Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Chapter 37

Suddenly, when we stopped falling, we landed on a bench. It was weird though because it wasn't any kind of crash landing, we sort of just landed there. When I looked up, I expected to see the circular window that we had fallen through, but instead their was nothing.

"Well, I'm glad that wasn't weird…" I muttered to Harry.

Harry gave a short laugh and then I looked around in shock to see that we weren't alone. We were now in the room that we had seen through the weird substance in Dumbledore's office, but it was different. The empty room that we had seen before was now filled with witches and wizards, none of which seemed to notice our sudden and abrupt appearance. I was completely shocked when I turned to my right and saw Professor Dumbledore sitting directly next to me. Harry, who was sitting on my left, spotted him at the same time I did.

"Professor!" Harry said in shock.

"Professor, we're so sorry," I said quickly. "We didn't mean any harm, we were just looking through the basin."

He wasn't paying any attention to me. Was he angry? Maybe this was his way of being furious at us, just ignoring us completely. I guess that we sort of deserved it. We had no right to sneak around his office and go through his belongings. Then again, it seemed very unlike Dumbledore to ignore us like this. He wasn't that kind of person…

"Emily…" Harry said in a low tone.

"What?" I asked and turned to him.

He was looking around the room as if he realized something all of a sudden. Of course, I was completely oblivious to this, so I sort of wish that he would hurry up and explain what was the matter.

"This is a memory," Harry said slowly.

"A memory?" I asked. "What are you talking about?"

"Remember in our second year when I told you that I went inside of Riddle's diary?" he asked.

"Sure, you said that Riddle showed you something in his past," I said.

"Well, it was a lot like this," he explained. "You get to be inside of the memory and see everything that happens, but you have no effect on what happens. You're just an observer."

I looked around the room again to try to pick up any clues of when this memory actually took place. Dumbledore didn't look any different in this memory than he does now, so obviously it couldn't have been that long ago. Then again, I'm not really sure how old Dumbledore really is…

The room that we were in had a very ominous mood to it. It appeared to be some sort of underground dungeon and no one really appeared to be all that excited to be here - they all looked rather grim if you ask me. We were sitting on the benches that circled the room and just below the risen benches sat a single chair that had chains hanging off of it.

"Do you think that it's a courtroom?" I asked Harry quietly.

"I'm not sure…" Harry said.

Just as he was about to say something else, I felt an extreme chill go throughout my spine. Next thing we knew, the doors at the corner of the dungeon opened and a single person, followed by two dementors came in slowly through the doors. That explained the cold feeling that I just got. Then I turned my attention to the man that was being brought into the room. He looked oddly familiar…is that -

"Karkaroff?" Harry asked quietly as the dementors brought him to the chair. "What is he doing here?"

I watched as they sat him down in the chained chair. As the dementors stepped away, the chains began to snake around Karkaroff's arms, bounding him in place. Everyone in the room remained silent, until the case began with the sound of Barty Crouch's voice. When I noticed him sitting behind a podium, it was obvious that this case had taken place years ago. He looked so much younger in this memory than he did now.

"Igor Karkaroff," Mr. Crouch addressed. "You have been brought forth to present information to the Minsistry, is this correct?"

"Yes sir, I wish to help," Karkaroff said in a shaky voice. "I know that the Ministry is trying to round up all of the Dark Lord's supporters, an I hope that I can be of assistance to this…"

The courtroom suddenly broke out into a quiet murmur. It didn't sound too pleasant though, so it was obvious that no one in the room believed him.

"Filth," someone growled nearby.

I turned around and saw none other than Mad-Eye Moody. It was really odd to see him like this because he looked nearly normal with two regular eyes in his head. It's probably weird that it became normal to see that crazed eye all of the time.

"It took me months to track this one down," Moody mumbled. "And Crouch is just going to let him go if he has the names. If it were me, I would just get the information and let the dementors have him back - oh, you don't like the dementors do you?"

There really wasn't much need to ask because the look on Dumbledore's face said it all. He didn't like the dementors at all. In fact, it even seemed as though the thoroughly disgusted him by just being on the same planet as him.

"I believe that you have some names for us Karkaroff," Crouch said. "Let's hear them."

