"His Hidden Heart" By = Sure As Elle
Chapter Five: Mister Crouch's Madness
Note: I copy-pasted a few small part from the book in a few spots, not knowing another way to do those scene. Just a small part.
Note two: Contains a sex scene between minors.
They were walking up to the Three Broomsticks when they spotted Rita Skeeter coming out of the little pub. She was loudly talking about Mr. Crouch with her photographer. They all, Luna included, tried to ignore her and get by without being spotted, but of course that didn't work out.
"Ah Harry, good to see you again," she said with a wide grin. "I've been getting letters for weeks from my fans, you know; they all want to hear more about the Boy Who Lived. What do you say, Harry? Care to help help me throw my readers a bone? I know we got off to a bad start, Harry, but you know, I could help you out a lot. You know, there are an awful lot of rumors flying about you, Harry; I could help you put a lid on some of those, straighten a few things out. What do you say?"
Harry glared at her and snorted, remembering how much she got wrong from her first article about the Triwizard Tournament, and about him.
"Rumors my arse. If there are any rumors about me, Rita, I'm sure you are the one that started them all. And given the fiasco that was your first 'interview' with me, I'd be better off without you even if you weren't the source of the rumors. Then, as if that wasn't bad enough, you went and attacked Hagrid. Any chance you might have had of a partnership with me got destroyed when you did that. So you can just go sod off."
Rita got closer to him, her smile turned acid now. "You know," she whispered, "I may not have much more information than that delightful quote I mentioned last time, but mark my words, you don't want to cross me. I can make your life a living Hell."
"Gee, I wonder what that would be like?" he said sarcastically, but quietly. More loudly, he said, "Like I'm afraid of what you could say about me. I've weathered worse storms than anything you've thrown at me yet. If it were just me you were attacking, I wouldn't care one way or another about you. But you attacked a friend of mine, so that means you can forget ever being an ally of mine."
"Harry," she began, still trying to sound placating. Luna, however, interrupted.
"I think Harry made himself quite clear. Continuing to try to get on his good side is just sad, at this point."
Her grin disappeared, replaced by a sour look. "Fine then. Don't say I didn't warn you."
As she took off again, Hermione – her face red with emotion – went into a rant about Rita, which Harry ignored. Luna gave him a significant look, but he shook his head to indicate Rita had said nothing that worried him.
Sunday morning, they made a special trip to the kitchens to get some more food to owl up to Sirius, stopping by the owlery first to send off a letter to Percy. While at the kitchens, they had a conversation with Dobby, and found Winky by the fireplace, filthy and drunk on butterbeer. Knowing she had been Crouch's house elf, they carefully tried to get her to talk about Crouch, but didn't get much out of her but recriminations. Then Hermione went off on an exasperated sermon to the house elves that they didn't need to be slaves, and got all of them kicked out of the kitchens. Naturally, Ron and Hermione fought about it even in the common room, so Harry took to staring out the window, watching Hagrid dig in his yard for some reason.
At breakfast the next day, the Daily Prophet came in, and it had another Rita Skeeter article. Hermione and Ron tried hiding it from Harry and Luna, but Harry snatched it out of Ron's hand to read.
Dumbledore Fails Boy Who Lived
By Rita Skeeter
Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, is famous in the wizarding world for surviving the Killing Curse cast on him by You-Know-Who, this we all know. But what was kept secret about him was where he went when he became an orphan. This correspondent has, however, discovered the truth. With Harry's godfather in prison for being a Voldemort supporter, Albus Dumbledore took it upon himself to abuse his power, suppressing the Potter Will, no doubt with instructions for other potential godparents in case Sirius Black was indisposed or dead, given the war-torn era it was drafted in, and sent the savior of the wizarding world - and scion of a wizarding family old as any - to live with his Muggle aunt and uncle, the Dursleys – Muggles who, from what this reporter has observed, hate wizards with almost as much passion as the Death Eaters hate Muggles.
