บท 147: Ch. 147 Dealing with Junior
I have to admit that Barty knows how to imitate the paranoia of Moody very well and use it to his advantage.
His office is filled with detection and protection spells, stopping anyone from entering the room and much less searching it. The magical eye allows him to be constantly aware of his surroundings and Moody's known twitchiness helps make Barty trying to not be spotted or followed a lot easier. Moody would certainly want to be actively involved in the security of the tasks, hence it would be child's play to mess with certain aspects of it. Dumbledore's trust also gave him the freedom to almost do as he pleased in the name of educating or protecting the students if proper reasoning was in place. And Moody's reputation and past would generally put kids from families on the light or neutral sides of politics at ease, making most of the student body have a great amount of trust in him.
All these tricks and psychological manipulations made people subconsciously overlook the idiosyncrasies. The unhealthy obsession on curses and mainly the Unforgivables, especially when he knows how exposure to the Imperius and subsequent failure to repel it naturally will make it easier for the target to succumb in the future. The constant drinking from his flask of polyjuice potion, something he would need to either brew or have brought in. Then the assortment of broken detection devices in his office, something the paranoid man would never tolerate since he would either replace or repair them immediately as to not get caught off guard.
And now here we all stood, in the office filled with broken devices.
Dumbledore was trying to calm Harry while 'Moody' wanted the details of the event as his fervor grew the more he heard. It was interesting seeing grumpy grandpa and sage grandpa doing two very different approaches to get the same information out of a kid.
"You two do know that there's a pensieve upstairs that we can use to see Harry's memories of events right?" I said with some amusement as I decided to interrupt the questioning.
"Right you are Aedan. Alastor, I leave our two young champions in your care. I will be back shortly." The headmaster said as he quickly departed, leaving only myself, Harry and 'Moody'.
It didn't take long for little Barty to start getting excited again. He knew I wasn't pressured nor did I look emotional, so he focused on Harry.
"So he forgave them did he? The ones who returned." He finally asked with visible anger, something which Harry most likely thought was because of the death eaters but in the wrong way.
"He was angry. And disappointed. But he said to serve him for the amount of years they weren't there in exchange." Replied Harry as he remembered the cowering 'purebloods'.
"Those sad excuses for-" The scarred man started before I interrupted.
"Professor I hate to interrupt, but isn't it about time for you to take your hourly potion? Wouldn't want to lose its effects now would we?" Was what I said in a lighthearted tone of voice while shaking a certain hip flask I wandlessly pickpocketed.
"Hmm? Right. Forgot in the excitement. Thanks lad." He curtly replied as he reached out to take the flask I held out for him.
"No problem Professor. Wouldn't want you to forget your polyjuice potion. It looks like it would hurt a lot to transform back from Moody." I said back to him with a gentle smile which didn't reach my eyes, making his widen in response.
"What are you talking about boy? Do you know what you are suggesting right now?" He growled dangerously at me as his body tensed.
"I certainly do Professor. I mean, I understand some people not being happy with their looks, but you must be truly hideous if you thought Mad-eye Moody was attractive enough to suffer through the required transformations. You have my deepest condolences." I say with a serious tone and face.
"What did you say?" He asked as is eye narrowed and his voice became very cold.
"I meant no offense Professor Crouch. Everyone has their problems in life and I try not to judge others on superficial details. I'm just worried about the pain you'll go through by transforming continuously." I answered in a 'worried' tone.
"What are you talking about Aedan? Why did you call him Professor Crouch? He's Moody, the guy who caught half the people in Azkaban." Asked the now very confused Harry.
"Nope, that is not Alastor Moody. That man is in the chest in the corner over there. Our Professor this year was Barty Crouch Jr. He had very good grades in Hogwarts and I am not surprised he could become such a well liked teacher. Too bad he's basically the male version of Bellatrix Lestrange. But I get, I really do. Overbearing expectations, no familial love from his father, living life as he was told, constantly being oppressed, and then a man promising power, freedom, a chance to make his own name known appears and gives him the sweetest of temptations. Of course he would follow and offer his loyalty." I explain aloud as 'Moody' shows expressions of anger and longing. "That's why he's the one who put your name in the Goblet, the man who arranged for you to be in that graveyard tonight and is most likely also responsible for Viktor attacking you and Fleur."
The poor kid stood there in dismay at the revelation, torn between me usually telling him things straight up and his interactions with the man.
"I knew you were too smart. Dumbledore is far too trusting to see it, but you, I knew you would be dangerous especially after how you overpowered my Imperius." 'Moody' ominously said as I noticed his subtle movements.
