Chapter 55 - Who the Hell is That?

***** Bonus Chapter Release ***** A/N: this weather is horrible 😣. Silver lining is that I can WFH again for the next few days so that's nice I guess Ahaha 🙃 *****

Harry and Khan both began scanning around the room, looking for the hidden Moody, with Hermione joining them a few moments later, after she had discovered the extra name on the map herself.

Looking over towards Jordan during his own search, Harry couldn't help but notice his slightly confused face as well, as Khan scanned the office in obvious confusion.

It was clear from his actions, that Khan appeared as shocked as they were, believing Moody to have left 5-10 minutes ago, at approximately the same time they watched Mr. Crouch disappear from the map.

Looking back down at the map to once more confirm that Moody was still showing in the same room as them, Harry couldn't help but grow more confused himself, as clearly, unless Moody was disillusioned, he was not in the office.

Scanning around the room once more, Harry noted to himself that there were not many hiding places in this office either.

Could his map really be malfunctioning?

Khan himself was quite confused as he scanned the room. He didn't notice any of the 'air-shimmer' that accompanied the disillusionment charms, nor did his combat senses indicate that anyone was in the room with them.

Not to mention he clearly remembered sending Moody away 10s of minutes ago…

Is it possible that he returned disillusioned a few minutes later and possesses a similar cloak to Harry?

Unlikely, as Khan had been rifling through Moody's things, his Kleptomania getting the best of him and the situation. Even disillusioned, Khan doubted that Moody would simply remain quiet and noiseless as he went through his things.

Khan shrugged his shoulders after scanning around the room for a few more moments, finally concluding them to be alone.

He had never heard of a map like this of Hogwarts, his own field guide map not nearly as comprehensive as this was, with Harry map even showing the location of each person.

Thus He figured the map had been malfunctioning…. Perhaps his ancient magic was to blame?

Moving on quickly by the novelty of Harry map, Khan got back to work on his 'detective work', otherwise known as his most recent justification for his kleptomaniac tendencies.

Moving back towards the chest and potion table/cauldron in the corner, he quickly got back to work, investigating/rummaging through Moody's things.

Looking over at the potions table, he noticed that a few ingredients were laid out, seemingly prepared for some late night brewing, before Khan had of course interrupted Moody late at night.

He swiped it quickly of course, sneaking them into his pockets, for later use, not immediately recognizing the potion from the ingredients being used.

Evidently it was not an old battle or combat type of potion, as Khan knew most of those potion recipes from his frequent usage previously.

Moving on from the potion table, he moved back to the chest he had unlocked previously, before getting interrupted by Hermione and one of her minor lectures.

Opening it finally, and looking inside, what Khan saw shocked him.

An old decrepit man, with an empty eye socket, and long uneven hair, Khan recognized this man immediately, even with his missing fake eye.

Alastar Moody?

This night was getting stranger.

It appeared Khan's original theory that Moody was an imposter was proven right.

But that didn't make sense….. didn't he just confirm the real Moody with his epitaph and in the process, accidentally send away Moody just 10 minutes prior?

The truth fortunately was staring at him in the face, as it appeared he had stumbled upon the missing Moody, and inadvertently figured out why Harry's mysterious map, was showing the 4 of them in that same room with them.

Casting a quick 'Levioso' on his clothes, Khan proceeded to lift Moody out of the magical chest, shocking both Hermione and Harry in the process.

"D-d-did you j-" Hermione began to mutter out, shocked.

Harry! Hermione!" Khan barked out, cutting her off, his tone immediately radiating power and commanding respect. "I have found Moody, but he's in rough shape. One of you please leave to contact Madam Pomfrey, and the other please fetch Prof. Dumbledore."

"B-B-but…" Hermione once again began to ask before getting cut off.

"Now! We can figure out everything later!"

Not even Khan had all the answers right now, so he knew that he would not be able to placate the curious girl and her thirst for knowledge.

The two of them hurried out of the office at Khan's last orders, rushing off to summon their respective assignments, spurned into action by Jordan and his barking.

Khan meanwhile was deep in thought.

Although he suspected that Moody was an imposter previously, he didn't have any leads on who this imposter might be.

Thus he had come that very night to question Moody, and see if he could reproduce his epitaph, that Tonks had previously spoken to him about.

Surprisingly however, Moody had been able to reproduce to epitaph copy, hidden in his flask, indicating this Moody was the real Moody… or at the very least had access to Moody's actual flask.

Even if someone were to conjure a replica, Khan doubted they would be able to replicate the hidden compartment, or the Epitaph, as they were both quite unique.

But he clearly had a one-eyed Moody here in front of him.

So who the hell did he just send to his shop?

*****

Dumbledore flashed into the Defense office a little while later, accompanied by Fawkes, Hermione, Harry and Madam Pomfrey. It appeared Fawkes had Phoenix flashed them all there together.

Harry, Hermione and Madam Pomfrey were all gathering their bearings for a quick second, after the disorienting phoenix flash.

Looking around, Harry and Hermione were surprised to see only a passed out and 'one-eyed' Moody, with Jordan Khan once again missing.

Madam Pomfrey meanwhile immediately leapt into action upon the seeing the 'one-eyed' Moody lying down passed out on the floor.

His wooden leg was gone, as well as the magical eye, instead the socket looking empty underneath its lid, as she viewed chunks of his grizzled hair were missing, his hair cut haphazardly in different lengths.

