It seemed like everyone wanted to hear the details that happened down in the lake. Mandy kept it sort and sweet, "We took a Sleeping Draught and then we were tied up in the lake!"

After that, Mandy would look at Hailey and ask, "How can you stand all this attention? It's annoying."

People had taken to teasing Hermione about being the thing Krum would miss most and so she was tetchy about it.

Ron seemed to understand why Hailey would miss Mandy the most. They were Ravenclaws and shared a dorm together, so it was understandable that they were close. Hailey reassured Ron that she would deeply miss him too, because he was her first friend.

March approached, making everything become drier, even though it brought harsh winds with it. There were delays in the post because the owls kept being blown off course. The brown owl that Hailey had sent to Sirius with the dates of the Hogsmeade visit turned up on Friday morning with half its feathers sticking up in wrong directions. After Hailey removed Sirius's replied, the owl took off again.

The note was short:

Be at stile at end of road out of Hogsmeade (past Dervish and Banges) at two o'clock on Saturday afternoon. Bring as much food as you can.

"Did he come back to Hogsmeade?" asked Mandy, sounding incredulous.

"I'm guessing that he did," Michael said.

"I can't believe him," Hailey said, tensely, "if he's caught…"

"Made it this far, hasn't he?" asked Mandy. "The place isn't swarming with dementors anyway."

Hailey folded up the letter, really wanting to see Sirius again. They approached the final lesson of the afternoon—double Potion—feeling more cheerful than she usually did when descending the steps to the dungeons. Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were huddled outside the classroom door with Pansy Parkinson's gang of Slytherin girls. They were looking at something Hailey couldn't see and sniggering heartily.

Hestia and Flora Carrow walked up, both looking a little pale.

"It's bad," Flora whispered. "Something that wretched Skeeter woman wrote in Witch Weekly. Prepare yourselves."

"There they are, there they are!" Pansy giggled and the knot broke apart. Hailey saw that Pansy was holding a magazine. The moving picture on the front showed a curly-haired witch who was smiling toothily and pointing at a large sponge cake with her wand.

"You might find something to interest you in there, Corner!" Pansy said loudly and threw the magazine at Michael, who managed to catch it. He looked startled and Mandy grabbed the magazine.

The dungeon door opened and Snape beckoned them all inside.

They stepped inside and grabbed a table at the back of the dungeon as usual. Once Snape had turned his back on them to write up the ingredients on the blackboard, Mandy opened the magazine under the desk. In the center pages Mandy found what they were looking for. There was a colour photograph of Hailey and Michael hugging right before the first task.

Hailey Potter's Torrid Affairs

After that, there was an article detailing how apparently she went after Malachi Lovelace, a boy whose dad was a famous mystery writer who ran away to the Himalayas when Malachi was three years old. The article noted that Hailey had taken Malachi to the Yule Ball.

Apparently Michael went after Aileen, his side-date to the Yule Ball, for reasons unknown but apparently he's still trying to worm his way back to Hailey. As an added bonus, Hermione was mentioned to have been invited to head over to Bulgaria for the summer by Hailey's Triwizard competitor Viktor Krum, who never "felt this way about any other girl."

Pansy Parkinson noticed that Hermione was brainy enough to whip up a Love Potion, which is banned from Hogwarts, and that Hermione is ugly.

The article ended by saying that Hailey's well-wishers better hope that she stays with Malachi Lovelace.

Flora Carrow wasn't lying when she said that the article was bad.

Hailey glanced over to see Malfoy and Pansy's gang of Slytherins were looking back over at them to see if they had been upset over the article. Michael smiled and waved at them. Mandy crammed the magazine in her bag.

"No surprise that it was written by Rita Skeeter," Mandy said.

Hailey wasn't sure why Professor Snape ended up having to move her to the front of the class. After unloading her stuff, she resumed smashing scarab beetles, trying not to look at Snape. After pouring the powered beetle into the cauldron, she started cutting up ginger roots.