As a result of this, there is very little record of young Mr. Potter's childhood. This reporter has, however, interviewed neighbors and old schoolmates and teachers, as well as wizards who have seen Mr. Potter in the Muggle attire his dubious guardians let him wear. While the wizards – not up to date on Muggle fashions – noticed nothing unusual about his clothing, this reporter has it on good authority that the Muggle clothing Mr. Potter was given is hand-me-downs from his blimp of a cousin, hand-me-downs that are dirty, disheveled, patched, and frayed, despite his aunt and uncle being rather moderately wealthy by Muggle standards, his uncle the owner of an entire company called Grunnings, that makes tools called 'dills.'
What's more, it appears young Mr. Potter had no friends growing up, his glasses were always in a severe state of disrepair, and it seems that the Muggle government was not even aware of the presence of a second child in the Dursley household. And as if this wasn't bad enough, the boy showed signs of neglect, starvation, and possibly even abuse at the hands of the guardians Dumbledore assigned him.
Following up on his life after being introduced to the wizarding world, it seems that this life of abuse and neglect has possibly broken Mr. Potter in profound ways. According to Professor Severus Snape, the boy barely passes any of his classes, and spends a lot of time studying with one Hermione Granger, top of her year in Hogwarts. "She is no doubt cheating for her friend," says Professor Snape. "Though if I had any proof, I would be forced – for his own good, of course – to have him expelled from Hogwarts. He is so woeful that I do not actually recall ever having seen him perform any magic, and for all I know he may be a Squib."
How can this be? How could the hope of the wizarding world be so woefully unintelligent? Your humble reporter has spoken with experts from St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, experts who wish to remain anonymous, and have said "Childhood abuse has been known to cause many problems, including mental retardation, as well as emotional and personality disorders that even the best Mind Healers struggle to improve upon."
Yet for all these problems, young Mister Potter appears to be mostly happy at Hogwart's, having found himself to be special in more than one way, even having made a girlfriend in one Luna Lovegood. Though by all accounts, this young woman – sorted into Ravenclaw – seems like she should have been sorted into Hufflepuff instead, and even that much is being charitable. Daughter of infamous Quibbler editor Xenophilius Lovegood, she has inherited her father's tendency towards ridiculous beliefs, absurd behavior, and questionable intelligence. The Lovegoods are another old wizarding line, of course, but even this does not explain why it seems that the Sorting Hat is getting lax in its old age. Of course, Albus Dumbledore has a history of strange decisions regarding the school, including letting werewolf Remus Lupin not only be admitted to Hogwarts but also to teach at it last year in a controversial decision, and of course hiring Alastor 'Mad Eye' Moody this year, among other eccentric decisions.
It seems Mr. Potter and Ms. Lovegood are even aware that they shouldn't be in Hogwarts, given something this reporter overheard them say during the Yule Ball last Christmas. Ms. Lovegood had said "being half-giant isn't considered quite as bad as, well, what you and I are, but it's up there," and Mr. Potter agreed. What did they mean, though? Are they Squibs, and that's what they meant? Is it their "special" status? Or are they mentally or emotionally damaged in some way? Or perhaps, some combination of those? Rest assured, readers, Rita Skeeter is ready and willing to find out the answers to these astonishing questions.
Stunned, Harry felt his grip on the paper relax, and Luna take it from him and read it. He continued to stare into the void, his face growing hot as he imagined how the school was going to take this.
Luna's face took on a redder and redder cast as she read the article. Hermione and Ron stated at her in mounting fear, sure that their normally laid back friend was going to blow her top. But then she did something even scarier: her face cleared up, and she smiled - a chilly and sinister smile that made even Professor Snape turn his head to gape at.
"L-Luna?" Harry asked, fear in his voice. "Are you okay?"
"Oh, Harry, I am just peachy."
"So-?"
She set the paper down carefully and stood up. "Hermione, I have a Skeeter to exterminate. I'll be in the library. Would you like to help me?"
Hermione grinned and stood up. "Of course, Luna!"
"Luna," Harry said, "don't let that woman upset you. You've been called worse than that and it didn't bother-"
"Harry," Luna said calmly, still managing to interrupt him, "I have never been unbothered by the mean things people say at school about me. But that's school, and we won't be here forever. This is different; she's putting us down in front of the whole country, and who knows how many other countries. And anyway, if it was just me she was putting down, I might ignore it. But she doesn't get to put down my First Friend, my boyfriend, and get away with it. Come, Hermione, we have work to do."
