Compared to the turmoil in the magical world, the atmosphere in the castle is particularly peaceful and relaxing.
Just as Elena and others expected, Voldemort's return will not affect the school's daily life at all.
As the professors at Hogwarts went to class and assigned homework as usual, the little wizards quickly left behind the incomprehensible chaos - Voldemort's resurrection and invasion of the Ministry of Magic, and even the Grunge plot that was about to unfold later.
The match between Findor and Slytherin Houses is even more exciting.
Of course, the heartless Lotte and Calmness was limited to the students, and the teachers still immediately launched newspapers to follow up on the situation.
Whether it is the news about Professor Dumbledore, or the Ministry of Magic, or the mysterious man, all the professors are concerned about.
At the head teacher's table, Sirius and Lupine were enjoying breakfast, reading newspapers and discussing quietly.
"The Ministry of Magic put together a team," said Sirius, "but we weren't notified. Don't you think it's a little strange?"
"Of course," Lupine slowly cut the omelette and said with a pale face, "This is a bit strange, but what's even weirder is that Professor Dumbledore is not the commander. Judging from the description, there seems to be something else.
People...I really don’t know who is qualified to command professors.”
"Who else," Sirius sneered and said contemptuously, "of course it's the Ministry of Magic officials, I'm too familiar with them -"
"Cornelly Fudge? No. If it were them, it would be written directly in the newspapers," Lupine said.
Sirius shrugged and said nonchalantly: "Perhaps they also feel that their name is not suitable, Remus."
"If the wizarding world hopes to defeat Voldemort, then they must listen to Professor Dumbledore after all - no one knows how to deal with Voldemort better than Dumbledore. Only people of equal status are qualified to stand side by side with Dumbledore, and those bureaucrats in the Ministry of Magic
It’s obviously too far off.”
"In comparison, I'm more curious about what happened to Barty Crouch..."
He rubbed his chin, which had a short, stiff beard, and read with interest a brief note in the corner of the newspaper.
"Barty Crouch, Director of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, is temporarily recovering due to illness. This is much more interesting than Professor Dumbledore's."
"This morning he was the hero who resisted the Death Eaters in the first round, and he immediately called in sick in the afternoon... This is not in line with Crouch's character. If he had ever taken a day off due to illness before, I would take this table in front of him
I chewed up all the utensils on top and ate them.”
"So...I still don't understand what's so 'interesting' about this."
Lu Ping quickly flipped through the newspaper in his hand, and finally his eyes rested on one of the pages inadvertently.
That was an article by Rita Skeeter, a gold medal reporter for the Daily Prophet. She was the one who wrote the report on Lockhart some time ago.
"Someone in the Ministry of Magic is suspected of colluding with dark wizards, and the Aurors successfully identified the suspect... What, you suspect it is Crouch?"
"Obviously, Crouch is probably under house arrest——"
Sirius said with a strange expression, seeming to be a little gloating and a little confused.
"However, there must be something abnormal in this. There is no way that Barty Crouch will fall to Voldemort's side."
"Well, why? Do you know Crouch?"
At this moment, a curious and gentle voice sounded next to the two of them.
Lupine and Sirius turned their heads, just in time to see Professor Sprout smiling apologetically at them.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to eavesdrop on you - I was just curious... uh... Crouch and I were at the same time."
Professor Sprout's seat was right next to Lupine, and it was difficult for her to hear the conversation between the two.
And on the other hand, as the headmaster of Hufflepuff House, the "melon-eating nature" of badgers is sometimes quite difficult to control.
"Oh, of course I know Barty Crouch."
Sirius's expression darkened, his expression suddenly became a little scary, and he said softly.
"In fact, he was the one who ordered me to be sent to Azkaban - even the trial process was skipped."
"What? You didn't go through a trial back then?!" Professor Sprout said in surprise.
"Not Professor Dumbledore?" Lu Ping was also a little surprised.
Regarding Sirius Black, they mostly learned about it from newspapers and friends.
For a long time, they all thought that he was sent to Azkaban by Dumbledore himself after being tried by the Wizengamot Tribunal.
This is also an old story that professors and members of the Order of the Phoenix have been tacitly avoiding.
…Whether it was before Sirius was released from prison or after he was released from prison.
"Yes, there is no judgment."
Sirius said calmly, adding a large spoonful of beef to his plate.
"Crouch was once the Director of the Legal Enforcement Department of the Ministry of Magic. You should remember this, right?"
"Of course, I remember that everyone predicted that he might be elected as the next Minister of Magic."
Professor Sprout nodded, frowned as he recalled the past, and spoke slowly and thoughtfully.
"He is a very great wizard, Barty Crouch. He was very good when he was in school, with strong magic power, very independent and courageous. In the last year, he and I served as the presidents of the male and female student unions respectively. Although he graduated from Slater
Lin, but he has always been firmly against black magic. But I think Doreen’s contribution accounts for at least half of it. Crouch also knows a lot of black magic, but he will never use them to bully the weak.”
"Doreen?" Lupine asked softly, curiously.
"Oh, Doreen Abbott, she was Mrs. Crouch for seven years."
