The scandals of the ball should have been the headlines, in the Daily Prophet, but that night after the ball, Amelia Bones had tried and failed to arrest the Minister of Magic, claiming he was an imposter.

The news hit Hogwarts pretty hard. The whispers made the Great Hall almost as grim as when the Chamber had been opened in the second year. The fact that the foreign students were now looking at Hogwarts like they had ran into a war zone on family vacation didn't help.

The Daily Prophet headlines said it all.

"Attempted Coup put down.

Minister Crouch aided by loyal members of the Auoror corps protective detail and the Lords Parkinson, Nott, Wilkes, Crabbe, Goyle, and Yaxley had been able to subdue the treasonous forces lead by Amelia Bones of the DMLE and Arthur Weasley of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts.

Director Bones and Director Weasley have been sent directly to Azkaban as Minister Crouch has declared martial law. Minister Crouch links Director Bones and Director Weasley as being muggle rights extremists, suggesting a link to the deaths of the supposed Death Eaters may well have been both a smear and assassination campaign designed to undercut the Minister of Magic's support in the wizagamot."

Neville Longbottom had grabbed Susan Bones and marched her to sit beside him, and surrounded by Clan and Coven, glaring at the hall as if to dare anyone to dare to make an issue of it.

Equally surprising, Milicent Bulstrode stalked from the Slytherin table to force Fred and George to make room as she sat between them. Luna Lovegood breezed by the Slytherin table, taking Draco's hand as with a resigned sigh, he traipsed across the Great Hall to sit between Percy and Ginny Weasley, willing to risk life and political career to show his support for coven and clan, but unwilling to have Ron Weasley and food within six feet or sight as he ate.

Harry whispered to Susan Bones as she looked about ready to cry.

"Azkaban is the safest place for your Aunt. She won't be there long." Harry said, and looked her right in the eye so she could read his seriousness.

On the Gryffindor table, Fred and George began a spirited discussion about whether or not their father rated high enough to get Bellatrix old room.

Draco objected, saying that clearly Amelia Bones would get Bellatrix old room. Arthur Weasley would at best get Sirius old room.

Lee Jordan started the betting pool, and Blaze Zabini drifted over from the Slytherin table with galleons in hand and a smirk on his face. The Gryffindor Quidditch team which had been preparing to riot in the Weasley defense now found themselves torn about arguing that Arthur Weasly was indeed an arch traitor and rated at least one of the LeStrange brothers room if not Bellatrix was being supportive or not.

Hermione put ten gold on Arthur getting Sirius old room stating that blood supremacy would always make the higher titled Lady Bones the greater threat.

Draco put ten gold on Arthur Weasley getting Bellatrix old rooms, stating that rabid republicans are the greatest threat to public order, and Weasley was virtually a muggle loving communist.

Ravenclaws watched the development with horror, Hufflepuff with concern, the Durmstrang students looked on in curiosity. Fleur Delacour strode to the Gryffindor table and her voice rang out challengingly.

"Twenty galleons on Arthur Weasley. Vive la revolution!" Fleur shouted. This started a run of Beauxbaton students putting their money on Arthur Weasley, now clearly in their mind a lost ginger child of the French Revolution, brutally oppressed by the British aristocracy.

In response, the Slytherins who were the most avid blood purity adherents had to put their money on Amelia Bones, just to prove that purebloods were obviously better revolutionaries than muggle loving republicans.

By the end of Breakfast, Fred and George were selling buttons showing Belatarix Lestrange on one half and either Amelia Bones or Arthur Weasley on the other.

In that way that Hogwarts students have of defying reality, the ultimate question about was the Minister of Magic resisting arrest or was Amelia Bones launching a coup was utterly ignored by the Hogwarts students in favour of the serious argument, and divisive issue of who got Bellatrix LeStrange old cell?

Team Weasley and Team Bones buttons were soon the most confiscated item by both Delores Umbridge and Argus Filch, but since Fred and George knew the secret passage into Filches office, they could just steal back the confiscated buttons to both keep production costs down and profits high as they managed to sell the same button four or five times a day to the same customer.

