"I remember- I remember when I first met you all. Biggest bunch of misfits I ever set eyes on. Suppose you reminded me of meself a little. And here we all are, four years later," Hagrid said as he was walking along with Ron, Hermione and Ella. Harry was a few yards away, not really listening to what was going on.

"We're still a bunch of misfits," Ron replied, which caused everyone to laugh a bit.

"Well maybe. But you've all got each other," Hagrid agreed. "And Harry of course, soon to be the youngest Triwizard Champion there's ever been! Hooray!" Not too soon, Harry walked around a tree and noticed that it was somewhat disturbed and saw legs but they weren't the legs of a four-legged animal. He looked up and saw that it was Barty Crouch.

"Mr. Crouch?" he asked. There was no answer from him. Before he knew it, he saw Ella beside him.

"Harry, go get Hagrid now," she gently told him. Harry looked at her as if she said something foreign to him. "Harry!"

"Right, Hagrid," he said and ran towards where Hagrid was. A few moments later, Hagrid was standing over Barty's body with Harry, Ron and Hermione standing a few feet away.

"Hagrid, stay here, I'll got get Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall," she said.

"I'll get them, Ella," he said.

"Hagrid, it would be better if I got them. I'm faster," she told him. Hagrid was about to speak and realized that she was right and nodded. "Just make sure that the lot of them does not have to see Mr. Crouch like this any longer than they have to," she informed him as she placed her blanket over his body.
"Right," Hagrid said as he went over to the three of them and kept them talking. Ella ran towards Dumbledore's office and knocked on the door.

"Come in," a voice said.

"Professor Dumbledore," Ella called out.

"Ella, aren't you supposed to be with Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger and Hagrid?" he asked. Ella noticed that several teachers were there.

"Yes, but there is something that needs your attention," she said. Dumbledore noticed her behavior and motioned for her to whisper it in his ear.

"Are you absolutely certain?" he asked.

"Positive," she said.

"Do you know who has done it?" Ella shook her head. "Go get Professor McGonagall and inform her of this situation, then send an owl to the Ministry."

"What shall I do with you-know-what? Hagrid is still down there with the lot of them."

"Take it to your house. I'll meet you there. Ask Dr. Cullen to help you with the task," Dumbledore responded.

"Of course," she said and left to McGonagall's office.

"Oh, dear," McGonagall said as they walked to the owlery with the handwritten note that McGonagall had wrote. She looked for her owl and attached it to its leg and told it where to go. "What of the body?"

"Professor Dumbledore asked me to take care of it with the help of Dr. Cullen," she responded quietly as a teacher had come in to send something.

"Go on then. I'll be in Professor Dumbledore's office," she said. They both departed ways.

"Carlisle?" she called out as soon as she went inside her home,

"What is it, Ella?"

"I need your help… actually I need everyone's help, please," she started off. Everyone joined in as soon as they heard her call out for help. "Look, I don't want to say too much right now especially since we don't know who's listening but what I can say is that someone is dead in the forest and Albus wants us to take care of it since he doesn't want to alarm the medical staff in Hogwarts."

"Of course," Carlisle said. "Let me get my bag." Once he had what he needed, everyone followed Ella's led and arrived to the site. "Who died?"

"It's better if I show you," she said. "Esme, Alice, Rosalie, could you stay with the four of them, please?" They all nodded and stayed with Harry, Ron, Hermione and Hagrid. Emmett, Jasper and Edward were standing by as guards. "It's Barty Crouch," she said loud enough for her family to hear. She showed Carlisle where the body was. Carlisle removed the blanket far enough where it still covered his chest. He did a brief overview of his eyes, nose and mouth before nodding.

"We need to take him to the house for a thorough examination," he explained. "Emmett, I need you to take his body back to the house. Ella, go with him and make an examination room at the back of the house." Both nodded and left. "I think it would be best if we all went back to Hogwarts. I'll be leaving momentarily to take care of Mr. Crouch. Could the rest of you stay with them?"

