In the dim room, Moody's Magic Eye spun madly, then snapped to a halt; both his eyes fixed grimly on the bound Filch.
He stared for a long while, then pinched the man's chin, turning it left and right to check, suddenly let out a cold snort and released him.
"You've noticed it already, Dumbledore?" Moody muttered darkly, clear doubt in his tone. "This isn't Transfiguration Technique… he doesn't look like this because of Magic."
Then Moody waved impatiently, signaling Snape to come over and take a look as well.
The Professor of Potions approached with a blank face; his Magic Wand slid from his sleeve and tapped lightly against Barty Crouch Jr's neck as he murmured several Detection Spells.
A moment later, Snape's black eyes narrowed slightly; he seized Barty Crouch Jr by the collar and yanked him closer, his hooked nose flaring as he sniffed carefully.
"He didn't use Polyjuice Potion either."
His voice was icy and certain.
The two of them exchanged a look, brows knitted tight.
For this moment they even forgot their mutual loathing, sharing the same question in their minds—
"If it's neither Spell nor Magic Potion, then how did this Filch right in front of us manage to disguise himself to look exactly like the real one?"
Sirius asked bluntly.
Snape raised an eyebrow, his tone hostile. "Are you doubting my judgment?"
Sirius gave a cold laugh. "Who knows whether you aren't…"
Just as the air between them was about to explode, a sudden idea flashed through Vid's mind. He said softly, "Maybe… he went and had a Muggle plastic surgery?"
"Plastic surgery?" Sirius frowned in confusion. "I think I heard Lily mention that once—some kind of Muggle cosmetic technique… but aren't they only able to do minor tweaks like nose jobs or eyelid cuts and such?"
"He probably had his whole face altered first, then fine-tuned it bit by bit."
Vid said, "If you use Magic Potions to speed up wound healing, those operations wouldn't even take that long. And hardly anyone would seriously study Filch's face— even if there were differences in the details, people likely wouldn't notice."
Vid's gaze fell on Barty Crouch Jr; beyond the pity, he actually felt a bit of admiration.
Using Magic to change into someone else's appearance might only take a few breaths. Aside from Polyjuice Potion tasting disgusting, there are no real side effects, and Reparo back to your original form is instant.
But Hogwarts has Dumbledore, the greatest Transfiguration Technique expert of the age; Barty Crouch Jr probably didn't dare show off his poor tricks. And if he used Magic Potions, not only would he need to drink Polyjuice Potion every hour, getting hold of the Magic Potion Materials would also be a problem.
Stealing from the Professor of Potions, or buying from Knockturn Alley, would both greatly increase the risk of exposure.
It was probably for this reason that Barty Crouch Jr chose to use the Muggle method instead.
But to make all that facial skin loose and spotty, to suck out the facial fat so the nasolabial folds deepen, to shave off excess bone, grind down teeth…
He must have had at least five to ten operations to reach this effect; the suffering in the process wouldn't have been small.
Vid couldn't help sighing inwardly—Barty Crouch Jr really did love Voldemort with true devotion.
Snape glanced at Vid, the corner of his mouth twitching almost imperceptibly.
But he didn't refute him; instead he bent down again, his fingertips tracing across "Filch's" face before he yanked open the Robe on his body.
Filch stayed wrapped in that dingy grey robe all year round; even in the hottest part of summer, he never exposed any skin below the neck.
Because of that, Barty Crouch Jr hadn't gone so far as to have all the skin on his body processed to look like an old man's. The chest now exposed and the skin on his face were in two completely different states, with a very clear dividing line between them.
Snape straightened up and said in disgust, "Indeed… he turned himself into this using Muggle methods."
"A clever approach," Dumbledore said calmly. "Unexpected… but it did bypass Magic detection and fooled our eyes."
He turned to Vid, those eyes of his seeming to see straight through a person's heart.
"Vid, do you know who he is?"
Vid shook his head. "Before he was caught, he never mentioned that."
Hidden in his sleeve, his fingertips lightly rubbed his Magic Wand—although he could still see Barty Crouch Jr's name at this moment, he had no way to explain how he knew, so he simply said nothing.
After all, there was more than one way to figure out a masquerader's real identity.
"Severus, please go fetch your strongest Veritaserum. I think we need to hear this 'Mr. Filch's' story."
Dumbledore said crisply, "Alastor, go to the hospital wing and ask Madam Pomfrey for a bottle of Reforming Potion."
The two of them nodded and turned to leave at once.
Vid: "Reforming Potion?"
He had never heard of such a Magic Potion.
"A very obscure Magic Potion," Dumbledore explained gently. "It's usually used to treat victims deformed by Dark Magic, and sometimes when someone accidentally ingests low‑quality Polyjuice Potion. I imagine a body forcibly distorted by Muggle surgery should be restorable with it as well."
Vid thought: So in the original story, when Hermione turned into a cat‑girl because of Polyjuice Potion, they used this Magic Potion to restore her?
No wonder it's so obscure—Vid treated Polyjuice Potion like a standard, always‑on hand Magic Potion, but in reality this Magic Potion is quite rare in the Magic World. Ordinary people wouldn't dare use it openly; otherwise they'd be warned or even arrested by the Ministry of Magic.
"Now, tell me," Dumbledore pulled up a chair and sat down, gesturing for Vid and Sirius to sit as well, then asked, "how did you two discover that there was something wrong with Filch?"