Rohini didn't felt her body slam flat into the ground; her face pressed into grass; her still bleeding leg painfully throbbing.
Her only reaction was to open her eyes and started into Cedric's lifeless ones. Cedric, who died a quick, meaningless death. Cedric, that she hadn't been able to protect. Cedric, proof that Voldemort was back.
The tears started to stream down her hollow cheeks as her trembling hand clenched Cedric's cold one harder; if he had been alive still, the Hufflepuff would have probably wince.
But he was dead, now.
Rohini cried harder. There were voices everywhere, footsteps, screams, she saw shadows kneeling around them, she heard the terrible cry of Cedric's mother has she realised her son was no more.
I'm sorry, Rohini wanted to say, but the words refused to leave her throat. So sorry-
"Rohini! Rohini!" A familiar voice called, but Rohini couldn't move, her hand stubbornly holding into Cedric, even as people around tried to pull him away from her.
"It wasn't me." Rohini wept, ignoring how disgusting she must look, all dirty and sweaty, her puffy eyes red, her nose running. "It wasn't me, it wasn't me, it wasn't me, it-"
"Rohini!"
A pair of hands seized her roughly and turned her over, forcing her to let go of Cedric.
"Pro-professor." Rohini stuttered, recognising Albus Dumbledore crouched over her. "Professor! I- He- he is back!" Rohini said, looking like a mad woman as she gripped Dumbledore's arm too tightly, her eyes wide opened. "Voldemort, he- they killed Cedric, and he tried to- to kill me, and he was- it's my fault, if I had killed Petti-"
"What's going on? What's happened?"
The face of Cornelius Fudge appeared upside down over Rohini; it looked white, appalled.
"My God - Diggory!" it whispered. "Dumbledore - he's dead!"
The words were repeated, the shadowy figures pressing in on them gasped it to those around them...and then others shouted it - screeched it - into the night - "He's dead!" "He's dead!" "Cedric Diggory! Dead!"
Rohini's eyes were burning as the new wave of hot, desperate tears hit her.
Dumbledore bent down, and with extraordinary strength for a man so old and thin, raised Rohini from the ground and set her on her feet, but Rohini tripped over again, her injured leg unable to support her weight.
"Dumbledore, Amos and his wife- need to talk to him- bring the students back to the castle-"
The words were losing their meaning for Rohini, switching and turning into vague sounds; there were screams and sobbing, she thought she hear her name as someone took her by the arm and leaded her away from the macabre scene…
"You need to lie down...Come on now..."
"Pr'ssor…" Rohini mumbled, half carried by Professor Moody towards the castle. "Pro'ssor… Cedric…"
"Ya can't help him anymore, my girl." The man said as he lifted her upon the stone steps, his wooden leg clunking loudly. "Come, ya' need something strong, yes, a strong drink…"
"I'm underage." Rohini blurred before laughing nervously; who cared about being underage when the greatest threat to the Wizardly world was back? When a kind soul had faced such a fate, his parents crying over his dead body?
"What happened, in there?"
"Cup was a Portkey," said Rohini as they crossed the entrance hall. "Took me and Cedric to a graveyard...and Voldemort was there...Lord Voldemort..."
Clunk. Clunk. Clunk. Up the marble stairs...
"The Dark Lord was there? What happened then?"
Rohini sniffed loudly.
"Killed Cedric...they killed Cedric... 't was my fault, if I had…if I had killed Wormtail that night… "
"And then?"
"Where's Harry? He need- he needs to be protected, he can-t"
"Potter, the facts!" Hissed Mad Eye.
"A ritual. Got his body back and-"
"The Dark Lord got his body back? He's returned?"
Rohini moaned as the man pushed her into a room.
"In here, Potter...in here, and sit down...You'll be all right now...drink this..."
Rohini heard a key scrape in a lock and felt a cup being pushed into her hands.
"Professor, Harry-"
"Drink it first...you'll feel better...don't want to worry your brother too much, do ya? Come on, now. I need to know exactly what happened..."
Moody helped tip the stuff down Rohini's throat; she coughed, a peppery taste burning her throat.
"What is this?" She asked.
"Just a little medicine of mine; I doubt you'll find this in the Hospital Wing."
Moody's office came into sharper focus, and so did Moody himself .He looked as white as Fudge had looked, and both eyes were fixed unblinkingly upon Rohini's face as he handed her a tissue. Rohini blew her nose loudly, and stared at her shaking hands, covered in blood and dirt.
"Voldemort's back, Potter? You're sure he's back? How did he do it?"
