( 𝔳𝔬𝔩𝔲𝔪𝔢 𝔦𝔦, 𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝖙𝖜𝖊𝖓𝖙𝖞-𝖘𝖎𝖝 ) — on the rise
''Afternoon tea, anyone?''
Ron hadn't ever heard such a high-class phrase in his life, but he nodded eagerly at the lavish spread of food in Evangeline's living quarters. There were dainty sandwiches, scones served with clotted cream and preserves, cakes, pastries, and tea steaming in a goblin-made silver pot.
The Weasley boy, along with Harry, had been in search for their Charms professor for over an hour. Fred and George currently had the Marauder's Map in their possession, and it wasn't until the Granger girl joined the two boys that they thought to check the most obvious place — her office.
Once they had all settled at the round dining table, the Rosier girl was the first to cut through the sound of Ron's chewing, Harry's scoffing, and Hermione's sipping. ''So, may I ask what brings you three to my humble abode?'' She asked, despite her home away from home being anything but humble.
''We Owled Percy about Mister Crouch. He didn't say anything new, then gave us a lecture for disturbing his all-important role as an assistant.''
''Enough about him. What happened with Krum and Crouch? I heard whispers about it in the staff room, but Dumbledore seems to be doing his best at keeping the whole thing hushed.''
Harry briefly explained the situation: Viktor had taken Harry aside to ask him about his relationship with Hermione. After, a rather delirious Barty emerged from the Forbidden Forest and asked for Dumbledore, mumbling about all sorts of things. The Potter boy had gone to get the Headmaster, but by the time he returned Viktor had been Stunned and Barty had disappeared.
''It comes down to this,'' Hermione began, rubbing her forehead tiredly. ''Either Mister Crouch attacked Viktor, or somebody else attacked both of them when Viktor wasn't looking.''
''It must've been Crouch,'' Ron deducted. ''That's why he was gone when Harry and Dumbledore got there. He'd done a runner.''
''I don't think so. He seemed really weak — I don't reckon he was up to Disapparating or anything.''
''You can not Disapparate on Hogwarts grounds, have you not read ❛Hogwarts: A History❜? It is a pain, really — for my first few months working here I had to walk all the way to the gates to be able to get anywhere.''
Hermione smirked triumphantly at the two boys in front of her; she had finally found somebody who shared the same love for that wretched book.
''Okay . . . how's this for a theory: Krum attacked Crouch — no, wait for it — and then Stunned himself!''
''I know you have your reservations about Viktor, Ron,'' Evangeline hummed, glancing pointedly at the Granger girl. ''But he would have no reason to do so. There are far more likely people in this school to pull a stunt like this, and I doubt a Quidditch player from Durmstrang is the culprit.''
''Besides, if Viktor was the attacker and then Stunned himself, what happened to Mister Crouch? He evaporated, did he?''
''Oh, yeah . . . ''
''Go through it again, Harry. What else did Barty specifically say, apart from asking for Dumbledore?''
''He wasn't making much sense. He said he wanted to warn Dumbledore about something. He definitely mentioned Bertha Jorkins, and he seemed to think she was dead. He kept saying stuff was his fault . . . he mentioned his son.''
''Well, that was his fault,'' Hermione pointed out testily.
Evangeline furrowed her eyebrows, choosing her words to the teenagers carefully. She might have been overthinking the situation, but it was always better to be safe than sorry. ''Dumbledore, a missing Ministry member, and Barty Crouch's Death Eater son in the same conversation . . . if I did not know any better, I would say they are all somehow related.''
''He was out his mind,'' Harry huffed. He didn't want to think there was a possibility of the Dark Side being on the rise any time soon. ''Half the time he seemed to think his wife and son were still alive, and he kept talking to Percy about work and giving him instructions.''
''And . . . remind me what he said about You-Know-Who?'' Ron asked tentatively.
''I've told you,'' he said dully. ''He said he's getting stronger.''
