"Ding, first floor, the Office of the Minister of Magic."

The elevator stopped, and a lot of paper airplanes couldn't wait to fly in.

Dumbledore observed that there were obviously a lot more paper airplanes now than there were in Fudge's time.

There are a lot of people in and out of the elevator, and none of them are holding a lot of things in their hands, and even the pace of walking has accelerated.

The first floor is still so quiet, and the soft carpet absorbs the footsteps well.

Dumbledore walked slowly, and soon found himself in the office of the Minister of Magic.

To his surprise, the lavish wooden door wasn't as closed as it had been when Fudge was there.

Instead, it was wide open, and from time to time paper airplanes flew out of it, and looking through the door, the huge wooden table that Fudge had purchased was cluttered with all sorts of papers.

Barty Crouch was pursing her lips, scribbling the parchment.

This is a very different state of work from Fudge.

Dumbledore sighed, in fact, he had always thought that Barty was the most suitable person to be Minister for Magic, and everyone thought so.

It's just that he didn't expect Barty Crouch Jr. to completely nail his father to the pillar of shame, and now it has become one of the most difficult troubles on Voldemort's side.

He knocked on the door beside him.

The sound of "tuk-tuk" made Crouch look up, he was a little dazed, as if he was still immersed in his busy work, and it took him a moment to react.

hurriedly dropped the quill and greeted him with enthusiasm and confusion:

"Albus? What wind is blowing you over? Could it be that something is wrong with the Super Goblet of Fire? ”

Dumbledore smiled gently:

"No, the Super Goblet of Fire tournament is a success, it's in full swing, Barty, your vision is becoming a reality, and the little wizards are now full of energy.

The atmosphere at the school has changed dramatically, and our librarian, Mrs. Pince, told me that she had never seen so many serious little wizards in the library. ”

A satisfied smile appeared on Barty's somewhat haggard face:

"That's great.

Come, sit down, my old fellow, it must be something very important for you to come to me. ”

Dumbledore sat in his seat, looking at Barty's puffy face and deep bags under his eyes, as well as his strong spirit, and suddenly felt a little unbearable.

Although the wizarding world seems to be calm, both himself and Barty understand that it is just the calm before the storm.

Voldemort was hidden, and even with the best efforts of the Ministry of Magic and the Order of the Phoenix, no clues were found.

This anomaly worries both of them.

Once Voldemort reappeared, he must have been well prepared.

Barty has been working hard for that moment.

But even so.

Dumbledore sighed softly again:

"Barty, as much as I hate to tell you that, I don't think you should hide it from me."

Barty's hand holding the cup paused for a moment, and he said with a smile:

"Hiding it from you? Albus, you're in a real problem.

For the sake of my old friend's face, give me a hint, I'm so busy that my feet are almost on the ground. ”

Dumbledore looked at him, his azure eyes filled with mixed emotions, and said softly:

"Your son. Barty Crouch, Jr. ”

Barty's smile vanished, and he held the glass to the water's edge, looking at Dumbledore in silence.

Dumbledore even noticed that his hand holding the glass was shaking a little.

"You- did you find out anyway? I knew it. I know" Barty's eyes were a little red, and his cheeks, a little puffy from overwork, twitched, and it was a great sense of loss and sadness.

Barty put down the glass of water in his hand, and suddenly took out a bottle of wine from under the table:

"Redcurrant rum, Fudge's favorite, I found it in a secret compartment under my desk, would you like one?"

Dumbledore wanted to refuse, but looking at Barty's appearance, he still said slowly:

"Let's have a drink."

The wine rippled in the crystal glass, with the spicy and aromatic characteristic of red currant rum, and Barty took a sip of the glass and looked up to the sky, staring blankly at the exquisite chandelier at the top of the room.

"I knew that. Sooner or later, there will be that day. That damn rebel is going to discredit me! ”

Cloudy tears slipped silently down Barty's old face, and he sniffed and said in a thick nasal voice:

"Dumbledore, I made a big mistake, a big, big mistake!"

