AUTHORS NOTE! :P

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! :D

Yo everyone! Once again, I'm sorry about how long the last chapter took. This one won't be as long, but hopefully I'll have it finished faster.

Thanks for all the messages and reviews that told me to update. I felt like I was under pressure, and when I'm under pressure, I work faster and better, so thanks :) and thanks for not thinking that I stopped writing. I won't stop writing these stories until there finished. So keep that in mind. I'll never quit , but this year will be hectic because of the Junior Cert, and I'm studying and everything, so this year, updates won't be as frequent.

Now to answer soon reviews...

Readersgotswagg: I've only read the fist Percy Jackson book. I need to read the others soon! Is there really a character called Rachel? What book does she come in? If I ever get around to reading all the Percy Jackson books, I might make a crossover :) also, I love your name :D

KorraAvanasidoch: I'm sorry, but they won't kiss this early. But there might be a kiss or two later on in this story...Your idea is really cute though :)

FlyForever: Aw thanks. Your review made me smile :)

jdr ride: There shall be fluff, don't worry. In this, and the rest of the series. I know, the Joker is just amazing. For Halloween, I'm going as Batgirl, and my friend is going as the Joker, and it's kinda funny because the Joker shoots Batgirl :)

Arkell26: Yup. She was at work, and she was bringing an order to a table, and there was a bit of salad on the floor, and she didn't see it and...she slipped. She's very clumsy. We both are. Just today, I fell over in PE. Over nothing. There was nothing on the ground, I just...fell.

Eli the Amazing: Thanks, Eli :)

EveryBreathIsASecondChance: Yay, I love new reviewers! I love your name by the way, sounds very romantic :)

Thanks to everyone else that reviewed, and all the alerts and favourites :) love you guys :D

Enjoy the chapter!

-Rach ;)

Max's POV

As February went into March, the weather slowly started getting drier, but cruel winds hit us in the face every time we went outside. There were delays in the post because owls kept getting knocked off course. Freedom came back on Friday morning with half of his feathers sticking up the wrong way. I fixed them, knowing how annoying and uncomfortable it was, and pulled Sirius's reply from his leg.

I handed the letter to Harry and gave Freedom some toast, then some water. He nipped at my hair, then flew off quickly, probably towards the Owlery to rest, and I turned to Harry to read Sirius's reply. It was as short and precise as the last one.

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.

"There's no way he's back in Hogsmeade," Iggy said.

"Well, it looks like he has," Ron said.

"I can't believe him," I said sternly. "If he get's caught..."

"Made is so far though, hasn't he?" Ron said. "And it's not like the place is surrounded by Dementors any more."

If I was honest with myself, I really wanted to see my dad again. I looked at Harry, who seemed to look happier at the thought of being able to see Sirius jjagain. So with that in mind, I entered the last class of the day- double potions- feeling slightly more cheerful then I usually did when entering the dungeons.

Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle were standing in a huddle outside the classroom door with Pansy Parkinson and the rest of the Slytherin girls. All of them were snickering at something we couldn't see. Pansy's pug-like face peered from around Goyle's huge back excitedly when she saw me and Hermione walking down the corridor.

"There they are! There they are!" she giggled shrilly, and the knot of Slytherin's broke apart. I saw that Pansy had a magazine in her hands- Witch Weekly. The moving picture on the front showed a smiling woman pointing at a large chocolate cake with her wand.

"You two might find something interesting in this!" Pansy said loudly, the Slytherin's laughing. She threw the magazine at me, and I caught it easily, glaring at her. Right after that, the dungeon door opened and Snape beckoned us all in.

The six of us headed to a table at the back of the class, as usual. Once Snape turned his back on us to write up the ingredients of the potion, I started flicking through the magazine under the desk. Finally, in one of the center pages, I found it. The others leaned in closer. A photograph of Harry headed a short piece called:

