The first place he looked was in the Slytherin dorms, then the Great Hall, then the hospital wing. Each time he was disappointed when he found she was not there. Then inspiration struck him and he looked at the third floor classroom they had been using together for so long. Harry breathed a sigh of relief, he had found her. He guessed she must have been sitting down because her dot had not moved much. Glad he knew where to find her Harry began to put the map up when he found something very odd: Barty Crouch was in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom with him. Harry looked around for him but only found Professor Moody talking with a few Ravenclaw students about the assignment. Looking back at the map he was further surprised to see that Moody was supposed to be in his office, not the classroom. As his eyes darted back and forth between the professor and the map a startling realization hit him: the man he was looking at was not Professor Moody but Barty Crouch using glamours or polyjuice potion to make him look like Professor Moody.
Harry's mind reeled trying to fit this new piece into the puzzle. Even with this new information everything that had happened still did not make sense. And what should he do about it? Tell Dumbledore? Harry guessed that was a good start. Suddenly the Moody impersonator's magic eye swiveled in its socket and stared directly at him. Harry belatedly realized that he had been staring at the Professor with his mouth open in shock for the last minute or two and attempted in vain to look like he was interested in his book. The next time Harry looked up 'Moody' was facing him, watching his every move with with a strange grin. Finally, class ended and everyone got up to leave but 'Moody's' eyes never left him.
"Potter!" the false Moody yelled causing Harry to cringe. "Stay after class." Harry's eyes widened in shock at the request. He looked around the room, seeing with disappointment that Hermione and Neville had already left. Thoughts of finding Daphne were slowly being replaced by a need to be anywhere but here. Harry watched with a sense of dread as the other students left the classroom and he suddenly found himself remembering that the next class wouldn't be in the room for another hour. Behind him he heard the soft thump of the door closing and then there was silence.
Everyone else had left. Harry was now stuck in the classroom alone with the man he knew was not Mad Eye Moody.
...
Harry's eyes darted around the room as he tried to consider his options. At the moment, he was in an otherwise empty classroom with who appeared to be Professor Moody but the Marauder's Map insisted was Barty Crouch. He had considered running, but felt certain that if he did Moody/Crouch would know that he suspected something. Harry took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down a little. 'Maybe he doesn't suspect that I know' Harry thought, 'So if I just play along and act dumb maybe I can get out of this in one piece.' All the same, he let his right hand drift down to his pocket where his wand was.
"Well, well, well… what are we going to do now Mr Potter?" the fake Moody asked. The man had been staring at Harry since a few minutes before class ended, and Harry knew without a doubt that his magical eye had not looked away since. 'Moody' was leaning against his desk grinning at him in a way that made Harry very uncomfortable. Moody/Crouch didn't seem to have his wand out, a fact that gave Harry a little comfort.
"I'm not sure I know what you mean, sir." Harry answered, hoping that the man just wanted to talk to him about school or the tournament. Instead, he responded to Harry's statement by beginning to laugh.
"Oh but I think you do Mr Potter, I think you do indeed." the professor replied, still laughing. Harry's hopes for getting out of the situation without a confrontation were rapidly dropping, but he still clung to the belief that his best course of action was to keep pretending to not know what was going on.
"Professor Moody, is this about my homework?" Harry asked. Moody/Crouch shook his head a little, and Harry noticed that the man's wand was now laying on the desk just inches from the impostor's hand. Harry frowned, wondering how he had missed that before.
"You and I both know that it isn't about homework." the grinning professor answered, clearly enjoying the game that they were playing.
"Maybe the tournament then?" Harry suggested, now fairly certain that this would not end well. He was almost positive that he could not beat the real Mad Eye Moody in a fight, but could he beat this impostor? Harry wasn't sure and didn't really look forward to finding out. His best option, he had decided, was to stall as long as possible and hope someone came in the room. Perhaps that would enable him to get out of the classroom, but he suspected that unless it was another professor that any person entering the room might just become another victim.
....
Join my P*atreon to enjoy 60+ advanced chapters.
Link: p*atreon.com/ScarletRosee (Remove the *)
Free members can get 2+ advanced chapters FOR FREE.