Lily discovers something, and a new investigation begins.
LILY XXV
"Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off..."
"Avada Kedavra!"
NO!
She woke up in the dark, breathing heavily and very quickly, sweat covering her whole body. For a moment though, she didn't realize that she had been making a nightmare. Lily reached for her wand on the nightstand, and struggled to find it for at least a minute, until finally she grabbed it.
"Lumos!"
When light came up, she was confused. The room around her was unfamiliar. The windows, the desk, the lamps, the photos on the walls, everything was different. She was also in a single bed. She looked in all directions, looking for James, looking for her baby. And then a picture caught her sight. A picture of herself and Harry, but he was no longer a baby on this picture. It had been taken two months ago at Calais, during their trip in France.
Slowly, her mind came to the realization that James was truly dead, that the nightmare she did was not only a nightmare, but something that truly happened thirteen years ago. The rhythm of her breathing slowed down.
And then she burst into tears. She thought of the man she loved, of the man she still loved, even after all those years since he died. After thirteen years, there wasn't a single day when she didn't think about him. How could she not? He gave his life for her, and she had a son with him. Most of the time, she only thought about something James would have done in a particular situation, of what he would have said, what he would have thought. Or it was only by looking at one of his pictures in the apartment, or to her son, who looked more like him every day. The pain of the early months, even the early years that followed his death, this pain she felt right now and that she used to feel every day, was mostly gone. But in some days, such as on the anniversary of his death, or when Lily was simply going through a rough moment, or making a nightmare about his death, the pain returned.
Lily was suffering. She was angry. She was angry after Voldemort, Wormtail, and all the Death Eaters and those who supported them, the people who murdered the love of her life. She was angry after the Ministry of Magic, who let Voldemort become so powerful and barely tried to stop him. She was angry at Dumbledore, at her friends, and everyone in the Order of the Phoenix, for not protecting her husband better. She was angry after James, for leaving her alone. He should have had his wand on him that night. And she was angry at herself. She should have had her wand on her as well on that night. She should have been able to defend herself, to defend her husband and her son, instead of begging on her knees to the most evil man in the world.
But this anger didn't manifest under the shape of shouts or screams or violence. It manifested in tears and cries. She remained like that, sitting in her bed, alone, head down, arms crossed over it, tears emptying her body of all the water she got. A few minutes or a few hours, she didn't know for how long she stayed like that, her body shivering, cold. She couldn't get back to sleep. She didn't want to sleep and see her husband die again. But remaining awake didn't seem to help either. Still, she stood awake.
Lily didn't expect they would affect her so much. Of course, she experienced that feeling of hopelessness before, when the Dementors interrupted one of Harry's Quidditch match. It had been the first time she was exposed to the powers of Dementors. And it had also been the only time she felt it, until yesterday, when she went to Azkaban. Lily was forced to go there as part of an ongoing investigation, and she had to spend most of the day on the island. She was empty when she came back home. And this visit to Azkaban caused the nightmares she just did. An entire day among the Dementors, on a deserted island filled with despair and death, got the best of her resistance. She thought she was lucky to not have visited the fortress itself, although she had to stop there in order to visit the graveyard, where she did what was necessary.
Somehow, as the first glimmers of dawn began to appear on the horizon, Lily still managed to stand up. In silence, focusing on small gestures such as filling a bowl with cereals and milk, or preparing tea, she took her breakfast, then headed down to the entrance hall of the Abandoned Tower where she Apparated.
Despite the early hours of morning, there were still quite a number of people who walked across the atrium of the Ministry of Magic. Lily took one of the lifts that led her to the floor of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, from which she headed to the Auror Headquarters. She sat in her cubicle and began to read the letters, memos, notices and reports that accumulated on her desk since yesterday evening. She seized each piece of paper, each envelope mechanically, and read them one by one, focusing on the words her eyes read to keep her mind away from dark thoughts. Despite this, she couldn't proceed all the sentences she read. It was as if words entered her mind, and her mind registered them, but she didn't understand them on the spot. They were only a succession of words organized without meaning.
As time went on, the Auror Headquarters filled with Lily's colleagues. Gen, Kingsley and Nymphadora greeted her as they arrived. Andromeda's daughter stopped by to chat like she often did.
"Hi, Lily." Though her expression turned concerned quite quickly. "Oh, are you alright?"
Lily guessed her face probably didn't give a good impression. She also noticed that her hands were slightly shaking, and laid down the notice from the Minister's office she was about to go through, again without understanding what it told.
"Yes, I'm fine," Lily replied. Her voice was hoarse. Nymphadora didn't seem convinced though, and Lily let out the word. "Azkaban."
Her friend's eyes grew wide. "Oh. I see. Never went there so far. That horrible?"
Lily nodded. "More than horrible."
Tonks' face was full of sympathy all of a sudden. "Perhaps you should take the day to rest."
"No, I can't. I've got too much going on. Important stuff to do."
Among them was to verify what they could learn from the body they exhumed yesterday. Lily noticed that a preliminary report had been sent, piled under the Minister's memo.
"A shame," the young Auror said. "Well, if you need to talk, I'm there."
"Thank you, Tonks."
"By the way, I crossed path with Miranda in the atrium. She said she had something to do. She wouldn't tell me what or why, but she wanted you to know she will be unavailable this morning."
"Okay, thanks for the message."
On that, Tonks walked away towards her own cubicle next to that of Kingsley. This wasn't the first time Savage was unavailable. She worked on lots of cases, and had many sources and informants to deal with, which often necessitated her absence from work. As a result, Lily had more or less taken the lead in the investigation for the murder of George Goldstein. It had been about one month now since the murder took place, and their only lead as to who might have committed this murder made no sense.