The fate of wizarding Britain and the world was left almost ignored, until students were dragged from third period to go witness the Third Task of the Triwizard Tournament.

Rita Skeeter, ever the provocateer took the chance to shout a question at the champions as they were lead down to the maze for the official start of the challenge.

"Triwizard champions, Daily Prophet readers want to know, the entire world wants to know, who do you think got Bellatrix LeStrange cell as most dangerous prisoner in all of Wizarding Britain!"

Cedric Diggory stopped, looked up at Rita and smiled. "Amelia Bones is a woman who has made it to the top of the DMLE, the most male dominated arm of the British Government. A woman capable of overcoming centuries of patriarchal prejudice to become the head of all magical law enformcement is not going to play second fiddle in a revolution. She clearly belongs in Bellatrix cell."

Fleur Delacour sniffed. "Arthur Weasley has blood as pure as anyone else's, yet he eschews the false nobility of the British pureblood society and defends the muggleborn. He is the last great British revolutionary, and clearly the only right wise occupant of Bellatrix cell.

Victor Krum shook his head. "I have heard the rumours. This Arthur Weasley is a Cassanova, a seducer of women. He is a threat to all marriages. I have no doubt that he seduced this poor Amelia Bones as just another conquest and led her into revolt. Arthur Weasley should be in Bellatrix cell, and count yourself lucky Dementors have no women."

Harry Potter smiled at Rita Skeeter and said confidently. "Amelia Bones is Hufflepuff through and through. If she saw a job that needed doing, she would set about doing it herself. If the Minister of Magic became the threat to wizarding Britain, without a doubt she would act. If they haven't got her in Bellatrix old cell, she has probably already escaped."

Dumbledore finally ran out of patience and cast a mufflato on Rita, not letting her questions be heard, as he chased his champions away from distraction and towards the last event.

"Champions, for the last event, the event everyone has been waiting for, and indeed the event that required the cancellation of our beloved Quidditch season this year, the Champion's Maze.

Behind me is a maze grown from some of the more interesting and sometimes dangerous plants of Wizarding Britain. Inside are beasts that will challenge mind and might, beasts that may be tricked, bypassed or fought depending on the best magics of the wizard or witch facing them, but each of these magical beasts is rated as a wizard killer in any bestiary.

Each champion will enter the maze through the same entrance, based on the total score to this point. Once inside, they are free to engage each other, because in the end, there can be only one Tri-Wizard champion!" Shouted Dumbledore.

Harry cast a quick Sonorus on himself and added.

"Of course this is the same rule that said there would be only three of us, and no one under the age of seventeen, also no one who did not volunteer, so you can pretty much assume that rule and all rules about our alleged safety are in fact Hippogriff shit." Harry boomed out, and the Hogwarts students cheered, clapped, and stomped their feet so loud some first years were bounced into the air.

Delores Umbridge jumped up and shouted. "Twenty point penalty to Mr Potter. You will enter last."

Cedric turned to Krum and whispered. "Enter crazy maze of death that is most definitely a trap set by Voldemort last, how is this a penalty?"

Krum sighed, then shouted to Umbridge. "Can I get a penalty too? An hour or so would be good."

Umbridge became almost incoherent, mouth gaping open like a freshly caught carp, but no penalty was assessed Krum for his outburst.

Fleur flicked her hair over one shoulder and patted both boys on the shoulder as she passed.

"Men are such babies. I will go and check for anything dangerous for you. if you find my corpse on the path, assume I found it." Fleur said and strode into the maze.

Harry laughed. "I like her. Good catch Victor."

Cedric chuckled, then patted Victor on the back and took his turn entering the maze. "If you happen to pass me dead in the maze someplace, don't get cocky. I am still better looking than either of you."

Victor sighed. "I am not good with epic lines."