"I give you fair warning, Potter," Snape said using a soft and dangerous voice. "Pint-sized celebrity or not—if I catch you breaking into my office one more time—"

"I haven't been anywhere near your office!" said Hailey angrily, forgetting that she wasn't going to listen to him.

"Don't lie to me," Snape hissed, his fathomless black eyes boring into Hailey's. "Boomslang skin. Gillyweed. Both come from my private stores, and I know who stole them."

Hailey stared back at Snape, determined not to blink or look guilty. Neither of those thing that he's accusing her of, were true. Mandy took the Boomslang Skin and she wasn't entirely sure why Moody would even steal Gillyweed from Snape's private stores. She was sure that it could've been found anywhere. For all she knew, maybe Michael stole it from Snape's private stores just to go for a late-night swim. Since Snape suspected Hailey at the time, he had never been able to prove it.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Hailey lied.

"You were out of bed on the night my office was broken into!" Snape hissed. "I know it, Potter! Now, Mad-Eye Moody might have joined your fan club, but I will not tolerate your behaviour! One more nighttime stroll into my office, Potter, and you will be pay!"

"Right," replied Hailey coolly, resuming cutting up the ginger roots. "I'll bear that in mind if I ever get the urge to go in there."

Snape plpunged a hand into the inside of his black robes and Hailey was briefly sure Snape was going to take out his wand and curse her. She was sure that the Slytherins would enjoy that. Instead Snape took out a crystal bottle of a completely clear potion and Hailey stared at it in horror.

"Do you know what this is, Potter?" Snape asked.

"Yes," Hailey replied, shaking now.

"What is it?" Snape asked.

"Veritaserum—a Truth Potion," Hailey responded.

"Yes, it's so powerful that three drops would have you spilling your innermost secrets," Snape said. "Now, the use of this potion is controlled by very strict Ministry guidelines. But unless you watch your step, you might just find that my hand slips," he shook the crystal bottle for emphasis, "right over your evening pumpkin juice. And then, Potter…then we'll find out whether you've been in my office or not."

Hailey didn't say anything but she hurried out of the classroom. She didn't want to reveal information about Sirius's whereabouts and she certainly didn't want to reveal her feelings about Michael. Maybe she should take a leaf from Moody's book and started carrying a hip flask around..

"Enter," said Snape in his usual voice.

The door open and Hailey turned around to see Professor Karkaroff walk in. Everyone watched him as he walked up to Snape's desk. Karkaroff was twisting his finger around his goatee and he was looking agitated. When he reached Snape, he muttered, "We need to talk." It sounded like he was trying to voice it so no one heard.

"I'll talk to you after my lesson, Karkaroff," Snape muttered.

"I want to talk now, while you can't slip off, Severus. You've been avoid me," Karkaroff muttered.

"After the lesson," Snape snapped.

Hailey held up a measuring cup to pretend that she had poured out enough armadillo bile, she looked sideways at them to see that Karkaroff looked worried and Snape was looking angry.

Karkaroff hovered behind Snape's desk for the rest of the double period, as if he was trying to prevent Snape from leaving. She wondered what Karkaroff wanted to talk to Snape about and purposely knocked over the bottle of armadillo bile, two minutes before the end of the lesson. It was the perfect excuse to duck down while the rest of the class nosily left.

"What's so urgent?" Snape hissed at Karkaroff.

"This," said Karkaroff. Hailey looked up to see that Karkaroff had pulled up the left-hand sleeve on his robe to show Snape something on his inner forearm. "Well?" It looked like he was trying hard not to move his lips. "Do you see? It's never been this clear, never since—"

"Put it away!" snarled Snape, looking over at the classroom.

In an agitated voice, Karkaroff said, "But you must have noticed—"

"We can talk later, Karkaroff!" Snape snarled. "Potter!" Hailey jumped at being addressed. "What are you doing?"

"Cleaning up my armadillo billet, Professor," replied Hailey, straightening up and showing Snape the sodden rag she was holding.

