Chapter Four

Morning Revelations

Bartemius Crouch Junior woke early the next morning. He opened the curtains around his four-poster bed and beamed out at the light and cheery room. He had not liked the train journey of the day before. Thankful to the kindness that had been shown him, he had seen his hosts behave in a way that he did not like, and he felt bad about inwardly criticising these people. The tension between his hosts and those boys who had joined in their conversation had made him uncomfortable and worried about what was in wait for him, but this tension had been eased when the Sorting Hat had not screamed out "Gryffindor!" or "Slytherin!", but "Hufflepuff," where, so the Hat had sung, he could find loyal and true friends. The tension had been lifter further when he been greeted with such warmth by both the new first years and the more experienced older years. He had been inundated with offers of help, with congratulations, and with friendly, if somewhat annoying, hands ruffling his hair.

But he still found himself in awe of the people he had met on that train. Though the aggression and dislike they had shown, these people had impressed on him a respect and interest and this was something he could not suppress, despite of the feeling that he should not mix with them. However, he doubted this would be a problem. From what he had heard from the older Hufflepuffs, Slytherins and Hufflepuffs tended not to mix, and as for Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors, they were seldom on more than nodding terms as they passed in each other in the corridors.

He walked over to the window and looked at the pale morning sky in which a white sun blazed. It would be a while, he was sure, before anyone else would be up, and he doubted that breakfast would be on the table yet. He wondered over to his trunk, being careful not to make too much noise. He started to unpack his belongings; last night he had been too tired and too excited to do so. However, he had not been aware of this for long when he became aware of someone looking at him. Turning around, he saw a small figure sitting in an armchair across the room. Erebus Diggle was looking sleepily at him, his arms resting limply over the sides of the chair. He let rip an enormous yawn and smiled dreamily.

"Mornin'," he said happily. "I fell asleep in the chair. I couldn't sleep last night. I… I didn't frighten you, did I…?" he added, seeing Barty's surprise.

"Yes, a little," Barty said. "I didn't expect to… y'know."

There was a loud grumble and they both laughed.

"That was never your stomach?" asked Erebus. "Why don't you go down to breakfast?"

"Surely it's too early…?"

"Maybe, but you won't know unless you find out."

"Good point… you coming?"

"No… I'm going to get some sleeeeeeep!" Erebus said, stretching his arms up into the air.

Barty left a dozing Erebus in the dormitory, and set off for the Great Hall. After several wrong turns, one of them thanks to Peeves the poltergeist which led him outside Filch's rooms, he made it. Sure enough, the tables were already set with breakfast, and there was even somebody eating. It was the three boys that had been in the corridor the previous day, with another, round faced boy. They sat at the end of the Gryffindor table nearest the door, and when Barty walked through it, they looked around at him, before turning back. They huddled closer together and talked in low voices, the boy called Sirius Black shooting him glances at intervals.

Barty sat halfway down the Hufflepuff table and helped himself to some toast and strawberry jam. Another student entered that caused the group of four, and Barty, to turn around for a second time. Barty recognised Amy Greenwood, from the train, and he pretended not to have seen her. He weighed up in his mind whether to talk with her or not.

When Amy Greenwood had seen Bartemius Crouch Jr. in the Great Hall she moaned inwardly, hoping that he would not talk to her. He would just complicate things. Why Black and his friends wanted to talk to her in such privacy, she did not know, but she wanted to get over and done with it. She sat facing the four Gryffindors so that she could see when they had left. She ate hurriedly and sat sipping here tea, cupping the mug in her hands to warm them up. It was chilly early in the morning in the Great Hall.

She started to doze off, tired from her late night and early rise, her head nodding down onto her chest. A painful screeching noise startled her and her head shot upwards, looking around in shock. She saw Black holding onto his chair and he shoved it under the table, purposely repeating the screeching noise and looking at her meaningfully. The other three were getting up, and they moved towards the large double doors.

As they exited, Amy got up, downing the rest of her tea, and headed determinedly towards the door. She did not get far before a voice called her name.

"Amy!" said Crouch. "Amy! Hi, it's me, Barty, Bartemius Crouch Junior, remember?"

"Of course I remember," said Amy mildly, though internally she was quite irritated. "It was only yesterday we met."

"Er…yes," blushed Crouch. This was going worse, surprisingly, than he had expected. His shy nervousness had caused him to mess it up before he had started. He tried to make conversation. "I'm in Hufflepuff…"

"Yes I saw," interrupted Amy, eyeing the Gryffindors as they walked outside. "Look, Cr- Barty. Congratulations, and all, but I need to, uh, finish my holiday homework. I've a lot to do."

