Chapter 344: Chapter 344 The shadow is approaching
The sky grew a little brighter, it turned deep blue, and a pale shade of red light appeared from the horizon.
Felix stood in the crowd, somewhat understanding why Fudge was so wary of Barty Crouch, unsmiling, with an old-fashioned style and rigidity, and while Fudge was still struggling with what to do with the hooded people, Crouch was already issuing orders methodically.
"Take these thugs away," he said sternly, "and they will be interrogated until someone reveals who is responsible for this terrorist activity."
Fudge wiped his sweat, "Crouch ... Barty, you're making it way too serious ... they're just drunk and throwing a fit, with no serious consequences... ... I wouldn't agree with classifying it as terrorism ... if it weren't for the muggles involved, it only requires a fine."
"Oh, yeah? I'll judge it based on the results of the interrogation," Crouch said, his eyes fixed dead on the hooded men with their masks removed, "Some of them look familiar to me, pretty familiar ..."
Fudge cleared his throat, "Well, this is something we can talk about back at the Ministry - Scrimgeour!" He turned his head and looked around as Rufus Scrimgeour approached them with a brisk stride.
"I'll leave some men to you, you stay and handle the follow-up ... er, Pacification, I need to go back to the Ministry to solve the more difficult issues."
The staff of the Ministry of Magic hurriedly took out a batch of Portkey as they left with the people lying on the ground.
Rufus Scrimgeour arranged for the remaining people to put out the fire and pacify the crowd. A number of their family members might have wandered off, and the Ministry of Magic staff imbued themselves with a Sonorus, shouting through the crowd until their voices became hoarse.
There were also claims, complaints, grievances, and a chaotic mess of demands. Rufus Scrimgeour, with his good work quality, accepted it all as it was, and then calmly told them to go back and compile a list of the damage, as for whether the Ministry would compensate them or not, is not necessarily certain.
"Absolutely not possible! I'm sure that they won't compensate, we can only admit our bad luck." Sirius said with great confidence, Harry wanted to laugh, but he couldn't, so he just grinned cooperatively.
"All right, boys." Mr. Weasley said, "You guys go back to your tents and get some sleep, there are not many hours before dawn, and we've to wait in queue for the Portkey during the day."
Barty Crouch stayed behind, then he approached Felix.
"There's something I want to talk to you about, Mr. Hap." Crouch said with a stern face, "Let's find a place to talk about it, what do you think?"
"Sure," Felix smiled slightly, "Why not go to my tent, which is still intact."
They returned to Future World's tent, which is very spacious, with empty boxes stacked up in the corner along with two big dragon-shaped magic lamps, Crouch glanced at Clammy and Lupin and didn't say anything.
The two sat down, and Felix beckoned a jug of Lemonade.
"Thanks." Crouch said politely with a stern face, he couldn't wait to get to the point, "Mr. Hap, I want to thank you for stopping the riot in time without further serious consequences."
"More serious consequences?"
"Yeah, more serious consequences," Crouch repeated, looking sharply at Felix, "You didn't experience it, but I know what they are all about, and to be honest, according to the normal process, that Muggle family would not have survived."
"Normal process ..." Felix raised his eyebrows, "It can't be what I think it is, right?"
"Death Eaters." Crouch said indifferently, "They will torture muggles for fun, back when I was the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, I dealt with a considerable number of cases that hurt my heart. So I ordered the Aurors under my command to return the favour."
Felix fiddled with his goblet and mulled it over in his mind, and just then the curtain of the tent lifted, " Barty, I heard you are here ... ha, and so you are."
Ludo Bagman said under his breath, his face sweaty.
He pulled a chair over and sat between the two men, poured himself a glass of lemonade, drank it down, and let out a long breath, "What a day full of ups and downs, those fans-"
"It's thugs, Ludo." Crouch interrupted to correct him.
"Uh, well, thugs ...," Bagman asked, "What were you guys talking about?"
The words were just a lead-in though, as he immediately opened up the conversation and looked at Felix with a big smile on his face, "I'm so sorry I missed the good show, I was settling a bet with Roddy when you made your big entrance - he placed a big bet that Bulgaria would score the first goal, and as you can see ... I long saw through that the Bulgarian team can't win. Now, the Bulgarian team lost, so the payout was very high!"
"And little Agatha placed a bet with half the shares of her eel farm, a bit crazy ... but just in time to help me pay off a debt I borrowed from the goblins ..."
"Nobody wants to hear about your business," Crouch said impatiently, "we're talking serious business, now for once if you can realize that you're one of the people in charge of the camp."
Ludo Bagman looked at him uneasily, "But isn't it already over? The troublemakers were taken back to the Ministry, and the camp has Rufus, who is doing a much better job than I am ..."
Felix smiled and said, "Mr. Bagman, we were just discussing the topic of Death Eaters."
"Death Eaters ... what? Death Eaters ..." Bagman's round face began to sweat, "I, I don't quite understand."
Felix and Crouch both then ignored him, Felix wanted to know why Crouch had approached him, so he carried the interrupted conversation, "Mr. Crouch, you just said that the Death Eaters torture muggles for fun, do you think they did the trouble today?"
"I-can't-think-anyone-else," Crouch said, word by word, "Only they need to hide their heads to hide their inner cowardice and vileness, maybe this attack was to remind us of their former glory. It's a great way to remind us that the Death Eaters are doing well, even after they've been out of control for years."
His toothbrush-like moustache quivered, and his eyes bulged out, looking hideous. Felix even suspected that if a Death Eater stood in front of him, he could sink his teeth into their throats with a hard bite.
