"Professor Moody, the real one, will be fine by next week, and nobody needs to know that he's not the same person as before. He may need your help to make the transition smoothly enough and I count on you to do all you can to help him," she told the teens, after they all moved back to their apartment.
"We shall help as much as we can," Harry promised for them all. "Care to tell us what you found?"
Amelia sighed. "In a way, it's worse than I feared. The imposter is Barty Crouch Junior, a death eater who took part in some horrendous crimes and was sentenced to life in Azkaban. Somehow, his mother managed to make his father, Barty Crouch Senior, who's one of the judges at the tournament, help her change places with her son, using – as you can expect – polyjuice to achieve that goal. She was already dying when she did that and nobody knew it was not her son who died in prison. His father kept him locked at home, but he eventually managed to get free of the Imperius used on him and use it on his father instead. The man eventually tried to fight it, resulting in his current absence. We still need to look for him."
She stopped for a drink of water. "The most disturbing news, though, is that this imposter worked in the service of the dark lord and according to a plan that is meant to give the dark lord a new body while sacrificing you." Harry shuddered as he heard this, as did his wives. "Luckily, we may now use what we know and what we may discover under additional interrogation, if needed, to foil those plans and make sure that the dark lord will not rise again. This is also why we need to keep the whole affair secret, so that nobody can suspect that their sinister plan has already been discovered. If they find out, they may try a different plan and we may not be able to counter it on time."
..
With Madam Bones becoming his family and finding that she could trust his judgment on potential threats, Harry thought it was time to tackle the problems with Sirius.
"Are there any news concerning Sirius Black?" he asked her, feigning innocence.
She shook her head. "None, but that shouldn't bother you, I believe."
"Why? Isn't he supposed to be looking for me?" he asked.
Amelia sighed and sat on the sofa, motioning the youngsters to sit too. "During the summer, after what happened at the end of the school year, although I'd like to know some more about that too, I decided to check the case in depth, something I was unable to do before. To my surprise, I found that Sirius had never been on trial. He hadn't even been interrogated after his capture. He spent merely a few hours in the holding cells and was shipped to Azkaban even before his stunning wore out. That made the whole case quite suspicious. I then seemed to recall some facts and checked them against some old newspapers. Sirius Black is your magically sworn godfather, as announced in the Prophet, a few days after your birth. As such, he could not have betrayed you or your parents and still keep his magic, or even his life, depending on the exact phrasing of the vow. I now tend to believe he is innocent and was framed by another, possibly Peter Pettigrew, although that's just my hunch. However, some more powers were at play at that time. Some may even be at play now. Sirius had enemies within his family and out of it too. Also, Dumbledore did nothing to bring his case to light. I suspect that Sirius stood in the way of one or more of his 'grand plans' so he was sacrificed without a second thought. That's why I assigned the search job to Kingsley Shackelbolt, who is also a member of Dumbledore's Order of the Phoenix, so he knows well enough that Sirius is innocent. He knows he needs to report some activity but spend no real effort on catching the man."
Harry sighed with relief. "Sirius is innocent. Hermione, Ron and I captured Pettigrew at the end of the year and intended to bring him to justice, but professor Lupin forgot to take his wolfsbane potion and transformed, giving the traitor a chance to change into his rat form and escape. We tried to tell the minister, but he wouldn't hear us. Dumbledore only had some empty words for all, as usual."
Madam Bones seemed very interested. "Can you give me a copy of your memories of that night? I can then view it in a pensieve as if I was there."
Both Harry and Hermione agreed and Amelia instructed them on the right way to extract a copy and put it into a vial. Both only gave the memories up until they were brought to the hospital wing. They felt no need to dwell on the time travel and on rescuing the fugitive, especially since they were unsure who else might view the memories.
Amelia smiled. "I suspect you're in touch with Sirius… Don't say anything about that – I need plausible deniability. Anyway, if you can get in touch with him, tell him to keep his head low and have some patience. Even better, leave the country and stay somewhere else until the circumstances change. If one of the less reliable Aurors catches him, I won't be able to help him. Some come from dark families and some others are Fudge's lackeys, but I have to accept them all as long as they pass the requirements. Even so, We lack at least ten Aurors even for the regular peacetime activity."
Harry smiled back. "Thank you. I'll make sure he gets the message."
..
The next day, the Potters visited Hogsmeade. Harry had already asked Dobby to prepare a large basket with food and a thick blanket and wait to be called. Susan, who would have normally objected to meeting a fugitive, seemed quite eager to do just that, after her aunt made it clear he could not have been the criminal he allegedly was. Padma was also curious. She had no time to learn much more about the man since the Yule.
