A real eye replaced it; it rolled away across the floor and continued to swivel in every direction. Before them lay Crouch Junior, with his pale-skinned, slightly freckled face, with a mop of fair hair.
"This is the man you saw in the Pensieve, Harry," Dumbledore said from behind them. There were hurried footsteps outside in the corridor. Snape had returned with Winky at his heels, with McGonagall right behind them.
"Crouch!?" Snape yelled, stopping dead in the doorway, "Barty Crouch!"
His tone sounded like he hadn't believed Lucifer. Snape's breathing grew rapid, he figured during the years he had spent by Voldemort's side, must have dealt with Barty Jr. on numerous occasions.
McGonagall walked past him and when she got a better look at the man, she gasped, "Good heavens!"
Filthy, disheveled, Winky peered around Snape's legs. Her mouth opened wide and she let out a piercing shriek, "Master Barty, Master Barty, what is you doing here?" She flung herself forward onto the young man's chest, "You is killed him! You is killed him! You is killed Master's son!"
"He's not dead, not while he's still useful," Lucifer said darkly, and looked at Dumbledore, who was staring at him most disapprovingly, but knew that he and the Headmaster would never see 'eye-to-eye' on letting known Death Eaters live, even in Azkaban.
"He is simply Stunned, Winky," Dumbledore said, turning to the Elf, "Step aside, please. Severus, you have the potion?"
Snape handed a small glass bottle of completely clear liquid, even Hermione recognized it to be 'Veritaserum.'
Dumbledore got up, bent over the man on the floor, and pulled him into a sitting position against the wall. Snape, and McGonagall were glaring down upon Barty Crouch; Winky remained on her knees, trembling, her hands over her face.
He forced the man's mouth open and poured three drops inside it, then he pointed his wand at the man's chest and said, "Rennervate,"
Crouch Junior opened his eyes.
His face was slack, his gaze unfocused. Dumbledore knelt before him, so that their faces were level, "Can you hear me?" he asked quietly.
Crouch Junior's eyelids flickered, "Yes," he muttered.
"I would like you to tell us," Dumbledore said softly, "how you came to be here? How did you escape from Azkaban?"
Taking a deep, shuddering breath, Barty Jr. then began to speak in a flat, expressionless voice, "My mother saved me. She knew she was dying. She persuaded my father to rescue me as a last favor to her. He loved her as he had never loved me. He agreed. They came to visit me. They gave me a draft of 'Polyjuice Potion' containing one of my mother's hairs. She took a draft of it containing one of my hairs. We took on each other's appearance."
Winky was shaking her head, trembling, "Say no more, Master Barty, say no more, you is getting your father into trouble!"
Lucifer wanted to cut in and speak, but he knew it wasn't the time for it.
"The Dementors are blind. They sensed one healthy, one dying person entering Azkaban, and they sensed one healthy, one dying person leaving it. My father smuggled me out, disguised as my mother, in case any prisoners were watching through their doors...."
"My mother died a short while afterward in Azkaban. She was careful to drink Polyjuice Potion until the end. She was buried under my name and bearing my appearance. Everyone believed her to be me."
His eyelids flickered.
"And what did your father do with you, when he had got you home?" Dumbledore asked quietly.
"Staged my mother's death. A quiet, private funeral. That grave is empty. The House-Elf nursed me back to health, then I had to be concealed. I had to be controlled. My father had to use a number of spells to subdue me. When I had recovered my strength, I thought only of 'finding' my master... of returning to his service."
'His mother was one brave woman but a damn fool. She allowed this to happen. If he had stayed in Azkaban, he'd have probably died from malnutrition... son of a bitch...' Lucifer couldn't help but respect their bond, no wonder he thought Gellert was able to get past his heart using his mother's love, breaking free of Voldemort's frantic worship.
"How did your father subdue you?" Dumbledore asked.
"The Imperius Curse. I was under my father's control, forced to wear an Invisibility Cloak day and night. I was always with the House-Elf. She was my keeper and caretaker. She pitied me. She persuaded my father to give me occasional treats. Rewards for my good behavior."
"Master Barty, Master Barty," Winky sobbed through her hands, "You isn't ought to tell them, we are getting in trouble..."
"Did anybody else discover that you were still alive? Did anyone know except your father and Winky?"