When the two girls left the Great Hall, Ron turned to Harry and said, "Blimey, mate; I've never seen Luna so corked off before. I think my bollocks retreated into my body, that was so scary."
"Amen to that," Harry agreed.
Later, as they walked down to Hagrid's for Care of Magical Creatures, Harry saw he had more crates for them, which worried him. But they weren't Skrewts, they were something Hagrid called Nifflers, and they spent a very good lesson watching the little treasure hunters wade through the soil bringing them leprauchaun gold, which vanishes after a few hours according to Hagrid.
While everyone was distracted by the nifflers, Hagrid leaned up to Harry and asked, "So, er... wha was that at breakfast, with Luna? She was scary, the look in 'er eye."
"Oh. Didn't you read the article about the two of us in the Daily Prophet?"
"Oh, that. Blimey, I've never known her ta be so upset over bullying; nothin ever seemed ter faze 'er. I wonder if tha was the broom straw that broke tha hippogriff's back fer her."
"Probably. But according to Luna, she was upset not for herself, but for me."
"Well tha makes a bit more sense, but still seems a bit outta character fer Luna."
"Yeah, I know what you mean. I guess it was just one thing too many for her. But now that you mention it, I guess it also makes sense in a way. I was her first friend, the only friend she'd had up to that point. I've protected her a lot over the years, and now that I'm being attacked... well, maybe she's decided to return the favor."
Hagrid beamed at him. "Ah, tha sounds jes wha'd I'd expect of the friend of the son of James Potter."
Harry smiled back at him.
"Oh look, that one got tha last o' the coins," Hagrid said.
After Hagrid counted everyone's coins, he found that Ron's niffler had brought him the most of the fake gold, and so he won a chocolate bar from Honeyduke's, which made him oddly glum.
"What's the matter?" said Harry as they walked back up to the castle. "Wrong flavor?"
"No," said Ron shortly. "Why didn't you tell me about the gold?"
"What gold?" said Harry.
"The gold I gave you at the Quidditch World Cup," said Ron. "The leprechaun gold I gave you for my Omnioculars. In the Top Box. Why didn't you tell me it disappeared?"
Harry had to think for a moment before he realized what Ron was talking about.
"Oh …" he said, the memory coming back to him at last. "I dunno … I never noticed it had gone. I was more worried about my wand, wasn't I?"
They climbed the steps into the entrance hall and went into the Great Hall for lunch.
"Must be nice," Ron said abruptly, when they had sat down and started serving themselves roast beef and Yorkshire puddings. "To have so much money you don't notice if a pocketful of Galleons goes missing."
"Listen, I had other stuff on my mind that night!" said Harry impatiently. "We all did, remember?"
"I didn't know leprechaun gold vanishes," Ron muttered. "I thought I was paying you back. You shouldn't've given me that Chudley Cannon hat for Christmas."
"Forget it, all right?" said Harry.
Ron speared a roast potato on the end of his fork, glaring at it. Then he said, "I hate being poor."
Harry and Hermione looked at each other. Neither of them really knew what to say.
"It's rubbish," said Ron, still glaring down at his potato. "I don't blame Fred and George for trying to make some extra money. Wish I could. Wish I had a niffler."
"Well, we know what to get you next Christmas," said Hermione brightly. When this failed to cheer him up, she continued, "At least you're not being called horrible things in newspapers like Harry and Luna are. Ugh! That woman, I swear... attacking a 13 year old and a 14 year old in the papers like that for ratings, she is just absolutely disgusting!"
Harry didn't see much of his girlfriend for the next week. They had both started getting letters from readers, letters that – after the first few – Luna started just chucking in the fire. Harry soon followed suit; they ranged from condescending to downright offensive, and all they really accomplished was to stoke the fire of Luna's hatred of Skeeter. But unlike some people, the angrier Luna got, the quieter and more intense she got, and on several occasions she'd terrified several first and second year students by smiling at them. Even Gloria steered clear of her while she was in this mood, spending more time with Harry, helping him in the kitchens to get more food to send to Sirius up in the mountains.
