"Harry! Harry! What happened?"
Harry huffed and puffed when he heard a familiar voice in his ear, he opened his eyes forcefully and saw two blurry, concerned faces, Ron and Neville. They looked freaked out, as they both held his hands from each side of him without knowing what to do, and then Harry realized he had somehow fallen out of bed and been lying on the cold floor.
"I'm fine, Ron, an-nd Neville - Thanks." Harry said, as he also saw Seamus and Dean look up from their beds in a daze, "I'm fine ..." he said emphatically.
"You don't look like you're fine." Ron said.
"I ... oh, my scars were just aching ... like before." Harry stammered as he got up from the floor, Ron then handed him his glasses, Harry put them on as the room became clear.
Neville carried a magic lamp, the light is not blinding, but it still caused Harry to feel dizziness, it is like he went back to the middle of that real dream, he was sitting in a seat, talking to someone ... but then again the person was not him, he was not so fragile that he needed someone to feed him potion ... ...
He tried his best to immerse himself in it again, the feeling was too real that he still remembers it, the sticky potion felt like ice, sliding down his throat and into his digestive system, then churning in his stomach ...
"Are you sick, Harry?" Seamus looked at him with alarm, "I think you need to stop by the hospital wing."
The dreamscape seemed to be far away from him, no, it shouldn't stop like this ... Harry thought as he made an excuse in his defense, "I'm going to the lavatory ... Don't worry, I'm fine... ..." and he stumbled out in his pyjamas.
"I'll go and check on Harry, you guys sleep." Ron said thoughtfully as Neville handed Ron his little lion magic lamp, "Oh, thanks, Neville. Harry should have nightmares, he will be fine after washing his face in cold water ... "
After an explanation, Ron left the dormitory after Harry.
When he went out, he didn't see anyone in the direction of the door, he scanned the common room and unsurprisingly saw Harry in that familiar spot in the corner of the room, sitting in a gold and red armchair, with his head leaned back, one hand rubbing his forehead, while the other covered his chest, his brow furrowed.
Harry desperately tried to remember, presuming he is still in that dimly lit room, and trying his best to remember the smell of that slimy potion, that stuff was disgusting, more revolting than a pot of overcooked Toadstool soup ... He was angry, what a mishap, he mentioned someone's son, and that person was right next to him, without saying a word Served him, how disgusting ... No, it wasn't him, it was presumably Voldemort, Sirius analysed it for him, he thought the reason for the scar on his head, as Dumbledore had explained it in the first year ...
Voldemort was frail and needed to drink potions constantly, Harry sincerely hoped that potion had better be even more awful to drink ... But Voldemort had a body; A piece of good news... Voldemort was attacked, but he reacted quickly and blocked the ... black lightning? That's familiar ... It's Professor Hap! How did he appear? Could he have gotten a clue about Voldemort from one of his many dance partners?
Harry put this unlikely notion aside, he must recall more details ... after a couple of chats, Voldemort asked someone to go first, who was it? The one who got scolded? Harry couldn't remember the name, but he knew it was pronounced in three syllables ... Professor Hap used powerful flame magic, not like Hermione's one, it was eerie white flames ... They continued their conversation and Harry shook his head, he couldn't quite remember it, his own brain was like a sink with the plug pulled, and details of the dream kept leaking down ...
Did they mention Professor Dumbledore, hypocrisy? A wave of anger welled up in Harry, but he quickly became nervous, he knew what happened next, it was so impressive, in the dream he almost thought he was dead ... Professor Hap condensed a flaming longsword and penetrated it through his chest, he wailed desperately... ... No, he got it wrong again! It was Voldemort, not him.
Harry thought carefully; Professor Hap began to attack, countless brilliant magic flashed ... Voldemort floating in midair, laughing at Professor Hap for doing futile things ... but Harry experiences heart-devouring hatred, Voldemort's malice is too strong, he certainly does not feel as relaxed as he showed ... Harry seemed to have brought into the perspective of Voldemort, not a dream this moment, what is happening now!
