Harry Potter and the Fortunate Queen Chapter 136: The Story of Crouch

"Yes. You see the simplicity of it, and the brilliance. For Moody never does drink except from his hip flask, he's well known for it." Dumbledore said, then he walked over to the trunk with seven locks, fitted the first key in the lock, and opened it. It contained a mass of spellbooks. Dumbledore closed the trunk, placed a second key in the second lock, and opened the trunk again. The spellbooks had vanished; this ti it contained an assortnt of broken Sneakoscopes, so parchnt and quills, and what looked like a silvery Invisibility Cloak. Chris watched, as Dumbledore placed the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth keys in their respective locks, reopening the trunk, and each ti revealing different contents. Then he placed the seventh key in the lock, threw open the lid, and Harry let out a cry of amazent.

They were looking down into a kind of pit, an underground room, and lying on the floor so ten feet below, apparently fast asleep, thin and starved in appearance, was the real Mad-Eye Moody. His wooden leg was gone, the socket that should have held the magical eye looked empty beneath its lid, and chunks of his grizzled hair were missing.

Dumbledore climbed into the trunk, lowered himself, and fell lightly onto the floor beside the sleeping Moody. He bent over him.

"Stunned — controlled by the Imperius Curse — very weak," he said. "Of course, they would have needed to keep him alive. Minerva, throw down the imposter's cloak — he's freezing. Madam Pomfrey will need to see him, but he seems in no imdiate danger."

Professor McGonagall hurriedly took the cloak from the stunned Moody and gave it to Dumbledore. Dumbledore covered Moody in the cloak, tucked it around him, and clambered out of the trunk again.

He looked at the stunned Moody for few so ti as Chris did a ntal calculation, Bertha Jorkins knew sothing big about Mr Crouch... she also knew about a death eater.... Mr Crouch said because of him Bertha Jorkins died... but Mr Crouch and his son is already dead...

Then, suddenly the face of the man on the floor began to change. The scars were disappearing, the skin was becoming smooth; the mangled nose beca whole and started to shrink. The long mane of grizzled gray hair was withdrawing into the scalp and turning the color of straw. Suddenly, with a loud clunk, the wooden leg fell away as a normal leg regrew in its place; next mont, the magical eyeball had popped out of the man's face as a real eye replaced it; it rolled away across the floor and continued to swivel in every direction.

"Barty Crouch!" Professor McGonagall shrieked. "But..."

"But he was dead." Chris finished.

"That we thought or they made us think." Dumbledore said quietly. "I knew sothing is wrong the mont Barty Crouch jr attacked his father in broad daylight in the middle of the street. I rembered him from his school days, he was anything but fool."

"Harry! Harry!" A voice sounded outside the office and the next second Sirius ca in. Snape just behind him.

"I warned Black not to interfere but he wasn't very much interested in listening." Snape sneered as Sirius pulled Harry into a hug. But then Snape noticed Crouch on the floor. "Crouch? Barty Crouch?"

Sirius moved his eyes from Harry and looked at Crouch.

Filthy, disheveled, Winky peered around Snape's legs. Her mouth opened wide and she let out a piercing shriek.

"Master Barty, Master Barty, what is you doing here?"

She flung herself forward onto the young man's chest.

"You is killed him! You is killed him! You is killed Master's son!"

"He is simply Stunned, Winky," said Dumbledore. "Step aside, please. Severus, you have the potion?"

Snape handed Dumbledore a small glass bottle of completely clear liquid. Dumbledore bent over the man on the floor, and pulled him into a sitting position against the wall. Winky remained on her knees, trembling, her hands over her face. Dumbledore forced the man's mouth open and poured three drops inside it. Then he pointed his wand at the man's chest and said, "Rennervate."

Crouch's son opened his eyes. His face was slack, his gaze unfocused. Dumbledore knelt before him, so that their faces were level.

"Can you hear ?" Dumbledore asked quietly.

The man's eyelids flickered.

"Yes," he muttered.

"I would like you to tell us," said Dumbledore softly, "how you ca to be here. How did you escape from Azkaban?"

Crouch took a deep, shuddering breath, then began to speak in a flat, expressionless voice.

"My mother saved . She knew she was dying. She persuaded my father to rescue as a last favor to her. He loved her as he had never loved . He agreed. They ca to visit . They gave a draught of Polyjuice Potion containing one of my mother's hairs. She took a draught of Polyjuice Potion containing one of my hairs. We took on each other's appearance."

Winky was shaking her head, trembling. Crouch took another deep breath and continued in the sa flat voice.

"The dentors are blind. They sensed one healthy, one dying person entering Azkaban. They sensed one healthy, one dying person leaving it. My father smuggled out, disguised as my mother, in case any prisoners were watching through their doors. My mother died a short while afterward in Azkaban. She was careful to drink Polyjuice Potion until the end. She was buried under my na and bearing my appearance. Everyone believed her to be ."

