Chapter 15

Harry's Dream

The next morning, Harry asked me to meet him, Ron, and Hermione at the owlery. I knew that he wanted to tell us about what had happened last night. I ate my breakfast quickly, told Cedric where I was going, and headed off.

When I arrived at the owlery, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were already discussing the events from last night. Harry was attaching a letter to Pig, Ron's owl, and I assumed the letter was for Sirius.

"Hey," I said as I approached the three friends. "What's going on?"

"Chloe," said Harry as he turned around. "I need to tell you about last night." He went on to explain everything that happened after we ran into each other in the Entrance Hall. I let him do all the talking, not bothering to tell him that I was there that night as well. When he finished the story he asked what I thought.

"Well, I suppose Crouch could've attacked Krum. Did he act like he was going to be violent?"

"No, he was just acting a bit crazy. The few times he made any sense, he just kept saying he needed to tell Dumbledore something. The rest of the time he was talking to Percy, at least he thought he was."

"How's this as a theory? Krum attacked Crouch, no wait for it, and then he stunned himself." Ron said eagerly.

"And Mr. Crouch evaporated." Hermione said sarcastically.

"Oh, yeah I guess not." Ron said sheepishly.

"What did Mr. Crouch actually say, Harry." Hermione said, looking over at Harry.

"I told you, he wasn't making much sense. He said he wanted to warn Dumbledore about something. He definitely mentioned Bertha Jorkins and he seemed to think she was dead. He kept saying stuff was his fault, he mentioned his son."

"Well that was his fault." said Hermione.

"He was out of his mind. Half the time he seemed to think his son and wife were still alive. He kept saying stuff to Percy about work, giving him instructions."

"And remind me what he said about You-Know-Who." said Ron tentatively.

"I've told you, he said he's getting stronger." My thoughts turned to what Draco told me a few weeks ago about his family hearing rumors about Voldemort. It seemed like perhaps they were right, and Voldemort would be making a comeback soon. I made a mental note to talk to Draco about this. Maybe he could get more information from his family.

"But he was out of his mind, like you said. Half of it was probably just raving." Ron said in a falsely confident voice.

"He was sanest when he was trying to talk about Voldemort." said Harry. Ron winced at the sound of the name. "He was having real trouble stringing two words together, and that was when he knew where he was and know what he wanted to do. He just kept saying he wanted to talk to Dumbledore."

There was a pause of silence as we watched owls fly around the tower, our thoughts were on the events from last night. The only parts that were news to me, was what happened before Harry went to get Dumbledore. If Crouch was talking about Voldemort as if he was coming back, then surely it was no coincidence that Harry's name was put in the Goblet of Fire. Someone wanted my brother dead, and they had to be in close proximity to the castle during that time.

"If Snape hadn't held me up, we might have gotten there in time," said Harry bitterly. He went on to complain about Snape, imitating him.

"Maybe he didn't want you to get there. Maybe, hang on, how fast do you reckon he could've gotten to the forest? Do you reckon he could've beaten you and Dumbledore?"

"Not unless he can turn himself into a bat or something," said Harry.

"Why would Snape want to do anything to Crouch?" I asked.

"I dunno, it seems like something Snape would want to do." Ron said with a shrug.

"But Snape has never shown any indication that he would do something that would upset Dumbledore."

"He hates Harry, isn't that something that would upset Dumbledore?" Ron said stubbornly.

"Just because he dislikes Harry doesn't mean he would hurt him. Remember how he saved Harry's life during our first year?" I reminded Ron.

"We should talk to Professor Moody." Hermione said, interrupting our bickering. "We can find out if he ever found Mr. Crouch."

"He has the map, so it would've been easy." Harry said while nodding.

"Unless Crouch was already out of the school grounds." Ron interjected. "Cause it only shows up to the boundaries, doesn't it?"

"Shhh," I said, listening hard. I heard footsteps coming up to the owlery. There were two voices arguing as they got closer and closer. It turned out to be Fred and George, saying something about blackmail. They stopped talking as soon as they saw the four of us standing there.