Bagman thought of the scene of his own trial at the end of the war, Crouch now looked the same as back then, so he could not help but shudder. From this viewpoint, we can see that Fudge's arrangement is considered a failure. Bagman does not have the courage to oppose Crouch, he befriended Crouch over these years because of the seeds of fear planted when he was brought to trial back then.
" Barty, perhaps, possibly ... " he was frightened, as he muttered incoherently for a while without being able to complete the words.
Felix has similar speculation, at this moment nodded and said, "The Dark Mark was the only thing that was actually missing today."
Crouch showed a contemptuous expression, "They wouldn't dare to do that."
Before the conversation ended, Barty Crouch seemed to state his real purpose: "Wizengamot has considered accepting you as one of us shortly, so perhaps you can join this trial in time. We need to be tough on these dregs."
Felix looked at his leaving back, feeling strange, was Crouch looking for help in Wizengamot, as far as he knew, Barty Crouch didn't have a good time now, there was even a rumour that Fudge intended to kick him out of Wizengamot.
But in fact, Fudge did not have the ability to do so, because the Wizengamot Wizard Council is rather a loose organization, each member usually has their own work, and will only come together when there are important affairs.
The actual leader, Dumbledore, who is the Chief Warlock of Wizengamot, should be the one that has that authority.
...
Barty Crouch left shortly after, taking leave of absence on the grounds that he is not feeling well, and disappeared from the camp, but he did not go far, as he appeared in the woods near the camp.
A black-robed cloaked figure stood in the mist motionlessly.
Barty Crouch's expression also became rigid, as if he was frozen in place.
The cloaked man lifted his hood to reveal his young face: "Master."
Barty Crouch's voice suddenly became hoarse and biting, "I went to see Felix Hap ..."
"What!" The cloaked man - Barty Crouch Jr said in a deep voice: " Won't it be too risky, My Lord ... we underestimated him before, but today we were there, and you saw through it with my father's eyes ..."
Barty Crouch's eyes turned bloodshot for a moment, his pupils became snake-like, and he said lightly, "Before making a plan, it is necessary to confirm who the enemies are ... As it turns out, he could not spot me ... Even That kid Harry Potter is more sensitive than him!"
" But what if he recognizes your disguise--" Barty Crouch Jr said eagerly.
Barty Crouch Sr. or Voldemort, said slowly: "The biggest advantage of my current state ... is that I can not be killed, perhaps, you still have your old feelings for your father?"
"No, My Lord!" Barty Crouch Jr fell to his feet and said reverently, "I hate him with a passion and ashamed to bear his name. Lord, he imprisoned me for more than ten years and made me live like a dead man until you arrived and freed me."
This relates to a past event. More than a decade ago, with the end of the war, the guilty were imprisoned in Azkaban, and Barty Crouch Jr. was accused, along with Bellatrix and the rest for torturing the Longbottoms into insanity, which Crouch Jr. denied at the trial and pleaded his father, who served as a judge, to believe him. The evidence at the time was not considered adequate, as the witnesses didn't see Crouch Jr. Coupled with the fact that his father was the judge presiding over the trial, there was a good hope that he would get away with the crime.
But unfortunately, Barty Crouch was so impartial, he had long identified the flaws in his son's sneaky behaviour, and in combination with the vague human evidence, he ultimately affirmed Crouch Jr.'s guilt and sentenced him to life imprisonment.
After that, Barty Crouch made a big mistake, he could not refuse his wife's pleas before she died, at the end of her life, she used Polyjuice potion to change into her son, then he swapped her body and let his son out of prison, later he kept him under control at home with the Imperius Curse, made the house-elf Winky take care of him, intending to just let him muddle through his life.
Until Sirius escaped from Azkaban, with the determination to kill Peter Pettigrew with life for a life, Which scared Pettigrew, so he then disappeared for months to locate Voldemort and learned about the Barty Jr. from Bertha Jorkins, then they broke into Barty Crouch Sr.'s house to free him while he was away, and by the time Barty Crouch Sr. returned from work he was sneaked up by his own son and Peter Pettigrew as they used an Imperius Curse to control him.
...
Voldemort said with an emotionless voice: "What if I ask you to kill your own father with your own hands?"
"I will be very happy to carry out your orders!"
"No need to rush," Voldemort let out a chilling laugh, "Barty Crouch is still useful, but he nearly spoiled our plan by narrowly escaping my control in front of that fool Fudge, probably because of the fact it was too painful for him when I hid in his mind that inadvertently cut the effect of the Imperius Curse. "
Barty Crouch Jr. pondered, "Will we be caught by surprise?"
Voldemort sneered: "There is no evidence, and at best some probing, but the fight for supremacy can not be done without your father, things will develop in the direction we expected, the only pity is that I can not maintain this state for too long ... the loss of the Wormtail is not quite convenient."
"Lord, it's all my fault."
"Well," Voldemort said, "Proceed as planned, we will head back to your home first, I need to rest for a while, after that we will find that Mad-Eye Moody, he is not someone easy to deal with, we must set up a trap."
" Lord, it is not easy for you to have a form, I can do it by myself ... I can simply, let Winky..."
"Since when can house-elf also do things for Voldemort?" Voldemort said grimly: "If Barty Crouch is exposed, it does not matter, I have found a way to open a curtain up."
" My lord?"
"That Black family boy gave me an inspiration, don't you want to appear in front of the world openly? Just let him die to prove your innocence."
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