Amelia's POV
The screaming started in the back of the stadium, where people were quickly moving away from one of the bound men. There writhing on the ground, still bound with chains, was the changing form of Bartemius Crouch Junior. A vile sucking noise filled the air as the man's magic was torn from his body.
Like a large part of his body was being sucked out. It sounded wet and gross. The chains that held him rattled as he continued to convulse. Then the screams turned to something more frightening as the Polyjuice conflicted with the loss of magic. His skin bubbled, and sores formed and oozed as the potion tried to leave the magic free body.
The fake eye popped out, but no new eye replaced it. The wooden leg simply fell off, leaving behind a healed stump. He twisted and turned and if he hands weren't bound then he would have been clawing his face.
The crowd could see he was in a great deal of pain, as his cries filled the air and many people shuddered at the noise. The audience was watching with morbid fascination, well those that weren't looking away and hiding in the nearest person's chest.
Meanwhile, Madam Pomfrey was attempting to keep the man alive. She waved her wand and dabbed his open boils with a sterile cloth, but there was little else she could do. The potions she would normally use would not help a squib, which is what the man now was. There was just enough magic in him to keep him alive, but little else. He would never cast a spell again.
Junior finally stopped screaming. His face and body were a mass of ulcers and there were tears of pain rolling down his face, which mixed with the green and yellow pus and made for a nasty look. He was now in his natural form and everyone could see that he was indeed the man they thought dead. He took one look at the crowd, sneered, and then his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he blacked out.
Pomfrey waved her wand and then sadly nodded to Amelia. "He's in a coma, and I have no idea if he will ever recover," she stated as she tried to heal what she could. She magicked bandages and cloths to clean him up as best she could. When she was done most of his face and body were covered.
"Well, I'm not sure how I feel about that. We can't try him if he is not well," Madam Bones said callously. She had no sympathy for the man. He had escaped from Azkaban and he would be Kissed if he ever recovered. However, she wanted to know how he managed to get the drop on her good friend. It was without a doubt that he was behind Mr. Potter's name being put in the Cup. Though, without questioning him, they may never know why.
She looked to where Fudge was standing, worrying his bowler hat. She was concerned that this too would disappear, much like anything that would harm the Minister. Though with all these witnesses that might not happen. There were many important people here today, and they would not forget this scene easily.
The man's father looked on stoically. He knew that his time as a Ministry employee was finished. He had an inkling that this would happen one day. He felt it was inevitably since he broke his son out of prison. Not a day went by that he wished he had not given into his wife's demands. He had broken many laws then and since. Now all he had to do was keep out of prison. With his son incapacitated that might be easier than he first thought. It was after all, only his words that would be heard. He truly hoped that his son never recovered.
The Judge's POV
"What are we to do?" Madame Maxime asked as she turned from the downed man. Sure, it was a sad scene, but they needed to finish the tournament. "Dumbledore cannot be a judge if 'e is to be arrested. We need someone to take 'is place. Not to mention zat M. Crouch is also detained. We are down two judges, zough zat young redhead could stand in for M. Crouch. 'e 'as done so before," she reasoned as she waved her jeweled hand and called Percy over to explain their dilemma to him.
The young redhead looked at her, pointed to his chest with a 'who me' look. When she waved to him again, he got up and pushed people out of his way to get to the table. Obviously, they finally saw his potential. Now he would show the world that he deserved to be higher up in the Ministry. There was no way he was going to wind up like his father. No, one day he would be Minister.
Karkaroff scoffed as he watched the young man shove his way to the table. "It does not matter who you get to judge, the boy deserves a zero. He did not compete. Therefore, he does not merit a score."
"Now see here, there was a great deal of magic going on in that arena. I believe we should score on that," Bagman protested, sweat pouring down his face. He knew this was not an argument he was going to win, but he had to try. There was a great debt hanging over his head, now that Harry Potter made it quite clear that he wanted nothing to do with these games.
"No, he did not complete the task, the egg still sits in the nest. There vill be no score," Karkaroff stated firmly, folding his arms in a defiant manner.
The young Mr. Weasley made to the table and sat proudly. Though listening to them debate put him in a dilemma. Did he go with the Ministry employee, or do the right thing and agree with Karkaroff? He had no love for Harry Potter. It was his opinion that Skeeter was correct, and the boy was an attention-seeker. He paid no mind to her last article. She must have been blackmailed to tell such blatant lies. Still, he needed to decide which course to take. He finally decided to go with his brain and the argument began.
Madame Maxime called over McGonagall to take the place of the Headmaster. She would be the tie breaker, if she agreed to sit in judgement.
Minerva was not happy to be put in such a spot. She knew what Albus would have wanted, but she also was aware of what Harry wanted. This put her in a difficult position. Playing Devil's Advocate, she waited to hear both sides.
Dumbledore's POV
While the judges battled it out, Dumbledore was trying to figure out how to save Severus. He wasn't worried about himself, he knew that they would not hold him for long, so he only made plans to help his protégé. He racked his brain to come up with a plausible reason the man had some very iffy potions in his possession.
"I am sure there is a reasonable explanation as to what Severus was doing with questionable potions. He is a Potions Master; it is more than likely that he was simply following his calling and making useful concoctions for the good of the Wizarding World." His eyes twinkled as he was sure that his word would be enough. He was quite proud that he came up with such a good theory.
Snape just shook his head at Albus. He knew that he should have left way before now, but he had let the old man talk him into staying. Now, he was prison bound and there was nothing Albus could do about it, short of lending him Fawkes. Oh, how he hated Potter.
"Right, a potion that can causes amnesia would be useful how? You're not going to be able to talk this one away, Albus," Amelia stated as she led him and the rest of the prisoners, bar Junior, away. The man in the coma would be taken to St. Mungo's and guarded until he recovered or died.
.....
Can't wait to read more exciting chapters then what are you waiting for Join my patreon right now.
Get 30+ Premium chapters.
2+ FREE ADVANCED CHAPTERS FOR ALL FREE MEMBERS.
Link: p*atreon.com/Earthly_Writer (Remove the *)