The one time he did see Luna, and was able to walk beside her to talk – Ron and Hermione with him as well – she could talk of nothing but Skeeter.
"I've already talked to Professor Moody, and she wasn't using an invisibility cloak to spy on us at the Yule Ball, or he'd have seen her with that eye of his. I want to know how she's listening in on private discussions!"
"Me too," Hermione said. "Did you hear that she did a piece in Witch Weekly about how Victor Krum and I are dating? She overheard him asking me to his place over the summer."
"He WHAT?" Ron nearly shouted.
"He asked me to his place during the Second Task, after we got out of the water, but I couldn't answer him then because I was too busy making sure you were okay, Harry."
"Really?" Harry asked. "How come we're just hearing of this now? When did she write that article?"
"Oh, it's been a few days now. It's pretty tame by Rita's standards, which is why I haven't mentioned it before. But that's three private conversations she's overheard that we know of – you and Luna, Victor and I, and Hagrid with Madame Maxime. Who knows how many others she's overheard that she hasn't found a use for yet?"
"Hermione, is there any point in telling you to drop this?" said Ron.
"No!" said Hermione stubbornly. "I want to know how she heard me talking to Viktor! And how she found out about Hagrid's mum! And then whatever it was you and Luna were talking about, Harry!"
"Maybe she had you bugged," said Harry.
"Bugged?" said Ron blankly. "What … put fleas on her or something?"
Harry started explaining about hidden microphones and recording equipment. Ron was fascinated, but Hermione interrupted them.
"Aren't you two ever going to read Hogwarts, A History?"
"What's the point?" said Ron. "You know it by heart, we can just ask you."
"All those substitutes for magic Muggles use — electricity, computers, and radar, and all those things — they all go haywire around Hogwarts, there's too much magic in the air. No, Rita's using magic to eavesdrop, she must be. … If I could just find out what it is … ooh, if it's illegal, I'll have her …"
"Haven't we got enough to worry about?" Ron asked her. "Do we have to start a vendetta against Rita Skeeter as well?"
"I'm not asking you to help!" Hermione snapped. "I'll do it with Luna! Come on, Luna."
The two girls marched back up the marble staircase without a backward glance. Harry was quite sure they were going to the library. Despite the seriousness of the moment, he couldn't help snickering at Hermione's odd choice of words.
"What's the betting they come back with a box of 'I Hate Rita Skeeter' badges?" said Ron.
They did not come back with badges, however. Harry almost wished they would, so he could spend time with Luna again, irascible as she was. He was spending time with Gloria now and then, of course, but that was limited because she had to study for her exams. Being a TriWizard champion, he didn't have any of course, but he didn't know what the third task would be, and who knew how much he would need to train for that?
When Easter came along, there was a letter from Percy included, which read:
As I am constantly telling the Daily Prophet, Mr. Crouch is taking a well-deserved break. He is sending in regular owls with instructions. No, I haven't actually seen him, but I think I can be trusted to know my own superior's handwriting. I have quite enough to do at the moment without trying to quash these ridiculous rumors. Please don't bother me again unless it's something important. Happy Easter.
Harry had all but resigned himself to a lonely end of the year when something interesting happened. He was on his way back to the Common Room one weekend afternoon when Luna appeared out of the shadows, said tersely to him, "Come, Harry, there's something I need you for," and dragged him away.
She let go of him long enough to open the Room of Requirement and drag him into it, slamming the door shut behind them.
"Oh Harry," she said, looking at him like he was a piece of raw meat. "This Skeeter business has me so riled up I didn't notice until this morning that I was hornier than a crumple-horned snorcack. But pleasuring myself in bed this morning just made the fire burn hotter, so I need to blow off some steam with you, if that's okay."
Harry grinned. "Gods yes, Luna, I've been rubbing one out twice a day for the past couple weeks just to keep from jumping all over you."
