Chapter 27: Veritaserum
Peri fell flat onto Cedric's body, she had released Harry's hand in the fall. she heard the cheers and the applause as they landed when suddenly the audience grow into gasps and questions of confusion. Her head was swimming so badly. The world beneath her was swaying like the ship that brought her to England. She clutched Cedric's shirt, glancing up at him.
"We brought you home," she told him. "I'm sorry you had to go like this, but you are home safe now."
Footsteps approached them, then she was rolled over. She peered up at the faces above her, she saw her mom, Richard, and Snape, "Peri! Peri!" Cassie said kneeling at her side. Cassie cupped her daughter's face. "Are you alright? What happened?"
Peri started crying, she leaned into Cassie who held her daughter close as if she were a toddler still and just had an accident.
"It is alright, darling. Mummy is right here."
Peri pulled back looking at her parents, "He's back….He's back…" she gasped through tears. "Voldemort is back…"
She watched the color leave her mother's face, and Richard clutched her, "Cassie…"
"No…no…"
"What's going on? What's happened?" Fudge appeared beside them, "My God — Diggory! Dumbledore… Banks — he's dead!"
The words repeated in Peri's mind as she turned from Cassie to look at Snape' who was on the ground as well kneeling next to her. Their dark eyes met each other, they were silent as others around them began to shout that Cedric was dead.
"Dad…" she said in a croaked voice.
"You need to let him go," Snape told her in a soft, comforting voice. Her hand was still gripping Cedric's. Snape placed a hand on hers and slowly attempted to withdraw her hand, but she refused to move it.
"Peri, you can't help him now. Let him go."
"He wanted us to bring him back," she cried.
Snape wiped a tear away, "Of course, Peri…and you did, but let him go."
He pulled her up into a standing position, "They need to go to the hospital wing!" Fudge spoke loudly. "They're ill, he's injured. Dumbledore. Banks. Diggory's parents, they're here in the stands…"
"I'll take them," Snape offered.
"No, she is our child. We will take her," Cassie said standing up and pulling Peri towards her and Richard.
Snape eyed Cassie coldly, "I am her father, too, Cassie. Or did you forget that?"
"No, I did not forget. But…"
Fudge stepped in, "No. I need both Banks here, I need Dumbledore here…Dumbledore, Amos Diggory's running…he's coming over…Don't you think you should tell him before he sees —?"
Richard looked at Amos heading their way, "Let me. I have children myself, it might be easier coming from someone who has children and who nearly lost one of his own."
Fudge nodded. Richard kissed Peri's head and then went to speak to Amos before he saw Cedric.
Peri heard girls' screaming, she was able to pick out Hallie's scream and spotted her clutching onto Fred. The scene flickered before her eyes.
Cassie and Snape were fighting in low whispers to not cause a bigger scene than what was already occurring.
"Peri, come…" Fudge said to her.
Through teary eyes, she approached him, "Sir?"
"Take yourself and Potter to the hospital wing."
"But we were told to stay."
Harry gripped onto her, she held him up.
"He needs to lie down and you need a rest. Go now."
She looked at Harry, who appeared to be in a deeper daze than herself.
"Yes, sir."
"Oh…take Eva Beauxman with you. Her grandfather would kill us all I am sure of it if he knew she was witnessing this on her first outing. Professor Moody will escort the three of you"
Peri nodded and waddled over to Eva with Harry and Mad-Eye, "Fudge, wants you to come with us."
Eva looked at her, she looked in a state of panic, "What happened? Cedric is dead? How?"
"You will learn soon enough, but come with us."
She nodded and together they waddled out of the Quidditch field with the background noise of gasps, screams, and shouting as they wandered their way out. They crossed the lawn and went past the lake, and the Durmstrang ship. The air was silent as the three walked together.
"Peri? Harry? What happened?" Mad-Eye asked them as they reached a set of stone steps.
Clunk. Clunk. Clunk went Mad-Eye's foot as they climbed the steps.
