Chapter 452 The Pain of Scars
"Ding, first floor, the Office of the Minister of Magic."
The elevator stopped, and many paper airplanes flew in eagerly.
Dumbledore observed that there were obviously many more paper airplanes now than in Fudge's time.
There are many people entering and exiting the elevator, none of them is holding many things in their hands, and even their walking pace has accelerated.
The first floor is still so quiet, and the soft carpet absorbs the sound of footsteps very well.
Dumbledore walked slowly and soon arrived at the Office of the Minister of Magic.
To his surprise, the luxurious wooden door was not closed as tightly as it had been when Fudge had been there.
Instead, it was wide open, and paper airplanes flew out from inside from time to time. Looking in through the door, the huge wooden table purchased by Fudge was cluttered with all kinds of messy documents.
Barty Crouch was pouting and writing something vigorously on the parchment.
This is a completely different working situation from Fudge.
Dumbledore sighed. In fact, he had always believed that Barty was the most suitable to be the Minister of Magic, and everyone agreed so.
I just didn't expect that Barty Crouch Jr. would completely nail his father to the pillar of shame, and now he has become one of the most difficult problems for Voldemort.
He knocked on the door beside him.
The sound of "tuk-tuk-tuk" made Crouch raise his head. He was a little dazed and seemed to be still immersed in busy work. It took him a while to react.
He hurriedly dropped his quill and came forward with both enthusiasm and confusion:
"Albus? What brought you here? Could it be that something happened to the Super Goblet of Fire?"
Dumbledore smiled gently:
"No, the Super Goblet of Fire competition is a success and is in full swing. Barty, your vision is becoming a reality, and the little wizards are very motivated now.
The atmosphere in the school has also changed a lot. Our librarian, Mrs. Pince, told me that she had never seen so many young wizards in the library who were serious about studying. "
A satisfied smile appeared on Batty's somewhat haggard face:
“That’s really great.
Come, take a seat, my old friend. It must be something very important to bring you to my place. "
Dumbledore sat on his seat, looking at Barty's swollen face, deep bags under his eyes, and his efforts to hold himself together, he felt suddenly unbearable.
Although the wizarding world seems calm, both he and Barty understand that this is just the calm before the storm.
Voldemort was hiding, and even though the Ministry of Magic and the Order of the Phoenix tried their best, no clues were found.
This abnormal phenomenon worried both of them.
Once Voldemort appears again, he must be fully prepared.
Barty had been working toward that moment.
But even so.
Dumbledore sighed softly again:
"Barty, although I really don't want to tell you this, but I think you shouldn't hide it from me."
Batty's hand holding the cup stopped for a moment, and he said with a smile:
"Hide it from you? Albus, you really have a problem.
For the sake of an old friend, give me some tips. I'm so busy that I can't even touch the ground. "
Dumbledore looked at him, with extremely complicated emotions in his blue eyes, and said softly:
"Your son. Barty Crouch Jr."
Barty's smile disappeared, and he just held the water glass and placed it by the water, looking at Dumbledore silently.
Dumbledore even noticed that his hand holding the water glass was shaking a little.
"Did you - did you still find out? I knew it. I knew it." Barty's eyes were a little red, and his cheeks that were swollen from overwork were twitching. It was a kind of extreme loss and sadness.
Barty put down the water glass in his hand and suddenly took out a bottle of wine from under the table:
"Redcurrant rum, Fudge's favorite. I found it in a secret compartment under my desk. Would you like a drink?"
Dumbledore wanted to refuse, but looking at Barty's appearance, he said slowly:
“Then let’s have a drink”
The wine rippled in the crystal glass, carrying the unique spiciness and aroma of red currant rum. Barty picked up the wine glass and took a sip. He stared blankly at the exquisite chandelier on the top of the room.
"I knew that one day, sooner or later, that damn traitor would bring my reputation into disrepute!"
Turbid tears slipped silently from Badi's old face. He sniffed and said with a rich nasal voice:
"Dumbledore, I made a big mistake, a big, big mistake!"
Dumbledore took a sip of rum and said nothing. He also knew that he didn't need to say anything now. Barty only needed a listener at the moment.
Sure enough, Crouch didn't care about Dumbledore's reaction at all. He looked into the distant distance and murmured:
"Although I think my son should spend the rest of his life in Azkaban. After all, he did such evil things and he deserved it.
But my wife doesn’t think so. She is about to die and has been begging me bitterly to save our child, otherwise she will not find peace even if she dies.
Yes, she doted on little Barty so much, and it was her doting that brought little Barty to the situation she was in back then.
But I relented - you know, Albus, I couldn't look at my wife's thin, shapeless face, look her in the eyes and say 'no'! "
"I can understand, Barty. In fact, I think this is one of the greatest human emotions. The love of parents for their children will not disappear just because the children are willing. It is always there."
Dumbledore thought about his past. He once complained about everything and felt that Arianna's poor health was dragging him down, but it was not until later that he realized how wrong his thinking was.
So Dumbledore never thought that Barty shouldn't do such a thing. When emotions and reason go against each other, how many people can distinguish everything perfectly?
But this was wrong after all. Dumbledore was not prepared to judge Barty for his crimes immediately. He wanted to find out where little Barty was going first.
"What then, Barty?"
"I have been using the Imperius Curse to control him. When I was at work, I asked the house elf Sparkle to take care of little Barty. I broke his wand, thinking that this would stabilize him. I wanted to make him confused. to survive.
Everything was fine at first, my Imperius Curse was very effective, and the elf was very loyal, but one day—"
Barty continued to drink a large gulp of red currant rum, and the wine dripped down his well-trimmed beard, but Crouch, who always cared about image the most, ignored it at all. He seemed unaware. Continued:
“I wanted to ask Twinkle to send a document to Susan for me that day, but no matter how I called, Twinkle didn’t show up, which immediately made me alert.
