"What should be done?"
Veratia had long since formulated a plan. The moment Dumbledore posed the question, she immediately replied, "The plan is to allow Barty Crouch Jr. to continue impersonating Moody while we monitor him closely, leading Voldemort to believe that nothing has been exposed."
"A sound plan," Dumbledore nodded. "However, what if Voldemort discovers Barty Jr.'s memories? How should we proceed then?"
"We can erase Barty Jr.'s memories regarding all of this," Veratia suggested. "That way, Voldemort won't discover anything—and we won't have to rack our brains trying to prevent Barty Jr. from exposing himself. What do you think, Professor?"
"Acceptable." Dumbledore nodded again. He glanced at Harry and asked, "So... what do you intend to do in the end?"
"Oh," Harry said. "To be honest, I don't mind being transported to Voldemort. I'm actually rather curious—where exactly does Voldemort find the courage to face me again?"
Hearing this, Dumbledore fell silent.
Indeed, he knew perfectly well that the Harry Potter standing before him was no ordinary fourth-year student. He was the legendary wizard from a century ago—a legend with a wand that had claimed countless lives!
"However, I advise you not to let your guard down," Veratia cautioned from the side. "Consider this: since Riddle has prepared to face you directly, he must have absolute confidence... As far as I know, Riddle fears death immensely. He wouldn't do this unless he was absolutely certain of success."
This was a valid point; after all, Voldemort's fear of death was common knowledge. Otherwise, he wouldn't have created so many Horcruxes.
"If you ask me, to the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure," Dumbledore shrugged. "I told Harry this back in his first year—"
"Yes," Harry looked up. "You did indeed tell me that, and you used the Flamels as an example."
At the mention of the Flamels, Dumbledore's expression suddenly turned peculiar.
Yes, the Flamels...
He had originally assumed that the couple intended to destroy the Philosopher's Stone and then happily greet death, so naturally, Dumbledore had used them as role models to educate Harry. But the problem was, they suddenly decided they didn't want to die...
It was rather awkward.
As for the reason, Dumbledore suspected it was because of the pair of computers Harry had brought to the Flamels, which successfully dispelled their weariness of life. With so many mysteries left to explore in the wizarding world—and so many video games left to play—how could they simply die?
"Of course, our immediate priority is this person right here." Harry looked down again and nudged Barty Crouch Jr.'s face with his foot.
Under the control of the Imperius Curse, Barty Jr. dully raised his eyelids, but quickly lowered them again.
Harry controlled Barty Jr. to pull a flask from his robes and take a swig of Polyjuice Potion. In moments, he transformed back into the appearance of Moody.
"Oh, Polyjuice Potion." Sirius Black's expression suddenly turned odd. "So, here's the question: where did he get the ingredients for the Polyjuice Potion?"
No one spoke; they simply turned their eyes in unison toward the direction of Professor Snape's office.
"Poor Snivellus," Sirius said regretfully. "Sigh, he must be frantic right now. Given his stingy nature, having his ingredients stolen must be agonizing."
"And then he'll blame Harry," Lupin blinked from the side. Seeing Harry look at him in confusion, he smiled and explained, "Oh, don't doubt it, Harry. Snivellus used to love blaming James for everything just like that."
"Fair enough," Harry nodded. "So, should we tell Professor Snape about this? I think it's better if he knows. After all, I don't want any Gryffindor students getting interrogated or losing dozens of points just because of his suspicions."
Dumbledore felt Harry's concerns were valid. Moreover, since Snape was an accomplished Legilimens—and "Dumbledore's man"—there was no harm in telling him.
Upon learning that it was Barty Jr., disguised as Moody, who had been stealing his potion ingredients, Snape once again wore an expression of extreme revulsion.
"Look at his face," Harry whispered to Veratia. "It looks like he's swallowed a few pounds of slugs."
"No," Veratia whispered back. "I think his expression looks like he's just seen your father."
Harry: ...
Is my father more disgusting than slugs?
Well, if it's Snape, that's probably accurate.
"So this is your grand plan?" Snape finished his grimacing and began to criticize Dumbledore. "I really shouldn't have expected anything from you. My potion ingredients are weeping! They were..."
"We will reimburse you double for your ingredients, Professor Snape," Veratia interjected timely.
"They were used for a worthy cause," Snape instantly changed his tone.
After learning the full story, Professor Snape no longer resisted. Everything was for the sake of eliminating Voldemort, the murderer of Lily. Snape felt that a small sacrifice was necessary.
It was just some potion ingredients...
It was sufficient and necessary.
"Oh, right," Dumbledore suddenly remembered. "Where is Alastor? What have you done with the real Alastor?"
A sinister smile appeared on Barty Jr.'s face.
"We subdued him—he is an old Auror after all, so it took some effort to deal with him... We prepared the Polyjuice Potion beforehand and went to his house together. Moody put up a fierce fight, causing quite a commotion. But we eventually subdued him in time, shoved him into the secret compartment of his own magical trunk, plucked a few of his hairs, and added them to the potion. I drank it, became Moody, and took his wooden leg and magical eye."
"This was also part of our plan. My Master told me he needed to plant a trusted follower within Hogwarts, not only to monitor Harry Potter's movements in real-time but also to watch Dumbledore's whereabouts... As the Master's most faithful servant, naturally, I would not refuse this opportunity."
"After that," Barty sniffed, "I packed Moody's clothes and Dark Detectors, put them in the trunk with Moody, and set off for Hogwarts. I placed him under the Imperius Curse but didn't kill him; I needed to ask him questions to understand his past and habits so that even Dumbledore wouldn't see through me. I also needed his hair for the Polyjuice Potion—other ingredients were easy to get. I stole Boomslang skin from the dungeons. When that traitorous fool Snape found me in his office, I told him I was there on orders to search it."
Upon hearing the rather unpleasant term "traitorous fool," Snape's black eyes grew even deeper, even harboring a terrifying grimness.
No one could remain indifferent to being insulted to their face, not even Snape.
"So," Dumbledore asked again, "Where is he now? I mean, Alastor Moody, where is he?!"
"There." Barty, now transformed back into Moody, pointed a finger at the trunk not far away.
Dumbledore stepped forward but was stopped by Snape.
Snape cautiously drew his wand, aimed it at the large trunk, and gave it a flick.
The trunk immediately opened, layers stacking upon layers like a Matryoshka doll.
When the final trunk opened, Dumbledore called out, "Alastor? Alastor? Are you in there?"
"Dumbledore?"
A weary voice rang out—the voice of Moody himself.
Dumbledore leaned in and found Moody indeed lying at the very bottom of the trunk.
They pulled the real Moody up and told him the entire truth.
"I need you to understand, Alastor," Dumbledore said with a solemn expression. "We cannot rescue you just yet, so you will need to suffer the trunk for a while longer."
"Oh, I've grown accustomed to life in the trunk," the real Moody said with a touch of humor. "So, can you guarantee that we will ultimately defeat the Dark Lord and crush his plans?"
"You ought to know, Alastor," Dumbledore said, "Voldemort possesses many Horcruxes. We cannot achieve total victory in a single battle, but shattering his current plan is certainly achievable."
Hearing Dumbledore's words, Moody didn't hesitate for a moment and accepted the request.
"I'm in."
"We will ensure your safety," Veratia said from the side. "Please rest assured."
"This is..." Moody obviously didn't know who Veratia was, but he felt she looked somewhat familiar.
--
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