On Halloween night, after the feast, Dumbledore announced that the time had come for the Goblet of Fire to select the champions for the Triwizard Tournament. The Goblet was brought forth, and while everyone else in the Great Hall focused on it or on Dumbledore, Harry and his friends traded nervous glances with each other.

The Goblet's flames were blue-white when at rest, but it made its selections known with three successive flares of red flames, each one throwing out a scrap of parchment bearing a name. It chose Viktor Krum to represent Durmstrang, Fleur Delacour to represent Beauxbatons, and Cedric Diggory to represent Hogwarts.

Harry blinked in surprise at hearing Cedric's name, having more than half-expected to hear his own. He looked back and forth between Ginny and Hermione. "Was that it? Did your plan work?"

"Maybe no one was messing about after all," Ron said. "Guess you can relax, mate."

Dumbledore started to move on with his remarks, but the Goblet flared red once more.

"Damn. Spoke too soon," Ron muttered.

Hermione's eyes locked on the Goblet. She began whispering to herself, once more going over the steps for their added enchantment, as though reciting a complex spell incantation–or a prayer.

Ginny turned her head to check on Harry, seated next to her. He was looking down at the table, keeping his face blank.

She returned her attention to the Goblet of Fire. Its ability to create and enforce magical contracts was nothing to take lightly, but as far as actual fire went, she wasn't impressed. It didn't even consume the parchment placed in it. How would the damn thing hold up against real fire? She started reviewing the hottest, hungriest fire spells she knew. She'd learned most of them from Moody.

Moody was a very different teacher from Remus. He didn't waste time trying to teach them any life lessons about intention. For him, intention was a tool, making your will into a whip you cracked against your enemies. And if he felt any fondness towards her or Harry, he gave no sign of it other than pushing them hard to learn how to defend themselves.

To put it bluntly, he was a vicious bastard. If Ginny didn't already have a perfectly good set of parents, she might have asked him to adopt her.

Moody wasn't as reluctant as Remus to teach her powerful fire spells. None of them were what you'd call safe–certainly not in a confined space full of people–but he and Dumbledore were right there. Surely they could step in if a spell got away from her, as Moody occasionally had to do during their tutoring sessions.

She had to get this right the first time. No one would allow her a second chance at destroying a priceless magical artefact. She couldn't hold back.

Ginny drew her wand under the table and hoped she wasn't about to turn a bunch of her fellow students into charcoal and ash.

A slip of parchment flew out of the Goblet. Dumbledore caught it, and stared at it for several long moments before reading the name aloud.

"Barty Crouch!"

Complete silence followed, broken a second later by the thumping of Moody's false leg as he came stomping forward. Dumbledore had turned to regard Crouch, absently handing Moody the slip of parchment to examine, as murmurs began to fill the Great Hall.

After a brief study of the slip, Moody whirled on Crouch, who was standing frozen in place, staring back at Dumbledore.

"What are you playing at, Crouch?" Moody demanded.

Crouch blinked. "What?"

"Now, Alastor," Dumbledore said, "I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation for this."

"And he's going to tell us what it is! Now!"

"Alastor!" Dumbledore said.

"What?"

"Perhaps we should discuss this matter further in the next room."

Moody's natural and magical eyes both remained fixed on Crouch.

"Alastor," Dumbledore repeated.

Moody stomped out of the Great Hall by way of the same door Dumbledore had directed the first three champions through, as their names emerged from the Goblet. Dumbledore and the other Tournament organizers filed out as well, including Crouch, who appeared too dazed to do anything other than let himself be carried along with the group.

Ginny put her wand away and laid her hand on Harry's arm. "Okay. I think that was it. See? The Goblet has gone out altogether."

Harry asked, "Crouch? But why? The guy used to live for sending Death Eaters to Azkaban, including his own son. No way he's one of them."

"I don't know. What matters is that it's not you."

He stared at her. "You kept me safe?"

Ginny looked around, but other than their group, most of the other students were leaving, now that the evening's excitement was over. Even so, she lowered her voice as she told him, "And I always will. Though Sirius and Remus told us how to do it, and Hermione did most of the actual casting."

"But Ginny came up with the idea," Hermione insisted.

"What's so hard to believe?" Ginny asked when she saw Harry still looking perplexed. "Of course we've got your back."

"No, I know. Thank you. Both of you. I was just so sure that if it was meant to be, no one would be able to stop it."

"That's not how we do things anymore. We were all with you when everything went down last year, right?"

"I remember. You were brilliant. The magic you did that night was… brilliant."

She grinned. "There's plenty more where that came from. Any time you need me."

Hermione added, "But we're going to do everything possible to make sure it doesn't come to a crisis like that. From now on, if we see trouble coming, we plan ahead to avoid it. Okay?"

