Hermione checked out Malfoy's book from Madam Pince and nearly ran back to Gryffindor Tower, eager to share her discovery with Harry and Ron. She found them warming themselves by the fire, hair still dripping with melting ice droplets from flying in the snow. She pulled them hurriedly to a private table in the corner, as the common room was currently full of people spending a lazy Saturday evening, some doing homework and others reading or playing games. The room itself was blanketed in a light haze of fog; Fred and George were running some sort of makeshift experiment on the other side of the room that caused a puff of smoke to emit every few minutes. Lee was recording the results.
"I've got it, Harry," Hermione said in a fervent whisper, flipping quickly to the page she needed. Harry raised his eyebrows at the title on the cover, and Ron watched curiously. Landing on the correct page, she stabbed a finger at the section for the Bubble-Head Charm and held it up so they could see.
"The Bubble-Head Charm!" Hermione exclaimed quietly. "A watertight pocket of air around your head. This will let you breathe underwater!"
Harry's eyes shone with excitement. "Hermione, this is brilliant! You're amazing!"
Ron clapped Harry on the shoulder, but smiled at Hermione. "Brilliant, she is. What would we do without her, eh Harry?"
Hermione flushed with their praise and smiled at both of them. She felt a little guilty for taking the credit, but Malfoy wouldn't thank her for revealing his efforts.
"Now, we'll have to test it, Harry," Hermione said, thinking quickly. "This book doesn't give much information other than the incantation, so I'm not certain how long the charm will hold. I suppose you could always come up to the surface and recast it if you had to… but I think your best bet would be to go back to the prefect's bathroom and make sure it works for at least a full hour. We'll need to look at a few warming charms, too, I suppose. Wouldn't want you to catch hypothermia in there."
"Cheers, Hermione," Harry said with a grin.
Monday morning, Hermione felt as if things were finally looking up. Hagrid was back to teaching, even finding a golden unicorn foal and its mother for them to study in continuation of their previous lesson. It turned out that Hagrid knew just as much about mundane magical creatures as he did about dangerous ones, and the lesson was quite fascinating — though almost anything would have beat wrestling the Skrewts again and nursing subsequent injuries.
Harry was looking much more relaxed about finally having a plan for the second task. Hermione was relieved, too; she hadn't realised how much pressure she'd been under until she wasn't investing all of her free time into helping Harry solve the dilemma of breathing underwater. She was especially grateful for Malfoy's help, and still somewhat stunned at it in the first place. In any case, she felt lighter for having things go back to normal between her and Malfoy. The new normal.
She came into Arithmancy after lunch and sat on Malfoy's left. Theo grinned at her.
"Ah, the world is right again," Theo said, sighing in mock-content.
Malfoy punched his shoulder. Hermione laughed while Theo made a show of rubbing the spot Malfoy hit.
In Ancient Runes the next afternoon, Theo asked Hermione about what had happened to mend the break between herself and Malfoy — Malfoy had been reluctant to share much more than that he apologised somehow. Probably since the results would directly help Harry, Hermione figured.
Hermione filled Theo in with the barest details, making it seem that Malfoy had, of his own accord, helped her solve an urgent issue she faced. She kept it intentionally vague, trying to respect Malfoy's wishes as much as possible. Theo still let out a low whistle.
"That's big. Draco must really consider you a friend if he went to that kind of effort," Theo said.
"Oh, I don't think we're friends, exactly. Just not enemies," Hermione replied.
"I don't know, Granger," Theo said, a considering look on his face. "Believe it or not, Draco is willing to do a lot for those he cares about. Even when we weren't getting on, he'd have been there if I needed him. He was once, too. In fact, I think I might demand a better apology myself after hearing about the one you got…" Theo smirked at her.
Hermione laughed. After a moment, she said, "Do you really think Malfoy could have changed so drastically in a matter of months?"
Theo hummed while he thought that over.
"Well," he said finally, "if there's one thing we know about Draco, it's that he likes being paid special attention. You went from hating his guts to suddenly being all interested in him. My opinion? I think that's enough for him to at least reconsider a few things." Theo began readying his materials for class and Hermione followed suit. "Whatever this is, I think it's for the better for him. So, are you going to reveal what you're on about in the first place?" he added, giving her a wink.
"Not yet," Hermione answered, smiling mysteriously as she turned forward to pay attention to the lesson just beginning.
