Chapter 384 382. Crouch's Bureau
Voldemort did not return to the castle on Christmas night.
While this surprised Jon, he also took it for granted.
In the final analysis, this dance was not as important as the competitions that would start normally, and Voldemort didn't even come over in person during the first event, let alone this dance.
In addition to Dumbledore's absence, the two most powerful people who organized the event did not appear at the ball, which also allowed the students present to relax a little more.
Except for the two of them who didn't come, all the professors in the castle, including Snape and Crouch, as well as the three referees from the federation, were all present.
There are also those newspaper reporters who have been staying in the castle. Of course, they will not miss this excellent opportunity.
Of course, the newspaper office cannot report some important news all day long. Some laces between participating warriors are sometimes more eye-catching.
So when Rozier led the team and Hermione entered the auditorium holding Jon's arm, countless flashing lights lit up in their direction.
Those students in the castle hardly recognized the beautiful girl standing next to Jon. Hermione had changed a lot compared to two years ago, even if there were 80% of the people in the auditorium at that time Everyone has seen her hanging in front of the hall, and now no one can recognize her at all.
For a while, there were whispers in the castle, but few people would make any rude behavior on the surface, even those proud pure-blood students. Jon has a reputation for viciousness outside. Every pure-blood student has been severely warned by his family before coming to school this year. Unless he encounters a situation that can beat a dog in the water, he is not allowed to provoke Jon.
After Jon and the others entered the auditorium, there was still a period of time before the ball officially started. A professor from the mixed-race college who was specially responsible for receiving them guided them to sit in a separate area.
Hermione was sitting next to Jon, her long chestnut hair was meticulously arranged by Daisy, and it was tied into an elegant bun behind her head. She was wearing a robe made of light purple light blue fabric , which was chosen for her by Professor McGonagall, who was far away in Lyon, after knowing that she had become Jon's dance partner.
Jon looked at the top of the starry sky.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?"
"This should be a very advanced transmission magic. I have read the school history of Hogwarts, and I have heard Mr. Slytherin's portrait and Ms. Gray talking about it, saying that this starry sky is actually from Ravenclaw College. Created by the Creator—Ronay Ravenclaw."
"Shouldn't normal girls praise its beauty when they see this?"
"Would you like normal girls?"
Jon swallowed hard at her sudden question, and turned to look at her with widened eyes.
Hermione seemed to be delighted by his reaction, covering her mouth and laughing.
"Actually, if I hadn't been brought to this castle, and I didn't have the experience of being rescued by you, wouldn't that mean you might have to find someone else to be your dance partner at tonight's dance?"
"Why did you suddenly ask this?" Jon felt that Hermione was acting weird today, as if she was hiding something on her mind.
"I'm actually thinking, thinking about it from another angle, the experience of being brought to this castle is not a painful memory."
She quietly looked at the top of the starry sky, and then turned to the smiling faces of the surrounding students, who were mostly laughing.
"If I hadn't been enslaved here, I might really think that this castle is a good place now. Some things can only be known what the world is like after experiencing it."
Jon suddenly noticed the white bracelet on Hermione's hand that he had never seen before.
"Is this also given to you by Professor McGonagall? It's quite beautiful."
she said softly.
"It's not Professor McGonagall, but a person who has been forgotten by this castle."
On the high platform of the auditorium, Snape was sitting next to Crouch, which was rare.
The confrontation between the two is well known in the entire wizarding world, not to mention Hogwarts.
They never take the initiative to say hello to each other when they meet, and they never sit together when they have dinner together. Except when they are summoned by Voldemort himself, there is almost no chance for them to meet together at any other time.
And at this Christmas dinner, these two decision makers who belonged to the highest status in the entire Hogwarts castle when Voldemort was away, actually sat together from the very beginning!
This not only surprised the other professors, but even Lucius, who led the Auror to maintain order in the auditorium and watched Jon and the others to prevent them from making any changes, was a little unbelievable.