Harry Potter's Heartache
A boy like no other, perhaps- yet a boy suffering all the usual problems of adolescence, writes Rita Skeeter. Deprived of love since his parents tragic death, it seems that fourteen-year old Harry Potter has found love at Hogwarts- but which girl will he choose?
It seems that Mr Potter has fallen in love with two girls, Muggle-Born Hermione Granger, and winged-girl Maximum Ride. Little does he know that he will be suffering yet another emotional blow in life that's already been littered with personal loss.
Miss Granger, a patent yet ambitious girl, seems to like famous wizards. Ever since Bulgarian Seeker and hero of the Quidditch World Cup, came to Hogwarts, it seems that she has been playing with both boys affections. In fact, Mr Krum has already invited Miss Granger to visit him in Bulgaria over the summer.
"She's really ugly," says Pansy Parkinson, a pretty and alert fourth-year, "but she'd be well able to make a Love Potion. She's really brainy, so doing a Love Potion wouldn't be a problem. I reckon that's how she's doing it." As everyone knows, Love Potion's are forbidden in Hogwarts, and I'm sure Albus Dumbledore will want to investigate the claims.
Although, Mr Potter does have another girl- but will she break his heart too? Maximum Ride, rarely seen out of the company of Mr Potter, seems to have won the heart of a few other boys, including her first-kiss Ethan St James, and one of the other winged-children, Fang Martinez. Draco Malfoy, another fourth year student says, "It's quite amazing that all these boy's like her, seeing as she's got the wings and stuff. I wouldn't go near her. She's just a freak." So has Miss Ride been wiping up Love Potions along with her friend Miss Granger? It seems that Headmaster Albus Dumbledore has a lot to uncover.
In the meantime, Harry Potter's well-wishers can only hope that next time, he'll give his heart to worthier candidate.

"I told you!" Ron hissed as me and Hermione stared down at the article. "I told the two of you not to annoy Rita Skeeter! She's made the two of you out to be some types of- of-"

"Of what?" I growled. Ron fell silent and didn't finish the sentence.

I turned back to Hermione. When we looked at each other, we burst into giggles. And I never giggle. Never.

"What are you laughing at? How can any of this be funny?" Iggy asked.

"If this is the best old Rita can do, I'm afraid she's losing her touch," Hermione said, still giggling. She threw the magazine into the empty seat beside me and said, "What a load of rubbish."

We looked over at the Slytherins, who were watching us closely to see if any of us were upset by the article. I gave them a big, sarcastic smile and a wave, then the six of us started unpacking the ingredients we needed for the Wit-Sharpening potion. "There's something funny though," Hermione said ten minutes ago, holding her pestle over a bowl of beetles. "How could Rita Skeeter have known...?"

"Known what?" Ron asked quickly. "You aren't using Love Potions, are you?"

"Of course not!" Hermione said. "Don't be stupid. No, it's just...how did she know that Viktor asked me to visit him over the summer?" she said, blushing deep red.

"What?" Ron said, dropping his pestle.

"He asked me right after he pulled me out of the lake," Hermione muttered. "After he got rid of the sharks head. Madam Pomfrey gave us blankets, and he sort of pulled us away from everyone else so no would hear, and he said if I wasn't doing anything-"

"And what did you say?" Ron asked, who had picked up his pestle, but was grinding it into the table, a good seven inches from where his bowl was, looking at Hermione.

"And then he said that he never felt the same way about anyone else," Hermione went on. I stared at her, eyes wide. Her face was so red I could almost feel the heat coming from her, "but how could Skeeter know that? She wasn't there...or was she? Maybe she has an Invisibility Cloak or something...maybe she sneaked into the grounds to watch the second task..."

"What did you say?" Ron repeated, pounding his pestle down on the table so hard that it dented it. Harry reached over and took it from him, leaving it beside his bowl. Ron didn't even seem to notice.

"Well, I was busy waiting to see if Max and Harry were okay-"

"Fascinating though your social life may be, Miss Granger," came an icy voice from behind us. I didn't even have to turn around to see who it was. "I must ask you not to discuss it in my class. Ten points from Gryffindor."

Snape had glided over silently to our desks as we were talking. The whole class was looking at us.

"And reading magazines under the table as well?" Snape said, picking up the magazine from the chair beside me. "A further ten points from Gryffindor...oh, but of course..." Snape's eyes glittered as he found the article we were reading. "Miss Ride and Mr Potter have to keep up with their press cuttings"

The Slytherins roared with laughter, and an unpleasant smile curled Snape's mouth. What made me want to hit Snape even more, he started reading the article aloud.

"`Harry Potter's Heartache...dear, what could be ailing you now?`A boy like no other, perhaps..."'

I could feel my face burning, and I looked at Harry, who's face was red too. His jaw was clenched and his hands were curled into fists. The only thing keeping me from jumping up and hitting Snape square in the face was Hermione's hand on my elbow. He was pausing at the end of every sentence to give the Slytherins a chance for a good laugh. It sounded so much worse with Snape reading it.

