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries decline comment… Ministry refuses to confirm rumours of critical illness…
Harry gave Alicia the paper who also read it over.
"They're making it sound like he's dying," said Harry slowly. "But he can't be that ill if he managed to get up here…"
"My brother's Crouch's personal assistant," Ron informed Sirius. "He says Crouch is suffering from overwork."
"Pfft." Alicia scoffed "This doesn't sound like that and even so…" Alicia muttered screwing up her face. Something was missing…
"Mind you, he did look ill, last time I saw him up close," said Harry slowly. "The night my name came out of the goblet…"
"Getting his comeuppance for sacking Winky, isn't he?" said Hermione, an edge to her voice. She was stroking Buckbeak, who was crunching up Sirius's chicken bones. "I bet he wishes he hadn't done it now — bet he feels the difference now she's not there to look after him."
"Hermione's obsessed with house-elfs," Ron muttered to Sirius, casting Hermione a dark look. Sirius, however, looked interested.
"Crouch sacked his house-elf?"
"Yeah, at the Quidditch World Cup," said Harry, and he launched into the story of the Dark Mark's appearance, and Winky being found with Harry's wand clutched in her hand, and Mr. Crouch's fury. When Harry had finished, Sirius was on his feet again and had started pacing up and down the cave.
"Let me get this straight," he said after a while, brandishing a fresh chicken leg. "You first saw the elf in the Top Box. She was saving Crouch a seat, right?"
"Right," said Harry, Ron, and Hermione together.
"But Crouch didn't turn up for the match?"
"No," said Harry. "I think he said he'd been too busy."
Sirius paced all around the cave in silence. Then he said, "Harry, did you check your pockets for your wand after you'd left the Top Box?"
"Erm…" Harry thought hard. "No," he said finally. "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." He stared at Sirius. "Are you saying whoever conjured the Mark stole my wand in the Top Box?"
"It's possible," said Sirius.
"Winky didn't steal that wand!" Hermione insisted.
"The elf wasn't the only one in that box," said Sirius, his brow furrowed as he continued to pace. "Who else was sitting behind you?"
"Loads of people," said Harry. "Some Bulgarian ministers… Cornelius Fudge… the Malfoys…"
"The Malfoys!" said Ron suddenly, so loudly that his voice echoed all around the cave, and Buckbeak tossed his head nervously. "I bet it was Lucius Malfoy!"
"Right under Fudge's nose?" Alicia asked with a raised eyebrow
"Anyone else?" said Sirius.
"No one," said Harry.
"Yes, there was, there was Ludo Bagman," Hermione reminded him.
"Oh yeah…"
"I don't know anything about Bagman except that he used to be Beater for the Wimbourne Wasps," said Sirius, still pacing. "What's he like?"
"He's okay," said Harry. "He keeps offering to help me with the Triwizard Tournament."
"Does he, now?" said Sirius, frowning more deeply. "I wonder why he'd do that?"
"Says he's taken a liking to me," said Harry.
"I think he's in trouble with some goblins. We saw him with them in the Three Broomsticks a while back." Alicia admitted
"Hmm," said Sirius, looking thoughtful.
"We saw him in the forest just before the Dark Mark appeared," Hermione told Sirius. "Remember?" she said to Harry and Ron.
"He's a bit weird really. All boyish and having fun most of the time, but when we saw him in the forest he had no clue what was going on and looked frightened out of his wits…" Alicia muttered her eyebrows knitting together with confusion.
"Yeah, but he didn't stay in the forest, did he?" said Ron. "The moment we told him about the riot, he went off to the campsite."
"How d'you know?" Hermione shot back. "How d'you know where he Disapparated to?"
"Come off it," said Ron incredulously. "Are you saying you reckon Ludo Bagman conjured the Dark Mark?"
"It's more likely he did it than Winky," said Hermione stubbornly.
"No, I don't think Bagman's the type unless he was under the imperious curse, the look on his face when we saw him just wasn't right for him to conjure the Dark Mark." Alicia thought, her leg bouncing up and down on the floor as she thought
"Told you," said Ron, looking meaningfully at Sirius, "told you she's obsessed with house —"
But Sirius held up a hand to silence Ron.
