Chapter 37 Snuffles Returns
"I can't believe you didn't wait to hear what was going to happen." Hermione was scolding me a couple of days later.
I was having a hard time hiding my excitement with the upcoming Hogsmeade trip. I knew my dad was going to be there, but I haven't told Harry that Sirius was going to be there because I didn't want to jinx it by saying it out loud.
"Minnie, Dumbledore, Karkaroff, Maxime and Bagman were there. If it was just Minnie, or Dumbledore, I would have asked more questions. But if a Ministry official was there, I wasn't concerned." I told her.
Ron was sitting away from us, telling Padma of his fight with fifty heavily armed merpeople who had to beat him into submission to get under the black lake.
"You still should have waited." She rolled her eyes.
"Gabrielle Delacour was there and even though she wasn't showing it, I was afraid! So I took it before so that she could see an older person wasn't afraid to give her that confidence boost." I defended myself.
"That is something you would do. Try to do something first so that others wouldn't be afraid to do it." Draco said thoughtfully.
Hermione and I both flushed at that.
I was the first to drop down the trap down for the Philosopher's Stone. And I was the first to volunteer in class if there was a need for one.
Hermione finally dropped the subject as Draco nudged my shoulder.
'Thank you' I mouthed to him.
He nodded to me.
"How does it feel to be the thing Viktor Krum misses most?"
Draco, Hermione, and I looked up at that.
Vanessa had sat down but kept her eyes on Hermione, a smirk on her lips.
"Oh buzz off." I rolled my eyes at her.
Hermione had been teased every day so far for being Viktor's hostage.
"O'Connor, leave Granger alone." Draco spoke up.
Vanessa looked at him, something flashing in her eyes.
"Go away, actually. You're not welcomed near us. You can sit with any other Gryffindor." I gestured around the table.
She opened her mouth.
"Not interested." Draco and I said together.
She closed her mouth. Got up angrily and stomped away.
Her brunette friend pulled away to the Ravenclaw table and was whispering furiously into her ear.
"I'm sorry about that 'Mione." I told her.
She only shook her head and put it down.
"Don't do that." Draco reached around me and lifted her chin.
"Don't let them see you get down. If you keep your chin up they won't mess with you as much." He advised.
Hermione nodded and kept her chin up.
I smiled at Draco's moment.
It was the first time he touched Hermione without flinching.
A couple of days later, as February turned to March, Ron was still exaggerating the story.
"I could've taken those mer-idiots any time I wanted." Ron said to Padma, for an uncountable time.
"What were you going to do, snore at them?" Hermione snapped.
Even though Draco had given her a good piece of advice, sometimes her chin would go down.
Ron's ears went red, and from that moment on, he went back to telling the bewitched sleep version.
March had also brought a dry wind that cracked our knuckles from how harsh it was. And the owls were having a hard time flying through the wind so the post was delayed.
The brown owl that Harry had sent back to Sirius came back with his feathers sticking up in all sorts of directions. He had finally arrived at lunch time and we had Potions for the last lesson of the day.
As soon as Harry took Sirius's response, the owl took off.
"Poor thing doesn't want to go back outside." I giggled.
Harry distracted Draco as he passed me the response.
'Be at stile at end of road out of Hogsmeade (past Dervish and Banges) at two o'clock on Saturday afternoon. Bring as much food as you can.'
I passed it to Hermione as I took Draco's attention back.
"He hasn't come back to Hogsmeade?" Ron asked incredulously as we walked to our next class.
"It looks like it, doesn't it?" Hermione asked.
"I can't believe him," Harry got tense. "If he's caught…"
"Made it so far, though, hasn't he?" Ron asked. "It's not like the place is swarming with dementors anymore."
They all looked at me and I let my grin slip.
"You knew?!" Harry shoved my arm lightly.
I nodded to them, hiding my face with my hand.
"One of these days you'll have to start sharing little things like that." Harry threw his arm over my shoulder and gave me a little shake.
"I didn't want to jinx it." I told him.
He nodded his understanding as Draco hurried over to us.
"Hermione, I'm so sorry." He said, his attention on her.
"Whatever for?" She asked.
"There they are, there they are!" Parkinson was giggling and her little knot of Slytherins broke apart.
Parkinson had a magazine in her hands - Witch Weekly.
"You might find something to interest you in there, Granger!" Parkinson said loudly, throwing the magazine at Hermione.
I caught it before it could hit her. Harry had even made a motion to catch it but I was closer.
Before I could look at the article, the door opened and we had to go into the dungeon.
The six of us picked a table at the back. Gregory was a quiet type but he seemed loyal to Draco. While Crabbe seemed to be enjoying being Parkinson's arm piece.
Once Snape turned his back to write today's ingredients to go with today's potion, I opened the magazine and tried to find the article.
I showed the picture of Harry to Draco before reading the article.
