Hogwarts Homecoming

After restoring the truth about the 'Dark Mark Incident' on the night of the Quidditch final, both Dumbledore and Amostar fell into silence for a period of time.

The human heart is such a wonderful thing, you can never really see into someone's heart.

Barty Crouch has always been known in the British wizarding community for his tough attitude towards crime and dark magic. During the war years, he was the first to propose the need to treat Death Eaters tooth for tooth and eye for eye, giving Aurors the power to The right to kill someone without applying under special circumstances.

He has a strong desire for power and has never been secretive about his desire to become the Minister of Magic. If it hadn't been for the scandal back then, Cornelius Fudge would never have been the Minister of Magic now.

But such a cold-blooded and powerful creature actually risked his own life to save his son?

Dumbledore showed him the memory of when Barty Crouch Jr.'s identity was exposed and he was tried. In the trial court, Barty Sr.'s unforgettable resentment towards his Death Eater son was by no means false, but Who would have thought that he would do such a thing secretly, braving the disdain of the world?

"How do you think Barty Sr. saved Barty Crouch Jr. from Azkaban, Amosta?"

Dumbledore looked at the candlestick hanging from the ceiling for a long time and asked slowly.

This is indeed a good question!

"Hard to say--"

Amosta spread his palms and rubbed his face, looking a little tired.

"From the time Barty Crouch Jr.'s identity was exposed until the Wizengamot completed his trial, Barty Sr. had no chance to take action. Although I have not experienced it personally, I think there must have been countless pairs of eyes watching at that time. Watching Old Buddy's every move, he had no chance of losing his son.

Barty Sr. personally presided over his son's trial and announced that Barty Crouch Jr. would be permanently imprisoned in Azkaban.

According to Wizengamot procedures, after the trial, several Aurors will personally escort Barty Crouch Jr. to enter Azkaban through the door key of the Department of Mysteries. Unless he convinced those Aurors at the same time, this was unlikely. Therefore, he could only wait for action after Barty Crouch Jr. was officially imprisoned in Azkaban. "

Dumbledore was silent for a while, then nodded,

"I agree with you, Amosta. Barty probably took advantage of the opportunity of his own visit. No one would prevent an official who has lost the qualification to compete for the Minister of Magic from visiting the child he was once proud of."

It is speculated that this is the only truth that can be provided for the two of them. The specific details can only be known by interrogating Barty Crouch and his son, or the loyal elves of the Crouch family.

Although there is little practical significance in worrying about this kind of thing, because the current situation is that Barty Crouch Jr. seems to be really alive, and Barty Sr. has most likely fallen into the hands of Voldemort.

Both Dumbledore and Amosta are deliberately avoiding discussing Old Barty's current situation. They both know that Old Barty is in serious danger. It's not that he is definitely dead now, but according to their speculations, , Voldemort would probably have Barty Crouch appear at his resurrection ceremony, and then publicly massacre a senior official of the Ministry of Magic who had implemented a policy of extermination of Death Eaters, using him as a sacrificial flag to rebuild his majesty.

However, if possible, Amosta still hopes to find out how Old Barty deceived the Dementors. Creatures like Dementors probably would not negotiate any conditions with Old Barty.

"About Winky, Headmaster Dumbledore——"

At the home of Barty Crouch Sr., Amosta proposed to return Winky to the Crouch family, but this was actually a casual temptation, the purpose of which was to confirm his guess. The person who appeared in front of him was not Not Barty Crouch.

If it is really Old Barty, then he will definitely not let the elf who was kicked out by him come back again. Of course, even the fake Barty Crouch would most likely not let an elf who knew all about his disguised identity come back to him. It would only cause trouble for him.

At that time, Amosta just hoped to exchange more topics with the person in front of him and verify his guesses from clues. But to his surprise, the pretender in front of him immediately became emotional after hearing him mention the elf. was shaken by the turmoil and finally accepted his proposal.

And this point immediately made Amosta realize that the pretender in front of him had a close relationship with the Crouch family.

However, this did put Amosta in a difficult position.

"I understand your concerns, Amosta, but since you have made a promise, let this poor elf return to the Crouch family. I think this is in line with its wishes-"

Dumbledore said calmly,

"From what I know about Tom, he won't notice this poor little creature at all, and it was probably this little elf who took care of Barty Crouch Jr. during the fourteen years he was privately imprisoned. , he has a deep affection for this elf, and maybe it was the one who saved the miserable father and son, Barty Sr. and Barty Crouch Jr., in the end."

Amosta raised his eyebrows, and then nodded thoughtfully.

"Twinkle--"

After Amosta's gentle voice shouted, an elf appeared in the principal's office with a bang.

Compared to two weeks ago, this elf who was loyal to the Crouch family looked even more haggard. The short top and skirt it was wearing were covered in soup stains and stains, and were also tattered by the flames. It looked like a scavenger living in a garbage dump.

What's both annoying and funny is that Twinkle actually got into bad habits. It was holding a bottle of butterbeer that was almost bottomed out, and its body smelled of alcohol. Obviously, this was not the first bottle of wine it had drank.

It took about ten seconds for Winky to realize where she was. It appeared in front of the two top decision-makers at Hogwarts, and it was still holding a wine bottle in its hand. It subconsciously stood up and wanted to find a place to hide its bottle. However, just before the two top decision-makers in the world, it stood up and wanted to find a place to hide its bottle. Where could it hide the wine bottle in front of the wizard? Moreover, the alcohol it had consumed made it dizzy and unable to stand still at all.

So, after it struggled to get up for a while, Shining fell to the ground again with a bang, and the wine bottle in its hand fell out of its control. It rolled to the side, and the only wine left in the bottle formed a trickle. The ground fell on the office carpet, causing conspicuous stains.

"The great Mr. Dumbledore, Mr. Blaine, Winky. Winky"

Twinkle was frightened, with horror written all over her dirty face. No matter how much I miss Mr. Crouch, he belongs to Hogwarts now after all, and he actually got drunk when his master summoned him. This is not at all consistent with the image of a house elf in his mind. !

"Twinkle--Twinkle has finished her work--"

Twinkle blinked hard, but tears of fear still fell from the corners of its eyes with many small brown nodules.

"Winky can clean up, Mr. Dumbledore, Mr. Brain, please don't--don't take Winky--"

For a house elf, being dismissed by the master once is enough of a shame, and if it is dismissed twice in a row, then it can be said that it is a house elf with serious problems, and no wizard will be willing to use it again. .

What's the point of a house-elf existence if it's not used by wizards?

Afraid of making Twinkle's lips turn blue, it trembled all over. To forgive itself, it subconsciously wiped the wine stains on the carpet!

"Don't worry about that, Twinkle—"

Amosta left his seat and pulled up Shining, who was lying on the ground wiping the wine stains. Then, he squatted down and looked directly into Shining's eyes. The purple clouds seemed to be flowing in his eyes, which made the elf for a while. He was so lost that he even forgot about the fear of being kicked out again.

"I have good news for you, Winky,"

Amosta smiled and said,

"You can go home--"