Prankster's Champion - A Harry Potter Fanfiction

Chapter Eighteen

Days passed before anything happened about the info Magnus had told Snape. He, Harry, Hermione, and Ron went on as if they hadn't found out anything, although Magnus was half sure that they didn't believe him.

Snape called him out of lunch at one point, and although lots of people looked confused or made snide jokes that he had gotten in big trouble, Magnus knew it likely had to do with seeing Dumbledore. It was, and he was led down the halls and to a large gargoyle that led into the headmaster's office.

Magnus was told to sit down in a large, rather comfy, chair in front of Dumbledore's desk and wait. Snape vanished up a small flight of stairs and Magnus heard a door shut a moment later. He looked around the office, tapping his fingers together while his leg bounced up and down. The room was filled to the brim with things that Magnus would have found hours interested in exploring. From hundreds of books lining the multitude of shelves, to many little knickknacks here and there.

His favorite part, though, was the phoenix that sat in a cage towards the back of the room. He stared, mouth slightly agape, and it stared back. Magnus hadn't realized Dumbledore had a phoenix, let alone that he himself would ever see one in person. They were rare, and beautiful, birds.

"His name is Faux." Magnus jumped as he heard Dumbledore's voice, looking up to see the tall, grey bearded man making his way down the stairs towards his seat. "Quite beautiful, isn't he?"

Dumbledore took a seat on the opposite side of the desk from Magnus, leaning back in his chair a bit, while Snape came to stand beside one end of the desk. "Professor Snape has told me what you told him, but I'd like you to tell me everything yourself. Start from the beginning." Magnus pursed his lips at Dumbledore, who stared over his half moon glasses at the Ravenclaw wizard.

And so he spoke, he told Dumbledore everything about his suspicions about Mad-Eye Moody from the beginning. The deep gut feeling that something was wrong, how Moody had attempted to Imperio him when they'd gotten into an argument, how he had overheard Moody talking to himself that night. He didn't, though, mention his theory about Crouch and his son.

Dumbledore looked deep in thought, and Snape was silent, looking his usual sneering self. Magnus had begun picking at his scarf again, looking down after he'd finished talking and nervously fidgeting. "You have a keen mind, Magnus." He looked back up and Dumbledore was smiling softly at him, the corner of his eyes crinkling up just slightly. "But I can see something else is bothering you... Is there anything else to the story?"

Magnus's gaze fell once more and he bit his lip, not wanting to accidently let slip that Sirius was here. He wasn't sure if even Dumbledore knew about Sirius being near. "Well... I had one theory. But it sounds insane."

"Any theory is better than none, best to keep an eye out than ignore things."

Furrowing his brow as he stared at his hands, Magnus took a deep breath. "I heard about what happened with the Minister and his son years ago. How he was sent to Azkaban... I also heard... that the son supposedly died later on." He could feel the impatience radiating from Snape, and had it not been for the potions professor being there, Magnus may have very well spilled everything quickly. "Crouch got a deathbed visit, with his wife and everything. But... what if it wasn't his wife that he left with?"

Finally Magnus properly turned his gaze back up to Dumbledore, chewing on the inside of his cheek. "What if... what if he left his wife's body in place of his son's and took his son home? Apparently his wife 'withered away' soon after the visit, I can't imagine many people, if anyone, would have seen her if that's how her death is described." He paused, watching as the professor and headmaster thought, before taking another deep breath and continuing.