Hogwarts: Don't call me Wandmaker

Chapter 421 Karkaroff's Fear
Raindrops pattered against the windows of Hogwarts Castle.

morning,

The once lively auditorium was replaced by a heavy, stagnant atmosphere after the owls flapped their wings and dropped down the still-damp Daily Prophet.

Xilun opened the newspaper and the first thing he saw was a line of bold text.

An investigation has confirmed that Barty Crouch, former Director of International Magical Cooperation at the Ministry of Magic, colluded with Death Eaters, abused his power to forge interrogation documents, and assisted three Death Eaters in escaping from prison. Barty Crouch himself has since defected.

The Ministry of Magic has issued an urgent arrest warrant:
……

Below them were four faces, some gloomy, some crazed.

Traitor Barty Crouch: Bounty 15000 Galleons, life or death.

Bellatrix Lestrange: Bounty 10000 Galleons, dead or alive.

[Rodolphus Lestrange: Bounty 10000 Galleons, dead or alive.]

[Antonin Dolokhov: Bounty of 10000 Gallons, life or death.]

Additional rewards may be given for providing useful clues that ultimately lead to the arrest of the perpetrator.

The Ministry of Magic has reminded all wizards to remain vigilant and strengthen their defenses.

……

A few minutes later, whispers spread like a tide, then suddenly erupted.

"Mr. Crouch betrayed the Ministry of Magic?"

“This is absurd! It’s absolutely impossible!” someone exclaimed confidently.

"Fudge and the Daily Prophet must be out of their minds to publish something like this!"

People chattered amongst themselves. At the Gryffindor table, Dean Thomas, reading his newspaper, couldn't help but say, "It's Rita Skeeter again. She just loves to spout nonsense. Neville, you..."

He turned his head and saw Neville staring in horror at the photo of Bellatrix Lestrange in the newspaper.

That was a photo of her when she was arrested. Even though she was about to be imprisoned in Azkaban, she was still laughing wildly, showing no sign of fear whatsoever.

Neville's body began to tremble, one hand gripping the fork tightly. His knuckles turned white.

“Neville, Neville… are you alright?” Hermione asked with concern.

"Ah, I...I'm fine," Neville said, regaining his senses.

"What were you looking at just now?"

“No, nothing.” He looked nervous and shook his head repeatedly. “I’m just… just surprised… My grandmother told me that if anyone in the Ministry of Magic could fight a dark wizard to the end, it would be Mr. Barty Crouch.”

“Yes,” someone nodded. “I can’t believe he would betray us.”

“That was before.” Simon Finigan pointed to the article below the photo. “It says here that his son died in Azkaban, and his wife died of grief. Maybe that’s why his personality changed so drastically.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” Hermione said thoughtfully. “I’ve heard Sirius say that being in Azkaban is worse than death.”

“He’s still alive.” Seamus Finney stubbornly analyzed, “Just like Sirius Black, he was able to clear his name more than a decade later because he was alive, wasn’t he?”

"Besides, his son Barty Crouch Jr. is a Death Eater, who knows if he's already..."

"You're not allowed to say that!" a sharp voice retorted. It was a Ravenclaw girl whose father worked for Crouch at the Ministry of Magic.

“Mr. Crouch is an upright man. It must be the Imperius Curse. Someone has used the Imperius Curse to control him!”

"Ha, whatever you say goes." Simon didn't choose to argue with her, but he still insisted on his point of view. The debate spread throughout the auditorium, as if it had returned to the beginning of the school year last year.

That time, Sirius Black escaped from prison, and after he was exonerated, people thought the matter was over.

Unexpectedly, Azkaban ran into trouble again this year. Not only did three Death Eaters escape, but Barty Crouch, who was least likely to betray the Ministry of Magic, also defected.

So what about next year? Will the mysterious man be resurrected?

Fear and suspicion hung over everyone like dark clouds.

Siren noticed the atmosphere in the faculty seating area was equally somber. Dumbledore was looking at the newspaper with an unprecedentedly serious expression, Professor McGonagall's lips were pursed white, and Professor Flitwick kept hiccuping.

As for Snape... aside from looking even more sallow than usual, there was no other emotion to be seen.

Breakfast ended hastily in this atmosphere.

As soon as Xilun stepped out of the auditorium, he felt someone walk quickly past him.

It was Karkarov. The schadenfreude of yesterday was gone from his face, replaced by fear and anxiety.

Karkaroff walked very fast, almost stepping on Harry's foot as he passed by, but he acted as if he didn't see it and went straight after Snape.

“We need to talk.” He grabbed Snape’s arm and his lips moved as he said, “Right now.”

“I have nothing to talk to you about.” Snape tried to shake him off, but Karkaroff held on tightly.

“Aren’t you afraid? Those lunatics, they’ve come out!” Karkarov said anxiously. “They’ll come for me, and for you too. We’re all traitors…”

"Shut up, stop talking!" Snape interrupted him sharply, then turned to him. "Potter, and Ollivander, what are you doing standing here!"

“Take a break, Professor,” said Siren. “Harry just got stepped on by Headmaster Karkaroff and is in too much pain to walk.”

As he spoke, Siren subtly nudged Harry with his elbow.

"Ouch..." Harry understood immediately, and bent over, clutching his foot and groaning.

Karkarov glared at them and shut his mouth in annoyance.

“Is that so?” Snape’s face turned ashen. He took a small bottle, about the size of a thumb, from his pocket. “Perfect timing. I have a potion that I can use. Just one drop will do.”

“No, no need, I can go to the school hospital,” Harry said, standing up and limping away to the other side.

Although we don't know what Snape took out, we can be sure that it was definitely not for treating a foot injury.

If it weren't for the need to cover up the lie, he would have run away from here.

Fortunately, Snape didn't chase after them in the end. Urged on by Karkaroff, he had no choice but to go to the underground classroom with him.

……

"Alright, stop pretending." Then Siren quickly caught up with Harry and patted his arm. "They're gone."

"Are they gone?" Harry glanced back, then breathed a sigh of relief and asked curiously, "Sirlen, what did they mean by what they just said?"

"What else could it mean? Someone's scared." Xilun chuckled gloatingly.

Karkaroff escaped by betraying his colleagues, and now the most fanatical Death Eaters have emerged.

It's obvious to anyone that they'll come after Karkarov.

……

(End of this chapter)