Amelia couldn't make heads or tails of the commands. For now, the only thing she could think of doing was to investigate Moody's trunk, which she ordered another subordinate to do. The rest of the orders all seemed to be centered around concealing the identity of Moody's attacker. This would be a tough case to crack.
"Amelia, the Veritaserum's wearing off," Moody informed her. "Any last questions?"
"When was the last order given to you?"
"Four days ago, the night Harry Potter was questioning me about," Moody answered, with the gruff vigor returning to his voice. The Veritaserum had completely worn off. "Amelia, let me be frank with you. I have no idea what their objective was, but if I had to guess, it's assassination."
"What makes you say that? Who's the target?" asked Amelia.
"I don't know, but since I was assigned to be the head of security for the Triwizard Tournament, that could mean anyone from Dumbledore to the Minister of Magic in Bulgaria. There's going to be plenty of officials that will attend the event over the course of the year. My guess is I was supposed to be a sleeper agent."
"This is a disaster, Moody. We can't cancel the event now, Fudge won't hear of it. It would be an international scandal. We'll need additional security for all the officials and VIPs who are attending..."
"Not just that, Amelia. You're going to have to redo the entire security protocol. I don't remember giving the plans out, but that doesn't mean I haven't been obliviated while I was imperiused or something like that. Security's been compromised. Start from scratch. I'd like you, or one of your most trustworthy Aurors, to take over the management of the entire event. There's no way I can continue on as the head of security for the Triwizard. I'm a liability now."
Amelia Bones nodded. Moody may have been paranoid, but that certainly wasn't without reason. And this time, he had plenty of reasons to be as paranoid as possible. There were less than three short weeks before the Choosing of the Champions. She'd need to begin her work as quickly as possible.
Harry Potter sat on his usual infirmary bed, rather surprised he had come out of the fight with nothing more than a few scratches. He refused to lie down; instead, he held Hermione's hand as she lay on the bed next to him. She smiled before drinking a dose of Skele-Gro, then winced. Harry knew how disgusting the potion was. At least she only needed one small dose to heal a few of her ribs, instead of having to regrow an entire arm.
"You know, I think Malfoy might have had the right idea in Defense..." Harry began.
"What are you talking about?"
"A wand holster. Obviously he was too stupid to use his properly, but I got my wand caught inside my pants pocket. I needed to be faster. You saved me, Hermione."
"You were faster, though. You ducked out of the way of the spell before I realized what was going on. You just needed to have your wand in a better position."
"Which is why I'm going to owl Ollivander's to see if he sells any wand holsters as soon as we get out of here. You saved me with that Protego, Hermione."
"I saw you coming to my rescue as soon as I got knocked down, you know. My knight in shining armour." She gave a devilish grin.
"Oh, do you expect me to carry you off on a white horse, now?" Harry started joking.
"No, I want a unicorn." Hermione was giggling now.
"My love, you know that men can't ride unicorns. How about an Abraxan? I'd steal one from Beauxbatons just for you."
"Oh, my very own Bellopheron!" Hermione placed the back of her hand on her forehead in a mock swoon. The two of them couldn't stop themselves from laughing.
"They do say laughter is the best medicine, although I won't doubt dear Poppy's potions," came a grandfatherly voice from the foot of the bed. The headmaster had walked into the room while they were joking around. "Mr. Potter, I do have a few questions to ask of you, if you don't mind."
"About Moody, you mean? Ask away."
"How did you come to suspect Moody was... shall we say, compromised?"
"It was on the night of the twins' attempt at the Goblet, Headmaster. I was on lookout for the twins, when I saw Moody approaching, but it wasn't actually him." Harry answered evasively, trying not to give away the secret of the Marauder's Map.
"I believe Professor McGonagall told me a very similar story to yours, Harry. However, she did say you suspected the person in disguise was Bartemius Crouch. Why did you name him in particular?"
Harry knew there was no getting away from this one. "Err... well, I have a special map, you see. It shows the location of everyone in the castle, labelled with their names. The dot labelled Bartemius Crouch was approaching, but it was definitely Moody's body.
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