Hailey was slammed into the ground; her face buried into grass. The smell filled her nostrils. She had closed her eyes while the Portkey transported her, and she kept her eyes closed now. She didn't move because the breath seemed to be knocked out of her and her heard was swimming so badly, that the ground beneath her seemed to be swaying, like a boat.
She tightened her hold on the ground smooth, cold handle of the Triwizard Cup and Cedric's body, as if she was going to slide into the darkness that seemed to be gathering at the edges of her brain.
Shock and exhaustion was keeping her on the ground as she waited for someone to do something…something to happen…her scar was burning dully on her forehead.
There was a torrent of voices everywhere, footsteps, screams…it was deafening and confusing.
A pair of hands grabbed her roughly and turned her over.
"Hailey! Hailey!"
Hailey opened her eyes to see the starry night sky. Dumbledore was crouched over her. A crowd was forming, because she can feel the ground reverberating with their hands. She can see the stands, so she must be at the edge of the maze. She let go of the cup, but she clutched Cedric's body to her even more tightly. With her free hand, she grabbed Dumbledore's wrist. Dumbledore's face seemed to swimming in and out of focus.
"He's back," Hailey whispered. "He's back. Voldemort."
"What's going on? What's happened?" It was Cornelius Fudge. He appeared upside down over Hailey. His face looked white and appalled. He whispered, "My God—Diggory! Dumbledore—he's dead!"
The crowd repeated the words, some gasping and shouting it.
"He's dead!"
"He's dead!"
"Cedric Diggory! Dead!"
"Hailey, let go of him!" Fudge ordered.
Hailey felt someone trying to forcibly remove her fingers from Cedric's limp body, but she wouldn't let go him.
Dumbledore's face blurred and misted as he walked closer. "Hailey, you can't help him now. It's over. Let go."
"He wanted me to bring him back," Hailey said. "He wanted me to bring him back to his parents…"
"That's right, Hailey…just let go now…" Dumbledore bent down and with some extraordinary strength from someone so old and thin, managed to raise Hailey from the ground and set her on her feet. Hailey swayed, her head was pounding, and her injured leg didn't seem like it could support her weight. The crowd jostled, fighting to get closer, pressing darkly in on her.
"What's happened?"
"What's wrong with him?"
"Diggory's dead!"
"She'll need to go to the hospital wing!" Fudge said loudly. "She's ill, she's injured—Dumbledore, Diggory's parents, they're here, they're in the stands…"
Fudge said, "I'll take Hailey, Dumbledore, I'll take her—"
Dumbledore interrupted, "No, I would prefer—"
"Dumbledore, Amost Diggory's running…he's coming over…Don't you think you should tell him—before he sees—?" Fudge started.
Dumbledore ordered, "Hailey, stay here—"
Girls were now screaming and sobbing hysterically…it seemed to flicker oddly before Hailey's eyes.
"It's all right, I've got you…come on…hospital wing…" Moody said.
"Dumbledore said stay," Hailey replied thickly. The pounding in her scar was making her feel as if she might throw up. Her vision was blurring worse than ever.
"You need to lie down…Come on now…" Moody said. He was now half pulling, half carrying Hailey through the frightened crowd. Hailey heard people gasping, screaming, and shouting as Moody supported her, pushed a path through the crowd, taking her to the castle.
Hailey neared nothing but the heavy breathing of Moody, helping her walk, as they crossed the lawn.
"What happened, Hailey?" the man asked as he lifted Hailey up the stone steps. The wooden leg was making a clunking noise.
"Cup was a Portkey," replied Hailey as they crossed the entrance hall. "Took me and Cedric to a graveyard…and Voldemort was there…Lord Voldemort…"
They went up the marble stairs with Moody's leg clunking all the way.
"The Dark Lord was there? What happened then?" questioned Moody.
"Killed Cedric…they killed Cedric…" Hailey responded.
"And then?" Moody asked.
They made their way through the corridor.
"Made a potion…got his body back…" Hailey replied, still feeling sick.