Karkaroff turned on his heel and strode out of the dungeon, looking angry and worried. Not wanting to remain with a very angry Snape, Hailey threw her books and ingredients in her bag and hurried out to tell Mandy, Michael, Ron, and Hermione what she overheard.


They were in a corridor, with Mandy and Michael showing Hermione and Ron the article.

"I told you two!" Ron hissed at Michael and Hermione as she stared down at the article. "I told you not to annoy Rita Skeeter!" He said to Hermione, "She's made you out to be some sort of—of scarlet woman!"

Hermione stopped looking astonished and snorted with laughter, "Scarlet woman?" she repeated. She was shaking with suppressed laughter.

"It's what my mum calls them," Ron muttered.

Michael looked at Ron, "My grandmother calls them s—"

"If that's the best Rita can do, she's losing her touch," Hermione interrupted, still giggling. She threw the article down beside her, "What a pile of old rubbish."

After a few minutes, Hermione said, "There's something funny, though. How could Rita Skeeter have known…?"

"Known what?" asked Hermione. "How could Rita Skeeter have known…?"

"Known what?" asked Ron. "You haven't been mixing up Love Potions, have you?"

"Don't be stupid," Hermione snapped. "No, it's just…how did she know Viktor asked me to visit him over the summer?" Her face turned red as she said it.

"What?" asked Ron.

"He asked me right after he'd pulled me out of the lake." responded Hermione, "After he'd got rid of his shark's head. Madam Pomfrey gave us both blankets and then he sort of pulled me away from the judges so they wouldn't hear and he said if I wasn't doing anything over the summer, would I like to—"

"And what did you say?" demanded Ron.

"And he did say he'd never felt the same way about anyone else," Hermione continued, "but how could Rita Skeeter have heard him? She wasn't there…or was she? Maybe she has got an Invisibility Cloak; maybe she sneaked onto the grounds to watch the second task…"

"And what did you say?" Ron repeated.

"Well, I was too busy seeing whether Mandy and Hailey were—" Hermione trailed off noticing Hailey.

Hailey started explaining to them what she overheard.


At noon the next day, they left the castle. From the lunch table, they had sneaked a dozen chicken legs, a loaf of bread, and a flask of pumpkin juice in Hailey's bag.

There was a weak silver sun shining down on the grounds. The weather was milder than it had been all year.

When they reached Hogsmeade, they had to throw their cloaks over theirs shoulders.

They went into Gladrags Wizardwear to buy Dobby a gift. They had fun selecting the most horrid looking socks they could find. There was a pair that flashed gold and silver stars and there was another pair that screamed loudly when began to get smelly. They got Dudley some nougat chunks as well. Mandy grabbed a tin of Pink Coconut Ice and nougat chunks as well. Michael bought some pumpkin pasties.

At half past one, they made their way up the High Street, past Dervish and Banges, and out towards the edge of the village.

The winding lane was leading them out into the wild countryside around Hogsmeade. The cottages were fewer and their gardens larger. They were walking toward the foot of the mountain in whose shadow Hogsmeade lay. They turned a corner and saw a stile at the end of the lane. On the topmost bar was a very large, shaggy black dog, which was carrying some newspapers in its mouth. It looked very familiar…

"Hello, Sirius," said Hailey when they reached him.

The black dog sniffed Hailey's bag eagerily, wagged its tail once, then turned and began to trot away from them across the scrubby patch of ground that rose to meet the rocky foot of the mountains.

The teens climbed over the stile and followed after the dog.

Sirius led them to the very foot of the mountain where the ground was covered with boulders and rocks. It was easy for Sirius who had four paws, to climb, but the teens were out of breath when they followed Sirius higher, up onto the mountain itself. They climbed a steep, winding, and stony path, following Sirius's wagging tail for thirty minutes. They were sweating in the sun, the shoulder strap of Hailey's bag was cutting into her shoulder, although Mandy took it, to give her a break.

