"That's absolutely terrifying," Ginny said.
"That's why you've got to be careful with Giants," Ron said.
"Ron, it's Hagrid we're talking about!" Hermione said.
"I know, but-"
"We're not here to speculate on Hagrid's inherent behaviours. Hagrid is one of the sweetest, most caring-" Hermione could feel herself starting to have another panic attack.
"Yeah, but-"
"Would you two knock it off?" Ginny said with a look at Hermione. "It is nearly midnight. I recommend we all go to bed and come back to this after a good night's rest."
"But-"
"No, Ronald," Ginny said, sounding very similar to Mrs Weasley. "Up to bed this instant. You can all talk about this tomorrow."
Surprisingly, the boys listened to Ginny, and the four friends went upstairs for the night with plans to meet at daybreak the next morning.
As the sun rose on another spring day, Hermione tiptoed into Ginny's dorm room to see if she wanted to meet with the boys, but she was still fast asleep. Not wanting to disturb her, Hermione quietly left Ginny's room and crept downstairs to meet with the boys.
The three walked together to the Owlery to send another note to Sirius. Despite all three being exhausted, they had things that needed to be discussed.
"It comes down to this," said Hermione, rubbing her forehead. "Either Mr Crouch attacked Viktor, or somebody else attacked both of them when Viktor wasn't looking."
"It must've been Crouch," said Ron at once. "That's why he was gone when Harry and Dumbledore got there. He'd done a runner."
"I don't think so," said Harry, shaking his head. "He seemed really weak - I don't reckon he was up to Disapparating or anything."
"You can't Disapparate in the Hogwarts grounds. Haven't I told you enough times?" said Hermione.
"Ok, how's this for a theory," said Ron. "Krum attacked Crouch - no, wait for it - and then Stunned himself!"
"And Mr Crouch evaporated, did he?" Hermione said coldly, hoping not to have a repeat of the previous night.
"Oh yeah…"
"Just go through it again, Harry," said Hermione. "What did Mr Crouch actually say?"
"I've told you, he wasn't making much sense," said Harry. "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 testily.
"He was out of his mind," said Harry. "Half the time, he seemed to think his wife and son were still alive, and he kept talking to Percy about work and giving him instructions."
"I've told you," Harry repeated dully. "He said he's getting stronger."
There was a pause. Then Ron said in a falsely confident voice, "But he was out of his mind, like you said, so half of it was probably just raving."
"He was sanest when he was trying to talk about Voldemort," said Harry. "He was having real trouble stringing two words together, but that was when he seemed to know where he was, and know what he wanted to do. He just kept saying he had to see Dumbledore."
They all stood there in silence, pondering it all. Hermione watched the owls as she processed what Harry had been telling them. Half of the many perches were empty; every now and then, another owl would swoop in through one of the windows, returning from its night's hunting with a mouse in its beak.
"If Snape hadn't held me up," Harry said bitterly, "we might've got there in time. 'The Headmaster is busy, Potter ... what's this rubbish, Potter?' Why couldn't he have just got out of the way?"
"Maybe he didn't want you to get there!" said Ron quickly. Hermione rolled her eyes. It always came back to Snape with these two. She despised the man, but he wasn't always the source of everything that went wrong; usually quite the opposite. "Maybe – hang on – how fast d'you reckon he could've got down to the Forest? D'you reckon he could've beaten you and Dumbledore there?"
"Not unless he can turn himself into a bat or something," said Harry.
"Wouldn't put it past him," Ron muttered.
"We need to see Professor Moody," said Hermione. "We need to find out whether he found Mr Crouch."
"If he had the Marauder's Map on him, it would've been easy," said Harry.
"Unless Crouch was already outside the grounds," said Ron, "because it only shows up to the boundaries, doesn't –"
"Shh!" said Hermione suddenly, listening. Somebody was climbing the steps up to the Owlery. Hermione leaned closer to hear better. There were two people, and they sounded as though they were arguing.
"– that's blackmail, that is, we could get into a lot of trouble for that –"
"– we've tried being polite. It's time to play dirty, like him. He wouldn't like the Ministry of Magic knowing what he did –"
"I'm telling you, if you put that in writing, it's blackmail!"
"Yeah, and you won't be complaining if we get a nice fat payoff, will you?"
The Owlery door banged open. Fred and George came over the threshold, then froze at the sight of Hermione, Ron, and Harry.
"What're you doing here?" Ron and Fred said at the same time.
"Sending a letter," said Harry and George in unison.
"What, at this time?" said Hermione and Fred.
Fred grinned. "Fine – we won't ask you what you're doing if you don't ask us," he said. He was holding a sealed envelope in his hands, his hand holding so that the name on it was covered.
"Well, don't let us hold you up," he said, making a mock bow, and pointing at the door.
Ron didn't move. "Who're you blackmailing?" he said.