"That would be a great idea," Hagrid said as they parted ways.

"Ella? Emmett?" Carlisle called out as soon as he entered the front door.

"We're near the entrance of the kitchen, Carlisle," Ella responded. Once Carlisle found them and the room, they went inside. "Emmett, could you help the others? They're walking towards Hogwarts. Ask Edward to be here. I want him and Alice to be connected."

"Not a problem," he said and left.

Edward came by as Carlisle and Ella began to scrub down and made sure everything was sterilized before the autopsy began. "What is going on?" Edward asked.

"I needed you and Alice to be connected between us and Dumbledore. I believe that we don't need any interruptions." Edward nodded and agreed. He went out to the living area and waited as Carlisle and Ella worked on the body. Luckily for them, they didn't need to breathe, so they were both quite content working on the body without distraction. An hour and a half later, everyone came in as both Carlisle and Ella burned the scrubs they were wearing, alongside Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall. "Dr. Cullen, what can you tell us?"

Harry walked up to Dumbledore's office and heard someone say "A man has died here, Fudge. And he won't be the last. You must take action."

"I will not. In times like these, the wizard world looks to its leaders for strength, Dumbledore!"

"Then for once, show them some!" Dumbledore informed him.

"The Triwizard Tournament will not be canceled. I will not be seen as a coward!" he said.

"A true leader does what is right, no matter what others think," Dumbledore said.

"What did you say to me?" he asked.

"Excuse me, gentlemen. It may interest you to know this conversation is no longer private," Moody said, using his wand and opening the door.

Dumbledore immediately stood up and walked around his desk, "Oh, Harry!"

"Harry, how good to see you again," Fudge said as soon as he saw who was there.

"I can come back later, professor," he said.

"Not necessary, Harry. The Minster and I are done. I'll be back in a moment," he said, as he walked down towards Harry, "Minister, after you. There you are. Your hat," he gave him his hat that was on another table, "Oh, Harry, do feel free to indulge in a little Licorice Snap in my absence. But I have to warn you, they're a wee bit sharp," he said taking a Licorice Snap. Once all three of them left, Harry helped himself to a handful of Snaps. He picked one up and they all started biting his hand off and forced him to walk backwards and hit a cupboard which caused him to drop all on the floor. He bent down to pick them up. He ended up crawling and chasing after them. A soft glow from a shallow stone basin had lit up the cupboard and had gotten his attention. The surface of the silvery stuff inside the basin began to swirl fast. Harry bent closer, his head right inside the cabinet. The silvery substance had become transparent; it looked like glass. He looked down into it, expecting to see the stone bottom of the basin – and drew him into it. He screamed and found himself, sitting on a bench at the end of the room inside the basin, a bench raised high above the others. Breathing hard and fast Harry looked around him. Not one of the witches and wizards in the room (and there were at least two hundred of them) was looking at him. Not one of them seemed to have noticed that a fourteen-year-old boy had just dropped from the ceiling into their midst. Harry turned to the wizard next to him on the bench and was surprised to see Dumbledore.

"Professor?" Harry said in a kind of strangled whisper. But Dumbledore didn't move or speak. He ignored Harry completely. Like every other wizard on the benches, he was staring into the far corner of the room, where there was a door. The room was dimly lit; he thought it might even be underground, for there were no windows, merely torches in brackets such as the ones illuminated the walls of Hogwarts. He saw rows and rows of witches and wizards were seated around every wall on what seemed to be benches rising in levels. An empty space in the center of the room, but it wasn't necessarily empty for there were bars rooted on the ground but tall enough for a single man to be in it. There was something about the makeshift prison shaft that gave Harry an ominous feeling. Where was this place? It surely wasn't Hogwarts; he had never seen a room like that here in the castle. Moreover, the crowd in the mysterious room was comprised of adults, and Harry knew there were not nearly that many teachers at Hogwarts. They seemed, he thought, to be waiting for something; even though he could only see the tops of their hats, all of their faces seemed to be pointing in one direction, and none of them were talking to each other. Harry felt cold immediately as soon as he saw a man who looked like he was about to faint.

