Chapter 123: Inner Struggles (2/2)

Snape came.

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”Yes Severus. Right on time.” Dumbledore said. ”Will you escort Ludo to my office? We've a important discussion to do and keep his company till I'm finished here.”

Snape nodded curtly like he understood the inner meaning of Dumbledore's words.

”Please Mr Bagman.” Snape said to Bagman, who again started to sweat. He tried to say something but nothing came out of his mouth, so at last he followed Snape after few moments.

”And now Harry, I need you to go straight back to the Dormitory. I want you to stay there. Anything you might want to do... any owls you might want to send...” His eyes flickered around the place Chris was standing. ”Or there's anything you wanted to talk about, they're can wait until morning.”

”Er... yes.” Harry replied looking confused but Chris understood one thing clearly, Dumbledore was using Legilimency on Harry and something else to sense her presence.

Harry walked back to Gryffindor tower and Chris followed him closely. As they walked away, Chris heard Moody's growling voice.

”Damn leg,” he said furiously. ”Would've been here quicker . . . what's happened?”

And then Chris remembered Mad-Eye's magical eye can see through invisibility cloak. She didn't understand that Dumbledore did that intentionally or not but he surely saved her from Moody's magical eye.

'Is that mean he don't trust Moody?' Chris thought.

When they reached the fat lady portrait, Chris thought no matter what happened between her and Harry, it was important to warn him about this. But then, what she was going to say, that Harry shouldn't win? Someone is plotting something to make him the Triwizard Champion?

So at the end, Chris decided to talk with Dumbledore first.

She avoided everyone at that night and went straight in her bed. But it wasn't easy to sleep that night, specially when thousands of ideas, thoughts and possibilities are floating around inside her brain. At last when the first morning sun ray touched her skin, she got up, get ready and went outside the castle. The weather was really nice, so she sat near the lake, as it was still too early to visit Dumbledore's office. While watching the giant squid, Chris thought many things about the life she was leading now. It's weird that she can't tell this kind of sensitive things anyone. Harry tells everything to Ron and Hermione, and he does it very easily. Though Chris's friends promised her that they'll be with her in every situation, no matter what; still Chris couldn't bring herself to burden them with her weird life problems. She still didn't know how this things will effect her future, and exactly what was she up against. Then how was she going to drag those people in this mess? The people, she cared about so deeply. The people, who cared about her.

Chris pulled her knees to her chest and rested her head on her knees. Her eyes were still fixed at the lake, like she was trying to absorb the calmness of the lake inside her her heart. But the lake was not still at all, because of the Dumstrang ship and the giant squid. Frustrated Chris buried her face in her hands when suddenly something big came out of the lake splashing water all over Chris.

”What the hell?” She angrily looked up and froze.

A creature was jumping up and down in the lake splashing water everywhere. Half horse and half fish. It had a long tail like merepeople but it had a head like a horse, also two front legs. The horse parts were milk-white and the fish parts were sea-blue in colour. In short it was gorgeous. It made a weird sound and again dived inside, then came out again. It was behaving like a dolphin, which was trying to please the viewer with its antics. Chris smiled first, then soon she started laughing. Chris got up and went near the shore and the creature also came near to the bank. Chris lightly patted it and it pushed its head fondly towards her. Chris giggled.

And she heard some boys laughing near by. She looked up and saw the Dumstrang students were out of the ship and they were looking at her and the creature. The creature retreated carefully, seeing this much people near it, and then dived back into the lake.

”That vas beautiful.” Victor Krum said as he and Shawn came near her.

”Truly.” Chris smiled looking at the lake.

”Hippocampus!” Shawn said. ”We've heard many times of it but never thought I'll see one here in Hogwarts.”

”I told Hermy-own-ninny that Hogwarts is different and beautiful.” Victor Krum said enthusiastically. ”Ven I ver inside the lake I never saw it.”

”I think, because it hides in deep water, Victor.” Shawn said. ”How many creatures are there in this lake, Chris?”

”There's not very much information about that. I also didn't know there were Hippocampus here.” Chris replied grinning. ”But then I guess, it's 'Black Lake' for a reason. It's mysterious just like everything else in Hogwarts.”

”Yeah and that means it's dangerous too. So Victor please don't go around being too happy and jump into it to look for more creatures.” Shawn said grinning.

”I vill remember that.” Victor laughed.

Chris realized she was completely wet, so she said good bye to the boys and made her way towards the Gryffindors tower to change. Luckily Ginny and Colin weren't in the Gryffindor tower, so Chris hurriedly changed into dry robes and went to Dumbledore's office.

”Fizzing Whizbee.” Chris said to stone gargoyle guarding the entrance to Dumbledore's office and the gargoyle sprang to life and jumped aside.

It's really funny, that, students didn't know that they can get Headmaster's office password just by asking the armour, standing in the corner of the same hallway. Dumbledore bewitched it to give the password to those, who really need to see the Headmaster at that moment. But the tricky part was you've to clearly ask it. Chris figured it out in her first year, when she was talking to herself, in that hallway, saying loudly, ”what's the password of Headmaster's office?” And the answer came instantly from the armour. After she was habitually to this method.

Soon Chris reached the polished oak door with a brass door knocker, and she was about to knock when again she heard voices coming from inside tje office.

”Dumbledore, I'm afraid I don't see the connection, don't see it at all!” It was the voice of the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge. ”Ludo says Bertha's perfectly capable of getting herself lost. I agree we would have expected to have found her by now, but all the same, we've no evidence of foul play, Dumbledore, none at all.”

”So Crouch went mad by himself, Minister?” said Moody's growling voice.

”I see only one thing here, Alastor,” said Fudge. ”Crouch has finally cracked — more than likely, I'm sure you'll agree, given his personal history — lost his mind because of that.”

”And we're taking Ludo Bagman's word for this? Is that correct?” Dumbledore said calmly.

”You've already interrogated Ludo, Dumbledore, without consenting with the Ministry.” Fudge replied impatiently. ”But I'm overlooking it, judging by the fact, that he really has a lot money to pay to the goblins. So now it's Ministry's business. I think I'll take both of them now from Hogwarts. Crouch will be admitted to St Mungo's and I'll prepare a hearing for Ludo. I guess he'll loose his job and something else but that's all.”

Chris angrily knocked on the door. First because Mad-Eye can catch her eavesdropping again, and second, she couldn't take the stupid Minister's words anymore.