The Shadows Moving Beneath the Tournament
After the near failure of the third task, Sirius had been far busier than usual, especially sending out a full investigation into the Dark Lake to uncover why, and where from, those strange creatures had appeared, the same ones that had nearly put the champions' lives at risk.
Among those available, Hagrid was the best choice to investigate. But on top of that, Newt seemed particularly drawn to those creatures; according to him, he had never seen anything like them. And for some reason, Nicolas Flamel had also taken interest, which ended up forming a rather diverse and strange team, but at the same time a very compelling one, to investigate the lake.
To be honest, that seemed to ease Sirius quite a bit. Of course, he hired plenty more people to support them, since leaving just the three of them alone would be far too complicated.
Suddenly, the headmaster's office door burst open with a loud crash, as if someone had kicked it in.
Sirius simply lifted his gaze from the papers in front of him for a moment, and when he saw who it was, he didn't seem bothered in the slightest by the way he entered. After all, that was exactly how he walked into any place.
"Mad-Eye. Thought you'd gone missing in action. Good to see that's not the case," Sirius said with an amused tone, calmly welcoming the old Auror, who walked in with a cane, one of his legs making a dull sound with each limping step.
"Cut the nonsense. I brought you the information you asked for," Moody said in a tone that made it clear he wanted to get straight to the point.
Sirius's expression quickly turned serious, pushing aside the papers on his desk as he focused on the man.
Moody placed a folder full of documents in front of him, and Sirius immediately began reading carefully, occasionally glancing up at him.
"Is this accurate?" Sirius asked, frowning.
"I tracked them for an entire month. Of course it is. At least half of those people are tied to something shady. Though there's one of them who's… perceptive. Looks like he noticed me… and believe me, not someone I wanted to stick around and fight… that should tell you enough," Moody said flatly. "I couldn't get any closer… but I can assure you, he's no ordinary person." he added, tapping his magical eye, something Sirius understood immediately. "I don't scare easily… but that one made even me think twice."
Sirius began flipping through some of the images in the file, observing different people gathered together. Among them, he seemed to recognize someone.
He set the photo down on the desk. The man in it closely resembled a professor who should have died last year. Even with a few physical changes, his face was almost identical.
"…that shouldn't be possible…" he murmured, staring at the image a few seconds longer than normal. "…but it wouldn't be the first time someone we thought was dead… showed up again. Even so…" he added while moving on to the next images, letting out a quiet sigh, somewhere between annoyed and tired.
In them, the man could be seen meeting with a young blonde woman who, if he remembered correctly, was one of last year's exchange students. The daughter of the former French Minister of Magic. Along with the other French figures Sirius had under surveillance, since it seemed far too suspicious that they were still lingering around, taking advantage of the tournament.
"It's obvious those people didn't come here just to watch the tournament like everyone else. Edward is already busy dealing with French companies trying to force their way into our territory, burning as much money as they make… We thought they'd only attack from that side… Looks like that was just the distraction."
Sirius narrowed his eyes.
"So, they're finally starting to move." he said in a darker tone, as if rapidly piecing things together.
"Thanks for the help, Moody. As always, flawless work." he added with a sigh.
"Hmph. This is beginner's work. The only reason I took it is because of what you promised me," Moody replied calmly, leaning on his cane with both hands.
"And I'll keep my promise. But in the meantime, I need you to do me another favor. This one should be quicker," Sirius said, looking at him steadily.
Moody simply nodded for him to continue.
"I need you to look into Crouch. I'm certain that 'illness' the Ministry keeps talking about is a lie. Something smells very wrong. Should be simple enough; if he's sick, he'll either be at home or at most in St. Mungo's," Sirius said.
"Crouch… still holding a grudge, huh. Fine. Better than spending my retirement sitting in an empty house waiting for old enemies to try and kill me," Moody added, accepting without much hesitation. Without another word, he turned and left, not even bothering to say goodbye.
Something Sirius was already used to. He watched him for a moment until he disappeared through the door, then remained thoughtful, looking at the file and the photographs in front of him.
He tapped the desk lightly with his finger.
"Not this year. They've dealt with enough already… this time, they finally get to breathe," Sirius said firmly, as if preparing himself for whatever might come, refusing to let it affect Harry and the others.
Suddenly, green flames burst out from the office fireplace, making Sirius look up at once.
A dark-haired woman with a gentle gaze appeared within the flames. It was Andromeda Tonks, his cousin, mother of Nymphadora Tonks.
"Sirius. Karcher has woken up," she said immediately, without wasting a second.
At that, Sirius's eyes widened and he stood up almost instantly, without hesitation.
"Good… finally time to get answers." he said as he moved toward the fireplace right away. "But I have a feeling… whatever he says is only going to make things worse… for all of us."