Chapter Twenty-Eight: Overprotective Godfathers…and Fathers
While Harish was still wondering about Crouch and Jugson, the twins were still trying to get their money back from Bagman. He seemed to be full on avoiding them and Harish had even noticed how fast he had left the stadium, so that he wouldn't be stuck with Harish alone.
Now, as it had been several months, the twins were debating on sending a letter to Bagman, demanding that they receive the money he owed them. It was rather annoying really. At first they had thought that perhaps Bagman had made a mistake, but now it was very clear that there had been no mistake.
So when Harish went up to the Owlry early the next morning to send a letter to Sirius about the previous night's events, the twins followed, still arguing about whether they should send the letter saying that they were going to go to the Ministry if they didn't get their money they had won. Fred was saying that it was blackmail, but since it was George's idea, he was trying to convince his twin to let him send it:
"—that's blackmail, that is," Fred protested, "we could get into a lot of trouble for that—"
"We've tried being polite; it's time to play dirty, like him," George reasoned. "He wouldn't like the Ministry of Magic knowing what he did—"
"I'm telling you, if you put that in writing, it's blackmail!" Fred exclaimed.
"Yeah, and you won't be complaining if we get a nice fat payoff, will you?"
Harish shook his head and opened the door to the Owlry. He froze once he entered, causing the twins to run straight into him. Already in the Owlry, standing by the window, were Ron and Neville. Ron had sent a letter to Percy, asking about Crouch. He had just heard that Crouch had been missing from work, but he didn't yet know that Crouch had been on the grounds.
"What're you doing here?" Ron and Fred asked at the same time.
"Sending a letter," George and Neville replied in unison.
"What, at this time?" Harish and Ron asked.
Fred grinned.
"Fine—we won't ask you what you're doing, if you don't ask us," he said.
He was holding up the sealed envelope that held their letter to Bagman. As the Slytherin caught his brother and Neville looking at it, he moved his hand to cover up the name it was addressed to. Harish did the same with his own letter, though he had written Snuffles as the receiving address.
"Well, don't let us hold you up," Fred said with a mock bow and pointing at the door.
Ron didn't move. Instead, he asked, "Who're you blackmailing?"
The grin vanished from Fred's face. George half glanced at his twin, before smiling. Harish made sure that he busied himself with attaching his letter to a Great Grey's leg. He didn't want to be caught up in this.
"Don't be stupid, Fred and I were only joking," he said easily.
"Didn't sound like that," Ron said.
Harish moved to a window and let the owl fly off before turning back to the others. The twins looked at each other. Then, Fred said abruptly, "I've told you before, Ron, keep your nose out if you like the shape it is. Can't see why you would, but—"
"It's my business if you're blackmailing someone," Ron replied. "You were right, you two could end up in serious trouble for that."
"Like you would care," George sneered.
"Besides," Fred added. "George told you we were joking."
George walked over, pulled the letter out of Fred's hands, and began attaching it to the leg of the nearest barn owl. "You're starting to sound a bit like our dear older brother, you are, Ron," he said. "Carry on like this and you'll be made a prefect."
"No, I won't!" Ron said hotly.
George carried the barn owl over to the window and it took off. George turned around and grinned at Ron.
"Well, stop telling people what to do, then. See you later."
"Or hopefully not at all," Fred added.
The two of them left and Harish followed. Once they were gone, Ron and Neville turned to each other.
"You don't think they know something about Crouch, do you?" Neville asked. "Would they tell someone if they did?"
"I dunno if they would," Ron replied dully. "They're kind of obsessed with making money recently. I noticed it this summer, when Blake was over."
"Yeah, but blackmail…?"
"It's this joke shop idea they've got," Ron replied. "At first I thought they were doing it to annoy Mum, but they really mean it, they want to start one. They've only got a year left of Hogwarts, and they keep going on about how it's time to think about their future; Dad can't help them, and they need gold to get started."
"They wouldn't do anything against the law, would they?" Neville asked.
"Wouldn't they?" Ron repeated, looking skeptical. "I dunno…they don't exactly mind breaking the rules, do they?"
"Maybe you should tell Percy," Neville suggested.
"Are you kidding?" Ron asked. "Percy would probably do a Crouch and turn them in."
"But I thought you didn't like them," Neville replied, confused. "I thought you said that they were going to join the Dark Side?"
Ron looked uncomfortable.
