Chapter 168 As We All Know, Defense Against the Dark Arts Is a Cursed

Chapter 168 As we all know, Defense Against the Dark Arts is a cursed discipline

Barty Crouch stepped into the Ministry of Magic as usual.

He wore a distinctive square wizard hat on his head, and the suit under his robe was as straight as if it had been stuffed with wooden supports. There was no expression on his face. Scrimgeour, the current head of the Auror Office, is a stern character like him, but the two men look completely different.

Scrimgeour gives people a tough feeling, he is like Barty Crouch when he was young, but now Barty Crouch makes people feel twilight, like a ball of defeated ashes.

Many employees greeted him along the way, even though his reputation was damaged when he sent his son Barty Crouch Jr. to Azkaban - many people thought he could abandon him for his own power. everything. But he is still an important member of the Ministry of Magic, especially at this juncture——

"Hey, old Barty."

Hearing a familiar shout from behind, Barty turned around and saw a middle-aged man with short blond hair, blue eyes and a strong build walking towards him with a smile on his face. He searched for this person's name in his mind and quickly matched his number.

Ludo Bagman is the current Director of the Department of Magical Games and Sports.

A complete idiot!

"Good morning, Mr. Buckman." Crouch's tone was a little dull, as if he was unwilling to focus on this person because it was a waste of time.

"I met you early in the morning, so I didn't have to go to the office to look for you." Ludo Bagman didn't realize it at all. He walked over to himself and hooked Crouch's lips as if they were close friends. Shoulder, he said somewhat frivolously, "We must cooperate a lot in next year's World Cup Quidditch competition!"

"I will." Barty knocked Ludo's palms off his shoulders with a sullen face, "This is my job."

"That would be great," Ludo Bagman said happily. He has recently owed a lot of money due to gambling, and the salary from the Ministry of Magic is not enough for him to squander. The World Cup is just an opportunity for him to make more gold!

Barty turned to leave, but was stopped by Ludora.

"Wait, old man, there's one more thing." Ludo Bagman said something that surprised Barty before he got angry.

I saw this big man looking around like a thief. When he found that not many people were paying attention, he whispered: "Do you know that Dumbledore plans to restart the Triwizard Tournament?"

"When did it happen?" Barty Crouch's ashen face finally showed a surprised expression.

"Just now. I overheard it when I was passing by Fudge's office. It was Dumbledore's suggestion. He had already contacted the principals of Durmstrang and Beaubaston in advance and reached an agreement with them. It seemed to me that Fudge I'm a little worried, but if this thing can be successful, I guess I will have to wait until the World Cup is over," Ludo said.

Ludo didn't want this to go through.

He himself is the director of the Department of Magical Sports. Only when such large-scale sports are held, his power will rise like the tide.

Compared to Ludo Bagman's enthusiasm for this matter, Barty Crouch has more things to think about.

At this juncture, what is Dumbledore's intention to take the initiative to re-organize the Triwizard Tournament?

Is it simply a matter of reviving a tradition and deepening the ties between the three European schools?

Barty Crouch, or in other words, Barty Crouch Jr. didn’t think that Dumbledore would do something meaningless, especially when he knew that Voldemort was likely to be resurrected at any time, how could he be so leisurely? Propose a competition that could lead to the death of students or even teachers?

‘I’m afraid he wants to use the Triwizard Tournament to get in touch with the other two magic schools. Once the Dark Lord returns, he can use this to get help from the Ministry of Magic in other countries. ’

Little Barty is thinking very far. He thinks that Dumbledore may have foreseen that after the Dark Lord is resurrected, the British Ministry of Magic will be infiltrated and become untrustworthy. Therefore, he plans to use the Triwizard Tournament to find help in advance. .

Dumbledore's emphasis on Voldemort made little Barty both proud and troublesome. The old thing was indeed a huge trouble!

He didn't expect that he would know such important information just by pretending to be his father and working for a day at the Ministry of Magic.

Unfortunately……

‘The time is after the World Cup, it’s too far away. ’

The time span of more than half a year made Barty Jr. feel a little regretful. The Dark Lord couldn't wait that long, otherwise he might be able to make good use of it.