"He took stuff from his father's grave, and from Wormtail," said Rohini. "but he needed something else, something… something from Harry. Blood. Professor- who gave you the vial?" Rohini asked, frowning. "It wasn't- it wasn't Professor Dumbledore, was it?"
Mad Eye stiffened.
"What do you mean?" He barked.
"Voldemort… he said there was a spy. A spy at Hogwarts," Rohini remembered, and her hand slowly made her way to her pocket. "there's a Death Eater here - they put my name in the Goblet of Fire by mistake-it should have been Harry- they made sure I got through to the end -"
"Did the Dark Lord say that? Was he proud of him? Is it a loyal servant?" Moody asked frenetically, the grip he had on Rohini's shoulder getting tighter.
"Professor, your hand!" Rohini grimaced, but Moody didn't let go of her.
"I know who the Death Eater is." he said quietly.
"Wh- then why haven't you told the Minister, or Professor Dumbledore?" Rohini asked with a frown. Then, anger started to rise inside her chest as she violently pushed away Mad Eye and stood up. "You could- if you knew, and had told them, Cedric would be alive right now!"
"That's right, Potter." Moody said with an odd laugh. "He would be alive, and the Dark Lord wouldn't have returned. But now… now the Dark Lord is back, and his faithful supporters returned to him."
"How do you kno-" Rohini froze.
Oh. Of course.
"You." She said slowly, taking a step backward. "You were the one who put my name is the goblet. You were- you are the spy Voldemort was talking about. Not Karkaroff. You."
"As smart as ever, Potter." Mad Eye snarled as he pointed his wand at Rohini. "Sit."
"No." Rohini said, refusing to move.
"Sit!" Mad Eye said louder.
"I won't." Rohini said defiantly, before getting her own wand out and pointing it at Mad Eye.
"Did you show such boldness against the Dark Lord, Potter?" He asked, his magical eye quickly glancing at the door before looking back at her. "Were you as impolite with him that you are with the rest of the world?"
"He doesn't deserve any respect." Rohini spat, her eyes glowing darkly. "And neither do you."
"Crucio!"
Rohini fell to her knees, biting her lips to the blood as her body twisted and broke into unnatural position.
"Who put your name in the Goblet of Fire, under the name of a different school? I did. Who frightened off every person I thought might try to hurt you or prevent you from winning the tournament? I did. Who nudged Hagrid into showing you the dragons? I did, Potter!"
One of Rohini's nails broke as she scratched the marble floor with them, blinded by the pain.
"It hasn't been easy, Potter, guiding you through these tasks without arousing suspicion. Still, might have been easier than if I've gotten the right twin; Harry Potter can be denser than you, when it comes to figuring out some clues."
Blinded by the pain, Rohini crawled toward Mad Eye and spat at his feet.
"As long as you got into that maze, preferably with a decent head start - then, I knew, I would have a chance of getting rid of the other champions and leaving your way clear. Who told Cedric to open it underwater? I did. I trusted that he would pass the information on to you. Decent people are so easy to manipulate, Potter. I was sure Cedric would want to repay you for telling him about the dragons, and so he did."
The spell was suddenly raised and Rohini laid on the floor, panting, her body unable to move; stars were shining upon her eyes, as if she was back to the maze.
"Your brother told me at the Yule Ball a house-elf called Dobby had given you both a Christmas present. I called the elf to the staffroom to collect some robes for cleaning. I staged a loud conversation with Professor McGonagall about the hostages who had been taken, and whether Potter would think to use Gillyweed. And your little elf friend ran straight to Snape's office and then hurried to find you... though I heard later that you had find the solution elsewhere, all by yourself. A smart girl, really. Still, you were so long in that lake, Potter, I thought you had drowned. But luckily, Dumbledore took your idiocy for nobility, and marked you high for it. I breathed again."
"Too bad, I'd rather have you choke on your failure." Rohini hissed, too low for Mad Eye to understand.
"You had an easier time of it than you should have in that maze tonight, of course," said Moody. "I was patrolling around it, able to see through the outer hedges, able to curse many obstacles out of your way. I Stunned Fleur Delacour as she passed. I put the Imperius Curse on Krum, so that he would finish Diggory and leave your path to the cup clear."
"You sick, pathetic-" Rohini's sentence finished in a scream as a new wave of pain ran through her body. Mad Eye wasn't smiling anymore.
"Enough." He hissed, his wand pointed at Rohini's heart. "Enough! Do you think insolence will save you this time, Potter?"
Above his shoulder, Rohini saw odd foggy shapes reflected in a glass above the door, slowly dividing themselves into four silhouettes. But Moody wasn't watching them. His magical eye was upon Rohini.
