Rita Skeeter's latest article had caused problems for Harry, Aria, and Hermione. Every conversation referenced the article and the so-called love triangle. Harry was getting mixed reactions, ranging from teasing to sympathy. Most students, mainly Slytherins, were teasing him at every opportunity. He could barely leave his room without some guy making a snide comment about his love troubles. Viktor Krum's fan girls insulted him, threatening to hex him if he dared to cross Viktor and humiliate him by supposedly stealing his girl. Other girls treated him like an injured puppy, offering a shoulder to cry on or a date with them to get his mind off of Hermione. The article only seemed to make him more interesting to girls. Aria had to deal with similar problems. It was awkward when girls would come up to her, telling her to be with either Daphne or Hermione for various reasons. She had even gotten into fights with guys that were stupid enough to tease her, taking a different approach from Harry, who chose to ignore all of the taunts.
Out of the three of them, Hermione endured the worst bullying. She was getting viciously insulted by girls at Hogwarts. The girls appeared to believe Pansy's claim about love potions and were cruel to Hermione for toying with two guys. The only one not bothered by the attention was Daphne. Like Harry, she gained sympathy from people. Aria did not understand how anyone could side with her when she and Daphne were never in any kind of relationship. It made her want to ask Dumbledore to have an intelligence requirement for acceptance to Hogwarts as a method to weed out the morons.
Aria was sitting on the bottom steps of the grand staircase with Harry and Hermione. Ron had gone down to the kitchens to get food from the house elves. During their Hogsmeade trip, they would be visiting Sirius, who was hiding somewhere in the village. Harry was telling her about the conversation between Snape and Karkaroff during yesterday's Potions lesson. Karkaroff sounded very tense when speaking to Snape and showed something on his arm. Whatever it was had made Snape anxious.
"What could be on his arm?"
Aria shrugged. "I don't know. We could ask Sirius. It must be bad if it made Snape nervous"
"Maybe it has to do with why Snape needed a second chance from Dumbledore"
"Well if it isn't the stars of the fourth year love triangle"
A group of fifth years, including Cormac, were walking down the staircase. The guys sniggered at Cormac's remark. Aria rolled her eyes. Cormac had been one of the guys teasing her and Harry about the article.
"Are you meeting Greengrass later, Shaw? Or is it going to be a double date with your two girls?"
"Aaron, ignore him" whispered Hermione, disgusted.
Aria stood up, moving in front of the hecklers. Cormac was slightly taller than her and possessed a lot more muscle. While he had strength on his side, he lacked any intelligence. She had seen rats smarter than him.
"You're funny, McLaggen. Why don't we go in that supply closet over there?"
His smirk faltered. Despite his bullying, he knew that Aria was a very advanced witch for her age. He had never gone past verbal taunts, too worried that she might hex him.
"I uh don't want to go in there"
"No, we really should. Come on, let's go"
"J—just get out of my way, Shaw"
"No. Let's go in the closet and you can tell me more of your hilarious jokes about me. It's just a closet. What could I possibly do to you in there?"
Their voices were overlapping as they argued over going into the closet. As they left the Great Hall, people stopped, watching the confrontation.
"I'm sure you have a lot more jokes. Get in there, pal"
"I said get out of my way"
Aria grabbed him by his hair, dragging him into the closet. After five minutes of struggling, where Cormac let out a couple pained groans, she opened the door. She shoved Cormac into the corridor. His shirt was tied around his waist, hanging over his boxers with little quaffles, and his pants had been put over his head. People burst into fits of laughter at the sight. Cormac attempted to get the clothes off but Aria was one step ahead, casting a sticking charm. Embarrassed, he hurried up the staircase, his friends chasing after him.
"Would anyone else like to comment about a certain article? I have no objections to doing the same to every single one of you"
No one replied, just staring at the floor silently. "That's what I thought. Go mind your own business, monkeys"
As they left the castle, she sat back down between Harry and Hermione. Harry was still laughing while Hermione had her head in her hands.
"Aaron, why did you do that?" she asked.
"To shut him up. McLaggen is annoying. Everyone wanted to shut him up but I'm the only one who actually did it"
"You can't do that with everyone who makes a joke. This will all pass within a week"
Ron returned with a box of food. Aria minimized the box and hid it in her bag and they headed down to Hogsmeade. Harry told him about what had happened with Cormac, causing Ron to snigger. After Harry bought a pair of socks for Dobby, as a thank you for helping with the second task, they walked towards the edge of the village, near the path that led to the mountains. Aria tensed up slightly, remembering the last time she had been there. Memories of her imprisonment in the caves flashed through her mind. Sirius, in his animagus form, was waiting at the end of the path, holding old copies of the Daily Prophet in his mouth. Harry greeted him and he sniffed Aria's bag, wagging his tail excitedly. They followed Sirius around the mountains. He led them into a small cave and Aria reluctantly stepped inside, taking slow breaths. She decided to stay near the entrance of the cave, telling the others that she would act as a lookout.