Sirius slipped out of sigh and when they reached the place where he had vanished, they saw a narrow fissure in the rock. They squeezed into it, to a cool, dimly lit cave. Tethered to a large rock was Buckbeak the hippogriff. Buckbeak was half grey horse and half giant eagle. All five of them bowed low to him and after regarding them for a moment, Buckbeak bent his scaly front knees and allowed Hermione and Mandy to rush forward to stroke his feathery neck.

Hailey turned to the black dog, who had just turned into her godfather.

Sirius was wearing the same ragged grey robes in which he had left Azkaban in. His black hair was longer than when Hailey had last seen him in the fireplace. He looked very thin and he removed the old Daily Prophets from his mouth. He threw them on the ground and said, "Chicken!"

Mandy removed the bundle of chicken legs and bread from Hailey's bag and handed the bundle to Sirius. "Here you go."

"Thanks," said Sirius, opening the bundle. He sat down on the floor and bite a large chunk off. "I've been living off rats mostly. Can't steal too much food from Hogsmeade; I'd draw attention to myself." He grinned up at Hailey.

Hailey reluctantly returned the grin. "What're you doing here, Sirius?"

"Fulfilling my duty as godfather," replied Sirius, gnawing on a chicken bone in a very doglike way. "Don't worry about it, I'm pretending to be a lovable stray." He was still grinning, but Hailey was still feeling anxious. In a more serious tone, Sirius stated, "I want to be on the spot. Your last letter…well, let's just say things are getting fishier. I've been stealing the paper every time someone throws one out, and by the looks of things, I'm not the only one who's getting worried."

He nodded at the yellowing newspapers on the caves. Ron and Michael picked them up and unfolded them.

Hailey stared at Sirius, "What if they catch you? What if you're seen?"

"You five and Dumbledore are the only ones around here who know I'm an Animagus," stated Sirius, shrugging. He continued eating a chicken leg.

Ron nudged Hailey and passed her a newspaper. It bore the headline: Mystery Illness of Bartemius Crouch and Michael handed Hailey the other one that had the headline: Ministry Witch Still Missing –Minister Now Personally Involved.

Hailey looked at the newspaper that involved Crouch. She read some sentences:

Hasn't been seen in public since November…house appears deserted…St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries decline comment…Ministry refused to confirm rumours of critical illness

"They're making it sound like he's dying." Hailey said, "but he can't be that ill if he managed to get up here…"

"My brother is Crouch's personal assistant," Ron told Sirius. "He says Crouch is suffering from overwork."

"Mind you, he did look ill, last time I saw him up close," replied Hailey, looking back over the article. "When he gave us the models for the first task…"

"He looked a little fine to me," Michael said.

"Maybe it's just up close then," Hailey said.

"Getting his comeuppance for sacking Winky, isn't he?" stated Hermione, an edge to her voice. She was stroking Buckbeak, who was crunching up Sirius's chicken bones. "I bet he wishes he hadn't done it now—bet feels the difference now she's not there to look after him."

"Hermione's obsessed with house-elves," Ron stated to Sirius, giving Hermione a dark look.

Sirius looked interested, "Crouch sacked his houise-elf?"

"Yeah, at the Quidditch World Cup," said Hailey. She told Sirius the Dark Mark's appearance and Winky being found with Hailey's wand clutched in her hand, and how Mr Crouch was furious. After Hailey finished, Sirius was now on his feet and pacing.

Sirius was now brandishing a chicken leg, "Let me get this straight, you saw the elf in the Top Box. She was saving Crouch a seat, right?"

"Right," the five teens replied at the same time.

"But Crouch didn't turn up for the match?" Sirius asked.

"No, I think he said he'd been too busy," Hailey responded.

Sirius packed the cave and then asked, "Hailey, did you check your pockets for your wand after you'd left the Top Box?"

Hailey thought hard, "No. I didn't need to use it before we got in the forest. And then I put my hand in my pocket, and all that was in there were my Omnioculars." She looked at Sirius.

"You're implying that someone stole her wand in the Top Box," Michael said.

