A day at Hogwarts.

Chapter 597 It turns out it was you guys who were behind this.
"You knew about Barty Crouch Jr.'s plot all along?!"

Dumbledore stared incredulously at Jack, Grindelwald, and Alastor Moody, who sat in a row before him with dark circles under his eyes.

At that time, Moody was unaware that everyone had witnessed Barty's transformation from disguising himself to reverting to his original form. He went straight to the dining hall for a meal and was severely beaten by Professor McGonagall and the others. Hagrid even kicked his good leg several times, saying, "You're quite the actor."

He just came out of St. Mungo's Hospital today.

Jack picked up his teacup, took a sip, and said calmly, "Last year, Charles mumbled something incoherent, mentioning that 'one-eyed people are going to face disaster,' and I immediately thought of Mr. Moody."

They had known each other since their time in Vargas, and this time, by cleverly using Charles's "prophecy" as an excuse, Dumbledore couldn't find any obvious fault with it.

Grindelwald, eyes wide open and expressionless, said, "Mr. Smith happened to run into me at the Dancing Grass Restaurant that day and told me about it, so I decided to help out."

His tone was matter-of-fact, as if he were a kind and helpful wizard.

Moody added seriously, in a low, hoarse voice, "That day I pretended to be subdued by Barty the Younger, and during the first Hogsmeade Week, Lord Grindelwald subdued him again."

"In order to find out his purpose, we kept this matter strictly confidential."

“From that day on, we took turns appearing, and Lord Grindelwald kept altering his memories to make him believe that he had been impersonating me all along.”

He included Grindelwald in his "we," but was a little worried about Dumbledore's reaction, so he glossed over it, making it sound like Grindelwald was only responsible for altering memories and didn't teach the students.

Dumbledore didn't rush to comment on their explanations, but instead asked in a deep voice about the biggest mystery of the school year: "And what about Seamus Finnigan's participation in the Triwizard Tournament?"

To this day, he still doesn't understand the real reason for the appearance of the fourth contestant, but now it seems to be the work of these three.

Moody explained, "Barty Jr. cast a powerful Confusion Charm on the Goblet of Fire, pretending that a fourth school was in the competition, and then put Harry Potter's name in."

"Only one person applied to this school, so they will definitely be selected."

“I originally intended to register Charles, but Mr. Smith suggested registering Simon Finnigan instead.”

"According to the rules of the competition, Charles will participate as an assistant to the 'Fourth School Warriors,' while Harry may not participate, thus thwarting their plot."

“Who knows,” Moody said with a deep sense of helplessness, “Charles didn’t end up participating, but Harry did.”

Their plan still went terribly wrong.

Jack also feigned a speechless and regretful expression, as if lamenting the failure of the plan.

However, his true purpose was to indirectly encourage Harry to participate in the competition, but he couldn't say it outright.

Dumbledore was somewhat angry, his eyes flashing with fury, and asked, "Why didn't you tell me sooner!?"

Moody's Demon Eye was fixed on Dumbledore as he answered seriously, "We can't let Barty get suspicious. What if Voldemort changes his resurrection location and secretly resurrects because of this? Where would we find him then?"

He sighed helplessly again and continued, "Who would have thought things would turn out like this? The goblins kidnapped Charles and imprisoned him under Gringotts. In the end, we had to make a deal: Voldemort would rescue Charles, and we would resurrect Voldemort. Otherwise, I would have smashed that cauldron into a sieve!"

His fist slammed heavily on the armrest of the chair, his face full of regret and extreme resentment.

Dumbledore sighed. Moody's words made a lot of sense. If it weren't for the unexpected kidnapping of Charles by the goblins, they could have easily dealt with Voldemort according to this plan. Now, however, they had missed their chance and watched helplessly as Voldemort and the Death Eaters disappeared before their very eyes.

Putting Voldemort aside for the moment, Dumbledore looked at Jack, his tone becoming inquisitive: "Jack, does Charles usually do anything strange or inconspicuous, like... anything related to jellyfish?"

The sight of Charles unleashing a giant jellyfish during his magical outburst that day shocked Dumbledore; the enormous and destructive magic and the creature's form left a deep impression on him.

If it weren't for Grindelwald's experience and his ability to learn from his mistakes, things would have been much more complicated.

After a moment's hesitation, Jack finally decided to sell Charles.

He cleared his throat, feigning anger, and said, "I told him not to read so many tentacle-themed Japanese comics!"

The three well-informed British wizards were greatly shocked by the colorful and explicit comics found under Charles's bed.

"I think this is very bad, and the negative impact on teenagers is immeasurable."

Dumbledore shook his head, glancing at Grindelwald in the process.

Grindelwald stroked his chin thoughtfully and said, "I think the Fiendfire Curse can still do good."

He felt that some things should not exist in the world.

Moody removed the Magic Eye, sprayed a stream of clear water from the tip of his wand to wash it, and sighed, "I somewhat regret installing this Magic Eye. Because my reading speed is too fast, by the time I realized what I had seen, it was already too late."

"I thought he was a good kid, worth nurturing, and I even helped him register for the ordinary wizard level exam with Minerva..."

He decided that he would deal with this part of his memory later, preferably by cutting it off and throwing it to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.

Grindelwald turned sharply to look at him, opened his mouth as if to say something, and finally asked, "Are you free later?"

A strange light flickered in his eyes.

Moody, puzzled, looked at Grindelwald with his normal eye and asked, "What's wrong?"

Grindelwald straightened his collar and said seriously, "I'd like to go with you to visit the Grangers, Hermione Granger's parents."

He seemed to be proposing an important official matter.

Moody's demonic eye flickered thoughtfully as he said, "The girl who was cursed with the Killing Curse but didn't die?"

"Yes, it is indeed necessary to pay a visit. I feel there is more to this than meets the eye."

He turned to Dumbledore and asked, "Albus, are you coming along?"

Without a word, Dumbledore skipped even saying goodbye and Apparated away with a "snap," his speed leaving only a ripple in the air.

After that day, England gained another wizard who, upon encountering Boggart, became Mr. Granger.

(End of this chapter)