Hogwarts: From Little Wizard to White Lord

He crawled in the iron cage like a wild beast, dragging the chains and rattling. His eyes, pupils constantly dilating and contracting, stared at Vaughn intently, their pupils filled with excitement, greed, and cruelty:

"You should be thankful that you ran fast enough. Do you know what happened to the last wizard that old dog hired to modify my memory?"

"Hehe, I locked him in my memory and tortured him for a long time - a long time!"

"You idiots, you have no idea how powerful my master is. I can hear him whispering in my head every day. With the help of my great master, I'm no longer afraid of that bullshit memory magic!"

Vaughn's expression was flat: "Really?"

"If you don't believe me, you can try again...!" He smiled and licked his lips nervously.

Then he saw Vaughn smile, raise his hand and snap his fingers!

Snapped!

Little Crouch was crawling when his limbs suddenly stiffened.

He widened his eyes in astonishment, feeling a strange thing emerging from the depths of his heart.

If someone entered his spiritual world at this moment, they would find that the cloak made of mist that Vaughn had thrown to him and that he had contaminated suddenly disintegrated as Vaughn snapped his fingers.

It disintegrated into mist again, a cloud of black gravel fell out, and the mist that had returned to pure white regrouped to form the outline of a human figure.

The moment it took shape, a picture was pulled out from the void—

It was the small building that Vaughn had seen before. The human-shaped fog ball walked into it stiffly and rigidly, penetrated into that memory, broke open the door of the small building, and rushed into the darkness.

Not long after, outside, Barty Crouch Jr. looked at "himself" with bloodshot eyes as he stood up like a puppet.

He watched as Vaughn opened the iron cage, "walked" in front of him, and then lay still and quiet.

He wanted to scream, to roar, to curse and utter the most vicious curses.

But the reality is, he has no control over anything.

He could only watch as Vaughn casually looked him over, smiling as he said, "To be honest, I was really shocked when I saw your memory before. I thought you were also a hidden master of memory magic, but it turns out you're just a poor wretch who was tortured by Voldemort and only learned the basics."

"A wizard who truly possesses memory magic would never dare to use his true personality and most important memories to meet another wizard who possesses memory magic, let alone casually keep something thrown away by others..."

"Get down!" Vaughn suddenly ordered.

Even though his eyes were filled with anger and madness, Barty Crouch Jr. couldn't control himself and squatted down in a stiff posture.

"Raise your hands!"

He raised his hand.

Vaughn took his hand and shook it. He smiled at his malicious eyes and said, "You said before that you would let me use your memories, your darkness and twistedness. This is the first time I've heard such a request."

"Don't worry, I will use you well. After all, you are my first dark wizard experiment material. I am really interested in your memory and everything about you!"

……

When Crouch woke up, it was already dark. Through the tightly drawn curtains on the windows, the lights of the distant city could be vaguely seen.

He stared blankly at the hazy light and shadow, and his cheek against the pillow could feel the coolness brought by the tears soaking the cloth.

He was dreaming again, still that unrealistic dream.

He dreamed that time seemed to go back to the past, and his son called him dad with a smile, instead of... instead of swearing and cursing at him madly!

His heart ached, Crouch closed his eyes slightly and buried his face in the pillow.

Then he heard a faint noise downstairs.

It’s Shanshan.

She was saying something in her signature sharp voice, and it could be vaguely heard that she seemed very happy.

Crouch's memory before he fell asleep came back to him. He remembered that he was not asleep at all, but was knocked unconscious by Winky. She even said to him:

"Master, I'm sorry, but Mr. Weasley said it would help you get a good night's sleep!"

Crouch's face turned pale as he recalled the memory.

Damn Shanshan, who is her master?

He quickly stood up, casually put on a coat, and walked downstairs. As he left the floor barrier, he finally heard what Shanshan said.

She was talking to Vaughn: "...Mr. Weasley, you are the smartest, wisest, and greatest person Winky has ever met. Winky is just a humble elf and can't help you much, but I will do my best to serve you. If you like or need anything, just tell Winky!"

This traitorous fellow...

Crouch's cheek twitched. He walked down the stairs and immediately saw that his living room had been transformed into a potion processing room.

A laboratory table that seemed to have been transformed by transfiguration lay in the middle of the spacious living room, flashing out all the enchanted alchemical lamps in the house, illuminating the laboratory table extremely brightly.

A golden crucible gurgled with steam. Vaughn stood in front of it, having just dropped in the last ingredient.

Twinkle stood on tiptoe beside him, looking like a henchman. "Are you done, sir?"

"One, two, three... stir eight times. Yes, it's done. Once it cools down, you can bottle it. Winky, call an owl for me."