'We still have to find other ways to go to Hogwarts and take Harry Potter away. ’

"Speaking of which, who are the principals of Durmstrang and Beaubaston?" Little Barty asked doubtfully.

"The principal of Bubaston Magic School is Ms. Olim Maxim. She is a big woman." Ludo said teasingly. Even in the magic world, a height of nearly three meters is very special. His words seemed to express his suspicion about the identity of the lady.

"As for Durmstrang, you are very familiar with it." Ludo laughed softly, "Igor Karkarov, you tried him before, right? Later, this kid ran to Northern Europe. I think I’m the principal now.”

Ludo smiled and shook his head, as if to say that things are impermanent.

"Is it him?" Barty Jr.'s disguised face showed a disgusted expression. He wanted to kill that hateful traitor as soon as possible!

Unlike Malfoy, Karkaroff was a complete traitor. Malfoy only used the excuse of being cast the "Immortal Curse" to clear himself of the fact that he was a Death Eater after the fall of the Dark Lord, but Karkaroff was completely different. He relied on betraying other Death Eaters to reduce his punishment. Such a traitor must be liquidated after the Dark Lord makes a comeback!

Even Barty Jr. couldn't wait that long. He wanted to appear in front of Karkaroff right now and cut off his head!

No, he should continue to serve the Dark Lord!

After all, the resurrection spell requires the sacrifice of servants' flesh.

Barty was thinking maliciously, but Ludo suddenly grinned and laughed with gloating: "But his good days are not many."

"What do you mean?"

"I also heard from my Bulgarian friends that it seems that he will not be the principal for long." Ludo was vague, and the general meaning seemed to be that there was another more suitable candidate who was about to take office.

Barty was not surprised by this. Although Durmstrang was more tolerant of dark magic, it was not a school dedicated to training dark wizards, not to mention people like Karkaroff, whose temperament and strength were as narrow as a rat in the sewer.

"I know." Barty sorted out his thoughts and then separated from Ludo.

Barty was thinking about this until he returned to his office.

"If Karkaroff can still serve as the headmaster of Durmstrang, he will have more value. If he loses this position, then the only thing he can offer to the Dark Lord is his life!"

Controlling a magic school is very beneficial to the long-term development of the Death Eaters. Through the school, young wizards can be educated and become the reserve army of the Death Eaters, and a group of truly capable wizards can be cultivated!

The Death Eaters in the past were more incompetent because there were too many trash like Peter Pettigrew and Igor Karkaroff!

If it were like Dumbledore's Order of the Phoenix or Grindelwald's Witch Party, would it be difficult to conquer Europe and sweep the world?

But it's also because the Dark Lord chose the most difficult British magic world at the beginning. Otherwise, the influence of the Death Eaters might not be less than that of the Witch Party.

Of course, Barty Jr. would not think that this was Voldemort's fault. On the contrary, he thought that Voldemort was right to set his sights on Britain at the beginning, because the Dark Lord knew that his biggest obstacle was in Britain-

Albus Dumbledore!

No matter how much Barty hated this man, he had to admit Dumbledore's strength, but on the other hand, even Dumbledore, who defeated Grindelwald, failed to defeat the Dark Lord, didn't he?

If it weren't for that prophecy, it's hard to say what would happen today!

Barty was still full of confidence in Voldemort, and this confidence was not groundless. He had seen Voldemort's strength with his own eyes, and his strength was evident from the fact that no one dared to pronounce his name.

Although this was because Voldemort had cast a spell on his name, Voldemort had been "dead" for more than a decade, and the Death Eaters had dispersed, but this name still made people change color, which was enough to explain a lot.

Barty worked in the office on behalf of his father. Unexpectedly, he was very capable and could handle almost all the affairs in the Ministry of Magic very well. In the afternoon, Fudge really came to talk to him about the Triwizard Tournament.

He looked at Fudge with a stiff face and an unhappy expression: "This is my job. I will contact the French Ministry of Magic and Scandinavia."

Or rather, this is just what he wanted.