"Cup was a Portkey," Harry answered as they crossed the entrance hall.
"Took us to a graveyard…and Voldemort was there…" Peri added.
Clunk. Clunk. Clunk up the marble stairs.
"The Dark Lord was there? What happened then?"
"Killed Cedric," Peri sniffed attempting to not cry again.
"And then?" asked Mad-Eye
Clunk. Clunk. Clunk. Along the corridor…
"Made a potion…got his body back," said Harry leaning more into Peri.
"The Dark Lord got his body back? He's returned?"
"And the Death Eaters came…and then the three of us dueled…" Harry continued.
Mad-Eye's magical eye fixated on them, "The two of you dueled with the Dark Lord?"
"We got away…our wands…did something funny…I saw my mum and dad…they came out of his wand…" said Harry.
Peri nodded, agreeing with him. "I saw Ann and Patrick…they came out of the wand as well."
"In here, you three…in here. Peri, sit Harry down here…Eva, take a seat here." Mad-Eye offered Peri a wooden chair for Harry but offered Eva a plush, comfy chair. Eva took a seat, sitting properly like an aristocratic lady. "Everything will be all right now…" he unlocked a cabinet, before magically giving them each a cup. "Drink it…you will all feel better…come on, now, Peri and Harry, I need to know exactly what happened…"
Mad-Eye helped tip the stuff down Harry's throat then Peri's, he left Eva alone but her drink appeared to be different from theirs. Hers appeared to be actual tea, unlike their own. Harry and Peri each coughed, and the liquid burned her throat. It tasted peppery. Peri looked at Harry, "Are you alright, Harry?"
"I'm fine…" he looked to be seeing more clearly now. Mad-Eye had his eyes fixed unblinkingly on each of their faces.
"Voldemort's back? You're sure he's back? How did he do it?"
They exchanged looks before Harry started, "He took stuff from his father's grave, and from Wormtail and Karkaroff's nephew, and me."
"What did the Dark Lord take from you?"
"Blood," Harry raised his arm. His sleeve was ripped Wormtail's dagger had torn it.
Mad-Eye let out his breath in a long, low hiss.
"And the Death Eaters? They returned?"
Peri nodded, "Yes…loads of them…including my grandfather and…Draco's father."
"How did he treat them?" Mad-Eye asked quietly. "Did he forgive them?"
Suddenly Harry gasped, "There's a Death Eater at Hogwarts! There's a Death Eater here — they put our names in the Goblet of Fire, they made sure we got through to the end and worked together to earn the other's trust —"
Harry attempted to get up, grasping Peri's hand but he was pushed back into his chair by Mad-Eye.
"I know who the Death Eater is," he informed them quietly.
"Is it my mother?" Peri asked in a panic.
Mad-Eye shook his head, "No, she was never loyal to the Dark Lord, unlike her father."
"Karkaroff?" asked Harry wildly as Peri released a sigh of relief. "Where is he? Have you got him? Is he locked up?"
"Karkaroff?" Moody spoke with an odd laugh. "Karkaroff fled tonight when he felt the Dark Mark burn upon his arm. He sent his nephew in his place. He betrayed too many faithful supporters of the Dark to wish to meet them but was more than willing to sacrifice his nephew. Although, I believe his nephew was found months before Karkaroff sent him because the boy has never set foot on English soil until the marks started to burn slightly. But Karkaroff won't get far, the Dark Lord has ways of tracking his enemies."
Mad-Eye's magical eye flashed toward Peri, "You created yourself an enemy, Peri, by refusing to join."
"Karkaroff's gone? He ran away? But then — who put our names in the goblet?" Harry asked.
"No," said Mad-Eye slowly. "No, he didn't. It was I who did that."
"What?" Peri was in disbelief. "You are friends with my parents, you betrayed them!"
"No, you didn't. You didn't do that…you can't have done…" Harry said.