Lily decided to discard the message from the Minister's office and went to read the report from the examiner Healer. Somehow, her short conversation with Nymphadora set back her brain on, and she now understood the entire sentences she read. She understood them very quickly.
She froze as she looked at the preliminary findings on the body she brought from Azkaban yesterday. This didn't make any sense. She looked at the report thrice to be sure that her brain accurately registered what was written down. Lily looked around her. Then she remembered what Tonks told her, and that Miranda wouldn't be here this morning. She hid the report inside her robes, and headed for the division of forensics, in the space where autopsies were performed. There, she found a young, very slender witch with very short dark red hair who was examining a body.
"Excuse me," Lily addressed her. The young witch straightened up and looked at Lily. "Is that the body I brought yesterday?" she asked while pointing at the said body.
"Yes, it is. But as you can see, only the bones remain." An observation that was quite useless to make as Lily had them right under her eyes. "I would say that the body was buried in particularly wet and poor soil a little over ten years ago."
"I know. It is in the report I received. Is it you who signed it?" She showed the preliminary report to the young woman who seemed even younger than Tonks.
"Yes, it was me. These are only my preliminary findings. I'll need more time to complete my examination though. I'm afraid I cannot tell you more than what is in this report right now."
"This is not what I'm asking for. I just want to know… Are you sure about the gender of this body?"
"Yes, I'm sure."
"Is this really the one that is indicated here?"
The young woman took the report and looked at it more closely. "Yes."
Lily's mind reeled. This didn't make any sense. "Thank you." She quickly snatched away the report from the young Healer and headed straight towards the office of Amelia Bones.
"I need to see Madam Bones immediately," she told her assistant, out of breath, as she arrived in front of the door.
"Do you have an appointment?"
"No. But she will want to see me, believe me. Tell her this is Lily Evans. And tell her that I found the culprit."
The assistant seemed quizzical, but she went to see her boss all the same. She came back an instant later. "You can see Madam Bones."
Lily almost rushed inside the office, where the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement was waiting for her.
"Close the door," the woman ordered, and her assistant did so right away. "So, Evans," the severe woman said as she turned her attention to Lily, "what did you find?"
"You remember the body that I went to recover at Azkaban yesterday?"
"Yes, I signed the authorization myself. So?"
"We have the preliminary report of the examiner Healer. She just confirmed it to me in person. Look at the gender."
Amelia Bones took the report from Lily's hands. Her face betrayed no expression, except for a deepening frown. When she talked to Lily again after a moment, her voice was even more serious than usual. "Are we sure that this is the right body?"
"It is. I saw the grave myself," Lily assured.
Amelia Bones' expression turned even more grave. She exchanged gazes with both Lily and the report under her eyes, as if testing both of them. Then finally she stood up.
"I think it is time to make the Minister aware of our discoveries."
About two hours later, Lily was standing in the office of Cornelius Fudge with the Minister himself, Amelia Bones and Miranda Savage. Cornelius and Amelia were behind a large desk, while Lily and Miranda stayed next to the door. And they were waiting. Fudge was just informed of the secret investigation they had been conducting, and Miranda was ordered back to the Ministry immediately. Lily quickly told her what she discovered at Azkaban. Miranda had seemed much more troubled than Amelia Bones, but she maintained an appearance of calm and self-control nonetheless in this instant.
Finally, the door opened to let two men walk in. One was a man in his fifties or sixties, with short, straight, brown greying hair, and an impressive moustache. The other one was very young, and Lily knew he was only eighteen-years-old. He had all the physical particularities of the Weasley family.
"Minister, you called me," Bartemius Crouch, Head of the Department of International Magical Co-operation, said. It didn't seem like a question. Percy Weasley remained behind him, a quill and parchment at hand, obviously to take notes. He seemed excited, a state of mind he shared with no one else in this office.
"Yes, Barty," Cornelius said. "But this is a private meeting. Your assistant will have to leave."
Lily saw the excitement leave Percy's face. She decided to step up. "Percy, you've got to go," she said, firmly but kindly.
He seemed almost surprised to see Lily next to him.
"Yes, of course. I'm leaving. I wouldn't want to indispose you, Minister, and you Madam Bones. And you neither, Ms Evans. And you neither, of course, Mr Crouch."
"You may leave, Weatherby," Mr Crouch said.
Percy Weasley left, almost bowing in front of all of them. In other circumstances, Lily would have laughed, but the current situation wasn't appropriate for laughter. Once the door shut behind him, Lily noticed how Barty Crouch looked suspiciously at both her and Miranda, before setting his eyes on Cornelius and Amelia.
"Minister, may I know why my presence was requested?" he asked Cornelius.
"You would be better to sit, Barty. I'm afraid this is going to be a very long conversation," Fudge said.
The Minister's behavior was a mix of uncertainty, fear, nervousness, anger and firmness. In comparison, Amelia Bones looked very composed, but severe, like always. Her behavior was not that much different from the usual. As Bartemius Crouch sat down in front of the Minister's desk, Lily shot a glance at Miranda. She tried to conceal it, but she was agitated. Lily quickly briefed her on what they had found before the meeting. Her reaction had not been one of utter surprise and denial like that of Cornelius when he was first made aware by Lily and Amelia of their findings, but she was obviously upset. And she still was.
"Evans!" Lily almost jumped at the abrupt voice of Amelia Bones. "I think it would be better if you were to explain why we are gathered here, since you led most of the investigation."
