"Durmstrang's headmaster is a Death Eater?"

Hermione's mouth opened wide, and Harry slowly turned his head to look at the Durmstrang students at the bar who were arguing for Mrs. Rosmerta to continue serving, he remembered the still friendly Krum, and said with difficulty, "How is this possible, how can this school allow--"

"Hmph--"

Sirius sneered,

"There are so many strange things in this world. Seriously, Karkaroff wasn't a daring guy, I thought he wouldn't dare to set foot in this country again in his life, I didn't expect him to have the courage to take his students to the Triwizard Tournament, and dare to appear in front of Moody and Crouch but that's it at most, I bet that if there was some news that his old master was coming back, he would definitely run faster than anyone else. He must have known that his actions back then would not be forgiven—"

Sirius paused, then continued,

"This guy wasn't a magnanimous guy either, so he hated Dumbledore for stopping Voldemort back then, or maybe Amosta had beaten him and made Hogwarts the Triwizard Tournament host. It's not impossible. ”

Hermione still couldn't imagine that Krum's headmaster had played for Voldemort, that he had helped them in the World Cup, and just a few days ago, Krum had given her a little idea of how to deal with the tournament project.

"But--"

Hermione bit her lower lip,

"I don't understand, even though Karkaroff was a Death Eater, why did he find me, didn't make sense, I had never met him before he came to Hogwarts. He can't just pick one, can he? ”

Faced with this question, Sirius didn't seem so sure, apparently, he had been thinking about it all these days,

"yes. If he finds Harry. That's so much easier to understand--"

Harry's face darkened, but anything that had to do with Voldemort was inseparable from him.

Unable to figure it out, Sirius looked a little melancholy, leaning back in his chair, staring at the ceiling silently with his head tilted up, looking preoccupied.

"If—"

Harry was following this train of thought, and he wrinkled his brow with difficulty, "If Karkaroff had heard of your name a long time ago."

Harry noticed Hermione looking at her in amazement, so he quickly explained,

"The World Cup, Krum will definitely mention it to his principal when he comes back to school, and he will probably tell Karkaroff that he helped you in the game box, so Karkaroff wrote it down."

It's not impossible, it's just a bit far-fetched, and neither Hermione nor Sirius has any indication of it.

"It's just my opinion and Moody's that Karkaroff is the murderer, and the truth doesn't have to be that-"

After a long moment, Sirius said, and then, he glanced quickly at Harry and Hermione's chairs, and his expression became a little hesitant,

"Actually, there's something you don't know about, and I don't know if I should share it with you, because I promised to keep it a secret."

"Oh, let's talk about it, Sirius, we'll keep it a secret!"

Harry and Hermione looked at each other, and Harry was immediately interested.

"Well, then don't forget to keep it a secret—"

Sirius leaned over and lowered his voice, looking mysterious,

"Actually, the day after you were chosen as a Warrior, Hermione, I received a letter from Amosta who asked me for something. He told me to try to keep an eye on Barty Crouch and to pay attention to some of his initiatives in the ministry so that no one could find out."

"Bar-Barty Crouch—" Hermione stammered, dumbfounded.

"Professor Bryan told you—" Harry said with a cold breath.

This was completely unexpected, and they never imagined that Professor Bryan would suspect Barty Crouch.

That's Professor Blaine, and if he had to make a choice, neither Hermione nor Harry would trust Professor Blaine's judgment more!

But that's bizarre, isn't it! Why did a well-known high-ranking official of the Ministry of Magic implicate his intrigues with an unknown underage wizard?

Hermione and Harry were both desperately thinking, and then, suddenly, they looked at each other with a blank look in their eyes.

It's not like they haven't dealt with Barty Crouch, and on the night of the Quidditch final, they snuck into a ruined Quidditch arena together to help Harry retrieve his wand, where they encountered another gruesome incident.

At that time, Hermione and Crouch had an argument, and Hermione reprimanded Crouch for abandoning his house-elf Shine, when everyone had basically agreed that Twilight would not be the one to conjure the Dark Mark.

Harry couldn't wait to tell his guesses, and then eagerly waited for Sirius to make an assessment.

"Don't think about it, Harry--"

To Harry's annoyance, Sirius didn't agree with his conjecture for the second time, and he said with a smirk,

"If Barty Crouch had hated Hermione for this, what could he have done, he wouldn't have been where he is today. I'm telling you about this, I just think it may or may not have something to do with Hermione's selection as a Warrior, you know, Amosta's conflict with Barty Crouch is actually more complicated than you think, and it involves politics. Forget it, that's not something you should know. ”

"That is--"

Hermione probably understood Sirius' purpose for calling them out today,

"You want to warn us to be careful of Headmaster Durmstrang and Barty Crouch, don't you?"

"Also, you have to be wary of that warrior at Karkaroff School, Hermione-"

Sirius said solemnly,

"Of course, I know he helped us in the Quidditch Final, but at the time, he wasn't your opponent or maybe you've seen it in the books, Durmstrang's school was different from Hogwarts, their teaching style has always been more savage, I know what I mean, if there is a chance to play a black hand, I don't think he will mind letting go of a good opportunity to eliminate a competitor.

I've heard that it's a tradition to teach dark arts at this school, so it's not hard to understand that they would hire a wicked Death Eater as their headmaster. ”

Hermione and Harry stared at each other under the Cloak of Invisibility, and while they didn't refute Sirius, it was clear that neither of them agreed with Sirius' assessment of Krum.

Towards lunchtime, the Three Broomsticks Bar was filled with locals, villagers and students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. Someone had their sights on Harry and Hermione's seats, but Sirius refused on the grounds that they were waiting for someone.

Sirius told them something very valuable during this meeting, but to be honest, Harry was a little disappointed, and he hoped that Sirius would directly target the killer and tell them that the murderer had singled out Hermione as a warrior.

Outside the window, it was foggy and rainy, and not far away, on the top of the mountain that had been eaten away by the greenery, the screaming shacks quietly watched the quiet village at the foot of the mountain, and the blurry Hogsmeade was like a village lost in time, ancient and full of mystery.

"There's something I want to bring you out this time to draw your attention, Harry--"

After a moment of silence, Sirius began to speak again, his voice soft, but both Harry and Hermione could see the caution in Sirius' tone.

"What?"

Harry realized that Sirius had saved the matter for the end, and probably, that was what he couldn't wait to call himself out.

"Remus and I have been in correspondence to talk about some of the recent situation. Not to mention the World Cup, you all know what's going on, the Ministry of Magic has been investigating the masked wizards who launched the World Cup attack, and we did find some clues, there is gossip that those fake Death Eaters are actually hired and that behind them, there may be a real Death Eater."

Sirius's claims are completely different from what the Ministry of Magic released in the Daily Prophet at the time, but which one is more credible is a question that doesn't need to be thought over.

Harry frowned, listening carefully.

"--There are many signs that the Death Eaters are becoming active, and how can these cunning embryos who have been in the gutter for more than ten years have the audacity, you know, there is not only Dumbledore in the wizarding world now, but also Amosta, unless-"

Unless what?

There is only one possibility, and that is that these Death Eaters may have sensed that their masters were growing.

"A lot of people are staring at Hogwarts, staring at Dumbledore and Amosta, and at this time, the Triwizard Tournament held at Hogwarts is in a situation again, and it's hard not to think about it, so, Harry, I want you to be as vigilant as possible at school, and if you notice something wrong, don't take any chances, Dumbledore, Amosta or Moody are all trustworthy people, let them solve the problem."

(End of chapter)