gold rush // f.w.

chapter eighteen

I had a hold of the map. Fred was beside me and George and Lee were following closely behind. We didn't want "Moody" to see us with the map, or anyone for that matter. If we got it confiscated, Harry would be so angry.

We were approaching his office so I stopped and looked back at George and Lee.

"Okay, you guys go in and ask Moody something and we'll watch for your names and whoever it is in the room with you," I explain and they both nod.

Lee and George begin walking and Fred and I study the map. As they enter the office, we watch their names walk up to someone.

"Barty Crouch?" Fred asks in a whisper. I feel my eyes widen as I see another name floating in the room, "Hold up! Fred, look! It also says Alastor Moody!"

I point to his name and we both look at each other. We then watch as George and Lee's names get closer to us and we hear their voices say their goodbyes to "Moody".

We watch as the name that follows them reads:
Bartemius Crouch.

"That is so strange," I mumble and close up the map quickly as George and Lee burst out of the office.

I slip the map into my bag and remain silent until the door to the office shuts.

"So? Who's the lucky winner?" Lee asks and I shush him as we turn to walk away. It isn't until we reach the courtyard that I begin to talk about what we saw.

"Okay, okay! We have so much to unpack here!" I exclaim and Fred rubs his hands together excitedly.

"Who were we talking to?" George asks.

I take a deep breath, "The map said Barty Crouch! But the map also showed that Moody was in the room too."

"Barty Crouch? That's impossible!" Lee exclaimed, "He was murdered earlier this year."

I snap my fingers, "Exactly!"

"If Barty Crouch is dead, then who the hell was that guy?" George scratches his head and Fred shrugs, "I don't know! The map shows the user the names that are relevant to them and their use of the map, so I don't see why the map would tell us Barty Crouch was in the office if he really wasn't."

I nod in agreement with Fred, "Yeah and if Barty Crouch is drinking Polyjuice Potion to be Moody, well he's hiding him very close by! It said Moody was in there too!"

George rubs his face, "Well, there was this weird looking trunk in his office that was locked up. Maybe he's hiding Moody in there."

Lee laughs and shakes his head, "There's no way Moody would fit in there!"

We all stop and look at each other, searching for any ideas or answers to the questions circling our heads. We all got nothing.

I sigh, "Well, it looks like there's still a lot more we need to figure out. Maybe Hermione, Ron and Harry know something that we don't."

The boys nod and we take off towards the Common Room.
————————————————————————————————————————————————

After we return the map to Harry and fill him, Hermione and Ron in on what we saw, none of them say anything for a few moments.

Then, Harry starts to speak, "Barty Crouch is definitely dead. There's no doubt in my mind about that."

Harry's face had grown cold. He was so stone faced that it was hard to tell what emotion he was feeling: angry or sad. Probably both.

"I saw his body. I saw him dead. There is no way that the map is telling you the truth. Barty Crouch is dead." Harry didn't look at any of us as the words escaped his mouth.