Chapter 237 Barty Crouch

There was still a bit of confusion on Crouch's face, but when he heard Dracula's question, he still showed his usual alert reflexes.

"I don't know why you asked such a question, Professor Dracula." His face quickly regained its composure, and he even had time to ask back: "Not only that, I'm also curious why you were the first one after the Dark Mark appeared. Time has come to the scene?”

"As far as I know, tracking down dark wizards who break the law should be the job of the Ministry of Magic. We don't need a Hogwarts professor to intervene in emergencies like this."

"Mr. Crouch, your question makes no sense." Dracula sneered. "As a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, when I see traces of black magic, isn't it normal for me to come to the scene to investigate? ?"

"What's more, those who just helped maintain order at the scene were not all from the Ministry of Magic. I saw Bill, Charlie and many other wizards who came to Wes's house to help, but I didn't see any of you. Refuse their help.”

Dracula's eyes were filled with light, and he stared coldly into Crouch's eyes.

"Maintaining order on site does not require very professional abilities, but the Dark Mark is different. Every wizard who comes near here is suspect." Crouch said with the same cold face.

"As the Director of the Department of International Magical Exchange and Cooperation and the former Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, I have the ability and obligation to come and arrest suspects. But you are different. Not only will non-professionals not be helpful, they may even be Destroy the scene!”

"The reason is quite good." Dracula sneered, "Well, Mr. Crouch, tell me what you saw when you came to the scene. As the first person to come here, you should Did you find anything?"

In fact, the reason why Dracula was suspicious of the Director of the International Magic Exchange and Cooperation Department was because his efficiency in arriving at the scene was so high.

Dracula originally stayed near a group of Death Eaters headed by Lucius Malfoy, always ready to control the situation and clean up the situation. At the same time, he also protected Lucius, a pawn he had placed beside Voldemort, from being easily manipulated by the Ministry of Magic. People were taken away.

The sudden appearance of the Dark Mark in the night sky was completely unplanned——

Lucius and his group of Death Eaters actually didn't want to completely expose their identities, they just wanted to take certain actions to show Voldemort, who was hiding somewhere now, that they had not forgotten the glory and majesty of the Death Eaters organization. This will give him some confidence when he is summoned again by Voldemort.

However, this dark mark completely tore off their masks, making everyone present realize the true identity of this rebellious gang.

As a result, the employees of the Ministry of Magic will definitely increase their arrests, and several purebloods who have a tacit understanding with the Ministry of Magic, such as Lucius, will also be questioned and suspected.

Because of this, Dracula apparated to the scene the first time he saw the Dark Mark appearing in the night sky. However, he didn't find any dark wizard here, only Barty Crouch standing there blankly.

Then there are only two possibilities left:

One is that the wizard who cast the Dark Mark is Barty Crouch; the other is that before the Dark Mark took off, Crouch was standing not far away.

If it was the latter case, Crouch must have discovered something.

"I did make some discoveries." Crouch nodded as expected. "There was indeed a figure standing at my position before the Dark Mark was cast. I was not far away at the time, and I clearly heard his voice even though it was disguised. The ground is a little scratchy, but overall it’s still young.”

"Is that so?" Dracula frowned slightly and stared at Crouch more deeply, "Then why didn't Mr. Crouch catch the dark wizard?"

"He was very cautious. After reciting the spell, he didn't even look at the mark in the sky. He immediately apparated away from the place." Crouch shook his head and said, "Although I came very quickly, I was still a little short."

As soon as he finished speaking, Crouch suddenly felt a pain between his eyebrows, as if a picture was about to emerge from his mind.

He subconsciously closed his eyes and his face darkened.

"Professor Dracula, are you using Legilimency on a Ministry of Magic official?" Crouch asked sharply, "Do you know what you are doing?!"

"You are just talking nonsense, Mr. Crouch." Dracula chuckled, "Don't accuse someone of their innocence out of thin air."

Crouch opened his eyes again, his expression a little ugly.

At this moment, a group of people hurried over, headed by Mr. Westley and Cedric's father, Amos Diggory.

"What happened here? Who put the Dark Mark?" Mr. Weasley ran over panting and asked as he ran.

He stopped and saw two people confronting each other, "Ah, Professor Dracula, and Crouch, you are here!"

"Arthur, Amos, how is the situation over there?" Crouch glanced at Dracula again, then quickly adjusted his mood, turned to Mr. Weasley and Mr. Diggory and asked .

"Oh, it's going well for us there. Those Death Eaters are all weaklings. After seeing our people restore order, they have no idea of ​​fighting." Mr. Weasley said, "But I didn't understand. The Dark Lord Instead of getting excited when the mark went up, they apparated away one by one.”

"Originally, they couldn't escape." Mr. Diggory added next to him, "But at some point, a very strong guy appeared among the Death Eaters. I almost defeated the leader among them several times. But they were all easily resolved by a force."

"If it weren't for that guy not seeming to be aggressive, I'm afraid there aren't enough of us to fight him alone..."

Hearing this, Dracula's mouth twitched without any trace.

The "strong fellow" who breaks Mr. Diggory's spell is obviously Dracula himself.

He originally knew that Lucius had always been pampered and would definitely not be too strong in a fight, but he did not expect that Lucius's actual combat ability could be so poor.

Dracula had to take action several times to block Mr. Digory's attacks for Lucius to prevent him from being caught by the Ministry of Magic and ruining his own fun.

"Mr. Crouch, have you found the Death Eater who cast the Dark Mark?" Mr. Diggory asked Crouch.

"It's a pity that he ran away." Crouch shook his head and said in a deep voice.

