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xviii.high horse
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"It comes down to this," said Hermione, rubbing her forehead. "Either Mr. Crouch attacked Viktor, or somebody else attacked both of them when Viktor wasn't looking."
"It must've been Crouch," said Ron at once. "That's why he was gone when Harry, Tilly, and Dumbledore got there. He'd done a runner."
"I don't think so," said Harry, shaking his head. "He seemed really weak – I don't reckon he was up to Disapparating or anything."
"Not possible," said Matilda in a bored tone. "You can't disapparate on Hogwarts grounds."
Hermione nodded, agreeing.
"Ok... how's this for a theory," said Ron excitedly, "Krum attacked Crouch – no, wait for it – and then Stunned himself!"
Matilda shook her head, "Horrible theory."
"And Mr. Crouch evaporated, did he?" said Hermione annoyed.
"Oh, yeah..."
It was daybreak. Harry, Matilda, Ron, and Hermione had crept out of their dormitories very early and hurried up to the Owlery together to send a note to Sirius. Now they were standing looking out at the misty grounds. All three of them were puffy-eyed and pale because they had been talking late into the night about Mr. Crouch.
"Just go through it again, Harry," said Hermione. "What did Mr. Crouch actually say?"
"I've told you, he wasn't making much sense," said Harry. "He said he wanted to warn Dumbledore about something. He definitely mentioned Bertha Jorkins, and he seemed to think she was dead. He kept saying stuff was his fault... he mentioned his son."
"Well, that was his fault," said Hermione testily.
"He was out of his mind," said Harry. "Half the time he seemed to think his wife and son were still alive, and he kept talking to Percy about work and giving him instructions."
"And... remind me what he said about You-Know-Who?" said Ron tentatively.
Harry sighed, that particular part of the conversation had become the hardest for Harry to recount, so Matilda, noticing his discomfort stepped in, "Mr. Crouch said he's getting stronger."
There was a pause.
Then Ron said in a falsely confident voice, "But he was out of his mind, like Harry said, so half of it was probably just raving..."