"The Dark Lord didn't manage to kill you, Potter, and he so wanted to," whispered Moody. "Imagine how he will reward me when he finds I have done it for him; I have gotten ridden off the most important thing the Boy Who Lived cherished. I gave you to him, bearing your brother's blood with you - the thing he needed above all to regenerate - and then I killed you for him, thus breaking the young Harry Potter's heart, making him weaker and easier to kill. I will be honoured beyond all other Death Eaters. I will be his dearest, his closest supporter...closer than a son..."
"Voldemort will never kill Harry." Rohini grunted, blinking fast to chase the sweat from her eyelids. "And you will never kill me!"
Moody burst in laugh, sounding like a deep bark.
"Fool! The Dark Lord and I," said Moody, and he looked completely insane now, towering over her, leering down at Rohini, "have much in common. Both of us, for instance, had very disappointing fathers...very disappointing indeed. Both of us suffered the indignity, Rohini, of being named after those fathers. And both of us had the pleasure...the very great pleasure...of killing our fathers to ensure the continued rise of the Dark Order!"
"You're fucking mad!" Rohini shouted, trying to crawl away from him, toward the wand she had dropped.
"Mad, am I?" said Moody, his voice rising uncontrollably. "We'll see! We'll see who's mad, now that the Dark Lord has returned, with me at his side! He is back, Rohini Potter, you did not conquer him - and now –"
"Stupefy!" There was a blinding flash of red light, and with a great splintering and crashing, the door of Moody's office was blasted apart and Rohini instinctively protected her head with her arms.
Moody was thrown backward onto the office floor. Looking up, Rohini saw Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall standing in the doorway, Harry behind them and Dumbledore in front, his wand outstretched.
"Harry!" Rohini shouted as her brother ran towards her and brought her into a strong hug. "Are you crying?"
"Shut up." Harry mumbled, though Rohini could feel the tears wetting her sweater. Tightening her embrace around her brother, Rohini looked up at her three saviours.
The look upon Dumbledore's face as he stared down at the unconscious form of Mad-Eye Moody was more terrible than Rohini could have ever imagined. There was no benign smile upon Dumbledore's face, no twinkle in the eyes behind the spectacles. There was cold fury in every line of the ancient face; a sense of power radiated from Dumbledore as though he were giving off burning heat.
He stepped into the office, placed a foot underneath Moody's unconscious body, and kicked him over onto his back, so that his face was visible. Snape followed him, glaring into the room. Professor McGonagall went straight to the twins.
"Come along, Potters," she whispered. The thin line of her mouth was twitching as though she was about to cry. "Come along...hospital wing..."
"No," said Dumbledore sharply.
"Dumbledore, she ought to - look at them! - They've been through enough tonight -"
"Harry and Rohini will stay, Minerva, because she needs to understand," said Dumbledore curtly. "Understanding is the first step to acceptance, and only with acceptance can there be recovery. Rohini needs to know who has put her through the ordeal she has suffered tonight, and why."
"I don't think I want to, Professor." Rohini mumbled as Professor McGonagall gave her an apologetic look. "Mad Eye-"
"This is not Alastor Moody," said Dumbledore quietly. "You have never known Alastor Moody. The real Moody would not have removed you from my sight after what happened tonight. The moment he took you, I knew - and I followed."
Dumbledore bent down over Moody's limp form and put a hand inside his robes. He pulled out Moody's hip flask and a set of keys on a ring. Then he turned to Professors McGonagall and Snape.
"Severus, please fetch me the strongest Truth Potion you possess, and then go down to the kitchens and bring up the house-elf called Winky. Minerva, kindly go down to Hagrid's house, where you will find a large black dog sitting in the pumpkin patch. Take the dog up to my office, tell him I will be with him shortly, then come back here."
"Pad…?" Rohini asked, but Harry shushed her.
If either Snape or McGonagall found these instructions peculiar, they hid their confusion. Both turned at once and left the office.
Dumbledore walked over to the trunk with seven locks, fitted the first key in the lock, and opened it. It contained a mass of spell-books. Dumbledore closed the trunk, placed a second key in the second lock, and opened the trunk again.
The spellbooks had vanished; this time it contained an assortment of broken Sneako-scopes, some parchment and quills, and what looked like a silvery Invisibility Cloak. Dumbledore placed the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth keys in their respective locks, reopening the trunk each time, and revealing different contents each time. Then he placed the seventh key in the lock, threw open the lid, and Rohini's eyes opened wild.
