Chapter 489 Father and Son

Thursday, afternoon.

Defense Against the Dark Arts class.

Loren sat in his seat, packing up his textbooks and notes slowly. The bell had rung, and there were still many people in the classroom.

Hermione was asking Professor Moody a few questions at the podium. Most of the other students in the class had a sad expression on their faces, and planned to leave after their minor injuries eased and were no longer so painful.

The course content of the Unforgivable Curse was over, but the subsequent courses were still difficult to endure. Professor Moody had just tested their ability to transfer spells mercilessly in class, and many people were slightly injured.

Harry was hit by a very strong ear cramp curse, and now he was still rubbing his ears with a grin.

"Always be vigilant, never let down!" Professor Moody shouted nervously before leaving.

"Ah..."

The little wizards sighed.

Loren and his friends walked out of the classroom slowly, but found a pair of students wearing Ilvermorny uniforms standing in the corridor, with the Goldie knots on their chests stretched flat.

The two stood there and quietly looked at Professor Moody's back. The lame old man turned around suddenly, and a blue fake eye instantly locked on them, which frightened them all and they all trembled. They turned around quickly and happened to meet the sight of Loren and others.

The tall boy on the left had slightly dark skin. The blood of two generations was diluted. His grandmother's dark skin had been diluted a lot on him, but the typical mixed-blood features could still be seen, with slightly curly hair and raised brows.

The slightly shorter witch next to her looked like a 100% white girl, with brown red hair and a few freckles on her not-so-delicate face. She was not stunning, but very attractive.

After surviving the cold winter, the school uniforms of the two were also thinner. The blue and raspberry red silk clothes were very different from the pure black wide-sleeved magic robes of Hogwarts. Standing there was completely different from the people around them, not to mention that one of them was a warrior of Ilvermorny. Passing students frequently cast their eyes at them.

"Harry! Loren! We finally found you!"

Graves pulled Boot over at a quick trot, with an excited smile on his face. When he got closer, he couldn't help complaining, "Can't the stairs in your school be quiet for a while? It took us half an hour to get here for three floors."

"Don't listen to his nonsense. When Pickley wrote to his friends at school, he always boasted about the stairs in Hogwarts. You didn't see the tone in his letters. Don't mention how proud he was."

After saying this, Nancy Boot couldn't help but smile a little, stretched out her hand to several people, and introduced herself: "Nancy Boot, Ilvermorny Thunderbird Academy, nice to meet you."

"Hello, I'm Harry Potter, nice to meet you." Harry shook hands quickly.

"Ron Weasley, nice to meet you."

"Loren Morgan..."

"Hermione Granger..."

Loren looked at Graves on the side: "What do you want to see us for?"

The training exchange time set by Professor McGonagall and Principal Fontana is Saturday. The two of them came to find them and blocked the classroom door. There must be something else.

Graves looked around and whispered: "We plan to explore the situation on the Quidditch field. We specially invite you. Do you want to go together?"

After two projects, he finally understood that the Goblet of Fire Championship is a continuous event. The whole year is the competition time. If you really have to wait until the start of the game to know the content and follow the rules of the game, your pants will be burned to ashes.

Look at the first dragon project. Fleur was the most seriously injured among the other three schools. A corner of her skirt was burned off. Cedric, Krum and this Harry were intact, and he went straight to the hospital.

For the second project, Ilvermorny had prepared in advance, so it was not difficult at all.

So it is impossible to play the game honestly. Only by exploring intelligence in advance can the game be completed. Harry and his friends are from the same school, familiar with the terrain, and easy to talk. Even if they are caught...

"Explore the Quidditch field!"

Harry and Ron exclaimed, and then reacted, looked at each other with their smart friends, and started eye contact.

I definitely want to go. The first two projects can only be safely passed if you prepare in advance. You can't abide by the school rules. Only by cheating can you maintain the performance of the game.

The only worry is being caught by the professor, but now there are two friends from other schools. Even if they are caught, the deduction of points and confinement will not punish the outsiders. These two people are also quite strong, and it is easy to pass the blame...

