CHAPTER 32
Harry's Cure
When Harry woke up the next morning, he and the rest of the Swarm exchanged information. He tried but failed to forget the image of a snivelling Peter Pettigrew begging Voldemort for forgiveness. And Voldemort, being just as cold and cruel as he was seemed to enjoy watching the man squirm. He wondered when the day would come when he would be able to go to bed without practicing Occlumency and not have such visions.
The story of Blaire's and Hedwig's latest adventure did cheer him up a little.
"Give her some extra treats for me." he told them. "I'll be stuck here for a week or so. Prof told you that didn't he?"
Blaire nodded.
"He also told us that he's going to get you to learn a lot of stuff to keep you safe throughout the Tournament." Neville said.
"Yeah." Harry said. "He told me that."
"Promise us that you'll teach us whatever he teaches you." Draco said.
"Sure." Harry replied.
True to his word, Prof began the day by teaching Harry the theory, incantation and wand movements for the summoning charm. He wanted him to practice it for the rest of the day.
"The first task is on the twenty fourth of November and you will have you face a dragon." he said much to Harry's dismay.
"How will a summoning charm help?" Ethan asked curiously.
"I haven't a clear idea at the moment," Prof said, "All I want is for Harry to have as little contact with that beast as possible. And so I want to make use of a very convincing decoy. And I will need all the help I can get from the four of you... This is what we will do..."
...
As Draco, Blaire, Ethan and Neville came up for breakfast that morning, they were subjected to endless amounts of quiet stares and whispers.
"It's as though they have nothing else to do!" Neville snapped, glowering at a group of ogling first years who blushed and turned around.
"If this is our state," Draco whispered with a frown, "Imagine what it would have been for Harry had he come for breakfast this morning."
The four huffed and sat together at the Slytherin table, where they rushed through their scrambled eggs and toast and pumpkin juice so that they could run out as quickly as possible.
Draco had Herbology first thing in the morning with Blaire and as they walked to the greenhouses with the rest of their class, Blaire nudged him and brought his attention to a very dishevelled Rita Skeeter who just happened to be wandering around rubbing her head and wincing. There was blood trickling down her face and her hair was badly matted.
She approached Zabini and Nott who happened to be closest to her and wailed, "I don't know who I am! Help me!"
Draco stepped up before they could say anything and said, "Let us get you to the hospital wing, Miss. I think you maybe suffering from a bout of amnesia. It looks as though you've hit your head somewhere, real bad."
"We've found Rita Skeeter loitering on the grounds." He said in his head. "Apparently Hedwig's pecks did a number on her. She can't remember who she is and she's as docile as a lamb!... Some potion is bound to cure her and She'll most definitely revert back to her old ways. I suggest that we expose her!"
No one objected.
Together, he and Blaire they began slowly escorting the stumbling witch to the infirmary, meeting Professors McGonagall and Flitwick on the way along with another tall dark wizard who he later learnt was an auror called Kingsley Shacklebolt.
"She's Rita Skeeter." Blaire said to them in a whisper powerful to reach Draco's ears as he moved ahead with Skeeter at a snail's pace. "She's also an unregistered animagus, Professors."
"How do you know, Miss?" he heard Auror Shacklebolt ask sharply.
"My brother caught her transforming into a beetle the day before Halloween. Then we passed by the tree on whose trunk she sat and saw her. She's a waterbeetle actually. The markings on her head are quite similar to the glasses she wears."
"And why haven't you bothered to tell anyone before, Miss Potter?" he heard Flitwick ask and someone gasped. Shacklebolt, probably having realised that he was talking to one of Wizarding Britain's most famous 'Potter triplets'.
"We really didn't want to cause any trouble. But then I heard of the scandals she writes about people and I didn't want her doing anything to Harry. But I think she's injured herself because she can't seem to remember anything!" he heard Blaire reply.
