Butterfly Effect ; H. Potter

43. voldemort's infiltration.

"OK, so," said Antheia, yawning, "Mr. Crouch could've stunned Viktor or somebody else attacked both of them when Viktor was looking someplace else."

"It must've been Crouch," said Ron at once. "That's why he was gone when Harry and Dumbledore got there. He'd done a runner."

"I don't think so," said Harry, shaking his head. "He seemed really weak – I don't reckon he was up to Disapparating or anything."

"You can't Disapparate in the Hogwarts grounds, haven't I told you enough times?" said Hermione.

"OK ... how's this for a theory," said Ron excitedly, "Krum attacked Crouch – no, wait for it – and then Stunned himself!"

"Then Mr. Crouch just disappeared?" said Antheia.

"Oh, yeah ..."

It was daybreak. Harry, Antheia, Ron, and Hermione had crept out of their dormitories very early, and hurried up to the Owlery together to send a note to Sirius. Now they were standing looking out at the misty grounds. All four of them were puffy-eyed and pale, because they had been talking late into the night about Mr. Crouch.

"Well, tell us again, Harry," said Antheia. "What exactly did Mr. Crouch say?"

"I've told you, he wasn't making much sense," said Harry. "He said he wanted to warn Dumbledore about something. He definitely mentioned Bertha Jorkins, and he seemed to think she was dead. He kept saying stuff was his fault ... he mentioned his son."

"Well, that was his fault," said Hermione testily.

"He was out of his mind," said Harry. "Half the time he seemed to think his wife and son were still alive, and he kept talking to Percy about work and giving him instructions."

"And ... remind me what he said about You-Know-Who?" said Ron tentatively.

"I've told you," Harry repeated dully. "He said he's getting stronger."

There was a pause.

Then Ron said in a falsely confident voice, "But he was out of his mind, like you said, so half of it was probably just raving ..."

"He was sanest when he was trying to talk about Voldemort," said Harry, ignoring Ron's wince. "He was having real trouble stringing two words together, but that was when he seemed to know where he was, and know what he wanted to do. He just kept saying he had to see Dumbledore."

Harry turned away from the window and stared up into the rafters. Half the many perches were empty; every now and then, another owl would swoop in through one of the windows, returning from its night's hunting with a mouse in its beak. "If Snape hadn't held me up," Harry said bitterly, "we might've got there in time. 'The Headmaster is busy, Potter ... what's this rubbish, Potter?' Why couldn't he have just got out of the way?"

"Maybe he didn't want you to get there!" said Ron quickly. "Maybe – hang on – how fast d'you reckon he could've got down to the Forest? D'you reckon he could've beaten you and Dumbledore there?"

"What, you think he could've turned himself into a bat or something and flew there?" snapped Antheia. "No, this can't be Snape's doing."

"We need to see Professor Moody," said Hermione. "We need to find out whether he found Mr. Crouch."

"If he had the Marauder's Map on him, it would've been easy," said Harry.

"Unless Crouch was already outside the grounds," said Ron, "because it only shows up to the boundaries, doesn't –"

"Shh!" said Hermione suddenly.

Somebody was climbing the steps up to the Owlery. Harry could hear two voices arguing, coming closer and closer.