The Emerald at Hogwarts

Chapter 435 Dumbledore's Instructions

In the Forbidden Forest, both Dumbledore and Ada were thinking about who attacked Krum, but Karkaroff was the only one who didn't use his brain, only thinking about benefits, unfairness, and wanting to vent his grievances.

As a result, Karkaroff's words became more and more outrageous. Not only did he speak out, he also spit at Dumbledore.

Voldemort didn't dare to spit at Dumbledore, how dare a little Karkaroff do that!This is no longer dementia, Karkaroff just means that the brain is not fully developed, and the cerebellum is not developed at all.

Knowing Hagrid for so long, this is the first time Ada has seen Hagrid so fast, and it is also the first time she has seen this gentle half-blood giant get angry.

Hagrid rushed in front of Karkaroff in the blink of an eye. Hagrid grabbed the front of Karkaroff's fur robe, lifted him up, and slammed him against a nearby tree.

Understatement, effortless, as if what Hagrid was holding was not a human being, but a chick that had just hatched from an egg.

"Apologize!" The furious Hagrid's voice was like a bell and thunder, "Apologize quickly!"

Karkaroff, who was caught in mid-air, was struggling to breathe heavily. Hagrid's thick fist was pressed against his throat, and his feet were hanging in the air, kicking constantly, like a hanged man struggling to survive.

To be honest, if Karkaroff continues to maintain this state, he will not be able to speak a word, and he will not even be able to breathe in the future.

Krum on the side seemed to want to say something, or do something, to save his headmaster from the siege.

But before Krum could move, he saw Ada's warning eyes, which seemed to say: You move and I'll see, if you dare to move, I'll bury both of you here!
He didn't dare to move, didn't dare to move at all, his eyes didn't look like he was joking.And Krum also felt that the headmaster had gone too far.

Hagrid was still holding Karkaroff in one hand, while the other hand pulled away, as if Karkaroff didn't apologize, he hit Karkaroff's greasy face with a fist the size of a cauldron .

"Hagrid, stop!" Dumbledore shouted, his eyes twinkling sharply.

The enraged half-blood giant immediately calmed down, and he let go of Karkaroff.It's just that he still murmured: "Never insult Albus Dumbledore in front of me!"

Karkaroff slid down the trunk and collapsed at the roots.Some branches and leaves rained down on Karkaroff's head.

"Hagrid, please escort Harry back to the Gryffindor common room, and watch him walk in with your own eyes," Dumbledore ordered.

Hagrid wanted to stay, but after seeing Dumbledore's determined gaze, Hagrid had to take Harry and leave first.

The Forbidden Forest became quiet again, and Karkaroff collapsed under the tree, as if broken.Krum was also leaning against a tree, with a depressed face, as if he was frustrated with his shrinking just now.

After more than ten minutes, Moody, who went to look for Barty Crouch, came back. He shook his big head and said harshly, "I've looked around and found nothing. Dumbledore. No one, no trace, no body found."

Moody's face was criss-crossed with scars, and it was difficult to determine his emotions from facial expressions.However, Ada could still hear his seriousness, earnestness, and faint regret.

Too much like that, too much like an Auror's pity that nothing was found at the scene of the crime.Good actor, the best actor in Hogwarts, bar none.

Dumbledore nodded and said, "Thanks for your hard work, Alastor. But I still have to trouble you one more thing. Please escort Karkaroff and his students back to their ship."

"No problem, Dumbledore." Moody said, "It's time for me to exercise, this artificial leg is too slow."

Where Moody didn't notice, Dumbledore raised his eyebrows slightly.

Moody first looked at Krum and asked, "Boy, can you stand up by yourself?" Seeing Krum nodding, Moody walked towards Karkaroff who was paralyzed under the tree.

Karkaroff, who was on the edge of life and death just now, was so distracted that he didn't even respond to Moody kicking him with a fake leg.If Dumbledore hadn't stopped Hagrid in time, Karkaroff's head would have collapsed a lot with that fist.

Krum struggled to get up, and helped Karkaroff up with great effort, and the three of them were able to leave the Forbidden Forest.

Seeing that everyone was walking away, Ada asked in a low voice: "Professor, do we want to search again?" Now that he knew that Moody's identity was false, his search results were naturally not credible.

Dumbledore didn't move, and didn't answer Ada's question, but asked, "Did you hear what he just said?"

"Understood," Ada replied. "He said his wooden legs were too slow, and he emphasized it twice. It's not obvious."

Alastor Moody was a proud man, and he would not use his physical imperfection as an excuse.Besides, Moody had been lame for years, and he might not like his handicap, but he should have gotten used to the speed of the prosthetic leg.

"He told us on purpose, and he also met Severus in the castle, so he left everything clean," said Dumbledore, "trying to prove his innocence."

"However, none of us has ever expressed doubts about him." Ada continued, "His explanation has become a cover instead, to cover up his own guilt."

Dumbledore walked in the direction Moody had originally looked for Crouch, with Ada following behind him.

"Time is tight, he may have done it in a hurry, and the arrangement must not be proper." Dumbledore said as he walked, "So I was wondering if he would take the initiative to find Crouch."

Moody did indeed do this, facing the bait thrown by Dumbledore, Moody swallowed it without hesitation.

You must know that Moody had just arrived in the Forbidden Forest at that time, and he only knew from Dumbledore that Crouch was gone.He didn't ask Harry, who was obviously the first witness, nor Ada, who was the first person to arrive at the scene.

Moody didn't ask anything, he went straight to Barty Crouch.A little bit of strangeness is enough to be infinitely magnified, not to mention that he is an imposter in the eyes of Dumbledore and Ada.

Going around, Dumbledore and Ada did not find Barty Crouch nearby, not even a trace, as if Crouch had evaporated out of thin air.

"Professor, is Barty Crouch still alive?" Ada asked, although she was asking if she was still alive, she was actually saying that Crouch should be dead.

When Moody went to look for Crouch just now, he should have cleaned up all the traces that he hadn't had time to clean up before, without leaving any traces.Moody left with confidence precisely because he was confident that Dumbledore would find nothing.

Dumbledore didn't speak. He leaned on a tree beside him and looked up at the night sky.It's just that most of the trees in the Forbidden Forest are tall and dense, and he can only see sporadic sky through the gaps in the leaves.

"Ada, darkness is coming." Dumbledore said softly, "He will come soon, maybe tomorrow, maybe the day after tomorrow. Is your heart ready?"

No direct answer is actually the best answer.No matter what the reason is, a father imprisoning a son and a son killing his father are all human relations tragedies.Ada couldn't even make a joke about "a loving father and a filial son".

"I think we're going to win in the end, aren't we?" Ada said, "It's like the dawn will come to drive away the darkness of night."

"Well said." Dumbledore withdrew his hand, and continued, "Let's go back. I think I need to adjust our plan in time."

With that said, the two left the Forbidden Forest together and returned to the castle.On the way back, neither of them spoke.

When the two arrived in the hall, Dumbledore suddenly said in a rambling manner: "Ada, no matter what Severus has done in the fight against Voldemort, you must trust him unconditionally."

Scratching her head, how to say this well, Ada was a little puzzled, and she asked, "Professor, what's wrong?"

"Just remember that," Dumbledore emphasized again. "You have to trust Severus unconditionally in the fight against Voldemort, no matter what he does. Remember?"

Ada replied seriously: "I remember, trust Professor Snape unconditionally, no matter what he does."

(End of this chapter)