Harry said, "Okay. And thank you again. I guess I thought last year was different because Riddle wasn't directly involved, so having my friends with me the whole time wasn't against the rules."

"What rules?" asked Hermione.

"Every time Riddle comes back, sooner or later I have to face him alone." He shrugged. "Just how it goes. It happened with both the Stone and the Chamber."

"We haven't encountered him often enough to make generalizations. Besides, the most important rule is that friends stand by each other no matter what."

Ron and Ginny voiced their agreement.

Harry said, "Thanks, everyone. I still want to know why Barty Crouch of all people decided to switch sides and come after me."

Ginny said, "Maybe he didn't. Maybe someone is using him against his will."

"The Imperius? We know Dumbledore and Moody are worried we might start to see the bad guys using it again, and Crouch did look sort of out of it. But who could be controlling him?"

Ron took an uneasy look around. "I wonder if that person is here tonight, maybe using Polyjuice. Do you have the Map with you?"

"I do, but if they can get into Hogwarts and get close to the Goblet, what would they need Crouch for?"

"Alibi," Ron and Ginny said in unison.

Harry looked back and forth between them.

Ron explained, "During the war, that's how the Death Eaters who still wanted people to think of them as proper members of society liked to operate. If someone is controlling Crouch, then while he was entering your name–or trying to–they would have been somewhere far away from here."

"Getting noticed by a bunch of witnesses," added Ginny. "Dad says magical law enforcement is about a lot more than just catching people using illegal spells. Once in a while, you'll get an idiot firing off curses in front of a bunch of witnesses, but usually, deception and misdirection are involved, like in what Muggles mean by magic. The most dangerous people are the ones who are good at magic in both senses."

"Exactly," Ron agreed. "Though if Crouch really isn't acting on his own, the person behind it might not be able to resist showing up here tonight, to see the results."

Harry glanced around. Although no one was close enough to overhear them, the room wasn't quite empty. "Can't hurt to check, but I don't want to open the Map here."

"We should move quick then."

The four of them made their way out of the Great Hall, then turned a couple of corners to find a private spot.

Harry took out the Map and his wand. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

They gathered around to study the names overlaid on the smaller room where the judges were meeting with the champions.

"Ugh," Harry complained. "Too many people in too small a space. It's like trying to read alphabet soup."

"Alphabet soup?" Ron asked. "Was I not paying attention in Divination when we covered that method?"

"Never mind that," Ginny said. "Try to find names that don't belong."

They all bent to the task, pointing to names as they deciphered them.

"This tangle is Madame Maxime and her student. Fleur whatever."

"That one's Krum and Karkaroff."

"There's Crouch, pacing around."

"McGonagall, Sprout, and Cedric."

"Snape lurking over in the corner by himself. Naturally."

"Good place for him."

"Focus. Okay, there's Dumbledore. Crouch again. Merlin, I wish he'd hold still."

"The other one moving around is Bagman. Is that all the names?"

"I think so. Is that everyone we saw go in?"

"Wait, where's Moody?"

They examined the names and clusters of names again, before agreeing the Defense teacher wasn't in the room with the others.

"Found him," Ron said, pointing to a different section of the Map. "He's back in his office."

"That doesn't make sense," Harry said. "He wouldn't walk away in the middle of something suspicious happening."

"Don't try to figure that one out," Ron advised. "Dad said he's unpredictable at the best of times. I bet he went to get some torture device to force Crouch to confess."

"I suppose we could ask him," Harry said.

"Not without him getting suspicious about how we knew he left," Ginny warned. "You know there are no innocent questions with Moody. We don't want him finding out about the Map. He might confiscate it as a security risk."

"Speaking of which," Hermione said, "We have to tell Dumbledore what we did to the Goblet. We can leave out what inspired the idea, but he needs to know that Crouch was probably trying to enter Harry, not himself."

"I suppose, though I don't expect him to return the favor and share anything useful with us."

Ron said, "No chance of getting anything useful out of Percy either, the way he worships his beloved boss. We can try sending dad an owl to ask if he has any idea what Crouch might be up to."

"I might have better luck talking to Sirius," Harry said. "He's our best bet for getting someone to actually clue us in. Your dad warned me about Sirius when he broke out last year, but even he never explained why everyone thought he might come after me. I know he meant well, but…"

"No, you're right," Ginny said. "Sirius is the least likely to pull the 'keeping you out of it for your own good' routine."

"Looks like the meeting is breaking up," Harry said, with a gesture at the Map.

"The headmaster wouldn't let Mr Crouch leave without finding out what happened first, would he?" Hermione asked.

"Crouch works for the Ministry," Ron said. "There's a limit to what even Dumbledore can do to him."

Harry said, "There's even less we can do, at least right now. Let's head back to the Tower."

