Miss Quinn

110 ~ Mr. Crouch

"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 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."

"You can't Disapparate on the Hogwarts grounds, haven't I told you enough times?" said Hermione.

"Okay...hows this for a theory," said Ron excitedly. "Krum attacked Crouch -- no, wait for it -- and then Stunned himself!"

"And Mr. Crouch evaporated, did he?" said Hermione coldly.

"Oh yeah..."

It was daybreak. The four Gryffindors 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. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were puffy-eyed and pale because they had been talking late into the night about Mr. Crouch. Emma had missed the conversation the night before, but Harry had explained what happened on the way there. According to him, Krum had wanted a word about Hermione, and then Mr. Crouch had shown up blubbering nonsense. When Harry had gone to get Professor Dumbledore, Snape had held him up, and by the time they'd gotten back, Krum had been knocked out cold and Mr. Crouch had vanished.

"Just go through it again, Harry," said Emma. "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.

"I've told you," Harry repeated dully. "He 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 you said, so half of it was probably just raving...."

"He was sanest when he was trying to talk about Voldemort," said Harry, and Ron winced at the sound of the name. "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 had to see Dumbledore."

Harry turned away from the window and stared up into the rafters. The many perches were half-empty; every now and then, another owl would swoop in through one of the windows, returning from its night's hunting with a mouse in its beak.

"D'you think it's possible You-Know-Who could still be alive?" Ron asked Emma. "Has Venus Seen anything about him?"

Emma shook her head. "I wouldn't be able to tell you. She hides a lot from me. I don't think she wants me to be burdened with my future."

Ron looked nervous.

"I think it's possible he may still be alive," said Emma. "But I don't think he's powerful enough to do any damage... yet."

"Yet?" said Ron skeptically.

Emma nodded her head at Harry. "If what Mr. Crouch said is true... he may be gaining power."