Shacklebolt then said in a deep voice, "I'll look into it, Miss Potter. Is that young man escorting her to the infirmary?"
Blaire must have nodded, because he didn't hear any reply from her.
It was Shacklebolt who spoke again, "I would like to have her cured at St. Mungo's."
"With pleasure, Kingsley." McGonagall said in grim voice. "Black!"
Draco stopped and turned around.
"Come back here with Miss Skeeter, would you?We will take care of her. Aren't you and Miss Potter supposed to attend class?"
"Yes, Professor." Draco said sheepishly. "Thanks!"
And as they hurried off towards the grounds again, Draco turned around to see Kingsley grabbing hold of Rita Skeeter's arm with his left arm while his wand arm and those of the two professors with him were holding on tightly to their respective wands.
...
Hi Dee,
I've got great news today. And no, Harry hasn't been excused from participating in the TWT. Though I'm still wondering how that goblet, an 'impartial judge' as they called it, that had been picking up only three students every year back in the days when the Tournament was being held regularly could suddenly get confunded into letting a fourth champion into a 'Triwizard' contest!
Anyway, I know that's not the first time you've heard this from me, but it's really stupid! And how could someone get through it from under Mad-Eye Moody's watch? I don't like that guy, but I do know that Dumbledore trusts him, and I know that Prof trusts Dumbledore and I trust Prof, so I guess Moody is good at his job.
Although, I wonder if he was a little tired and perhaps fell asleep somewhere during the night... That's the only way I can think of someone confunding the cup while under his nose... Or maybe someone managed to catch him off-guard and deliberately put a sleeping charm on him... Anyway, enough of that. I wanted to tell you some good news. Actually, I have three pieces of it.
One being that Dudley has been selected for a weight lifting tournament that will be held somewhere around this month and it will take place in London. Judging by his letter, he's quite excited about it. His coach had been really impressed with him and gave him special training. He even asked for a meeting with Aunt Petunia and after a lot of hesitation on her side, and a lot of wheedling from his coach, Dudley was finally given permission to participate.
The second piece of news is about Rita Skeeter. And it's good news. Kingley had taken her straight to the recently appointed head of the Department of Magical Law and Enforcement (DMLE) who happened to be an Auror called Rufus Scrimgeour.
Scrimgeour proved to be a revolutionary in the Ministry of Magic and he teamed up with Amelia Bones to secretly check through the profiles of every Ministry worker. And according to what Dumbledore told Prof, there had been at least thirty-seven wizards and witches with terrible records. But there was one witch amongst the nine who had to be thrown into Azkaban for their previously untried deeds. Remus was quite happy that this particular witch was imprisoned. Apparently she had put up laws in the Ministry making it difficult for Remus and other werewolves to get Wizarding jobs.
I'm rambling. Anyway, a healer from St. Mungo's was called and he restored her memory. Unfortunately, for Skeeter, Scrimgeour had been a victim of her wild stories and Scrimgeour pounced on her offence like a tiger pouncing on its prey. He had her arrested and taken to the Wizengamot for a hearing.
Mr. Weasley, who'd just been given a promotion, and one of his sons, were both subjects of Rita Skeeter's ridiculous tales. They were on top of the world when they heard of her arrest. It wasn't only them. There were hundreds of people all over Britain who were celebrating.
The trial was held a week after her arrest. Unfortunately for her, again, many of the members of the Wizengamot, too, had been subjected to humiliation because of her and now, Skeeter not only had to spend seven years in Azkaban, she also had to compensate all her victims for whatever damage she had caused.
By the way, guess who's finally turned into an animagus?
Me!
I'm a reddish-brown pigmy marmoset that Draco decided to call Able. My form is a miniature version of a monkey and I'm just about the size of Prof's index finger, excluding my tail, which is double my size. That is the third fantastic piece of news, but its a bit marred with something else, that I'm not happy about. You see, with being a monkey, I can climb around with ease and it also helps me spy on others. It would have been fantastic had it not been for the stunner that was shot at me, throwing me off the rock I was climbing by the Black lake. And I wasn't even spying. I was innocently climbing a rock!
