Albus barely gave Harry a look over, noticing how the Death Eater didn't do anything other than threaten the boy with his wand. Instead he walked straight over to the closed trunk and began opening its compartments. While there were some valuable things in Alastor's trunk, he figured it would be better to not touch the retired Auror's belongings, friend or not. It was when he reached the seventh compartment did he find his friend with what looked like a few blankets.
Albus heard the boy gasp, apparently also looking in Alastor's trunk as he was going through it. However finding your professor, who was never really your professor, at the bottom of his trunk was indeed quite the surprise.
Alastor however was well aware of what was happening and was quite stressed and worried about a few things. However he pulled up old training and compartmentalized his emotions to the background so he could at least meditate and appear as though he was sleeping. He was supposed to be a prisoner, one who was ill-treated, not camping out in his trunk having full meals, entertainment, and a warm place to sleep.
He had Barty cut a few places of his hair, knowing that it would be easily grown back to look like he took more hair than was needed for the polyjuice. The old wizard also had the young Death Eater take his glass eye, knowing that his eye socket wouldn't shrink from being empty for a few hours. He had explained that he at least needed a glass eye or else it would take some time for his good eye to fit comfortably again.
Alastor knew he was asking a lot from the younger wizard, but he also asked that he at least put a small imperius on him. When Barty had asked with what instructions Alastor looked at the young wizard with a pained fondness. Crouch Sr. was a right pain in the arse, but his wife was right when she said that he was a good kid.
"To stay still," he replied, knowing that if he were left to his own devices he would pace the bottom of his trunk.
Dumbledore climb down into to the spacious trunk to check on his old friend.
Harry watched with a slow detachment as his Headmaster announced his professor's current status. However even in his own state he recognized an order and responded on auto, finding himself fetching a cloak. He threw it down carefully, hoping that there was nothing heavy in the pockets that would hit either of them and get him in trouble.
After wrapping his old friend in a cloak, trying to warm him up, Albus explained the simple brilliancy of the imposter and how he was able to pull it off. After an estimated guess Albus stood next to the young boy and watched carefully for the potion to wear off of the unconscious imposter.
While he had an idea of who it might be, he also wasn't entirely sure himself. The imposter was an occulmens and, while not a master, was efficient enough to keep him out from his surface glances. As soon as the imposter was conscious again, he planned on slipping into his mind so he at least appeared as though he knew most of the time. It would be unseemly to lose his omniscient façade.
Harry watched as his professor morphed into a man he had seen before, but younger. Instead of grizzled gray hair, it was a straw blond. He had a whole nose, less scars, and the magical eye his professor was known for popped out of his socket, obviously filled with his real one. He was pale skinned and slightly freckled… Now he had age lines around his eyes and looked much older than the 19 that he was when he was on trial in the pensieve. Harry was so preoccupied by the spark of interest that was kindled in him that he barely heard the hurried footsteps of his other professors.
"Crouch… Barty Crouch!" Severus said as he saw his old comrade and brother in arms.
"Good heavens!" Minerva gasped, stopping beside Severus in the doorway with the house-elf Winky behind them.
Thimi looked around the professors of Hogwarts and noticed her old boy master was crumpled on the floor. Her heart dropped at the sight of him. She remembered the diligent care she had to do perform to get him healthy again after his short stay in Azkaban.
She remembered her Mistress's commands to keep her ownership and name secret from those who didn't know. She almost didn't respond to the potions master when he was looking for a house-elf called Winky. The other house-elves knew that it wasn't her name anymore and looked at each other with worried expressions since they weren't able to give the professor an answer. Thimi however popped away quickly and invisibly to her Mistress and told her what was happening.
Hermione at that time was surrounded by a mass of people, some aurors, but gave her house-elf her discrete attention. She was instructed to follow the potions master and answer to her old name for that short time, but also keep to her original orders pertaining to her new house fealty.
Thimi held out for a few seconds trying to remain dignified and strong before her fear grew too strong. Barty was still her old boy master. She ran to her old boy and laid herself on his crumpled body.
"You is killed him… You is killed him! Old boy master is dead…" Thimi cried on his chest.
It wasn't until she sobbed that she felt his heart beat in his chest and stopped her blubbering.
Albus was disturbingly surprised at the turnaround of the elf. She was not deranged as Dobby had become, but she was steady and clean. Nothing like what the house-elves reported last time he asked about Winky. She looked extremely well, she was not out of her mind, even if she was overcome with some distressing emotions. Something had happened with the house-elf that he hadn't looked into. She looked like she was in the servitude of a well to do family, but she worked at Hogwarts.