"`Harry Potter's well-wishers can only hope that next time, he'll give his heart to worthier candidate.' How touching," Snape sneered, rolling up the magazine. "Well, I think I should separate the six of you, so you can concentrate more on your potions then on your tangled love lives...Mr Weasley, stay there, Mr Griffiths, up beside Mr Thomas, Mr Martinez, go beside Longbottom, Miss Granger, over beside Miss Parkinson, and you two," he added, staring at me and Harry, who were glaring at him, "Up in front of me. Move. Now."

"All right, all right, keep your greasy hair on," I said, throwing my things into my cauldron. Snape glared at me, his lip curling in fury before he walked back to the front of the class, me and Harry following behind him. Me and Harry went to sit beside each other, but Snape said, "Don't even think about it. Ride, over there." He pointed over to the other seat in the front row and after sharing a look with Harry, I moved over.

Snape watched us unload our cauldrons. I was determined not to look back at him, or to give him the satisfaction of catching me looking at Harry, so I just continued mashing up my scarab beetles (maybe with more force then necessary) and imagining each one as Snape's face. I could hear Harry's knife banging onto his table too.

"All this press attention seems to have inflated your already over-large heads," Snape said, talking to me and Harry. Neither of us answered. He was just trying to provoke us, probably hoping for a chance to take fifty marks off Gryffindor.

"The two fo you might be under the impression that the entire wizarding world is impressed by you," Snape went on quietly. I continued cutting up my scarab beetles, even though they were already reduced to a fine powder. "But I don't care how many your pictures appear in the paper. To me, the two of you are nothing more then nasty little children who think rules are beneath them."

I tipped the beetles into my cauldron and started cutting up my ginger roots. My hands were shaking with anger, but I kept my eyes down, pretending that I couldn't hear what Snape was saying.

"So I give you fair warning," Snape said in a dangerous voice, that reminded me so much of Donovan, the whitecoat that used to torture me in the School everyday, that I shuddered, "little celebrities or not- if I catch either of you breaking into my office again-"

"I haven't been anywhere near your office!" me and Harry said at the same time.

"Don't lie to me," Snape snapped quietly. "Boomslang skin. Gillyweed. Both came from my own private stores, and I know who took them."

I stared right back at Snape, not blinking and looking innocent. The truth was that neither me or Harry stole any of that. Hermione stole the Boomslang skin in second year when we needed it to make the Polyjuice Potion- and while Snape had automatically suspected Harry, he had never been able to prove who stole it. And Harry informed us that it was Dobby that stole the Gillyweed for him.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Harry said coldly, not breaking eye-contact with Snape.

"I don't know about Miss Ride, but you were out of bed the night my office was broken into, Potter!" Snape hissed. "I know it! Mad-Eye Moody might have joined your little fan club, but I will not tolerate this behaviour! One more nighttime stroll into my office, and the two of you will pay!"

"Right," Harry said very coolly, "I'll keep that in mind if I ever get the urge to go anywhere near your office."

I laughed, and Snape's eyes flashed. He put his hand inside his robes, and for a minute I thought he was going to take out his wand and curse me and Harry. But then he pulled out a small crystal bottle of completely clear liquid.

"Do you know what this is?" Snape asked, looking between me and Harry, his eyes glittering dangerously.

"No," Harry said. Snape turned to me.

"It's Veritaserum," I said.

"Correct, Miss Ride. Veritaserum is a truth-telling potion. So powerful that three drops of this will have you spilling your most personal secrets for the entire class to hear," Snape said viciously. "Now the use of this potion is controlled by Ministry guidelines. But unless you watch your step, my hand might just slip-" he shook the bottle slightly- "over your evening pumpkin juice. Then...we'll find out if you've been in my office or not."

"You can't do that!" I said, but not loud enough for the whole class to hear.

"Of course I can, Miss Ride. And if you ever question me again, I'll make sure that you have detention every day until you leave this school."

I gave him my best glare, the kind that made most men's knees go weak, but Snape didn't even blink. I turned back to my ginger roots again, picked up my knife and started slicing them again. I wouldn't put it past Snape to actually slip some Veritaserum into me and Harry's drinks...the things that would slipping from my mouth if he did... apart from getting Hermione and Dobby into heaps of trouble, everything else would come out too...that I was in contact with Sirius, all the embarrassing things that happened at the school, my confused feelings for Harry-

Forget I said that last part.

There was a knock on the dungeon door, and I looked up as Snape said, "Enter."

Karkaroff came in. Everyone watched him as he approached Snape's desk. He looked agitated and kept twirling his goatee.