Later in the week, Harry left just before curfew again for the prefect's bathroom to practise the Bubble-Head Charm and a thermal charm they'd determined safe enough to use during the second task. He took the Cloak and the Map, being extra cautious now that he knew Moody would be able to see him even under the Cloak. When Harry came back to the common room later smelling strongly of soap, he had both exciting and disturbing news.
"It worked! Both charms worked perfectly," Harry said, grinning at Hermione and Ron. "I spent an entire hour and then some under cold bathwater. Plenty of air to breathe and I never felt a chill."
"Harry, that's wonderful!" Hermione said, beaming at him. "And now that we've just practised Stunning Spells and Freezing Jinxes, you can begin to research what kind of creatures live in the lake that you'll be facing."
"Uh, yeah," Harry said, scratching his chin, shifting guiltily as if he hadn't thought about preparing any further. "But listen — I saw Mr. Crouch on the Map. I was checking it before leaving the bathroom this time, and the dot with his name was moving around in Moody's office. Moody was in there, too, but I thought Crouch was supposed to be sick. At least, he didn't show up to the Yule Ball, and Bagman said he's stopped going to work and wouldn't be here to judge the second task. Why d'you think Moody and Crouch are meeting in the middle of the night?"
Hermione frowned. "That is rather odd." She looked around once to make sure they were still alone. "Let's take another look at the map, maybe?"
Harry spread the Marauder's Map out on a nearby table, and Hermione and Ron came to stand on either side of him. Crookshanks wound around their ankles, leaving tufts of orange hair stuck to their robes.
"Looks like Crouch has gone," Ron said, looking at the office connected to the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom. The only dot inside was labelled 'Alastor Moody'.
"Wait… there," Harry said, pointing to the dungeons. "Crouch is there. What's he doing in the dungeons now? It's nearly midnight!"
"He's in Snape's office," Hermione commented, puzzled. "But Snape is in his quarters."
"Dad said old Crouch was obsessed with catching Dark wizards back in the days after You-Know-Who," Ron said. "I mean, Harry, you saw what happened with his elf, Winky, when she'd been found under the Dark Mark at the Cup last summer. Do you reckon he thinks Snape is up to something?"
"I don't know," Harry said slowly. "It's still a bit strange. Maybe he and Moody are investigating something together, though. Something requiring all this secrecy."
"I'll bet it has to do with whoever put your name into the Goblet," Ron said matter-of-factly. Hermione nodded agreement. It was the most plausible explanation.
"Maybe we should keep an eye on the map once in a while, Harry," Hermione suggested. "Just in case."
Harry nodded, saying he would also send a letter to Sirius.
January turned into February, and Hermione fell into an easy routine. Now that classes were in full swing, she had plenty of homework to keep her busy, and on top of that, she, Harry, and Ron still found time to hunt down an empty classroom once or twice a week and practise new spells. Outside of Arithmancy, she and Malfoy kept their interactions minimal, only sporadically making eye contact or giving each other the briefest of nods. During the few minutes before and after Arithmancy, though, she was able to chat casually with Malfoy and Theo.
Eventually, Hermione found herself sitting at Malfoy's table in the corner of the library a handful of times. It was the same table he'd been at when he apologised for his behaviour at the Yule Ball — he seemed to have taken a liking to it. It was always late in the evening when she joined him, true, and when the library was already relatively empty, but it felt like progress. When Hermione pulled out the chair next to him, Malfoy would nod and they'd exchange a few pleasantries before simply completing homework side by side, periodically comparing notes.
It was nice, in a way. Malfoy was much brighter than she'd given him credit for.
They rarely spoke about anything other than classwork, but on the most recent occasion, Hermione was feeling a bit bold.
"Malfoy… have you by chance ever heard of something called a vanishing cabinet?" She held her breath.
The scratching of his quill paused. Hermione kept her head down, trying to appear engrossed in the text lying open in front of her.
"Can't say that I have," he finally replied. "Why?"
"Just a term I came across once," she replied indifferently, hiding her disappointment. "I haven't had a chance to find out more."
After a few moments, Malfoy's quill resumed scratching, and Hermione peeked up at him through her lashes. His golden head was bent over his Transfiguration essay, a hand writing steadily across the parchment again. If he had cause to be dishonest, it didn't show.
