Harry began to speak, even though he still didn't understand everything at the moment. The person who killed Little Barty Crouch was clearly Professor Dumbledore, but how could he have become a Gabrielle? After returning to the Black Lake, his instructions seemed to imply that Professor Dumbledore knew more things and had foreseen Voldemort's scheme in advance. Then, what did Dumbledore know?
With so many people waiting, Harry had no time to ponder deeply, and since Hermione was still alive, she would analyze it for him.
"—When I woke up, we were at a graveyard. I've never been there, but it's where Voldemort's father is buried—he himself said so—"
"I'm sorry!"
Harry's words were interrupted immediately, by Mrs. Bone, whose face was solemn as if questioning a witness in a court of law,
"How did you get there, Mr. Potter? Shouldn't you be at the bottom of the lake, along with the rest of you? As far as I know, Hogwarts doesn't allow apparition, and there's no shortcut through the lake."
Fudge seldom showed appreciation to Mrs. Bone, yet every disbelief of Harry's claims earned his approval.
"There is a stone podium, madam..."
Hermione took a deep breath and said, with her lips tightly pressed together.
"It seems to be like a door key, hidden under the lake. I. I searched for Harry and Ron in the lake bottom. I saw them tied to the posts behind a statue of a mermaid with their hands and feet, then I swam over and just as I was going to free them from the ropes, it disappeared."
"Nonsense!"
Fudge angrily said,
"All door keys must be authorized by the Ministry of Magic!"
"This must be the work of Criox, Connelly—"
Dumbledore said,
"If you would let the Aurors bring her back, we can"
"Enough!" Fudge said sternly, "I cannot allow such a dangerous individual to appear outside of Azkaban! The public would be panicked!"
Fudge found an almost absurd excuse.
"Go on, Harry--" Sirius said eagerly.
So, Harry continued. He mentioned when they first appeared at the graveyard, their speculation about it being a trial for some kind of contest, and their argument with Karkaroff. Finally, he mentioned how they decided to explore the graveyard.
Then, a man appeared holding a house-elf, it was Little Barty Crouch. He followed the house-elf's orders and killed Gabrielle with the Killing Curse.
Hearing this, Fleur immediately exclaimed, her face pale and trembling, holding Gabrielle's face and staring at her blue eyes, while Madame Maxime also sat beside Gabrielle's bed and carefully examined her.
"Nonsense!"
Fudge loudly said,
"Hit by a Killing Curse? I'm sure you're hallucinating. The girl is obviously alive!"
"Oh, Minister, perhaps Mr. Potter thinks—" Umbridge finally saw her chance to draw attention, emitting a tinkling laugh, "anyone can survive a 'near-death experience'!"
"I didn't lie!" Harry shouted, "That was the Killing Curse! We all saw it!"
Hermione and Ron were both supporting him, even Gabrielle nodded this surprised Fleur and Madame Maxime, even Pomfrey looked doubtful.
"Take off your sweater, Harry--" Amortentia said calmly.
Hearing this, Harry immediately took off his sweater and handed it to Professor Brain. He looked up at the professor with great respect. Hermione and Ron were alive thanks to this sweater.
Amortentia's wand absorbed the silver light, and the sweater was instantly torn with a cut. Amortentia then pulled apart the double layer of fabric, and it turned out that between the two layers were densely packed white sesame-like small objects.
"Billy Weevil's eggs--" Snape peered over and announced to the rest of them.
Amortentia nodded.
"Ever since the planning stage of the competition, I've been thinking about how to protect the contestants comprehensively in this dangerous and intense competition. Eventually, I came up with a method. I designed a set of competition gear that can provide some impact protection for the contestants, offering a one-time attack immunity when struck by a fatal curse, as well as other functions designed to help them escape dangerous situations. I never thought it would come into play here."
Fleur looked at Amortentia as if she wanted to rush up and kiss him, especially with so many people here.
