chapter 27

Garry woke to a bouncing bed and a squealing little girl — "Get up! Get Up! Get up!" she chanted, each one accompanied by a bounce. "Today we visit Harry! Get up! Get Up!"

Garry's head felt as if it were splitting and the bouncing was making him nauseous. "STOP!"

The bouncing and chanting stopped. "Uncle Gil?" came the childish voice.

He slowly cracked one eyelid open and blearily looked at the excited black-haired girl. It was Bell, two of her, actually. The wide grin splitting her face was slowly subsiding, turning to a concerned frown, "Uncle Gil?" she repeated.

He groaned and raised his hand to his forehead, but hit himself in the face instead. Bell giggled. "G-get S-s-sir-i-us," he said awkwardly.

She cocked her head sideways, "But, Uncle Gil, I'm not Sirius, he's upstairs."

Garry groaned; it hurt too much for this to be funny. "Si-ck," he said, "Head hurts. Sirius."

Her eyes grew wide and she vanished off the bed at a dead run. He could hear her yelling before she even left the bedroom, "SIRIUS! UNCLE GIL'S REALLY SICK!" Well, at least he knew she had good lungs. She had been quite quiet last summer. The change was a great improvement. Exposure to the twins and gang had been good to her. Not to mention Nymie, Remus, and Sirius during the school year.

Later, after Sirius helped him drink headache and nausea potions, he felt well enough to sit up. "Thanks, Sirius," he said. He was still seeing double, but not as badly as before — the doubles were almost on top of each other, only offset by an inch or so. His muscle coordination was crap, though.

"Maybe we should take you to St. Mungos?" Sirius suggested. "This sounds like the way you were last May. You were in for a full month, what between the curse duel you fought and all. Maybe you're having a relapse."

Last May? Last May? Harry knew he wasn't going to like the answer to his next question. He closed his eyes and sighed. "What month is it?"

"November," piped up Bell from behind Sirius and Remus.

Another heartfelt sigh. "Sirius, the last thing I remember is a duel in Albania and emergency portkeying here."

By now Sirius, Remus, Ted, Andromeda, and a wide-eyed Bell surrounded his bed.

"Well," said Sirius slowly, as the other adults exchanged worried looks.

"That's a deep subject, Sirius, think you can handle it?" Harry said drily.

They gave him a dumbfounded look. Bell giggled.

His brain was starting to catch up. He frowned. "Bell said something about seeing Harry?"

Sirius scowled heavily, as did most everyone except Bell. She started bouncing happily. "Yeah, today's the First Task."

"Bloody Hell," whispered Garry. "Tri-Wizard Tournament?" They nodded. "And Harry is in it?"

"Yes," said Sirius.

Of course he was.

"Does he know he faces a dragon?"

Sirius frowned, "Yes, you told him that the day after we found out. You had a nightmare the night he floo-called us about his name being pulled from the Goblet of Fire." He looked at Remus. "You woke us up with your screaming. You told us that you had a vision that Harry would face a Hungarian Horntail Dragon. That he would outfly it using his Firebolt but receive an injury on his shoulder from the dragon's tail hitting him." Sirius grinned, "He's been practicing accio and a body shield charm every day since then. And flying, I'd wager. And I smuggled him a fire protection potion, just in case." He shook his head ruefully. "He had me send him three more; he said it wasn't fair that only he had that protection." He smiled to himself, "That's Lily, for sure."

Garry relaxed a bit, thanking Merlin for small favours. At least it wasn't a total cockup. And now that Sirius had told him, he vaguely remembered the incident.

Of course, this year was the Tri-Wizard. The Ministry had been working on that for years. Losing Crouch and Dumbledore wouldn't have derailed those plans. He had hoped that Harry might be spared the whole Tri-Wizard thing, but apparently not. Thank Merlin nothing he had done had changed the planned Champion trials — at least he hoped not.

"Okay, I seem to have amnesia from last May until right now." And his coordination was way off. He hoped he wouldn't meet any Death Eaters. Death Eaters? Oh, Merlin, Moody!

While the others were exchanging alarmed looks and Bell looked puzzled, Garry grabbed Sirius' arm. "Mad-eye! Is Mad-eye the D.A.D.A. professor?"

"Yeeesss," Sirius said slowly, "Is that a problem?"

"How well do you know Mad-eye?"

