Chapter 506 Post-Match Review

Cedric stared at the cracks in the stone. Even if he was already sore, congested and red, he didn't want to miss any moment of the wonderful duel. Whether it was Dumbledore or Voldemort, the dueling skills they displayed were completely different from those taught by previous professors. .

He couldn't learn the life-killing curses and the overwhelming flames, but the thick and strange black fog and the angel statues that were both offensive and defensive were very inspiring to him.

In terms of offensive, one side is a blazing sword that burns the space, and the other is a life-killing curse that will cause death upon contact. In terms of protection, one side is a flame that devours all, and the other is an unbreakable shining silver shield.

The two people observing in secret were in a daze. This was the legendary wizard at the top of the magic world.

Loren watched silently as the flames and black smoke in the sky gradually dissipated. The thick clouds covering the stars and moon in the sky had dissipated unknowingly. The silver glow was light, the night breeze was cool, and Voldemort was nowhere to be seen.

The white-bearded old principal who had just finished a big battle was not disappointed when he looked at the empty wilderness cemetery. Instead, he noticed the cracked grave of Tom Riddle. He waved his wand, and the surrounding earth and rocks automatically poured towards the crack without wind. The tomb will soon be repaired to its original appearance.

Dumbledore stepped forward to the body of Crouch. The director of the Department of International Affairs and Cooperation, who once cared about his image the most, was now withered and bloody. Only an empty skin frame hanging on the skeleton was left. He was not dead at all. No dignity.

He sighed imperceptibly:

"How long do you two plan to hide?"

…

In a daze, Harry saw a sword made of flames striking towards him. Some kind of secret and distant sound penetrated his consciousness, dragging him out of his deep dream.

"Harry, Harry..."

Mrs. Weasley's gentle call was heard in her ears, and scenes before her coma flashed before her eyes, including Voldemort's mysterious resurrection ceremony, the gathering of Death Eaters, and the souls surrounding him...

There was a searing pain in the scar, and the scattered fragments kept flashing in front of his eyes. The final picture was fixed on Cedric's lifeless legs hanging down weakly.

"Cedric, no!"

Harry sat up suddenly from the hospital bed, breathing heavily, and a thin layer of cold sweat was already stuck on his forehead.

"Harry, it's okay, it's okay..."

The bright and clean school infirmary came into view, and the uneasiness in his heart dissipated the moment he realized that he was in Hogwarts. Mrs. Weasley's gentle patting made him gradually relax.

Hermione was fidgeting with a rough silver coin, while Hagrid and Professor Moody stood in the outer circle.

Sirius opened the door and led Ms. Pomfrey in. He squeezed through the brothers and sisters Bill, George, Fred, Ron and Ginny who were gathered together. After a careful inspection, Ms. Pomfrey calmed down. He said: "The arm seems to have been slightly injured, but the healing magic is very good and it has recovered. The only thing left is that the physical energy and magic power have been consumed too much. I need to rest for a few days. Don't worry too much..."

Sirius ruffled Harry's hair, his eyes were slightly red, and he didn't say much.

The emotions that Harry had been suppressing and restraining since he left the maze suddenly came to his heart, making him uncontrollably feel a burning sting in his eyes, but he did not cry under the gaze of everyone.

"Voldemort is back, Cedric was..." Harry could not finish the cruel news, his eyes were filled with tears and his voice was choked.

Professor Moody's eyebrows knitted together and his blue magic eyes swung around, as if he didn't believe the news. The Weasleys who were nearby all looked horrified, and Ms. Pomfrey and Hagrid were even more uneasy. .

"This this……"

"Cedric is fine. He is chatting with Dumbledore in the principal's office." Hermione's unhurried voice sounded more beautiful to the ears of several people in the ward than the mermaid's singing. She spread her right hand to show off the small silver coins. , with a cold expression on his little face, "Loren said that if Harry wakes up, he can go to the principal's office."

This...Cedric...he clearly saw it with his own eyes...

Harry's mind was a little hard to turn around, his expression gradually became dull, and he began to doubt himself.

"I'll go with Harry!" Ron said quickly.

"I am coming too!"

"And I!"

