In the summer of 1994, Nymphadora Tonks receives extra training from Alastor Moody before he begins his year as DADA professor at Hogwarts. The training culminates in a major change of events in late August. Changes cascade from this major change across the rest of 1994. Six chapters are planned. No ships and not really any Harry.
Chapter 2 Tonks in Polyjuice Pants &&^^&& SCENE CHANGEIn a dark room, Tonks began to swim up to consciousness. Her Occlumency shields were in place as she returned to full consciousness but remained still and didn't take a deep breath that often signaled the return to awareness.
'Thank you, mum,' the young witch prayed fervently for the gift of Occlumency. 'What did Moody do this time? I got to catch him off guard here.'
Tonks listened and cast silent, wandless charms to measure the room, tell the time of day, and count the number of people and breaths in the room.
'Large room, twenty minutes since I apparated away from the training area, and three other people but four breaths. There's some large creature with a snake odor. That's not Moody or any Auror! Wait…twenty minutes and I'm still in Moody's form? Must be getting close to the end of the potion.'
A high-pitched voice ordered, "Barty, get some of Moody's hair. Try the Polyjuice potion now!"
"I must learn to walk with that leg and use the eye," the tall wizard admitted. "The term at Hogwarts starts in eight days and Moody has to appear in five days to get his curriculum in place."
Dora lay still, not betraying her awareness of her surroundings. She'd been stripped of Moody's outer robe but retained the pants and shirt.
'I'd be stupid to try and move with only one leg and one eye. And I can't tell if my second wand is still in place until I change back to me.'
Someone approached and yanked out a few hairs. As the man walked away, Dora opened the one good eye 'Moody' possessed to catalog her opponents.
The figure called Barty was a tall wizard. There was a second wizard who carried around a hideous-looking baby that whimpered and gave orders in a reedy voice. And there was a gigantic viper of some sort.
'Wizards and snake,' Dora saw. 'I can't beat all of them and I'll only get one shot.'
She watched as Barty dropped a couple of Moody's hairs into the Polyjuice and chugged it down.
'That is nasty stuff with normal hair. Let's see what happens with my hair in the mixture,' thought Dora as she felt the tingle of the Polyjuice potion wearing off.
&&^^&& SCENE CHANGEBarty Crouch, Jr. was already insane in 1981 when he joined other Death Eaters in attacking the Longbottom family. After just three months in Azkaban, his father brought his mother to the prison and dosed her with Polyjuice to leave her in his place. In his infrequent lucid thoughts, the wizard was sorry that his mother sacrificed herself to free him from Azkaban. His hatred of his father only grew over the thirteen years as he lived under Barty, Sr.'s Imperious curse in the basement. Winky kept him entertained with books, in top physical shape with exercise equipment, and well-fed.
When his father led the Dark Lord in the arms of Peter Pettigrew into his basement chamber, Barty, Jr. experienced a religious revelation. The Dark Lord had found him, freed him, and enslaved his father. Magic herself saved and prepared him for this moment – to help Lord Voldemort to return from the spirit world and finally conquer Magical Britain.
Now his father functioned helplessly under the Imperious curse every day, living like the blood traitor he was, and helpless to stop the Dark Lord's return.
To obtain the blood of his enemy, the Dark Lord would depend on Barty to pretend to be Alastor Moody for eleven months at Hogwarts, to deliver Harry Potter to him at the next summer solstice for the resurrection ritual that would give Voldemort a new body.
Today, they took the first step by kidnapping Alastor Moody. Now, Barty would become Alastor for a few hours and learn how to walk on the peg leg and use the mechanical and magical eye.
He slipped the hairs into the potion, sealed the bottle, and slowly turned it over and around three times to ensure the hairs dissolved fully. Then he popped off the lid and took two swallows.
The transformation of Barty's fit, thirty-year-old body into Alastor's eighty-year-old body stitched together with scars began with the collapse of one leg and the entire left side of his head. Then the wizard screamed as other changes began to occur.
His arms became tree limbs and his torso turned into the body of a five-year-old girl. Then the screams were silenced as his head became a pillow. When his head returned – resembling Bellatrix LeStrange, Barty's mouth opened with more screams.
&&^^&& SCENE CHANGEAlastor Moody and Auror Proudfoot jumped in multiple apparitions around England. The wizard had leapt from the suburbs of London into the north and after an hour, they were close to the destination.
They popped into a small muggle village called Little Hangleton and from the belfry of the church cast spells to pinpoint any sources of magic in the area. Not far from the graveyard, there was a ramshackle muggle manor house with clear evidence of recent magic – current magical spells were being cast in the house. They apparated directly to the outside – they detected muggle repelling and silencing charms in place.
Both wizards heard one voice screaming. Then something large began flopping around, slamming into the walls, and two more voices screamed.
End of Chapter