Everything's Set, the Champions Return / What a Joke-Cheating Is Even a Thing?

As Voldemort's most fervent supporters, the core Death Eater's beliefs were absolutely unwavering. People like Bellatrix could persist for over a decade. How could Barty Crouch Jr. Crouch, who was healthy and without illness, possibly have died of 'despair' after only a year?

But the one who was left forever in Azkaban was Mrs. Crouch, that mother who, with her own dying body, successfully traded her son's freedom!

Such maternal love is undoubtedly great, but if she could know from beyond the grave that the child she risked her life to save remained unrepentant, would she feel no regret or only remorse?

After Crouch and his son returned home, they held a simple funeral, dug an empty grave, and made it seem to outsiders that Mrs. Crouch was lying inside.

Barty Crouch Jr. Crouch Jr., on the other hand, was deprived of his freedom and ordered to wear Invisibility Cloak and stay in a corner of the kitchen. He was even subjected to Imperius Curse by Mr. Crouch to prevent him from secretly escaping to find his beloved master.

From that time on, apart from the House-elf Winky, no one else ever saw him... except Bertha Jorkins.

Harry has now pieced together the clue: the culprit behind Bertha Jorkins's forgetfulness was indeed Barty Crouch.

That was when Jorkins was still working for Crouch. One day, she went to report to her boss, but Crouch wasn't there, so she stayed to wait.

However, during this time, she overheard Winky talking to someone in the kitchen, and then, relying on her natural gossip skills, she roughly guessed what was going on.

Of course, Bertha Jorkins wasn't very smart. After learning the truth, instead of leaving immediately, she went straight to Crouch to confront him when Crouch returned. As a result, she was unsurprisingly hit with a powerful Memory Charm, which severely damaged her brain.

After that incident, Crouch severely punished his House-elf, forbidding Winky from speaking to Barty Crouch Jr. again and canceling Barty Crouch Jr.'s already limited opportunities to go outside, effectively imprisoning him at home.

But as it turns out, no wall in this world is completely impenetrable... Barty Crouch Jr. Crouch Jr. still managed to escape.

Winky didn't have a clear memory of Barty Crouch Jr.'s escape; she only remembered that Mr. Crouch had been invited to a very important party that day, and then their house was broken into.

When Mr. Crouch returned home and woke her up, she had no idea she had been attacked and thought she had just fallen asleep. But Barty Crouch Jr. Crouch Jr. and his Invisibility Cloak had vanished.

She must have had that memory erased by the attacker... well, just like what Harry is doing now.

After discovering his son was missing, Mr. Crouch quickly began to think of a solution, and his final conclusion was... Barty Crouch Jr. Crouch Jr. would definitely go looking for his former master, Voldemort!

So he decided to move into a nursing home with Winky.

Ultimately, Crouch's goal was to monitor Harry. He believed that Voldemort and his son would definitely come after Harry, giving him a chance to find and capture his son before anyone else.

And... perhaps it could better protect the Boy Who Lived, Harry Granger!

Chapter 700: Arrangements Completed, Champion Return

To be honest, Harry was a little unsure how to describe Barty Crouch.

He may be a clear-cut egoist, extremely power-hungry, especially when he was about to take over as Minister for Magic. The chaos caused by Voldemort had just been quelled, and Crouch was so eager to achieve quick results that he made many arbitrary and domineering mistakes.

For example, Sirius was sent to Azkaban without a thorough trial.

Or perhaps, during the trial, he personally judged Barty Crouch Jr. Crouch., uttering the utterly cold-blooded statement, "You are not my son."

However, it wouldn't be entirely true to say that all of this was for his own power and status. After being transferred to the Department of International Magical Cooperation, he had no hope of promotion, yet he still worked diligently, didn't he?

When Fudge, with the help of the Pure-blood Family, completely controlled the Ministry of Magic, Crouch neither joined forces to oppose him nor actively surrendered. Instead, he clearly accepted the reality of being sidelined and forced to stay at home. This is not the behavior of someone with an insatiable thirst for power.

Furthermore, while it's true that he didn't care much for his son, he also agreed to help his wife commit a serious crime.

In fact, Crouch had far better ways to control Barty Crouch Jr.., such as casting a super-powerful Memory Charm... just like he did to Bertha Jorkins.

Even Augusta Longbottom did the same thing to his grandson Neville, but Barty Crouch did not.

It wasn't because he couldn't do it or couldn't think of it; perhaps he simply didn't want to hurt his son.

But it doesn't really matter anymore. After going through so much, Harry has now learned to calmly face all the secrets he has uncovered.

The world around him... no, the real world is like that. Everyone is complex, and everyone has multiple faces; it can never be summed up in a single sentence.

