After arranging the follow-up matters, Dumbledore quietly left Hogwarts Castle under the cover of night. After apparating to Hogsmeade Village, he headed towards Ludo Barton, Director of the Sports Department of the Ministry of Magic.
Geman walked to the agreed place.
"Good evening Dumbledore, you are always on time."
When Dumbledore walked to the door of the Three Broomsticks pub, he heard a familiar voice. Ludo Bagman came out of the Three Broomsticks pub and fought with Dumbledore with a depressed look on his face.
Hello.
Dumbledore glanced at the group of goblins behind Bagman, raised his eyebrows and said, "It seems that you have had a rough time in the past two days."
"Rita Kister's two reports almost turned me into a laughing stock in the wizarding world." Bagman shrugged helplessly and said, "I really don't know who sent me that thing. I doubt it."
It was a good deed done by a certain Hogwarts student."
"I think it was probably just a prank," Dumbledore said gently.
"mischief?"
Bagman seemed to have thought of something, and the anger he had accumulated suddenly faded away. He covered his face with his hand and complained: "It hurt me terribly."
"Okay, let's go find Barty first. He seems to be sick recently. I didn't want to disturb his rest, but there are some things that can't be solved. As you know, the second project is far better than the first one.
A project is much more dangerous, and we must ensure the safety of the warriors as much as possible. If another accident occurs, the Triwizard Tournament may be suspended forever."
In fact, if you want to modify certain plans for the Triwizard Tournament, you must discuss it with the Ministry of Magic in advance. This matter is one of Barty Crouch's jobs, so you need to inform the other party no matter what.
"Let's go, let's go find Barty. I hope his condition is better. That guy hasn't been to the Ministry of Magic for several days." Ludo Bagman muttered. He didn't notice Dumbledore next to him at all.
Gradually serious expression.
The two of them apparated together and disappeared.
Following a burst of explosions, they reappeared on a remote path and walked together towards the big house not far away.
Bagman reached out and rang the doorbell, but after a long time, no one came to open the door.
"Is Barty asleep?" Bagman looked sideways at Dumbledore, seeking his opinion.
On the other side of the door, Peter Pettigrew panicked and covered his mouth with both hands, fearing that someone outside the door would hear him if he made any noise.
Peter never expected that Dumbledore would suddenly appear outside the door.
"Now how to do?"
Peter looked uneasily at the baby sitting in the armchair, hoping that the other party would have a good way to get rid of Dumbledore.
Voldemort didn't pay attention to the frightened Peter, and his eyes fell on the demon mirror placed next to the hall. The clear figure of Dumbledore was reflected in the mirror.
Neither Peter Pettigrew nor Voldemort expected that one day they would be blocked by Dumbledore.
Since Old Barty's will to resist the Imperius Curse became stronger and stronger, and his body became weaker due to fighting against the Imperius Curse, they began to reduce the number of appearances of Old Barty, claiming that Old Barty was ill, and even
Leave a lot of work to his assistant Percy Weasley.
Thanks to this conscientious assistant, Old Batty's abnormality was not noticed by others.
However, what none of them expected was that Dumbledore would be attracted to him just because he didn't go to the Yule Ball.
"Master, what should we do? Do we want to escape?" Peter opened and closed his lips and asked silently.
Voldemort ignored the panicked Peter Pettigrew, looked away from the magic mirror, picked up the wand beside him and pointed it at Old Barty, silently transformed him into a nightgown, and then used the Imperius Curse to control him to open the door.
, send Dumbledore and Bagman away.
Seeing Voldemort's actions, Peter couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. He was really worried that Voldemort would have a head-on conflict with Dumbledore.
This was not a good idea. Although Voldemort had recovered some strength, how could he be Dumbledore's opponent when he was so weak?
As for Peter Pettigrew himself, he is even less likely to be Dumbledore's opponent. If he can escape by then, he will be considered extremely lucky.
"It's you, what's the matter?"
Old Batty opened the door, but had no intention of letting the two of them into the room. "Sorry, I've been very ill recently, so I'm afraid I won't be able to entertain you."
"Barty, are you okay? Your face looks terrible." Bagman looked at the haggard and lifeless Barty Crouch in surprise. For some reason, he found that his colleagues were doing better than him recently.
Even worse, my originally depressed mood actually got better.
"Ludo is right, Barty, you look terrible. I think you'd better take the time to go to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Magical Injuries."
Dumbledore glanced past Barty and towards the gloomy corridor, feeling that there was an aura in it that made him feel uncomfortable.
"No, I know my situation very well and I can take care of myself. Do you have anything else to ask me for?"