Hermione had, in fact, searched the library months ago for any mention of vanishing cabinets and their use, and come up empty. Maybe she could slide the topic into a conversation with Professor McGonagall. Or ask someone like Mr. Weasley. She had been hesitant, though, to approach anyone about it directly — it would be sure to raise questions if vanishing cabinets were in any way connected to the Dark Arts, and Hermione didn't have satisfactory answers for why she needed to know. At least, not answers she was willing to divulge.
Viktor found her one evening at dinner, apologising profusely for his absence. Hermione had been right — in addition to regular Quidditch practice to keep his skills sharp, Karkaroff was keeping him at his studies, insisting that he stay around the ship when possible and pushing him to prepare for the second task.
Viktor grumbled about Karkaroff being in an increasingly bad mood, so that all the Durmstrang students had to step lightly around him now. She and Viktor made plans to meet for the next Hogsmeade weekend so that she could show him around the village. She, Harry, and Ron already had plans to meet there with Sirius (who was apparently nearby somewhere) that weekend, too, but that wasn't until late afternoon. Viktor also asked if Harry wanted to fly with him down on the Quidditch pitch one evening, to which Ron immediately jumped in, responding quite enthusiastically.
The eve of the second task, Hermione, Ron, and Harry were in the common room, trying to keep Harry's mind off of the upcoming day without success. It didn't help that nearly everyone in Gryffindor Tower stopped by to ask Harry how he was feeling or wish him luck for tomorrow. Or worse, to speculate about how much more difficult this task was sure to be, although what could be worse than dragons, they couldn't say.
Harry grew increasingly restless — Hermione could tell his nerves were frayed. They were just about to give up and go to bed early when Fred and George came over from the portrait hole.
"Hey, Ron, Hermione — McGonagall wants to see you," Fred said.
"We don't know why," George added as Hermione opened her mouth. "She looked a bit grim about it, but she insisted that both of you need to go to her office as soon as you can manage."
Hermione, Harry, and Ron exchanged looks.
"Go on to bed, mate. No use worrying about it," Ron said wisely to Harry. "If you're still up, I'll fill you in when I get back."
Hermione gave Crookshanks one last scratch behind the ears, then she and Ron got up to follow Fred and George back through the portrait hole. They chatted lightly on the way, listening to the twins discuss one of their newest inventions: an array of prototype sweets to fake different illnesses. Hermione disapproved of the intended use, but had to admit that she was rather impressed by the concept.
Fred and George dropped them at the door to McGonagall's office, shrugging in such a manner that seemed to indicate they felt lucky to count themselves out of whatever waited inside. Hermione traded a last uneasy glance with Ron before she twisted the doorknob and pushed inside.
She was immediately taken by surprise at the number of people in the small room. McGonagall herself was behind the desk, and Professor Dumbledore stood just to her right. Madam Pomfrey was on McGonagall's other side, brow furrowed and tapping her wand against the palm of her hand.
Seated in front of them all was a very young girl with silvery hair, vaguely reminding Hermione of Fleur Delacour, and a sixth-year Hufflepuff whom Hermione didn't really know, but recognized as being one of Cedric's friends. Everyone turned to watch her and Ron enter the room.
"Ah, Miss Granger, Mister Weasley," Dumbledore said, spreading his arms in a gesture of welcome. "We are delighted that you could join us. Please take a seat. This will not be short, I'm afraid."
Hermione perched nervously on the edge of her chair next to the blonde girl, with Ron on her other side. McGonagall offered them all biscuits from a tin and conjured a tray of water goblets.
"We have asked the four of you to be here tonight for a very important reason," Dumbledore began. "Before I explain, please let me assure you that this is entirely voluntary, and no one who wishes to opt out will be forced to participate."
Madam Pomfrey gave a tiny "hmph" that Dumbledore affected not to notice as he continued.
"I also wish to make clear that none of you will be harmed in the least, nor in any danger whatsoever. Everything has been arranged to guarantee your safety."
Hermione and the others sat up straighter at that. Their safety? What was Dumbledore going to ask them to do?
Professor McGonagall took over. "For the second task tomorrow, each of the champions will need to recover something within a specified time limit," she explained, her eyes sharp behind her square spectacles. "The task will take place in the Great Lake itself. If you are willing, that which they will have to recover will be each of you."
"We're going to be underwater?" Ron burst out, looking alarmed.