Take Albus Dumbledore, for example. He was indeed a great principal, but he was also a person with a strong desire for control. He cared about almost everyone around him, but at the same time, he could use them as leverage to uphold justice.

Therefore, judging a person from only one perspective will never allow you to truly understand them.

However, most people don't have the time or energy to investigate the good and evil of everyone around them; they only care about what is related to their own interests.

Harry is the same~

After leaving Crouch's room, he stopped lamenting the impact of his family background on Barty Crouch Jr. Crouch., and instead began to think about how to use the clues he had obtained to deal with this major threat!

Barty Crouch Jr. Crouch., the mysterious Death Eater Harry has always been concerned about, is definitely him, and Harry has always felt that he is even more terrifying than Voldemort is currently in a state of intellectual decline!

So... what could this person's weakness be?

And was his obsession with killing Bertha Jorkins really just because she knew he was still alive?

Harry couldn't think of the answers to these questions for the time being, but he believed that this guy couldn't be flawless... as long as he could find that crucial loophole!

After successfully peeking into Winky's memories, Harry secretly borrowed Eliezer his teacher and went to the alchemy laboratory without anyone noticing.

He rearranged the suitcase and secretly sent Norberta to the Forbidden Forest.

After that, he and Eliezer returned to the old people's home and encountered the Merpeople escorting prisoners in the pond.

"It's not Polyjuice Potion? Eliezer, could you please take them to the teacher's room?"

Harry used the Identification Potion to test them, only to find that the two troublemakers hadn't used any transformation techniques, which puzzled him.

But he was pressed for time and didn't have time to dwell on why one of them looked so much like himself, while the other... was rather annoyingly similar to Draco Malfoy.

So Harry simply cast another spell on them both to make sure they wouldn't wake up on their own, and then had Eliezer take them away.

These two people must absolutely not be known to outsiders, so it would be best to ask the teacher to keep an eye on them. Moreover, if the Flamel couple are interested, they can study them in advance, or even use a crystal ball to calculate their origins.

Meanwhile, at the Black Lake arena, Hermione, moving several steps faster, had already leaped out of the water with Luna Lovegood and Gabrielle, eliciting cheers from the crowd.

She came in first place in both competitions, and both times with overwhelming dominance. At least among the students, Hermione has truly earned the title of 'invincible'.

What? You're saying she has a Harry above her?

Yes, she does have a Harry above her.

But nowadays, who still considers Harry a student?

Accompanying them were more than twenty Merpeople, who, led by Merkus, surrounded Hermione like a ceremonial guard, singing sharp, high-pitched songs of joy.

Hermione, holding Luna Lovegood's hand in one hand and Gabrielle's in the other, walked gracefully towards the shore. All the judges stood up at the same time, and the principals of the three schools also applauded.

Having suffered a setback earlier, Akinbad now wore a cold, knowing smile.

Hermione took 55 minutes, right on time, and also brought back two hostages... This impressive performance, which would have made everyone scream and cheer, was seen by Akinbad as the best evidence of cheating.

Madam Pomfrey rushed over in a panic, wrapping the girls tightly in three thick blankets and feeding them a fiery soup to ward off the cold.

Phoebe rushed over immediately and hugged her younger sister tightly.

"Thank goodness! Gabrielle... you're alright, that's wonderful!"

She nervously hugged Gabrielle and checked her over and over. Although Sirius had made a promise before, she had always been a little uneasy, but now she was completely relieved.

"Thank you! Hermione, thank you so much!" She turned to Hermione excitedly, her beautiful face full of gratitude.

Phoebe had previously disliked Hermione, perhaps because Hermione was younger yet more capable, or perhaps because Hermione was close to Harry she disliked. But from this moment on, Phoebe truly considered Hermione a friend.

"You should thank the Merpeople," Hermione said, turning to Merkus and the others. A tall Merpeople handed Phoebe's wand. "They were the ones who told me you withdrew from the competition, which is why I brought Gabrielle along..."

However, before Hermione could finish speaking, an excited Phoebe pounced on her and kissed her hard on the cheek.

"Anyway, I really have to thank you!" Phoebe hugged Hermione and smiled happily, like a blooming flower.

"Can you stop this?" Hermione said with a Half-Veela.

She was genuinely a little uncomfortable with Phoebe's France- style enthusiasm; it felt like someone had stuck a mouthful of phlegm on her face.

Chapter 701 A joke, is cheating even a big deal?

After Hermione made a strong comeback in first place, quite some time passed before Cedric Diggory and Viktor Krum, who had already run far overtime, finally returned one after the other.

Cedric Diggory was faster and in much better shape... He and Cho Chang shared the same Bubble-Head Charm, which was quite a clever move.

As for Viktor Krum, who was left behind, he looked rather disheveled. Not only was his shark head covered in all sorts of scratches, but after transforming back into human form, he had a bruised and swollen face, clearly having been badly trampled underwater.

