Homecoming from Hogwarts

"Sirius, are you sure you remembered the place correctly?"

The gloomy sky made it difficult to tell whether it was day or night. Although the surrounding environment could not be said to be desolate, the sparse pedestrians on the street and the surrounding buildings that were half a century behind the times made it difficult for several people who came here for the first time. They all felt a little uneasy.

Especially Ron, who is usually in the magical world and rarely wanders around the Muggle world. During his daily travels, he will only briefly appear in a few specific places. This seems to be his first time in the Muggle world. Hanging around on the territory.

Ron smacked his lips as his eyes followed an old bus slowly disappearing around the corner of the street, with an unreasonable expression.

Although he couldn't stand the crazy speed of the Knight Bus, if Muggles had to rely on such slow transportation for daily travel, how much time would they have to spend on the road every day?

"Otherwise, let's go back, Sirius?"

Hermione said timidly.

Last night, Harry's abrupt words after seeing Regulus' room opened up a new topic.

To be honest, both Remus and Sirius had foreseen the sound of Voldemort's approaching footsteps, but they did not expect that the footsteps would become clear so quickly.

Igor Karkaroff, a Death Eater, personally told Snape that the Dark Lord had become stronger, which made both Remus and Sirius feel a strong sense of unease.

Especially when Hermione began to analyze the conversation between Professor Snape and Professor Karkaroff when she and Harry first overheard the conversation between Professor Snape and Professor Karkaroff, and who was behind her identity as a warrior, Sirius had I can't sit still at all.

"Let me sort it out!"

Sirius' bedroom was a room filled with warm light.

Harry, Hermione and Ron were all sitting on the edge of Sirius' carved bed. Remus crossed his arms and leaned against a faded Gryffindor flag with a serious look on his face. He never mentioned working overtime.

Sirius strode around his house, analyzing the clues they now had.

"--First, on the night of the Quidditch final, after everyone left the venue, the Dark Mark appeared in the shiny box, and then the people who arrived at the ministry came under the leadership of Old Barty, Amos I personally searched the box with Old Barty, but only found the explanation given by the Sparkling Magic Ministry for this matter, but we all know that this is a statement to deal with the public, and the truth is still unresolved!

After that, Hermione was selected as the Hogwarts Warrior in the Warrior Selection. I don’t know who did it, but almost at the same time, Amosta wrote to me and asked me to help pay attention to Barty Crouch’s work in the department. There was movement inside, but he didn't let me get too close to him.

Harry and Hermione, you learned from overhearing the conversation between Snotlout and Karkaroff that someone at Hogwarts is secretly brewing Polyjuice Potion.

By the way, Amosta and Dumbledore almost acquiesced in Hermione's selection. They didn't seem to conduct a decent investigation. It's hard for Dumbledore to say, at least, as far as I know. Amosta was not like this in the past. He would not allow anyone to stir up trouble under his nose. "

Gollum—

Ron swallowed, his heart gradually rising to his throat.

Sirius paused and continued,

"After I wrote to Amosta and told him that Barty was on sick leave, Amosta immediately came to visit me. I didn't think that the relationship between Amosta and Barty was that good. Barty... A guy like Crouch won't be friends with anyone.

But after that, Amosta and Dumbledore called you to the office together and began to ask about the situation in the box that night when the Dark Mark appeared. They paid special attention to the little elf named Winky from Barty, and Barton. Did Dee appear in the box that night, and the empty seat occupied by the elf——"

"Sirius--"

Looking at Sirius who was standing there with a sharp look on his face, Remus couldn't help but say,

"Do you know what you suspect?" Remus stood up straight.

"You are suspecting that Barty Crouch conspired to orchestrate the Dark Mark incident and to make Hermione a warrior. You suspect that a high-ranking official of the Ministry of Magic who is tough on evil is engaged in criminal behavior. If word gets out, people will think you are crazy. ”

"Ever since that incident with Peter -" Sirius smiled coldly, "I understand that no one can be suspicious."

