Harry Potter: The Golden Viper

0656 The Clues

The gloomy sky looming above their head made it impossible to discern whether it was day or night. The dull atmosphere casted a gloomy blanket over the streets, which was eerily quiet and felt frozen in time.

While the surroundings couldn't exactly be called desolate or post-apocalyptic, there was an unsettling aura that permeated the air. The sparsely populated sidewalks and dilapidated buildings seemed to be half a century behind the times. For visitors encountering this neighborhood for the first time, an inexplicable unease came over them, raising hairs on the backs of their necks.

This sense of unease was especially intense for Ron, who was accustomed to the vibrant bustle of the wizarding world and rarely went out into Muggle territory. His experience with the non-magical world was limited to brief appearances at a select few locations out of necessity. Lingering in the Muggle world for such a long period of time like this was a first experience for him.

As Ron watched an old rusting bus heave and groan its way around a distant street corner and slowly disappear from view, he couldn't help but smack his lips incredulously.

While he was no fan of the rollercoaster nausea brought by the Knight Bus's wild driving, he marveled at how Muggles could tolerate relying on such sluggish transportation for their daily commutes.

How many hours of their lives must they fritter away sitting in traffic each day?

"Sirius," Hermione began timidly, her voice was barely a whisper, as if she were afraid of disturbing the oppressive silence here. "Are you quite certain this is the right place? Perhaps we've taken a wrong turn somewhere along the way?"

After seeing Regulus's long-abandoned bedroom, Harry's abrupt words had unlocked a troubling new topic in their conversation.

If they were to be honest, both Remus and Sirius had anticipated the distant drumbeats of Voldemort's imminent return growing louder. But even they were caught off guard by the alarming swiftness with which those ominous footsteps now approached.

The fact that Igor Karkaroff, a known Death Eater, had directly said to Snape's face that Dark Lord was becoming stronger - and with such obvious, open terror - well, that changed things considerably and made both Remus and Sirius feel a strong sense of unease.

Especially when Hermione began analyzing who had laid the 'trap' for her to become a champion, based on her and Harry's first time eavesdropping on the conversation between Snape and Karkaroff, Sirius couldn't sit still at all.

Flashback:

"Okay, let me attempt to sort through all this logically," Sirius said, unable to contain his nervousness a moment longer. He jumped to his feet and began pacing back and forth across his own bedroom with a pensive frown on his face.

The warm light illuminating the bedroom space casted an oddly cheery glow across the anxious gathering on the edge of Sirius's bed - Harry, Hermione and Ron all looked deeply nervous.

Remus stood nearby with arms crossed and expression solemn, leaning against a faded old Gryffindor banner. And the previous thoughts of working overtime had evaporated from his mind, replaced by the seriousness of their discussion.

Sirius's mind buzzed as he tried to collect and analyze the different clues they had uncovered thus far.

"First, on the night of the Quidditch World Cup final, after everyone had left the venue, the Dark Mark appeared in the Top box. The people from the Ministry, led by Barty Crouch, rushed over. Amos and Crouch personally searched the box, but only found Winky there. The Ministry gave an explanation for this, but we all know this was just to appease the public. The truth is still up in the air!

"And then, few months later, we have the fiasco with the Goblet of Fire," Sirius continued, his gaze flicking to Hermione. She looked completely green around the gills at the mention of her selection as the Hogwarts champion.

"Someone, and we still don't know who, manages to hoodwink an ancient magical artifact that, by all means, should have been completely foolproof - all to enter an underage witch into a dangerous competition she never even wanted to be a part of." He shook his head in disgust, curling his lips.

"After this mess, Bryan wrote to me, asking me to help keep an eye on Barty Crouch's movements in the Ministry, but also not to get too close to him.

Harry and Hermione, you then learned from eavesdropping on Snivellus and Karkaroff's conversation that someone at Hogwarts is secretly brewing Polyjuice Potion.

By the way, Bryan and Dumbledore almost acquiesced to Hermione being selected as the champion. The two of them don't seem to have conducted a proper investigation. It's hard to say for Dumbledore, but at least the Bryan I know wasn't like this in the past. He wouldn't allow anyone to stir up trouble under his nose."

Gulp--

Ron swallowed, his heart gradually rising to his throat.

After a pause, Sirius resumed his analysis.

"After I wrote to Bryan telling him that Crouch had taken sick leave, he immediately came to visit Barty. I don't think Bryan and Barty Crouch have such a good relationship. Someone like Barty Crouch wouldn't become friends with anyone.

But after this, Bryan and Dumbledore called you together to the office and began asking about the situation in the box on the night the Dark Mark appeared. They were particularly concerned about Barty Crouch's house-elf called Winky, whether Crouch had appeared in the box that night, and the empty seat the house-elf was occupying--"

Sirius spread his hands wide, his eyebrows shooting up towards his hairline. "I mean, come on - are we really supposed to believe that's all just a bizarre coincidence? That none of these pieces are connected?"

"Sirius--"

Looking at Sirius, who had stopped pacing and had a sharp look, Remus couldn't help but speak up.

"Do you know what you're suspecting?" Remus straightened up.

"You're suspecting that Barty Crouch conspired to make the Dark Mark incident happen and make Hermione a champion. You're suspecting that a senior Ministry official famous for his tough stance towards evil is engaging in criminal activities. If word got out, people would think you're crazy."

