The next day, Phoenix took Draco to Hogsmeade. The silvery-white, faint sun shone on the grounds, and the weather was the warmest of the year.

He understood that Phoenix was in a bad mood, and the two walked silently on the path. The winding path led them to the wilderness fields surrounding the village of Hogsmeade. There are only a handful of cabins, but they have a large garden.

At the fence next to a garden, Phoenix stepped forward, leaning his upper body against it. Draco didn't know why they were coming, and looked at him with a questioning expression.

"You know what, the Dark Lord is coming back soon. Draco was startled, then delighted.

"That's not right—"

"Do you know what it means for him to come back? Do you know how many families were exterminated in the last war? Do you know that if he succeeds, many people will die if he lands on the European continent? You know very well what your father's identity is. ”

He froze in place, at a loss.

"Do you think your father will survive the brutal war? You've always treated me as a friend, and one day, if you need help, I'll help. ”

"Is it really that serious? I mean-" Draco immediately panicked when he saw what Phoenix was talking about. He never thought about the concept of death, and he was afraid and worried about losing his parents.

"It's only going to get worse, and by the time you see and understand the tactics, you're probably already in the middle of them. As a friend I don't want to see it. ”

"You don't support the Dark Lord. Draco understood what Phoenix was trying to say, but he wasn't too surprised, Slytherin wasn't all about supporting the Dark Lord, and many people were neutral and didn't get involved in the fight between the two archwizards.

"No, it's not about support or confrontation right now. He is not a good master, but your family has long been under his banner. So today, as a friend, I advise you, don't take sides easily. ”

Draco's expression was cloudy. Suddenly, a hind jumped briskly, and Snape's voice came out of its mouth, "I'm in the office." ”

As soon as the words fell, the hind disappeared.

"What?"

"It's nothing, someone is looking for me," the Patronus can be used to pass on information, "take the test, I'll go first." ”

Phoenix hurried back to school, Snape was in such a hurry to find him, did he really catch Crouch. He turned a corner, and Eden landed on his shoulder, with a direct apparition to Snape's office.

In a flash of fire, he was already standing in Snape's private storage room. Moody lay on his back on the ground, knocked unconscious. The entire storage room was smashed, and a brief and fierce battle probably broke out between the two.

"It's him," Phoenix was surprised, "to get the elixir." ”

Snape nodded, and immediately turned to leave. He conjured a chair and put Moody on it. Phoenix retrieved his curved bottle, unscrewed the lid, turned it upside down, and spilled a sticky liquid on the floor.

"Compound decoction, as expected. But who could it be?" Voldemort should have only Peter by his side, would he risk reaching out to his former men? Phoenix let go of his thoughts, and Snape returned.

Snape motioned for a move, and he raised his hand to stop him, saying, "No hurry. ”

Their eyes were fixed on Moody, unconscious in their chairs. Minutes and seconds passed in silence.

Looking at it, the face of the man on the ground changed, the pain gradually disappeared, the skin smoothed, and the mutilated nose grew and shrunk. The long gray hair is shortening and turning a yellowish color. Suddenly, there was a thud, and the wooden leg fell to the side, and a real leg grew. Then, the enchanted eyeball popped out of its socket, and a real eye took its place. The magic eyes rolled on the floor, still dripping and spinning.

Phoenix saw a man lying in front of him, with pale skin, slightly freckles, and light yellow tousled hair.

Crouch!" Snape froze in place, "Barty Crouch Jr."

"What? Crouch's son?"

"Yes, I was imprisoned in Azkaban, and I heard that he died not long after. Snape handed Phoenix a vial of clear liquid.

"I don't think anyone could have imagined that he was still alive and infiltrating Hogwarts a decade or so later. Phoenix opened the man's mouth, poured three drops of potion, and pointed his wand at the man's chest and said, "Revive!"

Crouch's son opened his eyes, his gaze blank and his cheeks flabby.

"Can you hear me?" asked Phoenix calmly.

The man's eyelids twitched a few times.

"I can hear you. He whispered.

"From the moment you met Voldemort, he told you what he was doing at Hogwarts, his plan. ”

Little Crouch took a deep breath with a shudder, and spoke in an emotionless, flat tone.

"One night, he came to my house with him in the tail of a pouncer. My master learned that I was alive. He captured Bertha Joggins in Albania. He tortured her and made her tell a lot of things. She told him about the Triwizard Tournament and told them that the old Auror Moody was going to teach at Hogwarts. The master continued to torture her until she broke the Oblivion Curse cast by my father. Bertha told him that I had escaped from Azkaban and that my father had locked me up at home and would not let me go to my master. Thus my master knew that I was still his faithful servant—perhaps the most faithful of all. Based on the information provided by Bertha, my master came up with a plan. He needed me, and he came to me in the middle of the night, and it was my father who opened the door—"

"How does Bertha know that you are still alive?"

Phoenix immediately stopped him with the question, saying, "No need to answer - it doesn't matter if it's the kind of question it asks now. I want Voldemort's plan and his state. You continue—"

The smile on Crouch's face grew even stronger, as if recalling the happiest time of his life.

"My father was cast a Imperius curse by my master. Now he is under house arrest and controlled. My master forced him to work as usual, as if nothing had happened. I was released, awakened, restored to my true nature, and regained a vitality I hadn't had in years. ”

"He asked me if I was willing to risk everything for him. I do. It is my dream to serve him and prove my loyalty to him, and it is my greatest wish. He told me he needed to install a cronie at Hogwarts. This man is going to coach Harry Potter in the Triwizard Tournament, and he has to do it unnoticed. He's going to spy on Harry Potter to make sure he gets the Triwizard, and he's going to swap the trophy for a portkey so that the first person who catches it can be brought to my master—"

"Wormtail and I did it. We prepared the compound decoction in advance and went to Moody's house together, and he resisted with great noise. We finally subdued him in time, pushed him into the dark room of his own magic chest, plucked him a few hairs, and added them to the potion. I drank the pills, turned into Moody, and took his wooden legs and enchanted eyes. When Arthur Weasley came to inquire about the Muggles that heard the noise, I was ready. I circled the dumpster around the yard, and I told Arthur Weasley that I heard someone break into the yard and turn the dumpster around. Then I picked up Moody's clothes and the Dark Arts Probe, packed them in a box with Moody, and headed to Hogwarts. I cast a Imperius curse on him, but I didn't kill him, I need to ask him questions, learn about his past, his habits, so that even Dumbledore can't see through it. I also need to use his hair for the Polyjuice decoction. The rest of the material was easy to get my hands on, I stole the African tree snake skin from the underground classroom, and when the Potions teacher found me in his office, I said I was ordered to search it. But there was no runny in his pantry at the time, and today, when I heard he was going to Hogsmeade for a drink, I took the risk of doing it again, and when I succeeded, I had enough weight to make it to the third project. ”

"Where did Wormtail go after you attacked Moody, and what was Voldemort's state?" asked Phoenix.

"He returned to my father's house and took care of my master while keeping an eye on my father. The owner is very bad, he needs a new body, and Harry Potter will be an important material.

There was silence, and then Phoenix said, "You're going to use the portkey to get Harry out?"