If you are ready, if you are prepared
Chapter 2: Minerva McGonagall
She'd wanted to take Harry straight to the Hospital Wing, he was wounded, both in the leg and the arm, and something dreadful has happened, Cedric is dead, and Harry must have seen it, he'd been clutching Cedric's arm like a vice - and Alastor ... Alastor Moody wasn't himself, something was terribly wrong. But Albus had said no, Albus had said, he will stay, Minerva, because he needs to understand – and she hadn't understood herself.
Albus had sent to her to fetch Sirius from Hagrid's pumpkin patch and take him up to the Headmaster's office - and she couldn't help giving the big black dog a hug, and whispering an apology for ever doubting him into his ear. But if it had been anyone other than Albus who'd told her that Sirius was innocent she wouldn't have believed it, she'd been stunned when Albus told her what had happened in the Shrieking Shack, told her that Harry believed Sirius to be innocent - and shown her the piece of parchment that Harry had sent him, I, Sirius Black, Harry Potter's godfather, hereby give him permission to visit Hogsmeade at weekends.
It had almost given her a heart attack to think of it, moonlight expeditions through the Forbidden Forest and Hogsmeade village in the company of a transformed werewolf, criminal recklessness! What if someone had been bitten? And how could Remus have let them do it – he was a prefect! Oh, James and Sirius had been wild, wilful boys ... but she couldn't help feeling a glow of pride in them, they were such bright boys, exceptionally bright boys to have mastered the Animagus Transformation at fifteen! They really were the cleverest boys in the school - and little Peter Pettigrew, he was the traitor? But he'd tagged after James and Sirius everywhere, he'd worshipped them, how could he betray his friends?
It had hurt to think of Sirius unjustly imprisoned in Azkaban for twelve years, hurt to think of the wreck of a man she'd seen on the wanted posters - but it had hurt just as much to discover that the lumpy little boy who she'd always believed had finally proved himself a true Gryffindor was a coward, a spy and a traitor. And she'd been utterly ashamed that she'd ever, ever wondered why Neville Longbottom had been Sorted into Gryffindor, because while Neville struggles in every one of his classes except Herbology there's no doubting his courage. He'd had the courage to stand up even to his friends, earned Gryffindor the deciding ten points in his first year - and she'd been very pleased to hear of his mastery of the Riddikulus spell. That had taken a lot of bravery, facing both his fear of Severus, and of that dragon of a grandmother, though it was a great pity it had been so embarrassing for Severus, she'd had to struggle not to laugh herself when she'd heard - Severus in drag! And wearing Augusta's ghastly vulture hat!
She'd told Sirius that Harry was safe and Albus would be with him shortly, then she'd hurried back down to the third floor - and it had been a dreadful shock to walk through the door of the Defence teacher's office and see a man who has been dead for twelve years.
It had been nauseating to hear of what Barty Crouch had done to his father, and terrifying to have confirmation of what Albus had feared - Voldemort has returned, has regained a body. It will be war again, and already there have been casualties, already there have been deaths ... Cedric Diggory would have been Head Boy next year if he'd lived, the first Hufflepuff to win that honour since Edgar Bones.
So now she's pointing her wand at Barty Crouch's chest, and she's wondering - how well did I know my students? First Peter Pettigrew – and now Barty Crouch, because it's Barty Crouch all right. It's the same pale-skinned, freckly, fair-haired boy she'd seen dragged out of Courtroom Ten by the Dementors so many years ago, but Barty Crouch is lined around the eyes now and he looks much older ... and he's giggling and muttering and rocking backwards and forwards, he's muttering something incoherent about my Master, my Master, my Master will come for me ...
She's thinking, does he even know who I am? It's unbelievable, the man who'd sat next to her at the evening feast before the Third Task and chatted casually about Harry's chances of winning the Tournament is Barty Crouch, the milque-toast boy who'd been such a disappointment to Horace. An intelligent boy - twelve OWLs and even better results in his NEWTs - but he seemed to lack any ambition, he had no desire to follow his father into the Ministry, and he'd simply disappeared after he left school.