"That was very fun. But since you mentioned my intelligence, why do you think I've just been talking to a person I know is a death eater, after having Dumbledore leave, with Harry Potter, and still not do anything when I can see his obvious attempts at getting ready to attack?" I asked in amusement as I observe the man.
"It doesn't matter. In a few moments both of you will lie dead as offering for my lord and I will return at his side as his most loyal servant." He fanatically said, finally dropping the whole charade and letting his facial tick resurface.
"Then i suggest you hurry." I mockingly told the man.
"And why is that?" He asked as his face became cold once again.
"Because you still haven't taken your polyjuice potion." I answered with a devilish smile.
That very moment he realized his mistake.
You see, I have been keeping a very close eye on the man, making sure I knew exactly when he would take his potions and I made sure to keep a proper timer going in my head. I know every angle of that potion, every little effect and minor changes that vary from person to person. So calculating how long a potion allowing Barty to transform into Moody would last was simply child's play. And now comes the end of my timer.
The man's body began to shake uncontrollably, pain shooting throughout his body has he gasped. He tried to grab for the flask still in my hand but I simply turned it to ash using my flames with my smile still on my face.
He then began to panic as he looked for more polyjuice potion. I decided to use this as a chance to quietly disarm him. First was Moody's staff, then his wand, and lastly Junior's own wand. All acquired using quick and easy wandless magic while the man was desperately trying to now remove the prosthetics he had to wear.
With a loud thunk, the fake leg fell on the floor and the man began to desperately claw at the magical eye, really wanting to remove it before his actual eye starts to come back and gets squashed because something is already there. Must not be a very pleasant sensation. But he succeeded in ripping off the eye and throwing it away to twitch on the floor.
I looked over at Harry while this was happening and his face showed shock and horror as he saw the man violently start transform back into is true form. The missing leg was growing back, you could see his skull shift under his skin, the shaggy hair changing, his nose forming properly, his entire body squirming as it wanted to be back to its proper form and the missing eye gradually returning as grunts of pain came out of the man's mouth.
The process finally finished and left us with a man in his mid-30's with pale skin, freckles on his face and a mop of straw colored haired covered his eyes as he hung his head.
"Well you aren't exactly handsome, but it's still better than Moody Professor. But glad to finally meet you properly Bartemius Crouch Junior. Previously thought to have died in Azkaban, devoted death eater, son of the now presumed dead Head of international relations Bartemius Crouch Senior and one of the people responsible for the death of my parents, my subsequent kidnapping and the torture to the point of insanity of Lord and Lady Longbottom. You're now the second supposed to be dead death eater I've had the pleasure of capturing in the last year." I said as I introduced the man using my polite smile and proper manners.
I was not introducing him to Harry, but to the small group of people who seemed to have decided to follow after Dumbledore as he returned. Good timing too.
"What preposterous things are you saying? Crouch Jr. died in Azkaban almost twelve years ago." Sputtered Fudge as he made is appearance and usual stupid comment.
"Not very difficult to find out the truth of the matter in all honesty. You just have to use the people who's job it is to verify this stuff instead of acting like an idiot and denying everything beforehand." I simply said in a neutral voice as I spared the man a single glance.
It seems like Junior noticed since he decided that it was his chance to make a move towards Harry.
"Now now, we'll have none of that." I said as I simply immobilized the man with a dismissive wand gesture, leaving a very startled Harry to look between the crazy man and myself.
"Please remain seated at all times." I added with a second gesture, making Barty shoot towards the wooden chair he shot out off and conjuring chains to hold down each off his limbs before releasing the spell which immobilized him.
"T-Thanks Aedan." Harry said as he caught up to what just happened.
"No problem Harry. Now why don't you come over here and stand with myself, Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall, and the Minister." I respond as I motion him over.
He quickly decides to follow the advice as he joins our little group.
"Now Aedan, I do believe an explanation is in order don't you?" The headmaster said with a slightly serious tone.
"It's rather simple headmaster. That man has impersonated Alastor Moody via polyjuice potion since this summer and he was the one responsible for Harry being in the tournament and the changing of the cup's porting location. If you look on his inner arm then I am positive you will find the dark mark and in that chest over there will be the real Alastor Moody." I explained in response to his request very straightforwardly.
"You can't be serious! Dumbledore, you can't seriously believe whatever a student is telling." Fudge said as he talked without using his brain again.
"Minister." My absolute and frigid voice resounded as magic pressured the entire room.
The bumbling idiot turned white as a ghost, McGonagall's eyes widened in shock, Dumbledore raised his eyebrow as he wondered what I would do next and Harry was very stunned at the tone of voice he had never heard me speak in before.
