Hogwarts: My name is the Unforgivable Curse...

Chapter 382 Grindelwald's Chips

"...Aren't there a lot too many people who know about this?"

After struggling to find the words, Avada managed to stammer out: "The principals of all three schools know, everyone at Noblyridge University knows, and even many of the Death Eaters involved in the Voldemort rescue plan know... so what's one more Bagman? How could they possibly keep this from us?"

"To be honest, it really can."

Dumbledore nodded with a sigh: "Barty Crouch Jr.'s existence was discovered by Little Star. Even within the pure-blood families, few people knew about it. It's estimated that only a few of the most core members were qualified to know that they had such a companion lurking in the shadows... At most, others could only know that someone was impersonating Ludo Bagman, but they didn't know exactly who it was."

"But you're not wrong, quite a few people do know about Crouch's weakness—but it's mainly a deal between him and Norwich University. Karkaroff, Mrs. Maxim, and I only took a half-step back, symbolically asking for some benefits to do a favor for the university that represents the future."

He added, "Crouch is, after all, a highly respected veteran official, and now the director of the International Department of Magical Cooperation. With his cooperation, it would undoubtedly be a huge boost to the legalization of universities in Britain. However, as for what to do with Barty Jr. after everything settles down... that's his own business."

"So what do you think he'll do, Professor?"

Avada asked with some curiosity, "We can't let Barty stay by Crouch's side forever, can we? Besides, he's much younger than his father; he could outlive Crouch until he dies of old age..."

"Who knows? Probably we'll just stick to the status quo."

Dumbledore shook his head: "That's his own son after all. If Crouch really had no feelings for him at all, he wouldn't have allowed his wife to exchange him from Azkaban and then watch over him for more than ten years... Alright, let's leave Mr. Crouch's matter here for now and get back to our previous topic."

"Where were we... Oh right, Little Pettigrew spearheaded the Three Kingdoms Tournament plan with the Purebloods."

As Dumbledore spoke, he once again revealed his familiar smile: "So, after learning about this, my response was quite simple. Since they had already chosen Durmstrang as the location, I simply went to Karkaroff and tried to get his cooperation—that was my initial thought."

"At the beginning?"

Avada paused for a moment, then quickly realized something: "Did something else happen after that? But Karkaroff does seem to be on your side... Wait, could he be from Nobiridge University?!"

"That was a quick reaction."

Dumbledore chuckled, acknowledging Avada's guess: "I only realized I was too late when I found Karkaroff. At that time, however, I didn't know about Noblyridge University; I simply assumed Karkaroff was busy gathering people and making arrangements—but I wasn't surprised then, because I knew Karkaroff was definitely the last person who wanted Voldemort to return, and as the headmaster of Durmstrang and a veteran Dead Apostle, he had his own channels of information that allowed him to learn about some of what was happening in Britain…"

"So? What did he do?"

"He took the initiative to contact the Purebloods in Britain and offered to help."

Dumbledore chuckled and said, "To make his joining seem more natural and believable, he deliberately spread rumors within the school that his position as headmaster had been shaken in recent years and was not very stable, thus needing external help... Those purebloods never expected that this person who had betrayed them once would now share common interests with them—and just like that, I gained an important intelligence source other than a little dwarf. I also infiltrated two-thirds of the secret alliance formed by the die-hard purebloods..."

"Only two-thirds complete?!"

Avada was somewhat shocked—the plan's proposer and core implementers were already all Dumbledore's men, so how far could he infiltrate?

"Those pure-blood families aren't fools after all."

Dumbledore explained slowly, "Peter Pettigrew wasn't a high-ranking member of their society to begin with, and no one knew what he went through during his thirteen years of disappearance; Karkaroff even betrayed them once... No matter how great their contributions are this time, they still can't gain absolute trust. Moreover, the pure-blood faction wasn't entirely idle—for example, they actively investigated and discovered that Harry was actually a Horcrux; at that time, they still had quite a few secrets."

"So, the remaining one-third..."

As Avada pieced together the clues, he followed Dumbledore's words and continued to ponder: "So, it's what you got from your trip to see Grindelwald?"

"That's right."

Dumbledore smiled. "It was around that time that I officially learned the name 'Nobiridge University,' and that my old friend, who always surprises people, had given me another unexpected surprise..."

"At his behest, Mr. Jason Shafik, a member of the Board of Trustees of Nobiridge University and one of the Twenty-Eight Holy Races, approached the core members of the Diehards and introduced them to a powerful organization 'secretly established by Grindelwald and whose influence has spread throughout all aspects of Britain,' expressing his willingness to cooperate with their plan to completely defeat Albus Dumbledore... In this way, the Purebloods, believing they had reached an agreement, cooperated with Grindelwald, and Grindelwald learned of their complete plan."

"And this is what I told you at the beginning of this school year: the three purposes of the pure-blood families restarting the three-way battle for supremacy."

"First, rescue Barty Jr., let him replace Bagman as the referee, and then work with Karkaroff to rig the game, which is what I told you in the feather—to rig the ghost ship and manipulate the scores to make the warriors board the ship at the same time, so that I would expend energy to save the warriors..."

"Secondly, they secretly cooperated with Grindelwald, providing him with resources to recover his strength and become the main force in my fight. In their plan, I was already exhausted from breaking the magic of the ghost ship, and the already powerful Grindelwald was fully capable of defeating me. In this way, they not only removed the biggest obstacle, but also obtained Voldemort's main soul directly from me, achieving all their goals in one fell swoop."

"The third purpose is to provide an accidental insurance policy, so that if Little Star Pettigrew, disguised as Moody, steals Harry, then even if they fail this time, Voldemort will never be completely killed and will become an inescapable threat."

"Then, you learned all of the above from Grindelwald, and then, together with Pettigrew and Karkaroff, turned the tables and lured them all out?"

"That's right—but one step was missed in the middle."

Dumbledore suddenly gave a wry smile: "After the meeting, Grindelwald did not reveal all this information directly, but used it as leverage to demand that I reach a cooperation agreement with Noblyridge University."

(End of this chapter)