After arranging the follow-up matters, Dumbledore quietly left Hogwarts Castle under the cover of night, Apparated to Hogsmeade Village, and walked towards the place agreed with Ludo Bagman, Director of the Department of Sports and Physical Education of the Ministry of Magic.
"Good evening Dumbledore, you are always punctual as always."
When Dumbledore walked to the door of the Three Broomsticks, he heard a familiar voice. Ludo Bagman came out of the Three Broomsticks and greeted Dumbledore with a depressed look on his face.
Dumbledore glanced at the group of goblins behind Bagman, raised an eyebrow and said, "It seems that you have had a rough couple of days."
"Rita Kister's two reports have made me a laughing stock in the wizarding world," Bagman shrugged helplessly. "I have no idea who sent me that thing. I suspect it was a Hogwarts student who did it."
"I thought it was just a practical joke," said Dumbledore mildly.
"mischief?"
Bagman seemed to have thought of something, and his pent-up anger suddenly faded. He put his hands to his cheeks and complained, "It's really hurting me."
"Okay, let's go find Batty 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. You know, the second project is much more dangerous than the first project. We must ensure the safety of the warriors as much as possible. If there is another accident, the Triwizard Tournament will probably be suspended forever."
In fact, if one wanted to modify certain plans for the Triwizard Tournament, one had to discuss this with the Ministry of Magic in advance. This was one of Barty Crouch's jobs, so he had to inform the other party no matter what.
"Let's go find Barty. I hope he's better now. He hasn't been to the Ministry of Magic for a few days." Ludo Bagman muttered. He didn't notice Dumbledore's increasingly serious expression next to him.
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 turned his head to look at Dumbledore, seeking his advice.
On the other side of the door, Peter Pettigrew covered his mouth with his hands in panic, afraid that any noise would be heard by someone outside.
Peter could never have imagined that Dumbledore would suddenly appear outside the door.
"What now?"
Peter looked anxiously at the baby sitting in the armchair, hoping that the baby would have a good idea to get rid of Dumbledore.
Voldemort ignored Peter's terrified face and his eyes fell on the magic mirror placed next to the hall. Dumbledore's clear figure was reflected in the mirror.
Neither Peter Pettigrew nor Voldemort had expected that one day they would be blocked by Dumbledore.
Ever since Barty Sr.'s will to resist the Imperius Curse became stronger and stronger and his body became weaker from fighting the Imperius Curse, they began to reduce the number of Barty Sr.'s appearances, claiming that he was ill, and even handed over a lot of work to his assistant Percy Weasley.
Thanks to this diligent assistant, old Batty's abnormality was not noticed by others.
However, what they didn't expect was that Dumbledore was attracted by their failure to attend the Christmas ball.
"Master, what should we do? Should we run away?" Peter asked silently, opening and closing his lips.
Voldemort ignored the panicked Peter Pettigrew, withdrew his gaze from the magic mirror, picked up the wand beside him and pointed it at old Barty. He silently changed the other person into a nightgown, then used the Imperius Curse to control him to open the door and send Dumbledore and Bagman away.
Seeing Voldemort's actions, Peter couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. He was actually a little worried that Voldemort would have a head-on conflict with Dumbledore.
This is not a good idea. Although Voldemort has recovered some strength, he is so weak that how can he be a match for Dumbledore
As for Peter Pettigrew himself, it was even less likely that he would be a match for Dumbledore. If he could escape the disaster, he would be very lucky.
"It's you guys, what's up?"
Old Batty opened the door, but did not intend to let the two people in. "I'm sorry, I've been very ill recently, I'm afraid I can't entertain you."
"Barty, are you okay? You look terrible." Bagman looked at the haggard Barty Crouch in surprise. For some reason, after discovering that his colleague was having a worse life than he was, his depressed mood actually improved.
"Ludo is right, Barty, you look very bad, I think you'd better go to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries sometime."
Dumbledore glanced past Barty at the gloomy corridor, and always felt that there was an atmosphere that made him uncomfortable.
"No, I know my situation very well and I can take care of myself. Is there anything else you want to talk to me about?"