I turned to Harry for a moment and saw that he was completely glued to everything that was happening. I couldn't blame him either, it was interesting to be here in a sense. Though I had the sense that I shouldn't be here because Dumbledore didn't want us to find this. Then again, I couldn't help but wait in anticipation for the names that he was going to call out. Maybe they were people that I'd heard of. Would he even tell the truth? Or was he just going to frame people to save himself?

"You must understand," Karkaroff said. "The Dark Lord operated in extreme secrecy. He preferred that we - meaning his supporters of course - not that I would like to be associated-"

"Would he just say the names already," Moody said.

Although I hate to admit it, I couldn't agree with Moody any more than right now. He was just trying to get on Crouch's good side so he wouldn't want to have him killed after he gave out the names.

"We never knew all of the names of followers," he continued. "He was the only one that knew each of us by name - "

"Would you give us the names," Crouch said impatiently.

Karkaroff looked around the room for a moment, probably in fear. He was getting ready to hand out the names of people that could potentially get killed for doing Voldemort's bidding. That wasn't really saying anything on his part though. It was kind of sick that he was ready to give out people's names just for his own safety - not that those people didn't deserve what they got, but it was still sick. It almost put him at a lower standard. Almost.

"Antonin Dolohov," he said shakily. "He tortured many Muggles - "

"We already have Dolohov," Crouch said in a blunt manner. "He was caught after you were."

"W-wonderful news," he said while shaking.

It couldn't be more apparent that he didn't think that it was wonderful. This wasn't going to help his case at all if he gave out names that weren't useful to the Ministry.

"There was…Rosier - Evan Rosier," Karkaroff said hopefully.

"Rosier is dead," Crouch said. "He was killed when he struggled against us."

Karkaroff remained silent for a moment, probably thinking up of different people to name off. That and he was probably terrified of the fact that he wasn't helping himself.

"There was Travers - he helped murder the McKinnons," Karkaroff said quickly. "And Mulciber! He put many people under the Imperius Curse and made them do Voldemort's bidding! And Rookwood - he was a spy! He passed along information from the Ministry!"

The crowd began to talk amongst itself which could only mean one thing. He had finally provided them with a name that could be of some use to them.

"Augustus Rookwood of the Department of Mysteries?" Crouch repeated.

"That's him," Karkaroff nodded. "He collected information within-"

"Okay, we already have Travers and Mulciber," Crouch interrupted him. "If that is all, I believe that it is time for you to return to your cell in Azkaban."

"No - I have more," Karkaroff shouted desperately.

Crouch looked a bit surprised that Karkaroff had shouted, but listened in to what he was about to say.

"Snape - Severus Snape!" he shouted again.

It felt like a rock had dropped inside of me and my throat constricted. There it was. There had always been assumptions and accusations that flew among us about Snape being a Death Eater - but none of them had been confirmed until now. Even if I had suspected it, I didn't like having it confirmed.

It wasn't any better that I felt Harry's eyes boring into the side of my head. I half expected him to start saying "I told you so," but I don't think that he would at this point.

"Snape has been cleared by the council - Albus Dumbledore has vouched for him," Crouch said.

"NO!" Karkaroff said angrily. "Severus Snape is a Death Eater!"

There was a great murmur amongst the crowd, but Dumbledore stood up next to me quickly.

"Severus Snape was indeed a Death Eater," Dumbledore announced. "However, he decided to take our side before Lord Voldemort's downfall and turned spy against them. He is no more a Death Eater than I am."

So that's what happened. But how did he convince Dumbledore that he was on our side? I guess that it was just going to remain a matter between Dumbledore and Snape. It didn't seem like anyone ever wanted to talk about that. I wish that he would tell me, so then I could get some sort of understanding, but I knew that he wouldn't.

"Very well," Crouch said. "We shall review your case. In the meantime, you may return to your cell in Azkaban."

As his voice faded away, I felt the room begin to spin. Before it focused in on what I guessed to be another scene, I still felt Harry's gaze at my side. He wanted to talk about it, but I had no interest at the moment. I knew that he wasn't going to rub it in my face because he knew wouldn't do that because it was something serious to me.

"Emily?" he asked quietly. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I said bluntly. "What's going on now?"

