No Harry in this chapter, sorry! But I hope you'll enjoy it anyway ;)
-x-x-x-
Barty awoke from a deep sleep.
No, not a sleep. He blinked the last of the haziness away. At first he thought he was fighting off his father's Imperius Curse again, but then he realized the spell had been lifted.
He took in his surroundings. His father was there, standing like he's lost all interest in life. And there was a man he knew.
"Wormtail?" he said incredulously, tearing the Invisibility Cloak off of himself and casting it away.
Wormtail flinched at his sudden appearance. Then Barty saw what he held in his arms and he instantly understood everything.
"Master…" his eyes welled up, and he fell to his knees. "Master… you came for me…"
"Ah, Barty," Voldemort said in a high-pitched voice, very different from what the Death Eater remembered. "My faithful servant. I heard how you and the Lestranges were caught and sent to Azkaban while searching for me after my downfall. You alone remained loyal to me, unlike the others who chose rather to deny me."
"Yes, Master," his voice wavered with emotion. "I'm so glad Wormtail found you, My Lord. I wish I could have done it myself earlier. There was nothing else I would think about whenever I regained my consciousness from under my father's Imperius Curse…"
"I know, Barty. I've heard all about it." Voldemort flicked his wand at Crouch and he went to light the fire. "Put me over there, in the armchair, Wormtail."
The servant obeyed with relief written on his face. Barty got to his feet to walk to the armchair and kneeled before his master again.
"My Lord… If I may ask, how did you hear?"
"Bertha Jorkins," he explained. "It was actually Wormtail, who found her. And we had a little fun with her, didn't we, Wormtail?" he said, amused. "She told me quite a great deal about what was going on in Hogwarts this year. After some more torture, I broke through your father's Memory Charm and she told me all about you, Barty." Voldemort looked at him fondly. Barty was trembling with excitement. "Thanks to her information, I was able to form a plan. A plan I would like you to be a part of." Barty's eyes widened and he held his breath. "Your task will not be easy," Voldemort said very seriously. "Are you ready to risk everything for me?"
"My Lord…" Barty could barely control himself. "Master… of course I am ready! I wish for nothing more than to serve you! It is my dream, my greatest ambition to prove myself to you!" he exclaimed passionately.
"Then you shall have a chance to do that," Voldemort said darkly. "I need to place a faithful servant at Hogwarts. A servant who will guide and watch over Harry Potter for me…"
"Watch over Harry Potter, My Lord?" Barty frowned. "I thought you wanted him dead."
"I did," Voldemort admitted. " But there has been a development on the matter. The boy has joined my cause."
Barty goggled at his master. This was an even greater surprise than the Dark Lord suddenly appearing on his father's doorstep. When the initial shock passed, he remembered himself and quickly lowered his eyes.
"May I ask how that happened, My Lord?" He said cautiously, and as respectfully as he could.
Voldemort chuckled.
"The boy and I share a special connection," his lips curved in a smug smile. Barty looked at him with mild confusion written on his face, but he patiently waited for Voldemort to explain more. He shifted in the armchair and spoke slowly, "You, as well as the rest of my Death Eaters, know what lengths I went to on the path to immortality. On the night of my downfall, I was going to take yet another step in that direction. Unfortunately, because of the Mudblood's sacrifice for her son, my curse rebounded and hit me instead. It should have killed me, but my experiments have worked. I was barely alive, but still, not dead. It was only thanks to my dear Nagini and Wormtail's help, that I've been able to regain some sort of strength. When it comes to the boy however, the curse may not have killed him, but it changed him too. Because of my preparations beforehand, when the curse hit me, a part of my power was transferred to him. That's why he is so much like me. But it's more than that. He is bound to me by an unbreakable bond. It was only a matter of time before he came to me."
Barty listened in silence, with a glint of adoration in his eyes.
"What about Dumbledore?" he asked after a while of contemplation. "Isn't Potter known for his loyalty to the old man?"
Voldemort grunted.
"His loyalty stemmed from him not knowing the facts… and the lies Dumbledore fed him. Which we can actually use to our advantage. As long as Harry doesn't give away his secrets, Dumbledore will want to keep him close. He will never expect his precious boy who lived to turn on him when the time comes." Voldemort stared into the fire with a satisfied smirk. "But I am getting ahead of myself. I need the boy for performing a ritual to regain my body and full power. And that will be your task. To get him to me and back to Hogwarts before Dumbledore notices."
Barty was staring at his master with a crazed expression and tears in his eyes now.