"Igor Karkaroff," said a curt voice to Harry's left. Harry looked around and saw Mr. Crouch seated in a high chair. Crouch's hair was dark, his face was much less lined, he looked fit and alert. "You have been brought from Azkaban at your own request to present evidence to this council. Should your testimony prove consequential, council may be prepared to order your immediate release. Until such time, you will remain in the eyes of the Ministry a convicted Death Eater. Do you accept these terms?"

"I do, sir," he said and although his voice was very scared, Harry could still hear the familiar unctuous note in it.

"And what do you wish to present?"

"I have names, sir. There was Rosier, Evan Rosier."

His assistant handed a piece of paper, "Rosier is dead," he read off the paper.

Moody leaned down to Dumbledore and said, "He took a piece of me with him, though didn't he?"

"I don't know," he replied.

"Is that all you have to offer? If that is all the witness has to offer—"

"No, no, no. There was Rookwood! He was a spy," he interrupted.

"Augustus Rookwood? Of the Department of Mysteries?"

"Yes, the same. He passed information to You-Know-Who from inside the Ministry itself," he answered.

"Very well, the council will deliberate. In the meantime, you will return to Azakaban."

"No! Wait! Wait, please! Please, I have more. What about Snape? Severus Snape?"

Dumbledore stood up and said, "As the council is aware, I've given evidence on this matter. Severus Snape was indeed a Death Eater and prior to Lord Voldemort's downfall turned spy gave a great personal risk."

"It's a lie!" Igor said.

"Today he's no more a Death Eater than I am," Dumbledore said and sat down.

"Snape remains faithful to the Dark Lord."

"Silence! Unless the witness possesses any genuine name of consequents, this section is now concluded," Crouch said.

"Oh, no, no, no. I've heard one more," he replied.

"What's that? A name? Yes?"

"I know for a fact this person took part in the capture and by means of the Cruciatus curse, the torture of the Auror Frank Longbottom and his wife!"

"The name. Give me the wretched name!" Crouch called out.

"Barty Crouch," he started off and a man had stood up, "Junior."

He started to run off but Moody used his wand to momentarily paralyze him. The security guards were around him and held onto him as he tried to fight them off. They brought him to his father, he was shouting, "Get your filthy hands off of me, you pathetic little men! Hello, father."

He looked at him in shock and said, "You are no son of mine."

The memory ended and he landed on his side. He stood up and saw Dumbledore, Ella and Edward there, "Curiosity is not a sin, Harry. But you should exercise caution. It's a Pensieve. Very useful if, like me, you find your mind a wee bit stretched. It allows me to see once more things I've already seen. You see, Harry, I have searched and searched for something, some small detail, something I might have overlooked, something that would explain why these terrible things have happened. Every time I get close to an answer, it slips away. It's maddening."

"Sir? Mr. Crouch's son. What exactly happened to him?" Harry asked.

"He was sent to Azkaban. Destroyed Barty to do it. But he had no choice. The evidence was overwhelming. Why do you ask?"

"It's just that I… I had a dream about him. It was in the summer, before school. In the dream, I was in a house and Voldemort was there, only not quite human. And Wormtail was there too. And Mr. Crouch's son," he explained.

"Have there been others like this dream?"

"Yes. Always the same one," he answered.

"Ella, are you having the same dreams?"

"Yes, I have. I spoke to Harry about it when it first came in the summer," she answered.

"Sir, these dreams, what I see, what we both see, you don't think it's actually happening, do you?"

"I think it's unwise for you to linger over these dreams, Harry. I think it's best if you simply…" he used his wand, held it to his head and withdrew a memory, "cast it away." He then put it in the Pensieve.

Harry was walking out of Dumbledore's office and heard voices. "It's a sign, Severus. You know what it means as well as I," Karkaroff told him. Harry saw him show Snape something that was on his arm. Karkaroff saw Harry and covered his arm and left.

