The Hogwarts Emerald

Chapter 430 Alastor Moody
This is a very ordinary house, and the layout and decoration of the house are not much different from those of ordinary Muggles. However, there are many hazy mirrors and glowing tops in the room, which are the spyglasses used by wizards.

The looking glass is a magical prop in the magic world. It acts like a detector and can detect danger. When the looking glass makes a sound or the shadow in the mirror can be seen clearly, you should be careful because someone has bad intentions towards you.

When Voldemort was in power, the looking glass was a must-have in almost every household, but in the post-Voldemort era, only some Aurors still kept this thing at home.

But Moody may be the only one who has so many of them.

Seeing so many spyglasses in Moody's house, Ada wondered how afraid he was of being attacked! Those who knew this was Alastor Moody's house, but those who didn't would think this was Moody's spyglass shop!

The real Dumbledore and Ada stood in the corner of the room, while the Dumbledore in the memory sat on the sofa and extended an invitation to Moody.

"Alastor, I need your help." Dumbledore said directly, getting straight to the point. He and Moody had known each other for many years, so there was no need for any fancy words.

Moody's voice was hoarse, and it was unclear whether it was natural or because he had been injured. He responded: "I am already a useless old man, and a suspicious old man all the time. Albus, what else can I do to help you... I can't even help myself."

These words were somewhat desolate. Heroes grow old and beauties grow old. This is the helplessness of life. Moody is now a hero in his twilight years. The Auror who once had many honors is now ignored and regarded as a madman.

In Ada's opinion, Moody's suspicion is somewhat like PTSD, just like those veterans who have participated in the war. After returning to normal society, he is unable to restore his mentality to normal.

Anxiety, tension and excessive pressure led to his paranoia and he always felt that someone wanted to harm him.

"Alastor, this meeting makes me feel that you are a little strange." Dumbledore said in the memory, "You were not like this before. What made you become like this today?"

Moody muttered something, but no one could hear what he said.

He paused and said, "Maybe you are right. I have indeed changed and become someone I hate. I hate the boring, monotonous life, I hate being watched, and I hate myself in retirement."

"But what can I do!" Moody continued, "The dark wizard I caught with so much difficulty was released by the Ministry of Magic just because he betrayed a few accomplices in a despicable way. What does this mean? What do these injuries on my body mean? What do those who died because of him mean!"

Ada in the corner of the room looked up at Dumbledore in confusion, and Dumbledore beside her nodded in confirmation. It seemed that the dark wizard Moody was talking about was Karkaroff.

Perhaps there is more than one Karkaroff. You are really good at making heroes bleed and cry.

However, Ada was not in a position to say this, after all, strictly speaking, her grandmother and Karkaroff were in similar situations. Both should have been imprisoned to reform, but were released by the authorities for other reasons.

Dumbledore in the memory said, "Alastor, Hogwarts will host the Triwizard Tournament after the school starts. As the headmaster of Durmstrang, Igor Karkaroff will definitely come to Hogwarts. I need you to help me monitor him."

"Karkaroff? He's a coward and can't make any waves. He wouldn't dare to do it even if he had the guts." Moody said confidently, "It took me six months to catch him. This guy has been hiding from me all this time and doesn't even dare to face me."

Moody's strength can be seen from his record of filling half of the Azkaban cells. There is no doubt that his combat power is among the top echelons.

Karkaroff is such a coward, if he dares to go against Moody, then there will be something fishy.

The Dumbledore in the memory was silent. He looked out the window. The sun was setting and the whole world seemed to have darkened.

"Wait, you don't think..." Moody hesitated, pulling his hair with his rough fingers, looking a little funny. He continued: "You don't think Karkaroff is just a piece of cheese placed in the open to attract our attention. And there are other people behind everything?"

Dumbledore nodded, confirming Moody's guess.

"You're crazy, Albus, you're crazy!" Moody said with an exaggerated expression, "Those officials in the Ministry of Magic will think you're crazy! Just like me!"

"Alastor, you and I, we are not crazy." Dumbledore said, "We are the only ones who remain sober and not intoxicated by the superficial peace. We are the only ones who know that he will come back."

When everyone is drunk and I am the only one sober, it is often the case that the sober people are the most absurd. Because of their insight, those who see the world through drunken eyes will regard them as crazy, and will laugh at them and exclude them.

Others laugh at me too crazy, I laugh at others and can't see through.

Ada didn't know why Moody left the Ministry of Magic. Maybe he retired because he had achieved success, or maybe he was ostracized or forced by his superiors. But from the conversation between the two in her memory, Moody knew clearly that Voldemort's defeat was only temporary.

"What do you need me to do? Take over that unfortunate position?" Moody pondered for a moment and said, "You need someone to monitor Karkaroff or the movements of the person behind the scenes. You also need someone to protect Harry Potter, right?"

The Dumbledore in the memory withdrew his gaze from the window and said, "Yes, I need your experience. Your experience will be our wealth, and Harry also needs to learn more. Time is running out."

Moody suddenly burst into laughter, a wild laugh, as if he had heard something funny. He wiped away the tears from his eyes and said, "So you also have things you can't predict, or are you going to leave everything to Harry Potter."

"Of course there are things I can't predict. If everything goes as I wish, there will be less misfortune in this world." Dumbledore said, "Alastor, I thought I could wait until Harry grows up and becomes more mature. However, everything is always so unpredictable."

Moody fell silent again. He moved his nose and smelled the aroma of food coming from next door. Moody said, "Albus, it seems that I really need to stretch my old bones."

The memory dissipated like smoke again, and the picture turned black again. Ada felt Dumbledore beside her holding her arm, and then she returned to the headmaster's office.

The sudden light in front of her eyes made Ada cover her eyes for a moment. Taking advantage of this moment, the principals of all generations in the picture frame fell into "sleep" again.

Dumbledore sat on the steps of his office, his long white beard almost reaching the ground. Ada picked up the glass of juice that was no longer emitting cool air and sat on the steps as well.

These two memories brought great confusion to Ada. She felt as if she had touched the truth, but it also seemed as if she had not. Are there any connections between these two seemingly unrelated memories?

"Professor, don't you think Professor Moody is a little strange?" Ada asked puzzledly. She always felt that Moody was a little strange, but she couldn't tell what was wrong.

Dumbledore looked at Ada with satisfaction and said, "This is your first contact with Alastor. It is a remarkable discovery that you can feel that he is a little strange."

"Do you think he is strange too?" Ida asked again.

"No, Alastor is not strange at all." Dumbledore said, "His behavior is very consistent with...how did I put it...yes, very consistent with his crazy personality."

Ada was a little confused by the old man in front of her. Since Dumbledore didn't think Moody was strange, why did he review his memories with Moody?
Dumbledore changed the subject and continued, "It's normal for a crazy person to do strange things, but our Professor Moody seems too normal."

(End of this chapter)