Ron and Hermione exchanged a glance, both remembering that they had been hit with the Killing Curse. Now, they understood how they had survived.
"Thank you so much, Amortentia!"
Madame Maxime sincerely said,
"If it hadn't been for your ingenious idea, I don't know how I would have explained this to the child's parents. But why didn't you mention it earlier? Fleur has been complaining about how ugly the clothes are."
"If this had been revealed beforehand, the contestants would feel they had something to rely on, and thus they wouldn't be able to give their all in the competition."
Amortentia smiled and explained.
Fudge's face darkened once more, and he had no words to say.
Harry continued, without exaggerating the pain of his scar after encountering the goblin, he directly said that Karkaroff wanted to leave them behind and escape, said that Hermione fought with Little Barty Crouch in order to create an opportunity for him and Ron to escape, and said that Karkaroff tried to sacrifice him and Ron to Voldemort.
Krum was mortified, wishing he could cover his face and escape, fortunately, everyone was focused on Harry's narrative and did not pay too much attention to him.
Fudge kept trying to interrupt. He wanted to remind everyone that Little Barty Crouch was dead, that he had been dead for over a decade, but on the other hand, he also wanted to hear more.
When Harry mentioned that Voldemort personally cast the Killing Curse on Ron and Hermione, both of them fell to the ground, Professor McGonagall let out a loud cry, as if in shock or in tears. Sirius tightly clenched his fists, his eyes twitching, while Remus was no longer as gentle as usual, showing more than a little coldness in his demeanor.
Everything that had happened felt like a dream, and there were many details that Harry couldn't remember, but he remembered the magic Voldemort used to resurrect himself very well--he used Little Barty's flesh, his father's ashes, and his own blood.
He said to everyone--when Voldemort emerged from the large crucible, stepping out of the swirling smoke, most of those present felt a chill run down their spines, and some even began to tremble.
Such an evil spell. I've never heard of it before.
Voldemort's most active period was still within the borders of England, but listening to Harry's narrative, even Madame Maxime, Fleur, and Krum all tightened their expressions, experiencing for the first time a visceral sense of fear about this notorious dark wizard.
"Pure nonsense!"
Fudge finally couldn't restrain himself. He knew that if he continued to let Harry Potter "make up stories", Voldemort's resurrection would become a fact.
Fudge shouted,
"Funny, everyone knows that Little Barty Crouch died many years ago, he died at Azkaban, and a Dementor buried him. Phew, I'm... I'm sick of hearing these carefully crafted stories!"
"Connelly--"
Dumbledore's opinion of Fudge's behavior was undoubtedly negative, but he did feel weary.
"I implore you to open your eyes and see the truth."
"This is not the truth, Dumbledore!"
Fudge shouted,
"I'm wasting my time listening to a couple of kids who are all in a panic making up stories. Oh, how absurd, Little Barty Crouch is still alive, what a ridiculous joke--"
"Barty is gone, but his spirit still lives on. If you'd like, I can awaken it right now."
Dumbledore said, but Fudge was still shouting.
"I won't listen to a house-elf making up stories, Dumbledore, old Barty is dead. Yes, it was Criox who did it. She resented the Ministry of Magic for locking her up in Azkaban, so after escaping she decided to exact revenge. It was she who killed old Barty, and she wants to take revenge on Brain as well."
Fudge quickly glanced at Amortentia.
"--She planned everything, right. That's the truth. Thank you, I've understood now. I have to go back to the Ministry, there are many things waiting for me. I'll contact you later, Dumbledore, to discuss the school's educational methods!"
Then, Connelly left with all the Ministry officials. Although Bonnie didn't want to leave, she did so at Amortentia's suggestion.
"Your Minister is a coward."
Watching the Ministry officials leave, in the dull hospital, Fleur didn't hesitate to say to Amortentia,
"I think it's best for the British magical community if you take over this position."
"This is exactly what he fears."
Amortentia shook his head and laughed.
(End of chapter)
