BARTY CROUCH JUNIOR
Everyone waited, other students sneaking in some snacks while they wait, some teachers looked around anxiously. She heard Draco's laugh, and then more chattering.
Everything was loud, and Cassiopeia seemed to be focused on something else. Her eyes wandered around, and she felt something bad about Mad-Eye, and she didn't feel that before, there is some evil glint in his eyes that she could catch.
Cassiopeia's ears started to ring and she decided to check on Mad-Eye with her vision to see his past. She hoped that she could get some information out of it.
The girl stood up from her seat, and down the stairs which made Draco grab her arm. "Where are you going?"
"Toilet, why?" She lifted a brow, he nodded as he lets go of her arm. She cleared her throat before she slowly walked towards Mad-Eye, who was sitting at the corner, near the popcorn stand.
She purposely bumped into him by pretending she was looking at someone that was on the stands, she grabbed his arm before she "fell" on the floor.
With that, she saw visions. And indeed, he was not Mad-Eye Moody, he was some sort of Death Eater, the man who killed Barty Crouch, and who placed Harry's name in the Goblet of Fire.
She lets out a small gasp after the vision, and "Mad-Eye" narrowed his eyes at her. "Watch where you're going, Malfoy!"
She cleared her throat and she brushed the non-existent dust off her shirt. "Forgive me, Professor,"
He grumbled something to her and she quickly bought popcorn and walked back up to her seat. Cassiopeia shoved the popcorn into Draco's hands who was startled but didn't question her.
Her heart pounded against her chest, questions filled her mind.
What if he did something to them in the maze? What if he placed some spells in the maze which would kill Harry and the others??
She fiddled with her shirt as her breath became heavy. Even if she did tell a teacher, they wouldn't believe her, she doesn't have proof.
So she decided to do things herself, and this is a 'trust the process kind of thing. She made sure her wand is in her pocket, even though she knew he would be better than her in spells.
She wouldn't be able to get the truth out of him if he's in front of many people, so she had to do something that will get him to walk out of the place with her.
Cassiopeia walked down the stairs once again and approached the man. She cleared her throat which made Mad-Eye look at her.
"Professor," she started. "I've got a question--"
"What? Now's not the time with questions about schoolwork!" He grumbled at her.
"Well then, umm, never mind," she turned around but another excuse hit her. "Wait, I was also gonna say that I heard some students saw someone enter your, umm, office and they took something--"
"What?! Who?!" Mad-Eye quickly got up from his seat.
"I don't know, Professor, I didn't see who--"
Before Cassiopeia finished her words, Mad-Eye limped out of the stadium. She lets out a breath of relief, and she followed him out.
Mad-Eye walked faster, mumbling and grumbling about things she couldn't quite hear. She was walking further back so he can't hear her footsteps.
He reached the castle and she followed until he reached his office, he entered the door but he left it open. So Cassiopeia stood at the side of the door, as she took out her wand.
She pointed at him, and she expected that he would see her right away. But he didn't. Mad-Eye's back was facing her and he was looking through something in a small case.
"I know you're not Mad-Eye Moody," she said, her heart pounding against her chest. Her hands were shaking and she tried to look at him confidently.
He slowly turned towards her, "I don't know what you're talking about, what are you doing here?!"
"You're a...a Death Eater!" She slowly approached him, Mad-Eye shook his head.
"What're you talking about, child?!" He said.
"I know everything about your past and who you are, you trapped the real Mad-Eye Moody in that case!" She pointed towards the case behind him. "You're also the reason why Harry was chosen in the Tournament."
Mad-Eye chuckled, which freaked her out.
"I heard lots of things about you from your Aunt in Azkaban," he snarled. "You are smart indeed, but I will not let you ruin my plans."
"Believe me, I'm not here to. I just want you to leave Harry and the students alone." She said as she took a step back when Mad-Eye walked towards her.
"You seem to care about that Potter boy, huh?" He chuckled.
"Yes, and why do you care?"
"I don't," he smirked, "He must care about you too."
Cassiopeia gulped, as the door behind her, slammed shut. There was no going out now.
She straightened her arm, "Stop. Or I will hurt you."
"Hurt me?" He laughed, wiping his eyes from the tears of his laughter. "You don't even know how to defend yourself."