She'd wondered herself if young Barty had been mis-Sorted, he seemed to belong in Ravenclaw, not Slytherin, but she could remember his Sorting, and the Hat had shouted Slytherin! as soon as it touched his head - not like Severus, the Hat had taken quite a while to decide which House to put him into. She'd wondered what choices it was offering the boy, and she'd been sure that it must have been between Slytherin and Ravenclaw - the sharp-featured little creature looked clever - but she'd seen his lips moving, and she was a pretty fair lip reader, one of the little tricks that helps to keep a class in order - and she'd been both surprised and relieved when she'd realised what he was saying, not Gryffindor, because she'd been teaching long enough to know trouble when she saw it.
And she'd been right, Severus had been a very difficult boy - talented yes, but what a temper, he'd feuded relentlessly with James and Sirius from the very first week of term. She could remember when it started, the fight outside her class-room – she'd heard the commotion and stepped into the corridor in time to see it all, Sirius' wand flying out of his hand, and then the bone-breaking hex that had smashed every bone in Sirius' right hand and arm so badly that Poppy had to remove the bones and regrow them with Skele-Grow. She'd thought, nasty little coward, attacking a boy who's already been disarmed – and how is it that a first year knows such a Dark spell, anyway?
She'd taken Severus straight up to the Headmaster's office, and it had all come out there, the abusive Muggle father and what seemed a chronically depressed mother – and where the boy had learned the spell, from his mother, Eileen Prince, and what could you expect? The woman's father was a criminal, a Dark wizard, he'd died in Azkaban. So, in the circumstances, it hadn't been expulsion - just a week's detention with Apollyon Pringle - but that had only been the start of the trouble between Severus and the Marauders.
And Severus had fallen in with the wrong company, she'd couldn't forget how eagerly he'd trotted off to the Slytherin table after his Sorting to get a pat on the head from Lucius Malfoy, the new fifth year Slytherin prefect - and how can Severus still be friendly with that awful man?
Lucius Malfoy! His malice against Albus is intolerable, but thank Merlin he's been kicked off the Board of Governors, and how can Cornelius Fudge still be taken in by him? Oh, Malfoy was cleared of all charges on the grounds of bewitchment under the Imperius Curse and that was, to use Hagrid's language, a load of dung!
She'd never liked Lucius Malfoy, never been taken in by his charm and good looks. He'd been Head Boy, and of course Horace had adored him - as he adored all the handsome boys. Severus had followed Malfoy around like a puppy while they were both at school, she'd have been concerned that there was something ... unwholesome ... between them, except that Lucius Malfoy and Narcissa Black were already a couple. And Severus certainly wasn't, hmm, that way inclined, his behaviour with girls in his final year at Hogwarts had been appalling, there'd been a good deal more than that disgraceful incident behind the greenhouse with that silly little Hufflepuff, Florence ... Florence something-or-other.
Though, to be fair, Sirius' behaviour had been nearly as bad - but all the attractive girls had been falling over themselves to be seen with Sirius Black, despite his reputation as a heart-breaker, and boys will be boys. And Sirius had broken her heart, too, when she thought that he had betrayed James and Lily and their baby to Voldemort, and she couldn't understand it, she didn't want to believe it - but Albus himself had given evidence that Sirius had been the Potters' Secret-Keeper, and she'd thought, bad blood will out.
And now she's thinking, if any good can come out of what's happened tonight, at least Sirius' name will be cleared. When the Minister for Magic has heard Barty Crouch's confession, when Cornelius Fudge has heard what Harry has to say, Sirius will be exonerated, and Harry will have a proper home to go to when school finishes this year.
Barty Crouch is still muttering and giggling to himself, still muttering about my master, and she realises - this dreadful creature is one of the fiends who tortured Frank and Alice into insanity, and Neville will have to know. Neville will have to know that it was Barty Crouch who demonstrated the Cruciatus Curse to him ... it was only a spider, but Neville was terribly upset, and Merlin knows what nightmares he'll have, imagining his parents' torture – and the thought makes her feel sick.
