I do not own Harry Potter.
KyriakosX: Thank you very much for your comment! You're right, Lily and James probably do know Karkaroff going to Snape has something to do with the death eaters; however, since in the book, Sirius doesn't know about Voldemort marking his followers with the dark mark, I'm assuming that neither do James and Lily. Frankly, it doesn't make much sense to me that the Order/Ministry wouldn't know about it after the first war and capturing all those death eaters, but it also doesn't make sense Sirius wouldn't know and the rest of the Order would, so... I don't know. That was my thought process anyway.
Thankfully, the families of the champions were invited to watch the third task. If they hadn't, James may well have come any way, and Lily was sure, she would have been right behind him. The first two tasks may have wreaked havoc on her nerves, but, as Sirius was constantly pointing out, this task was the last chance for someone to try to murder her son. She and James had left early, so they could stop by the caves near Hogsmeade to pick up Sirius before they were to meet Harry. He would watch the task with them as Padfoot.
Lily was pulled from her thoughts by the door opening and the champions entering. Harry smiled as he came over to them. "Surprise," she said, grinning. She knew the champions had not been informed before today that their families were coming. Before anything else could be said, Sirius leapt forward with a bark and put his front legs on Harry's shoulders. Harry laughed and rubbed the dog's ears.
"Alright, Snuffles, let the rest of us greet him," James said, chuckling. Sirius gave James a distinctly undoglike look but did back away. Apparently, Sirius hadn't realized that the name would have gotten back to James or that he would be teased so mercilessly for it. Nevertheless, they couldn't have used Padfoot in case people (like the teachers or the Weasleys) recognized it.
"How're you doing, son?" James asked, hugging him.
"Fine," said Harry, "Better now that you're here," he added as Lily embraced him too.
"It is good to be back at Hogwarts," James said, his old smirk pulling at his lips. Sirius barked as if in agreement. Lily smiled, agreeing as well. They had, of course, been to the castle more than once since their school days, but always on a specific errand. Now they had the whole day to wander the hallowed halls and sprawling grounds.
As they made their way out of the room, they passed Amos Diggory, who said, "There you are, are you? Bet you're not feeling so full of yourself now Cedric's caught you up on points, are you?"
"What?" Harry asked. Lily felt a stab of irritation, and James frowned. Before they could say anything, however, Cedric spoke in a low voice to Harry, frowning at his father.
"Ignore him. He's been angry ever since Rita Skeeter's article about the Triwizard Tournament – you know, the one when she made you out to be the only Hogwarts champion."
"Didn't bother to correct her though, did he?" Amos said, loudly. "Still, you'll show him, Ced. Beaten him once before, haven't you?"
Really, enough was enough. That he was taking the Skeeter woman seriously, especially after that horrible article she published that morning! "Rita Skeeter…"
"Goes out of her way to cause trouble," James cut in, smoothly, preventing her from saying something far less polite. "Considering that you work at the ministry, you should know that."
The rest of the day was far more enjoyable. The Potters and Sirius wandered the castle grounds with James and Lily telling stories of their school days. At lunch, they were joined by Hermione and the Weasleys, and the group laughed and talked, while occasionally dropping food down to Sirius under the table. Afterwards, they took a long walk around the castle. It seemed all too soon that it was time for the feast.
Harry didn't eat much. Normally, Lily would have tried to get him to eat more, except neither she nor James had much of an appetite either. This was it. Someone was definitely trying to kill her son, and this was their last chance. Lily couldn't help the distinct sensation that something was going to go horribly wrong. When Dumbledore stood and asked the champions to please follow Ludo Bagman down to the quidditch pitch, she felt some relief that the suspense was almost over, but more a sickening sensation of dread.
As she, James, and Sirius followed Hermione and the Weasleys down to the pitch, Lily whispered, "I can't help but feel that something terrible is going to happen."
"You're just worried," James muttered back. "But this is the last task. After tonight, we won't have to worry anymore; the danger will have passed. And you know he's as prepared as he can be."
"I know." Lily could not argue with this logic, although she knew that he was more worried than he was willing to show. Nevertheless, he clearly did not have the sense of foreboding she did. "I've just got a bad feeling."
James took her hand. "It will be alright, Lily."
The family members were granted seats of honor, but the Potter's chose to sit with the Weasleys and Hermione. Due to the height of the stands, the spectators were able to see down into the maze. It was not a good view; the most people could do was follow the champions and realize when they were facing something, but there was no way to know what the something was. Also, once the champions got a certain distance near the center of the maze, the view was magically obscured, so the audience could not see who was winning. No one would know until someone touched the cup, which was a portkey that would take them back to the beginning of the maze.
Bagman explained the task to the crowd, and then Cedric and Harry entered the maze at the whistle and the third task began.
The champions had been in the maze nearly two hours, and James' nerves were nearing full-fledged panic. At first, it had been interesting to watch them traverse the maze. Fleur Delacour was the only champion to be out of the running before entering the area that the audience couldn't see, but Victor Krum sent up red sparks not long afterwards. People were expecting victory to come not long after that. But time stretched on. Of course, the middle of maze was sure to have more dangerous and difficult obstacles, but still, surely it was taking too long.