Well, actually it was my fault. I squeaked a little too loud. I was taken by surprise. And who wouldn't have been had they caught two lovebirds hiding behind our rock by the lake and snogging! I think one of them was Roger Davis, the Ravenclaw Quidditch captain.
Oh, and another thing, Tonks as been posted at Gringotts!
Mrs. Tonks told Mrs. Black who finally told Prof while we were all having tea in his quarters one afternoon, that Tonks had been assigned by Amelia Bones weeks ago to work on some project in Gringotts for her final year in Auror school. Apparently, Bill Weasley, Ron's oldest brother also works there. He used to work in Egypt, but got transferred here. This made him available to aid in guarding the castle.
I would never have expected Blaire and Hermione to become friends. Even if they only spent time speculating and giggling over Bill and Tonks getting together as a couple (I hardly doubt it, considering how annoyed Bill gets with her whenever she trips on her own shoes, but remains standing and somehow manages to make him lose his balance and fall). I thought the girls' academic competition would keep them apart. Turns out that I was wrong. They are on the verge of becoming fast friends, but their competition is still on.
And Harry's got a little more than two weeks left for his first task. He and the other Champions had gone through the weighing of wands with Ollivander, the wandmaker, where he tested their wands, thereby approving them eligible for use during the tournament. And Harry's been preparing relentlessly. Prof's plan is amazing and I'm sure Harry will get through the task without any problems. I'll tell you all about it once the task is over.
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"Are you sure?"
"Positive." Severus said. "The potion is complete and tested on various kinds of animals. None of them have died and none of them have gotten sick."
"Well done, Severus." Pat Baker said. "Excellent work! And as per the rule of potion activation, whatever problems arise should occur within seven days."
They were seated in Dumbledore's office along with the headmaster and matron of Hogwarts. And Severus was ecstatic for he believed that he had finally found a cure to Harry's leg. And in the event the potion didn't work, the curse in Harry's head wouldn't be agitated. Severus had designed it as such. And all in all, he us very proud of himself.
"What are the side effects." Poppy Pomfrey asked.
"There are none." Severus said and then added snidely, "I wouldn't have declared it finished and perfect had it caused any side effects."
Poppy huffed but didn't say a word.
"When exactly did you get the proportions right?" Pat asked.
"Late evening of October sixteen nineteen ninety four." Severus said with a small smirk. "Some hours after Harry came and told me that he was willing to take the treatment."
"Why didn't you inform me?"
"I wanted to be sure. And believe me, I did it thoroughly."
"I'm really happy for Harry, Severus." Dumbledore said with a smile.
Pat frowned thoughtfully, "Considering that you got the potion complete and tested over and over again... in less that a month... it must have taken a lot of your time, Severus. How you coped with it and successfully manage to teach is a wonder!"
"That's where I came in." Dumbledore said cheerfully.
"I beg your pardon?" Pat Baker as politely.
Dumbledore chuckled and said, "Oh, the wonders of Polyjuice potion."
Poppy gasped in awe, "You must have made a perfect impression of Severus to prevent any suspicion from the students!"
"Oh, I really did enjoy myself, Poppy dear." Dumbledore said and Severus permitted himself a smirk.
The old man truly had been a lot of help. Though he spoilt the effect by sending the children anonymous candy after class.
Severus cleared his throat and said, "Back to the actual reason as to why we're here, if all goes well and the animals do not show any symptoms by tomorrow morning, November the fifth, Harry will be receiving his potion on November the tenth."
"There are just a few days left for his first task." Poppy protested.
"Just imagine if any injury caused by the dragon actually agitates the curse." Severus reasoned. "And my potion will either cure him of it or leave it as it already is."
"So he will be travelling to Plymouth again?" Dumbledore asked.