Dumbledore took a soft sip of rum and didn't speak, he knew he didn't need to say anything now, Barty just needed a listener at the moment.

Sure enough, Crouch didn't care about Dumbledore's reaction at all, his eyes looked into the distance of nothingness, and muttered:

"Although I feel that my son should spend the rest of his life in Azkaban. After all, he deserved to do such a wicked thing.

But my wife didn't think so, she was dying, and she kept begging me to save our children, or she would not have peace when she died.

Yes, she dotes on little Barty so much, and it was her doting that brought little Barty to the situation he was in back then.

But my heart relented - you know, Albus, I couldn't look into my wife's thin, impersonal face and look into her eyes and say 'no'! ”

"I can understand, Barty, in fact I think this is one of the greatest human emotions, that the love of parents for their children does not disappear because the child wants to or not, it is always there."

Dumbledore remembered his past, he used to complain about the heavens and felt that Arianna, who was not in good health, had dragged him down, but it was only later that he realized how wrong his thoughts were.

So Dumbledore never thought that Barty shouldn't do such a thing, and when emotion and reason are contrary to reason, how many people can tell everything perfectly?

But this matter is wrong after all, Dumbledore is not ready to try Barty for his crimes immediately, he must first find out where little Barty is.

"And then, Barty?"

"I've always used the Imperius Charm to control him, and when I was at work, I had the house-elf Twilight take care of little Barty, and I snapped his wand, thinking it would keep him safe, and I wanted to let him live in a mess.

Everything was fine, my Imperius spell was very effective, and the elves were loyal, but one day—"

Barty continued to pour a large sip of redcurrant rum, which dripped down his well-trimmed beard, but Crouch, who had always cared most about the image, ignored it completely, and continued as if unconsciously:

"I tried to ask Sparkle to help me deliver a document to Susan that day, but no matter how much I called, Twinkle didn't show up, which immediately made me wary.

I cautiously didn't go home, but went to the neighborhood to observe, and sure enough, I found some sneaky figures, and even from a distance, I could smell the rancid smell that belonged to the Death Eaters! ”

Barty's eyes sparkled, and the hand holding the crystal cup became harder and harder:

"I haven't been home since then, I've kept changing my address, and when I decided to run for Minister of Magic, I went straight to the Ministry, which was the safest."

He turned his head and waved his wand, and on one side of the office, the hidden door immediately opened, revealing a not-so-large room inside.

"Look, I'm all living in the Ministry, so those Death Eaters can't do anything about me, even - even Voldemort doesn't have the guts to invade the Ministry."

"Not a bad idea." Dumbledore put down his glass, crossed his fingers on his lap, and said slowly, "So- you don't know where little Barty is?" ”

Barty shook his head with a bitter smile on his face:

"I don't know - I've been using the power of the Ministry of Magic to find his tracks, but this damn thing is well hidden, he's hidden in the shadows with his equally damned master, sharpening his claws, ready to rush out and strike us a fatal blow at any moment."

Dumbledore sighed again, he felt that he had sighed more often than he had done today.

"Dumbledore!" Barty suddenly leaned forward, called his last name directly, and said in an almost pleading tone, "Dumbledore!" The reason why I am running for the post of Minister of the Ministry of Magic is to correct my mistakes!

Believe me, I'll do everything I can to destroy the Death Eaters, to make amends for my mistakes, and when it's over, I can be judged by the Wizengamot!

I can go to Azkaban, but please, give me a little time, I know what I did, but I'm now"

He looked Dumbledore in the eye and said word by word:

"Can't leave."

Dumbledore looked at him, at the former Minister of Magic, a Death Eater of high prestige, who was once hoped for by the wizarding world.

Look at his eyes puffy from exertion, look at his old tearful face, look at the remorse in his eyes, look at the little room next door, look at his stacked desk, look at his door that is always open.

