When Fudge walked into the same historic Crouch House, he was greeted by a strong sense of heaviness.

The living room is spacious, but so spacious that it feels a little lonely.

Without much arrangement, Fudge's eyes quickly focused on the emaciated old man sitting in the living room.

Barty Crouch.

When he got home, he wore relatively loose clothes and enjoyed afternoon tea alone in the living room.

"You'd better tell me something useful, Connelly."

Even if he transferred to the Department of International Exchange and Cooperation, the tough character and attitude of Barty Sr. still haven't changed.

He didn't mean anything polite to Fudge, who was now the Minister of Magic.

He has been an official in the Law Enforcement Department for almost his entire life, and this attitude cannot be changed no matter what.

"Of course, this is a very important matter, otherwise I wouldn't have come here to look for you."

Forcibly suppressing the dissatisfaction with old Barty in his heart, Fudge took a deep breath.

He didn't care that Old Barty didn't treat him as a guest, but just groped out the letter that Dumbledore had written to him from his bosom.

"I think you should take a look at this."

"Huh?"

After seeing the letter that Fudge had pushed over, Barty Sr. instinctively frowned.

Seriously, he didn't like Fudge.

The position of Minister of Magic, which should have belonged to him, is one thing, and more importantly, as soon as Fudge takes office, it means that the Ministry of Magic has completely entered a state of 'détente'.

His approach, his proposal, directly changed some of the atmosphere within the Ministry of Magic, and completely exposed some messes that could have been suppressed.

"There's something you can't handle right now."

With a slight snort, Old Barty opened the letter.

And when his gaze swept to the first word on the letter, the indifference on his countenance disappeared completely.

"It's Dumbledore's handwriting."

"Yes, Albus wrote it to me, and I think you should take a closer look at it."

There was no need for Fugid to say anything, old Barty had already swept it clean at a glance.

At this point, whether it is doubts or dissatisfaction, these are completely gone, and all that remains is a touch of solemnity.

"Peter is still alive, and he was captured by Dumbledore......"

"Yes, you also saw that he even mentioned the mystery man in his letter, which is obviously threatening me with some false things!"

Fudge may seem indignant, but his words are very interesting.

"You yourself said that it was nothing, but now, ten years later, you still don't want to call him by his name."

“……”

It was just a fluttering sentence, but the current Mr. Minister was speechless.

"After all...... After all, some of his remnants have not been fully caught until now. ”

"You deliberately let it go, it's not that you didn't get completely caught."

In the face of Barty Sr.'s unrelenting words, Fudge only responded with an embarrassed smile.

Now he couldn't get angry with Barty Sr.

"Anyway, it's a big deal, Barty...... There were so many people who knew about Siris and Peter—whether it was you or me, or anyone else. ”

And when it came to that, Barty Sr. understood what Fudge was trying to say.

"If this matter were to be overturned entirely, it would inevitably deal a great blow to the prestige of the Ministry of Magic."

"So you want me to cover it up for you?"

Gently pushing the seemingly ordinary letter forward, he spoke.

"Actually, I don't need you to do anything about it, I just hope you can understand the seriousness of this matter...... After all, you were the director of the Law Enforcement Division, and this matter was also done by you. ”

"yes, I know."

After a moment of silence, Old Barty whispered.

"You can take Rufus with him, I don't think he's going to let you down."

"But, just like you, sometimes he is very rigid in doing things......"

"It's okay, you can come with my handwritten letter."

After about ten minutes, Fudge left Crouch's old mansion satisfied.

Although Barty Sr.'s attitude made him a little unhappy, it was still expected by him on the whole—Crouch was still an official of the Ministry of Magic after all.

Barty Sr. may be tougher in terms of attitude, but he is actually the same person as Fudge in his bones.

They are more concerned about the prestige of the Ministry of Magic and even their own interests than the so-called truth of the facts.

In that kind of thing, the truth doesn't matter.

In addition, he is finally a useful person on his side - the director of the Auror department: Rufus Scrimgeur.

Fudge had always taken the man as serious as a lion with him, but in fact, he was not a figure of Fudge's own faction.

His means, his attitude, all prove his relationship with Barty Crouch Sr.

"It's a shame that Amelia has turned a blind eye to my solicitation until now......"

After all those important things, Fudge only felt that the clouds in the sky seemed to have completely dissipated, and although the sun was almost setting, the light made him feel very pleasant.

"The future is bright......"

Thinking about the upcoming Quidditch World Cup and the donations Lucius had promised, Fudge felt that his resume should look pretty good.

It is conducive to re-election, and it is even more conducive to leaving a resounding name in the history of the wizarding world!

"Why don't you go back and have a couple of drinks."

Obviously, the matter was not completely done, but Fudge's mind had already drifted to those things in the future.

On the other hand, old Barty looked gloomy.

When the glow that seemed bright to Fudge's eyes shone into the Crouch family's old mansion, the light almost completely vanished, leaving only a dull glow.

Even old Barty, who was in the living room, had already lit the simple oil lamp with magic.

After a moment's hesitation, he slowly got up and walked to his study, but he didn't stop at his desk.

Gently waving his wand at a floor-to-ceiling painting in the study, a rope hooks a small house in the portrait.

With tugging, the hut in the portrait quickly approached, forming a door with the floor-to-ceiling frame.

"Crunch"

As the secret door opened, Barty Sr. walked down the stairs into the basement - this was the Crouch family's dark room, which was originally used to hold some enemies belonging to the family, or to house some unspeakable secrets.

And now, there is a man hidden here, a man who needs to hide his body with an invisibility cloak even in the secret room.

'Whew'

Flipping the cloak, a tremor appeared on Old Barty's otherwise incomparably tough countenance.

After hesitating for a moment, he looked at the handsome young man.

"Kid ......"

"Hehe......"

But there was no response from the man.

He tilted his head back and smiled mockingly but maniacally, much to the startle of old Barty.

"I hear you."

He whispered.

"You talked to Fudge about that bale of straw about the man...... Voldemort, he's still alive, isn't he? ”

His name is the same as that of Barty Sr., and if he could be out and about, he would probably be called by others:

Barty Crouch Jr.!