Chapter 913 The hiding place
"Sirius?"
As soon as Hermione entered the school hospital, she saw a familiar figure talking to Harry.
“Good afternoon Hermione, and Ron.”
Sirius smiled and greeted the two people who came to see Harry.
“Why are you here?” Hermione asked in surprise.
"I'm looking for Dumbledore, and also for Albert." Sirius peeled the apple carelessly, "However, Albert doesn't seem to be in Hogwarts, and I don't know where he is. However, I asked Wei The Sly twins, they said Albert probably went on a date."
"Is it because of Peter Pettigrew?" Hermione immediately thought of the reason.
“So be it.”
Sirius didn't want to discuss this matter in front of the children. He turned to look at Harry and asked, "Has the secret of the golden egg been solved? How are the preparations for the second event of the Triwizard Tournament going?"
"The secret of the golden egg has been revealed. It seems that you have to open it underwater to know the secret inside." Harry said dryly. He had just received the news not long ago and had no time to verify it before he fell ill and was hospitalized.
"Albert said that the scream of the Golden Egg is actually the voice of the fishman. The fishman's voice is very beautiful underwater, but the sound will become very bad after going ashore." Hermione explained to Sirius, "The first The two projects have to be carried out in the water, but it is not easy to breathe underwater.”
"If the second project is to be launched, then there are not many choices." Sirius cut the apple on the plate and handed it to Harry, Hermione and Ron, and said slowly: "You can use the head soaking charm. , this spell allows us to breathe underwater, but there are certain risks in using this method."
“What’s the risk?”
"Once the Bubble Curse expires and you have not surfaced, you are really doomed. You will be drowned in a short time under the water, even wizards are no exception. Although Dumbledore should be able to do all kinds of things well. Safety measures, but... to be honest, it's still very dangerous, and Harry, can you swim?" Sirius asked suddenly.
"No!" Harry was a little embarrassed. He had never learned to swim before. The Dursleys didn't teach him at all, and they didn't spend time teaching him.
"Let's look at the clues in the golden egg first, and if you want to learn the Bubble Charm, I remember it should be taught in the sixth grade spells textbook." Sirius thought for a while and continued: "However, I think Anderson There should be an easier way, and I'll ask him for you when he comes back."
“Forget it, that guy wants money.” Harry muttered, “I will find time to practice the Head Bubble Charm by then. There is still more than a month left, and I think it shouldn’t be difficult to master a Head Bubble Charm.”
“It’s always better to be more prepared,” said Sirius.
"By the way, do you know what happened to Barty Crouch?" Harry asked softly: "I read in the newspaper that he seemed to be... killed by Peter Pettigrew."
"Crouch was controlled by the Imperius Curse." Sirius lowered his voice and said, "It should be a good thing Voldemort did. Dumbledore and Bagman noticed something was wrong when they went to Barty to discuss the safety of the second project. . Originally, Barty had been rescued and taken away by Bagman, but Peter took advantage of Dumbledore's battle with Voldemort to sneak attack Bagman and kill Barty. I think it was for Silence."
“Voldemort is back?”
The three of them opened their mouths wide, almost speechless in surprise.
"No, according to Dumbledore, Voldemort had a very fragile body, but Dumbledore finally succeeded in destroying Voldemort's body. Maybe it was then that the scar on your forehead became hot. Didn't you say you could feel it? Are you aware of Voldemort's anger?" Sirius frowned and continued: "Now they are all suspecting that Crouch threw your name into the Goblet of Fire. It may be because of some conspiracy of Voldemort, and the Ministry of Magic Aurors are here. A large amount of medicinal materials were found in Rauch's house. The Ministry of Magic still hasn't figured out what Voldemort's conspiracy is, but this matter should be related to you."
With that said, Sirius comforted him: "However, you don't need to worry, Voldemort has been defeated by Dumbledore, and there won't be any trouble for the time being."
"I remember that Percy seemed to be Crouch's assistant?" Harry nodded and suddenly said as if he remembered something, "I remember that Albert told Percy at the Christmas party that he would soon become a magician. As the minister's assistant, Percy struggled with this for a long time and even doubted that Crouch would become the Minister of Magic."
"Assistant to the Minister of Magic? Are you sure, but I heard from Fred and George that Percy got into trouble over this matter. I heard that he is now under investigation by the Ministry of Magic." Ron said about this matter I don't know why I felt a bit gloating about my misfortune.