When they arrived at the Gryffindor common room, the place was buzzing with conversations. Most of the lions had set aside their disappointment over the Goblet choosing a member of another house as Hogwarts champion, in favor of trading theories about how and why Crouch had entered himself.

None of the four friends felt like joining in, so they all headed off to their rooms for the night.

~*~

"You have to try harder to keep him out!" Hermione half scolded, half pleaded, when the four gathered back in the common room the next morning.

After the champion selection ceremony, Harry had woken up from a nightmare with his scar burning. Since the following morning was a Sunday, he didn't have the excuse of classes to put off talking about it.

Harry argued, "At least now we know Riddle is behind this. I didn't get much, but I know he was furious. Whatever he wanted to happen last night, that wasn't it. That's useful information."

"Maybe," Ginny said. "Or maybe Riddle has discovered the connection, and showed you what he wanted you to see."

"I guess," Harry said.

"You don't know him like I do. You can't trust anything you get from him."

Hermione told her, "You have to push Harry harder with your Legilimency attacks."

Ginny grimaced at the prospect, but before she could answer, Harry said, "I'll try harder."

Ron said, "Magic doesn't always come as easy for everybody as it does for you, Hermione."

She replied, "Not when you don't even want to succeed, it doesn't. But we'll have to continue this later. Ginny and I have a meeting with Dumbledore soon. I was up early, and I've already arranged it."

Harry asked, "Do you want me to come with you? You rigged the Goblet for my sake. I don't want you getting in trouble for it."

Ginny said, "What trouble? If anything, we deserve house points for keeping you out of trouble."

Hermione said, "I'm not sure the headmaster will see it that way."

"Either way, we don't want him finding out everything we've been up to. I don't think he'd use a full-on Legilimency attack against a student, but he might be good enough to pick up surface thoughts with just eye contact. Harry hasn't been practicing Occlumency long enough to risk it. I'd rather not have you go either, though for different reasons. You're not good at… being selective with relevant facts, let's say."

"The word you're looking for is 'lying'."

"Whatever. I suppose there's no getting around it. He'll want details about how we enchanted the Goblet, which I'm not sure I can explain properly. Just let me do most of the talking aside from those bits."

~*~

When Ginny and Hermione arrived at the door to Dumbledore's office for their meeting, he called for them to enter. The first thing Ginny noticed when she walked through the door was Fawkes sitting on a perch. The phoenix raised its head and locked its gaze on her.

Although Fawkes had helped her and Harry in the Chamber of Secrets, she and the bird hadn't exactly hit it off during the encounter. He wouldn't hold a grudge though, would he? Thinking about the Chamber brought to mind Harry's recounting of what Fawkes had done to the Basilisk, and she noted his sharp talons digging into the perch. If he went for her eyes, would Dumbledore have time to call him off? Would her strongest fire spell even slow down a creature of fire?

Fawkes fluttered his wings, then lowered his head and appeared to go to sleep.

Ginny released the breath she'd been holding, relieved, though also vaguely insulted at how little notice he'd taken of her. Still, if his wariness last time was–as she suspected–because he sensed some magical taint left behind by Riddle's possession, then ignoring her now was a welcome improvement.

Dumbledore invited them to sit, then listened as they explained the concerns they'd had about the Tournament selection process, and what they'd done about them. He said little, save for a few questions directed at confirming the method they'd used would see past a Polyjuice disguise. If he noticed them avoiding eye contact, he didn't mention it.

When they finished, he regarded them thoughtfully. "I commend you both for acting to protect your friend and, might I add, for the ingenuity of the means you employed to do so. I do wish you had raised your concerns with me sooner, rather than attempting to handle this matter yourselves."

"What we did worked," Ginny argued. "We kept Harry out of the Tournament, and proved that Crouch was the one responsible for trying to put him in."

"Ah. Is that what you proved?"

"Sorry? You read his name yourself when it came out of the Goblet."

"Indeed. But how did it get there? He could have put in his own name, perhaps under compulsion. He could have tried to put in another person's name, not necessarily Harry's–again, perhaps under compulsion. Or since the enchantment you applied works based on location, perhaps he merely happened to be near the cup at an inopportune moment, while someone else was trying to enter their own name."

"You don't really believe any of those things happened."

"There's what I believe, and then there's what I can prove, or at least be certain enough of to act upon. I must weigh this information against my own experience with a man I have known for decades. I assure you, Barty Crouch is no more a Death Eater than Alastor Moody is."

"So nothing happens to him? He's just going to get away with it?"

"There will be an official investigation by the DMLE. Given what you have told me, I find myself hoping it doesn't uncover anything noteworthy."

"Sir?" Hermione asked.

