Chapter 32 Wow, That Happened
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.
"I will speak with young Harry; I am sure that he can be reasoned with," the Headmaster said as if it were a foregone conclusion. He was hopeful that the boy's natural generosity would come through. He followed the group knowing that he could escape at any time. All he had to do was call Fawkes. The phoenix would come and retrieve him from anywhere. No, Albus Dumbledore was not worried about himself in the least.
"You do that," she scoffed, and they settled in silence as they made their way to the gate. Her mind was going over how she could keep the old man around if he didn't want to be. She knew that flaming bird would rescue him if he were to call. It was frustrating that he could do that and there was nothing she could do to stop him. Not that she thought any charges would stick, still being unable to hold him was nerve-racking.
Harry's POV
The crowd had tried to stop our hero. Many were saying that they had believed in him the entire time. Since he didn't know any of them, he just kept his mouth shut and pushed his way through. He had first stopped to hand the vial to Madam Bones, who thanked him and then continued on her way. He sneered at the old man and Snape and turned and made his way to his final destination. He relaxed once he was surrounded by people he knew. "Mr. Waters, thanks for coming. I'm sure that some of this can be useful," Harry said as he joined his group of friends.
"Yes, there are many things that happened today that will put at least two men behind bars," the lawyer stated as he put his legal pad into his briefcase. He shook the boy's hand. "I must get back to my office and have the team go over my memories. I will let you know if anything develops," he said and then took his leave.
"It was quite useful having him come and bringing in the DMLE," Hermione stated as she watched the man go. She made sure to not look at the prisoners.
"Harry, did you know that you could talk to dragons?" Luna asked, hoping that bringing up the subject would get the screams out of her head. She was one of the ones that buried her face in the nearest chest, which happened to be Neville's.
"Oh, well, no, I didn't know I could do that. Wasn't I talking in English?" he asked with a tilt of his head. He thought it was his magic that made the dragon understand him. Maybe it was a combination of both. He'd have to research on that. He had a niggling feeling that it was something he should remember, but once again that thought drifted to the back of his head. He only hoped the away team found his memories and that they were intact. Who knows what that potion did. He had no idea how it came about that he drank the stuff, but its effects were still worrying.
"No, you were hissing. The only reason we heard it was because you didn't cancel the voice amplifying spell," the bookworm explained as she looked him over to make sure he wasn't hiding any injuries. "When you talk in parseltongue, hissing is all anyone hears. However, from what you told me before, all you hear is English."
"Right, you did tell me that I could do that, but I didn't know it would work on dragons," he stated, thinking over what such a talent could be used for, and not finding much. How conversational were snakes and what could they bring to the table? According to Hermione, the basilisk didn't listen to him when he was running from it. So really, how useful could talking to snakes be? Well, he might be able to get spies to listen to girls talk. They might warn him if one was going to slip him love potions or something. It was something to think about.
"It's probably their snake tongues. I read…" Hermione started.
"It looks like the judges are about to address the crowd," Neville butted in, pointing to the table where Madame Maxime was standing and waving her wand to her throat.
"We 'ave decided zat zere will be no score for 'arry Potter. 'E 'as made it quite clear zat 'e will not participate in zis tournament. Zerefore, we will 'onor 'is request. With the ailment of za imposter we are convinced that M. Potter did not put 'is name in za cup. We ask zat you acknowledge zis as well," she stated as the crowd booed or clapped as they saw fit. She sat and waited for the noise to dissipate.
Ludo Bagman was crying in his hands, no one knew why, but they almost felt sorry for the man.
"Well, now that that is over, let's go to the Shack and make plans for the rest of the year," Harry stated as he stood and helped Luna and Hermione up.
"I thought the Headmaster got rid of the Shrieking Shack," Hermione stated as they took the stairs down.
"No, I just hid it. I'll have to add you the wards, but that should be easy," the dark-haired teen stated. He nodded to Sirius, who was doing his best to blend in with the crowd. The teens left the stadium with sneers and cheers following them. Not that he cared, but it seemed to upset his friends. So, he turned and shouted, "For those of you jeering," and flipped them off, turned again and moved toward the Shack.
"Really, Harry, that was not helpful," the bushy-haired girl reprimanded, while the rest of the group chuckled and giggled.
"It made me feel better," he answered with a shrug.
"So, what's the plan," Fred asked as he moved up to where Harry was walking.
"Don't know. I mean, I know that someone is trying to kill me and I'm pretty sure it is that Dork Idiot. That Crouch guy is one of his minions after all. Now, we need to make sure we're safe. I've been trying to make ward stones and I think I've got them working. I can't test them on myself, since I have a ward tied to my core. So, maybe we can check those out. It would give me some relief to know that you guys are safer," the dark-haired boy answered with a concerned look. This day was just too close for comfort. He was accosted by someone who was supposed to keep him alive.
Oh yeah, after today he really hated the Headbastard, and if he never saw the man again, it would be too soon. He had debated on leaving Hogwarts for good, but then he would be leaving his friends behind, and that was not something he was comfortable with. No, he would wait until the Dork Idiot was dealt with. He was positive that he was powerful enough to take on the… man. He would just have to be more vigilant.
"What about the rest of the school? Aren't they at risk as well? I mean, there has been some twisted events happening in every year you've been here. Not that it's your fault, but many students have been hurt or almost died with all that has gone on," Hermione stated, remembering the many times she was one of the injured.
"Well, we could try and find the ward stone for the school and see if we can make them stronger. But, wouldn't Dumbledore have done that?" the non-champion stated, looking around at all his friends.
"Not if he wanted them to be weaker so that things like your second year happened. Though, I would like to think that he was just being careless and not malicious," Luna said from Harry's side. She believed the Headmaster was just overworked and neglectful. Although it did appear that he did like to keep Harry in the middle of all the turmoil. It was as if he was testing the boy.
"I hope you are right, and that the old man is simply senile," the dark-haired boy stated as he threw his arm around the little blonde's shoulders. As he walked he added his friends to the wards with a thought. They made their way to the Whomping Willow and Harry waved his hand and tree stopped swinging its branches.
"Why are we going this way?" Hermione asked as she ducked under a frozen branch. "Wouldn't it be safer to go out the gate?"
"That's where the crowd is. I thought we'd avoid them," the boy hero explained as he led them to the tunnel, and then the inside of the house.
"Wow, this looks much different than the last time I was here," the bushy-haired witch stated, looking around the room in awe. "It looks like a normal house on the inside."
"That's Winky's doing," Harry said, downplaying his part in repairing the shack.
"Master Harry is calling Winky?" the female elf asked as she popped in.
"No, but now that you are here, can we have some refreshments? Tea and biscuits would be great," the young teen requested kindly.
"Winky can do," she said and popped away. Minutes later there was a tea service on the coffee table.
"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm hungry," Harry stated as he sat on the couch and reached for a biscuit. Then he remembered that he made a sausage and egg sandwich that morning and pulled it out as well. He was really glad that the TARDIS pocket kept food fresh. He wolfed down the food and grabbed more off the tea tray. "Aren't you guys going to join me?"
"We didn't want our hands bit off for taking food from you," George said with a cocky grin.
"I'm not your brother," was the comeback.
"I wonder where Sirius is?" Neville asked as he grabbed a biscuit.