Disclaimer: I don't own anyone or anything but a few OC's.

Warnings: same as in previous chapters.

So, the reason I haven't updated sooner is because I was focusing on the re-write one of my other stories, 'Aurora of the High Heavens.' I'm still going to be focusing on that, and I refuse to apologize because I set that story aside so that I could write this one in the first place. Still, I'll try not to go too long without updating this one.

Enjoy!

The Saturday before the First Task, Hayden found herself in the small wizarding village located just south of Hogwarts.

Apparently students third year and up could, with parental permission, spend time in the village on certain days with minimal teacher supervision, exploring the shops, establishments, and the infamous Shrieking Shack.

And so, with the Tournament, guests were invited to go as well.

The last location was where Hayden had decided to visit first, having heard about the place from Sirius.

She tilted her head thoughtfully, gazing at the rundown building that was said to be the most haunted place in Britain, though of course Hayden knew the real story.

To think of the times Siri and her father had spent there with their old friend, the current History of Magic professor Remus Lupin, running around in their Animagus forms while the latter was roaming in his werewolf form.

Sarada had mentioned that she had met and briefly spoken with the man, and that it had seemed like he was finally going to try to reconnect with Sirius and Hayden, but so far he hadn't done or said anything, and Hayden was hardly going to make the first move.

Sirius, for his part, was testing his old friend's resolve by making him make the first move, and Hayden had no problem with that. He was the one who had grown up with and had been believed to be a traitor by the man.

Hayden thought about all of this as she stared at the Shack, but eventually got tired of it and moved on.

A few hours passed, and Hayden found herself in the Three Broomsticks, nursing a butterbeer with her family, including her Aunt Konan, Uncle Nagato, and little Amaya, who had come to visit with her mother and Sayuri. Sirius would have been there too, but he was on a date with Anko, probably over at Zonko's prank shop terrifying unsuspecting townsfolk.

The nine of them caught up with each other, Hayden and the twins having dearly missed Naruto and Sayuri, and glad to spend time with the rest of their family after being constantly surrounded by people who they didn't trust.

Eventually, they noticed a certain half-giant make his way towards them, Mad-Eye Moody in tow.

Hagrid beamed as introductions were made, heartened to see that Hayden's eyes were glowing happily, and quietly passed a note to her before bidding her goodbye and leaving.

Nagato narrowed his eyes at Moody's back. "Watch out for that one, Hayden-chan."

"We are." Hayden, Sasuke, and the twins assured him as Hayden pulled out the note and glanced at it before blinking in surprise.

"What is it?" Naruto asked, eyebrows furrowed curiously.

"He wants me to meet him at the edge of the forest at midnight." Hayden said, tilting her head slightly. "I think…I think he's going to show me the dragons."

Naruto smiled warmly, glad that her daughter had made a friend that she obviously trusted. "That's nice of him. Considering he's a professor at one of the competing schools he could get in trouble for that."

Hayden winced at the thought. "I won't let him tell me, then. I'll just hint that you learn a lot when you're living in the forest…"

Sarada and Satoshi chuckled in agreement.

And so that night Hayden met up with Hagrid as requested, thanking the man when it became apparent that giving her a fair warning really had been his attention before gracefully bowing out as Madame Maxime arrived.

Watching their interaction from the shadows, Hayden chuckled.

No wonder Hagrid had been trying to dress nicely, combing his hair and wearing a huge flower on his coat.

She wished them the best.

An hour later Charlie Weasley walked into the Allied Force's living quarters, having been cleared for entry weeks ago so that he could visit his brother.

(And a certain red-eyed girl who he had become rather enthralled with, though not literally like he had initially been worried Fleur had enthralled Bill.)

"Charles!" Mirai said with a smile as he entered the living area, setting down the book she had been reading. "You managed to pull yourself from your dragons so quickly? It must be a record."

Charlie laughed. "Maybe it is. Just thought I'd let you guys know that the French headmistress just found out about the dragons. She'll probably tell Fleur tonight…"

Bill shrugged. "Hayden already told her and the other two a few weeks ago."

Charlie's shoulders slumped. "Oh. Well, that does give her more time to prepare…"

After all, he didn't want the girl (who had the highest potential of becoming his sister-in-law than any other girl he had seen his older brother date) hurt, so he didn't mind that technically they were cheating.

"Anyway." The dragon tamer clapped his hands together as he turned to Hayden. "Feel free to use me as a resource, and you can spread that offer to the other champions, too. I like to think I've picked up a few things about dragons over the years."

That last part was said sardonically, and everyone in the room chuckled at his sarcasm.

"I'll take you up on that." Hayden said with a grin.

Sirius frowned when Nagato mentioned that he was wary of Moody.

"I'm more worried about Karkaroff…" Sirius said slowly, thinking about what he knew about the two men. "Since we know for a fact that he was a Death Eater, and he's probably been teaching his students the Dark Arts. Moody was the one who arrested him—actually, he arrested most of the people in Azkaban. I do remember Skeeter wrote an article about a break-in at Moody's house, though."

"Ginevra Weasley warned us not to trust him. Or, told me to warn everyone else, anyway." Satoshi added, since he was the one who had sat with the girl and her friends, appreciating the blonde Ravenclaw's unique world view. "She thought it was weird that no one ever even considered that the break-in might not have just been Moody's infamous paranoia, and considering what happened at the World Cup with the Death Eaters…"

"Smart girl." Nagato nodded approvingly.

"He might be under the Imperius Curse." Sarada mused.

"I heard he taught his students how to resist it, though." Hayden realized, still surprised that the man hadn't been fired or arrested for that. At the academy it would've been used, but they were also trained as assassins and spies, so their curriculum was very different. "Most people who can cast it are able to resist it. Given his paranoia and the fact that he was the top Auror, I doubt it would work on him."

"So an imposter, perhaps?" Sasuke wondered.

It was hardly impossible. For ninja, at least, all it took to take on another's appearance was to make a few signs with your hands and focus a bit.

"If that's the case…" Hayden said slowly, before glancing up at the rest of them. "Where's the real Alastor Moody?"

Please review! :)

I know they don't exactly have much evidence that Moody is cursed or an imposter, but as ninja they've learned to trust their instincts, so they're taking Nagato's wariness very seriously. Also, infiltrating a school would be child's play for them, so they know perfectly well that it's possible that someone else is doing it. They don't know whether imposter-Moody is involved with Hayden's name being entered, if it was Karkaroff, or someone else, but they'll be watching them nonetheless.