"The Dark Lord got his body back? He's returned?" Moody asked.
Hailey responded, "And the Death Eaters came…and then we dueled…"
"You dueled with the Dark Lord?" asked Moody.
Hailey explained, "Got away…my wand…did something funny… I saw my mum and dad…they came out of his wand…"
"In here, Hailey…in here," Moody said, ushering her inside his office. He locked the door and pulled a stool out next to the trunk, "sit down…You'll be all right now…" He walked away and returned with a cup. "Drink this…"
Hailey felt the cup being pushed into her hands and sat down.
"Drink it…you'll feel better…come on, now, Hailey, I need to know exactly what happened," Moody said, tipping the cup up, helping Hailey drink it. She coughed because a peppery taste was now burning her throat. Moody's office and Moody came into sharper focus. Moody was as white as Fudge looked, and both of his eyes were fixed unblinkingly upon Hailey's face. Moody asked, "Voldemort's back, Hailey? You're sure he's back? How did he do it?"
"He took stuff from his father's grave, from Pettigrew, and me," replied Hailey. Her head felt clearer and her scar wasn't hurting so badly. There were screaming and shouting from the distant Quidditch field.
"Why did the Dark Lord take from you?" asked Moody.
"Blood," said Hailey, raising her arm. Her sleeve was ripped from where Pettigew's dagger ripped it.
Moody exhaled, emitting a long, low hiss, "And the Death Eaters? They returned?"
"Yeah," replied Hailey, "Loads of them…"
"How did he treat them?" Moody asked quietly. "Did he forgive them?"
Hailey suddenly remembered Voldemort saying there's a Death Eater in Hogwarts. She should've told Dumbledore straight away. "There's a Death Eater at Hogwarts! There's a Death Eater here—they put my name in the Goblet of Fire, they made sure I got through to the end—" She tried to get up but Moody pushed her back down on the stool.
"I know who the Death Eater is," Moody said quietly.
"Karkaroff?" asked Hailey wildly. "Where is he? Have you got him? Is he locked up?"
"Karkaroff?" asked Moody with an odd laugh. "Karkaroff fled tonight, when he felt the Dark Mark burn upon his arm. He betrayed too many faithful supporters of the Dark Lord to wish to meet them…but I doubt he will get far. The Dark Lord has ways of tracking his enemies."
"Karkaroff's gone? He ran away? But then—he didn't put my name in the goblet?" Hailey asked. Everything seemed to be making her head swim once again.
"No," said Moody slowly. "No, he didn't. It was I who did that."
Hailey heard him, but she couldn't make herself believe that. "No, you didn't. You didn't do that…you can't have done…" she trailed off. It made sense on how Moody knew how her name got in the Goblet of Fire.
"I assure you I did," replied Moody. His magical eye swung around and stared at door. Hailey knew that he was making sure that there was no one outside it. Moody drew out his wand and pointed it at Hailey. "He forgave them, then? The Death Eaters who went free? The ones who escaped Azkaban?"
"What?" asked Hailey. She was looking at the wand Moody was pointing at her. This had to be a bad joke.
"I asked," Moody said quietly, "whether he forgave the scum who never even went to look for him. Those treacherous cowards who wouldn't even brave Akzaban for him. The faithless, worthless bits of filth who were brave enough to cavort in masks at the Quidditch World Cup, but fled at the sight of the Dark Mark when I fired it into the sky."
Hailey was even more confused. "You fired…What are you talking about…?" The pieces seemed to be falling into place; however the whole picture was still blurry.
"I told you, Hailey…I told you. If there's one thing I hate more than any other, it's a Death Eater who walked free. They turned their backs on my master when he needed them most. I expected him to punish them. I expected him to torture them. Tell me he hurt them, Hailey…" He was making an insane smile. "Tell me he told that I, I alone remained faithful…prepared to risk everything to deliver to him the one thing he wanted above all…you."