"We have to talk, Severus," Karkaroff said when he reached Snape. He seemed so determined that no one should overhear their conversation that he was barely moving his lips, but I could hear every word perfectly. I looked over at Harry quickly, and I seemed that he was listening hard to what was being said.

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

"I want to talk now, so you can't sneak off again. You've been avoiding me."

"After the lesson," Snape snapped.

I lifted my head slightly, my hair covering most of my face, and sneaked a look at the two of them. Snape looked extremely angry, and Karkaroff looked worried. He stayed in the class for the whole double period, intent on not letting Snape slip away at the end of the class. Why anyone would go through so much trouble to talk to the man was beyond me.

I shared a look with Harry, and we both nodded. We wanted to wait and hear what they had to say. So we put away our things slowly, and when everyone started leaving the dungeon, I deliberately walked into Harry, who dropped his bottle of armadillo bile. This gave the two of us the excuse to duck down behind Harry's cauldron and clean it up.

"What's so urgent?" Snape hissed.

"This," Karkaroff said. Me and Harry peeked out from behind the table and saw Karkaroff pulling up his left sleeve and showing Snape something on his forearm.

"Well?" Karkaroff said, still barely moving his lips. "Do you see? It hasn't been this clear since-"

"Shut up and put that away!" Snape snapped.

"You surely noticed-"

"We can talk later, Karkaroff!" Snape said. "Potter! Ride! What are you doing?"

"I banged into Harry, sir, and he dropped his armadillo bile. We were just cleaning it up," I said in my most innocent voice, and we both showed Snape the sodden rags we were holding.

Karkaroff turned quickly on his heel and practically sprinted from the dungeons. Not wanting to be with an angry Snape, I grabbed my bag and Harry's hand, and we both tore off to find the others and tell them what happened.

We left the castle the next day, and headed into Hogsmeade. The food that Sirius asked for was in my bag; we had sneaked a dozen chicken legs, a loaf of bread, and a flask of pumpkin juice from the lunch table.

We went into Gladrags Wizardwear to buy a present for Dobby. We spent about twenty minutes in there, picking out the most ridiculous socks we could find, including a pair with flashing gold and silver stars, and another one that screamed if they got too smelly.

At half-past one, we made our way up the High Street, past Dervish and Banges, and out towards the edge of the village. I've never been in this direction before. The lane was leading out into the countryside. There were fewer cottages, but the gardens were bigger. We were walking towards the foot of a mountain. We turned a corner and saw a stile at the end of the lane. Waiting for us, with his front paws on the topmost bar, was a huge, shaggy black dog that was carrying newspapers in his mouth.

"Hey Sirius," I said, a smile on my face.

The dog barked happily, sniffed my bag, and turned and began to trot away from us across the rocky foot of the mountain. The six of us climbed over the stile and followed him.

Sirius led us over to the foot of the mountain, where the ground was covered with boulders and rocks. It was simple for Sirius, he had four paws, but after a while, Harry, Ron and Hermione were out of breath. A while after that, me, Fang and Iggy were panting. I suggested that the three of us could fly, but Sirius turned around and growled at me, so I kept my wings tight to my back.

Finally, Sirius slipped out of sight. We climbed a bit more and found the cave that he vanished into. It was cool and dimly lit, and at the end of the cave, one end of his rope around a rock, was Buckbeak the hippogriff. Half grey horse, half giant eagle, Buckbeak's fierce orange eyes flashed over all six of us. We bowed, and after watching us for a minute, Buckbeak bent his scaly knees and allowed Hermione to rush over to him and stroke his long feathery neck.

I was looking at the black dog, that had turned into my father.

He took the Daily Prophet from his mouth and beamed at me and Harry and gave us quick hugs, before grinning at the others. He was still wearing the same ragged grey robes that he had on when he escaped Azkaban. His black hair was longer than it had been when we talked to him in the fire, and it was untidy and matted again. He was really thin.

I pulled the bag off my shoulder and handed it to him. He opened it and said, "Chicken!" as if it was best thing in the world. "Thanks," he said, sitting down on the cave floor. I sat down in front of him, with Harry beside me and the others gathered around us. Hermione stayed closer to Buckbeak. Me, Fang and Iggy took off our jumpers and let our wings out. Mine were all stiff and sore from being pushed against my back all day.

"I've been living off rats mostly," Sirius went on, tearing off a large chunk of the drumstick with his teeth. "Can't steal too much food from Hogsmeade; I'd draw too much attention."

