Father and Son

Thursday afternoon.

Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Loren sat in his seat, leisurely tidying up his textbooks and notes. The bell had already rung, but there were still many people in the classroom.

Hermione was asking Professor Moody a few questions at the podium, while most of the other students in the class looked distressed, planning to wait until their minor injuries had healed and were less painful before leaving.

The course on the Unforgivable Curses has ended, but the subsequent lessons are still tough. Professor Moody just tested their ability to transfer spells without any mercy, and many of them suffered minor injuries.

Harry was hit by a powerful Ear-Twitching Curse and is still rubbing his ears in a grimace.

"Stay vigilant at all times, and never let your guard down!" Professor Moody shouted nervously before leaving.

"Well..."

The young wizards sighed and groaned.

Loren and his friends slowly walked out of the classroom, only to find a pair of students wearing Ilvermorny school uniforms standing in the corridor, their Gordian Knot on their chests neatly displayed.

The two men stood there, peeking out to observe Professor Moody's back. Suddenly, the limping old man turned around, and a dark blue fake eye locked onto them instantly, startling them so much that they all trembled and quickly turned back, just in time to meet the gazes of Loren and the others.

The tall boy on the left has slightly dark skin. The bloodline between the two generations has been diluted, and his grandmother's dark skin has been diluted a lot by the time it reached him, but you can still see the typical Half-blood features: slightly curly hair and prominent brow bones.

The slightly shorter Witch next to her was a completely white woman with brownish-red hair and a few freckles on her not-so-delicate face. She wasn't stunning, but she was pleasing to the eye.

Having survived the harsh winter, their school uniforms had become thinner. The blue and berry-red silk clothes were vastly different from the pure black wide-sleeved magic robes of Hogwarts, making them stand out from the crowd. Not to mention that one of them was Champion of Ilvermorny, and passing students frequently cast glances at them.

"Harry! Loren! We've finally found you!"

Gravis pulled Bute along and jogged over, his face beaming with excitement. But as they got closer, he couldn't help but complain, "Can't the stairs at your school be quiet for a minute? It took us half an hour to get up these three floors."

"Don't listen to his nonsense. When Pickley writes to his friends at school, he always brags about the staircase at Hogwarts. Didn't you see the tone of his voice? He was so smug."

After saying this, Nancy Boots smiled slightly, extended her hand to the group, and introduced herself, "Nancy Boots, Ifamoni Thunderbird Academy, it's nice to meet you all."

"Hello, I'm Harry Potter, it's a pleasure to meet you." Harry quickly shook hands.

"Ron Weasley, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Loren Morgan ..."

"Hermione Granger..."

Loren looked at Gravis beside him. "What do you want with us?"

Professor McGonagall and Headmaster Fontana had scheduled the training and exchange for Saturday. The fact that these two came specifically to see them, even blocking the classroom door, meant they must have something else on their mind.

Gravis glanced around and whispered, "We're planning to check out the Quidditch Pitch, so we came to invite you. Would you like to come along?"

After working through both projects, he finally understood that the Goblet of Fire Triwizard Tournament was an ongoing event, with the entire year being the competition period. If he only found out the details right before the start of the competition and followed the rules strictly, he would be in deep trouble.

Let's look at the first Fire Dragon project. The most seriously injured of the other three schools was Phoebe, whose dress was burned off a corner. Cedric, Krum, and Harry were all unharmed, while he ended up in the hospital.

The Second Task was easy for Ilvermorny, who had prepared in advance.

Therefore, it's impossible to compete honestly. Only by scouting beforehand can the competition be completed. Harry and his group are from the school, familiar with the terrain, and have easy access to information. Even if they get caught...

"Investigate the Quidditch Pitch!"

Harry and Ron gasped in surprise, then realized what was happening and exchanged glances with their clever friend, beginning a silent exchange of information.

I definitely want to go. I need to prepare in advance for the first two events to get through them safely. I can't follow the school rules. I can only maintain my performance by cheating.

The only worry is getting caught by the professor, but now that I have two friends from other schools, even if I get caught, the points deduction and detention won't punish the people from other schools. These two are also quite capable, so it's easy to shift the blame...

