A certain Hogwarts professor of runes.

Moody's name on the map remains unchanged.

"How to do?"

Ron, wand in hand, asked. On the Marauder's Map, Barty Crouch walked through the office and stood in the bedroom doorway. There was no doubt that, however he appeared, he intended to do something to Professor Moody.

"Don't go out yet!" Harry said to Ron.

"what?"

Harry suddenly lifted his Invisibility Cloak, raised his wand, and shouted, "Cut into pieces!" The office door suddenly burst open, the loud noise startling the people inside. Barty Crouch Jr. turned around in horror.

"Expelliarmus!" Harry shouted, and the spell, like a laser beam, collided with Barty Crouch Jr.'s shield, sparks flying.

“It’s you? It’s you! Potter, you’ve come at the perfect time!” Barty Crouch Jr. shouted.

Harry was momentarily bewildered. Who was this person? Why was he using the name Mr. Barty Crouch? But he had no time to think about it. He was trying his best to maintain the spell, but Barty Crouch Jr. was no weakling at all. His Ironclad Charm firmly blocked the powerful Disarming Charm. On the contrary, he was getting closer and closer to Harry despite Harry's magic.

Through the blurry barrier, Barty Crouch Jr. stared at Harry, his eyes filled with greed. "Potter, no, Harry, I'm Professor Moody. I taught you, have you forgotten? Come with me, I'll take you to see the Dark Lord..."

“You’re not Professor Moody!” Harry retorted loudly.

“You met two Moodys, one of whom was me,” Barty Crouch Jr. grinned. “That good-for-nothing Peter Pettigrew was somewhat useful; he told me the secret of the Marauder’s Map. Of course I know how dangerous the day the Champions List was announced was. What if Dumbledore became suspicious of me? I am the Dark Lord’s only hope, the only hope for his resurrection! I must be careful enough, always on guard… That’s a good point. The Dark Lord possessed me—and I did it willingly—and altered Moody’s memories. Quite successfully, wasn’t it?”

Harry gritted his teeth, unable to believe what he was saying. "You're the Death Eater who ran away?"

“Yes, it’s me. Don’t struggle, Harry, I only need half a minute—”

"Whoosh!"

"Immediately imprison them!"

Ron suddenly popped his head out of the Invisibility Cloak and chanted a spell in Barty Crouch Jr.'s direction. A magical rope almost skimmed the ground and wrapped around his calf. Harry seized the opportunity to increase the output of his magic, and Barty Crouch Jr. stumbled backward, tripped over the large trunk, and disappeared behind it.

Harry's spell struck a pile of glassware in the office with a clear shattering sound, and he glimpsed a glass peephole being smashed to pieces.

"He collapsed to the ground, completely unconscious!"

Harry and Ron seized the opportunity and launched a series of attacks, but the spells only hit the open chest with dull thuds. Harry, disregarding the danger, charged forward and saw Barty Crouch Jr. fall to the ground, not from the spell, but from tripping.

He must seize the opportunity...

Just then, the ropes binding Barty Crouch Jr. transformed into a large serpent, blocking a Cutting Charm and a Barrier Charm. He glanced around hastily, his gaze landing on a mirror-like object hanging on the office wall—in which many dark, blurry figures flickered, but now, the figures in the mirror became clearer, their outlines becoming distinct. There were two people, one with a long beard, the other with light steps, looking very young…

"Sigh~"

Barty Crouch Jr.'s face contorted in pain as he tumbled into the large trunk. Just as Harry was about to give chase, half a wand emerged from the trunk, its tip flashing a brilliant red light.

"Boom!"

A massive explosion rang in their ears, and Harry was swept away by the shockwave, slamming Ron into the wall of the corridor along with him. Harry felt like every bone in his body was broken, and Ron was in a bad way too; a large rock had hit his leg, and he was groaning in pain.

Harry looked toward the Defense Against the Dark Arts office, where half a wall had collapsed, a large hole had been punched in the ceiling, and dust was everywhere.

