I, Hogwarts Second Time Around.

Chapter 520 Unraveling the Truth

"From what I learned later, Riddle kept a tight rein on them. These people were never caught openly committing any wrongdoing, although many serious incidents occurred during their seven years at Hogwarts, none of them could be definitively linked to them. The most serious incident, of course, was the opening of the Chamber of Secrets, which resulted in the death of a girl. You know, Hagrid was wrongly accused in this case..."

"Yes, it's Myrtle," Owen said.

Myrtle's death was a crucial step in Tom's transformation into Voldemort.

Before that, he was merely a young wizard with ancient blood; after that, the dark side deep within him was truly revealed. Voldemort was truly born from Tom's personality.

Irving could imagine how excited Tom Riddle must have been when he discovered the Basilisk in that damp, underground chamber.

Perhaps it was this excitement that caused him to temporarily lose control of the basilisk.

Perhaps his magical skills weren't good enough to control the basilisk.

Perhaps it was to fulfill the promise of their ancestor Slytherin to purge those unworthy of learning magic.

In conclusion, in fifth grade, Tom released the Basilisk, which ultimately led to Myrtle's death.

By killing someone and shifting the blame onto Hagrid, Tom escaped punishment. At that time, Tom must have felt extremely superior, secretly mocking the wizard's foolishness countless times.

It was this superiority, coupled with the 'noble' bloodline, that truly set Voldemort's life on track.

“Yes, she was a poor girl.” Dumbledore approached the Pensieve and continued, “I didn’t find much of a memory of Riddle at Hogwarts. Few people who knew him back then were willing to talk about him; they were too afraid. What I know now is what I learned after he left Hogwarts, after much effort, searching for those who could be roused to speak, looking through old records, and asking Muggles and wizards.”

He didn't speak again, but instead took some crystal bottles from the cabinet above the Pensieve, filled with swirling, pearly memories.

Dumbledore poured the memories into the Pensieve and then asked Owen to experience them again.

The first memory, lasting only a minute, was a conversation between Voldemort and his uncle Morfin, using Parseltongue, a language Owen couldn't understand.

However, he could guess that Morfin was introducing Tom to his mother, as well as the Muggle family who lived not far from their house, namely Tom's father and grandparents.

The scene ends with Tom leaving in anger.

The story of filial piety that followed is well-known to everyone.

Tom killed his father's entire family and framed his uncle, who had a foul mouth and constantly cursed his mother, simply because his mother had married a Muggle.

Of course, the point of Dumbledore showing him this memory wasn't the 'plot,' but rather the Gaunt ring on Morpheus's right hand.

He seemed to be trying to connect the owners of the Gauntlet rings into a logical line, thereby speculating where Voldemort would hide this last Horcrux.

After the first memory ended, Dumbledore immediately poured the memory from the second crystal bottle into the Pensieve.

This time the video is even shorter than the last one.

It only lasted a few dozen seconds.

It is based on the memories of an Auror and depicts the scene when they stormed Riddle Manor.

This memory suggests that it must have been the summer of 1994.

After the Battle of Hogsmeade, the Aurors calmed themselves and devised a plan to raid Riddle Hall in Little Hangleton, arresting dozens of dark wizards in one fell swoop.

Although most of those people were not Death Eaters, it was still an achievement, reversing public opinion in the wizarding world that had been in a slump since the Battle of Hogsmeade.

This also solidified Barty Crouch's position as Minister for Magic.

After the memory ended, Dumbledore gazed at the shimmering water and asked, "In this memory, the Gaunt family mansion was still intact."

"The Gaunt family mansion," Owen murmured. Indeed, the Gaunt family mansion was not far from the Riddle mansion, and the mansion had appeared in the wizard's memory.

However, after the war, the Gaunt family mansion was affected by magic and became ruins. The Gaunt ring hidden inside also disappeared.

"You believe the ring was originally located here?"