"Yes," Crouch said, his eyelids flickering again, "a Witch in my father's office. Bertha Jorkins. She came to the house with papers for my father's signature. He was not at home. Winky showed her inside and returned to the kitchen, to me. But Bertha Jorkins heard Winky talking to me. She came to investigate. She heard enough to guess who was hiding under the 'Invisibility Cloak.' My father arrived home at the time. She confronted him. When she did, he put a very powerful Memory Charm on her to make her forget what she'd found out.... Too powerful. He said it damaged her memory permanently."
"Why is she coming to nose into my master's private business?" Winky sobbed again, "why isn't she leaving us be?"
'Corruption in almost every branch and Department of the Ministry... why does that not surprise me?'
"Tell me about the Quidditch World Cup?" Dumbledore asked him.
"Winky talked my father into it," Crouch Junior told them, "She spent months persuading him. I had not left the house for years. I had loved Quidditch. Let him go, she said. He will be in his Invisibility Cloak. He can watch. Let him smell fresh air for once. She said my mother would have wanted it.... She told my father that my mother had died to give me freedom. She had not saved me for a life of imprisonment, he agreed in the end."
"Prison is the only place you ever belonged," Lucifer said, unable to stop himself.
"It was carefully planned," Crouch Jr. continued, as though never interrupted, "My father led me and Winky up to the Top Box early in the day. Winky was to say that she was saving a seat for my father. I was to sit there, Invisible. When everyone had left the box, we would emerge. Winky would appear to be alone. Nobody would ever know..."
"But Winky didn't know that I was growing stronger. I was starting to fight my father's Imperius Curse. There were times when I was almost myself again. There were brief periods when I seemed outside of his control. It happened, there, in the Top Box. It was like waking from a deep sleep.... I found myself out in public, in the middle of the match, and I saw, in front of me, a wand sticking out of a boy's pocket. I had not been allowed a wand since before Azkaban. I stole it. Winky didn't know. Winky is frightened of heights. She had her face hidden."
"Master Barty, you bad boy!" Winky whispered, tears trickling between her fingers.
"So you took the wand," Dumbledore said, "and what did you do with it?"
"We went back to the tent, then we heard them. We heard the Death Eaters. The ones who had never been to Azkaban... The ones who had never suffered for my Master. They had turned their backs on him. They were not enslaved, as I was. They were free to seek him, but they did not. They were merely making sport of Muggles, which got most of them killed by the one known as 'Merlin's Descendant.' I watched on as he slaughtered them mercilessly for what they were doing to the Muggles. But the sound of their voices before their demise awoke me... My mind was clearer than it had been in years. I was angry. I had the wand. I wanted to attack them for their disloyalty to my master. My father had left the tent; he had gone to free the Muggles. Winky was afraid to see me so angry. She used her own brand of magic to bind me to her... She pulled me from the tent, pulled me into the forest, away from the Death Eaters. I tried to hold her back. I wanted to return to the campsite. I wanted to show those Death Eaters what loyalty to the Dark Lord meant, and to punish them for their lack of it. It was then that I heard the 'Explosive' destruction that killed so many Death Eaters. Without further hesitation, I used the stolen wand to cast the Dark Mark into the sky."
"Ministry Wizards arrived. They shot 'Stunning Spells' everywhere. I saw a Wizard appear and he blocked some of the Stunners, but it was for his friends, not for me. One of the spells came through the trees where Winky and I stood. The bond connecting us was broken. We were both Stunned."
"When Winky was discovered, my father knew I must be nearby. He searched the bushes where she had been found and felt me lying there. He waited until the other Ministry members had left the forest. He put me back under the 'Imperius Curse' and took me home. He dismissed Winky. She had failed him. She had let me acquire a wand. She had almost let me escape."
Winky let out a wail of despair.
"Now it was just Father and I, alone in the house. And then... and then..." Crouch's head rolled on his neck, and an insane grin spread across his face, "My master came for me. He arrived at our house late one night in the arms of his servant Wormtail. My master had found out that I was still alive... He had captured Bertha Jorkins in Albania. He had tortured her. She told him a great deal. She told him about the 'Triwizard Tournament.' She told him the old Auror, Moody, was going to teach at Hogwarts. He tortured her until he broke through the Memory Charm my father had placed upon her. She told him I had escaped from Azkaban. She told him my father kept me imprisoned to prevent me from seeking my master. And so my master knew that I was still his faithful servant, perhaps the most faithful of all. My master conceived a plan, based upon the information Bertha had given him... He needed me. He arrived at our house near midnight. My father answered the door."