"Yeah, but I don't want them to…to go to prison…"
Meanwhile, the twins and Harish were making their way down to the dungeons. The twins were muttering angrily as they went, occasionally kicking things. Harish followed silently, pondering Ron and Neville.
"—he ought to keep his nose where it belongs—" Fred muttered angrily.
Harish knew that Neville would be valuable to their side, as Dumbledore was making plans for him, but Neville was too busy following Ron.
"—imagine, him telling us what to do!" George exclaimed.
Ron was obviously against the twins, and therefore against Harish, which meant that Neville was against them as well.
"Nosy brat..."
The only way to gain Neville's allegiance would be to split them up, which would require Ron acting more like a turd than usual.
"Bossy fourth year…"
But it also meant that Harish himself would need to act nice to Neville in order to lure him in, not unlike the way he had treated Hermione in her first year.
The twins fell silent and Harish's thoughts were interrupted as they finally reached the common room. Once inside, they found Draco, Ginny, Hermione, and Daphne. Harish sat down and explained to them why the twins were so angry.
Then, Draco said, "You told us about what happened in the forest, but you haven't told us what the third task is going to be."
"Oh, that?" Harish asked. "It's just a maze with obstacles and things."
"That should be right up your alley, then," George said.
"Yeah, we had to get past several obstacles to get the stone," Fred added.
Harish nodded.
"That's why I haven't really worried about it much," he said.
"You should still practice," Hermione protested. "Make sure you know plenty of spells."
"All right," Harish grumbled. He probably needed a spell that would help him find his way in the maze, anyway.
Sirius sent their owl back the next morning. It fluttered down beside Harish at the same moment a tawny owl landed with the Prophet. While Harish took off the letter from Sirius, Daphne grabbed the newspaper. She scanned the paper and exclaimed, "Ha! Rita Skeeter hasn't gotten wind of Crouch!" and then turned to watch Harish read the letter from Sirius, the twins leaning over his shoulders trying to read as well.
Harry—what do you think you are playing at, walking off into the forest with Viktor Krum? I want you to swear, by return owl, that you are not going to go walking with anyone else at night. There is someone highly dangerous at Hogwarts. It is clear to me that they wanted to stop Crouch from seeing Dumbledore (and I know that this may mean that they could be on our side, but we can't chance it.) and you were probably feet away from them in the dark. You could have been killed.
Your name didn't get into the Goblet of Fire by accident, and you definitely were not sent to the Hospital Wing accidently either! Whoever is trying to attack you, this is their last chance. Stay close to your friends and do not leave the castle alone, especially not after hours. Arm yourself for the third task. Practice Stunning and Disarming. A few hexes wouldn't go amiss either. There's nothing you can do about Crouch or Jugson. Keep your head down and look after yourself. I'm waiting for your letter giving me your word you won't stray out of bounds again.
-Sirius.
"We were supposed to be out of the castle!" Harish exclaimed in indignation. "And it's not like I just wandered off with Krum—I told him to stay put!"
"He's worried about you!" Hermione said sharply. "Just like your father and all of us! So listen to them!"
"No one's managed to kill me yet!" Harish protested.
"Which is exactly why they will most likely try again before the year is out," Hermione replied, sticking her nose in the air.
Harish floundered, his mouth opening and closing, trying to find a good comeback. He looked at the twins for help.
George held up his hands, saying, "Leave me out of this, mate."
When Harish looked at Fred, he replied, "Hermione's right. You need to watch yourself."
"Fine," Harish snapped angrily, rummaging in his bag for a quill to reply with. "I won't be needing to leave the castle anyway."
He jotted down a note quickly before sending it off with the owl. Then, he crossed his arms and asked, "Happy?"
"Yes," everyone else said.
Harish growled.
To Hermione and Daphne's insistence, he found a disused classroom and practiced all the spells Sirius had mentioned. Then, he looked up a charm that would help him get through the maze. The incantation was "Point me," and it was supposed to point the direction he told it to. He figured out that from where they would start, the cup would be north. Therefore, all he had to say was, "Point me, north," and he would know he was heading the right direction.
He also looked up a few hexes that would help him that they hadn't learned in class, such as the Impediment Curse that was supposed to slow an object down.