He was admitting to everything, but still, Hailey couldn't believe it. "You didn't…it—it can't be you…" He was supposedly this awesome Auror who single-handedly put Death Eaters in Azkaban, yet he's admitting to being one? It wasn't making sense.
"Who put your name in the Goblet of Fire, under the name of a different school? I did. Who frightened off every person I thought might try to hurt you or prevent you from winning the tournament? I did. Do you think that miserable oad would have led you into the woods if I hadn't suggested. Who helped you see the only way you could beat the dragon. I did." His eye had left the door, fixing itself upon Hailey. He was leering. "It hasn't been easy, Hailey, guiding you through these tasks without arousing suspicion. I have had to use every once of cunning I possess, so that my hand would not be detectable in your success. Dumbledore would have been very suspicious if you had managed everything to easily. As long as you got into that maze, prefererably with a decent head start—then, I knew, I would have a chance of getting rid of the other champions and leaving your way clear. But I also had to contend with your stupidity. The second task…that was when I was most afraid we would fail. I was keeping watch on you, Potter. I knew you hadn't worked out the egg's clue. Do you think Cedric Diggory would have told you hold the egg under the water if I hadn't have told him first myself. I trusted that he would pass the information onto you. Decent people are so easy to manipulate, Potter. I was sure Cedric would want to repay you for telling him about the dragons, and so he did. But even then you seemed likely to fail. I was watching all the time…all those hours in the library. Do you think Neville Longbottom, the witless wonder, could have provided you with gillyweed, if I hadn't given him the book that led you straight to it? Huh? Or that Dobby didn't wake you when you were almost late to the second task, if I hadn't told him?"
Moody's wand was still pointed directly at Hailey's heart. Over Moody's shoulder, foggy shapes were moving in the Foe-Glass on the way all.
Moody said, "You were so long in that lake, Potter, I thought you had drowned. But luckily, Dumbledore took your idiocy for nobility, and marked you high for it. I breathed again. You had an easier time of it than you should have in that maze, tonight of course. I was patrolling around it, able to see through the outer hedges, able to curse many obstacles out of you way. I Stunned Fleur Delacour as she passed. I put the Imperious Curse on Krum, so that he would finish Diggory and leave your path to the cup clear."
Hailey stared at Moody. It just didn't make sense. The foggy shapes in the Foe-Glass were sharpening, becoming more distinct. There were three outlines making up three people, which seemed to be coming closer and closer. Moody wasn't even watching them, because he was too focused on Hailey.
The door was barred, and Hailey knew that she would never reach her wand in time.
"And now the deed is done. The blood that runs through these veins runs within the Dark Lord. Imagine how he will reward me when he learns that I have once and for all silence the great Hailey Potter. He is back, Hailey Potter, you did not conquer him—an now—I conquer you!"
Moody raised his wand and then there was a blinding flash of red light, and with a great splintering and crashing, the door of Moody's office was blasted apart—
Moody was thrown backward into the office floor. Hailey was still staring at the place where Moody's face had been, saw Albus Dumbledore, Professor Snape, and Professor Flitwick were looking back at her out of the Foe-Glass. She looked around and saw the three of them standing in the doorway, Dumbledore in front, his wand outstretched.
Hailey fully understood why people said that Dumbledore was the only wizard that Voldemort feared, because the look on Dumbledore's face as he stared down at the unconscious form of Mad-Eye Moody was terrible. He had a cold fury in every line of his face; a sense of power came from Dumbledore as if he were giving off a burning heat. He stepped into the office, placed a foot underneath Moody's unconscious body, and kicked him over onto his back, so that his face was visible. Snape followed him, looking into the Foe-Glass. His reflection was glaring into the room.
Professor Flitwick went straight to Hailey. "Come along, Potter." He looked extremely worried as he took her arm gently. "I'll take you to the hospital wing…"
"No," replied Dumbledore sharply.
Professor Flitwick turned to him, "Dumbledore, she should…Look at her; she's been through a lot tonight—"
"She will stay, Filius, because she needs to understand," Dumbledore replied curly. "Understanding is the first step to acceptance, and only with acceptance can there be recovery. She needs to know who has put her through the ordeal she has suffered tonight and why."
