"Lady Witch!" Barty Crouch Jr.'s voice brimmed with barely contained excitement and fervor. "I, Barty Crouch, am willing to offer you everything!"
Hermione watched his fanatical display with a calm gaze and said evenly, "You can't join the Witch Cult yet."
"What?!" Barty Crouch Jr. looked as though he had been struck by lightning. His head snapped up, the blood draining from his face as panic filled his expression. "My lady! Why? I'm absolutely loyal! I can prove it!"
With that, he whipped out his wand and moved to slash his own arm!
"Stop." Hermione raised her hand wearily, and an invisible force of magic instantly restrained Barty Crouch Jr.
She turned to Tom with a headache brewing and couldn't help complaining, "Seriously, what's wrong with all these followers your original self recruited? Why does every one of them like hurting themselves to prove their loyalty?"
Tom stroked his handsome chin and spread his hands shamelessly. "What can I say? Perhaps this is what they call personal charisma."
Hermione gave him a massive eye roll.
She turned back to the frightened, uneasy Barty Crouch Jr. and softened her voice. "Don't be nervous. I'm not questioning your loyalty."
"Then..." Barty Crouch Jr. relaxed a little, though he remained anxious.
"There's an important task I need you to complete," Hermione said.
"Give me your orders, Lady Witch! Whatever the task, I'll carry it out even if it kills me!" Barty Crouch Jr. immediately declared.
Hermione nodded. "Voldemort may have been driven back for now, but he still has Horcruxes. He'll return sooner or later. However, after humiliating himself so badly at Hogwarts this time, his reputation must have hit rock bottom."
Her gaze swept over Lucius beside her. "There must be quite a few Death Eaters like Lucius who aren't particularly loyal