Enough With All Your Games
Chapter 2 – Veritaserum
Note: This chapter will also be mostly from Cedric's perspective – though I reserve the right to switch to other characters' perspectives in the future. Like in the previous chapter, I have borrowed some lines and quotes from the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire book.
Harry, Krum, and Cedric quietly made their way behind Hagrid, Sprout, and McGonagall back to the castle as the stands went wild with confusion. People rushed out toward the champions with a million different questions pouring from their mouths.
"Stand back, please!" ordered Professor McGonagall – and miraculously, the crowd did as she said.
A now-conscious Fleur Delacour sprinted for the three other champions.
"Fleur! What happened?" asked Cedric.
"He stunned me unconscious!" she exclaimed, pointing at Krum.
"It wasn't really him – he was under the Imperius Curse! Professor Moody did it!" explained Harry.
"My God! Why would he do such a thing?" cried Fleur.
"Cedric, Cedric!" shouted another voice.
Cedric ran toward it and before he knew it, he was holding a scared and trembling Cho in his arms.
"Ced, what happened?" she asked as tears clouded her eyes.
"It's okay now, Cho. Everything's okay."
"Thank God," she breathed as she clung to him.
"Ced, what's going on?" asked Amos and Natalie Diggory as they caught up.
"I'll explain when we're inside, okay?" said Cedric. "Stay with me, though. Please stay close."
Both Cedric's parents nodded. Ahead, Cedric could see Fleur being joined by her mother (her father and sister stayed behind), Krum being joined by his parents, and Harry being joined by his friends Ron and Hermione, as well as by Mrs. Weasley and her eldest son Bill. Behind the group of champions and their families, Cedric could hear other Hogwarts professors holding back the crowd.
Dumbledore led the group toward the 7th floor corridor and approached a large stone statue of a gargoyle. "Licorice Wands," he told the statue, and it stepped back to reveal a moving spiral staircase. Cedric stepped up onto it behind Harry and Professor Dumbledore. Entering the Headmaster's office for the first time, Cedric looked around the spacious room with its high windows, numerous portraits of other headmasters (who were all waking up to see what the fuss was about), and ornate spindly magical instruments. There was even a beautiful red and gold phoenix on a perch beside Dumbledore's large oak desk.
Dumbledore conjured a chair in the center of the room and lowered the unconscious Moody onto it. "Relashio," he added, and ropes tied Moody to his seat.
"Harry, Cedric, Viktor, Fleur," he addressed the champions. "Can you all please tell me what happened in the maze tonight?"
Exchanging nervous glances, the four of them came to face the Headmaster with their family and friends crowding behind them.
"I 'ad only been in ze maze ten minutes," began Fleur, when Viktor Krum approached me with his wand raised. I asked him what he was doing, but instead of answering, he simply stunned me. Then, I woke up in ze medical recovery tent."
"I am sorry, Fleur," said Krum. "I do not remember what I did. I never would have attacked you."
"I believe you, Viktor," replied Fleur.
"Krum doesn't remember what happened because he was under the Imperius curse," explained Harry. "He got to Cedric next and when Cedric asked him what he was doing, he cast the Cruciatus curse on him."
"The C-Cruciatus curse?" stammered Cho, from where she stood by Cedric's side. "Oh, Cedric!"
"It's all right, love," he said, wrapping her in a comforting embrace. "Harry saved me. He heard what was going on, so he came to find me. Then, he stunned Krum. I owe Harry my life. Without him, who knows what would've happened in there."
"I'm glad you're all right, Ced," said Harry. "Cedric wanted to ask Krum what happened, and when he woke up, we figured out he'd been under the Imperius Curse. After that, we had to know why and after Moody attacked us, we sent up red sparks and decided to leave."
"Do you think Moody was under the Imperius Curse too?" asked Cedric.
"No, he didn't have that glazed-over look in his eyes like Krum did," said Harry.
"Very good, Harry. You've given me a hunch" said Dumbledore. He reached under Professor Moody's robes, pulled out his hip flask, unscrewed the top, and sniffed. "Polyjuice Potion. I do believe we can tell Professor Snape that we know who's been stealing ingredients from his stores. Miss Granger, would you please fetch Professor Snape and tell him to bring Veritaserum?"
Hermione nodded and left.
The champions and their families stood there in stunned silence.
Then, before the champions' and their families' very eyes, the face of the man on the floor began to change. The scars were disappearing, the skin was becoming smooth; the mangled nose became whole and started to shrink. The long mane of grizzled gray hair was withdrawing into the scalp and turning the color of straw. Suddenly, with a loud clunk, the wooden leg fell away as a normal leg regrew in its place; next moment, the magical eyeball had popped out of the man's face as a real eye replaced it; it rolled away across the floor and continued to swivel in every direction.
The man who now lay before them was pale-skinned, slightly freckled, with a mop of fair hair. "That's Barty Crouch Junior!" exclaimed Harry. "I saw him in Dumbledore's Pensieve!"
Dumbledore nodded. "So it is, Harry."
The office door opened for Hermione and Snape, who handed Dumbledore a small glass bottle of clear liquid: Veritaserum.
Dumbledore opened Barty Crouch's mouth and poured three drops inside. "Reenervate," he said, pointing his wand at the young man to wake him.