"Yes." Severus said firmly.
There were already aware of a criminal amongst them, though who the person was wasn't really known. So it was only prudent to let Harry receive his treatment in one of the most secure and safety-paranoid regions in the country.
Only this time, they would floo to the Leaky Cauldron and travel the rest of their journey by train. He would remain there for a week, until they were sure that there would be no problems caused. Severus had tried this potion on two hundred and eighty seven test subjects, both magical and non-magical and every one of them survived.
And considering that Harry had been exempted from answering his exams, he could learn whatever he missed later, and so would spend the week away from his schoolmates and in Plymouth. And Severus would be joining him, while Dumbledore played a double role as himself and as the Potions professor.
"Does Harry know about it?" Dumbledore asked.
"Of course." Severus said. "I was told that he wasn't very confident about it before, but now he's ready. Although, he doesn't know about the scheduled date."
"But he was confident when he agreed to get his leg cured." Pat said.
"I know." Severus said with a sigh, "I believe that he's in two minds. See, I just can't explain it, but now that he's agreed to taking the potion, I really don't want him thinking about it too much and then changing his mind again."
"Do you think he will?" Pat asked.
"Of course." Severus said. "That child has lived his whole life with a disability. I just think that deep down, he believes that the cure won't work. It is as though he has accepted the fact that he will have to live in his current state for the rest of his life.
"His alternating wish to take the treatment and then not to, is just the hopeful side of his mind fighting with the defeated side. I don't think he wants to feel bitter disappointment if it fails. This entire episode is his subconscious mind trying to protect him, readying him for failure.
"I don't think I'm explaining this right, but I just feel that Harry needs to be shown that he has every reason to hope for a cure and that he can be cured. And he will be cured."
That was what Severus was going to achieve for Harry even if it is the last thing he did."
"Do the rest of the family know?" Madam Pomfrey asked, breaking the long proud pause after Severus's little speech.
"Yes."
Severus had revealed the good news to his family just the previous day and Narcissa chewed his ears off with a long lecture on how she reassured the boy that the treatment wouldn't be started on him just yet because he, Severus hadn't got his proportions right.
"Can't you wait for a bit?" she had asked him desperately. "This feels so terribly rushed."
Severus had given her the same reasoning that he'd given Poppy, and Narcissa, unhappily, quieted down.
Severus then said to Dumbledore, "The second task expects the Champions to be ready to retrieve something special that's taken from them. If you are planning on using humans I'd rather you not choose one of Harry's siblings or friends, or you might plant doubts in their minds as to whether there's some kind of partiality going on between them."
"Anybody else will not be as important to Harry as them." Dumbledore said with a frown. "How will the competition be considered fair if the others champions get to rescue those more important to them whilst Harry doesn't?"
"That's up to you, Headmaster." Severus stated blithely. "I've stated my grounds. I don't want any form of inequality amongst them. Even if it's a tiny doubt. Not that I expect that of them, I just don't want there to be a reason to make them drift apart."
Pat looked at Severus speculatively, "Do you think that will happen? That they could drift apart?"
"Nope." Severus said without a moment's hesitation."But I still don't want Dumbledore choosing one over the other."
"What about when I decide to assign one of them prefect duties?" Dumbledore asked curiously.
Severus scowled at him and said very firmly, "Either assign them all as prefects, or don't assign any."
...
That very day, Severus got Harry aside and after a lot of reassurances and promises, he told Harry to be ready for the treatment that would tentatively be scheduled in or around a week. To his surprise, Harry smiled and agreed.
"I'll do it, Prof." he said with a firm nod. "And don't worry, I won't change my mind, I promise."
Severus was happier than he had been in days.
He squeezed Harry's shoulder affectionately and said, "I am so proud of you, Harry. Well done!"