Lily shot a glance to Miranda, who approved. This was really not how Lily expected her first major investigation as an Auror to go. But here they were, and she was determined to catch the assassin. So she stepped forward and stood on the side of the desk, Fudge and Bones to her right, Crouch to her left, their eyes on her. Lily seized the file on the desk and opened it. She hid the content from Crouch, and picked the photo of a dead man, slumped onto a couch.
"Mr Crouch, as you are probably aware, this man, George Goldstein, was found dead on August 21 in Newton Abbot, with the Dark Mark hovering over his house," Lily began to explain. "The cause of the death was a stab to the heart."
"I heard about it," Crouch replied, no emotion piercing his voice.
"Miranda Savage and I have been investigating this murder over the last month," she continued. "And as part of our investigation, we have gone over the security cameras installed near to the residence of Mr Goldstein. These devices were invented by Muggles to watch something that has already happened. And by going through the recordings, we found this."
She laid down another photo on the desk, showing a young man wearing worn off clothes, walking in a street of Newton Abbot. Lily thought that Bartemius Crouch did his best to hide it, but she didn't miss the surprised expression on his face when she first showed the picture. It only lasted an instant though.
"This image was taken about fifteen minutes before the Dark Mark appeared in the sky. And the forensic team of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement managed to match this image with the photo of this man."
This time, she almost dropped violently the file in front of Mr Crouch. The photo that was attached to the file, which was moving unlike the one that came from a Muggle camera, showed a much younger man than on the streets of Newton Abbot, but there was no doubt that these two men were the same. And the file of the prisoner clearly indicated his name. Bartemius Crouch.
The Head of the Department of International Magical Co-operation looked with a blank expression to his son's file. This was the file detailing how Bartemius Crouch Junior participated to the torture of Frank and Alice Longbottom. Supported by damning proofs, he was condemned to a life sentence in Azkaban by the Wizengamot, along with Rabastan, Rodolphus and Bellatrix Lestrange in 1981, not long after Voldemort's fall. His father was the one who carried out the sentence. His son had died in the prison one year later, and he was buried by the Dementors on the island. At least, that was the official version. And for a long moment, Bartemius Crouch Senior didn't react, staring without expression at the file in front of him, the picture of his son staring angrily at him in return. Then he slowly stood up and looked straight at Lily.
"My son is dead. And I do not appreciate that a recently appointed Auror throws him at my face like this."
The spite in the man's voice was obvious. But Lily faced far more threatening men that Bartemius Crouch in her life, and she sustained his stare. She didn't say a word though, for it was Amelia Bones who spoke next.
"Barty, we exhumed the body of your son."
At that, Crouch snapped his head towards the person who occupied the position he once held years ago.
"YOU DID WHAT!?" He was clearly furious now and made no attempt to hide it. "You had no right! How dared you? The Ministry cannot exhume a body without the authorization of the family."
"Except when the body is that of a person who was serving a life sentence in Azkaban at the moment of his or her death," Amelia stated, her voice cold as ice. "Which was the case for your son."
"You were the one to implement this law, Barty. Have you forgotten?" the Minister said. His face was contorted by anger as well, and Crouch returned it in kind.
Amelia Bones crossed her fingers in front of her and looked straight at Crouch. "Barty, the body we exhumed was not that of your son. It was the body of a woman. We haven't been able to identify her yet, but this is only a matter of time before we succeed. And when we do, we will have more than enough to build a case against you."
"A case against me?" Crouch asked, surprised, outraged. He didn't sound surprised in the sense that he didn't expect it. His surprise seemed to be more about the fact that someone might even think of pressing charges against him. However, considering the situation, he shouldn't be surprised that a criminal trial was awaiting him.
"Yes, Barty," Bones replied, still coldly. "We know that your son is still alive. You were the last person to see him alive before his supposed death. We know that he killed George Goldstein, and we know that he also killed your personal house-elf. And we know that you intervened to have the investigation on your elf's death completed quickly and so that it would conclude to an accident."
"This was a private matter," Crouch stated.
"No, it wasn't. It was a murder. The house-elf Winky was stabbed in the heart, just like George Goldstein, and you covered the murder. For now, we may not have sufficient proof, Barty, but the moment that the body we brought from Azkaban is identified, there will be no way for you to escape this. Even if the Wizengamot declares you not guilty of the charges, your reputation will not survive."
"And you will never again work for the Ministry of Magic," Fudge added.
"Now, Barty, this is your only chance to be honest with us. If you do not tell us everything that happened and how it is that your son is still alive, we will press charges against you, and there will be no way back. This is your chance to tell the truth and avoid the worst."
For a very long moment, Crouch and Bones sustained each other's gaze. Lily wondered what was going on during this silent exchange. Amelia Bones had been an assistant of Crouch while he was at the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, before he was moved to International Magical Co-operation and was replaced by Amelia on Fudge's decision. Lily wasn't sure about what Amelia Bones thought of her former boss. She worked for him for years, and she helped him on many trials, including those of Death Eaters after the war. But although their respective behavior could be seen as similar by some, Lily knew that, to the opposite of Crouch, Amelia was the very epitome of integrity in the Ministry. She never gave any cause to think that she took any decision for her own personal gain, and from Lily's short experience working at the Ministry so far, and the opinions her brother Edgar and Dumbledore had on her, Lily could tell that this woman wasn't about to give any room to Crouch. She ordered an investigation on him, after all. On the other side, Lily wondered whether or not that woman was internally tormented to possibly prosecute a colleague and former superior, like Miranda probably felt right now.
When finally Bartemius Crouch spoke, it wasn't to say something Lily expected. "If you believe that I set my son free, you are very wrong."