Chris and Harry looked at Sirius.

Crouch's eyelids flickered.

"And what did your father do with you, when he had got you ho?" said Dumbledore quietly.

"Staged my mother's death. A quiet, private funeral. That grave is empty. The house-elf nursed back to health. Then I had to be concealed. I had to be controlled. My father had to use a number of spells to subdue . When I had recovered my strength, I thought only of finding my master . . . of returning to his service."

"How did your father subdue you?" said Dumbledore.

"The Imperius Curse," Crouch said. "I was under my father's control. I was forced to wear an Invisibility Cloak day and night. I was always with the house-elf. She was my keeper and caretaker. She pitied . She persuaded my father to give occasional treats. Rewards for my good behavior."

"Master Barty, Master Barty," sobbed Winky through her hands. "You isn't ought to tell them, we is getting in trouble. . . ."

"Did anybody ever discover that you were still alive?" said Dumbledore softly. "Did anyone know except your father and the house-elf?"

"Yes," said Crouch, his eyelids flickering again. "A witch in my father's office. Bertha Jorkins. She ca to the house with papers for my father's signature. He was not at ho. Winky showed her inside and returned to the kitchen, to . But Bertha Jorkins heard Winky talking to . She ca to investigate. She heard enough to guess who was hiding under the Invisibility Cloak. My father arrived ho. She confronted him. He put a very powerful mory Charm on her to make her forget what she'd found out. Too powerful. He said it damaged her mory permanently."

Harry, Sirius and Chris exchanged looks.

"Why is she coming to nose into my master's private business?" sobbed Winky. "Why isn't she leaving us be?"

"Tell about the Quidditch World Cup," said Dumbledore.

"Winky talked my father into it," said Crouch, still in the sa monotonous voice. "She spent months persuading him. I had not left the house for years. I had loved Quidditch. Let him go, she said. He will be in his Invisibility Cloak. He can watch. Let him sll fresh air for once. She said my mother would have wanted it. She told my father that my mother had died to give freedom. She had not saved for a life of imprisonnt. He agreed in the end. It was carefully planned. My father led and Winky up to the Top Box early in the day. Winky was to say that she was saving a seat for my father. I was to sit there, invisible. When everyone had left the box, we would erge. Winky would appear to be alone. Nobody would ever know. But Winky didn't know that I was growing stronger. I was starting to fight my father's Imperius Curse. There were tis when I was almost myself again. There were brief periods when I seed outside his control. It happened, there, in the Top Box. It was like waking from a deep sleep. I found myself out in public, in the middle of the match, and I saw, in front of , a wand sticking out of a boy's pocket. I had not been allowed a wand since before Azkaban. I stole it. Winky didn't know. Winky is frightened of heights. She had her face hidden."

"Master Barty, you bad boy!" whispered Winky, tears trickling between her fingers.

"So you took the wand," said Dumbledore, "and what did you do with it?"

"We went back to the tent," said Crouch. "Then we heard them. We heard the Death Eaters. The ones who had never been to Azkaban. The ones who had never suffered for my master. They had turned their backs on him. They were not enslaved, as I was. They were free to seek him, but they did not. They were rely making sport of Muggles. The sound of their voices awoke . My mind was clearer than it had been in years. I was angry. I had the wand. I wanted to attack them for their disloyalty to my master. My father had left the tent; he had gone to free the Muggles. Winky was afraid to see so angry. She used her own brand of magic to bind to her. She pulled from the tent, pulled into the forest, away from the Death Eaters. I tried to hold her back. I wanted to return to the campsite. I wanted to show those Death Eaters what loyalty to the Dark Lord ant, and to punish them for their lack of it. I used the stolen wand to cast the Dark Mark into the sky. Ministry wizards arrived. They shot Stunning Spells everywhere. One of the spells ca through the trees where Winky and I stood. The bond connecting us was broken. We were both Stunned. When Winky was discovered, my father knew I must be nearby. He searched the bushes where she had been found and felt lying there. He waited until the other Ministry mbers had left the forest. He put back under the Imperius Curse and took ho. He dismissed Winky. She had failed him. She had let acquire a wand. She had almost let escape."

Winky let out a wail of despair.

"Now it was just Father and I, alone in the house. And then . . . and then . . ." Crouch's head rolled on his neck, and an insane grin spread across his face. "My master ca for . He arrived late one night with Kazle and his two servants. My master had found out that I was still alive. He had captured Bertha Jorkins in Albania. He had tortured her. She told him a great deal. She told him about the Triwizard Tournant. She told him the old Auror, Moody, was going to teach at Hogwarts. He tortured her until he broke through the mory Charm my father had placed upon her. She told him I had escaped from Azkaban. She told him my father kept imprisoned to prevent from seeking my master. And so my master knew that I was still his faithful servant — perhaps the most faithful of all. He needed . He arrived at our house near midnight. My father answered the door."

