Hogwarts: From Little Wizard to White Lord

There is a park next to the community. Vaughn followed the path, crossed the rolling hills of the park, and even saw a private golf course on the other side.

The investment in the construction of such places that serve the wealthy is always full of humanity. Look at the wide lawn across the wall, sparkling in the morning light rising in the east, and the lush green belt that blocks the view of the outside world.

Vaughan nodded.

What a great place!

After checking the time, Vaughn returned to the Crouch family. Winky had already prepared breakfast. Seeing him, she greeted him warmly, "Dear Mr. Weasley, Winky made your favorite pie, beef sauce with peas."

"No potatoes?"

Vaughan expressed his deep hatred for potatoes, the English people's favorite!

Winky, who had evidently taken careful note of his likes and dislikes, said enthusiastically, "Of course not. Winky gave all the potatoes to the master!"

At the dining table, Crouch, tucking his napkin in, looked at the small portion of pie and the oversized portion of French fries on his plate, lost in deep thought.

Vaughn was quite happy with this breakfast. To be fair, Winky's cooking skills were quite good, at least much better than Molly and the house-elves at Hogwarts.

This made Vaughn suddenly feel that there was nothing wrong with buying an elf...

After dinner and a cup of English breakfast tea, Crouch went to work and Vaughan also started his own "work".

Led by Winky to the basement, little Crouch was sitting quietly in an iron cage, motionless.

Winky looked at him and asked with sobs, "Mr. Weasley, when can the little master come out? Winky has already cleaned up the room for him. He hasn't slept in a warm bed for a long time and he must miss it very much..."

"It still needs to be observed, Winky."

Vaughan replied, pulling out his wand and transforming a chair into a soft woolen cushion, then sat down opposite Crouch Jr.

Knowing that "Reverend Mr. Weasley" was treating the little master, Winky didn't dare to disturb him any further and quietly Apparated away. Vaughn also adjusted his mood and closed his eyes.

When he opened his eyes again, he was in Hogwarts.

Hogwarts as remembered by Barty Crouch Jr.!

A hazy white light belonging to memory enveloped the ancient castle. Vaughn looked around and found himself at the covered bridge leading to the Forbidden Forest at the back of the castle.

There was nothing else around except a thin, seemingly introverted boy sitting on the edge of the high covered bridge, with his legs stretched out, looking at the cliff and lake below.

Vaughn walked up to him and said, "Barty, are you looking at the scenery again?"

The boy raised his head, looked at him, then lowered his head again: "Yes, Headmaster Dumbledore."

That's right, in little Barty's eyes, Vaughn was Dumbledore, this was the image he appeared in yesterday.

The boy before him was the personality of Barty Crouch Jr.—a memory within a memory, devoid of intelligence and unable to communicate.

So Vaughn used a personality costume to control and mask Barty Jr.'s true personality and trapped him in his memories.

Vaughn is trying to see if he can get Barty Jr. to open up in this way.

He still had no idea how to reverse a soul that had been corrupted by black magic. For the time being, he could only try to see if he could indirectly influence the personality through memory, and then trace back to the essence of Barty Jr.'s dark side from the personality.

This idea came from Vaughan's experience practicing the Patronus Charm.

Dumbledore believed in the "power of love", which is not an empty talk. In the magical world, spells such as the Patronus Charm use "love", or in other words, the beautiful and positive side of a person.

Vaughan also believes that no one is born evil and that everyone should have a pure place in their heart.

The Pure Land is difficult to transform. Vaughn believes that it is the opposite of darkness. If it can be found and its power can be called upon, it may be able to play a role in fighting the corruption of black magic.

It’s just that the “pure land” in some people’s hearts may be suppressed very weakly due to factors such as their growing environment, black magic, etc.

So faint that it is difficult to find.

Little Barty is not Harry, who lacks life experience. He is a middle-aged man with memories accumulated over 30 years, which are as vast as the sea in his spiritual world. Not to mention, his mind has long been distorted by black magic.

Dark magic made most of his memories seem plausible, full of strangeness and danger.

This period of life at Hogwarts was a relatively stable memory that Vaughan had finally found.

Vaughan sat down next to the boy and patiently talked to him: "When people are troubled and in pain, they always like to find a quiet place to think alone and lick their wounds... Barty, what's bothering you?"

Little Barty didn't answer. He stretched out his legs on the covered bridge and swung them slowly in the air.

After a long while, he asked, "Principal Dumbledore, we are in my dream now, right?"

"Hmm? What makes you think so?"

"Because I remember that you never communicated with me privately, but these past two days, no matter where I went, you always appeared in front of me..."

Vaughan remained calm. He stuffed Barty Jr. into this memory in an attempt to turn this memory into Barty Crouch Jr.'s dream.

People are usually irrational when they are dreaming, and this is also the time when they are most likely to let down their guard.

He smiled gently and said, "Of course, Barty, you can treat this as a dream, a delusion. Here, you can tell me anything you have, anything you think."

Little Barty looked up at him, was silent for a while, and said in a low voice:

"I failed the test and my dad was mad... He demanded that I get 12 Os in the OWLs, but I didn't do it."

