Hogwarts: Harry Returns from Azeroth

Chapter 293, Section 292: Harry Kills Crouch Jr.
After Crouch finished speaking, the entire room remained silent for a long time amidst the ruins.

“…I will send men to Azkaban to examine the remains,” Scrimgeour said in a deep voice after a moment of silence. “But now, Buddy Crouch, you are under arrest.”

It's strange that when everyone rushed here, it was mostly to save old Crouch, but now, old Crouch has been captured by the Aurors, lost his position, and everyone knows that he will be facing a one-way ticket to Azkaban.

However, this does not mean that the matter is over. On the contrary, something even more troublesome is about to begin—investigating the demon.

Scrimgeour sent someone to retrieve the Ministry of Magic's roster of students assigned to work at the Colosseum, intending to check them one by one. Meanwhile, Harry and many professors stood guard at one end of the corridor, hoping to detect something amiss based on the old professors' memories of their former students.

"Roger Carl?"

"Yes, Professor, a Ravenclaw graduate, you should remember me."

“Yes, I remember it clearly. You conducted a dangerous magical experiment in your dormitory that almost blew up the Ravenclaw Tower,” Professor Flitwick said, shaking his head slightly. “That experiment was your attempt to test magic power—”

"Uh, actually I wanted to make a magical item that could automatically do my homework, but I failed."

“Very well, Carl, go ahead.”

"Thank you, Professor."

Perhaps wizards really do have good memories. At least those who become professors all have excellent memories, including Snape. Everyone can clearly remember the names of the students who have passed through their hands, and some who have performed particularly well can even remember their typical disciplinary records.

Well, most of the people being examined by Snape were so nervous they were about to explode. One timid girl even almost cried under Snape's suspicious gaze.

It's really terrifying to still feel the pressure from my former professor even after graduation.

"Zebi Beckett?"

"It's me, Professor."

"Slytherin?"

Snape's voice remained deep, each question laced with a drawn-out doubt.

"Uh, no, it's Hufflepuff."

“Very good,” Snape said slowly, then looked at Harry—

Storm Strike!!!

Before Snape's gaze even fell on Harry, Harry had already grabbed the warhammer tucked into his waistband without warning, instantly enchanted it with the Storm element, and then hurled it.

Bang! !

It was indeed the sound of something hitting flesh, but the sound was unusually dull, or rather, hard—as if a thick layer of skin was blocking it.

"why?"

It was not a sound that humans could produce, but rather a deeper, hoarse voice—the voice of demons. Their bodies, modified by fel energy, allowed them to communicate in a unique demonic language.

Without a doubt, this Zeb Beckett was the hidden Crouch. He was confused and in pain—Harry's unexpected blow had undoubtedly caused him great damage. He was no tough Abyss Lord or Demon Guardian, but Crouch found it even harder to accept than the physical pain that his disguise had been so easily exposed.

"My disguise was flawless, so how did you notice?!"

“Because you’re too stupid,” Harry said with a sneer. “No Hufflepuff student would have been as fearless as he was when facing Snape, even after he graduated.”

Professor Sprout muttered something in dissatisfaction behind them, but no one could hear it.

Crouch Jr.'s face, now demonized and hideous, was horribly ugly. He never imagined that his disguise would be discovered for such a ridiculous reason.

"Everyone! Spread out!!! Aurors, draw your wands! Deadly spells are permitted!"

Scrimgeour charged forward at the first sign of trouble, roaring loudly.

"This time you can't hide! Little Crouch! Avada Kedavra!!!"

What to say?

As expected of the Minister of Magic, who came from Oro's office, Scrimgeour acted with extreme ruthlessness, casting an Unforgivable Curse without hesitation.

However, there was no problem. As someone who had personally experienced the Battle of Hogwarts and witnessed the devil, Scrimgeour's response was perfectly appropriate.

In coordination with Scrimgeour's attack, Harry swung his warhammer again. The blue lightning seemed to stretch into a chain across the corridor. Even though Crouch Jr. tried to dodge backward in that instant, his ankles were bound by the lightning chain, and he was forcibly pulled back.

"Roar!!!"

Crouch roared as he desperately drew upon the fel energy within him, unleashing its destructive power.

"Avada Kedavra!!"

The same spell, but when released by Crouch Jr., produced a completely different effect. If Scrimgeour's Killing Curse was a blinding green light, then Crouch Jr.'s was a green lightning-shaped net.

It was thick and unrestrained, not only aimed at Harry who was pulling him, but also at everyone present.

Even a fool could guess that being struck by this net-like Killing Curse would not end well. Crouch had clearly been a demon for a long time, long enough for him to explore the power within him to a certain extent, and even combine it with the magic of wizards, just like Harry had done.

It even surpasses them in offensive power, after all, fel energy itself is a high-level energy that excels at destruction and attack. "Earth Element!!"

In the heat of the moment, Harry couldn't even think about protecting the tournament buildings. He only had time to summon earth elementals to erect walls in front of Crouch's curse, but to be honest, the effect wasn't very good. The curse, mixed with fel energy, had changed the Killing Curse's previous shortcomings and had extremely strong destructive power even against inanimate physical entities.

The earth wall that Harry hastily erected with earth elementals was torn to shreds by the power of the spell in the blink of an eye. The green net was still spreading, but fortunately, the earth wall had achieved its purpose of buying time.

The professors and Aurors present all used their respective protective spells to try and stop it, and thankfully no one was injured or killed by this enhanced spell.

