Chapter 674 Answer

Who escaped?

This is a big problem for Harry. Barty Crouch Jr. has died in prison, but Fan Lin said that it is impossible for a living person to escape the pursuit of Dementors.

Without the Animagus, he wouldn't even be able to get out of Azkaban. Maybe this is just a conjecture.

Harry felt that the scenery in front of him was getting further and further away, and soon the world in front of him returned to darkness.

It seems that this memory has come to an end, and all the important Judgment Days regarding the Wizengamot have passed.

Fan Lin really wanted to see how Lucius Malfoy escaped, but Dumbledore didn't seem to want to let him watch.

"I think, Harry, it's time to go back to the office." A voice sounded in Harry's ear.

Harry was startled and looked around.

Fan Lin nodded at the visitor, and then exited the space of the pensieve.

Harry was a little anxious. He looked to his right. Sitting on his right was Albus Dumbledore, watching Crouch's son being dragged out by Demon. There was also Albus Dumbledore on his left. Looking at him.

"Let's go." Mr. Dumbledore on the left put his hand into Harry's arm. Harry felt himself rising into the air, and the dungeon disappeared. In the darkness, he felt that he was slowly turning somersaults. Suddenly, His feet hit the ground and he found himself standing in Dumbledore's sunny office, the stone basin in the cupboard gleaming before him.

Albus Dumbledore was also standing by his side, as was Fan Lin, who was also by his side.

"Professor," Harry gasped, "I know I shouldn't - I didn't mean to - the cupboard door opened a little and -"

Harry looked at Fanlin, and then looked elsewhere. If Dumbledore blamed him, Harry would be happy to stand up for Fanlin, but...

"I understand completely," said Dumbledore.

He took the basin to his table and sat down. He motioned for Harry and Fanlin to sit opposite.

The two sat down, Harry still staring at the stone basin. The contents in the basin returned to their original state, a silver-white substance that rotated and microwaved as he breathed.

"I believe Fanlin has already explained something to you. It's called a pensieve," Dumbledore said calmly. "I sometimes find that - you should also know this feeling - my mind is full of So many thoughts and memories.”

"Uh..." To be honest, Harry didn't feel that way.

"Many times," said Dumbledore, pointing to the stone basin, "I have used the Pensieve, which absorbs a person's thoughts, pours them into the basin, and then looks at them at their leisure. When in this form , you can more easily see patterns and connections in things.”

"You mean...those are your thoughts? That is, memories?" Harry stared at the swirling matter in the basin.

"Of course." Dumbledore said, "I'll show it to you." Dumbledore took out his wand from his pocket and put one end near his temple. Then he took the wand away, and the hair seemed to be stuck to it - but it was actually a strand of that silvery substance contained in the pensieve. Dumbledore placed the new idea in the basin, and Harry was surprised to discover His own face floated on the surface.

Dumbledore put his hands on either end of the basin and stirred it, like a gold miner stirring the sand in search of gold... Harry saw his own face replaced by Snape's, who spoke to the ceiling with his mouth wide open, His voice echoed softly.

"It's back...and so is Karkaroff...he's stronger than before..."

"I should have discovered this connection earlier." Dumbledore sighed, "But it doesn't matter." He looked over the half-moon glasses at Harry, who was still staring at Snape's face with his mouth wide open.

"When Mr. Fudge came to talk to us, I was using the pensieve. I quickly took it away. You know, this thing is not a legal object. There is no doubt that I did not close the cupboard door properly. Naturally it Got your attention."

"I'm sorry," Harry whispered.

Dumbledore shook his head. “There is nothing wrong with curiosity, but we should be wary of our curiosity…”

Neither Fanlin nor Harry spoke. In fact, the meaning of Dumbledore's words was completely different for Fanlin and Harry.

It's like Fan Lin can't interfere too much in Dumbledore's guidance of Harry.

Dumbledore frowned slightly and touched the substance with the tip of his staff again. Suddenly, a person rose up from inside. She was a girl about sixteen years old, with a plump figure and a sad face. She began to spin slowly, her feet still in the basin.

She paid no attention to Harry or Professor Dumbledore, and her voice echoed as if rising from the pelvic floor: "He cast a spell on me, Dumbledore, I was just joking with him, sir." , I just said that I saw him kissing Flores behind the greenhouse last week..."

"But why, Percy," said Dumbledore sadly, and now the girl was silent and just spinning. "Why did you go with him in the first place?"

"Percy?" said Harry. "That - that's Percy. Zolkins?"

"Yes," Dumbledore touched his pelvic floor again. Percy descended, and the matter became silvery again and no longer transparent.

