Hogwarts: Don't call me Wandmaker

Chapter 412 Azkaban
Few people know that Azkaban is not built on soil, but rather "grown" from a patch of cold, black reefs in the North Sea. Its appearance resembles an irregular tower, exuding an indescribable twisted and sharpness.

Some say it is a fossil that evolved from the death of some giant deep-sea creature, always with its head held high, pointing towards the leaden gray, oppressive sky.

Nobody likes it here. In Britain, even wizards rarely dare to use Azkaban to frighten their children unless they have made a serious mistake.

However, on this day, a small boat docked at the only entrance to Azkaban.

As soon as the people disembarked, a biting cold swept over them. The boat was frozen solid, and the surrounding seawater also froze over.

"Halt!" Three wands appeared in different directions.

“Don’t be nervous, it’s me, Barty Crouch.” The man on the ship took off his hood, revealing himself.

"Mr. Crouch?" The guard in charge of Azkaban frowned. "We haven't heard of any new prisoners being sent, and..."

He glanced behind Crouch; the ship was frozen solid, and it was clear that only Barty Crouch was on board.

“I’m not here to drop off prisoners, I’m here to pick them up,” Barty Crouch said.

“I’m sorry, we haven’t received any notification,” the guard said, raising his wand again as he had just put it down.

"Also, Mr. Crouch, we need to verify your identity, as you should know."

“Of course,” Crouch said urgently, “but you’d better hurry, I have a lot to do.”

"Oh, right." As the guard approached, he handed him an envelope sealed with the Ministry of Magic's sealing wax. "This is the notice you requested, along with the Minister's signature."

The guard hesitated for a moment, but then took the envelope and glanced at it.
It is indeed a sealing wax used exclusively by the Ministry of Magic for top-secret information; there is no problem with that.

After opening it, he immediately looked at the bottom line of cursive text.

Cornelius Fudge

No problem, the magic mark on it proves that it is Minister Fudge's signature.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Crouch, please forgive our rudeness earlier,” the guard quickly looked up and said.

But Buddy Crouch just waved his hand impatiently.

“It’s your duty, you have to do it. But you’d better hurry up and check, then bring the person out. I need to get back as soon as possible.”

“No need,” the guard said.

He glanced at the mirror in his hand, on which were clearly written the words "Barty Crouch".

The Mirror of Names is where the name of anyone who sets foot on the island appears. It serves as Azkaban's first line of defense and a way to verify identity before crossing the Real Falls.

But seeing Barty Crouch's anxious expression, the guards selectively ignored the subsequent steps.

His name is Buddy Crouch, he knows Azkaban's location, and he has a top-secret document signed by Minister Fudge. Is there any need to check this?
He had just been a bit offensive, and now he naturally wanted to make amends. If Buddy Crouch was in a good mood, he might even be able to transfer him out of this hellhole of Azkaban.

This place is simply uninhabitable. If he hadn't offended that damned, stupid woman, things wouldn't have come to this...

The guard muttered a few complaints to himself, shook his head, and looked at the parchment.

A few seconds later…

"What?! We're taking the prisoner away?!" the guard exclaimed.

“What, you disagree?” Barty Crouch said in a deep voice. “No, I… I didn’t…” the guard stammered, “but Mr. Crouch, these are the most serious criminals locked up in the innermost part.”

He glanced at the parchment again.

“Bellatrix Lestrange, Rodolphus Lestrange, and Antonin Dolokhov. Three names in total, all of whom were once the most vicious Death Eaters, and have been imprisoned in the deepest part of Azkaban since the fall of Mystic.”

“Of course I know,” Barty Crouch said, his tone serious and earnest. “Because of Sirius Black’s case, the public has lost trust in the Ministry of Magic. We have to re-examine those prisoners who were imprisoned without trial.”

The guards obviously knew about Sirius Black. Although Azkaban was remote, it wasn't completely isolated from the world. At least getting a few copies of the Daily Prophet wouldn't be a problem.

Moreover, Sirius's affairs were originally related to them, so they would naturally pay more attention to them.

"I heard he's innocent?"

“Yes, a poor man who was framed by Peter Pettigrew and had to be imprisoned in Azkaban for twelve years.” Barty Crouch sighed.

"This was our oversight, so in order to prevent this from happening again, we must fix the previous loopholes."

The guard curled his lips.

In fact, he felt it was completely unnecessary. Based on his observation, the people on the list were definitely Death Eaters, without a doubt.

Normal wizards wouldn't be as crazy, twisted, or neurotic as them...

But he was just an ordinary guard of Azkaban. What right did he have to voice his opinion on a decision that even the Minister of Magic had signed off on?
The guard put away the parchment and said, "I'll take you there right away, Mr. Crouch."

“No need, I’ll wait here.” Barty Crouch didn’t move, but just looked at the tower shrouded in smog in front of him.

At first glance, pain and oppression overwhelmed me. Further down, the waves crashed against the base, but instead of splashing water, they produced murky, putrid foam.

A flicker of disgust crossed Barty Crouch's eyes, and deeper still, a fear that no one else could detect.

He urged, "Hurry up, the minister is waiting."

The guard paid no attention, turned around and made a strange gesture at a Dementor, then walked into Azkaban.

Those important figures from the Ministry of Magic have always been like this, filled with disdain and disgust for Azkaban, and they don't want to set foot in it unless absolutely necessary.

He didn't want to, but he had no choice because of work.

Actually, Buddy Crouch is an exception. He has been to Azkaban many times before, but he has never shown such obvious resistance as he did today.

She's probably in a bad mood.

The guard remembered that it was Barty Crouch who made the decision to have the Aurors skip the trial and put Sirius Black directly into Azkaban.

Oh, and the Daily Prophet that my colleague brought over a few days ago when we changed shifts.

It says above that Barty Crouch is one of the referees in the Triwizard Tournament, but if you think about the timing, Hogwarts is currently holding its third tournament, yet he, as a referee, has to travel all the way to Azkaban to work overtime.

Not only does it create an extra fault out of nowhere, but it also adds a series of extra tasks. Nobody would be happy about that.

For a moment, he even felt a little sorry for Barty Crouch.

……

(End of this chapter)