"When the Dark Mark had been conjured, and the elf had been discovered holding Harry's wand, what did Crouch do?"
"Went to look in the bushes," said Harry, "but there wasn't anyone else there."
"Of course," Sirius muttered, pacing up and down, "of course, he'd want to pin it on anyone but his own elf… and then he sacked her?"
"Yes," said Hermione in a heated voice, "he sacked her, just because she hadn't stayed in her tent and let herself get trampled —"
"Hermione, will you give it a rest with the elf!" said Ron.
Sirius shook his head and 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."
He ran a hand over his unshaven face, evidently thinking hard.
"All these absences of Barty Crouch's… he goes to the trouble of making sure his house-elf saves him a seat at the Quidditch World Cup, but doesn't bother to turn up and watch. He works very hard to reinstate the Triwizard Tournament, and then stops coming to that too… It's not like Crouch. If he's ever taken a day off work because of illness before this, I'll eat Buckbeak."
"That's what I thought. He's a workaholic, has no life otherwise and then he suddenly has Percy, someone he didn't even remember the name of, running his department after he's been there for what? A summer?" Alicia listed and Sirius nodded.
"D'you know Crouch, then?" said Harry.
Sirius's face darkened. He suddenly looked as menacing as he had the night when Harry first met him, the night when Harry still believed Sirius to be a murderer.
"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?" said Ron and Hermione together.
"You're kidding!" said Harry.
"Bastard." Alicia said darkly
"No, I'm not," said Sirius, taking another great bite of chicken. "Crouch used to be Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, didn't you know?"
Harry, Alicia, Ron, and Hermione shook their heads.
"He was tipped for the next Minister of Magic," said Sirius. "He's a great wizard, Barty Crouch, powerfully magical — and power-hungry. Oh never a Voldemort supporter," he said, reading the look on Harry's face. "No, Barty Crouch was always very out-spoken against the Dark Side. But then a lot of people who were against the Dark Side…. well, you wouldn't understand… you're too young…"
"That's what my dad said at the World Cup," said Ron, with a trace of irritation in his voice. "Try us, why don't you?"
"Yeah don't undermine us, make's me pissed." Alicia agreed giving Sirius a stern look that most would cave under.
A grin flashed across Sirius's thin face.
"All right, I'll try you…" He walked once up the cave, back again, and then said, "Imagine that Voldemort's powerful now. You don't know who his supporters are, you don't know who's working for him and who isn't; you know he can control people so that they do terrible things without being able to stop themselves. You're scared for yourself, and your family, and your friends. Every week, news comes of more deaths, more disappearances, more torturing… the Ministry of Magic's in disarray, they don't know what to do, they're trying to keep everything hidden from the Muggles, but meanwhile, Muggles are dying too. Terror everywhere… panic… confusion… that's how it used to be."
Alicia frowned and a shiver when up her spin at the thought of it.
"Well, times like that bring out the best in some people and the worst in others. Crouch's principles might've been good in the beginning — I wouldn't know. He rose quickly through the Ministry, and he started ordering very harsh measures against Voldemort's supporters. The Aurors were given new powers — powers to kill rather than capture, for instance. And I wasn't the only one who was handed straight to the dementors without trial. Crouch fought violence with violence, and authorised the use of the Unforgivable Curses against suspects. I would say he became as ruthless and cruel as many on the Dark Side. He had his supporters, mind you — plenty of people thought he was going about things the right way, and there were a lot of witches and wizards clamouring for him to take over as Minister of Magic. When Voldemort disappeared, it looked like only a matter of time until Crouch got the top job. But then something rather unfortunate happened…" Sirius smiled grimly. "Crouch's own son was caught with a group of Death Eaters who'd managed to talk their way out of Azkaban. Apparently they were trying to find Voldemort and return him to power."
"Crouch's son was caught?" gasped Hermione.
"Yep," said Sirius, throwing his chicken bone to Buckbeak, flinging himself back down on the ground beside the loaf of bread with Alicia, and tearing it in half. "Nasty little shock for old Barty, I'd imagine. Should have spent a bit more time at home with his family, shouldn't he? Ought to have left the office early once in a while… gotten to know his own son."
He began to wolf down large pieces of bread.
"Was his son a Death Eater?" said Harry.