"My Lord… thank you for entrusting me with such a crucial task…"
"I'm not just entrusting you with the task of providing what's needed for the ritual, Barty," he said in a warning tone. "Harry Potter is very important to me. I want him protected above all else."
"Yes, My Lord," he breathed out fanatically. "I will not disappoint you, Master!"
-x-x-x-
It was a dark, starless night. Thick clouds hung low in the sky, blocking any moonlight from seeping through. Barty and Wormtail Apparated on the lane leading to the old Auror's house and looked around. There was no one to be seen, but they kept their Death Eater masks on nonetheless. It wouldn't do well to be accidentally spotted and recognized, if things went astray, especially since Barty was supposed to be in Azkaban, and Wormtail was supposed to be dead.
With his wand in his hand and a fellow Death Eater by his side, off in the service of the Dark Lord, Barty hasn't felt so alive in years.
"There's the house," Wormtail whispered in a much steadier tone, than he's heard him present over the last weeks.
Barty knew their master didn't think much of Wormtail – perhaps that's why the small man was always so nervous and stuttering in their Lord's presence – but he also knew he wasn't as useless, as many believed him to be. He might be a coward, but he was a skilled duelist, capable of quite a display of dark magic when he put his mind to it. Ironically, it was his cowardice that often motivated him to do the most impressive things; what he pulled off to fake his own death being case in point.
They stopped at the gate to Moody's yard, wands at the ready. The paranoid, old bastard probably had several security alarms, which would go off the moment they stepped on his property.
Barty glanced at his companion with anticipation. When Wormtail gave him a nod, he opened the gate with a quiet Alohomora, and they crossed the yard hurriedly. They managed to take a few steps before the lights in the house went on. A moment later they could see the Auror's silhouette rushing past the windows.
The door took several spells to get through and as soon as they opened it, a flash of red light hurled right by Barty's head, missing his ear by a hair's breadth.
"Stupefy!" the Death Eaters shouted at the same time.
Alastor Moody, in his striped pajamas, rebounded both the spells, but it gave them the time to get inside and kick the door shut.
A vicious battle began. The bloody Auror was in good form, constantly vigilant, even in the dead of night. A series of flashes lit the hall. Moody shot his spells so quickly, that the two of them were barely fast enough for him.
Barty realized their advantage wasn't going to work unless they attacked him from opposite sides. He began to move to the right, deflecting Moody's hexes. Wormtail quickly caught on and stepped left. Slowly, shielding himself from both sides and casting hexes proved to be too much and Mad-Eye started retreating into the living room.
"Bombarda!" Wormtail yelled, as the Auror tried to take cover in the room.
The door flew out of its hinges and they barged in, each to the opposite side of the room. Barty dodged another red jet of light, which burned a hole in the wall behind him, and sent one at the Auror, who rebounded it sideways, smashing a bookstand. But Moody couldn't keep up now, fighting on two fronts, and eventually Wormtail's spell knocked his wand out of his hand.
"Imperio!" Barty shouted immediately.
Moody's eyes became hazy, but not as much as they should have. Barty could feel the Auror fighting the curse with practiced strength, and he knew he couldn't keep him under it for long.
In that moment, they heard a strange siren sound, distant, but getting louder by the second. Barty looked around the house, searching for an instrument, which could be the source of it.
"What the hell is that?" he asked, confused.
Wormtail went to the window with a stern expression on his face.
"The Muggle law enforcement," he said, glancing behind the curtain. "The neighbors must have heard the noise."
Barty cursed under his breath.
"We need to hide him," Wormtail said, walking around the room. He opened and closed various cabinets, trying to find something big enough to contain the Auror.
A magical trunk in the corner of the room caught Barty's eye.
"What about that?" he nodded at the wooden chest.
Wormtail waved his wand and the chest opened, revealing a large compartment.
"This will do," he said.
Get in the trunk, Barty ordered.
No, Moody's voice snarled in his head.
Barty glared at him, enraged. He's never encountered anyone so resistant to the Imperius Curse before.
Get in the trunk! He repeated, clenching his teeth.
Bite me, you Death Eater scum!
Barty growled with fury.
GET IN THE TRUNK! He put more force to the curse than ever.
Moody stumbled a few steps towards the trunk, but it was as if his legs were at odds with each other, and he ended up falling on the floor.
"We don't have time for this!" Wormtail shot a Stunner at Moody, knocking him unconscious.
As he levitated him into the chest compartment, Barty went to the window. They should make it look like Moody thought there was an intruder in the yard. He waved his wand at the dustbins and they exploded with a metallic bang, firing rubbish everywhere and bouncing up and down as if they were made of rubber.