"Well good. I was afraid you wouldn't be interested. This means... okay, question for you. I have a de-aging potion here with me, already to the right dosage, would you be willing to take it?"
He blinked at her, bemused. "You want me to take it?"
"Yes. You know we're the same, but I like little boys as well as little girls. Be glad I haven't found a temporary sex-change potion to add to it. Will you do it? If not, I suppose I can do it instead. But, well..."
"Anything for you, Luna. And it's only fair we take turns."
"Oh really? Thank you!"
He took the small bottle from her and looked at it. "How young will this make me?"
"It will make you 7 years old again."
"Okay. I don't know how well you'll like what you see, though; I was terribly skinny as a kid."
"You're terribly skinny now," she pointed out.
"Point."
Shrugging, the uncorked the bottle and drank it all in one gulp. Then, with a small pop, he shot down more than a foot, his clothes became baggy, and he could barely keep his glasses on.
"Here, let me help you with the glasses," she said, using her wand to shrink them enough to fit his face.
"We'll just have to remember to take them off before undoing the potion, so they don't break."
He took his baggy clothes off, feeling a bit uncomfortably reminded of his actual childhood, and stood there nude, his underwear having been slightly too big for him too. Luna took this time to look at him properly, a lascivious expression on her face as she did.
"Hmm... not my usual type, a bit too skinny, but given that it's you, Harry, I very much feel a stirring in my lady parts."
He shivered at the chill in the room, and as he did, the fires in the grates and torches flared up, and the room became comfortably warm.
"Glad to hear I'm adequate."
"Oh, little boy," she said, pressing him against her body, "you're more than adequate. Now help me get my clothes off, before I have to give you a detention."
Harry grinned, ready to go, but paused. She was role-playing a teacher, so he would have to play the role of the student.
Looking at her with wide-eyed innocence and feigned confusion, he said, "Pardon, Ms. Lovegood? W-what do you want me to do?"
"Well now, young man, it's hardly fair of me to be clothed when you are nude. Help me out of my clothing, please?"
"Well, okay then," he said, and bent over to grab the bottom of her robes to pull them off. The only help she offered was to squat once enough of her legs were exposed, then lift her arms. With his decreased height, it was a challenge getting her robes off her.
That achieved at last, he folded them up and put them on one end of a table, then folded his own clothes and put them on the other end with his wand. Luna put her wand on her robes, standing there in bra, panties, socks, and shoes. He went back and untied her shoes, taking first them then her socks off for her. Then he reached behind her and unclasped her bra, freeing her breasts.
True to his role, his eyes went wider. "Pretty boobies," he said. "Can I touch them, Ms. Lovegood?"
"Well yes, this is a sex-ed class, Mr. Potter," Luna said, grinning, "so your lesson in female anatomy starts with touching my boobies. Though their proper name is 'breasts.'"
"'Breasts,'" he said, pretending the word was new to him, and put his hands tentatively on them.
"Good, good. Now massage them, please."
A good student, Harry did as instructed, and she closed her eyes with a contented sound. As he massaged her breasts, including the nipples, she sat down on the bed and then lay down on it, Harry having to straddle her to continue massaging her.
She wriggled around under his touch, moaning and restless, her legs squeezing together with passion. Her eyes opened again, taking in his appearance on top of her, and her closed legs spasmed at the sight.
"Oooh, teacher has an adorable little student atop her," she cooed. "With an adorable little cock. Mr. Potter, please turn around so you can continue to massage my breasts while I suck on your adorable cock."
"Yes, Ms. Lovegood ma'am," he said obediently and got into position, his cock dangling over her mouth.
"You'll have to get it a little closer, young man."
"Yes ma'am."
He spread his legs a little, and felt a wet warmth swallow his cock. He had a hard time concentrating on massaging her as he felt her tongue go to work on his member, which was getting harder all the time. Especially when he felt her hands massage his arse and pull him closer to her.
Concentrating on his task, he bent forward and began sucking her nipples to distract her in turn, which had mixed results, as she slowed down momentarily but then got even more passionate in her suckling. His penis being so much smaller now, and her tongue feeling so much larger as a result, made the sensation almost too much for him. He felt his balls tighten and blew a small load into her mouth, which she eagerly swallowed, then kept on sucking him off.