He grinned at us, but we only returned the grin reluctantly.

"What're you doing here, Sirius?" I asked. "Don't get me wrong, I'm really happy to see you, but I just don't want you back in Azkaban."

"I'm fulfilling my duties as father and godfather," Sirius said, gnawing on the chicken bone in a very doglike way. "Don't worry about it. I'm pretending to be a loveable stray."

He was still grinning, but seeing the anxiety on me and Harry's face, he said more seriously, "I want to be closer to everything that's happening. The last letter I got from you two was...let's just say things are getting more and more fishy. I've been stealing the paper every time someone puts one in the bin, and by the looks of things, I'm not the only one that's worried."

He nodded to the pile of Daily Prophet's on the cave floor. Fang picked them up, unfolding them, but me and Harry were still looking at Sirius.

"What if you're seen? What if you're caught?" Harry said.

"You six, Nudge, and I'm supposing the two younger ones, and Dumbledore are the only one's that know I'm an Animagus," Sirius said, shrugging, and continuing to devour the chicken leg.

Fang nudged me and handed me two Daily Prophets. The first one had the headline Mystery Illness of Bartemius Crouch and the second one had, Ministry Witch Still Missing- Minister of Magic Now Personally Involved.

I scanned through the story of Crouch. Certain phrases jumped out: hasn't been seen in public since November...house appears deserted... 's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries decline comment...Ministry refuses to confirm rumours of critical illness...

"They make it sound like's he's dying," I said, handing the paper to Harry. "But he can't be that sick if he managed to get here."

"My brother is Crouch's personal assistant," Ron said to Sirius. "He say's that Crouch is suffering from overwork."

"He did look ill the last time I saw him up close," Harry said, reading the story. "The night my name came out of the goblet."

"Getting what he deserves for sacking Winky, isn't he?" Hermione said, with an edge to her voice. She was still stroking Buckbeak, who was munching on Sirius's chicken bones. "I bet he wishes he hadn't done it now- bet he can feel a difference, now that she isn't there doing all his work."

"Hermione's obsessed with house-elves," Ron said, casting Hermione a dark look. But Sirius actually looked interested. "Crouch sacked his house-elf?"

"Yeah, at the World-Cup," Iggy said, and we all told Sirius about the Dark Mark in the sky, and Winky being found with Harry's wand and Crouch's anger. When we finished, Sirius was on his feet, pacing up and down the cave.

"Let me get this straight," he said, brandishing a fresh chicken leg, "You first saw the elf in the Top Box. She was saving a seat for Crouch, right?"

"Yup," I said.

"But Crouch never showed up to the match?"

"No," Harry said. "I think he said he'd been too busy or something."

Sirius paced all around the cave, then said, "Harry, did you check your pockets for you wand before you left the Top Box?"

"Erm..." Harry said. "No. I didn't need it until we got into the forest. And when I put my hand into my pockets, it wasn't there."

"Are you saying that whoever conjured the Dark Mark was in the Top Box with us?" I asked, staring at Sirius.

"It's possible," he said.

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

"She wasn't the only person in the Top Box," Sirius said, his brow furrowed as he paced. "Who else was sitting behind you?"

"Loads of people," Iggy said. "Some Bulgarian ministers...Cornelius Fudge...the Malfoys..."

"The Malfoys!" Ron said loudly, his voice echoing around the cave. "I bet it was Lucius Malfoy!"

"Anyone else?" Sirius said.

"No one," Fang said.

"Yes, there was Ludo Bagman," Hermione said.

"Oh yeah..."

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

"He's okay," Harry said. "He keeps offering to help me in the Tournament."

"I wonder why he'd do that?" Sirius said, his frown deepening.

"He's say's that he's taking a liking to me," Harry said.

"Hmm," Sirius said.

"We saw him in the forest right before the Dark Mark appeared," I said.

"Yeah, but he didn't stay in the forest, did he?" Ron said. "When we told him there was a riot going on, he went back to the campsite."

"How do you know?" I said. "You don't know where he Disapparated to."

"Come of it," Ron said, "Are you saying that Ludo Bagman conjured the Dark Mark?"

"Well, it's more likely than Winky doing it," Hermione said. I nodded in agreement. Heck, I like Bagman, but he acts weird and suspicious sometimes, and there's no way Winky did the Dark Mark.

"I told you she's obsessed with house-elves-" Ron started, but Sirius held up a hand to silence Ron.