"I assure you both I did," Mad-Eye informed them, and his magical eye swung around and fixed upon the door. He was making sure there was no one outside it. At the same time, Mad-Eye withdrew his wand and pointed it toward them.
"He forgave them, then? The Death Eaters who went free? The ones who escaped Azkaban?"
"What?" they said together.
"What is happening?" Eva squeaked rising from her chair.
"Sit down, Eva," Mad-Eye commanded in a softer voice towards her.
Her eyes flickered up toward Peri, "Eva, sit down."
She returned to her seat with her teacup rattling as she sat down.
Peri watched the wand that was pointing at her, hoping that her parents would come running through that door. Any of them.
"I asked you," Mad-Eye said quietly, "whether he forgave the scum who never even went to look for him. Those treacherous cowards who wouldn't even brave Azkaban for him. The faithless, worthless bits of filth who were brave enough to cavort in masks at the Quidditch World Cup, but fled at the sight of the Dark Mark when I fired it into the sky."
"You fired… What are you talking about?" Harry started.
"I told you, Harry…I told you. If there's one thing I hate more than any other, it's a Death Eater who walked free. They turned their backs on my master when he needed them most. I expected him to punish them. I expected him to torture them. Tell me he hurt them…" Mad-Eye's face was lit with an insane smile. "Tell me he told them I, I alone remained faithful…prepared to risk everything to deliver to him the two things he wanted above all…the two of you…despite his pathetic unfaithful Death Eaters who caused me to lose my child by betraying my name. Having my child raised by a blood traitor…by the person who sentenced me to Azkaban, I was unable to protect my child. Now I can. My child is free of him."
"You didn't…it — it can't be you…" Harry shook his head.
Peri looked briefly at Eva putting the pieces together. Barty Crouch Jr. lost Eva because he was sentenced to Azkaban. Eva's mother lost her life and Eva was sent to live with her grandparents, whose beliefs were against the Dark Lord's. Barty Crouch Sr. was now dead which meant Eva was free of his control. Free to return to her father if he was free.
"Who put your names in the Goblet of Fire, under the name of a different school? I did. Peri was easy as she had previously attended Ilvermorny for four years. Who frightened off every person I thought might try to hurt either of you or prevent either of you from winning the tournament? I did. Who calmed Cassie when she feared her eldest daughter might die in the tournament? I did. I suggested Peri team up with Harry to ensure both of your safety. Who nudged Hagrid into showing Harry the dragons? I did. Who nudged Holly to provide Peri with information on dragons? I did. Who provided Hallie with the material to prevent Peri from being burned? I did. Who helped Harry see the only way he could beat the dragon? I did."
Mad-Eye's magical eye had now left the door. It fixed itself upon them. His lopsided mouth leered more widely than ever.
"It hasn't been easy, guiding you through these tasks without arousing suspicion. I have had to use every ounce of cunning I possess so that my hand would not be detectable in your success. Dumbledore and the Banks would have been very suspicious if you had managed everything too easily. As long as you both got into that maze, preferably with a decent head start — then, I knew I would have a chance of getting rid of the other champions and leaving you both in the clear. But I also had to contend with your stupidity. The second task… was when I was afraid we would fail. Peri was too obsessed with her boy toy."
Peri scoffed, "Boy toy? George? He is not my toy."
"I was keeping watch on both of you. I knew neither of you had worked out the egg's clue, so I had to give you another hint."
"You didn't. I learned from Harry…"
"And I learned from Cedric," Harry said hoarsely, "Cedric gave me the clue…"
"And we are a team…we help each other…"
"Who told Cedric to open it underwater? I did. I trusted he would pass the information to either one of you and the other would pass it on to the next." Decent people are easy to manipulate. I could have easily used your stupid sister, Peri, but she would have taken forever to tell you. Holly is far too clever and would sense something from a mile away. She would be an excellent Auror, not that we need any more of those. She was already suspicious when I asked her to give you the book on dragons. All those hours you spent in the library, Potter. You never realized the book you needed was there inside your dormitory all along. I planted it there early on, I gave it to the Longbottom boy, don't you remember? It would have told you all you needed to know about gillyweed. I expected you to ask everyone, including Peri. Holly knew this entire time, her brain remembers everything but she has been ignoring you this entire year because you are dating her crush she did not truly help. Once Peri learned about the gillyweed it would be easy for her to gain access to it with her father having the key but of course, she was not on speaking terms with him at that point setting her up to simply steal it for the both of you."
