Chapter 247 Ron's Reasoning

Old Batty already had a decision in his mind.

At this time, he didn't know that little Barty's memory had also been modified by Schelling. Little Barty thought he had killed his damn father and had relaxed his vigilance. In addition to the injuries he had suffered in the previous battle, he was still serving. After taking the medicine, he fell into a deep sleep. Fortunately, the polyjuice potion he took was not the version prepared by Hermione in her second year, but a version modified by Voldemort himself. The effect could last for eight hours, which was enough for him to maintain his transformed state until he woke up.

Therefore, even though this is Hogwarts with Dumbledore in charge, Old Barty still cannot feel at ease.

He didn't know how little Barty sneaked into Hogwarts, nor did he know how little Barty accurately intercepted and killed him in the Forbidden Forest. He just had a feeling that he was still not out of danger.

So he arranged his clothes, touched his arms, took out his wand, and left the school hospital secretly.

During the period when he was under control, except when he went to work at the Ministry of Magic, he was allowed to retrieve his wand. When he returned home from work, he would be locked up in the basement and monitored by Peter Pettigrew, who was generally timid. The cautious Peter Pettigrew would just hand over his wand, but in the past few days, Peter Pettigrew was so distracted that he didn't know what he was doing, and even forgot to take away his wand, so that he could escape with his wand.

There was a rush of footsteps, and it was Madam Pomfrey who was attracted by his movement. She had just entered the compartment where Old Barty was, and she poked her head out to see what was going on, but was sent away by him. Cast a forgetting spell.

In this way, no one except Dumbledore and Sherling knew about his time at Hogwarts. According to his speculation, although little Barty knew that he was not dead, he was attacked while unconscious and would most likely have fled in the opposite direction to Hogwarts. It was unlikely that he would have guessed that he was still there. Hogwarts.

Gryffindor common room.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat in a remote corner with solemn faces, talking in low voices.

"So," Hermione said, rubbing her forehead, "there was a mysterious figure who took advantage of the dark environment to attack you, Malfoy, and Mr. Crouch, and then let you go safely, and was finally repelled by Malfoy. And Mr. Crouch is missing?"

"I'm not sure," Harry said, shaking his head, "but Professor Dumbledore cast a strange magic. He used his wand to spray out a large amount of golden powder to try to deduce what happened at that time... …”

"That's a tracking spell!" Hermione said sharply, "It can detect traces of magic that have occurred in that place within a certain time range, including the footprints of wizards and magical animals, as well as the magic that has been performed there. The spell is a trace. Reveal..."

"Yes! It's this magic. I remember that Professor Dumbledore recited this spell at that time," Harry continued. "Professor Dumbledore deduced from the golden powder that besides Malfoy and Crouch, There are also the footprints of an adult wizard, and then there are traces of the Whirlwind Curse and the Death Curse... According to him, the Death Curse obviously missed its target, and Malfoy also successfully repelled the attacker. "

"Korean Curse?" Hermione and Ron exclaimed in unison. They had only listened to Harry's brief description before, and had no idea that such a dangerous curse as the Death Curse was involved. Only then did they realize that the actual situation was probably much more dangerous than they had imagined.

"Harry," Hermione stared into Harry's eyes and said in a very serious tone: "Why did you go to the Forbidden Forest alone with Malfoy? What on earth did he say to you?"

Harry remembered the topic about Zhang Qiu, and he hesitated to speak. Ron raised his eyebrows in realization, while Hermione continued to look suspicious.

"Malfoy asked you to go there, and everything happened in that place," Ron said lightly, "I think this is a bit suspicious, it's too much of a coincidence."

Hermione raised her eyebrows and said coldly: "Ron, do you mean that there is something wrong with Sherlin?"

Ron's pupils quickly flashed with an unnoticed pain and resentment——

Hermione was still the same. She may be a smart and knowledgeable little witch, but she is definitely not a powerful liar. Ron just hinted lightly, and Hermione couldn't help but directly reveal her inner thoughts——

Hermione, do you know that just now, you inadvertently said the name "Shaylin" instead of calling him "Malfoy" like us.

Harry, a straight boy, was completely unaware of the rich inner drama of his two friends and said to himself: "What Ron said is not unreasonable. Malfoy suddenly called me to such a remote and uninhabited corner. I originally thought there were some important private topics, but what he talked to me about——" His face turned red, and he quickly said the next words in rapid succession, "It turned out to be unimportant and irrelevant topics. Topic, as if...he had already anticipated what would happen there..."

"Aha! Could it be like this?" Ron said excitedly, as if he had just grasped an important inspiration. "This was all directed and acted by Malfoy. In fact, he was the one who attacked Harry and Crouch! "

"He was next to Harry at the time, how could he attack himself?" Hermione said coldly.

"Malfoy knows so many dark arts, so why is it surprising that he knows a magic that can split himself in two?" Ron retorted unyieldingly.

"Then tell me, what is his purpose in doing this?" Hermione said unhappily, "Just to scare Harry?"