Sirius traded looks with Remus, "Not that well. I trained with him in the Aurors, but that was fourteen years ago. Of the family, Nymie knows him best."

"Do you know what he puts in his hipflask to drink?" Garry asked urgently.

Sirius shrugged, "Water?"

Garry closed his eyes again, thinking. "Sirius, get Nymie. Ask her if she knows what he keeps in his flask."

Remus asked, "Why, Gil? He's an Auror. He's paranoid, yes, but he is the best Auror out there."

Garry took a deep breath. "Nobody says a word, okay?" He looked around as they hesitantly nodded. The others had forgotten Bell, but he could see her nodding in the background as well. He winked at her. She was still under the oath that no one else knew about, so he was unconcerned at her presence.

"I think Mad-eye is a polyjuiced Death Eater."

They all objected.

He waited for them to quiet down. "Listen to me on this. I was right about the Dragons, wasn't I?" He paused a moment, then continued. "Sirius, get Nymie. Ask her what he drinks. If she doesn't know we'll have to go with water." He looked at Bell. Or perhaps not. Using one of her hairs in polyjuice and swapping that might be much more entertaining, and quickly prove Garry's point. No, he decided upon reflection, the polyjuice would taste different. The Death Eater would immediately know something was wrong and try to escape. Although fighting while the potion change him would be next to impossible. But still, it would leave him in full control of himself once he recovered. And as a little girl, no one would take his duelling talents seriously. He might slip away into the crowd.

"Go, Sirius," he ordered. "This is important!" Reluctantly, the older Wizard left the room.

Garry looked at the others. "Give me a minute to get dressed and I'll meet you all in the kitchen for breakfast." He made a move to get out of bed.

"Dining room," said Remus. "Breakfast is in the dining room."

Garry nodded and waved them all to leave.

Getting out of bed was a chore. It was his first day as Harry/Gilderoy all over again. Fortunately, today's clothes were already laid out for him. When he saw the curlers in his hair, he sighed heavily. He had forgotten about putting them in last night, but he did want to look his best today. It would be the first time in several months that he was in public in a large crowd and he had his image to maintain.

Usually let Gilderoy run the morning prep while he planned the day. This morning he did everything without really thinking about it while he still worked out what he would have to do today.

It took him far longer than it should, but eventually he made his stumbling way to the dining room. There was a sideboard set up cafeteria-style; the others had already started eating. The second time he dropped his plate Andy came over and helped. It was humiliating, but no worse than it had been in St. Mungos.

Smiling broadly and muttering thanks, he sat just as Sirius came bursting in from the sitting room. "She says it's water," he said breathlessly.

"Excellent!"

"Sirius, is Nymie at Hogwarts? Or on another job."

"She was at the Ministry."

"Contact Minister Bones and tell her you and I would consider it a great favour if she were to assign Nymie to assist Mad-eye today, to shadow him all day as a learning experience — she's still a trainee. No getting sent off to do other tasks by anyone, including Mad-eye. She's to keep her wand at hand. If he asks why, she can say, 'Constant Vigilance!' and cite the many visitors at Hogwarts as being the perfect opportunity for a Death Eater to sneak in unsuspected. Tell her it's vital! We can't explain just yet, but I'll owe them both a favour if she does this. Tell Minister Bones, remember Quirrell. Put on your Wizenmaggots robes so she'll know you're serious, Sirius." Sirius nodded, grinning at the word play, and hurried out. Several minutes later, they heard him use the floo.

Garry concentrated on eating without stabbing himself with his knife or fork. His results were mixed, but left Bell in giggles and the other three adults with worried frowns.

Shortly after Kreacher cleared the table, except for one plate of food under a stasis charm for Sirius, he returned.

"Okay. Done. She's mighty curious, but willing to cooperate. It's your show." He sat at his plate and started to eat.

Garry took a careful sip of his tea, holding it with both hands. His coordination was improving by leaps and bounds, but he knew it would take several days before he was in any shape to have a duel. He would have to carefully hide that, though, he couldn't let his admiring public know he was under the weather.

"What's up?" Sirius mumbled around a mouthful of food. Bell giggled, and shaking a finger at him with the other hand on her hip, said sternly, "No talking with your mouth full!"

"I think you need to go to your room for a few minutes, Bell," said Andromeda. She clearly wanted Bell not to hear the discussion.