"No idea," said Sirius, still stuffing down bread. "I was in Azkaban myself when he was brought in. This is mostly stuff I've found out since I got out. The boy was definitely caught in the company of people I'd bet my life were Death Eaters — but he might have been in the wrong place at the wrong time, just like the house-elf."
"Did Crouch try and get his son off?" Hermione whispered. Sirius let out a laugh that was much more like a bark.
"Crouch let his son off? I thought you had the measure of him, Hermione! Anything that threatened to tarnish his reputation had to go; he had dedicated his whole life to becoming Minister of Magic. You saw him dismiss a devoted house-elf because she associated him with the Dark Mark again — doesn't that tell you what he's like? Crouch's fatherly affection stretched just far enough to give his son a trial, and by all accounts, it wasn't much more than an excuse for Crouch to show how much he hated the boy… then he sent him straight to Azkaban."
Alicia was staring with her mouth open, but her brain had began to tick… Crouch had a son…
"He gave his own son to the dementors?" asked Harry quietly.
"That's right," said Sirius, and he didn't look remotely amused now. "I saw the dementors bringing him in, watched them through the bars in my cell door. He can't have been more than nineteen. They took him into a cell near mine. He was screaming for his mother by nightfall. He went quiet after a few days, though… they all went quiet in the end… except when they shrieked in their sleep…"
For a moment, the deadened look in Sirius's eyes became more pronounced than ever, as though shutters had closed behind them.
"So he's still in Azkaban?" Harry said.
"No," said Sirius dully. "No, he's not in there anymore. He died about a year after they brought him in."
"He died?"
"He wasn't the only one," said Sirius bitterly. "Most go mad in there, and plenty stop eating in the end. They lose the will to live. You could always tell when a death was coming, because the dementors could sense it, they got excited. That boy looked pretty sickly when he arrived. Crouch being an important Ministry member, he and his wife were allowed a deathbed visit. That was the last time I saw Barty Crouch, half carrying his wife past my cell. She died herself, apparently, shortly afterward. Grief. Wasted away just like the boy. Crouch never came for his son's body. The dementors buried him outside the fortress; I watched them do it."
Alicia looked confused, it had all begun to make sense before Sirius said that.
Sirius threw aside the bread he had just lifted to his mouth and instead picked up the flask of pumpkin juice and drained it.
"So old Crouch lost it all, just when he thought he had it made," he continued, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "One moment, a hero, poised to become Minister of Magic… next, his son dead, his wife dead, the family name dishonoured, and, so I've heard since I escaped, a big drop in popularity. Once the boy had died, people started feeling a bit more sympathetic toward the son and started asking how a nice young lad from a good family had gone so badly astray. The conclusion was that his father never cared much for him. So Cornelius Fudge got the top job, and Crouch was shunted sideways into the Department of International Magical Cooperation."
There was a long silence. Alicia remembered the way Crouch's eyes had bulged as he'd looked down at his disobedient house-elf back in the wood at the Quidditch World Cup. This, then, must have been why Crouch had overreacted to Winky being found beneath the Dark Mark. It had brought back memories of his son, and the old scandal, and his fall from grace at the Ministry.
"Moody says Crouch is obsessed with catching Dark wizards," Harry told Sirius.
"Moody's not exactly much different…" Alicia admitted "Specially with his 'I'll never be a match for Mr Crouch' thing." she rolled her eyes and Sirius looked at her confused but she nodded
"Yeah, I've heard it's become a bit of a mania with him," said Sirius. "If you ask me, he still thinks he can bring back the old popularity by catching one more Death Eater."
"And he sneaked up here to search Snape's office!" said Ron triumphantly, looking at Hermione.
"Yes, and that doesn't make sense at all," said Sirius.
"Yeah, it does!" said Ron excitedly, but Sirius shook his head.
"Listen, if Crouch wants to investigate Snape, why hasn't he been coming to judge the tournament? It would be an ideal excuse to make regular visits to Hogwarts and keep an eye on him."
"So you think Snape could be up to something, then?" asked Harry, but Hermione broke in.
