A Memorable Tale

54 | My Father's Brain

It was the day of the final exam.

But, more importantly, it was the day of the final task and there was no answer to any of the burning questions.

Where was Bertha Jorkins?

Where was Mr. Crouch?

Did I really see Barty Crouch Junior at the World Cup?

Who put Harry's name in the Goblet of Fire?

And where did I drop my sanity?

That last one was a mystery to everyone on the face of the earth and beyond, so it really was quite the conundrum.

Every piece of information floated around me like a museum that I could walk through. Every book in wizard kind sat on shelves, unopened, collecting dust as they watched me move through my thoughts.

"You've found quite a bit, haven't you?" Helena said as she entered the Room of Requirement through the tall shelf of books about Hogwarts. "You didn't let this ruin your exam studying time, did you?"

"Oh, of course not. I finished early." I snorted. "Could you imagine? That would make this more than a hobby."

Helena's haunting eyes gazed at the many papers and newspaper clippings and letters hovering around the Room of Requirement. "It doesn't appear to be a mere hobby anymore."

I paused in my pacing.

I was taking it awfully serious for a hobby, wasn't I?

My eyes wandered, eying each of the pieces of information I had gathered since the beginning of the year as the questions began getting more plentiful.

More serious.

I stopped on one of the papers. Harry's name is put in the Goblet of Fire.

"...Now it's not a hobby anymore," I said plainly, taking the paper out of the air and walking towards the timeline. I placed it at the very end of the timeline and turned back to the grey figure that drifted through the room. "This is me trying to protect my friend."

Helena nodded slowly before leaving the room.

There was something I was missing.

Something I hadn't connected yet.

There was no such thing as a criminal that didn't leave any clues, just an incompetent investigator that didn't know what to do with them, and I refused to be the latter.

I sat on the chair, rubbing my temples as memories of everything I had written down, everything I had read, everything I had heard, all of it swirling through my mind.

It was definitely Voldemort related - a common denominator I've found in all the mysteries throughout the years. But how?

"But Crouch didn't turn up for the match?"

"He keeps offering to help me with the Triwizard Tournament."

"When the Dark Mark had been conjured, and the elf had been discovered holding Harry's wand, what did Crouch do?"

"He went to look through the bushes."

"My dad says Mr. Crouch hasn't taken a sick day in years ."

"Anything that threatened to tarnish his reputation had to go."

"Karkaroff wanted to talk to Snape, he says Snape's been avoiding him. He showed Snape something on his arm."

"The Bertha I knew wasn't forgetful at all."

"People tend to act a bit more forgetful than they are when Obliviate's just been used on them"