The Easter Holidays were fast approaching and so was the final task of the tournament. Professor Moody was cracking the proverbial whip down harder on his students than he had all year. He was becoming more intense, including than their first few lessons with him. They thought they had adjusted to the old auror, but he was proving them all wrong. Well, all but Hermione, but that was because she was taking extra lessons with him so she was used to intense, and was more secretly elated than not. Although she had to put up with everyone's groaning and complaining without saying anything or giving anything away.
No one knew she was taking private lessons now, just like they hadn't known all year. Hermione almost told Harry, but she didn't want Ronald to know.
They were constantly fighting with each other lately, and he kept picking on her personal pet project and kept calling her names. At first it just upset her and made her angry. The more he did it however the more she acknowledged that he was putting her down in his own way. Whether he realized it or not, Ronald was a pureblood with pureblood beliefs.
Not as strongly, mind you, but he had the same beliefs all the same. Fred and George didn't, and the way they behaved around her and spoke to her spoke volumes, so she knew it wasn't simply a Weasley thing. Ginny didn't behave that way towards her either. Ronald though… sometimes he reminded her of Malfoy.
He didn't say things arrogantly, but sometimes he said them snidely and rudely as though she were a "stupid muggleborn". He spoke to her as though there were things she didn't know because she was a muggleborn and whether he realized it or not, he spoke to her often as though she was his inferior. It often infuriated them both because she was obviously smarter than him, did better than him, but when it came to some cultural norms that he knew and she didn't (or didn't agree with), he spoke to her as though she was… beneath him. Not just him however, beneath pure and halfblood wizard and witches.
He even did it first year, while complaining to Harry about her. He often made her cry with his complaints about her, speaking badly of her, simply because she'd done magic well. While the other wizards and witches had problems with her, none of them besides the Slytherins were as vocal about them besides Ron.
He complained about her the first time he met her on the train and hoped that she wouldn't be in the same house he was in. He complained when she told them not to leave to meet Malfoy for their fake midnight duel (she knew it was a trap). When she wasn't speaking to them for that incident and then did in disgust at Harry for being rewarded when he should have been punished, Ronald had said "don't stop now, it was doing us so much good." Then later on that Halloween night that she got caught up in their life debts, "It's no wonder no one can stand her, she's a nightmare, honestly." And when Harry mentioned that she heard the red head had said "So? She must've noticed she's got no friends."
Ronald was rude, mean, and had little to no sympathy. She wouldn't have bitten her tongue so much that year if it weren't for the life debts. She lied for them, feeling that being expelled was worse than death, or at least that's what he magic was telling her. She didn't know why, but she knew she was going to find out.
Harry sometimes agreed with Ronald though, but she could see in his eyes that he knew she was right. She was a bossy swot then, and she was a bossy swot now. At least now more often than not Harry listened to her, knowing it would probably be right or save his life.
Ron never spoke Harry the way that he spoke her when he didn't know something though.
He explained things to the best of his ability, while bringing in wizarding history and common knowledge. He did so kindly with little to no judgement. Sure they argued and had their own rows, mostly stemming from Ronald's jealousy. But that was more of a sibling thing she noticed.
Ron was a better strategist as far as they knew, Hermione was pants at chess, at least wizard's chess. It was barbaric, and she felt bad seeing the pieces who moved like real people get… killed basically. Not that they ever bothered to play checkers or any other board or card games with each other. It was always chess or exploding snaps, because they were normal wizarding games, and they were games that he was good at.
Since she had repaid her life debt to Ronald Weasley she hadn't really wanted much to do with him. She had become their friend only because of the life debts. Sometimes she wasn't sure if that was a good thing. She love Harry like a brother, and that was the only reason she was happy about the troll incident. Ronald, she could well do without, but put up with him for Harry. Ronald was only in her life, on speaking terms, because of Harry Potter, and the less he knew about her business, the better.
Her next private lesson was going as it normally did, intense. He started off with shooting a surprising Imperio at her, that she was able to shrug off. She looked at him startled for a moment, but saw that he was proud of her accomplishment.
It had been months since the imperius was cast on her, and it was gratifying to know that she still had the willpower to throw it off as quickly as it had come.
"Good, lass. But CONSTANT VIGILENCE! That could have been any spell! It could have been a stunner or something darker like an entrail-expelling curse!"
The rest of the lesson was practicing shields and redirecting hexes and curses. Today's lesson was mostly about self-preservation, without wasting magic by retaliating. He had surprised her by telling her that a simple movement such as ducking, could also save her life. While she knew that, it was obvious that many other magical fold weren't aware of this.
They kept going until her professor decided to have her just work on ducking for a solid 20 minutes. They stopped after she showed signs of fatigue.