"It's possible," said Sirius.

"Winky didn't steal that wand!" Hermione insisted.

"That's because Winky wasn't the only one in the Top Box," Mandy said. "There were those Bulgarian Ministers, Cornelius Fudge, the Malfoys…"

"The Malfoys!" Ron exclaimed, causing Buckbeak to jump nervously. "I bet it was Lucius Malfoy!"

"Anyone else?" asked Sirius.

"No one," replied Hailey.

"Ludo Bagman was there," Michael said.

"Oh, right," Hailey said.

"I don't know anything about Bagman except that he used to be Beater for the Wimbourne Wasps," replied Sirius, still pacing. "What's he like?"

"He's okay," answered Hailey. "He keeps offering to help me with the Triwizard Tournament."

"Does he, now?" said Sirius, frowning. "I wonder why he'd do that?"

Hailey said, "says he's taken a liking to me."

Sirius hummed thoughtfully at that.

"We saw him in the forest just before the Dark Mark appeared," Hermione said. To her four friends, she said, "Remember?"

"He didn't stay long in the forest, though," Michael pointed out.

"The moment we told him about the riot, he went off to the campsite," Ron said.

"How d'you know?" Hermione asked. "How d'you know where he Disapparated to?"

"Come off it," said Ron incredulously. "Are you saying you reckon Ludo Bagman conjured the Dark Mark?"

"It's more likely he did than Winky," said Hermione stubbornly.

Ron looked meaningfully at Sirius, "Told you. Told you she's obsessed with house—"

Sirius held up a hand, silencing Ron. "When the Dark Mark had been conjured, and the elf had been discovered holding Hailey's wand, what did Crouch do?"

"Went to look in the bushes," responded Hailey, "but there wasn't anyone else there."

"Of course," Sirius muttered, pacing. "Of course, he'd want to pin it on anyone but his own elf…and then he sacked her?"

"Yes," stated Hermione sounding angry, "he sacked her, just because she hadn't stayed in her tent and let herself get trampled—"

"Hermione, will you give it a rest with the elf!" snapped Ron.

Mandy sighed, watching them.

Sirius shook his head, "She's got the measure of Crouch better than you have, Ron. If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals." He ran a hand over his unshaven face, thinking hard. "All these absences of Barty Crouch's…he goes to the trouble of making sure his house-elf saves him a seat at the Quidditch World Cup, but doesn't bother to turn up and watch. He works very hard to reinstate the Triwizard Tournament and then stops coming to that too… It's not like Crouch. If he's ever taken a day off work because of illness before this, I'll eat Buckbeak."

"So, you happen to know Crouch, then?" Mandy asked.

Sirius looked as menacing as he had the night Hailey first met him, back when Hailey thought he was a murderer.

Sirius said quietly, "Oh, I know Crouch all right. He was the one who gave the order for me to be sent to Azkaban—without a trial."

Mandy gasped and Michael's eyes widened.

"What?" said Ron and Hermione together.

"You're kidding!" said Hailey.

"No, I'm not," replied Sirius, taking a big bite of chicken. "Crouch used to be Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, didn't you know?"

Michael, Hailey, Ron, and Hermione shook their heads. Mandy nodded.

"He was tipped for the next Minister of Magic," explained Sirius, "He's a great wizard, Barty Crouch, powerfully magical—and power-hungry." Hailey made a face and Sirius looked at her, "Oh, never a Voldemort supporter. No, Barty Crouch was always very outspoken against the Dark Side. But then a lot of people who were against the Dark Side…well, you wouldn't understand…you're too young…"

Ron looked irritated, "That's why my dad said at the World Cup. Try us, why don't you?"

Sirius smiled, "All right, I'll try you." He walked up the cave and then back again. "Imagine that Voldemort's powerful now. You don't know who his supporters are, you don't know who's working for him and who isn't. You know he can control people so that they do terrible things without being able to stop themselves. You're scared for yourself, and your family, and your friends. Every week, news comes of more deaths, more disappearances, more torturing…the Ministry of Magic's in disarray, they don't know what to do, they're trying to keep everything hidden from the Muggles, but meanwhile, Muggles are dying too. Terror everywhere…panic…confusion…that's how it used to be.