Mad-Eye's wand was still pointed directly at them. Peri noticed over his shoulder that foggy shapes were moving in the Foe-Glass on the wall.
"You were both in the lake so long, that I thought you both had drowned. Your mother was in a state, King. But your stepfather calmed her, and luckily Dumbledore took both of your idiocy for nobility and marked each of you high for it. I was able to breathe again. As was your mother, which was probably a good thing because of her condition."
"Her condition? What is wrong with my mom?"
"That is something she can tell you herself. You both had an easier time of it than you should have tonight in the maze, of course. Not because you worked together, but that helped. I was patrolling around it, able to see through the outer hedges, able to curse many obstacles out of your way. I stunned Fleur Delacour as she passed. I put the Imperius Curse on Krum so that he would finish Diggory and leave your path to the Cup clear."
They stared at May-Eye.
The figures in the Foe-Glass were becoming distinct and sharp. She could see the outlines of five people over Mad-Eye's shoulder moving closer and closer. But Mad-Eye had yet to notice them. His magical eye was settled on Harry.
"The Dark Lord didn't manage to kill you, Potter, and he so wanted to," whispered Mad-Eye. "Imagine how he will reward me when he finds I have done it for him. I gave you to him — the thing he needed above all to regenerate — and then I killed you for him. Imagine how he will reward me for imprisoning the girl he wants for the greater good…"
The greater good.
Peri went wide-eyed as the door was barred, Peri knew not to tempt any wandless magic and her actual wand was out of reach, as was Harry's. Eva was too timid to try and fight.
"The Dark Lord and I," said Mad-Eye, he appeared completely insane now as he towered over them. "Have so much in common. Both of us, for instance, had very disappointing fathers…very disappointing indeed. I nearly lost my chance to prove to my child how I could be the father she truly needs and make her proud. Both, the Dark Lord and I, have suffered the indignity, of being named after those fathers. I had a daughter, named after one of my closest friends another loyal Death Eater. He is dead himself for being loyal to the Dark Lord. Both, the Dark Lord and I, had the pleasure…the very great pleasure… of killing our fathers to ensure the continued rise of the Dark Order!"
"You're mad!" Peri and Harry shouted.
"Mad, am I?" Mad-Eye's voice began to rise uncontrollably. "We'll see! We'll see who's mad, now that the Dark Lord has returned, with me at his side! He is back, Harry Potter and Peri King! You did not conquer him — and now — I conquer you!"
Mad-Eye raised his wand, he opened his mouth; Harry's hand plunged into his robes.
"Stupefy!" There was a blinding flash of red light, and with a great splintering and crashing, the door of Mad-Eye's office was blasted apart.
Mad-Eye was thrown backward onto the office floor. Peri stared at the place where Mad-Eye's body had been, she quickly pulled Eva toward them with her arms wrapped around her she looked to see her parents — all three of them —, Dumbledore and McGonagall. They stood in the doorway with Richard and Dumbledore's wands outstretched.
This was the moment when Peri knew Richard was a father to her and would do anything to ensure her safety. He had a look of fury as he stared down at the unconscious form of Mad-Eye Moody. He wasn't smiling or in any of his normal pleasant expressions, but looked like a father ready to protect his child.
Dumbledore stepped into the office, placed a foot beneath Mad-Eye's unconscious body, and kicked him over onto his back so that his face was visible. Snape followed him, looking into the Foe-Glass with Richard beside him, the two were glaring into the room as their faces were still visible within the glass. McGonagall and Cassie went straight to them.