'Harry Potter's Secret Heartache
A boy like no other, perhaps - yet a boy suffering all the usual pangs of adolescence, writes Rita Skeeter. Deprived of love since the tragic demise of his parents, fourteen-year-old Harry Potter thought he had found solace in his steady girlfriend at Hogwarts, Muggle-born Hermione Granger. Little did he know that he would shortly be suffering yet another emotional blow in a life already littered with personal loss.
Miss Granger, a plain but ambitious girl, seems to have a taste for famous wizards that Harry alone cannot satisfy. Since the arrival at Hogwarts of Viktor Krum, Bulgarian Seeker and hero of the last World Quidditch Cup, Miss Granger has been toying with both boys' affections. Krum, who is openly smitten with devious Miss Granger, has already invited her to visit him in Bulgaria over the summer holidays, and insists that he has "never felt this way about another girl."
However, it might not be Miss Granger's doubtful natural charms that have captured these unfortunate boy's' interest.
"She's really ugly," says Pansy Parkinson, a pretty and vivacious fourth-year student, "but she'd be well up to making a Love Potion, she's quite brainy. I think that's how she's doing it."
Love Potions are, of course, banned at Hogwarts, and no doubt Albus Dumbledore will want to investigate these claims.
Harry Potter has maintained a surprising friendship with the daughter of notorious killer, Sirius Black. Cassieopiea Zwart. If Hermione Granger cannot hold his heart, then perhaps there may be another love story waiting to happen?
In the meantime, Harry Potter's well-wishers must hope that, next time, he bestows his heart on a worthier candidate.'
I shook my head as I passed the article backwards and started to quickly write down the ingredients and directions.
"I told you!" Ron hissed behind me. "I told you not to annoy Rita Skeeter! She's made you out to be some sort of - of scarlet woman!"
"Scarlet woman?" Hermione repeated.
"Why am I mentioned? I didn't do anything to her." I muttered to Draco.
"Wrong place, wrong time?" Draco asked as we got to working on our potions.
"If that's the best Rita can do, she's losing her touch," Hermione was giggling as she threw the magazine onto an empty chair. "What a pile of old rubbish."
Ten minutes later, I was staring at a bowl of scarab beetles. I was getting ready to grind them into dust but there was something unsettling about them.
Which was weird since I didn't think they were weird.
"There's something funny, though." Hermione said thoughtfully. "How could Rita Skeeter have known…?"
"Known what?" Ron was quick to ask. "You haven't been mixing up Love Potions, have you?"
"Don't be stupid," Hermione and I snapped together.
I kept staring at the beetles.
"What is it?" Draco asked me.
"I don't know…" I said.
I started to crush up the beetles to add to our Wit-Sharpening Potion.
"... how did she know Viktor asked me to visit him over the summer?" Hermione asked.
"What?" Ron dropped his pestle with a loud clunk.
Draco rolled his eyes at me and I giggled.
"He asked me right after he'd pulled me out of the lake." Hermione muttered.
Loud enough for me to hear.
"After he'd got rid of his shark's head. Madam Pomfrey gave us both blankets and then he sort of pulled me away from the judges so they wouldn't hear, and he said, if I wasn't doing anything over the summer, would I like to -"
"And what did you say?" Ron asked, getting a little more aggressive.
"And he did say he'd never felt the same way about anyone else," Hermione went on.
I could feel how red she was getting.
"But how could Rita Skeeter have heard him? She wasn't there… or was she? Maybe she has got an Invisibility Cloak; maybe she sneaked onto the grounds to watch the second task…"
"Fascinating though your social life undoubtedly is, Miss Granger."
I stiffened up at the icy voice of Snape.
"I must ask you not to discuss it in my class. Ten points from Gryffindor." Snape glided over the desk behind us.
Parkinson took the opportunity to flash POTTER STINKS across the dungeon.
"Is this fine enough?" I whispered to Draco, showing him my beetle dust.
"I'd do a little more." He answered, and showed me how he was using his wrist with his pestle.
I started to copy his motion.
"Ah… reading magazines under the table as well?" Snape added.
I heard him grab the magazine from the chair.
"A further ten points from Gryffindor… oh but of course… Potter has to keep up with his press cuttings…"
Draco and I both shared horrified looks.
Draco had started to notice the clear favoritism Snape showed him versus how he treated Harry.
The dungeon rang with laughter from the Slytherin's.
" 'Harry Potter's Secret Heartache'... dear, dear, Potter, what's ailing you now? 'A boy like no other, perhaps…' "
My face was flushing from second-hand embarrassment for Harry.
"... Harry Potter's well-wishers must hope that, next time, he bestows his heart on a worthier candidate.' How very touching," Snape talked over the Slytherin laughter. "Well, I think I had better separate the three of you, so you can keep your minds on your potions rather than on your tangled love lives. Weasley, you stay here. Miss Granger, over there, beside Miss Parkinson. Potter - that table in front of my desk. Move. Now."