"About the safety plan for the second project." Bagman said casually, "However, depending on the situation, we'd better not disturb you. You should ask for leave and have a good rest."
"Wetherby is very capable. Most of my work is currently handled by him." Old Batty paused for a moment, and then said after a long time, "You can discuss it with him first, and then I will take a look at Weatherby."
Report."
"It seems it's time for us to leave!" Bagman knew that their visit was in vain. "You'd better have a good rest and don't be too tired. If you really can't do it, go to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Injuries and Injuries. Don't delay yourself."
Yes, this is not good."
"Are you sure you don't need help?" Dumbledore suddenly asked.
"No need, I can take care of myself." Barty said tiredly.
The two looked at each other, said goodbye to Buddy and left.
"Ever since Barty drove away the house elves, his quality of life has dropped drastically. If I were him, I would definitely not do that. However, you also know Barty's temper. It's better now. He can't even take care of him when he's sick.
None of them." Bagman lamented. He felt that Barty's current fate was somewhat self-inflicted.
"What's wrong with you Dumbledore?" Bagman accidentally noticed Dumbledore's slightly frowning and couldn't help asking.
"There's something very wrong with Barty, like..." Before Dumbledore could finish his words, Bagman preempted him.
"It's like he's seriously ill." Bagman shrugged. "He should go to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Maladies to see a doctor instead of staying at home like he is now."
"No, with Barty's character, he will never leave important matters to his assistants." Dumbledore said softly, "He will quickly cure his illness and then get back to his busy work. This is
His habits."
"You're right, Barty is indeed a workaholic. It's hard to imagine that he would not treat his illness, but instead hand over the important work at hand to his assistant?" After hearing what Dumbledore said, Bagman said
I also felt something was wrong, "What do you think Batty is doing now?"
"I'm a little worried now that Barty may have been hit by someone else's Imperius Curse. His current appearance does not look like he is seriously ill, but rather like he is weak after resisting the Imperius Curse."
"Barty was hit by the Imperius Curse, are you kidding me?" The expression on Bagman's face froze instantly.
"Shh!"
Dumbledore signaled Bagman to stay quiet. He looked back at the Crouch family's house, took out his wand, and said softly: "Even if Barty is not hit by the Imperius Curse, I'm afraid he still needs to receive treatment from a therapist."
, and if no one takes care of such a disease, it may be very bad.”
"What are you going to do?" Bagman didn't dare to breathe. He had never seen Dumbledore with such a serious expression. This thing was probably true.
"Let's go back and subdue Barty first to ensure his safety. I suspect a dark wizard is hiding in his house. That house gives me a bad feeling." Dumbledore quickly made arrangements.
"what should I do?"
Bagman also pulled out his wand and looked at Crouch's home warily, as if it had become a dark wizard's lair.
"You ring the doorbell later and ask him if he would like me to send a famous house elf from Hogwarts to temporarily take care of his daily life."
"Then, use a spell to immobilize Barty and forcibly take him to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Maladies for treatment." Dumbledore said calmly, "I will handle the rest. If this is a misunderstanding, I will personally inform him
Barty apologizes."
"No, you don't need to apologize. You are saving Barty's life. I feel that his physical condition is very bad. He should really go to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Magical Maladies for treatment instead of staying at home with no one to take care of him.
He might have died inexplicably." Bagman agreed with Dumbledore's approach. Regardless of whether Barty was controlled by the Imperius Curse or not, his current physical condition is indeed very bad and he should go to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Injuries and Injuries.
Get treatment instead of staying home and waiting to die.
…
"Master, they have left."
In the hall, Peter Pettigrew couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief. He looked at Crouch lying on the sofa and said to Voldemort in the armchair, "Master, we'd better change places. Crouch's matter has aroused Dumbledore's concern.
Be careful, he will come back sooner or later."
Voldemort looked at the increasingly clear figure in the demon mirror and frowned slightly. For some reason, he suddenly had a bad feeling.
"Kill Barty and let's leave here immediately." Voldemort made a decisive decision. He was sure that Dumbledore might have seen some flaws."
Peter Pettigrew was startled by Voldemort's words, and instinctively raised his wand, preparing to obey Voldemort's order to kill Barty Crouch.
Just when he was about to use the killing curse, the doorbell rang again.
Peter Pettigrew swallowed and looked at Voldemort, waiting for his order.
If the Killing Curse is used now, Dumbledore will definitely notice it outside the door.
Now how to do?
Peter Pettigrew suddenly lost his opinion and stared blankly at Voldemort, waiting for further orders.