"What are you guys doing here?" Ron and George said at the same time.

"Sending a letter," said Fred and Hermione at the same time.

"Fine, we won't ask what you're sending if you don't ask us," said George. He was holding a sealed envelope in his hands. His hand just happened to be covering the name on it.

"Well, don't let us hold you up." Fred said as he moved to get a school owl.

"Who are you blackmailing?" Ron questioned them. The grin vanished from Fred's face and he glanced at his twin brother.

"Don't be stupid. I was only joking." He said easily.

"Didn't sound like that." Ron said, annoyingly. Couldn't he just leave them alone? It's not like they were interrogating us on what we were doing.

"I told you before, Ron, keep your nose out if you like the shape it is. Can't see why you would but-," said Fred.

"It's my business if you're blackmailing someone. George is right, you can end up in serious trouble"

"I told you, I was joking," said George as he started tying their letter on a barn owl.

"You're starting to sound like our dear older brother, Ron. Carry on like this and you'll be made a prefect."

"No I won't," said Ron hotly. George carried the barn owl over to the window and it took off. He turned around and grinned at Ron.

"Well, stop telling people what to do then. See you later." He and Fred left the owlery. We all stared at one another.

"You don't think they know something about all this, do you?" Whispered Hermione. "About Crouch and everything?"

"No," I said. "If it was something that serious, they'd tell someone, like Dumbledore." Ron however, was looking uncomfortable.

"What is it?" Hermione asked him.

"Well, I dunno if they would tell someone." He started to say. "They are obsessed with making money. I noticed it when I was hanging around them, when..." his voice trailed off.

"When we weren't talking." Harry finished his sentence. "Yeah, but blackmail?"

"It's this joke shop idea they've got. I thought they were only saying it to annoy mom, but they really mean it. They want to start one; they only have a year left at Hogwarts. They keep going on about how it's time to think about their future, and dad can't help them. They need gold to get started." Ron said.

"Yes, but they wouldn't do anything against the law to get gold." Hermione said, looking uncomfortable now.

"Wouldn't they? I don't know. They don't exactly mind breaking rules, do they?"

"Breaking rules, and breaking the law are different things." I said with a small shrug.

"If they broke the law, they'd be facing much more than detention. Ron, maybe you should tell Percy." Hemrione said, ignoring my words.

"Are you mad? Tell Percy, he'd probably do a Crouch and turn them in," said Ron. He stared through the window where George's owl disappeared. "Come one, let's go to class."

The three Gryffindors headed off to History of Magic, and I headed down to the greenhouses for my Herbology lesson. We told each other, just before splitting up, that we would meet at the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom to talk to Professor Moody about Mr. Crouch. Class felt like it went by much slower than usual. I was counting the seconds to when the bell would ring for the end of class.

I rushed out of the greenhouse we were working in, telling my Slytherin friends I had somewhere to be, and headed off to meet up with my brother. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were already talking with Professor Moody when I arrived.

"Took a leaf out of your book Potter, summoned it from my office into the forest." Moody said as I walked into the classroom. He was sitting behind his desk, his legs stretched out and flask in hand. "He wasn't anywhere on there."

"So he did disapparate." said Ron.

"Hermione already said that you can't disapparate on the grounds, Ron." I said while walking up to everyone. Professor Moody gave me a nod to acknowledge my presence.

"There are other ways he could have disappeared, aren't there Professor?" Hermione said to Moody.

"You're another one that might consider a career as an auror." Professor Moody said, his magical eye on Hermione. "Your mind works the right way, Granger." I could see Hermione's face flush pink at his words.

"Well, he wasn't invisible. The map shows invisible people. He must have left the grounds then."

"But under his own steam? Or because someone made him?" I pondered out loud.

"Yeah, someone could've pulled him onto a broom and flown off with him," said Ron quickly as if he was looking for praise from Professor Moody.

"We can't rule out kidnapping." Growled Moody as he took a swig out of his flask.