Then, he looked at Dracula and said, "Professor Dracula, it is the Ministry of Magic's investigation time. If you do not want to be investigated, please leave the discovery site temporarily."

"I really want to know, how are you going to conduct the investigation?" Dracula looked at Crouch, with a faint smile on his lips, "Or, are you going to be perfunctory and pass this matter over? , and then let the Daily Prophet make some remarks while avoiding the important ones, and finally divert the attention of civilians with other messy things?"

It was obvious that Crouch's face instantly darkened.

"Ahem...Mr. Crouch, I need to go back to find my family first." Seeing that the atmosphere between the two was not right, Mr. Weiss quickly stood up and changed the subject, "They are still alone in the woods. I don't think so." rest assured."

Then, without any explanation, he pulled Dracula out of the area and walked towards the other side.

"Professor Dracula, although Crouch is usually a bit strict, he is actually quite nice." As they walked on the road, Mr. Weiss advised, "If you have any conflicts, it is most likely a misunderstanding." , there is no need to intensify it further."

"We have no conflicts." Dracula chuckled and shook his head, then looked to the other side and said, "Sirius, there are only three of us here now, we can come out."

The next moment, Sirius lifted the Disillusionment Curse, and his figure appeared in front of Dracula and Mr. Weasley.

"I don't know how you figured it out. I thought I used the Disguise Charm pretty well." Sirius muttered.

"Sirius?!" Mr. Weasley was startled by the sudden appearance of Sirius, "Why are you here, where are Ron and Harry?"

"Don't worry, their location is quite safe." Sirius said, "I rushed over just after seeing the Dark Mark, but Dracula discovered me and refused to let me lift the Disillusionment Curse."

Then, he looked at Dracula and asked: "Professor Dracula, do you suspect that Crouch is the one who cast the Dark Mark? I heard him say... you just used Legilimency on him."

"Well, I do doubt him a little." Dracula nodded slightly, "He arrived too quickly and too coincidental, so I have to be suspicious. But his Occlumency is not bad, I can't see To something specific.”

"This...isn't this possible?" Mr. Wesley said in confusion, "Crouch was an absolute hardliner when he was the Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and he was the least likely to use the Dark Mark. One of the wizards. He even passed temporary regulations that can use the Unforgivable Curses on Death Eaters..."

"If it hadn't been for his son, Barty Crouch Jr., who later became a Death Eater and stained his reputation, I'm afraid Fudge would never have been Minister of Magic."

"His son is a Death Eater?" Dracula suddenly raised the corners of his mouth, with a look of interest on his face.

"It was." Mr. Weasley corrected him. "Barty Sr. personally convicted his son and imprisoned him in Azkaban for life. Later, Barty Crouch Jr. died in prison. .”

"Is he already dead?" Dracula frowned again.

"Professor Dracula, stop doubting old Barty. He can never be a Death Eater." Mr. Weasley said helplessly, "He has too much Death Eater blood on his hands, even if It is impossible for Voldemort to accept his submission."

…

At the same time, a group of figures in black robes, hoods and masks sat around the living room of Malfoy Manor.

The living room went from brightly lit to dark and gloomy, as if it couldn't light the lights.

From time to time, one or two wizards in the same costume would apparate into the living room and sit in their seats.

When all the seats were filled, the wizard sitting in the top seat spoke with a cold voice.

"Admit it to yourself, which idiot put the Dark Mark?" The man slowly took off the mask on his face, revealing Lucius's pale face, and glanced at everyone present with annoyance.

"I remember that I made it very clear before the action, not to do anything that might expose our identity to prevent attracting the attention of the Ministry of Magic." Lucius said coldly, "We want to have something to say in front of the master for the future. It's not to attract the Aurors to catch us!"

"Lucius, don't be so serious, no one has been arrested!" A Death Eater next to him patted Lucius on the shoulder carelessly.

"It seems like no one has been caught." Lucius slammed his fist on the table, "But that's just because I found a powerful wizard to take care of us in advance. If he hadn't been there, we would have been He was caught by those people from the Ministry of Magic!"

The Death Eater was speechless.

No matter how stupid he is, he can still tell that there were indeed powerful beings secretly helping them before.

However, at this time, another Death Eater was dissatisfied.

"Lucius, we agreed that you would be the leader not because we admire you, but because you were the first to propose this action -" he said in a sinister tone, "so don't put on that leadership airs in front of us. , I can’t stand it!”

"If you are not convinced, you can be the leader yourself, Yaxley!" Lucius responded with a sneer, "I am now trying to find out the problem and see who is disobeying the arrangements."

"No one disobeys the arrangements, Lucius, none of us here are fools!" Yaxley suddenly slammed the table and stood up, pointing at the Death Eaters present and said, "Haven't you noticed yet? Black When the magic mark lifts off, everyone here gathers together!”

"This is impossible!" Lucius retorted flatly, "If everyone is here, then who cast the Dark Mark? Could it be those officials from the Ministry of Magic?"

At this moment, another Death Eater suddenly raised his hand to interrupt the two people arguing.

"Do you think there are other fellow Death Eaters wandering around without being discovered?" He asked thoughtfully, "Is it possible that he is in some kind of predicament and cast the Dark Mark just to fight with us?" How about making contact?"

Lucius and Yaxley were stunned for a moment.

"In other words, the person who cast the Dark Mark is simply the Dark Lord who has not fully recovered yet..."

The air suddenly became quiet.

The Death Eaters present all thought of how they immediately ran away when they saw the Dark Mark.

Everyone's mood suddenly sank to the bottom.

…

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