The grin vanished from Fred's face. "Don't be stupid. I was only joking," he said easily.
"Didn't sound like that," said Ron.
Fred and George looked at each other.
Then Fred said abruptly, "I've told you before, Ron, keep your nose out if you like it the shape it is. Can't see why you would, but –"
"It's my business if you're blackmailing someone," said Ron. "George's right. You could end up in serious trouble for that."
"Told you, I was joking," said George. He walked over to Fred, pulled the letter out of his hands, and began attaching it to the leg of the nearest barn owl. "You're starting to sound a bit like our dear older brother, you are, 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. Hermione, Ron, and Harry stared at each other.
"You don't think they know something about all this, do you?" Hermione whispered. "About Crouch and everything?"
"No," said Harry. "If it was something that serious, they'd tell someone. They'd tell Dumbledore."
Ron, however, was looking uncomfortable.
"What's the matter?" Hermione asked him.
"Well," said Ron slowly, "I dunno if they would. They're - they're obsessed with making money lately. I noticed it when I was hanging around with them – when – you know –"
"We weren't talking," Harry finished the sentence for him. "Yeah, but blackmail…"
"It's this joke-shop idea they've got," said Ron. "I thought they were only saying it to annoy Mum, but they really mean it. They want to start one. They've only got 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, and they need gold to get started."
Hermione was looking uncomfortable now. "Yes, but... they wouldn't do anything against the law to get gold. Would they?"
"Wouldn't they?" said Ron, looking sceptical. "I dunno ... they don't exactly mind breaking rules, do they?"
"Yes, but this is the law," said Hermione, looking scared. "This isn't some silly school rule. They'll get a lot more than detention for blackmail! Ron, maybe you'd better tell Percy…"
"Are you mad?" said Ron. "Tell Percy? He'd probably do a Crouch and turn them in." He stared at the window through which Fred and George's owl had departed, then said, "Come on, let's get some breakfast."
"D'you think it's too early to go and see Professor Moody?" Hermione said as they went down the spiral staircase.
"Yes," said Harry. "He'd probably blast us through the door if we wake him at the crack of dawn. He'll think we're trying to attack him while he's asleep. Let's give it 'til break."
History of Magic had rarely gone so slowly. Hermione usually enjoyed Professor Binns' lessons, but she was too tired to do more than just listen to him talk. She took none of her usual notes. Instead, she just sat with her head on her hand, gazing at Professor Binns with her eyes out of focus.
When the bell finally rang, they hurried into the corridors towards the Dark Arts classroom and found Professor Moody leaving it. He looked as tired as they felt. The eyelid of his normal eye was drooping, giving his face an even more lopsided appearance than usual.
"Professor Moody?" Harry called as they made their way towards him through the crowd.
"Hello, Potter," growled Moody. His magical eye followed a couple of passing first-years, who sped up, looking nervous; it rolled into the back of Moody's head and watched them around the corner before he spoke again. "Come in here."
He stood back to let Hermione, Harry, and Ron into his empty classroom, limped in after them and closed the door.
"Did you find him?" Harry asked, "Mr Crouch?"
"No," said Moody. He moved over to his desk, sat down, stretched out his wooden leg with a slight groan and pulled out his hip-flask.
"Did you use the map?" Harry said.
"Of course," said Moody, taking a swig from his flask. "Took a leaf out of your book, Potter. Summoned it from my office into the Forest. He wasn't anywhere on there."
"So he did Disapparate?" said Ron.
"You can't Disapparate in the grounds, Ron!" said Hermione. "There are other ways he could have disappeared, aren't there, Professor?"
Moody's magical eye quivered as it rested on Hermione. She involuntarily shivered and crossed her arms across her chest.
"You're another one who might think about a career as an Auror," he told her. "Mind works the right way, Granger."
Hermione, though startled and a bit creeped out, flushed pink with pleasure.
"Well, he wasn't invisible," said Harry. "The map shows invisible people. He must've left the grounds, then."
"But under his own steam?' said Hermione. "Or because someone made him?"
"Yeah, someone could've – could've pulled him onto a broom and flown off with him, couldn't they?" said Ron quickly, looking hopefully at Moody, as if he, too, wanted to be told he had the makings of an Auror.
"We can't rule out kidnap," growled Moody.
"So," said Ron, "d'you reckon he's somewhere in Hogsmeade?"
"Could be anywhere," said Moody, shaking his head. "Only thing we know for sure is that he's not here." He yawned widely, so that his scars stretched, and his crooked mouth revealed several missing teeth.
Then he said, "Now, Dumbledore's told me you three fancy yourselves as investigators, but there's nothing you can do for Crouch. The Ministry'll be looking for him now. Dumbledore's notified them. Potter, you just keep your mind on the third task."
"What?" said Harry. "Oh, yeah."