Having some relief, he was able to concentrate on sucking her nipples for a while. But then he felt a chill wetness on his anus as she lubed up his backdoor and slipped a finger inside before he could react. It startled him, but felt amazing, so he didn't protest it, even when she put it in past the second knuckle. Harry's face was slightly red and warm from the pressure in his asshole, but he still didn't protest, because it still felt awesome.
When Luna put a second finger inside him, he had to stop, as a shudder of ecstasy went through him. His cock slipped out of her mouth, and she gently sucked on his little balls instead for a while, thrusting her two fingers in and out of his ass repeatedly. This time when he came, his cum went squirting onto Luna's clavicle.
They took a couple minutes to clean up at that point before continuing, and when they got back to business again, Luna teased his cock with one hand and some lube the Room had provided.
"Such a good little boy you are, Mr. Potter. Full marks! Now let's work on some extra credit, shall we? I see your little cock is nice and hard again," she said, laying down again and opening her legs a little. "Now put it inside my vagina. Put your little cock into my pussy please."
"Yes indeed ma'am!" he said enthusiastically, straddling her crotch with some difficulty.
It was very difficult because he was so much smaller than her. He ended up giving up on straddling her, and lay atop her instead, getting his cock into her pussy with her help. He thrust it back and forth as well as he could, but his position didn't let it move very much. But it seemed to be sufficient, because she was thoroughly enjoying it.
After a few minutes, she grabbed her wand from nearby and used it to float him up a wee bit, then to give him more thrusting power with a spell he didn't know. Another flick of her wand, and his steady climbing towards orgasm took on a different feel. It took him a few minutes to realize what she'd done, but finally he figured out that she'd somehow made it so he wouldn't be able to orgasm, just keep building towards it with frustration. He found he enjoyed it, though, so he didn't protest.
For several minutes more he just kept building without release, until he was literally crying with frustrated tears. He could hear that she, too, was building to climax. And just as he was about to beg her to let him have release, she waved her wand again and they both came at the same time, Harry squirting a bigger load into her pussy than he'd thought possible with this younger body.
After that, they were both exhausted for a time, and just lay there cuddling. Harry guessed by her behavior that she was still horny, and would want more, but for now they just cuddled.
The next day, Harry had a hard time concentrating on his studies, because last night Luna had said she'd want some more loving within a few days, and he was excited about that. He was so lost in daydreams about it that he didn't hear Professor McGonagall the first time she tried to get his attention.
"POTTER!" she shouted, finally startling him out of his reverie.
"Wha- yes, Professor?"
She glowered at him. "Now that you're done woolgathering, Mr. Potter, I said Mr. Bagman wants you and the other champions to go down to the Quidditch field tonight at nine o'clock, so he can tell you all about the Third Task."
"Oh, okay Professor. Thank you."
"You're welcome, Potter. And five points from Griffindor for daydreaming in class."
He didn't protest that, since he deserved it. Instead he just got his books and things together, since it was the end of the class, and left.
When he got down there later that night, he and Cedric were aghast to see that the Quidditch pitch had loads of bushes growing in it. This was explained soon enough, as Bagman explained that the last Task of the tournament was to get through a maze full of traps, creatures, and so on. Which gave Harry some relief, as that sounded simple enough and not too dangerous. Also, he had a month to practice.
As they left to go back to their respective habitats, Viktor Krum pulled Harry aside and asked him if they could talk somewhere private. Agreeing, they went over near the Forbidden Forest.
"I vant to know if there is anything going on between Herm-oh-ninny and Ron Veasley."
"I don't think so. I think Ron fancies her, but he doesn't seem to be aware of his own feelings. I don't know about Hermione, though. As far as I know, she's into you and you alone."
"Vell alright. Thank you, Harry. I feel-"
But something moved behind Krum in the trees, and Harry, who had some experience of the sort of thing that lurked in the forest, instinctively grabbed Krum's arm and pulled him around.
"Vot is it?"