"Cough, cough, cough!" Harry coughed, choking on his phlegm. He looked at Ron, whose face was ashen and whose groans were much weaker. Harry forced himself to sit up, leaned against the wall, and weakly raised his wand: "Help quickly—cough, cough, cough! Quickly—"

"Heal quickly," a voice said.

Harry looked up and exclaimed in surprise, "Professor Dumbledore!" In the swirling dust, his reflection was exactly the same as the one he had seen in the mirror before. He looked to the side, and another figure appeared in the mirror as well. "Professor Hyp!"

“Hmm,” Felix nodded at him, tossed out a few healing spells, tilted his head to one side, and surveyed the ruins before him. “The Defense Against the Dark Arts office has certainly had a lot of bad luck…”

He didn't know about the first year, but ever since he joined the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, along with their office, things had never been good. In the second year, Lockhart and Rita Skeeter had a fight in the basement office, which resulted in Lockhart being hit with a Forgetfulness Charm and remaining in a daze for several weeks. In the third year, Lupin and Snape had a fight that completely destroyed the entire office, forcing them to move to the third floor. Unexpectedly, even the new office didn't last into the fourth year.

Fortunately, it was probably just a simple explosive spell, unlike dark magic which is difficult to deal with. Felix waved his wand, making the stones float up and fly back to their original positions, restoring everything to normal.

Meanwhile, under Dumbledore's healing spell, Ron's expression also softened.

"Take care of the immediate crisis first. After this is over, you'll need to go to the university hospital," Dumbledore said.

Harry breathed a sigh of relief, then suddenly remembered there was still someone in the office. "Professor, Professor Moody is still inside... He must have been cursed! And that spy, the spy who threw our names into the Goblet of Fire, he's a young man, but his name shows as Barty Crouch..." His expression was both confused and puzzled.

“That man is Barty Crouch’s son, Crouch Jr., the same name,” Felix explained simply. He took Harry’s Marauder’s Map, glanced at it, and said disappointedly, “His name is gone. He’s escaped.”

As he spoke, the office had returned to normal—except for the magical items, which were not within the scope of the spell's restoration.

Dumbledore walked ahead, entered the office, quickly glanced around, and arrived at the bedroom. It was still some distance from the epicenter of the explosion, and thanks to the defensive magic of Hogwarts Castle, the impact was minimal. When he used a unlocking charm to open the door, he could see Moody lying peacefully in bed, fast asleep.

Although this situation is abnormal in itself.

"Such a loud noise didn't wake him up..." Ron whispered to Harry.

Dumbledore bent down to check on Moody's condition, and Harry took the opportunity to tell them what had happened. When he heard that Harry could still see Voldemort's movements after waking up, Dumbledore's expression became serious. "How did you see it, Harry? Were you standing high up looking down at it, or...?"

“I am him,” Harry said. As soon as he said it, he realized what he had said, and his voice became hoarse as he explained, “I... I went inside Voldemort’s head and saw the world through his eyes, feeling his anger.”

There was something he didn't say. Harry now felt strangely towards Dumbledore and Professor Hyp, because he had previously been influenced by Voldemort's emotions, and had developed an astonishing hatred for the two of them.

An uneasy silence hung in the air. Harry noticed Professor Hyp's gaze lingering on him, and for a moment he thought the professor would say something, but nothing came of it, nor did Headmaster Dumbledore.

Dumbledore suddenly straightened up and said to those present, "Alastor is not physically injured, but as for his memory... Felix, he may need your help."

“No problem, Albus,” Felix said seriously.

Dumbledore nodded slightly. "Then, we need to solve one last problem: how did Barty Crouch Jr. get hidden in the castle? As far as I know—Felix, you've observed Moody?"

“I’ve observed them occasionally, not just him, but also some other people I thought were suspects.” Felix scratched his chin. “But I didn’t find anything. That’s strange.”

“It is indeed very strange…” Dumbledore stared at the large, now-closed box. “I did not detect any trace of an ungraphable charm unless he dug a tunnel, but he could not have done this much work without the headmaster’s permission.”

