Hello all, I apologize for the delay in the update, but I hope you enjoy this chapter.
The tangy smell of blood filled his nostrils as they hit the ground, him landing slightly on top of Harry. Cedric snapped his head up, his eyes not registering the cheering fans from Hogwarts or the Triwizard cup in his hand. He had just You-Know-Who return, and that was no cause for celebration. His gaze fell upon the one person who could help them.
"Professor Dumbledore!" Cedric cried frantically, pushing himself off the ground and running toward the headmaster. "He's back. You-Know-Who, he's back!" He panted pleadingly hoping that Professor Dumbledore would believe him.
"You-know-who back? What nonsense. It must've been the maze Albus, come Mr. Diggory we'll get you to the hospital wing, McGonagall said brusquely, reaching out toward Cedric.
He jerked back as if her touch would burn him. "It's not the maze. The cup- the cup was a portkey. I saw him with my own eyes, and we weren't even in the maze anymore!" He yelled stubbornly.
Professor McGonagall looked at him sternly and started to reach out again, but Dumbledore stopped her. "Minerva, get Severus," he whispered commandingly.
"But Albus-"
"This is a matter of great importance. Meet me in Professor Moody's office," Dumbledore said with no twinkle behind his half moon glasses. Professor McGonagall nodded sharply and left the stadium.
"Where is Harry Mr. Diggory?" Dumbledore asked.
"He's right-" Cedric started, but then he realized where Harry had been just minutes before there was nothing but grass and a small rusted red blood stain… and one, who remains my most faithful servant, and who has already reentered my service. He is at Hogwarts, that faithful servant, and it was through his efforts that our young friend arrived here tonight…Voldemort's words filled his mind. Voldemort's man had Harry. "You-know-who, at the graveyard- he said he had a man at Hogwarts-" Cedric stuttered.
Dumbledore's eyes widened and he looked scared for a second before it quickly went away. "Follow me Mr. Diggory," he said in a deathly low voice before quickly making his way back toward the school. Cedric followed, struggling to keep up with the older man, knowing better than to ask any questions. Once they were inside of the school again, they went up stair case after staircase before they reached the door of Professor Moody's office.
"You- you did this!" Cedric heard Harry yelling, and in a second Dumbledore had whipped his wand out and blasted Moody into the stone wall before stupefying him. Moody a Death Eater it just didn't click! After all wasn't he a famous Auror who had helped to put most of the Death Eaters who were in Azkaban well, in Azkaban?
Dumbledore reading the look on his face answered his unanswered question. "This man," he gestured toward Moody's still body, "is not Alastor Moody. Alastor Moody would have never taken Harry out of my sight. He is an imposter." Dumbledore said. Cedric was quiet and he glanced at Harry who was also silent, clutching his bloody arm.
Dumbledore walked over to the big trunk with the series of complicated locks and began unlocking them. It was a good ten minutes before the trunk was opened and revealed a deep bottomless pit where a tiny figure lay huddled in a corner. He looked exactly like the imposter, save that half of his hair was shaved leaving it lopsided.
Two Moody's, missing hair, it meant one thing. The imposter was using…
"Polyjuice potion." Dumbledore confirmed. "Simple… but brilliant. The real Alastor Moody never does drink from anything but his canteen, something the imposter must have known about." Dumbledore climbed into the trunk and surveyed the damage done to the real Alastor Moody, continuing to explain what must have happened, even though the pieces of the puzzle had already been put together in his head, save for the one thing he had no way of knowing. "Naturally they had to keep him alive to continue making the potion. He'll have to see Madam Pomfrey, but he'll be fine." Dumbledore said climbing out of the trunk.
Dumbledore picked up the canteen at the fake Moody's side and poured the thick glumpy liquid out of it. Polyjuice for sure. Just then, Professor McGonagall arrived, Snape in tow, taking in the scene shocked.
"Albus, what is the meaning of this?"
"Well, this man," Dumbledore said calmly waving at the fake Moody, "is an imposter. He has been using polyjuice potion to impersonate Alastor Moody. I am hoping that in the excitement of the night that he may not have taken the potion as often as he should have… on the hour, every hour... Severus, I trust you brought what we need."
Snape nodded and took out a small vial filled with clear liquid, handing it to Professor Dumbledore. Before his eyes, the fake Moody's face began to bubble, morphing into someone all together different until a scruffy man that Cedric didn't recognize was on the floor. McGonagall gasped. Snape didn't seem the least bit surprised however.
"Crouch!" Harry exclaimed. Crouch? Wasn't that the name of the ministry official who was killed on Hogwarts grounds?
"Minerva if you would please retrieve the house-elf called Winky." Dumbledore said.
"Yes Albus, I'll drop Mr. Potter and Mr. Diggory off at the hospital wing on my way-"
"No. They need to understand who has put them through the events that happened tonight and why. It is necessary for the healing process," Dumbledore said sternly cutting Professor McGonagall off. The head of Gryffindor didn't argue however, and left the room quickly. "Harry, Cedric, if you would please come here and hold down Mr. Crouch's arms."
Cedric obeyed and held Crouch's arm, glancing at Harry questioningly, but Harry was preoccupied glaring hatefully down at Crouch with disgust. At least the cut on Harry's arm wasn't bleeding anymore.