It was the inside of a weird kind of pit, an underground room, and lying on the floor some ten feet below, apparently fast asleep, thin and starved in appearance, was the real Mad-Eye Moody. His wooden leg was gone, the socket that should have held the magical eye looked empty beneath its lid, and chunks of his grizzled hair were missing.
The twins stared, thunderstruck, between the sleeping Moody in the trunk and the unconscious Moody lying on the floor of the office.
Dumbledore climbed into the trunk, lowered himself, and fell lightly onto the floor beside the sleeping Moody. He bent over him.
"Stunned - controlled by the Imperius Curse - very weak," he said. "Of course, they would have needed to keep him alive. Harry, throw down the imposter's cloak - he's freezing. Madam Pomfrey will need to see him, but he seems in no immediate danger."
Harry did as he was told, reluctantly letting go of Rohini who gave him a weak smile; Dumbledore covered Moody in the cloak, tucked it around him, and clambered out of the trunk again. Then he picked up the hip flask that stood upon the desk, unscrewed it, and turned it over. A thick glutinous liquid splattered onto the office floor.
Rohini recognised it instantly.
"Polyjuice Potion," said Dumbledore. "You see the simplicity of it, and the brilliance. For Moody never does drink except from his hip flask, he's well known for it. The imposter needed, of course, to keep the real Moody close by, so that he could continue making the potion. You see his hair..." Dumbledore looked down on the Moody in the trunk. "The imposter has been cutting it off all year, see where it is uneven? But I think, in the excitement of tonight, our fake Moody might have forgotten to take it as frequently as he should have done...on the hour...every hour...We shall see."
Dumbledore pulled out the chair at the desk and sat down upon it, his eyes fixed upon the unconscious Moody on the floor. Harry helped Rohini back to her feet and sat her on the most comfortable looking seat around.
Minutes passed until the face of the man on the floor began to change. The scars were disappearing, the skin was becoming smooth; the mangled nose became whole and started to shrink.
The long mane of grizzled gray hair was withdrawing into the scalp and turning the color of straw. Suddenly, with a loud clunk, the wooden leg fell away as a normal leg regrew in its place and Rohini couldn't help but groan in disgust.
The next moment, the magical eyeball had popped out of the man's face as a real eye replaced it; it rolled away across the floor and continued to swivel in every direction at Harry's feet, which carefully picked it up and gave it to Dumbledore.
The man lying before them was pale-skinned, slightly freckled, with a mop of fair hair.
"Mr Crouch's son…" Rohini breathed; she had seen him before when she and Harry had gone through Dumbledore's Pensieve. "But… I thought he was dead?"
There were hurried footsteps outside in the corridor. Snape had returned with Winky at his heels. Professor McGonagall was right behind them.
"Crouch!" Snape said, stopping dead in the doorway. "Barty Crouch!"
"Good heavens," said Professor McGonagall, stopping dead and staring down at the man on the floor. A large dog was following after her and jumped on Rohini's laps, licking her face with worried whines.
"Hey, buddy." Rohini said with a weak, tired smile, petting the fluffy head. "Long time no see."
Filthy, dishevelled, Winky peered around Snape's legs. Her mouth opened wide and she let out a piercing shriek.
"Master Barty, Master Barty, what is you doing here?"
She flung herself forward onto the young man's chest.
"You is killed him! You is killed him! You is killed Master's son!"
"He is simply Stunned, Winky," said Dumbledore. "Step aside, please. Severus, you have the potion?"
Snape handed Dumbledore a small glass bottle of completely clear liquid: Rohini recognised it as some Veritaserum.
Dumbledore got up, bent over the man on the floor, and pulled him into a sitting position against the wall. Winky remained on her knees, trembling, her hands over her face. Dumbledore forced the man's mouth open and poured three drops inside it. Then he pointed his wand at the man's chest and said, "Ennervate."
Crouch's son opened his eyes. Rohini clenched Harry's hand. His face was slack, his gaze unfocused. Dumbledore knelt before him, so that their faces were level.
"Can you hear me?" Dumbledore asked quietly.
The man's eyelids flickered.
"Yes," he muttered.
"I would like you to tell us," said Dumbledore softly, "how you came to be here. How did you escape from Azkaban?"
Padfoot growled lowly, and Rohini rubbed him behind the ears.
Crouch took a deep, shuddering breath, then began to speak in a flat, expressionless voice.
"My mother saved me. She knew she was dying. She persuaded my father to rescue me as a last favour to her. He loved her as he had never loved me. He agreed. They came to visit me. They gave me a draft of Polyjuice Potion containing one of my mother's hairs. She took a draft of Polyjuice Potion containing one of my hairs. We took on each other's appearance."
Winky was shaking her head, trembling.