Harry patted the larger Bulgarian on the shoulder. "I will lie my ass off and tell them yours was best."

Victor looked like that comment lifted the weight of the world off his shoulders and he marched into the maze, and towards his probable death.

Harry mused to himself as he waited for the green glowing bar in front of him to fade an allow him to enter the maze. "You know, it is entirely possible too much exposure to the press rots your brain. We are legitimately more concerned with being remembered for a good last line than actually surviving. Noodle is going to stop talking to me for weeks when he sees this."

The green bar in front of him fading, the clock of the test administrators judging his penalty time was up and he could enter the maze. The Ministry's attempt to make him a hero, the Fairy Court's attempt to have a moment of amusement by random terror and death, Voldemort's need for Harry for his resurrection, presumably alive if not necessarily intact, and the need to keep three friends alive in a challenge the Ministry and Voldemort both had no interest in them surviving left Harry under a bit of time pressure.

- In the Maze Fleur

"$ Serpensorcia $" Fleur hissed again and again as she slashed her wand up and down in the strange sinuous wand movement of the snake summoning charm. Since being marked by the runes of Harry Potter's clan and coven, Fleur had become a parselmouth. More intriguing, this was not a gift that was bound in the runes, but one the runes wrote on her flesh, her magic, and her soul. Fleur's daughters (her bloodline was strong, there would be only daughters) would be parselmouths.

The magic was not universally useful, but where it worked, it worked miracles. The serpent summoning spell was perhaps one of its most expected strong points. As Fleur summoned serpent after serpent until her magic was half depleted, she instructed her creations.

"$ Go and seek Death Eaters. Shadow them. Surround them. If they are isolated and you are many, then kill them. If they are not alone, wait until one of the champions face them, and then strike. $" Fleur hissed.

Her summoned snakes were unbelievably potent, had she been surrounded by so many magically enhanced serpents even a week ago, she would have feared for her life. Now she felt like a mother goose with a flock of little goslings to look after. Instead of seeds and grain, she would feed them Death Eaters. They were adorable, and if any of them were lost, she would be sad. Normally summoned snakes were almost brainless conjurations. Parselmouth use of Seprensorcia drew actual living snakes, intelligent snakes who heard and chose to follow the speaker's summons. That made them a lot more dangerous.

"$ Shining Maiden is wise. We will seek your prey, and strike only when unseen or when you and yours are in need. $" The snakes slithered off, gratified they served a speaker who cared for their lives. They would die for a true speaker of course, but it was always preferable to kill for them. They were reptiles, not idiots.

Fleur spotted the false tentacular blue blossoms on the wall ahead. She frowned, then stopped and let her eyes change shape, drawing upon the eagle eyes that were part of her avian heritage. There it was. Mixed with the false tentacular vines with their blue blossoms were some with unformed buds, buds that would not flower for months yet. A venomous tentacular.

Fleur remembered hanging bound upside down in Neville's maze when a venomous tentacular had ambushed her from amongst his false brethren. While the world like to think Fleur Delacour was a beautiful and fragile maiden, Fleur had zero interest and a fair amount of outright rage built up towards the fate and image the world offered for the girl who was widely renowned for being the great beauty of her generation. Fleur was no maiden in distress, she was beautiful the way a perfectly forged sword was, or the way a lightning bolt was as it shone against the drab night sky. That and she had a bit of a vengeful streak.

"Venenum papiliones!" Fleur said, making the shape of two triangles with points touching with her wand, a shape that looked like a drawn butterfly as its magic hung in the air in cyan splendor that turned into hundreds of poison butterflies.

Descending on the venomous tentacular, the butterflies began to eat and lay eggs that spawned hungry tent caterpillars that fed on the magical poison of the dangerous venomous tentacular to multiply endlessly.

Fleur sank to the ground in a maidenly kneeling posture, and focused on her breathing. The spell was draining her energy almost faster than she could draw upon it, but as long as she held it, the butterflies would continue to divide, then move forward into the maze seeking out any venomous magical plants to devastate with tent caterpillar infestations, neutralizing and identifying the most dangerous class of plant predators in the maze.

