The dog barked once and lunged. Annabeth cried out in surprise as it pushed her against the slope, growling. Instinctively she threw her forearm out to block the dog from biting her in the face.
"Sirius!" Hermione yelled. "Sirius, stop! It's okay! She knows!"
Immediately the dog stopped growling, and Annabeth slowly lowered her arm.
"Are you done?" she asked.
The dog leveled her with a fierce glare before backing off and going to Harry, who was standing back up and brushing off his pants.
"What do you mean, she knows?" Ron exclaimed.
"She found out months ago!"
"You didn't tell us that!"
"Well I got caught up with Harry being entered in the tournament and everything else that was going on and I just forgot!"
"You forgot," Harry said incredulously, "to tell us that she knew about Sirius?"
"She can also hear you," Annabeth said, crossing her arms. "And Hermione's right, I found out months ago. I know he's innocent. And I know he's a dog."
The dog— Sirius— tilted his head, though he still glared at Annabeth like he was expecting something from her.
Annabeth sighed and gritted out, "I'm sorry for tackling you."
Sirius nodded.
"What were you doing up there?" Hermione asked, eying the various cuts across Annabeth's arms and face.
"Hiking," Annabeth said. She pulled up her sleeve to inspect the bandages on her shoulder, which were now dotted with blood. Damit.
"Right," Ron said. "You just happened to meet a mountain troll on a hike in Hogsmeade."
"You saw the troll?" Annabeth raised her eyebrow. Annabeth had seen trolls before, and that was not one. It had definitely been a Hyperborean. They must have Mist it.
"Yeah, and we saw you fight it. Who just goes up to a troll and fights it?"
"You, if I've heard right."
Sirius barked, drawing all their attention to him. He titled his head towards Annabeth, then up the path.
"You want her to come!?" Ron exclaimed.
Sirius barked again.
"I guess... she knows he's innocent," Harry said slowly. "It wouldn't do any harm."
"Of course it would do harm!" Ron said. "We—"
BARK!
"Come on," Hermione said. "We only have so much time."
Ron was clearly not happy about it, and Annabeth didn't know what to think, but they followed Sirius up the trail. Why would Sirius Black, someone Annabeth had never met and just barely knew of, want her there? Was it a trap? For what?
There wasn't much left in the trail, so they reached wherever they were going within a few minutes, barely giving Annabeth time to think.
Sirius slipped out of sight, and when they rounded the bend they saw a fissure in the rock. Annabeth waited for her three companions to go in first before entering cautiously after them.
The cave was the size of Annabeth's dorm room. It was bare, but tethered by the back was a creature Annabeth had never seen before. It had the body of a pegasus, but the front half was feathered smokey gray, with clawed feet like an eagle's that matched its sharp-beaked head. The back half was all horse, a gray coat and a long, swishing tail. Its wings were folded against its sides and it stared at Annabeth cautiously.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione all bowed low towards the creature, so Annabeth followed suit. After a few seconds, the creature bent its scaly front legs and bowed back, and Hermione went over to stroke its beak.
The creature caught her attention for only as long as it took her to determine it wouldn't attack. Then she looked to where the dog had been. It wasn't there anymore.
Instead, there was a man. The man from the photos Annabeth had seen months ago when she was studying the newspapers. He had dark, tangled hair that reached his shoulders, sunken eyes, and was wearing frayed gray robes. He grabbed the newspaper from his mouth. Annabeth thought he might say something dark and menacing, but instead he said, "chicken!" and grabbed Harry's backpack.
Sure enough, there were several drumsticks inside.
"Thanks," he said, taking a bite out of one. "I've been living off rats, mostly. Can't steal too much food from Hogsmeade, I'd draw too much attention."
"What're you doing here, Sirius?" Harry said anxiously.
"Fulfilling my duty as godfather," Sirius said. "Don't worry about it, I'm pretending to be a lovable stray." his grin faded as he surveyed Harry. "I want to be on the spot. Your last letter... Well, let's just say things are getting fishier. I've been stealing the paper every time someone throws one out, and by the looks of things, I'm not the only one who's getting worried."
Ron grabbed some of the yellowing newspapers that littered the ground and started reading. Harry, however, looked too anxious.
"What if they catch you? What if you're seen?"
"You four and Dumbledore are the only ones around here who know I'm an Animagus," Sirius said, shrugging unconcernedly.
"Speaking of 'us four,'" Annabeth said, with air quotes around us four, "Why am I here?"