"Good job, lass, make sure to practice ducking over the break."
"Yes, sir," she said with a small smile.
Hermione went to grab her bag knowing a dismissal when she heard one from the grizzly wizard.
"Ah, wait, lass. I have something important to show you. But I need to swear you to secrecy, so that you won't share this with anyone who doesn't already know," his eyes staring intently on her.
"Sir?" she questioned, knowing how serious he was. He wasn't asking for an unbreakable vow, but something just as serious.
"It's important Granger, it could be the difference between life and death. Knowledge is a powerful thing, and of all the people in this castle, you should know."
Hermione both felt elation and dread at his words. It was very high praise, especially from such a paranoid wizard, but also something very serious. She didn't want to go headstrong into this, but knew subconsciously that this was a very limited opportunity. It could be the difference between life and death, and more often than not with her close relationship to Harry, it was life and death.
"Yes, sir."
He looked at her, knowing that she thought it through. It had been a heated discussion to get him to agree to this at all.
"I need you to solemnly swear that you will keep the information that is about to be departed onto you to yourself and only tell those on a need to know basis. Now take out your wand, and level it with mine."
Hermione looked at her professor shrewdly, but took out her wand and held it level with his and looked him straight in the eyes.
"I solemnly swear to keep the information about to be departed onto me to myself and only tell those who need to know."
A thin wisp of magic came from the tip of her wand, a ghostly blue, and swirled slowly until it touched her professor's wand, which glowed gold.
"Good." He said abruptly, "Follow me to my office."
Hermione stowed away her wand and followed her professor.
Once they had reached his office and she was inside, he turned around and swished his wand, locking and silencing it.
Hermione's adrenaline started to pump.
"Granger what you're about to see and what you're about to hear, must be kept to yourself. Don't jump and start hexing by jumping to conclusions."
Hermione nodded, having already agreed when she swore with her magic.
He turned around and opened a compartment of his trunk. He shifted around a few times that seemed to be quite uncomfortable. She watched as he took out his magical eye and dropped it into the trunk and turned around so she wouldn't have to see inside of his socket, deciding it would be best to give him some privacy.
"Let me know when you're ready, sir." She said, feeling slightly uncomfortable with her professor to her back.
She knew and trusted him, but had also had his motto drilled into her head, and constant vigilance did not mean leaving someone at your back. So she turned so she could see in her peripheral vision should she need or want to.
She heard some clothe swishing and took some deep calming breaths to slow her heart rate knowing that he wasn't about to molest her.
"Ready, lass."
She took another breath and turned to look at her professor only to be met with two of him. One of them had his eye closed so she couldn't see inside of his socket and was leaning heavily on the desk since he didn't have the peg leg.
"Sir?"
She asked, knowing he had asked her not to jump to conclusions.
"Granger, I am not Alastor Moody, but I have been your professor for the past few months. This is Alastor Moody and your world is about to be shaken quite a bit. Don't worry, he's been helping with your lessons, so you might as well have been learning from him."
Hermione nodded speechlessly.
"Miss Granger, I am Alastor Moody, and I have heard much about ye lass. You've done well, and I hope to see some of your feats for myself."
She quickly looked at her professor, who nodded sternly, and nodded at the real Moody.
Her professor's skin started to bubble and his whole shape shifted and turned into a haggard looking young man, about Sirius's age, with lines around his eyes that carried the same haunted look. He was pale-skinned, slightly freckled, and had a small mop of fair straw colored hair. Her professor smoothed his hair a bit with his hand to the side, his eyes just as stern as the real Moody beside her.
She looked at her professor with courage blazing in her eyes. He knew she wanted to hex first and then question him until she couldn't think of anything else to ask. He knew she was a little scared, but had decided to overrun it with her willpower.
"Miss Granger, I am Bartemius Crouch Jr., but people call know me as Barty Crouch."
Her eyes widened, "You're supposed to be dead," her voice quiet and almost breathless.
The young man nodded, "I would have been had it not been for my mother. I was dying, and on my deathbed my parents came to see me. My mother was dying of cancer, and took polyjuice to trade places with me. My father took me home, placed me under the imperious curse and an invisibility cloak, and kept me hidden and captive in my own home until the World Cup. Winky had been taking care of me every day since he brought me home from Azkaban."
"The seat wasn't empty, it was you. You took Harry's wand, not Thimi," she said quietly, mostly to herself.
"Winky," he corrected.
"No," she said softly, with a small frown. She thought about it quickly and decided that he had his own secrets, but Thimi was a key part in this.
"Her name is Thimi now. Your father gave her clothes because she was caught with Harry's wand. She started to drink, and… and… I took her in. She was dying. She's my house elf now and she's been given a new name so she won't be associated with the name Winky and Crouch again. Winky was known as a house elf who dared to touch a wizard's wand. No one knows about Thimi."