None of the other Hogwarts' house-elves looked as she did. Most of them still wore pillowcases and tea-towels. Her last uniform was a tea-towel dress look alike, that he had made her wear. However it looked like she was wearing something that was made with new fabric that was not common in Hogwarts. If Dobby spent his money on another house-elf that was his business, however it wasn't common for any house-elf to want clothes of any sort…
"He is simply stunned, Winky. Now step aside, please. Severus, the potion?" Albus said, slipping into his kind grandfatherly disguise like a second skin.
Severus handed over the vertiaserum. While it was technically a ministry controlled substance, Albus abused his titles claiming that he was entitled to have his potions master brew it in case of emergencies. Really though Severus would have had a small batch anyways, any potions master worth his salt would have several 'ministry controlled' potions in their private stores. When it came to Albus though he had about 10 milliliters in a bottle with a dropper that was strictly for the Headmaster's use.
They watched as Albus forced the wizard's mouth open and pour three careful drops inside. Thimi was on her knees shaking, her hands were over her face. She was worried about so many things that the truth potion may reveal that they had all worked hard to keep secret and private. She knew that some vows were unbreakable even with truth potion influences, she only hoped that her Mistress and old boy master made the right ones.
Albus pointed his wand to Barty Junior's chest and cast, "Renneverate."
Barty opened his eyes, his face was slack and his gaze was unfocused. The most obvious signs that the potion was working.
"Can you hear me?" Dumbledore said quietly.
The young wizard's eyelids flickered.
"Yes," Barty murmured in response.
To the others looking at them it seemed as though Barty was woolgathering as quickly as his brain was able, not being allowed to completely wake up. Reality though Albus had quickly tore into his mind and the younger wizard's mind was unprepared for it. However with all the vows he took, it protected most of the information Albus wanted. Some of it, the basics he was able to see; the rest however was just as mysterious to Albus as it would be to others who weren't in the know.
"I would like you to tell us how you came to be here. How did you escape Azkaban?" Albus asked, already having seen the answer for himself.
"My mother. She asked my father to save me as as a last favor, she was dying. He loved her more than he loved me and agreed, for her. They had a draft of polyjuice, one for me, one for her. We took on each other's appearances," he took a deep breath, "The dementors are blind. They sensed one healthy and one dying person entering, and one healthy and one dying leaving. I was smuggled out… My mother died shortly after. She was careful in drinking the polyjuice potion dutifully until the end. She was buried with my name and appearance, and everyone thought she was me until the end."
His eyelids flickered again. Dumblebore tried to look for details pertaining to the information they were just given, any information on dementors and Azkaban would be helpful in the upcoming war.
"And what did your father do with you, when he had got you home?" he asked just as quietly.
"He staged my mother's death and held a quiet, private funeral. The grave is empty. Although my father honestly mourned the loss of my mother. His grief was real. The house-elf nursed me back to health. Then I had to be concealed. Controlled. He used a number of spelled to subdue me. When I had recovered my strength, I thought only of fulfilling my promise… I had to return to the Dark Lord's service."
"How did your father subdue you?" Dumbledore asked.
It was difficult for him to get a solid grasp of anything in the young wizard's mind. Recent memories were easier, but earlier memories were blurred, misshapen… hard to understand. It was an obvious sign of mind alteration.
"The Imperius Curse. I was forced to wear and invisibility cloak day and night. I was always with the house-elf. She was my keeper and caretaker. She had a fondness for me. She persuaded my father to give me to occasional treats. Rewards for good behavior."
"Old boy master is mistaking love for fondness," Thimi cried into her hands. She wish she was more demonstrative, but knew under her orders she wasn't allowed. It was no wonder he only thought she was fond of him.
"Did anybody ever discover you were still alive? Anyone except your father and the house-elf?" Dumbledore inquired.
"Yes", his eyelids flickered again.
Albus was trying hard, without destroying the other wizard's mind, to look for the answers that he wanted. It was just so frustrating to have the answers in front of him and not be able to decipher them! The only ones that were clear were of him recently serving as one of his professors… and doing a good job at teaching them.
"A witch named Bertha Jorkins, she worked in my father's office. She came to the house for his signature for some papers, but he wasn't home. The house-elf led her into the kitchen and left her alone to come take care of me. Jorkins heard the house-elf talking to me, she came to investigate. She heard enough to guess who I was. When my father arrived home, she confronted him and he put a very powerful memory charm on her to make her forget what she'd found out. It was too powerful. He said it damaged her memory permanently. It caused him another set of problems since she was known for having a perfect memory."