She gritted her teeth as she muttered a spell, making the glass vase behind Moody explode. "Believe me, I do."
"Well then," he said as he approaches her, her back was touching the door already, and the tip of her wand was on his chest. "Go on. Kill me."
She wanted to mutter the forbidden curse and she wanted to get this over with. But she did not. She stood there in silence.
"That's what I thought, your family has always been cowards." He laughed, and with that, she blasted him back with a spell and he hits the desk behind him.
He growled, took out his wand and something wrapped around her neck as she felt herself float up. She gasped for air and she used her hands to try and get it out of her neck, making her wand drop on the floor.
Mad-Eye threw her at the glass shelf and she finally got to breathe. The thing on her neck was gone and now the pain she felt was the glass on her hands. Cassiopeia's forehead was bleeding and so were her arms and hands.
She gasped in pain as she tried to move, but she gave up. Slowly, her eyes began to close and the last thing she saw was Mad-Eye grabbing her wand up from the floor.
°°°
Back at the arena, Harry appears with Cedric's body. The crowd don't understand what has taken place and they all cheer, triumphant music starts to play. Harry weeps at Cedric's body.
"Harry! Harry!" yelled Dumbledore as he tries to prize Harry from Cedric's body. "Tell me what happened!"
"He's back, he's back! Voldemort's back," he wept. "Cedric, he asked me to bring his body back. I couldn't leave him, not there."
"It's alright Harry. It's alright, he's
home, you both are," said Dumbledore.
"Keep everybody in their seats. A boy
has just been killed," said Fudge. "The body must be moved Dumbledore, there are... too many people."
"Let me through!" Amos yelled, he saw his son's dead body, and he fell yelling. "That's my son! It's my boy! My boy!"
Amos breaks down wailing. The crowd look on distraught.
Mad-Eye, who was there again, grabbed the crying Harry, muttering words at him. "Easy! Easy! It's not where you want to be right now."
°°°
Mad-Eye Moody enters and closes the door behind him. Harry is
in the room still sobbing, they sit. Cassiopeia was still on the floor, but before Mad-Eye left her there he placed the broken desk in front of her so no one will be able to see her if they walk inside his office.
"Are you alright Potter?" asked Mad-Eye and Harry nods. "Does it hurt?"
"Not so much now," the boy replied.
"Perhaps I should take a look at it," he grabs Harry's arm, and it was a large cut.
"The cup was a portkey. Someone had bewitched it," Harry said, he looked around the room, and he sees the broken desk and the crushed shelf. "What happened here, Professor?" He asked.
"Nothing," was all Mad-Eye replied with. "What was it like? What was he like?"
"Who?" questioned Harry.
"The dark lord. What was it like to stand
in his presence?" He asked again.
"I don't know," Harry replied. "It was like I'd fallen into one of my dreams. One of my nightmares,"
Mad-Eye starts shaking and struggling for air, he reaches for his bottle but it's empty. He rushes to a chest with other bottles and struggles to find one.
"Were there others? In the graveyard,
were there others?" He asked once again.
"Um," Harry furrowed his eyebrows. "I don't think I said anything about
a graveyard Professor."
They were silent.
"Marvellous creatures dragons aren't
they? Do you think that miserable oaf
would have led you into the woods if
I hadn't suggested it?" He asked, as he slowly approached Harry, his eyes then darkened. " Do you think Cedric Diggory would have told you to hold the egg under the water if I hadn't have told him first myself? Do you think Neville Longbottom the witless wonder could have provided you with gilliweed if I hadn't have given him the book that led you straight to it? Huh??"
"It was you from the beginning. You put
my name in the goblet of fire."You bewitched Krum. But..."
Mad-Eye makes sobbing noises making fun of Harry. "You won because I made it so Potter. You ended up in that graveyard tonight because it was meant to be so. And now the deed is done. The blood that runs through these veins runs within the dark lord. Imagine how he will reward me when he learns that I have once and for all silenced the great Harry Potter." He chuckled.
"Oh," smiled 'Mad-Eye', "I forgot to mention, your little girlfriend tried to get in my way." He moved the desk to reveal Cassiopeia on the floor, bleeding. Harry's eyes widen and he ran towards her.