"Yes, Mister Weasley," McGonagall said seriously. "The Headmaster has arranged for each of you that agrees to be put into an enchanted sleep for the duration of the task. A dreamless sleep. You will be able to breathe normally, and you will not wake until you are back above water. The spell is perfectly safe, and has been tested rigorously amongst the staff and the Ministry. You will also be under the protection of the local colony of merpeople living in the lake."
"What if zey are unable to rescue us?" the young girl asked, a French accent heavy on her speech.
"The champions will have an hour to find you in order to receive full marks for the task, but the enchantment itself does not have the same restrictions," Dumbledore reassured her. "It will last however long is necessary until you are back on the surface."
Madam Pomfrey spoke for the first time, looking kindly upon the girl. "I will be nearby to make sure that everyone remains healthy and safe. I will place a charm on each of you myself to monitor your vitals and current condition while you are asleep and under the water."
Hermione bit her lip, feeling a tiny flutter in her stomach. Even reassurances by Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Madam Pomfrey couldn't completely settle her nerves about being asked to participate in such a task. Judging by their demeanour, the others felt the same way. Ron fidgeted in his chair, while Cedric's friend sat rigidly, remaining silent. Fleur's sister (Hermione was fairly certain of that now) wrung her hands in her lap.
"Do any of you wish not to participate?" Professor McGonagall asked, looking at each of them in turn. "It will not be held against you. In fact, those outside of this room will never even know you have been asked." Madam Pomfrey also peered intently at each of their faces.
Ron spoke up first. "I s'pose it'll be alright. Seems like there won't be any danger. For us, at least."
"Right you are, Mister Weasley," Madam Pomfrey replied soothingly.
Hermione had known her answer from the beginning, and she spoke up next. "I'll do it," she said, a good deal more confidently than she felt. Fleur's sister and Cedric's friend also quickly gave their assent.
"Excellent," Dumbledore said, clapping his hands together once and surveying everyone with twinkling blue eyes.
Professor McGonagall went on to explain that they would be spending the evening here, bewitched to sleep under the watchful eyes of the teachers. At dawn, they would be moved into position in the lake. The task itself would begin at half-past nine o-clock in the morning.
"Now, before we begin, are there any other questions?" Dumbledore asked kindly.
Hermione started to shake her head with the others when she realised something.
"Um… Professor?" she began tentatively. Everyone looked at her. "My cat — Crookshanks, you see — he will need to be fed in the morning." Hermione was glad she had already topped off Crookshanks' bowl this evening.
"Not to worry, Miss Granger," Professor McGonagall said. "We will ensure that one of the house elves takes care of that tomorrow morning. I'll see to it myself."
Professor McGonagall had an understandable fondness for cats. Hermione nodded and smiled in thanks. She knew that Crookshanks could take care of himself if needed, but she felt responsible for his comfort.
Madam Pomfrey conjured up four identical beds behind the desk — the same as those in the Hospital Wing — each with a set of privacy curtains. Hermione shared a weak smile with Ron as they chose beds next to each other. At Madam Pomfrey's instruction, she made herself comfortable until it was her turn to be placed under the enchantment.
Hermione felt a small jolt to realise that she must be going down there for Viktor to rescue. Ron would have to be for Harry, and Cedric would have his friend, and Fleur her sister. Strangely, the thought brought her comfort, assuaging the rest of her worries; aside from the many safety precautions in place, Viktor was already an accomplished wizard, and he would find her.
Hopefully Harry wouldn't panic when she and Ron didn't come back this evening. She hoped, too, that he would keep his head during the second task, and realise that none of the 'hostages' were in any real danger.
When Madam Pomfrey came over with Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall, she cast a diagnostic charm that she promised again to maintain the entire time Hermione was under the enchantment. She also intended to cast a thermal charm tomorrow before Hermione went into the lake, one very similar to what Harry was planning to use for the task.
The last thing Hermione felt was a tingling heaviness enveloping her, as comfortable as if she were sinking into a cloud. Oddly, her last thought was of whether or not Malfoy would notice her absence among the spectators at tomorrow's event.
Hermione gasped as her head broke through the surface of the lake and air rushed into her lungs. Bright light blinded her, and a deafening roar nearby was so disorienting she struggled to keep her head above water. A strong arm around her waist towed her steadily in one direction, and she leaned into the warm body next to her seeking safety.
"I have got you, Her-my-knee." Viktor's voice.
