Unexpected Animagus, Part 7

Hierarchical Structure of the British Changeling's Circle

Please Read and Review. I'd like to know what I'm doing right (to keep doing it), and what I am doing wrong (to correct it).

Hogwarts
DADA Teacher's Rooms
12:45 PM

Working from Sirius' instructions, Hermione had enlarged Harry's mirror to the size of a modest Telly set, making it easier for everybody to see the other party without crowding around the mirror.

At the Puckle Farm, Sirius Black, along with Dan and Emma Granger, while at Hogwarts, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody.

They were discussing the latest developments.

Moody set the tone for the meeting, by stamping his staff on the floor; the sudden noise startled Harry and Hermione, almost making them jump in their seats.

"We are all here to plan. We have an opportunity to finally ending the threat Voldemort and his Death Eaters represent, not only to Magical Britain, but also the Muggle side of the country; but we must decide how to take advantage of having a captured Death Eater in our hands. One who won't be missed by no one except his co-conspirator, Peter Pettigrew, and of course, Voldemort."

"Riddle." Harry said. "Voldemort's real name is Tom Marvolo Riddle. He made an anagram of his name to convert it to 'I AM LORD VOLDEMORT'."

Moody glanced at him, "A nom de guerre, uh? No wonder we never found anything about him in file. How did you get that interesting piece of information?"

"He told me himself. He put a part of his soul in a diary. Lucius Malfoy planted it in a student, aiming to cause chaos, kill muggleborns and half-bloods, discredit Dumbledore, and get revenge on the family of the student. His shade gloated about his imminent victory and told me about the anagram before I destroyed the diary. And him with it."

Moody's face paled, "A Diary? After we wrap this meeting you must tell me everything about it, in excruciating detail. It must connect with how and why his wraith has been anchored to this world. You told Dumbledore about this?"

"I told him everything and gave him the diary."

"Damn fool must be going senile if he has kept this secret. He should have consulted a curse-breaker at the very least." Moody shook his head. "Anyway, right now we must focus on the reason for this meeting. But before we begin, Black!"

Sirius almost stood in attention as Moody barked his name. "Here!"

"I owe you an apology, after it was announced that you had been sent to Azkaban, I should have dug into it. That kid Logan, the one who rescued me…" he almost choked the words, "confirmed that you are innocent, and I saw Pettigrew with my own eyes."

"Don't you mean, you know…" Sirius waved vaguely his hand in front of his face.

"Paid in its entirety, it is my eye in full." Moody smirked at Sirius' face. Not every day he had the chance to outpun the Black scion. Satisfied at his facial expresión, half admiration and half annoyance, he paced in front of the mirror, ordering his thoughts. The twin thunks of his staff and his wooden leg punctuated his steps.

"In order, I was captured by two Death Eaters, stuffed in my own trunk, and kept alive as a living ingredient for Polyjuice potion." He looked at the Grangers, "A potion that allows the imbiber to look exactly as another, specific, individual." Hermione's parents nodded their understanding, Moody continued.

"Both men are supposedly dead, one murdered by our own Sirius Black, along with thirteen Muggles, after betraying the Potter family to Voldemort, or Riddle. The other was caught red-handed, along with three accomplices, in the act of torturing two prominent members of Magical Britain, Frank and Alice Longbottom."

Harry and Hermione gasped and exchanged a very significan look. Harry spoke, "Neville Longbottom's parents? They killed them too?" He and Hermione already knew about that, but had decided to pretend ignorance.

"That would have been a kindness. No, they tortured them into insanity. Subjected them repeatedly to the Cruciatus, a curse that causes incredible pain to the victims. Their minds broke." He finished, with a mixture of anger and sadness. "We arrived too late for them, but at least their son was spared the torture, one of them managed to hide him in a cupboard. I think they stunned him lightly, to keep him from betraying his hiding place. The Longbottoms knew they couldn't flee, so they did the only thing they could to save their child."

"We caught those bastards by surprise, The two Lestrange brothers, Rabastan and Rodolphus, Rodolphus' wife, Bellatrix;" hearing this, Sirius clenched his fists, but kept silent after Dan Granger's supportive squeeze on the shoulder, Moody's real eye glinted, "and Barthemius Crouch Junior. The guy Logan caught in the process of rescuing me. While the Lestranges are metaphorically rotting at Azkaban, Junior was reported doing the same literally; but actually, was rescued by his father and kept at their home, under the Imperius, a curse designed to make the recipient a willing slave to the caster. This we know after a lengthy interrogation of Junior, last night."

