As they crossed the grounds, Harry flashed back on what Crouch Sr. had said to him when he and Krum found him near the Forbidden Forest. He had said two things one of which was easily obvious and proven tonight and that was of Voldemort getting stronger. The other thing he had said was about his son. That it was his fault. Harry thought about what Sirius himself had told him. Crouch's son had died within a year and that Crouch was seen half dragging his wife away after a deathbed visit. Harry was slowly assembling little pieces of a big puzzle.
The night at the World Cup with Crouch's elf saving her master a seat but Crouch not turning up himself, the elf being found with Harry's wand while the elf denied having stolen it, Crouch's name appearing on the Marauder's Map when he was supposed to be ill. Sirius had denied that Crouch would not pull up such a stunt to spy on Snape. If he wanted to do so, he could have regularly visited the school, the Triwizard Tournament providing such an excuse and what him being one of the judges.
Having put those instances together in one bunch, Harry;s mind moved on to all the out of class meetings he had with this person beside him who was definitely impersonating Moody. They were now climbing the stairs to the great oak front doors.
One such instance struck him. The night he had seen Crouch's name on the Marauder's Map. He had met the impostor that night and he on learning about the Map had asked Harry whether he had seen anyone there and Harry had told him about seeing Barty Crouch. WHy would anyone ask such a question to a student when he could have been only using it to get around the castle without being seen unless the person asking was guilty of something. 'What is the connection between Barty Crouch and this man?' Harry pondered.
Then it struck him. What if Barty Crouch Sr's son was alive having escaped from Azkaban? Hary did not know the name of the son but it was no great stretch to imagine a son being named after his father or grandfather as was the tradition in some families. Then this person had to be Barty Crouch Jr. The one who had tortured Neville's parents into insanity with the Lestranges.
Now having established his suspicions on who this man was, Harry turned his mind to plotting on taking him down. His adversary was surely clever having fooled Dumbledore himself into believing that he was his friend Alastor Moody and he had to be powerfully magical being able to fool an ancient magical artefact like the Goblet of Fire into accepting Harry's name. Voldemort would not choose any lesser or weaker. Harry decided that his only chance lay on two things. A combination of non-magical means and casting a curse only when the impostor was halfway thorugh his own incantation because then he would not be able to pull up a shield charm or deflect Harry's curse while in the middle of an incantation. This meant that Harry would have to provoke him.
As they entered the DADA office, Harry thought it would have been good to provoke him while in the passage with a lot of places to take cover behind. Alas, he would have to make do with what he had. He decided to be straight forward. That might surprise him, buy him sometime.
The impostor gave him a Strengthening Solution though Harry only sniffed it but did not drink it though it did smell like what the potion was labeled to be.
'Forgive me for being paranoid, Prof. Moody but what if this is tampered with. I have learned my lessons well.' said Harry.
'Taking after me, are you?' asked the impostor still under the impression that the boy was unaware that Harry Potter was onto him. He took the bottle from Harry's hand and took a sip. Nothing happened to him except the positive effects of the potion taking place. 'See it's not poisoned' said he.
'OK' said Harry and downed the bottle. Immediately he felt better.
'So, why are we here, Professor?' asked Harry 'Or should that be Barty Crouch Jr?'
This gave the impostor a pause as he had opened his mouth to answer Harry's first question.
He stared Harry for a second, took in his stance. Harry was standing with his back to the door, his wand pointed casually but unerringly at his face with eyes going from the wand to his face and back again. The impostor already had his wand out. He lowered it slightly for a second to give the impression that he didn't know what Harry was saying only to raise it back up fast.
'CRUCIO!' shouted the impostor.
Harry had seen Crouch's eyes widen and the he saw them flare with anger knowing that a curse was coming, he ducked as soon as Crouch's mouth opened and then with his one hand touching the ground, he kicked hard at the impostor's groin and was rewarded when Crouch buckled with both hands clutching it. Harry quickly fired a Conjunctivits Curse at Crouch's eyes while rising from his position on the floor and followed it up with a Summoning Charm and the impostor's wand which had fallen down flew into his hand. Crouch stumbled backwards clutching both his face and his groin, writhing in agony and fell awkwardly into a chair.
Having straightened himself up properly, Harry now shot two 'Serpensortia's aiming not at Crouch but at the floor beside him. This time, two poisonous adders burst out of his wand with loud BANGs. As soon as they landed on the floor, he hissed, 'Bind him'. The snakes quickly rushed to do his bidding and coiled around him tightly with their faces mere millimeters from the impostor's face. They hissed at him threateningly showing off their sharp fangs.
Crouch emptied his bladder in fear but Harry could not stop himself from chortling, not beause Crouch had peed in his robes but beacuse of what he heard the snakes say to each other.
'Silly human hatchling! He takes ur from our home not to feed us, NO!, but to bind this filth. And now, he smells of filth too. But what can we do against a Speaker.'
'I will provide you a home and feed you if you obey my command now' hissed Harry.
Meanwhile, Professor Dumbledore had reached the floor having followed the impostor very late after grabbing both Snape and McGonagall. He rushed to Moody's office, wand drawn, on hearing two BANGs fearing for Harry's life. As soon as Moody's door was in sight, he blew it off its hinges and all three entered the room, battle-ready only to find Harry standing over the groaning impostor and couple of venomous looking snakes coiled around him.
It was at this point that HArry fully understood for the first time why people said that Albus Dimbledore was the only one in the world whom Lord Voldemort feared. The look on his face as he entered ready for battle was terrible to look at. There was anger written all over him and he was radiating so much power as if he was giving off burning heat.
'What happened, Harry?' asked Professor Dumbledore calmly while he still radiated that sense of power.
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