Magical Studies at Hogwarts...

Chapter 174 A Night That Could Not Be Calm

Since the third event began, the audience in the stands has been in a state of excitement.

Whether it's Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, or Durmstrang, everyone is eagerly anticipating it.

The rules of the third event are highly uncertain, which to some extent renders the scores of the first two events meaningless.

Anything can happen in the maze, and anyone can win the final championship.

But soon, Durmstrang's audience fell silent first, and Krum was the first to give up. A while later, Fleur appeared. Seeing this, the Hogwarts crowd erupted in even greater excitement.

Because no matter who wins in the end, the championship belongs to Hogwarts.

But after a long time, no one came out, and the cheerful atmosphere quickly turned tense.

"Why has it taken so long? Ike shouldn't be able to do that," Stuart said to Terry beside him, waving a banner in confusion.

In fact, this was the thought in the minds of the vast majority of people. As the first person to enter the labyrinth, and possessing magical abilities far exceeding those of the other warriors, Ike really shouldn't have taken so long.

"Is it dangerous inside? I saw those two kids who came out earlier faint," Julianne asked Hermione, who was sitting next to her, with concern.

"It's okay," Hermione replied absentmindedly, looking listless and lacking energy.

"Snapped!"

A faint, crisp sound came from the maze entrance, and a figure suddenly appeared.

"Wait, someone's coming out! He's holding... the trophy!" Ludo's passionate voice echoed throughout the Quidditch pitch. "Our champion has emerged!"

"Harry Potter! Harry Potter has won the Triwizard Tournament!"

The crowd erupted in cheers, jostling and pushing their way down from the stands, eager to catch a glimpse of the champion. The referees led the way, followed closely by the professors and the Ao Luo players.

When they got closer, they realized that something was wrong with Harry. He was covered in dirt and grime, had a long wound on his neck, and his clothes were covered in blood.

"Harry...Harry..."

Hagrid was the first to rush forward, hugging Harry tightly and calling his name repeatedly.

"Dumbledore... Dumbledore..." Harry murmured, struggling to open his eyes before asking Hagrid, "Where is Professor Dumbledore?"

"What's wrong?" Dumbledore crouched down, very close to Harry, and heard Harry whisper, "He's back..."

Voldemort is back!

Dumbledore appeared calm and asked again, "Where's Ike? Have you seen him?"

"He..." Harry's face contorted in horror, "He's allied with Voldemort, and he's going to kill me!"

"Who? Who wants to kill whom? What's wrong?" Fudge's voice rang out. He squeezed his way in, saw Harry, and went straight over, saying, "Kid, you won. You should be happy. Why do you look like that?"

"Voldemort is back, sir!" Harry had barely finished speaking when Fudge, as if terrified, cried out, "No way! He...he's dead! No...no way..."

"Voldemort is back! Ike has sided with him! He's going to kill me!" Harry shouted hysterically, and the crowd that had gathered around heard him.

"He's injured! Get him to the hospital!" Fudge shouted, urging the Orks to hurry up and get Harry away. The Orks dared not disobey, but they were stopped by Dumbledore as soon as they arrived.

"He has to stay here; we haven't figured it out yet..."

"Take him away! Take him away!"

Chaos erupted as everyone chattered about the two startling pieces of news Harry had just revealed. They swarmed around Harry, bombarding him with all sorts of questions, the chaos making Harry feel dizzy and disoriented.

"Take him away..."

"Connelly, he..."

In a daze, Dumbledore seemed to be arguing with Fudge. Just as Harry was about to say something, he felt himself being grabbed by a strong arm and dragged away from the crowd.

Looking up, he saw Professor Moody and immediately felt much more at ease, letting Moody lead him away with his head down.

He didn't see that after he left, Snape whispered something in Dumbledore's ear...

The stadium didn't improve after Harry's departure; it remained chaotic. Dumbledore and Fudge were still arguing loudly, but Fudge soon stormed off with the Ministry of Magic officials.

"Hogwarts students, all of you, return to the castle!" Dumbledore shouted to the chaotic crowd as soon as Fudge left. The professors and prefects immediately organized themselves, and the scene quickly became orderly. Before long, most of the students had returned home.

