Chapter Twenty Two
By all accounts, the protest had been a huge success. A lot of students had shown up for Hagrid, bolstered by staff, residents of Hogsmeade, and members of The Unicorn up from London. The governors were so worried about getting bad press during the Tournament that they agreed to the student’s requests almost as soon as the protests began. It helped that Madam Maxine was also suspected to be half-giant, and she was not someone they wanted to risk offending. It also helped that Hagrid had recently completed his education program, which legitimised him somewhat. Apparently Fred and George were disappointed there wasn’t cause to employ any of the more extreme tactics they had planned, but really it was the best outcome any of them could have hoped for.
An unsigned note arrived for Remus, saying just two words; “Thank you”. He hoped this meant Hagrid was receiving visitors again. People were good for him.
During the day, Remus worked on his new course, and at night he slept so much better in the arms of Sirius Black. He wasn’t sure if things would ever be the way they were before, and he didn’t care. They found they wanted to be near each other all the time; leaning against each other as they cooked, taking turns to read aloud from Remus’s book, casting protection spells with their arms touching. They still worried for Harry, but wrapping themselves up in each other made them feel safer.
Still, it troubled them that they hadn’t got to the bottom of Crouch’s strange behaviour.
“I feel like there’s something wrong with my memory…” Sirius began. “Everything from those years feels foggy, but my mind keeps taking me back to the day I saw them carrying Crouch’s body past my cell… there’s something I’ve forgotten, I can feel it.”
They would make statements like this, repeating the facts they knew in different orders, trying to puzzle it out.
Remus kept returning to the way Harry described Barty Crouch searching in the bushes, and Winky’s inability to run away at the world cup… almost like she was tied to something invisible.
“Why would Crouch send Winky to the world cup and not show up himself?” Something was beginning to dawn on him. “Pads, I think someone was there, someone that prevented Winky from running away, and - shit.”
“What is it? What are you saying?”
“The Dark Mark was cast that night, right? And we don’t know who did it. Sirius - what if it was Barty Crouch Junior?”
“But he’s… dead.”
“Is he? Think about it - what if Crouch snuck him out of Azkaban, and kept his own son prisoner? That’s what the kept Winky for, that’s who he was searching the bushes for -”
“Oh shit” Whispered Sirius. “That’s what I’ve been forgetting… the body, when it passed my cell… what if it wasn’t Barty at all”
“What do you mean, how could it not have been him?”
“Think about it - who’d be willing to switch places with him? His family came to visit just before - Moony, what if they smuggled in Polyjuice potion, and his mum took his place?”
Remus looked like he didn’t believe it. Sirius pressed on. “I actually think I saw her, when they brought the body out - I just thought I’d gone mad, at the time. But what if I really saw it? Once the potion wore off… Dementors can’t tell, can they?”
Remus was staring at the ground, thinking. “We have to talk to Winky.”
“No, Remus, don't you see - it’s bigger than that. If Crouch was on school grounds, he was there looking for his son. Which means -”
“- Barty Crouch Junior is at Hogwarts.” Remus finished, his face ashen. “And he put Harry’s name into the Goblet of Fire.”
“We have to get to Hogwarts.”
“We can't,” Remus shook his head. “It’s the final challenge today, the school’s going to be crawling in security measures.”
“Fuck that.” Growled Sirius. “We have to try.”
He was right. They had no time to lose. They disapparated to Hogsmeade, where Remus sent a Patronus up to Dumbledore. It was returned with Dumbledore’s phoenix moments later.
Use the passage from Honeydukes. Madam Pomfey will escort you to my office. Hurry.
They made their way back to the school in silence, Sirius making quicker progress in dog form and turning back repeatedly to snap impatiently at Remus. When they reached the castle, Madam Pomfrey met them in the hall. She shot a quick Disillusionment charm at Remus and glanced at the dog, but didn’t ask questions. She hurried them to Dumbledore’s office, not saying anything before she rushed off to attend to other matters.
Remus felt the Disillusionment charm slowly start to drip off of him, and Sirius, back in human form, stood to his side, their knuckles just brushing each other. Now they just had to wait, and it felt like hell.
After what felt like an age, the sound of stone grinding on stone made them look up, and moments later Dumbledore strode in, almost dragging Harry along behind him.
“Harry…” Remus rushed forward and embraced him.“What happened? Are you okay?” Sirius crowded behind him.
Harry’s eyes drifted sluggishly from Remus to Sirius. It was the first time they’d failed to light up at the sight of his godfather, and Remus knew then that he’d seen something that would change him irrevocably.
He stepped back and listened as Dumbledore and Harry brought them up to speed on the day’s events. They’d been right about Barty Crouch Junior; their message had reached Dumbledore just in time for him to step in and rescue Harry. But Remus knew they’d still failed to stop the larger plot, and feared what they were about to hear.
His knuckles gripped the desk behind him as Dumbledore confirmed their fears that after years of imprisonment at the hands of his own father, Barty Crouch Junior had been liberated by Peter Pettigrew. From there, he’d infiltrated Hogwarts by impersonating Mad-Eye Moody, entering Harry into the Tournament and ensuring that he’d be the one to reach the cup first, which had been transformed into a Portkey.
But he’d made a mistake, Harry had been too gallant to take the cup for himself, and had decided to share victory with his classmate, Cedric Diggory. Harry looked at the floor as he recounted how Peter had murdered Diggory in front of him. The boy hadn’t even come of age yet.
Sirius reached forward and gripped Harry’s shoulder, encouraging him to go on. He told them about the ritual Peter performed, and Sirius physically recoiled when Harry got to the part about using his blood. Out of the corner of his eye, Remus thought he saw a grim smile form on Dumbledore’s lips, but it was hastily rearranged.
The thing they’d feared most had happened. Voldemort had returned. All those years they’d lost, all the friends they’d never see again, it was all for nothing.
After Harry finished speaking, the four of them stood in silence. Nobody had any response to meet the magnitude of what was happening. Remus slowly became aware of a gentle dripping sound, and noticed a pool of blood forming on the floor next to Harry. It was enough the snap him back into the moment.
“I think” he said with finality, “we need to take a trip to the hospital wing.”
They were greeted on arrival by an unrelenting stream of faces. Remus felt relieved to see Molly among them, and then was newly shocked at the sight of the real Mad-Eye, asleep and looking frail on one of the beds further down. He glanced at Sirius, but in his dog-form he couldn’t respond.
Madam Pomfrey bustled round, and gave Harry a sleeping potion. It seemed to be the kindest thing. Their questions could wait, the war could wait. Let him have one last hour of peace.