"It's okay," Garry waved his hand, "She can listen in, she won't tell anyone what we talk about here, will you Bell?"

She shook her head, eyes wide at the show of confidence.

Andromeda and Ted frowned, but didn't object farther.

Garry sighed. "I believe that Mad-eye has been replaced by a Death Eater taking polyjuice."

"Why?" came the obvious question from Remus. "And why now instead of months ago?"

Garry looked down a moment. "How did Harry's name get into the Goblet of Fire?" he asked. The consensus was nobody knew. He nodded. "Harry didn't enter his own name; there was an age-line around the Goblet, right?"

"Among other things," Sirius replied.

He looked them all in the eye, one at a time. "I know Harry would never have submitted his name, especially after Hermione told him what happened to past Champions. He's brash, but not terminally stupid. And he would only risk his life if someone else was in danger. And the prize money? Hah! He has more than that as pocket change in the summers."

They exchanged looks, but overall agreed with him.

"It took a powerful Wizard to not only get around the protections, but to confudo the Goblet into allowing a fourth name to appear. That leaves out any but the adults — Harry certainly couldn't have done it. While it's possible one of the regular professors was suborned, it is highly unlikely — one of the other professors would have noticed his or her inconsistencies in behaviour. Not to mention the difficulty in getting to one of them. So, of the adults, the only new ones are Mad-eye and the two visiting Heads from the other schools. I doubt the heads of the other schools because of the difficulty in getting to them, and their students would notice, as well. And the Death Eater connections on the continent are much more nebulous and reluctant to work on anything but a sure thing."

He looked over at Sirius. "Yes, Snape and Karkaroff are Death Eaters, but both have much to lose if Voldewhore comes back, too much to want him to return. Karkaroff because Voldy will kill him, and Snape, well, Snape has his reasons.

"Mad-eye, though, he's the unknown. Nobody at Hogwarts knows him well enough to notice any mistakes he might make in his performance."

He looked over to Remus, "And wasn't there something about him thinking he was being attacked just before school started?"

Remus nodded.

"The perfect cover for a substitution. They attack and subdue him, pull out a hair, and drop it in Polyjuice. Then when the Aurors show up, act paranoid and confused. Later, interrogate the real Mad-eye using veritaserum on everything he knows. He goes to Hogwarts in Mad-eye's place and no one suspects a thing."

He looked around at them. "He's in the perfect position to manipulate everyone to get the desired outcome. Bloody Hell, I bet McGonagall selected him as one of the guards to watch the Goblet that night! He's a professor, so getting an assignment with Harry's name written on it is a no brainer. Three seconds in the dead of night when no one else is even on the Ground Floor, he casts a confudus on the goblet and drops the scrap of paper into the Goblet, and Bob's your uncle! I mean, who would suspect the renowned Mad-eye Moody of forcing Harry Potter, someone he has never previously met, into the Tournament?

"And, perhaps even worse, the Death Eaters who organized this now know every D.M.L.E. secret, and quite a bit more in the Ministry — not to mention every security detail about the Tournament — and no one suspects!"

They exchanged appalled looks.

"The problem is proving it." He sighed. "Here's the plan I have so far. Andromeda, Ted, you keep an eye on little Miss Mischief here," he pointed at Bell, who assumed a look of "Who? Me?" innocence. "Remus, Sirius, Nymie, and I will tackle Mad-eye." He looked at the Werewolf, "Remus, get a flask similar to Mad-eye's except with a Sleeping Draught in it. When you see him pull out his flask, perform the switching charm on the contents after he takes a drink." He looked at the others, "Then we check the contents of Remus' flask. If, as I suspect, we smell polyjuice, then we know we have Death Eater. And once again the illustrious Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defence League, six-time winner of Witch Weekly's Most-Charming-Smile Award, Hogwarts' beloved Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor, Slayer of Basilisks, and detector of Dark Wizards has saved the day!" He flashed them all one of his toothy confident smiles. He was slightly disappointed to see his audience wasn't impressed. He cleared his throat, "If we don't, then we have pulled the greatest prank on Mad-eye anyone has every seen!" Better it thought a prank than that Gary wasn't the perfect Wizard that he was.

Nobody laughed.