And then she feels a chill, a sense of unease, a sense of foreboding - the door opens and Fudge and Severus walk into the room and she can see the Dementor behind them, but she's taken completely unawares. She hadn't thought for a minute that Fudge would bring a Dementor with him, because Albus would never permit a Dementor in Hogwarts, not after the attack on Harry at the end of last year, and surely Fudge knows that.
Fudge recognises Barty Crouch, he looks surprised and then disgusted - and then, before she can protest, before she can raise her wand, the Dementor sweeps past him, it swoops on Barty Crouch - and she's so close, she can see everything. The grey, glistening, scabby hands reach out from under the cloak, seize Crouch's face, and Barty knows what's going to happen, because his eyes are wide open, lucid, he opens his mouth to scream, the thing fastens its jaws onto him - and then it's all over, the body is slumping against the wall, the eyes are blank, the face is slack, and Barty Crouch is just an empty shell.
And now she's shouting, a silver cloud bursts from her wand, the Dementor flees out the door – Fudge looks horrified, shocked, but then he starts shouting, too, blustering about the Kiss being an appropriate punishment for escape from Azkaban, the Kiss has been authorised for Sirius Black ... and he's entitled to protection when questioning a dangerous maniac!
Fudge is demanding to see Albus, and they head towards the Hospital Wing because Albus will be there, with Harry - but she can't stop shouting at Fudge, because she's almost beside herself. Not even Barty Crouch deserved that ... and now Crouch can't talk - and when Albus finds out what has happened, his anger is going to be terrible to witness. And she knows that it's all her fault, she should have driven the thing away the moment that she saw it, she couldn't expect Severus to do anything, not with his record - if he were to defy the Minister for Magic, not even Albus could save him from Azkaban.
They burst into the Hospital Wing, trailing after Fudge as he strides up the ward, but Albus isn't here, there's only Molly Weasley, Bill, Ron, Harry and Hermione – and Sirius, crouched by Harry's bed in his Animagus form.
"Where's Dumbledore?" demands Fudge.
"He's not here," says Molly angrily. "This is a hospital wing, Minister, don't you think you'd do better to -"
But then the door opens, and Albus sweeps up the ward. "What has happened?" he says, sharply, looking from Fudge to herself. "Why are you disturbing these people? Minerva, I'm surprised at you - I asked you to stand guard over Barty Crouch -"
There are angry blotches in her cheeks, her hands are balled into fists, she's trembling with fury – fury at Fudge, and fury at herself, because she's failed Albus.
"There is no need to stand guard over him any more, Dumbledore!" she shrieks. "The Minister has seen to that!"
Then Severus speaks up, in a low voice, to explain that Fudge insisted on summoning a Dementor to accompany him into the castle ...
How could Fudge have done this! He must know that the Dementors can't be trusted! Only last year they'd attacked Harry – twice! And the second time they'd tried to administer the Kiss! On an innocent boy! And now Fudge is trying to ignore the fact that the Dementor was out of control - because whatever he says, she won't believe the thing had orders to attack Barty Crouch on sight!
"I told him you would never agree, Dumbledore," she storms. "I told him you would never allow Dementors to set foot inside the castle, but - "
Fudge looks angrier than she's ever seen him. "My dear woman," he roars, "as Minister for Magic, it is my decision whether I wish to bring protection with me when interviewing a possibly dangerous -"
Dangerous! Crouch was bound with ropes – ropes he couldn't possibly break, ropes conjured by Albus Dumbledore himself! And has Fudge no confidence in his own powers, no confidence in her, or in Severus? No confidence in two professors of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry – the Heads of their respective Houses?
Her voice is drowning Fudge's. "The moment that - that thing entered the room," she screams, trembling all over, "it swooped down on Crouch and - and - "
She can't bring herself to describe what she saw – and Fudge is protesting, he's saying, "By all accounts, he is no loss! It seems he has been responsible for several deaths!"
"But he cannot now give testimony, Cornelius," says Albus, staring hard at Fudge, as if he can't believe what he's hearing.
"Why he killed them? Well, that's no mystery, is it?" Fudge shouts. "He was a raving lunatic! From what Minerva and Severus have told me, he seems to have thought he was doing it all on You-Know-Who's instructions!"