"Ye-yes?" Fudge managed to stutter out.
"You are talking to a Lord right now. One with vast sums of money and influence. How do you think I will use them when you insult and dismiss me twice?" I ask as my aura starts to intertwine with the magic I was unleashing.
"I-I-I..." He tries to answer as he looks around for someone to bail him out of this situation.
"I simply described events as I have come to understand them through evidence and reasoning. I've also said you can confirm the man's identity by simply calling for the right people instead of acting inept and just told you the most seasoned and known Auror in our country is locked in a chest and no one is taking him out or even confirming my statement. So why are you dismissing my words?" I ask the now sweating man as I pressure him.
Tha-that is. I didn't..." The panicking man still couldn't answer without anyone pulling his strings.
"Now Aedan, I do believe the minister regrets his poor choice of words. Let us verify your claims and investigate everything properly." The headmaster said as he came to the man's rescue.
"That was all I asked for." I reply with a slight nod as I release the pressure I was exuding, leaving Fudge gasping for air, Harry letting out a breath of some air he was holding in and the deputy headmistress to sigh in relief.
Things went rather quickly without the idiot saying something stupid every time someone talked.
Dumbledore quickly confirmed both my statements and sent McGonagall to get Poppy over here. He also asked her to get Snape afterwards, wanting to interrogate Junior as quickly as possible.
The minister felt ignored and humiliated after being put down by me, so he quickly left. But I had a quick look into his mind to know what he was generally thinking about. Unsurprisingly it had to do with covering up the scandal of someone escaping Azkaban again and worrying about how people who's money he took would react to this.
And as he left to either go order some people ineptly like always, Snape arrived with his usual sneer.
It seemed the Headmaster wanted to hear the whole story via use of Truth potions and have Harry understand his whole situation.
So just like canon they began doing so, but I decided to take my leave.
"Aedan where are you going?" Asked the Headmaster as he noticed my intent.
"I already know pretty much everything, staying would just be redundant and I would prefer to go reassure others and explain the situation properly to my friends and the student body in general. I am still Head Boy you know." I explained as I excused myself.
'That and I want to contact my network to see if they're still going to do that. It'll give me so much dirt and I don't want things to change.' I thought as I left 'Moody's' office.
I quickly concealed myself and activated my private vanishing box linking to my spymistress.
'I need a report on ministry movements and our people making sure they catch everything happening right now. Make sure to pay close attention to the toad.' I wrote as the message vanished.
'The order has been sent. I shall be able to give you the information in a few moments sir.' The reply said after only a few moments.
I continued walking under concealment as I made my way through the empty corridors.
'The buffoon returned and is both freaking out and angry. Apparently a scandal is on the cusp of happening and he was humiliated during his trip to Hogwarts. Since he is foolish, he is only ranting and hasn't thought about what to do.
Ah, it seems the toad has promised to handle everything. She is apparently heading to the department of mysteries.'
I finally reached the path towards the quidditch pitch when the message I was waiting for came.
'Sir, she ordered for dementors to go apprehend someone at Hogwarts. Without permission from Dumbledore. She gave authorization for the kiss.'
'I want copies of the order, the forms needed for that and everything that was said from the ministers office to the order. After that make sure no one knows we have those things. This information will be very important within the next year.'
I can't let the war start yet. The snakes haven't gathered. Some of the worst ones are still in Azkaban. The dementors need to be removed as well. I want and need Voldemort to amass his followers. And then erase them all.
'I will do everything I can to make sure Harry isn't under fire like in that stupid fifth year canon. I'll work subtly through mother to strengthen and prepare the DMLE for what is to come, while I weaken corruption in the ministry by having my own people whisper in Fudge and Umbridge's ears. This will spark the gathering of power in the shadows for both sides, while mine is already everywhere and ready to strike.
I am sorry if this hurts or scares you for a short time Harry, but Crouch Jr. needs to die. For my vengeance and my goals. And what better way than through the most horrifying method known to wizard kind?' I thought as i removed my concealment and made my way to the crowd ahead of me, putting on a calm smile while I clear my mind.
'Ah and here come the dementors.'
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Alexander_the_grey
Alexander_the_grey I feel like I might have made that encounter either rushed or too easy.
But I also felt it kind off appropriate. The timing of his transformation back into himself in canon used as a means to take him down. Pretty creative way in my mind.
Making Fudge leave and make sure the Dementors were sent. Even if they weren’t I would have made it look like Umbitch did it.
And yeah, he didn’t forget his revenge either. He was just enjoying being at Hogwarts.
Enjoy.
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