Compared to toying with people's hearts...
The Imperius Curse ultimately fell a bit short.
Just as Vinson Wright prepared to make a move, Old Barty Crouch reached out and pressed down on Vinson's arm, shaking his head as he said in a low voice, "Let me do it..."
"Please."
Vinson Wright politely stepped back to the side.
The house-elf Winky could not help wiping her eyes, bowing to Vinson Wright with a tearful voice as she expressed her endless gratitude: "...Thank you... Thank you... Thank you for being willing to persuade master to spare young master..."
Winky had witnessed the human tragedy of the Crouch family with her own eyes.
As a female house-elf, she harbored a glimmer of maternal warmth within her, which had caused her to constantly sympathize with the young master who was controlled by the Imperius Curse and completely devoid of spirit.
"You're welcome."
Vinson Wright smiled and nodded, speaking softly, "Mr. Barty might lose his temper after he wakes up, and there will be many matters in the future that will require your trouble..."
"This is what I should do."
Winky's hands were held nervously in front of her.
As Old Barty Crouch raised his wand toward his son, a flash of light flickered from the tip of the wand before his arm dropped somewhat powerlessly.
Because Old Barty Crouch knew...
That son who hated him was about to return.
Sure enough.
Barty Crouch Jr. gazed at his father, his eyes slowly recovering clarity from a dazed state, directly transforming into a gaze filled with fury in an instant!
Barty Crouch Jr. slowly tightened his fists, gritting his teeth as he said, "I thought you would keep using the Imperius Curse to control me until the day I died!"
"..."
Old Barty Crouch remained silent.
"Perhaps he really should have done that..."
Vinson chuckled softly from the side before offering an explanation: "However, that would be far too inhumane, so Mr. Crouch intends to give you another choice..."
"What choice?"
Barty Crouch Jr. subconsciously turned his head.
Yet when he saw Vinson, he let out a disdainful, cold snort: "I've seen you before, kid... He really has no shame; back then he refused to rely on the Dark Lord, and he refused to rely on Dumbledore, yet now he's actually relying on a child..."
"It's not relying on him."
Vinson interrupted Barty Crouch Jr., spreading his palms as he explained, "Your father and I are in a cooperative relationship, at least for now..."
"I don't care about those useless things."
Barty Crouch Jr.'s face remained filled with disdain as he looked up at his aged father, unwilling to communicate with this detestable biological father.
Barty Crouch Jr. simply looked back at Vinson Wright instead, his voice hoarse in his throat: "Spit it out, what do you want to do with me..."
"Heh, alright..."
Vinson could not help letting out a low chuckle, raising his head to look at Barty as he spoke: "You're already an adult and should have your own thoughts, so we're going to give you two choices..."
"First, your life continues just as it did in the past, and your father will regularly cast the Imperius Curse on you to control your mind."
"Second, you can choose to live in the safe house of this house, and from now on he will no longer control your brain..."
"I choose the second one, let me go and see where you've locked me away!"
Without even waiting for Vinson Wright to finish speaking, Barty Crouch Jr. made his choice swiftly, his gaze actually growing sharp and bright with a hint of anticipation!
There was nothing...
More painful than having one's mind controlled by others!
Barty Crouch Jr. did not care at all where he would be imprisoned; could it possibly be any worse than Azkaban prison where he was once locked away?
"...Good."
Vinson nodded leisurely.
Everyone in this world seemed accustomed to acting within a framework.
Upon hearing that there were two choices for his future, Barty naturally chose the one he believed was favorable to himself rather than raising any objections to them...
The Third Area.
Inside the gloomy basement.
The house-elf Winky waved her small claws, raising her hand to cast a Lumos spell that thoroughly illuminated the entire basement room.
On the surface, this appeared to be a wizard's laboratory.
"Are you planning to make me live in a laboratory?"
Barty surveyed the laboratory, unable to help harboring a few thoughts in his mind because the facilities here looked exceptionally complete.
If he could live here in the future...
He might just find a chance to escape!
"Don't rummage around here!"
With a solemn expression, Old Barty Crouch stopped his son from entering the laboratory, saying in a deep voice, "If you move things around, every single floor tile here will take your life!"