"Say no more. Master Barty, say no more, you is getting your father into trouble!"
But Crouch took another deep breath and continued in the same flat voice.
"The Dementors are blind. They sensed one healthy, one dying person entering Azkaban. They sensed one healthy, one dying person leaving it. My father smuggled me out, disguised as my mother, in case any prisoners were watching through their doors. My mother died a short while afterward in Azkaban. She was careful to drink Polyjuice Potion until the end. She was buried under my name and bearing my appearance. Everyone believed her to be me."
The man's eyelids flickered. Rohini wondered if he felt some gratitude towards the poor heartbroken woman.
"And what did your father do with you, when he had got you home?" said Dumbledore quietly.
"Staged my mother's death. A quiet, private funeral. That grave is empty. The house-elf nursed me back to health. Then I had to be concealed. I had to be controlled. My father had to use a number of spells to subdue me. When I had recovered my strength, I thought only of finding my master...of returning to his service."
"How did your father subdue you?" said Dumbledore.
"The Imperius Curse," Moody said. "I was under my father's control. I was forced to wear an Invisibility Cloak day and night. I was always with the house-elf. She was my keeper and caretaker. She pitied me. She persuaded my father to give me occasional treats. Rewards for my good behavior."
"Master Barty, Master Barty," sobbed Winky through her hands. "You isn't ought to tell them, we is getting in trouble..."
"Did anybody ever discover that you were still alive?" said Dumbledore softly. "Did anyone know except your father and the house-elf?"
"Yes," said Crouch, his eyelids flickering again. "A witch in my father's office. Bertha Jorkins. She came to the house with papers for my father's signature. He was not at home. Winky showed her inside and returned to the kitchen, to me. But Bertha Jorkins heard Winky talking to me. She came to investigate. She heard enough to guess who was hiding under the Invisibility Cloak. My father arrived home. She confronted him. He put a very powerful Memory Charm on her to make her forget what she'd found out. Too powerful. He said it damaged her memory permanently."
"Why is she coming to nose into my masters private business?" sobbed Winky. "Why isn't she leaving us be?"
"Tell me about the Quidditch World Cup." said Dumbledore.
"Winky talked my father into it," said Crouch, still in the same monotonous voice. "She spent months persuading him. I had not left the house for years. I had loved Quidditch. Let him go, she said. He will be in his Invisibility Cloak. He can watch. Let him smell fresh air for once. She said my mother would have wanted it. She told my father that my mother had died to give me freedom. She had not saved me for a life of imprisonment. He agreed in the end.
"It was carefully planned. My father led me and Winky up to the Top Box early in the day. Winky was to say that she was saving a seat for my father. I was to sit there, invisible. When everyone had left the box, we would emerge. Winky would appear to be alone. Nobody would ever know.
"But Winky didn't know that I was growing stronger. I was starting to fight my father's Imperius Curse. There were times when I was almost myself again. There were brief periods when I seemed outside his control. It happened, there, in the Top Box. It was like waking from a deep sleep. I found myself out in public, in the middle of the match, and I saw, in front of me, a wand sticking out of a boy's pocket. I had not been allowed a wand since before Azkaban. I stole it. Winky didn't know. Winky is frightened of heights. She had her face hidden."
"Master Barty, you bad boy!" whispered Winky, tears trickling between her fingers. Rohini felt pity for the miserable House Elf.
"So you took the wand," said Dumbledore, "and what did you do with it?"
"We went back to the tent," said Crouch. "Then we heard them. We heard the Death Eaters. The ones who had never been to Azkaban. The ones who had never suffered for my master. They had turned their backs on him. They were not enslaved, as I was. They were free to seek him, but they did not. They were merely making sport of Muggles. The sound of their voices awoke me. My mind was clearer than it had been in years. I was angry. I had the wand."
"I wanted to attack them for their disloyalty to my master. My father had left the tent; he had gone to free the Muggles. Winky was afraid to see me so angry. She used her own brand of magic to bind me to her. She pulled me from the tent, pulled me into the forest, away from the Death Eaters. I tried to hold her back. I wanted to return to the campsite. I wanted to show those Death Eaters what loyalty to the Dark Lord meant, and to punish them for their lack of it. I used the stolen wand to cast the Dark Mark into the sky.
"Ministry wizards arrived. They shot Stunning Spells everywhere. One of the spells came through the trees where Winky and I stood. The bond connecting us was broken. We were both Stunned.
"When Winky was discovered, my father knew I must be nearby. He searched the bushes where she had been found and felt me lying there. He waited until the other Ministry members had left the forest. He put me back under the Imperius Curse and took me home. He dismissed Winky. She had failed him. She had let me acquire a wand. She had almost let me escape."