"What are you causing trouble?" Looking at the screaming twins, Molly couldn't help but hit them on the head, then turned around and made a calm decision, "Sirius and Alastor took Harry to the office. , you guys go back and have a good sleep."

"Oh..." The Weasley siblings responded reluctantly.

Sirius and Moody looked at each other and nodded in agreement.

Just like that, Harry walked to the principal's office with the help of the two men in a daze. When he went out, his expression was still dull and his mind was in a mess.

Ginny watched the three of them go away, and noticed the figure of a curly-haired little witch behind her. She couldn't help but ask, "Hey, Hermione, why are you following me?"

"I'm going to find Loren." The little witch replied coldly, with a chill in her voice for no reason.

Ron rolled his eyes and followed the wall. After running out, the voice came back from far away:

"I'm going to find Loren too."

…

"Dang...dang..."

The wooden leg of the retired old Auror with a magic eye made a sound in the empty corridor. Harry walked with Sirius's support in a trance. The person involved did not speak, and the others did not ask more questions. No one could calm down after such a thrilling night. They waited for Harry to sort out his thoughts, and all questions would be left in the principal's office later.

The little witch walking next to him held the silver coin in her right hand across her lower abdomen. Her solemn face was full of coldness, her lips were tightly pursed into a slit, and the wide sleeves and back of her magic robe swung in the wind. At such a young age, she already had some of Professor McGonagall's style.

No one knew that this serious-looking Miss Know-It-All was thinking about how to beat someone up.

As for the Weasley kid who was shrinking behind him, he was not worth seeing, let alone mentioning.

Arriving in front of the familiar statue on the third floor, Sirius and Moody consciously made way for them. Hermione walked to the front and whispered, "Caramel fruit bars."

The statue made way for them, and the door opened automatically to both sides, revealing the aisle behind. Several people stood on the spiral staircase in silence and went up all the way.

Before they approached, some dull conversations came through the oak door: "Cedric, although I have no intention of concealing what happened tonight, but in order to prevent your parents and family from being targeted, please be cautious before telling others about it."

"Thank you, Professor. In fact, I, I don't plan to tell others about what happened tonight, even my parents..."

Cedric, who had been tossing and turning all night and couldn't get a good rest, was full of fatigue in his voice that could not be concealed, but Harry still recognized the familiar tone in an instant, and his pupils in his wide eyes contracted violently.

He clearly saw Cedric being hit by Bellatrix's killing curse with his own eyes, and his body should be cold by now!

Yes, it's the Polyjuice Potion! Someone pretended to be Cedric!

It was a conspiracy of the Death Eaters!

Harry's mind was cleared up instantly, and all the grief turned into anger, but in the midst of the strong anger, he had a glimmer of hope...

"Don't be embarrassed, choosing to keep the secret for the sake of your family is also a choice of courage and wisdom."

"It may take a long time before I can thank you, Loren."

"It's best to keep it secret. I don't want to cause trouble."

Hearing Loren's lazy voice, Hermione's face became colder. She stepped forward and knocked on the oak door: "Principal Dumbledore, Harry came with us."

"Come in."

Pushing the door open, the office was lit with only a few faint candlelights. Fawkes the phoenix stayed on the branch at the door, his head buried in the right half of his wing, the paintings of past principals on the wall were turned over, and there was a peaceful scene on the desk. Three cups of orange pumpkin juice were still steaming.

Cedric sat across from the desk. His clothes were messy and had holes in several places, but it did not affect his demeanor as a Hufflepuff prefect. His face was a little pale. Loren next to him turned his head and looked at them with a smile.

Dumbledore nodded to Cedric: "That's it for tonight. If you really can't fall asleep, you can go to Madam Pomfrey. I strongly suggest that you use hypnosis to temporarily make yourself forget the thrill of this night..."

"Good night, Headmaster Dumbledore, good night, Loren..."

Cedric stood up politely and nodded when he saw several people. "Good evening, everyone."

When he passed by Cedric, Harry saw him wink at him. Every part of his eyebrows and expressions was exactly like Cedric. The holes in his clothes were left when he fought with the eight-eyed giant spider. He looked very familiar.

