"I'm a student at the school," said Harry, pulling Crouch to his feet with his left arm while holding his wand in his right.
"You're not... his?" whispered Crouch, his mouth sagging.
"No," said Harry.
"Dumbledore's?" "Yes," replied Harry.
Crouch was pulling him closer. Harry tried to loosen the man's grip on his robes, but it was too powerful.
"Warn... Dumbledore..."
"We'll get Dumbledore if you let go of me," said Harry. "Come with me, Mister Crouch and we'll get him."
"Thank you, Weatherby, and when you've done that, I would like a cup of tea. My wife and son will be arriving shortly. We're attending a concert tonight with Mister and Missus Fudge."
Crouch was now trying to talk fluently to a tree again, and seemed completely unaware that Harry was there. It surprised Harry so much he didn't notice that Crouch had released him.
So, Harry latched onto the robes of the man's upper right arm with his left hand and began to drag him away from the tree line. Crouch then swivelled to look at Harry and said, "Yes, my son has recently gained twelve OWLs. Most satisfactory, yes. Thank you, yes; very proud indeed. Now, if you could bring me that memo from the Andorran Minister of Magic, I think I will have time to draft a response."
Crouch suddenly reached out with his right hand and snatched at Harry's left arm. "Don't... leave... me!" he whispered, his eyes bulging again. "I... escaped... must warn... must tell... see Dumbledore!... My fault... all my fault... Bertha... dead... all my fault!... My son... my... fault... Tell Dumbledore... Harry Potter... the Dark Lord... stronger... Harry Potter..."
Harry kept dragging the clearly delusional man away from the trees and towards the castle while he kept a close eye on the tree line. The further they got away from the trees the safer Harry thought they'd be. The safer he knew they'd be.
Harry had dragged a somewhat resistant Crouch partway back to the castle when he finally spotted staff running towards him with Cedric Diggory. Of all people, in the lead was Professor Snape.
Thinking fast, Harry said to the "I'm Harry Potter." And tried to dragging the man towards the castle.
man, keep
Crouch reached out with both hands and latched onto Harry, bringing both of them to their knees. "Mister Potter!" the man gasped, looking at Harry with wide, horrified eyes. "The Dark Lord!... He's... getting stronger!... He's coming back!"
By then Snape had reached them and was on his knees next to them. He was waving his wand over Crouch and muttering incantations!
"My son!" cried Crouch. "He's one of them! The Dark Lord... wants... your blood!" "Potter," said Snape. "Help me get him up!"
By then Diggory was back and helped get Crouch back on his feet as Harry almost viciously disentangled Crouch's fingers from his robes.
They'd just got the man on his feet when a jet of green light flared out of the treeline. Watching for it, Harry immediately dived at all three and tackled Diggory and Crouch to the ground.
Snape, seeing the tackle coming, managed to step back to avoid it. He also managed to avoid the curse in the process, as it flew over the three tangled bodies right in front of him.
He immediately spun towards the tree line with his wand drawn. "Get up, Potter!" he demanded, as he watched the trees. "Get up and get out of here!"
As Harry rolled off the pile, he surged to his feet with his wand drawn in a crouch as Diggory rose, almost terrified. He looked to the trees.
"Potter!" called Snape. "Get Diggory and Crouch and get out of here!"
Harry took one last look at the treeline and turned his wand on Crouch, who was still sprawled on the grass. Not even bothering to help the man to his feet this time he levitated him with a Mobilicorpus charm and ran with him back through the arriving Professors as Diggory ran after them both. Snape stayed and backed away from the trees, covering their escape.
Harry watched out of the corner of his eye as saw a messenger patronus flash away towards the Headmaster's office. It was Professor McGonagall's lynx.
Once Harry was through some of the staff, now with their own wands drawn and looking to the forest, he didn't even bother to look over his shoulder anymore. He just raced for the castle with Crouch in tow.
He met Madam Pomfrey coming out the front doors and called, "Infirmary, Madam Pomfrey! A man's been seriously hurt!"
"Put him down right here, Mister Potter!" she ordered. "I'll take a look at him first."
Harry spun and lowered Crouch to the ground as the medi-witch knelt down next to the man and cast diagnostic charms over him. She was still going as some of the staff were coming back. She was beginning to rise as Dumbledore came running out of the doors before almost skidding to a stop and looking around.
"Bartemius?" he asked, as he saw who Madam Pomfrey was working on.
"Yes," said Harry. "And someone just shot a bloody killing curse at us from just inside the edge of the Forbidden Forest!"
Diggory, panting his lungs out, said, "Yeah! And if it wasn't for Harry, they'd have got us!"
Dumbledore turned to give Harry a long look before he turned to Madam Pomfrey and said, "Take him to the Infirmary, Poppy. I'll investigate what's going on in the forest." Before he quickly moved off to where Snape was still watching the edge of the forest. "Take him to the Infirmary, he says," scoffed the medi-witch. "Where else would I take him? To the Ministry ball?"
She then turned to look at Harry and asked, "Think you can levitate him to the Infirmary, Mister Potter?"
"Yes, Ma'am," he replied. "No problem."
"Do so!" she said.
Harry immediately cast the Mobilicorpus charm back on Crouch and levitated him again. As he towed Crouch behind him and jogged into the castle and up the stairs, Madam Pomfrey kept pace and kept an eye on him.
As soon as they reached the hospital wing, Harry levitated Crouch onto the nearest bed as Pomfrey bustled about to bring a potions cabinet closer to the side of the bed.
"Well done, Mister Potter," she said as an aside. "I've got it from here."
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