Hogwarts: My name is the Unforgivable Curse...

Chapter 322 Barty's Scheme

Yes, he had painstakingly figured out the key to winning the game: as long as he kept following this rhythm, he could win easily.

But who the hell would have thought that the pillar would appear right under the dragon's rear end, and even manage to send it flying into the sky?!

There were only three pillars in the stadium-sized field, and their appearance was completely random. But there was one bastard that was blocking his blind spot. It used the solid stone pillar to perfectly block the red light emanating from his front and even the vision in his magical sense was blocked by the magical structure under the solid stone pillar, so that he did not notice it at the first moment!

If that stone pillar hadn't blocked his view, Avada could have easily lured or pulled the fire dragon away beforehand, and then guided it to breathe fire and charge itself onto the newly appeared stone pillar!

What kind of bizarre probability is this?!

For a fleeting moment, Avada felt that if he were to utter a dark magic incantation right now, he could definitely achieve an unprecedented effect.

"..."

And it wasn't just him; the audience outside, and even Ludo Bagman in the commentary booth, all fell silent at that moment.

"...This wasn't my design?"

Barty Crouch Jr. rubbed his eyes, somewhat bewildered, making sure there wasn't something wrong with his Compound Elixir causing him to misread something: 'Was this really randomly generated? Or did Karkaroff deliberately sabotage it to mess with the Warriors' mentality and distract them?'

"But didn't we agree that this stage would proceed normally, and we'd only start our attack on the third stage?"

"Could it be that traitor is plotting something behind my back again? But didn't the other Death Eaters say he was trustworthy?"

"No, that's not right. We can't completely trust those cowards either. How could those truly loyal to their master abandon his noble ideals and live a life of ignominy? If Dumbledore hadn't forced them into a corner, they probably wouldn't even be thinking about how to resurrect their master, especially that traitor Karkaroff. I know exactly what he did..."

"Hmph, I'll use you for now. Once my master is resurrected, guess who'll be the first one I settle scores with?"

The thought of Karkaroff's face, which filled him with utter loathing, caused Barty Jr. to clench his fists involuntarily, his nails digging deep into his palms. The sharp pain that followed quickly brought him back to his senses—he was still Ludo Bagman, still on the field of the Triwizard Tournament, and needed to provide commentary for the audience.

"By Merlin, who could have imagined that Mr. Ken's luck would be this bad..."

He quickly adjusted his mindset and once again threw himself wholeheartedly into the performance. The mental fortitude honed through long-term battles against the Soul-Stealing Curse allowed him to easily control his emotions. Even the slightly distorted expression he had inadvertently revealed earlier transformed into a hesitant, unsure-what-to-say look under his deliberately stammering tone...

"The fire dragon destroyed a stone pillar, but that wasn't Mr. Ken's fault. He had just subdued the dragon when the charged stone pillar popped out directly from under its rear..."

Little Barty scratched his head, looking like he was trying hard to think but still struggling to organize his thoughts, since the absurd scene unfolding was difficult for others to describe clearly: "However, this is definitely a regrettable point deduction, and it will make the rest of the match even more difficult. He only has two stone pillars left to use..."

Meanwhile, in the Great Hall of Hogwarts.

The area where the teachers' seats should have been was replaced by a huge white screen, clearly displaying everything that was happening at the Durmstrang Stadium. The professors who should have been sitting there had moved their chairs to the space between four long tables, watching the match intently with the students. They were all shocked that the organizers had chosen such a dangerous dragon as the Ukrainian Iron Belly, and they cheered and applauded Avada's wonderful performance...

Then, after the divine pillar, supporting the fire dragon's rear, sent it flying into the sky and then snapped cleanly back down, they all fell silent again.

"This...this is a cover-up, isn't it?"

At the Gryffindor table, Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat in a row as always, while sitting in the open space next to them was the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, the legendary Auror Alastor Moody.

This highly skilled combat master was warmly welcomed by all the students in the school except for Slytherin from the very beginning of his service. Even the most arrogant and domineering Slytherin did not dare to act recklessly in front of him—after all, many Slytherin students and their parents had been sent to Azkaban directly or indirectly by this old Auror.

Later, his teaching skills further enhanced his prestige. Whether it was combat and stealth techniques, or the diversity of spells, the professor handled everything with ease, explaining them vividly and clearly, effortlessly. His abilities in stealth and the use of polymorph were particularly remarkable, showcasing techniques that left students speechless. He would also occasionally share little-known Death Eater secrets in class, broadening the students' horizons…

However, his only flaw, as rumored, was that he was far too cautious and suspicious. The slightest disturbance was enough to instantly capture his attention, causing him to look at the source with a vigilant and cautious gaze—or, as some Slytherins who disliked him would say in private, "like a mouse."

—In fact, Harry also felt that the professor's demeanor sometimes did resemble that of a rat, but he didn't dare tell anyone.

Moreover, this professor treated him much more attentively than other students, supposedly because his parents and Harry had been comrades-in-arms. Since the start of the semester, Professor Moody had given Harry considerable extra instruction, teaching him more detailed combat techniques (though it was unclear why most of them were related to infiltration), and occasionally sharing stories about his parents' past. All of this had earned Harry a very good impression of the professor.

"It shouldn't be a conspiracy—but it's normal if it is; it wouldn't be surprising if someone like Karkaroff used any underhanded tricks."

Moody snorted and answered Harry's question in a muffled voice: "But I don't think Karkaroff has the opportunity to do such a thing right now—he's sitting right next to Dumbledore."

"That's really bad luck for Ken. Will he fall behind the other warriors because of this?" Harry asked with some concern.

"Definitely, at least Karkaroff will use that as an excuse to deduct points from him. But the level of the other two warriors... hehe."

"Moody" grinned, revealing an ugly sneer: "It's hard to say how many moves they can withstand from this fire dragon."

(End of this chapter)