"Morgana sweaty boobs but I am tired. I am going to rest, let some of the boys do some work." Fleur said letting her spell endure as long as she had minimal reserves of strength, but daring to move no further into the maze alone.

-In the Maze Cedric

"$ Serpensorcia $" Cedric hissed again and again as he conjured an army of deadly magical serpents, each able to bring down a wizard or strong magical beast in a single bite. Of course that meant creating two dozen and setting them free to murder Death Eaters was the logical response, if you were a goblin.

"$ Who here would like to roam ahead and look for tasty tasty Death Eaters? If you do, and you can find one alone, surround them and kill them to your hearts content. If they are not alone, wait until I or one of the other champions is there to help, and then bite the Death Eater. If you don't feel confident hunting Death Eaters, then you can stay with me. $" Cedric hissed softly.

Two snakes stayed with him. " $ Gentle One, this maze worries me. The walls are watching. $" said the first snake.

"$ I don't like to bite things I can't eat. I like biting, but biting and not eating just makes you more hungry. $" The second snake hissed.

Cedric reached down and stroked both snakes. "$ I shall call you Rabbit. $" Cedric said, stroking the worried snake, "$ And I shall call you Piglet $"

Cedric turned to the maze and smiled at his snakes. "$ We shall go through this hundred acre woods having adventures and meeting friends. $" The Hufflepuff asserted cheerfully.

Rabbit looked up at him in awe. "$ Gentle One, what will we do if we meet not friends? $"

Cedric winced. "$ A certain amount of violence and dying are probably going to happen, most assuredly to the not friends. $"

Piglet bobbed his head. " $ Gentle One is wise. Not friends can swiftly become edibles if they aren't polite. $"

Cedric passed a plant that was encased in white webs and crawling with caterpillers, it thrashed softly, but it was bound too tightly to move. It seemed to be a venomous tentacular. Well, probably Fleur happened to it. Held a bit of a grudge that girl did.

Coming to the next corner, Cedric heard a hiss from one of the snakes sent ahead. "$ Giant riddle cat is around next corner. I have called for others. $"

The Egyptian Asp that was Rabbit hissed irritatedly. "$ The riddle cats love to hide in the pyramids and make wizards answer silly riddles or they eat them. It makes no sense to eat only the stupid. Then again, if they ate smarter prey, they would have learned striking from ambush is better than attacking after you have marked your prey's pop quiz. $"

Cedric had time to be worried, he was pants at riddles. I mean, if he was Ravenclaw he would keep a sleeping bag in the closest classroom for all the nights he couldn't pass the riddle asking doorway. This was really more Harry's thing.

Got to think like Harry.

Walking around the corner he faced the sphinx who drew itself up with the dignity of a hugely powerful magical beast facing an underage wizard alone.

Cedric held up a hand. "Hold that thought."

In parseltongue, he hissed. "$ Everyone around the riddle cat show yourself and say hello. $"

About a dozen serpents slithered from the maze, before, beside, behind the sphinx. Rabbit and Piglet rose up and hissed as well. Cedric then strode towards the Sphinx and spoke gently.

"I have a riddle for thee, wise and mighty sphinx." Cedric offered.

This was not actually how the sphinx liked to play this game, but there were a lot of snakes around it, and each of them was a powerful magical beast that could harm the sphinx.

"What is your riddle?" Asked the sphinx cautiously.

Cedric looked thoughtful, stroking his clean shaven and strongly squared chin. "Will the sphinx that lets me pass, or the sphinx that attempts to stop me, live to leave the maze?" Cedric asked.

The sphinx blinked, not quite believing the wizard dared to threaten it. Then again, the riddle did draw deeply on the sphinx magic. It was the contract. Riddle and death, that the sphinx clearly felt its death not its prey was what was bound in the riddle only proved it was a true riddle.

