Immortal Magic (Book 1)

Chapter Sixty-Six

Allison's Point of View.

"How could it have been Moody?" I asked quietly, unable to take my eyes off the unconscious Death Eater sprawled across the floor. Dumbledore's gaze never left the man either.

"This is not Alastor Moody," Dumbledore said gravely. "You two have never actually met the real Alastor Moody." Harry frowned beside me.

"The real Moody would never have removed Harry from my sight after what happened tonight," Dumbledore continued. "The moment he took you away, I followed. And," he added slowly while finally glancing up, "I was not the only one."

The room immediately went silent. Four pairs of eyes turned toward me at once. I stared back at Dumbledore evenly before quietly stepping closer to Harry again.

Dumbledore looked away first and crouched beside the unconscious man. From Moody's robes, he pulled out the familiar flask along with a ring of keys.

"Severus," Dumbledore said calmly, "please fetch me the strongest truth potion you possess. Then go down to the kitchens and bring me the house-elf Winky."

"You may not need the potion," I spoke up suddenly. Snape paused halfway to the door and looked at me suspiciously. "And why is that, Weasley?" he asked silkily.

Ignoring his tone, I pulled the folded parchment from my pocket and handed it to Dumbledore.

"This morning the Grimoire flipped to a spell on its own," I explained. "It's a truth spell. Once cast, the target is forced to answer every question honestly."

Dumbledore read the parchment carefully before nodding approvingly. "Excellent work, Miss Weasley." Then he looked back toward Snape.

"Forget the potion. Simply bring Winky." Snape gave me one long, unreadable look before sweeping from the room. Dumbledore then turned toward Professor McGonagall.

"Minerva, would you kindly go down to Hagrid's hut? You will find a large black dog sitting in the pumpkin patch." Harry and I exchanged a glance immediately.

"Bring him to my office," Dumbledore continued. "Tell him I shall join him shortly, then return here." McGonagall nodded sharply and hurried from the room as well.

Harry shifted beside me anxiously. "Sirius is going to panic," he muttered quietly. "He already probably is," I whispered back. Dumbledore walked over toward the large magical trunk sitting in the corner of the office.

One by one, he unlocked the complicated series of locks sealing it shut. It took several minutes before he finally reached the seventh and final lock. The trunk creaked open.

"Whoa," Harry breathed beside me. Inside the trunk was what looked like a deep pit. And lying unconscious at the very bottom was the real Alastor Moody. Dumbledore carefully climbed down into the trunk to help his old friend.

"Stunned," Dumbledore called upward while examining Moody. "And controlled with the Imperius Curse." He looked upward toward us.

"Harry, if you would kindly throw down the imposter's cloak. Alastor is freezing. Madam Pomfrey will need to see him, though fortunately, he is not in immediate danger."

Harry nodded quickly and reluctantly moved away from me. My eyes followed him carefully as he crossed near the unconscious Death Eater.

Only once Harry safely returned to my side did I relax slightly. He tossed the cloak down into the trunk. Dumbledore wrapped it around the real Moody before climbing back out.

Then he uncorked the flask he'd taken earlier and tipped it upside down. A thick, familiar potion spilt onto the floor. "Polyjuice Potion," Dumbledore said quietly. "Simple, really. Moody is famously paranoid. He drinks from nothing except his flask."