Sirius chewed his anger, "I'm gonna throw that bitch out of the family."

"Try to throw her out of a window too, Black. Defenestration is quite definitive." The Auror snarled. "I'd like to do the same to Junior, a nice fall of seven stories high and no more Junior."

Emma Granger commented acidly, "Muggle buildings can be much higher than that, I'd gladly help." Her eyes were impossibly hard. Dan nodded emphatically, adding "Me too. Make it look like an accident even."

"Maybe later." Moody nodded, "Right now, we have a big problem. Pettigrew and Junior are conspiring to restore Voldemort. From what I can deduct, Riddle enacted a ritual that split his soul in at least three parts, and as long as even a single piece of his soul exists, he cannot die as he should. Currently, he is possessing the body of either a homunculus created by really foul magic, or possessing the body of a…" he stopped himself.

Hermione squeaked, "We can imagine." Her face looked a bit greenish at the thought.

Several seconds of heavy silence followed.

Moody cleared his throat. "One more crime worthy of execution by the Veil." This time he didn't clarify things for the Grangers. "Riddle plans to use Harry as a catalyst for his restoration, his plan involves the Tri-Wizards Tournament. And it is already in motion. Harry's name has already been submitted into the Goblet of Fire, under a fictitious school. The Goblet has been tampered with to accept four competitors. There is no way to recover Harry's parchment from the goblet, and as the only competitor of that school, he will be selected automatically. Unfortunately, we dont know the name of that fake school, or I would unearth a parchment with Riddle's name and turn the tables on him. Riddle is the only one to know that. The magical contract enforced by the Goblet of Fire is terribly nasty, and defying it means losing magic and maybe die. That's the current state of events. In short, Harry must participate in a deadly competition, that was dropped due to the high amount of deaths of not only participants, also from the spectators. Plus, he is also in a disadvantage, he is only fourteen years old, and the tournament is aimed at adults of at least, seventeen years. He is three years short in both age and more importantly, magical knowledge."

Harry hissed, "I just can't have a normal year, can I?"

Moody sat down on the edge of the desk. "Mope later, Potter. It doesn't help and it is a damned hindrance to your continued breathing." He started to pace again, "And, to top it off, I can't train him or even arrange for a tutor. I accepted the post of DADA teacher, and I'm bound to continue to the best of my capability. None of the faculty members can help you directly with any training, beyond what they can impart as part of the regular clases according to the syllabus. That means none of the teachers can teach you anything beyond what you should have learned already. Not being bound by my contract, Junior could help you in the sly, Harry; but we have no way to know when he would actually sabotage you with faulty knowledge, a delayed curse or something else on Riddle's orders. The only thing we can count on is that they wanted you demoralized, fearful and weak at the time of the Third Task."

"Hah! Knowing how things work around here, you can add ostracized to the list. In Second Year, almost everybody thought I was responsible for everything that went bad, starting with Mrs. Norris' petrificación. I and thankful that nobody died, or they would have lynched me!"

Hermione rubbed Harry's back. Moody pulled at his jacket, adjusting the fit around his shoulders. "Lad, we need a long and detailed talk about everything you've been through; you too, Granger. And I mean, everything. Right now, let's focus on you two surviving this year as whole as possible." His artificial eye spun in its sockets for a moment, before settling on Hermione. "As a known associate of Potter, and incidentally, a Muggleborn, you are in the Death Eaters' list."

He turned back to the mirror, "I have some ideas, but I'd like to hear from you. I'm not at the top of my game right now, and we need to prepare. That Logan kid could be a great help, even with his… ahem, unique complexion."

Dan and Harry exchanged a look that Moody could only classify as "interesting".

It was Dan who spoke next, "Well…" he rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't know if it can be done, but… "could you turn the tables? Impersonate Junior impersonating you?" (1)

Moody inhaled sharply. "Hmm… that has merit, but I'm no actor, and Riddle is very paranoid." He snorted, "Yes, kettle, pot. Thing is, I can't fake the Dark Mark, he uses it to control his minions. I'd be found out before speaking."

