Chapter 21: Who Is Junior?
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Sirius came over to Millie's flat the next morning. Harry and Millie were sitting down for breakfast and Sirius had a serious look on his face.
"I have some interesting news," he said, going up to the counter, and pouring himself a cup of coffee. He sat at the table with them but did not partake in breakfast yet because he was not invited. He may not have been taught complete manners by his mother, but he was taught enough to know not to just serve himself up food when not asked.
It was pancakes with blueberries and whipped cream. There was also some bacon and sausage.
"Oh," said Millie, waving at him to continue. She was hoping that he would go ahead and serve himself up some breakfast. That he felt at home enough to do so. It was a tedious process getting him to feel that way. But she was working on it.
"I was talking to Winky last night and according to her, Crouch Jr. is still alive," he said, giving a huge yawn because he had been up all night last night talking to the elf and getting Crouch's secrets.
That man did have quite a few secrets too. When he got around to either blackmailing him or telling on him, Crouch was either going to jail or Sirius was going to be a very rich man. Not that he wasn't already a rich man, but he was going to be far richer. Crouch was nothing to sneeze at, and he would milk him for everything he had too. That elf was a wealth of information.
"That is interesting news," the younger woman said, taking a bite of her blueberry pancakes. She waved her fork at Sirius offering to let him have some, but he still steadfastly ignored her. "What are we going to do about it?" she inquired, sighing a small sigh.
"Who's Crouch Jr.?" asked Harry, ignoring the semi-polite byplay going on by the adults. He didn't understand why Sirius didn't just chow down on the food. It was delightful food.
"A man who's supposed to be dead," said Sirius, taking a sip of his delicious coffee. He didn't know what Millie did to her coffee, but it tasted much better than his did. "I know he's supposed to be dead because he died in prison. And I was there." He remembered that day well because Junior had gotten visitors a few days before from his mum and dad.
"Oh," was all Harry said.
"Well, what are we going to do about this?" wondered Millie. She had no idea what to do with this information. Did she go to Madam Bones? Would the woman even believe her? She was just some little muggleborn who owned a shop in Hogsmeade. How would she even come about this information? She could say that the house elf told her. But who believed house elves?
"I don't know," said Sirius, getting up to top off his coffee. "This is the type of information we can't really sit on, but we can't really tell anybody either. Nobody would believe us." He sat back down at the table again and looked longingly at the pancakes in the middle.
"We just have to keep our eyes out," said Millie. And then, finally giving up on being semi-polite said to Sirius, "Why don't you join us for breakfast, Sirius?" She waved her wand at the pile of pancakes in the middle and reheated them, making the smell permeate the air.
"I guess you're right, about Junior," said Sirius, happily digging into the pile of blueberry pancakes and sausages. "I'm not sure what's going to go on. But he was the Death Eater, so we're just going to have to keep our eyes out. You're right. This might have something to do with Harry's dream. Harry, do you remember much about it?" He turned to his godson and looked at him inquiringly.
He didn't want to be right, but with Voldemort, there was always a chance that trouble was brewing.
"All I know is there was two men and a child," Harry said, dropping his fork on his plate, not wanting to eat any more now that he was going to have to talk about that nightmare. He was almost done anyway, but the food had lost its taste.
"Tell me about the two men." Sirius had no such qualms. He was digging into the food with gusto. And he was enjoying every bite of it.
"Well, one of them was kind of short and looked like a rat, and the other one was kind of tall and kind of nondescript, though he kept doing this weird thing with his tongue. And the child wasn't really a child, it was an adult in a child's body." Harry described the three beings as best as he could. He didn't really see much about them. He heard them more than saw them. He was with the man most of the time, the man that had gotten killed.
"Wormtail," said Sirius, thinking of the rat-like man. Now that made him lose his appetite. He threw his fork down and pushed his plate away. It was a good thing he had eaten before he came. Still, he missed the thought of those blueberry pancakes. They were very good.
"Who's Wormtail?" asked Millie. She was lamenting over the fact that her meal was going half eaten. She was going to have to put the rest of the pancakes into the chill box for another day.
"I hadn't heard of any escape from Azkaban, but it sounds like Peter Pettigrew might have escaped," Sirius said, and he didn't sound too happy about it. Then again, Azkaban was supposed to be inescapable. But if he escaped, then obviously Wormtail could. Why didn't they put him in inhibiting cuffs? They knew he was an animagus. Perhaps inside help, and that was why the hush-up?
"Don't you think we would have heard about that, yeah?" she asked, reaching over, and patting his arm, hoping to keep him calm. She knew how emotional he got when things were attached to his past. And Peter Pettigrew was definitely part of his past that he did not like.