"If he detects the switch, stun him immediately. Otherwise, we wait until we can catch him unawares in a relatively open space, and stun him. And then we wait for the polyjuice to wear off."

He looked around them again. "If I'm wrong, I'll make apologizes about the prank all around. Nymie will be fine because Bones agreed to let her follow my orders. We'll pay a few fines, and then we'll begin to go through the school looking for the Death Eater. It shouldn't be that hard. With Snape's help we can find the culprit in a few hours, at most." He grimaced, "If he doesn't flee when he hears what happened with Moody."

He looked back at Sirius. "This is why Nymie is so important. She'll be following him all day, so he shouldn't be expecting her to stun him. If he does, then while he's dueling with her, the rest of us will take him down.

"You have to make sure she understands that if he goes to take a sip from his flask and stops, for any reason, stun him immediately."

He scanned their faces. "Any thoughts? Questions?"

They decided the best time to do it was when he likely would be most distracted, when Harry was taking his turn. With that settled, they trooped into the sitting room and floo'd to The Three Broomsticks.

While they walked up to Hogwarts Sirius tried to fill Garry in on what had happened that summer. Because Garry was still a bit unsteady on his feet, Sirius still thought he should go to St. Mungos. Garry simply said, "This is far too important. I can go afterwards if necessary."

Garry was relieved to find out that he had not spilled any secrets over the summer. He had mentioned being in Albania for research and that he had run afoul of an attack, but professed to not know the reason why. Once he recovered, he had devoted himself to finishing Restraining a Rat, which now had a release date of this spring. And annoying the hell out of both Remus and Sirius with his incessant self-aggrandizing.

He had had his family visit for a week at Grimmauld Place just to meet Harry Potter and Belladonna. Sirius was rather surprised at the interest Harry had taken in the little girl, making sure she was happy and doing well in her new home. Her taking to pranking had endeared her the hearts of both Sirius and Remus. The Tonks weren't nearly as impressed with the pranking but agreed that the girl was a joy to behold, although she did have a temper. Harry adored her, and she adored him in turn. Harry, Hermione, Susan, Hannah, Luna, and Neville had become quite the troop.

That meant his family had met Hermione, Luna, Neville, Susan, Hannah, Ginny, Ron, Fred, and George when they came over for the Wednesday Movie Matinees, which they had resumed as soon as summer started. The Pure-bloods, it seemed, had dearly missed seeing the movies. And Bell had discovered Disney cartoons and become an instant fan. Ron came just to see the movies and for the free food. He mostly stayed away from Harry and Hermione, but at least was cordial.

Bell had apparently overheard the twins talking with Harry or Hermione about their telly project and decided she wanted a home theatre at Grimmauld Place. Fred and George had learnt that having a seven-year-old eagerly nagging them daily, if not hourly — "Is it done yet? Is it done yet?" — provided a great incentive. They finished their working prototypes of a magic-resistant VCR and telly early in the summer. Bell now watched at least one movie a day — the movies became her reward for doing her tutors' assignments, which she blew through like a tornado. Everyone except Garry had declared her a hidden genius. Garry knew the truth — that she was merely relearning what she already knew through muscle memory — he simply said she was a hard worker.

The Play Room on the Second Floor was now the Movie Room. And Sirius and Remus were helping the twins develop a business plan for introducing both items to the Wizarding World. They hoped to open their first store in Diagon Alley the coming summer. And that was also why Remus wasn't still teaching the D.A.D.A., he was too busy working on Investment Fund projects to return to Hogwarts.

Whatever had happened, despite falling back into his old self-aggrandizing habits, at least Garry had kept his secrets. The only comment that worried Garry was the one Sirius made about being relieved that the "other" Gilderoy was back.

If that were the only complaint Garry heard, he would be happy.

They arrived mid-morning. After saying hello to Headmistress McGonagall, they returned to the Entry Way to admire the Founder's Artefacts. Garry was pleased to see the display case for them prominently placed, with large plaques describing each of the items and mentioning Gilderoy's part in their recovery. His name could have been larger in the individual plaques, he decided, but the single large plaque announcing that it was only thanks to Gilderoy Lockhart that these items were on display was sufficient, he concluded, nodding his satisfaction. When no one was looking he added a few wards of his own to the case to prevent any pilferage. And to make his picture a bit more central to the display with a special spell that drew people's eyes to his portrait.