Harry was about to leave before Snape called out, "Potter! What's your hurry? Congratulations, your performance in the Black Lake was inspiring. Gillyweed, am I correct?"

"Yes sir."

"Ingenious. A rather rare herb, Gillyweed. Not something found in your everyday garden," he said and went inside a small store, climbed up a ladder, grabbed something, "Nor is this," he stepped down from the ladder and faced Harry, "Know what it is?"

"Bubble juice, sir?" he asked.

"Veritaserum. Three drops of this and You-Know-Who himself would spill his darkest secrets. The use of it on a student is, regrettably, forbidden. However, should you ever steal from my personal stores again, my hand might just slip over your morning pumpkin juice."

"I haven't stolen anything," he informed him.

"Don't lie to me. Gillyweed may be innocuous, but boomslang skin, lacewing flies? You and your little friends are brewing Polyjuice Potion, and believe me, I'm going to find out why!" he slammed the door in his face. Harry left to the Gryffindor common room and saw Hermione and Ron there. He told him what had happened.

"What do you suppose is on Karkaroff's arm?" Ron asked.

"I don't know," Harry answered.

"Boomslang skin and Lacewing flies... you're sure those are the two ingredients Snape mentioned?" Hermione asked.

"Positive, why?" Harry asked.

"Well, he thinks we're brewing Polyjuice Potion doesn't he?"

"I don't care what Snape thinks, I've got bigger problems than detention. Something's coming closer. I can feel it," Harry said. He couldn't sleep that night. He couldn't stop thinking about what had happened. He didn't know what to do. The next day wasn't all that better, he couldn't focus on any of his activities and had minimal appetite.

"Harry, what's going on?" Hermione asked.

"Nothing. What are you talking about?" he asked.

"I've been calling your name for the last couple of minutes," she responded.

"It's nothing," he said.

"I don't think it is. I think we should go and see the Cullens about what you told Ron and me yesterday. Maybe they can help a bit or at least distract you from all of this for a bit," Hermione suggested. Harry thought about it and decided to take her advice.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," he said.

"I'll go get Ron," she said and started to stand up.

"Don't do that," he said, motioning for her to sit down again.

"Why?"

"He's still afraid of them," he answered.

"Why?" Hermione was genuinely curious. She thought that he wasn't afraid of the Cullens.
"He's afraid that they're going to drink his blood," Harry whispered.

"That boy needs to get over it," Hermione responded which caused Harry to laugh. He felt good to laugh for once. "Let's just go then, just the two of us." Harry nodded and they both stood up and walked towards the Cullen house. Just as about to knock, they heard some talking and quiet laughing. Harry went ahead and knocked on the door, waiting patiently for the door to be opened. When it did, he saw Carlisle standing there, "We just wanted to stop by for a visit but if you're busy, we can come back later."

"Come on in, Harry and Hermione," he said as he opened the door wider to let them through. When they came in, they saw Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall sitting, chatting and laughing with the Cullens.

"Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall," Harry said, politely.

"Ah, Harry, Hermione, what brings you here?" Dumbledore asked.

"Well… I—"

"I thought it would be a nice distraction for Harry, ever since what had happened yesterday, to come here and just chat with everyone," Hermione answered for him.

"What a nice thing, Hermione. A distraction is just what you need, Harry," Dumbledore said. "It's about time for Professor McGonagall and I to leave. This was a distraction for us, just as it is for you." They both said their goodbyes and left.

"Harry, Hermione, come sit," Ella said as she motioned for them to seat where Dumbledore and McGonagall just sat. "Have you eaten anything, Harry?"

Harry was a bit confused as to why the question was directed to him, "I just ate, thank you."

"No, he didn't," Hermione said.

"Hermione," he warned.

"Harry, you can't lie to vampires. They can smell your blood."

"What does that have to do with anything?" he asked.

"Our blood smells different when we haven't eaten anything," Hermione explained.