He looked hesitant to answer me, but when the scene finally came into focus, Harry's jaw dropped and I raised an eyebrow. It was the same dungeon, but Karkaroff was no longer there. Where he had been sitting before sat Ludo Bagman. He didn't look anything like he did now - he was much younger and it was obvious that this was in the days where he had played for the Quidditch team. But what was he doing here?

"Bagman was a Death Eater?" Harry gasped.

"Listen," I hushed him as the case began.

We turned our attention to Crouch who now looked a lot more tired than he had before. It was hard to say how many years had passed, but Mr. Crouch looked as though it had been eighty years. I guess that was what this job did to you after a while.

"Ludo Bagman," Crouch addressed him. "You have been brought forth to answer to the charges relating to the activities of Death Eaters. We heard evidence against you. Do you have anything to add to your testimony before we proceed?"

"Only that I've been - well - a bit of an idiot," Bagman said awkwardly.

By the look on everyone's faces, it was apparent that everyone had taken a liking to Bagman. I assumed that, at the time, he was a very popular Quidditch player, so he had that on his side.

"Ludovic Bagman, you were caught passing information to Lord Voldemort's supporters," Crouch announced. "For this, I suggest you spend an imprisonment in Azkaban-"

It was hard to tell what Crouch's next words were by the outrage that the crowd went up in. Many of the witches and wizards in the crowd stood up and were shouting things and shaking their fists in protest of what Crouch was saying.

"I've told you," Bagman said over the crowd. "I had no idea that I was passing information! Rookwood was an old family friend - how could I have known any different? I thought that he was on our side!"

It was very believable to be honest. Bagman did seem the type to just go passing around information, completely oblivious to who he was telling or what was to become of it. He was kind of an idiot in a way.

"It shall be voted on then," Crouch said angrily and turned to the jury. "All in favor of imprisonment - raise your hands."

Not a single person raised their hand. Instead, the crowd burst out into applause. Nothing needed to be said before the scene began to fade away once again. Bagman had been set free because, not only was he popular in sports, but he was also a completely harmless moron. That was a fact.

When the scene came back into focus, it was the most miserable one that I had seen so far. Instead of the quiet chatter that went around in the previous memories, there was complete silence in the courtroom. In the center of the courtroom where only a single seat had sat before were now four chairs in its place, all of them with chains around them.

Mr. Crouch, who had looked tired and miserable before, now looked about three times his age and even worse than I had ever seen him before. Beside him in the stands sat a woman around his age that appeared to be extraordinarily nervous.

"Let them in," Crouch said in a hollow voice that echoed through the silent courtroom.

The door opened up to reveal six dementors that were escorting four people to the center of the room towards the chairs. I noticed a slight shift in the crowd as the prisoners sat in their chairs. Many people turned to their neighbors and began to whisper things that I couldn't hear from where I was sitting. There was always something in common though, they all seemed to be giving Mr. Crouch a very skeptical and sorrowful look. I must be missing something.

In the crowd of four people, I didn't recognize one of them. The first one was a very large man that appeared to have no expression to tell whether or not he was worried. The second man wasn't hiding his fear at all as his eyes shifted nervously around the courtroom as if he wished he was anywhere but here. The third person was a woman with dark hair and eyes that seemed to view this case as something to be proud of. The last person appeared to be a boy in his late teens. This boy looked petrified and he continuously shot horrified looks around the courtyard with a nervous and pleading look plastered on his young, boyish face.

As the chains went around the four prisoners, the nervous woman next to Crouch began to rock nervously back and forth as she stared out at them.

"You have been brought here before the Council of Magical Law so that we may pass judgment on you," Mr. Crouch said without a crack in his voice. "For a crime so horrid, that -

"Father, father please," the youngest prisoner begged.

So that was what I had been missing. This boy was Mr. Crouch's son - the one that Sirius had told us about during our last visit to Hogsmeade. He had mentioned that his son had been convicted of the crime of being a Death Eater and that his father had no mercy on him at all. Sirius hadn't been exaggerating at all. By the cold look on Crouch's face, it appeared that he had no sympathy at all for his only son. The woman that was crying next to him must have been Mrs. Crouch, who had died just after her son.