Did I get inside Voldemort's head again? Harry thought with excitement and fear; He closed his eyes tightly, he seemed to be floating in the clouds, flying forward, the darkness made everything around him blurred, after which a dazzling silver light illuminated as it flew close to him, it was a silver phoenix, just like Fawkes, and he found himself gnashing his teeth and exclaiming, "Dumbledore! "
He then plunged headlong into the ground, weaving through the black dirt and brown rocks, he had to race against time, there is something very important to do, he broke into a cellar, and possessed an unlucky rat, the rat "squeaked " a few times, and when it opened its eyes, it had turned blood-red. It climbed on a table, then it triggered some kind of mechanism, the air exploded with a brilliant purple light, the rat bounced a dozen feet and hit the wall, twitching a few times, and then did not move.
Then the shadow of Voldemort floated out of the rat's corpse, he stood there quietly, without making any sound, but Harry still felt a heavy depression ...
Harry opened his eyes, Ron sat across from him and looked at him with a complicated expression, "You dreamed about that man again, didn't you?"
Harry took a deep breath and said with certainty, "Voldemort informed his spies at the school."
"What?" Ron looked at him in surprise, "Mate, do you know what you're talking about?"
"I know!" Harry made his tone as calm as possible, "I know, of course, I know ..." he suddenly stood up and kept circling the common room, "Voldemort is short of men, so he can't lose his servant in the castle ... Professor Hap and Headmaster Dumbledore launched a surprise attack - well done!" He clapped his hands.
Ron looked at him with a worried face.
"But Voldemort had a way to get in touch with that spy in the castle, the guy who ... tossed our names into the Goblet of Fire!" Harry mused, his thoughts becoming clearer, "He's lost his physical body again, and if he loses his only servant now, all his previous plans will be ruined, so he activated the emergency contact ..."
Harry paused abruptly, his eyes searingly looking at Ron, as he said excitedly, "Do you know what we have to do now?"
"Tel-ll... Inform the professor?" Ron stammered.
"That's half right, give me my wand!" He asked Ron, who had come out with his and Harry's wands.
Ron handed Harry his wand reluctantly.
Harry held up his wand and pointed it in the direction of the dormitory, "Accio Marauder's Map! Accio Invisibility cloak!" Then they heard the sound of the box suddenly popping open, a shriek from Neville, followed by a few seconds of silence and waiting--
"Whoosh! Whoosh!"
Two whizzing sounds were heard, and Harry nimbly grabbed the map and the invisibility cloak.
Ron pursed his lips and gulped as he watched Harry spread out the Marauder's Map, as his eyes constantly searched: "Will show up soon ... has to be now; if I'm right ..." Harry said.
" W-who are you looking for?" Ron leaned over the table and stared at the dense list of names.
"Never mind the names that are not moving, it has to be the ones that are moving! At this point in time, it's either a professor on patrol or a spy who got the message and is trying to escape!"
Ron hurriedly lowered his head to help him look.
"The ones that move, the ones that move ... there! Look, there's someone named Eleanor Branstone!" Ron shouted, and Harry looked over excitedly, then he heard Ron saying in frustration, "Oh ... probably not, she's heading towards the kitchen."
"Then add one more point, running out of the castle, focus on some people who are moving fast but still stopping at the corner of the stairs." Harry said, envisioning the spy's escape route along his own lines.
"Good idea." Ron said as he watched for a while longer, "Peeves is running! Do you think someone could have stolen his name, like name magic or something? Peter Pettigrew knows about the Marauder's Map, he could have told the spy about it, so maybe that person is on guard."
Harry was having a hard time with this, they had found a dozen moving names, professors and students, living people and ghosts, and Filch's cat!
He had never realized that the castle could be so lively at night.
"Wait!" Harry said, his eyes lit up, "That's him!"
"Who is it?" Ron looked over to get a better look, but Harry already pulled him and pushed open the door to the common room. The fat lady got woken up and was just about to complain twice when Harry and Ron ran away like a gust of wind.
"Reckless young men! Don't expect me to open the door for you!" She shouted towards their backs.
Harry and Ron quickly made their way downstairs, their footsteps made a " click " sound on the stairs, waking up the countless portraits hanging on the walls. But they ignored it and jumped three or four steps at a time.