The smile spread wider over his face, as though recalling the sweetest memory of his life. Winky's petrified brown eyes were visible through her fingers. She seemed too appalled to speak.
"It was very quick. My father was placed under the 'Imperius Curse' by my master. Now my father was the one imprisoned, controlled. My master forced him to go about his business as usual, to act as though nothing was wrong. And I was released. I awoke. I was myself again, alive as I hadn't been in years."
"And what did Lord Voldemort ask you to do?"
"He asked me whether I was ready to risk everything for him. I was ready. It was my dream, my greatest ambition, to serve him, to prove myself to him. He told me he needed to place a 'faithful' servant at Hogwarts. A servant who would guide Harry Potter through the Triwizard Tournament without appearing to do so. A servant who would watch over Harry Potter... Ensure he reached the Triwizard Cup. Turn into a Portkey, which would take the first person to touch it to my master. But first-"
"You needed Alastor Moody," Dumbledore said, his blue eyes blazing, but his voice remained calm.
"Wormtail and I did it. We had prepared the 'Polyjuice Potion' beforehand. We journeyed to his house. Moody put up a struggle. There was a commotion, we managed to subdue him just in time. Forced him into a compartment of his own magical trunk. Took some of his hair and added it to the potion. I drank it; I became Moody's double. I took his leg and his eye. I was ready to face Arthur Weasley when he arrived to sort out the Muggles who had heard a disturbance.... I made the dustbins move around the yard. I told Arthur Weasley I had heard intruders in my yard, who had set off the dustbins."
"Then I packed up Moody's clothes and Dark detectors, put them in the trunk with him, and set off for Hogwarts. I kept him alive, under the 'Imperius Curse.' I wanted to be able to question him. To find out about his past, learn his habits, so that I could fool even Dumbledore. I also needed his hair to make the Polyjuice Potion. The other ingredients were easy. I stole boomslang skin from the dungeons. When the Potions Master found me in his office, I said I was under orders to search it."
"...And what became of Wormtail after you attacked Moody?"
"Wormtail returned to care for my master, in my father's house, and to keep watch over him."
"But your father escaped."
"Yes. After a while he began to fight the 'Imperius Curse' just as I had done. There were periods when he knew what was happening. My master decided it was no longer safe for my father to leave the house. He forced him to send letters to the Ministry instead... He made him write and say he was ill. But Wormtail neglected his duty. He was not watchful enough. My father escaped. My master guessed that he was heading for Hogwarts. My father was going to tell Dumbledore everything, to confess. He was going to admit that he had smuggled me from Azkaban."
"My master sent me word of my father's escape. He told me to stop him at all costs. So I waited and watched. I used the map I had taken from Harry Potter. The map that had almost ruined everything."
"Map?" Dumbledore asked quickly, "What map is this?"
"Potter's map of Hogwarts. Potter saw me on it. Potter saw me stealing more ingredients for the Polyjuice Potion from Snape's office one night. He thought I was my father. We have the same first name.... I took the map from Potter that night. I told him my father hated Dark Wizards. Potter believed my father was after Snape."
"For a week I waited for my father to arrive at Hogwarts. At last, one evening, the map showed my father entering the grounds. I pulled on my 'Invisibility Cloak' and went down to meet him. He was walking around the edge of the forest. Then Potter came, and Krum. I waited. I could not hurt Potter; my master needed him. Potter ran to get Dumbledore. I stunned Krum. I killed my father."
"Noooo!" Winky wailed, "Master Barty, Master Barty, what is you saying?"
"You killed your father?" Dumbledore asked in the same voice he had so far used, "What did you do with the body?"
"Carried it into the forest. Covered it with the Invisibility Cloak. I had the map with me. I watched Potter run into the Castle. He met Snape. Dumbledore joined them. I watched Potter bringing Dumbledore out of the Castle. I walked back out of the forest, doubled around behind them, went to meet then. I told Dumbledore that Snape had told me where to come."
"Dumbledore told me to go and look for my father. I went back to my father's body. Watched the map. When everyone was gone, I Transfigured his body. He became a bone... I buried it, while wearing the Invisibility Cloak, in the 'freshly' dug earth in front of Hagrid's cabin."
Lucifer felt a chill run down his spine, 'We were that close to Crouch's body... the Nifflers... I wonder if they saw and moved the bone around?'
There was complete silence, except for Winky's continued sobs. Then Dumbledore said, "And tonight..."