But in any case, he managed to rescue his hostage.

"Excellent! Now all the Champion are back, so let's all look forward to seeing what scores they can achieve!"

Sirius, who had been staying in the center of Black Lake, suddenly shouted excitedly. At the same time, he steered the Kelpie into the water after a leap, which once again caused a burst of enthusiastic whistles and cheers from the crowd.

Of course, he wasn't excitedly showing off; someone in the water was reminding him... it was time to switch roles.

So when 'Harry' emerged from the water again, it really was Harry himself.

"Gentlemen, please be quiet." Dumbledore used the Amplifying Charm to draw everyone's attention. "Now it's time to score our Champion, starting with Miss Delacour Phoebe Delacour."

He gestured to the three people beside him and together they gave their scores.

20 points is clearly a failing grade in a competition with a total score of 40.

Even so, Phoebe still felt that the price was too high.

"I should have gotten 0 points." She shook her head in self-reproach, her voice a little hoarse.

Following her was Viktor Krum, who scored slightly higher with 26 points.

Besides the significant time limit, his Transfiguration was also incomplete, and his own condition was indeed not good... Many judges believed that if he hadn't ultimately brought back the hostage, he wouldn't have even reached a passing grade.

Next up is Cedric Diggory, who scored 30 points, which is actually a high score. Although his performance in all aspects was perfect, he came back too late.

Dumbledore and Olympe Maxime both gave it 8 points, while the other two deducted slightly more.

Finally, it was Hermione's turn, and the audience held their breath.

No one doubted that Hermione could get another top score; they were all just curious... would Hermione get another astonishing perfect score like she did in the last round?

Igor Karkaroff, Olympe Maxime, and Dumbledore all gave themselves a score of ten!

This seemed inevitable to all viewers, because Hermione's performance represented perfection.

She forcefully broke through Grindylow's obstruction, and after learning that Phoebe had withdrawn from the competition, she took the initiative to bring Gabrielle back. Such a performance was simply impeccable.

"Is it my turn to make a decision...?" Akinbad, who was lagging behind, secretly exchanged a glance with Cornelius Fudge in the VIP section before shooting a firework into the sky with his bare hands.

0 points.

The scene suddenly became noisy, with many people rubbing their eyes in disbelief. But no matter how hard they looked, there was only a bare zero in the sky; the one beside it was nowhere to be seen...

"Why zero?" "Hermione should have gotten a perfect score!" "This score is so unfair!!"

A group of students began to loudly protest their discontent. This included Lee Jordan, who was in charge of the commentary, the Weasley Brothers, and all the young wizards of Eagle House. They were all indignantly denouncing Akinbad.

The principals of the three schools all showed expressions of confusion.

"Babajide, why is that?"

Dumbledore looked at Akinbad with a gloomy expression. After the incident in the classroom earlier, he knew that the other party was definitely plotting something, but he did not expect that after he gave him a chance to suppress the incident, he would actually take the initiative to stir up trouble again!

"Listen to me... Albus, I will give you a reasonable explanation!" Faced with Dumbledore's obvious anger, Akinbad unconsciously took two steps back, but still pressed his fingers to his neck and activated the Amplifying Charm.

"There's a reason I gave her this score. While Miss Granger Hermione Granger displayed exceptional skill in the competition, it wasn't a fair duel! Because shameful cheating occurred during this competition!!"

Akinbad's words plunged the room into chaos once more. Many students looked at Hermione, some shaking their heads, others whispering amongst themselves, and some—such as a small group from Slytherin House —had even begun to sneer smugly.

However, for the principals of the three schools, what Akinbad just mentioned was utter nonsense.

Cheating?

Come on, isn't cheating a tradition in the Triwizard Tournament?

The difficulty of this competition is no joke. Even nowadays, some people still fail if they cheat. If cheating is strictly prohibited, which young wizard could possibly pass the test?

'No... that's it?'

Besides exchanging bewildered glances with the other two principals, Igor Karkaroff also muttered a private thought to himself.

He had followed a former colleague's instructions, interrupting and blocking conversations, and even hastily leaving notes as reminders, only to discover in the end... that the other person was just trying to catch him cheating?

It's like he got a notification that a terrifying level 5 Dragon was causing trouble, but when he arrived, he found it was just a Fire Salamander... and a damn one at that!

"Cheating is undoubtedly a shameful act, and I can prove that Hermione Granger cheated in the second match just now!" Akinbad, oblivious to the expressions of the three headmasters, continued his clumsy performance. "In short, you must confess now: did you take advantage of Harry Granger's position as referee to secretly obtain the match details from him, which is why you solved the puzzle so quickly?!"

"So... you mean, Harry helped me cheat?" Hermione's expression was somewhat amused; she hadn't expected him to actually fall for it.