"Moody," Hailey said, still feeling like she was in disbelief. "How can it have been Moody?"
"This is not Alastor Moody," replied Dumbledore quietly. "You have never known Alastor Moody. The real Moody would not have removed you from my sight after what happened tonight. The moment he took you, I knew—and I followed." He bent down over Moody's limp form and put a hand inside his robes. He pulled out Moody's hip flask and a set of keys on a ring. He turned to Professor Flitwick and Snape. "Severus, please fetch me the stronger Truth Potion you possess, and then go down to the kitchens and bring up the house-elf called Winky. Filius, kindly go down to Hagrid's house, where you will find a large black dog sitting in the pumpkin patch. Take the dog up to my office, tell him I will be with him shortly, then come back here."
If they considered the instructions peculiar, they didn't show any confusion, because they both left the office. Dumbledore went to the trunk with the seven locks and tried each lock, getting a different assortment of things. The first was spellbooks and the second had been what looked like a silvery Invisibility Cloak, broken Sneakoscopes, parchment, and quills. The seventh lock was the right one, because it continued a pit, like an underground room. Lying on the floor some ten feet below, apparently fast asleep, thin, and starved in appeared was the real Mad-Eye Moody. His wooden leg was gone, the socket that should contain the magical eye looked empty beneath its lid, and chunks of his grizzled hair was missing.
Hailey was thunderstruck between the sleeping Moody in the trunk and the unconscious Moody on the floor in the office.
Dumbledore got into the trunk and landed lightly onto the ground below, right next to Moody. He bent over Moody to inspect him and said, "Stunned—controlled by the Imperius Curse—very weak. Of course, they would have needed to keep him alive. Hailey, throw down the imposter's cloak—he's freezing. Madam Pomfrey will need to see him, but he seems in no immediate danger." Hailey did as she was told and Dumbledore covered Moody in the cloak, tucked it around him, and clambered out of the trunk. He picked up the hip flask that was on the desk, and unscrewed it. He turned it over and a thick glutinous liquid splattered onto the office floor.
"Polyjuice Potion, Hailey," said Dumbledore. "You see the simplicity of it, and the brilliance. For Moody never does drink except from his hip flask, he's well known for it. The imposter needed, of course to keep the real Moody close by, so that he could continue making the potion. You see his hair…" He looked down at Moody in the trunk, "The imposter has been cutting it off all year, see where it is uneven? But I think, in the excitement of tonight, our fake Moody might have forgotten to take it as frequently as he should have done…on the hour…every hour…We shall see." He pulled out the chair at the desk and sat down, eyes fixed upon the unconscious Moody on the floor. Hailey stared at him.
Minutes passed and the face of the man on the floor began to change. The scars were disappearing, the skin become smooth; the mangled nose became whole and started to shrink. The long mane of grizzled grey hair withdrew into the scalp and changed to the colour of straw. With a loud clunk, the wooden leg fell away as a normal leg regrew in its place. The magical eye popped out of the man's face a real eye replaced it. The magical eye rolled away across the floor and continued to look in every direction.
A pale-skinned, slightly freckled, mop haired was lying before Hailey. He had lines around the eyes now and looked much older than when she saw him in the Pensieve. She had watched him get led away from court by dementors. He had been trying to convince Mr Crouch that he was innocent…
She heard hurried footsteps in the corridor. Snape returned with Winky at his heals. Professor Flitwick was right behind them.
Snape stooped dead in the doorway, "Crouch! Barty Crouch!"
Professor Flitwick stared down at the man on the floor.
Filthy, disheveled, Winky peered around Snape's legs. She let out a piercing shriek, "Master Barty, Master Barty, what is you doing here?" She flung herself forward on to the young man's chest. "You is killed him! You is killed him! You is hilled Master's son!"
"He is simply Stunned, Winky!" said Dumbledore, "Step aside, please. Severus, you have the potion?"