"Tom is that kind of person," Dumbledore said calmly, a hint of regret flashing behind his deep blue eyes. "Although that ring is a relic of the Gaunt family, his uncle, the last descendant of the Gaunt family, left a very bad impression on him. In the memory just now, he kept insulting Tom's mother and using some very offensive words."

Therefore, he wouldn't take the ring with him; his disgust and anger would lead him to hide where he was after killing his father and creating the Horcrux.

"But the ring isn't there anymore," Irving said.

“That’s right.” Dumbledore nodded. “It’s all ruins now. I’ve searched for it many times but to no avail. But in this memory, the ring should still be there, at least until the summer of 1994. So who took it after that?”

"Hmm?" Owen frowned. "Shouldn't it be Voldemort himself?"

Upon hearing this, Dumbledore neither agreed nor denied, but instead said, "The Ministry of Magic closely monitored Little Hangleton during that time. Every move there could have alerted the Aurors. Of course, with Voldemort's magical abilities, evading the Aurors' eyes would have been effortless, but I always thought the ring was taken too easily—what if he hadn't taken it himself?"

"Not him?" Owen paused for a moment, then suddenly understood Dumbledore's meaning. "You mean, there's a Death Eater among the Aurors? He easily took the ring during the battle, so no one would notice?"

"That's possible," Dumbledore replied. "But I've investigated almost everyone, and none of the Aurors who were in charge of the attack on Riddle Hall that day are suspects."

"Um?"

"Only a few people have been seen entering and leaving the Gaunt mansion. This can be seen from the memories of several Aurors."

"..." Owen glanced at the old principal. "Could you please stop panting?"

"Who?"

"Moody, Theseus, the then Director of Magical Law Enforcement, Stirlinger, and the Minister for Magic." Dumbledore looked up at Owen, "Barty Crouch himself."

"Barty Crouch?" Owen's eyes widened as he suddenly remembered someone.

Someone he had almost forgotten.

"Barty Crouch Jr."

"Barty Crouch Jr.?" Dumbledore said. "I remember him as his son, who died in Azkaban a few years ago."

"Wait!" Irving took a step back and then rubbed his temples.

If—he meant if.

The original Buddy Crouch was actually his son in disguise.

Is this possible?

No—impossible! Irving shook his head.

Barty Crouch appeared before Dumbledore countless times, yet the old headmaster remained completely oblivious, even after the goblin invasion of Hogwarts and the emergence of Hufflepuff's Sleep, when the old headmaster had already begun secretly using Legilimency on those around him.

Furthermore, after the Goblet of Fire, he also argued with the principal and even met with him alone in the principal's office.

Irving simply couldn't believe that Barty Crouch Jr. possessed such powerful magic as to conceal his true nature.

If we say that Barty Crouch has always been himself...

Bella had told him that they had people in the Ministry of Magic, and that these were Death Eaters who were trying to rebel against Voldemort and return to Tom Riddle's side.

Could this person be Barty Crouch Jr.?

"Phew—" Owen felt his head getting hot; his thoughts had reached a dead end. There were some crucial points he couldn't understand.

"Professor," he said, "Barty Crouch Jr. is not actually dead."

"In 1982, Mrs. Crouch's condition worsened. Before she died, she found her husband and asked him to take the compound herbal medicine and take her son's place to smuggle him out of Azkaban."

"Old Barty Crouch probably felt indebted to her because he had personally sent his son to Azkaban, and ultimately agreed to the plan. All these years, Barty Crouch Jr. has been hiding in the Crouch family's ancestral home."

"Where did you learn this from?" Dumbledore asked, frowning.

"Their little sprite, Sparkle," Owen lied. "At the World Cup, I noticed it kept talking to an empty chair, so I quietly invaded its memory."

This excuse was rather crude, and he immediately changed the subject, saying, "But I don't think the former minister was actually Barty in disguise. He spoke with you privately many times, and even the best impersonation couldn't be flawless. Nearly three years! Where did he get so many Polyjuice Potions? Such a large-scale purchase of potions would definitely arouse suspicion."

