Me, Harry,  Ron, and Hermione went up to the Owlery afterbreakfast on Sunday to send a letter to Percy, asking, asSirius had suggested, whether he had seen Mr. Crouch lately. We used Hedwig, because it had been so long since she'd had a job. 

When we had watched her fly out of sight through the Owlerywindow, we proceeded down to the kitchen to give Dobby hisnew socks.The house-elves gave us a very cheery welcome, bowing andcurtsying and bustling around making tea again. Dobby was ecstatic about his present. 

"Harry Potter is too good to Dobby!" he squeaked, wiping largetears out of his enormous eyes. 

"You saved my life with that gillyweed, Dobby, you really did,"said Harry. 

"No chance of more of those eclairs, is there?" said Ron, whowas looking around at the beaming and bowing house-elves.

"You've just had breakfast!" said Hermione irritably, but a greatsilver platter of eclairs was already zooming toward them, supported by four elves.

 "We should get some stuff to send up to Snuffles," I muttered.

 "Good idea," said Ron. "Give Pig something to do. You couldn'tgive us a bit of extra food, could you?" he said to the surroundingelves, and they bowed delightedly and hurried off to get some more. 

"Dobby, where's Winky?" said Hermione, who was lookingaround. 

"Winky is over there by the fire, miss," said Dobby quietly, hisears drooping slightly. 

"Oh dear," said Hermione as she spotted Winky. I looked over at the fireplace too. Winky was sitting onthe same stool as last time, but she had allowed herself to becomeso filthy that she was not immediately distinguishable from thesmoke-blackened brick behind her. Her clothes were ragged andunwashed. She was clutching a bottle of butterbeer and swayingslightly on her stool, staring into the fire. As we watched her, shegave an enormous hiccup. 

"Winky is getting through six bottles a day now," Dobby whispered to Harry and me. 

"Well, it's not strong, that stuff," Harry said.But Dobby shook his head. 

" 'Tis strong for a house-elf, sir," hesaid.Winky hiccuped again. The elves who had brought the eclairsgave her disapproving looks as they returned to work.

 "Winky is pining, Harry and Emma Potter," Dobby whispered sadly. "Winky wants to go home. Winky still thinks Mr. Crouch is hermaster, sir and madame, and nothing Dobby says will persuade her that Professor Dumbledore is her master now." 

"Hey, Winky,"I said, struck by a sudden inspiration, walking over to her, and bending down, "you don't know what Mr.Crouch might be up to, do you? Because he's stopped turning upto judge the Triwizard Tournament." 

Winky's eyes flickered. Her enormous pupils focused on me.She swayed slightly again and then said, "M — Master isstopped — hic — coming?"

 "Yeah,"I said, "we haven't seen him since the first task. TheDaily Prophet's saying he's ill." 

Winky swayed some more, staring blurrily at me."Master — hic — ill?"Her bottom lip began to tremble. 

"But we're not sure if that's true," said Hermione quickly.

 "Master is needing his — hic — Winky!" whimpered the elf."Master cannot — hic — manage — hic — all by himself. . . ."

 "Other people manage to do their own housework, you know,Winky," Hermione said severely. 

"Winky — hic — is not only — hic — doing housework forMr. Crouch!" Winky squeaked indignantly, swaying worse thanever and slopping butterbeer down her already heavily stainedblouse. "Master is — hic — trusting Winky with — hic — themost important — hic — the most secret —"

 "What?"I said.

 But Winky shook her head very hard, spilling more butterbeerdown herself. "Winky keeps — hic — her master's secrets," she said mutinously, swaying very heavily now, frowning up at ME with hereyes crossed. "You is — hic — nosing, you is." 

"Winky must not talk like that to Emma Potter!" said Dobby angrily. "Emma Potter is brave and noble and Emma Potter is notnosy! 

"She is nosing — hic — into my master's — hic — private andsecret — hic — Winky is a good house-elf — hic — Winky keepsher silence — hic — people trying to — hic — pry and poke —hic —"

 Winky's eyelids drooped and suddenly, without warning, sheslid off her stool into the hearth, snoring loudly. The empty bottleof butterbeer rolled away across the stone-flagged floor. Half adozen house-elves came hurrying forward, looking disgusted. Oneof them picked up the bottle; the others covered Winky with alarge checked tablecloth and tucked the ends in neatly, hiding herfrom view. 

"We is sorry you had to see that, sirs and madames!" squeaked anearby elf, shaking his head and looking very ashamed. "We is hoping you will not judge us all by Winky, sirs and madames!" 

"She's unhappy!" said Hermione, exasperated. "Why don't youtry and cheer her up instead of covering her up?"

 "Begging your pardon, miss," said the house-elf, bowing deeplyagain, "but house-elves has no right to be unhappy when there iswork to be done and masters to be served." 

