Albus Dumbledore sat in his office, his desk piled high with letters of protest. He was fortunate that many of them were so vociferous they simply ignited, saving him the trouble of reading them all. The letters were, of course, all related to the article that had come out after the Second Task. The decisions made regarding the task had not been well received by the general public. He admitted he hadn't fully considered the consequences of how the hostage issue would be handled, but no adult would have allowed their children to be plunged into the lake, no matter how much they were guaranteed to be safe.
The human element was crucial to this particular task. Its purpose was to show who would sacrifice everything for others and who would look out for their own self-interest—a way of seeing a person's true character. There would have been no point in hiding a simple object; that would not have tested the competitors' moral fibre.
Despite the controversy, Dumbledore found a positive outcome. If he had previously suspected that young Harry Potter was beginning to act on his own and stray from the path set for him, this event had proven he was still the same boy. The Headmaster could once again place his hopes in Harry as the hero everyone needed to defeat Voldemort once and for all. It was clear that Voldemort was alive and simply waiting for his opportunity. The wizarding community needed a hero capable of any sacrifice, and young Harry had shown himself to be one, even if the results were not as low on the score sheet as Albus would have liked.
According to the chief of the merpeople clan, Harry had been the first to arrive. Knowing he could only take one hostage, he had waited for the others to arrive. He had only left the underwater village when he saw that the French champion, Fleur Delacour, was not coming. Harry Potter had rescued not only his own hostage, Ron Weasley, but also the sister of the French competitor, Gabrielle. This showed a tremendous amount of moral character.
He could be thankful that neither Gabrielle Delacour nor Neville Longbottom had been harmed. The Changs were not prominent or well-connected enough in society to cause him trouble if something bad had happened to Cho. As for Hermione Granger, it would have been a significant loss of potential, but being a Muggle-born, her death would have simply been classified as an "unfortunate accident". However, none of this would have come to pass, as he had ensured the hostages were protected by the right enchantments so they would not suffer any harm while submerged and would be removed once the task was over.
But no one wanted to listen to these arguments. Everyone saw his actions as a flaw, a needless risk to people for the sake of a spectacle. Even the Ministry, which had approved this procedure months ago, was now hounding him. The Minister himself had chastised him for using students and, above all, for endangering the only heir of an important family. Albus was certain that Cornelius Fudge was merely parroting someone else's words.
A knock on the door broke his thoughts. Albus sighed; it was time to receive the other judges of the Tournament to finalise the details of the Third Task. They were clear about what they wanted to do—a much simpler task than the previous two. They just needed to iron out a few final details. He made the letters on his desk vanish. "Come in," he said, waving his wand to open the door and usher them into his office. The meeting began now.
Meanwhile, Elsewhere in the Castle
Godric Gryffindor beckoned to Salazar Slytherin. They had been discussing how to approach "Moody," and they concluded the best thing to do was to go straight to him. They had been keeping a close eye on the Marauder's Map and while the real Moody did not seem to leave his office, the fake Moody had been seen moving about the castle corridors and in the Defence classroom, among other places.
Their plan was simple: While Salazar went to see the impostor, he and Rowena Ravenclaw would examine the Marauder's Map, comparing the information Salazar provided from his direct visit with what they saw on the map. They knew that Helga Hufflepuff, on the other hand, was making enquiries about Bartemius Crouch at the Ministry. They would pool all their information a few days later.
From what they could see on the map, Professor Moody's office was one of the largest in Hogwarts. The map couldn't show what was inside the office itself, or any room for that matter, only its scaled dimensions. They watched as Salazar arrived at the office and waited outside. Inside, only Moody was visible, standing still in a corner. Bartemius Crouch then approached down the corridor and stopped in front of Salazar Slytherin. The two seemed to exchange a few words in the corridor before Crouch opened the office door and they both entered. They watched as the two of them stood in a corner of the office, with Crouch behind the professor's desk and Salazar in front of him. This was all the proof they needed; now they just had to find out what was in each part of the office.
Rowena drew a copy of the office layout on a separate fragment of parchment. This would serve as a point of reference to compare with the descriptions Salazar would give them. For the entire time they were talking, the two figures' movements were noticeable; they stayed in the same general spot but were shifting about. In contrast, the Moody figure had not moved from the point in the office where he had been all along. Another thing they wanted to know was whether Salazar had seen the figure in that exact spot the first time, because it was where he had always been located on the map. Minutes later, they saw Salazar leave the office.