“Under investigation?” Hermione asked confused.
"They think that Percy, as Crouch's assistant, should be aware of Crouch's anomalies and report to his superiors in time." Ron shrugged.
"Typical shirking of responsibility, this kind of thing is very common in the Ministry of Magic. Percy Weasley is just unlucky enough to be blamed." Sirius dismissed this.
No one noticed anything unusual about Crouch, so how could an assistant find it?
"I heard that Percy's position was recommended by Anderson." Ron suddenly remembered something and his face twitched.
"Do you think Dumbledore might have listened to the conversation between Albert and Percy and decided to take the time to visit Mr. Crouch?" Hermione said suddenly.
“I always thought diviners were liars,” Ron muttered.
"It is true that most fortune tellers are liars, because there are actually very few prophets who can see the future." Sirius felt that Harry and Ron were not in the right state of mind. "Those prophets who can predict the future are criticized by people. Respect. In fact, the predictions Albert made to me about Peter Pettigrew have almost all come true."
"Okay, it's almost time. I still have an appointment with Dumbledore." Before Sirius left, he did not forget to remind: "Take care of yourself Harry, and Anderson will write me a letter when he comes back."
“I feel like Sirius cares about Anderson.” Ron whispered.
“I think it’s probably because he can see the future,”
“Honestly, I’ve always thought Anderson was a liar, and at least some of his ways were very similar to Sybill Trelawney.”
“Always like to play tricks.”
The two agreed on this matter.
Hermione looked at Ron and Harry and couldn't help but shook her head. Is it really that difficult to admit that others are great?
While Ron and Harry were complaining about Albert's formality, Sirius had already knocked on the wooden door of the principal's office.
"come in!"
Dumbledore's voice came from the office. When Sirius opened the door and entered, he found that Arthur Weasley and Kingsley Shacklebolt were here, but he did not see Moody.
"Sit down, Sirius, you're just in time." Dumbledore pulled out an armchair for Sirius.
"He's not fit now, and won't be fit until the end of next summer," Dumbledore said quietly.
“Inappropriate?” Kingsley’s mind was spinning quickly and he asked, “Do you suspect there is something wrong with Moody? Or is it for other reasons?”
“I suspect that Barty Crouch Jr. infiltrated Hogwarts.”
“Barty Crouch Jr., isn’t he dead?” Kingsley said confused.
“No, Barty Crouch Jr. should not be dead, after all, Peter is not dead either.” Speaking of Peter Pettigrew, Sirius gritted his teeth.
"Do you suspect Mad-Eye because of the incident at the beginning of school?" Arthur responded quickly. He believed that Dumbledore would not doubt his old friend casually.
"There are always some problems with the Defense Against the Dark Arts professors at Hogwarts," Sirius shrugged and complained: "And they usually encounter life-threatening dangers. Don't forget, the previous Defense Against the Dark Arts professors all ended up in a different way. Tragic, so it’s best not to involve Mad-Eye in this matter, regardless of whether he is reliable or not.”
The three of them looked at Sirius together, and finally agreed with this point of view.
Judging from what happened to the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor in recent years, the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor is indeed a high-risk profession. It is not difficult to understand that Dumbledore does not want his old friend to get involved.
"Okay, since everyone is here, let me go first."
Dumbledore waved his wand to summon the Pensieve, allowing the three of them to see what happened that night. When Voldemort appeared in public as an ugly baby, the other three were stunned.
It's not even a baby, it's not an exaggeration to say it's a monster.
It has no hair and seems to have scales on its body. Its skin is dark and red, like injured tender meat. Its arms and legs are thin and soft, and it even has a flat snake face.
“Although it is ugly, it is undeniable that Voldemort temporarily has a very fragile body and has some spell-casting abilities. I suspect that he intends to create a healthy body and regain his own power.
“Is this kind of thing really possible?” Sirius couldn’t help but ask.
"Voldemort knows a lot of dark magic that I don't know about. At least I don't know how he got this body. But believe me, there are many kinds of dark magic and there are many changes. Even if he regains his physical body, I won't be surprised at all. ." Dumbledore intertwined his hands and said thoughtfully: "There is another piece of evidence. The Aurors of the Ministry of Magic found a lot of medicinal materials in Crouch's house."
