Malfoy, Crouch, All Their Secrets Exposed!

"If we want proof now, there's one fastest way—they handed it to us themselves!"

"You mean..."

"That's right!"

Dudley smiled faintly and clapped his hands twice. "Winky, Dobby!"

With two soft pops, the two small House-Elves appeared in Dudley's bedroom.

"What are your orders, young master?" ×2

The two House-Elves, dressed in ragged clothes, bowed deeply to Dudley.

"Tell us what shameful secrets your previous masters had, especially anything concerning Voldemort and the Death Eaters!"

Dudley kept a stern face as he asked the question.

"Ah? Th-this... Dobby knows, but Dobby cannot say! Dobby's previous master ordered Dobby not to say!"

Dobby's pointed ears drooped. His face was full of conflict and distress, which quickly turned into guilt. "Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby! Dobby must punish himself severely!"

Dobby dropped to his knees and began banging his head against the floor with loud thuds.

"That's enough! Stop hitting your head and stand still!" Dudley ordered, unable to watch any longer.

Dobby immediately got to his feet and stood properly, tears of self-reproach still streaming down his face.

Though Dobby had not consciously betrayed Lucius Malfoy, he had effectively proven that there was something suspicious about the Malfoy family.

At that moment, Winky spoke as well. "No, young master. The Crouch family that I previously served was very respectable. They had no connection to You-Know-Who or the Death Eaters."

She thought for a long time but could not find even the slightest related memory.

"So Lucius is the one with a problem, not Barty Crouch!" Dumbledore's eyes flickered as he believed he had uncovered the truth.

"No, Dumbledore. You haven't considered enough. Barty Crouch cannot be cleared of suspicion!" Dudley said bluntly.

"Oh? But..." Dumbledore had barely begun speaking when he spotted the flaw in his own reasoning and fell silent.

Dudley continued questioning Winky. "You thought for quite a while just now. Barty Crouch is a high-ranking official at the Ministry of Magic, so he probably didn't spend much time at home each day, did he?"

"Yes, young master. Mr. Crouch came home very late," Winky replied.

"Then over the past ten years, who was your main daytime charge? Barty Crouch's wife, or his... son?"

Dudley pressed on step by step.

"Mr. Crouch's wife died nearly nine years ago, and his son was locked up in Azkaban. During the day these past ten years, I mainly served... served..."

Winky hesitated as she spoke. She realized that her memories of the daytime over the last decade were remarkably vague, with blank gaps everywhere.

Even stranger, she remembered very clearly everything from before Barty Crouch Jr., the son of her previous master Barty Crouch, had been imprisoned.

"I forgot! Winky couldn't answer young master's question and failed young master's expectations! Waaaaah—"

Winky spoke helplessly, then burst into loud sobs when she realized she could not answer Dudley's question.

"All right, stop crying. I already know what I wanted to know. You may go now and help my parents with the housework."

Dudley waved a hand and dismissed Winky.

Then he turned to Dumbledore. "It seems this Mr. Barty Crouch's Memory Charm wasn't practiced well enough!"

"Excellent deduction, Dudley! Both Lucius and Barty Crouch have problems—that was something I hadn't expected. But how can we learn the secrets they're hiding? House-Elves' memories instinctively resist Legilimency from other wizards as long as the orders they carry out have not been revoked by their masters."

"Forcing our way in would leave Dobby addled. As for Winky, her memories have already been erased."

Dumbledore found the matter quite troublesome. One was a pure-blood aristocrat, and the other was a high-ranking Ministry of Magic official. It seemed he would have to resort to harsher measures again.

"This isn't difficult, Dumbledore. In the current Wizarding World, you hold the upper hand while Voldemort is keeping his head down.

"These two men have power and influence. If they're hiding something they don't want you to discover, there are three likely possibilities.

"First, they are keeping a Horcrux for Voldemort. Second, they are harboring Death Eaters who have not been exonerated. Third, they are sheltering Voldemort's Main Soul, which is still at large."

Dudley dismissed Dobby as well, then analyzed the situation logically. "So which of those possibilities do you think applies to Lucius and Barty Crouch?"

Dumbledore fell into thought, pacing as he analyzed. "Lucius fears Voldemort. If Voldemort's Main Soul came to his door and forced him, then Lucius would do all three.

"But if Voldemort's Main Soul had forced him at this stage, both Voldemort and Lucius should be hiding themselves as much as possible and reducing their presence in the Wizarding World. Lucius should not have voluntarily come before me to offer a House-Elf.

"So Voldemort's Main Soul probably never sought out Lucius. The secret Lucius is hiding is most likely the first possibility. When Voldemort was in power, he likely entrusted Lucius with a Horcrux for safekeeping!

"This matter is extremely secret, and easy to conceal. That is why Lucius did not take it too seriously and dared to approach me with a gift to show goodwill.

"As for Barty Crouch, the first and third possibilities are unlikely. He openly opposed Voldemort and helped arrest and try many Death Eaters back then. He could not have sided with Voldemort.

"His condition does not resemble being under the Imperius Curse. And since he erased a great deal of Winky's memories from the past decade, the most likely answer is... Barty Crouch Jr. never died!

"Barty Crouch helped his son escape Azkaban by faking his death! He kept him imprisoned at home all these years and had Winky care for and guard him!"

Dumbledore's analysis was extremely precise. Ever since Dudley had explained how Pettigrew escaped by faking his death, Dumbledore had become far more alert to such possibilities. Whenever someone's death seemed suspicious, he would consider whether it had been faked.

Fortunately, he had guessed correctly this time.

"Dumbledore, your deduction is every bit as excellent as mine." Dudley clapped in praise.

"But there's one thing I don't understand. Barty Crouch sold Winky to me, so who will continue caring for his son? Could it be... his son escaped?"

Dumbledore suddenly speculated.

Dudley's expression turned grave as well. That possibility could not be ruled out. Although in the original story Barty Crouch Jr. would not escape Barty Crouch Sr.'s control for another three years, the plot had already changed beyond recognition.

That bastard really might have escaped early!

"That possibility cannot be ruled out, Dumbledore.

"Either Winky was too softhearted and easily exploited by Barty Crouch Jr., so to prevent her from helping him escape, Barty Crouch simply sold her off—cutting off his son's hopes while currying favor with you and securing his own future position.

"Or it is as you said: Barty Crouch Jr. has already escaped!"

"So what do we do now?" Dumbledore asked. He had already grown accustomed to Dudley offering strategies and advice.