Godric Gryffindor and Rowena Ravenclaw packed up the things they had used in the Room of Requirement. Rowena was due to meet with Theodore Nott and Godric had to drop by the common room to do some Herbology work with Hermione Granger. The fact that they had to work together made Godric happy, for he liked the girl and wanted to court her. He knew, for example, that Hermione had gone to the Yule Ball with Viktor Krum because she thought no one else would ask her, and also because the boy genuinely saw her as a friend. Godric knew she was only interested in the Bulgarian boy as a friend and that Viktor seemed content with that.
He pushed those thoughts out of his mind. He knew it was best to be upfront with Hermione and not wait to see if Viktor truly understood or if he was going to try and make a move on her. When he arrived in front of the entrance to the common room, guarded by the portrait that had taken him so long to choose, he spoke the password. He no longer forgot his passwords and, with the improvement he'd shown the previous year, he didn't even have to pretend to forget them.
"I'm sorry for the delay, Hermione," Godric said. "I got a bit sidetracked talking to Luna Lovegood. That girl knows an awful lot about magical creatures, even things that aren't in books."
"Most of those things she makes up," Hermione countered. "Those creatures you mention don't exist."
"Hermione, there may be no evidence," Godric replied. "But for that very reason, we can't say for certain that they don't exist or that they do."
"That has a point," Hermione admitted.
They soon divided up the work before putting it together and writing the final draft. They chose a quiet spot away from the common room and began to work in silence. Having always been good at Herbology in this life, Godric had no problem hiding some of his talent. It was the hardest thing for him, hiding his talent by only showing how it blossomed little by little; it wasn't like Salazar's and Rowena's situations, where they could simply pass off their skills as greater application in their studies. In Herbology, Godric could easily excel.
"Neville, was what Dumbledore did really that serious?" Hermione asked.
"Well, yes, quite a lot," Godric replied. "Wizards and witches, despite being long-lived, don't tend to have many children. It's not that they don't want to, but for some reason, they are only blessed with one or two children per marriage. The Weasleys are an exception to this."
"Then what Dumbledore did was threaten the safety and future of those families," Hermione deduced.
"In a way, yes. You see, Hermione, magical families are very protective of their offspring, or they should be. Even more so if they're their heirs, the ones who will continue their surnames. That's why my gran was so angry. I'm the only one who can carry on the Longbottom name."
"He didn't ask for our guardians' consent and didn't listen to us when we refused to participate, despite the supposed safety measures," Hermione argued. "Everything we're taught in Magical Theory indicates that even the most experienced of wizards can make mistakes. In addition to that, except for a few spells, the rest vanish if something happens to the person casting them, and Dumbledore is not exactly in his younger days. Of course, he's shown that great wisdom and leadership that was attributed to him," she said sarcastically. "I think I've been very disappointed with the Headmaster. I wish I had realised it sooner."
"Realised what?" Godric asked.
"It seems that Dumbledore only cares about his own agenda. First, I knew someone was after the Philosopher's Stone and he used it as bait to lure them to the castle, leaving it behind some obstacles that Harry, Ron and I were able to overcome without much difficulty. And second, with the Chamber of Secrets, it seemed he knew more about what was happening than he let on, yet..."
"He seems to always want to put Harry to the test, to make him solve things," Godric finished her thought.
"Exactly. The previous year was quiet, but this year, with the Tournament, he could have taken Harry out of it as soon as his name came out of the Goblet, and he didn't. Nobody did anything."
"It doesn't seem like Harry is doing too badly, either," Godric noted.
"That's what's worrying. I feel like this whole tournament is a trap."
Godric looked at her with some satisfaction. He knew Hermione was very clever, and he was glad she was starting to see the bigger picture sooner rather than later. He understood what Hermione was going through. She, like most of the wizarding community, had Dumbledore on a pedestal, and he had simply fallen from it. It was a normal reaction.
They finished the work quietly and then shared their findings. All that remained was to write it. Hermione's handwriting was more stylised and organised than his. It was the best font that could be used to present a piece of work.
"That's it," Hermione said. "I like working with you, Neville."
"Me too," Godric said. "But not just that. I like you, Hermione. I was wondering if you would agree to go out with me—on a date."
"You've taken me by surprise." Hermione blushed. "I'd love to go out with you, someday. Would the next trip to Hogsmeade be alright?"
"It would be perfect."
That same night, during dinner, Godric began to think of different ways to approach the date with Hermione. He wanted it to be lovely. He knew that the perfect date didn't exist, but he wanted everything to go well, even though he had plenty of time for that. Much to his regret, he pushed the thought aside, because that very night he had to sneak away with Salazar and Rowena to meet with Helga to share what each of them knew. They met, as always, in the Shrieking Shack.
"The entire time we were in that office, Moody was in this corner, not moving," Godric said, pointing to the spot on the plan of the room they had drawn earlier. "Salazar met Crouch in the hallway and they went inside. They talked for a long time. At no point did the Moody figure move."