"I offered to carry the Triwizard Cup into the Maze before dinner, turned it into a Portkey. My master's plan worked. He is returning to power and I will be honored by him beyond the dreams of wizards."
The insane smile lit his features once more, causing Hermione to involuntarily shiver, as his head drooped onto his shoulder as WInky wailed and sobbed at his side.
Dumbledore stood up. He stared down at Barty Crouch Junior for a moment with disgust on his face. He then raised his wand once more and ropes flew out of it, ropes that twisted themselves around Crouch Junior, binding him tightly.
He turned to McGonagall, "Minerva, could I ask you to stand guard here while I take Harry upstairs?"
"Of course," McGonagall said and pulled her wand out. She looked slightly uneasy, but her hand was quite steady as she aimed it at Crouch Junior.
"Severus, please tell Madam Pomfrey to come down here; we need to get Alastor Moody into the Hospital Wing. Then go down into the grounds, find 'Cornelius Fudge', and bring him up to this office. He will undoubtedly want to question Crouch himself. Tell him I will be in the Hospital Wing in half an hour's time if he needs me..."
Snape nodded silently and swept out of the room.
"Lucifer? Could you take Hermione up to Gryffindor Tower with you and remain there until tomorrow morning?"
"Yeah," Lucifer agreed and turned to his girlfriend, she was looking at him with an unreadable face, "Ready to go? There's nothing left here."
"Yeah..." Her voice was quiet as she let him lead out of the office and up to Gryffindor Tower. They arrived at the Fat Lady and Lucifer spoke the password to allow them entry.
Practically every Gryffindor was in the Common Room, and they were about to round in on them after they entered, but when they saw Lucifer's 'less than friendly' visage, they immediately stopped and acted as though nothing happened.
He led Hermione over to an empty table next to the window, opened it, and some cool air blew it. Rowena flew in moments later, her large wings clipping the frame before she settled onto wide stone windowsill. She had a small and writhing insect held firmly in her sharp beak.
Hermione recognized the frantically squirming beetle immediately. "Is that...?" she gasped, her eyes widening in instant recognition. Before Lucifer even had the chance to reach out, she quickly snatched a clean, empty glass jar from a nearby shelf, unscrewed the metal lid, and expertly plomped insect inside, twisting cap shut with a satisfying click.
"Good girl," Lucifer said, offering a smirk to his eagle-owl, who preened her feathers proudly.
The beetle captured in the jar was, of course, the infamously famous, or famously infamous, British magical journalist: 'Rita Skeeter.'
In the generally plain and old fashioned wizarding world, Skeeter was an anomaly. A bit like Lockhart, she thrived on exaggerated, distorted reporting that grabbed attention. Her dreaded 'Quick-Quotes Quill' had made many an interviewee long to hex her teeth out.
Lucifer and her relationship in the past timeline was more of a mutual benefit of transaction, most of the outrageously titled articles about him had been written by her.
She'd managed to survive while making enemies everywhere and become the 'Daily Prophet's' star columnist, being the Queen of the Quills, she clearly wasn't talentless.
A Ravenclaw by education, she had almost no real wisdom but plenty of cunning. She knew exactly who she could afford to antagonize, and who she absolutely couldn't.
Ministry officials, even the Minister himself , she could slander them at will. They cared too much about their image to retaliate openly, because one wrong move and their political careers would be 'finished.'
But one type of person was untouchable: dark, ruthless, ancient pure-blood families, especially the Slytherin, leaning ones. Those people didn't care about their reputation.
They had money, connections, and zero patience. Offend one and you offended a dozen.
Though the Grahams had a decent public image, Rita knew enough of their secrets to understand that they possessed more than enough leverage to make her disappear into a ditch if they wanted.
So, when their family's owl had slipped her a pouch of galleons and asked her to speak badly of Lucifer, Rita didn't even take the money. She just used the opportunity to secure herself another layer of protection.
But before that protection ever became useful, she'd been caught by Lucifer Morningstar's 'owl' herself.
"Let me think..." Now, her owner sat on the comfy armchair, tapping a finger against the surface of Glass jar handed over by Hermione for a closer glance, each tap hit Rita's body straight in the nerves. "As I recall, there are seven registered Animagi this century. I don't believe your name is on that list, Miss Skeeter. No wonder you always manage to acquire information no one else could possibly access.... Not only an Animagus, but such a tiny 'form'... a beetle no one ever notices."
