Daughter of Mine | Harry Potter

XXIV.

"Professor Moody?" Harry called as they made their way toward him through the crowd. 

"Hello, Potter," growled Moody. His magical eye followed a couple of passing first years, who sped up, looking nervous; it rolled into the back of Moody's head and watched them around the corner before he spoke again.

"Come in here." 

He stood back to let them into his empty classroom, limped in after them, and closed the door. 

"Did you find him?" Harry asked without preamble. "Mr. Crouch?"

"No," said Moody. He moved over to his desk, sat down, stretched out his wooden leg with a slight groan, and pulled out his hip flask. 

"Did you use the map?" Harry said. 

"Of course," said Moody, taking a swig from his flask. "Took a leaf out of your book, Potter. Summoned it from my office into the forest. He wasn't anywhere on there." 

"So he did Disapparate?" said Ron. 

"You can't Disapparate on the grounds, Ron!" said Hermione. "There are other ways he could have disappeared, aren't there, Professor?"

Moody's magical eye quivered as it rested on Hermione. "You're another one who might think about a career as an Auror," he told her. "Mind works the right way, Granger."

Hermione flushed pink with pleasure. 

"Well, he wasn't invisible," said Harry. "The map shows invisible people. He must've left the grounds, then."

"But under his own steam?" said Hermione eagerly, "or because someone made him?"

"Yeah, someone could've - could've pulled him onto a broom and flown off with him, couldn't they?" said Ron quickly, looking hopefully at Moody as if he too wanted to be told he had the makings of an Auror. 

Lalia scoffed in her head. Was being an Auror that great, she thought to herself, Magizoology sounds a lot more interesting. 

"We can't rule out kidnap," growled Moody. 

"So," said Ron, "d'you reckon he's somewhere in Hogsmeade?"

"Could be anywhere," said Moody, shaking his head. "Only thing we know for sure is that he's not here." 

He yawned widely, so that his scars stretched, and his lopsided mouth revealed a number of missing teeth. Then he said, "Now, Dumbledore's told me you three - four fancy yourselves as investigators, but there's nothing you can do for Crouch. The Ministry'll be looking for him now, Dumbledore's notified them. Potter, you just keep your mind on the third task." 

"What?" said Harry. "Oh yeah ..." 

He hadn't given the maze a single thought since he'd heard about Lalia's vision the previous night. 

"Should be right up your street, this one," said Moody, looking up at Harry and scratching his scarred and stubby chin. "From what Dumbledore's said, you've managed to get through stuff like this plenty of times. Broke your way through a series of obstacles guarding the Philosopher's Stone in your first year, didn't you? 

"We helped," Ron said quickly. "Me and Hermione helped."

Moody grinned. 

"Well, help him practice for this one, and I'll be very surprised if he doesn't win," said Moody. "In the meantime ... constant vigilance, Potter. Constant vigilance." He took another long draw from his hip flask, and his magical eye swiveled onto the window. The topmost sail of the Durmstrang ship was visible through it.