"When the Dark Mark was conjured, and Winky was found with Harry's wand, what did Crouch do?"

"Went looking in the bushes," I said. "But there wasn't anyone there. Whoever must have done it left straight away."

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

"Yes," Hermione said in a heated voice, "he sacked her. Just because she didn't stay in the tent and let herself get trampled-"

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

Sirius shook his head and said, "She has a better measure of Crouch than you do, Ron. If you want to know what a man's like, take a look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals."

He ran a hand over his unshaven face, thinking hard.

"All these absences of his... he goes to trouble of making sure his house-elf saves him a seat at the Quidditch World Cup, but doesn't bother to show up. He works hard to reinstate the Triwizard Tournament, but stops going to it...It's not like Crouch. If he's ever taken a day off work before this due to sickness, I'll eat Buckbeak."

"D'you Crouch then?" Fang asked.

Sirius's face darkened. He looked as menacing at the night we first met him. That night, we still believed he was a murderer.

"Oh, I know old Bartemius all right," Sirius said quietly. "He was the one to give the order to send me to Azkaban. Without a trial."

"What?" we all said together.

"You're kidding!" Harry said.

"That's a load of crap! They can't just send someone to jail without a proper trial!" I said angrily.

"If they believe they have enough evidence to put the person in jail, they can. And that's what Crouch did," Sirius said, taking another bite of chicken. "Crouch used to be the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, didn't you know? He could of done anything he wanted."

We all stared at Sirius. I couldn't believe this. If they gave him a trial, then maybe he could of been proven innocent. I probably would of still been in the School, but at least Sirius wouldn't have been in Azkaban, and Harry could of lived with him.

"He was tipped to be the next Minister of Magic," Sirius went on, pulling me out of my thoughts. "He's a great wizard, Barty Crouch...very powerfully magical- and power-hungry. No, never a Voldemort supporter," he said, reading the expressions on our faces. "No, Crouch was 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..."

"That's what everyone keeps saying," I said. "That we're too young. Just try us."

A grin flashed across Sirius's face.

"All right then, I'll try you..." he walked up and down the cave once, then said, "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 that he can control people to do terrible things and be unable to stop themselves. You're scared for yourself, for your family, and for your friends. Every week, there's news about more and more deaths, more disappearances, more torturing...the Ministry of Magic is in pieces trying to sort it out, they don't know what to do, and they're trying to keep all of this hidden from the Muggles, but there are Muggles being killed and tortured as well. Terror and panic everywhere...confusion...desperation... that's what it used to be like.

"Times like that bring out the best in some people, and the worst in others. Crouch's principals might have been good in the beginning- I wouldn't know. He rose quickly through the Ministry, and started ordering harsh measures on Voldemort's supporters. The Aurors were given new powers- powers to kill rather than capture, for example. I wasn't the only one handed straight over to the dementors without a trial. Crouch fought violence with violence, and authorised the Unforgivable Curses against the suspects. I would say that he became as ruthless and as cruel as any on the Dark Side. He had his own supporters too, mind you- plenty of people thought that what he was doing was the right way to do things, and there were a lot of witches and wizards that wanted him to take over as Minister of Magic. When Voldemort disappeared, it looked like only a matter of time before Crouch got the job. But then something rather unfortunate happened..." Sirius smiled grimly. "Crouch's own son was caught with a gang of Death Eaters who'd managed to talk their way out of Azkaban. Apparently, they were trying to find Voldemort and get him back to power."

"Crouch's son?" Hermione gasped.

"Yep," Sirius said, throwing a bone to Buckbeak, and flinging himself on the floor beside the loaf of bread, and he tore it in half. "Nasty shock for Barty, I'd imagine. Should have spent more time at home with his family, shouldn't he? Ought to have left the office early once in a while, get to know his own son." Sirius looked up at me with big, sad grey eyes. I stared back at him, hoping that he didn't think that I didn't think of him as my father.

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

"No idea," Sirius said, wolfing down the bread. "I was in Azkaban myself when he got brought in. This is all mostly stuff I've found out since I'd escaped. The boy was caught in the company of people that I know were Death Eaters- but he might have been simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, just like Winky."

"Did Crouch even try to get his son off?" I asked.

Sirius let out a laugh that was more like a bark.

"Crouch get his son off? I thought you had a good measure on him like Hermione did, Max. Anything that threatened his reputation had to go. He had dedicated his entire life to becoming Minister of Magic. You saw him sack a house-elf because she associated him with the Dark Mark again- doesn't that tell you what he was like? Crouch's fatherly affection was enough to get his son a trial, and it wasn't much more than an excuse for Crouch to show how much he hated the poor boy...then he sent him straight to Azkaban."