"Should be right up your street, this one," said Moody, looking up at Harry and scratching his scarred and stubbly chin. "From what Dumbledore's said, you've managed to get through stuff like this plenty of times. Broke your way through a series of obstacles guarding the Philosopher's Stone in your first year, didn't you?"
"We helped," Ron said quickly. "Me and Hermione helped."
Moody grinned. "Well, help him practise for this one, and I'll be very surprised if he doesn't win," he said. "In the meantime, constant vigilance, Potter. Constant vigilance." He took another long draught from his hip-flask, and his magical eye swivelled onto the window.
"You two" – his normal eye was on Hermione and Ron (and was no less unnerving than his magical one) – "you stick close to Potter, all right? I'm keeping an eye on things, but all the same, you can never have too many eyes out."
Sirius sent their owl back the very next morning. It fluttered beside Harry at the same moment that a tawny owl landed in front of Hermione, clutching a copy of the Daily Prophet in its beak. She took the newspaper, scanned the first few pages, said, "Ha! She hasn't got wind of Crouch!", then joined Ron and Harry in reading what Sirius had to say on the mysterious events of the night before last.
Harry – what do you think you are playing at, walking off into 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 seeing Dumbledore, and you were probably feet away from them in the dark. You could have been killed.
Your name didn't get into the Goblet of Fire by accident. If someone's trying to attack you, they're on their last chance. Stay close to Ron and Hermione, do not leave Gryffindor Tower after hours, and arm yourself for the third task. Practise 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'm waiting for your letter giving me your word you won't stray out of bounds again.
Sirius
"Who's he, to lecture me about being out of bounds?" said Harry in mild indignation as he folded up Sirius' letter and put it inside his robes. "After all the stuff he did at school!"
"He's worried about you!" said Hermione sharply. "Just like Moody and Hagrid! So listen to them!"
"No one's tried to attack me all year," said Harry. "No one's done anything to me at all –"
"Except put your name in the Goblet of Fire," said Hermione, shocked (yet not shocked in the least) that she had to spell it out for him. "And they must've done that for a reason, Harry. Snuffles is right. Maybe they've been biding their time. Maybe this is the task they're going to get you."
"Look," said Harry impatiently. "Let's say Snuffles is right, and someone Stunned Krum to kidnap Crouch. Well, they would've been in the trees near us, wouldn't they? But they waited 'til I was out of the way until they acted, didn't they? So it doesn't look like I'm their target, does it?"
"They couldn't have made it look like an accident if they'd murdered you in the Forest!" said Hermione. "But if you die during a task –"
"They didn't care about attacking Krum, did they?" said Harry. "Why didn't they just polish me off at the same time? They could've made it look like Krum, and I had a duel or something."
"Harry, I don't understand it either," said Hermione desperately, trying to remain calm. "I just know there are a lot of odd things going on, and I don't like it. Moody's right – Snuffles is right – you've got to get in training for the third task straight away. And you make sure you write back to Snuffles and promise him you're not going to go sneaking off alone again."
There was nothing they could do about the Mr Crouch situation, so the three friends focused on helping Harry prepare for the third task instead. Having only "a series of obstacles" to go on, they decided to focus on more combative and protective spells.
They spent all their free time in the library, looking up hexes, or in empty classrooms, which they sneaked into to practise. Harry was working on the Stunning Spell, which he had never used before. The trouble was that practising it involved certain sacrifices on Hermione and Ron's part.
"Can't we kidnap Mrs Norris?" Ron suggested during Monday lunchtime, as he lay flat on his back in the middle of their Charms classroom, having just been Stunned and re-awoken for the fifth time in a row. "Let's Stun her for a bit. Or you could use Dobby, Harry. I bet he'd do anything to help you. I'm not complaining or anything" – he got gingerly to his feet, rubbing his backside – "but I'm aching all over."
"Well, you keep missing the cushions, don't you!" said Hermione impatiently, rearranging the pile of cushions they had used for the Banishing Spell, which Flitwick had left in a cabinet. "Just try and fall backwards!" She knew her temper had been short lately, but she felt as though Ron was purposely being dense at times.
"Once you're Stunned, you can't aim too well, Hermione!" said Ron angrily. "Why don't you take a turn?"
"Well, I think Harry's got it now, anyway," said Hermione hastily. "And we don't have to worry about Disarming because he's been able to do that for ages... I think we ought to start on some of these hexes this evening."
She looked down the list they had made in the library.
"I like the look of this one," she said. "This Impediment Jinx. Should slow down anything that's trying to attack you, Harry. We'll start with that one."
The bell rang. They hastily shoved the cushions into Flitwick's cupboard and slipped out of the classroom.
"See you at dinner!" said Hermione, and she set off for Arithmancy while the boys headed towards Divination.