"The sphinx that lets you pass shall live!" The sphinx stated proudly. After a short moment of thought it continued. "Please, pass freely."

Cedric nodded, "You are correct, oh wise and mighty sphinx." Cedric bowed to the proud beast as he passed, if the snakes were hissing laughter, both Cedric and the sphinx chose to ignore it.

-In the Maze Victor

Victor Krum entered the maze, he knew he was to die here. He accepted it. That was the way he entered every battle. He accepted that he was a dead man, and got on about making sure his enemies died first.

He cast "$ Serpensorcia $" until half his magic reserves were gone, then addressed the army of little killers around him.

"$ Find the Death Eaters in the maze, they must always be within range of your fangs. When they see a champion, any champion, kill the Death Eaters. $"

The snakes all looked at him, then nodded, and slithered away. Victor had been raised almost without human contact. His mother being a muggle was the secret his world could never learn, so his home differed from a maximum security prison only in that the guard loved him and his mother unreservedly. Victor had grown up hunting, and learning the ways of the forest and its creatures before he ever met other children. He was good at the ways of the forest. Territory was respected unless you intended to kill its owner. You avoided other predators, unless you planned on stealing their kills, because fighting was only done for direct profit. Dealing with people was complicated. They looked down on the beasts, while acting in ways no animal would lower itself to. Victor found he could respect almost none of them. Then he met Harry and his clan and coven, then he met the other champions. These were people who were strong, who were exactly what they seemed to be. They gave their loyalty rarely, but utterly, and held no false imaginary rules. They defended what was theirs, who was theirs, and hell take any who stood against them. No other law restricted them.

Victor trusted for the first time, and as his animal was a wolf, finding his pack made him very very dangerous.

Gathering his magic, Victor began the complex transfigurations to make a golem, then to shape it into his form. He used the magics often used to make portraits to borrow his mannerisms and reactions for the automaton, then sent it ahead into the maze.

With the last of his magics, Victor took on his other form. The lean hungry mountain wolf stalked into the maze. He was supposed to die here. Inside the maze were the witches and wizards who thought to make him prey to be hunted. Time to go meet them. He growled. His automaton had his shape, his movement, but it still lacked his scent. His transfiguration was still not where he wanted.

Oh well, he could work on it after the killing was done.

His golem construct had rounded the third corner when he heard two spells lash out at it simultaneously. "Imperius" "Crucio!"

It was a dangerous combination. The Crucio would drive you out of your mind in pain, while submitting to the Imperius would stop you feeling the pain. Instinctively, driven beyond coherent thought, it would be almost impossible to resist. That is, if you didn't waste them on animated rock.

Victor's golem stood stupidly, not having a reflexive response to this ambush, but the Death Eater who cast the Imperius was lost in the control of his spell and didn't note the horned viper until it sank its fangs into his leg. The scream of the first Death Eater distracted the wizard who had cast the torture curse, and he whirled to face his friend.

Victor hit him at the run, knocking him to the ground making sure the man's head struck hard enough to stun. Victor closed his jaws around the second Death Eater's throat, and ripped a mouth ful out. The Death Eater could no longer speak to cast spells, and without a carotid, lacked the blood to cast anything by will alone as his brain faded into darkness. Well, he had eaten death as his name suggested was his goal. Victor spat out the throat bit in his mouth, dropping it below the snake that had killed the first writhing Death Eater that had taken a second bite on the hand for attempting to consume a potion in a futile attempt to save, her, for it smelled like a witch as it died, life.

Victor would leave the snake a swallowable chunk of death eater throat. The little viper had earned it. The Victor Golem, free of torture curse and control curse, began to stride boldly down the maze, ready to set off the next ambush.

-In the Maze Harry

"$ Serpensorcia $" Harry chatted happily as he jogged through the maze, casting snakes before him at every corner.

" $ Speaker, slow down. How are we to defend you if you keep running so fast! $" An angry cobra hissed after Harry.

