On an island where the sun never shines, the sky is gloomy and the sea breeze is howling.
The island was surrounded by waves, with rows of black waves rising one after another, like countless sea beasts breaking free from their cages, their rough backs covered with seaweed almost touching the sky.
On this island, a lonely fortress is surrounded by four tall steel walls. The waves hit the iron walls, splashing high waves, but no drop of water can pass through the towering walls of the island.
Countless Dementors, covered in tattered black cloth and looking like they were soaked in water, were wandering in the sky. Wherever they passed, it seemed as if all the happiness was sucked away, reminding people of the most terrible things they had experienced in their lives.
However, these Dementors, who are feared and dreaded by almost the entire wizarding world, behaved very abnormally today.
They deliberately bypassed an open space on the island of Azkaban and stayed far away from there, as if something more terrifying than monsters like them appeared in that direction.
This is a cemetery on the island of Azkaban.
No one takes care of this place, it's like an abandoned mass grave with corpses lying there in a mess.
The bodies of wizards who were tortured to death by Dementors in Azkaban were hastily buried. Occasionally, some friends or relatives who came here to visit would erect a few stones here as tombstones for the deceased.
A tall figure with long silver hair and burgundy eyes stood quietly beside the cemetery, a thoughtful look on his face.
The countless Dementors on the island didn't dare to get close to him.
Most of the Dementors had experienced the Patronus Charm that covered the entire island, and had seen their nearly immortal fellow Dementors being completely annihilated... Their fear of Dracula had been deeply engraved in the memory of the group.
Dracula was happy that there were no disgusting monsters like Dementors to disturb him, as it made it easier for him to find someone.
Or a ghost.
As early as the Christmas ball, Dracula wanted to come to Azkaban to take a look, but he only found some free time between the various fun activities of the semi-finals after the second task was over.
Before the Yule Ball, Percy introduced Barty Crouch's family situation to Dracula, mentioning Crouch's Death Eater son who died in Azkaban, and Crouch's wife who also died during that time.
Dracula already had great doubts about Crouch, so naturally he would not let go of this seemingly insignificant doubt.
How could an outstanding young wizard like Barty Crouch Jr., who obtained twelve OWLs certificates during his school years and joined the Death Eaters shortly after graduation, not be able to withstand the torture of Dementors for just a few months
Dracula stood in front of the cemetery and snapped his fingers lightly.
Then, it was as if a blood-red thread passed through Dracula's hand and connected to all the almost shapeless corpses on the ground.
Gradually, these corpses began to show some movement—
In fact, every corpse may still have some remaining soul fragments left in the body. Especially in a cruel place like Azkaban, it is almost impossible for wizards to die peacefully. More or less, they will have some obsessions...
These obsessions are the premise for the birth of ghosts.
As Dracula once said to his adopted daughter Selina, he was the purest dark life and was very good at necromancy.
This blood-red thread is an application of necromancy, which evokes the fragmented soul and tiny consciousness that have not yet completely dissipated in the body of the dead, allowing Dracula to obtain some information he needs here.
Under the influence of the blood-red threads, transparent human figures floated up from among the corpses. Most of them had dull eyes and no consciousness, making it impossible to communicate with them.
However, this is a prison that has existed for who knows how many years, and with such a large group of dead bodies, there are always some souls that still retain relatively complete consciousness.
These soul fragments with relatively complete consciousness are actually only a step away from forming ghosts.
"What's your name?" Dracula walked up to the illusory wizard with the clearest eyes and asked softly.
"I... Yeah, what's my name?" The illusory wizard looked at Dracula blankly, then looked at the surrounding environment, "I seem to remember... I should have died in a prison..."
He covered his head in pain, and his vague voice seemed a little hoarse, "My... my name... my name should be..."
"It's okay. If you can't remember, forget it." Dracula interrupted the illusory wizard, his eyes shining, "I want to ask you a few questions, listen carefully..."