"He gave his own son to the dementors?" Iggy asked quietly.

"Yeah," Sirius said, not looking remotely amused now. "I saw the dementors bringing him in, watched them through the bars in my cell door. He couldn't have been more than nineteen. They put him into a cell near mine. He was screaming for him mother by nightfall. After a few days, he went quiet. They all go quiet in the end...except for when they shriek in their sleep..."

Hearing this reminded me of the School. All the experiments that only lasted a few days... they'd be whimpering and groaning for a few hours, then they'd be quiet, and then...they'd die.

I looked back at Sirius, and saw the deadened look in his eyes were more pronounced than ever.

"So he's still in Azkaban?" Harry asked.

"No," Sirius said dully. "No, he died about a year after they brought him in."

"He's dead?"

"He's not the only one," Sirius said bitterly. "Most go mad in there, and plenty of them stop eating in the end. They just lose the will to live. You could always tell when a death was about to happen, because the dementors could sense it, and they got excited. The boy seemed pretty sick 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, apparently, shortly after that. Grief. Wasted away just like her son. Crouch never came to get his son's body. The dementors buried him outside the fortress."

Sirius threw down the bread and picked up the flask of pumpkin juice and drained it.

"So old Crouch lost it all, just when he thought he got everything," he continued, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "One minute, a big hero, next in line for Minister of Magic...the next, his son dead, his wife dead, the family name dishonoured, and so I've heard since I got out, a big drop in popularity. Once the boy died, people started feeling sympathetic towards him, asking how a nice young lad from a good family had gone so astray. The conclusion everyone came to was that his father never cared for him that much. So Cornelius Fudge got the head job, and Crouch was shunted aside to Head of Department of International Magical Cooperation."

There was a long silence. No wonder Crouch had freaked out when he saw Winky with a wand, under the Dark Mark. It had brought back memories of his son, and his fall from power and grace at the Ministry. But it still didn't make what he did to Winky okay.

You don't know everything, Maximum. You can't judge so quickly without knowing everything that happened.

Oh great, the Voice was back. Yippee.

And I'm guessing that you know everything?

No one knows everything, Max.

But you know everything that happened with Crouch and his family? Can you tell me?

I waited a few minutes, but nothing. Of course. Why am I even surprised?

"Moody said that Crouch was obsessed with catching Dark Wizards," Harry said.

"Yeah, I've heard it's become a bit of a mania to him," Sirius said, nodding. "If you ask me, I think he believes that he can bring back all his popularity by catching one more Death Eater."

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

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

"Yes it does!" Ron said, but Sirius shook his head.

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

"So you think Snape could be up to something then?" I asked, but Hermione interrupted.

"Look, I don't care what you say, Dumbledore trusts Snape, so-"

"Oh, give it a rest Hermione," Ron said impatiently. "We all know that Dumbledore is brilliant and everything, but that doesn't mean a Dark wizard couldn't fool him-"

"Then why did he try to save Harry in first year? Why not let him die?"

"I dunno- maybe he thought Dumbledore would kick him out."

"What d'you think, Sirius?" Harry said loudly over Ron and Hermione's bickering.

"I think they've both got a point," Sirius said. "Ever since I found out that Snape was teaching at the school, I've been wondering why Dumbledore would hire him. Snape's always been into the Dark Arts, always been fascinated by them. He was famous for it at school. Slimy, oil-haired kid he was," Sirius added, and we all grinned at each other. Well, except for Hermione. "Snape knew more curses coming into the school than half the kids leaving the school in seventh year, and he was part of a group in Slytherin that nearly all turned out to be Death Eaters."

Sirius held up his fingers and began ticking off names.

"Rosier and Wilkes- both killed by Aurors the year before Voldemort fell. The Lestranges- a married couple, they're both still in Azkaban. Avery- from what I've heard, he managed to worm his way out of trouble by saying he'd been under the Imperious Curse- he's still out there somewhere. But as far as I know, Snape's never been accused of being a Death Eater. Not that it means that much. Plenty of them were never caught or named. And Snape is clever and cunning enough to keep himself out of trouble."

"Snape and Karkaroff seem to be buddies, but Snape wants to keep it quiet," Iggy said.

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

I shook my head. "Nope. He had his arm turned slightly so only Snape could see it."