"About the safety plan for the second project," Bagman said casually. "However, considering the situation, we should not disturb you. You should take a leave and have a good rest for a while."
"Wetherby is very capable. I will let him handle most of the work for now." Old Batty paused for a long time before saying, "You can discuss it with him first. I will take a look at Weatherby's report when the time comes."
"Looks like we should go now!" Bagman knew that they had come here for nothing. "You'd better get some rest and don't overwork yourself. If you really can't take it anymore, go to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries for treatment. Don't drag it on by yourself. It's not good."
"Are you sure you don't need help?" Dumbledore asked suddenly.
"No, I can take care of myself." Batty said tiredly.
The two looked at each other, said goodbye to Batty and left.
"Ever since Barty drove away the house-elves, his quality of life has deteriorated significantly. If I were him, I would definitely not do that. However, you also know Barty's temper. Now he is sick and there is no one to take care of him." Bagman sighed. He felt that Barty's current fate was somewhat his own fault.
"What's wrong with you, Dumbledore?" Bagman accidentally noticed that Dumbledore was frowning slightly, and couldn't help asking.
"There's something wrong with Barty, it's like..." Dumbledore was beaten to the punch by Bagman before he could finish his words.
"Like a serious illness," Bagman shrugged. "He should be at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries instead of staying at home like he is now."
"No, given Barty's character, he would never leave important matters to his assistants." Dumbledore said softly, "He will quickly cure his illness and then get back to work. This is his habit."
"You're right. Barty is indeed a workaholic. It's hard to imagine that he would not treat the disease, but instead hand over the important work at hand to his assistant?" After hearing what Dumbledore said, Bagman also felt that something was wrong. "What do you think of Barty's current situation?"
"I'm a little worried that Barty might have been under someone else's Imperius Curse. He doesn't look like he's seriously ill, but rather like he's weak after resisting the Imperius Curse."
"Bati is under the Imperius Curse, are you kidding?" Bagman's expression froze instantly.
"Shh!"
Dumbledore motioned Bagman to be quiet. He turned his head to look at the Crouch house, drew his wand, and said quietly, "Even if Barty is not under the Imperius Curse, he will probably need to be treated by a healer, and such a disease would be very serious if no one takes care of it."
"What are you going to do?" Bagman didn't dare to breathe. He had never seen Dumbledore look so serious. This was probably true.
"Let's go back and subdue Barty first and ensure his safety. I suspect there is a dark wizard hiding in his house. That house gives me a bad feeling." Dumbledore made arrangements quickly.
"What should I do?"
Bagman also drew his wand and looked at Crouch's house warily, as if it had become a dark wizard's lair.
"When you ring the doorbell, ask him if he wants me to send a house elf from Hogwarts to take care of him temporarily."
"Then, use a spell to immobilize Barty and forcibly take him to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries for treatment." Dumbledore said calmly, "I will take care of the rest. If this is a misunderstanding, I will personally apologize to Barty."
"No, you don't have to apologize. You are saving Barty's life. I feel that his physical condition is very bad. He should go to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries for treatment instead of staying at home with no one to take care of him. He might die inexplicably one day." Bagman agreed with Dumbledore's approach. Regardless of whether Barty was under the Imperius Curse or not, his physical condition was indeed very bad. He should go to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries for treatment instead of staying at home waiting to die.
...
"Master, they have left."
In the hall, Peter Pettigrew couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. He looked at Crouch lying on the sofa and said to Voldemort in the armchair, "Master, we'd better move to another place. Crouch's matter has attracted Dumbledore's attention. He will come back sooner or later."
Voldemort looked at the increasingly clear figure in the magic mirror and frowned slightly. For some reason, he suddenly had a bad feeling.
"Kill Barty and leave here immediately." Voldemort made a decisive decision. He was sure that Dumbledore might have seen some flaws.
Peter Pettigrew was frightened by Voldemort's words and instinctively raised his wand, ready to kill Barty Crouch at Voldemort's command.
Just as he was about to use the Killing Curse, the doorbell rang again.