The smile spread wider over Crouch's face, as though recalling the sweetest mory of his life. Winky's petrified brown eyes were visible through her fingers. She seed too appalled to speak.

"It was very quick. My father was placed under the Imperius Curse by Stormy, Kazle's faithful follower. Now my father was the one imprisoned, controlled. Kazle forced him to go about his business as usual, to act as though nothing was wrong. And I was released. I awoke. I was myself again, alive as I hadn't been in years."

"Kazle?" Dumbledore asked. "Who's he?"

"He's my masters friend. When everyone abandoned my master, he found him, helped him." Crouch replied. "Only because of them my master was strong enough to travel. To co to ."

"And what did Lord Voldemort ask you to do?" said Dumbledore.

"He asked whether I was ready to risk everything for him. I was ready. It was my dream, my greatest ambition, to serve him, to prove myself to him. He told he needed to place a faithful servant at Hogwarts. A servant who would guide Harry Potter through the Triwizard Tournant without appearing to do so. A servant who would watch over Harry Potter. And to repay Kazle he asked to keep an eye on Christina Norton. Kazle needed her for so reason. Master said Kazle will give instructions, I've to work according to him to succeed. I agreed.. But first..."

"You needed Alastor Moody," said Dumbledore. His blue eyes were blazing, though his voice remained calm.

"Stormy and I did it. We had prepared the Polyjuice Potion beforehand. We journeyed to his house. Moody put up a struggle. There was a commotion. We managed to subdue him just in ti. Forced him into a compartnt of his own magical trunk. Took so of his hair and added it to the potion. I drank it; I beca Moody's double. I took his leg and his eye. I was ready to face Arthur Weasley when he arrived to sort out the Muggles who had heard a disturbance. I made the dustbins move around the yard. I told Arthur Weasley I had heard intruders in my yard, who had set off the dustbins, Stormy already gave an idea about how to act like actual Moody. Then I packed up Moody's clothes and Dark Detectors, put them in the trunk with Moody, and set off for Hogwarts. I kept him alive, under the Imperius Curse. I wanted to be able to question him. To find out about his past, learn his habits, so that I could fool even Dumbledore. I also needed his hair to make the Polyjuice Potion. The other ingredients were easy. I stole boomslang skin from the dungeons. When the Potions master found in his office, I said I was under orders to search it."

"And what beca of this Stormy after you attacked Moody?" said Dumbledore.

"Stormy returned to live near the Ministry of Magic. She already had planned to take over a job in the Ministry, under a different na. She were keeping her eyes on things in the Ministry and my father. In my father's house Kazle were keeping watch over my father."

"But your father escaped," said Dumbledore.

"Yes. After a while he began to fight the Imperius Curse just as I had done. There were periods when he knew what was happening. Kazle suggested it was no longer safe for my father to leave the house. So they forced him to send letters to the Ministry instead. They made him write and say he was ill. But one day as Kazle and my master were busy, Ethan didn't notice my father carefully and he escaped. Bagman saw my father after escaping, so Stormy talked to him, promised him to give money if he can give information about my father. They seached many places but there was no sign of father. At last he arrived at Hogwarts and because of Potter, he t Dumbledore. Though Bagman failed, Stormy had already made connections with few Ministry employees. She convinced few of them that it's best if they keep this things within Ministry. They suggested this to the Minister and he agreed. Our plan worked. He ca and took my father and Bagman. On the way Stormy put a old wizard under Imperious Curse, fed him polyjuice potion containing my hair and he killed my father. Kazle planned if the Minister or Aurors don't kill him, then they'll order him to kill himself. Like this no one will know it wasn't and I'm here."

There was complete silence now, except for Winky's continued sobs. Then Dumbledore said, "And tonight . . ."

"I called Travis, put him under the Imperious Curse and ordered him to distract Norton, while I attacked her hiding under a invisibility cloak. Then I covered her with the invisibility cloak and asked Travis to carry her in the middle of the maze and tie her with thorned vines under the Triwizard Cup. Kazle asked to put her in the middle of the maze, so when Potter reachs the Cup, Kazle's creature can Disappearate with both of them."

"How did you include the creature in the maze?" Dumbledore asked.

"I knew if I ask Hagrid to include it, he'll not do it without asking Dumbledore. So today I told him that Dumbledore ordered this creatures urgently and asked him to include that creature in the maze. I knew he'll trust Moody's words." Crouch grinned again. "And our plan worked. My master is returned to power and I will be honored by him beyond the dreams of wizards."

The insane smile lit his features once more, and his head drooped onto his shoulder as Winky wailed and sobbed at his side.