Winky let out a wail of despair. Rohini felt her sympathy grow for this faithful little creature.
"Now it was just Father and I, alone in the house. And then...and then..." Crouch's head rolled on his neck, and an insane grin spread across his face. "My master came for me. He arrived at our house late one night in the arms of his servant Wormtail. My master had found out that I was still alive. He had captured Bertha Jorkins in Albania. He had tortured her. She told him a great deal. She told him about the Triwizard Tournament. She told him the old Auror, Moody, was going to teach at Hogwarts. He tortured her until he broke through the Memory Charm my father had placed upon her. She told him I had escaped from Azkaban. She told him my father kept me imprisoned to prevent me from seeking my master. And so my master knew that I was still his faithful servant - perhaps the most faithful of all. My master conceived a plan, based upon the information Bertha had given him. He needed me. He arrived at our house near midnight. My father answered the door."
The smile spread wider over Crouch's face, as though recalling the sweetest memory of his life. Winky's petrified brown eyes were visible through her fingers. She seemed too appalled to speak.
"It was very quick. My father was placed under the Imperius Curse by my master. Now my father was the one imprisoned, controlled. My master forced him to go about his business as usual, to act as though nothing was wrong. And I was released. I awoke. I was myself again, alive as I hadn't been in years."
Rohini saw Professor McGonagall shook her head in a sad disbelief.
"And what did Lord Voldemort ask you to do?" said Dumbledore.
"He asked me whether I was ready to risk everything for him. I was ready. It was my dream, my greatest ambition, to serve him, to prove myself to him. He told me he needed to place a faithful servant at Hogwarts. Ensure Potter reached the Triwizard Cup. Turn the cup into a Portkey, which would take the first person to touch it to my master. But first -"
"You needed Alastor Moody," said Dumbledore. His blue eyes were blazing, though his voice remained calm.
"Wormtail and I did it. We had prepared the Polyjuice Potion beforehand. We journeyed to his house. Moody put up a struggle. There was a commotion. We managed to subdue him just in time. Forced him into a compartment of his own magical trunk. Took some of his hair and added it to the potion. I drank it; I became Moody's double. I took his leg and his eye. I was ready to face Arthur Weasley when he arrived to sort out the Muggles who had heard a disturbance. I made the dustbins move around the yard. I told Arthur Weasley I had heard intruders in my yard, who had set off the dustbins. Then I packed up Moody's clothes and Dark detectors, put them in the trunk with Moody, and set off for Hogwarts. I kept him alive, under the Imperius Curse. I wanted to be able to question him. To find out about his past, learn his habits, so that I could fool even Dumbledore. I also needed his hair to make the Polyjuice Potion. The other ingredients were easy. I stole boom-slang skin from the dungeons. When the Potions master found me in his office, I said I was under orders to search it."
"And what became of Wormtail after you attacked Moody?" said Dumbledore.
Padfoot growled louder.
"Wormtail returned to care for my master, in my father's house, and to keep watch over my father."
"But your father escaped," said Dumbledore.
"Yes. After a while he began to fight the Imperius Curse just as I had done. There were periods when he knew what was happening. My master decided it was no longer safe for my father to leave the house. He forced him to send letters to the Ministry instead. He made him write and say he was ill. But Wormtail neglected his duty. He was not watchful enough. My father escaped. My master guessed that he was heading for Hogwarts. My father was going to tell Dumbledore everything, to confess. He was going to admit that he had smuggled me from Azkaban.
"My master sent me word of my father's escape. He told me to stop him at all costs. I was lucky, that night; I had a feeling my father was out there, and was patrolling when I heard Potter and her little friends. Once out of my sights I pulled on my Invisibility Cloak and went down to meet him. I Stunned Krum. I killed my father."
Rohini shivered. So Crouch was dead, then; another death…
"You killed your father," Dumbledore said, in the same soft voice. "What did you do with the body?"
"Carried it into the forest. Covered it with the Invisibility Cloak. Then I watched Potter bringing Dumbledore out of the castle. I walked back out of the forest, doubled around behind them, went to meet them. I told Dumbledore Snape had told me where to come. Dumbledore told me to go and look for my father. I went back to my father's body. When everyone was gone, I Transfigured my father's body. He became a bone...I buried it, while wearing the Invisibility Cloak, in the freshly dug earth in front of Hagrid's cabin."
There was complete silence now, except for Winky's continued sobs. Then Dumbledore said, "And tonight..."