"Well, then who set him free?" Cornelius Fudge. "How is it that he is alive?"
"And more important, whose body is it that was buried in his stead?" Amelia Bones asked.
For a moment, Crouch didn't answer. For the first time since she met that man, Lily thought that she saw suffering on his face. Real pain. Not physical pain, but emotional pain.
"My wife." His voice was hoarse as he said it. "This is my wife's body that you exhumed."
Everyone in the room was stunned. Crouch sat down in the chair in front of Fudge's office. He looked defeated. The Minister was looking at him in confusion, then to everyone else. Miranda Savage was barely doing better. Lily herself struggled to understand. Only Amelia Bones kept her composure, and she kept looking straight at Crouch, only with some kind of a less severe look.
"Explain yourself, Barty," she asked, her voice firm, but without an edge this time.
For a long time, he didn't answer. He looked to the floor. Lily never saw that man in such a state before. But finally, he looked up straight at Amelia, with a mix of pleading and determination on his face.
"I will tell you everything you need, and do everything you want, at one condition. I want the bones of my wife to be returned so I may bury her in the place and fashion she deserves."
The Minister still looked confused. Miranda seemed to have recovered some of her mind. But Amelia Bones didn't look at anyone else than Bartemius Crouch.
"Agreed," she said after a moment. "We will return the bones of your wife once their examination is completed. Ministry's officials will make sure that you bury them. But you've got to tell us everything now, Barty, or else you're done."
Lily saw a sign of relief on Crouch's face, another expression she never witnessed in this man. He nodded, then looked straight at Amelia once more.
"I just want to make something clear. I have nothing to see with the murder of this man." He pointed the photo of George Goldstein. "And I have nothing to see with the death of my servant. I did everything I could to prevent that. This is all on my son."
"If you say so, Barty, but you need to explain how your son is still alive in the first place, despite being officially dead. And how the body of your wife ended up in his grave at Azkaban."
Amelia Bones' voice remained firm. It was clear she would accept nothing else but the truth. Lily wanted the truth as well.
"She didn't want our son to stay at Azkaban for the rest of his life," Mr Crouch explained.
"Your wife?" Amelia asked.
"Yes. She was dying. She begged me to set him free. She didn't have long to live. She asked me to set our son free. This was the last thing she wanted. So I waited for the moment when there was no longer any hope to save her, when she was about to die. And we went to Azkaban together. My son was nearing death as well. He couldn't suffer the Dementors. Once we arrived there…" He stopped. "We used Polyjuice."
It took an instant for Lily to understand. "No," she muttered. "You…"
"My wife drank some of it with my son's hair, and he drank some with hers," Crouch resumed, as if he didn't hear Lily. Perhaps he didn't hear her. She whispered so low that maybe only herself heard her own words. She was horrified by what was being revealed. "I left with him under my wife's appearance, and I brought him back home. My wife died a few days later."
A heavy silence settled in the office. Fudge broke it after a long time, disgust in his voice. "You helped… a convicted criminal to escape Azkaban… and let your wife to die there in his place?"
"Don't judge, Fudge." Crouch's tone was rude again. "You have a wife you too. This was the last thing she asked from me as she was dying. And it was her idea to end her days in Azkaban. She was suffering, sick. She didn't have long to live. She said that Azkaban would only speed up her death. I waited at the last minute to bring her there."
"And you helped a criminal escape Azkaban at the same time," Amelia said. "So I guess it was your wife that the Dementors buried under your son's name?"
"Yes," Crouch replied. "She kept taking Polyjuice until her death. The Dementors were not going to see who she was since they are blind, but the other prisoners could. So she kept our son's appearance. I organized a small ceremony with an empty coffin to bury her, and everyone believed that both she and my son were dead. In fact, I'm surprised you could identify her bones as those of a woman."
"If someone died while under the influence of Polyjuice, he keeps the appearance the potion gave him for some time," Miranda said all of a sudden. Everyone looked at her. "But the effects disappear after some time. The Polyjuice is slowly decomposed along with the body. The body would eventually have gone back to its true appearance after a few weeks."
Crouch had a defeated expression on his face again. Maybe he was faking it, but Lily truly believed he had a hard time talking about his wife's death.
"And your son, Barty?" Amelia Bones continued.
His expression hardened on the spot. "I didn't set him free. My wife asked me to get him out of Azkaban, and I agreed to do it when it was clear she would not survive and that she didn't have much time left. But as soon as my son was out of Azkaban, I made sure he couldn't hurt anybody."
Lily scoffed. "Well, you failed. Two people are dead."
Crouch stared at her. "I ensured he couldn't hurt anybody for over ten years. If you assume I was careless in handling this situation, you are very wrong."
"Then how did you manage to control your son, Barty?" Amelia Bones asked. "And how did you manage to hide his presence for all this time? Where was he?"
"At my home. I used the Imperius Curse to keep a hold on him."
Lily noticed the small gargling noise that came out from Miranda Savage, and the Minister's reaction was no better. "You used an Unforgivable Curse?" he asked, outraged.
"This was the only way to keep him in line. Look, I'm not an idiot. I honored my wife's last wish to free our son, but I wasn't going to let him wander freely, not after I knew what he did. I confined him to our home. I had him wear an Invisible Cloak all the time. And my house-elf kept an eye on him. She watched him day and night, ensuring he wouldn't get away."
"And no one ever noticed your son's presence at your house?" Amelia asked.
"Only once. Bertha Jorkins. She came to my house to make me sign some papers, and she heard my elf discussing with my son. I used a Memory Charm to make her forget about it. This was the only time it happened."