Coughing vigorously, Hermione blinked rapidly to adjust to the daylight and clear the water out of her eyes. Finally, she was able to make out the enormous crowd along the bank of the lake to where Viktor was pulling her. The stands used in the first task had been relocated here, and they were packed with people cheering and shouting. Soon her feet hit muddy ground, and she and Viktor trudged more than swam to get out of the lake.
On the way, Hermione spotted Harry and Ron already under a tent to the side of the stands, both smiling hugely and waving at her. Splashing just behind her and Viktor turned out to be Cedric and his Hufflepuff friend. Once she hit dry ground, Madam Pomfrey bustled down to her and Viktor to begin wrapping them in warm blankets, insisting they each take a dose of hot Pepper-Up Potion.
Cocooned in linen with steam gushing from her ears, Hermione turned to congratulate Viktor and thank him for rescuing her from the lake.
"Of course, Her-my-knee," Viktor said, his serious manner somewhat spoiled by the steam pouring out of his own ears. "Thank you for being villing to go down into the lake for me to save, and trusting that I vould." He broke into an amused smile, and she grinned back at him.
"How did you do it?" she asked curiously, keeping pace with Viktor as they made their way to the champion's tent.
He laughed. "I transfigured myself partvay into a shark. I figured transfiguration vould be easiest for me, but it looks like your friend Potter had a better idea."
As they came level with the tent, Hermione ran to throw her arms around Harry.
"Harry, you did it!" she cried, managing to extricate herself from the blankets as she barrelled into him. Harry grinned at her. To the side, Ron grunted, then struck up a conversation with Viktor about his experience during the task.
"Yeah, everything worked perfectly," Harry said. "I ran into a pack of grindylows early on, but found you all okay. I tried to save you, too, Hermione, but the Merpeople must have had instructions that we could only take the hostage meant for us. I got back just minutes before the time limit, I think. Eerie down there, it was."
Cedric and his friend joined them in the tent, ears still smoking faintly.
"Where's Fleur?" Hermione asked in general, looking around and out towards the lake.
"Dunno," Harry said, at the same time that Cedric said, "I saw her right before I found the Merpeople's village, so she must be close. I think everyone's outside of the time limit except you, though, Harry."
Not a minute later, Fleur's head broke the surface of the lake with her sister's right behind. Everyone watched as they swam towards the bank, the noise level of the crowd rising again with renewed shouts and cheers. To Hermione's shock, Fleur collapsed in a shivering heap as soon as she reached the shore. Madam Pomfrey reached her first, the other teachers and judges following close behind.
"I hope she's alright," Cedric said roughly, rubbing a hand on the side of his neck where several long, pink lines marred his skin. Hermione and everyone else murmured agreement, watching the group around Fleur. Madame Maxime towered above it all, speaking rapidly and gesturing to Fleur's sister. The girl was shaking her head.
Whatever happened must not have been terribly serious to mend. While Madam Pomfrey and the other teachers stayed to stabilise Fleur, after a short time, the judges left to confer about marks — even Madame Maxime. Hushed whispers in the crowd began increasing in volume again now that it seemed Fleur would be alright. Fleur's sister still visibly refused to leave her side.
"Hey, look," Cedric's friend said suddenly, "the merpeople are coming up to talk with the judges!" He pointed to the edge of the lake.
Indeed, Dumbledore crouched down to converse with the chief merperson, making screeching noises in Mermish that carried all the way over to the champion's tent. Harry and Ron moved forward with the others to get a better look.
Viktor, however, drew Hermione to the side, glancing around furtively. He wanted to reconfirm their plans to meet at breakfast for the upcoming Hogsmeade weekend in March.
"I vill be there. I vill stun Karkaroff if I have to," Viktor said, seeming quite serious.
Ludo Bagman's amplified voice suddenly boomed out of the stands nearby, making them all jump.
"Ladies and gentlemen. The judges have deliberated and reached a consensus. Marks will be awarded out of fifty as follows…" Hermione and Viktor moved to stand by everyone else at the front of the tent, now including a bedraggled Fleur and her sister.
"Harry Potter used the Bubble-Head Charm to great effect, along with a thermal charm to cope with the frigid waters. He returned with exactly four minutes to spare inside the time limit with his hostage. We are pleased to award him the full fifty points." Enormous cheers broke out from the Gryffindor section in the stands. Ron clapped Harry on the shoulder, while Harry grinned over at Hermione and mouthed 'thank you'.