Snape handed Dumbledore a small glass bottle of completely clear liquid: the Veritaserum that Snape had threatened Hailey with once. Dumbledore got up, bent over the man on the floor, and pulled him into a sitting position against the wall beneath the Foe-Glass, in which the reflections of Dumbledore, Snape, and Flitwick were still glaring down at them. Winky was still on her knees, trembling, her hands over her face. Dumbledore forced the man's mouth open and poured three drops inside it. He pointed his wand at the man and said, "Rennervate."
Crouch's son opened his eyes. His face was slack, his gaze unfocused. Dumbledore knelt before him, so that their faces were level, and quietly asked, "Can you hear me?"
The man's eyelids flickered and muttered, "Yes."
"I would like you to tell how you came to be here. How did you escape from Azkaban?"
Crouch took a deep, shuddering breath and began to speak in a monotone, "My mother saved me. She knew she was dying. She persuaded my father to rescue me as a last favour to her. He loved her as he had never loved me. He agreed. They came to visit me. They gave me a draught of Polyjuice Potion containing one of my mother's hairs. She took a draught of Polyjuice Potion containing one my hairs. We took on each other's appearance."
Winky was shaking her head. "Say no more, Master Barty, say no more, you is getting your father into trouble!"
Crouch took another deep breath and continued in the monotone, "The dementors are blind. They sensed one healthy, one dying person entering Azkaban. They sense on healthy, one dying person leaving it. My father smuggled me out, disguised as my mother, in case any prisoners were watching through their doors.
"My mother died a short while afterward in Azkaban. She was careful to drink Polyjuice Potion until the end. She was buried under my name and bearing my appearance. Everyone believed her to be me." His eyelids flickered.
"And what did your father do with you, when he had got you home?" asked Dumbledore quietly.
"Staged my mother's death," Crouch answered in the monotone, "A quiet, private funeral. That grave is empty. The house-elf nursed me back to health. Then I had to be concealed. I had to be controlled. My father had to use a number of spells to subdue me. When I had recovered my strength I thought only of finding my master…of returning to his service."
"How did your father subdue you?" asked Dumbledore.
"The Imperius Curse," replied Crouch. "I was under my father's control. I was forced to wear an Invisibility Cloak day and night. I was always with the house-elf. She was my keeper and caretaker. She pitied me. She persuaded my father to give me occasional treats. Rewards for my good behaviour."
Like a dog, Hailey thought, feeling repulsed for what Crouch's Death Eater ways and she felt a little bit of pity for his father putting him through that.
"Master Barty, Master Barty," sobbed Winky through her hands. "You isn't ought to tell them, we is getting in trouble…"
"Did anybody ever discover that you were still alive?" asked Dumbledore in a soft voice. "Did anyone know except your father and the house-elf?"
"Yes," replied Crouch, his eyelids were flickering again, "A witch in my father's office. Bertha Jorkins. She came to the house with papers for my father's signature. He was not at home. Winky showed her inside and returned to the kitchen, to me. But Bertha Jorkins heard Winky talking to me. She came to investigate. She heard enough to guess who was hiding under the Invisibility Cloak. My father arrived home. She confronted him. He put a very powerful Memory Charm on her to make her forget what she'd found out. Too powerful. He said it damaged her memory permanently."
"Why is she coming to nose into my master's private business?" Winky sobbed. "Why isn't she leaving us be?"
Maybe it's because a Death Eater, who tortured two Aurors, was supposed to dead in Azkaban, was actually found alive, shouldn't be private matters? Hailey thought.
"Tell me about the Quidditch World Cup," prompted Dumbledore.
"Winky talked my father into it," said Crouch, still using the monotonous voice. "She spent months persuading him. I had not left the house for years. I had loved Quidditch. 'Let him go,' she said. He will be in his Invisibility Cloak. He can watch. Let him smell fresh air for once. She said my mother would have wanted it. She told my father that my mother had died to give me freedom. She had not saved me for a life of imprisonment. He agreed in the end.
