Heavy Memories pt 2/2
Harry's surroundings shifted again in an instant. The fog twisted, and the place changed.
Harry's gaze moved quickly around, and he realized he was in what looked like a small, dark cell. His eyes landed on the familiar figure there, lying down, staring at nothing, unmoving, barely breathing, while thick chains bound his feet, tightened painfully around his ankles.
"Sirius…" Harry said, looking at his godfather in his worst moment, as a prisoner. Sirius never spoke much about this part of his life. Obviously, it had left marks inside him that maybe would never heal.
Seeing him like that… it hurt, deep in Harry's chest. But, obviously, there was nothing he could do, since this was only a memory.
But then he heard it… Aside from the endless screams around him, prisoners were being attacked by dementors every day. Still, there was a sound that stood out more than the rest.
The crying of a young man, calling for his mother. It seemed to come from the cell next door, and Harry couldn't go see who it was, because this was the memory from Sirius's point of view. Even if he stepped outside the cell, all he would see would be fog.
"I want my mother… I want my mother… please…" the young man kept crying, growing weaker and weaker.
Until at some point… he fell completely silent, after being attacked by a dementor.
But suddenly, footsteps began to echo right outside the cells, drawing Harry's attention toward it. And there, he saw two figures approaching. One of them was very familiar.
Barty Crouch… though much more disheveled than during the trial.
He was carrying in his arms a woman who looked extremely sick, her eyes filled with tears.
Crouch glanced at Sirius for a moment before walking past him without much interest, heading straight toward the nearby cell.
The moment he got closer, the young man, who had been silent before, seemed to regain some strength.
"Mom… mom… please, I didn't mean to do it… please, get me out of here… I'm begging you…" the voice came quickly, filled with urgency and fear. Harry understood this was none other than the young man he had seen before.
Barty Crouch Junior.
"Please, Mom… I can't take it anymore…" Barty Jr. pleaded.
Suddenly, everything went silent. Completely silent. As if a silencing spell had been cast.
And it lasted for several minutes.
Until Harry saw Crouch again, now leaving, this time carrying the same woman he had brought before, now completely lifeless. And Crouch's face was filled with pain, as if he had aged ten years in an instant.
For a moment, he stopped and looked back in the direction he had come from, with deep pain. As if he were leaving everything behind.
Harry watched him, confused, because he didn't look like the man who would later hate his son so much after becoming one of the worst criminals.
But Harry's gaze drifted slightly toward the woman's ankles in Crouch's arms, making him frown.
Her ankles were bruised… with very clear marks of shackles.
And then the memory ended right there, as Harry was pushed out of the Pensieve.
The moment he came out, he saw someone was already waiting for him.
It was Sirius, sitting there, looking a bit worn out, right beside the Pensieve. Sirius gestured to him, as if greeting him casually, giving him a faint smile, not paying much attention to the fact that Harry was still catching his breath.
"A pretty young kid, right?" Sirius said calmly. "When he first arrived, he spent days crying for his mother. Honestly… at one point, I felt sorry for him. Of course, that was before I found out what he had done."
"After some time in Azkaban, Crouch came with his wife. Thanks to his connections, he managed to visit him. And not long after that… he died. Or at least, that's what we were told. Through a small crack in the wall, I saw the dementors burying him along with the other inmates who, like him, couldn't endure it… or just ended their own lives. And not long after that, word came that Crouch's wife had also died of grief… or that's what the guards said as they passed by with other prisoners."
"But maybe… it wasn't exactly like everyone believed…" Sirius added, letting out a tired sigh.
Meanwhile, Harry walked over and sat beside him, not saying much for a moment, feeling like maybe his godfather just needed to let it out after everything that had piled up on him and all the frustration building inside.
"It's funny… when we think someone's dead, they show up just to try and destroy all the happiness others managed to build. Pettigrew… the Delacour boy's father… Barty Crouch Jr… Bella…" Sirius cut off the last name, though Harry caught it instantly anyway. He didn't say anything. Sirius, realizing he had let it slip, noticed it too, but let it pass without giving it much importance. "At this point, if Lucius Malfoy showed up, I wouldn't even be surprised," Sirius added, trying to change the subject with a somewhat forced smile.
"Aunt Narcissa would get upset if you said that," Harry said at once.
"Yeah… she, more than anyone, wouldn't want that to happen in a million years. If that man were alive, he'd be the first to ruin the life Draco and Narcissa managed to build without him. The freedom they got back… without his existence," Sirius said with a heavier tone, letting out another sigh. "Actually, I called you to make sure you were alright after what happened last night. Your mother went to the Potter manor to investigate something… and left all the problems to me. So I really understand a lot less than you think. Sometimes I wish I could go back, be that reckless guy causing trouble with your father… getting scolded by your mother and Professor McGonagall. Though that didn't change much for me… she still scolds me, even now that I'm the headmaster. But time always keeps moving forward… even if you're not ready for it… even if you're not ready for the losses along the way," Sirius said, his voice carrying a hint of regret, before forcing a smile so he wouldn't look vulnerable.
"It's fine. You can go back. Just seeing you gave me the energy to deal with all the work piling up on me," Sirius said, giving his godson a light pat on the shoulder.
"Is that so, or are you just trying to look pitiful so I won't get my revenge for you taking my photograph?" Harry said in a slightly flat tone.
"Well… ahem… if it works, that would be nice," Sirius said, a bit shameless, with a grin.
"I'll let you off this time only because none of the photos were damaged. But you'd better think things through next time you try something like that," Harry said, his tone a bit cold.
"Hey, just to be clear… the first two tasks were thanks to me. The other two were done by Crouch, Bagman, and Dumbledore…" as he said that, Sirius suddenly froze.
"Wait… the tasks. Right… the first task was supposed to be fighting dragons, but I changed it to a free-for-all battle. Then the dragons became second, but I changed that again to Red and his friends. But the third task, the lake… that one stayed exactly as planned from the beginning, and only the organizers knew about the tasks. Those water monsters, according to Flamel and Hagrid, were there since the start of the year… as if someone knew one of the trials would take place in the lake. So… it wasn't a coincidence. None of this was. Crouch… the letters to Percy… the trap… it's all starting to make sense," Sirius said, though it sounded more like he was talking to himself, connecting everything together.
Then his gaze shifted to the book on his desk.
Then he looked at Harry and nodded several times, like he had just confirmed something. Harry recognized that look for a moment.
"Of course… why didn't I think of it before?" he said, almost excited at having figured something out. "Harry, you're a genius. Go on, I need to talk to Edward and the others," Sirius said at once, without explaining anything further to his godson, before rushing toward the fireplace, which burst into green flames the moment Sirius stepped into it, not giving Harry any time to ask anything.
Harry stayed standing there with a slightly confused expression, looking around for a moment, feeling like he hadn't really done anything. He scratched his head lightly and turned around, deciding to just head back. Though that look Sirius gave him for a moment felt a bit annoying, like once again he was being blamed for some problem happening in Hogwarts.
"I hope that's not the case… because I'll be seriously annoyed," he muttered with a low growl before stepping out through the office door.
But he would only know if the current problem had anything to do with him when he faced it directly.
Harry frowned slightly.
But decided to leave it aside… for now.