She thinks, Barty Crouch was mad, yes, there's no denying that, but he could still talk! Under the influence of Veritaserum he could still talk – and we would have learned a lot, learned of Voldemort's plans, where he's hiding, which of his old supporters have rejoined him ...
"Lord Voldemort was giving him instructions, Cornelius," says Albus. "Those people's deaths were mere by-products of a plan to restore Voldemort to full strength again. The plan succeeded. Voldemort has been restored to his body."
Fudge looks dazed, he blinks and splutters, "You-Know-Who ... returned? Preposterous. Come now, Dumbledore."
She's listening to Fudge, and she can't believe what she's hearing – is this the same wizard who'd bombarded Albus with owls when he was first made Minister? The same wizard who's always had so much faith in Albus?
"As Minerva and Severus have doubtless told you," says Albus. "We heard Barty Crouch confess. Under the influence of Veritaserum, he told us how he was smuggled out of Azkaban, and how Voldemort - learning of his continued existence from Bertha Jorkins - went to free him from his father, and used him to capture Harry. The plan worked, I tell you. Crouch has helped Voldemort to return."
"See here, Dumbledore," Fudge is smiling, now. "You - you can't seriously believe that. You-Know-Who - back? Come now, come now ... certainly, Crouch may have believed himself to be acting upon You-Know-Who's orders - but to take the word of a lunatic like that, Dumbledore ..."
And now she sees it, Fudge doesn't want to believe that Voldemort is back, he'll look an absolute fool – cutting back the Auror recruitment program to save a few Galleons, accepting contributions to Ministry funds from known Death Eaters, doing nothing about Bertha's disappearance, standing idly by while their only source of information about Voldemort received the Kiss!
"When Harry touched the Triwizard Cup tonight, he was transported straight to Voldemort," says Albus steadily. "He witnessed Lord Voldemort's rebirth. I will explain it all if you will step up to my office."
Yes, she thinks, if we show Fudge our memories of Barty Crouch's confession in Albus' Pensieve, that will convince him ...
Fudge looks questioningly at Harry, but Albus glances around at Harry and shakes his head. "I am afraid I cannot permit you to question Harry tonight."
Fudge's smile lingers, he glances at Harry, looks back at Albus, and says, "You are – er - prepared to take Harry's word on this are you, Dumbledore?"
There's a moment's silence, broken only by Sirius growling, his hackles are raised and he's baring his teeth at Fudge – and she hopes Fudge won't look too closely at the big black dog, it's just too complicated to explain about Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew right now ...
"Certainly I believe Harry," says Albus, and now his eyes are blazing. "I heard Crouch's confession, and I heard Harry's account of what happened after he touched the Triwizard Cup; the two stories make sense, they explain everything that has happened since Bertha Jorkins disappeared last summer."
She thinks, can't Fudge see it? The same pattern ... last time the disappearances started long before Voldemort moved openly against the Ministry – and after the disappearances came the Muggle-killings, then the attacks on the Muggle-borns ...
Fudge glances at Harry again, says, "You are prepared to believe that Lord Voldemort has returned, on the word of a lunatic murderer, and a boy who ... well ..."
Harry suddenly speaks up, "You've been reading Rita Skeeter, Mr Fudge."
Fudge's face reddens slightly, he looks defiant and obstinate – he has been reading Skeeter's articles in the Daily Prophet. And how can Fudge take that woman seriously, after the things she said about Albus in her piece on the International Confederation of Wizards Conference, and her disgracefully irresponsible reporting of the World Cup! She pilloried the Ministry!
"And if I have?" says Fudge, looking at Albus. "If I have discovered that you've been keeping certain facts about the boy very quiet? A Parselmouth, eh? And having funny turns all over the place?"
She thinks, what of it, if Harry can speak Parseltongue? Half the school thought he was the Heir of Slytherin in his second year, and they were proved wrong! And what is this rubbish about funny turns? Harry developed a violent headache in Divination, and who wouldn't – in that hot, stuffy, smelly little room, with Sybill Trelawney banging on about her "extraordinarily clairvoyant vibrations" – clairvoyant my foot! Damn Rita Skeeter, she'd turned on Harry the minute he refused to give her any more interviews!