Dumbledore pointed his wand at Crouch's chest and murmured "Enervate." Crouch's chest convulsed and his eyes flew open, looking frantically around the room. Dumbledore forced the clear liquid in the vial down Crouch's throat, and Crouch's body stilled, his eyes blank and looking straight forward.
"What is your name?" Dumbledore asked authoritatively.
"Bartemius Crouch Jr.," Crouch said in a flat monotone voice. Veritaserum. Dumbledore had given the man veritaserum.
The shrill screech of a house-elf interrupted Professor Dumbledore's questioning as it flew over to drape itself on Crouch. "What is you doing to master Barty?! Master Barty should nots be being here! Yu'll get us in trouble!"
"Winky, Mr. Crouch is not in any harm. Severus, could you please-" Dumbled ore started, but Snape had already snapped the sobbing house-elf up. "Now then, how were you able to escape Azkaban?"
"It was my mother's wish. She was dying, and my father loved her like he had never loved me. She wanted me to be free, and begged him relentlessly. He conceded. They came to visit me. My mother took on my appearance, and I took on hers. Dementors have no eyes. They sensed one healthy person and one dying person going in, and they sensed one healthy person and one dying person going out. My mother was careful to take the polyjuice until the very end, and when she died in Azkaban she was buried under my name. Soon after, my father staged a small funeral for my mother."
"You should not be saying this master Barty! We's be in trouble!" The house-elf sobbed.
"How were you able to stay hidden?" Dumbledore continued ignoring the house-elf's protests.
"My father kept me under an Imperius curse, and an invisibility cloak to subdue me. I was very weak when I came out of Azkaban, but I was slowly regaining strength, and I started to think only of returning to my master. The house-elf stayed with me at all times. She was my keeper."
"Were you able to stay hidden?"
"One day, when my father was not home, Bertha Jorkins came by to talk to him. I was under the invisibility cloak, and Winky answered the door, inviting Bertha in even though my father was not present. Winky came to talk to me in the kitchen, and Bertha hear enough to know who was under the invisibility cloak. When my father came home, she confronted him. My father had to place a strong memory charm on her that permanently damaged her memory. Our secret was safe."
"Tell us about the Quidditch World Cup."
"I had come back into my full strength, and when I was younger, I had loved Quidditch. It had been Winky's idea. Se told my father constantly that my mother would have wanted me to go, that she had sacrificed herself so I could be free, not for me to stay imprisoned in the house. My father eventually agreed. I would go with Winky, hidden underneath the invisibility cloak. She would sit in the box with me, pretending to save a seat for my father, when it was really me underneath an invisibility cloak. She had not known that I had started to fight the Imperius curse. At moments I was even becoming myself. That happened in the top box. I found myself sitting there, and I saw a wand in the pocket of a boy in front of me. I reached out and grabbed the wand. Winky did not know. Winky is afraid of heights and covered her face with her hands the entire time."
"What happened afterward?"
"Once I had broken the curse, I wanted to return to my master. I snuck away, trying to find signs of anyone who could help me return to him. Then those men pretending to be loyal Death Eaters gave their show, but they all ran as soon as I cast the mark in the sky. Winky found me and tried to convince me to come back with her, but I refused. She took the wand from me, but I found another in the chaos and disapparated."
"You should not be saying this Master Barty! You should have come with Winky! Why won't you listen to Winky?!"
"And how did you rejoin Voldemort?"
"I went to all my old sources, sniffed around Knocturn Alley. Somehow word of me got to my master, and Wormtail found me, returning me to my lord once again."
"And what did Voldemort do?" Dumbledore asked.
"My Lord was not in his full strength, and he and Wormtail had discovered a spell to return him back to power, but we needed Potter's blood. First, we needed to make sure my father would not let word of my existence leak, and we placed him under the Imperius curse. Then we crafted a plan to get Harry Potter. We heard that Moody was being considered for the post of Defense against eh Dark Arts Professor. We kidnapped him and I used polyjuice to take on his appearance. Once I had accepted the post, I was told of the Triwizard tournament, and my Lord gave me my assignment. I infiltrated Hogwarts, and made sure that Harry Potter would be the one to receive the Triwizard cup, and then, the cup would transport him straight to my master so that he could return to power. It was easy enough. I entered Potter's name and made sure the cup chose him. I helped him with each task, making sure he would be a forerunner. Before the maze, I made the cup into a Portkey. Then I used an Imperius curse on Victor Krum so he would attack the other competitors so that Potter would be the one to find the cup. And now my master has returned."
"What happened with your father?"
"He broke the Imperius curse, and came to Hogwarts to warn you of my lord's return. I found him first however, and made sure he would not compromise my master's will."
"Master Barty! How could you- your father!" Winky screeched and stuttered uncontrollably. The house-elf twisted and turned in Snape's grip, the wide flappy ears swinging rapidly as she tried to get free.
"Stupefy," Dumbledore said quietly, making Barty Crouch Jr. still once more. Cedric let go of the man's arm as if he had been burned.
"Now Minerva, you may take Mr. Potter and Mr. Diggory to the hospital wing. I'm sure they will need some time to understand what has happened. Severus, if you would please floo the Minister of Magic and contact the Auror department? I'm sure they will be interested to know the events that have occurred tonight."
McGonagall nodded her head sharply and headed out the room. Cedric glanced at Harry, making eye-contact with younger boy for a second before following McGonagall, trying to understand what had happened. He had foiled Voldemort's plan.
So Please review! The next Chapter is where we really start deviating from the original story...