"Not if the Ministry is keeping it under wraps. They would do something like that after what happened with me," the dogman said. He took a deep breath and tried to keep his anger under control. He hated to think that they would keep that from him. But then again, he knew people like Fudge would do something like that just to keep the public in compliance.
"Yes, that does sound like something they would do. I think you should check with Madam Bones. Just in case," the young lady suggested, getting up and starting to take the plates into the drain board. Harry put the rest of the food into the chill box to be prepared for another day. They had no problem eating leftovers for dinners on days nobody wanted to cook. Breakfast for dinner: a novel concept.
"Oh, you bet your sweet arse, I will," Sirius said, going directly to the floo. He came back ten minutes later stomping mad. "Yes, Peter Pettigrew has escaped from Azkaban," he said, popping down into his chair and grabbing his coffee, which was the only thing left on the table. He took a large drink of the coffee and then zapped his wand at it to heat it up. "I also told her I wanted to talk to her about what I learned from Winky. She said, she didn't have time until after the kids went to Hogwarts," he grumbled.
"That is disconcerting," Millie said, joining him at the table with her own cup of coffee.
"So, we think that two dead men and a not-kid, who we are pretty sure is Voldemort, are plotting to kill me?" Harry asked, retaking his own seat after putting all the food away. He had a glass of pumpkin juice. It wasn't a question he wanted to ask, but it was a question that needed to be put out there.
"Not necessarily kill you, but they're plotting something," Sirius said, rubbing his forehead. He was trying to figure out what the heck was going on and why these people were after his godson. Well, he knew why Voldemort was after him, but why was everybody else after him? Actually, scratch that, he did not know why Voldemort was after his godson. All he knew was that he tried to kill him as a baby and now was after him again.
"What should I do?" said Harry, there was a tremble in his voice. He really didn't know what he should be doing right now. Should he be training? Should he be working harder? Should he be… What should he be doing?
"Just keep your eyes out and watch out for any plots. We'll keep up with your self-defense classes, yeah. Make sure you can get away if you have to, yeah," Millie said, going over to him and hugging him as hard as she could. She was feeling very bad for him right now because he must be feeling so scared. He was no way prepared to take on a dark Lord and there was no time to prepare a fourteen-year-old boy to take on a seventy-year-old man. Somebody with over fifty years of experience.
Sirius and Millie shared a look over Harry's head. They had no idea how they were going to handle this situation, but they were going to do it together. And they were going to make sure Harry made it through whatever was to come. They were going to get together with all the other adults that had seen Harry through so far, and they were going to do their best.
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The rest of the summer went by with nothing else happening. The two adults plotted, and Harry just went on being a teenager. And soon enough, it was time to get on the Hogwarts Express and go back to Hogwarts. Harry and his friends discussed what was going on and decided to leave it up to the adults. The only mentor they had at Hogwarts anymore was Amy. But they've decided that they were now old enough that they could handle things themselves. They did all miss Phil, though.
It wasn't until the Welcoming Feast that Dumbledore introduced the Triwizard Tournament that Harry realized that perhaps he wasn't old enough to handle it himself. When he got to his room that night, he whipped out his mirror and called Millie. Sirius had made sure that he had the mirror for communication. And he wanted to make sure that she knew about it right away.
"Millie," he called into the mirror. He tried to sound calm. He didn't want to be in a panic when he called her. He just wanted to make sure she knew what was going on.
"What's up, Harry? You just got there, yeah?" she asked, she too trying to sound as calm as she could be. But he was calling her immediately after he got there so that couldn't be good news.
"Dumbledore has introduced the Triwizard Tournament," the teenage boy said after taking a deep, calming breath. He wanted to get it all out in one go. He looked her dead in the eyes when he said it, knowing that this is going to be the plot that tried to kill him.
"Oh, that man," she said, anger palatable on her voice. "Wait until I get my hands on him. I just know somehow; you're going to get roped into this." Sparks were literally flying from her eyes.
"I'm not going anywhere near this," he protested, holding up his hands in a 'I'm not doing this' manner. "I'm gonna stay as far away from it as possible." If he had his way, he would stay out of Hogwarts the entire time, whatever they used to pick the contestants was in the castle.
"I know you're not, sweetie. But somehow or another, you're gonna wind up in the middle of it. I just know it, yeah," she said, giving him a look of remorse. She just knew that because of the dream he had this summer and the way it played out in the World Cup, that he was going to be drawn as a participant in the Triwizard Tournament. And she just knew she was going to need to have a lawyer ready and she was going to have to talk to Sirius cause he was going to be the one to afford it. She was going to call him as soon as she knew Harry was done talking to him.
"Well, what do I do? What do I do if that happens?" Harry asked, beginning to panic. The last thing he wanted was to be caught in this tournament. This is for adults, and he was only fourteen years old.