"Well, times like that brings out the best in some people and the worst in others. Crouch's principles might've been good in the beginning—I wouldn't know. He rose quickly through the Ministry, and he started ordering very harsh measures against Voldemort's supporters. The Aurors were given new powers—powers to kill rather than capture, for instance. And I wasn't the only one who was handed straight to the dementors without trial."

"Fighting violence with violence," Michael muttered.

"He authorized the use of the Unforgiveable Curses against suspects," Sirius continued.

"Becoming ruthless and cruel, just like the Dark Side," Mandy said. "Yet, he had supporters, like my dad said."

"That's right," Sirius said, "Plenty of people thought he was going about things the right way, and there were a lot of witches and wizards clamoring for him to take over as Minister of Magic. When Voldemort disappeared, it looked like only a matter of time until Crouch got the top job. But then something rather unfortunate happened…" He smiled grimly.

"He had a son, didn't he?" Mandy asked.

"He did," Sirius said. "However, Crouch's own son was caught with a group of Death Eather's who'd managed to talk their way out of Azkaban. Apparently they were trying to find Voldemort and return him to power."

"Crouch's son was caught?" gasped Hermione.

"Yep," replied Sirius, throwing the chicken bone to Buckbeak. He sat down on the ground next to the loaf of bread. He ripped it in half, "Nasty little shock for old Barty, I'd imagine. Should have spent a lot more time at home with his family, shouldn't he? Ought to have left the office early once in a while…gotten to know his own son." He started to chow down large pieces of bread.

"Was his son a Death Eater?" asked Hailey.

"No idea," said Sirius, still stuffing down bread. "I was in Azkaban myself when he was brought in. This is mostly stuff I've found out since I got out. The boy was definitely caught in the company of people I'd bet my life were Death Eaters—but he might have been in the wrong place at the wrong time, just like the house-elf."

"Did Crouch try and get his son off?" Hermione whispered.

Sirius let out a bark of a laugh. "Crouch let his son off? I thought you had the measure of him, Hermione! Anything that threatened to tarnish his reputation had to go; he had dedicated his whole life to becoming Minister of Magic. You saw him dismiss a devoted house-elf because she associated him with the Dark Mark again—doesn't that tell you what he's like? Crouch's fatherly affection stretched just far enough to give his son a trial, and by all accounts, it wasn't much more than an excuse for Crouch to show how much hated the boy…then he sent him straight to Azkaban."

"He just handed his own to the dementors?" Michael asked, sounding appalled.

"That's right," said Sirius. He didn't look amused. "I saw the dementors bringing him in, watched them through the bars in my cell door. He can't have been more than nineteen. They took him into a cell near mine. He was creaming for his mother by nightfall. He went quiet after a few days, though…they all went quiet in the end…except when they shrieked in their sleep…"

"Is he still in Azkaban?" asked Mandy.

"No," responded Sirius, sounding dull, "No, he's not in there anymore. He died about a year after they brought him in."

"He just died in there?" Michael asked.

"He wasn't the only one," said Sirius bitterly. "Most go mad in there, and plenty stop eating in the end. They lose the will to live. You could always tell when a death was coming, because the dementors could sense it, they got excited. That boy looked pretty sickly when he arrived. Crouch being an important Ministry member, he and his wife were allowed a deathbed visit. That was the last time I saw Barty crouch, half carrying his wife past my cell. She died herself, apparently, shortly afterward. Grief. Wasted away just like the boy. Crouch never came for his son's body. The dementors buried him outside the fortress; I watched them do it." He threw the bread aside that he looked like he was going to eat and picked up the flask of pumpkin juice, drinking it all.

