"It's pretty cruel, isn't it?"
Dracula stared at Crouch's frozen face and said with a mocking tone, "You tried your best to stabilize the situation in the wizarding world, but your own child became crazy."
"Old Barty has done a good job. At least he did not favor his son at all." Dumbledore sighed.
"Perhaps in his eyes, his son should have been an excellent student who did not need his concern, and it would not be too late to care for him after the situation in the wizarding world stabilized... But he was wrong. By the time of the trial, everything was too late."
"Heh..." Dracula suddenly sneered, "If he really was so selfless, why did I see the ghost of Mrs. Crouch in the cemetery of Azkaban in the end?"
Dumbledore was silent again.
"I can actually guess what old Barty was thinking at the time." After a while, he said, "Mrs. Crouch's health has actually been very weak for a long time. After young Barty was imprisoned in Azkaban, she became seriously ill and didn't have much time left..."
"I guess she begged old Barty to use her own life, which was about to end, to exchange her son from Azkaban—"
"Polyjuice Potion can do that. As long as she is buried within the time limit of Polyjuice Potion, no one else will find out. Everyone will just think that little Barty died in the cell."
"That's right, then the rest of the story makes sense." Dracula smiled. "Crouch locked up his son, but he didn't expect Voldemort to regain his strength. He also heard that Barty Crouch Jr. was not dead, so he personally rescued his loyal servant."
"It's a pity that old Barty was tough all his life," Dumbledore shook his head and sighed, "He was soft-hearted just this once, and it cost him his life."
"Alright, there's nothing more to say about this matter." Dracula waved his hand indifferently and floated into the air. "Let's check the facilities of the third project carefully. Maybe Barty Crouch Jr. is hiding somewhere near the castle."
After saying this, he broke through the frozen image of the courtroom and turned the space upside down.
The next moment, Dracula returned to the headmaster's office at Hogwarts and stood next to the Pensieve, exactly the same position he had been in before entering the trial room.
The Pensieve glowed in the cabinet before Dracula, and Dumbledore, standing beside him, turned to look at him.
"Professor Dracula, when we reach the third task, the safety of the warriors is in your hands."
Dumbledore said in a serious tone.
…
As June approached, the atmosphere in the castle became tense and exciting again.
Everyone is looking forward to the last event of the semi-finals competition which will be held a week before the holiday. This will determine who will win the final victory for their school and will also prove which magic school is the best among the four schools.
As a warrior, Harry would practice spells with Ron and Hermione whenever he had free time.
He felt more confident than the previous two times—
Although the race was sure to be arduous, Harry had already made it through large magical creatures and magical obstacles with ease, and this time he had been notified in advance and had the opportunity to prepare accordingly.
Professor McGonagall had caught Harry, Hermione, and Ron practicing magic around the school several times, so she made an exception and allowed them to use the Transfiguration room during lunchtime to practice magic.
At the same time, Hermione got a book loan slip from Dracula to the restricted area -
Hermione thought that Professor Dracula might think that the books in the restricted area were no big deal and didn't take them seriously, so he approved them with great ease.
Under such favorable conditions, Harry quickly mastered the Obstacle Charm, which can be used to stop attackers; the Shattering Charm, which can blow up solid obstacles; and the Directional Charm that Hermione found in a spell book, which can make Harry's wand point to due north, so he can determine whether the direction is correct in the maze.
It's a bit regrettable that he has not yet fully mastered the very practical Shield Charm, which can temporarily form an invisible solid wall. Unfortunately, Hermione cleverly broke it with a Soft Legs Charm during the sparring.
"You're doing well," Hermione said encouragingly, looking over her spell list and ticking off the ones they had already learned. "I'm sure some of these will come in handy."
In addition, Harry often communicated with his godfather Sirius during this period.
Sirius, like Hermione, seemed determined to get Harry through the Third Task safely—he reminded Harry in every letter that it was not his responsibility to care for, nor his power to influence, matters outside the walls of Hogwarts.
"If Voldemort is really regaining his strength, I think you should be kept safe first. With Dumbledore's protection, he can't attack you directly, but you still have to be careful and don't take risks."
"Now you have to think about how to get out of the maze safely. We can talk about other issues later."
Sirius warned Harry in his letter.
As June 24th approached, Harry became more and more nervous, but his mentality was better than before the first and second projects.
First of all, he believed that he had done his best to prepare for this time. Moreover, this was the last event, and no matter whether the result was good or bad, the competition was about to end, and this big burden could be lifted.
More importantly, in the first two events, Harry has proved himself to everyone. Even if he doesn't perform well in the last game, he will not be easily laughed at again.
…
Time flies, and the day of the final exam has arrived quietly.
The champions of the Triwizard Tournament were exempt from the final exams, so Harry sat at the back of the classroom for every exam, looking for a useful spell for the third task.
In the Defense Against the Dark Arts exam, as expected, Professor Dracula was not in the classroom due to such a boring task as invigilation. He was replaced by Assistant Professor Riddle, who looked no older than a senior student.
"Harry, I guess you should have also got some information... about that person." After the exam, Riddle collected the test papers and walked straight to Harry.
"That person?" Harry asked puzzledly.
"You-Know-Who, I heard his powers have been restored." Riddle drove away Ron and Hermione who wanted to get closer, and waited until everyone in the classroom had left before whispering to Harry.
"Well, I heard Mr. Crouch say that before." Harry said, "But Mr. Crouch is not mentally sound, so Sirius and I think we can't trust everything he says."
"It's always better to be careful." Riddle frowned and said, "If I were that person, I would definitely choose to tamper with the third project. There is no better place to do it than that maze."
Riddle has been a little uneasy recently because he felt that his main soul had experienced something and his soul power had become extremely strong in a short period of time, as if it had returned to its peak.