Dumbledore wanted to seek international help, and Barty Jr. did not intend to confine the Death Eaters to a small Britain as he did more than a decade ago.

After sending the fat Fudge away, Barty Jr. took off his disguise and lay lazily on the chair, thinking about what to do next.

"The most urgent thing is to find a way to revive the Dark Lord, otherwise we will never have the capital to fight against Dumbledore, and we must also pay attention to that faker." Barty Jr. made a decision quickly.

The next day, when Barty Crouch came to work at the Ministry of Magic again, everyone thought he was a little confused.

Barty Jr. cast the Imperius Curse on his father, forcing his father to help the Dark Lord, and he himself set his sights on Remus Lupin.

Few people know that the current Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts, Remus Lupin, is a werewolf.

Of course, this is not a secret to Voldemort, because there was a betrayer who gave him all the information about Lupin.

"Werewolf, humph!" Little Barty sneered as he walked through the dark jungle. Under the bright night, he stopped and looked at an isolated wooden shed from a distance.

That was the famous haunted house in the British magic world, the Screaming Shack.

About twenty years ago, horror legends began to spread here. Every full moon night, terrifying howls would come one after another, making people wonder if there was a monster trapped in it.

Now, the monster is back again!

"The Dark Lord said that the werewolf would drink the potion made by Snape and stay here for a whole week." Little Barty did not approach rashly.

Wolfsbane potion can keep werewolves awake when they transform, but it does not weaken their power. Little Barty dare not fight a rational werewolf.

Like other magical creatures, werewolves have excellent magic resistance. Ordinary spells have almost no effect on werewolves. Even many black magic spells can only make the werewolves' charging bodies pause.

Moreover, werewolves move very fast, and Little Barty cannot even guarantee that his spells can hit.

Now all he has to do is wait for dawn.

Little Barty leaned against a thick tree trunk and closed his eyes.

It was still very cold on a January night, and the heavy snow in the forest had not melted at all. Remus Lupin curled up his bony body and looked at the moonlight flowing in through the window sill.

His body did not feel cold at all, but his heart was very sad.

Wolfsbane potion can keep werewolves rational when they transform, which greatly avoids the werewolves from accidentally hurting other wizards due to madness. It can be said to be a potion like salvation. From this perspective, Lupin is very grateful to Damocles Belby, the wizard who invented wolfsbane, and Snape, who made the potion for him regardless of past grudges.

However, from another perspective, for wizards like Lupin who are unfortunately infected with wolfsbane, it is another kind of torment to watch themselves become a monster soberly.

In the past, he could not see his appearance when he transformed, let alone think about the tragedy of being a werewolf.

And now, all of this is bloody in front of him.

Lupin lowered his head and looked at the thick arms covered with fur, his eyes showing sadness for fate. Even though Dumbledore was generous and full of trust in him, it could not change the fact that he was an alien.

And it was a dangerous monster!

Even if it was unintentional, the werewolf's claws could hurt innocent people.

Lupin thought of Sirius and the happy time he and Harry had spent together, and felt both happy and scared.

If his identity was discovered, he would probably have to return to wandering without a fixed place to live.

For this, Lupin was grateful to Snape. Although Snape always tried to let the little wizard know his identity when he was substituting for the class last semester, he never said it out loud. This was already a great favor to Lupin.

As for now, the substitute teacher has been replaced by Sirius, and Lupin has nothing to worry about.

As he was thinking, Lupin found that the hair on his arms began to recede, and his thick torso became thin again. He raised his head, reached out and touched the not-so-smooth skin on his face, and looked out the window, where the light became more dazzling.

It's dawn!

The werewolf stood up with a weak face, left all the burdens behind, and walked towards the bright snow outside the door step by step.

He turned around and saw a weak shadow hugging his knees in the dark corner of the shed. That was his cowardly self.

Lupin grabbed a handful of snow and put it on his face. The biting cold made him sober up a lot. He took a step, and the snow made a "crunching" sound.

The Forbidden Forest in the heavy snow was very quiet, except for an abrupt spell:

"Faint!"

As we all know, the Defense Against the Dark Arts class is a cursed subject!