"Oh, right!" Sirius said. "I heard about the kelpie in the lake. Dumbledore's not one to make mistakes. He couldn't have missed one. And the troll just now. Mountain trolls mostly stay in their caves. They don't wander much, especially not close to a populated town. And recklessness isn't a Slytherin trait, so you didn't look for it, right? How did it find you? And there's something about you... I can't put my finger on it."
"So?" Annabeth said. Did he know? "I have bad luck."
"This could be a reach," Sirius said, "but I don't think those things were accidents. I think they were sent."
"Sent?" Hermione said. "Why would someone send those monsters after her?"
"That's the part I'm trying to figure out," Sirius said.
"Mystery illness of Bartimius Crouch," Ron muttered out loud, studying a newspaper. "Ministry witch still missing— Minister of Magic now directly involved."
Harry grabbed the newspaper. "Hasn't been seen in public since November..." he read out loud. "House appears deserted... St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries decline comment... Ministry refuses to confirm rumors of critical illness... they're making it sound like he's dying," Harry said slowly. "But he can't be that ill if he managed to get up here..."
That was new. Crouch had been to the castle since his departure? Why? And if he was sick, how? What was so important here to get him to come in his sickness? How did Harry know Crouch was here? And when had that been?
"My brother's Crouch's personal assistant," Ron said Sirius. "He says Crouch is suffering from overwork."
"Mind you, he did look ill last time I saw him," Harry said, still reading the newspaper. "The night my name came out of the goblet."
"Getting his comeuppance for sacking Winky, isn't he?" Hermione said crossly. Who was Winky? "I bet he wishes he hadn't done it now— bet he feels the difference now she's not there to look after him."
"Hermione's obsessed with house elves," Ron muttered to Sirius.
"Crouch sacked his house elf?"
"Yeah, at the Quidditch World Cup," Harry said. He then started saying how the dark mark (the mark of Voldemort?) had showed up at the world cup, and how Winky the house elf was found with Harry's wand. He also said how he had met Winky earlier that day in the top box, saving a seat for Crouch, who didn't show up.
Annabeth wasn't sure why she was still in the cave, but she wasn't about to complain. This was all new information, information she needed.
Why would Crouch send his house elf to save his seat? That was what tickets were for. There were only so many people in the top box. He would have had his seat either way. And to now show up? Apparently he was busy, but then wouldn't he need his elf with him to help out? What was Winky really doing there? It was a bad cover story, flimsy at best.
Sirius seemed to have the same idea. He asked who else had been in the top box, who might have taken Harry's wand other than Winky. Harry told him the people there, and there were some suspicious ones, namely the Malfoys, but it didn't seem right to Annabeth. There was also Bagman, but Annabeth already knew what was up with him.
"He's okay," Harry said when Sirius asked about Bagman. "He keeps offering to help me with the Triwizard Tournament."
"Does he, now?" Sirius said. "I wonder why he'd do that?"
"Seriously?" Annabeth asked. All eyes turned to her. "He lost money betting on the world cup. You didn't know that?"
"So?" Ron said coldly, apparently not over the courtyard incident.
"So," Annabeth said, "he's betting on the tournament. On Harry. He's trying to make sure you win so he can get his money back."
"Huh. that makes sense."
The conversation turned back to the dark mark.
"Are we really talking about all this with her here?" Ron said, glaring at Annabeth.
"Yes, you are." Annabeth crossed her arms. "I know someone is trying to kill Harry, and I'm trying to figure out why. And if you're right about me being targeted," he was right, but Annabeth couldn't share her proof, "then my life is in the balance too. Do you really think I'm going to leave? No."
Sirius grinned. "I like you. She can stay." he turned back to Harry, serious again. "When the Dark Mark had been conjured, and the elf had been discovered holding Harry's wand, what did Crouch do?"
"Went to look in the bushes," Harry said. "But there wasn't anyone else there."
"Of course," Sirius muttered. "Of course, he'd want to pin it on anyone but his own elf... and then he sacked her?"
"Yes!" Hermione exclaimed angrily. "He sacked her, just because she hadn't stayed in her tent and let herself get trampled—"
"Hermione, will you give it a rest with the elf!" Ron yelled.
"She's got the measure of Crouch better than you have, Ron. If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals. All these absences of Barty Crouch's... he goes to the trouble of making sure his house elf saves him a seat at the quidditch world cup, but doesn't bother to turn up and watch. He works very hard to reinstate the Triwizard Tournament, and then stops coming to that, too...it's not like Crouch. If he's ever taken a day off work because of illness before this, I'll eat Buckbeak.