"He showed Snape something on his arm?" Sirius said, looking bewildered. "Well I have no idea what that was about...but if Karkaroff is worried, and he's going to Snape for answers..."

Sirius stared at the cave wall, looking frustrated.

"There's still the fact that Dumbledore trusts Snape, and I know Dumbledore trusts people others 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 his office then?" Ron asked stubbornly.

"Well, I wouldn't have put it past Mad-Eye to have searched every teachers office in the castle. He takes his Defence Against the Dark Arts seriously, Moody. I'm not sure he trusts anyone at all, and after all the things he's seen, it's not surprising. I'll say this for Moody though, he never killed anyone if he could help it. Always brought people in alive where it was possible. He was tough, but he never descended to the level of the Death Eaters. Crouch though... he's a different story...is he really ill? If he is, why did he make the effort in dragging himself up to Snape's office? And if he isn't, then what's he up to? What was he doing at the World Cup that was so important he didn't turn to to watch it? What's he been doing while he's meant to be judging the tournament?"

Sirius fell back into silence, still staring at the cave wall. Buckbeak was looking around the cave floor, trying to spot any bones he might have missed. I stood up and walked over to him, and started stroking his neck and his back.

No one spoke for a few more seconds. Finally, Sirius turned to Ron.

"You say your brother works for Crouch? Any chance you can ask him if he's seen Crouch lately?"

"I can try," Ron said. "Better not make it sound like I think he's up to something, though. Percy loves Crouch."

"And you might want to ask if they have any leads on Bertha Jorkins while you're at it," Sirius said, pointing to the second copy of the Daily Prophet.

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

"Yeah, he's quoted in the article," Sirius said, nodding to 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- she was the opposite actually. She was a bit dim, but she had an excellent memory for gossip. It used to get her into trouble a lot; she never knew when to keep her mouth shut. I can see her being a bit of a liability to the Ministry. Maybe that's why Bagman took so long to start looking for her..."

Sirius gave a huge sigh and rubbed his shadowed eyes.

"What's the time?" he asked.

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

"You lot better get back to the school," Sirius said, standing up. "Now listen," he said, looking mostly at me and Harry. "I don't want you sneaking out of the school to come see me, all right? Just send notes to me here. I still want to hear about anything strange happening. But you are not to leave the school grounds without permission. It would be the perfect chance to attack you."

"No one tried to attack me so far apart from a dragon and a few grindylows," Harry said.

"I got attacked by a few Erasers, but that's old news," I said. Sirius scowled at us.

"I don't care. I'll breathe freely again when this tournament is over, and I know that all of you are out of danger. That's not until June. And don't forget, if you're talking about me in public, refer to me as Snuffles, okay?"

The others went to pat Buckbeak goodbye, and I walked closer to Sirius. He hugged me and kissed my forehead. "You be careful, and don't get into too much trouble."

"I'll try," I said, smiling sadly. I didn't want to say goodbye to him. "Promise that I'll see you soon?" I said.

"I promise."

Sirius said goodbye to the others, then said, "I'll walk to the edge of the village with you. See if I can scrounge another paper somewhere."

He transformed into the giant black dog before we left the cave, and I pulled my wings tight to my back and pulled my jumper back on. We stared walking down the mountainside again, and across the boulder-strewn ground, and back to the stile. We all patted him, then turned back towards Hogsmeade, and up towards Hogwarts.

"Wonder if Percy knows all that about Crouch?" Ron said as we walked up the drive to the castle. "Maybe he doesn't care. Probably just makes him admire Crouch more. Percy loves rules. He'd just say that Crouch was refusing to break the rules for his own son."

"Percy would never throw someone from his family to the dementors," Hermione said.

"I don't know," I said. "You've never met Aunt Muriel." Me, Ron, Fang and Iggy shuddered.

"If he thought we were getting in the way of his career...Percy's really ambitious..." Ron continued.

We walked up the stone steps, into the entrance hall, where the delicious smell of dinner wafted in from the Great Hall.

"Poor old Snuffles," Iggy said, breathing deeply. "He must really like you two," he said, looking at me and Harry, "Imagine having to live off rats..."

Ah Iggy, little did you know that's what you were doing in an alternate universe...

Anyway, how is everyone? This chapter took a little longer than expected, sorry about that.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

I know it's not Halloween, but this will the only chapter up before Halloween, so this is the Halloween chapter!

Also, I'd like to dedicate this chapter to Arkell26. You know why :)

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-Rach ;)