Harry shook his head, staring at the place where he'd seen movement. He slipped his hand inside his robes, reaching for his wand.
Suddenly a man staggered out from behind a tall oak. For a moment, Harry didn't recognize him … then he realized it was Mr. Crouch. The man looked disheveled, like he'd been wandering through the wilderness for weeks on end, and was behaving very peculiarly, conversing with thin air. But then he would switch to sounding like he was sane and just desperate, pleading for Dumbledore, saying he'd made a mistake, something about his son. Harry wondered what to do. He didn't want to leave Crouch and Viktor alone by the Forbidden Forest, especially with mysterious things afoot. But he had no way to get a message to anyone, and he didn't want to stun Mr. Crouch in case it hurt or killed him or completely unhinged him in this state.
"Do you know any way of getting a message from here to Dumbledore?" Harry asked Krum.
Viktor shrugged. "No, I do not. Sorry."
"That's okay. Hmm... I wonder if they'd see wand sparks from here?"
"We could try."
Harry nodded, and they both put their wands in the air, casting red sparks. Then they waited, with no idea if this was going to work or not. But then, something hit Harry from behind, and he passed out.
Harry awoke later, still on the grass, to see Dumbledore leaning over him.
"Harry my boy," the headmaster said quietly, "I saw wand sparks from my window and came to investigate at once. By the time I got here, you and Mr. Krum were out cold. Stunning spell, by the looks of it."
"Where's Mr. Crouch?"
"Mister Crouch? You mean Bartemius Crouch? Nobody has seen him for days, Harry."
"Yeah, because he came out of the Forbidden Forest while Krum and I were talking about Hermione and Ron. He looked like he'd been wandering the wilderness for days, if not weeks, and was crazy, talking to air, but he sometimes sounded sane and desperate, kept asking for you, and saying he'd made a terrible mistake. He mentioned Voldemort, and his son. Then I got attacked from behind. Don't know who, though; didn't hear a voice, and I was looking right at Krum, so it wasn't him."
Dumbledore nodded, then woke up Krum. Karkaroff and Hagrid appeared shortly after. Once Krum told his side of things, Karkaroff began having a fit about his champion being attacked.
"Igor," Dumbledore said soothingly, "need I remind you, young Mr. Potter was attacked as well. Neither boy appears to know who their attacker was."
"Bagman! It had to be Bagman!" Karkaroff said. "He keeps hanging around with goblins, keeping questionable company for who knows what reasons-"
"Enough, Igor, I will not abide such bigotry. Ah, Alastor, there you are."
Moody nodded at Dumbledore. "Came as soon as I could, Dumbledore. I was patrolling, and saw the sparks when you did, of course, but this damned leg of mine slowed me down."
"Well my good man, maybe you should look into getting a replacement from a Muggle hospital, I hear they have excellent prosthetics nowadays."
"Maybe, maybe. Anyway, Dumbledore, I heard everything you lot were talking about just now, so I'll hurry up and go looking for Crouch, who knows how far a crazy like that can get, whether under their own power or not."
Moody had said all that while still moving toward the Forbidden Forest, not slowing down a bit. Before long, he disappeared into the woods.
"Hagrid, please take Harry back up to the school."
"Right away, sir."
"Harry, before you go, I want to tell you that anything you might want to do, any owls you might want to send off, can wait until morning, alright?"
"Er, yeah. Okay. Yes, Professor."
"Good. Hagrid, you may take him now."
"Come along, 'arry," Hagrid said.
When they were a bit farther away, Hagrid – without stopping – rounded on Harry and demanded, "What were yeh doin talkin with Krum outside a the Forbidden Forest fer, Harry? And at night, no less. Yeh were even attacked!"
"Yeah, well, sorry about that. But Krum just wanted to know what was up with Hermione and Ron."
"I'll be havin a word with her, too, mind. Can't trust these bloody foreigners."
"You and Maxime were getting on well enough before the dance."
"Don't talk about 'er!" He shouted, then started off on a rant about how she was just using him to get information on the tournament. Harry didn't agree, but said nothing. Hagrid's bad mood made him glad when he got dropped off at Griffindor Tower.