"Cassiopeia!" He shouted, he moved her aside from the glass and he picked her up, putting his hands on her cheek. "Hey, Cas, wake up."
Her eyes fluttered open, and she saw Harry. She lets out a heavy breath, Harry looked up at "Mad-Eye" snarling at him. "What did you do?!"
A flash of magic occurs and Mad-Eye is knocked into the wall. Dumbledore and Severus come rushing in. Dumbledore takes Mad-Eye by the neck.
"Severus..." Dumbledore called, Severus administers some veritaserum. Mad-Eye wriggles demonically.
"Do you know who I am?" asked Dumbledore, sternly.
The adults speak, and Harry's eyes looked back at Cassiopeia, Who furrowed her eyebrows at the others, and she looked up at him. "I'm fine, are you?"
"I'm okay," he said. She slowly tried to get up, avoiding using her arms. Glass were in her hair, and she muttered various curses under her breath.
"You look awful, by the way," said Cassiopeia. Harry scoffed.
"Speak for yourself,"
They both smiled at each other. Harry helped her and they both stood close to the open door, Harry's hand was on her back since he could not hold her arm.
Dumbledore approaches the chest. The chest opens, it contains a series of smaller chests. When the final chest is open they see that there's a pit within holding a man the real Alastor Moody.
"Are you alright Alastor?" asked Dumbledore.
"I'm sorry Albus," said the real Alastor Moody.
'That's Moody, but then who's...?" asked Harry.
"Barty Crouch Junior," Cassiopeia replied. Dumbledore holds up one of Mad-Eye's Bottles.
"Polyjuice potion," said Snape.
"Now we know who's been stealing it from your store Severus," said Dumbledore as he looks into the pit. "We'll get you up in a minute."
Alastor Moody groans, The Mad-Eye Moody they have captive in a chair begins to twitch about restlessly making strange noises. He appears to be transforming. He rips off his fake eye which falls on the floor, they see that he's transformed into Barty Crouch Junior.
"I'll show you mine if you show me yours," Barty Jr rolls up his sleeve to reveal the Dark Mark, the same one Cassiopeia's father has.
"Your arm, Harry," Dumbledore grabbed Harry's arm and showed an oddly similar marking.
"You know what these means don't you?
He's back. Lord Voldemort has returned," Barty Crouch Jr laughs.
"Send an owl to Azkaban, think they'll
find they're missing a prisoner," instructed Dumbledore.
"I'll be welcomed back like a hero," Barty chuckled.
"Perhaps. I've never had much time for heroes." Dumbledore said, he turned to the two children who looked at Barty with furrowed eyebrows.
"Minerva please take them both to the Hospital Wing," he said. Professor McGonagall nodded, both of them following the Professor, Cassiopeia limping a bit.
°°°
Cassiopeia could not attend the Assembly about Cedric Diggory, and she didn't want to since her classmates would be asking loads of questions about what had happened to her.
Her brother, who was called to the hospital wing the day after, was shooting her with many questions already and she could not deal with more.
She wrote the letter to her father about what had happened, and she did not know that her father was there in the graveyard along with other Death Eaters.
Harry did not want to tell her because he thought it might shock her. The night at the Hospital Wing was only both of them chatting and getting to know more about each other.
And even though Harry did not want to admit it, he grew fond of the girl when he found out she went to try and fight Barty Jr even though she failed miserably.
And Cassiopeia, well she was still blind and still does not know she grew feelings for the boy.
°°°
There's a large crowd gathered, the Beauxbatons and Dumstrang students were now going back home.
Cassiopeia hugged Fleur goodbye, "Goodbye, Fleur. Thank you for everything!"
The girl smiled and nodded, "You're very welcome. I will write to you more! And please, come visit!"
Cassiopeia shrugged and nodded, they both waved goodbye and Fleur walked away with her sister. The Beauxbatons girls leave in uniform, the crowd applauds. The Durmstrang boys leave too, shaking hands as they go.
Cassiopeia watched as the pegasus fly above the waters and the Bulgarians' ship goes underwater.
Her eyes net Harry's and she smiled at him, nodding her head. He returned the smile before Cassiopeia turned away and walked back inside the castle.