"She nosed about where she did not belongs," Thimi cried.
"Tell me about the Quidditch World Cup," Albus said.
"The house-elf talked my father into it. She spent months begging and pleading for such a reward for me. I had not left the house in years. I had loved quidditch. Let him go, she said. He will be in his invisibility cloak. He can watch. Let him smell fresh air for once. She said my mother would have wanted it. She said that my mother died to give me freedom, not for a life of imprisonment. He agreed in the end," He took another deep breath.
"Father carefully planned the outing. He led the house-elf and me up to the top box early in the day. The house-elf was to say that she was saving a seat for him, even though I was to sit there invisible. When everyone left the box, we would leave. The house-elf would appear alone. Nobody would ever know. But she didn't know I was growing stronger. I was able to fight the imperius curse. There were times I was almost myself again. There were brief times I was outside of his control, or so it seemed. It happened in the top box, like I was waking up from a deep sleep. I found myself in the middle of the match, and in front of me I saw a boy's wand sticking out of his back pocket. I had not been allowed a wand since Azkaban. I stole it. She didn't know… she's afraid of heights, she had her face hidden."
"Barty, you bad boy!" Thimi cried, her eyes overflowing with tears. If she were a different being she would have struck her old boy master for his stupidity. He made her a bad elf, he took advantage of her fear. She had a new family because of him. Even though she loved her new family, very much, she would always love her old boy master. Even if he was a bad boy!
"So you took the wand, and what did you do with it?" Albus asked, ignoring the distraught house-elf's outburst.
"We went back to the tent. Then we heard them. Death Eaters. The ones who had never been to Azkaban. They were not enslaved, as I was. They were free. Free to find him, free to live. They were making sport of muggles instead. The sounds of their voices awoke me. My mind was finally clear. I was angry. I had a wand. I wanted to attack them for their stupidity. My father left the tent to go help the muggles. The house-elf was scared to see me angry and used her magic to bind me to herself. She pulled me from the tent, to the forest, away from the Death Eaters. She was trying to protect me. I tried to hold her back. I wanted to return to the campsite. I wanted to remind them what it meant to be a Death Eater. Not a knight of Walpurgis like we were told. I used the stolen wand to cast the Dark Mark into the sky," another breath.
"Ministry wizards arrived. The shot stunning spells everywhere. One the spells came into the trees. The bond connecting us was broken, we were both stunned. When she was discovered, my father knew I had to be by. He found me. He waited until the ministry members left before putting me back under the imperius curse and took me home. He dismissed the house-elf. She had failed him by letting me acquire a wand. I almost escaped under her watch."
Thimi wailed. She was forcibly reminded of her failure to her old family. However she also heard the undertones, even with him being under the truth potion influence. She heard him try to be sarcastic, "by letting me", he didn't blame her. While she hated to think of that time, she was beyond the moon emotionally that he didn't blame her at all.
"And then… He came for me," his face remained passive, but a glint of ferocious passion appeared in his eyes.
"He arrived in the arms of Wormtail, an animagus. He had found out I was still alive. He found and tortured Bertha Jorkins in Albania, and she told him a great deal. The TriWizard Tournament. Old auror, Moody, was going to be teaching at Hogwarts. He tortured her so much the memory charm broke. She told him about me and my imprisonment. He conceived a plan around the information Jorkins had given Him. He needed me."
"It was over quick. He arrived at our house near midnight. My father answered the door and was quickly under the Imperius Curse himself. He was forced to go about his business as usual, to act as though nothing was wrong. I was released only to be forced to follow orders immediately."
"And what did Lord Voldemort ask you to do?" Dumbledore said.
Severus cringed as his mark twisted painfully.
"He asked me if I was ready to risk everything for him. The answer was yes. It is always yes. Yes or death. He told me he needed a faithful servant at Hogwarts. A servant to guide Harry Potter through the TriWizard Tournament without appearing to do so. A servant who would watch over Harry Potter. Ensure he reached the TriWizard Cup, which had to be turned into a portkey. But First –"
"You needed Alastor Moody," Dumbledore finished, his eyes were blazing with anger while his voice was still passive and kind sounding.