They met Harry and Hermione after his History of Magic class. The two students had no other classes before lunch, so they wandered through the Castle showing Bell some of its more interesting features — secret passages and hidden rooms, mainly. Naturally, his upcoming challenge kept the little Wizard quite distracted and he spent most of the time in a daze, following wherever Hermione led him by the hand. It was while they were showing Bell the hidden Come-and-Go Room that Garry Lockhart stopped dead in the middle of the room and face-palmed himself. "What an idiot I am," he said. Sirius, of course, added, "Couldn't have said it better myself."

Garry turned to Harry and said, "Harry, do you have the map?"

"Map?"

"You know, the map?"

Harry screwed up face, then said, "Oh, that map! No. It's in my trunk."

The others, except Sirius and Remus, were looking at them as if they were mad.

"You're right, Gil," Sirius said, grinning while Remus was chuckling beside him, "You are an idiot."

"Harry, this is very important, but I need you to get the map right now." Lockhart concentrated and a door appeared in one wall of the Come-and-Go Room. He pointed, "That should take you straight to your Common Room and back. There's a Notice-Me-Not on it for everyone in the Common Room but you. Hurry!"

A few minutes, later Harry returned with the parchment. And moments later, they were crowded around the open Marauder's Map. "There!" the blonde-haired Wizard said, as he pointed, "The D.A.D.A. class and it clearly says Yaxley, not Moody! I was right! And Moody," he pointed at a different spot, "is in his rooms."

They exchanged looks. Yaxley was no pushover, he had certainly gotten the drop on Harry last Spring. "Change of plans," said Garry. "We hit him in the Great Hall at lunch. We don't know when his schedule is for taking the potion — on the hour, half hour, or what. So, what we'll do is I'll meet him as his D.A.D.A. class lets out and switch the flask contents." Sirius made a move to speak. "No, Sirius, everyone knows you fawn over Harry something awful and he would be suspicious if you were there and not with Harry. And he would be equally suspicious of you, Remus." He smiled broadly, "I, on the other hand, will be anxious to meet the man teaching my students and make sure he is as good a professor as the Great Gilderoy Lockhart, Hogwart's most beloved Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor!"

Rolling their eyes, Remus and Sirius reluctantly agreed. Remus handed over the flask.

The dandy folded and placed the map in his pocket. "Now then, why don't you all head for the Great Hall while I waylay our victim?"

Garry leaned casually against the corridor wall, waiting for the class to end. He could hear Mad-eye finishing up. Soon, the door burst open and the children poured out. It was a Fifth Year class, and the first few through the door startled on seeing him. "Professor Lockhart!" came the quick cry. Soon he was surrounded by his former students, especially the Witches, asking how he was, what he was doing, and what did he think of the Tournament? And the most popular by far was "Do you remember me?"

Laughing joyfully at their instant attention, he waved them off on their way to lunch, but several remained around him. He peeked in the door to see both Mad-eye and Nymie standing at the desk, talking. Seeing him, Nymie waved, her bubble-gum pink hair turning briefly red. Mad-eye gave him a suspicious look. Together they started for door. Garry stepped back to give them room.

"Mad-eye," he cried happily, "I've been looking forward to meeting you again!" He would pretend to be a good friend of the suspicious old buzzard — that should throw the Wizard off his stride! Yaxley would distance himself from Garry so as not to make a mistake and give himself away. "As long as I was here today I had to stop by and make sure that my former students were getting the best education possible — while you are a highly qualified Auror I am, after all a World-class adventurer!"

Moody eyed him disapprovingly. "I certainly don't need your help!"

"Excellent!" cried Garry, and put his arm around the old Auror.

Mad-eye smoothly stepped back. Garry pretended not to notice, stepping closer to follow the Wizard and his arm still touching the other Wizard's shoulders. Mad-eye again stepped back, this time starting to get angry. He didn't notice Garry's other hand snaking out to grab his flask from his pocket.

Garry took a quick step away towards Nymie and held up the flask. "You know, Mad-eye, you never did tell me what you put in this." Nymie's eyes shot wide-open. No one had ever tried to pickpocket the paranoid Wizard's flask — no one had ever managed to get that close!

Mad-eye made a startled grab for the flask. Garry held it away. "What's in it? Water? Butterbeer?" He paused for a dramatic second and smirked, "Fire-whiskey?" He started to reach for the cap to open the flask.