"Do you know Crouch, then?"
"Oh I know Crouch all right," SIrius said quietly. "He was the one who gave the order for me to be sent to Azkaban— without a trial."
Harry, Ron, and Hermione all exclaimed in anger, but Annabeth wasn't surprised. She had heard a lot of stories from the other Slytherins about parents or family friends sent to prison without trials and barely any evidence. War made people paranoid, Annabeth knew that better than a lot of people. It brought out the best in some, the worst in others. Based on what she was hearing now, Crouch had been corrupted by his need to eradicate dark wizards.
"Crouch's own son was caught with a group of Death Eaters who'd managed to talk their way out of Azkaban," SIrius said after explaining Crouch's methods. "Apparently they were trying to find Voldemort and return him to power."
"Crouch's son was caught?" Hermione gasped.
"Yep," Sirius said. He went on to explain how cruel Crouch really was. No trial, no hearing out his own son. He handed him right to the dementors. He explained how he was there when Crouch's son was brought in. How he was screaming for his mother for days. How he died a year later. How this led to a huge population drop for Crouch's name, how people got the idea that he was neglectful and to blame, and how it stopped Crouch from becoming Minister of Magic. How he became bitter and obsessed with catching dark wizards.
"And he sneaked up here to search Snape's office!" Ron said triumphantly.
"Yes, and that doesn't make sense at all."
"Yes it does!"
"Listen, if Crouch wants to investigate Snape, why hasn't he been coming to judge the tournament? It would be an ideal excuse to make regular visits to Hogwarts and keep an eye on him."
"So you think Snape could be up to something, then?" Harry asked.
Annabeth listened attentively. These four knew more about Snape than Annabeth did, and while she didn't think he was behind all this, there was definitely something going on with him. She listened while Sirius explained how Snape had always been fascinated by the dark arts, how he knew more dark spells in his first year at Hogwarts than most of the seventh years. How his group of friends all turned out to be confirmed death eaters. Then Harry told Sirius what had happened in Potions yesterday, and Annabeth pretended she hadn't been there.
"Well, I've no idea what that's about," Sirius said, shrugging. "But if Karkaroff's genuinely worried, and he's going to Snape for answers... but there's still the fact that Dumbledpre trusts Snape, and i know Dumbledore trusts where a lot of other people wouldn't, but i just can't see him letting Snape teach at Hogwarts if he's ever worked for Voldemort."
Ron didn't drop the matter easily, claiming Moody was suspicious of Snape too, but Sirius explained how paranoid Moody really was, and that he had probably searched every teacher's office in the school.
Sirius asked the same questions Annabeth was asking herself. Was Crouch really ill? Why come all the way up here to search Snape's office if he was? And if he wasn't sick, why pretend to be? What was he doing?
"What time is it?" Sirius asked.
"It's half past three," Hermione said, checking her watch.
"You'd better get back to school. Now listen... I don't want you lot sneaking out of school to come see me, all right? Just send notes to me here. I still want to hear about anything odd. But you're not going to go leaving Hogwarts without permission, it would be an ideal opportunity for someone to attack you. I'll breathe freely again when this tournament is over, and that's not until June. and don't forget, if you're talking about me among yourselves, call me Snuffles, okay? I'll walk to the edge of the village with you, but I'd like a word with Annabeth first."
Annabeth raised her eyebrow as Harry, Ron, and Hermione exchanged looks among themselves before exiting the cave. Was this because she tackled Harry?
"I know you're a half-breed," Sirius said without preamble. Annabeth tensed, but he held up his hands. "I won't tell anyone. I know how hard it is for half-breeds in this world. But a word of advice: don't go looking for trouble. There were a lot of people with the same scent as you in Azkaban, most of them insisting they didn't do anything wrong. I think you know there's a huge bias against people like you. Be careful, is what i'm saying."
"You think I need you to tell me that?" Annabeth asked incredulously.
"I don't," Sirius said. "But I'd like to say it anyway. Harry's told me a bit about your old school in America, and I can tell you're smart. Can I trust you to keep an eye on him?"
"Of course you can. What do you think I've been doing? Someone's trying to kill him."
"I knew I liked you," Sirius said approvingly. "Write me if something new happens. You're sharper than Harry. You might notice things he won't."
Annabeth nodded.
"Good. let's get you four back to Hogsmeade."
A/N: Hey guys! So updates are going to be slowing down from now on because of school, but i'll still try and update once a week. I hope you can understand. Thank you so much for reading!