I cautiously did not return home, but went to observe nearby, and sure enough I found some sneaky figures. Even from a distance, I could smell the rancid smell of Death Eaters! "
Batty's eyes sparkled, and the hand holding the crystal cup became harder and harder:
"From then on, I stopped going home. I kept changing my address. When I decided to run for Minister of Magic, I lived directly in the Ministry. It was the safest way."
He turned around and waved his wand, and the hidden door on one side of the office immediately opened, revealing a not too big room inside.
"Look, I live in the Ministry, so those Death Eaters can't do anything to me. Even - even Voldemort wouldn't have the guts to invade the Ministry of Magic."
"Not a bad idea." Dumbledore put down the wine glass, crossed his fingers on his lap, and said slowly: "So - you don't know where little Barty is going?"
A bitter smile appeared on Barty's face and he shook his head:
"I don't know - I have been using the power of the Ministry of Magic to find traces of him, but this damn thing is well hidden. He and his equally damned master are hiding in the shadows, sharpening their claws, ready to rush at any time. Come out and give us a fatal blow.”
Dumbledore sighed again. He felt that he had sighed a lot today.
"Dumbledore!" Barty suddenly leaned forward, called him by his last name, and said in an almost pleading tone: "Dumbledore! The reason why I came to run for the Minister of Magic is to correct my mistakes. mistake!
Believe me, I will do my best to destroy the Death Eaters and make up for the mistakes I made. As long as the matter is over, I can accept the trial of the Wizengamot!
I can go to Azkaban, but please, give me some time, I know what I did, but I am now"
He looked directly into Dumbledore's eyes and said word for word:
"Can't leave."
Dumbledore looked at him, at this man who was once the hope of the wizarding world and confirmed as the Minister of Magic, an anti-Death Eater fighter with a high reputation.
Look at his eyes that are swollen from exertion, look at his old face full of tears, look at the regret in his eyes, look at the small room next door, look at his piled desk, look at him forever Open door.
He admitted that his heart softened.
Things are changing for the better for the Ministry of Magic and the wizarding world under the leadership of Barty Crouch.
Dumbledore stood up slowly and nodded:
"When you go to trial, I am willing to be your defender and fairly explain to everyone the mistakes and achievements you have made."
Barty Crouch was stunned for a moment, as if he couldn't believe his ears.
When Dumbledore walked out of the office, he heard low sobs, and the emotions contained in the cries were extremely complex.
After the second project ended, the most wonderful thing for the little wizards was that they could get up close and personal with the warriors who had become big stars.
Everyone is eager to know the true situation at the bottom of the sea, and also wants to know the feelings of the person involved. They will always surround the warriors and ask questions.
Ron finally returned to normal after being in the community for a while, and then he was surprised to find that not only was he not laughed at, but he became an idol sought after by everyone.
Almost most people thought that Ron's performance at that time was extremely cool, which meant that for the first time in his life, Ron became the center of people's attention like Harry.
Zhang Xiao noticed that Ron told the story over and over again, slightly different each time.
He finally felt relieved, it seemed that Ron was finally back to normal.
Now Ron has become so conspicuous that his French girlfriend has almost become a pendant on his body.
In short, everything is developing in a good direction.
Harry no longer struggled with the matter of Astoria, because Zhang Xiao had no choice but to find Professor McGonagall. This old lady who was not very good at lying would do everything for the wizarding world and Hogwarts, circulating in his mind. After going through it countless times, I rigidly followed the script given by Zhang Xiao and said firmly that Astoria went home to rest.
In fact, Harry didn't have any doubts, because Professor McGonagall had always had this attitude.
After entering March, the weather became a little clearer, but every time they went to the field outside, the biting cold wind still made their hands and faces hurt.
The owls couldn't deliver the letter in time because the strong winds kept blowing them off target.
Malfoy caught the "Daily Prophet" that fell from the sky. In fact, it was Zhang Xiao's newspaper. There had been bad things written about the Malfoy family in the "Daily Prophet", so Xiao Ma stopped ordering it and turned to Zhang Xiao. Chic.
He turned over it, snorted from his nostrils, and frowned:
"Some boring stuff again."
The newspaper clattered in his hand, and Zhang Xiao heard Xiao Ma comment:
"Most of it is from the competition. Take a look at this article - "Interview with the Castrobushe Warriors""
Zhang Xiao swallowed the food in his mouth and asked curiously:
"They were interviewed again? Weren't they just interviewed before? I still remember their principal - it seems to be called Da Silva, right? He implicitly said that the competition was unfair. Dumbledore directly explained the question to us, and also Comes with a solution.”
"Yes, that old madman has no idea what he is talking about, ha! Dumbledore reveals the question? He thinks Dumbledore is someone like him."
Malfoy sneered disdainfully and quickly read a report, his sarcastic smile becoming more obvious:
"Zhang, listen to what they said - 'If this competition is held in Castrobushe, we will have absolute confidence to win the championship! Of course, the competition is not over yet, even if the first two rounds of this competition are , Castrobushe's results are not ideal, but we will still perform well in the third round'
Disgusting egomaniac! "
Zhang Xiao still wanted to say a few words, but he heard Harry's voice from behind.
"Zhang, after dinner, shall we go to the Room of Requirement?"
Turning around, Harry was surrounded by worried-looking Ron, Hermione, and Neville.
Harry rubbed his forehead and said with some distress: "My scar hurts a lot, and I had a nightmare last night."
"Potter, do you think your scar is-" Malfoy said something sarcastic out of habit.
But he found that Zhang Xiao's face suddenly became serious:
"Harry, your scar hurts? Come on, let's go there now."
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