To be entirely honest, Severus wanted Harry to be cured as fast as possible, for the very fact that should Voldemort come into power and be fortunate to be close enough to get his hands on the boy, touchwood, Harry's curse shouldn't hinder the his escapade. So Severus was desperate to have Harry cured of any ailments that would actually give the enemy an advantage over him.
...
And as expected, the potion worked on the test subjects perfectly and soon, Severus and Harry were travelling to Plymouth in disguise on the morning of November tenth. And considering the number of students staring at him, and those whispering to their friends whenever he passed, and those who personally offered him their support and those who did so quite openly for the past two days Harry attended classes, Severus was quite sure the boy was glad to be away from the castle.
The wizarding region of this place was just as Severus remembered. The little huts sprinkled over the green fields provided a beautiful view for Muggles, but none of them felt the urge of coming close. Together, Severus and Harry walked up to the hut that served the purpose of a consulting clinic and mini-hospital for Pat Baker.
The place usually was packed with patients who happened to have made appointments months prior to the date, but Pat had promised to keep the afternoon slot free. And true to his word, that particular hut was desserted. Though that couldn't have been said about the other huts that too housed practicing healers.
The mark on Severus's forearm prickled again just as it had been doing from the day after his blackout. And judging by the furtive looks Karkaroff had been shooting around while nursing his left forearm with his right hand, Severus had a feeling that he too was going through the same ordeal. A quick word from some of the Death Eaters, Severus had been in contact with, informed him that they too were having the same problem. Even Harry's scar gave an occasional prickle. All this boiled down to the one, disturbing fact... Voldemort was getting stronger.
This caused Severus to cast a strong notice-me-not charm on Harry and himself despite the disguise while they moved through the field.
By evening , Harry had been instructed by Severus to tell the others to lay off mindchatting for seven days at least. Then the boy was safely tucked in a very cozy bed and after calming him down, Severus made him drink the potion.
Harry gagged on it, but managed to keep the contents in. From then on Severus and Pat would take turns in observing him. Pat would take the afternoon and late evening slot, where as Severus would be by Harry's side for the remainder of the day and night. He would sleep from six in the evening to eleven at night, while Pat watched over Harry.
Harry on the other hand was subjected to twelve different kinds of diagnostic charms every hour, much to his annoyance, and with every passing our, Severus kept feeling more and more relieved. The curse seemed to be diminishing gradually.
In twenty-four hours, that little residue that had made itself home in Harry's brain had reduced to half. Twenty-four hours after that, there was nothing.
But Severus wanted to make sure, so he had Dumbledore called the next day which was a Sunday. Luckily for them Dumbledore was one of the members on the security's 'Not A Threat' list and he was granted access to apperate directly into the wizarding field. Instead, he chose to travel with the rest of the Swarm and Narcissa via the Knight bus.
The security tried to make a fuss, but Dumbledore would have nothing of it. To them, any wizard traveling there unannounced was an enemy. And any wizard trying to take a short cut and reach them via muggle trains, that started off from stations quite near Plymouth as compared to the express from London, had committed a grave offense.
Harry was happy to see his siblings and friends. Everyday, Severus would keep him busy with essays or reading. But sitting on the bed with nothing but four yellow walls to look at and books to read was driving him crazy. Sending mail was also too tedious a task to go through with, thanks to all the formalities. This entire security concept was a tad too much, but in a way, Severus felt that it would do the people of this area good should the threat in the form of Lord Voldemort ever come to power.
Dumbledore cast some diagnostics of his own and declared Harry cured. The boy was now able to walk without his support.
The Swarm were elated. Severus was ecstatic. He sent his Patronus to inform the respective parties of their success. Mr. and Mrs. Evans were exhilarated. And Petunia, Dudley and Narcissa were jubilant. It was a huge accomplishment in the eyes of their little family. Even Black and Lupin were in seventh heaven. Severus, feeling a little generous, invited the two men to a little feast on the the night of Harry's discharge from Pat's care (Harry had successfully transformed to Sly and back after weeks with no ill effects).