The seats around Snape and Crouch were also vacant. They seemed to be having some kind of secret conversation between them. The other professors walked over at this moment without winking.
"I thought you would directly let that student named Conrad approach Jon Green."
Snape glanced at Jon who was chatting with Hermione in his seat from the corner of his eye, and said expressionlessly.
Little Barty still had such a gentle and approachable smile on his face.
"Who do you think you can deceive with that kind of inferior means? What is the most perfect plan? Let things take their course and let things move forward according to their own trajectory. What we need to do is to slightly change the plan at the most critical point." Push it forward."
"To the end of his life, Conrad thought that the bracelet was given to her by her mother, and he always believed that it was his most precious thing. The first time that Mudblood named Granger was attracted by this girl was also the same. Because she saw that this bracelet is exactly the same as the one her mother used to wear. You see, it only takes a simple little thing to connect two people who had nothing to do with each other closely."
Snape turned his head and glanced at the man beside him who had been rumored secretly in the wizarding world to be a lunatic even crazier than Bella.
"So what is that bracelet?"
"Don't forget who brought that little Mudblood named Hermione Granger to this castle, I met her parents, a pair of stinky dentists, I pretended to be a student from a famous university The professor was trying to trick them into ordering their daughter to sign the contract, and that disgusting Muggle woman was wearing that bracelet. In order to find exactly the same bracelet, I asked They searched all over London, and used some of our connections with the Muggle government, and finally found it in a second-hand grocer."
Junior Barty's voice was calm, but Snape could hear a hint of complacency in it. He knew that this man was deliberately showing off in front of him, showing off how he shared his master's worries.
But Snape was not disgusted with his showing off. On the contrary, he was also curious about whether Barty Jr.'s arrangement would be effective, and in order to hide from the cunning and cunning Dumbledore and the extremely weird student. Jon Green, what methods did he use.
"Then you choose Conrad who is being persecuted and bullied by Freud and Flint, and give her a string of carefully compiled memories and the bracelet that I have transformed, and let her Thought it was her mother's birthday present and her most precious thing?"
Hearing Snape's question, the smile on Barty Jr.'s face grew wider.
"Honestly, it's not easy to find such a suitable partner, but Asia Konrad seems to be tailor-made for my plan. She is a half-breed, and the more humble mudblood. The group of people is also naturally close. Her character is weak. After being threatened by Flint for so long, she is almost about to choose to give up her own life to accept it, and it is easier for the group of people to sympathize. What a choice, After I took the time to review the information of all the mixed-race students, I decided that this was the last piece of the puzzle of my whole plan."
"So you never thought of going directly to Jon Green himself?"
"If he is really just an ordinary 15-year-old boy, then of course it is the easiest and most effective to attack him directly, and I don't need to expend so much energy and means to directly control a beautiful female student to throw at him. It would be good to hug him. But that is obviously impractical. Since this boy has caused so much trouble to his master, and Dumbledore has high hopes for him, then such a straightforward plan can be seen through at a glance. It's not going to work. No one else but you, Severus, were you going to be smitten by a Gryffindor girl when you were 15?"
In an instant, Snape's face turned down, and his voice turned cold.
"Based on the relationship between us, it's not to the point where you can call me by my name directly, and don't think that I'm in the auditorium now and I won't dare to do anything."
Little Barty raised his two hands with a smile on his face, making a gesture of surrender.
"Look at you, I didn't say which girl from Gryffindor, get rid of her, other girls come to you, but if you look at her, you don't deserve to be called Severus Snape, do you?" Is it even possible for you to be fooled by such a simple beauty trick, let alone Jon Green, who is now in the limelight. Although he is a lowly and damned Mudblood, since he can bring so much trouble to his master, That means he still has some advantages, so if we deal with him the same way we deal with ordinary people, we can only end up with the same ending as the Lestrange family."
(end of this chapter)