OWLs are the Ordinary Wizarding Level exams. Generally, you can pass with an A (Acceptable), the next level is E (Exceed Expectations), and the highest is O (Outstanding).

"But you passed 12, which is quite remarkable."

Vaughn imitated Dumbledore's tone. He looked at little Barty with a dark, probing look in his eyes and said, "In my coaching career, only Tom Riddle has achieved better results than you!"

As the name Tom Riddle appeared, the depressed little Barty suddenly covered his head.

Vaughn asked with concern: "Barty, what's wrong?"

"Principal... my head hurts..."

As Barty's headache worsened, the sky suddenly became overcast.

Vaughan looked up at the clouds that suddenly appeared. They were dark and pressing down from the horizon, with flashes of lightning flashing among them. They were soon approaching the sky above Hogwarts.

Thunder rumbled overhead.

Vaughn remained calm, which was intentional. Little Batty's personality was just obscured, not his memory was erased. As long as someone who impressed him deeply and whom he had strong emotions for was mentioned, his memory would be awakened.

There is no doubt that Voldemort holds a special position in Barty Jr.'s heart.

Vaughan's eyes lit up slightly, and his voice became soft, full of trustworthy intimacy: "Barty, do you remember Tom Riddle?"

At his voice, little Barty's eyes became blank.

"……Remember……"

"What do you think of him?"

"He... is more like my father than my own father..."

"So, are you willing to open your heart to him? Tell your master, the Dark Lord you adore most, where your happiness and joy lie?"

"I……"

Little Barty held his head again and groaned in pain.

Vaughn pinched his chin and forced him to look at him, the glimmer in his eyes growing stronger. "Barty, look who I am?"

Little Barty was confused for a moment, and then ecstasy appeared on his young and tender face.

He suddenly hugged Vaughn's legs and said, "Principal? Master? Is that you, Master?"

"Yes, little Barty, answer my question, where is your happiness and joy hidden?"

"Okay, Master, I think... I think... I'll remember it..."

The dark clouds in the sky dissipated, and amid Barty Jr.'s neurotic murmurs, the Hogwarts in his memory was once again shrouded in a hazy light.

Vaughan took a step back, and the scene suddenly changed, and he appeared in front of Crouch's ancestral home.

The door of the old building was wide open. The room was no longer pitch black, but filled with the same hazy light as the Hogwarts Castle just now.

In the middle of the room, Barty Crouch Jr. stood with his eyes closed in his adult form.

His eyes rolled violently, as if he was experiencing a deep and intense dream.

A human-shaped mist ball was entwined on him like a parasite. Strands of mist extended from the surface of the mist ball and penetrated deeply into Barty Crouch Jr.'s body.

As little Barty's eyeballs moved more and more frequently under his tightly closed eyelids, a thread of mist was drawn out of his body.

What followed was a memory scene shrouded in black mist.

In that scene, Little Barty and several others were waving their wands and chanting a spell at a couple at their feet. The sound of the spell was transmitted through the black fog with some distortion:

"Heart-breaking and bone-cutting!"

The couple screamed miserably, but Little Barty was excited, angry, and enjoying the torture: "Longbottom, tell me, where did you hide my master?"

The couple didn't answer, or rather, little Barty didn't care whether they answered or not.

He just wanted to hear their screams!

"Heart-breaking and bone-cutting!"

Vaughn watched the entire torture process with an expressionless face, and then stuffed the memory scene back into little Batty's body.

"Failed again... This time, my guidance was more successful than yesterday's Dumbledore-like inquiries. I quickly induced Barty Jr. to recall his memories, but it wasn't what I wanted."

"His mind, twisted by black magic, has even distorted his very definition of emotions... His current happiness and joy are a perverted pleasure derived from killing and torture, and have nothing to do with the 'Pure Land'..."

Thinking about this, Vaughn was not discouraged.

As he told Crouch, this is a long-term project and he doesn't expect to find a solution quickly. All current attempts are trial and error to accumulate experience for the future.

Vaughn took another look at the personality armor that was parasitic on Barty Jr.'s real personality.

Just two days later, it has turned gray.

Calculating silently, Vaughn exited Batty Jr.'s mind and returned to the basement.

Barty Crouch Jr. still sat unconscious in the huge iron cage. Vaughn took out his notebook and recorded the experiment.

"The fourth experiment failed. It can be confirmed that the corruption of the Dark Arts is comprehensive, even the definition of emotions has become distorted and distorted... For the next experiment, you can consider choosing Mr. or Mrs. Crouch."

Having written this, Vaughan paused.

Wouldn't it be inappropriate to use the dead?

However, this conscience only lasted for a moment before he threw it behind his mind.

"...Mrs. Crouch might have played a more positive role in Barty Jr.'s life. Next, I'll try to find memories related to Mrs. Crouch..."

"The personality suit still needs further improvement, especially in terms of pollution prevention and filtration. After less than three days, the personality suit implanted in Barty's brain has begun to show signs of corruption. This time is too short, whether it is used for treatment or personal use, it is far from enough..."