Harry asked, "What about using the Imperius on Junior? Making him think things are proceeding according to plan."

"Same thing. Riddle threw Imperiuses all over town last time he was around. He and his minions can recognize the symptoms a mile away, I'm sure." Frustrated, Moody stamped his hand on the desk.

Hermione exhaled sharply. "What about making sure you can't go to him? Pettigrew is the weak link in the chain."

"He is not very smart, that's for sure." Sirius said.

"Your time in Azkaban says otherwise, Black."

Sirius deflated, "Yeah, he framed me perfectly… but, as long as things go his way, he tends to kept going with the flow. He is a follower through and through. He is a Merlin-forsaken coward. I'm sure he stays with Voldemort out of fear, not loyalty. He said so last year, when we caught him."

"You had him?"

Harry answered, "Yeah, he escaped. We couldn't convince Fudge that Sirius is innocent. Snape said we had been confounded by Sirius."

"Professor Snape." Hermione corrected automatically.

"Another Death Eater. He should be in Azkaban, but Dumbledore vouched for him." Moody snarled, his scarred face twisted in disgust.

Emma Granger scoffed, "Is he actually on our side? Because from here, it seems he is more interested in helping the bad guys than in actually stopping them."

"Mom!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Mrs. Granger, I like the way you think. Albus always keeps his secrets jealously. He has been my friend a long time. And it really, really bothers me that he either is letting Junior get into Hogwarts without realizing he is an impostor, or…"

Everybody leant forward, Moody finished, "…or he is deliberately allowing an impostor to take my place." He stamped his staff on the floor, "Constant vigilance! I insist on setting code words, security questions, mentions to past events! To ferret out impostors! And he is not enacting the protocols I, at least, would insist on using!"

Dan leaned forward, very interested, "Oh, spy stuff! I thought that was only in movies, the telly and novels!"

Moody turned towards him. "What movies and novels?" He shook his head, "No, later. Right now, we need to plan on how to proceed!"

Now it was Emma's turn, "How about having you be basically a prisoner there, I mean, at Hogwarts? More por less like house arrest."

"What?"

"Isn't there a magical whatever that restricts movement out or into a place?"

Dan followed, "Wards? Like the ones that keep us Muggles from seeing or entering magical places?"

Moody looked thoughtful. "Could work. A powerful ward to keep away a powerful wizard would cause trouble for lesser wizards. At least, it would record when and where a wizard or witch would cross the ward. Leaving tracks."

Sirius' eyes sparkled in mirth. "Would need a secret tunnel to come or go. The rat knows about the tunnel to the Shrieking Shack."

"Stop there. If Pettigrew can enter through that tunnel, then Junior could use it to leave!" Hermione observed.

"Damn! We almost got it!" It was very clear Harry was annoyed.

"But.. What if I was in charge of the ward?" The scarred Auror wondered. "If the ward was tied to me as Keeper of the Records, I couldn't leave the grounds."

"That works." Dan noted, with a grin. "Can you set such a ward? And could the students of Beauxbatons and Drumstick enter for the tournament?"

"Of course! Junior could use my notes to cast it if he had to. And it's Durmstrang, not Drumstick. But I'll keep that one in reserve if I want to rile up the other known Death Eater in Hogwarts: Karkaroff, Headmaster of Drumstrang."

The rest of the meeting was to refine the plan. By Halloween, the Security Ward would be set, using Moody's magic to anchor it. Making it impossible for him to leave Hogwarts for as long as the Ward had to stay in place.

The interesting part would be convincing Dumbledore.

Author Notes

To A Guest, Indeed, Junior has developed a resistance to Senior's Imperius, but not so much to a version cast by a much more powerful Wizard, like Moody, who also tends to add other spells to keep him unconscious. Junior can't even call for Winky! He is stunned, paralyzed, and drugged. (And kicked in the most painful place, for good measure!)

(1) This bit is a reference to how Emma Watson and Helena Bonham-Carter describe the scene where Harry and Hermione infiltrate Gringotts to get Hufflepuff's Cup. Helena pretending to be Emma , pretending to be Hermione pretending to be Bellatrix.