Blood Traitor || Draco Malfoy

Chapter 25

The awkward silence that ensued made Kit wonder if that had been the right thing to bring up.

"He... he's your father's godson?" said Sirius, furrowing his eyebrows as if struggling to see it. "Well... it would make sense why Alana and Barty knew each other... and I did think he was a contestant in her arranged marriage thing... but I didn't know Crouch and your father got along that well."

"Me neither," said Kit. "Some information has to be missing in between the lines— something that would let it all make sense."

"It's suspicious," mused Sirius as Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked between him and Kit eagerly, as if not wanting to miss an important detail. "Crouch wouldn't have respected your father if he knew about his servitude to Voldemort. How did he end up becoming his son's godfather? And why did he specifically leave him the job?"

"Maybe my father did something— played a hand in what happened to Barty Crouch Jr.," suggested Kit. "My father... well, he helped Karkaroff and my godfather get off easily. I don't know how. I didn't think my father's influence was that strong. Everyone knows he got them off, and yet he and Lucius are still highly respected. Honestly, I'm sure most people are aware of the fact that my father was a follower of the Dark Lord. Crouch's reputation got destroyed after what happened to his son, right? What if he thought my father was helping, but then something came about and that's why Crouch has gone mad trying to figure things out? Because I'm sure my father could have easily gotten Barty Crouch Jr. off. He didn't help Rabastan, and he was Alana's husband. I suppose that may be because Rabastan might have had something to do with her disappearance, but still..."

"Maybe Crouch and Moody are working together," noted Ron, fiddling with his fingers. "Moody and Crouch both seem so keen on getting into Snape's office."

The mention of Moody almost sent Kit into a small panic. She felt her chest tighten, but she ignored the uncomfortable sensation, not wanting to miss any more of this important conversation now that it was getting fishy. She allowed her body to tense, and tried to keep her expressions neutral. She hoped no one was paying attention.

Sirius seemed to notice Kit's abrupt posture and mood change, but he didn't speak on it. "Well," he started slowly, "I wouldn't put it past Mad-Eye to have searched every single teacher's office when he got to Hogwarts. He takes his Defense Against the Dark Arts seriously, Moody. I'm not sure he trusts anyone at all, and after the things he's seen, it's not surprising. I'll say this for Moody, though, he never killed if he could help it. Always brought people in alive where possible. He was tough, but he never descended to the level of the Death Eaters. Crouch, though... he's a different matter... is he really ill? If he is, why did he make the effort to drag himself up to Snape's office? And if he's not... what's he up to? What was he doing at the World Cup that was so important he didn't turn up in the Top Box? What's he been doing while he should have been judging the tournament? And everything with his son...."

He lapsed into silence, staring at the wall while Buckbeak ferreted around for bones he may have overlooked. Finally, Sirius gave a gruff sigh and looked over at Ron. "You said your brother is Crouch's personal assistant? Any chance you could ask him if he's seen Crouch at all lately?"

"I can try," said Ron doubtfully. "Better not make it sound like I reckon Crouch is up to anything dodgy, though. Percy loves Crouch."

"And you might try and find out whether they've got any leads on Bertha Jorkins while you're at it," said Sirius. Kit didn't recall who Bertha Jorkins was, as she hadn't been paying attention, and at the moment wasn't really in the mood for asking about it. She was glad that their conversation about Moody had been brief.

"Bagman told me they hadn't," said Harry in response to Sirius.

"Yes, he's quoted in the article in there," said Sirius. "Blustering on about how bad Bertha's memory is. Well, maybe she's changed since I knew her, but the Bertha I knew wasn't forgetful at all— quite the reverse. She was a bit dim, but she had an excellent memory for gossip. It used to get her into a lot of trouble; she never knew when to keep her mouth shut. I can see her being a bit of a liability at the Ministry of Magic... maybe that's why Bagman didn't bother to look for her for so long..."