Hogwarts: Undercover Death Eater Replaces the Dark Lord

In fact, Crouch had no more appropriate solution to this problem.

Even Crouch had many doubts in his heart——

He was also aware that he had indeed relaxed his vigilance against his Death Eater son in recent years, and the power of the Imperius Curse was not as strong as before, so there was indeed a possibility that Barty Jr. could break free from the Imperius Curse.

But there's a problem.

Even if his son really broke free from the control of the Imperius Curse, according to the indulgence of the house-elf Winky towards his little master, if he couldn't stop him, he would only come to him crying and apologize, and would not start a duel of such a scale.

What's more, Winky didn't have the ability to force Barty Jr. to use so many killing curses in a row, even using Fiendfyre...

So old Barty Crouch hastily realized that there must be a powerful wizard behind the scenes setting up a trap to frame him, and he deliberately released Barty the Younger, who was once a core Death Eater.

His purpose in doing so is unknown.

Thinking of this, old Barty Crouch looked deeply at his subordinates.

"Bertha, are you sure you came here alone?" Crouch asked in a deep voice.

He knew his loudmouthed subordinate very well. She couldn't possibly have the ability to fight a life-and-death duel with Little Barty and escape unscathed, so there must have been someone else who came to Crouch Manor that morning!

"Ah...what?"

Bertha Jorkins was stunned by the touch. After several seconds, she stammered, "Ken...it must be me. How could there be anyone else..."

Just as the Aurors around her began to grow suspicious and looked at her with questioning eyes, Dumbledore suddenly took a step forward.

"Battie, the fact that Ms. Jorkins came to Crouch Manor with a few others doesn't seem to have anything to do with today's search..." Dumbledore said softly.

"Since you're not hiding your son in the manor, there's no need to change the subject, right?"

Crouch choked and turned his head to glance at the white-haired old principal with a frown.

He clearly understood at this moment that Dumbledore and the wizard who sneaked into Crouch Manor were on exactly the same side... With such a highly respected old man covering for him, it would be difficult for him to find out who was behind the plot.

Fortunately, little Batty has been temporarily transferred to a safe house.

As long as the Ministry of Magic didn't actually find Barty Crouch Jr. in the manor, they would have no evidence to prosecute him, and everything would still be possible...

Crouch exhaled slowly.

"Then please." He spread his hands, as if allowing himself to be searched. "Search more efficiently. I have work to do this afternoon."

Scrimgeour was not polite and waved to the Aurors he brought with him, and a massive search continued at Crouch Manor.

……

"Director Scrimgeour, no suspicious individuals have been found here."

"Director, there's none here either."

“It’s the same here…”

"..."

As the sun in the sky gradually moved westward, the search work gradually came to an end.

Crouch still had that fearless and nonchalant look on his face. Fudge heaved a sigh of relief and went to sit in the Crouch family's living room to enjoy the cool air... while Dumbledore's blue eyes became deeper and deeper, and it was unknown what he was thinking.

Finally, when Rita Skeeter finished writing her third eye-catching report, the large-scale search was completely over.

No one except old Barty Crouch was found in Crouch Manor.

"There's no problem at Crouch Manor." Scrimgeour came to the living room and reported to Fudge.

"Very good! I knew old Barty would be fine!" Fudge immediately put on an expression as if he had expected this and put his arm around old Barty Crouch's shoulders affectionately. "Bertha, do you have anything else to say?"

"Impossible..." Bertha Jorkins was bewildered. "I clearly saw Barty Crouch Jr. this morning, in that basement..."

As she said this, she suddenly realized what was happening and stared at Crouch with wide eyes: "I see, did you take him away?!"

"It's better to keep your slanderous remarks to a minimum." Before Crouch could react, Fudge warned him, "Bertha, falsely accusing a high-ranking official of the Ministry of Magic is a serious matter. Do you want to be thrown into Azkaban?"

"But……"

Bertha Jorkins was about to continue arguing, but was interrupted by Dumbledore.

"Well, Ms. Jorkins, there's no point in saying anything when there's no evidence."

Dumbledore stood up from the sofa in the living room and slowly walked towards the expressionless old Barty Crouch.

"Barty, although this may not be the right time, I still have a question that I can't help but ask..." He spoke slowly, "Where is your house-elf now?"

Crouch's eyes narrowed, but his expression didn't change at all.

"She's helping me with some things," he said in a particularly cold tone. "This problem doesn't seem to be related to this investigation, right?"

"Yes, this question is indeed a bit puzzling." Dumbledore shook his head and turned to walk out the door. "What a pity..."

Everyone in the living room watched Dumbledore walk out the door, muttering "what a pity", but they couldn't figure out what there was to regret... Could it be that such a highly respected wizard also wanted the current Director of the Department of International Magical Exchange and Cooperation to fall?

However, before Fudge and the Aurors present could figure it out, Dumbledore suddenly came back from outside the door.

"It seems that I said it too early." The old man walked into the door with a rather pleasant smile on his face.

And behind him, outside the living room door, which was against the light, a figure suddenly appeared...

……

Chapter 230 I demand a retrial of Sirius’ old case!

Fudge was curious and stretched his neck to look at the figure.

As for Crouch, who was being hugged by Fudge on the shoulders, the calm expression on his face suddenly froze, and his eyes were filled with incredible emotions.

As the light outside the door faded, a pale wizard with a few freckles on his face slowly walked into the living room of Crouch Manor.

