The Basement Vinson Dared Not Enter

Compared to playing with people's hearts...

The Imperius Curse ultimately falls a bit short.

Just as Vinson Wright was about to make his move, Old Barty Crouch reached out and pressed his arm, shaking his head and muttering, "Let me do it..."

"Please."

Vinson Wright stepped aside politely.

The House-elf Winky couldn't help wiping her eyes, bowing to Vinson Wright with a tearful voice, endlessly grateful: "...Thank you... thank you... thank you for being willing to persuade the master to spare the young master..."

Winky had witnessed the tragic family drama of the Crouch household firsthand.

As a female elf, she carried a trace of maternal instinct within her, which had always made her sympathize with the young master, whose spirit was utterly suppressed by the Imperius Curse.

"You're welcome."

Vinson Wright nodded with a faint smile, speaking softly: "Young Master Barty might lose his temper once he wakes up, and there will be many more troubles ahead that I'll need your help with..."

"It is my duty."

Winky clasped her hands nervously in front of her.

As Old Barty Crouch raised his wand toward his son, a glimmer of light flashed from the wand's tip, and then his arm drooped weakly.

Because Old Barty Crouch knew...

The son who hated him was about to return.

Sure enough.

Barty Crouch Jr. stared at his father, his eyes slowly shifting from confusion to clarity, and in an instant, they turned into a blaze of hatred!

Barty Crouch Jr. slowly clenched his fists, grinding his teeth: "I thought you'd keep me under the Imperius Curse until I died!"

"..."

Old Barty Crouch remained silent.

"Perhaps he really should have done that..."

Vinson stood to the side with a light chuckle before explaining: "But that would be far too inhumane, so Mr. Crouch intends to give you another choice..."

"What choice?"

Barty Crouch Jr. instinctively turned his head.

But when he saw Vinson, he sneered contemptuously: "I've seen you, you little brat... He's got some nerve, didn't go to serve the Dark Lord back then, didn't go to Dumbledore either, and now he's hitched himself to a kid..."

"Not hitching."

Vinson cut off Barty Crouch Jr.'s words, spreading his palms to explain: "I'm in a cooperative relationship with your father, at least for now..."

"I don't care about useless nonsense."

Barty Crouch Jr.'s face was still full of disdain. He looked up at his aged father, unwilling to communicate with the man he loathed as a biological parent.

Barty Crouch Jr. simply turned back to Vinson Wright, his voice hoarse: "Spit it out, what do you plan to do with me..."

"Heh, alright..."

Vinson let out a low laugh, then raised his head to look at Barty Jr. and spoke: "You're an adult now, you should have your own thoughts, so we'll give you two choices..."

"First, your life continues as before—your father will periodically cast the Imperius Curse on you to control your mind."

"Second, you can choose to live in this house's safe house, and from now on, he won't control your mind anymore..."

"I'll take the second one. Let me go see where you're locking me up!"

Without waiting for Vinson Wright to finish, Barty Crouch Jr. made his choice in a flash, his eyes even gleaming with anticipation!

Nothing...

Nothing was more painful than having one's mind controlled!

Barty Crouch Jr. didn't care at all where he'd be imprisoned—could it possibly be worse than the Azkaban prison he'd once been locked in?

"...Alright."

Vinson nodded slowly.

Everyone in the world seemed accustomed to operating within a framework.

When Barty Jr. heard there were two choices for his future, he naturally picked the one he thought benefited him, rather than raising any objections...

Third Area.

Inside the dark basement.

The House-elf Winky waved her little paw, casting a Lumos spell that fully illuminated the underground room.

On the surface, it looked like a wizard's laboratory.

"You plan to have me live in a laboratory?"

Barty Jr. surveyed the lab, his mind starting to stir with ideas, because the lab seemed very well-equipped.

If he could live here in the future...

Maybe that way we'll find a chance to escape!

"Don't move around here!"

Old Barty Crouch sternly stopped his son from entering the basement, his voice low. "If you move recklessly, every single floorboard in here could kill you!"