Professor Sprout's expression darkened, he gave a brief explanation, and quickly turned the topic back to Barty Crouch.
"At such times, good people can always show their best qualities and bad people can reveal their worst qualities. Although I don't agree with some of Crouch's subsequent measures, it is indeed impossible for him to become a Death Eater——
Perhaps Dumbledore is the wizard that Death Eaters fear most, but Barty Crouch is definitely the one that Death Eaters hate the most. Sometimes, I even think that he has become like many people on the dark side.
Cold..."
Professor Sprout sighed lightly and did not comment too much on Barty Crouch's past.
Lupine and Sirius also had the same complicated expressions, and everyone fell into silence while looking at the headlines in the newspaper.
"Yeah, so I hate him, but that doesn't stop me from thinking he's great -"
Sirius also sighed, closed the newspaper, and absentmindedly stirred the beef on his plate.
"When Voldemort was powerful, you didn't know who was his supporter and who was not, who was serving him and who was not."
"People only know that Voldemort can control people tightly and make them do some terrible things involuntarily. Everyone is afraid for themselves, their families and friends. Every week there is bad news, someone dies, and
Some people are missing, and others are being tortured..."
"The Ministry of Magic is in chaos. They don't know what to do. There is terror everywhere... tension... chaos..."
"However, with Crouch becoming the Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, the Ministry of Magic finally has some counterattack power in the face of the dark forces."
"Aurors have gained a lot of new powers - for example, they have the power to kill, not just arrest. Crouch used violence to meet violence, and he allowed the use of Unforgivable Curses on suspects. They were directly arrested without trial.
I am not the only one who was handed over to the Dementors. Of course, many people think that Crouch is right to handle it this way. After Voldemort disappears, it seems to be only a matter of time before Crouch becomes Minister of Magic. Until later..."
Sirius looked back at the past with a cold sarcastic expression, "Crouch's biological son was caught, and he was with a group of Death Eaters who used sweet talk to escape prison. I remember, they were there at that time
Looking for Voldemort and trying to bring Voldemort back to life."
"He should spend more time with his family, get off work early from time to time...get to know his son better."
Professor Sprout shook his head and whispered sadly, "Doreen dotes on that child too much..."
As a good friend who slept in the next bed, Professor Sprout knew his best friend's character very well.
"So his son became a Death Eater?" Lupine asked.
"I don't know. But it should be -" Sirius shrugged, "I was there when he was imprisoned in Azkaban. When that boy was captured, the people with him were Death Eaters.
——" There was a flash of coldness in his eyes, and he nodded his chin towards the Gryffindor table not far away.
"—You know what they were arrested for, Mr. and Mrs. Longbottom. I don't think he is innocent."
"So Crouch personally sent him to Azkaban - Doreen fainted in the courtroom."
Sprout sighed deeply, and later she took a special leave to visit her mother.
"Yes, very pitiful. His mother must be very good to him."
Sirius said, the look on his face now not amused at all.
"I saw the dementors bring him in, and I watched them through the bars of the cell door. He couldn't have been more than nineteen years old. They threw him into a cell next to mine. In the evening,
He screamed for his mother. But after a few days, he became silent..."
"They all became silent in the end...only occasionally screaming in their sleep..."
For a moment, the depressed look in Sirius's eyes became extremely solemn, as if the blinds behind his eyes were suddenly closed.
"So, the kid is still in Azkaban?" Lupine asked.
Unlike most wizards, after the fall of Voldemort, as a werewolf, he rarely had the leisure to understand these stories.
The fall of the Dark Forces will not make people forget the horror of werewolves. The Ministry of Magic's persecution and surveillance of werewolves has become more stringent year by year. He has never heard Sirius mention these things - for Remus Lupin
In other words, it is already very difficult to survive.
"No more," Sirius said flatly. "He's not there anymore. He died a year after they brought him here."
"he died?"
"He was not the only one who died," Sirius said painfully, "most people there went crazy, and many ended up going on a hunger strike."
"They have lost the will to live. You can know when a person dies because the dementors can feel it, and they get excited every time. The boy was very sick when he arrived. Crouch
As an important official in the Ministry of Magic, he and his wife were allowed to visit their son on his deathbed. That was the last time I saw Barty Crouch, half-supporting and half-supporting his wife, walking past my cell."
“Apparently his wife died soon after—overwhelmed with grief—gaunted and dead like the boy.”
"Crouch didn't come to collect his son's body, and the dementors buried him outside the fortress. I watched them do this-"
Sirius let go of the knife in his hand, grabbed the pumpkin juice next to him and drank it all in one gulp.
"so……"
"Barty Crouch can't go to Voldemort's side. He has a blood feud with those guys - on both sides."
"...I understand what you mean. If Crouch is placed under house arrest..."
Lu Ping was silent for a few seconds, re-opened the "Daily Prophet" and spoke softly.
"Either there is something wrong with the Ministry of Magic, or Voldemort has made a price that even Crouch can't refuse..."
"No matter which one, it's not good news for the wizarding world - Dumbledore should know about this, otherwise he wouldn't be so anxious."
"Yes, but relatively speaking... I would rather the Ministry of Magic had a problem."
Sirius said softly, shaking the empty cup in his hand.