"Barty Crouch was once the head of the DMLE, and still has influential friends there, and throughout the Ministry. It could become… problematic if it became known that your co-conspirator–unless I am greatly mistaken–was a wizard who spent many years in Azkaban in large part due to Barty Crouch's efforts. Not to mention that wizard's longtime friend, who also happens to be a werewolf."

"But Sirius was innocent," Hermione protested. "And being a werewolf isn't a crime."

"Sadly, perception often triumphs over facts. Even an innocent man, wrongly convicted, might be expected to seek revenge. Perhaps especially an innocent man. Or so some people will argue."

"That's not what happened though. It had nothing to do with revenge. None of us suspected Crouch before his name came out. We were protecting Harry. We were all just protecting Harry."

"I believe you. But despite having accumulated some impressive-sounding titles over the years, I do not control the Ministry. And I have exerted my influence on behalf of Sirius before, earlier this year. While I do not regret this, the perception of bias on my part might make it difficult for me to help him again, if his part in this were to become known."

Ginny stood up. "And you wonder why we didn't come to you before. Sir."

"Please take your seat, Miss Weasley."

Ginny glared, but sat back down.

"If you had come to me before, I might have been able to catch the perpetrator in the act. As things stand, we can't know for certain what happened. We may have our suspicions, but I must admit, I am at a loss to think of a motive."

"The motive is obvious," Hermione insisted. "This crazy Tournament is dangerous, and someone wants to put Harry in danger! Why weren't there more protections in the first place? I'm sorry to question you, sir, but I'm really struggling with this."

"It's a fair question. I'm afraid it simply never occurred to me to see the Tournament as a threat to Harry. It would be a curiously indirect one. Yes, the tasks are dangerous, and I would not wish to see Harry involved, any more than any other underage student. But let us be frank. Harry is not just any ordinary student. Severe disappointment awaits anyone basing their plans on expecting Harry to fail at anything he truly sets his mind to. There must be some other agenda here. I mean to find out what it is. Until I do, I will be watching Barty Crouch closely."

Ginny asked, "Will you at least ban him from Hogwarts?"

"I cannot. He is bound to compete by magical contract, the same as the other champions."

"Serves him right," Ginny said.

Dumbledore frowned, but she didn't even pretend to look repentant.

Hermione said, "Letting him compete is hardly fair to the other champions."

"No, it is not," Dumbledore agreed with a sigh, "The representatives from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang have made their displeasure quite clear on this point. As has Professor Sprout. But the contract leaves no alternative, so we will have to adapt as best we can. The other champions will receive the same information Barty already had access to as an organizer. I assume the judges will also take his greater experience into account when assigning scores."

Dumbledore rose from his chair. "In fact, I have another meeting soon with the Heads of the other two schools, so if there's nothing else…"

Hermione and Ginny recognized the dismissal, and rose as well.

On the way out, Hermione paused at the door. "By the way, who will be taking his place as judge?"

"The obvious choice, his assistant," Dumbledore replied.

"Percy?" Ginny asked in disbelief.

"Isn't that a conflict of interest? To be judging his own boss?" Hermione asked, then turned to Ginny. "No offense."

Dumbledore said, "I have always known Percy to be a scrupulously fair-minded young man."

"Yes, but…" Hermione said, pausing to weigh her words. "I suppose we see things differently in the Muggle world, when it comes to fairness. There's a limit to how much someone can set aside their own bias, so stepping aside is considered best in such cases. Ideally at least, even if people don't always live up to those standards."

Dumbledore said, "A comparison of wizarding and Muggle ethics would no doubt make for a fascinating discussion, but I'm afraid I do have another meeting scheduled. Perhaps you could raise this topic with Professor Burbage?"

Hermione and Ginny took the hint, and left his office.

On the way down the stairs, Hermione said, "I'd hoped for… more."

"I get it. Dumbledore doesn't want to fight a war with Riddle and the Ministry at the same time. Crouch has been there a long time–long enough to have a lot of people owe him favors."

"How did Dumbledore know Sirius and Remus helped us?" Hermione wondered.

"The enchantment was too complex for us to come up with on short notice, even for you. He had to know we had help. Who else could we go to? Moody, maybe, but Dumbledore must figure Moody would have told him." Ginny looked thoughtful, then added, "It's possible Dumbledore knows about the Map and chose not to confiscate it. It would fit his sense of humor to let Fred and George keep using it. And if he knows Harry has it now, well, he did give him an Invisibility Cloak. He knows the threats Harry faces, and that he needs every possible advantage."

"I suppose. I'm coming around to your way of thinking on one thing. We need to depend on ourselves, as much as possible. We never got a specific answer about what he would have done differently if we had gone to him ahead of time. Or what he's going to do now. I can't help but think the situation calls for stronger measures than just watching closely."

"Yeah, I noticed that too."

Hermione sighed unhappily, and Ginny ran a comforting hand up and down her back as the two witches fell silent and continued walking.