Peri released Eva and went to her mom, "Mama," Cassie hugged her close.
"Come, Potter. King, Beausman. Come along…hospital wing…" McGonagall whispered to them.
"No," Dumbledore answered sharply.
"Dumbledore, they ought to — to look at Potter especially. They have been through enough tonight."
"They will stay, Minerva, because they need to understand," Dumbledore said curtly. "Understanding is the first step to acceptance, and only with acceptance can there be recovery. They need to know who has put them through the ordeal they have suffered tonight."
"Peri is having therapy following this," Richard said.
"I don't need therapy."
"Not a discussion," Cassie and Richard told her.
"This is not Alastor Moody. You have never known Alastor Moody. The real Moody would not have removed you, Harry, from my sight. The real Moody would not have removed you, Peri, from your parents. The real Moody would have known how serious it would have been to remove Eva from the Ministry's watch. The moment I realized the three of you were gone, I knew and followed."
Dumbledore bent down over Mad-Eye's limp form and put a hand inside his robes. He pulled out Mad-Eye's hip flask and a set of keys on a ring. Then turned to the other adults in the room.
"Severus, please fetch me the strongest Truth Potion you possess. Richard, please go fetch Hallie's house-elf Winky. Minerva, kindly go down to the Quidditch field and you will find Lady Emilie with Lady Cressida and Lord Remulus with a large black dog with them. Take the dog up to my office, tell him I will be with him shortly, then come back here."
If anyone found these instructions peculiar, they hid their confusion. They left the office. Dumbledore walked over to the trunk with seven locks, fitting the first key in the lock, and opened it. It contained a mass of spellbooks. Dumbledore closed the trunk, placed a second key in the lock, and opened it again. The spellbooks had vanished; this time the trunk contained an assortment of broken sneakoscopes, some parchment and quills, and a silvery cloak. Dumbledore continued to try the keys in their respective locks, reopening each trunk and each time revealing different contents within. The seventh and final key, the lid flew open, and Harry let out a cry of amazement.
Peering down into a kind of pit for an underground room, and lying on the floor some ten feet below, apparently fast asleep, thin and starved in appearance, was the real Mad-Eye Moody. His wooden leg was gone, the socket that held his magical eye looked empty beneath its lid, and chunks of his grizzled hair were missing.
Dumbledore climbed into the trunk, lowering himself, and fell lightly onto the floor beside the sleeping Mad-Eye. He bent over him.
"Stunned — controlled by the Imperius Curse — very weak," he said. "Of course, they would have needed to keep him alive. Harry, throw down the imposter's cloak — he's freezing. Madam Pomfrey will need to see him, but he seems in no immediate danger."
Harry tossed down the cloak, and Dumbledore covered Mad-Eye with it. Then clambered out of the trunk again and picked up the hip flask that stood upon the desk, he unscrewed it and turned it over. A thick glutinous liquid splattered onto the office floor.
"Polyjuice potion."
"We should have known," Cassie said with a slight shake of her head still holding Peri close to her.
"It is alright, Cassie. I never noticed myself. See you three, the simplicity of it and the brilliance. For Moody never drinks except from his hip flask, he's well known for it. The imposter needed, of course, to keep the real Moody close by, so that he could continue making the potion. You see his hair…" Dumbledore looked down at the Mad-Eye within the trunk. "The imposter had been cutting it off all year, see where it is uneven? But I think in the excitement of tonight, our fake Moody might have forgotten to take it as frequently as he should have done…on the hour…every hour…we shall see."
Dumbledore took a seat and offered the ladies' seats, Eva and Cassie both accepted the chairs. Peri chose to remain standing with Harry. Minutes passed with all eyes fixated on the imposter.