Buckbeak was tethered to a large rock and bowed down to them. Sirius changed back into himself. He was wearing ragged grey robes and his overall appearance, untidy hair and thin frame, reminded her of when she first met him, just a few months after his escape from Azkaban. When Harry gave him the food, he practically scarfed down the chicken. Sirius told them that he had been living off of rats lately since he could not risk being seen by anyone in Hogsmeade. He grinned at Harry and Aria. She managed a weak smile. Harry worried that someone would spot Sirius in the mountains but Sirius assured him that no one here knew about him being an animagus.
Ron unfolded the Daily Prophets and passed copies to each of them. The front pages had articles about Crouch's absence due to illness and Bertha Jorkin's disappearance. According to the Daily Prophet, Crouch had not been seen since November and no one would comment on the situation. The Ministry, wanting to keep the public calm, refused to confirm that he was in critical condition and St. Mungo's would not comment if he was a patient at the hospital.
"They're making it sound like he's dying. He can't be that ill if he came here" said Harry.
Ron informed Sirius that Percy was Crouch's assistant. Percy explained the absence by saying that Crouch was suffering from excess work. Hermione did not seem very concerned about Crouch's health, thinking it was karma for his treatment of Winky. Sirius was interested in Crouch firing Winky at the World Cup. Aria did not pay attention as Harry recounted the events of the World Cup, including the appearance of the Dark Mark and his wand being found with Winky.
Sirius was pacing back and forth. "Harry, did you check your pockets for your wand after you'd left the Top Box?"
"No. I didn't need to use it before we got in the forest. Why? You think whoever conjured the Mark stole my wand in the Top Box?"
"It's possible"
"Winky didn't steal the wand!" insisted Hermione.
Harry told Sirius about the other people in the Top Box. When he mentioned the Malfoys, Ron immediately jumped to the conclusion that Mr. Malfoy had stolen Harry's wand.
"It wasn't him, Ron" said Aria, speaking up for the first time.
He looked at her. "How do you know?"
"Because when the Dark Mark was cast, he was really tense and quiet. Why would he be like that if he did it?"
"To hide that he did it. It's called acting"
"I was around him for months. He's not that good of an actor" she replied, moving her hand outside into the sunlight.
Sirius was watching her with a concerned expression. He questioned them about other people in the Top Box. Hermione pointed out that Bagman was there, insinuating that he was a possible suspect. Aria and Ron were skeptical of that idea. Bagman did not look like the type to use dark magic. He was a bumbling fool who just used his quidditch fame to move up in the Ministry. Sirius questioned what Crouch did when Winky was found with the wand. Harry explained that Crouch went searching in the bushes.
"He didn't find anyone there"
"Of course. He'd want to pin it on anyone but his own elf…and then he sacked her?"
"Yes, he sacked her just because she hadn't stayed in her tent and let herself get trampled…"
Ron groaned, not wanting to hear Hermione attack Crouch for mistreating a house elf. Sirius defended her, claiming that to understand a person, they should see how the person treats their inferiors, not their equals.
"You never told me he went looking in the bushes" said Aria, looking at Harry.
He shrugged. "Didn't sound important. Why?"
"Who says no one was there? Just because he didn't tell anyone"
"Why wouldn't he, Aaron?"
"Crouch has always been shady. Winky obviously didn't cast the Mark but someone did and you never heard them apparate out of the forest. Maybe he knows who did it and he's hiding it for his own personal gain. I wouldn't put it past him to have his secrets. The Ministry's full of corrupted officials"
"Come off it. Who would he defend for casting the Dark Mark?" asked Ron.
Sirius thought that Aria's theory was plausible. He revealed that Crouch had been the one to send him to Azkaban without a trial. At the time, Crouch was head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and front runner to be the next Minister of Magic. During the first wizarding war, he had been heavily praised for being a strong wizard who heavily opposed Voldemort and made wizarding society feel safe by putting people in Azkaban, even if there was doubt about their involvement with the death eaters. Crouch was power-hungry and used the fear to his advantage, letting aurors kill suspected death eaters instead of the usual capture then question method and even authorizing the use of unforgivable curses. His fortune fell when his own son, Barty Crouch jr., had been caught with a group of death eaters.