As the same person at different times, he could easily guess what Voldemort wanted to do next -
After the soul is restored, obtaining a body becomes the top priority.
As for the method of obtaining a physical body, Riddle was also quite clear about it. After all, his current body was created by Voldemort at that time.
The flesh of servants, the bones of fathers, and the blood of enemies.
Among them, in order to resist the blood magic created by Lily Potter with love, Voldemort will inevitably choose to use Harry's blood as the blood of his enemy. Therefore, the maze in the third project is likely to be the best time he chose to kidnap Harry.
Riddle was a little scared. He had now broken off relations with his main soul, and Voldemort had regained the power of his soul. If Voldemort were allowed to regain his physical body, he would have no power to resist his main soul at all.
This was unacceptable to Riddle, who wanted to be independent.
"Tom, are you thinking too much?" Harry couldn't think of such a complicated thing. Instead, he smiled and joked with Riddle, "With Professor Dracula as a security guard and Professor Dumbledore also sitting on the judging panel not far away, how dare Voldemort come to Hogwarts?"
"Seriously, Harry, I'm not kidding." Riddle said sternly, "What if he has other ways to hide it from Professor Dracula and Dumbledore?"
"Don't worry, Tom, I'll be careful." Harry replied, "Sirius also warned me that getting out of the maze safely is the primary goal... If I encounter danger, I will send out a distress signal in time!"
Riddle was relieved a little and nodded to Harry, but his expression still looked a little worried.
…
The next day was the day when the last event of the semi-finals competition began.
Harry received a notice from Professor McGonagall during breakfast.
"Potter, the warriors will gather in the conference room next to the auditorium after breakfast," she said.
"But the game doesn't start until tonight!" Harry was stunned for a moment. He thought he had remembered the time wrong and his heart skipped a beat.
"I know, Potter," Professor McGonagall nodded, "This gathering has nothing to do with the competition... The relatives of the warriors have been invited to watch the final, and you can meet them."
She walked away, and Harry stared at her back in a daze.
"Relatives? She wouldn't have called the Dursleys over, would she?" he asked Ron beside him blankly.
"I don't know," Ron replied casually, hurriedly packing his bag. "Harry, I have to go. I'm going to be late for the exam. See you later."
Harry finished his breakfast in the gradually deserted hall.
Soon after, Fleur Delacour stood up from the Ravenclaw table and walked into the meeting room with Cedric, and Krum lazily followed a moment later.
But Harry sat still.
He really didn't want to see any relatives. He had no relatives - no relatives who were willing to come and see him risk his life in a competition.
But just as he stood up and was about to go to the library to study some spells, the door to the conference room opened and Cedric stuck his head out.
"Harry, come quickly, your family is waiting for you!"
Harry stood up in confusion. He thought it was impossible for the Dursleys to come, so who was coming
He walked across the hall and pushed open the door into the conference room.
Cedric and his parents stood by the door, Mr. Amos Diggory was the Head of the Department for the Control of Magical Creatures at the Ministry of Magic, and had fought against the Death Eaters with Mr. Weasley during the Quidditch World Cup;
Viktor Krum was in a corner of the room, speaking rapid Bulgarian to his dark-haired parents;
Elsewhere, Fleur was chattering away in French with her mother. Fleur's sister Gabrielle was holding her mother's hand and waving her other hand towards Harry, who waved back, grinning.
Then he turned around and saw three unexpected people.
Mrs. Weasley, Bill Weasley, and Sirius stood in front of the fireplace, looking at him with smiles.
"Surprise!" said Sirius with a grin, opening his arms to Harry.
The heavy stone in Harry's heart suddenly fell, and he walked forward with a smile and hugged Sirius.
"We wanted to come and watch you play, Harry!" Mrs. Weasley leaned over and kissed Harry's cheek. "Thanks to Professor McGonagall, she agreed to let us come as relatives."
"How are you?" Bill smiled and shook Harry's hand. "Charlie wanted to come, too, but couldn't get away. He said your fight against the Hornet was incredible!"
Harry noticed Fleur Delacour looking at Bill with interest over his mother's shoulder.
It was obvious that she was curious about Bill's long hair and dragon tooth earrings.
"You're so nice," Harry whispered to Sirius and Mrs. Weasley. "I was wondering who would come, the Dursleys..."
"Don't mention that idiot to me." Sirius said angrily, "They are not worthy of being your family!"
Mrs. Wesley also pursed her lips.
She always avoided criticizing the Dursleys in front of Harry, but her eyes would blaze whenever she heard their names.
"It's good to be back," Bill said, looking around the conference room. "I haven't seen this place for five years. Is the portrait of the Mad Knight still there? Was his name Sir Cadogan?"
"Oh, it's still there," said Harry. Sir Cadogan had guarded the Gryffindor common room last year.
"Where's the Fat Lady?" Bill asked again.
"She was there when I was in school," Mrs. Wesley interrupted. "One day I came back to the dormitory at four in the morning, and she gave me a good scolding..."
"What are you doing outside the dormitory at four in the morning?" Bill said to his mother in surprise.
Mrs. Weisley smiled, her eyes sparkling.
"Your father and I went out for a walk, but he was caught by the caretaker at the time, Apollyon Pringle." She looked at Sirius again, "Speaking of night walks, Sirius is more experienced, right?"
"Of course," Sirius said proudly, "If we talk about the number of night outings, no student would dare to claim first place if I say I'm second!"
"And Fred and George too?" said Harry in amazement.
"They're not qualified!" laughed Sirius.
Led by the "night walk expert" Sirius Black, they strolled around the castle chatting and laughing.
Before we knew it, the evening stars pushed open the night curtain, and the moonlight cast a silver veil.
Night is coming.
The last game is about to begin.
…
…