Peter Pettigrew swallowed, looked at Voldemort, and obeyed his orders.
If I use the Killing Curse now, Dumbledore outside the door will definitely notice it.
What to do now
Peter Pettigrew suddenly lost his mind and stared at Voldemort blankly, waiting for his further orders.
Batty had stood up from the sofa again and walked towards the door.
"you... "
Before Barty could say anything, Bagman pinned him down with a full-body binding spell.
"I'm sorry, old friend. 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 Batty.
Voldemort would never allow them to take Barty away. He knew too many secrets and must die here.
An intense green light filled Bagman's terrified eyes as he watched the Killing Curse about to engulf the two people at the door.
The wall suddenly bulged out a large section, blocking the path of the Avada Kedavra curse, and took the power of the curse on behalf of Batti, and was directly blown into pieces.
"Oh my god, Dumbledore, hurry!"
Bagman led Batty out of the house, and at the most critical moment, a green light blew the suddenly closed wooden door into powder.
"Take Barty away."
Dumbledore simply made a hole in the wall in front of him and broke into Barty's house in a very unfriendly way.
"Dumbledore."
When Peter Pettigrew saw Dumbledore, he screamed in horror.
"I'm sure your mother will feel sorry for you. You shouldn't have done that." Dumbledore waved his wand to subdue Peter, but the magic that was originally flying towards Peter was stopped and hit the wall directly, creating a big hole.
"Take Nagini away first." Voldemort ordered from his armchair.
Peter turned and ran without hesitation. As for Voldemort's snake, he didn't care about it at all.
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 ankles, tripping him to the ground.
Peter turned into a mouse and prepared to escape, but a golden flame suddenly burned in the room and trapped Peter and Voldemort.
Peter was stopped by the flames, but Voldemort's snake passed through the circle of fire and quickly moved away from the battlefield.
"this... "
Dumbledore's eyes suddenly burst into amazing light, he already knew what it was.
Horcrux!
The Horcrux predicted by Albert.
Voldemort really made a snake into a Horcrux, so this thing is true.
"I'm really surprised, Tom, that you would cover the retreat yourself. This is not something you would do. Since when did a snake become so important to you?" Dumbledore waved his wand and attacked Voldemort fiercely. He could not miss such a good opportunity and could not let the snake escape.
"What gave you this ridiculous idea?"
Voldemort waved his wand to stop Dumbledore's attack, but the huge gap between the two sides made his infant body overwhelmed, and his fragile body turned directly into a ball of meat paste.
Voldemort's remaining soul escaped from the body, looking like it was made of smoke and had no substance.
After Dumbledore waved his wand and knocked Peter down, he chased outside and soon found Nagini who was fighting with Fawkes.
Dumbledore waved his wand to kill the snake, but found that the spell had no effect on the snake.
He quickly waved his wand, conjuring up countless vines and shackles that directly bound the snake in place.
Voldemort, who had just flown out of the house, saw Dumbledore getting a sword from somewhere, and he raised the weapon high and cut off Nagini's head.
"No, that's impossible!"
Voldemort, who was about to taunt Dumbledore, suddenly froze in an instant and let out a painful scream. He could not understand why the weapon could kill Nagini. The Horcruxes were protected by powerful dark magic and almost nothing could hurt them, but Nagini, who was supposed to be indestructible, had her head chopped off by a long sword. This was really difficult for Voldemort to understand.
"It seems that I guessed right, Tom. That snake is very important to you." Dumbledore happily put away the sword of Gryffindor and said to Voldemort, "It actually caused you harm after it was killed. It seems that the snake is your true form?"
"Dumbledore, you can't kill me, and I will be back at any time." Voldemort roared ferociously.
"It seems that you plan to hide in the Albanian forest and linger on." Dumbledore calmly looked at the helpless and furious Voldemort in front of him. He had seen Voldemort in this state before. Normal means could not kill Voldemort in this state. Dumbledore once looked for a way to kill him, but... Voldemort now was not a ghost, and the methods used to deal with ghosts had no effect on him.
