The Cupboard Series 4: The Fourth School

Chapter 24

An exhausted Amelia Bones stepped out of the FLOO. Her legs wobbled as she determinedly strode forward. Just as she reached the door, a red-haired teen rushed through it and slammed into her.

"Auntie! You're here! You're alright!" Susan near sobbed into her shoulder.

"Of course I'm alright. And it's very good to see you, too," Amelia smiled, patting her niece on the back. "But if you don't mind, I think I'd like to find somewhere to sit down."

"Oh, of course," Susan said, stepping back. "Everyone's still in the dining room."

Wearily, Amelia followed her niece through the manor. At the entrance to the room, she swayed slightly. She'd been up for well over twenty-four hours now and it was starting to tell on her.

"Amelia!" Minerva exclaimed seeing her. "Come sit down before you fall down."

With a small smile, she complied, taking the seat immediately to her old friend's left and thanking Dobby with a nod as he handed her a cup of tea.

"What's been going on?" Sirius demanded.

"May I?" she asked, indicating the paper that lay on the table.

Taking it, she skimmed through the various articles, searching for what was said, what was unsaid and what had been blatantly made up. Around her, the entire population of Diricawl Academy – students and teachers alike – waited as patiently as they could, but she could tell that it was a close won thing.

Finally, she closed the paper and settled back in her chair, the cup of tea cradled in her hands.

"For the most part, it's all true," she stated. "There's one or two extra things that we've been able to piece together, but nothing fabricated in any of the articles."

"Perhaps it would be best if you told us everything that you can," Minerva suggested.

Lifting one eyebrow, she indicated the children in the room.

"No, I think that they deserve to know," Minerva replied. "After all, with slightly different circumstances, they could have been there to witness it all."

"The day started off well," Amelia related. "Diggory, Delacour and Krum all had their turns and there was nothing amiss. That was when 'Harry Potter' turned up, claiming that there'd been a new examination of the Goblet and that he was the one needed to compete or else he'd lose his magic."

"The Prophet said that that guy looked like me," Harry broke in. "How'd he manage that?"

"Polyjuice," Amelia stated succinctly.

"That's a controlled substance," Sirius pointed out. "Where in the world did he get it and for that matter, how's a dead Death Eater get a bit of Harry to change into?"

"Controlled or not, it's not that difficult to make. Merlin, you can buy the stuff by the gallon on the black market in Knockturn," Amelia stated. "As for how he managed to masquerade as Harry, well that probably wasn't all that difficult. It seems that Barty Jr has been masquerading as old Mad Eye Moody since the start of the school year. He'd been keeping Moody locked in his trunk so that he'd have easy access to Moody's hair. It would have been child's play to get a piece of Harry's hair while you were all at Hogwarts."

"He captured Alastor?" Minerva exclaimed. "I wouldn't have thought such a feat were possible."

"You and me both," Amelia agreed. "Anyway, Barty, disguised as Harry, managed to convince the people in charge of his story before I could get there and he was out in the arena without me getting a chance to talk to him.