"$ Idiot town dweller, go throught he hedges like a real snake. $" A black mamba said darting under the maze and after its prey.

Harry called out to his snakes. "$ Everybody go find a Death Eater and kill it. Don't strike unless you have them outnumbered or they are distracted facing one of the champions. Some of the plants are hungry, but if you get eaten don't come crying to me. $" Harry called out, causing the summoned snakes to hiss in laughter. Sympathy was not actually translatable into parseltongue. Reptiles do not work that way.

Harry had been under Hermione's care for weeks. The muggle born witch had paid a lot more attention in school than was healthy, and had a knowledge of organic chemistry that would concern national muggle authorities if they knew, or magical authorities if they had any idea how dangerous advanced materials science was when added to a potent witch or wizard.

Moody and Sirius had beaten into Harry that wizard to wizard he could not beat Voldemort. Of course, Harry wasn't just a wizard, he was a gobin. Goblin's had no morality in warfare other than losing sucks, so don't do it. Harry's Potter bloodline had a gift for transfiguration that was legendary, his families historical battle prowess had been based on transfiguration rather than curses or elemental effects. Harry had that transfiguration talent, and a total mastery of air (along with a real affinity for lightning). This had made him Hermione's bitch for weeks as she taught him to apply wizard transfiguration and muggle organic chemistry into new and alarming ways.

She kept talking to him about all the reasons (which he could not follow and suspected were probably made looking at the relavent law from very Hermione and unique angles) his new magics were not violations of the Treaties against weapons of mass destruction, the Biological and Chemical Weapons Convention, the Anti-Personnel Landmine Convention, the Convention on Cluster Munitions, and a few other rules muggles made up that amounted to 'whatever we used to win the last war was bad, so don't you use it against us'.

When she got done talking herself around the fact that she was teaching Harry Potter, goblin about town, how to violate every muggle warfare convention, she got around to teaching Harry some truly wonderful things. Wizards had the fundamental power to reshape matter and bend energy to their will, but they largely never bothered to learn how reality actually worked. Science was optional for them, so like a difficult elective, they dropped it several centuries ago.

Several interesting centuries for science, for goblins, and for one particularly gifted goblin wizard saviour of the world and boy who intended to keep on living, Harry Potter. Advancing around the corner to find a blast end skrewt roughly the size of a rhino, Harry Potter decided to test drive Hermione Grangers first battle transfiguration meets organic chemistry.

Air is mostly nitrogen, with a lot of carbon dioxide and a fair bit of oxygen. Normally Harry was content to let them do their own thing, but facing a blast end skrewt that was almost as immune to direct magical attack as a dragon, about as immune to physical attack as the same dragon, armoured like a muggle tank, with an explosive ass, the more objectionable features of lobster and scorpion, Harry decided to work that old Potter magic on Hermione's organic chemistry lesson.

Harry used remarkably little magical power to turn the air around the Blast End Skrewt into Acetone Peroxide, known to the weapons industry of muggles as APEX and to chemists as the Mother of Satan due to its desire to blow up at the slightest application of force, heat, light or just a negative thought.

The Blast End Skrewt saw Harry almost fifty meters away, and triggered a blast from its back end to launch it forward into an attack. What followed was the wizarding world's introduction into the Fuel-air-bomb. About a dozen meters of magically strengthened maze in every direction ceased to exist. For about fifty meters what was left was flattened. There was no sign of a Blast End Skrewt and Harry found himself imbedded in the hedge two rows back wondering where the bells were that were ringing so very loudly.

"Mental note, protego not protego enough when using APEX under a hundred meters." Harry cheered, as he gave a thumbs up, knowing the mirrors watching the challenge will have seen him blow up a decent portion of the maze and Hagrid's strongest magical beast.

Hermione was probably going to make him go over yield numbers, and try to correlate how much air he transfigured to the explosion size and give him another chart. Since the last one had axis of "kill them" and "stay alive", Harry was actually fairly pro chart right now.