The ordinary Ministry of Magic employees further away had been screaming and fleeing since the start of the war. Even those who couldn't escape because they were too close quickly huddled at the back of old Crouch's destroyed temporary office.

"Stay calm!!" Dumbledore shouted, setting off a colorful firework. The loud explosion drowned out the panicked cries, giving the ordinary people a sense of direction. "Evacuate along the walls!!"

"No one can escape! You will all be destroyed in the shadow of the Dark Lord!!"

Crouch Jr. laughed loudly as he brandished his wand, from which Fiendfire—or rather, something that should have been called Fiendfire—was rapidly spewing forth from his knotted and spiked fingertips.

But the Fiery Blaze wouldn't be bright green.

This new curse, driven by fel energy, seems to retain the most malevolent aspects of Fiendfire. It still aims to devour everything in the world, and even devours and melts things faster. What is born from Fiendfire is no longer the mythical creatures like phoenixes or dragons, but rather enormous and ferocious demons.

They are illusory, yet they laugh out loud or threaten those who watch them with intimidating expressions. When the Aurors' spells are fired, they explode into clusters of green flames, devouring even the spells.

"Hahaha, hahahahahahahahahahaha!!!"

Crouch Jr. was laughing maniacally, reveling in the joy of destroying everything and devouring life—an instinct deeply ingrained in every demon, and the guiding principle he followed after becoming one.

boom! !

A sudden surge of intense heat rose around Harry and his friends; it was flames summoned by Dumbledore, but strangely, they were neither green nor red, but rather a blue flame.

"This is... Fiendfire?" Harry stared in surprise at the blue flames swirling around Dumbledore. He was certain that it was Fiendfire, or perhaps a type of Fiendfire.

The blue flames were constantly churning and transforming into the shapes of phoenixes or fire dragons. As a result, everyone witnessed a strange phenomenon: flames were devouring each other.

The green flames were devouring the blue flames, while the blue flames were simultaneously devouring the green flames; neither was willing to admit defeat.

The demons that were transformed into various magical creatures also clashed with each other, constantly clashing and threatening to transform into a ball of fire and rejoin the tide at any moment.

"Harry!!"

Dumbledore shouted.

"I know!" Harry shouted back, and began to run forward. As he ran, his body began to rapidly transform, expand, grow taller, and become stronger—then he bent his knees and leaped forward!

Bang! !

He leaped directly from mid-air towards Crouch, who was still some distance away. The Apparition Prevention Charm had once again enveloped the Hogwarts grounds, and when Harry landed on the ground, he had already revealed his Animagus form.

Like the Minotaur in mythology, his powerful muscles were even stronger than Crouch Jr.'s demonic body, so much so that Harry, in his human form, held the warhammer he had crafted himself as if it were a toy, which was laughable.

Shaking his head, Harry put the warhammer back, then stretched out his hand, and as he did so, a totem pole formed from solidified rock rose from the ground—a weapon of sufficient weight for a minotaur warrior.

"Ha! Tauren!" Crouch Jr. remained unfazed, a malicious grin spreading across his face. "I already know what you are, Harry Potter—Azeroth, right?"

"The Twisting Nether is full of news about Azeroth, that wondrous world, its races, and your magic—we already know what kind of world it is. Even though the so-called Burning Legion failed in Azeroth, it's different for you, Master. You've lost that advantage, and we've mastered new power!"

Harry paid no heed to the enemy's taunts, responding with a dull groan before hurling the storm-swirling totem pole at the demon.

Storm strikes!!
Why must your next warhammer be just a warhammer?

boom! !

Harry's powerful blow pierced through the floorboards where Crouch Jr. was standing.

"It's no use! Absolutely no use!!" Crouch Jr. laughed wildly. "You can never kill me! Harry Potter! Because I am immortal! My master has granted me immortality!! You—ah!!"

Crouch's words came to an abrupt halt, for Harry's totem had pierced through his protective demonic flames. The totem, brimming with power, struck Crouch squarely in the chest. Even a demon's bones would break from the force of this blow. Crouch, the entire demon, was sent flying, crashing into the audience on the other side!

"Cough, cough cough!!" The pain was intense, but to the demon, it was more like a stimulus. Little Crouch laughed even more wildly. "So what? This is outside the Twisting Nether! You can't kill me!!"

“So this is what makes you demons so disgusting,” Harry said, walking heavily to Crouch’s side. “You take advantage of your special circumstances of death to run rampant in other people’s worlds, lurking, corrupting, and tempting others to fall—especially with self-destructive individuals like you who bring the world you were born into the clutches of demons.”

"Wrong! It's in the hands of the Dark Lord!" Even though it was difficult for him to get up from the ground, little Crouch still raised his head as high as he could and declared, "Master will become the new Demon Lord, and he will eventually rule the whole world!!"

“Voldemort?” Harry couldn’t help but scoff. “It’s not that I look down on him, but with his intelligence, he probably couldn’t outmaneuver the remaining Eredar… or even the succubi.”

“Unlike you, those demons are born for destruction and corruption,” Harry said calmly, gazing at Crouch. “But you won’t live to see Voldemort die. You don’t think I’d let your soul escape back to the Twisting Nether, do you?”

"What do you mean?" Losing some semblance of composure, Crouch Jr. forced himself to say, "I am immortal! You cannot kill me!!"

“Your master probably didn’t tell you how pathetic he was when he escaped,” Harry said with a sneer as he lifted Crouch up from the ground. “I admit that my lapse in vigilance that time allowed his disgusting soul to escape back into the Twisting Nether, but things are different now.”

(End of this chapter)