The large black dog was waiting for them a bit out of normal visiting area. It looked happy to see the teens and even licked both Harry's and Hermione's faces, despite their protests. It then led them a bit farther, into a crevice between some rocks, one that opened into a room-size cave. The dog changed into a smiling Sirius. "I've read about your wives. Now, care to introduce them?"
Harry was just too glad to comply. "You already met Hermione, Lady Potter. She's been my best friend since the first year. Padma and her sister were Ron's and my dates at the Yule ball. When I apologised for the way I acted at the ball it started something that eventually made me wed both Hermione and Padma, now Lady Gryffindor. Then when we visited Gringotts, I was told that as a Potter, I was also Slytherin's heir, and from Evans I inherited the Ravenclaw heirship. It was recommended that I try to cooperate with the Hufflepuff heir to take control of the school and free it from politics. We met Susan Bones for that, but it turned into a wedding, so Susan is now my third wife, Lady Bones-Hufflepuff."
"And you did all that in less than two weeks?"
Harry chuckled. "We also managed to rid the school of an imposter, just yesterday."
Sirius shook his head incredulously. "You're certainly a worthy son of a Marauder, Prongslet. I'm really proud of you."
He then lost his mischief. "Didn't you bring some food?"
"In a moment," Harry said placatingly. He then called, "Dobby!"
The house-elf appeared with the large basket, as previously ordered. He put the basket down and then looked around and frowned. While Sirius got busy checking the contents of the basket and eating heartily, Dobby clicked his fingers quite a lot, making the cave much more appropriate as a temporary home. Even Buckbeak, who took residence at the back of that cave, seemed relieved when most of his food residues were vanished.
Harry made sure to pass Amelia's warning and then added. "Now, since we control the school, I'll make sure that the tournament stays as safe as possible, and I don't care about winning. With our safety taken care of, I suggest you do as advised and hide somewhere safer. No need to tempt fate."
Sirius sighed. "You're probably right. I'll soon move to a safer place and start looking for ways to leave the country." His expression turned mischievous. "Now, I'd like to learn some more about your bonds and marriages."
Harry let the girls tell it the way they wanted. He was a bit surprised when they told Sirius almost everything, although they blushed quite nicely at some points. Sirius laughed heartily, temporarily forgetting his dire circumstances.
..
Harry had instructed Dobby to make sure Sirius had enough to eat and lacked nothing that he might need while in the cave. Two days later, Dobby informed him that Sirius moved away. "Dobby removed all signs of anybody ever living there and made the place look as if it was still in its natural condition," he added.
"You did well, my friend. I'm glad to have such a good friend," Harry told him, making Dobby beam with delight.
They didn't get any message from Sirius for a while. They didn't expect any. It took a few weeks before they received a first sign from him.
That morning, a very colourful bird stood out among the mail delivering owls. It landed in front of Harry and let him take the small parchment attached to its leg.
"Prongslet,
I managed to safely reach one of the places my ancestors built for similar situations. It's very well hidden and totally inaccessible to any uninvited guests. The weather is warm and the beach is sandy. I'm sure you and your wives would like it here very much. There's also a secluded beach that one can't see until one reaches it proper – very useful for hormonal teens, and I'm talking from experience.
Despite the distance, I have no problem receiving the Prophet or listening to the WWN, so I can be aware of any important changes.
Don't expect much mail from me. It was difficult enough to find this bird for a single delivery and it's even safer not to send any birds to and fro.
Stay safe and don't enlarge the family prematurely,
Your dogfather, Snuffles.
P.S. The flying beast found a closer place, where some females of its kind needed a male. Lucky bastard!"
..
With the imposter problem solved and Sirius safe, their thoughts returned to the upcoming second task. Harry couldn't think of endangering any of his wives as a hostage for the task, no matter how safe that was deemed.
"As Lord Hogwarts, you may legally cancel the task and even the whole tournament," Padma told him.
"I'm not sure how that might affect me, due to the magical contract formed by the goblet. Although it's now clear who put my name in, it's still not clear if I can leave the tournament with no consequences. It's safer to continue, but we can change a few things, to make it safer for all champions."
"What do you have in mind?" Hermione asked.
"Well, nobody but the champions should take any part in the tournament. This means – no hostages. I don't mind having to swim to the bottom of the lake, retrieve something, and come back, as long as that something is just an inanimate object. A plaque with the champion's name written on it should be enough."
Susan smiled at him. "It may be extremely cold down in the lake."
Harry shrugged. "I can handle it, as long as I know you're safe. Besides, I don't really care if I win, I only want to survive."
"We all want that. Becoming widows at fourteen is not in our plans, you know," Susan tried to tease him.
"That's true, Harry. We need you to make us mothers and to raise our children with. Don't even contemplate the alternative," Hermione said.
"I promise to do my best to raise with you as many children as you like," Harry replied solemnly.