"Gimme that you pompous fool!" growled Mad-eye, this time successfully yanking the flask out of Lockhart's unresisting hands. He shoved it back into his pocket.

Garry grinned. "Got you that time, you old buzzard!" he said chuckling. He yelled, "Constant Vigilance!" He bowed, sweeping his arm down the corridor, "After you, Professor Moody."

The irate Auror stomped off mumbling and growling, keeping to one side of the corridor — that farthest from Garry. Nymie and Garry followed a moment later, with Garry's entourage giggling and laughing at Garry getting the drop on the prickly old paranoid Wizard.

Garry pulled out the map and pointed at Mad-eye, then pointed at the map where his and Nymie's names appeared. He made sure his finger covered his name leaving only the last part, "–ockhart" showing. He didn't want to give away his secret, too. She looked at the map and the names around hers on it, then at the name following the footsteps in front of her. Her head shot up to look at Garry. He nodded. She looked back down and then at Moody. Garry held a finger in front of his lips, indicating she should keep silent. He put the map away just before the paranoid old Auror glanced at them.

He waited a moment then leaned close to her ear and quietly said, "Watch for my lead. If he stops in the middle of taking a drink from his flask and looks suspicious, stun him! Don't let anyone interfere, and for Merlin's sake, pay attention during the meal! Remember, Bones said to follow my orders." She nodded, hesitantly.

Garry took a moment to look around when he entered the Great Hall. Harry and his friends were sitting at the Ravenclaw table. He was pleased to see that Hermione and Luna sat with Harry between them with Neville sandwiched between Susan and Hannah. And Ron? Ron was far down the table. And sitting with Draco! What had happened in the last five, almost six, months? Maybe he didn't need to worry about Ron interfering with Harry and Hermione any more.

Across from them sat Sirius, Remus, and the Tonks with Bell.

He was disappointed, but not surprised, to see that the "Harry Potter Stinks" buttons were in evidence. Like last time, someone in Ravenclaw came up with the actual spells and charmed the buttons. He was pretty sure that Draco had nothing to do with them this time. Draco might have suggested it, but he wouldn't do anything to jeopardize his and his mother's position in the family.

At the head of the Hall, in front of the Headmaster's Table were two other tables. Garry saw several press people, including Rita, at one, while the other had dignitaries from the U.K. Ministry and the other two schools' Ministries. Excellent, a worldwide audience, he was pleased to note.

Garry headed straight for Rita. "Rita, my love!" he cried as he crouched down between her and Bozo's chairs before she even knew he was there. She jumped, startled, but turned a sceptical eye on him, raising an eyebrow. "Well," she said, drily, "Long time, no see!"

"Ah, you wound me!" said Garry dramatically, placing his hand on his heart. "Don't worry though," he said in a conspiratorial whisper. "I have a sell-out story for you!" He looked at Bozo, "Keep a close eye on Mad-eye, Bozo." He grinned at Rita's frowning face. "Trust me, Rita," he said much more quietly, almost in her ear. "This will put you on the front page for the rest of the week! The Tournament will take a back seat to it."

Her expression had changed to one of conniving and she was already stealing glances at Moody as he sat not far from her at the Headmaster's Table. "Remember our deal with Harry Potter, keep to it and I'll have an exclusive for you on his perspective of the Tournament. And if you're really good you might get an interview with his girlfriends!" She gave him wide-eyed and very greedy look. "Yes, girlfriends as in plural. Things will happen when I start coughing."

He moved over to sit at the front of the Ravenclaw table, among the Seventh Years, and facing Moody's seat at the Headmistress' Table. He wanted to be close when it all came together. He spent the next forty minutes talking with his former students. This Moody wasn't as effective a teacher as his Moody had been during his Tri-wizard. Fortunately, this Moody had skipped the Unforgiveables lecture.

Nymie had taken a seat at the head of the Hufflepuff table, also facing Moody.

Moody was fretting. Normally, the students told Garry, he took his meals in his rooms, but Headmistress McGonagall had insisted he attend this lunch as part of the festivities of the First Task. He was picking at his desert when he stopped and reached into his robes. Garry sent a quick mild stinging hex at Nymie. She turned to look at him, scowling. He pointed with his chin at Moody. She spun in her seat. Her wand was already in her hand. Garry had palmed his as well. He started coughing loudly and stood, focusing attention on himself.