A blinking, blue light flooded the dark lane, as two cars arrived. Barty quickly hid behind the curtain, watching the Muggles get out of the vehicles. One of the dustbins was still rocketing around and they were approaching it fearfully with their metal weapons in their hands.
Suddenly there was a tap on the window and a screech. He turned to see a small, brown owl on the window sill. Wormtail leapt over there and untied an envelope from the owl's leg. He scanned the letter.
"It's from the Improper Use of Magic Department," he said.
"Write them back," Barty instructed. "Say Moody heard an intruder creeping toward the house and that he set off the dustbins."
Wormtail quickly scribbled a reply, while Barty went to take some of Moody's hair. He took a flask out of his pocket and added the final ingredient to the Polyjuice Potion. He allowed himself a moment to twist his face in disgust at the thought that he was about to take on the appearance of the hateful Auror, before he drank the potion in two large gulps. A moment later, he began to change. When the transformation was complete, he took Moody's leg and eye.
"Arthur Weasley is here," Wormtail's voice squeaked in warning.
They rushed to sort out the mess they've made in the fight. They repaired the broken furniture, made the knocked over objects fly back to their place, and made sure the magical trunk with the real Moody was shut.
With a last glance around the place, he turned to Wormtail, but he just caught a glimpse of him before he turned into his rat form. He waited until he crawled into the shadow of the furniture, and opened the door.
The yard was flooded with rubbish. The dustbins were no longer bouncing around, just rolled over back and forth on the ground. Four Muggles in blue uniforms were standing near them, currently being obliviated by Arthur Weasley. He glanced at Barty.
"Be with you in a moment, Alastor," he nodded to him in between the Memory Charms.
When he was done, the Muggles got in their cars with rather bored faces, and drove away. Arthur walked to the door through the labirynth of rubbish and shook Barty's hand.
"Alright there, Alastor?"
"Fine, fine," he growled with Moody's voice. "Sorry to cause the Ministry trouble. Did the Muggles see the intruder?"
"No, they didn't," Weasley scratched his chin with a look in his eyes, which suggested he didn't believe there was any intruder in the first place, but that didn't worry Barty. Everyone knew Moody was a bit nuts these days, seeing enemies everywhere.
"Probably ran off, scared by my dustbins," Barty put on a proud expression.
"Yeah, about that…" Weasley said slowly. Then he sighed. "Alastor, I'm gonna have to issue a caution for those explosive dustbins. You know this stuff isn't allowed in a Muggle neighborhood…" he took out a file of papers from his briefcase and began to fill out some forms.
Barty rolled his eyes theatrically.
"It seems nothing is allowed anymore!" he snarled. "How do you catch the bad guys these days, ask them nicely to come over for a trial?"
"Well…" Weasley smiled faintly over the forms, "wouldn't that save us all a lot of time? Listen, Alastor, you have to tone it down a little. Four memory modifications in one night… The Improper Use of Magic lot don't take these things lightly. We were lucky to get to this case before they did. Sign here," he passed him the form and the pen. "So, you're all set for your new job tomorrow?"
"Yeah. Let's see if there are any bright youngsters I can persuade to pursue the career of an Auror, eh? How about your sons?" he winked.
"Ha! If you can persuade my twins to start taking school seriously, that will be a really good start," he laughed. "Alright, I think that's it," he put the documents in the briefcase. "Good luck with the job and give my best to Albus."
They shook hands.
"Thank you Arthur. And ah… thanks for keeping me out of trouble with the Ministry."
"No problem," he smiled pleasantly. "Have a good night."
Barty watched as Arthur walked down the lane and Disapparated. He closed the door.
"He's gone," he announced.
He turned around to see Wormtail transforming back.
"Alright," he said with a satisfied smirk. "I think we're done here."
Barty walked toward him, clinking with the wooden leg against the floor.
"Well then, Wormatail," he extended his hand and his fellow Death Eater shook it. "Next time we see each other, our Lord will have risen back to power." Barty's eyes flashed with excitement at the thought. "Take care of our master."
Wormtail nodded.
"Good luck at Hogwarts."
Barty watched through the wall with Moody's magical eye as Wormtail left. That eye was going to be really useful. He packed up Moody's clothes and Dark detectors, put them in the trunk with the still unconscious Auror, and set off for Hogwarts.
-x-x-x-
So how did you like a chapter with Barty for a change? I have to say I had fun writing it. =D