Lily was very pale beside him, twisting her hair around her fingers and biting her lower lip. Beside her, Hermione was so tense she looked like she was about to fly apart. Ron was jumpy, starting and looking deep into the maze at the slightest sign of movement, and the rest of the Weasley's look worried as well. James looked to Dumbledore for reassurance but was disappointed; the headmaster looked extremely grave, even though the rest of the audience and judges did not seem to think there was anything to worry about.
Then, without any warning, two figures appeared in front of the maze. The crowd cheered (it was, after all, a Hogwarts victory) but James knew immediately something was wrong, for neither boy was standing up or making any move to do so.
"Come on," Lily gasped, as she and her husband leapt to their feet and started shoving their way through the crowd, Sirius barking at their heels. Dumbledore, the other judges (although James could not see Karkaroff, now that he thought about it) and whatever of the crowd that was near the bottom of the stands had left their seats and were crowding around the champions.
The Potters had barely moved three feet when they heard a scream down below. Then a voice shouted something that made James stop where he was, and Lily clutch his arm with a small cry. "He's dead!" "He's dead!" Horror filled James. No… it couldn't be… "Cedric Diggory! Dead!" Immediately, he felt ashamed of the relief that had swept through him at those words. He shouldn't feel relief at anyone's death, even if it meant that his son had survived.
Lily had already started moving again, Sirius at her heels. James hurried after them. The crowd pushed so closely around them that it was difficult to move anywhere, and there was so much noise, they could no longer distinguish words. Still, the parents got through the crowd much faster than should have been possible.
"Where is he?" Lily asked, as they reached the area before the maze. James scanned the crowd. He saw the cup and Cedric's body, but no Harry.
"Come on," he said, grasping Lily's hand and dragging her after him. Dumbledore was talking to the Diggory's, but James couldn't bring himself to care. He had to know; surely Dumbledore would know. "Professor! Dumbledore!" He called, "Professor, where's Harry?!"
Dumbledore whipped around, his eyes urgently searched the crowd, then hardened as he reached a conclusion that escaped James completely. He turned to speak to someone, but James was distracted as Lily cried out, "Severus!" There he was, very pale, his eyes glittering with a wariness that could have been called fear if it had appeared in anyone except Severus Snape. "What's happened?" She continued, "Please, what do you know?"
"The dark lord has returned," Snape said with characteristic bluntness. "It appears that your son has something to do with it, but I can't imagine how." He did not look at them as he said this; he too was scanning the crowd.
Lily gasped, and James felt a sick swoop of dread and fear. But there was no time to think it over at all because Dumbledore strode past them with McGonagall in tow. "Come, quickly," he said, "no time to explain." The Potters, Sirius, and Snape hurried after them.
James had no idea where Dumbledore was taking them, but he never would have guessed it would be the defense against the dark arts office. Without hesitating, Dumbledore whipped out his wand, cried "Stupefy!", and blasted the door to pieces at the same time stunning Alastor Moody. James didn't care, though, because there, at last, was his son.
He and Lily hurried into the room; Lily threw her arms around Harry, and James hovered around the chair, scanning him for injuries. Both his leg and his arm were bleeding but otherwise he looked physically unharmed, although that didn't mean much. If he really had been around for Voldemort's return… James shuddered. Sirius pressed himself against Harry's uninjured leg, growling low in his throat.
McGonagall joined them. "Come along, Potter," she whispered, "Come along… hospital wing."
"No," said Dumbledore, sharply.
"Dumbledore, he ought to… look at him… he's been through enough tonight."
Lily, who had sat back on her heels still holding Harry's hand, glanced around at James who stood just behind her, his hand on Harry's shoulder. He could see his own uncertainty in her eyes; he had no idea which of his old professors to agree with. He did not feel up to making decisions at the moment.
"He will stay, Minerva, because he needs to understand. Understanding is the first step to acceptance, and only with acceptance can there be recovery. He needs to understand who has put him through the ordeal he suffered tonight and why."
"Moody," said Harry, speaking for the first time. "How could it have been Moody?"
"This is not Alastor Moody," said Dumbledore, "you have never known Alastor Moody. The real Moody would not have removed you from my sight after what happened tonight. The moment he took you, I knew, and I followed." Then he turned to the Professors. "Severus, please fetch me the strongest truth potion you possess. Minerva, go down to the kitchens and bring up the house-elf called Winky."
The professors exited the room. Dumbledore used the keys he had taken from the imposter and unlocked each of the many compartments of Moody's trunk. Inside the last one was Alastor Moody himself; the imposter was Barty Crouch Jr. who transformed back into himself as the Polyjuice potion wore off. Snape and McGonagall returned, the veritaserum administered, and Crouch revived. The whole story was then told, at least as much as he knew. Crouch told how his parents had helped him escape from Azkaban, how he was imprisoned in his own home, how Bertha Jorkins had discovered him, how he had stolen Harry's wand and cast the dark mark, how Voldemort had learned about the Triwizard Tournament, Moody's teaching role, and Crouch's existence from Bertha Jorkins and had come and released him and sent him to Hogwarts as Moody. He explained that he had made sure Harry won the tournament, that he had killed his father when Mr. Crouch had escaped and made his way to Hogwarts, and how he had bewitched the cup to take Harry to Voldemort. Then he passed out.