Chương 33: Harry vs. Barty Crouch Jr.
Harry's eyes darted around the room as he tried to consider his options. At the moment, he was in an otherwise empty classroom with who appeared to be Professor Moody but the Marauder's Map insisted was Barty Crouch. He had considered running, but felt certain that if he did Moody/Crouch would know that he suspected something. Harry took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down a little. 'Maybe he doesn't suspect that I know' Harry thought, 'So if I just play along and act dumb maybe I can get out of this in one piece.' All the same, he let his right hand drift down to his pocket where his wand was.
"Well, well, well… what are we going to do now Mr Potter?" the fake Moody asked. The man had been staring at Harry since a few minutes before class ended, and Harry knew without a doubt that his magical eye had not looked away since. 'Moody' was leaning against his desk grinning at him in a way that made Harry very uncomfortable. Moody/Crouch didn't seem to have his wand out, a fact that gave Harry a little comfort.
"I'm not sure I know what you mean, sir." Harry answered, hoping that the man just wanted to talk to him about school or the tournament. Instead, he responded to Harry's statement by beginning to laugh.
"Oh but I think you do Mr Potter, I think you do indeed." the professor replied, still laughing. Harry's hopes for getting out of the situation without a confrontation were rapidly dropping, but he still clung to the belief that his best course of action was to keep pretending to not know what was going on.
"Professor Moody, is this about my homework?" Harry asked. Moody/Crouch shook his head a little, and Harry noticed that the man's wand was now laying on the desk just inches from the impostor's hand. Harry frowned, wondering how he had missed that before.
"You and I both know that it isn't about homework." the grinning professor answered, clearly enjoying the game that they were playing.
"Maybe the tournament then?" Harry suggested, now fairly certain that this would not end well. He was almost positive that he could not beat the real Mad Eye Moody in a fight, but could he beat this impostor? Harry wasn't sure and didn't really look forward to finding out. His best option, he had decided, was to stall as long as possible and hope someone came in the room. Perhaps that would enable him to get out of the classroom, but he suspected that unless it was another professor that any person entering the room might just become another victim.
"Ah yes, the tournament. I do hope you are enjoying yourself in it. After all, I did have to go through quite a bit of trouble to get you in to it." he admitted, his face now taking on a proud look. "Dumbledore thought he was so smart with the Goblet of Fire and his damned enchantments. But he's not as smart as he likes to think he is, is he? After all, I am supposed to be one of his best friends and he doesn't suspect a thing."
"So it was you who put my name in the cup. But why?" Harry asked, careful not to reveal that he knew the man in front of him was not Professor Moody.
"Of course it was. And it is not my or your place to know why the master requests the things he does." Moody/Crouch answered. Harry froze at the man's response, was the 'master' he mentioned Voldemort? And if so why did Voldemort want him in the tournament in the first place?
"Your master?" Harry asked uncertainly, needing to know but fearing the answer.
"The Dark Lord, Mr Potter." Harry gulped and nodded as his fears were confirmed.
"But why Professor Moody? You were an Auror, one of the best." Harry said, still trying to keep the conversation going as long as possible. So far he had not even heard a sound from the other side of the door and he knew that it would be almost an hour until the next class came in. He remembered that the Charms classroom was next door and hoped that maybe someone would accidently open the wrong door, but the next round of classes should be starting in the next few minutes so his hopes were quickly diminishing.
"Still playing that game, are you? Drop it. We both know that I am not Alistor Moody." Harry knew that it would be stupid to continue acting like the man in front of him really was Moody, so he merely nodded.
"Fine then, Mr Crouch."
"See now? Isn't that better. I was warned about that bloody map of yours, and when I saw you looking at it during class I knew you had figured out that I am not who I claim to be. I think you might remember who warned me about the map, Wormtail sends his regards." At the mention of the traitor Peter Pettigrew Harry's grip on his wand tightened. Crouch must have seen his hand twitch because in an instant he had his wand in his hand, though he was still not pointing it in Harry's direction.