With that, Old Barty Crouch turned to look at Vinson Wright. "Where's the safe house we prepared earlier? Only you, as the Secret Keeper of the Fidelius Charm, can see its location..."

"Go to the cabinet on the left."

Vinson Wright stood at the entrance of the lab, not taking a single step forward, only instructing, "Do you still remember the safest path to take here?"

"Mm."

Old Barty Crouch nodded heavily.

After speaking, Old Barty Crouch led the way into the underground lab, stepping three floor tiles to the left, then two forward, then one to the right, two forward, then two left again...

"..."

Barty Crouch Jr. watched this scene, his expression complicated as he stared at his own father. Such a bizarre route made his father's usual stern image completely vanish.

"Can I test the power of the traps?"

Barty Crouch Jr. couldn't resist the urge to just walk straight down.

Vinson Wright watched his movements and said softly, "Then the only thing I can do for you is gather up your remains and feed them to the dogs."

"No!"

Winky was so frightened she hastily grabbed Barty Crouch Jr.'s arm.

"..."

Barty Crouch Jr.'s left foot instantly stopped in midair.

If it were just a matter of endangering his own safety, Barty Crouch Jr. wouldn't really care about that—but having his corpse fed to the dogs was a bit too insulting...

And besides...

Maybe this place really was exceptionally dangerous.

Because that brat Vinson Wright didn't dare enter the basement at all!

Old Barty Crouch, leading the way ahead, stopped in front of the left cabinet. While waiting for his son to catch up, he turned his head to look at Vinson Wright.

"Where to next?"

Old Barty Crouch frowned and asked in a low voice, "I remember all the potion bottles in this cabinet are just Muggle trinkets..."

"No, there's also a bucket."

Vinson Wright stood at the door, offering technical guidance.

Old Barty Crouch opened the lower cabinet door and saw a bucket inside. It looked like an ordinary iron bucket.

In reality, it was a mode of transportation in the wizarding world.

Old Barty Crouch glanced at his son and the house-elf who had followed him, paused for a moment, then extended his hand.

"Take my hand."

"..."

Barty Crouch Jr. frowned slightly.

This somewhat rebellious young man had no intention of heeding his father's request. He quickly swapped places with Winky, preferring to grab her paw instead.

Old Barty Crouch took Winky's other paw and stepped into the iron bucket. Their figures twisted rapidly and vanished into the bucket!

The iron bucket in the left cabinet of the basement disappeared from its spot!

A clang of metal striking metal suddenly came from the right cabinet!

To go from the left cabinet to the right, they could only rely on this magical mode of transport—everything in between was nothing but traps!

The floor, the table, the chairs...

The workbench, the beakers on the workbench...

Everything was a trap that could destroy the entire basement.

The right cabinet door was opened by Old Barty Crouch, revealing his son and the house-elf.

Barty Crouch Jr.'s face showed impatience, and he couldn't help complaining, "It's just a prison, harder to find than James Potter's safe house..."

"..."

Old Barty Crouch ignored his son and looked back at Vinson Wright. "What's next?"

"Step aside."

Vinson Wright raised his finger, and a wisp of magic flew from his fingertip, drifting slowly into the cabinet.

The magic awakened, and the barrier quietly manifested.

The safe house's barrier then quickly faded away.

Inside the cabinet, a hard, sturdy steel round door was revealed.

Old Barty Crouch stood before the Steel Round Door, wrenching it open with force, and from within spilled the light of the Underground Fortress.

"This outer door can only be opened from the outside."

Old Barty Crouch looked at his son, his face stern as he spoke: "Inside, there's another door that can be controlled from within, ensuring your safety. It's stocked with enough supplies for two years, along with some Muggle books..."

"Mr. Barty Crouch Jr."

Vinson Wright stood at the entrance of the Basement, smiling as he spoke: "I specially selected these for you. There are quite a few books on treating Depression inside..."

This was planning ahead.

Vinson Wright believed that Barty Crouch Jr., confined in the underground fortress, would inevitably read those psychology books.