"I'm afraid this is true," Kingsley said. "According to the list I got from the Ministry of Magic, I asked the potion master Mr. Damocles. He told us that some of the potions in it can be used to make compound recipes. Potion, because part of the bicorn horn powder and African tree snake skin fragments were found in those medicinal materials, which just happened to be enough to brew the compound potion. But the Aurors did not find the compound potion at Crouch's house, so Dumbledore Lido’s guess may be right, someone has sneaked into the school disguised as a compound potion.”
"Perhaps this is the person who put Harry's name into the Goblet of Fire?" Sirius said through gritted teeth.
Dumbledore didn’t pay attention to Sirius’s words. He looked up at Arthur and asked, “What news do you have over there?”
"I asked Percy, and he said that probably after the World Cup, Mr. Crouch's physical condition was not as good as before. He thought that Mr. Crouch spent too much energy on the World Cup. It is said that after the World Cup, Mr. Crouch began to let Percy take charge."
“Do you think Mr. Crouch was controlled by Voldemort with the Imperius Curse after the World Cup?” Kingsley’s reaction was quick, which was related to his Auror career.
"At least not likely before then. I asked his house elf." Dumbledore nodded.
“House elf?” Arthur remembered something unpleasant.
"She works at Hogwarts. I judged from the reaction of the house elves that Barty Crouch Jr. is still alive." Dumbledore continued, "I suspect that the Dark Mark on the World Cup is Barty Crouch Jr. Crouch did it. Later, because of this incident, Voldemort was attracted, so Voldemort used the Imperius Curse to control Barty, but you also know what kind of person Barty is, and the Imperius Curse is not very good. To control him, I think there was a sign before the Triwizard Tournament started, and Barty's physical condition was not very good at that time."
"It probably wasn't Peter Pettigrew who did it. His magical power is not very strong." Sirius continued, "Is there any news about him now?"
"No, Fudge sent out all the Aurors to find Peter Pettigrew, but still found nothing." Kingsley shook his head and said, "He issued a kill order for Peter, obviously preparing to cover up Voldemort."
"Sounds like something he would do." Sirius scoffed. "So now the cemetery is the last clue."
“The cemetery, what is that?” Kingsley and Arthur both cast doubtful glances at Sirius Black.
"Anderson's prophecy. During the World Cup, I asked Anderson to predict the whereabouts of Peter Pettigrew." Sirius pulled out his memory and put it into the pensieve. A crystal ball soon appeared on it, and a crystal ball reflected on it. A very secluded room. After the scene disappeared, it was replaced by a forest and then a double eagle flag.
Soon it turned into a large desolate house, and behind it was a person, Barty Crouch Jr., and they all recognized it.
Finally, it turns into a desolate cemetery, and the scene finally freezes in front of a tombstone.
"The previous scenes have actually come true. I think in the end the only location left is this cemetery, but I still haven't found where it is." Sirius hoped to find some clues with the help of everyone's wisdom.
"It's incredible. As far as I know, there hasn't been a master of prophecy who can predict the future with such accuracy for a long time." Kingsley was very shocked. "Perhaps, we can invite him to join the Order of the Phoenix."
"If we ask him to provide some help, Anderson won't refuse, but I think it's difficult to invite him to join." Sirius felt that there was little chance.
“That’s it, I know.”
Dumbledore, who had been staring at the Pensieve, suddenly stood up and said, "So that's what it means."
“Dumbledore, what do you know?”
Everyone looked at Dumbledore, curious about what secret Dumbledore had discovered.
“I can probably guess where Voldemort is hiding.” Dumbledore greeted several people: “Follow me, we’ll talk about this as we walk.”
Everyone hurriedly followed.
"Some events happened during the period when Voldemort's power increased." Dumbledore said quickly. "Bertha Jorkins disappeared without a trace in Voldemort's last hiding place. I think she should be dead. There is also Mr. Crouch, who was controlled by the Imperius Curse and died a few days ago. There is another incident worthy of attention. It happened in the village where Voldemort's father was born. A man named Frank Bryce Melon is missing. He's been missing since last August and it was reported in the Muggle newspapers."
“Muggle newspaper?”
“I am different from most of my friends in the ministry in this respect.”
“Do you think Voldemort might be hiding in that village?” Sirius asked.
“Yes, isn’t there a big desolate house in the crystal ball? I think Voldemort may be hiding there.”
(End of this chapter)