"So old Crouch lost it all, just when he thought he had it made," Sirius continued. "One moment, a hero, poised to become Minister of Magic…next, his son dead, his wife dead, the family name dishonoured, and, so I've heard since I escaped, a big drop in popularity."

"I'll probably be a miserable git if I lost my wife and son in one giant swoop, too," Michael said.

"Once the boy had died, people started feeling a bit more sympathetic toward the son and started asking how a nice young lad from a good family had gone so badly astray. The conclusion was that his father never cared much for him," Sirius said.

"Then Cornelius Fudge got the top job, and Crouch was shoved to the Department of International Magical Cooperation," Mandy said.

"It explains why Crouch overreacted after seeing Winky being found beneath the Dark Mark," Michael said.

Hailey nodded, "It reminded him of his son, the scandal, and his fall from grace at the Ministry." She looked at Sirius, "Moody says Crouch is obsessed with catching Dark wizards."

Sirius nodded, "Yeah, I've heard it's become a bit of a mania with him. If you ask me, he still thinks he can bring back the old popularity by catching one more Death Eater."

"And he sneaked up here to search Snape's office!" said Ron triumphantly, looking at Hermione.

"Yes, and that doesn't make sense at all," said Sirius.

"Yeah, it does!" said Ron, sounding excited.

Sirius shook his head, "Listen, if Crouch wants to investigate Snape, why hasn't he been coming to judge the tournament? It would be an ideal excuse to make regular visits to Hogwarts and keep an eye on him."

"So, you think Snape could be up o something, then?" asked Hailey

Hermione cut in, "Look, I don't care what you say, Dumbledore trusts Snape—"

"Oh, give it a rest, Hermione," said Ron, sounding impatient, "I know Dumbledore's brilliant and everything, but that doesn't mean a rally clever Dark wizard couldn't fool him—"

"Why did Snape save Hailey's life in the first year, then? Why didn't he just her die?" Hermione asked.

Ron responded, "I dunno—maybe he thought Dumbledore would kick him out—"

"What do you think, Sirius?" Hailey asked really loudly, trying to get Hermione and Ron to stop arguing.

"I think they both got a point," answered Sirius, sounding thoughtful, as he looked at the two Gryffindors. "Ever since I found out Snape was teaching here, I've wondered why Dumbledore hired him. Snape's always been fascinated by the Dark Arts, he was famous for it at school. Slimy, oily, greasy-haired kid, he was." Hailey and Ron grinned at each other. "Snape knew more curses when he arrived at school than half the kids in seventh year, and he was part of a gang of Slytherins who nearly all turned out to be Death Eaters."

Michael repeated, "Nearly all?"

"Who turned out to be Death Eaters?" Mandy asked.

Sirius started ticking names off on his hand, "Rosier and Wilkes—they were both killed by Aurors the year before Voldemort fell. The Lestranges—they're a married couple—they're in Azkaban. Avery—from what I've heard he wormed his way out of trouble by saying he'd been acting under the Imperius Curse—he's still at large. But as far as I know, Snape was never even accused of being a Death Eater—not that means much. Plenty of them were never caught. And Snape's certainly clever and cunning enough to keep himself out of trouble."

Ron pointed out, "Snapes know Karkaroff pretty well, but he wants to keep that quiet."

"Yeah, you should've seen Snape's face when Karkaroff turned up in Potions yesterday!" Hailey said quickly. "Karkaroff wanted to talk to Snape, he says Snape's been avoiding him. Karkaroff looked really worried. He showed Snape something on his arm, but I couldn't see what it was."

Snape looked bewildered. "He showed Snape something on his arm?" He ran his fingers through his filthy hair and shrugged. "Well, I've no idea what that's about…but if Karkaroff's genuinely worried, and he's going to Snape for answers…" He looked at the cave wall. He grimaced looking frustrated, "There's still the fact that Dumbledore trusts Snape, and I know Dumbledore trusts where a lot of other people wouldn't, but I just can't see him letting Snape teach at Hogwarts if he'd ever worked for Voldemort."