The wizard seemed to be under control. He stopped shouting at the top of his lungs and looked at Dracula solemnly.
"You say." He said in a stiff, flat voice.
"How long have you lived in this cemetery?" Dracula asked casually.
The illusory wizard frowned unconsciously and fell into deep thought.
"About thirty years." After a long time, the illusory wizard slowly uttered these words.
It can be seen that the wizard's consciousness is not sure how many years he has been here, so under the control of Dracula's necromancy, he can only give a rough value.
"Thirty years... Then you must know Barty Crouch Jr., right?" Dracula asked, "He also died on this island more than ten years ago. I still have some questions to ask him."
However, the transparent wizard shook his head.
"I don't know anybody called Barty Crouch Jr. in this cemetery," he said.
Dracula's brow furrowed.
"Do you know the others?" he asked softly, "Or do you not know Barty Crouch Jr. because you have no way of contacting the other broken souls who died nearby?"
"No, I know everyone buried here," the Transparent Wizard retorted, "but I have never seen a wizard named Barty Crouch Jr."
"Is that so?" There was a hint of intriguing color in Dracula's eyes.
There are only two possibilities now -
The first is that Barty Crouch Jr.'s body was taken away by his father and was not buried here at all; the second is that Barty Crouch Jr. was not dead at all and has been hiding in the dark...
"Very good, I need to find other people to confirm it." Dracula nodded.
Next, he found other broken souls with clearer consciousness and questioned them one by one, and the answers he got were similar.
This specially set up tomb on the island of Azkaban really seems to have never had any information about Barty Crouch Jr....
Until he asked a slightly older witch with gray hair.
"I need to ask, do you know a wizard named Barty Crouch Jr.?" Dracula asked as usual, standing in front of the witch's illusory figure.
However, unlike other wizards, the moment this witch heard the name "Barty Crouch Jr.", her eyes suddenly enlarged, and then she turned her eyes away as if nothing had happened.
"From the looks of you, you should know Barty Crouch Jr., right?" The red light in Dracula's eyes circulated again, and the witch's eyes gradually lost focus.
Just when Dracula thought that she would tell everything she knew like the souls he had questioned before, the witch's eyes suddenly regained clarity.
There was a hint of panic and agility in her eyes that did not belong to these residual souls. She shifted her gaze to the side, trying to escape from Dracula.
"Stop!" Dracula said coldly.
He felt a little embarrassed that something unexpected happened with the necromancy that he was good at.
Then, Dracula raised his finger and pointed at the witch—
"Imperio."
When the Imperius Curse is used in this situation, the effect is almost immediate.
Although the witch struggled again and again, she had no magic power in her body, nor did she have a complete consciousness and soul, so she had no room for resistance.
Soon, this witch, who was not young at all, became obedient and compliant, just like the remaining souls before.
"Well, now can you tell me..." Dracula sighed, came to the witch and stood in front of her, and asked softly, "You know Barty Crouch Jr., right? What is your relationship with him?"
The witch's lips moved, as if she still had the strength to struggle, but no one knew where the strength came from.
However, she did not last more than a minute in the end, as her willpower was ultimately no match for Dracula's powerful magic.
The illusive witch spoke:
"I am the mother of Barty Crouch Jr."
Dracula's child's hole suddenly shrank
…
Hogwarts Castle.
Normally, the start of the summer term meant that Harry would intensify his training in preparation for the last Quidditch match of the season.
But this year, he had to prepare for the third and final event of the semi-finals and did not need to participate in Quidditch training.
But he still didn't know what needed to be done and had no specific direction for preparation.
Until one afternoon after the Transfiguration class, Professor McGonagall called him to the back of the classroom.
"Potter, you are to go to the Quidditch pitch tonight at nine o'clock," Professor McGonagall said to Harry. "Mr. Bagman will be there to tell the champions what the third task is."
So, at half past eight that evening, Harry parted from the now reconciled Ron and Hermione in Gryffindor Tower and went downstairs. As he crossed the entrance hall, Cedric was emerging from the Hufflepuff common room.