"Who the hell is that?" Ron asked as he gazed at the steps beneath his feet.
"Barty Crouch!"
"The judge of the Tournament of the Champions?" Ron's jaw dropped in shock as he subconsciously followed as Harry made a turn across a staircase.
"Makes sense, doesn't it? He's the judge, and the Ministry of Magic official who organized the tournament, and he has access to the Goblet of Fire! Besides, after the accident, he was the one who insisted that those whose names were called out must take part in the tournament, and he took a long leave of absence afterward... so he could have used this chance to sneak into Hogwarts!"
"But why? He can come openly and honestly, ah?" Ron asked, almost stepping into the trap on the stairs because he was so absorbed.
"Then he could only show up during the tournament when there would be a thousand eyes on him." Harry said under his breath while staring at the Marauder's Map, and it took them less than a minute before they made their way to the second floor with one swoop.
"Strange, Crouch is walking very slowly and there shouldn't be a path there." Harry looked at the map and said suspiciously, "That direction should be Professor Moody's office ..."
Ron panted as he caught up, " Oh - yes, anyway ... we caught up, didn't we? Quickly put on the invisibility cloak, let's wait for him to come out, so we can follow him from behind and take the opportunity to sneak up on or alert a passing professor."
Harry did not speak, just stared at the Marauder's Map, his mind kept on analysing. Crouch does not seem to be running away now, what the hell is he thinking? He was bold enough to go undercover at Hogwarts, so he should be loyal to Voldemort, and when he heard Voldemort's call, he must have to leave immediately.
But why ...
Harry really can't figure it out. They have reached the vicinity of the Defense Against the Dark Arts office, only seven or eight steps away from the office door, Ron spread the invisibility cloak, covering both of them.
They stared at the Marauder's Map, the name Barty Crouch and the location of the Defense Against the Dark Arts office overlapped. The two looked at each other in shock, "He's going to sneak up on Professor Moody? Why?" Ron asked in disbelief.
Harry held his breath, the name that belonged to Professor Moody was still motionless, should be sleeping in bed. Ron also realized this, and he muttered anxiously, "Get up, you're the greatest Auror, who is crazy enough to cast Imperius Curse on us."
Harry tugged Ron forward a few steps, and pressed his head against the door, they heard a "click-click-click" sound, like the sound of an old rusty armour moving forcibly without grease.
The name on the map belonging to Moody still didn't move.
"What to do?"
Ron asked, holding up his wand as the Marauder's Map showed Barty Crouch passing through the office and standing in the doorway of the bedroom, no doubt he is trying to do something to Professor Moody, no matter how it appeared.
"Don't leave the cloak yet!" Harry said to Ron.
"What?"
Harry suddenly lifted his invisibility cloak, raised his wand, and read aloud, "Bombarda!" The door to the office suddenly exploded with a loud bang, startling those inside, and Barty Crouch Jr. looked back in alarm.
"Expelliarmus!" Harry chanted furiously, and what looked like a laser beam collided with Barty Crouch Jr.'s protection shield, with sparks flying everywhere.
"It's YOU? It's you! Potter, you're just here in time!" Barty Crouch Jr. shouted.
Harry was a little confused for a moment, who is this person? Why does he have the name of Mr. Barty Crouch? But he had no time to think about it, he struggled to maintain the spell, but Barty Crouch Jr. is not weak at all, his shield charm easily blocked the potent disarming charm, as he approached step by step against Harry's magic.
Through the blurred shield, Barty Crouch Jr. stared at Harry, with a greedy gaze, "Potter, no, Harry, I'm Professor Moody, I taught you, have you forgotten? Come with me, I'll take you to the Dark Lord ..."
"You're not Professor Moody!" Harry retorted loudly.
"There were two Moody you met, and one of them was me," grinned Barty Crouch Jr. "That punk Peter Pettigrew was more or less useless, but he still knew and also told me about the secret of the Marauder's Map, which was the only good thing he did other than finding Master; I certainly know how dangerous the day when the list of champions was announced, in case Dumbledore suspected me, what can I do? I am the Dark Lord's only hope now, the only hope of resurrection! So I had to be cautious and vigilant enough at all times ... That's a good thing, the Dark Lord possessed my body - I was happy about that - and modified Moody's memories, very successful! Wasn't it? Hahaha!"