"We have evidence against you," Crouch continued after the interruption. "The four of you have been accused of capturing the Auror Frank Longbottom and subjecting him to the Cruciatus Curse, believing him to have knowledge on where You-Know-Who is hiding - "

"Father, please," his son cried from the chained chair. "I didn't - you have to believe me! Father, I didn't do it!"

"You are further accused of using the very same curse on Alice Longbottom after he would not provide you with the information that you were seeking," Crouch yelled over the sobs of his son. "You planned to restore your master to power and continue in the violence that you have created - "

"Mother!" the boy screamed over his father. "Don't let him do this - it wasn't me!"

The witch that I knew to be Mrs. Crouch now broke out into uncontrollable sobs at the plea of her son. Mr. Crouch, who spoke even louder than before, appeared to have little emotion for what his family was now going through.

"I know ask the jury to raise their hands if you believe that this act deserves a lifetime sentence in Azkaban!" Mr. Crouch yelled over his wife and son.

Each of the members of the jury raised their hands in unison as the boy shrieked even louder than before in complete and utter horror. The screams only got louder as the dementors came back over to return the prisoners to their cells.

"NO!" the boy yelled. "MOTHER! NO! I DIDN'T DO IT! Don't let them take me - don't let them do it!"

The woman with the large, black hair and dark eyes smiled in triumph as if she had just won a medal of honor. She stood up willingly from the chair and walked back with the dementors looking as proud as ever.

"The Dark Lord will rise again, Crouch!" she smiled insanely. "You just wait - he'll be back and he'll reward us!"

Crouch's son didn't go as easily as the others. He put up a fight with the dementors and tried with every fiber in his being to stay in the courtroom to get his father's attention.

"I am your son!" he shrieked.

"You are no son of mine!" Mr. Crouch yelled.

It was a horrific scene and I nearly lost myself in it and I nearly jumped out of my skin when I heard a voice behind me speak to me.

"I think that it is time to return to my office," Dumbledore's voice said.

All of a sudden, Harry and I felt ourselves being dragged backward and we were once again in Dumbledore's office. It was all a shock and I couldn't even think straight because of what I had just seen. I had known before that Crouch's son had been taken away for helping Voldemort, but I never even imagined what that could have been like to witness. It was terrifying.

I would have never imagined the reasoning for his charges either. He was involved in torturing Neville's parents into insanity. Neville had told me earlier in the year what had happened in minor details, but it never occurred to me that the people that had done this were even still around. I guess that I had figured that they had faded into the darkness along with Voldemort. I had just witnessed before my eyes the people that had made his life a living hell and I could never forgive them for that.

In a way, I pitied Crouch's son, but at the same time, I hated him for everything that he was worth. Was he truly involved with the torturing of Neville's parents? It's hard to say now that he was dead. I guess that no one would know. What about the other three though? Especially the one woman that sat in the chair as if it were a throne. Was she still in Azkaban or had she gone insane because of the dementors? She was proud of what she did and she didn't hide it either. That's what made me hate her the very most out of all of them. She has no idea the pain that she caused Neville and she doesn't even care. Not that it would matter to a sick person like her, she would probably be thrilled with the fact that she had ruined someone's life.

Thanks for reading, I hope that you liked it! Sorry that it's up a little late, but I guess that it's becoming a habit of mine to be inconstant with my writing.

It was pointed out by someone that this story is considered a "twins" story, but it's only told from Emily's point of view. I'm sorry for not pointing this out, but it was actually intended on being told completely from her point of view because she is the character that I came up with. It is very possible that I will decide to temporarily take on a different character's point of view later on in the series for a little while to see how that works - but it'll only be temporary because this is supposed to be a story told from Emily's point of view.

Again, like I have been talking about for a while, I would love to have you all submit some fan art to either my Tumblr, Twitter, or even Fanfiction page through a message so I can see what your interpretation of what Emily looks like. I was interested in seeing a picture that included her with another character (preferably Snape, Harry, George, Neville, etc.). Any of these pictures that have already been submitted can be viewed on both my Tumblr and Twitter pages. Thank you to anyone that has already participated - I love your drawings!

Tell me what you think of the chapter! :D