Crookshanks | 𝘚𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘶𝘴 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬

Chapter 66

Jenna still felt as though all this was a bad dream as the days proceeded by. She couldn't believe that Harry was supposed to be competing in such a dangerous tournament, in which people had actually died in the past.

The next few days weren't easy for Harry, and that was clear to Jenna. Nobody at school believed the boy when he told them that he hadn't put his name in the Goblet of Fire, and now he was the main target of laughter to Slytherins. Even the Hufflepuffs had turned against him.

But to top it all off, Ron had gotten into a fight with Harry and refused to talk to him, even though this was a time for Harry when he needed a friend the most.

Jenna wanted to talk to Harry and to try and comfort him. She wanted to be there for the boy and tell him that she believed him, but there wasn't much she could do.

     Although soon, as the first task neared, Jenna overheard a conversation between Harry and Hermione, about how Sirius had sent Harry a letter, asking him to meet up in the Gryffindor common room at midnight.

      So as the night arrived and the common room emptied, Crookshanks remained there with Harry, staring into the fireplace until she jumped up when Sirius's head appeared through the fire.

     Harry's face broke into the first smile he had worn for days, and so he scrambled out of his chair, crouched down by the hearth, and said, "Sirius — how're you doing?"

     "Never mind me, how are you?" said Sirius, his eyes falling for a short moment on Jenna before looking back at Harry again.

      "I'm —" For a second, Harry tried to say "fine" — but he couldn't do it. Before he could stop himself, he started explaining everything that had happened in the past few weeks and told him about all that he'd been through.

      "...and now Hagrid's just shown me what's coming in the first task, and it's dragons, Sirius, and I'm a goner," he finished desperately.

      Jenna's heart was beating loudly in her chest. From what Charlie had said over summer, saying that his colleagues in Romania were approached by the Ministry for the tournament, she suspected that it had something to do with dragons. But to hear it all like this, it made her feel sick with worry.

      Sirius looked at him, eyes full of concern. He had let Harry talk himself into silence without interruption, but now he said, "Dragons we can deal with, Harry, but we'll get to that in a minute — I haven't got long here... I've broken into a wizarding house to use the fire, but they could be back at any time. There are things I need to warn you about."

       "What?" said Harry, feeling his spirits slip a further few notches.

      "Karkaroff," said Sirius. "Harry, he was a Death Eater. You know what Death Eaters are, don't you?"

     "Yes — he — what?"

      So this was what Sirius had been worried about too, Jenna thought. Having a Death Eater in the walls of Hogwarts couldn't be good.

      "He was caught, he was in Azkaban with me, but he got released. I'd bet everything that's why Dumbledore wanted an Auror at Hogwarts this year — to keep an eye on him. Moody caught Karkaroff. Put him into Azkaban in the first place."

     "Okay," said Harry slowly. "But... are you saying Karkaroff put my name in the goblet? Because if he did, he's a really good actor. He seemed furious about it. He wanted to stop me from competing."

      "We know he's a good actor," said Sirius, "because he convinced the Ministry of Magic to set him free, didn't he? Now, I've been keeping an eye on the Daily Prophet, Harry —"

      "— you and the rest of the world," said Harry bitterly.

       "— and reading between the lines of that Skeeter woman's article last month, Moody was attacked the night before he started at Hogwarts. Yes, I know she says it was another false alarm," Sirius said hastily, seeing Harry about to speak, "but I don't think so, somehow. I think someone tried to stop him from getting to Hogwarts."

      "So... what are you saying?" said Harry slowly. "Karkaroff's trying to kill me? But — why?"

     Sirius hesitated.

      "I've been hearing some very strange things," he said slowly. "The Death Eaters seem to be a bit more active than usual lately. They showed themselves at the Quidditch World Cup, didn't they? Someone set off the Dark Mark... and then — did you hear about that Ministry of Magic witch who's gone missing?"

     "Bertha Jorkins?" said Harry.

     "Exactly... she disappeared in Albania, and that's definitely where Voldemort was rumored to be last... and she would have known the Triwizard Tournament was coming up, wouldn't she?"

     "Yeah, but... it's not very likely she'd have walked straight into Voldemort, is it?" said Harry.

     "Listen, I knew Bertha Jorkins," said Sirius grimly. "She was at Hogwarts when I was, a few years above your dad and me. And she was an idiot. Very nosy, but no brains, none at all. It's not a good combination, Harry. I'd say she'd be very easy to lure into a trap."

      Oh, I remember that bitch all right, Jenna thought to herself bitterly, she's the one who found Gwenog Jones and Sirius snogging and spread the rumor.

     "So... so Voldemort could have found out about the tournament?" said Harry. "Is that what you mean? You think Karkaroff might be here on his orders?"

      "I don't know," said Sirius slowly, "But whoever put your name in that goblet did it for a reason, and I can't help thinking the tournament would be a very good way to attack you and make it look like an accident."

     "Looks like a really good plan from where I'm standing," said Harry grinning bleakly. "They'll just have to stand back and let the dragons do their stuff."

     "Right — these dragons," said Sirius, speaking very quickly now. "There's a way, Harry. There is a way, and a simple spell's all you need. Just —"

       But Crookshanks's ear went sharp as she heard movements coming up from upstairs. Harry held up a hand to silence Sirius, his heart suddenly pounding as though it would burst. He could hear footsteps coming down the spiral staircase behind him.

     "Go!" he hissed at Sirius. "Go! There's someone coming!"

     Jenna's heart sank as Sirius's face disappeared from the flames. She was looking forward to keep on talking to him after Harry was gone, because she missed him too much. But all her hopes were gone when Ron stepped into the common room.