"Ever since what happened with Peter--" Sirius laughed coldly, "I've realized that no one is beyond suspicion."

"But this doesn't make sense, does it?"

Ron couldn't help interjecting. When he was at home, he had heard his father talk a lot about Barty Crouch's upright behavior and integrity in the Ministry. If Barty Crouch was really even half as his father described him, he would never believe that Crouch would target Hermione.

Seeing that everyone's attention was drawn to him, Ron instinctively shrank his neck. He panted and said,

"I mean, on the night of the Dark Mark, he didn't have time. He only entered the venue later.

As for Hermione being a champion, the champion selection only took one day. If I remember correctly, Barty Crouch only arrived at Hogwarts the day before the champions were picked and announced. He didn't have time either."

To Ron's immense relief, rather than dismissing his theory, Sirius looked at him approvingly.

"Well reasoned, Ron," Sirius said with an approving nod. "Which is why I'm more inclined to agree with Hermione's assessment - Crouch must have a Death Eater crony doing his dirty work. An accomplice who fired off the Dark Mark and had already infiltrated Hogwarts to sabotage the champion selection and set our Hermione up."

Another heavy silence fell as everyone digested this unsettling notion. Harry's mind raced, picturing the little few interactions he'd had with Crouch directly. Finally, he voiced the ugly possibility rattling around his brain.

"But... who could have infiltrated Hogwarts?" Harry asked, his voice strained. "D'you reckon... Moody...?"

Remus was quick to stop that line of speculation, shaking his head gently.

"I don't believe we can narrow it down quite so easily, Harry. You're forgetting about the Polyjuice potion - with that in play, our culprit could be camouflaged as virtually anyone. It might be Karkaroff, who's far from innocent himself. Snape seems to be in the clear for the moment, since he proactively disclosed the potion's existence in the first place. But beyond that..."

Remus let out a weary sigh, rubbing a hand over his jaw.

"Minerva, Madame Maxime, Ludo Bagman, even Alastor... If our worst assumptions prove to be true, any one of the parties present in that side chamber off the Great Hall that night could be in cahoots with Crouch. The possibilities are distressingly numerous."

Hermione, who had been unusually quiet as she listened to the guys debate, spoke up then. Her brow was furrowed in worry.

"But... surely not Professor Watson or Dumbledore?!"

No matter what, she couldn't bring herself to suspect the two of them.

"Oh, there's no way a Death Eater could impersonate them--"

Sirius smiled and said, "If I wanted to impersonate someone using Polyjuice Potion, I would definitely make sure that person wouldn't appear in front of people again. Do you think there's a Death Eater who could take down Bryan and Dumbledore, Hermione?"

Hermione felt some of the tension leak out of her shoulders at Sirius' words. But even as she nodded in relief, she couldn't quite shake the lingering unease that prickled at the back of her neck like an itch she couldn't scratch.

Because if Sirius was right (and despite his reputation for recklessness, she had to admit that his logic was sound), then that meant that someone - possibly even someone they knew and trusted - had been walking among them for months, wearing a familiar face like a mask.

The thought made her skin crawl.

Ron, still struggling to wrap his head around why Barty Crouch of all people would be involved in such a plot, repeated what he'd heard from his father.

"I still don't understand - what could possibly be his reason and motive behind all this? What could drive Crouch to such drastic action? You heard what Dad's always said about him, how he's ruthlessly committed to stamping out crime and Dark wizards..."

"Arthur's absolutely correct there," Sirius agreed, holding up a hand to stop Ron's objections. "Believe me, I find this just as difficult to swallow. On the surface, these make no sense - Crouch has nothing obvious to gain. That is, unless… he's following orders…"

Sirius trailed off with a dreamy look in his eyes as he pondered over some unspoken things. Before he could complete his thought, Harry abruptly blurted out.

"Voldemort?"

A collective shudder rippled through the room at the mention.

"I don't think you've forgotten, Sirius, back then Barty Crouch--" Remus said grimly.

"Of course, I remember, Remus. But Crouch is a thoroughly power-hungry person. His lifelong dream is to become the Minister of Magic. That's why he was so resolute in sending his own son to Azkaban back then. That's another story, Harry. We can talk about it later."

Sirius anticipated Harry, Ron and Hermione's surprise upon hearing this. He quickly said,

"Barty Crouch desires to become Minister of Magic above all else. But after Fudge, Bryan actually supports Amelia Bones. The discerning people in the Ministry all know this. So, if Bryan and Bones have effectively blocked his path forward...a man like that, consumed by his ambition? I could see him growing desperate enough to make a deal with the devil himself if it meant a taste of the power he craves."

"Then who do you think that person could be?" Remus didn't agree with Sirius' view. He changed the question, "The one in our assumption, Barty Crouch's accomplice?"

This was indeed a difficult question to answer.

Most of Voldemort's followers back then were in Azkaban, but there were just as many still at large. They speculated about many people, but always lacked strong evidence to pinpoint at one.

"Why don't we just go ask Bryan directly? Since he and Dumbledore have already realized something's wrong with Barty Crouch, maybe they've already investigated this matter thoroughly!"

Looking out the transparent floor-to-ceiling window at the desolate city, Sirius, who had been pondering hard, suddenly brightened up and turned to the gloomy crowd.

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