"This is the Percy I remember when she was at school."

The silver light emanating from the pensieve illuminated Dumbledore's face, and Harry suddenly realized how old he looked. Of course he knew that Dumbledore had started to age a long time ago, but he had never really realized it. Dumbledore is an old man.

Fan Lin also looked at Dumbledore quietly. He had to admit that Dumbledore had the image of a kind elder. However, a very intuitive question was, how long can Dumbledore live?

"Harry," Dumbledore said, "didn't you say you had something to tell me before I went out?"

"Yes," said Harry, "Professor - I was in the Astronomy Tower and - uh - I fell asleep."

Harry hesitated for a moment, feeling uneasy and waiting to be scolded, but Dumbledore just said, "What's going on? Keep talking."

"I had a dream," Harry said. "A dream about Voldemort. He was torturing a vampire... the vampire's name was... Peters -"

"I see," Dumbledore said quickly. "please continue."

"Voldemort received a letter. He said that Peters' mistake had been remedied. He said that someone had gone mad, his soul was in chaos, and there was no way to recover. Then he said that Peters did not need to be eaten by snakes - there was one beside his chair. A big snake. He said - he said he was going to feed me to the snakes. And he put the Crumbles on Peters - and then my scar started hurting," said Harry. "It hurt so much. Awesome, it woke me up."

Dumbledore barely looked at him. "Well, that's it," Harry said.

"I see," Dumbledore said quietly, "Let me think about it. When has your scar hurt this year, except that time it hurt all night?"

"No, no, I - how did you know it hurt all night?" Harry asked, surprised.

"You are not the only one Sirius corresponds with, Harry," said Dumbledore. "I've kept in touch with him since he left Hogwarts last year."

Dumbledore stood up and paced behind the table, adding his thoughts to the pensieve from time to time. Those silver-white thoughts were spinning faster and faster in the basin. Harry couldn't see what was on it, only a piece of it. Vague.

"Professor?" he said softly after a few minutes. Dumbledore stopped and looked at Harry.

"I'm sorry," he said, sitting down on his desk.

"Do you--do you know why my scar hurts?"

Dumbledore looked at Harry seriously, and after a while, he said: "I have an idea, I don't know if it is... I think whenever Voldemort is close to you, or he feels a strong hatred, you The scar will hurt."

"But...why?" "Perhaps there is some connection between you two because of the failed spell." Dumbledore said, "That is not an ordinary scar."

"So you think...that dream...did it really happen?"

"It's possible," said Dumbledore. "All I can say is - maybe. Harry - did you see Voldemort at that time?"

"No," said Harry, "just the back of his chair. But - even from the front, you can't see him, can you? I mean, he doesn't have a body yet... but how does he hold his wand?" ?" Harry said slowly.

"How?" Dumbledore muttered. "What exactly..." For a while, neither Dumbledore nor Harry spoke.

Dumbledore pondered, occasionally adding his thoughts to the pensieve.

"Professor," Harry finally said, "do you think he is becoming more powerful than he was before?"

"Voldemort?" Dumbledore stared at Harry.

This unique keen vision always makes Harry feel that he has been completely seen through, which even Moody's magic eye cannot do.

"Harry, I'm just suspicious."

"During the years when Voldemort was secretly gathering strength," he said, "many people disappeared. At the place where Voldemort was last seen, Percy Zolkins disappeared out of thin air. The same happened to Mr. Crouch... He escaped , and then went crazy. There is also a third disappearance case here. It is a pity that the Ministry of Magic did not pay attention to it, because it is related to a Muggle. His name is Frank Bryce, and he lives in a village. Lord Voldemort That's where my father grew up. He's been missing since last August. You know, unlike most of my Ministry friends, I read Muggle newspapers."

Dumbledore looked at Harry very seriously and said: "I linked these disappearances together. But the Minister disagrees - you heard it outside the door.

"Harry nodded, and silence fell between them again. Dumbledore was still searching for thoughts from time to time. Harry felt that he should leave, but Fanlin had no intention of leaving. Driven by curiosity, he stayed Come down.

"Professor?" he said again.

"What is it, Harry?" said Dumbledore.

"Um...can I ask you about...the court I just saw...in Bansi Forri?"

"Yes," Dumbledore said heavily, "I have participated many times, but I am more aware of some of them...especially now..."

"You know - you know that interrogation? That's where you found me. The one about Crouch's son? Well...were they talking about Neville's parents? Verlin told me, Frank Long Barton is Neville's father, and Mrs. Longbottom, both of whom are Aurors..."

Dumbledore gave Harry a sharp look. "Did Neville never tell you why he was brought up by his grandmother?" he said.