Hermione remained still, staying with the somewhat distraught Julianne.

"Impossible...impossible...Little Ike...impossible..."

Someone explained to Julianne what "joining Voldemort" meant, and after that, Julianne sat there motionless, tears streaming down her face.

Hermione didn't know how to persuade her. Even though she had prepared beforehand, she was still a little flustered when this happened.

"Let's go, Julianne, let's get out of here..."

At some point, Mrs. Weasley arrived. She gave Hermione a signal, and the two of them helped Julianne up and slowly walked off the field.

Bill followed quietly behind, at a distance. Suddenly, he glanced back at the only light in the darkness, then turned back...

Meanwhile, Harry followed Moody to his office and began venting about what had happened in the graveyard. He didn't notice that after he mentioned Voldemort's resurrection, a sinister look appeared on the man's face, and his hand quietly reached for his wand.

"Bang!"

Suddenly, the office door was blasted open from the outside, startling both of them.

He collapsed to the ground, completely unconscious!

A stun spell struck Moody directly, and with a thud, he fell to the ground.

"Looks like we're not too late," Dumbledore said, taking Moody's wand and flask directly from his hands.

"Let's go, Potter, to the hospital..." Professor McGonagall said softly, but Dumbledore stopped her immediately.

"He can't leave. He needs to find out what happened." Dumbledore looked at Professor McGonagall and Snape and said, "Severus, go get your strongest Veritaserum, and then find a house-elf named Glimmer from the kitchen; Minerva, Hagrid has a black dog there, take him to my office, tell him I'll be back in a bit, and then you come back here..."

Harry was very confused by Dumbledore's order and wanted to know what was going on, but Dumbledore didn't give him a chance to speak. He went to the table with practiced ease and took a set of keys from the drawer. Then he waved his wand, and the clutter piled up in the corner was cleared away, revealing an iron box underneath.

After trying the rightmost lock a few times, the box finally opened, and Harry screamed.

Inside the box was a person who was extremely thin!

"Compound Elixir, what a simple solution." Dumbledore emptied the contents of the jug onto the ground, waved his wand to pull the person out of the box, and draped a robe over him.

"I overlooked some things, but fortunately the outcome isn't bad," Dumbledore said. "There are some things we'll figure out tonight."

"Professor Dumbledore..."

"Harry, wait a minute, okay...?"

The two sat quietly in the chairs, watching as "Moody," who had fainted on the ground, began to change. His scars gradually disappeared, and his demonic eyes and wooden legs fell off, transforming him into a completely different person.

Just then, Professor McGonagall and Snape returned. Upon seeing the person on the ground, Snape exclaimed, "My God! Barty Crouch Jr.!"

Dumbledore glanced at Snape, then turned his gaze back to Barty Jr. He held out his hand and said, "Severus, Truth Potion."

Taking the truth serum, Dumbledore ignored the shouts and commotion of Gilgamesh who had come with the two of them, and cast a Rejuvenation Charm, directly dripping three drops of truth serum into Barty Jr.'s mouth.

As Barty Jr. opened his eyes, Dumbledore calmly asked, "Can you hear us?"

"I can hear you," Little Barty replied in a low voice, his eyes vacant.

"Now tell me, how did you escape from Azkaban, and how did you end up here?"

"And what exactly does Voldemort want you to do...?"

Everyone listened quietly as Barty recounted his story, starting from Azkaban, his reunion with Voldemort last summer, then the Quidditch World Cup, the Triwizard Tournament that spanned the entire school year, and finally, Voldemort's resurrection.

Harry sat calmly in his chair and listened to everything carefully and attentively, so much so that he noticed that no name was mentioned in Barty Jr.'s words.

"Where's Ike? Ike Strayder!" Harry suddenly asked. "What's his relationship with Voldemort? Why does he call him 'Teacher Voldemort'?"

"Potter!" Snape began, trying to stop Harry, but it was too late. Barty Jr. continued, "Ike Strayder, is Master's favorite student, the young Master..."

"Good heavens!" Professor McGonagall covered her mouth with both hands, Snape's face turned ashen, and Dumbledore immediately waved his wand to tie up Barty Jr. and gag him.