His hair was as dry as straw. Although he was only thirty years old, the wrinkles on his face showed the vicissitudes of life of a man in his forties. His face was stiff, without a trace of emotion, and his steps were extremely mechanical, as if he were a walking corpse.

Many people present knew him.

"This is……"

"Barty Crouch Jr.?!"

Fudge's eyes seemed to be about to pop out of their sockets, and his arms seemed to have lost their strength and fell limply from Crouch's shoulders.

He stared at the person for a long time, then turned his head in shock and extremely slowly to look at the face of the person next to him who was about 60% similar to the person. For a moment, he forgot what to say and was dumbfounded!

"Bati, do you have anything to rebut?" Dumbledore asked softly.

"At this point, what else can I say in rebuttal?"

Old Barty Crouch looked at his only son, whom he both loved and hated, and sneered. However, he still maintained his usual straightforwardness and decisiveness, and admitted the crime without any hesitation.

He now understood that the wizard who had come to Crouch Manor with Bertha Jorkins that morning was even more powerful than he had previously expected.

Because the Imperius Curse on Barty Jr. has been tampered with!

Just today, when Crouch learned that the protective magic at home was disturbed, he hurried back to Crouch Manor... and then he saw little Barty and the house-elf Winky lying unconscious on the ground.

Crouch realized that the matter was exposed, so he hurriedly woke up Winky, cast another stun spell on little Barty, and then temporarily found a family safe house to house his son.

In his haste, he didn't realize that the Imperius Curse on Barty Jr. had changed - it had been tampered with in a sophisticated way, and unless he deliberately looked carefully, he would not have noticed it at all.

The seeds of disaster sown at that time have now come to fruition.

After Barty Jr. recovered from his coma, he took the initiative to walk out of the safe house under the control of the tampered Imperius Curse and returned to Crouch Manor, which was under search by the Ministry of Magic.

As for Winky, who was guarding little Barty in the safe house, he was probably dismissed without a care in the world...

"Barty Crouch Jr." Dumbledore looked at Barty, who was surrounded by Aurors in an instant, and said with a half-smile, "Did you make the Dark Mark in Hogsmeade this morning?"

"It's me." Little Barty said stiffly.

"Why are you doing this?" Fudge asked subconsciously.

After asking, he realized something was wrong. How could a cunning and experienced Death Eater like Barty Crouch Jr. answer his questions honestly? He should have the Aurors apprehend him first and then slowly interrogate him.

However, to Fudge's surprise, little Barty paused and actually gave a serious reply.

"It was just a coincidence that I broke free from the old man's Imperius Curse today, and I can't guarantee that I can break free next time." He said dully, "So I have to announce to the outside world that I am still alive and seek the master's help..."

"Battie, you actually used the Imperius Curse..." Fudge glanced at old Crouch, his face flushed with anger. "Forget it, I'll settle the score with you later!"

After scolding him, he turned to Barty and yelled, "The mysterious man is dead!"

"The Dark Lord will never die." Barty Jr.'s tone was quite natural, without a trace of doubt, as if this was a matter of course. "Sooner or later, he will make a comeback and dominate the wizarding world again!"

Fudge grew increasingly furious.

"Catch this guy who disturbed the peace of the wizarding world!" He shouted at the Auror beside him, "Take him back to the Inquisition and interrogate him!"

"Oh, and don't forget to bring old Crouch back with you. Bertha Jorkins will temporarily take over the position of Director of the Department of International Magical Exchange and Cooperation..."

The Aurors' operation in capturing Barty Jr. went exceptionally smoothly.

This Death Eater, who had once brought countless fears to the wizarding world, now barely resisted, allowing the Auror's spell to hit him. He fell heavily to the ground and was then tied up with countless magical ropes.

Poor little Barty fainted no less than three times in one day. In the morning, he was knocked down head-on by Lycos in a duel. When he was about to wake up, he was hit by Crouch's Stunning Curse again, and spent the whole afternoon in a coma. In the evening, he was controlled by Lycos's Imperius Curse and was unable to resist the Auror's spell. He was knocked unconscious again...

"Fudge, don't you think that's a little strange?"

After confirming that Barty Jr. had completely lost the ability to resist, Scrimgeour went straight to Fudge.

"Strange? What's strange about it?" Fudge was confused.

"I find it strange that Barty Jr. returned to Crouch Manor alone. It's even stranger that he didn't resist being arrested..." Scrimgeour frowned. "I know that being tortured by the Imperius Curse for so many years could indeed lead to mental disorder..."

"But he broke free this morning and ran to Hogsmeade to place the Dark Mark. This doesn't seem like something a completely insane person would do."

Fudge also frowned after hearing Scrimgeour's analysis.

"Perhaps... releasing the Dark Mark was just an obsession that had been controlling him for years?" Fudge speculated. "Perhaps he was able to break free from the Imperius Curse just for this spell today?"

"Maybe." Scrimgeour remained noncommittal. "But what happened today was such a coincidence. I just don't think it's right..."

Just then, Dumbledore also came over.

"Rufus, maybe you're overthinking it."

He chuckled, seamlessly covering up the flaws in Lycos's actions, and then changed the subject—

"Whether what happened today was a coincidence or not is not important. What is important is not the survival of Barty Crouch Jr. and the deeds of Barty Sr.?" Dumbledore adjusted his glasses and stared at Fudge with his deep blue eyes.

"Connelly, Barty Crouch has committed such inhumane and lawless acts. I reasonably suspect that he has committed other illegal acts in his work..."