Fudge seemed even more outraged. But, unmovable, Amelia continued her questioning. "How did your son escape?"
Bartemius Crouch took a deep breath. "He somehow found a way to escape during the riots that took place at the Quidditch World Cup. I don't know how he did. Winky, my elf, was supposed to make sure he wouldn't escape. My theory is that somehow he managed to break free from the Imperius Curse I cast. I noticed from time to time that he managed to resist it, but I simply renewed the Curse to make sure he wouldn't break it. He must have found a way to break the curse, like I said. Then he stabbed Winky and walked away from the campsite. He probably kept the Invisibility Cloak, which explains why no one noticed him leaving. Anyway, few people would have recognized him after all those years. And he must have gone to a nearby town, where he assaulted that wizard and stole his wand. He didn't have one. I suppose this is the reason why he committed this murder. Then he made the Dark Mark appear and escaped farther before we could arrive on the crime scene."
"Barty," Amelia Bones began, "this is extremely grave. We have a criminal, a former Death Eater, who is free."
"I know that. You know I am no idiot, Amelia. From the moment I realized he was no longer in my tent after the riots were over, I started searching him. I called my elf, but she didn't answer my summons. Then her body was found, and I began searching him myself. I have people who are actively looking for him, a network of informants who keep me regularly updated."
"And you hid this from us?" She leaned forward. "Barty, you occupied my function before. You know very well that what you did was not only illegal, but criminal and reckless."
"This was my wife's last wish. I did everything I could to honor it, while making sure that my son wouldn't hurt anybody."
"Well, like Evans put it very crudely a moment ago, you failed. Two people are dead. And you tried to hide all of this. Helping a known criminal escape detention. Providing shelter and assistance to a known criminal. Obstruction to justice. Use of an Unforgivable Curse on multiple occasions. Interference in an investigation of the Ministry. I could even charge you with criminal negligence leading to the death of a magical being and a wizard."
"Yes, you could, Amelia." He crossed his arms, a serious expression on his face, holding Amelia's gaze. "But how can you be sure that you will get a conviction. I still have friends, both within the Wizengamot and the Ministry, including in your own department. Many people who are working for you have worked for me before, and for a longer period of time. Some owe their jobs and their positions to me. And your proofs are indirect and circumstantial at best."
"Maybe, but no one will be able to deny that your wife's bones were buried at Azkaban. Or that the grave that bears her name on your land is empty. You will have a very hard time convincing anyone that you were unaware to the fact that your wife died at Azkaban. You were the only one with the opportunity to get your son out of it. We have more than enough proof that he is alive. Circumstantial or not, the facts are against you."
"Maybe. And I don't doubt you would prosecute me, Amelia, if it only depended on you. But I know that the Minister here will not let you do so."
He moved his eyes towards Fudge, who looked almost surprised for a moment that Crouch was addressing him. He recovered his composure quite quickly though. "What do you mean? Why would I stop Amelia from accusing you?"
"Because, Cornelius…" Lily noticed how he now called Fudge by his first name. "…if all this becomes public, this will create a huge scandal for the Ministry, and you will be held accountable for my actions since I am under your authority. You will have many answers to provide to the community and the press. And don't forget that while I will be on trial, I will get the chance to present my defense, and I will not hesitate to use this opportunity to tarnish your name, Cornelius. And if I am not allowed to do so during the trial, I will make sure that the information gets to the Daily Prophet, and to any media outlet who will be interested in what I have to say and reveal."
Fudge was white as a sheet of paper. He was staring at Crouch, afraid and furious at the same time. It only took a few moments for Lily to understand what was going on here.
"Evans… Savage… Leave the office… Don't let anyone come in… And you too, Amelia."
Lily was about to protest, but Madam Bones did so first. "I'm afraid this is impossible, Minister. Considering the circumstances and the words Mr Crouch just used, I must insist to attend any discussion you might have with him from now on."
Lily could see that Fudge wasn't happy about this declaration, but under the unflinching face of Amelia Bones, he seemed to silently give up. The woman then turned to both Lily and Miranda. "Stay at the door. Don't let anyone come in. I'll recall you once you are needed."
"Madam, are you sure that…" Lily began.
"Yes, I am." Lily saw immediately that there was no place for discussion, and she reluctantly left with Miranda, closing the door behind them. Once outside, Miranda shouted at the secretary who sat in an antechamber that separated the Minister's office with those of his closest associates.
"Get out! Now!"
The small man almost ran away when confronted to the determined expression of Miranda. She then paced around the room, obviously agitated. Lily was too. She couldn't believe everything Crouch just told them. He dared to set free a Death Eater, someone who was responsible for torturing Frank and Alice to madness, and he dared to claim he wasn't responsible for what his son did afterwards, after he set him free. Lily raged inside. She wondered what was going on inside. She hoped that Amelia wouldn't allow Fudge to let Crouch go free after what he did.
"I can't believe it," Miranda said after a while. "Crouch sentenced his own son to life in Azkaban, and then he freed him?" She scoffed angrily.
"Well, without wanting to defend him, this is his son," Lily said between her teeth.
But she was definitely not attempting to defend Crouch. It was unacceptable that he released a member of his own family after the crimes he committed. She remembered Alice and Frank very well. Their son was the same age as Harry. They were in the same year at Hogwarts, their births only separated by a single day. To her, the mere idea of freeing such an abominable person, one who participated to such an act of cruelty, was appalling.