"I assume you are referring to the pains Harry has been experiencing in his scar?" asks Albus, coolly.
"You admit that he's been having these pains, then?" Fudge says, quickly. "Headaches? Nightmares? Possibly – hallucinations?"
Damn Fudge! Now he's trying to make out that Harry is the lunatic, what's he going to suggest next – that Harry needs to be examined by the Healers, that he needs to be confined to the same ward in St Mungo's as Neville's parents? And is Fudge a complete fool, to infuriate Albus like this? Because Albus is losing patience with Fudge ...
"Listen to me, Cornelius," says Albus, taking a step towards Fudge. "Harry is as sane as you or I. That scar upon his forehead has not addled his brains. I believe it hurts him when Voldemort is close by, or feeling particularly murderous."
That scar, it's like no other curse scar she's ever seen, like no other curse scar that Albus or Severus have ever seen, and Albus believes that it connects Harry and Voldemort in some way.
Fudge takes a step backwards, but he's still being stubborn. "You'll forgive me, Dumbledore," he says, "but I've never heard of a curse scar acting as an alarm bell before ..."
Harry starts shouting, "Look, I saw Voldemort come back!"
He tries to get out of the bed, Molly forces him back, but Harry keeps shouting, "I saw the Death Eaters! I can give you their names! Lucius Malfoy - "
She thinks, Voldemort has already summoned his Death Eaters! And how long will it be before he gathers all his old allies about him, breaks Bellatrix Lestrange and the others out of Azkaban – if the Ministry doesn't act now. And this time Albus won't have a spy close to Voldemort, Albus was forced to reveal that Severus was his spy before the full Wizengamot - two hundred witches and wizards heard him say, Severus Snape is now no more a Death Eater than I am. Severus can't go back to Voldemort now, Voldemort will never trust him again – and why did Severus leave his Dark Lord, anyway?
It hadn't been hard to see why Severus Snape, notorious for his interest in the Dark Arts, would want to become a Death Eater – if Voldemort would have him, considering that he wasn't pure-blood. But why had Severus left Voldemort's service? Albus won't say, though as a half-blood, Severus could hardly have ever believed the pure-blood supremacist nonsense ... but if that is the reason, why so secretive? It's true that Severus is ashamed of his Muggle father - when he was a student he put the story about Hogwarts that his father's family were refugees from the Grindelwald war, because no one had ever heard of the name Snape – and his half-blood origins aren't widely known, not even his own House know that Severus is a half-blood. But she knows - so if that's all that it is, why doesn't Albus tell her? And can Albus really trust Severus? People always wonder about that at the Order reunions, and she's heard that there are chilling things in Severus' Ministry file, but Albus has told her explicitly that Severus' repentance is absolutely genuine, Albus won't hear a word against Severus. And Severus is devoted to Albus, anyone can see how much he likes it when Albus pays a bit of attention to him, when Albus comes into the staff-room, stands behind Severus' chair, and put his hand on his shoulder ... Severus was terribly jealous when Remus came back to Hogwarts last year.
Fudge looks affronted, he's blithering about a very old family, donations to excellent causes, but Harry keeps listing the names - Macnair, Avery, Nott, Crabbe, Goyle – and where would he get that information from? And now Fudge is openly calling Harry a liar, saying to Albus, the boy can talk to snakes, Dumbledore, and you still think he's trustworthy?
She thinks, Fudge is a Ravenclaw, he's supposed to be clever, but there are none so blind as those who will not see!
And then she remembers Fudge from their school days, he'd been in second year when she was Head Girl, and she thinks, the jumped up little swot of a Ravenclaw! Cornelius Fudge should never have been made Minister – he would never have been Minister for Magic if Albus had wanted the job, or if Barty Crouch's father hadn't been disgraced by a Death Eater son, or if Rufus Scrimgeour had been a little more senior in the Ministry!
And she can't restrain herself, though she knows it won't help, she shouts, "You fool! Cedric Diggory! Mr Crouch! These deaths were not the random work of a lunatic!"