Harry Potter and the Secret Treasures

The four of them gathered and crouched down by the hearth.

“Good evening, Evan, Harry, Ron, Hermione,” said Sirius with a smile. “You look good.”

“We’re fine!” Harry hurriedly asked, “Sirius, where are you?”

“12 Grimmauld Place, in the old house of the Black family!” Sirius replied. “It’s safe here. We don’t have to worry about being discovered or our conversation being overheard. All right, never mind me … say all you have guys.”

Harry and Ron spoke about Karkaroff’s abnormal performance in the morning. Hermione hesitated, and spoke about what happened in the castle last weekend night, with Evan adding a few words about Moody, who had broken into Snape’s office.

“Oh, Moody secretly went to Snape’s office at night?” Sirius came to interest.

That was true, but it was purely because Caresius wanted to get Gillyweed and dig a trap for Barty Crouch Jr. Now that Sirius was here, Evan intended to take this opportunity to give him some information. Then, ask about the Ministry of Magic’s tracking of Death Eaters, vampires’ exploration of the remains of ancient warlocks, and the situation of Barty Crouch to see if there were any new developments with Aurors.

Because Barty crouch Jr. was very dangerous, Evan didn’t tell Harry, Ron and Hermione about his fake identity and the truth about Moody.

They didn’t know about Occlumency and had never experienced such a thing.

He had talked to Dumbledore and agreed that it should be kept secret from others for the time being. Harry and Ron, in particular, would be unable to control themselves if they knew the truth.

Once discovered by Batty Crouch Jr., the consequences would be unimaginable.

It was OK to share appropriate information with Sirius, which would help him understand the current situation and make better use of Auror’s identity to carry out his work, and he would finally need his help to face Voldemort, provided that he wouldn’t run to Hogwarts because he was too worried.

“You don’t know Moody!” said Sirius, “I wouldn’t put it past Mad-Eye to have searched every single teacher’s office when he got to Hogwarts. I’m not sure he trusts anyone at all, and after the things he has seen, it’s not surprising. I’ll say this for Moody, though, he never killed if he could help it. He always brought people in alive where possible. He was tough, but he never descended to the level of the Death Eaters.”

“So, Snape might really have done something wrong,” Harry continued. “That’s why Moody…”

“It’s hard to say!” Sirius said slowly. “I’ve not finished, because what happened to you is really abnormal. From what I know about Mad-Eye Moody, if he were to search Snape’s office again, he would certainly not be so sneaky.”

“Yes, he publicly searched Snape’s office the day before yesterday … in front of everyone … we were all watching. Snape’s face was terrible,” said Harry. “But I think Moody must be looking for something. He probably knew Snape was doing something shady.”

“Harry, we should trust Snape. Dumbledore believes in him!” Hermione couldn’t help but say.

“Oh give it a rest, Hermione,” said Ron impatiently. “I know Dumbledore is brilliant and everything, but that doesn’t mean a really clever Dark wizard couldn’t fool him.”

“Why did Snape save Harry’s life in the first year? Why didn’t he just let him die?” Hermione asked.

“I don’t know, maybe he thought Dumbledore would kick him out.”

“I think you’ve both got a point,” said Sirius, looking thoughtfully at Ron and Hermione. “To be honest, ever since I found out Snape was teaching here, I’ve wondered why Dumbledore hired him. Snape has always been fascinated by the Dark Arts, he was famous for it at school. Slimy, oily, greasy-haired kid, he was. He knew more curses when he arrived at school than half the kids in seventh year, and he was part of a gang of Slytherins who nearly all turned out to be Death Eaters.”

In the flame, Sirius began to report their names one by one.

“Rosier and Wilkes … they were both killed by Aurors the year before Voldemort fell. The Lestranges … they’re a married couple … they’re in Azkaban. Avery … from what I’ve heard he wormed his way out of trouble by saying he’d been acting under the Imperius Curse … he’s still at large, and…” He named many Death Eaters imprisoned in Azkaban, and finally concluded, “But as far as I know, Snape was never even accused of being a Death Eater … not that that means much. Plenty of them were never caught. And Snape is certainly clever and cunning enough to keep himself out of trouble.”

“And Karkaroff!” Harry reminded Sirius. “You said he was also a Death Eater.”

“Yeah, he is also a Death Eater!” Sirius nodded and said, a bit confused. “But I’ve no idea what he showed Snape on his forearm. It’s really strange, but if Karkaroff is genuinely worried, and he’s going to Snape for answers…”

He stared at them four with a serious look, then made a grimace of frustration.

“Hermione is right, Dumbledore trusts Snape, and I know Dumbledore trusts where a lot of other people wouldn’t, but I just can’t see him letting Snape teach at Hogwarts if he had ever worked for Voldemort.”

There was a silence. Sirius stared at them for a while, and his eyes finally fell on Evan.

“Evan, have you found anything?” he asked softly, noting that Evan had not spoken.

“Karkaroff and Snape used to be Death Eaters after all. They’ve had common experiences in the past. It is not strange that they have any communication, especially under the current circumstances.” Evan paused and made a look at Sirius. “What is the situation in the Ministry of Magic? I heard that Mr. Barty Crouch is sick?!”

“Yeah, Fudge has been alerted about this, and the Ministry of Magic knows it up and down.” Sirius nodded knowingly. “Crouch suddenly became ill and could not work. It’s very strange … very abnormal, in fact. There have been no signs of his illness. Moreover, he did not go to the hospital, but he kept himself at home. At least that’s what we’ve seen from the outside. Only Percy would get his instructions…”

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