"Alright, that's enough for now," Dumbledore said. "Minerva, could you stay here while I escort Harry upstairs?"

Then he said to Snape, "Severus, please call Mrs. Pomfrey. We need to get Alastor to the hospital quickly. And then, please find Fudge. He'll definitely want to hear what Barty has to say."

Seeing that both of them had agreed, Dumbledore turned to Harry and smiled, "Harry, let's go..."

Once outside, Dumbledore led Harry directly to the headmaster's office.

"I'd like you to come to my office first. Sirius is waiting for us there," Dumbledore explained.

The two arrived at the headmaster's office. Dumbledore gave the command, and upon entering, they immediately saw Sirius Black waiting inside.

"Harry, are you alright? I heard everything." Sirius Black rushed over and hugged Harry, looking at his wounds with heartache. He carefully helped Harry to a chair. "What happened, Dumbledore?"

Dumbledore recounted Barty's story in detail, and Sirius listened quietly, while Harry seemed somewhat distracted. After a while, the room suddenly fell silent. Harry looked up blankly and saw Dumbledore staring at him.

"Harry, I need to know what happened after you touched the Portkey in the maze?"

Sirius Black saw that Harry was too tired and wanted to refuse on his behalf. Dumbledore, however, believed that Harry should tell the truth, as it was important. With the help of Fawkes the Phoenix, Harry finally recovered somewhat and began to recount what had happened in the graveyard.

Voldemort's resurrection, the Death Eaters who answered the call, Ike, the two duels that followed, the final magical transformation of the wand, and his parents.

Of course, he also didn't forget the stun spell that Ike had cast on him at the very end.

Several times, Sirius almost couldn't hold back, but Dumbledore stopped him. After Harry finished speaking, Dumbledore rubbed his forehead and said wearily, "Harry, you were very brave tonight. No one could have done better than you tonight. You have raised our expectations for you to be even higher."

"Don't go back to the dorm, go to the school clinic, take some sleeping pills, and get a good night's sleep... Sirius, would you like to stay with him?"

Sirius nodded, stood up, and transformed back into a large black dog. Dumbledore also stood up, came to Harry's side, patted him on the shoulder, and led him toward the school hospital.

Pushing open the door, Hermione immediately saw a distraught Mrs. Pomfrey, surrounded by Mrs. Weasley, Bill, Ron, and the twins, all asking her questions. On the bed next to her, Hermione was with a kind old woman. The old woman's eyes were red, and she clutched a handkerchief tightly in her hand, while Hermione whispered words of comfort.

"Harry!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed. The old woman stood up, but was unsteady and almost fell. Hermione quickly steadied her.

"Molly, wait a minute. Harry had a terrible experience tonight, and he just told me about it again." Dumbledore stepped in front of Harry. "He needs enough sleep. If you'd like to stay with him, you can, but please don't ask him any questions unless he's willing to answer them himself."

After saying that, he looked at Hermione and the old woman beside him and said, "Madam, I'm sorry, I can't answer your question..."

"And you can no longer stay in the castle."

"Sir..." Julianne stumbled forward, and Hermione quickly caught her to prevent her from falling. Her voice was still choked with sobs, filled with despair, "Please, tell me..."

"I'm sorry," Dumbledore refused outright, then turned to Hermione and said, "Miss Granger, please take Mrs. Julianne to my office. I need to meet with Fudge later, and then I'll take her home."

After saying this, Mrs. Weasley nodded to Harry and the others, then turned and left.

Julian looked helpless. Mrs. Weasley came over and offered a few words of comfort, then kept Ron behind and sent the twins and Bill away before she and Hermione helped Julian walk toward the headmaster's office.

"Who's that?" Harry asked once only Ron and Sirius were left.

“That’s the director of the Ike Welfare Home,” Ron replied. “Mom and Hermione were with her the whole time; she looked so pitiful…”

"snort!"

Harry snorted and lay down on the bed, closing his eyes. Ron was about to say something, but seeing Sirius also lying down beside the bed, he thought for a moment and ultimately remained silent.

(End of this chapter)