Harry received the feedback, nodded firmly, and said in a deep voice, "Let's go together!"

The six of them reached a consensus and headed towards the Castle gate. After exiting the gate and turning towards the stadium, the surrounding crowd gradually thinned out, and the spacious Quidditch Pitch soon came into view.

Loren's feelings were somewhat complicated.

He vaguely remembered that when the Goblet of Fire Triwizard Tournament had just begun, Ilvermorny was still the representative of integrity, the only school that did not take crooked paths. He never expected that in just two events, Ilvermorny would be dragged into the quagmire, its walls stained black with mud.

"The Library in Ilvermorny contains the notes of the Founders, Iso Thale. Although she did not attend Hogwarts, she heard stories about Hogwarts from her aunt Gomley, and students thereafter longed to attend Hogwarts."

"Is Ilvermorny's Library big?"

"Hmm... I think it's very big, but it doesn't have as many magic books as your school, and there are also a lot of Muggle books."

"Very nice..."

Perhaps because they were both girls, Hermione and Nancy Bute quickly struck up a conversation and got along very well.

"What do you think it will be?" Gravis asked Harry in a low voice.

"I don't know. It might involve finding something and retrieving it, with many challenges along the way." Harry recalled the Sorcerer's Stone challenge during his first year.

The journey was smooth and unimpeded, with no Ministry of Magic staff obstructing them. Loren even suspected that Dumbledore had arranged it all.

They walked along the lush green lawn toward the Quidditch Pitch, then passed through a gap between the stands to enter the pitch.

The Quidditch Pitch before me was completely different from before. The pitch was no longer flat and smooth. Someone had built countless long, low walls of shrubs here. These walls were intricate and winding, converging from all directions towards the very center, where there was a circular open space with a stone platform.

"It's Hedge Maze!" Hermione whispered.

Gravis frowned. "Is it just a maze? Is the Third Task testing intelligence?"

"Don't even think about it, there will definitely be many obstacles." Loren narrowed his eyes and imprinted the entire maze route in his mind. "Put some Fantastic Beasts and magical herbs inside, cast spells on some passages... something like that."

"Absolutely right!"

A loud voice came from behind them; it was Ludo Bagman, whom they recognized, with Professor Moody beside him.

Bagman first saw Harry standing on his right, a pleased smile spreading across his face, but then noticed Gravis beside him, and frowned subtly without showing it immediately.

His eyes darted around a couple of times, then a smile returned to his face. Looking at the panicked expressions of the young wizards, he blinked and said, "Mr. Morgan is absolutely right. We will set up many obstacles."

"You're not blaming us?" Bute said with a strange expression. Wasn't this commentator one of the referees?

"Don't worry, the maze isn't finished yet, so even if you accidentally peek at it, it won't count as cheating." Bagman stepped forward, putting one arm around Harry's shoulder and the other around Gravis's. "Anyway, we'll have the Champion come and see it before the Third Task officially starts, so this is just a little earlier."

"I could even tell you more!" Bagman enthusiastically explained, "In another month or two, Hagrid and Professor Sprout will have them grown to twenty feet tall. Hagrid provided a whole bunch of animals, Professor Sprout provided a lot of plants, Professor Flitwick's magic is more amazing than we can imagine."

He noticed the displeasure on Harry's face and smiled to comfort him, "Don't worry, your Quidditch Pitch will be back to normal once the Triwizard Tournament is over."

"Let me tell you a little more. The Champion, who led in points in the first two games, will be the first to enter the maze, starting with you and Cedric..."

"By the way, a friendly reminder: don't try to sneak into the maze at night. There are a lot of people doing construction then. My shift is on Thursdays..."

Gravis felt dizzy and his smile was forced. He felt that the scene was extremely strange.

Is he implying that we should try to peek during the day, especially on Thursdays?

The commentator and referee's words sounded exactly like he was relaying intelligence to them.

"It's time to go. How much longer do you plan to watch?"

Professor Moody yelled at the other young wizards, then, seemingly thirsty, unconsciously licked his right lip. He pulled out Curved Flask, unscrewed the cap, and took a swig.