"You call me right away. I don't care if you're in the middle of the Great Hall. You take out that mirror and you call me, yeah. And then you call Sirius, and you don't budge from where you are," his older sister figure told him in a firm voice. If she spoke any firmer, she would be demanding it of him, but she was trying to remain calm.
"What if they tell me to go somewhere?" Harry said, taking comfort in her tone.
"You don't. You stay right where you are, until I or Sirius gets there, yeah. Do you hear me?" She said, wishing she were there so she could take him in her arms and give him comfort.
"I won't. I'll stay right where I'm at. Oh, or I'll run from the Great Hall or wherever I'm at," the dark-haired boy said with determination. He loved Millie and would do anything she said, within reason. She had not steered him wrong yet anyway.
"That's a better idea. Run out of the castle. Heck, run all the way to my house, yeah," she said with a small laugh, trying to add some humor into the situation. She was hoping by making him laugh a little bit, it would ease some of the tension she could see in his shoulders. She felt really bad for him right now, he was just a young boy.
"I'd rather not have to do that. It's probably going to be cold out, but I will run to my dorm room or into an alcove or something and wait for you," he said, chuckling a little bit at her little joke. He knew she was only trying to help, and he appreciated the effort.
"That's probably a better solution anyway. I want to be able to get into Dumbledore's face if I have to. But call both of us, me and Sirius both. I want us both to be there, yeah," she said, in a softer tone. Not that she didn't mean it, but she just didn't want to be angry anymore, not at him. She'd save her anger for those who deserved it.
"Alright, Millie, I will," Harry said. He really wished she were here right now so he could give her a hug. But he'd have to deal with just smiling at her. With that, he disconnected the mirror and called Sirius and told him the same thing. He told Sirius that Millie basically gave him the same instructions.
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Harry wasn't too sure about his new DADA professor. His name was Alastor 'Mad-eye' Moody. And he was crazy. He used the Unforgivables in the classes. He used them on spiders, sure, but then he tried to use them on the class. Well, the Imperius.
Harry didn't stand for it. He got up and left. He wasn't gonna let anybody use an Unforgivable on him. Hermione, Neville, Dean and Seamus left with him. The rest of the class was to unsure and stayed and let him use it on them.
Harry was called to Dumbledore's office. He called Sirius before he got there.
"I have to go and see the headmaster, can you come?" he asked the dogman. He would have asked Millie, but he knew she had classes right now and Sirius was doing nothing. At least he hoped he was doing nothing. As far as he knew, the man didn't have a job.
"Sure," his godfather said, "Wait and I'll be right there." And then he disconnected the mirror.
The dark-haired teen sat in the hallway and watched people go by, just sitting there, leaning against the wall. He had his backpack down by his feet and his foot propped against the wall. People stared at him as they went by, wondering what he was doing outside the Headmaster's Office. He just nodded his head at them as if it was something he did every day.
Harry waited for a good five minutes, and Sirius showed up.
"Well, let's get this over with," Sirius said, clapping Harry on the shoulder and giving the gargoyle a look and saying, "We have an appointment with the headmaster." That's all it took for the gargoyle to move aside.
"The two of them rode up the stairs to Dumbledore's office. They waited at the door until Dumbledore said, "Enter."
"Sirius. What are you doing here, my boy?" the old man said as he looked over his half-moon spectacles, leaning forward in his chair, a little bit in surprise. He really hadn't expected the man to show up with Harry. He expected the boy to be alone. And scared.
"You called my ward to your office," the dogman said, taking one of the chairs and directing Harry to do the same. He sat so nonchalantly as if he had not been called to the Headmaster's Office for any reason other than an idle chat.
"I was under the impression that he was Miss Foster's ward," Albus said, somewhat warily. He could deal with somebody as young as Millie Foster, but he could not deal with somebody as wily as Sirius Black.
"He's still my godson. What did you need from him?" Sirius asked. He wasn't going to let anybody walk all over Harry. If Millie couldn't be here, then he definitely was going to be.
"Harry, my boy. Why did you leave Professor Moody's class?" The headmaster asked, turning his attention towards the boy who he hoped was intimidated by his mere presence.
"He was going to cast an Unforgivable on me," Harry said, giving a casual lift of his shoulder. He thought it was obvious and he was sure the headmaster knew that.
"Now I'm sure he would not have hurt you, my boy," the old man said with a twinkle in his eye. He was the one that gave permission for Alastor to do that. He felt it would give the kids a good constitution to have at least the Imperius cast on them.
"You were going to let one of your teachers cast an Unforgivable on the students? Have you lost your bloody mind? They are called Unforgivables for a reason," Sirius said, standing and leaning over the desk, getting into the headmaster's face.
