Harry's POV
I walked into Dumbledore's office embarrassed. I had been inside Dumbledore's office before; it was beautiful with its previous headmasters portraits adorning the circular room's walls. All the headmasters and headmistresses were asleep, their chests rising and falling gently in rhythm. Cornelius Fudge was standing beside Dumbledore, wearing his usual pinstripe clock and lime green bowler that spun as he held it on his pointer finger.
"Harry!" he said jovially, moving towards me, "How are you?" he asked.
"Fine." I lied.
"We were just talking about the night when Mr. Crouch turned up on the school grounds. It was you who found him, wasn't it?" he said.
"Yes..." I said, finding it pointless to act like I hadn't just heard almost their entire conversation just a few seconds ago. Dumbledore just smiled behind Fudge's back, his eyes twinkling with amusement.
"Yes, well we're about to go for a short walk on the grounds, Harry, if you'll excuse us... perhaps if you just want to go back to class?" he started.
"I wanted to talk to you Professor." I said quickly, nodding at Dumbledore. ad he gave me a swift searching look in response.
"Wait here for me, Harry. Our examinations will not take that long." He said to me, leading Moody and Fudge out of his office. After a minute or so I heard the clunks of Moody's wooden leg growing fainter in the corridor below. I looked around, taking in the room.
"Hello, Fawkes." I said to the phoenix perched beside the door. The size of a swam with magnificent scarlet and golden plumage, I watched as he swished his long tail and blinked at me with his knowing eyes. I took a seat in the chair in front of Dumbledore's desk and for several minutes, sat and watched the portraits snooze in their gold frames. I ran my fingers along my scar, it had stopped hurting now. I felt calmer, somehow, now that I was in Dumbledore's office, and the thought that soon enough I would be telling him about the dream soothed me.
I scanned the walls behind his desk and saw the ragged-looking Sorting Hat standing on a shelf. A glass case next to it held the magnificent silver Sword of Gryffindor. The large rubies the size of eggs were embedded into the hilt reminded me of my second year when I had saved Ginny from Tom Riddle in the Chamber of Secrets. I was gazing at the tiny patches of light it had reflected on the wall when another patch of light caught my eye. I looked around for the source of the glimmering silver light and noticed a silver-white shining brightly from within a black cabinet behind me. The door had not been closed properly and for a moment I wondered if I was invading Dumbledore's privacy. Curiosity took over and I got up and walked across the office, pulling open the cabinet door.
The shallow stone basin lay there, with odd rune carvings that I had never seen in my life. The silvery light was coming from the contents inside the basin. They were nothing like I had ever seen before and I could not tell if the substance inside was liquid or gas. The surface of it became ruffled like water beneath a gust of wind and I felt the urge to touch it. Nearly four years of experience in the magical world told me that touching an unknown substance was a recipe for disaster and I took out my wand, opting to prod it with that, instead of my hand. The surface of the silvery stuff began to swirl very fast and I bent closer, my head right inside the cabinet.
I looked down into the basin, fully expecting to see the stone bottom, but instead saw an enormous room below the surface. The room was dimly lit and I scrunched my eyes to try and get a better look. Lowering my face so that my nose almost touched the liquid I saw rows and rows of witches and wizards seated around every wall. An empty chair stood in the very center of the room. Chains encircled the arms of it, giving an ominous feeling.
What was this place? I thought to myself. It surely wasn't in Hogwarts. The basin was circular but the room I was observing was a square. I couldn't make out what was going on in the corners of it and I leaned even closer, my nose now touching the strange substance that I was staring at. Then, Dumbledore's office gave a great lurch and I felt myself being thrown forward and headfirst into the substance. I braced myself to hit the stone basin's bottom but instead felt myself fall through something icy cold and black. It was like being thrown into a dark whirlpool or the ocean's riptide.
And then suddenly, I was sitting on a bench at the end of the room in the basin.
※※※
I looked around the room and saw nobody but Harry. Taking a few steps towards him, I saw his dark locks spread around his face in the swirly, pale liquid. I took a glance into the stone bowl and saw what seemed to be a courtroom. I was unsure if I should nudge him, what if it was like sleepwalkers? I didn't want him to start flailing all over the place. I bent down and inspected the reflective substance. Then my nose touched the top of its surface and I felt myself be thrown forward by an unseen force and into the stone bowl.
※※※
I looked above my head and up to the tall stone ceiling, expecting to see Dumbledore's office through the window I had been glancing through. But instead, there was nothing but solid stone. My breath came out in short pants and I looked around the room. I was shocked to see that none of the witches or wizards in the room were looking at me. I had just fallen from the ceiling and yet nobody seemed to have even seen me. I turned to my left and uttered a cry as I saw Dumbledore.
"Professor!" I said in a hushed whisper, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to look in the basin-I... where are we?"