"Look, I don't care what you say, Dumbledore trusts Snape —"
"Oh give it a rest, Hermione," said Ron impatiently. "I know Dumbledore's brilliant and everything, but that doesn't mean a really clever Dark wizard couldn't fool him —"
"That's an understatement seeing as Harry's name came out of the Goblet of fire. Moody said it had to be a very strong dark wizard to have hoodwinked it."
"See!" Ron pointed at Alicia
"That doesn't mean it was Snape though." Alicia said "Remember our first year, we've already been down the path of suspecting Snape, many times in fact."
"Exactly! Why did Snape save Harry's life in the first year, then? Why didn't he just let him die?"
"I dunno — maybe he thought Dumbledore would kick him out —"
"What d'you think, Sirius?" Harry said loudly, and Ron and Hermione stopped bickering to listen.
"I think they've both got a point," said Sirius, looking thoughtfully at Ron and Hermione. "Ever since I found out Snape was teaching here, I've wondered why Dumbledore hired him. Snape's always been fascinated by the Dark Arts, he was famous for it at school. Slimy, oily, greasy-haired kid, he was," Sirius added, and Harry and Ron grinned at each other. "Snape knew more curses when he arrived at school than half the kids in seventh year, and he was part of a gang of Slytherins who nearly all turned out to be Death Eaters."
Sirius held up his fingers and began ticking off names.
"Rosier and Wilkes — they were both killed by Aurors the year before Voldemort fell. The Lestranges — they're a married couple — they're in Azkaban. Avery — from what I've heard he wormed his way out of trouble by saying he'd been acting under the Imperius Curse — he's still at large. But as far as I know, Snape was never even accused of being a Death Eater — not that that means much. Plenty of them were never caught. And Snape's certainly clever and cunning enough to keep himself out of trouble."
"Snape knows Karkaroff pretty well, but he wants to keep that quiet," said Ron.
"Yeah, you should've seen Snape's face when Karkaroff turned up in Potions yesterday!" said Harry quickly. "Karkaroff wanted to talk to Snape, he says Snape's been avoiding him. Karkaroff looked really worried. He showed Snape something on his arm, but I couldn't see what it was."
"He showed Snape something on his arm?" said Sirius, looking frankly bewildered. He ran his fingers distractedly through his filthy hair, then shrugged again. "Well, I've no idea what that's about… but if Karkaroff's genuinely worried, and he's going to Snape for answers…"
Sirius stared at the cave wall, then made a grimace of frustration.
Alicia had a feeling she knew the connection there… it had to have something to do with Voldemort.
"There's still the fact that Dumbledore trusts Snape, and I know Dumbledore trusts where a lot of other people wouldn't, but I just can't see him letting Snape teach at Hogwarts if he'd ever worked for Voldemort."
"Why are Moody and Crouch so keen to get into Snape's office then?" said Ron stubbornly.
"Well," said Sirius slowly, "I wouldn't put it past Mad-Eye to have searched every single teacher's office when he got to Hogwarts. He takes his Defence Against the Dark Arts seriously, Moody. I'm not sure he trusts anyone at all, and after the things he's seen, it's not surprising. I'll say this for Moody, though, he never killed if he could help it. Always brought people in alive where possible. He was tough, but he never descended to the level of the Death Eaters. Crouch, though… he's a different matter… is he really ill? If he is, why did he make the effort to drag himself up to Snape's office? And if he's not… what's he up to? What was he doing at the World Cup that was so important he didn't turn up in the Top Box? What's he been doing while he should have been judging the tournament?"
Sirius lapsed into silence, still staring at the cave wall. Buckbeak was ferreting around on the rocky floor, looking for bones he might have overlooked.
"If you ask me I don't like either of them." and everyone looked at Alicia surprised
"You don't like Moody?" Sirius asked
"Big deal, everyone's scared of him." Ron shrugged
"No, he makes a shiver run up my spine, it's different to being afraid." Alicia admitted "I had the same feeling with Quirrell after a while in our first year too." Alicia said strongly and Ron looked at her.
"At Moody?" Sirius asked. Alicia nodded
"Something's off, I feel like I'm missing an important clue and for a second I thought I had it, till you said Crouch's son died."