“Albus, what you said about the Ungraphable Charm reminded me that we’ve all forgotten one possibility: Voldemort is behind Crouch Jr.,” Felix said belatedly.

Dumbledore stared at him and said softly, "You mean, the Chamber of Secrets?"

“We’ll see,” Felix said. “We only found one entrance to the girls’ washroom before, but it’s very likely that Slytherin built more than one. Or perhaps Voldemort could have instructed Crouch to open the pipe closest to him…”

They opened the large box, which was pitch black inside and stretched downwards. Felix threw a ball of light downwards, and at the end of the box, they saw a damp pipe.

Dumbledore sighed. "Even I couldn't possibly uncover all the secrets of the castle. Let's go down and see. If Crouch Jr. left in a hurry, perhaps we'll find some unexpected surprises."

Harry gave Ron a meaningful look, and they silently followed the two professors down the long staircase, eventually standing on a damp pipe. Felix gestured for Harry to look at a dim snake symbol on the wall, and Harry suddenly realized that this was the entrance.

He hissed with practiced ease and uttered in a snake-like accent, "Open." At that moment, a green light shone from the damp pipe beneath their feet, and then they felt a lightness beneath their feet, a sensation of weightlessness.

Felix quickly waved his hand, casting a levitation spell and a humanoid armor spell on them, and they floated lightly to the ground.

Harry curiously touched his face, feeling a thin yet resilient barrier encasing it. He knew the spell; Professor Hyp's memory had taught them in Room 7, but he had never quite mastered it.

The pipe was unusually large, but still too small for a person. They had to crouch down, which was especially difficult for Dumbledore and Felix.

Felix moved forward slowly, feeling a strong urge to blow up the pipe, but since Dumbledore, at his age, was also hunched over and moving forward, he had nothing to complain about.

They followed the pipe, seeing a long trail left by someone crawling on the ground. Felix could easily imagine how panicked little Crouch must have been, scrambling away without a care for appearances.

Walking horizontally for a distance, they arrived at the confluence of pipes. A thick water pipe stretched straight down. They were very familiar with this route, having been here two years ago.

Below is the Chamber of Secrets in Slytherin. The Chamber is not located within the marked area on the Marauder's Map.

"That guy... his name is Crouch or something, he's been under our feet for the past few months?" Ron asked in surprise.

"Not always. According to Harry, he quite enjoyed teaching, but after the Goblet of Fire, he learned to be more cautious. Of course, we can't rule out the possibility that he'd go to the Three Broomsticks for a drink when he was bored..."

They had now entered the Chamber of Secrets and saw the familiar colossal statue of Salazar Slytherin, with clear signs of life at its feet.

Felix picked up a newspaper and glanced at it. "It was from a week ago. He's not exactly out of the loop. The previous speculations are probably true; at the very least, he should be visiting his disabled master occasionally."

Harry and Ron stared wide-eyed. The environment inside the Chamber of Secrets was terrible. It might have been alright when it was first built, but after being abandoned for a thousand years, it had become part of the sewer system, and the air quality was extremely poor.

Dumbledore didn't speak. He looked up at the ceiling, where Salazar Slytherin's mouth was open, revealing a dark hole with glowing edges—the place where the basilisk had hibernated.

“Let’s go in and take a look,” Dumbledore said.

Sure enough, they discovered something new. After breaking the humanoid armor curse, the stench of snakes inside was pungent, and Harry and Ron showed expressions of disgust, gagging.

Felix smiled and said, "You two should learn some spells like these. The Humanoid Armor Charm and the Bubble Head Charm are very useful. You are warriors, so don't forget to improve yourselves while you are studying the Golden Egg."

Harry and Ron, once again shrouded in the Humanoid Armor Charm, thanked the professor hesitantly.

Just then, they noticed Dumbledore examining a large cauldron. Harry approached, and it was empty, but the rising steam told him that perhaps just half an hour ago, some kind of potion had been simmering in it.

