Tightly Knit ⟶ Fred Weasley

CHAPTER SEVENTY-TWO

Hermione turned to the two with an annoyed look. "You can't Disapparate in the Hogwarts grounds, haven't I told you enough times?"

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

"And Mr Crouch evaporated, did he?" Hermione pondered to bring Ron to his senses.

"Oh, yeah ..."

"Ellie?" Harry turned to the older student, hoping she could offer some fresh perspective as the three of them had been debating theories the entire night. "What do you think?"

"I don't think Mr Crouch attacked Viktor," Eleanor said, glancing around to see if Dermot was around, "he came to you in such a panicked state, claiming he escaped, right? So, it sounds like he was running away from a person before he caught up with you and Viktor. But that leaves the mystery of who was after him in the first place, which could be a series of people. I have some theories but- "

She looked over to see the three watching her, silently encouraging her to continue. With a heavy sigh, Eleanor leaned against one of the railings in the Owlery to begin.

"I spoke about this with Professor Moody a while ago, but I don't think it was a coincidence that your name was put into the Goblet of Fire, shortly after the Dark Mark appeared at the Quidditch World Cup, Harry. Whoever put your name into the Goblet, is more than likely still in this school, the question remains who and why? Now, the obvious theory is that it's a follower of You-Know-Who and they want to see you get hurt or killed in this tournament. Now we wouldn't be the only ones suspicious, and I believe Mr Crouch was probably attempting to solve the mystery behind the scenes."

"Why do you say that?" Ron asked.

"Professor Moody talks a lot about the First Wizarding War in our classes, and he goes into great detail. Mr Crouch was a prominent figure during the first war because of his tactics to fight against the Dark Arts. He was pretty merciless about it all, letting Aurors use the Three Unforgivable Curses against Death Eaters. There was little to no mercy during those times, which probably explains while Si...I mean, Snuffles didn't get a trial after everything went down."

"So maybe Mr Crouch was getting close to whoever he believed the perpetrator to be," Hermione nodded her head. "And maybe whoever it is got nervous and decided to attack him first."

"He said he escaped, right?" Eleanor continued. "Explains as to why he went missing for so long and popped up randomly, maybe he was being kept somewhere close by. That's why he ran into you and Viktor near the forest, Harry. Depending on what was already done to him, it could explain the mental state he was in."

"But what about the attack?" Ron continued his line of questions, which helped Eleanor put all her thoughts together.

"I have a feeling that the attacker wasn't far behind from Mr Crouch, which would explain why Mr Crouch didn't want Harry to leave. There is strength in numbers, I suppose. If the attacker attempted to go after Crouch, there was still Harry and Viktor, and it might have caused a bigger scene."

"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?"

"Or maybe it wouldn't have made a difference," Eleanor debated, "the attacker might have been watching the entire time. He waited for you to leave before he stunned Viktor and took Mr Crouch."

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

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