"So, do you reckon he's somewhere in Hogsmeade?" Ron said.

"Could be anywhere." Moody said while shaking his head. "Only thing we know for sure is that he is not here. Now Dumbledore has told me that the four of you fancy yourselves as investigators, but there is nothing you can do for Mr. Crouch. The ministry is looking for him now, Dumbledore has notified them. Potter, you just keep your mind on the Third Task."

"What?" said Harry. "Oh, yeah." I got the impression that Harry hadn't been thinking of the Task since last night.

"Should be right up your street this one." Professor Moody said as he scratched his stubbly chin. "From what Dumbledore has said, you've managed to get yourself through stuff like this plenty of times. Broke your way through a series of obstacles guarding the Sorcerer's Stone in your first year, didn't you?"

"We helped," said Ron. "Me, Hermione, and Chloe helped."

"Well, help him practice for this one and I'll be very surprised if he doesn't win." Professor Moody said with a grin. "In the meantime, constant vigilance Potter, constant vigilance." He took another swig from his flask, and his magical eye looked out the window. We could see a flag from the Drumstrang ship from here. "You three, you stick close to Potter alright? I'm keeping an eye on things, but all the same. You can never have too many eyes out."

The rest of the day went by like normal. I was too busy with classes and homework to hang out with Cedric, which was a disappointment. But at least I was able to talk to Draco about what I learned this morning concerning Voldemort. I asked him at dinner to stay up with me because I needed to talk to him, and he agreed.

When evening came everyone was doing homework in the common room. We were all full from a lovely dinner so concentrating on our essays was difficult. Pansy, Crabbe, Goyle, and Zabini all left for bed after only an hour of doing homework. This left Draco and me alone, well alone other than the other Slytherin's in the common room. We moved our things to a small corner in the back of the room where no one would bother us.

"What did you want to talk about?" Draco asked as he continued to work on some Transfiguration homework.

"Remember our conversation about Voldemort and why you wanted to be my friend again?" I said, not bothering to pull my homework out again.

"Yes," Draco looked up at me curiously.

"I found out some more information on it."

"How?" He asked, straightening up.

"Well, last night some stuff went down in the forest. I didn't get to hear much of it first hand, but Harry did. You know Barty Crouch?" Draco nodded. "He was on the school grounds last night, trying to make it up to the castle to talk to Dumbledore."

"And he wanted to talk to Dumbledore about the Dark Lord?"

"Exactly. Harry said that Crouch was saying that Voldemort was getting stronger, and that he had to warn Dumbledore. Plus if he is really coming back, it's no wonder that Harry's name was put into the Goblet. Someone is trying to kill my brother." We sat in silence for a few moments.

"Did Crouch ever make it to Dumbeldore?" Draco finally asked, breaking the silence.

"No, he disappeared before Dumbledore got down there." I sighed heavily. "What do you think this all means?"

"I think that my suspicions were accurate and that the Dark Lord is going to come back to finish what he started."

"Do you think I am in danger?"

"Could be, this is why I wanted to reconnect. I need to be there to protect you." He looked into my eyes. "You need to come home with me this summer. My family can convince the Dark Lord you aren't a danger to him."

I thought back to my interactions with Voldemort during my second year. He taunted me, saying that my destiny was different from my brothers. That he would help me change the world, but perhaps he meant that I would help him. "I don't think Voldemort considers me a danger." I finally said after staying silent for a while.

"What do you mean?" Draco looked confused.

"I-" I wasn't sure if I was ready to open up about my interactions with the Tom Riddle from the diary. "I've only ever told Harry about this."

"You can trust me." Draco said encouragingly.

"When I was fighting the basilisk, during our second year, Voldemort talked to me. Well, Tom Riddle talked to me but he is Voldemort."

"What do you mean he talked to you?" Draco asked, and I realized that he didn't know about the diary.

"Well, according to my brother, your father gave Ginny Tom Riddle's diary. The diary was enchanted in a way that allowed for Riddle to communicate through it. He possessed Ginny, and she opened the Chamber of Secrets." I started to explain. Draco leaned back into his chair and listened intently.

