CHAPTER NINETEEN

UNSURE SUSPICION

The January night blew as the whole of Hogwarts sat for a steaming dinner. The pupils sat at their own house tables while Harry and the other professors ate at the faculty's table. Harry slurped his pumpkin juice quickly to prepare for tomorrow's class. He stood and waved goodbye, his feet carrying him to the familiar halls that went to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. As he walked on, he passed Dumbledore's office and instantly, a hint of curiosity hit him.

He distinctly remembered Dumbledore say that he was keeping Crouch but where exactly, Harry could only guess. He knew of course that most probably Crouch was being kept in the headmaster's office so he approached the stone statue that opened to a revolving elevator towards Dumbledore's office. He still remembered the password and uttered it softly, "Fizzing Whizbees" and the statue began to rotate, revealing the elevator-like mechanism. Harry stepped on it and up he went. He walked in the office which was empty since Dumbledore was eating dinner. He looked around, thinking where Crouch could be hidden.

The room was silent aside from the ticking and hissing of the many devices on top of Dumbledore's table. He looked at the walls that were covered with portraits. They were all empty aside from a sleeping witch. Harry then went to search, knowing that Dumbledore would probably be up here soonwhen he is done eating.

As Harry walked around, he heard a clinking sound. He listened more carefully, noting where the sound emanated from. He walked towards it but as he did, he realized it went towardsa wall. Unless the sound came from another room outside the office, the source might be in some secret chamber accessible from this office. He was now in front of the wall, pressing his ear on the stone to listen to the clinking sound. Suddenly, the sleeping witch in the portrait coughed, breaking the ticking sounds and the silence of the room, causing Harry to bang against the wall with fright. The wall suddenly moved, much like how the bricks open up towards Diagon Alley back at the Leaky Cauldron. He watched with amazement as the stone wall rearranged to reveal a passage.

The passage was damp and dark. Harry went to get his wand and did the Lumos charm to shed some light as he stepped into the darkness. He walked down the stone passage which was around eight meters in length. After as few moments, he was in a chamber. It was bare and almost entirely dark, with only a small torch to shed some light. The chamber had only one occupant, Crouch.

Harry felt surprised to see how Dumbledore was keeping Crouch. He felt the unusual ruthlessness of a kind old man. Though Harry reasoned again to himself that Dumbledore is doing this for the good of the whole wizarding community, he still felt sympathetic to the figure that was in the chamber. He walked in closer to Crouch, who was bound by magical restraints that was cutting his skin, bleeding slowly. Crouch was thin and frail as he raised his head to reveal a bloody face. Harry felt sad for Crouch.

"So" said Crouch, "you want to laugh at me?"

"No" said Harry.

"I wish I would just die but no. I will be strong. Stronger than Voldemort."

Harry didn't answer back. He just looked at Crouch, his bloody form limp and in bondage with magical restraints.

Suddenly, Harry heard a sound. The elevator was rotating and ascending outside the office. Dumbledore was coming. Harry had to hide.

Harry realized that the secret passage was open from the headmaster's office. If Dumbledore sees the passage open, he would know someone was inside. Harry hurriedly scurried out the passage and into the office. Dumbledore was still in the elevator outside the room so he closed the way leading to the passage by tapping his wand on it. He then jumped towards the back of a large cabinet filled with little devices to hide.

The door clicked and opened. Dumbledore strode inside, slowly yet surely. He took his seat by the center table, eyeing the many devices in his room. He then whistled, calling Fawkes to sit on the perch. Fawkes did come and Dumbledore welcomed the bird warmly, stroking him.

"It will be tonight that we will rid of Crouch for good." said Dumbledore to Fawkes.

Harry stayed silent as he listened intently.

"Fawkes," continued Dumbledore. "We don't really need the help of Potter and the rest of them. We will kill Crouch since he is the only remaining one who knows the truth about me. Once he is dead, I would be highly relieved and we will just tell Potter that Crouch died of... say starvation or something else. No one will ever knowwhat I did to Voldemort. No one will find out, ever."

END OF CHAPTER NINETEEN