In the darkness, a figure swayed back and forth in the Potions professor's office, as if rummaging through something.

Although the other party had already paid attention, after all, time was pressing, and Snape's potion storage cabinet and material box were still in a mess.

"What are you looking for? Compound decoction? ”

A voice rang out abruptly behind the desk behind the man, startling him to the core.

"Avada suo!"

With a "bang", a teacup was hit by a green light, and suddenly turned into a puff of powder in midair. Behind the desk, a white hand waved casually, dispelling the powder mist slightly.

"Barty Crouch, Jr., isn't it?" The voice sounded again, calmly with a hint of laziness, "Why, why didn't you come to me when you arrived at Hogwarts?" What to hide? ”

"Marca McKellen ......"

There was no light in the house, and both of them were hidden in the dark, and they couldn't even see their faces.

"Hmph......" Barty smiled wickedly, but the wand in his hand tightened his hand, "worthy of the wizard that Lord Dark Lord often mentioned...... Even Dumbledore didn't notice me, but you can keep it here......"

"Stop talking nonsense, are you all ready?" Maka said in an impatient tone, "The Dark Lord should have told you about the plan, but look at it, the first event has passed...... If I don't come to you, are you going to do it on your own? ”

"That's what the Dark Lord meant...... ......"Little Barty grinned, tongue sticking out like a snake and teasing it, "This plan is important to the Dark Lord, and there must be no mistakes...... Do you understand? ”

"Who do you think you're talking to?"

In the darkness, a sharp, invisible blade swept past Barty Crouch Jr.'s ears. He was startled at first, shrunk his head and touched his ear, and the belated tingling sensation suddenly spread.

"You—" He lowered his voice and let out an angry roar.

"I think I have to warn you first...... If you dare to delay my plans, I'll let you feel a soul magic that is even more terrifying than the Diamond Heart Charm. ”

Before he could finish speaking, a black mist skull rushed towards Barty Crouch Jr. at great speed.

He couldn't understand why the skull, which was also black, could be clearly "seen" in the dark. All he knew was that the skull was so fast that it appeared so suddenly that he didn't have time to dodge.

Immediately afterward, he felt a blur in front of his eyes, and then a pain came from his body that made him almost crazy.

The feeling was very similar to the pain of being punished by one's own master, but unlike the Diamond Curse, the pain came very quickly, as if it had turned on the power of the Diamond Curse to its maximum at once.

He could even feel his soul being pushed out of his body little by little by the black skull......

"Isn't this magic fascinating?"

With a wave of her wand, the skull dissipated into black mist again. Still sitting in the back chair behind his desk, he said in a gentle tone, "It's not like the Mind Drill Spell, and it will cause permanent soul damage over time - as long as I control the strength, it will continue until my mana is exhausted." ”

"How's that, isn't that cool?" He paused, then muttered to himself, "I think it's cool anyway......"

Little Barty had no strength to speak, he was half-kneeling on the cold floor, gasping for air, but his mind was unusually clear.

"The polyjuice decoction is at the bottom of the penultimate cabinet, and the largest bottle ......," Maca said suddenly, "leave what should be left, take what should be taken away, and then go back where it came from." ”

“…… I know. ”

Little Barty said weakly, honestly picking up a potion bottle from the cupboard, then took out an envelope from his bosom and carefully placed it on the desk.

"Then I'll go first......"

Maca didn't say anything, and Barty didn't care—now he just wanted to get out of here as fast as he could, away from the creature in front of him who was as feared as the Dark Lord.

"That's right......"

Little Barty stiffened and froze in place with his mouth half open.

"In the future, don't stick your tongue out in front of me again," Maca's voice took on the laziness of the beginning, but what he said made little Barty feel a chill in the back, "If you stretch it out again, I will make your mouth impossible to open for the rest of your life." ”

“…… Be. ”

He quickly closed his mouth and fled out of the office.

But little Barty didn't know that just as he closed the door, another person walked out of the office gently.

"Are you really planning to work with the mystery man now?" A slick and flirtatious voice suddenly sounded.