"This isn't good." I breathed under my breath.
I looked up at Snape and he was watching me with only a hint of curiosity in his eyes.
When I looked back at my beetle dust, that unsettled feeling was still in the back of my hands.
"I think I need to pay another visit to my grandmother." I whispered to Draco.
We got to working on our separate potions.
I saw Snape pull out a little vial of something from his cloak's pocket and shake it in front of Harry.
There was a knock on the door.
"Enter." Snape called out.
Karkaroff came in. Looking shifty.
He was grabbing his left arm.
I walked into the library, looking for Ariel.
Narcissa had added a cat bed next to the fireplace for Ariel since we've moved in.
When I walked in, Mr. Malfoy was showing Narcissa something on his left arm.
"Draco…" I started to speak.
"Don't ask me." He spoke.
The way he said it. I knew he had information about what was happening.
I didn't hear what was said between Karkaroff and Snape, so I went back to my potion.
I kept my eye on Harry. His temper could get the better of him most of the time.
Karkaroff stayed behind the desk, clearly trying to corner Snape for some reason.
At the end of the lesson, I heard a cluttering sound.
Harry had knocked over his bottle of armadillo bile. He must want to hear what they had to say to each other.
At the bell I was quick to leave with Ron and Hermione. I grabbed Draco and Gregory and led them through the dungeons.
"Where are we going?" Ron asked.
"Up to dinner. Where else?" I told them.
"Where are we really going?" Hermione asked, reaching me.
"We're really going to dinner. I just don't want to hang out in the dungeons for too long." I told her.
'Draco and I need to exchange information. And I'm not sure about Gregory and who he would tell, if he would tell someone.'
We sat down for dinner, and Harry joined us.
He realized he couldn't tell all of us what he heard by cleaning up his mess after class. So we decided to talk about Quidditch.
That night I was laying in bed. Hermione was in the bed with me and we were whispering to each other.
"I don't understand how Skeeter is getting onto the grounds?" Hermione whispered to me.
"I don't know. We know she can't be using any sort of muggle device to overhear conversations." I whispered back.
"Could she have an Invisibility Cloak?" Hermione asked thoughtfully.
"Maybe? But wouldn't Moody have said something to Dumbledore? Since he can see under Invisibility Cloaks?" I asked her.
"Maybe. Oh, this is so infuriating!" She whispered harshly.
She flipped over to lay on her back.
Crookshanks took the opportunity to lay on her stomach, turning on his broken purr for us.
Ariel curled up closer to me and let out her own purr.
"We'll figure it out." I said, letting my body start to relax so that I could get to sleep.
"Have you seen anything?" She whispered, also sounding tired.
"Not. Not yet." I answered.
"Would you tell me?" She asked.
"For this? I would." I told her.
I could feel her beaming at me.
"Hello Cassie."
I opened my eyes to see Kassandra and Morgana in front of me.
"Hello." I nodded to them.
"How has your training been going?" Kassandra asked.
"Better! I can now keep my mouth shut when I feel something about to be said. There's a slight twitch on my forehead when I'm about to say something regarding the future." I told her, rubbing the center of my head.
"That's good!" Morgana nodded to Kassandra.
"Now that we can move on, have you ever brought forth a vision before?" Kassandra asked.
"Once. For our third year Divination exam, Professor Trelawney had us look into a crystal ball. I saw a dog going towards Harry. I didn't know if it came true or not. I'm not always with Harry." I told them.
"Okay, that's good that you were able to do it once. You're more than likely able to do it again." Kassandra nodded to herself.
"What do we start off with?" I asked her.
"What element are you most comfortable with?" Kassandra asked me.
I blinked at that.
"Sorry?" I asked.
"What element are you most comfortable with?" Kassandra repeated.
"I don't understand why you're asking me that." I told her.
"Seer's can call forth visions using the elements. So with fire, air, and water. Earth is the most difficult since dirt doesn't move in ways that the other three can." Kassandra explained.
"Oh, in that case I think I'm most comfortable with air." I told her.
"Very good. Air is the easiest to call forth vision with. It's always around you." Kassandra nodded.
"Okay. So how do I do it?"
I had started carrying a bottle of fog in my bag. I wanted to carry a crystal ball but that would have been too obvious what was going on. So a bottle of fog was where it was at.
Hermione helped me conjure it up. I didn't want her to do it for me because then it might not have had the same effect in my future attempts of calling forth visions.
Kassandra had dropped a few hints… Okay, she had more or less told me that it would be easier for her to teach me if I went and visited them for a couple of weeks to learn how to call forth visions rather than sporadically call a meeting with her in that weird courtroom. But I was still adamant about not going to the Netherlands to see that side of the family.