"What was it?" Sirius asked
"Well, it's a long shot, but… what if the Bartimus Crouch on the map, wasn't Mr Crouch, but his son?" Alicia asked and everyone looked at her
"I know, how would he get to Hogwarts if he was in Azkaban and why haven't we heard of his escape? Those are just details that could be worked out later if I'm right. If he was a death eater and he was at Hogwarts, it would explain a lot, Harry's name coming out of the fire, Crouch's sudden illness, I mean he could know all about it but not want to live through the shame again. Why Winky had Harry's wand and was caught at the scene of the crime, I mean Crouch's son would be her master too right? But if he's dead and you saw him get buried, Sirius, then… it's all just words." she huffed "But everything that's happened this year somehow, connects back to Crouch!"
"That's a good theory if he was alive."
"Except why would Mr Crouch's name come up for his son?" Ron asked
"Junior?" Alicia shrugged "I don't know the details." she shrugged "It was just a thought that died." she muttered looking irritated.
There was silence again as everyone looked at Alicia's frustrated expression. Finally, Sirius looked up at Ron.
"You say your brother's Crouch's personal assistant? Any chance you could ask him if he's seen Crouch lately?"
"I can try," said Ron doubtfully. "Better not make it sound like I reckon Crouch is up to anything dodgy, though. Percy loves Crouch."
"Just pretend you love Crouch too and he'll spill." Alicia waved her hand.
"And you might try and find out whether they've got any leads on Bertha Jorkins while you're at it," said Sirius, gesturing to the second copy of the Daily Prophet.
"Bagman told me they hadn't," said Harry.
"Yes, he's quoted in the article in there," said Sirius, nodding at the paper. "Blustering on about how bad Bertha's memory is. Well, maybe she's changed since I knew her, but the Bertha I knew wasn't forgetful at all — quite the reverse. She was a bit dim, but she had an excellent memory for gossip. It used to get her into a lot of trouble; she never knew when to keep her mouth shut. I can see her being a bit of a liability at the Ministry of Magic… maybe that's why Bagman didn't bother to look for her for so long…"
Sirius heaved an enormous sigh and rubbed his shadowed eyes. "What's the time?"
Harry checked his watch, then remembered it hadn't been working since it had spent over an hour in the lake.
"It's half past three," said Hermione.
"You'd better get back to school," Sirius said, getting to his feet.
"Now listen…" He looked particularly hard at Harry. "I don't want you lot sneaking out of school to see me, all right? — ("Drats." Alicia clicked her fingers but shot a grin which Sirius returned) — Just send notes to me here. I still want to hear about anything odd." He looked at Alicia who removed her gaze "But you're not to go leaving Hogwarts without permission; it would be an ideal opportunity for someone to attack you."
"No one's tried to attack me so far, except a dragon and a couple of grindylows," Harry said, but Sirius scowled at him.
"That's cause they're hoping you'll die in the tournament." Alicia muttered
"I don't care… I'll breathe freely again when this tournament's over, and that's not until June. And don't forget, if you're talking about me among yourselves, call me Snuffles, okay?"
"Snuffles?" Alicia burst out laughing "What's wrong with Padfoot?" she laughed. Sirius didn't answer but grinned as he handed Harry the empty napkin and flask and went to pat Buckbeak good-bye. "I'll walk to the edge of the village with you," said Sirius, "see if I can scrounge another paper."
He transformed into the great black dog before they left the cave, and they walked back down the mountainside with him, across the boulder-strewn ground, and back to the stile. Here he allowed each of them to pat him on the head, before turning and setting off at a run around the outskirts of the village. Harry, Alicia, Ron, and Hermione made their way back into Hogsmeade and up toward Hogwarts.
"Wonder if Percy knows all that stuff about Crouch?" Ron said as they walked up the drive to the castle. "But maybe he doesn't care… it'd probably just make him admire Crouch even more. Yeah, Percy loves rules. He'd just say Crouch was refusing to break them for his own son."
"Percy would never throw any of his family to the dementors," said Hermione severely.
"I don't know," said Ron. "If he thought we were standing in the way of his career… Percy's really ambitious, you know…"
They walked up the stone steps into the entrance hall, where the delicious smells of dinner wafted toward them from the Great Hall. "Poor old Snuffles," said Ron, breathing deeply. "He must really like you, Harry… Imagine having to live off rats."