"It was carefully planned. My father led me and Winky up to the Top Box early in the day. Winky was to say that she saving a seat for my father. I was to sit there, invisible. When everyone had left the box, we would emerge. Winky would appear to be alone. Nobody would ever know.
"But Winky didn't know that I was growing stronger. I was staring to fight my father's Imperius Curse. There were times when I was almost myself again. There were brief periods when I seemed outside his control. It happened, there, in the Top Box. It was like waking from a deep sleep. I found myself out in public, in the middle of the match, and I saw in front of me, a wand sticking out of a girl's pocket. I had not been allowed a wand since before Azkaban. I stole it. Winky didn't know. Winky is frightened of heights. She had her face hidden."
"Master Barty, you bad boy!" whispered Winky. She had tears trickling between her fingers.
"So you took the wand, and what did you do with it?" questioned Dumbledore.
"We went back to the tent," explained Crouch, in the monotonous voice of his. "Then we heard them. We heard the Death Eaters. The ones who had never been to Azkaban. The ones who had never suffered for my master. They had turned their backs on him. They were not enslaved, as I was. They were free to seek him, but they did not. They were merely making sport of Muggles. The sound of their voices awoke me. My mind was clearer than it had been in years. I was angry. I had the wand. I wanted to attack them for their disloyalty to my master. My father had left the tent; he had gone to free the Muggles. Winky was afraid to see me so angry. She used her own brand of magic to bind me to her. She pulled me from the ten, pulled me into the forest, away from the Death Eaters. I tried to hold her back. I wanted to return to the campsite. I wanted to show those Death Eaters what loyalty to the Dark Lord meant, and to punish them for their lack of it. I used the stole wand to cast the Dark Mark into the sky.
"Ministry wizards arrived. They shot Stunning Spells everywhere. One of the spells came through the trees where Winky and I stood. The bond connecting us was broken. We were both stunned.
"When Winky was discovered, my father knew I must be nearby. He searched the bushes where she had been found and felt me lying there. He waited until the other Ministry members had left the forest. He put me back under the Imperius Curse and took me home. He dismissed Winky. She had failed him. She had let me acquire a wand. She had almost let me escape."
Winky let out a wail of despair.
"Now it was just Father and I, alone in the house. And then…and then…" Crouch's head rolled back on his neck and a grin that made him look mad, spread on his face. "My master came for me.
"He arrived at our house late one night in the arms of his servant, Wormtail. My master had found out that I was still alive. He had captured Bertha Jorkins in Albania. He had tortured her. She told him a great deal. She told him about the Triwizard Tournament. She told him the old Auror, Moody, was going to teach at Hogwarts. He tortured her until he broke through the Memory Charm my father had placed upon her. She told him I had escaped from Azkaban. She told him my father kept me imprisoned to prevent me from seeking my master. And so my master knew that I was still his faithful servant—perhaps the most faithful of all. My master conceived a plan, based upon the information Bertha had given him. He needed me. He arrived at our house near midnight. My father answered the door."
He smiled even wider, as if he was recalling the greatest memory of his life. Through her fingers, Winky was looking appalled to even speak.
"It was very quick. My father was placed under the Imperius Curse by my master. Now my father was the one imprisoned, controlled. My master forced him to go about his business as usual, to act as thought nothing was wrong. And I was released. I awoke. I was myself again, alive as I hadn't been in years."
"And what did Lord Voldemort ask you to do?" asked Dumbledore.
"He asked me whether I was ready to risk everything for him. I was ready. It was my dream, my greatest ambition, to serve him, to prove myself to him. He told me he needed to place a faithful servant at Hogwarts. A servant who would guide Hailey Potter through the Triwizard Tournament without appearing to do so. A servant who would watch over Hailey Potter. Ensure she reached the Triwizard Cup. Turn the cup into a Portkey, which would take the first person to touch it to my master. But first—"
"You needed Alastor Moody," finished Dumbledore. His eyes seemed to be blazing, although his voice remained calm.