If they wanted to see me, they had to put in the effort. Not the other way around.
When I told Hermione what the fog was for she was impressed that I thought of it.
"So are you going to be practicing with this?" She asked once it was conjured.
"Yeah. I think I'll have to hang out in empty classroom's to do so." I told her as I put it in the bottle.
"Sounds good. Should I start doing homework in the classroom too?" She asked.
"If you want. You're always doing homework." I teased her.
"I want to stay ahead." She said in a haughty voice.
"I don't blame you." I told her as we headed down the stairs.
At noon, later that day. I had emptied my school bag and put a protection spell on the inside of it. We put as much chicken as we could into the bag. Along with a loaf of bread, and a flask of pumpkin juice.
Hermione recommended that I leave my bottle of fog in the room. So it was in my drawer with my seer journal.
When we made it to Hogsmeade it was relatively warm enough that we had all thrown our cloaks over our shoulders.
Before we went to meet Snuffles at the end of the road. We went to Gladrags Wizardwear to buy a present for Dobby. We all had fun picking out the most ridiculous socks for him.
We pooled our money together, (Harry and I pitching in more money than Ron and Hermione but that was okay), and bought a pair patterned with flashing gold and silver stars, and another that screamed loudly when they became too smelly.
I wanted to walk around some more, get used to the sights and different stores.
Ron asked me if I wanted to go to the Shrieking Shack and I told him that being inside of it was enough for me.
We all had a good laugh as he flushed at that.
At half past one, we made our way up to the high street, past Dervish and Banges, and towards the edge of the little village.
The cottages were spread out farther apart, with larger gardens.
We walked towards the foot of the mountain. Hogsmeade laid in it's shadow. When we turned a corner, there was a stile at the edge of the lane. Standing with his front paws on the bar, several newspapers in his mouth.
There was Snuffles waiting for us.
"Hello." I greeted him.
"Hello, Sirius." Harry said.
Snuffles jumped up and gave me a dog equivalent of a hug and I laughed as I scratched his ears and under his chin.
He eagerly sniffed my bag that Harry was holding for me, wagged his tail once, and began to lead us across the scrubby patch of ground.
We climbed over the stile and followed Snuffles.
We hiked close to half an hour. And I was starting to get out of breath along with my friends.
For Snuffles, it was easy since he was walking on four paws rather than on two feet.
"Here. Let me take the bag from you." I told Harry when we all stopped for a breath.
"I can carry it." He shook his head.
"Give me the bag." I said more firmly.
He nodded as he handed me my bag. I tightened up the straps on it since he had loosen them to fit over his shoulders.
After a few more minutes of walking, Snuffles slipped out of sight. When we reached where he had vanished, we saw a narrow fissure in the rock.
Harry squeezed through first to take my bag and helped Hermione in first. Ron let me in next and I watched to make sure he didn't hit his head.
When I turned around, Buckbeak was tied to a rock at the end of the dimly lit cave.
We all bowed to him, and he bowed back to us.
Hermione rushed forward and stroked his neck. Harry and I looked over to see Sirius standing where Snuffles was.
Sirius was still wearing the same gray robes he wore when he left Azkaban. His hair had grown and it was matted again. He was also looking very thin.
"Chicken!" He said hoarsely after removing the old Daily Prophets from his mouth and throwing them on the ground.
Harry opened my bag and handed it over to Sirius.
"Thanks," Sirius said.
He sat on the floor so I sat next to him.
I was a little hurt that he didn't hug me, but I knew he was starving.
It was obvious from the way he tore into the chicken.
"I've been living off rats mostly. Can't steal too much food from Hogsmeade; I'd draw attention to myself." He grinned at me and then to Harry.
"What're you doing here, Sirius?" Harry asked.
"Fulfilling my duty as godfather and father." Sirius started to gnaw on the chicken bone.
He was spending too much time in his Animagus form from the way he was doing it.
"Don't worry about it, I'm pretending to be a lovable stray." He added with a grin.
Harry was still looking anxious even with that answer.
"I want to be on the spot. Your last letter… well, let's just say things are getting fishier. I've been stealing the paper every time someone throws one out, and by the looks of things, I'm not the only one who's getting worried."
He nodded to the yellowed pages on the ground.
I looked around the little cave. It looked like the one in my vision, with Hermione petting Buckbeak and Harry looking slightly distressed.
"What if they catch you? What if you're seen?" Harry asked.
"You four and Dumbledore are the only ones around here who know I'm an Animagus." Sirius shrugged and finished his chicken leg.
Harry picked up a Prophet paper and read it.
It was about Crouch. He hadn't been seen in public since November.
"They're making it sound like he's dying." Harry said slowly. "But he can't be that ill if he managed to get up here…"
"My brother's Crouch's personal assistant," Ron informed Sirius, "he says Crouch is suffering from overwork."