They flooed to Spinner's End from the outskirts of Plymouth on the thirteenth of November and then flooed to Privet Drive to meet the Evans', Narcissa, Dudley and a very excited Venn. They enjoyed a hearty meal made by a team of elves led by Dobby. They even invited the Tonks.
Severus turned to look at Harry at the end of the meal and was gratified to see the boy overwhelmed.
Severus pulled him aside to ask him what was wrong when Harry surprised him with big hug.
"Thanks, Prof." he said with tears in his eyes. "Thank you for everything, and most importantly for believing that I would recover. I never thought I would ever be able to walk without help... So thank you."
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Remus Lupin now made it his topmost priority to check out the Marauders Map dozens of times per day. There was Snape, either teaching in his classroom, brewing in his private lab or pacing the floors of his quarters. There was Dumbledore in his office either answering mail or making notes or pacing the floors of his office.
There was McGonagall in her head office, never taking the time out, always working herself to the bone. Sprout and Flitwick were ones who would either be accessing the students essays or meeting up with each other or with other Professors for a cup of tea.
And there was Mad-Eye Moody, who happened to be obsessed with his trunk! At any moment of the day, he was there rummaging through his belongings. Perhaps he felt safest in that corner. But what astounded Remus most was that in the last few days that he'd been diligently observing the map, the name Bartemius Crouch happened to be making an appearance almost everytime Remus checked the map.
He thought nothing of it until it the day before the first task, when he found Crouch's name coming in contact with Harry's.
"Sirius!" he yelled urgently. "I'm flooing to Snape's!"
"What's wrong?" Sirius asked, rushing into the living room.
"I think Harry's in danger."
So they flooed to Hogwarts and came face to face with a startled Snape sitting at his desk.
"This is important." he said quickly, before Snape could say something snide and start a long verbal quarel with Sirius. "Recently, Barty Crouch has been holding frequent conferences with Moody."
"What are you talking about?" he snapped. "The man never leaves his office unnecessarily."
"He's in love with his job, Remus." Sirius said, agreeing with Snape, something, Remus found unnatural.
"The map's my witness." Remus insisted. "And just now, I saw him breaking up a conversation Harry happened to be having with Fred Weasley and he's taking Harry up to Moody's office."
"What?" Sirus and Snape asked as one.
"I solemnly swear that I am upto no good." Remus said tapping the map and placing it on Snape's table. When the map visualised on the paper, he pointed out the two dots of Crouch and Harry heading up to Moody's office.
"See that! And look at Moody always so consumed, so immersed in his trunk! He's always there!"
"Harry would never go with him without informing his siblings!" Snape growled. "And they would have come to me had they known!"
"I'll go up and see what's going on." Remus said and hurried out of Snape's office and into the dungeons. He rushed up to the entrance hall and ran up the marble stairs. The corridors were empty for most of the students were attending classes.
Remus hurried down the corridor that led to the defence against the dark arts classroom to see Harry exiting the room with a confused expression on his face. He saw Remus and smiled.
"Hi Remus. What are you doing here?"
"Hello, kid." Remus replied with a smile of his own, discreetly check-in him for any spell that may have been cast on him. "I just came to see you. Caught you on the Map. What have you been upto?"
"Oh, nothing much." Harry said nonchalantly. "Hagrid showed me what I would be up against for the first task. And I'm sure Fleur Decalour and Krum know about it as well. I didn't think Angelina Johnson knew. She doesn't talk to me much, but her friends Fred and George Weasley do, so I just told Fred Weasley about it."
"What did Barty Crouch want with you in Moody's office?" Remus blurted out.
"Barty Crouch?" Harry asked with a frown as they headed back to the staircase. "I was talking to Moody. Or rather he wanted to talk to me. He hinted to me that he wanted me to face the dragon by summoning my broom and flying with it. The man's crazy."