Voldemort escaped, and escaped very easily. When Dumbledore returned to Barty's house to look for Peter Pettigrew, Peter had already run away.
Dumbledore extinguished the fire and walked outside. He planned to check on Crouch. As long as he recovered, he should be able to find out from him who the spy hiding in Hogwarts was.
When Dumbledore found Bagman, he discovered that he was with four goblins.
"It was Voldemort. I have dealt with him. However, he is not dead and has escaped. We do not need to worry about him for the time being." Dumbledore looked at Bagman, who had a somewhat unpleasant expression, and suddenly had a bad premonition, "How is Barty doing?"
"Battie is dead." Bagman's face looked uglier than crying. "It was Peter Pettigrew who did it. He suddenly appeared and attacked me. Fortunately, the goblins saved my life, but Peter still used the Avada Kedavra curse to kill Bartie."
Dumbledore's face suddenly turned gloomy. Barty's death was obviously related to his negligence. He never thought that Peter would 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 failed completely, he would not only be on the Ministry of Magic's blacklist, but would also be on Voldemort's blacklist, and he would be doomed to die.
As for the death of his pet snake Nagini, Peter didn't think it was a big deal. After all, it was just Voldemort's pet. Even if Voldemort cared about it, it was not as important as his resurrection. Besides, it was impossible for him to save Nagini from Dumbledore at that time.
After all, that was Dumbledore. Even Voldemort himself might not be his match, let alone a small character like him.
Not long after, Fudge, who had just finished his meal, hurried over with the Aurors. Looking at the body of his former rival, the Minister of Magic had an ugly look on his face, because Fudge already knew that it was Peter Pettigrew who killed Barty. As for why Peter, who should have been dead, came back to life, even if Fudge was stupid, he could guess the reason. It was obviously something that happened when Peter's wife went to visit him in Azkaban.
"It is Voldemort, Cornelius," Dumbledore said calmly, "He has 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, but... this is not good news."
"The You-Know-Who is back? Stop joking, Dumbledore..." Fudge stared at Dumbledore blankly, as if he couldn't believe what he had just heard. He stammered, "This is not funny at all."
"If Voldemort is resurrected, have you killed 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 escaped 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 to use spells on him, but to no avail. I think this is why Voldemort didn't die when the Avada Kedavra Curse rebounded." Dumbledore said calmly, "But I think he should be quite weak now."
"You mean that Voldemort, who is only a soul left, may possess a physical body at any time?" Fudge felt as if the sky was about to fall.
"He probably has a physical body with the help of others. His body is actually very fragile and needs someone to take care of him. But this is not a good sign. God knows if he can recover his previous strength. And Peter Pettigrew is still alive. I think you'd better catch that guy as soon as possible to prevent him from causing other problems."
"Isn't Peter Pettigrew dead?" said Scrimgeour, frowning.
"You think I'm lying?" Bagman roared angrily. "I nearly died, and the goblins saw it."
"No, you misunderstood me," Scrimgeour explained. "You probably don't know that some time ago someone confirmed it again and again. Peter Pettigrew is indeed dead and his body is buried in Azkaban."
The surroundings suddenly fell into a strange silence. What happened tonight was really weird. First it was Voldemort, and then 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 Voldemort is planning." Dumbledore took out his pocket watch and checked the time. "We'll talk after ten o'clock. Ludo, I suggest you take some sedatives and have a good night's rest. Barty's death is not your fault. He obviously knew something and was silenced."
After Dumbledore left, Fudge and Scrimgeour were silent. They all looked at Bagman and asked, "Have you seen You-Know-Who?"
"No, but I don't think Dumbledore had any reason to lie to us." Bagman naturally understood what Fudge meant, but he did not suspect Dumbledore of lying.
"We'd better talk to Dumbledore and not mention the You-Know-Who in the newspapers. That would cause social panic." Fudge felt that if the newspaper reported what Dumbledore said, it might not be a panic anymore. "Besides, no one witnessed this incident except Dumbledore. It's hard for people to believe his incredible statement. Whether it's true or not is still up for discussion, and I'm afraid no one can accept it."