"But why? You are a respected part of the Ministry, why would you do this?" Harry asked, slowly bringing his wand out of his pocket so he would have it ready in case of an attack. Crouch noticed him doing this, of course, but made no move to stop him.
"I guess I gave you too much credit then. I am not my father, Mr Potter. My name is Barty Crouch Junior." the man who still looked like Professor Moody admitted. Harry had never even heard of Barty Crouch Jr, and the confusion must have been evident in his expression because Crouch Jr began talking again. "I take it you don't know of me then. I was and remain to this day a faithful servant of the Dark Lord. After his disappearance that bastard Karkaroff sold me out to save his own ass and I was thrown in Azkaban by my own father. He will pay for that and his other crimes against me."
"How did you get out?" Harry asked, seeing a good way to keep the man talking.
"My mother convinced my father to sneak me out of Azkaban and let her take my place. After that I was kept as a prisoner in my own home until this summer." Crouch Jr explained. "But now I am free to serve my lord once again, which brings me back to my original question: What am I going to do with you? Unfortunately the Dark Lord wants you alive, if he did not I would have murdered you the first opportunity I got. And there have been so many good opportunities. Do you know how hard it was for me to restrain myself from casting the killing curse at you when you least suspected it? Or perhaps not to kill you right away, but to make you suffer first? It would have been glorious, but the honor of killing you is not mine. The Dark Lord wishes to do that himself."
"Your 'Dark Lord' is nothing more than a spirit." Harry replied, braver than he actually felt. The class next door had already started by now so the chances that any one would walk through the door were extremely thin.
"Is he now? I would suggest you don't talk about things you obviously know nothing about." As Crouch answered Harry suddenly remembered the dream he had during the summer in which Voldemort had become a hideous but small creature that looked like a deformed baby. He had been surrounded by Wormtail and an unknown man that Harry was beginning to believe was Barty Crouch Jr. It would make sense, although Harry wondered briefly what it meant that he was having accurate visions about Voldemort that he pushed from his mind to focus on the situation at hand.
"Why are you doing this, what is your plan?" Harry demanded as part of his mind was screaming at him that the conversation was nearing its end and he needed to prepare for a fight.
"Neither of us are worthy enough to know the Dark Lord's plans. I suppose I will just have to Obvliviate you and continue with our little game. It really is a shame I can't just kill you now. Oh well." Crouch Jr said with an exagerated look of sadness. For a moment the two stared at each other, not moving, waiting to see what the other would do. The both had their wands in their hands, ready to cast the first spell. In the end it was Barty Crouch Jr who began the battle.
"Obliviate!" the Death Eater yelled as a burst of magic flew at his student. Harry reacted by diving out of the way and landing on the ground hard. Seeing Crouch Jr's foot and stump from under the table, Harry cast the Jelly Legs curse at him and began rolling under the table away from the professor not even bothering to watch if the spell hit him or not. It must have because he heard Crouch Jr growl and dispell the curse as Harry continued to try and distance himself from the impostor.
"A lucky shot, Potter. But first year spells aren't going to beat me." Crouch Jr taunted. Harry knew he was right, he was stupid to have used such a simple spell when he knew others that would have caused much more damage. This was not going to be like his mock duels with Daphne where he could get away with using minor spells. If he wanted to make it through this in one piece he was going to have to be more aggressive. Crouch Jr had not moved from his original position by his desk and Harry hoped that he would not know exactly where he was in the room since he was hidden under the tables.
"Come out now and this will be a lot easier on you." Crouch Jr advised. "Otherwise I may have to hurt you before Obliviating you."
Harry was kneeling now, ready to jump up and cast a spell. Deciding on the Reducto curse, Harry took a breath and leapt out from behind the table. Unfortunately Crouch Jr had seemed to know exactly where he was and had shouted "Inficio!" before he could even raise his wand. The spell produced a disgusting yellow light which flew towards Harry's head. Desperate to avoid being hit by the curse Harry once again dove to the floor, abandoning his plan to attack Crouch Jr. Behind him, the wall where the spell hit began to bubble and melt as if it had been hit by acid.
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