"I offered to carry the Triwizard Cup into the maze before dinner," whispered Barty Crouch. "Turned it into a Portkey. My master's plan worked. He is returned to power and I will be honoured by him beyond the dreams of wizards."
The insane smile lit his features once more, and his head drooped onto his shoulder as Winky wailed and sobbed at his side.
Dumbledore stood up. He stared down at Barty Crouch for a moment with disgust on his face. Then he raised his wand once more and ropes flew out of it, ropes that twisted themselves around Barty Crouch, binding him tightly. He turned to Professor McGonagall.
"Minerva, could I ask you to stand guard here while I take Harry and his sister upstairs?"
"Of course," said Professor McGonagall. She looked slightly nauseous, as though she had just watched someone being sick. However, when she drew out her wand and pointed it at Barty Crouch, her hand was quite steady.
"Severus" - Dumbledore turned to Snape - "please tell Madam Pomfrey to come down here; we need to get Alastor Moody into the hospital wing. Then go down into the grounds, find Cornelius Fudge, and bring him up to this office. He will undoubtedly want to question Crouch himself. Tell him I will be in the hospital wing in half an hour's time if he needs me."
Snape nodded silently and swept out of the room.
"Harry, Rohini?" Dumbledore said gently. "Come."
Harry got up and helped Rohini to stand up. One hand holding her brother, and the other leaning against Padfoot, Rohini followed Professor Dumbledore into the dark corridor.
"I want you to come up to my office first, you two." he said quietly as they headed up the passageway.
Harry nodded but Rohini was too tired for that. A kind of numbness and a sense of complete unreality were upon her. It felt too unreal yet too terrible to be a dream. Memories kept flashing in front of her eyes: Wormtail, slumped on the ground, cradling his stump of an arm. Voldemort, rising from the steaming cauldron. Cedric...dead...Cedric…
"Professor," Harry mumbled, "what about Mr. and Mrs. Diggory?"
Rohini slightly raised her head.
"They are with Professor Sprout," said Dumbledore. His voice, which had been so calm throughout the interrogation of Barty Crouch, shook very slightly for the first time. "She was Head of Cedric's house, and knew him best."
They had reached the stone gargoyle. As soon as the oak door closed behind their back, Sirius turned into his human form again and he brought Rohini into a tight embrace, making her hiss in pain.
"Pad', I can't breathe!"
"Sorry, I… I knew it - I knew something like this was going to happen- Are you alright? Here, sit."
He helped her into a chair and Rohini felt the strong need to close her eyes and fall asleep and just forget about everything. Still, she knew her attention was needed for a few minutes more and so she forced her sullen eyes to stay open.
There was a soft rush of wings. Fawkes the phoenix had left his perch, flown across the office, and landed on her knee.
"Hello, handsome." Rohini said quietly, stroking the phoenix's beautiful scarlet-and-gold plumage. Fawkes blinked peacefully up at her.
"I need to know what happened after you touched the Portkey in the maze, Rohini." said Dumbledore.
"We can leave that till morning, can't we, Dumbledore?" said Sirius harshly. He had put a hand on Rohini's shoulder. "Let her have a sleep. Let her and Harry rest."
Dumbledore took no notice of Sirius's words.
"If I thought I could help you," Dumbledore said gently, "by putting you into an enchanted sleep and allowing you to postpone the moment when you would have to think about what has happened tonight, I would do it. But I know better. Numbing the pain for a while will make it worse when you finally feel it. You have shown bravery beyond anything I could have expected of you. I ask you to demonstrate your courage one more time. I ask you to tell us what happened."
"What if I don't want to feel courageous?" Rohini asked quietly.
"Then I will respect your choice." Dumbledore said.
Harry passed an arm around her neck, and Rohini sighed.
"Fine."
The phoenix let out one soft, quavering note.
She took a deep breath and began to tell them. As she spoke, visions of everything that had passed that night seemed to rise before her eyes; she saw the sparkling surface of the potion that had revived Voldemort; she saw the Death Eaters apparating between the graves around them; she saw Cedric's body, lying on the ground beside the cup. And regrets, so many regrets about what she should have done or say…
When Rohini told of Wormtail taking Harry's blood, Sirius let out a vehement exclamation and Dumbledore stood up so quickly that the twins started.
"How?" He asked, looking at Harry.
"I remember- a few days ago, Professor Mood- Barty Crouch, he asked to take some of our blood, said it was to show us something later…"
"Voldemort- he said Harry's blood would make him stronger than if he'd used someone else's," Rohini told Dumbledore with difficulties. "He said the protection our - our mother left in him- he'd have it too. He could touch me, of course; I lost the bit of him I had against the Basilisk. But I think… I think he's gonna be able to touch Harry too, now."