"Viktor Krum used an incomplete but entirely effective form of transfiguration, and returned second with his hostage. Unfortunately, he was two minutes outside of the time limit of one hour. Nevertheless, we award him forty-seven points." Cheers rose once more, hardest from the Durmstrang lot, but the entire crowd was applauding. Hermione applauded with everyone else and favoured Viktor with a smile as well.
"Cedric Diggory used gillyweed, a most efficient method, and returned third with his hostage. He was also outside of the time limit, by just three minutes. We therefore award him forty-five points." The Hufflepuff section shouted loudest this time.
"And finally, Fleur Delacour, who also demonstrated excellent use of the Bubble-Head Charm, retrieved her hostage fourth, and returned eleven minutes outside of the time limit. Unfortunately, Miss Delacour was in a near-hypothermic state without the use of a charm, herb, transfiguration, or potion to help maintain her body temperature in the freezing waters, but we are pleased to inform everyone that she has made a complete recovery. We are awarding her thirty-five points."
Applause thundered one last time. Bagman finished by announcing that the third task would take place at dusk on the twenty-fourth of June.
By Hermione's calculation, Harry had now overtaken Viktor for first place in the tournament, if just barely. Viktor had a good lead in second place over Cedric in third, and Fleur had dropped to fourth.
Karkaroff and Madam Maxime swooped down on Viktor and Fleur shortly after Bagman's last announcement, and led them off to their respective dwellings to get dry clothes and recover. Madam Pomfrey wasn't far behind, herding Hermione and the rest up to the castle to get changed. Cho and one of her friends broke apart from the swarm of students to offer Harry a quick congratulations.
As Hermione followed Madam Pomfrey across the grounds towards the front doors, she saw Malfoy walking the same direction between Theo and Zabini, Crabbe and Goyle trailing close behind. Theo grinned at her, and Malfoy seemed to be holding back a smirk of his own. In the excitement of the morning, Hermione forgot herself and waved enthusiastically in their direction.
"What are you doing, Hermione?" Ron asked, eyeing her sideways.
"Oh," Hermione said, thinking quickly, "I... thought I felt a bug flying around my face."
Ron's eyes narrowed, but for a different reason than she expected. "Not on your face, but you do have one in your hair."
"What?!" she yelped, dancing on the spot and frantically flapping her arms around her head to remove it.
Ron reached over to flick his fingers and a large black beetle went flying through the air. Hermione shuddered and promptly combed fingers through her wet hair to make sure there weren't any others.
Across the lawn, Theo was laughing hard at something, and very determinedly not meeting her eyes. Malfoy had let his smirk come through. Zabini looked between the pair of them, utterly bewildered.
"Keep up now," Madam Pomfrey chided over her shoulder to Hermione, Harry, and Ron. "The sooner we get you changed and patched up, the sooner you get to lunch."
On cue, Harry's stomach rumbled loudly. Hermione realised how hungry she was, too. Being under the enchantment, she and Ron hadn't had anything since dinner last night. Although knowing Harry, he'd been too nervous to eat breakfast this morning anyway.
Classes were cancelled for the entire day, so Hermione, Harry, and Ron went for a visit to Hagrid's after lunch to discuss the events of the morning, then spent a little time after that visiting Dobby and Winky in the kitchens with the other house elves. Apparently, Dobby had found Harry in his dormitory early this morning to offer him gillyweed to use for the second task, and Harry had promised to visit again later. However Dobby managed to find gillyweed, or even knew to find it in the first place, Hermione had no idea.
Poor Winky was still a mess, fretting over Mr. Crouch. Hermione surreptitiously asked her if she had seen Mr. Crouch lately, thinking she may have run into him in the castle during one of his nighttime forays. Hermione, Ron, and Harry had checked the Map on a few different evenings since Harry first sighted Crouch, and he was almost always there. He seemed to spend a lot of time in Moody's office, or sometimes walking the corridors. They had even seen him searching through Snape's office again.
Winky denied seeing him, and was distraught to learn he might be sick. Hermione chided Ron under her breath for bringing up Crouch's supposed illness in front of Winky.
Did Dumbledore know about Crouch and Moody conspiring? Perhaps they would have to arrange to look at the Map during a free period in the middle of the day to discover what was going on; if Crouch had serious suspicions of something nefarious happening in the castle, especially if it could affect Harry, Harry had a right to know. Their visit in the kitchens came to an end when Fred and George showed up, requesting food for a party in Gryffindor Tower to celebrate Harry's success.