And he was checking his drink every meal to make sure it hadn't been poisoned. Harish thought that maybe he should take a leaf out of Moody's book and only drink out of a personal flask. But, of course, Harish had no need to be that paranoid—yet. He decided that he would start doing that if he found poison in his drink again.
Somehow Harish knew that the man wouldn't be trying that again, however. The first time, he had cast a spell from behind him. Whatever spell it was, wasn't supposed to kill him but send a message to Voldemort (which Voldemort received loud and clear). The second time the attacker had tried a different approach by poisoning Harish. Harish could feel in his gut that the attacker was going to try one last technique before the year was out.
This put Harish on edge and, as he was practicing more and more for the third task, he began to neglect his studies once again. It was much like in his fourth year when the school was being attacked—the only difference this time was that Harish was the sole target of these attacks, making it even worse.
And Harish was not the only one on edge. Dumbledore saw the signs and was clearly suspecting that Voldemort was planning a return. This was why he could be seen a few days after Crouch's sudden appearance and disappearance at the castle, talking to the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge. But Fudge did not take Dumbledore's warnings well.
"I am afraid, Dumbledore, that I fail to see what you are saying!" Fudge said. "I do not see what the disappearance of Barty Crouch has to do with You-Know-Who!"
"And what do you think happened to Barty Crouch, Minister?" Moody growled.
"I see two possibilities, Alastor," Fudge replied. "Either Crouch has finally cracked—more than likely, I'm sure you'll agree, given his personal history—lost his mind, and gone off wandering somewhere—"
"He wandered extremely quickly, if that is the case, Cornelius," Dumbledore said calmly.
"Or else—well…" Fudge seemed embarrassed. "Well, I'll reserve judgement until after I've seen the place where he was found, but you say it was just past the Beauxbatons carriage? Dumbledore, do you know what that woman is?"
"I consider her to be a very able headmistress—and an excellent dancer," Dumbledore replied quietly.
"Dumbledore come!" Fudge reasoned angrily. "Don't you think you might be prejudiced in her favour because of Hagrid? They don't all turn out harmless—if, indeed, you can call Hagrid harmless, with that monster fixation he's got—"
"Why don't you ask the eye witness we have?" Moody growled. "After all it would be rather hard to not to spot either of them."
"Who?" Fudge asked. "Who was there?"
"Harish Blake," Dumbledore replied.
"Ah!" Fudge exclaimed. "Let's bring him here then! I'm sure that young man could clear this matter up! Then you and I can go look down at the grounds!"
Dumbledore looked pained, most likely because he did not want to pull a student out of class. But, wishing to convince the Minister that Voldemort really was returning, Dumbledore decided to humor him by summoning the boy.
"Please go get Harish Blake," Dumbledore said, turning to Moody.
"All right, Headmaster," Moody growled, and he stumped out of the office.
The two men of power listened as the tell-tale clunk, clunk, clunk of Moody's wooden leg faded away. Then, after at least ten minutes, the noise returned, accompanied by an extra pair of feet. Harish walked into the circular office, glancing around, followed by Moody. Moody then stopped at the back of the room and leaned back against the wall, one arm draped over his staff.
"I assume you know Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, Harish?" Dumbledore asked as Harish came to a stop beside the Minister.
Harish nodded and then said, "If you don't mind me asking, sir, why am I here?"
"Cornelius would like to ask you a few questions about the day you found Mr. Crouch."
Harish nodded and looked questioningly at the Minister.
Fudge then asked, "What did Crouch do? Did he say anything to you?"
"Well," Harish replied slowly. "At first he kept talking to a tree, convinced it was Percy Weasley. He kept giving Percy orders and sounded as though he thought his wife and son were still alive. Then he suddenly grabbed me and started going on about how he had to see Dumbledore. He mentioned something about his son, Bertha Jorkins, and Neville Longbottom, saying it was all his fault. It was really hard to understand, really. And then he started going on about how he escaped from something—or someone, I guess."
"What did he look like?"
"Like he had been wandering the woods for days. He was all scratched up and unshaven."
"And did you see anyone else there?"
"No, sir," Harish replied. "Just me, Viktor Krum, and Mr. Crouch."
"Very well," Fudge replied heavily. "Dumbledore? If we could see where he was found, now…?"
"Of course," Dumbledore replied, still looking at Harish. Harish felt quite unnerved. "Mr. Blake, you are free to go."
Harish nodded and back out of the office. Then, he went down to the common room, as there wasn't much time left in class.