The Clever and Brave Barty Jr.

In the dark dungeon, Barty Jr. Crouch Jr. was tightly bound to an interrogation chair. His clothes smelled of decay, and his thick beard almost covered half his face. His cheekbones protruded as if he hadn't eaten properly in years.

Because he had been locked in a sunless dungeon for many years, Barty Jr.'s face was terribly pale, and his long, pale yellow hair was lifeless, like withered grass on the snow.

"Your master has arrived, Barty Jr. Crouch Jr."

After the man in black robes uttered those words, Barty Jr.'s pupils trembled as if an earthquake had struck. He looked up in disbelief and strained his neck to see what was behind the man in black robes.

Voldemort, held in someone's arms, let out a strange, sinister laugh. His voice was weak and feeble, but it was definitely the one that Barty Jr. knew well.

"Barty ..."

The man in black stepped aside, and Voldemort was carried to Barty Jr..

Barty Jr.'s eyes widened, his gaze filled with immense shock and incomprehensible worry.

"Master, my respected master..." Barty Jr. murmured.

Voldemort let out a hoarse "ha," then revealed his terrifying yet weak form.

Barty Jr.'s pupils dilated in shock, and almost instinctively he asked, "Master, Master... what happened?"

Voldemort scoffed, "Barty ... I'm both pleased and disappointed that you recognize me. I'm pleased that you remain loyal, that even though your master has temporarily lost some of his power, you still remember me and recognize me. That's far better than those traitors who claim to be loyal..."

"And the disappointment lies in..." Voldemort's voice turned icy, "Barty, how did you become so foolish? That kid named Sean Wallerup impersonated me, and you so naively and stupidly believed him? It confuses, pains, and infuriates me..."

"Where is the Barty I trusted? Where is the cunning, vengeful, cold-blooded Barty Jr. Crouch? You've fallen to the same level as those idiots."

Barty Jr.'s mouth opened and closed, but no words came out; only bubbling sounds and meaningless "ah-uh" sounds came from his throat.

The man in black glanced at it, then said with a sneer, "Voldemort, it seems that all your loyal servants are left is loyalty."

Barty Jr. lowered his head and remained silent, lost in thought.

The man in black continued, "When we began to infiltrate the British Ministry of Magic, we discovered that someone had beaten us to it—seized the new Minister Barty Crouch, before we could."

"Oh, I'm reminded of another commendable aspect of this young Mr. Crouch: he used the Unforgivable Curse quite well. The minister talks to so many people every day and attends so many meetings. Yet, no one noticed that he had been controlled by the Imperius Curse."

"I must say, Mr. Crouch's mastery of the Imperius Curse is quite profound. Of course—" the man in black chuckled sinisterly, "How could someone who can use the Unforgivable Curse on his own father not be skilled in Dark Arts?"

"He's saved us a lot of trouble; the task of controlling the minister is progressing smoothly—after all, he's already under control..."

"We quickly stripped the other high-ranking officials of the British Ministry of Magic of their power, either by controlling them, seizing power, or isolating them. Before long, the entire British Ministry of Magic was under our control."

"Then we found this Mr. Barty Jr. Mr. Crouch.— "

The man in black floated over to Voldemort and Barty Jr.. He looked at Voldemort's weakened state and said sarcastically, "This gentleman, this gentleman who controlled his own minister father, we initially even thought he was one of us."

"After all, you've worked with us for so long, it's only natural that you'd tell some things to your most loyal subordinate—and then what?"

The man in black robes turned his head and glanced at the silent, head-down Barty Jr.: "He thinks we are enemies, ha, he thinks the Returners just want to steal the fruits of his great master's labor."

"This madman, feigning compliance, used the Killing Curse to take the lives of three people and knock out at least five others when we were least on guard, and then blew up half of the living room of a manor—if I hadn't been on guard, he could have escaped unscathed that night."

As he spoke, the black-robed man's voice became increasingly sarcastic.