"I was part of the team who arrested him," Miranda said all of a sudden. "I, Alastor Moody and many others. We arrested Crouch's son at the same time as the Lestranges. I couldn't believe it when he revealed his identity. But he clearly participated to the torture of Frank and Alice. When we spoke to Crouch, he ensured us that he would punish his son in accordance to the law. And he did. I thought it was over, and we would never get to hear from all that again. But now… This man is free again. Who knows what he could do?"
Lily silently agreed. The escape of Wormtail last year caused trouble across all the United Kingdom. But although Wormtail was a Death Eater as much a Bartemius Crouch Junior, he had been an informant for most of the time. Apart from the dozen Muggles he killed the night James died, to escape Sirius, Wormtail never committed another murder. He was a coward who ran away and presented himself to others as someone he wasn't. He let others do the dirty work while he stayed on the sideline. But Crouch Junior was another matter. If what his father said was right, he committed two murders within a few days of getting his freedom. And before that, he willingly, and with premeditation, tortured two people until they were driven mad.
They waited for quite a long time. At some point, two Aurors whose names Lily didn't know arrived.
"The Minister is occupied right now," Miranda said as they approached.
"Madam Bones sent for us. She said we were to guard the entrance to the Minister's office," one of the two other Aurors said.
At the same moment, Amelia Bones and Cornelius Fudge came out of the office, both troubled. "Evans, Savage, come with us. Shackleton, Conolly, guard this door. No one gets out, no one gets in," Madam Bones said.
Lily and Miranda followed the Minister and their Head of Department. They had to take a lift, then go through most of the second floor until they reached Amelia's office, where the four of them settled.
"This matter… is very tricky," Fudge began to say, sitting behind Amelia's desk.
"So, what's going on?" Miranda asked. "Are we arresting Mr Crouch?"
"No, we can't!" the Minister blurted.
"He committed crimes."
"No one denies it," Amelia Bones declared. "However, our main priority remains to find and catch Bartemius Crouch Junior. Right now, he is the real threat."
"We made an agreement with Barty," Fudge continued. "He is going to help us to catch his son, and in exchange, we will not prosecute him."
"You've got to be kidding!" Lily found herself to burst at the same time as Miranda.
"This is no joke," Fudge replied, an imperative finger raised in the air. "Barty knows the whereabouts of his son better than anybody, and we will need his help to catch him. For now, as Amelia said, this is our main priority. We must catch this criminal before he kills anyone else. And none of this must leave this room. The investigation will remain secret as it has been for the last month."
"What? You will not inform the population that an assassin is wandering in the nature?" Lily asked.
"We came to this decision together," Amelia said. "Last year's experience proved that warning the whole population added limited efficiency to track Pettigrew. Crouch Junior is more likely to commit a mistake if he doesn't expect the whole world to look for him."
"This also lowers the odds of finding him."
"All we achieved last year with informing people about Pettigrew was a collective panic," Fudge said. "And with the Triwizard Tournament and the riots during the Quidditch World Cup, this is the worst time to cause another panic in the population. The search will remain confidential. Savage, Evans, I put you in charge of finding this man and to bring him back to Azkaban. Amelia, I'm counting on you to make sure it happens."
"Yes, Minister," his Head of Department said.
"Good. Then, I leave you to it."
And just like that, the Minister left Amelia Bones' office. The three women were left behind. Among them, Lily, and Miranda as well, were stunned and horrified by what they just heard. As they thought so, Amelia Bones went back to sit behind her desk.
"Madam Bones…" Lily began, but the woman she addressed raised her hand immediately.
"Look, we have to find Bartemius Crouch Junior. And his father managed to follow his whereabouts to a certain extent over the last month. It is possible that he is in Scotland right now."
"I understand why this information is valuable, Madam," Miranda then said, "but do you really think this is a good idea to leave Mr Crouch in his position, free, after everything he did?"
Amelia Bones looked bothered. "The truth is, I may not be able to convict him."
"But he released a prisoner from Azkaban and used Unforgivable Curses. He even hid it from the Ministry when his son escaped at the Quidditch World Cup," Lily pointed out.
"True, but everything we have comes from Mr Crouch," Amelia explained. "Aside from this, we have the bones of his wife buried at Azkaban, but no one who can actually testify that Barty harbored his son in his home during all these years. His house-elf is dead, and whoever else may have seen Crouch Junior in the residence had their memory wiped off. And no one can testify that Barty indeed exchanged places between his wife and his son at Azkaban. And Barty wasn't wrong when he said he still had allies in the Wizengamot. The truth is, we can only prove that his son is still alive, but not that Barty himself had a hand in this or his escape from Azkaban."
"So, we're letting him free?" Lily asked, appalled.
"No." Madam Bones looked straight at both Lily and Miranda. "We made an agreement with him. He is going to give us all the information he has on his son, and to write a confession of everything he did. In exchange, we will not prosecute him. But he will have to collaborate without condition with our efforts to find his son. And once his son is captured, he will retire from his position and never work at the Ministry again. In the meantime, all his activities and decisions will be watched closely. He will only act as Head of Department of International Magical Co-operation under strict supervision."
"How can we be sure that he will truly help us? He already dissimulated his son's escape from him for an entire month, and he hid him for over ten years before that. And if he is to retire when his son is caught, he might delay the investigation to stay longer in office."
"At the first suspicion that he is holding back information or helping his son in any way, we will prosecute him, with his confession to support the accusations. And although I agree there is a risk, it is worth it. The more time Bartemius Crouch Junior will be out and free, the more dangerous it will become for Barty. He will be under threat himself, and his career and reputation as well. He is more than enough intelligent to understand that the only chance to save his legacy and his reputation is to do everything to bring his son back to Azkaban. This is the only way forward for him. And he wants to capture his son, if only in the interest of justice. Barty may have made mistakes, but to him, his son remains a dangerous criminal, and he wants him arrested as much as we do, even if he would have preferred to bring him back under his own captivity."