Instead of being lenient on his son, he gave him a trial and then sent him straight to Azkaban. Sirius told them that Crouch's son was no older than nineteen at the time and he would scream for his mother every night until he had just gone quiet. Crouch's son died a year after they brought him to Azkaban. It was a common occurrence for prisoners to go insane and lose the will to live. Crouch and his wife visited him on a deathbed visit and shortly after, his wife died from grief. After losing his wife and son, Crouch fell from grace, going from the next Minister of Magic to a dishonored wizard. People blamed Crouch for his son's actions, believing that Crouch never cared about him. With the backlash against him, Fudge received the Minister position and Crouch was placed in the Department of International Magical Cooperation. Aria remembered how Harry mentioned Crouch's eyes bulging when he found Winky at the scene of the Dark Mark. Hearing this new information about Crouch, she thought there was more to that story than him being angry at a little house elf.
Harry was telling Sirius about Crouch's obsession with catching dark wizards and how he snuck into Snape's office. It led to an argument between Ron and Hermione over whether Snape could be trusted. Sirius sided with both of them on the issue. He explained how Snape always showed a fascination with dark magic and wanted to be part of a Slytherin gang that all turned out to be death eaters. Despite his talent for dark magic, there was no evidence that he had been an actual death eater though most of them were never caught by the Ministry. Harry brought up the conversation between Snape and Karkaroff but Sirius did not have any answers about what could be on Karkaroff's arm.
"Dumbledore trusts where a lot of people wouldn't but I just can't see him letting Snape teach if he'd ever worked for Voldemort"
"Then why do Moody and Crouch want to get into Snape's office?" asked Ron, disappointed that Sirius was fully on his side about Snape being untrustworthy.
"I wouldn' t put it past Mad-Eye to search every teacher's office. I doubt he trusts anyone at all after all the things he's seen. He was tough but he never descended to the level of the death eaters. Crouch is more important right now. If he's ill, why would he drag himself to Hogwarts? If he's not, what is he really up to and why is he pretending to be sick? Why hasn't been judging the tournament?"
Sirius asked Ron to write to Percy about Crouch and if there are any leads on Bertha Jorkins. The article about Jorkins did not sound very serious, commenting on her poor memory. He had known her at Hogwarts and said that she was dim but always remembered the latest gossip, similar to Daphne.
"You should head back soon. I just want to talk to Aaron alone really quick"
Grabbing her arm, he led her out of the cave. She leaned against the wall, arms crossed.
"I'm fine. I hate when you look at me like that"
"You haven't been answering my letters since…what happened"
"What's there to talk about, Sirius? I just don't like being near these caves. Grant kept me locked in here for weeks. I was pretty much at my lowest point"
"Tell me what happened. Your father gave me the short version but I want to hear it from you"
Aria recounted the incident at her aunt's manor. She told him how she had tricked them by pretending to be hurt by the wolfsbane.
"Did you ever figure out why you were getting so tired?"
"Probably some spell by them. What does it matter? I got my strength back"
"Because if it was Grant doing it, he would've made sure that you stayed weak. I've known Grant my entire life, Aria. He doesn't like even the tiniest bit of doubt. He would've been prepared for the wolfsbane not being fully effective"
"He thought I wasn't a threat. I don't want to talk about this anymore"
"They won't come near you now that your father is out of Azkaban. No matter what Elyse says, the only person she's more scared of than her father is yours. They know that if they even looked at you the wrong way, he'd hex them until they were piles of dirt"
"Have you seen him?"
"I met him and Remus at the old house. He's letting Remus stay there. He offered me a room too but I want to be close to here until the tournament is over and I'm sure that Harry is safe. Keep an eye out for anything suspicious. If I'm not there for him, you're the next best protection"
"I know. I won't let anything happen to him. He's like a brother to me. If anyone messes with him, my claws will come out"
He chuckled, ruffling her hair. Harry, Hermione, and Ron left the cave. Patting Harry on the shoulder, Sirius told him to keep sending letters and not leave Hogwarts without permission. After saying their goodbyes, they headed back down to Hogsmeade.
"Why did he need to talk to you alone?"
Hermione stepped on Harry's foot. Aria looked at him.
"He always does that. Why can't he say what he says to you in front of us…or at least me? Is there something you're not telling us?"
"He was just asking me about what happened when I was kidnapped, Harry. I don't like talking about it"
"But he's done that before and"
"He kind of used to have a crush on my mom when they were teenagers. He likes to ask about her and see if he's got a shot" she lied.
Relieved that they believed her, she suggested that they check out the new candies in Honeyduke's. She opened the door, ushering them into the shop.
The next two days were torture for Hermione. Giggles and whispers from passing girls were nothing compared to what began during breakfast on Monday morning. Hermione received letters from random people, mostly women. All of the letters were trashing Hermione, calling her a wicked girl for messing with Harry's affections. One letter contained undiluted bubotuber pus which caused her painful boils to form on her hands. It had gotten so bad that Hermione refused to open any letters. Aria would immediately burn them the letters and toss the howlers into the lake. She felt terrible that Hermione was being treated so poorly due to a cruel lie. The Slytherin girls loved seeing Hermione upset and did not stop with their relentless bullying during classes. Instead of crying or hiding in her room, Hermione became more determined to find out how Skeeter had been hearing private conversations since Dumbledore banned her from the grounds. Aria decided to help her and was sure that the Slytherins had some involvement. They were both certain that Skeeter could not be using some muggle recording device to get her gossip.