"By the time Harry and I got to Ginny in the Chamber, Riddle had come out of the diary. Kind of like a ghost, only much more real. He was able to control the basilisk using parseltongue. He set the snake on Harry and me, hoping to keep us away long enough to finish draining Ginny of her life.

While the snake was hunting us down, we got separated. During this time apart I heard his voice telling me that my destiny was different, that I would change the world with his help. I thought he was just taunting me to distract me so he could reform, but now I am starting to think otherwise." I took a deep breath before continuing. "Now I think he wants to use me. How he wants to, I don't know. When we were babies, he only tried to kill Harry. Not me. We don't know what he would've done with me. But if he really thinks my destiny is different from Harry's, and Harry's destiny is to destroy him, then mine must be to help him." Draco sat across from me in deep thought. I could practically see the wheels turning in his head.

"Do you want to help him?" Draco finally asked.

"I don't think I believe in what he does. That only purebloods deserve to practice magic. I am friends with a muggleborn, and she is absolutely brilliant."

"Granger might be smart and all, but does she deserve to practice magic?"

"If she wasn't meant to practice magic, then why was she born with the ability to use it?" I countered. Draco didn't have a response. "I don't know what I am going to do about Voldemort coming back. I just know that I don't want to be used for something I don't believe in."

"Alright. But you have to let me try to protect you." Draco said, a pleading look in his eyes.

"I have plans for this summer already," I said. "With Cedric." I added to his confused look.

"Then come to my house afterwards; don't go back to your uncle or aunts."

"Let's just see what happens. It might take Voldemort a while to come back fully, but if I really need to, I will come." I said to reassure Draco. He had the best intentions for me, and to have support from a family that worked with Voldemort before could be useful. Even though I didn't want to be used by Voldemort, convincing him that I am not a threat could save my life.

The next morning Sirius sent back a letter to Harry. He came and found me after breakfast, but before our first class. He showed me the letter and it read:

Harry, what do you think you're playing at walking off to the forest with Viktor Krum? I want you to swear by return owl that you are not going to go walking with anyone else at night. There is somebody highly dangerous at Hogwarts. It is clear to me that they wanted to stop Crouch from seeing Dumbledore, and you were probably feet away from them in the dark. You could have been killed. Your name didn't get in the Goblet of Fire by accident. If someone is trying to attack you they're on their last chance.

Stay close to Chloe, Ron, and Hermine. Do NOT leave Gryffindor tower after hours, and arm yourself for the Third Task. Practice stunning and disarming. A few hexes wouldn't go amiss either. There's nothing you can do about Crouch. Keep your head down and look after yourself. I am looking for your letter giving me your word you won't stray out of bounds again.

Sirius.

"He must really be worried about you." I said after reading the letter.

"Who is he to tell me not to go wandering out of bounds?" Harry complained as he took back the letter and put it in the inside pocket of his robes.

"Your life is in danger, and there is probably someone here in the castle that wants you dead." I said with a shrug. "He just wants you to be safe."

"He's not telling you to stay out of bounds." Harry said grumpily.

"I am not in the Triwizard Tournament." I pointed out.

"No one's tried to attack me all year." Harry continued to complain.

"There hasn't been a need to attack you. The Tournament could have easily killed you by now."

"Like I told Ron and Hermione. Whoever stunned Krum and kidnapped Crouch was probably already in the trees when Krum and I were there. If they wanted to hurt me they had plenty of opportunities to do so, but they didn't."

"Fair, but I think you should listen to Sirius. Stay safe, and practice for the next Task. I'll help you." I put a hand on Harry's shoulder to show my support.

"You don't want to help Cedric?" He asked, looking at me with a small smile.

"Cedric thinks you could use my help more than he can." I responded with a smile. "Besides, he has a few more years of practice and knowledge than you do."

"That's true." Harry said with a nod. "Well, I think we are going to spend the next few days looking up hexes and deciding which ones will be the most useful."