"Oh for heaven's sake!" Hermione cried. "Listen to me, all ofyou! You've got just as much right as wizards to be unhappy! You'vegot the right to wages and holidays and proper clothes, you don'thave to do everything you're told — look at Dobby!"

"Madame, will please keep Dobby out of this," Dobby mumbled,looking scared. The cheery smiles had vanished from the faces ofthe house-elves around the kitchen. They were suddenly looking atHermione as though she were mad and dangerous. 

"We has your extra food!" squeaked an elf at Harry's elbow, andhe shoved a large ham, a dozen cakes, and some fruit into Harry'sarms. "Good-bye!" 

The house-elves crowded around Me, Harry, Ron, and Hermioneand began shunting us out of the kitchen, many little handspushing in the smalls of our backs.

 "Thank you for the socks, Harry Potter!" Dobby called miserably from the hearth, where he was standing next to the lumpytablecloth that was Winky.

 "You couldn't keep your mouth shut, could you, Hermione?"said Ron angrily as the kitchen door slammed shut behind them."They won't want us visiting them now! We could've tried to getmore stuff out of Winky about Crouch!"

 "Oh as if you care about that!" scoffed Hermione. "You only likecoming down here for the food!"

The next day I had quiet a lot of post. "Wow, Ems" said Zoe as 10-11 owls landed in front of me "whose the fan?"

I didn't have a fan. 

"'I thought's you'd be better than this'" I read "'I will be sending you a curse as soon as I find a big enough envelope.' Let them try!"

They were all like that, but I honestly couldn't care less. They probably couldn't hold a cauldron upright. I held my head high as I walked down to Charms, then Magical Creatures. 

Hagrid, who had told us last lesson that we had finishedwith unicorns, was waiting for them outside his cabin with a freshsupply of open crates at his feet. my heart sank at the sight ofthe crates — surely not another skrewt hatching? — but when hegot near enough to see inside, I found myself looking at a number of fluffy black creatures with long snouts. Their front paws were curiously flat, like spades, and they were blinking up at theclass, looking politely puzzled at all the attention.

 "These're nifflers," said Hagrid, when the class had gatheredaround. "Yeh find 'em down mines mostly. They like sparklystuff. . . . There yeh go, look." 

One of the nifflers had suddenly leapt up and attempted to bitePansy Parkinson's watch off her wrist. She shrieked and jumpedbackward. 

"Useful little treasure detectors," said Hagrid happily. "Thoughtwe'd have some fun with 'em today. See over there?" He pointed atthe large patch of freshly turned earth Harry had watched him digging from the Owlery window. "I've buried some gold coins. I'vegot a prize fer whoever picks the niffler that digs up most. Jus' takeoff all yer valuables, an' choose a niffler, an' get ready ter set 'emloose." 

I put my watch in my pocket then picked up a niffler. It put its long snout in my ear andsniffed enthusiastically. It was really quite cuddly. I giggled. 

It was easily the most fun they had ever had in Care of MagicalCreatures. The nifflers dived in and out of the patch of earth asthough it were water, each scurrying back to the student who hadreleased it and spitting gold into their hands. Ron's was particularlyefficient; it had soon filled his lap with coins. 

"Can you buy these as pets, Hagrid?" he asked excitedly as hisniffler dived back into the soil, splattering his robes. 

"Yer mum wouldn' be happy, Ron," said Hagrid, grinning."They wreck houses, nifflers. I reckon they've nearly got the lot,now," he added, pacing around the patch of earth while the nifflerscontinued to dive. "I on'y buried a hundred coins. "

Draco's niffler prefered to cuddle. "Useless" he murmered and I laughed, gladly accepting a hug from the niffler. 

"Well, let's check how yeh've done!" said Hagrid. "Count yercoins! An' there's no point tryin' ter steal any, Goyle," he added, hisbeetle-black eyes narrowed. "It's leprechaun gold. Vanishes after afew hours."Goyle emptied his pockets, looking extremely sulky. It turnedout that Ron's niffler had been most successful, so Hagrid gave himan enormous slab of Honeydukes chocolate for a prize. The bellrang across the grounds for lunch; the rest of the class set off backto the castle. 

Transfiguration, Athrimancy was all the same. My hate mail continued. I still didn't care. 

Hedwig didn't return until the end of the Easter holidays. Percy'sletter was enclosed in a package of Easter eggs that Mrs. Weasleyhad sent. Size of Dragon eggs. 

Along with a note;

Emma dear. That Skeeter woman does not know what she's talking about. She is a. . . 

Then there was use of language I really shouldn't use. 

"Don't you want to see what Percy's written?" Harry asked me.Percy's letter was short and irritated. 

As I am constantly telling the Daily Prophet, Mr. Crouch istaking a well-deserved break. He is sending in regular owlswith instructions. No, I haven't actually seen him, but I thinkI can be trusted to know my own superior's handwriting. Ihave quite enough to do at the moment without trying toquash these ridiculous rumors. Please don't bother me againunless it's something important. Happy Easter.