At that, Old Barty Crouch turned to look at Vinson Wright: "Where is the safe house we prepared earlier? Only you, the Secret Keeper of this Fidelius Charm, can see its location..."
"Walk to the cabinet on the left."
Vinson Wright stood at the doorway of the laboratory, refusing to take a single step forward as he simply offered instructions: "You remember how to walk the safest path here, don't you?"
"Mm."
Old Barty Crouch nodded with a heavy expression.
With that, Old Barty Crouch took the lead in stepping into the underground laboratory, advancing three floor tiles forward and to the left, then walking two floor tiles straight ahead, taking one step to the right, advancing two floor tiles straight ahead, and once again proceeding two floor tiles to the left...
"..."
Barty gazed at this scene, looking at his biological father with a rather indescribable expression. Such a bizarre marching route completely stripped his father of his usual stern image.
"Can I test the power of the traps?"
Barty could not resist wanting to walk straight down.
Vinson Wright watched his movements, speaking softly, "Then the only thing I can do to help you is to tidy up your body parts and feed them to the dogs."
"No!"
Frightened, Winky hurriedly grabbed Barty's arm.
"..."
Barty's left foot came to an immediate halt in that instant.
If it were merely something that could threaten his safety, Barty wouldn't have cared all that much, but using his corpse to feed dogs was truly a bit too insulting...
And...
Perhaps this place was genuinely exceptionally dangerous.
Because that kid Vinson Wright didn't even dare to step into the basement!
Old Barty Crouch, who was leading the way ahead, stopped in front of the cabinet on the left, turning his head to look at Vinson Wright while waiting for his son to catch up.
"Where should we go next?"
Old Barty Crouch furrowed his brows and asked in a deep voice, "I remember that the potion bottles in this cabinet are all Muggle trinkets..."
"No, there is also a bucket."
Vinson Wright stood at the doorway providing technical guidance.
Old Barty Crouch opened the lower cabinet door, spotting a bucket from within. It appeared to be nothing more than an ordinary iron bucket.
In reality, this was a form of transportation used in the wizarding world.
Old Barty Crouch looked at the son and house-elf who had followed him over, and after a moment of silence, he extended his palm.
"Grasp my hand."
"..."
Barty's brow furrowed slightly.
This somewhat rebellious young man had no desire to heed his father's request, swiftly exchanging places with Winky because he would much rather hold onto Winky's claws.
Old Barty Crouch took hold of Winky's other claw, lifted his foot, and stepped into the iron bucket. Their figures rapidly distorted as they entered the iron bucket!
The iron bucket in the left cabinet of the basement vanished from its spot!
A burst of metallic clashing suddenly echoed from the cabinet on the right!
To travel from the direction of the left cabinet to the right cabinet, one had to rely entirely on this magical means of transportation, while everything in between consisted entirely of traps!
Floor tiles, tables, chairs...
The experimental table, the beakers on the experimental table...
Everything was a trap capable of destroying this basement.
The right cabinet door was opened by Old Barty Crouch, revealing the figures of himself, his son, and the house-elf.
A look of impatience crossed Barty's face as he could not help complaining, "Just a prison, yet it's even harder to find than that safe house of James Potter..."
"..."
Old Barty Crouch ignored his son, simply looking back toward Vinson Wright: "What should we do next?"
"Step aside."
Vinson Wright raised his finger, and a speck of magic flew out from his fingertips, fluttering gently down into the cabinet.
The magic awoke, and the barrier quietly manifested.
The barrier of this safe house receded swiftly once more.
A hard, sturdy steel round door was revealed inside the cabinet counter.
Standing before the steel round door, Old Barty Crouch forcefully twisted open the iron door, revealing the lamplight of the underground fortress from within.
"This outer door can only be opened from the outside."
Old Barty Crouch looked at his son, speaking with a solemn expression, "Inside, there is another door that can be controlled from within to ensure your safety. It holds enough supplies for the two of you to live on for two years, along with some Muggle books..."
"Mr. Barty."
Vinson Wright stood at the basement doorway, smiling as he spoke, "I specially selected them for you; there are quite a few books on treating depression inside..."
This was called being prepared for a rainy day.
Vinson Wright believed that Barty, imprisoned within the underground fortress, would definitely read those psychology books.
Before you continue