Harry received the feedback, nodded firmly, and said in a deep voice: "Let's go together!"

The six people reached a consensus and went to the gate of the castle together. After leaving the gate and turning towards the direction of the field, the figures around them gradually became sparse, and the wide Quidditch field soon appeared in sight.

Loren's mood is a little subtle now.

He vaguely remembered that when the Goblet of Fire Tournament just started, Ilvermorny was still the representative of integrity and the only school that did not take crooked paths. Unexpectedly, in just two projects, Ilvermorny was dragged into the quagmire and stained with mud.

…

"The notes of the founder Aesop Sayre were left in the library of Ilvermorny. Although she did not go to school at Hogwarts, she heard stories about Hogwarts from her aunt Gormlaith. Since then, all students have been very yearning for Hogwarts."

"Is the library of Ilvermorny big?"

"Hmm... I think it's big, but there aren't as many magic books as your school. There are also a lot of Muggle books."

"very nice……"

Perhaps because they were both girls, Hermione and Nancy Boot quickly chatted together and had a great time.

"What do you think it will be?" Graves asked Harry quietly.

"I don't know, maybe we will be asked to find something and get it back. There will be many difficulties along the way." Harry thought of the Philosopher's Stone challenge in the first grade.

The journey went smoothly without any so-called Ministry of Magic staff blocking it. It was so smooth that Loren even suspected that Dumbledore had arranged it.

They walked along the green lawn towards the Quidditch pitch and entered through a gap between the stands.

The Quidditch pitch in front of me was completely different from before. The pitch was no longer flat and smooth. Someone had built countless long shrubbery low walls here. These low walls were intricate and stretched from all directions toward the center. , there is a prototype open space there with a stone platform.

"It's a walled maze!" Hermione whispered.

Graves frowned: "It's just as simple as a maze. Could it be that the third project tests wisdom?"

"Don't think about it, there will definitely be many obstacles." Loren narrowed his eyes slightly and imprinted the entire maze route map in his mind, "Put some magical animals and magic herbs in it, and cast spells on some passages... Probably It’s this kind of thing.”

"Exactly right!"

A high-pitched voice came from behind them, it was the familiar Ludo Bagman, accompanied by Professor Moody.

Bagman first saw Harry standing on the right, with a pleasant smile on his lips, but then he noticed Graves next to him, frowning quietly and not showing it immediately.

His eyeballs rolled twice, and he put a smile on his face again. Looking at the panic expressions of the young wizards, he blinked: "Mr. Morgan is absolutely right, we will set up many obstacles."

"You don't blame us?" Butt said with a strange expression. Isn't this commentator one of the referees?

"Don't worry, the maze is not finished yet, so even if you accidentally take a look at it, it's not cheating." Bagman stepped forward and put one arm around Harry's shoulders and the other around Graves' shoulders. "Anyway, before the official start of the third project, we will let the Warriors take a look. Now it's just a little earlier."

"It doesn't even matter if I tell you a little more about you!" Bagman introduced enthusiastically. "In a month or two, Hagrid and Professor Sprout will cultivate them to be twenty feet tall. Hagrid provides We have a lot of animals, Professor Sprout has provided a lot of plants, and Professor Flitwick’s spells are so wonderful that we can’t even imagine.”

He noticed the displeasure on Harry's face, smiled and comforted him: "Don't worry, your Quidditch pitch will be restored to its original state as soon as the competition is over.

"Tell you a little more, the Warriors who lead the scoring in the first two games will enter the maze first, you and Cedric first...

"By the way, a friendly reminder, don't peek into the maze at night. There are many people working on construction at that time. My duty time is Thursday..."

Graves' head was dizzy and his smile was forced. He always felt that the current scene was extremely weird.

Is he suggesting that we try to take a peek during the day, especially on Thursday?

The commentator and referee's words sounded like he was conveying information for them.

"It's time to go, how long do you want to watch?"

Professor Moody yelled at the other little wizards. He seemed to be thirsty. His tongue unconsciously licked his right lip. He took out the curved wine bottle, unscrewed the cap and took a sip:

"Fortunately, you met the two of us this time. It was Crouch who was on duty today. Do you know what he would do? He might erase your memories, or set up a prison in the school to lock you up. competition is over."