Sophie was already seated when Hermione came into the classroom. In front of Sophie was a small wrapped parcel. It was brown and tied with a cream string. Hermione's mind immediately jumped to the Sound of Music song about Maria's favourite things. She shook it from her head, vowing to get more sleep. "Hey!" Hermione greeted her friend.
"Got you something," Sophie said with a grin.
"For what?"
"I dunno, just because."
"That's so sweet, thank you," Hermione said, pulling the string to untie the small bow on top. She carefully slid her finger under the paper and loosened the Spello-Tape. Hermione carefully lifted the paper to reveal a shimmery black book with opal-like lettering on the front, reading The Completely Complete History of Magic, Volume Infinity. Hermione looked up at Sophie, puzzled.
"It updates daily," Sophie explained. "Every time you read it, it will be slightly different depending on what's happened since the last time you read it."
"You're joking!" Hermione said, her excitement nearly overflowing from within her.
"No! It hasn't been published yet. My father got an advanced copy, and I figured you'd be the perfect person to have it."
"This is absolutely brilliant! No! More than that! There aren't words for how incredible this is!" Hermione said, nearly crying with happiness.
"I figured you needed something as a pick-me-up," Sophie said. "Butterbeers just weren't doing it."
"This is bloody brilliant, Sophie. Thank you so much."
"My dad would love it if you wrote to him to tell him what you think," Sophie said. "He's in charge of editing and whatnot and needs some feedback."
"Even from a Mudblood like me?"
"Dark, Granger. Too dark," Sophie said. "My family may all be Slytherins, but they aren't Malfoys."
"Fair point," Hermione said, looking reverently at the book. She seriously considered skipping Arithmancy to start reading, but just as she began re-packing her things, Professor Vector entered the classroom. Today was, unfortunately, a lecture day in Arithmancy, and Hermione found her attention drifting just as it had in History of Magic.
The truth was that she had still been having problems sleeping. While she was mostly able to manage during the day, nighttime was another story. Laying in bed, her thoughts would snowball into anxiety-ridden nightmares. With nothing to distract her, Hermione's anxiety would overwhelm her, and she ended up agonising over any number of things. Her most common worries included- but were not limited to- Viktor, her parents, Mrs Weasley, Harry, Ron, Finnegan, the Roberts, and any number of things that may have happened during the day. This book from Sophie would serve to help Hermione distract herself, but it wasn't helping her now. Hermione could feel her eyes drooping; she was beginning to doze off.
Her eyelids slid fully closed…
She was in Lavenham with her parents, but there was another girl there: Jean, her sister who had passed away. Her parents were doting on her and barely paid Hermione any attention, even though Hermione used all kinds of magic, tying to make them notice her. Suddenly, an owl swooped down, and Bert threw a rock. The letter it was carrying fell to the ground before it flew away, clearly hurt. The letter was a notice of Hermione's expulsion from Hogwarts. She broke down, though no one paid her any attention.
They came upon a huge hedged maze, and she knew that Harry, Ron, and Viktor were somewhere inside, all asking for her help. She knew she could only pick one of them to go to. Hermione started crying, asking why she couldn't save them all. Her mum and dad only stood there, forcing her to pick, saying that she wasn't good enough to save all three… that only Jean was magical enough to save all three.
Hermione cried out in anguish and felt someone shaking her. Her eyes opened wide, realising she had fallen asleep and was still in Arithmancy.
"Granger!" Sophie said, concern in her voice. "Are you okay?"
Hermione looked around and saw that every student in the small class was looking at her.
"Yes, sorry," she said, embarrassed.
"Do you need to go to the hospital wing, Miss Granger?" Professor Vector said.
"No, I'm okay, sorry," she said, trying to wake up.
Class resumed, but her heart was still beating at an astronomical rate. A piece of paper fluttered to her desk. She opened it and read:
What the bloody hell was that? Are you ok? -S
Hermione scribbled her reply:
Been staying up late trying to help Harry with the third task and must have fallen asleep.
She tossed the note back to Sophie, who read it and gave her a concerned look, which Hermione ignored as she tried to concentrate on the lesson.
Finally, Professor Vector finished lecturing, and it was time to do some Arithmancy exercises to make some assumptions about the future. Hermione knew she shouldn't try to figure out anything about the third task because of her fragile mental state, but something about the dream made her attempt it anyway. She needed to make sure everyone would, at the very least, be okay.
Hermione started the complex calculations almost immediately, referring to her textbook often to ensure her figures were exact. Although she knew Arithmancy did not predict the future but rather indicated the probability of future events, she still wanted to be precise. She wasn't going to make any sort of decision based on inaccurate information.
When she finally worked out the maths, Hermione went back and tried again. And again. And again.
There had to be something wrong with her formula.
Hermione started from scratch, writing furiously with her quill and counting on her abacus. She got the same sum.
As it stood at that moment, if things did not change, someone was going to perish during the Triwizard Tournament's third task.