Casting diagnostic charms, she started mumbling under her breath. "Stunned- Controlled by the Imperius Curse..... very weak, as he's been given very little nourishment lately it seems."

Taking off her cloak, she casting some quick warming charms on it, before covering him with it; He was freezing, and quite cold to the touch.

"Will he be alright Poppy?" Dumbledore asked, with a bit of concern for his old friend. He was feeling a bit ashamed, not realizing that his old friend had been captured, this new Moody being a fraud and hoodwinking him for the past 3 months.

"Yes Albus..... We should move him to the Medi-" Pomfrey attempted to respond, before getting interrupted by another bright flash.

It was Khan accompanied by another Phoenix?

He was carrying with him, some kind of large chest, looking similar to the chest they had found Prof Moody in, just moments ago, his Phoenix perched firmly on top of his shoulders.

"Oh good, you all are here." He greeted them casually, dropping the large chest on the floor unceremoniously. "Just had to leave to grab this.... it should help us with getting to the bottom of this mystery just now."

"Hello Jordan!" Dumbledore greeted his mentor's best friend with respect and a slight nod of his head. "I assume you went to fetch the imposter?"

Khan nodded back in response, before reaching down and opening Fastidio's 'box of fun', where the false Moody was currently being tortu- held.

Fastidio, his poltergeist, immediately flew out of his chest, dragging with him, an unfamiliar man to Khan at least, currently trapped inside a barrel unconscious.

"This playmate was boring! Barely lasted 5 minutes before feinting!" Fastidio complained, unceremoniously dropping the barrel-trapped man on the floor with a loud thud.

His head was sticking out of one end of the barrel, with his feet sticking out the other end. He was quite pale-skinned with a mop of fair hair at top his head.

Harry, Hermione as well as Khan, were not familiar with this particular person, as they had never seen him before.

Who the Hell was that? And more importantly, why was he imitating Moody?

This was not the case for Dumbledore however.

"Barty Crouch Jr!?" Dumbledore exclaimed in shock. It appeared as if he recognized this imposter, before he continued, calling out for Winky, who appeared in a *POP* a few moments later.

Filthy, disheveled, with a slight hiccup, indicating her drunken state, Winky peered around Dumbledore's legs wondering why she was brought here, before she saw her old master, and let out a piecing shriek.

"Master Barty, Master Barty! What is you doing here?"

She flung herself down hugging his legs sticking out through the bottom of the barrel, crying in despair.

"You is killed him! You is killed him! You is killed Master's son!"

"Relax Winky... your master's son is simply knocked out thanks to Fastidio here." Khan replied. "He tends to play kinda rough..."

Khan remembered the giant furniture golem that Fastidio had sent after him previously, and shuddered a little.

"And not to worry Fastidio, You still have Lenny to play with after all."

"Oh yes, I'm preparing a great game for him the next time he comes to visit!" Fastidio decided to leave and took a dive off an imaginary diving board, making a perfect swan dive back into his box of fun.

Khan meanwhile noted to himself that Fastidio's 2nd day of the month for chaos was soon approaching; he should try to avoid his shop over the next few days, incase Fastidio's 'great game' was dangerous.

Dumbledore was watching the back and forth with a small smile on his face. It appeared the young lord Khan had a way with Poltergeists, as he remembered learning from Minerva about his handling of Peeves that first day of school.

Harry and Hermione meanwhile, was staring in shock at the entire situation, their brains attempting to catch up to everything happening at the same time.

They of course, remembered Fastidio, after visiting Khan's shop along side him the previous weekend.

Harry in particular remembered the rather playful, albeit roughly, poltergeist who had attacked him randomly with a barrel while he was previously invisible.

Looking down at a knocked out, stuck in a barrel 'Barty Crouch Jr', Harry couldn't help but think that perhaps Fastidio had a personal liking for barrels, and attacking people with them.

Hermione of course, was more concerned with trying to piece everything together.

Looking at the potion cauldron in the corner, as well as the Real Moody's hair being cut at different lengths, Hermione finally realized how this imposter was capable of impersonating Moody for so long.

"Polyjuice Potion, Harry! Just like in our 2nd year!" Said Hermione, the final clue falling into place for her.

"Indeed, Ms Granger!" Dumbledore complimented Hermione's conclusion. "The simplicity and brilliance of it.... genius."

"You see Harry, Moody never does drink except from his hip flask." Dumbledore continued to explain. "In fact, he's become quite well known for it.... So how easy would it be for him to keep the potion in his hip flask, taking a new dosage every time the potion was about to run out?"

"Of course, this imposter would have to keep the real Moody close by so he could continue making the potion with his actual hair." Dumbledore said. "You see here? All his hair is uneven, where the imposter had been cutting it off all year for use in the potion."

"Truthfully, if not for Jordan Khan, I would probably have never guessed this Moody was an imposter until perhaps after the 3rd task." Dumbledore concluded.

This last oversight for Dumbledore truthfully shook him to his core.

He himself, was personally good friends with Alastor Moody, and yet was still not able to figure out that he had been taken, and an imposter had taken his place.

And coming so shortly after the first task, where Dumbledore was still quite upset with himself for allowing the use of dragon eggs in the task.

Needless to say, Dumbledore was slowly beginning to realize that perhaps he had too much on his plate, especially with his 3 positions.

It would probably do him better to drop 1 or 2 of this appointments, and just keep his Headmaster Job, especially with the threat of Voldemort returning.

Turning back to thank Jordan, he could help but ask, and wonder how he figured everything out.

"How did you figure it all out, Lord Khan?"