The start of the summer term would normally have meant thatHarry was training hard for the last Quidditch match of the season.This year, however, it was the third and final task in the TriwizardTournament for which he needed to prepare, but he still didn'tknow what he would have to do. 

Half past eight that night, Harry left Ron and Hermione inGryffindor Tower and went downstairs meeting me to give me the invisibility cloak. As he crossed the entrancehall, Cedric came up from the Hufflepuff common room. 

"What d'you reckon it's going to be?" he asked Harry as theywent together down the stone steps, out into the cloudy night."Fleur keeps going on about underground tunnels; she reckonswe've got to find treasure."

 "That wouldn't be too bad," said Harry. They walked down the dark lawn to the Quidditch stadium, me following,  turned through a gap in the stands, and walked out onto the field. 

"What've they done to it?" Cedric said indignantly, stoppingdead.The Quidditch field was no longer smooth and flat. It looked asthough somebody had been building long, low walls all over it thattwisted and crisscrossed in every direction."They're hedges!" said Harry, bending to examine the nearestone. 

"Hello there!" called a cheery voice.Ludo Bagman was standing in the middle of the field withKrum and Fleur. Harry and Cedric made their way toward them,climbing over the hedges. Fleur beamed at Harry as he camenearer. Her attitude toward him had changed completely since hehad saved her sister from the lake.

 "Well, what d'you think?" said Bagman happily as Harry andCedric climbed over the last hedge. "Growing nicely, aren't they? Give them a month and Hagrid'll have them twenty feet high.Don't worry," he added, grinning, spotting the less-than-happyexpressions on Harry's and Cedric's faces, "you'll have your Quidditch field back to normal once the task is over! Now, I imagine youcan guess what we're making here?" 

No one spoke for a moment. Then —

 "Maze," grunted Krum.

 "That's right!" said Bagman. "A maze. The third task's really verystraightforward. The Triwizard Cup will be placed in the center ofthe maze. The first champion to touch it will receive full marks." 

"We seemply 'ave to get through the maze?" said Fleur.

 "There will be obstacles," said Bagman happily, bouncing on theballs of his feet. "Hagrid is providing a number of creatures . . .then there will be spells that must be broken . . . all that sort ofthing, you know. Now, the champions who are leading on pointswill get a head start into the maze." Bagman grinned at Harry andCedric. "Then Mr. Krum will enter . . . then Miss Delacour. Butyou'll all be in with a fighting chance, depending how well you getpast the obstacles. Should be fun, eh?"

 "Very well . . . if you haven't got any questions, we'll go back upto the castle, shall we, it's a bit chilly. . . ." 

Bagman hurried alongside Harry as they began to wend theirway out of the growing maze. Harry had the feeling that Bagmanwas going to start offering to help him again, but just then, Krumtapped Harry on the shoulder. I stopped too. 

"Could I haff a vord?"

 "Yeah, all right," said Harry, slightly surprised. I grasped my wand, I had to follow the naive idiot. 

"Vill you valk vith me?"

 "Okay," said Harry curiously.Bagman looked slightly perturbed."I'll wait for you, Harry, shall I?" 

"No, it's okay, Mr. Bagman," said Harry, suppressing a smile, "Ithink I can find the castle on my own, thanks." 

Harry and Krum left the stadium together, well and me, but Krum didn't know. but Krum did not seta course for the Durmstrang ship. Instead, he walked toward theforest. 

"What're we going this way for?" said Harry as they passedHagrid's cabin and the illuminated Beauxbatons carriage.

 "Don't vant to be overheard," said Krum shortly. 

When at last they had reached a quiet stretch of ground a shortway from the Beauxbatons horses' paddock, Krum stopped in theshade of the trees and turned to face Harry. 

"I vant to know," he said, glowering, "vot there is between youand Hermy-own-ninny." I, who from Krum's secretive manner had expected something much more serious than this, stared up at Krum in amazement. 

What boys will do--

"Nothing," he said. But Krum glowered at him, and Harry elaborated. "We'refriends." 

"Hermy-own-ninny talks about you very often," said Krum,looking suspiciously at Harry. 

"Yeah," said Harry, "because we're friends." 

You haff never . . . you haff not . . ."

 "No," said Harry very firmly. 

Krum looked slightly happier. He stared at Harry for a few seconds, then said, "You fly very vell. I vos votching at the first task."

 "Thanks," said Harry, grinning broadly and suddenly feelingmuch taller himself. "I saw you at the Quidditch World Cup. TheWronski Feint, you really —"

 But something moved behind Krum in the trees, and I,who had some experience of the sort of thing that lurked in the forest, instinctively nudged Harry who grabbed Krum's arm and pulled him around. 