"Wormtail and I were sent to gather and subdue the old auror. There was a fuss. I bound Alastor and stunned Wormtail. I explained what had to happen. He thought I was crazy. I stunned him and proceeded with His plans. Eventually he understood and agreed to help. I packed what he told me to, including him. I was able to mimic him perfectly. I had to fool everyone, especially Dumbledore. I had all the ingredients for the polyjuice potion. I was even able to steal boomslang skin from the dungeons. When Snape found me in his office, I said I was under orders to search it."
Severus and Harry looked at each other behind Albus' back with looks of distaste. While Harry had a history of stealing from his stores, he didn't do so this year. Harry was upset at being accused of thievery (even if it was a well educated guess) and Severus still thought Potter was a little shit. He wasn't a terrible teenager, but he was still a dunderhead that didn't apply himself, and that made him a little shit.
"And what of Wormtail?"
"I revived him and told him the auror took him out before I took the auror out. Then he returned to take care of Him in my father's home, and to keep watch over my father."
"But your father escaped," Dumbledore continued.
"Yes. After a while he was able to overpower the curse as I had. There were periods when he knew what was happening. The Dark Lord decided it was no longer safe for him to leave the house and forced him to send letters instead. To claim that he was ill. Wormtail neglected his duty and my father escaped. The Dark Lord guessed that he was heading here to Hogwarts. My father was going to tell Dumbledore everything, including smuggling me out of Azkaban. I received word from the Dark Lord to stop him at all costs. I used the map that I had taken from Harry Potter. The map that almost ruined everything."
"Map? What map is this" Dumbledore asked quickly.
He had a private map in his office, under heavy ancient spells, that was for the Headmaster of Hogwarts only. He didn't use it often, and he probably should considering the situation they were in now. Only the Headmaster could see or know of its existence, if he was able to see the map with some obscure spell Tom uncovered…!
"Potter's map of Hogwarts. Potter saw me on it and thought I was my father. I took the map from Potter that night. I told him that my father hated Dark wizards. Potter believed that my father was after Snape. I waited for a week before he showed up on the grounds. I put on my invisibility cloak and went down to meet him. He was wandering around the edge of the forest. Then Potter came with Krum. I waited. I couldn't hurt Potter, I was under strict orders. Potter ran to get Dumbledore. I stunned Krum. I stunned and transfigured my father before hiding him under the invisibility cloak. He's currently an owl in the Owlery with a broken wing. I've been feeding him scraps from dinner."
"Barty what is you saying!? What did you do!?" Thimi asked terrified. While she was extremely happy that her old master was still alive, that didn't mean she was happy that he was angry and upset, himself.
"I doubled around and followed Dumbledore out, claiming that Snape told me where to come. Dumbledore told me to go and look for my father. I went to pet the threstals instead until I saw that everyone was gone from the map before I made my way to the owlery and explained to my father that he was going to be stuck like that until my objective at Hogwarts was over."
"And tonight?" Dumbledore asked, calmed that it wasn't his map. He knew about the marauders' map and was not concerned with it.
"I offered to carry the TriWizard Cup into the maze before dinner. Turned it into a portkey. Made sure Potter got to the Cup first. He is now back among us. The real work begins and the war starts anew."
The straw haired wizard looked old and tired. His old house-elf crying next to him with a mix of emotions. He was Slytherin and was able to tell the truth and obscure it at the same time. Twisting words was a common game amongst Slytherin's now he only hoped Snape was able to look past his emotions to decipher them. If not, his pupil would have to tell him herself.
His leading objective was complete. The Dark Lord has risen. The main objective was now in place, to put him in the ground and remove the magic leech for good.
Dumbledore looked at Barty with disgust before he raised his wand and bound the dirty blond death eater. He then turned to this deputy.
"Minerva, could I ask you to stand guard here while I bring Harry upstairs to the Hospital Wing?"
"Of course," she replied, looking quite ill, even though her wand hand was steady. She knew there was more that was going on than what Albus had be able to get out of the imposter.
"Severus, please tell Madam Pomfrey to come down here; we need to get Alastor into the hospital wing as well. Then go get Cornelius Fudge, and bring him up to this office. He'll want to question Crouch Jr. himself. Tell him I will be in the hospital wing in half an hour's time if he needs me."
"Oh and Minerva, while Cornelius is questioning him, please go get his father from the owlery."
Severus nodded without saying anything and swept out of the room, his robes billowing around him. While the potions master understood the severity of the situation, he was not an owl. They had patroni messengers for a reason! However he understood that if he was passing messages on foot, it would excuse his absence for half an hour as he kneeled at the Dark Lord's feet, begged for forgiveness, and hoped to make it out alive.