The Hogwarts Emerald

Chapter 423 Bottom Line
Fred's reminder made Ada and Sirius realize that this was just the beginning and they had just taken the first step towards the truth.

Now that the hypothesis has been proposed, we should work hard to prove it, rather than just talking to each other in the Twilight Cabin. Words are pale and powerless, and Ada and Sirius need stronger evidence to prove that little Barty is indeed still alive.

It's easy to tell how difficult it is to prove that a person who has been dead for more than ten years is still alive. Finding a person who has been dead for more than ten years is no easier than finding a living person.

Barty Jr.'s body was buried outside Azkaban Castle, and had long since rotted into dregs. No one knew where he was buried. There had been no news about him for so many years, and he really died "cleanly".

But fortunately, Ada and Sirius are both true Gryffindors. They are never afraid of difficulties and they dare to face challenges.

The two men discussed for a long time and finally decided to split into two groups, one inside and one outside, to attack both at the same time.

Sirius Black is mainly responsible for finding out the whereabouts of Barty Crouch. Mr. Crouch is a key figure, as long as he is found, all the questions will be answered.

At the same time, Sirius Black is also responsible for searching for evidence that Barty Jr. is still alive, to see if he can find Barty Jr. first and stop him before he launches his conspiracy.

Mr. Black has an important responsibility, so Miss Drizzt naturally cannot sit idle. It is not a good habit to sit back and enjoy the fruits of others' labor. Ada also has her tasks.

Because she has not graduated yet, Ada can only stay in school and keep an eye on any movement on campus.

The Death Eaters parade at the World Cup campsite and the hand-streaking that night were such a big deal. It was impossible that the other party did it just to get Harry to participate in the Triwizard Tournament. The Death Eaters are not a charity organization.

Since Halloween, nothing strange has happened in Hogwarts, and it is so peaceful that it is unscientific. But the calmer it seems on the surface, the more it shows that the other party is plotting something big and is secretly planning a shocking conspiracy.

It is precisely because of the great ambition that the other party is so cautious and dare not act rashly. Because any small mistake may be detected by Dumbledore and uprooted by the headmaster.

One wrong move, and the whole game is lost. The person the other party has to face is Dumbledore, and they can't afford to be careless when doing things under Dumbledore's nose.

After all, not every villain is as stupid as Benedict Foley, who turned Hogwarts upside down in search of an unknown object. If everyone was as reckless as him, Ada wouldn't have to worry about it for so long, and would have moved her stool to watch the show.

Speaking of Welfare, Aida misses him very much. It’s definitely not because she holds a grudge, but simply because it’s rare to find a villain as “cute” as him.

Next, all Ada needs to do is keep an eye on every tree and blade of grass in the school, looking for details that may have been overlooked.

In order to ensure that their plan can be implemented smoothly, the other party will definitely not do nothing all the time. If you don't want others to know, then don't do it. As long as they take action, they will definitely leave clues and traces.

The other party put Harry's name into the Goblet of Fire, and there is a high probability that they will make a fuss about the Triwizard Tournament and use this event to achieve their ulterior motives.

Now, there is only one event left in the Triwizard Tournament. If the other party has any ideas, the third event is their best choice.

And Ada happens to be a warrior in the Triwizard Tournament. She and Harry have the same perspective, and she is much more careful than Harry. Perhaps she can find the other party's omissions from a different angle.

Sirius left the Twilight Cottage with a mission. He was going to meet Dumbledore and say goodbye to Harry. Ada and the twins also left the cottage with him.

On the way back to the castle, Sirius reminisced about the past, provided a lot of new ideas to the twins, and also told them a lot of Snape's dark history.

From Sirius, Ada learned some of the Potions Professor's past, a Snape who was different from her impression.

As expected, Snape was a top student when he was a student. When he first entered school, he knew more spells than half of the seventh graders. This was something I had never seen before. Ada never expected to hear Sirius praising Snape. Of course, this was the only good thing Sirius had ever said.

When he was a student, Snape was very fascinated by the dark arts, and many students in the school knew this. Why does this template seem familiar?

In addition, Snape was also a member of a very famous student organization in Slytherin, which could be called a reserve organization for Death Eaters. Almost all the people in that group became Death Eaters after graduation.

After hearing the names of some members of this student organization, Ada sincerely felt that the biggest mistake of Hogwarts was that it only had four colleges. It would be entirely possible to establish one more college!

Upon graduation, students can go directly to Azkaban for further study and receive one-on-one guidance from Professor Dementor. This can eliminate the middleman and prevent some middlemen from doing evil, saving time and effort.

Of course, this was just a joke. Ada herself didn't take it seriously, and naturally no one else would take it seriously either.

In the castle hall, Ada and the other two said goodbye to Sirius. Sirius went to the eighth floor alone, while Ada and the twins went to the hall.

As long as the sky hasn't fallen, no one can stop Ada from eating. After all, people are made of iron and food is made of steel. If she doesn't eat, she will be very hungry.

In fact, there is another insider in Hogwarts Castle - the house-elf Winky.

Winky is Barty Crouch's house-elf, and she now stays in the castle, living with the other house-elves.

Poor Shanshan still hasn't gotten over the shadow of being expelled, and is drunk all day long. She longs to be forgiven by her master and return to his side, but she can't go back, and she can only numb herself with alcohol.

The drunk and dirty Winky became an outlier among the house elves and became a synonym for unwelcome. Except for Dobby, no house elf was willing to accept and take care of her.

Ada and Sirius both ignored Winky, or rather disregarded her, but their ideas were somewhat different.

Like many wizards, Sirius did not take house-elves seriously, and he did not even consider the servant of Barty Crouch. This was a common problem among many wizards, who did not care about house-elves, and sometimes even ignored them.

Dobby is a good example. He got the news from the Malfoy family and secretly ran to Privet Drive to warn Harry.

But Dobby is just an individual case and cannot represent the group of house-elves, which is why Ada has never considered Winky.

Not every house-elf is as treacherous as Dobby. Regardless of whether Winky knows Crouch's secret or not, judging from her current state, it would be extremely difficult to pry her mouth open.

If you want to pry open Winky's mouth, you can only use force. Severe torture, torture, or more advanced, just give him a drop of truth serum. Otherwise, it is almost impossible to make Winky betray Barty Crouch.

The problem is that Ada doesn't want to do that.

A gentleman has his own way of doing things and his own way of not doing things. Although Ada is not a gentleman, she still doesn't want to treat the house elf in this way. Ada has her own bottom line.

Besides, things were not so bad that they could not be undone, and Ada still had time to find out the truth herself. If things really got too bad, Ada would not mind changing her bottom line.

(End of this chapter)