Then before their eyes, the face of the imposter began to change. Peri's suspicions would soon be confirmed or denied. The scars were disappearing, the skin was becoming smooth; the mangled nose became whole and started to shrink. The long mane of grizzled gray hair was withdrawing into the scalp and turning the color of straw. Suddenly, with a loud clank, the wooden leg fell away as the normal leg regrew in its place; the next moment, the magical eye had popped out of the man's face and was replaced with a real eye; the fake eye rolled away across the floor and continued to swivel in every direction.
Peri recognized the man lying before her on the ground and her suspicion was confirmed. It was Barty Crouch Jr.
Hurried footsteps sounded from outside in the corridor as Richard returned with Winky at his heels, Snape with the potion, and McGonagall right behind them.
"Crouch!" Snape said, stopping dead in the doorway. "Barty Crouch!"
"Good heavens," McGonagall, stopped dead in her tracks as the group stared down at the man before them.
Wink peered from around Richard's legs. Her mouth opened wide, she released a panicked shriek.
"Master Barty, Master Barty, what is you doing here?"
She flung herself forward.
"You is killed him! You is killed him! You is killed Master's son!"
Peri spoke up, "Winky, no one killed him. Come here," she kneeled down and the little elf ran over to her.
"Ms. Peri! What is wrong with Master Barty?"
"No, you are free and help care for Hallie."
Winky looked down at her light green dress, "Ms. Hallie, had Winky wear green for Ms. Peri. Did Ms. Peri win?"
Peri put a hand up to stop that conversation from progressing, "We won't discuss that now."
Snape handed Dumbledore a small bottle of clear liquid. Peri recognized this as Vertiaserum. Dumbledore got up, bent over the man on the floor, and pulled him into a sitting position against the wall beneath the Foe-Glass. Despite Peri's efforts to calm Winky, the little elf continued to tremble and cover her face. Dumbledore forced the man's mouth open and poured three drops inside it. Then he removed his wand, pointing it at the man's chest, "Rennervate."
Barty's eyes flew open, Eva rose from her chair and leaned forward. No one made any attempt to stop her. Barty's eyes focused on her and he quickly leaned forward, she attempted to withdraw from his grasp but she was too slow he grabbed her arm.
"Eva. My Eva."
She trembled, "No…you're in Azkaban…"
"Release her," Dumbledore commanded. Barty's eyes shifted towards him and slowly released his grip on his daughter. She fell backward on the ground causing her hat to fall from her head, she shuffled to pick it up and put it back on.
"How did you come to be here? How did you escape Azkaban?"
Barty took a deep, shuddering breath, then began to speak in a flat, expressionless voice unlike he had spoken with Eva briefly.
"My mother saved me. She knew she was dying. She persuaded my father to rescue me as a last favor to her. He only ever loved three people: my mother, Eva, and Lydia. He never loved me. But he loved my mother, he agreed to release me for her dying wish. They came to visit me. They gave me a draught of Polyjuice Potion containing one of my mother's hairs. She took a draught of Polyjuice Potion containing one of my hairs. We took on each other's appearance."
"Did you kill my mother?" Eva asked.
Barty looked at his daughter, "No. I cared for your mother, I was disappointed in her loyalty to me but I never wanted you to end up in the care of my father. But you did, he still refused to let me see you. Locked away in that house, banished from knowing anything outside the fences of the house."
"What did your father do with you, when he had got you home?" Dumbledore asked quietly.
"Staged my mother's death. A quiet, private funeral. That grave is empty. The house elf nursed me back to health. Then I had to be concealed from everything and everyone, including my own flesh and blood of a child. Who at the time was barely able to walk. I was controlled by my father, he used a number of spells to subdue me. When I regained my strength, I thought only of finding my master…of returning to his service and rescuing my daughter from the controls of my father."
"How did your father subdue you?"
