Squib On The Run (sequel to Squib In The basement)

38. Suspicions Rise

Harry showed great moral fibre in the second Triwizard task, putting him in joint top with Cedric Diggory. And many people thought he had a real shot at winning the tournament.
Cassiopeia and Sirius both sent Harry encouraging letters after the second task. But as the third approached, they started to get very nervous.
Whoever put Harry's name in the Goblet of Fire still had one more chance to get Harry killed, and they were scared what horrors would await him in the final challenge.

With the third task right around the corner, the Black siblings had upped the amount of letters they were sending to Harry, and he was just as quick with his responses.
Which meant that they were some of the first people to find out that Barty Crouch had been spotted on the Hogwarts grounds, moments before Viktor Krum was attacked. And he vanished immediately after.
Harry had witnessed the whole thing, and Sirius was convinced that the person who had attacked Krum had actually been aiming for Harry.

"I wish you hadn't sounded quite so mad in your letter" commented Cassiopeia.
"But I am mad, and he needs to know it. Harry was wandering the school grounds alone, with only an enemy student from Durmstrang for company. It's almost as if he's forgotten how much danger he is in" exclaimed Sirius.
"I'm sure he hasn't forgotten. He's just trying to be a kid, and have fun. You and the other Marauders got up to way worse things when you were his age. Don't even try to deny it. Besides, the only reason Harry was outside at that time of night, was because he was being shown what the third task was going to be, by Ludo Bagman. It was only on his way back to the castle that this incident occured" reminded Cassiopeia.

"Incident is one word for it. Harry could have been killed" said Sirius.
"You don't know that for sure. Krum was only Stunned afterall, not seriously harmed. So, even if the spell had been meant for Harry, he would have been fine. Besides, Krum was Stunned after Harry left to fetch Dumbledore to deal with Crouch. If Harry had been the intended target, then they had ages to get to him before he ran off" replied Cassiopeia.
"Do you think Crouch was the one who Stunned Krum then?" Asked Sirius.
"I don't know. It would be quite random to suddenly attack the kid of another school out of the blue".

"He's not exactly a kid, Viktor Krum is 18" corrected Sirius.
"Yes, I know that. But Crouch attacking anyone, is random, regardless of age. Especially as no one has seen him in person for months" admitted Cassiopeia.
"It is weird for him to turn up now, this close to the final task" replied Sirius.
"But Harry said this isn't the first time Crouch has snuck up to Hogwarts, because he saw him on the Marauders Map, in Snape's office. He might have been up here even more times, but we don't know, because Harry let Moody borrow the map. So, for all we know, Crouch has been making this trip every week, and this is just the first time he's been caught".

"Harry did say that Crouch didn't seem himself. He looked dishevelled and he was talking to a bush, when Harry left to find Dumbledore. Perhaps he really has been ill, which is why he hasn't been going to work" suggested Sirius.
"If he's so ill, why in Merlin's name did he make his way all the way up to Scotland? If he really wanted to talk to Dumbledore, like he told Harry, then why didn't he just send an owl, or do a floo message. There are many other ways he could have gotten into contact with Dumbledore, without coming all the way here" replied Cassiopeia.
"There are. But if you don't want anyone to find out what you are up to, sometimes the only way to do it, is to have an in person conversation" admitted Sirius.

"I wonder what was so important then, that Crouch had to tell Dumbledore, face to face. And if Crouch has really been ill for this many months, then why hasn't he been admitted to St Mungo's? Why has he been at home all this time?" Questioned Cassiopeia.
"I don't have all the answers that you seek" reminded Sirius.
"No, I know, Sorry. I'm just thinking out loud" apologised Cassiopeia.
"It's fine. Think away. But don't worry too much about Crouch. Afterall, he's not out to hurt Harry. He's a Ministry official, it's his job to protect Harry, not harm him. And he is one person we don't have to worry will turn into a death eater. Because Crouch has always been very outspoken against them. We need to concentrate our energy on finding out who really wants to hurt our godson".

"We've been trying to do that, ever since we returned to England, and we are still no closer to the truth" sighed Cassiopeia.
"I know. And the third task is quickly approaching, which makes me nervous. The reason for Harry's name being in the Goblet of Fire, will become clear very soon, I'm sure of it. And that scares me, because I just want to keep him safe" admitted Sirius.
"I want the same. But the universe keeps making our lives more difficult than they need to be... I wish we could see Harry more often, so he can see our reassuring faces. Since there is only so much help we can be through a letter" replied Cassiopeia.

"It's too dangerous for Harry to keep coming to see us, you know that. Besides, we will see him after the third task, because I will be in my animagus form and Dumbledore said he will use magic to disguise you, so we can both sneak into the grounds and see him once this is all over" reminded Sirius.
"But I want to see Harry before the final task, to wish him luck" insisted Cassiopeia.
"You can't. It's too risky" replied Sirius, shaking his head.
"If Dumbledore can disguise me, so I am unrecognisable, then why can't I see Harry before the tournament, with you there as my pet dog?"
"Because it is far too dangerous for us to enter Hogwarts when the whole place will be crawling with press and Ministry officials"
"All of which think you are in a foreign country. They will be too focused on the final task, to worry about a woman they don't recognise, with a black dog".

"Well, it would be good to see Harry before the trial" Sirius said quietly.
"There is the reckless Sirius I'm used to. I was worried you'd lost your nerve" teased Cassiopeia.
"Never" insisted Sirius.
"Good. Then I shall write to Dumbledore and inform him of our intentions. He's not going to want to do this, but he's going to find that the two of us can be quite persuasive when we want to be. Harry has been through a lot, and he is going to need our moral support before entering this final challenge. We will make Dumbledore see that if he cares about Harry's wellbeing, he will let us do this".