For the next few days, we did exactly that. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and I spent hours upon hours in the library looking through book after book. I barely had time to complete my own homework because I was spending so much time helping Harry. We also snuck into empty classrooms to practice spells, like we did for the First Task.

"Can't we kidnap Mrs. Norris?" Ron said after Harry woke him up from the stunning spell he was practicing. "Or maybe you could use Dobby. I'm not complaining or anything." Ron added as he complained. I rolled my eyes at him.

"Ron, we are all taking turns being stunned. Just suck it up." I spat at him. He returned my glare, but didn't say anything.

"Ron, you should try to fall into the cushions." Hermione said as she rearranged the pillows we were using. "Just try and fall backward."

"Once you're stunned, it's kind of hard to control where you go." said Ron angrily. "Why don't you take a turn."

"Well, I think Harry's got it anyway." Hermione said hastily. "And we don't have to worry about disarming because he's been able to do that for ages."

"I think we should start on some of these hexes." I said as I looked down the list we made in the library.

"I like the look of this one." Hermione said as she looked over my shoulder at the list. "This Impediment Curse should slow down anything that tries to attack you, Harry. We'll start with that one this evening."

The bell rang signaling the end of lunch and we hastily put away the cushions. Hermione headed off to Arithmancy and the rest of us headed to North Tower for Divination. Divination was one of my favorite classes. While I didn't like Professor Trelawney as a person, I had a small amount of respect for her. After all, last year Harry and I saw her deliver a real prophecy. Now I was always on the lookout for any signs of her having accurate predictions. The class itself wasn't too difficult to understand. I understood the textbooks well enough that I was able to make predictions with a high success rate. Personally, reading tea leaves was my favorite way to do a reading for someone.

The Divination classroom was sweltering hot. Professor Trelawney always kept a fire going, even when it was hot outside. I watched Harry walk over to a window, looking a bit nauseous. I went and sat down with Pansy, on the other side of the room.

"Where have you been?" Pansy whispered to me.

"Helping out my brother." I answered as I pulled out Unfogging the Future by Cassandra Vablatsky.

"Right, but when are you going to spend time with me?" She whined.

"Harry needs me more right now. I am helping him prepare for the last Task, you know that." I rolled my eyes at her. Just then Professor Trelawney started the class.

"My dears," Professor Trelawney was sitting in her winged chair at the front of the class. She looked around the room with her strangely large eyes. "We have almost finished our work on planetary divination. Today, however, will be an excellent opportunity to examine the effects of Mars. For he is placed most interestingly at the present time. If you all will look this way, I will dim the lights." She waved her wand and the lamps went out. The fire was the only source of light now.

Professor Trelawney bent down and lifted from under her chair a model of the solar system contained within a glass dome. It was a beautiful piece of work. Each of the moons glittered in place around the nine planets and the fiery sun. All of them were hanging in thin air inside the glass. The model showed the current locations of the planets, which made it useful for interpreting how the planets affect us.

Professor Trelawney started to show us the angle Mars was making with Neptune. She explained how these planets would affect us for the next upcoming days. I glanced over at Harry, and noticed he was sleeping by the window he opened. I could tell he was having a nightmare. His eyes were shut tightly and sweat started forming on his forehead. Professor Trelawney's voice started to fade as my concern for my brother grew. Suddenly he fell to the floor, still passed out. I rushed over to his side and started calling his name. The rest of the class followed and gathered around him.

"You alright?" Ron asked as Harry came to.

"Of course he isn't," said Professor Trelawney, looking quite excited. "What was it, Potter? A premonition? An apparition? What did you see?"

"Nothing," said Harry as he rubbed his forehead. His body was still shaking, and I knew he was lying. By the way he was moving I could tell that the scar on his forehead was hurting.

"You were clutching your scar," said Professor Trelawney. "You were rolling on the floor, clutching your scar. Come now, Potter, I have experience in these matters."

Harry looked up at her and said, "I need to go to the Hospital Wing, I think. Bad headache."