"Why are Moody and Crouch so keen to get into Snape's office then?" asked Ron.

"Well," started Sirius, "I wouldn't put it past Mad-Eye to have searched every single teacher's office when he got to Hogwarts. He takes his Defense Against the Dark Arts seriously, Moody. I'm not sure he trusts anyone at all, and after the things he's seen, it's not surprising. I'll say this for Moody, though, he never killed if he could help it. Always brought people in alive where possible. He was though, but he never descended to the level of the Death Eaters. Crouch, though…he's a different matter…is he really ill? If he is, why did he make the effort to drag himself up to Snape's office? And if he's not…what's he up to? What was he doing at the World Cup that was so important he didn't turn up in the Top Box? What's he been doing while he should have been judging the tournament?" He lapsed into silence, looking at the cave wall. Buckbeak was looking around for bones he might've overlooked.

Sirius looked up at Ron. "You say your brother's Crouch's personal assistant? An chance you could ask him if he's seen Crouch lately?"

"I can try," said Ron sounding doubtful. "Better not make it sound like I reckon Crouch is up to anything dodgy, though. Percy loves Crouch."

"And you might try and find out whether they've got any leads on Bertha Jorkins while you're at it," said Sirius, gesturing to the second cop of the Daily Prophet.

"Bagman told me they hadn't," said Hailey.

"Yes, he's quoted in the article in there," said Sirius, nodding at the paper. "Blustering on about how bad Bertha's memory is. Well, maybe she's changed since I knew her, but the Bertha I knew wasn't forgetful at all—quit the reverse. She was a bit dim, but she had an excellent memory for gossip. It used to get her into a lot of trouble; she never knew when to keep her mouth shut. I can see her big a bit of a liability at the Ministry of Magic…maybe that's why Bagman didn't bother to look for her for so long…" He sighed and rubbed his shadowed eyes. "What's the time?"

Hailey looked at her watch, but it had stopped working since it spent over an hour in the lake.

"It's half past three," said Hermione.

"You'd better get back to school," Sirius said, getting to his feet. "Now listen…" He looked hard at Hailey. "I don't want you lot sneaking out of school to see me, all right? Just send notes to me here. I still want to hear about anything odd. But you're not go leaving Hogwarts without permission; it would be an ideal opportunity for someone to attack you."

"No one's tried to attack me so far, except a dragon and a couple of grindylows," Hailey said.

Sirius scowled at her. "I don't care…I'll breathe freely again when this tournament's over, and that's not until June." He turned to Michael, "Also, if you do anything to hurt my goddaughter, I will sneak into your dormitory and slap you in the face." He turned to the rest, "And don't forget, if you're talking about me among yourselves, call me Snuffles, okay?" He handed Hailey the empty napkin and flask, and went to pat Buckbeak good-bye. "I'll walk to the edge of the village with you, see if I can scrounge another paper." He transformed into the great black dog before they left the cave, and they walked back down the mountainside with him. They walked across the boulder-strewn ground, and back to the stile. He allowed each of them to pat him on the head, before turning and setting off at a run around the outskirts of the village.

The five made their way back into Hogsmeade and up toward Hogwarts.

"Wonder if Percy knows all that stuff about Crouch?" Ron said as they walked up the drive to the castle. "But maybe he doesn't care…it'd probably just make him admire Crouch even more. Yeah, Percy loves rules. He'd just say Crouch was refusing to break them for his own son."

"Percy would never throw any of his family to the dementors," said Hermione severly.

"I don't know," said Ron. "If he thought we were standing in the way of his career…Percy's really ambitious, you know…"

"Maybe Malachi's mother might know something," Hailey said, as they walked up the stone steps into the entrance hall. "His mother does work at the Ministry, as an Unspeakable. She might've heard some stuff." She noticed the glowering look on Michae's face. "What?"

Delicious smells of dinner was wafting from the Great Hall. Ron breathed in deeply, "Poor old Snuffles. He must really like you, Hailey…Imagine having to live off rats."