Loren's mind was spinning, and he noticed that Moody's expression was a little strange.

Ron and others quickly lowered their heads and pretended to be guilty and frightened, and Butt followed suit.

Hermione noticed what he was talking about Crouch and subconsciously asked: "Is Mr. Crouch busy?"

Before the start of the Black Lake project, they overheard Bagman complaining about Crouch in the Three Broomsticks bar, saying that he was focused on the Goblet of Fire project and all matters in the ministry were left to the interns.

In this case, why was Crouch absent from today's inspection?

Bagman had already introduced the third project in detail at this time. He was in high spirits when he heard her question and answered smoothly: "Yes, Barty is very busy, especially in recent times. Everyone else has lost weight." ”

Bagman seemed to have a lot to say about this matter: "If you ask me to say who is the most diligent person in the entire Ministry of Magic, and the winner is not Barty Crouch, anyone else will be ashamed to win this award. "

"He is an amazing wizard. Whether he is the Director of the Legal Enforcement Department or the Director of the International Affairs Cooperation Department, he has never taken a day off because of any illness, a banquet that he couldn't refuse, or the entertainment of any big shot. If it hadn't been for that, how could Fudge be the Minister of Magic?"

Bagman realized what he said and paused for a moment: "Of course, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with Minister Fudge, but compared to Barty..."

Moody shook his neck, causing the dense scars on his face to squirm, looking hideous and terrifying. A twisted smile appeared on his face: "You're right, even the birth of his child didn't stop him from working hard, let alone anything. On his birthday, he received a notice and graduated with excellent grades in all subjects... This diligence allowed him to rise quickly, and he happened to catch up with that period..."

He didn't say it explicitly, but everyone knew what that period meant.

"He advocated taking very tough measures to deal with the supporters of the mysterious man. Aurors gained new rights, such as the right to kill, instead of just arresting, such as being handed over directly to the dementors without trial. A hint of sarcasm flashed in Moody's eyes, "Using violence to counter violence, allowing the use of the Unforgivable Curse on suspects, cruel and ruthless... Ha!"

Bagman seemed to recall that period, and said with some fear: "This is a very helpless method, isn't it? Imagine that when that person was the most powerful, you didn't know who his supporters were, you didn't know Who does terrible things when least expected.

"Maybe it's your neighbor, maybe your classmate, or even your family and friends. Every week, the Daily Prophet will publish new bad news. Someone is dead, someone is missing, and someone is being tortured... There was terror, tension and chaos everywhere.”

Moody's voice sounded again: "He has won many supporters for himself. After the mysterious man disappeared, many wizards asked him to be the Minister of Magic. Everyone thought it was only a matter of time before he became the leader. However, at this moment, something happened An unfortunate thing..."

He laughed coldly: "Crouch's biological son was captured. Barty Crouch Jr. was an even more ruthless and ruthless Death Eater, and even participated in the torture of the Longbottoms."

"Has Crouch ever excused his son?" Hermione asked quietly.

"Excuse me?" Moody laughed strangely, "Miss Granger, you probably haven't understood his true nature. His entire life has been dedicated to becoming the Minister of Magic. Everything that threatens his reputation , are bound to be thrown aside by him.

"His paternal love was only shown by putting his son on trial so that he could show how much he hated that boy in front of many wizards, and then he sent his own son to Azkaban."

The sky had darkened, and the group remained silent in a tacit agreement.

The cool evening breeze blew through the grass, and Loren's faint voice blended into the wind: "So, why is Mr. Crouch absent today?"

"It is said that he went to worship his wife and son, who knows?" Moody raised his head and took another sip.

"His son is dead?" Hermione asked.

Bagman whispered: "He died not long after being sent to Azkaban. How long can a 19-year-old kid who just graduated from school survive the torture of Dementors?"

Then there was a long silence.

Loren glanced meaningfully at Moody. Could it be that the cemetery Crouch went to happened to be in Little Hangleton?