Hermione leaned against the desk right next to him, crossing her arms as she stared down into the jar with an expression of intense, brilliant satisfaction. "An 'illegal' Animagus," She pointed out, her voice sweet and dangerously calm. "Do you have any idea what the penalty is for failing to register with the Ministry, Rita? Azkaban... They would throw you into a cell and throw away the key, especially after all eavesdropping you've done on school grounds."
She watched the bug crawl frantically over the cold glass, a thought suddenly crossing her mind. Looking at the disgraced journalist, Hermione thought she wouldn't put it past Rita Skeeter to completely run away from the Magical world if things got too hot for her.... She could easily see the woman packing up, crossing over into the Muggle world, and writing her own series of books detailing 'Harry Potter's life at Hogwarts' just to get famous or secure a massive amount of money.
She'd probably headline the entire sensationalized biography by titling her very first book 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.'
A cold sweat slid down Rita's back. For an instant she considered forcing herself back into a human body, attacking, stunning the pair and wiping lovebirds 'memory', but thought died as quickly as it appeared. She couldn't release Beetle's modification at all. This was a boy who confronted Masked Raiders publicly, sending them to graves. Who was she to think she could? 'Mr. Morningstar, please... I'm begging you. Let me off this once.'
Rita finally chose to surrender.
"Don't make me sound so heartless," Lucifer said with a laugh, shaking his head, he could read her thoughts like an open book,"We've exchanged greetings together a few times, and it wasn't that bad. From now on, you work for me, and we'll call it even. How's that sound?"
'Heartless? You're not even human! Fuck you, Morningstar.' Rita screamed internally. She tried to think of some excuse, anything to stall, when a wave of pure cold slammed into her. Goosebumps erupted across her arms.
"Miss Skeeter, lots of people can't stand you, but to me you're something of a talent."
Her body locked up completely. She couldn't move a muscle.
"Facts aren't important to most people," he went on. "Plenty of truths aren't suitable for the general public, anyway. Your articles are interesting, vivid, believable enough to grab attention. As for the others, write whatever you want. I won't restrict you. I can even 'fund' you. But... when I need something, you'll help. A little favor, that's all. Clear?"
His tone was mild, almost gentle. Rita had absolutely no room to refuse. All she wanted was to get out of this place alive. She blinked her tiny beetle eyes wildly, signaling that she understood the terms perfectly.
"And don't think you can twist his words later, either," Hermione interjected, leaning down until her face was right up against the glass, her brown eyes looming like a massive threat. "I will be keeping a very close eye on every single word printed in the 'Prophet.' If I see even a hint of betrayal, I'll hand you over to the 'Department of Magical Law Enforcement' myself, along with a full record of your little beetle excursions."
Lucifer pulled back his magic and tapped a finger over it, a tingling rush shot through her body as Rita's beetle regained control of her limbs. She didn't even get a single second of relief.
Her own right front leg, which translated to her human hand jerked up completely on its own volition and clamped around her throat.
Rita choked, struggling desperately against her own limbs, but her free leg and her tiny body 'refused' to obey. She was actively strangling herself.
"Still having little thoughts?" The boy asked, shaking his head as if disappointed. He made no move to intervene, just watched coldly, as if curious whether she would actually force herself to faint.
Right before she blacked out, Rita's will 'finally' collapsed. Control rushed back into her fingers. She crumpled to a tiny closed ball, sucked in air in frantic gasps, making 'creee' noises.
Now she understood. Any thought, impulse that ran against Morningstar would make her kill herself.
"I'll contact you when I need you. And don't report a word of what happened tonight, for now you'll be in my girlfriend's care..."
Hermione smiled brightly, picking up the jar and tucking it securely into her bag, checking the metal threads one last time to ensure it was airtight. "She'll be perfectly safe with me, Lucifer. I'll make sure she has plenty of leaves to chew on while she thinks about her new career choices."
Her panic didn't even settle enough when she heard Hermione Granger's amused dark fits of giggles. If there were a potion for regret, Rita would've drunk a whole cauldron. No matter how big the scoop was, no story was worth losing her 'freedom... or her life.'
She stared at her right hand in terror, didn't dare feel slightest resentment toward Lucifer. All she could do was blame herself, over and over, drowning in her own anxious spiral.
Neither of them said anything more. They were both present for Crouch Junior's interrogation, and after being asked to leave, it's safe to assume that Dumbledore would have Harry explain exactly what happened in the graveyard.
If Harry wanted to tell them, then he would, when he was ready.
xxxxxx
Author's Note
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