Harry gritted his teeth, unable to believe what he heard. "You're the Death Eater who ran away that day?"
"That's right, it was me. Don't struggle, Harry, I only need half a minute--"
"Whoosh!"
"Incarcerous!"
Ron suddenly poked his head out of his invisibility cloak and chanted a spell in the direction of Barty Crouch Jr, and a magic rope swept almost to the ground and wrapped around his calf. Harry took the opportunity to increase the output of magic, Barty Crouch Jr then stumbled backward, tripped over a large box, and fell into the box as he disappeared.
Harry's spell hit a pile of glassware in the office with a clear shattering sound, and he caught a glimpse of a glass-made sneakoscope smashed to pieces.
"Stupefy!" "Stupefy!"
Harry and Ron seized this opportunity, and successive cast a powerful barrage of spells, but the spell only hit the large box, making a dull sound. Harry was about to rush forward recklessly, that's when he saw Barty Crouch Jr stumbled to the ground again, not from the spell, but stumbled out of the box.
He had to take his chance ...
At that moment, the rope on Barty Crouch Jr turned into a big snake, which blocked the Severing Charm that Barty shot towards him without his notice, then he hurriedly looked around, and his eyes fell on a mirror-like thing hanging on the wall of the office - two dark blurry figures swayed around within it, but at the moment, the people in the mirror were getting Clearer and clearer, that it is possible to see their clear outline. It is two people, one with a long beard, and the other one looked very young ...
"Hiss~"
Barty Crouch Jr's whole face twisted, as he fell into that big box with a sudden roll, and Harry was about to go after him, when half a wand poked out of the box, the tip of which shone with a dazzling red light.
"Boom!"
A huge explosion exploded in his ears, Harry got swept away by a huge shockwave, and together with Ron, he crashed hard against the wall in the corridor. Harry felt like all the bones in his body got broken, and Ron also looked gruesome, he was hit by a big stone on his leg and moaning in pain.
Harry looked over at the Defense Against the Dark Arts office, where half the wall had collapsed, a large hole had broken in the ceiling, and dust clouded everywhere.
"Cough cough cough!" Harry choked as he coughed, he looked at Ron, Ron's face looked ashen, as he groaned faintly, which forced Harry to sit up, as he leaned against the wall, raising his wand feebly: "Epis--cough cough cough! Epi--"
"Vulnera Sanctum." A voice said.
Harry looked up and exclaimed in surprise, "Professor Dumbledore!" In the smoke and dust, he looked exactly as he had seen in that mirror before, and he looked to the side, and another figure appeared in the mirror, "Professor Hap!"
"Well," Felix nodded at him, throwing out a few healing spells, his head tilted to the side as he surveyed the ruins in front of him, "The Defense Against the Dark Arts office always suffers some disaster ..."
First-year he wasn't sure, but since he had joined, the professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts never had a good time, even in their own office. Second-year Lockhart and Rita Skeeter had a fight in that office in the basement, leaving Lockhart under an Obliviate and muddled for weeks; in the third year, Lupin and Snape fought and completely destroyed the whole office, which had to be moved to the second floor. Unexpectedly, in the fourth year, the new office also failed to survive.
But the good thing is, it should be just a simple Exploding Charm, not as difficult to deal with as dark magic, Felix waved his wand, let a piece of stone float up and fly to the original location, restoring everything as before.
Meanwhile, under the treatment of Dumbledore's spell, Ron's expression also became milder.
" Emergency complete, when things are over, you have to visit the hospital wing." Dumbledore said.
Harry breathed a sigh of relief and suddenly thought of another person in the office, "Professor, Professor Moody is still in there ... he should be under a spell! And the spy, the one who dropped our names into the Goblet of Fire, he's a young man, but his name showed up as Barty Crouch ..." His expression looked both confused and puzzled.
"That man is the son of Barty Crouch, Crouch Jr. the same name." Felix explained simply. As he took Harry's Marauder's Map, he glanced at it and said with disappointment, "His name disappeared, and he got away."