"If we let him get away unscathed, do you know what he'll do, Mr. Voldemort?"

"Ha, go seek refuge with him, go find his master, that, Sean Wallerup!"

"His loyalty to you is touching, but unfortunately, he has chosen the wrong person to serve— Sean Wallerup is impersonating you and lording it over the Death Eaters. Mr. Voldemort, your servant is indeed impeccable, but he has completely taken Sean Wallerup for the real you!"

The man in black robes became more and more agitated as he spoke. It seemed that Barty Jr. had indeed caused them considerable casualties when he was trying to escape. Moreover, after keeping Barty Jr. locked up for so long, they didn't seem to have gotten anything out of him.

"We've imprisoned him for so long, ha, and we haven't gotten a single word out of him. He's as stinking and stubborn as the sludge in the bathroom—he thinks he's loyal to you, he thinks he's doing the most loyal thing, which is to go against us, against your collaborators, Mr. Voldemort!"

"His superb Occlumency can resist the staffless Transfiguration caused by the Veritaserum, and even has the ability to imitate and disguise the truth. He almost deprived the Returners his patience over the past few thousand years. I even want to dig out his brain directly to take a look."

The man in black robes gave a cold snort, "If it weren't for the fact that he's a loyal subordinate you desperately need, this Mr. Barty Jr. would probably be queuing up at the gates of hell right now."

The man in black robes said a lot, sounding like he was complaining or venting. Of course, if this scene were seen by someone with a discerning eye, they would definitely think that the man in black robes was trying to suppress Voldemort's momentum.

He wanted to turn his collaborators into subordinates.

Voldemort then slowly raised his head. His wrinkled, baby-like, noseless snake face was expressionless, making it impossible to discern what he was thinking.

"It was all just a farce..." Voldemort said coldly at the end.

The man in black chuckled mockingly, "The farce ends here, Mr. Voldemort. Take back your loyal servant's heart."

Voldemort ignored him and turned to Barty Jr.: "Barty, lift your head."

Barty Jr. shifted uncomfortably in the interrogation chair, then slowly raised his head, but he didn't make eye contact with anyone present, his gaze wandering as if he were thinking about something.

"Barty, come, tell me, who is the person you swore to be loyal to forever?"

Barty Jr.'s lips twitched a few times, but the voice that came out was unusually firm. "Of course it's the greatest Dark Lord, Voldemort. My life, my life, my honor, I can give it all."

Voldemort chuckled, like a lousy old record player.

"This answer at least satisfies me. Barty, you've done a lot of stupid things, which is unlike you at all, but I can give you another chance, not because I'm kind enough, but because you're loyal enough."

"Go apologize to the Returners, and then I will allow you to continue to be loyal to me, and allow you to continue to kiss my robes."

When he said this, Voldemort's voice was full of arrogance and pride.

"Really, really? My master..." Barty Jr. still didn't dare to look directly at him, and said timidly.

"Now is the time when we desperately need people, Barty. One mistake is not enough to make me lose trust in you, although I am very disappointed in your ability to judge... but I will give you this opportunity, give you a chance to prove yourself."

"That, that's wonderful..." Barty Jr. whimpered, as if moved by his kind master.

Voldemort impatiently silenced the other's sobs. "Your crying disgusts me, Barty. Lift your head. I will not allow my most trusted servant to become such a coward."

"Yes, yes, Master!"

Voldemort glanced at the black-robed man, a smug look in his eyes, as if a loyal servant could earn him a lot of face.

"Come, look at me, Barty— " Voldemort's voice became ethereal and seductive, "Open your mind to me, I want to examine your memories, I want to see what that Sean Wallerup did to you..."

"Yes, yes, Master." Barty Jr. nodded vigorously in agreement.

He finally slowly raised his head.

Voldemort moved a little closer, and his snake eyes became ethereal and deep.