Crouch opened his eyes.
"Can you hear me?" Dumbledore asked quietly.
The man's eyelids flickered. "Yes," he muttered.
"I would like you to tell us," said Dumbledore softly, "how you came to be here. How did you escape from Azkaban?"
For a moment, Crouch sat in silence and Cedric wondered if he would even speak to Dumbledore.
"My dying mother convinced my father to smuggle me out. She had us take Polyjuice Potion to disguise ourselves as each other, and then I left with my father while my mother perished in my jail cell."
"And what happened after you escaped?"
"Oh, my father put me under the Imperius Curse so I wouldn't do anything unruly. But I fought back and regained control of my conscious mind. I persuaded my father to let me attend the Quidditch World Cup, where I watched from the Top Box, in fact! Our House Elf Winky just had to pretend to be saving my father a seat while I sat there wrapped in his Invisibility Cloak. Phenomenal match, wasn't it?"
"What did you do at the World Cup?"
"I saw a wand poking out of Harry Potter's pocket, so I stole it. I hadn't been allowed a wand in ages, you see. And when the Death Eaters went rampaging all over the World Cup encampment, I ran into the forest and used that wand to conjure the Dark Mark."
"And how did you come to Hogwarts?"
"I ambushed Alastor Moody at his house, and knocked him unconscious. I'd been studying the fool for years, so I disguised myself as him and took his post as teacher of Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts. And to think, you never even noticed!" He gave a hollow laugh.
"Were you the one who cast the Imperius Curse on Viktor Krum?"
Barty Crouch lazily rolled his eyes. "Obviously," he drawled.
"And did you put Harry Potter's name into the Goblet of Fire?"
"Dumbledore, are you really that stupid? Of course, I did. I even confounded the Goblet itself into thinking there was a fourth school and Harry was the only candidate, so he'd be sure to get chosen!"
"Why?"
"Do you not already know?!" barked Crouch. "Why are you all not trembling at the Dark Lord's valiant return? With Fleur out of the way and Krum using the Cruciatus Curse to finish off that stupid pretty boy Diggory, Harry Potter could reach the Triwizard Cup! I made it a portkey, so Harry Potter could be transported to meet the Dark Lord and his blood could be used to restore the Dark Lord to his full power! Why, I've been working with the Dark Lord all year! This is the culmination of our grand plan!"
"Well, your plan's foiled because Harry didn't take the cup, you bastard!" spat Cedric.
"I thought this 'Dark Lord' was dead!" exclaimed Fleur.
"He doesn't have much power, but he's alive, Fleur," said Harry. "He tried to come back during my first year and again during my second year, but he didn't- AGHHHHH!" Harry fell to his knees, clutching his scar in pain.
"What is it, Harry?" asked Ron as he and Hermione rushed over to their friend.
"I can see him!
Dumbledore pointed his wand at Harry's head. "May I, Harry? We need to be able to see what you see."
Harry grimaced and nodded.
"Legilimens!" proclaimed Dumbledore, and Harry's thoughts projected themselves into midair like videos on a screen, for everyone present to see.
Harry was in a graveyard, though he couldn't tell where it was. He was feeling very impatient for someone's arrival, though he couldn't tell whose.
"I'm sure they'll be coming, milord," said a nervous, high-pitched voice that Harry recognized as belonging to Peter Pettigrew.
"Are you now?" he felt himself sneer. But it wasn't Harry who was saying this; the voice came from blanket-wrapped, baby-like parcel in Peter Pettigrew's arms. It spoke in a high, cold, and cruel voice – a voice too full of malice for such a tiny creature. "Then what could possibly be taking so long?!"
"Patience, milord, patience," coed a desperate Pettigrew.
"Wait, I sense-"
Now, the image in Harry's mind reflected the room all around him.
"Harry, he is reading your mind!" exclaimed Dumbledore.
"Stupefy!" bellowed Hermione, and Harry fell to the ground unconscious.
"What'd you do that for?" exclaimed Ron.
"You Know Who can't read Harry's mind if he's unconscious," Hermione explained.
"Excellent thinking Miss Granger," said Professor Dumbledore. "Unfortunately, it seems that Lord Voldemort already knows Harry will not be coming to meet him tonight, but it's clear your reaction prevented him from knowing more. I must applaud you for your quick thinking, Miss Granger."
"My Dark Mark is burning," said Snape. "That means the Dark Lord is summoning all his Death Eaters."
"Thank you, Severus," said Dumbledore.
"Does that mean," stammered Hermione, "that You-Know-Who might've actually come back tonight?"
"Yes, Ms. Granger. We will need to respond, now that I am gathering his followers. But I will gather all my allies to discuss that tomorrow. In the meantime, I do believe the champions should get some rest. If someone could please take Mr. Potter to the Hospital Wing, I would be much obliged."
Bill Weasley scooped up the unconscious Harry in his arms and carried him out. Ron, Hermione, Mrs. Weasley, Fleur, Fleur's mother, Viktor Krum, and Krum's parents followed him out.
Cedric still held Cho's hand in one of his hands and his father's hand with the other. They made their way to the exit a bit behind the rest of the crowd.
"If you would please wait a moment, Cedric," said Dumbledore. "I have something else I wish to say to you."
Cedric turned around and nodded.