As he spoke, the office had been restored to its original state - except for the items with magical powers, which were outside the scope of the spell's restoration.
Dumbledore walked forward and entered the office, taking two quick glances, and made his way to the bedroom. It is still some distance from the center of the explosion, coupled with the defensive magic of Hogwarts Castle, the impact is minimal, and when he opened the door with the unlocking charm, he could see Moody lying peacefully in bed, sleeping very soundly.
He is sleeping normally under these abnormal circumstances.
"So much noise did not wake him ...," Ron whispered to Harry.
Dumbledore leaned down to check the condition of Moody, Harry took the opportunity to tell them what had happened earlier, when they heard that Harry could still see Voldemort's movements after waking up, Dumbledore's face turned grave, "How did you see it, Harry? Was it like standing high up in the sky looking down on the scene, or ..."
"I am him," Harry said. When the words came out, he realized with a jolt what he had said, and his voice became hoarse as he explained, "I, I got inside Voldemort's head and looked at the outside world through his eyes and felt his anger."
There was one thing he didn't say. Now when he looked at Dumbledore and Professor Hap, he felt peculiar emotions, because he had previously been filled with Voldemort's emotions, he felt a surprising hatred for these two people.
The air was uncomfortably silent. Harry noticed Professor Hap's eyes darting over him, and for a moment he thought the professor would say something, but nothing, nor Headmaster Dumbledore did.
Dumbledore suddenly straightened up and said to those present, "Alastor is physically unharmed, but as for his memory ... Felix, your help may be needed."
"No problem, Albus." Felix said calmly.
Dumbledore nodded slightly, "So, we now need to resolve the last question, how Barty Crouch Jr managed to hide in the castle, as far as I know - Felix, have you ever observed Moody?"
"Occasionally observed him, not just him, but a few people I thought were suspicious." Felix scratched his chin, "It was weird when I found nothing in the end."
" Weird indeed ..." Dumbledore stared at the large box that was already closed, "I detect no trace of Extension Charm unless he dug a passage, but he can't do that unless the Headmaster gave authority for this amount of work."
"Albus, your comment about the Extension Charm reminds me that we've forgotten that Voldemort is standing behind Crouch Jr." Felix said as an afterthought.
Dumbledore gazed at him and said lightly, "What do you mean, the Chamber of Secrets?"
"Let's have a look," Felix said, "We only found the one entrance from the girls' lavatory before, but it's likely that Slytherin built more than one passage. And it's possible that Voldemort could have pointed Crouch Jr the nearest pipe to him ..."
They opened the large box, which looked dark and stretched downwards, and Felix threw a ball of light below and saw a wet pipe at the end.
Dumbledore sighed, "Even I can't possibly figure out all the secrets of the castle. Let's go down and see if Crouch Jr has left yet or if there is a surprise."
Harry gave Ron a meaningful look, and they silently followed the two professors down the long ladder, before stopping at a wet pipe. Felix gestured at Harry to look at a small, dark snake symbol on the wall, and Harry suddenly understood that this is the entrance.
He made a familiar "hissing" sound and spoke in a Parseltongue, "Open." At that moment, a green light shone from the wet pipe under their feet, and then a sense of weightlessness came over them.
Felix quickly waved his hand, applying a levitation spell on them, along with a layer of humanoid shield charm, as they floated lightly to the ground.
Harry curiously touched his face, feeling a thin but tough barrier over his face, he knew the spell, Professor Hap's memory body in classroom seven taught them, but he never used it quite correctly.
The pipe is abnormally big, but still too small compared to a person, they had to crouch low, especially Dumbledore and Felix, who walked with a lot of effort.
Felix moved forward slowly, with a strong urge to blow this pipe, but when he saw even an old man like Dumbledore moving forward like a cat, he didn't complain.
They moved along the pipe, and along the way, they saw a long trail that some guy had crawled on the ground while grazing his way out. Felix could well imagine how flustered Crouch Jr had been, completely disregarding any image and crawling to escape.
A short distance along the way down the pipe, they came to the place where the pipes converge, with a thick pipe heading right to the bottom, they are very familiar with this path, after all, they came through it two years ago.