"Is that true?" Harry asked. Ella and her family nodded. "Well, I could eat something, I guess."

"I'll get something from the kitchen," Esme replied.

"What kind of distraction were you think of, Hermione?" Ella asked.

"Well, I thought maybe you could tell us a bit about vampires. Harry has been telling me what he's learned about you and I was curious myself about your kind. The way you live is different from what I've read in the books," she said.

"Ah, I see," Ella said. "What would you like to know more about?"

"I was wondering about the Volturi," she replied.

"Let's see what we can tell you. I'm sure that Carlisle can tell you more about them than any one of us can," Ella said.

"Why does Dr. Cullen know more about them?" Hermione asked.

"I lived with them for a time before I created this coven," he answered. Hermione sat in shock and tried to hide it. Everyone covered their laugh, not to offend her. "The Volturi act as the unofficial royalty of the vampire world, and operate from the city of Volterra, Italy," he started off. He thought that would be the best place to start. He thought some more before continuing, "They have existed for at least 3000 years, and are the largest coven in existence, followed by the Olympic and the Denali covens. "However, they do not follow a vegetarian diet, like we do, but they capture and murder several humans in a carefully planned "meal". The Volturi deal swiftly and decisively with anything they consider a threat to their city or to the vampire world; for example, they protect vampires' existence in secret. They destroy anyone who attempts to overthrow them or resist their authority and, at Caius' insistence, have hunted werewolves to near extinction in Europe and Asia.

"Real werewolves?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, real ones. There are people out there who can shape-shift into wolves but they aren't true werewolves."

"What about Professor Lupin? He's a werewolf," Hermione asked.

"Yes, he is one. However, if the Volturi knew about his existence, they would have done anything to kill him but for us, we found a way to co-exist," Carlisle reassured her.

"Are they like the royal family?" Hermione asked.

"They are not the 'official' royal family of vampires, they still act as though they are, and are an incredibly influential coven. They are also considered 'nighttime patrons of the arts' as, because of their inability to sleep, they study the arts at night. The Volturi act as guardians, keeping the secret society of vampires hidden from the human world as needed. They often send others to travel from Volterra to destroy overzealous covens from exposing vampires through mass eradication of every vampire and any humans present," Carlisle answered.

"Do they have any... powers? Or gifts? I'm not too sure as to what you call them," Hermione said.

"We can call them gifts but we, the Cullens, prefer to call them abilities," Carlisle answered. "But as for the Volturi, they prefer to call it powers and they do have them."

"What can they do?"

"Aro, one of the leaders, can hear every single thought a person/vampire has ever had upon making physical contact with that person. Marcus, also one of the leaders, can sense relationships between people," Carlisle stated.

"How many are there?" Hermione asked.

"Three," Carlisle said.

"Okay, you named two of them, who's the third?" Hermione inquired.

"It's Felix, but he is the only one that doesn't have a special ability but he is just as influential as Aro and Marcus. Then there's the Royal Guard."

"Royal Guard?"

Carlisle ruefully laughed, "They're not exactly called the Royal Guard but they are the Guard of the Volturi. Jane and Alec, twin members of the Guard, are credited and worshipped for having the most useful powers. Jane can cause someone to believe that they are feeling excruciating pain, making it easy for the Volturi to attack and destroy their enemies. Alec's powers are also useful when attacking the enemy: he can cut off all senses making the prey unable to see, hear or feel anything, enabling the vampires to kill them without a fight. Demetri, a member of the Guard, is a tracker. He can track a person down once he has the tenor of their mind. He is known as the best tracker in the vampire world. Renata, also a member of the Guard, is a shield. She shields Aro and stands by his side at all times," Carlisle explained.

"I hate to cut this short but I think it's time for Harry and Hermione to go back and have supper," Ella gently interfered. Everyone looked at the time and nodded.

"Could we come back soon? I would love to hear more," Hermione asked.

"Of course. Just stop by when you can," Carlisle replied. Harry and Hermione both left and thinking about what they had just discussed.