Crouch eyes widened in astonishment. Everyone had heard of her house-elf crusade and had made fun of it. They had heard how she wanted to free all house elves and give them wages. For Hermione Granger to own a house elf sounded like a complete turnaround. It hurt him a little to know that his father had very nearly killed Winky, Thimi now. She was the only one who cared for him after his mother died, he would even go as far as to say that she loved him. It was her idea that he be allowed to go see the World Cup. He was comforted though in knowing that it was Granger that took her in. She would be treated well, he knew.
"You made a new life for a house elf, Miss Granger?" Alastor asked, with an eyebrow raised, and his magical eye looking her up and down.
"Yes, sir. Thimi was framed and didn't deserve what she was put through. She doesn't deserve to be known as a bad and shameful house elf," she stared at the auror and dared him to tell her that she was wrong, her eyes were burning with a fire in them.
While the old auror heard about her and about her house elf campaign, he could tell she was a lass about justice. The way that she was staring him down, her eyes light with a dangerous fire, she was quite a respectable spitfire.
He burst out in a barking gut bursting laughter.
"Well done, lass! Looking out for those not in a position to do so themselves is very respectable!"
At first Hermione was affronted by his laughter and then shocked when she found out he wasn't laughing at her.
"Thank you, sir."
The old retired auror grinned at the young witch, his scars stretching across his face, as his eyes glinted approval.
"The reason you're about to be in the know lass is very important. You'll be in a position that almost no one else can be in, you're going to have to do a job that no one else can. You're equipped and talented, and we're going to do our best with ye."
She raised her eyebrow in question, "Sir?"
"The Dark Lord is coming back soon, Granger. Pettigrew came with him and found me at my house. Bertha Jorkins knew about me and about many things, and was tortured and killed for information. He hatched a plan that involved me impersonating Moody. I have a fine line to walk, lass. So I went with Pettigrew to kidnap the old bear here. He was originally placed under the imperius, but I had to talk to him. It's important that the right people know about this."
"The Dark Lord has created… horcruxes. One of my friends found out and tried to destroy one, and destroyed his mind and lost his life in the process. It was an old pendant that belonged to Slytherin. As long as the dark mark exists, he's alive."
"What's a… horcrux?" Hermione asked, keeping her voice low.
She knew it was something dark and horrible, her skin felt slimy just hearing the word.
"It's terrible, dark, magic, lass. A horcrux is a dark object containing a fragment of a dark wizard or witch's soul. The idea is that it helps give them immortality. So when they die, they can be brought back to life because a piece of their soul hasn't been killed," Moody answered her, his voice grave and gravelly.
"The Dark Lord made more than one. He's going to return during the final task," he said, looking desperately at her.
Hermione's heart gripped in fear.
"Terrible things are going to happen during the final task of this damn tournament. The Dark Lord is expecting me to do certain things, and I need you to understand that I have to play my part. I need to help bring him down, but to do that, I have to be a spy. He already found me, he knows I'm alive. Dumbledore doesn't know, and I'm probably going to go back to Azkaban for a while," he tried to smile but it came out more as a grimace as the haunted look in his eyes grew bigger.
"I trust Dumbledore to make great decisions concerning the greater good, lass. However Dumbledore is only human and… and he too makes mistakes. He's not above using people for the greater good. You've got the innate ability to be a wards mistress. If he found out, you would be used and… abused. He would guilt trip you into overworking yourself and possibly sacrificing yourself for the greater good," Moody's real eye was looking at the floor while the other one stared at her.
Hermione felt like her gut was punched and she was left breathless. They were pulling the rug from under her, knowing her absolute trust in the headmaster.
"Does the headmaster know about… about…" she looked back and forth between the two men.
They looked at each other slightly shame faced, "We believe so, lass. But he's always kept his cards close to vest. It wouldn't be something you would normally share with another unless you were 100% positive. Albus has always been brilliant and with his forays in the war against Grindelwald, he would know about them."
"… Why are you telling me?"
They were silent for a moment before Barty answered.
"You're close to Harry Potter. There's a prophecy and he's going to be made to fight against the Dark Lord. He needs all the help he can get. He's a stubborn boy, because he's just that… he's a boy, and he's not ready for war. Soon he's going to rebel against adults, and he's going to need someone there to protect and watch him."
Hermione couldn't help the sad laugh that escaped her lips.
"I suppose I have no choice. I still owe him a life debt. What else do I need to know?"
Barty smiled sadly at her and Moody lifted his chin up, proud of the young witch. News of an upcoming war was a lot to put on a fourth year.