"My dear, you were undoubtedly stimulated by the extraordinary clairvoyant vibrations of my classroom. If you leave now you may lose the opportunity to see further."

"I don't want to see anything except a headache cure." Harry stood up, and everyone except Ron and me backed away. They all looked nervous.

"I'll take you." I volunteered, putting my arm through Harry's.

"See you later," Harry muttered to Ron as we walked past him. Harry scooped up his bag and we left the class.

Once outside of the classroom Harry turned to me and said, "We need to go see Dumbledore."

"It was your scar, wasn't it?" I asked as we headed off towards Dumbeldore's office.

"Yeah, and Sirius said that if it hurts again that I need to go see him."

"What did you dream about?"

"Voldemort accused Wormtail of a blunder, but I am not sure what it was. Voldemort was going to feed Wormtail to his snake, but an owl brought good news that said the blunder had been repaired, someone was dead. Wormtail was not going to be fed to the snake, instead I am supposed to be. This dream was just as vivid as the one I had before we left Privet Drive for the Quidditch World Cup." Harry said with a grimace.

"So you are having some sort of vision, sometimes when you sleep." I said, nodding my head slowly. "Don't you think Professor Trelawney could've helped? She has given prophecies before, maybe there's a way to help recover after having one."

"No, it wasn't a prophecy. I think I can see what Voldemort is doing occasionally." Harry let out a heavy sigh.

"I hope Dumbledore has an idea of what to do about them." I said as we approached the stone gargoyle that guarded the entrance to Dumbledore's office. "Do you know the password?"

"No, but maybe we can guess it." He turned to face the gargoyle. "Sherbert lemon." Nothing happened.

"Pear drop," I said to the gargoyle. Still nothing.

"Uh, licorice wand."

"Fizzing whizzbee."

"Drooble's best blowing gum."

"Berty Bott's every flavor beans," I said before remembering Dumbledore doesn't like them.

"Oh, come on! Just open up, I really need to see him." Harry said, starting to get frustrated.

"Chocolate frog," I tried, also getting frustrated.

"Sugar quill." Harry practically yelled.

"Cockroach cluster." The gargoyle finally came to life and jumped aside. "Seriously? I hate cockroach clusters."

"Come on," Harry said as he stepped on a stone step. I followed him, and the staircase slowly rose up.

When the staircase made it all the way up, we could hear voices inside of the office. Harry and I looked at each other, unsure of what to do. We heard the Minister of Magic talking inside.

"Ludo says Bertha is more than capable of getting herself lost," he was saying. "I agree we would've expected to find her by now, but all the same, we've no evidence of foul play at all. As for her disappearance being linked with Bary Crouch's."

"And what do you think has happened with Barty Crouch, Minister?" We heard Moody say.

"I see two possibilities, Alastor. Either Crouch has finally cracked, more than likely I am sure you'll agree given his personal history, lost his mind and gone wandering off somewhere."

"He wandered extremely quickly if that is the case, Cornelius," said Dumbledore calmly.

"Or else, well," Fudge sounded embarrassed. "Well, I'll reserve judgment until after I've seen the place he was found. You say it was just past the Beauxbatons carriage? Dumbledore, you know what that woman is?"

"I consider Madame Maxine to be a very able headmistress and an excellent dancer," said Dumbledore quietly.

"Dumbledore come on," said Fudge angrily. "Don't you think you might be prejudiced in her favor because of Hagrid? They don't all turn out harmless, if indeed you can call Hagrid harmless with that monster fixation he's got." I couldn't help but agree a bit with the Minister on this point.

"I no more suspect Madame Maxine than Hagrid," said Dumbledore just as calmly. "I think it is possible that it is you that is prejudiced, Cornelius."

"Can we wrap up this discussion?" Growled Moody.

"Yes, yes. Let's go down to the grounds then." Fudge agreed.

"No, it's not that. It's just that the Potter's want a word with you Dumbledore. They are just outside the door."

AN: Once again, thank you for reading this far! Please leave me a review!