How Could a Wizard Understand a Normal Person's Thought Process?

In truth.

Old Barty Crouch couldn't quite grasp Vinson's train of thought.

No one could possibly predict what would happen two years down the line—was Harry Potter's enrollment really going to bring down a Minister for Magic?

That logic was a bit too far-fetched.

Right now, Vinson couldn't explain it to Old Barty Crouch either, since he couldn't exactly say he was planning to steal the Philosopher's Stone from the Goblin Bank's vault to frame someone.

As long as he could learn that skill...

Or if that skill lived up to expectations.

If everything could be handled properly, he could pin the blame squarely on the Minister for Magic.

[Common Task: Obtain Hogwarts' secret treasure, the Marauder's Map (0/1). Reward: Magic Skill Teleportation. Incomplete.]

"How is Mr. Barty Crouch Jr.?"

Vinson Wright glanced at Old Barty Crouch, who was focused on driving, and habitually brought up a topic he shouldn't have.

"..."

Old Barty Crouch was silent for a moment, then his voice dropped noticeably, weighed down: "I cast the Imperius Curse on him before I left this morning. That should keep him in line for a while..."

Their father-son relationship was rather pitiful.

Barty Crouch Jr. deeply hated his father, firmly believing that only Voldemort could be his true father, which only strained their bond further.

One hated his son for walking down the wrong path.

The other hated his father for being cold and ruthless.

Only those who spent long hours with Barty Crouch knew that this aging high-ranking Ministry official harbored a softness others couldn't see.

"Now isn't the time for soft-heartedness."

Vinson Wright caught the complexity in Old Barty Crouch's tone, his youthful voice carrying an uncanny weight: "Mr. Barty Crouch Jr. survived only because his mother traded her life for his. We can't let a great mother's sacrifice go to waste..."

"I've always known that."

Old Barty Crouch gripped the steering wheel tightly, the wrinkles on his hands slowly tightening as he said in a low voice: "That's why I agreed to follow your plan back then... As long as we kill Voldemort, everything now will be over."

Ordinarily, Voldemort's name wasn't to be spoken.

But since Old Barty Crouch and Vinson Wright's goal was to take down Voldemort, there was no need to avoid naming their enemy.

Back in the day.

Old Barty Crouch was a high-ranking Ministry official who openly and fiercely opposed Voldemort and his Death Eaters, throwing one Death Eater after another into Azkaban.

Just when Old Barty Crouch was riding high, his son Barty Crouch Jr. was discovered to be a Death Eater, sending his reputation plummeting and crushing his hopes of becoming Minister for Magic.

To uphold his stance against Voldemort and the Death Eaters, Old Barty Crouch personally sent his own son to Azkaban, earning him the label of cold-blooded and ruthless.

And yet...

Barty Crouch Jr.'s will was surprisingly fragile. As a loyal follower of Voldemort, he was tormented by Dementors in Azkaban for a year and nearly died.

Around that time, Mrs. Crouch fell gravely ill.

On her deathbed, Mrs. Crouch begged her husband to pull off a secret swap. She took her son's place and died in Azkaban.

Barty Crouch Jr. was freed from prison to live in hiding.

To keep his son from causing trouble, Old Barty Crouch had no choice but to control him with the Imperius Curse, leaving the House-elf Winky to watch over him and make sure he didn't sneak out.

This father-son relationship, barely held together by an Unforgivable Curse, was a tremendous torment for both Barty Crouch and his son.

On the outskirts of London.

The car slowly pulled into a residential area.

This neighborhood wasn't a place where wizards lived—it was home to ordinary Muggles, so it was occasionally a bit lively.

The car finally stopped in the garage of an ordinary house.

Old Barty Crouch pushed open the car door and casually voiced his doubts: "I don't think living in a Muggle area is very convenient..."

"But it's safe here."

Vinson shook his head slowly and spoke in a soft voice: "You should know about our arrangements here. It's hard to imagine anyone finding the person we're hiding..."

The house looked perfectly ordinary.

In reality, the interior was a different world.

The whole house was divided into four sections.

First area: the ground-floor living space.

This was where Vinson Wright and Old Barty Crouch would live, looking no different from any ordinary home—nothing special about it, really.

Second area: the second-floor trap zone.

This was set up with a Muggle-Repelling Charm and a Protection Charm, making it look like a wizard's residence. Inside were traps of spells and potions.

Generally speaking, any wizard drawn in by the Muggle-Repelling Charm who broke through the Protection Charm to enter the second floor would survive only if their knowledge was broad enough.

After all, Old Barty Crouch, the one who set the traps, was an experienced and outstanding wizard; even Dumbledore had once praised Old Barty Crouch's knowledge.

Third area, the basement trap zone.

The entire basement was quite spacious, enchanted with a barrier by Old Barty Crouch that only a wizard of Dumbledore's caliber could likely break.

Beyond that, the whole basement had been arranged as a wizard's hidden laboratory, with expensive potions and equipment on full display...

But in truth, this wasn't a laboratory at all...

Inside were nothing but Muggle trinkets like landmines and hand grenades.

Fourth area, the underground fortress safe room.

The entire underground fortress was the true core of this house.

Due to the Cold War between the two great Muggle nations, a devastating crisis could erupt at any moment, and underground fortresses capable of withstanding nuclear war had emerged as a result.

The fortress was not lacking in supplies.

Tonight.

Old Barty Crouch would place Barty Crouch Jr. and the house-elf Winky inside the underground fortress.

Once they entered the underground fortress...

No one except Vinson Wright would ever find its existence, for it had been enchanted with the Fidelius Charm; even Old Barty Crouch himself would be unable to locate it.

In a sense, Barty Crouch Jr., imprisoned in the underground fortress in the future, would also be Vinson Wright's hostage to control Old Barty Crouch.

Built to withstand nuclear war, this underground fortress was extremely sturdy.

And Old Barty Crouch had used the Fidelius Charm to turn it into a true safe room—one that simply could not be destroyed.

The Secret-Keeper of the safe room was Vinson Wright.

To be honest.

It had already been seven or eight years since the Dark Lord Voldemort disappeared.

If other wizards knew that Vinson Wright had made Old Barty Crouch take such thorough safety measures, they would probably think the two of them had a few screws loose.

Even Old Barty Crouch himself felt that this chain of protective measures was overly cunning; compared to it, even the treacherous Dark Lord Voldemort seemed somewhat innocent.

Old Barty Crouch couldn't figure out what this young man Vinson was really thinking.

If Vinson was timid, then this young man had already planned to target the Dark Lord who might return from the dead;

If Vinson was bold, then this young man was far too obsessed with safety—the security of this house could even be said to surpass that of Hogwarts.

When Vinson Wright and Old Barty Crouch entered the house, the house-elf Winky and Barty Crouch Jr. had already been waiting there for quite some time.

Once hailed as a prodigy wizard, Barty Crouch Jr. now showed no trace of his former pride.

His hair was a bit messy, and a layer of stubble covered his chin.

Because he had been under his father's Imperius Curse, Barty Crouch Jr.'s eyes were dull and lifeless, even less spirited than the house-elf standing by his leg.

Truly a pitiable young man...

"From now on, there's no need for the Imperius Curse in this base..."

Vinson Wright gazed at Barty Crouch Jr. and explained calmly, "And I believe that Mr. Crouch, for the sake of staying awake and alive, will willingly move into the underground fortress..."