"That'll do," said Harry. "I'll set it off further down the hall. When she moves away, get into the Great Hall. When you're finished, move and stand by the doors. I'll watch you on the map, and set off another one so you guys can escape." Satisfied with the plan, the twins handed Harry two of the Wyvernworks, who silently made his way downstairs. About thirty paces away from the Great Hall, he lit one of the little fireworks and hurried around a corner to wait. It went off after he ducked behind a suit of armor, exploding into a brilliant little dragon-shaped creature made up of green sparkles. It even breathed a few red sparkle-flames from its mouth. Predictably, Professor Babbling ran down the hall to investigate, and Harry watched the two dots on the map enter the Great Hall. Keeping as still as possible, he made no noise at all as Babbling searched the hall up and down for him.
He kept watch on the dots of Fred and George Weasley as they moved towards the front of the hall where the Goblet of Fire was placed. They seemed to circle around the cup a few times, but then scrambled back. Uh oh, thought Harry. I take it that means they didn't do too well... There was suddenly a flurry of movement on the map. Multiple professors were descending on the Great Hall. Oh, nuts, the twins will have hell to pay if they're caught by Moody again, he realized. It figures that the Goblet would have more security than just an age line. He was about to set off another Wyvernwork when he noticed something odd on the map. Moody hadn't left his office. Crouch, however, had. This is even worse. They'll be in trouble with a ministry official!
Harry quickly moved towards the hall where Crouch was coming from. Hoping to distract Crouch, or at least delay his arrival, he lit the firework just before the man was about to round the corner. While the fuse was burning, Harry heard a familiar Clink-tak- clink-tak sound. How did Moody get here so fast? He was still in his office last time I looked... Harry quickly dug out his map, and saw the name Bartemius Crouch moving down the hallway, where the sound was coming from. It rounded the corner, and Harry got a good look at man- it was Moody, complete with peg-leg, cane, and fake eye. Harry only had a second to do a double-take with the map before the Wyvernwork exploded, with the sparkling creature flying straight towards the impostor. Crouch- or was it Moody?- yelped as he covered his fake eye, obviously sensitive to the pyrotechnics. Harry took advantage of the situation and fled.
This is huge... why would Crouch be impersonating Moody? I need to tell a professor. He scanned the map, looking for Albus Dumbledore, but it wasn't anywhere on the map. The headmaster must have left the grounds, probably dealing with ministry officials or something. Meanwhile, it seemed that many of the professors were investigating the area where he had set off the Wyvernwork, while several others were escorting Fred and George towards the infirmary while Crouch was in the Great Hall by himself. Harry searched for the next choice- Professor McGonagall. He found her keeping close to Gryffindor Tower, patrolling the halls of the seventh floor. Putting his invisibility cloak away, he ran up the many flights of stairs to find his head of house.
"Mr. Potter, what are you doing roaming the halls at this hour?" McGonagall asked, entirely unsurprised.
Out of breath after running up six flights of stairs, Harry panted, "I... need... to talk... something... strange... Crouch..."
"Catch your breath, Mr. Potter. Now tell me, what's going on? The staff just received an alert that somebody attempted to bypass the Goblet's protections. It wasn't you who made the attempt, was it?" McGonagall asked, with displeasure in her voice. "The rules were very clear, Mr. Potter. I'll not have you besmirching the name of Gryffindor with such foolish escapades..."
"No! It wasn't me... I was just lending the twins a hand... but that's not the problem!" cried Harry. "Bartemius Crouch is doing something strange- I think he took polyjuice and impersonated Professor Moody! I just saw him a few minutes ago..."
Professor McGonagall looked doubtful. "Mr. Potter, may I ask how you came to that conclusion? Polyjuice is a very complex potion which makes a perfectly changes a person to look like somebody else. I find it hard to imagine that you could tell the difference between one person and a polyjuiced impostor, when most Aurors wouldn't be able to without several advanced spells or a blood verification." Harry was trying to decide whether or not to tell her about the map while McGonagall continued.
"Secondly, why do you suspect Mr. Crouch? He is not on school grounds at all tonight. He, along with Ludo Bagman and the Headmasters of all three schools are currently at a meeting with the Minister of Magic. They won't return until tomorrow morning. Do you have a better explanation, or is this just a ruse to give Messrs. Fred and George Weasley time to escape? We all know they can't resist trying to get past the goblet's protections." Harry was stunned at the news. He couldn't possibly say that he saw the name on a map that was made decades ago by a bunch of sixth-years... it would be his word against the Headmaster's. Or two headmasters and a headmistress, along with the Minister of Magic himself. Keeping quiet and investigating by himself might be the best option for now.
Harry hung his head down, saying, "I'm sorry, Professor. I was... um... helping the twins tonight. They wanted their names in the cup, and I offered to be a distraction. I just wanted to get you away from Gryffindor Tower so they could sneak back in." It wasn't a complete lie, at least. "I'll take whatever punishment you think fair."
"We'll discuss it tomorrow morning, Mr. Potter. You will stay behind after class tomorrow, after I have verified this story with the Weasley twins. I'll determine your punishment then. Now get to bed, it's far past curfew."
Harry rushed back into his dorm, and opened up the map again. He saw Moody, still in his office. The twins were sitting in the infirmary, and the rest of the professors had gone back to their patrols. The dot labelled Bartemius Crouch was nowhere to be seen.
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