"What do you think the third project will be?" Cedric asked Harry as they walked down the stone steps into the overcast night. "Cho and Fleur both think it will be an underground tunnel. They think we are looking for treasure."
"That's not a bad idea," said Harry, thinking he could just borrow a Niffler from Rolf and leave the job to him.
They walked along the dark grass towards the Quidditch pitch, then entered through a gap between the stands.
"What have they done here?" Cedric stopped suddenly and said angrily.
The Quidditch pitch is no longer smooth and flat.
It looked as if someone had built countless long low walls here. These low walls were intricate and winding, stretching in all directions.
Cedric and Harry were both loyal fans of Quidditch, and of course they couldn't accept that the Quidditch pitch they were familiar with had been transformed into this.
"It looks like a wall!" said Harry, looking down and carefully observing the low wall nearest to him.
"Hello!" a cheerful voice called out.
Ludo Bagman stood in the center of the field, with John, Krum, and Fleur beside him.
Harry and Cedric stepped over the low walls and made their way towards them. Fleur smiled brightly at Harry as he approached - her attitude towards him had completely changed since he had rescued her sister from the lake.
"Looks pretty good, don't you think?" Bagman asked cheerfully as Harry and Cedric scaled the last of the low walls. "Pretty fast progress, isn't it? In another couple of months, Hagrid will have them twenty feet high."
He saw the unhappy expressions on Harry and Cedric's faces and smiled to comfort them, "Oh, don't worry, your Quidditch pitch will be restored to its original state as soon as the competition is over!"
"Well, I think you can probably guess what we're going to do here?"
Bagman looked at everyone expectantly.
"Maze." After a moment's silence, Krum said in a gruff voice.
"That's right!" Bagman clapped his hands. "It's a maze! The third task is very simple and clear. The Triwizard Cup is placed in the center of the maze. Whoever can touch it first will be the final champion."
"We just need to go through the maze?" Furong asked doubtfully.
This doesn't seem very difficult.
"There'll be lots of obstacles," Bagman said cheerfully, hopping up and down on his tiptoes. "Hagrid's provided a whole host of animals . . . and there are spells that have to be broken . . . and that sort of thing, you know."
"Also, the warrior with the highest score will enter the maze first." Bagman glanced at John, "But that doesn't mean the first one to enter will be the first to clear it. You all must try your best!"
Harry and the other warriors couldn't help but look at John.
Harry knew exactly what kind of animals Hagrid would provide for such an occasion, and it was not fun at all...
In addition, he later learned from Rolf that John had studied with the most outstanding magizoologist, Newt Scamander, for a long time. If the creatures that blocked his way were all magical animals, perhaps the championship would have been his.
"Don't worry, there are more than just magical creatures." Bagman seemed to see their concerns and explained, "There are also various other obstacles such as protective magic and alchemical products waiting for you!"
After explaining the content of the game, everyone walked over the growing low wall and headed towards the castle.
Bagman hurried up beside Harry... and Harry felt him about to offer to help him again.
Sure enough, Bagman found an excuse to take Harry to a remote place near the Forbidden Forest, and he looked a little upset.
"Listen, Harry, do you think you can beat the other warriors and win the final championship?" he asked.
"Of course I don't think so." Harry shook his head and smiled with relief. "In fact, I am very satisfied with what I have achieved so far. I don't force myself to be the first."
"No, how can you not pursue first place..." Bagman said urgently, "I can help you get first place!"
Harry shook his head, not wanting to pay any more attention to this referee who had no idea what he was thinking.
At this moment, a rustling sound suddenly came from the depths of the forbidden forest.
Harry turned his head and stared at the direction of the movement. He reached into his robes and fumbled for his wand.
At this moment, a ragged man suddenly stumbled out from behind a tall oak tree.
Harry didn't recognize him for a moment... Then he realized that this was Mr. Barty Crouch, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.
…
…