"Luckily, you ran into the two of us this time. Crouch was supposed to be on duty today. Do you know what he would do? He might erase your memories, or set up a prison at the school and lock you up until the end of the game."

Loren's mind raced, and he noticed that Moody's expression was somewhat strange.

Ron and the others quickly lowered their heads, pretending to be guilty and frightened, and Bute followed suit.

Hermione, however, noticed Crouch's mention and instinctively asked, "Is Mr. Crouch very busy?"

Before the Black Lake project began, they overheard Bagman complaining about Crouch at the Three Broomsticks Pub, saying that he was so focused on the Goblet of Fire Triwizard Tournament project that he was leaving departmental matters to interns.

If that's the case, why was Crouch absent from today's inspection?

Bagman had already given a detailed presentation of the Third Task and was in high spirits when he heard her question. He replied casually, "That's right, Barty is very busy, especially lately. He's even lost weight."

Bagman seemed quite talkative about the matter. "If you ask me, if there were an award for the most hardworking person in the entire Ministry of Magic, anyone but Barty Crouch would be ashamed to receive it."

"He was a remarkable wizard. Whether as the Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement or the Director of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, he never took a day off because of any illness, an unavoidable banquet, or an engagement with some important person. If it weren't for that incident, how could Fudge have become the Minister of Ministry of Magic?"

Bagman realized his slip of the tongue and paused for a moment. "Of course, I'm not saying Minister Fudge is bad, it's just that compared to Barty..."

Moody shook his neck, causing the dense scars on his face to writhe and grotesquely ripple. A twisted smile spread across his face, "That's right. Even the birth of his child didn't stop him from working diligently, let alone birthdays, receiving acceptance letters, graduating with excellent grades in all subjects... This diligence allowed him to rise quickly through the ranks, and he just happened to be in the right place at the right time..."

He didn't say it explicitly, but everyone understood what that period referred to.

"He advocated for very harsh measures against the supporters of the Dark Lord. The Aurors were granted new rights, such as the right to kill instead of just arrest, and the ability to hand over Dementor directly without trial." A hint of sarcasm flashed in Moody's eyes. "Violence against violence, allowing the use of Unforgivable Curses on suspects, ruthless and cold-blooded... Ha!"

Bagman seemed to recall that period with lingering fear, saying, "It was a desperate measure, wasn't it? Imagine, when someone's power is at its peak, you don't know who their supporters are, you don't know who might do something terrible at the most unexpected time."

"It could be your neighbor, your classmate, or even your family and friends. Every week, the Daily Prophet publishes new bad news: someone has died, someone has gone missing, someone has been tortured... everywhere is a scene of terror, tension, and chaos."

Moody's voice rang out again. "He won over many supporters, and after the disappearance of the Dark Lord, many wizards demanded that he become Minister for Magic. Everyone thought it was only a matter of time before he took the helm. However, just then, an unfortunate event occurred..."

He gave a cold laugh, "Crouch's biological son has been captured, Barty Crouch Barty Jr.., an even more ruthless and cruel Death Eater was even involved in the torture of the Lumbard couple."

"Did Crouch try to defend his son?" Hermione asked in a low voice.

"Excuses?" Moody let out a strange laugh. "Miss Granger, you probably don't understand his true nature. He has dedicated his entire life to becoming Minister for Magic, and anything that threatens his reputation will inevitably be cast aside by him."

"His paternal love was only shown in putting his son on trial so that he could show in front of a crowd of wizards how much he hated the boy, and then he sent his own son to Azkaban."

The sky had already darkened, and the group remained silent in tacit agreement.

A cool evening breeze swept across the grass, Loren's soft voice mingled with the wind. "So, why is Mr. Crouch absent today?"

"They say he went to pay respects to his wife and son, but who knows?" Moody tilted his head back and took another gulp.

"His son is dead?" Hermione asked.

Bagman said softly, "He died not long after being sent to Azkaban. How long could a 19-year-old fresh out of school endure the torture of the Dementor?"

Then came a long silence.

Loren's meaningful gaze swept over Moody. Could the Graveyard Crouch went to be in Little Hangleton?