'Is Crouch the one impersonating Moody?' I asked myself.
I furrowed my eyebrows and tried to think about it.
Crouch was at the feast when the Tournament was announced, so it couldn't be him.
"Mind you, he did look ill, last time I saw him up close," Harry was still reading the story. "The night my name came out of the goblet…"
"Getting his comeuppance for sacking Winky, isn't he?" Hermione had an edge in her voice.
Buckbeak was crunching on the bones Sirius was throwing to him.
"I bet he wished he hadn't done it now - bet he feels the difference now she's not there to look after him."
I opened my mouth and quickly put my hand over it.
Sirius looked at me with a confused look but Harry and Ron waited for me to say what just came to me.
'He can't feel anything logical right now.'
I shook my head at the boys as I tried to shove that thought away.
'How could he not feel anything logical right now? Where is he?' I asked myself.
"What was that just now?" Sirius asked, nudging my shoulder with his elbow.
"I got the Seer blood, and I sometimes say things about the future. I have to catch myself from saying things." I told him.
"Have you asked to have that removed?" Sirius asked.
"Can you do that?" Ron and Hermione asked together.
"I can, and I haven't. There's no reason for me to not to be a Seer." I answered.
Sirius nodded and turned back to Hermione.
"Crouch sacked his house-elf?" He asked her.
"Yeah, at the Quidditch World Cup," Harry answered and explained to Sirius what happened to them.
"Where were you?" Sirius asked me.
"With the Malfoy's." I answered with a nod.
He got up and started to pace the length of the cave.
"You first saw the elf in the Top Box. She was saving Crouch a seat, right?" He asked.
"I didn't see her." I told him.
"Right." Ron, Hermione, and Harry answered.
"But he didn't turn up for the match?" Sirius asked.
"No, I think he said he'd been too busy." Harry answered.
Sirius paced for a few seconds.
"Harry, did you check your pockets for your wand after you'd left the Top Box?" Sirius asked.
"Erm…" Harry thought hard. "No, I didn't need to use it before we got in the forest. And then I put my hand in my pocket and all that was in there were my Omnioculars."
I noticed the look that flashed across Ron's face.
"Are you saying whoever conjured the Mark stole my wand in the Top Box?" Harry asked Sirius.
"It's possible." Sirius nodded.
"Winky didn't steal that wand!" Hermione insisted.
"The elf wasn't the only one in that box," Sirius's brow was furrowed. "Who else was sitting behind you?"
Loads of people, some Bulgarian ministers… Cornelius Fudge… the Malfoys…"
"The Malfoys!" Ron said suddenly and loudly, making Buckbeak start. "I bet it was Lucius Malfoy! Or even Malfoy!"
"Draco wouldn't even look at Harry, why would he reach around me to take Harry's wand?" I glared at Ron.
He did look ashamed at what he said.
"Anyone else?" Sirius asked.
"No." Harry shook his head.
"Yes, there was, There was Ludo Bagman." Hermione reminded Harry.
"Yeah, but he was narrating the match. He didn't have time to step aside and get Harry's wand." I told her.
"I don't know anything about Bagman except that he used to be a Beater for the Wimbourne Wasps, what's he like?" Sirius asked as he paced.
I moved out of his way and sat next to Harry as we watched Sirius pace.
"He's okay," Harry shrugged, "he keeps offering to help me with the Triwizard Tournament."
"Does he now? I wonder why he'd do that?" Sirius frowned.
"Says he's taken a liking to me," Harry answered.
"He has a thing for gambling. He was taking bets for the match, so I think he's been taking and placing bets for the Tournament as well." I pointed out.
"But that means he's cheating if he's got a bet on Harry!" Hermione gasped.
"Hermione, not everyone is a saint." I sighed.
"We also saw him in the forest just before the Dark Mark appeared." Hermione glared at me before turning to Harry. "Remember?"
"Yeah, but he didn't stay in the forest, did he?" Ron debated. "The moment we told him about the riot, he went off to the campsite."
"How d'you know?" Hermione shot back. "How d'you know where he Disapparated to?"
"Come off it," Ron said incredulously. "Are you saying you reckon Ludo Bagman conjured the Dark Mark?"
"It's more likely he did it than Winky," Hermione said stubbornly.
"She's obsessed with house-elves -" Ron rolled his eyes to Sirius.
Sirius held up a hand to silence Ron though.
"When the Dark Mark had been conjured, and the elf had been discovered holding Harry's wand, what did Crouch do?" Sirius asked.
"Went to look in the bushes, but there wasn't anyone else there." Harry answered.
'Not that you could see them.' I thought to myself.
I rubbed the center of my forehead for that one.
That was a big one.
"Of course," Sirius muttered.
He was the only one not to pay attention to my movement, but the others did.