- Crouch Manor

Lucius no longer Malfoy watched the Potter brat wave his wand and blow up a Blast End Skrewt and a decent portion of the maze as if it was nothing. His Dark Lord at full power could do the same, but he would not be at full power until the used the Potter boy for his resurrection. Harry Potter was a child. HOW DID HE HAVE SUCH MAGIC?

Lucius trembled in fear. Everything was going wrong. Half the Death Eaters in the maze were already dead and none of the champions were down yet. Worse, Harry Potter was showing himself the equal to the Dark Lord's own power already!

Voldemort, instead of reacting in fear, leaned forward.

"Good, good. Dumbledore has clearly stopped playing his foolish morality games and turned you into his little killer. He has taught you all the forbidden things he refused to teach me, the things that would have let him help Grindelwald reshape the world with, until he lost his nerve over a single death.

Let all of Wizarding Britain see your power, Harry Potter, and know they could not possibly equal you. When I take your blood for my own, forge my new body from it, and then break you before their very eyes, they will look upon your body and despair!"

Voldemort's laugh was almost a whisper, his homonconus body was so weak, but the cauldron with his resurrection potion only needed the blood of an enemy taken by force to be complete.

Soon he would rise, and Wizarding Britain would fall.

"Enjoy your momentary triumph Harry Potter, for your every glory will be one more trumpet for the world's doom when I cut you down!"

-In the Ministry of Magic

Barty Crouch Junior had enough polyjuice left for three days, three days and he could no longer impersonate his father the Minister of Magic. His father was now so much a tree that he had no hair and no new samples could be made.

Barty watched with frustrated rage as the champions were clearly working together to clear the maze. Not doing so openly to trigger the anti-cheating charms on the Goblet of Fire, but fairy magic was terribly specific. If a champion healed another champion, shielded another champion, revived another champion, they would have broken their contract.

Simply murdering anyone in the maze who was not a champion had not been forbidden, because according to the rules, only magical beasts, plants, and mechanical or spell traps were to be allowed in the third challenge.

Barty hated it when other people cheated. Barty cheated to win, it was NO FAIR when other people out cheated him. He drew his wand to begin shattering things, but then had to scream internally as the powerful bindings Voldemort had put on him triggered.

Barty was not allowed to lose control. Barty had been punished very hard for drawing enough suspicion it caused the DMLE head and her allied to try to arrest him. If not for previous Death Eater led infiltration of the DMLE, it might even have worked.

Now Barty was a virtual prisoner in his own office. He had to sit and watch as Harry Potter destroyed all his carefully laid plans to kill the other champion in the maze, and delivered a bleeding and exhausted Harry Potter like a sacrificial lamb to his Dark Lord for slaughter.

It had to be now. The Dark Lord had to take Harry Potter in the third challenge, and the Dark Lord had to move on the Ministry now, while Barty had the chance to shut down the Ministry Wards, and use his authority to order a surrender. Between his subverrted officials, and the Imperiused secrity detail, with Amelia's loyalists purged after the attempted coup, Bart had enough leverage to make it impossible to hold against a reborn Dark Lord and his remaining Death Eaters.

For three days. Then his potion ran out, and he was visibly a supposedly dead Death Eater in the heart of the MInistry of Magic, where a dozen alarms would sound the second he was revealed, and their rather more successful coup would be exposed.

One throw of the dice, the Dark Lord to win or lose it all, if they only took the blood of the Boy Who Lived before Barty Crouch Junior ran out of potion to pretend to be dear old legally elected daddy.

Harry Potter blew up a Blast End Skrewt, and Bart almost swallowed his tongue. No bombarda maxima he could cast was that powerful, and the Potter brat didn't even chant bombarda at all. He was going to ruin everything.

Barty reached out for his wand to blow up his desk, and Voldemort's mental compulsions dropped Barty to his knees in pain as they took the price of disobedience out of the insane Death Eater. The Dark Lord had a plan, and Barty was not allowed any temper tantrums until it was finished.