"In the corner that Godric is pointing to is a trunk with seven locks," Salazar explained. "The rest of the room is filled with Dark Arts detectors. The man I spoke to looked like Alastor Moody. So, it's confirmed that Crouch is continuously impersonating Moody, but why, and since when?"
"It's all very strange, yes," Helga Hufflepuff replied. "All I've found out about Crouch is that he's a stickler for the rules, to an extreme. Very meticulous, and it was a huge downfall for him to lose his entire career when his son was caught. Something that was almost repeated when it was revealed what he had done with Sirius Black. But I have found out something. Shortly after Crouch sent his son to Azkaban, he went to visit him with his sick wife, the boy's mother. The boy died shortly after that visit and the mother a couple of weeks after the boy. For someone who was very fond of ceremonies and notoriety, he decided on a quiet funeral with just himself and his house-elf."
"Very curious," Salazar frowned. "That's certainly not the move of someone who would hope to regain political power. A public event would have won him support, even if it was out of compassion."
"We need to keep an eye on our teacher without him knowing what we're doing," Rowena said. "Now more than ever, we must continue with the surveillance. If all this is as murky as we think, we can't leave anything uncovered."
"Ron is already starting to ask why we look at the map so much," Salazar said. "Rowena, you'd better have the map for a few weeks." He handed the map to her with a slight twist of his wrist. "It's better that way. We mustn't raise suspicions that we're investigating anything, or about who we are."
"I'll guard it well," Rowena said. "I actually have a couple of anti-Nargle surprises in my trunk. I'll let you know about anything relevant I see on the map."
The weeks passed. Soon, a month had gone by and there was no news about Crouch, but that didn't mean they had given up their vigilance. They didn't intend to let their guard down at any time. Just as Salazar and Godric were about to meet with Rowena for surveillance from the Room of Requirement, Professor McGonagall intercepted them.
"Potter, the champions must meet on the Quidditch pitch," Professor McGonagall said.
"Thank you, Professor McGonagall," Salazar replied correctly. "Neville, you go on ahead. I'll catch up with you after the meeting."
"Alright, mate," Godric said.
Salazar walked to the Quidditch pitch, where the meeting was taking place. As they well knew, the pitch had been transformed for the occasion. Fast-growing plants, fertility spells, and other charms were used to move the walls of plants at will. As he got closer, Salazar took the opportunity to quickly, subtly, and silently assess how the labyrinth was configured. He could see that it was based in part on Daedalus's labyrinth. He only hoped that it wouldn't be imbued with the evil will that the legendary Cretan labyrinth had possessed.
As soon as he listened to the conversations of the other champions and Ludo Bagman, he lost interest in what Bagman had to explain about the task, simply because the information was nothing they couldn't all have deduced themselves. Salazar sighed when he saw that Bagman intended to stay behind and speak with him alone; Bagman had been trying to throughout the tournament, and Salazar had even heard rumours that involved the man in a betting scandal. He didn't want to be alone with him, so he joined the rest of the champions on their walk back to the castle; it was the best course of action.
The four of them walked back to the castle, stopping halfway, when they encountered Mr. Crouch. He was completely dishevelled, his clothes threadbare, and his beard uneven—a stark contrast to the image he had projected on previous occasions. He looked more like a homeless man than a high-ranking Ministry official. He babbled and seemed uncoordinated. His eyes were glazed over and lost, as if he were looking at something that wasn't there.
Salazar could see in him the signs of the Imperius Curse. He had studied the Unforgivable Curses thoroughly and knew enough to identify them, even if only a little. These curses were dangerous, and he was glad they were punishable by law.
"Dumbledore... I must... speak... Dumbledore... Potter... trap... Tournament..." he repeated over and over again. "...the Cup... death..."
Salazar looked at Crouch seriously, trying to convince him to accompany him inside the castle to find Dumbledore. The champions of Durmstrang and Beauxbatons didn't seem to know what to make of it. Cedric Diggory was surprised and paralysed, but he seemed to be connecting some threads, and he looked at Salazar in alarm. Salazar could see a new resolve in Cedric and he began to help Salazar convince Crouch. The foreign champions kept claiming Crouch was mad.
"He's not mad," Cedric said firmly. "I know madness, and this man isn't crazy. He seems to have succumbed to pressure or be under a spell. Maybe a nervous breakdown. Crouch has had a lot at stake with this tournament and things have not gone as well as he expected. In addition to the fact that he's been missing a lot of work and the Minister has proposed to dismiss him. My father told me so."
"Whatever the reason, it's better that he isn't seen in this state," Salazar said. "He's still a politician, and image in politics is very important." He turned to Mr. Crouch, taking a step toward him. "Mr. Crouch, let's go inside. Come with me, I'll take you to see Dumbledore."