"Are you sure about that?" Lily asked. "He helped his son. How can we be sure of anything he tells us?"
"I believe Madam Bones is right," Miranda said at this moment. "I'm… surprised by everything that was revealed today, but… Mr Crouch always fought dark magic, during his whole life. He sent his son to Azkaban himself. I was there when it happened. He told him that he was no longer his son."
"He still remains his son," Lily insisted. "Parents… can do anything for their children."
She thought of Harry. She couldn't imagine her son doing something like Crouch Junior did. But if he was to commit a crime… she wasn't sure what she would do then. She hoped she would never have to face such a situation.
"The risk is worth taking," Amelia Bones declared. "Anyway, the decision has already been taken. Miranda, you will treat Bartemius Crouch Senior as one of your informants from now on. You will be responsible for keeping an eye on him. I also appointed Shackleton and Conolly to assist you in this. They are trustworthy and owe nothing to Barty. Evans and you will keep searching for Crouch Junior in the meantime. The investigation remains a secret. I will inform Shackleton and Conolly of the situation and make sure they keep it a secret as well. Barty must provide you with all the information and resources from his personal network of informants and agents that you request. If you have any doubt about him, share them with me immediately. The Minister trusts us to bring back Crouch Junior to Azkaban as quickly as possible."
"If we are to keep this investigation a secret, it will take time to catch him, Madam Bones," Miranda said. "Remember how long it took to catch Pettigrew, even with the population's help."
"I know. I merely shared with you the expectations and hopes of the Minister. Just do your best to find him, and do your job well. That's the most important. Don't spare any effort or clue to find this man. Our priority is to make sure he doesn't kill anyone else."
On the latest affirmation, Lily agreed, although she was against the idea of hiding the escape of Crouch Junior to the population. People wouldn't expect him, and it would be harder to find him. However, it was clear that they wouldn't change Amelia Bones' mind about it. Lily even suspected her Head of Department was against this approach, but that it was imposed by the Minister. Lily wouldn't forget the threats Crouch made to the Minister.
"Evans." Lily reported all her attention on Amelia Bones who just addressed her. "You proved the usefulness of relying on Muggles and their technologies to find clues. I'm counting on you to exploit everything the Muggles may have to catch this criminal. Understood?"
"Yes, Madam," Lily replied.
"Good. Now, off to work. We have a fugitive to catch." She stood up. "I will participate to the interrogation of Barty with you to make sure he gives us all the information he has. I know him better than you do and there are things you could miss that I will not."
And on that, the two Aurors followed Amelia Bones to Bartemius Crouch's office. For the rest of the day, they discussed with Crouch and collected all the information they could on his information network and on his son. The conversation was sometimes harsh. Lily herself lost her patience more than once with this man, who behaved as if he did nothing wrong in the whole story. Miranda also lashed at him more than once. Only Amelia Bones remained unmoving, and Lily had to admit she managed to get more out of Crouch with this approach.
At the end of the day, Lily and Miranda were reviewing the notes they took during the interrogation, writing additional notes there and there, and highlighting further questions to ask the man tomorrow.
"What do you think Crouch could have on Fudge?" Lily asked Miranda at some point. It was clear that Crouch threatened Fudge to not be prosecuted.
The senior Auror looked at her sharply. "A lot. Crouch has been in the Ministry for a very long time. Whatever he has, it is serious enough for the Minister to not want to reveal the whole affair to the public. It is clear that Fudge is afraid of anything Crouch may reveal about him."
"What do you think it could be?"
"Anything, from revelations on favors Fudge may have given, corruption cases, or even personal scandals. Who knows? Barty may have information that Fudge has a mistress for what we know. But this is not for us to wonder about it. You heard Madam Bones. The priority is to catch Crouch Junior. The rest is secondary. We are not here to chase corrupted officials or secret lovers."
Lily would agree with the latter, but not the former. If there were corrupted officials in the Ministry, this was definitely something that concerned her. Seeing the Malfoys so close to Fudge at the Quidditch World Cup made her want to vomit. She knew how close some former Death Eaters were to Ministry now. Some even worked for him. She hated crossing their paths. However, Miranda was right about one thing, and it was that catching the Death Eater on the run was their priority. So Lily got back to work.
Lily left the Ministry after deciding with Miranda to further interrogate Crouch tomorrow. She said goodbye to Gen, who was still working, on her way out. However, once outside the Ministry, she didn't go home. She went to Hogwarts.
About an hour later, she was sitting in the Headmaster's office, and Dumbledore was looking at her with a grave expression after she told him everything about the investigation she was a part of and the fact that Bartemius Crouch Junior was still alive.
"These are troubling news, Lily," Albus Dumbledore said after she was finished. "Very troubling news. And only a handful of people at the Ministry are aware of it?"
"Cornelius Fudge, Amelia Bones, Bartemius Crouch himself, and a few Aurors, including me and Miranda Savage. Fudge refuses to reveal this information to the community. He claims that Crouch Junior will lower his guard if he believes we are not chasing him, but…"
"Sadly, Fudge has a tendency to rationalize decisions that serve his own interests. That doesn't mean he does not, or will not, take this situation very seriously. But I am glad you trusted me enough to inform me."
"Of course, I do. And considering the situation, I might need your help to find this man."
"You have it unconditionally, Lily."
"One more thing. Harry. What do we do about him? Do you think we should inform him about Crouch Junior?"
