Out of The Shadows (Golden Trio Era) {1}

Discovering Barty Crouch Jnr

The foursome walked with Hagrid through the Forest, Harry walked alone a few feet away from the others. "Now, I remember... I remember when I first met you all. Biggest bunch of misfits I ever set eyes on. Suppose you remind me of meself a little. And here we all are, four years later." Hagrid begins reminiscing, "We're still a bunch of misfits." Ron chuckles, "Well, maybe, but we've all got each other. And Harry, of course." Hagrid points out, "Soon to be the youngest Triwizard champion there's ever been! Hooray!" Hagrid yells causing everyone to laugh. Mikayla stopped in her tracks, her breath shaking madly as she watches Harry, knowing what he's about to discover. She tries to warn him but all the words in every language she knows dissolves, as babbles left her mouth Mikayla realised she was hit by a Babbling curse. Meaning Crouch's killer was nearby. The sound of Ron, Hermione and Hagrid singing the school song fades in her ears as ringing over powers them. "Mikayla? What is it?" Hermione questions, Mikayla raised her right arm wearyingly, pointing at Harry, just before Harry yells them to come over. Hagrid picked up the freezing girl, it was almost as if she had dived into a frozen lake, Hagrid set her down at the tree facing the one Harry stood at. Hagrid goes to pick up Barty, Mikayla stops him, "We need to m-mmark the area. So they can look for evidence." Mikayla told him, "Accio, non removable chalk." After five minutes of waiting the chalk comes into view. Mikayla draws an outline around Barty before allowing Hagrid to pick him up, she pointed her wand to the ground, "Incarcerous" a rope appears, Mikayla ties it to the tree, making it easier to find the place of death to those investigating the incident.

Mikayla and Harry were summoned to Professor Dumbledore's office. Mikayla's hands were still shaking, "Are you ok?" Harry looked at his friend worried, "I don't know. I might be an after effect of me using my visions to monitor you whilst I was underwater." Harrys eyes widened, "you did what?" He questioned, Mikayla took a deep breath, "I wanted to make sure you were safe and figured out a plan. So when McGonagall put us under, I focused all my thoughts on you, I saw everything from Dobby waking you up to Cedric pulling me out of the water." Mikayla explained, Harry looked a little conflicted, Mikayla was worried about him that she risked her abilities to make sure he was ok. "You'll have to tell Sirius about this. As well as Dumbledore depending on how this talk goes. Mikayla nods, Harry takes a hold of Mikayla's hand just outside the Headmasters office, giving her shaky hands some stability and giving Mikayla some comfort. "Sherbet Lemon." The pair spoke in sync, opening up the moving spiral staircase, they both step onto the steps and walk towards the door of Dumbledore's office. "A man has died here, Fudge. And he won't be the last. You must take action." Dumbledore's orderly voice fills the pairs ears. Fudge says he won't as the pair share a worried glance. "In times like these, the wizard world looks to it's leaders for strength, Dumbledo-" "Then for once show them some." Dumbledore spoke angrily. Moody informs the bickering men that their conversation was no longer, before causing the door to swing open just as Harry goes to knock.

The three adults trooped out in silence past Mikayla and Harry closing the door. After a minute or so, Mikayla heard the clunks of Moody's wooden leg growing fainter in the corridor below. "Hello, Fawkes," Harry said suddenly. Mikayla looked around to see that Fawkes, Dumbledore's phoenix that was standing on his golden perch beside the door. The size of a swan, with magnificent scarlet-and-gold plumage, he swished his long tail and blinked at the pair. Mikayla took a seat in a chair in front of Dumbledore's desk, where she has retired to many times before, and Harry followed her lead, sitting in the seat next to her. For several minutes they were quiet, watching the old headmaster and headmistresses of Hogwarts snoozing in their frames. Mikayla turned and looked up at the walls behind the desk. The patched and ragged Sorting Hat was standing on a shelf. A glass case next to it held a magnificent silver sword with large rubies set into the hilt. It was the sword of Gryffindor, which Harry had slain the basilisk with in second year, the sword had once belonged to Godric Gryffindor, founder of their House. She was admiring its beauty when she noticed a patch of silvery light, dancing and shimmering on the glass case. Mikayla looked for the source of the light and saw a sliver of silver-white shining brightly from within a black cabinet behind them, quickly realising Harry's gase also took refuge on the cabinet. The cabinet door had not been closed properly. "What is it?" Harry questioned, "I don't know." Mikayla responded thoughtfully. No sooner had she said something, Harry was out of his seat, walking across the office, and pulling open the cabinet door. "Harry!" Mikayla hissed in disapproval yet curiousity, making her way over to him. "Look, Kayla." Harry said, pointing at something.

A shallow stone basin lay there, with odd carvings around the edge: runes and symbols that Mikayla didn't recognize. The silvery light was coming from the basin's contents, which was a liquid unlike anything Mikayla had seen before. Neither of the pair could not tell whether the substance was liquid or gas. It was bright, whitish silver, and it was moving ceaselessly; the surface of it became ruffled like water beneath wind, and then, like clouds, separated and swirled smoothly. It looked like light made liquid—or like wind made solid. Harry suddenly took his wand from his robes, cast his blonde friend a nervous look, before looking back at the contents of the basin, and prodded them with the tip of his wand. The surface of the silvery stuff inside the basin began to swirl very fast. Shocked, both of them bent closer. The silvery substance had become transparent; it looked like glass.

The pair both looked down into it, expecting to see the stone bottom of the basin, but instead, they saw an enormous room below the surface of the mysterious substance, a room into which they seemed to be looking through a circular window in the ceiling. The room was dimly lit; Mikayla thought it might even be underground, because there were no windows, merely torches in brackets such as the ones that illuminated the walls of Hogwarts. Lowering her face so that her nose was a mere inch away from the glassy substance, Mikayla saw that rows and rows of witches and wizards were seated around every wall on what seemed to be benches rising in levels. An empty chair stood in the very center of the room. There was something about the chair that gave me an ominous feeling. Chains encircled the arms of it, as though its occupants were usually tied to it.