Ron's mouth curled up slightly, he tilted his head forward, making himself closer to Harry and Hermione, and then said in a low voice: "To create a witness - Harry is his witness. And Mr. Crouch is his target."

He lowered his voice again, and there was a hint of coldness in his tone, "He first created a scene where someone wanted to kill Crouch, and let Harry be a witness, and then tried to get Harry away, and he only attacked Crouch after Harry left the scene."

Harry nodded continuously. Ron's reasoning was very coherent and reasonable, otherwise it really couldn't explain why Sherin asked her to go to the Forbidden Forest alone to talk about Zhang Qiu.

Hermione was a little unconvinced, she wanted to refute, but she couldn't find any flaws in Ron's reasoning. After a long while, she said, "If something like this happens, even if Sherin doesn't go to Professor Dumbledore, do you think Professor Dumbledore won't go to him? If Sherin really killed Mr. Crouch..."

Hermione couldn't help but shudder at her own conjecture. She was still a naive little witch who had never seen death. She couldn't accept the conjecture that Sherin killed someone, even if it was just a conjecture.

She continued, "If that's the case, do you think Professor Dumbledore wouldn't be able to see it? I don't believe that Shaylin, a fourth-year student, could kill an adult wizard without using a wand, and then hide it from the most powerful wizard of this century. If even Dumbledore thinks he's fine..."

(Note: Hermione said that she didn't need to use a wand because the wand can use the flashback spell to check the magic that has been cast)

"I agree with what you said. If Malfoy killed someone, it's unlikely that he could hide it from Professor Dumbledore, but--" Ron's eyes flashed with a shrewd light, and he said coldly, "Malfoy is more cunning than his Death Eater father and his silly brother... He's not a Death Eater, and killing indiscriminately is definitely not his style. It should be said that for him who puts utilitarianism above all else, For a person who is not good for others, anything that hurts others and does not benefit oneself is definitely not his style..."

"Attacking Crouch, killing Crouch, that's what Death Eaters would do..." Ron narrowed his eyes slightly, and his confidence flickered faintly between his eyelids. "Who is Crouch? He is the head of a department in the Ministry of Magic, and he is in a high position. Sirius also said that he once ran for Minister of Magic, which shows that he also has a strong prestige and supporters in the Ministry of Magic. "

"If I were Malfoy, killing him would undoubtedly be the stupidest decision... Only by controlling him and letting him work for me can I maximize the benefits of the whole thing..."

Hermione's face turned pale, she looked at Ron's familiar face in disbelief, she couldn't believe that these words came from Ron's mouth, and suddenly felt that Ron had become a little strange.

Harry didn't think so much. He pondered for a while, frowned, and said, "Are you talking about the Imperius Curse that Professor Moody mentioned? Malfoy is just a fourth-year student like us. Is he able to cast this magic? Even if he really has this ability, Crouch is not an ordinary person. He works in the Ministry of Magic and often meets many powerful wizards. When he shows up again, is it possible that Malfoy's spell will not be seen through by others?"

"The Imperius Curse is just one of the possibilities. There are thousands of magics in this world, and there are always some that even Dumbledore has never come into contact with..." Ron said quickly.

"Wait a minute," just as Ron was about to continue to talk about the various unpopular and obscure black magics he had heard from his father and other relatives and elders, he was interrupted by Hermione forcefully.

Hermione took a deep breath, and her voice began to take on a chill. "Okay, you two, you've come to a conclusion so quickly, as if Sherin is really the villain you said he was... Haven't you ever considered that it's your preconceived prejudice against him that prevents you from making an objective and accurate judgment on the matter?"

Hearing the dissatisfaction in Hermione's tone, Ron's body seemed to tremble slightly. He knew that he had touched Hermione's bottom line. He didn't dare to look at Hermione again, but turned his eyes away, looked at the ground, and said softly: "These are just inferences. Hermione, you are too serious."

Hermione snorted coldly and ended the conversation. The three of them returned to their own dormitories, and there was a bit of an unpleasant atmosphere.

The next day was Tuesday. As soon as it was light, Harry, Ron and Hermione slipped out of the dormitory early in the morning and hurried to the Owlery to send a letter to Sirius. Now they stood there looking out over the foggy grounds, all three of them with puffy eyes and pale faces, for they had been up late the night before discussing Mr. Crouch's affairs.

There they met the Weasley twins, who were arguing about whether or not to send a letter, which seemed to involve blackmail.

Ron's face looked very pale. During the cold war between him and Harry, he was almost always hanging out with the Weasley twins. He knew very well that the twins were thinking about making money this semester because they wanted to open a joke shop. When the twins came up with this idea during the summer vacation, the whole family thought they were just saying it to make their mother angry, but they didn't expect them to be serious.

Opening a store requires funds, and Mr. Wesley obviously can't help them, so they are in a hurry for money. Ron is worried that they will take risks and do illegal things to make money.

Yesterday's chapter was written in a hurry, and it has been revised today, adding 300 words.