Dumbledore seemed to be thinking for a moment. "I think it is better to keep him in the dark, for now. Nothing indicates that Crouch Junior will go after Harry. And even if he does, the security measures will be considerable this year with the Triwizard Tournament, and they are better than those we had last year for Pettigrew. Anyway, considering your son's natural curiosity, Lily, I don't believe it would be the best idea to give him a reason to search about Crouch Junior himself."
She nodded reluctantly. "Could you ask Alastor to keep an eye on Harry?"
"I will. Anyway, I already asked him to do so, with Karkaroff coming in October. I don't believe Karkaroff is a Death Eater anymore, but still, we have to be cautious."
"Thank you." She hesitated before asking the next question. "Will you inform Snape of all this?"
Dumbledore didn't reply right away. "Maybe. I know that you don't appreciate him, Lily. But…"
"If you are to inform him, I'd like to tell him what's going on myself."
Dumbledore seemed surprised for a moment. But then she noticed what may have been a slight smile on his lips. "If you want to. He is in his office right now. You may go to see him right away. If you want, I can have you meet Alastor as well, and even Harry if you want to spend a few minutes with him."
"No. I'll already need a lot of time to explain everything to Snape. And it is better that Harry doesn't know I was here tonight. He would wonder why I came in the first place. Thank you."
She left Dumbledore's office and headed towards the dungeons. On her way though, she fell upon Minerva McGonagall in a corridor of the first floor.
"Lily. I heard you were visiting Dumbledore. Is there a problem?" her former teacher asked her.
"No. Everything is fine. I just needed to talk to him about something important. He might talk to you about this later," Lily answered.
"Oh. I see." McGonagall was not bothered to not be told the whole truth. She and Lily were both once part of the Order of the Phoenix, and they knew that Dumbledore had to keep some information for himself.
"But, while you're here, tell me. How is Harry?"
"Oh, pretty well, I would say. I believe he's not happy with the heavy load of homework he's got so far this year, but this is the same for all students. We must prepare them for their O.W.L.s after all." Lily nodded. She remembered only too well when she went through her own O.W.L.s. Although N.E.W.T.s proved to be even worse, to her great surprise at the time, since the seventeen-years-old young woman she was at the time never thought something could be even worse than O.W.L.s. "But everything is fine, really. I think he regrets the Quidditch season was cancelled. So do I. But the Triwizard Tournament will require too many resources and time. I understand why Dumbledore cancelled Quidditch." Lily agreed. She could already imagine how James would have reacted if Quidditch had been cancelled. She smiled at the image. "Everyone is quite excited, I must say. I know that the events at the Quidditch World Cup were concerning, but I have a feeling this year is going to go well."
Lily wasn't sure her former professor would say the same if she knew about Crouch Junior, but she couldn't tell her about it. She already took a risk by telling Dumbledore, and she wouldn't tell anyone else for the time being.
Her conversation with Minerva lasted a few minutes before she headed for the dungeons again. They were as dark and menacing as always. When she arrived in front of Snape' office, she knocked at the door. And it opened on the man she was looking for. He seemed quite surprised by her presence here. He didn't say a word and looked stunned.
"We have to talk, Snape."
This seemed to bring him back to life. His face was stern again, he made a move on the side to let her in, then closed the door behind her back. His office was as dusty and dark as the last time she came.
"What do you want?" he asked her coldly.
"To tell you the truth," she replied, taking a seat.
She went on to explain everything that concerned Bartemius Crouch Junior. Although he didn't show any emotion, she could tell that Snape was listening intently, and that he was even intrigued by what she was saying.
"So," he said as she finished her story, "we have another former servant of the Dark Lord on the loose."
"Yes," she confirmed. "What do you know about him?"
A flash of expression she could not discern went through his eyes. "So you came to ask me questions to help you track him? Then I'm afraid I will be useless to you. The Dark Lord made sure we knew very few of his other servants. I never met Crouch Junior. I only learned that he was one of his servants when he was accused by the Ministry. He must have joined the ranks not long before the Dark Lord's fall. In all cases, I know nothing about him."
She sighed. She was hoping that Snape would have something to help her. "So, you have no idea where he might go? No idea of where a servant of Voldemort would go if he was free?"
She noticed him flinching when she said the name, but the movement was slight. "No idea. We could ask Pettigrew if he was still alive, but he's not. Do you have any other question?"
She thought about asking him the other thing she came for, but seeing his outright hostility, she thought better. No, this had been a very bad idea from the start. How could she even contemplate the idea of asking Severus Snape to keep an eye on Harry to protect him? Snape hated her son. It would be better to let Dumbledore deal with it.
"Dumbledore might discuss about it with you soon. I just wanted to inform you," she said instead.
"Good to know. Anything else?"
"No," she answered after a time. He didn't make any move to invite her to leave, but she stood up all the same and made it to the door. However, before opening it, she turned to him. "We're not sure what Pettigrew wanted from Harry, but you may have saved him that night. So… Thank you, Severus."
And she walked away without a look behind. She was supposed to leave Hogwarts after visiting Snape, but she went to see Alastor Moody instead. She was afraid that she might wake him up, but instead she found him well awaken, as if he was waiting for her. He welcomed her as warmly as Alastor Moody could, which meant he didn't try to throw her any curse or spell. Lily didn't tell everything to Alastor like she did for Snape, but she told him that Dumbledore might ask him to keep an even closer eye on Harry. She also told him that Dumbledore might discuss about an important danger looming over Harry if he thought it was appropriate., Moody warned her to not tell him anything Dumbledore wouldn't want her to, but he promised to keep a close eye on Harry. This was the most important, and Lily managed to sleep peacefully enough this night.
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