"Of course, he'd want to pin it on anyone but his own elf… and then he sacked her?" Sirius asked.
"Yes," Hermione said in a heated voice. "He sacked her, just because she hadn't stayed in her tent and let herself get trampled -"
"Hermione, will you give it a rest with the elf!" Ron snapped at her.
"She's got the measure of Crouch better than you have, Ron. If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals."
He ran his hand over his unshaven face, thinking hard.
"All these absences of Barty Crouch's… he goes to the trouble of making sure his house-elf saves him a seat at the Quidditch World Cup, but doesn't bother to turn up and watch. He works very hard to reinstate the Triwizard Tournament, and then stops coming to that too… It's not like Crouch. If he's ever taken a day off work because of illness before this, I'll eat Buckbeak."
"D'you know Crouch then?" Harry asked.
Sirius's face darkened.
"Oh I know Crouch all right," he said quietly. "He was the one who gave the order for me to be sent to Azkaban - without a trial."
"What?" Ron and Hermione said together.
"You're kidding!" Harry said.
"No, I'm not." Sirius grabbed another chicken leg. "Crouch used to be Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, didn't you know?"
We all shook our heads.
"He was tipped for the next Minister of Magic, Barty Crouch, powerfully magical - and power-hungry. Oh never a Voldemort suporter." Sirius shook his head at Harry. "No, Barty Crouch was always very outspoken against the Dark Side. But a lot of people who were against the Dark Side… well, you wouldn't understand… you're too young…"
"That's what my dad said at the World Cup," Ron had a hint of irritation in his voice. "Try us, why don't you?"
A grin flashed across Sirius's face.
"All right, I'll try you." He looked at each of us.
"Imagine that Voldemort's powerful now. You don't know who his supporters are, you don't know who's working for him and who isn't; you know he can control people so that they do terrible things without being able to stop themselves. You're scared for yourself, and your family, and your friends. Every week, news comes of more deaths, more disappearances, more torturing… the Ministry of Magic is in disarray, they don't know what to do, they're trying to keep everything hidden from the Muggles, but, meanwhile, Muggles are dying too. Terror everywhere… panic… confusion… that's how it used to be.
Well, times like that bring out the best in some and the worst in others. Crouch's principles might've been good in the beginning - I wouldn't know. He rose quickly through the Ministry, and he started ordering very harsh measures against Voldemort's supporters. The Aurors were given new powers - powers to kill rather than capture, for instance. And I wasn't the only one who was handed straight to the dementors without a trial. Crouch fought violence with violence, and authorized the use of the Unforgivable Curses against suspects.
I would say he became as ruthless and cruel as many on the Dark Side. He had his supports, mind you - plenty of people thought he was going about things the right way, and there were a lot of witches and wizards clamoring for him to take over as Minister of Magic. When Voldemort disappeared, it looked like only a matter of time until Crouch got the top job. But then something rather unfortunate happened…" Sirius smiled grimly.
"Crouch's own son was caught with a group of Death Eaters who'd managed to talk their way out of Azkaban. Apparently they were trying to find Voldemort and return him to power."
"Crouch's son was caught?" Hermione gasped.
"Children usually rebel against their parents if they disagree with their views." I spoke slowly.
Everyone looked at me.
"But - !" Hermione started.
"She's right." Sirius said.
"Think about it. Look at Draco. He thought his parents were right in how he was raised. I've had to explain to him what happened to me in the orphanage," I gestured to my face.
"How Ron felt at the beginning of the year with the Cup situation." I gestured to Ron.
"How Hermione is treated differently because of her parents." I gestured to Hermione.
"And how Harry was not raised to handle the fame of being 'Harry Potter'. He's realizing that his parents are wrong and soon he'll rebel against them." I gestured to Harry and waved my hands around as I talked.
"Ron is rebelling right now by just being friends with me! Molly thinks I'm going to end up just like Sirius, before we knew the truth." I rolled my eyes at Hermione as she opened her mouth.
She glared at me but shut her mouth.
"Anyways, it was a nasty little shock for old Barty, I'd imagine. Should have spent a bit more time with his family, shouldn't he?" Sirius took over the conversation. "Ought to have left the office early once in a while… gotten to know his own son."
"Was his son a Death Eater?" Harry asked.
"No idea. I was in Azkaban myself when he was brought in. This is mostly stuff I've found out since I got out. The boy was definitely caught in the company of people I'd bet my life were Death Eaters - but he might have been in the wrong place at the wrong time, just like the house-elf."
"Did Crouch try and get his son off?" Hermione whispered.
Sirius let out a bark like-laugh.
"Crouch let his son off? I thought you had the measure of him, Hermione! Anything that threatened to tarnish his reputation had to go; he had dedicated his whole life to becoming Minister of Magic. You saw him dismiss a devoted house-elf because she associated him with the Dark Mark again - doesn't that tell you what he's like? Crouch's fatherly affection stretched just far enough to give his son a trial, and by all accounts, it wasn't much more than an excuse for Crouch to show how much he hated the boy… then he sent him straight to Azkaban."