But Professor Dumbledore made no movement or sign that he had even heard me and I gazed around the room, the idea forming in my brain. I had fallen into a memory. Like how I had entered Tom Riddle's Diary in my second year. I raised my right hand, hesitating before waving it in front of Dumbledore's face. He did not blink or look at me and at that moment I knew my conclusion was correct. I was casting more glances around the room when I heard a thump to my right and saw Y/N looking wildly around the room.
※※※
I fell a few feet before feeling my bottom hit a bench and I winced at the sudden force of it. I whipped my head around the room, staring at its occupants. Nobody seemed to notice that I had just flown through the air and into their chamber. Then I turned to my left and saw Harry staring at me with his mouth wide open.
"What are you doing here?" we asked each other in unison.
"You go first-" I said quickly as he opened his mouth to ask me the same.
"I-I don't really exactly know but I was in Trelawney's and then I had a dream about Voldemort. I came to Dumbledore's office and found him with Moody and Fudge- they were discussing Crouch- and then they went down to the grounds. Dumbledore told me to wait in his office and I saw this light against the wall and then when I poked my head into that bowl, I landed here." he finished, spreading his hands and gesturing around the room. He looked to me for my explanation.
"Oh, right- well my story isn't as dramatic as yours. I ditched class and hung out with the twins and Filch sent me to Dumbledore. Then I saw you standing at the basin and fell in too." I said quickly, glancing at the man to the left of Harry.
"Is that Professor Dumbledore?" I asked, pointing at him.
"Oh yeah. I think it's a memory of his. Nobody can see us." Harry said, twisting forward in his seat.
"Do you know where we are?" I asked him, having no conclusion of my own.
"No, but look somebody's coming in!" he said, footsteps echoing to our left. The door in the corner of the dungeon opened and three people entered- or at least one man flanked by two dementors. I shivered in the memory, forgetting that the creatures couldn't harm us. The dementors glided to the middle of the room, each one grasping one of the man's arms with their dead and black rotten hands. The man between them looked like he was about to faint, and I couldn't blame him. The watching crowd recoiled as they placed the man down in a chained chair and glided back out of the room. The heavy door swung shut behind them.
Harry was looking down at the man in the chair and he nudged my side with his elbow before whispering, "It's Karkaroff."
And sure it was. He looked much younger here; his hair and goatee fully black. He was not dressed in his usual sleek furs but in thin ragged grey robes. I could see him shaking and I watched as the chains on the chair glowed gold and snaked their way up Karkaroff's arms. Binding him.
"Igor Karkaroff." said a stern voice from our left. I looked and saw Mr. Crouch standing up from the middle of the bench behind me and Harry.
"You have been brought here from Azkaban to present evidence to the Ministry of Magic. You have given us to understand that you have important information for us." He cocked his head to the side and Karkaroff straightened himself as best as he could in the chair and spoke.
"I have, sir. I wish to be of use to the Ministry. I wish to help. I am eager to assist in any way I can." There was a murmur around the benches, some of them eyeing him with interest others with mistrust. You could clearly see his Dark Mark on his left arm.
"Filth." I heard someone mutter from our right and I turned to see Mad-Eye Moody sitting near Dumbledore, but this time, there was something different with the way he looked. He had two normal eyes. And they were both looking at Karkaroff with intense dislike.
"Crouch is going to let him out." he breathed quietly to Dumbledore, "Let's hear this information, I say, and throw him straight back to those Dementors."
Dumbledore made a small noise through his nose and Moody said, "Ah, I was forgetting.... you don't like the dementors, do you, Albus?"
"No I'm afraid I don't. I have long felt the Ministry is wrong to ally itself with such creatures."
"But for filth like this...." Moody said softly.
"You say you have names for us, Karkaroff. Let's hear them now." Crouch said, and I jumped, startled out from the conversation between the two professors.
"You must understand, that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named operated always in the greatest secrecy. He preferred that his supporters never new the names of every one of our fellows. He alone knew exactly who we were."
"Yet you say you have some names for us?" asked Crouch and I moved my eyes back and forth between the two men.
"I-I do. And these were important supporters, mark you. People I saw with my own eyes doing his bidding. I give this information as a sign that I fully and totally renounce him."
"These names are." asked Crouch sharply. I could see the annoyance in his face and hear it in his tone, Karkaroff seemed as if he was deflecting the one topic he came here for.
"There was Antonin Dolohov-"
"We've already apprehended Dolohov. He was caught shortly after you."
"Indeed? I -I am delighted to hear it!"
"Any others?" Crouch asked coldly.
"Why, yes.... there was Rosier. Evan Rosier."
"Rosier is dead. He was caught shortly after you were too. He preferred to fight rather than struggle."
I could see the news had come to a real blow for him. Two of his names were worthless. He was starting to worry and his eyes darted towards the door in the corner, behind which the dementors were undoubtedly waiting.