"What I did just now is what you are going to do." Maca didn't look back, he just spread his hands and said casually, "To be honest, I thought you wouldn't respond to my invitation." After all, you know, Hogwarts has been dangerous lately. ”

"I'm much bolder now than I used to be." The man smiled, "Besides, it's a rare opportunity to show off my skills, I don't want to miss it!" ”

"I'm wondering if you've been in the Muggle world so much that you don't want to go back to wizarding......" Maka said lightly, "I've heard that you're a Muggle Sir now—a rarity among wizards." ”

"I can't hang out with Muggles all the time, it's too boring......" he said in a brisk tone, looking smug, "I've taken advantage of this time to work on my magic." Now, I'm in need of a dangerous adventure! ”

"Then it's up to you," Maca nodded, "not to mention your magic skills, at least I can trust your acting skills...... Take this in and get used to it before the second event of the Final Three begins! ”

"What about you?"

Maca didn't say anything more, for there seemed to be movement outside—the sound was a little far away, but it was very noticeable in the silence of the night.

"You go first! Professor Snape is almost back......" he said, waving his hand, "I've got the script ready for you, and then you'll just have to finish your play and the script will be yours." ”

"No problem!"

The man patted his chest and quickly opened the door and left.

On the other side, on a certain staircase where something had just been made, Filch was screaming angrily.

"What are you doing here? Want to wake up everyone in the castle? I'm going to get you, Peeves, I'm going to catch you, you...... Hey, what is it? ”

Filch stopped.

Hear only a soft "click", the sound of mechanisms snapping into each other—Filch picked up a box, and he closed it.

"Box?" Filch whispered at the bottom of the stairs, "My precious cat! This is the clue to the Triwizard Tournament! A warrior who belongs to the school...... Whose is it? ”

"Peeves!" Filch shouted with joy, "You stole something!" ”

His horrible, saggy face and violent light-colored eyes were staring upward. It was a dark, empty staircase.

"Hiding, huh?" He whispered, "I'm coming to get you, Peeves...... You actually stole the clues of the Triwizard Tournament, Peeves...... Dumbledore will not spare you this time, you filthy, stealing, mischievous wild ......"

Filch began to climb the stairs, followed by his scrawny, gray-haired cat.

It was Mrs. Loris, Filch's cat—it was very spiritual, and it was staring at Filch's front as if he had found something.

"Filch? What happened? ”

Filch stopped and turned away.

There was a man standing at the bottom of the stairs...... That's Snape. He was now wearing a long gray shirt-style pajamas, but he still had a pair of mud-stained boots on his feet.

It's just that the cuffs of his pajamas seem to be too long, and it's hard to see what shoes he's wearing.

"It's Peeves, Professor," Filch whispered viciously, "and he threw the box down the stairs. ”

Snape hurried upstairs and stopped beside Filch.

"Peeves?" Snape whispered, eyes fixed on the box in Filch's hand, "This is Potter's ......"

He said, squinting his eyes sharply and looking around, with a hesitant look on his face.

"Professor, what are you doing here?"

"Of course not," Snape snapped, "I just heard a thud and screams—"

"That's right, Professor, that's the sound of the box dropping-"

"I'll just come and investigate—"

"—Peeves threw it, Professor!"

Filch kept talking, which made Snape smack his tongue impatiently.

"Alright......" he said unpleasantly, "I'm going to the office, you go ahead and look for it, if—"

Kick, kick, kick......

An unpleasant knock on wood caused Snape to stop talking.

Both he and Filch looked down at the bottom of the stairs, and it wasn't long before Mad-Eye Moody limped out. Moody draped his old travel cloak over his shirt-style pajamas, leaning on crutches as usual.

"Pajama party, huh?" He said gruffly towards the top of the stairs.

"Professor Snape and I hear some voices, Professor," Filch said immediately, "it's Peeves, who has a penchant for pranks, throwing things around like usual—"

Moody took another step towards the stairs, his enchanted eyes sweeping over Snape, and then, without question, landed somewhere next to the stairs.

Suddenly, his crippled eyebrows jumped slightly.