The Potter Twins and the Goblet of Fire {4}

28. The Dream

"Are you insane like me? Been in pain like me?" ~ Halsey, Gasoline

"It comes down to this," Hermione says, rubbing her forehead in frustration. "Either Mr Crouch attacked Viktor, or somebody attacked both of them when Viktor wasn't looking."

"It must've been Crouch," Ron says at once. "That's why he was gone when Harry, Haylee and Dumbledore got there. He'd done a runner."

"I don't think so," Harry says, shaking his head. "He seemed really weak - I don't reckon he was up to Disapparating or anything - "

"You can't Disapparate in Hogwarts," Tay interjects, clearly taking the words straight from Hermione's mouth. 

"Okay...how's this for a theory," Ron says excitedly. "Krum attacked Crouch - no, wait for it - and then Stunned himself!"

"And then Crouch evaporated, did he?" I ask, suppressing a laugh. 

"Just go through it again, Harry," Hermione insists. "What did Mr Crouch actually say."

"I've told you, he wasn't making much sense," Harry says. "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 it was his fault...he mentioned his son."

"Well, that was his fault," I say testily. 

"He was out of his mind," Harry continues. "Half the time he seemed to think his wife and son were still alive, and he kept talking to Percy about work and giving in instructions."

"And...remind me what he said about You-Know-Who?" Ron asks tentatively. 

"I've told you," Harry repeats dully, as my shoulders tense slightly. "He said he's getting stronger."

"Brilliant," I murmur. 

"But he was out of his mind like you said, so half of it was probably just raving..." Ron says in a falsely confident voice. 

"He was his sanest when he was talking about Voldemort," Harry says, ignoring Ron and Tay's wince. "He was having real trouble stringing two words together, but that was when he seemed to know where he was and know what he wanted to do. He just kept saying he needed to warn Dumbledore."

"If Snape hadn't held us up," I say bitterly, "we might've made it in time. Asking all these questions...why couldn't he have justed gotten out of the way?"

"Maybe he didn't want you to get there!" Ron says quickly. "Maybe - hang on - how fast d'you reckon he could've got down to the Forest? D'you reckon he could've beaten you and Dumbledore there?"

"Not unless he can turn himself into as bat or something," I say. 

"Wouldn't put it past him," Tay mutters. 

"We need to find Professor Moody," Hermione says. "We need to find out whether he found Mr Crouch."

"If he had the Marauder's Map on him, it would've been easy," I say, almost dismissively. 

"Unless Crouch was already outside the grounds," Ron says, "because it only shows up to the boundaries, doesn't - "

"Shh!" Hermione says suddenly. 

Somebody is climbing the steps up to the Owlery. I can hear two voices arguing, coming closer and closer. 

"- that's blackmail, that is, and we could get in a lot of trouble for that - "

"- we've tried being polite, it's time to play dirty, like him. He wouldn't like the Minister of Magic finding out what he did - "

"I'm telling you if you put that in writing, it's blackmail!"