"He gave his own son to the dementors?" Harry asked quietly.
I thought of Draco and his relationship with his parents.
I couldn't imagine either of them turning Draco over to the dementors.
"That's right," Sirius nodded grimly. "I saw the dementors bringing him in, watched them through the bars in my cell door. He can't have been more than nineteen. They took him into a cell near mine. He was screaming for his mother by nightfall. He went quiet after a few days, though… they all went quiet in the end… except when they shrieked in their sleep…"
His eyes darkened. I knew he was remembering his time in that place.
"So he's still in Azkaban?" I asked.
"No," Sirius shook his head. "No, he's not in there anymore. He died about a year after they brought him in."
"He died?" Harry and I asked in horror.
"He wasn't the only one." Sirius said with bitterness. "Most go mad in there, and plenty stop eating in the end. They lose the will to live. You could always tell when a death was coming, because the dementors could sense it, they got excited. That boy looked pretty sickly when he arrived. Crouch being an important Ministry member, he and his wife were allowed a deathbed visit. That was the last time I saw Barty Crouch, carrying his wife past my cell. She died herself, apparently, shortly afterward. Grief. Wasted away just like the boy. Crouch never came for his son's body. The dementors buried him outside the fortress; I watched them do it."
Sirius put down the bread he was eating and started to drink the pumpkin juice.
"So old Crouch lost it all, just when he thought he had it made. One moment, a hero, poised to become Minister of Magic… next, his son dead, his wife dead, the family name dishonored, and, so I've heard since I've escaped, a big drop in popularity. Once the boy had died, people started feeling a bit more sympathetic toward the son and starting asking how a nice young lad from a good family had gone so badly astray. The conclusion was that his father never cared much about him. So Cornelius Fudge got the top job, and Crouch was shunted sideways into the Department of International Magical Cooperation."
There was a long silence that followed.
Something just wasn't adding up but I couldn't figure out what it was.
"Moody says Crouch is obsessed with catching Dark Wizards." Harry broke the silence.
"Yeah, I've heard it's become a bit of a mania with him." Sirius nodded. "If you ask me, he still thinks he can bring back the old popularity by catching one more Death Eater."
"And he sneaked up here to search Snape's office!" Ron gave Hermione a triumphant look.
"Yes, and that doesn't make sense at all." Sirius said.
"Yeah, it does!" Ron said, excitement building on his face.
"Listen, if Crouch wants to investigate Snape, why hasn't he been coming to judge the tournament? It would be an ideal excuse to make regular visits to Hogwarts and keep an eye on him." Sirius told Ron.
"So you think Snape could be up to something, then?" Harry asked.
"Look, I don't care what you say, Dumbledore trusts Snape -" Hermione broke in.
"Oh, give it a rest, Hermione." Ron rolled his eyes. "I know Dumbledore's brilliant and everything, but that doesn't mean a really clever Dark wizard couldn't fool him -"
"Why did Snape save Harry's life in the first year, then? Why didn't he just let him die?" Hermione shot back.
"To fulfill a debt." I said.
I got weird stares at that. I even covered my mouth.
"What debt?" Ron asked.
"I don't know." I answered.
"What do you think, Sirius?" Harry asked, getting the attention off of me.
"I don't know, to be honest with you. Ever since I found out Snape was teaching here, I've wondered why Dumbledore hired him. Snape's always been fascinated by the Dark Arts, he was famous for it at school. Slimy, oily, greasy-haired kids, he was." Sirius and Harry shared a grin at that.
"Snape knew more curses when he arrived at school than half the kids in seventh year, and he was part of a gang of Slytherins who nearly all turned out to be Death Eaters."
Sirius started to count names on his fingers.
"Rosier and Wilkes - they were both killed by Aurors the year before Voldemort fell. The Lestranges - they're a married couple - they're in Azkaban. Avery - from what I've heard he wormed his way out of trouble by saying he'd been acting the Imperius Curse - he's still at large. But as far as I know, Snape was never even accused of being a Death Eater - not that that means much. Plenty of them were never caught. And Snape's certainly clever and cunning enough to keep himself out of trouble."
"Snape knows Karkaroff pretty well, but he wants to keep that quiet." Ron informed Sirius.
"Yeah, you should've seen Snape's face when Karkaroff turned up in Potions yesterday!" Harry said quickly. "Karkaroff wanted to talk to Snape, he says Snape's been avoiding him. Karkaroff looked really worried. He showed Snape something on his arm, but I couldn't see what it was."
"He showed Snape something on his arm?" Sirius repeated Harry, looking bewildered.