"Very well," Dumbledore said, sitting down again. "Voldemort has overcome that particular barrier. Rohini, continue, please."
Shouldn't he be more worried about that? Exhausted, Rohini still went on; she spat the names of the Death Eaters present at the graveyard, she told them how she refused to submit to Voldemort, how she had ran away from a certain death. As she did, she realised the phoenix had fluttered to the floor.
It was resting its beautiful head against her injured leg, and thick, pearly tears were falling from its eyes onto the wound left by the spider. The pain vanished. The skin mended. Her leg was repaired.
"Thank you." Rohini said with a weak smile.
"I will say it again," said Dumbledore as the phoenix rose into the air and resettled itself upon the perch beside the door. "You have shown bravery beyond anything I could have expected of you tonight. You have shown bravery equal to those who died fighting Voldemort at the height of his powers. You have shouldered a grown wizard's burden and found yourself equal to it - and you have now given us all we have a right to expect. You will come with me to the hospital wing. I do not want you returning to the dormitory tonight. A Sleeping Potion, and some peace...Sirius, would you like to stay with her? You too, Harry?"
They both nodded and stood up before helping Rohini to do the same. Sirius transformed back into the great black dog and walked with the twins and Dumbledore out of the office, accompanying them down a flight of stairs to the hospital wing.
When Dumbledore pushed open the door, they saw Mrs. Weasley, Bill, Mr. Patil Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Luna, Padma and Dana grouped around a harassed-looking Madam Pomfrey; it wasn't that often that the Hospital wing was so crowded. All of them whipped around as Harry, Dumbledore, Rohini and the black dog entered and Padma rushed past the others to bring Rohini into the tightest, most desperate embrace they had ever shared.
"Oh, Rohi!" She said and Rohini found herself refusing to let her go.
"I'm fine." Rohini lied. "I'm fine Padma, I'm fine."
The rest of her friends started to hurry toward her, but Dumbledore moved between them.
"Please listen to me for a moment. Rohini has been through a terrible ordeal tonight. What she needs now is sleep, and peace, and quiet. If she would like you all to stay with her," he added, looking around at everyone, "you may do so. But I do not want you questioning her or her brother until she is ready to answer, and certainly not this evening."
Mrs. Weasley nodded. She was very white. Mr. Patil stepped closer and slightly pushed away his daughter to take a closer look at Rohini.
"Do you want us to stay with you?" He asked softly.
Madam Pomfrey pinched her lips behind his back, her eyes staring annoyingly at Padfoot.
"Only if you want to." Rohini said. Mr. Patil nodded before taking Mrs. Weasley and Bill apart from the group to have a serious discussion.
"Hey." Dana said, in a voice quieter than usual. "Is there some energy left for a group hug?"
"Always." Rohini said tiredly, and before she knew it, everybody was awkwardly hugging her, bringing some warmth to her cold body.
"Headmaster," said Madam Pomfrey, staring at the great black dog that was Sirius, "may I ask what - ?"
"This dog will be remaining with Harry and Rohini for a while," said Dumbledore simply. "I assure you, he is extremely well trained. Everyone- I will wait while you get into bed."
"No need to." Rohini said quickly as Luna and Ginny pushed her gently towards the closest bed.
Madam Pomfrey gave everybody some pyjamas and ordered them to be quiet for the night.
"I know this is silly, but I don't want to be alone." Rohini said quietly, looking at her friends. "Isn't there a way… isn't there a way we could sleep all together?"
"I'm a sleepover master." Dana assured her, waiting for Madam Pomfrey to turn her back before waving her wand; the bed instantly tucked closer to each other, forming one giant mattress. "Here!"
"Impressive." Ginny said and Dana laughed before jumping next to Rohini, quickly joined by Luna, Padma and Padfoot whose fur tickled their naked feet, making them chuckle.
Madam Pomfrey, who had bustled off to her office, returned holding a small bottle of some purple potion and a goblet and seemed ready to throw everybody out of the room when she saw the mess they had created.
"You'll need to drink all of this." she said between her pinched lips to Rohini. "It's a potion for dreamless sleep."
Rohini nodded and took the goblet and drank a few mouthfuls. She felt herself becoming drowsy at once. Everything around her became hazy; the lamps around the hospital wing seemed to be winking at her in a friendly way; her body felt as though it was sinking deeper into the warmth of the feather mattress, Padma's arms around her waist, Dana's head resting on her chest, Ginny's legs entwined with hers.
And finally, finally Rohini's eyes closed and she fell into a welcomed, restful sleep.