Percy Jackson and the Triwizard Tournament

123) Fudge is Not as Sweet as Fudge

We sat there in silence for a moment, but were interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Come in," Dumbledore called calmly. Professor Moody walked in, followed closely by Cornelius Fudge. I raised an eyebrow.

"Sorry to interrupt, you told me I could come at this time," Fudge said, shooting me a smile after looking at Dumbledore. I smiled politely back, even though I didn't like the man all that much. He wasn't a terrible person, he was just a coward. He was the one who had offered Draco that deal all those years ago.

"It's all right Minister, me and Mr. Jackson were just talking about what had happened in the forest," Dumbledore said kindly. "As I'm sure you are aware from my letter detailing the events, Percy here was one of the ones who found Barty."

"Yes, yes, I'm aware," Fudge nodded. "If you don't mind, Mr. Jackson, would you tell me what happened?"

I bit back a sigh. I'd shared the tale so many times now, but I recounted it for him, anyway.

Fudge nodded after I'd told him everything, "That's odd. Quite odd. I'm not terribly surprised to find that Mr. Crouch has been acting strangely, stress, I'd suppose, but I do wonder what he was doing here — and what he had to say."

"That's the golden question, isn't it?" I said. "Whatever he came here for — it sure did seem important."

"And you said... he mentioned He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?"

"Yes, he did," I nodded. "He said he needed to tell Dumbledore something, then something about Harry. He said the Dark Lord and then he said stronger. He also mentioned his son, and how it was his fault, and then he said that Bertha Jorkins was dead."

"I believe we should start searching more profusely for Bertha at once," Dumbledore said. "Whatever happened — she's the start of it. She's the key. If we find her, I believe we could find the answer to everything else."

Fudge shook his head, "I don't think we should waste that many resources on her, what with Barty's actions, the attacker on the school grounds, and whatever you needed to be warned of, Dumbledore. She just seems quite unimportant at the moment."

"Unimportant?" Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. "I think she may know more about this situation than anyone — and that may have been the death of her, if Barty's words ring true. If she were fine, I believe we would have found her by now. She could be the missing piece we need, seeing as we don't have any other reliable leads."

"Dumbledore, I'm afraid I don't see the connection, don't see it at all!" Fudge sighed. "Ludo says Bertha's perfectly capable of getting herself lost. I agree we would have expected to have found her by now, but all the same, we've no evidence of foul play, Dumbledore, none at all. As for her disappearance being linked with Barty Crouch's!"

"And what do you think happened to Barty Crouch, Minister?" Moody growled.

"I see two possibilities, Alastor," Fudge said. "Either Crouch has finally cracked — more than likely, I'm sure you'll agree, given his personal history — lost his mind, and gone wandering off somewhere —"

"He wandered off extremely quickly, if that is the case, Minister," I raised an unimpressed eyebrow.

"Or else — well..." Fudge looked embarrassed. "Well, I'll reserve judgement until after I've seen the place where he was found, but you say it was just past the Beauxbatons carriage? Dumbledore, you know what that woman is?"

"I consider her to be a very able headmistress — an an excellent dancer," Dumbledore said coolly.

"Dumbledore, come!" Fudge said hotly. "Don't you think you might be prejudiced in her favor because of Hagrid? They don't all turn out harmless — if, indeed, you can call Hagrid harmless, with that monster fixation he's got —"

"I no more suspect Madame Maxime than Hagrid," Dumbledore said calmly. "I think it's possible that it is you who are prejudiced, Cornelius."

"Can we wrap up this discussion?" Moody growled, and I frowned. He seemed strangely eager to get out of the room, but I wasn't sure why.

"Yes, yes, let's go down to the grounds, then," Fudge sighed impatiently.

"No, it's not that," Moody said. "It's just that Potter wants a word with you, Dumbledore. He's just outside the door." The room went silent for a moment, before Dumbledore gave Moody a nod. Moody opened the door. "Hello, Potter. Come in, then."

Harry stood in the doorway for a moment, looking mildly surprised. He glanced at me, frowning, then stepped into the room.

"Harry!" Fudge stepped forward, sounding jolly. "How are you?"

"Fine," Harry said, his tone and expression making it clear to me that he was lying.

"We were just talking about the night when Mr. Crouch turned up on the grounds," Fudge said. "It was you who found him, was it not?"

"Yes," Harry said. He must've deemed it unimportant to hide that he had overheard what we'd been saying, because he said, "I didn't see Madame Maxime anywhere, though, and she'd have a job hiding, wouldn't she?"

I couldn't help but smile at that behind Fudge's back, Harry sending me a small grin back.

"Yes, well," Fudge said, embarrassed again, "we're about to go for a short walk on the grounds, Harry, if you'll excuse us... perhaps if you just go back to your class —"

"I wanted to talk to you, Professor," Harry sent a quick look to Dumbledore.

Dumbledore stared at Harry for a moment, "Wait for me here, Harry. Our examination of the grounds will not take long. Percy, if you'd come with us please. I find that returning to the scene can sometimes help jog your memory."

We do ad sales tomorrow. My dad has to take me because my teacher can't leave and we're not allowed to ride with the boys. But another girl will be going with me. Also, I'm scorekeeper for Quiz Bowl again. I don't remember how to keep score, but I am. That's awesome. I just finished chapter like... 133? Idk if you guys know this, but I was running out of chapters I had prepared. I'm good for a while now, and will be making more. I'll probably write more tonight, actually, though I'm kind of tempted to read instead. My dog was acting weird. He was panting but wouldn't drink his water. He's probably had some by now, but I think he just forgot he had some. I know he also ate some which is good. I love my dog. He is great.

Anyway, I hope you guys have had a magnificent Thursday, and I'll see you on Saturday CT. Love ya!