There was a long pause. Evangeline began counting the dregs at the bottom of her china cup, not quite sure at how to approach such a topic — she may have been an adult, and a teacher at that, but such a matter wasn't for the faint-hearted. Especially for a pure-blood Slytherin, like herself, who was expected to side with a tyrant like Voldemort. She may have renounced her legacy, but that didn't mean everyone else saw it that way.
''But he was out his mind,'' Ron spoke in a falsely confident voice. ''Like you said, so half of it was probably just raving . . . ''
''He was sanest when he was trying to talk about Voldemort. He was having real trouble stringing two words together, but that was when he seemed to know where he was, and know what he wanted to do. He just kept saying he had to see Dumbledore.''
The Rosier girl sighed deeply, pushing a strand of her chestnut-brown hair behind her ear. ''Hopefully Crouch is found soon enough so we can all make sense of the situation. Stay alert, but do not overthink about it too much. Especially you, Harry. For all we know, Crouch is having some flashbacks to the First Wizarding War, Bertha's disappearance is stressing him out, and he wanted a word of advice from the favourite saviour — Dumbledore.''
''I really hope you're right.''
''I usually am. Have any of you three spoken to Sirius lately?''
Harry nodded his head. ''We Owled him the other day. He told me to be careful, and to practice defensive spells for the Third Task.''
''Make sure you tell him about this, too. He would have my head on a stick if I knew of this and he was kept in the dark.''
''We will,'' Hermione promised, before perking up and regarding Evangeline with an inquisitive expression. ''Earlier, professor, you said you had to walk to the castle gates before Disapparating. Where were you going?''
''Us teachers do have lives of our own, you know?'' She replied dryly. ''I know it might be hard to believe, but there is more to our days than marking pieces of parchment . . . and if you are really that curious, then I was meeting a friend.''
''A friend?'' Ron repeated. ''Do we know your friend? It's not any of the horrible Slytherin crowd you used to hang around with last year, is it?''
''No, I do not speak to any of them anymore. It was, uh— it was Professor Lupin. Well, just Lupin now, or rather Remus.''
''You two are friends?'' Harry asked, surprised. ''That's perfect then! Why doesn't Sirius just stay with him, then? They used to be good friends back in the day, you know.''
''I do,'' she confirmed, before recalling a conversation they had over dinner one night. ''Remus wanted him to, of course he did, but Sirius denied the offer. It was too risky, and he didn't want to put Remus in danger should the Ministry come knocking at his door for whatever reason.''
Harry deflated at this. He wanted nothing more than for his godfather to be safe, although he understood the potential problems that would come with such an arragement. Remus may have not been his godfather, but he was still his ❛Uncle Moony❜.
''So, you and Professor Lupin . . . '' Hermione mused. ''You two are friends?''
''We are. At the start of the school year I got a letter from Sirius, actually, who proposed we keep each other company. We have our own reasons, but we both happened to be excruciatingly lonely.''
''Aren't we your friends?''
''You are my students.''
''But we can also be your friends,'' Ron insisted. ''Can't we? I mean, you're practically a teenager yourself — like Fred and George!''
''Myself, Fred, and George are more different than you would like, Ron. I'm a Slytherin. What if I was a replica of Snape, would you still want to be my friend then?''
''No,'' Harry said at once. ''Definitely not.''
''Fine. In that case, you three can be my friends, but so is Remus. That brings us to a grand total of four. Popular, am I not?''
''As popular as Ginny is,'' Hermione agreed. ''She's gotten herself quite the reputation in third year.''
''So I have heard. There have been a few mishaps in my class to do with her, but nothing I cannot handle.''
''What did she do?''
''That is for me to know, and for you to find out when you see your mum — she was not very happy about it. Your sister was even less happier when I took fifty points from Gryffindor that early into the term.''
''Hey!''
''Dumbledore gives you Gryffindors hundreds of points for simply breathing,'' she deadpanned. ''I am sure you will survive, and somehow manage to win the House Cup, I daresay.''
a/n filler chapter, sorry! on the bright side, there's four more chapters until the end of this volume : )