"Good sir!"

Winky answered loudly. Crouch had never seen her so active in all these years.

He frowned and glared at Winky who turned around, and Winky also saw him.

But contrary to Crouch's expectations, this abominable elf didn't have the slightest guilt of "betraying" her master. She actually smiled with surprise, her big eyes sparkling:

"Master, you're awake? That's great! Mr. Weasley's potion was brewed successfully, the master is awake, and the little master... wuwuwu——"

She cried with joy and couldn't speak.

Crouch frowned. "Winky, what are you playing at?"

"Woo woo woo... Master, look, look behind you, oh - this is a scene that really makes Twinkle Twinkle intoxicated. The poor elf has been looking forward to such a scene for a long time. She has remembered the instructions of her mistress before her death and has been trying hard to do it. She thought she would never be able to do it until the day she died -"

Listening to Twinkle's mournful sobbing, Crouch realized something.

His back stiffened for a moment and he turned slowly.

Behind me, the restaurant was lit with dim candlelight, and a familiar figure was leaning against the restaurant door.

Just like many years ago, the figure showed an innocent and bright smile.

Crouch's eyes were suddenly blurred by the mist and he could no longer see clearly. He only heard the man shouting:

"dad……"

There were cries of pain coming from the restaurant.

In the living room, Vaughn, who was waiting for the potion to cool down, shook his head slightly.

Of course, Barty Crouch Jr. couldn't get better so quickly.

He simply implanted a personality into little Barty's spiritual world.

The one who called out "Dad" was not Barty Crouch Jr., but a virtual personality.

But it is not correct to say that it is completely false.

Because according to his design, the personality armor is to be connected to the real personality and real memory.

Unfortunately, little Barty, who knew nothing about memory magic, had previously taken the initiative to reveal his true personality to Vaughn.

So, in a sense, the personality costume can also be seen as Barty Crouch Jr., although it is just a reproduction of himself from memory, a long time ago.

After waiting for a while, the crying in the restaurant gradually subsided.

Vaughn heard Crouch stumble out from behind him, and asked in a hoarse voice, "Is this the personality suit you were talking about?"

It seems that Crouch is not indulging in a false reunion, he is very sober.

Vaughn, noticing the changing color of the potion, nodded slightly. "Yes, the one temporarily taking over his body and memory is a virtual personality I implanted."

“How much of it is real?”

"The memories and personality are taken from the real Barty Crouch Jr., of course, a long time ago, before he was exposed to the dark arts and brainwashed and corrupted!"

Crouch was silent for a moment, then asked again, "Is it different from the Imperius Curse?"

"Absolutely different. The Imperius Curse is a spell that allows the caster to suppress the soul, distorting and controlling a person. The operating principle of the personality armor is more like simulation and deduction... You can think of it as another personality that your son has split off."

Hearing this, Crouch's breathing became a little rapid:

"The effect of the dark magic on him..."

Vaughn shook his head. "Of course the influence is still there. Next, what I need to do is observe how long the personality suit can resist before it is contaminated by the dark magic."

Crouch was speechless.

"Don't be too impatient, Barty... Like I said before, this is a long-term project. I haven't started yet. I need to study, learn, and understand black magic to understand its fundamental mechanism of distorting people's hearts and souls."

Crouch calmed down and asked, "How do you need help?"

"The more dark wizards, the better." Vaughn smiled and changed the subject, tapping the cooling cauldron in front of him. "But right now, I need an owl more. Tomorrow is Valentine's Day, and I have to send a gift to my girlfriend!"

"..."

……

It's a new day, Valentine's Day is here.

This festival is completely irrelevant to the first-year wizards.

In the entire Hogwarts, they were the only ones who realized it last.

For example, Harry noticed while he was eating in the restaurant that each of the senior students looked like the peacocks he had seen in the Muggle zoo. Many of them untied their robes, revealing the handsome clothes underneath, and walked back and forth beside the long table.

The girls kept looking up at the ceiling, eagerly waiting.

"What's wrong with everyone?"

He asked after taking a sip of pumpkin juice.

My roommates next to me shook their heads in surprise.

On the other hand, Hermione, who was sitting opposite, holding a large book, raised her head slightly, revealing half of her fluffy hair: "Today is Valentine's Day!"

Ron clapped his hands vigorously. "No wonder Percy combed his hair so shiny this morning. I bet a fly would slip on it."

"Who's his girlfriend?" Seamus asked.

"Ravenclaw's head girl, Penelope Clearwater." Ron couldn't help but reveal, "Harry once saw them on a date in the Forbidden Forest."

Seamus, Dean, and Neville asked curiously for details, but Ron hesitated and couldn't explain clearly.