The Death Eater pretending to be Cedric stripped his clothes. He did it so carefully that he even stripped his underwear?

Harry was in endless entanglement again. Uncertain expectations and doubts about Cedric's identity intertwined, making his head a mess.

Dumbledore summoned several chairs from the compartment, and slowly took out the tea set. It seemed that he wanted to ask a few people what they wanted to drink: "I know, you must have a lot to say-"

"Let's talk about business first, Albus." Moody said carelessly.

Loren didn't smell the smell of Polyjuice Potion from Professor Moody. He realized that this was a genuine retired professor who was re-employed. Although he had been replaced by others for a year, he stood up at the end of the school year when he received the year-end bonus.

Dumbledore coughed, but still poured the remaining pumpkin juice in the teapot for a few people one by one, which made Moody frown. The elite Auror was still hot-tempered after retirement. He was very impatient after lying dormant for a year and exchanging information with Barty Crouch Jr., and his patience had long been worn out.

Loren watched happily, and suddenly heard the little witch's soft voice: "Tonight's adventure must be exciting, right?"

Loren's heart sank, and he calmly handed the pumpkin juice poured by Dumbledore to Hermione: "I'll tell you in detail later."

The little witch's eyes narrowed into a slit, and her long eyelashes fluttered, which made people feel uneasy.

Harry held the hot pumpkin juice and couldn't help but asked carefully: "Principal, I... Cedric... he..."

Dumbledore seemed to understand his uneasiness and doubts, and said with a smile: "Cedric told me part of the truth about what happened tonight, and conveyed the greetings of Mr. Diggory and Mrs. Diggory. He talked about many difficulties and interesting things about being a prefect, and also talked about you walking to the end of the maze together and sharing the championship of this competition."

Harry's heart relaxed. If Cedric was really dead, the disguised Death Eater would not be able to know so many past events, but he still couldn't figure it out: "But..."

"Before explaining this, I need to let everyone here know the whole thing..."

As Dumbledore gently narrated, a long and tortuous story slowly unfolded in front of everyone: "Let me think, I should start with Mr. Crouch. I think you have learned from Severus that thirteen years ago, Crouch personally sent his son to Azkaban. There is another story hidden in it, about a secret and deep love..."

Mrs. Crouch dragged her sick body to replace her son who was serving a sentence in Azkaban. Mr. Crouch imprisoned his son for nearly ten years. Finally, on the night of the Quidditch World Cup, he lost control due to the turmoil, and was even attacked and murdered by Voldemort by his son. He turned into a puppet possessed by Voldemort. Little Barty finally disguised himself as Moody and sneaked into Hogwarts...

Hearing the story of the Crouch family, except for Loren, several young wizards and Sirius were stunned, and their emotions were so complicated that they couldn't figure it out.

"No wonder there was Winky at the Dark Mark scene, no wonder she was always so taboo about mentioning the Crouch family..." Harry muttered.

Hermione couldn't help but glance at Loren. She wasn't sure if Loren knew all this a long time ago, so he made an agreement with Winky...

"We should give these Death Eaters a Dementor's kiss!" Moody cursed in a rough voice, "Fortunately they still need to get my information and use my hair to make Polyjuice Potion, otherwise they would kill me too!"

Sirius looked at Harry in fear. You know, Barty Crouch Jr. disguised as Moody had countless opportunities to murder Harry. Harry was hit by the Imperius Curse hundreds of times in class. If it was the Killing Curse one time...

Harry and Ron also felt their scalps tingling.

Dumbledore took a sip of pumpkin juice and continued, "So, Barty Crouch Jr. disguised himself as Alastor and sneaked into Hogwarts. The good news is that on the second day of school, Loren and Hermione discovered his loophole..."

Harry and Ron looked at the two unhappily, and finally held back their words and decided to settle accounts with them privately.

"Severus and I found Alastor imprisoned in the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor's office. After careful discussion, we did not immediately reveal his true identity, but let Alastor lie in wait and exchange information with Barty Crouch Jr. every night..."

"After the opening ceremony of the tournament, Barty Crouch Jr. put Harry's name into the Goblet of Fire... Combining the information obtained by Alastor and Harry's dream, we deduced their plan..."