“Compound decoction?” he asked, this was the only possibility he could think of.

“I don’t think so,” Dumbledore said, scraping a layer of liquid from the inside of the cauldron with his long fingers. He brought it to his nose and smelled it, and Harry noticed that the headmaster’s slightly crooked, hooked nose wrinkled.

Felix picked up half of the charred parchment from the ground, magic swirling at his fingertips as he tried to piece together the complete message. The blue light flickered twice before dimming completely, and the parchment in his hand turned to ashes.

“These are all very strange ingredients. I really don’t know what else such a mixture of highly toxic ingredients could produce but a pot of poison,” Felix said. “Perhaps we should ask Severus or Damocles.”

“I will,” Dumbledore said calmly.

They checked again but found no other traces, so they returned to the ground. Professor Moody was still lying there quietly, while Professor McGonagall stood to one side, looking tense and uneasy, with the guardian phoenix standing beside them.

“Oh, what happened, Albus? I heard a loud bang and was worried something was wrong. Some students were also awakened… Then I met your Patronus, who asked me to watch over Professor Moody. Was he under a Stunning Curse?” Professor McGonagall asked anxiously.

“Minerva, it’s all over. We’ve caught the spy in the castle, but he escaped. However… thanks to Potter and Weasley, our Defense Against the Dark Arts professor has escaped with his life.”

Dumbledore said with a smile, the serious expression on his face gone.

Professor McGonagall stared at him expressionlessly. She glanced at Moody on the bed, then at Dumbledore, her gaze sweeping over everyone, her lips pressed into a thin line. When her serious expression landed on Harry and Ron, who were only dressed in their pajamas, her chest heaved violently.

“So,” she gasped, her voice trembling with anger, “Potter, Weasley, you’ve gone your own way again?”

Harry and Ron stared in disbelief, shivering in the cold wind in their thin pajamas.

Chapter 418 Occupational Surgery

This Christmas night at Hogwarts was anything but peaceful. Many students were awakened by the explosions and were left bewildered. Fortunately, the professors came to the rescue, and although they were somewhat annoyed, they obediently went back to bed and continued sleeping.

Several young wizards secretly vowed before closing their eyes that they would find out the truth of what happened during the night as soon as they woke up the next day. The noise in the castle gradually subsided, but the school hospital was still brightly lit.

“You must drink your medicine and stay in bed overnight. If there are no problems by tomorrow morning, I will allow you to leave.” Madam Pomfrey stood between the two beds, holding a gleaming glass of medicine in one hand, her eyes like those of a hawk.

Harry and Ron nervously finished the potion. As the liquid slid down their throats—though it felt completely different—it reminded Harry of the memories in his dream. He suppressed his nausea and gulped it down in one go.

Mrs. Pomfrey left satisfied.

She left the ward, closed the door, and headed to the intensive care unit, where two more patients were waiting for her. Barty Crouch had suffered severe physical and psychological trauma; she could only try to heal his body. Alastor Moody was in slightly better physical condition, but his emotional wounds were equally significant.

She was lost in thought as she walked, hesitating whether to learn a trick from Felix. As time went on, Felix Heap's other identity, the memory master, became increasingly well-known, and many people speculated that he would definitely be among the first batch of Chocolate Frog cards in the new century.

At the corner of the corridor, Mrs. Pomfrey saw Dumbledore, Felix, and McGonagall standing at the door of the intensive care unit.

“Popito, you’ve come at the right time,” Dumbledore said with a smile, looking quite pleased. “Felix has just examined Barty and Alastor and dealt with the most difficult case, but they will need a considerable amount of time to recover.”

Mrs. Pomfrey glanced at Felix instinctively; in her mind, he was the authority.

Felix nodded slightly and explained, "Mr. Crouch has been under the influence of the Imperius Curse, as well as the Confusion Curse and the Cruciatus Curse for a long time, which has caused his mind to become somewhat confused. Although it is troublesome, it is not irreversible. I suggest that he be transferred to St. Mungo's for more systematic treatment after a while."