"Err, ok," stammered Barty as he watched Amy disappear down a flight of stairs, calling a farewell over her shoulder.

Amy rounded the corner and waited there until she felt confident that the first year had gone, and then reappeared out of the gloom. She crossed the Entrance Hall, as a group of Ravenclaws descended the stairs behind her, and walked out into the chilly morning air. She scoped out around the grounds that sat laid out in front of her, and saw Black, Potter, Lupin and Pettigrew standing in a tight knot among a small group of trees.

Amy approached them and saw Pettigrew notice her and notify the others, who turned around to greet her.

"Glad you could come, Amy," said Potter, smiling broadly in a way that made Amy think of crocodiles.

"Oh, so we're using first names, are we?" she said dryly.

"Oh, Amy, Amy," said Potter. "I think in the circumstances there's no need for formality. We want to create a friendly atmosphere."

"Cut the crap, James," Amy said. "Let's get down to business. What's this about?"

"Before we start," said Remus. "We need to tell you a secret, and you must promise not to tell anyone what you're going to hear, and promise not to tell anyone about what we want you to do, to help us with."

"Well, I could promise…" Amy mused.

"We need your word," Remus said bluntly.

"Well, I've only got one word," she sneered. "I don't want to go round giving it to any old fool…"

"Do we have your word?" Sirius said through his teeth, gripping her upper arm.

"Yes, yes, you have my word," Amy gasped, and he let go of her. "Christ, I was only playing with you."

"Well it's not funny," Remus said quietly. "This is serious."

Amy looked at each of the Marauders and looked down at her shoes.

"Tell me, then," she said.

"You do, it Moony," said James. "It's your secret to tell."

Amy looked at Remus, whose face was grey and solemn. He drew his breath and spoke.

"I'm a werewolf," the boy flinched slightly as if expecting a violent reaction.

Amy looked uncomfortable.

"You what?" she said faintly. "You're not serious."

"Didn't I just say it was serious," Remus said, smiling slightly.

"That's… cool," said Amy, breathlessly.

"No, it's not," said Remus. "It's horrible."

"Sorry," Amy said, a little shamefully. "But… what's this got to do with me? What can I do."

"You can help us help him," said James. "We want to make things better for him. But we can't do that without risking becoming werewolves ourselves."

"Animals can't become werewolves," said Peter after James smiled at him.

There was a silence.

"You're kidding," Amy suddenly said. "You've got to be nuts. It's illegal! You do now why it's illegal?"

"You know a lot about Animigi, then?" said Sirius slyly.

"Well, I read a book on it, and…" Amy paused. "Yes, I suppose I do. But I can't help you."

"Why not?" asked Peter.

"Because… I can't," she said, exasperated. "I haven't got the skills. I've only completed one year at Hogwarts, and…"

"…you can already do transfiguration that's years above that," Sirius interrupted. "I'd say you'd need to be in… which year, Jaimsie?"

"Oh, fifth year, at least," said James.

Amy could not help but feel her ego inflate, but she stuck to her ground. Why her? Their answer was simple. It was dangerous. They needed someone with ability, but also passion in the right quantity, so that they would do the job thoroughly. That is why they could not find some seventh year. Besides, a seventh year would be likely not to take them seriously.

"What's in it for me…?" Amy asked breathlessly, excited at the prospect of what she might be about to embark on. "And what reason is there for me to keep secret what we'd be doing?"

The boys exchanged looks and James gave Peter a nudge, which caused him to stumble forward a little. He withdrew a piece of parchment from his pocket and gave it to Amy, a look of what seemed like apology in his eyes. Amy took the note, unfolded it and read it. She looked up at her audience, and then ripped it into several pieces and put it into her pocket.

"I don't believe you'd do anything like that," she said levelly. "But I don't want to risk it."

"You have to understand," said Remus. "We're not doing this maliciously. It's insurance, you see."

"Yes," Amy said in a dull voice.

They walked back towards the castle in silence, but as they approached the school Sirius turned to Amy.

"I'd keep away from my brother, if I were you," said Sirius. "He's no good. What I mean is," Sirius quickly added when he saw Amy's face, "he's no good to you. He has some… rather extreme views, about, well, your kind, if you don't mind me saying. He gets it from our parents."

Before Amy could answer, they mounted the steps up to the Entrance Hall, and Sirius melted into the crowd.