"I'll take care of it." They heard a powerful voice approaching—it was Professor Moody's voice. Someone was walking towards them in an intimidating manner. "The rest of you go on inside."
The foreign champions obeyed immediately, grateful to be able to get out of the uncomfortable situation with Mr. Crouch. Cedric stayed for a few more seconds, eventually nodding and heading towards the castle. Salazar hesitated. Crouch in that state didn't seem capable of impersonating anyone, and it was clear that he had been in this situation for months. Salazar knew something strange was happening right here, at this very moment, but he couldn't do anything about it. Doing something would mean exposing himself to the teacher without having the evidence to do so; that would only put him on notice.
"Harry, come on!" he heard Godric shout at him urgently. Salazar looked at his friend before following after him. "**I had to get you out of there. Rowena warned me that you would do something if I didn't arrive in time."
"I wasn't going to leave Crouch with Moody," Salazar protested. "There was something odd about all that."
"Of course there was," Godric said as they stepped into one of the castle's corridors. "We were looking at the map. There are two Crouches."
"Are you saying that the Moody impostor, the one who put my name in the Goblet, is Mr. Crouch's dead son?" Salazar asked.
"Exactly, my friend."
"We need to call an emergency meeting."
"I'll sort it out, S—" Godric stopped in his tracks, turning a corner and finding themselves face to face with Hermione and Ginny.
The four of them stared at each other for a few moments. Salazar wondered how much they had heard and if that put them in danger. Salazar would hate to have to obliviate his friends simply because they knew more than they should or because they couldn't accept the situation as it was. He knew that these memory-modifying charms caused some damage to the cerebral cortex—damage that could be truly serious or permanent if used badly or without control.
"We saw Neville running around like a madman, as if something bad was about to happen," Hermione said.
"What's this about Crouch's dead son and an emergency meeting?" Ginny asked.
"Not here," Godric said. "We'll tell you later."
"I want to be involved in whatever you're up to, Neville," Hermione said. "I agreed to be part of the weird and dangerous things when you went through the trapdoor on the third floor with Harry."
"I don't think it could be more dangerous than the Chamber of Secrets," Ginny said, taking a step toward them. "I'm the one who will be taking the twins' place. Don't force me to show you why. We want to help you."
"This is very serious," Godric said. "Once you get involved in this, there's no turning back."
"Neville, I don't think it's the best thing," Salazar tried to intervene.
"At some point, we may get overwhelmed. I don't think there will be a problem for them to help us," Godric reasoned. "We'll need people we can trust in a future that might not be too far away."
"They won't stop insisting," Salazar sighed resignedly. The stakes were too high. He knew how Rowena and Helga would take this change in the situation, though he imagined that Rowena might have seen it coming. "I'll go and prepare everything with Luna."
"She's already told your girl. She may have already arrived."
"Alright."
"Do you have a girlfriend, Harry?" Hermione asked.
"Of course."
"Who...?"
"Not now, Hermione," Godric said, his voice firm. "Neville, fill them in on the details. We'll meet in half an hour in our war room."
Salazar hurried through the corridors to the Room of Requirement. As soon as he entered, he saw the girls had prepared food and dishes for six; they knew because Rowena had seen that two more people would be joining them. Salazar looked at Helga questioningly, because next to her was Fawkes.
"He's actually my relative, not Dumbledore's," Helga explained. "He is in charge of taking care of the school and my friends. He brought me here when he knew you needed me."
"I didn't expect that, although it does explain some things." That explained the Phoenix's attitude during the Chamber of Secrets episode. He was very grateful to him, but at that moment he was not in a state to be effusive; he was, rather, worried.
"Don't worry," Rowena said. "They will be a permanent part of our group, and two more will join eventually, but it's still too early." We will be a great team."
"Do you expect us to tell them everything or to keep our identities to ourselves until the end?" Salazar asked.
"They need to know the truth," Helga observed. "Godric is in love with Hermione and I'm sure she feels the same way. You can't start a relationship on a lie. And it wouldn't be fair for Ginny to welcome her into our group but keep the information from her."
"If they know, they can certainly help us not to attract attention when we need to meet," Salazar reflected. "Anyway, I still don't like it. It makes me feel vulnerable." He sighed; he hated feeling that way. "We'll have to start from the beginning. Tell them everything they need to know."
"In addition, we have to mount an operation to unmask Crouch Junior."
"Godric will be here shortly, and this meeting is going to be very long," Rowena announced. "Salazar, neither in public nor in private will they ever call us by another name. Trust me."
It was going to be a long, very long night. Not only did they have a lot to tell, but they also had an operation, as Helga called it, to prepare.