"Now, now, I'm sure Alastor knows what he's doing," Dumbledore said. Not the least bit concerned that this man was right in his face, practically spitting on his nose.
"That is not the point, Albus, my boy. They are called Unforgivables for a reason. They hurt your psyche just being used on you. Harry was well within his rights to leave the classroom and not have them use on him," Sirius said, backing up, sitting back down in his chair in a huff. He turned and looked at his godson with a proud smile.
"Nevertheless, he cited an incident, causing half the class to leave with him," The old man said, giving everybody a frown. Like an old grandfather who was disappointed in his grandson.
"Which is well within their rights too. I'll not have you dock my godson for using his Merlin given right to leave the classroom and not have an Unforgivable used on him," the irate man said, still ready to get up and pop this man right in the nose.
"Now see here, he can't just up and leave the classroom. He could have stayed in and refused," The headmaster said, starting to get irritated with Sirius undermining him. Couldn't he see that Harry needed to be humbled?
"I know Alastor 'Mad-eye' Moody, and I know he would have used the Unforgivable on my godson if he had stayed in that class. No, Harry was within his rights to leave the class. He would have had had to protect himself," Sirius said, reaching over and putting a hand on Harry's shoulder.
"Sirius, you must see reason. He cannot leave the class without a good reason," Albus tried again. He just did not understand why the other man was being so confrontational. Most people were not this emotional when it came to being negative about him.
"And I'm telling you, he had a good reason," Sirius said one more time.
"Harry, you must understand I cannot let you just up and leave the classroom like that," The headmaster said, no longer arguing with Sirius.
"I'm sorry sir, but if anybody tries to use an Unforgivable on me again, I'm going to do the same thing and you can dock as many points as you want. It's going to happen," Harry said, folding his arms defiantly. He wasn't going to let anybody use an Unforgivable on him and that was that.
"Very well. That will be 10 points from Gryffindor and detention with Professor Snape on Saturday," the headmaster decreed, as if that were something that he was going to do all along.
"No, I flat out refused to let you punish my godson for doing what he thought was right. I'll go to the board if you insist on punishing him," Sirius said flatly. "I have a lawyer, and I'm not afraid to use him," he warned, playing his trump card.
"You're within your right to do that," said Dumbledore, with the superior attitude as it was something that was not going to happen.
"Harry, come on, we're leaving."
With that, Harry and Sirius got up and left. Sirius took it to the board and won his case. In this case they understood that Harry was within his right to protect himself and not have the Unforgivable use on him. Dumbledore was chastised for letting his teacher use an illegal curse in the classroom.
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Another incident that happened leading up to the arrival of the other two schools was that Draco Malfoy got turned into a ferret. It happened between classes when Ron, Draco and Harry were in an altercation in the hallway. It also happened with Professor Moody.
Harry, Draco, and Ron were fighting again as usual. And Harry and Ron were walking away, when Malfoy pulled his wand on their back and Moody decided that was not kosher and turned Draco into a ferret. Harry wasn't sure whether that was funny or not. On the one hand, it was funny that it was Draco. On the other hand, it wasn't funny that an adult did that to a child.
McGonagall seemed to agree.
"I just don't trust that man," Harry said as he talked to Sirius that night on the Mirror.
"But he turned Malfoy into a ferret," said Sirius, still laughing at the story Harry just told him.
"Yeah, but that's the point. He turned a student into an animal. What kind of teacher does that?" said Harry. Even though he found it funny that Malfoy had been turned, he still didn't find it funny that a teacher had done it.
"You don't know Mad-eye," Sirius said, sobering up a little bit. He did know Mad-eye, and the man was a bit crazy. But he usually didn't take things out on children.
"I don't trust him," said Harry, giving his godfather the stink eye. "You told me to keep an eye out for people that I don't trust, and I don't trust him." he said, getting a bit exasperated.
"Have you looked at the map?" he asked, trying to put his godson at ease. Perhaps if he saw the man who was who he thought it was, then he would relax more.
"Now that I think about it, no, I haven't," Harry said. He had become too compliant. He should know better by now. He's the one who found Peter Pettigrew, after all.
"Why don't you look at the map and tell me what it says?" Sirius said, leaning back and taking a sip of his cocoa. Not the least bit worried, Alastor Moody had always been a very strange man. He was a paranoid old sod.
"Hold on just a second." Harry went to his trunk and got out the map. He looked at the DADA classroom and saw that there were two names there. One of them, said 'Alastor Moody' and the other said 'Bartemius Crouch'. "There are two people in the classroom," he said and then he told him the names.
"Shite."
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I'm going on vacation, so I won't be writing for a few days. Maybe, it all depends on whether my tablet takes dictation or not. So, being the nice person I am, I'm leaving you with a cliffhanger.