"The Imperius Curse. I was under my father's control. I was forced to wear an Invisibility Cloak day and night. I was always with the house elf. She was my keeper and caretaker. She pitied me. She persuaded my father to give me occasional treats. Rewards for my good behavior, if I was really good I was able to visit Eva in her tower at night. When she was small I could come read to her, but as she grew my visits started to scare her. She had a fear of monsters, so I watched from afar."
"Tell us about the Quidditch World Cup."
"Winky talked my father into it," Barty spoke in his monotonous voice. "She spent months persuading him. I had not left the house for years. I loved Quidditch and knew Eva should see a piece of her mother. He was going to take Eva apparently, and this would be my chance to watch her more closely from under the cloak. He agreed in the end. It was carefully planned. My father led us to the Top Box, very early in the day. Eva remained at my father's side the entire day. A shadow to him…they dressed the same. Whatever he wore, she wore the match in a dress and some sort of hat or bow. I stole a wand from a boy we met in the stands. When we returned back to the tent. I was watching Eva read a book by the fire when we heard the Death Eaters. The ones who had never suffered in Azkaban. Who never suffered for my master. They turned their backs on him. They were not enslaved, as I was. They were free to seek him, but they did not. They were merely making sport of Muggles. Their voices cleared my mind. I was angry. I had a wand. I wanted to attack them for their disloyalty to my master. My father was gone from the tent when the attacks began an Auror who was assigned to Eva's safety rushed in and apparated away with her. Winky was dismissed by my father when he learned I had acquired a wand."
"Winky serves a new family now," Peri spoke up stepping forward.
Barty's eyes fell on Peri, "A fourteen-year-old girl obsessed with pink and glitter."
"She will be fifteen in six days."
Barty gave a light chuckle, "Like it makes a difference."
"What did Lord Voldemort ask you to do?" Dumbledore asked.
"He asked me whether I was ready to risk everything for him. I was ready. It was my dream, my greatest ambition, to serve him, to prove myself to him. He told me he needed to place a faithful servant at Hogwarts. A servant who would guide Harry Potter through the Triwizard Tournament without appearing to do so. Then Peri King, a girl of almost royal blood."
"We are not royal. It is a made-up title the papers give us."
Barty ignored her, "With the arrival of the American Prince and his English wife and their children. It set a different plan in motion. Align Peri and Harry together and have them support each other. My Master wanted Peri for a different task, to create more loyal supporters around the world which he would achieve by having Peri have his heirs."
Cassie gasped, "Never!"
Barty ignored her and continued his story, "I waited for my father to return to Hogwarts using Potter's map of Hogwarts."
Cassie looked at Harry, "Wait…the Maurder's Map?"
Harry shrugged.
"That thing is still around?" She seemed impressed but nodded for Barty to continue.
"For a week I waited for my father's return. At last, one evening, the map showed my father entering the grounds. I pulled on the cloak and went down to meet him. He was walking around the edge of the forest. Then Potter came, and Kurm. I waited. I could not hurt Potter; my master needed him. Potter ran to get Dumbledore. I stunned Krum. I killed my father…"
Eva gasped, "You didn't…I have no home now…"
Barty continued,"... just as the eldest Banks child approached the scene. I disappeared into the forest with the body when she approached, couldn't kill her too."
Cassie gasped this time and Richard appeared furious.
"Don't worry mum and dad, she was not a threat and it would raise too many alarms to kill a diplomat's daughter. I had the map with me. I watched Potter run into the castle. He met with King and then Snape. Dumbledore joined them. I watched Potter bring them out. I walked back out of the forest, doubled behind them, and went to meet them. I told Dumbledore Snape had told me where to come. Dumbledore told me to go back to my father's body. I did and watched the map. When everyone was gone, I transfigured my father's body. He became a bone. I buried it on the grounds."
The room was silent except for Eva's sobs.
"I offered to carry the Triwizard Cup into the maze before dinner," whispered Barty. "Turned it into a Portkey. My master's plan worked. He is returned to power and I will be honored by him beyond the dreams of wizards."
The insane smile lit up his features and his head dropped onto his shoulder.