"Wormtail and I did it. We had prepared the Polyjuice Potion beforehand. We journeyed to his house. Moody put up a struggle. There was a commotion. We managed to subdue him just in time. Forced him in a compartment of his own magical trunk. Took some of his hair and added it to the potion. I drank it; I became Moody's double. I took his leg and his eye. I was ready to face Arthur Weasley when he arrived to sort of the Muggles who had heard a disturbance. I made the dustbins move around the yard. I told Arthur Weasley I had heard intruders in my yard, who had set off the dustbins. Then I packed up Moody's clothes and Dark Detectors, put them in the trunk with Moody, and set off for Hogwarts. I kept him alive, under the Imperius Curse. I wanted to be to question him. To find out about his past, learn his habits, so that I could fool even Dumbledore. I also needed his hair to make the Polyjuice Potion. The other ingredients were easy. I stole boomslang skin from the dungeons. When the Potions master found me in his office, I said I was under orders to search it."
Hailey couldn't help but glare at Snape, because she had told the truth that she wasn't stealing potion supplies. She wasn't expecting an apology for the false accusation.
"And what became of Wormtail after you attacked Moody?" asked Dumbledore.
"Wormtail returned to case for my master, in my father's house, and keep watch over my father," Crouch explained.
"But he escaped," Hailey muttered.
"Yes. After a while he began to fight the Imperius Curse just as I had done. There were periods when he knew what was happening. My master decided it was no longer safe for my father to leave the house. He forced him to send letters to the Ministry instead. He made him write and say he was ill. But Wormtail neglected his duty. He was not watchful enough. My father escaped. My master guessed that he was heading for Hogwarts. My father was going to tell Dumbledore everything, to confess. He was going to admit that he had smuggled me from Azkaban.
"My master sent me word of my father's escape. He told me to stop him at all costs. So I waited and watched. I used the map I had taken from Hailey Potter. The map that had almost ruined everything."
"Map? What map is this?" asked Dumbledore quickly.
"Potter's map of Hogwarts. Potter saw me on it. Potter saw me stealing more ingredients for the Polyjuice Potion from Snape's office one night. She thought I was my father. We have the same first name. I took the map from Potter that night. I told her my father hated Darks wizards. Potter believed my father was Snape.
"For a week I waited for my father to arrive at Hogwarts. At least, one evening, the map showed my father entering the grounds. I pulled on my Invisibility Cloak and went down to meet him. He was walking around the edge of the forest. Then Sinclair and Echols came and Potter went after them. I waited. I could not hurt Potter, my master needed her. Potter ran to get Dumbledore. I Stunned Sinclair and Echols. I killed my father."
"No!" wailed Winky. "Master Barty, Master Barty, what is you saying?"
"You killed your father," Dumbledore said, using the same soft voice. "What did you do with the body?"
"Carried it into the forest. Covered it with the Invisibility Cloak. I had the map with me. I watched Potter run into the castle. She met Snape. Dumbledore joined them. I watch Potter bringing Dumbledore out of the castle. I walked back out of the forest, doubled around behind them, went to meet them. I told Dumbledore Snape had told me where to come."
Hailey had found that explanation a little odd, but it made sense now.
"Dumbledore told me to go and look for my father. I went back to my father's body. Watched the map. When everyone was gone, I Transfigured my father's body. He became a bone…I buried it, while wearing the Invisibility Cloak, in the freshly dug earth in front of Hagrid's cabin."
The only sound was Winky's continuous sobs because everything went silent.
"And tonight…" prompted Dumbledore.
"I offered to carry the Triwizard Cup into the maze before dinner," whispered Barty Crouch. "Turned it into the Portkey. My master's plan worked. He is returned to power and I will be honoured by him beyond the dreams of wizards." He smiled that mad smile again, which seemed to light his features again. His head drooped onto should as Winky wailed and sobbed at his side.
A/N: Since Crouch was going by Viktor's last name, I decided that he should use Eva and Ivy's last names. I didn't have a last name for Ivy, so I had to come up with one.