Aria was sitting in the Slytherin common room, waiting for Pansy and Millicent. Like every other morning, they took an hour to get ready. Tracey was finishing up her essay for the Potions assignment. Zacharias Smith, her partner, had been no help at all, having her do all of the work. They chose something basic, deciding to come up with the ingredients for an advanced boil cure potion. From what Aria had heard, besides a few other pairs, only she and Draco had created an actual potion for the assignment. They were not worried about failing due to Aria's advanced potion skills. Last night, they tested the potion for happiness on a group of second years and it made them cheerful for hours.
"Let them take their time. I don't mind missing History of Magic. Binns won't even notice" said Theodore.
"Where's Daphne? She's done trying to get pictures of us together to send to Witch Weekly?" asked Aria, glancing around the nearly empty common room.
Tracey was purposely avoiding Aria's gaze, writing the last sentence of her essay. She told them that Daphne had gone to the owlery to send a letter to her mother. Blaise asked her to contact her with her two-way mirror, which was similar to Ben's mirror. All four girls had them, using the mirrors to gossip and send messages during classes. Tracey reached into her bag and placed a small compact mirror onto the table.
"It's a piece of junk. My sister sold us broken ones. You can't even see the other person. Besides, she won't talk to you, Blaise. She's busy"
"Sending a letter? How long does that take? She's been gone all morning"
"Well, it's an important letter"
"You're lying. Where is she?"
"I already told you! Stop asking!"
"Yea, stop being rude, Blaise. Tracey's under a lot of stress"
Blaise was about to retort until Aria gave the guys a subtle wink. She offered Tracey to lean her head on her shoulder for much needed rest. Tracey thanked her, putting down her essay. As she leaned her head, Aria covered her mouth and Draco pinned her legs to the couch. Tracey struggled against them, mumbling into Aria's hand.
"Shh, just let it happen. You're not going to win, Tracey"
Aria grabbed the mirror and tapped it with her hand, saying Daphne's name. The mirror emitted a faint blue glow.
"Hey Tracey" said Daphne.
"Hi" replied Aria, imitating Tracey's voice perfectly.
Tracey squealed, looking up at Aria. The guys sniggered quietly.
"These mirrors are terrible. I can't even see you. You need to get our money back from your sister"
"What are you doing?"
"I told you this morning. I set up that interview with Rita Skeeter in the Three Broomsticks. Once I tell her how much Aaron is in love with me and she prints the article in Witch Weekly, he'll have to ask me out for real or everyone will think he's being so mean to me for not being a good boyfriend. It's the perfect plan, right?"
Aria giggled. "Definitely. Are you with her right now?"
"She should be here in a few minutes. I'll tell you all about it during class"
"Okay. Bye"
The glow faded from the mirror. Aria was contemplating whether to drag Daphne out of the pub by her hair or strangle her. She moved her hand away from Tracey and stood up from the couch.
"Aaron, wait. It's not what you think"
"You knew about this?"
"It's just—you know how Daphne is…she's so funny sometimes. She says things she doesn't mean and—what are you going to do?"
"I'm going to stop the interview and then…I'll either yell at her or I'll kill her. Depends on my mood when I get there"
"Don't. I—I'll stop you"
"Pfft, good luck with that"
Aria left the common room. She closed her eyes, focusing on Hogsmeade. When she took a small peek, she found herself at the dungeons entrance. She groaned, annoyed that she only transported herself a few feet. Muttering curses under her breath, she ran to the Three Broomsticks. Daphne was sitting at a booth, putting on lip gloss. Seeing Aria, she panicked and covered her face with a menu.
"Hey sugar muffin" said Aria with a fake smile.
"A—Aaron, hi. What are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same"
"I was just here for a quick drink. Butterbeer wakes me up in the morning"
"Really? So you're not here to tell that gossip rat how we're in a relationship? Don't try to deny it, Daphne. I was the one talking to you in the mirror, not Tracey"
"Please don't tell Rita Skeeter the truth. It'll embarrass me"
Aria pouted. "Oh no, I would never do that. If you don't call off this interview, I will make your life a living hell"
Rita Skeeter was entering the pub. Daphne walked over to her and told her that they needed to cancel the interview. Aria brought her back to the castle, ignoring all of her apologies…
A/N: Fourth year is going to wrap up within the next few chapters. A lot of things will start coming together, including her relationships with different people. Aria's line about Harry being like a brother to her is going to be important, especially when it comes to the third task. Something to remember is that Aria has always been a very loyal person but that could be her downfall.
Thanks for reading :)