Hidden In These Walls

CHAPTER TWO

I had a running theory that everything wasn't what it seemed, even during Hogwarts something, especially very recently, seemed off. It all started four years ago when Professor Quirrel disappeared without a trace. After that the Chamber of Secrets, then after that it was Sirius Black escaping from Azkaban and finding out he was completely innocent and that Peter Pettigrew— who faked his death– was actually doing it for He-who-must-not-be-named.

From what little I was able to gather it all centered around the same...Voldemort... But he was supposed to be gone, so why in the world would everything be connected to him still? That's why I was here waiting anxiously for Moody to open the envelope. It's why I bounced on the balls of my feet impatiently. I needed to know what our informant found within the halls and walls of the Ministry of Magic. What were they hiding?

They must be hiding something, or maybe this is connected to them in a sense. I had been receiving correspondence from Sirius Black for the last two months on and off, it turned out when Professsor Lupin gave me that envelope it was Sirius giving me a way to contact him. He would not let me know where he was for fear of the Ministry finding him. According to him his name still wasn't cleared. It made no sense to me that he was still seen as guilty even with the evidence that was presented. To my knowledge, Professor Dumbledore came forward and did just that.

So here I stood at the edge of a precipice, clutching my arms and trying to keep my heart calm while I waited patiently for Moody to tell me what he found, "So... Sir..." I murmured. He quirked a brow gazed up at me and grunted, still reading through the papers in the envelope.

"What does it say..." I clutched my arm tighter. He hummed and muttered under his breath reading quickly down the paper. He flipped the page and completely froze, his eyes went wide and I could hear his eye zzzzip, the pupil becoming smaller. Moody stared at the paper, and even his breathing hitched. I gulped and took a step forward, "Sir...?"

He finally blinked and turned his gaze to me, "I wasn't sure, but... this confirms it..." He muttered with his eyes still wide, for the first time since working under him I saw fear in his eyes. I shuddered a breath, "Confirms what Moody?"

There was a part of me that didn't want to know, a part that wanted him to not tell me. There was another part of me however that felt like whatever information he held, I needed to know in order to connect all of the pieces.

"He's back... The Dark Lord..."

I felt a cold rush over me, my veins stinging with the chill, "What... how...?"

Moody quickly made his way from his desk to different compartments around the small house, searching his cupboards for something. He limped on his metal foot using his staff to quicken his pace, "There was another convict that escaped prison dammit..." He grumbled, "His name is Barty Crouch–"

"The Head of Magical Law Enforcement?" I scrunched my face.

"No, Jr. His son went to prison," He walked right past me grabbing another bit of stuff.

"No, shit... What did he go in for?"

"What do you think?" He closed the cupboard and turned back to me. His unwavering gaze was always perturbing, but I couldn't look away. Not with how scared he looked, "He worked with the Dark Lord, still works for him. Once a death eater, always one. This is grim, boy."

He made his way over with a bag and set it on the desk with a soft thud, the clinking of different materials he stuffed in there jangled around, "I need you to be involved with this, but not directly. This will be a big jump for you Emerson, can you handle it?"

A chance to prove myself to my mentor? Absolutely! I nodded vigorously, to which he gave one single nod back to me, "Right, yer going to stay with the Weasleys for a bit. With the World Cup coming up, they're gonna need all the help they can get."

I frowned, "But... I can't just barge in! What does Mr. Weasley think about that? What about you?" He turned his back and hobbled over to his desk, "He's already agreed, as for me I'll be staying here and laying low for a bit and continue to search for evidence on the matter."

He spun back around with a cold serious look, "Make sure you stick with Arthur, I can't have you getting into trouble, right?"

Right... Simple....