"Vot is it?" 

Harry shook his head, staring at the place where I'd seen movement. He slipped his hand inside his robes, reaching for his wand, I gripped mine. 

Suddenly a man staggered out from behind a tall oak. For a moment, I didn't recognize him . . . then I realized it was Mr.Crouch.He looked as though he had been traveling for days. The kneesof his robes were ripped and bloody, his face scratched; he wasunshaven and gray with exhaustion. His neat hair and mustachewere both in need of a wash and a trim. His strange appearance,however, was nothing to the way he was behaving. Muttering andgesticulating, Mr. Crouch appeared to be talking to someone thathe alone could see. He reminded me vividly of an old tramp hehad seen once when out shopping with the Dursleys. That man toohad been conversing wildly with thin air; Aunt Petunia had seized Dudley's hand and pulled him across the road to avoid him; UncleVernon had then treated the family to a long rant about what hewould like to do with beggars and vagrants. 

"Vosn't he a judge?" said Krum, staring at Mr. Crouch. "Isn't hevith your Ministry?" 

Harry nodded, hesitated for a moment, then walked slowly toward Mr. Crouch, who did not look at him, but continued to talkto a nearby tree. 

". . . and when you've done that, Weatherby, send an owl toDumbledore confirming the number of Durmstrang students whowill be attending the tournament, Karkaroff has just sent wordthere will be twelve. . . ."

 "Mr. Crouch?" said Harry cautiously.

 ". . . and then send another owl to Madame Maxime, becauseshe might want to up the number of students she's bringing, nowKarkaroff's made it a round dozen . . . do that, Weatherby, willyou? Will you? Will . . ." 

Mr. Crouch's eyes were bulging. He stood staring at the tree,muttering soundlessly at it. Then he staggered sideways and fell tohis knees.

 "Mr. Crouch?" Harry said loudly. "Are you all right?"Crouch's eyes were rolling in his head.

 Harry looked around atKrum, who had followed us into the trees, and was looking downat Crouch in alarm."Vot is wrong with him?" 

"No idea," Harry muttered. "Listen, you'd better go and getsomeone —" 

"Dumbledore!" gasped Mr. Crouch. He reached out and seizeda handful of Harry's robes, dragging him closer, though his eyes were staring over Harry's head. "I need . . . see . . . Dumbledore. . . .""Okay," said Harry, "if you get up, Mr. Crouch, we can go up tothe —""I've done . . . stupid . . . thing . . ." Mr. Crouch breathed. Helooked utterly mad. His eyes were rolling and bulging, and a trickleof spittle was sliding down his chin. Every word he spoke seemedto cost him a terrible effort. "Must . . . tell . . . Dumbledore . . ." 

"Get up, Mr. Crouch," said Harry loudly and clearly. "Get up,I'll take you to Dumbledore!" 

Mr. Crouch's eyes rolled forward onto Harry."Who . . . you?" he whispered.

 "I'm a student at the school," said Harry, looking around atKrum for some help, but Krum was hanging back, looking extremely nervous."You're not . . . his?" whispered Crouch, his mouth sagging. 

"No," said Harry, without the faintest idea what Crouch wastalking about. 

"Dumbledore's?" 

"That's right," said Harry.Crouch was pulling him closer; Harry tried to loosen Crouch'sgrip on his robes, but it was too powerful."Warn . . . Dumbledore . . ." 

"I'll get Dumbledore if you let go of me," said Harry. "Just letgo, Mr. Crouch, and I'll get him. . . ." 

"Thank you, Weatherby, and when you have done that, I wouldlike a cup of tea. My wife and son will be arriving shortly, we are attending a concert tonight with Mr. and Mrs. Fudge."Crouch was now talking fluently to a tree again, and seemed completely unaware that Harry was there.

"Yes, my son has recently gained twelve O.W.L.s, most satisfactory, yes, thank you, yes, very proud indeed. Now, if you couldbring me that memo from the Andorran Minister of Magic, I thinkI will have time to draft a response. . . ."

 "You stay here with him!" Harry said to Krum. "I'll get Dumbledore, I'll be quicker, I know where his office is —" 

"He is mad," said Krum doubtfully, staring down at Crouch,who was still gabbling to the tree, apparently convinced it wasPercy. 

"Just stay with him," said Harry, starting to get up, but hismovement seemed to trigger another abrupt change in Mr.Crouch, who seized him hard around the knees and pulled Harryback to the ground."Don't . . . leave . . . me!" he whispered, his eyes bulging again."I . . . escaped . . . must warn . . . must tell . . . see Dumbledore . . .my fault . . . all my fault . . . Bertha . . . dead . . . all my fault . . .my son . . . my fault . . . tell Dumbledore . . . Harry Potter . . . theDark Lord . . . stronger . . . Emma Potter . . ."

I froze.