Harry Potter 04 - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

you ask me, he still thinks he can bring back the old popularity by catching one more Death Eater.’
    ‘And he sneaked up here to search Snape’s office!’ said Ron triumphantly, looking at Hermione.
    ‘Yes, and that doesn’t make sense at all,’ said Sirius.
    ‘Yeah, it does!’ said Ron excitedly.
    But Sirius shook his head. ‘Listen, if Crouch wants to investigate Snape, why hasn’t he been coming to judge the Tournament? It would be an ideal excuse to make regular visits to Hogwarts and keep an eye on him.’
    ‘So you think Snape could be up to something, then?’ asked Harry, but Hermione broke in.
    ‘Look, I don’t care what you say, Dumbledore trusts Snape –’
    ‘Oh, come off it, Hermione,’ said Ron impatiently, ‘I know Dumbledore’s 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, then? Why didn’t he just let him die?’
    ‘I dunno – maybe he thought Dumbledore would kick him out –’
    ‘What d’you think, Sirius?’ Harry said loudly, and Ron and Hermione stopped bickering to listen.
    ‘I think they’ve both got a point,’ said Sirius, looking thoughtfully at Ron and Hermione. ‘Ever since I found out Snape was teaching here, I’ve wondered why Dumbledore hired him. Snape’s always been fascinated by the Dark Arts, he was famous for it at school. Slimy, oily, greasy-haired kid, he was,’ Sirius added, and Harry and Ron grinned at each other. ‘Snape 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.’
    Sirius held up his fingers, and began ticking off names. ‘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. 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’s certainly clever and cunning enough to keep himself out of trouble.’
    ‘Snape knows Karkaroff pretty well, but he wants to keep that quiet,’ said Ron.
    ‘Yeah, you should’ve seen Snape’s face when Karkaroff turned up in Potions yesterday!’ said Harry quickly. ‘Karkaroff wanted to talk to Snape, he says Snape’s been avoiding him. Karkaroff looked really worried. He showed Snape something on his arm, but I couldn’t see what it was.’
    ‘He showed Snape something on his arm?’ said Sirius, looking frankly bewildered. He ran his fingers distractedly through his filthy hair, then shrugged again. ‘Well, I’ve no idea what that’s about … but if Karkaroff’s genuinely worried, and he’s going to Snape for answers …’
    Sirius stared at the cave wall, then made a grimace of frustration. ‘There’s still the fact that 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’d ever worked for Voldemort.’
    ‘Why are Moody and Crouch so keen to get into Snape’s office, then?’ said Ron stubbornly.
    ‘Well,’ said Sirius slowly, ‘I wouldn’t put it past Mad-Eye to have searched every single teacher’s office when he got to Hogwarts. He takes his Defence Against the Dark Arts seriously, Moody. I’m not sure he trusts anyone at all, and after the things he’s seen, it’s not surprising. I’ll say this for Moody, though, he never killed if he could help it. Always brought people in alive where possible. He was tough, but he never descended to the level of the Death Eaters. Crouch, though … he’s a different matter … is he really ill? If he is, why did he make the effort to drag himself up to Snape’s office? And if he’s not … what’s he up to? What was he doing at the World Cup that was so important he didn’t turn up in the Top Box? What’s he been doing while he should have been judging the Tournament?’
    Sirius lapsed into silence, still staring at the cave wall. Buckbeak was ferreting around on the rocky floor, searching for bones he might have overlooked.
    Finally, Sirius looked up at Ron. ‘You say your brother’s Crouch’s personal assistant? Any chance you could ask him if he’s