Underneath is the Slytherin Chamber. And the chamber is not within the range of the Marauder's Map.
"That guy ... called Little Crouch or something has been under our feet for the last few months?" Ron asked with surprise.
"Not always, according to what Harry said previously, he kinda likes to teach, only after the night of the Goblet of Fire, he decided to be discreet, of course, do not rule out that he is bored. So he went to the Three Broomsticks for a drink or two ..."
By now, they had entered the Chamber of Secrets and saw the familiar giant statue of Salazar Slytherin, with very obvious signs of life at the foot of the huge statue.
Felix picked up a newspaper and scanned it. "A week ago, his news is not closed. The previous speculation is likely possible, or at least he should have visited his immobile master occasionally."
Harry and Ron gaped, the Chamber of Secrets looked horrible, perhaps it had been fine when it was first built, but after a thousand years of abandonment, it had become part of the sewer circulation system and so the air quality also is so bad.
Dumbledore did not speak, he looked up at the top of his head, where the mouth of Salazar Slytherin opened, revealing a pitch-black hole with a glowing fluorescent light at the edges, the place where the basilisk had been hibernated before.
"Let's go inside." Dumbledore said.
Here indeed discovered something new, when professor Hap lifted their humanoid shield charm, the stench of the snake was pungent inside, Harry and Ron showed a repulsive expression as they made a dry heave.
Felix smiled, "You two should learn some necessary spells, humanoid shield charm, and Bubble-Head Charm are very useful. You're Champions, so don't forget to improve yourselves while you're studying that golden egg."
Harry and Ron once again got covered with a humanoid shield charm, and they thanked the professor numbly.
At that moment, they found Dumbledore examining a large cauldron, so Harry came over to look inside, which looked empty, but the welcoming heat told him that perhaps just half an hour ago, some kind of potion was being brewed in the cauldron.
"Polyjuice Potion?" He asked, and that was all he could think of as a possibility.
"I don't think so." Dumbledore said, his long fingers scraping a layer of the potion smoothly from the inside of the cauldron, and then he brought it up to his nose for a sniff when Harry noticed that the Headmaster's somewhat crooked hawk nose wrinkled up.
Felix picked up a scorched half piece of parchment from the ground, magic swirled around his fingertips, trying to piece together the complete content, then the blue glow flickered twice, before completely dimming, and the parchment in his hand completely turned into flying ash.
"All of them are very diabolical materials, I honestly can't figure out what potion is it; With so many highly toxic materials mixed together, what else would it be except a pot of poison." Felix said, "Maybe we should ask Severus or Damocles."
"I will." Dumbledore said calmly.
They checked again and found no other traces, so they returned to the surface, where Professor Moody was still sleeping quietly, and Professor McGonagall standing off at the side with a tense, uneasy expression, with the Phoenix Patronus standing beside her.
"Albus, What the hell is going on? I heard a loud bang and got worried that something was wrong and some students were also woken up ... After that, I met your Patronus, and it told me to keep watch over Professor Moody, was he under a Stunning Spell?" Professor McGonagall asked anxiously.
"Minerva, it's over, we uncovered the spy in the castle, but unfortunately he escaped, but ... thanks to Potter and Weasley, our professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts's life was saved."
Dumbledore said with a smile, the expression on his face which had been gloomy before disappeared.
Professor McGonagall stared at him expressionlessly as she looked at Moody on the bed and then at Dumbledore, her eyes darted over both of them, the lines around her mouth pursed into a thin line. Her chest rose and fell dramatically as her stern gaze fell on Harry and Ron, who were dressed only in their pyjamas.
"So," she said in exasperation as she kept inhaling, "Potter. Weasley. You've been acting on your own again?"
Harry and Ron's jaws dropped as they shivered in the cold wind while wearing their thin pyjamas.
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TL Note: ( just a rant)
This chapter has 4871 words excluding this Note ( It took me 3 chapters amount of time to prepare it, so I thought about dividing it, But then I felt - Nah, it will take away your enjoyment),
So I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter.
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Note:
This is 2 in 1 chappy, so there'll be only one chapter today.
#Nameless742 and #Fréderic Van Audenhove, Thanks for your love and support.
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