This didn't match with what Remus saw on the map.
He said, "But wasn't Barty Crouch in the room with you?"
"Um, no." Harry said as they began descending the first flight of stairs. "Ron was just telling me that his brother Percy, who is working under Barty Crouch, said how that man refused to take a day off even if he is sick. Apparently he is finding it difficult to look after himself ever since he fired his house-elf for some reason. She's at Hogwarts here, though, crying about it...and drinking too, er, so Crouch definitely couldn't be... Are you alright, Remus?"
Remus didn't know what expression he had on his face, but he replied, "I'm fine, kid. Just a little confused though."
"What's so confusing about it?" Harry asked perplexed.
"I really don't know, well, I have been checking the Marauder's map regularly and and everytime, I see Barty Crouch on the map!"
"There must be some glitch in it." Harry said.
"The map never lies!" Remus said. "It's not faulty."
"Then, maybe, the magic had started weakening." Harry said simply. "Considering that it is quite old and magic doesn't last forever."
Remus began shaking his head but then checked himself. Perhaps Harry was right.
He made it a point to drop Harry to his next class that was herbology and then hurried back to the dungeons. To his astonishment, the two rivals happened to be having an near decent conversation. He relayed what happened to the others.
"Harry insists that he was talking to Moody?" Sirius exclaimed.
"Yes." Remus said.
"Perhaps he needs glasses then." Sirius declared. "It's high time one of James children inherited his abysmal eyesight."
Perhaps Remus had jinxed it
"Sirius." he reprimanded, seeing Snape's face turning a few shades darker.
"I could swear to it if I have to, Remus!" Sirius said. "When you left, Harry was talking to Crouch while Moody didn't move from his first position. Or perhaps, Moody is trying to play a prank of some sort to claim that we aren't on our guard? Perhaps he's dousing Crouch with Polyjuice and they're both taking turns in playing Moody's role? Then they'll both come out and say 'fooled ya!'"
"Preposterous!" Snape growled. "This is a serious situation, Black. How would two grown mature men-"
"Or," Remus interrupted, seeing Sirius scowling, "as Harry suggested, the map's magic may be fraying."
"Then why is it making a problem with Barty Crouch?" Sirius asked still glaring daggers at Snape. "If it was having a problem, surely it would confuse more than one person. Though I don't believe it! The map's foolproof and perfect and-"
"Why don't we wait for tomorrow." Snape bit out. "Both Crouch and Moody will have to make an appearance."
"Of course!" Remus said. "And if there's something wrong with the map, it will correct itself."
"What if there's nothing wrong with the map?" Sirius demanded.
"There won't be, Padfoot." Remus said reassuringly.
"Wait." Snape said. "What if there are two Crouches?"
"What do you mean?" Sirius asked.
"Harry had another vision long before the one you witnessed and Voldemort's faithful follower was supposed to join him. Someone who everyone thought to be dead. Crouch had a son, didn't he?"
"The son died." Sirius said firmly. "I saw the dementors take his body out through the bars of my cell and I saw them burying him through the bars of the window of my cell. And both times, I saw the man's face."
"What if it all was a ploy?" Snape asked.
"How do you propose they could have gotten him to escape and faked his death so well?" Sirius challenged.
"I don't know?" Snape admitted.
Remus had been listening to the conversation with attention and surprise. This had been the longest civil conversation that the two had in his presence and he really didn't want to push his luck. Sirius's face seemed to hold an expression akin to triumph and one word from him would result in a long verbal battle.
"Why don't we wait for tomorrow?" he interjected. "There's nothing anybody will pull off while surrounded by a whole stadium of wizards and witches. Anyway, Severus, is Harry ready for tomorrow?"
"Of course he is." Snape said haughtily. "And if either of you are expecting to see him getting into a Gryffindorish flying match with the dragon, then you should be prepared to be disappointed. Because he's going to do it the Slytherin way!"
tbc...