"Anymore?" said Crouch.
"Yes! There was Travers-he helped murder the McKinnons. Mulciber, Rookwood, who was a spy, and he passed He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named useful information from inside the ministry itself!"
I could tell that Karkaroff knew he had struck gold. The watching crowd was all murmuring together. Their heads pressed together in quiet conversations.
"Rookwood?" asked Crouch, nodding to w witch sitting in front of him, who began furiously scribbling on a piece of parchment.
"Augustus Rookwood from the Department of Mysteries?"
"The very same." said Karkaroff eagerly, "I believe he used a network of well-placed wizards, both inside the Ministry and outside to collect information-"
"But Travers and Mulciber we have. Very well, Karkaroff, if that is all, you will return to Azkaban while we decide-" Crouch started.
"Karkaroff cried out, looking desperate, "Not yet! Wait, I have more!"
I could see him sweating in the torchlight, his white skin contrasting strongly with the black of his hair and beard.
"Snape! Severus Snape!" he shouted.
"Snape has been cleared by this council. He has been vouched for by Albus Dumbledore." said Crouch disdainfully.
"No! I assure you! Severus Snape is a Death Eater!" he shouted. Dumbledore rose to his feet and Harry and I looked at him as he spoke calmly.
"I have already given evidence on this matter. Severus Snape was indeed a Death Eater. However, he has rejoined our side before Lord Voldemort's downfall and returned to spy for us, at great personal risk. He is now no more a Death Eater than I am." I had turned to look at Mad-Eye Moody, who was giving a deep look of skepticism behind Dumbledore's back.
"Very well, Karkaroff. You have been of assistance. I shall review your case. You will return to Azkaban in the meantime..." Mr. Crouch's voice got quieter as I looked around to see the walls of the dungeon fade and turn to smoke. Then we arrived in the same dungeon only sitting on the highest bench.
※※※
I was now to the left of Mr. Crouch and the atmosphere was less tense than it had been in the previous memory. Relaxed, even cheerful. The witches and wizards all around the walls were chattering to one another, almost as if they were at a sporting event. I noticed a witch halfway up the rows of benches opposite from where Y/N and I were sitting. She was wearing magenta robes and her hair was short and blonde. She was sucking on the end of an acid-green quill. It was, unmistakably, a younger Rita Skeeter. I looked around again, Dumbledore was still sitting beside me but he was wearing different colored robes.
The door in the corner opened once more and Ludo Bagman walked into the room. He looked nervous as he sat down in the chained chair. But I noticed it had not bound him like it did for Karkaroff.
"Ludo Bagman, you have been brought here in front of the Council of Magical Law to answer charges relating to the activities of the Death Eaters. We have heard the evidence against you, and are about to reach our verdict. Do you have anything else to say because we pronounce judgment. " said Mr. Crouch.
I couldn't believe my ears and turned to look at Y/N, who was looking as confused as I was. Ludo Bagman, a Death Eater?
"Only. Well- I know I've been a bit of an idiot-" said Bagman, smiling awkwardly.
"You never spoke a truer word, boy." Someone muttered dryly. I looked behind me and saw Moody sitting there again.
"Ludovic Bagman, you were caught passing information to the Lord Voldemort's supporters. For this, I suggest a term of imprisonment in Azkaban lasting no less than-" Crouch started.
There was an angry cry from the surrounding benches and several of the witches and wizards stood up from their seats.
"I've told you! I had no idea!" Bagman called earnestly over the crowd's babble, "None at all! Old Rookwood was a friend of my dad's.... never crossed my mind he was in with You-Know-Who!" I was collecting information for our side!"
There were titters from the crowd and Mr. Crouch said coldly, "It will be put to a vote.." He turned to the right-hand side of the dungeon and spoke, "The jury will please raise their hands.... those in favor of imprisonment."
I turned my head and saw not one person raise their hand. Many of the witches and wizards began to clap. Then the dungeon began to dissolve again and I grabbed Y/N's hand. Unsure of where we would land. When it had returned, I looked around and saw that the atmosphere in the dungeon had gone to an all-time low. There was total silence, only broken by the dry sobs of a frail-looking witch who sat in a seat next to Crouch.
"This doesn't seem so good," Y/N muttered to herself and I nodded my head in agreement.
"Bring them in." Crouch said and the door in the corner opened once more. Six dementors entered the room, flanking a group of four people. Most noticeably there was a teenager who looked nothing short of petrified. The wispy witch beside Crouch began to rock back and forth in her chair.
"You have been brought here before the Council of Magical Law so that we may pass judgment on you for a crime so heinous-"
"Father-Father please..." the boy spoke, and that's when I realized, he was Barty Crouch Jr.
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So sorry for the wait. <3
Word Count: 3033