Looks Like Professor Moody Has Finally Gone Crazy!

"I saw you fighting with Moody and Barty Junior, and I begged Professor Dumbledore to help, but he said you would be upset if he disturbed you," Hermione explained.

'No, I'd be delighted!'

Ivan didn't know what to say. He wasn't a battle-mad or witch-mad man, so how could he be in the mood to fight?

Ivan, however, understood that Dumbledore was merely making excuses. After all, what the professor was most interested in doing was "guiding" his students in secret, or saying profound things that would allow others to "understand".

He wondered if it was a bad habit that came from being a professor and headmaster for decades.

After saying goodbye to Hermione, Ivan quietly returned to the boys' dormitory.

Dawn was breaking, but the roommates were still sound asleep. Seamus was hugging his blanket and talking in his sleep, while Ron's snores echoed throughout the room.

After a long night's work, Ivan lay in bed, pulling off his shoes and socks in exhaustion, summing up the night's haul.

With Barty Junior dead and Harry safe, Lord Voldemort's careful planning was disrupted, much to Ivan's relief.

However, some gloom still hung over Ivan as he recalled Trelawney's prophecy.

[Darkness approaches… Shadows cover the sky, and the servants of the Dark Lord will escape… The wizarding world is about to change…]

Ivan frowned at the thought, which, according to Harry's description, was probably another true prophecy.

However, now that he had killed Barty Junior, Voldemort should not be able to revive. Would the outcome of the prophecy be changed?

Ivan looked vaguely uneasy, but then shook his head in self-mockery, remembering Peter Pettigrew talking about how Voldemort's resurrection ritual did not require Harry's blood.

Voldemort was obsessed with this because he had suffered at Harry's hands and wanted to avoid the spell that protected Harry, and planned to kill Harry himself in front of the traitors on the day of his resurrection, thus reestablishing his reputation!

Regardless, when Barty Junior died, Lord Voldemort had to re-plan his resurrection, at least to buy himself some time.

This happened to be what he lacked the most at the moment!

Yvonne drifted off to sleep as exhaustion overtook her.

… .

Early the next morning.

Ivan, who had managed to get three or four hours of sleep, was woken up by Ron with a yawn, and the group hurriedly ate breakfast before heading off to their Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson.

In fact, Ivan's first instinct upon seeing the timetable was to go back to his room and get some sleep.

After all, Moody had just been beaten up and had been discussing things with Dumbledore until the wee hours of the morning, so a normal person would have taken the day off.

However, Moody apparently had nothing to do with normal people, so he showed up to lecture them on Defence Against the Dark Arts as if nothing had happened.

It was only towards the end of the lesson that Moody bared his fangs.

He forced every young wizard but Ivan and Hermione to stand up and find out how he was different from his old self within the allotted time.

If she said something wrong, Moody would mercilessly berate her, causing the girls to almost cry.

"You are a great disappointment to me. There are so many differences, but Neville was the only one who noticed that my clothes were dirty and torn. Did no one see the scars on my arms and the replacement of my wooden leg?"

Moody lashed out, spittle flying into Seamus's face.

He had rushed over without washing his face in order to teach them a lesson in his current state, but was disappointed by the students' reactions — none of them had really noticed his unusual behaviour.

As he spoke, Moody showed off his new legs, which were still made of wood, but now beautifully russet.

"I want a report at least five feet long on the next lesson, on the differences, understood?" Moody growled, thumping the table.

… .

"It looks like Professor Moody has finally lost his mind!" Ron exclaimed as they left the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom.

"We're not Muggle detectives. Who's going to notice if he's got a new leg today?"

Harry nodded in agreement.

Hermione couldn't stand it any longer, and immediately retorted, "Professor Moody was right! You're so under-observant that if you'd only paid more attention, you'd have noticed some blood on the corners of his robes, which suggests…"

Hermione paused, unsure if she should reveal what had happened the night before. Professor Dumbledore had not asked them to keep it a secret, but neither had he allowed them to.

Harry and Ron were intrigued when Hermione mentioned blood, and asked, "What does that tell you?"

Hermione hesitated, but did not speak directly. Instead, she glanced at Ivan, and when he did not stop her, she glared at them in exasperation.

"Can't you see? It means Professor Moody's been in a fight!"

"Fight?" said Harry, bewildered.

Ron was also stunned for a moment before he blurted out, "Did he go after Snape last night?"

Yvonne rolled her eyes, wondering why they always associated her with Snape.

"It could be Karkaroff!" Harry said confidently.

Aside from Snape, Karkaroff was the most likely suspect, as he and Ginny overheard Snape and Karkaroff discussing something during the Christmas Ball.

"Neither!" Hermione shot them a sharp look, dismissing their speculation.

This only made Harry and Ron more suspicious, and they soon began questioning him relentlessly.

"Will you stop asking? Professor Dumbledore will probably tell you in a few days," Hermione said, annoyed that she had let the cat out of the bag.

Yvonne remained silent.

Now that Barty Crouch Junior had been executed, he was unsure whether Dumbledore intended to hide the news from Voldemort and then follow the trail to find a clue, or whether he would choose to publicly reveal the shocking news.

After all, Ron was a blabbermouth, and Harry had the potential to spill the beans, so there was no telling when these two would spill the beans…