"But that doesn't make sense, does it?"

Ron couldn't help but interrupt. When he was at home, he heard his father talk about many incidents about Barty Crouch's uprightness. If Barty Crouch was really as his father described, he No matter what, I don't believe that Barty Crouch would persecute Hermione.

Seeing that everyone's eyes were attracted to him, Ron shrank his neck subconsciously, and he gasped and said,

"I mean that night of the Dark Mark, he didn't have time, he only entered the venue later.

In Hermione's Warriors, the selection of the Warriors only took one day. If I remember correctly, Barty Crouch didn't arrive at Hogwarts until the selection of the Warriors was announced the next day, and he didn't have time. "

"That's right, Ron -" Sirius nodded approvingly,

"So, I am leaning towards Hermione's guess. Barty Crouch also had a Death Eater assistant who conjured the Dark Mark and sneaked into Hogwarts in advance to secure Hermione's status as a warrior."

A silence fell, and Harry recalled the only few close encounters he had with Barty Crouch. After a while, he asked with difficulty,

"Who could it be that infiltrated Hogwarts, Professor Moody?!"

"Not necessarily, Harry -"

Remus shook his head slightly

"Did you forget about the Polyjuice Potion? It's possible for anyone, including Karkaroff, not necessarily innocent. Severus seems fine for the time being, otherwise he wouldn't have taken the initiative to expose the Polyjuice Potion, but Mi Leva, the headmaster of Beauxbatons, Ludo Bagman, Alastor. In short, anyone could have appeared in the room behind the auditorium that night. I mean, everything was as we expected. If so, they might all be in the same group as Barty Cratchit."

"What about Professor Blaine? And Professor Dumbledore?"

Hermione frowned. No matter what, she couldn't bear to doubt the two of them.

"Oh, there's no way a Death Eater could impersonate them—"

Sirius smiled and said,

"If I want to use Polyjuice Potion to impersonate a person, then I will definitely make sure that person never appears again. Do you think there is a Death Eater who can take down Amostar and Dumbledore, Hermione?"

This was indeed the case. Hermione felt a little more relaxed, but when she thought about the speculation coming true, there would always be a Death Eater beside them.

"But why?" Ron still couldn't accept it, "Why would Barty Crouch do this, my dad said. He said, Crouch treats crime-"

"Arthur is right, Ron -" Sirius interrupted Ron, and he said while thinking,

"This is indeed unbelievable. Why would Barty Cratchit do all this? It does him no good at all, unless he is following orders-"

"Voldemort?!"

Harry blurted out.

"I don't think you've forgotten, Sirius, when Barty Crouch -" Remus said in a serious tone.

"Of course I remember, Remus, but Crouch is a creature of power through and through. His lifelong dream is to be the Minister of Magic. That's why he was so decisive in sending his son to Azkaban. That's another story, Harry, we can talk about it later."

Sirius anticipated the surprise of the three Harrys after hearing what he said, and he said quickly,

"Barty Crouch desires to be the Minister of Magic more than anything else, but after Fudge, Amosta actually supports Amelia Bones. Everyone with eyes in the ministry knows this. If Barty Crouch It is not impossible to be crazy because of this, and even throw yourself into Voldemort's arms just to get a taste of what you want..."

"So, who do you think that person will be?" Remus did not agree with Sirius's view. He changed the question, "Is it our hypothesis, Barty Cratchit's helper?"

This is indeed a difficult question to answer.

Most of Voldemort's followers were in Azkaban, but there were also many who were still at large. They speculated on many people, but always lacked solid evidence.

"Why don't we ask Amosta directly? Since he and Dumbledore have realized that something is wrong with Barty, they may have investigated the matter clearly!"

Looking at the depressed city outside the transparent floor-to-ceiling window, Sirius, who was thinking hard, suddenly brightened up and turned to say to everyone with dull expressions.

(End of this chapter)