Barty Jr.'s face showed regret, self-reproach, and a bit of excitement, which pleased Voldemort. Although they had mistaken him for someone else, Voldemort knew that this was not a betrayal.

A portion of his Soul Fragment had been absorbed by the boy Wallerup, and his Yew Wand was also in the other's hands. With these and the unique spells in his memory, it wouldn't be difficult for that boy to imitate him.

At that time, I was so weak that I didn't even dare to respond to the Death Eaters ' calls, just to be on the safe side.

In this situation, Sean Wallerup took advantage of the situation, which made Voldemort very angry and eager to kill all these fools, but he was still able to maintain a certain degree of rationality.

Barty Jr.'s loyalty is still to himself, and that's enough...

As long as I can create a new body and regain my former strength, everything will be solved...

Thinking this, Voldemort looked at Barty Jr..'s face. He wanted to see what Wallerup was really doing, to see how his fanatical followers could believe in him so much.

However, his Legilimency did not enter Barty Jr.'s mind unimpeded; it was blocked.

Then, Voldemort saw a mocking and sinister face.

"Pooh!"

Barty Jr.'s expression vanished completely, and he spat directly at Voldemort was still in his swaddling clothes.

The saliva hit Voldemort's face, but he didn't react immediately; instead, he froze on the spot.

Then, Voldemort flew into a rage.

Do you know what you're doing?!

Without a wand, Voldemort merely extended a trembling finger, and then, a green light shot straight at Barty Jr.!

However, the green light was blocked, and it was the man in black robes who made the move.

"We can't kill him; he has information about Sean Wallerup."

Voldemort shrieked, "You! You wretched insect! How dare you speak to your master!"

Barty Jr. burst into a manic laugh, a laugh filled with mockery and derision. He didn't even care about the green light that brushed past him; he was just laughing hysterically.

Voldemort gradually calmed down, but his gaze had become extremely cold.

Barty Jr. laughed for a long time before he came to his senses. He quickly stuck out his tongue and licked his lips, a twisted smile on his face.

"From the very first day you captured me, I told you—ha, don't even think about making me betray my master!"

"Ha—I was wondering why you dared to claim that you were cooperating with my master. Turns out it was all for this trick today."

Voldemort and the man in black were furious and wished they could kill the foolish Death Eaters on the spot.

But Barty Jr.. continued to mock the two, "Singing in unison, pretending to be my master? Hahaha, your research is indeed very deep, even I, the most fanatical believer, cannot see the flaws—but the Sean Wallerup you speak of, that is my true master, the great Voldemort has already changed into a new body."

"You all know this better than anyone else, do I really need to emphasize it to you?"

"Fools!" Barty Jr. laughed gleefully. "You won't get a single useful piece of information out of me, not even if you kill me!"

Voldemort's small, disgusting body trembled up and down, as if he were breathing heavily in anger, and an expression of disbelief even appeared in his eyes.

Because he couldn't understand what that kid Wallerup had done to make Barty Jr.. so convinced that Wallerup was the real Voldemort.

Barty Jr. continued to mock them, "Don't try any stupid tricks on me. It's a huge dereliction of duty of mine that you caught me. My master will be very disappointed in me—but I won't make any more mistakes, hahahaha."

"Shut up!"

Voldemort roared, and Barty Jr.. was muted. Although his mouth was still opening and closing, he could no longer make a sound.

The man in the black robe scoffed and then walked outside.

Voldemort was also carried along.

The dungeon doors were closed again, and the man in black looked at Voldemort: "Barty Jr. has been completely brainwashed by Wallerup, he's even brainwashing himself. He won't believe you."

Voldemort snorted coldly, "Hmph... then we'll just forcibly read his memories."

"Oh? You're not worried about the lives of your trusted subordinates?"

"Fool, what use are you?"

The man in black robes chuckled mockingly, "Getting useful information is one thing, but you also want to see exactly how Wallerup brainwashed him, don't you?"

Voldemort stopped speaking, but the anger in his eyes was uncontrollable.