Harry shook his head.

"Yes, Fan Lin is right," Dumbledore turned to look at Fan Lin, as if to blame, but soon he continued to answer Harry, "They were talking about Neville's parents," Dumbledore said. "His father, Frank, was an Auror like Moody," Blido said. "Those people put him and his wife through hell trying to find out where Voldemort went after his fall. You heard it."

"So they're dead?" Harry asked softly.

"No." Dumbledore's voice was full of bitterness that Harry had never seen before. "They are crazy. Both are in St. Mungo's Hospital for 'Magical Illnesses and Trauma' treatment. I think Neville is in Went to visit them with his grandma during the holidays. They didn't recognize him."

Harry sat there, stunned, he had never known... never, in four years, trying to find out...

"The Longbottoms are very popular," Dumbledore said. "The attack on them happened after Voldemort's fall, when everyone thought they were settled. That incident aroused unprecedented anger. The cabinet was under great pressure. The pressure was on to bring those criminals to justice. But unfortunately, none of the Longbottoms' testimony - considering the circumstances - was very reliable."

"And Mr. Crouch's son shouldn't be involved," Harry said.

Dumbledore shook his head. "As for that, I don't know." Harry was silent, watching the things in the pensieve spinning around.

There were two questions that were holding back uncomfortably in his heart. He had to ask... This was related to the crimes of living people...

"Well," he said, "Professor Dumbledore..."

"After that... no one will be controlled to participate in dark activities again." Dumbledore said calmly.

"Okay," Harry said hurriedly, staring blankly at the contents of the Pensieve again. It was spinning slower and slower because Dumbledore had stopped thinking about it.

"And... uh..." But the Pensieve seemed to ask the question for him, and Snape's face resurfaced.

Dumbledore glanced down, then up at Harry. "Neither does Professor Snape," he said.

Harry looked deeply into Dumbledore's shining blue eyes, and the question he really wanted to ask burst out: "What makes you believe that he no longer serves Voldemort, Professor?"

Dumbledore and Harry looked at each other for a few seconds, then said, "Harry, that's between Professor Snape and me."

"I'm sorry, but I still can't help it..." Harry said apologetically, feeling that he was being so rude.

Fan Lin had explained it well to him before in the pensieve, but he still couldn't help but ask.

Snape and Voldemort...

This thing was like a sharp thorn, and Harry couldn't pull it out of his throat.

He had seen... that mark...

Although he could only vaguely see it, at the wrist, Karkaroff's hand...

Karkaroff is a Death Eater, no wonder he always goes to Professor Snape, which makes Harry not think too much.

Everyone knew, at least a few of them knew in their hearts, that Voldemort was back. Although they didn't know what form it was, there was no doubt that Voldemort was back.

What happened at the Quidditch World Cup was caused by him. Those vampires, if it weren't for Fan Lin, he would probably have been captured.

There was also the Three Witches Fighting Competition later. I clearly didn’t sign up, but...

Who the hell snuck in and threw his name into the Goblet of Fire?

Karkaroff committed suicide, and then, and now he turned to Voldemort?

So, Professor Snape...

Harry felt that he had gone around and around again. He could not look at Snape objectively at all. If there was a person who sneered at you every time they met, anyone else would be angry.

Harry felt that he couldn't think about this matter anymore. He couldn't take Snape out of his inherent image. He should calm down.

Yes, Harry knew the interview was over.

Dumbledore didn't look angry, but the end of his words already hinted that it was time for Harry to leave. Harry stood up, as did Dumbledore, and Fanlin.

"Sorry, Professor, I thought..."

"Harry, I think you can go back first. I think Mr. Fanlin Eyre and I still have some things to discuss." Dumbledore said.

Fan Lin naturally knew that Dumbledore and what he said were not something Harry should be exposed to.

"I'll take you out, Harry." Fan Lin said, "I think I should be able to return to the Gryffindor lounge after a while. Maybe you can go to Ron first. I think Ron I'd love to have a good spell practice with you."

Harry nodded. Charms practice has become a must for him, every day. Although it is a bit boring, the third task...

Maybe, this could lead to death. Harry didn't want his death to be too miserable, and he didn't want to be with Myrtle either.

"Harry," Dumbledore said as Harry reached the door, "please don't tell anyone about Neville's parents. He has the right to wait until he is mentally prepared."

"Okay, Professor," Harry said, turning to leave. "And—" Harry turned his head.

Dumbledore was standing behind his desk, his face illuminated by the silver light, looking older than ever.

He stared at Harry for a moment, then said, "I hope your third mission goes well; I wish you good luck." (To be continued)