Moody had already lifted the flask to his mouth. He took a quick sip. He made a face, and then frowned. He spit out what was in his mouth, but it was too late. That little bit of Sleeping Draught slowed his reactions. He started to throw himself backwards. Almost simultaneously two stunners from Nymie and Garry hit the Auror. A second later, a third from the back of the Hall hit the Auror — probably Sirius. Moody slumped over in his chair.

Pandemonium erupted in the Hall. Nymie was already hurrying around the Headmistress' Table. Garry took the easy route and jumped up on the Ravenclaw table. He almost fell as his muscles spasmed, a leftover from this morning. He casted an incarcerous on the fake Moody. He decided to claim that his awkwardness was him dodging a possible response from the Death Eater.

"Everyone calm down," he bellowed using a sonorous. "I, Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defence League, six-time winner of Witch Weekly's Most-Charming-Smile Award, Hogwarts' beloved former Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor, Slayer of Basilisks, and Detector of Dark Wizards have once again saved the students of Hogwarts!" Garry made himself lighter with the Featherweight spell and delicately leapt from the Ravenclaw Table to the Headmistress' Tabletop and in front of the fake Moody.

The students, those that remembered him as a professor promptly quieted down and shushed the younger years and visiting students. They remembered his other performances in the Great Hall, and this appeared to be just as entertaining.

"This Wizard is a fake," he continued. He cast a vanishing charm on the man's left sleeve. "He is a polyjuiced Death Eater!" The students gasped, the adults began to deny the possibility. "That's Mad-eye!" "Impossible!" "Are you mad?"

Minister Bones had warned her security detail to allow Gilderoy to act without interference. Only Gilderoy's past performance at delivering surprisingly effective results had convinced her to give him this much latitude. If he couldn't back up his claim, he would be in deep, deep shite for an attack on an Auror, even if he was retired. In the meantime, her security detail was covering her carefully with shields up and ready to hustle her out of the room at the first sign of movement towards her. She remained seated but held her wand firmly in hand. She pushed one Auror to the side to give her a better view.

But now she was watching her Auror, Nymphadora Tonks, through narrowed eyes, and paying special attention to how she was taking this so seriously. Still a trainee, the Witch was following through like a professional. And acting as if she had total confidence that Gilderoy was correct. She wasn't taking her eyes or wand off the old Auror, and had already removed both his main and backup wands, which totalled four wands, the Minister noted with chagrin. Tonks had also accioed the flask and a two other nondescript items, probably portkeys.

"Mr. Lockhart!" said McGonagall, "What is the meaning of this?" She was standing, as was almost everyone at the Headmistress' Table.

"Everyone quiet, please," Garry said, still using the sonorous. "Can everyone see me? Can everyone hear me?" He waited a bare moment for the noise level to drop. He smiled broadly, using his left hand to drape his robes elegantly to his side, shaking his head ever so slightly to make his hair wave dramatically.

He turned to the Headmistress. "I have incontrovertible proof that this Wizard," he pointed at the bound old Auror, "is not Alastor "Mad-eye" Moody, but is instead a polyjuiced Death Eater, one Phineas Yaxley."

She stared at him a moment, then said, "Proctors! Clear the Hall . . . ."

"Stop!" interrupted Garry. He smiled at her broadly. "Would this not be a great opportunity for your students to see our wonderful Ministry and Aurors in action? To see how the Ministry conducts an investigation? To see an actual interrogation in action? To observe the extraordinary talents of myself, Gilderoy Lockhart, in person and not as something they read after the fact?"

She stared at him, eyes narrowed in suspicion. Slowly, she nodded, "Everyone," she said, her voice carrying over the Hall easily, "return to your seats." She gave Garry a smirk, "Professor Lockhart has a lesson for us."

Minister Bones cleared her throat. "We should take Mr. Moody back to the Ministry for questioning," she stated.

Garry looked down at her from the tabletop, "If you remove him, all sorts of awful rumours will appear and make life difficult for you and the Ministry," he said quietly, "Such as, that you are covering up facts to protect yourself." She, too, nodded slowly. He smiled broadly.

"Professor Snape, would you be so good as to fetch some of your personal stock of veritaserum?" The greasy-haired git stared at him, unmoving.