He confessed that his heart had softened.

Everything is changing for the better in the Ministry of Magic and the wizarding world under Barty Crouch.

Dumbledore slowly stood up and nodded:

"When you are on trial, I am willing to act as your defender and justially explain to everyone the mistakes you have made and the merits you have made."

Barty Crouch was stunned for a moment, as if he couldn't believe his ears.

When Dumbledore walked out of the office, he heard a low whimper, and the emotions contained in the cry were extremely complicated.

After the second project, the most wonderful thing for the little wizards is that the warriors who have become big stars can get up close and personal.

Everyone is anxious to know the real situation under the sea, and they also want to know how the people concerned feel, and they will always surround the warriors and ask this and that.

Ron finally returns to normal after dying in the club for a while, and then he is surprised to find that not only is he not laughed at, but he has become everyone's favorite idol.

Almost everyone thought that Ron's performance at the time was very cool, which meant that for the first time in his life, Ron was the center of attention like Harry.

Zhang Xiao noticed that Ron told the story over and over again, and each time it was slightly different.

He finally put his mind at ease, and it seemed that Ron was finally normal.

Now that Ron has become so conspicuous, his French girlfriend has almost become a pendant on his body.

In short, everything is moving in a good direction.

Harry no longer bothered about Astoria's affairs, because Zhang Xiao had no choice but to find Professor McGonagall, an old lady who was not very good at lying, and circulated everything in her mind countless times for the wizarding world and Hogwarts before she bluntly followed the script given by Zhang Xiao, and said that Astoria had gone home to rest.

In fact, Harry had no doubts, as Professor McGonagall had always had that attitude

In March, the weather became clearer, but every time they came to the field outside, the cold wind still blew their hands and faces painfully.

The owls could not deliver the letter in time because the wind always blew them off target.

Malfoy catches the "Daily Prophet" that fell from the sky, in fact, this is the newspaper that Zhang Xiao ordered, and once the "Daily Prophet" wrote bad things about the Malfoy family, so Pony stopped subscribing to it, and turned to Zhang Xiao's.

He flipped over and snorted from his nostrils, his eyebrows furrowed:

"It's boring stuff again."

The newspaper made a rattling sound in his hand, and Zhang Xiao heard the pony comment:

"Most of it is still from the championship, look at this - "Interview with the Castrobusche Warriors"

Zhang Xiao swallowed the food in his mouth and asked curiously:

"They're being interviewed again? Haven't you just been interviewed before? I remember their headmaster—Kind of Da Sival, right? Vaguely indicating that the game was not fair, Dumbledore gave us a direct explanation, with a solution. ”

"Yes, that old madman doesn't understand what he's talking about, ha! Dumbledore? He thought Dumbledore was like him. ”

Malfoy sneered disdainfully, and quickly read a report, his sarcastic smile becoming more and more obvious:

"Zhang, listen to what they said – 'If this tournament is held in Castrobusche, we will have absolute confidence that we will win the championship!'" Of course, the competition is not over yet, and even if the first two rounds of this tournament were not ideal, Castrobusche will still have a good performance in the third round.

Nasty megalomaniacs! ”

Zhang Xiao wanted to say a few words, but heard Harry's voice coming from behind.

"Zhang, after dinner, let's go to the Room of Requirement, shall we?"

Turning around, Harry was surrounded by a worried Ron, Hermione, and Neville.

Harry rubbed his forehead and said with some distress, "My scar hurts, and I had a nightmare last night. ”

"Potter, what do you think your scar is—" Malfoy habitually sarcastically said.

But he found that Zhang Xiao's face suddenly became serious:

"Harry, do your scars hurt? Let's go, we'll go now. ”

——————————————

1. Commuter pass 2. Recommended ticket

Recommend a friend's book

"People in the United States, just become a stand-in messenger"

(End of chapter)