Barty had already stood up from the sofa again and walked towards the door.
"you……"
Before Barty could speak, Bagman used a full-body binding spell to immobilize him.
"Sorry, old man, this is all for your safety." Bagman did not forget Dumbledore's instructions and prepared to run away with Barty.
A green light suddenly flew towards Barty.
There is no way Voldemort would allow them to take Barty away. He knows too many secrets and must die here.
A strong green light occupied Bagman's horrified eyes, and he saw that the killing curse was about to engulf the two people at the door.
A large section of the wall suddenly protruded, blocking the path of Avada's Kedavra. It took Barty's place to bear the power of the spell, and was directly blown into pieces.
"Oh my god, Dumbledore, hurry up!"
Bagman took Barty out of the house. At the most critical moment, a green light exploded the suddenly closed wooden door into powder.
"Take Barty away."
Dumbledore directly opened a hole in the wall in front of him and broke into Barty's home in a very unfriendly way.
"Dumbledore."
When Peter Pettigrew saw Dumbledore, he screamed in horror.
"I think your mother will feel sorry for you. You shouldn't have done that." Dumbledore waved his wand and prepared to subdue Peter. However, the magic that originally flew towards Peter was blocked and hit the wall directly, exploding out.
made a big hole.
"Take Nagini and go first," ordered Voldemort, who was sitting in the armchair.
Peter didn't hesitate, turned around and ran away. As for Voldemort's snake, he couldn't care less.
However, Dumbledore did not give Peter a chance. When Peter turned to run away, a rope suddenly stretched out from the ground and wrapped around Peter's ankle, tripping him to the ground.
Peter turned into a mouse and prepared to escape, but golden flames suddenly burst into flames in the room, trapping Peter and Voldemort.
Peter was stopped by the flames, but Voldemort's snake passed through the ring of fire and quickly moved away from the battlefield.
"this……"
Dumbledore's eyes suddenly burst into astonishing light, and he already knew what it was.
Horcrux!
The Horcrux predicted by Albert.
Voldemort really made a snake into a Horcrux, so this is true.
"I'm really surprised Tom, you actually cut off the harem yourself. This is not something you would do. When did a snake become so important to you?" Dumbledore waved his wand and launched a fierce attack on Voldemort. He could not let go of this.
It's a good opportunity, we can't let the snake get away.
"What gave you this ridiculous idea?"
Voldemort waved his wand to block Dumbledore's attack, but the huge gap between the two sides made his infant body overwhelmed, and his fragile body turned into a ball of flesh.
Voldemort's remnant soul emerged from the body, looking like it was made of smoke and had no entity.
After Dumbledore waved his wand and brought down Peter, he chased outside and soon found Nagini who was fighting with Fawkes.
Dumbledore waved his wand and prepared to kill the snake, but found that the spell had no effect on the snake.
He quickly waved his wand, conjuring countless vines and shackles, directly binding the snake in place.
Voldemort, who had just flown out of the house, saw Dumbledore getting a sword from nowhere. He raised the weapon high and chopped off Nagini's head.
"No, this is impossible!"
Voldemort, who originally wanted to mock Dumbledore, froze for a moment and screamed in pain. He couldn't understand why that weapon could kill Nagini. The Horcrux was protected by powerful black magic and was almost useless.
What could harm them, but Nagini, who was supposed to be indestructible, was decapitated by a long sword, which was really difficult for Voldemort to understand.
"It seems that I guessed it right, Tom. That snake is very important to you." Dumbledore put away Gryffindor's sword happily and said to Voldemort, "It actually caused you harm after it was killed."
Hurt, that snake seems to be your true body?"
"Dumbledore, you can't kill me, and I will come back at any time." Voldemort roared ferociously.
"It seems that you are planning to hide in the Albanian forest and linger on." Dumbledore calmly looked at the incompetent and furious Voldemort in front of him. He had seen Voldemort in this state before, and normal means could not kill him in this state.
Dumbledore once looked for ways to kill Voldemort, but... the current Voldemort is not a ghost, and the methods of dealing with ghosts have no effect on him.
Voldemort escaped very quickly. When Dumbledore returned to Barty's house to look for Peter Pettigrew, Peter had already run away.
Dumbledore extinguished the flame and walked outside. He planned to check on Crouch. As long as he returned to normal, he should be able to find out from the other party who the spy was hiding in Hogwarts.
When Dumbledore found Bagman, he found him with four goblins.
"It's Voldemort. I've already dealt with him. However, that guy is not dead and has escaped. There is no need to worry about him for the time being." Dumbledore looked at Bagman, who had an ugly expression, and suddenly felt a little uncomfortable.
