Mr. Diggory, the father of Cedric, suggested that he take a look in the box, but it was odd how Crouch seemed less than keen on the proposal when he had earlier shown such vehement dislike for the idea, and the witch in her dressing gown shook her head to clear Harry's confusion.
"Don't bother, Amos; the fellow who conjured this thing must have already Apparated away long ago."
"I don't agree," Mr. Diggory stared intently at the compartment, showing great interest as he said,
If he wanted to leave, that trickster should have already left. I guess he probably has serious injuries and can't move, or just woke up from unconsciousness.
Mr. Diggory moved his wrist, as if he too felt the unsafe nature of the stairs leading to the box, and he Apparated directly up. Harry squinted his eyes, noticing Mr. Diggory appearing on the outside of the box, gripping a twisted and deformed railing with one hand and pointing his wand at the darkly painted compartment that glowed.
There was no one attacking Mr. Diggory in the box. After a simple observation, he put his wand in his mouth and carefully climbed over the railing.
"Ouch!"
Suddenly, Mr. Diggory's frightened cry echoed through the quiet Quidditch pitch, causing the officials waiting on the ground to tense up and stiffen their expressions. They pointed their wands towards the box one after another, and Mr. Weasley shouted loudly,
"What's wrong, Amos, do you need backup?"
"It's okay, I stepped on a hole and almost fell to the next layer," Mr. Diggory called from inside the box, shrieking loudly as he said, "Don't come up, Arthur, this place can't hold more weight!"
A screeching sound was coming from inside the box, and Mr. Diggory seemed to be searching inside it. The Ministry officials slightly relaxed but remained vigilant. Harry wanted to ask Mr. Diggory to be careful with his wand, but considering the situation, he didn't say anything.
"Aah, got it. Ah, knocked him out. Hiccup. My goodness!"
Harry and the three others exchanged glances, and Crouch shouted in a tone that couldn't believe,
"You caught someone? Who, who is it?"
Bang!
Crouch's shout was still echoing through the Quidditch pitch when the air in front of them suddenly exploded, and Mr. Diggory appeared, clouded by billowing smoke. In his arms was a small, soft body, and Harry recognized it immediately from its bat-like ears. As the smoke cleared around Mr. Diggory, Harry held his breath, his heart pounding heavily, and Hermione covered her mouth and retreated a few steps.
Crouch watched as Mr. Diggory placed his house-elf on the ground, who remained motionless and silent. The other Ministry officials were staring at Crouch. For several seconds, Crouch stood still, as if frozen, with his angry eyes staring down at the sparkling ground fiercely.
When Mr. Diggory found Sparkle, it must have been lying on its back, which kept the skin on its front intact. However, the back was not much better than the unfortunate wizard he saw in the woods before.
The elf's back had been seared by Professor Flitwick's spell, leaving open wounds that were crusted with blood. According to the passage of time, the wounds should not have healed to this extent. Clearly, the little creature must have woken up during the journey and done something to stave off its death.
"This - impossible! Impossible!" Berty Crouch finally snapped out of it, speaking in a stuttering manner, "Impossible!"
Bang!
Crouch gave no chance for anyone to dissuade him; in full view of everyone, he Apparated to the upper level and plunged into the box.
"It's no use, Mr. Crouch –" Mr. Diggory shouted at the top of his lungs, "I've checked it, there's no one there!"
Mr. Diggory's shout did not have any effect, and the box gave a screeching sound again, clearly indicating that Mr. Crouch could not accept the result.
"It's a bit embarrassing," Mr. Diggory said sternly, looking down at the semi-conscious figure of Sparkle, "Barty Crouch's house-elf, that is to say."
"No way, Amos," Mr. Weasley whispered, "Do you really think it was the house-elf's doing? The black mark is a wizard symbol that requires a wand."
"Yes," Mr. Diggory looked up at Harry, pulling out a wand from his pocket, "When I found it, it was holding this."
"It's my wand!" Harry took the wand and examined it in surprise, "I thought it was definitely broken!"
Mr. Diggory shrugged towards Mr. Weasley.
"You see, the house-elf was holding a wand, Arthur, you understand that, this first of all violates the third item of the 'Code of Wand Usage': No non-human creature shall carry or use a wand."
At this moment, another farting sound echoed, and Mr. Crouch appeared at Mr. Weasley's side, clearly without finding anything. He had a pale face, and his hands and small mustaches were twitching.
The situation seemed clear. The Ministry officials were all looking at the unconscious Sparkle on the ground. Some of them, hidden from view, were staring at Mr. Crouch.
Mr. Diggory seemed to consider himself the hero of this situation, smiling smugly.
"If you have no objections, Mr. Crouch, I think we should wake it up and hear how it defends itself," said Mr. Diggory.
Mr. Crouch showed no reaction, but Hermione was surprised at Mr. Diggory.
"But the house-elf is seriously injured, you should treat it first, I mean, it can't answer questions like this."
Mr. Diggory raised his eyebrows, as if he heard a joke, but perhaps considering Mr. Crouch's mood, he said with a smile,
"This is the normal procedure, Miss, but tonight we have suffered a major loss. We must find out if this house-elf is a accomplice as soon as possible."
Saying this, Mr. Diggory pointed his wand at Sparkle.
"Wake up quickly!"
Sparkle slowly moved, trying to roll over, but the movement pulled on the wounds on its back. Sparkle gave a loud whimper, and its crying was shaky due to the pain.
Without waiting for Sparkle to slowly come to his senses, Mr. Diggory 'helped' Sparkle further by waving his wand, turning the elf over and causing it to float slightly.
Sparkle's cries abruptly stopped when he realized who was around him. His staring eyes widened and his rigid expression looked as if someone had been choking him.
Harry suddenly felt someone grab his arm. He turned around and saw Hermione, who looked unhappy and her thin body swayed slightly in the night breeze. Harry pursed his lips and looked at Sparkle, who was being questioned. He wanted to help but didn't know how.
"I can't believe Barty Crouch would do that!"
Outside the tent of Sirius Black, Mr. Weasley gave them a stern warning and then followed his colleagues in a hurry.
Hermione immediately angrily yelled
"There's no concrete evidence to prove that Sparkle cast that spell, but Barty Crouch just dismisses it like that! He's not even willing to grant the treatment it deserves for its service all these years. What does he think of the house-elf? A slave?"
"You're right, Hermione--"
Ron seemed to take the fate of the house-elf in stride, he said calmly.
"House-elves are slaves to their masters, to be honest. It's actually a good thing for Crouch to dismiss it. If it really got taken back to the Ministry for questioning, my dad told me about some of the ways the Department of Magical Creatures operates. It wouldn't survive."
Hermione stared at Ron in shock, seemingly not expecting the Ministry's treatment of non-human magical creatures to be so harsh.
"I hope Dobby isn't going to end up like this."
Harry looked up at the deep night sky and sighed deeply.
(Chapter completed)