"Well, I've no idea what that's about… but if Karkaroff's genuinely worried, and he's going to Snape for answers…" Sirius ran his fingers through his hair.
"There's still the fact that Dumbledore trusts Snape, and I know Dumbeldore trusts where a lot of other people wouldn't, but I just can't see him letting Snape teach at Hogwarts if he'd ever worked for Voldemort." Sirius added.
"There's more to that story than what we know right now." I sighed, rubbing my head.
It was starting to get sore from thinking I was doing. Not because I was about to have a vision.
"Why are Moody and Crouch so keen to get into Snape's office then?" Ron asked stubbornly.
"Well," Sirius said slowly. "I wouldn't put it past Mad - Eye to have searched every single teacher's office when he got to Hogwarts. He takes his Defense Against the Dark Arts seriously, Moody. I'm not sure he trusts anyone at all, and after the things he's seen, it's not surprising. I'll say this for Moody, though, he never killed if he could help it. Always brought people in alive where possible. He was tough, but he never descended to the level of Death Eaters.
"Crouch, though… he's a different matter… is he really ill? If he is, why did he make the effort to drag himself up to Snape's office? And if he's not… what's he up to? What was he doing at the World Cup that was so important he didn't turn up in the Top Box? What's he been doing while he should have been judging the tournament?" Sirius asked.
We fell into another silence. Buckbeak was looking for any more bones he might have missed.
"You say your brother's Crouch's personal assistant? Any chance you could ask him if he's seen Crouch lately?" Sirius asked Ron.
"I can try," Ron said doubtfully. "Better not make it sound like reckon Crouch is up to anything dodgy, though. Percy loves Crouch."
"And you might try and find out whether they've got any leads on Bertha Jorkins while you're at it," Sirius pointed to another Daily Prophet.
"Bagman told me they hadn't," Harry said.
"Yes, he's quoted in the article in there," Sirius nodded to the paper on the ground. "Blustering on about how bad Bertha's memory is. Well, maybe she's changed since I knew her, but the Bertha I knew wasn't forgetful at all - quite the reverse -"
"She was a gossip! She remembered everything told to her." I said.
I remembered where I knew that name.
"How did you know her?" Sirius asked.
"Last year, there was an accident in the muggle world and Charlotte took in a couple more kids in her orphanage. I stayed at the Leaky Cauldron and she was there every morning. She always asked me questions and wanted to know about the 'teenage gossip of today.'" I told him.
"She was a bit dim, but she had a memory for gossip. It used to get her into trouble when she wouldn't remember to keep her mouth shut. I can see her being a bit of a liability at the Ministry of Magic… maybe that's why Bagman didn't bother to look for her for so long…" Sirius nodded slowly.
"That shouldn't matter. They should have found her right away because of her possibly being a liability!" I was astounded.
Sirius sighed and rubbed his eyes.
"What time is it?" He asked.
"It's half past three." Hermione answered.
"You'd better get back to school," Sirius got to his feet and held a hand out for me.
I took his hand while he directed his next sentence to Harry.
"Now listen, I don't want you lot sneaking out of school to see me, all right? Just send notes to me here. I still want to hear anything odd. But you're not going to go leaving Hogwarts without permission; it would be an ideal opportunity for someone to attack you."
"No one's tried to attack me so far, except a dragon and a couple of grindylows," Harry said.
I giggled at Sirius's scowl.
"I don't care… I'll breathe freely again when this tournament's over and that's not until June. And don't forget, if you're talking about me among yourselves, call me Snuffles, okay?"
"Okay." We all nodded.
He patted Harry on the shoulder but gave me a hug before letting me go.
"I'll walk to the edge of the village with you, see if I can scrounge another paper." He said.
He transformed into his black dog form and licked my palm. I giggled as I scratched his ears.
The hike back down wasn't as tedious as it was going up. But I think it was because we were heading down and we were going back to Hogwarts so it was a faster walk.
At the stile, Snuffles allowed us to pat his head, but I got down and hugged him instead. He put his head over my shoulder and gave a chuffle.
"Soon, okay?" I whispered to him.
When I let him go he gave a bark and ran to the outer village. Looking for another newspaper.
Harry put his arm around my shoulder as we walked back to Hogwarts. I put my arm around the back of his waist so that it would easier for us to walk together.
"Are you okay?" Harry murmured into my ear.
"I will be when this year's over." I murmured back.
Life update! Boyfriend and I have moved back to his hometown! He was no longer happy with his job and life out where we were so we moved back! I will be picking up a job and working as well as him. We're working towards buying a house, this way he'll work on his credit score and I can build up a savings account with him. And yes, this did happen within a week. We're freaking amazing!
Shout out to LunaChaseFoster and Pamela Hutchins for leaving a review!
LunaChaseFoster: Right?! Thoughts are working and in motion.
Pamela Hutchins: Thank you!