Good hunch, "How's Buddy doing?"
"Barty is dead." Bagman's face was uglier than crying. "It was Peter Pettigrew who suddenly appeared and attacked me. Fortunately, the goblins saved my life, but Peter still used Avada Kedavra.
The curse killed Barty."
Dumbledore's face suddenly darkened. Barty's death was obviously related to his negligence. He never expected that Peter would actually come to kill Barty.
In fact, Dumbledore didn't know that Peter Pettigrew had no choice but to kill Barty. If he didn't do that and Voldemort's resurrection plan completely failed, then he would not only be on the Ministry of Magic's blacklist, but he would also definitely be on Voldemort's list.
If you are on the blacklist, you will really be dead by then.
As for the death of the pet snake Nagini, Peter felt that it was not a big deal. After all, it was only Voldemort's pet. Even if Voldemort cared about it, it was not as important as his resurrection, and it was impossible for him to get it from Dumbledore at that time.
Save Nagini.
After all, that was Dumbledore, and even Voldemort himself might not be an opponent, let alone a small character like him.
Not long after, Fudge, who had just eaten, hurried over with the Aurors. Looking at the corpse of his former rival, the Minister of Magic had an ugly expression, because Fudge already knew that it was Peter Pettigrew who killed Barty. As for Ben,
Why did Peter, who deserved to die, come back to life? No matter how stupid Fudge is, he can guess the reason. It was obviously Mrs. Peter's fault when she went to Azkaban to visit the prisoner.
"It's Voldemort, Cornelius." Dumbledore said calmly, "He turned into a very ugly baby, but it is undeniable that he is still alive and has a physical body. Although his body is quite fragile,...
…This is not good news.”
"The mysterious man is back? Stop joking, Dumbledore..." Fudge stared at Dumbledore blankly, as if he couldn't believe what he just heard. He stammered: "This is not funny at all."
"If Voldemort was resurrected, did you kill him?" Scrimgeour asked with a frown. At this moment, all the Aurors looked at Dumbledore, expecting to get the answer they wanted to hear.
"After his body was destroyed by me, he ran away again." Dumbledore said calmly.
"Escaped, you mean his soul floated away?" Everyone felt it was quite ridiculous.
"To be honest, I don't understand how he did it. That state is very strange, a bit like a ghost, but not a ghost. I tried using spells on him, but it had no effect. I think Ava
This is why Voldemort did not die when the Kedavra rebounded." Dumbledore said calmly, "However, I think he should be quite weak now."
"You mean that Voldemort, who only has his soul left, may have a physical body at any time?" Fudge felt as if the sky was about to collapse.
"It should be that he had a physical body with the help of others. His body is actually very fragile and needs to be taken care of by others. But this is not a good sign. God knows whether he can regain his previous strength. Peter Pettigrew is still alive. I think it's best for you.
We can catch that guy as soon as possible before he causes other problems."
"Isn't Peter Pettigrew dead?" Scrimgeour frowned.
"You think I'm lying?" Bagman roared angrily, "I almost died, and the goblins saw it."
"No, you misunderstood me." Scrimgeour explained, "You probably don't know that some people have repeatedly confirmed this some time ago. Peter Pettigrew is indeed dead, and his body is buried in Azka.
class."
The surroundings suddenly fell into an eerie silence. What happened tonight was really weird. First it was Voldemort, and then there was Peter Pettigrew who came back from the dead.
"I have to go back to Hogwarts first. You'd better search Barty's house. I'm a little worried about what conspiracy Voldemort is planning." Dumbledore took out his pocket watch and looked at the time and said, "If anything happens to us,
Let’s talk again after ten o’clock. Ludo, I suggest you drink some sedatives and have a good night’s rest. Barty’s death is not your fault, he obviously knew what was going on and was silenced.”
After Dumbledore left, Fudge and Scrimgeour were silent. They both looked at Bagman and asked, "Have you seen the mysterious man?"
"No, but I don't think Dumbledore needs to lie to us." Bagman naturally understood what Fudge meant, but he did not suspect that Dumbledore was lying.
"We'd better talk to Dumbledore and don't mention the mysterious man in the newspaper. That will cause social panic." Fudge felt that if the report was based on Dumbledore's statement, it would no longer be a matter of panic. "Moreover,
Except for Dumbledore, no one witnessed this incident with his own eyes, so it is difficult for people to believe his incredible statement. Whether the incident is true or not is still open to discussion, and I am afraid that everyone will not be able to accept it."