Upon hearing this, Dumbledore fell into a brief silence.

After a few minutes, amidst the strange jingling sounds emanating from the ornaments in the principal's office, he suddenly spoke, "What if that was him?"

"Uh—you—" Owen didn't quite understand what he meant.

"If he sided with his son, Tom."

"What?" Owen's eyes widened, his face filled with disbelief.

Wait a minute—although this explanation makes a lot of things make sense.

But—Barty Crouch! That's Barty Crouch!

Given his personality of hating evil and regarding dark wizards as enemies, how could he possibly submit to Senior Tom?

Even if Dumbledore said that it was actually Barty Crouch Jr. who controlled his father with the Imperius Curse, Owen would believe it; at least that reason sounded more plausible.

"His character."

"Anyone's outward appearance is merely a facade," Dumbledore said, looking at Owen. "Take yourself, for example—would anyone outside of you think you were a boy?"

"Uh," that makes so much sense, I can't even argue with it.

"So-called loyalty is just a matter of not having enough leverage to betray someone. What if Tom could offer something that would move Barty Crouch?"

"Hmm—your information is extremely important; we've found a direction."

"Alright, now I need to speak with this former minister myself. Irving, you can go back now."

"Alright, Professor," he replied, then turned and left the principal's office.

------

The next day, he told Harry and Hermione about his conversation with Dumbledore.

The little witch advised him to contact Bella immediately.

Ask her for the truth.

But Irving did not agree.

Since learning that this woman had rebellious intentions, she might still fulfill the contract to tell him other information, but she would definitely be two-faced about the Horcrux, and he would not get any answers from her.

And if the Gaunt ring really was in Barty Crouch Jr.'s possession, she certainly wouldn't have told him.

The reason is that they don't want to see all the Horcruxes destroyed.

Now, all that's left is to wait—to wait for Dumbledore's negotiations with Barty Crouch.

In addition, Harry also began to busy himself with the task of conquering Slughorn.

In the afternoon Potions class, as usual, Harry shone brightly with his knowledge from "Advanced Potions Making"...

"Quiet down, quiet down!" Slughorn stepped onto the podium. "Before we knew it, the enjoyable Christmas holidays were over. I hope you didn't get carried away with your fun and forget about your studies, because this semester will be very demanding. Now, can anyone tell me about Gobalot's Third Law...? Of course, it's our magical princess!"

Hermione stood up somewhat awkwardly and quickly turned away, saying, "Gobarlot's Third Law states that the antidote for a mixture of poisons is greater than the sum of the antidotes for each individual ingredient." After saying that, she sat back down as fast as she could, but even so, countless eyes were still on her.

"Absolutely correct!" Slughorn smiled. "Absolutely correct! Ten points for Gryffindor! Now, if we accept that Gobarlot's Third Law holds true..."

Slughorn's voice was loud and clear in class, but his gaze was almost entirely on Hermione and a few Harrys.

Everyone else seemed to be invisible; he was only lecturing these two.

"Of course, this means that even if we've correctly analyzed the potion's ingredients using Scapin's Revealing Charm, our primary goal isn't simply to choose the antidote for each individual ingredient, but rather to find the additional ingredients—a more difficult process," Slughorn said. "It can transform various unrelated ingredients through a process almost like alchemy..."

Everyone was quickly taking notes in their notebooks.

It absorbs knowledge like the ocean.

"Alright, dry texts won't teach you how to brew potions," Slughorn concluded. "Now, each of you come to my desk and take a bottle. You must concoct the antidote within before the end of get out of class. Good luck, and don't forget your protective gloves!"

Hermione immediately got up from her chair and walked towards the podium, bringing back Harry, Ron, and Owen's bottles.

"It's a pity, Harry." As she passed Harry, she straightened her back. "This time, your prince can't help you. I've already read that book. You have to understand the principles of Barrot's Third Law to create the antidote; there's no shortcut."

"Can Your Highness help me?" Harry asked seriously.

(End of this chapter)