The Minister shook her head, "You can't administer veritaserum without due cause."

Garry grinned at her, confidently. "No, we wait a few minutes. By the time, Severus returns with the potion you will see a Death Eater impersonating a retired Auror, using that person's reputation to procure the position of Professor at Hogwarts, and thus gaining access to a thousand of England's best students for who knows what nefarious deeds.

"That is a crime of the first degree if I am not mistaken. That he is the one responsible for entering Mr. Potter into the Tri-Wizard Tournament raises the crime to that of an international incident. I'm sure not even the Wizenmaggots can gainsay the use of Veritaserum when it is likely he has interfered with the first task and four lives are at risk at a minimum, two of them invited foreign visitors."

She sat silent for a minute, before saying, "On my authority as Minster for Magic, I authorize the use of Veritaserum in this instance."

Garry turned to Snape and raised an eyebrow. Snape looked at McGonagall, who said, "Go, Severus."

Garry levitated the phoney Moody to the Headmistress' Tabletop, with his bare left arm facing the students. The room settled to a soft buzz as the students started whispering and talking quietly, only now realizing that their Professor for the last three months might be a Death Eater. He began adopting various poses for Bozo, and the other photographers present, with the defeated Death Eater at his feet. Front-page headlines, again. It had been quite a while since the last ones. He wanted only the best pictures to appear in the newsparchments for his adoring public to admire.

The whole hall let out a gasp when "Moody" began to bubble and his wooden leg fell to the floor as a real one took its place. The appearance of the Death Eater tattoo on his exposed arm brought a hurricane of whispers and not a few shrieks of horror as they realized the truth of Gilderoy's accusations. Snape paused only a moment when he arrived back at the Headmistress' Table and saw the Death Eater Yaxley where previously had been Moody. Snape hadn't really believed Gilderoy, but here was the proof.

The Veritaserum quickly provided the answers: Yes, he was a Death Eater. Yes, you had to take the Mark willingly. Yes, he had tortured and killed a Muggle-born and his family to take it, as they all did. Yes, he had tricked the Goblet of Fire into choosing Harry. Yes, it was on orders from the Dark Lord. Yes, he meant Lord Voldemort. Yes, the Dark Lord was back. He was currently in a homunculus. Yes, he was seeking to acquire a full body. Yes, the Dark Lord wanted Harry for the ritual.

They stopped the questioning at that point.

Garry said, "I think we've proved the point, don't you agree, Minister Bones? This is conclusively not Alastor Moody. Mr. Potter did not choose to enter the Tri-Wizard Tournament. And, somehow, Voldewhore intends to subvert this tournament. Perhaps a stronger Auror presence for the tasks would be in order?" Grimly, the Minister nodded.

"Perhaps we should involve some of the Aurors from both France and Bulgaria now that they know beyond the shadow of a doubt that their Champions' lives are at risk from an outside force," he added in a speculative tone. Madam Olympe Maxime and High Master Professor Igor Karkaroff were both nodding their heads in agreement.

Garry rubbed his hands together in a satisfied manner and grinning happily, "Well now that that's been all sorted, and speaking of the Tournament, Headmistress McGonagall, perhaps we should dismiss the students so we can all watch the First Task?" He smiled brilliantly, and then hopped down to the floor beside the reporters. He hoped no one noticed his slight stumble — he still hadn't entirely recovered his balance.

Lockhart leaned over to Rita and whispered, "The First Task is Dragons. I have no doubt Harry will put on a spectacular performance for us. If you ask nicely, I'm sure that you could get several students — perhaps even Harry's girlfriends, Miss Granger and Miss Lovegood — to provide you with comprehensive memories of the Task while you prepare an article for this evening's Daily Prophet about what we just saw. And steal a march on all the other newsparchments." She gave him a startled look, then grinned. She grabbed Bozo and whispered into his ear. The photographer nodded. She hustled out of the Great Hall on her way to Hogsmeade and a floo.

Yaxley, under heavy Auror guard, left for a holding cell. Minister Bones left to deal with the issues of his proper interrogation. The students trailed out of the Hall and towards the Task viewing stands.

"Fear not, Harry," the Garry told the nervous student as they slowly headed over to the Champions tent, his friends following, stunned at the revelations they had just heard. "You will do fabulously. When you hop on your broom all your doubts will melt away."