Barty Crouch Jr. Is Still Alive!

The Room of Requirement.

Only William and Hermione.

Although it was already late at night, the two showed no sign of leaving.

The death of Barty Crouch cast a shadow over the two men's hearts.

Hermione sat next to William, her hands cupping her forehead, her eyes fixed on her knees.

"Could it have been that Death Eaters?" she said.

This conjecture is correct.

During the summer vacation, William and Hermione deduced from various details that Crouch had imprisoned a Death Eaters.

The Death Eaters escaped and, on the night of the finals, kidnapped many junior wizards, threatening the Ministry of Magic to release the imprisoned Death Eaters.

If William hadn't created Quidditch field map long beforehand, allowing him to pinpoint the hostages' location... the Death Eaters might very well have been released from Azkaban.

Crouch went to find Ludo, but now he's in this state; he's likely been attacked.

Then, he went to Dumbledore to confess, but Dumbledore wanted to silence him.

But here's the question... who exactly is that Death Eaters?

The Death Eaters had been missing for many years didn't even match up with Dumbledore.

"Let's go through the whole thing again," Hermione suggested.

William nodded, took out his wand, and stirred the Pensieve on the table.

This was a Christmas gift from Dumbledore; I never expected it to come in handy now.

The Pensieve spun, and the silvery substance became transparent. The two reached out and gently touched the memories, which instantly vanished into thin air.

It was a dark room, a deep, cavernous darkness, like a still image.

But soon things changed; a beam of green light shone in from outside.

That's an Avada Kedavra!

A green light pierced the darkness, faintly illuminating the room, where many little wizards could be seen crammed together.

They were all tied up with ropes.

However, William and Hermione both turned their heads away, refusing to look at the scene.

Because within the area illuminated by the light, it was clearly visible that Harry was sticking out his tongue and licking Malfoy's face.

Then he licked Ron's freckled face.

Kouqu!

When William first saw this scene, he almost threw up, and he still has psychological trauma from it.

It turns out that Harry's affection for Cho was a pretense, a cover-up for his perverted nature.

No wonder William was hesitant and reluctant to give up that memory when he asked Harry for it.

That's just too... beastly.

William wondered if he should take a picture to show Malfoy and Ron this memory.

That's right, this memory comes from Harry; it's from the Quidditch World Cup final, the night he was kidnapped.

William was fighting outside at the time and was unaware of what was happening inside.

He also approached Krum and several other victims, demanding their memories.

William had expected Krum to refuse, but he was surprised by Krum's unexpected enthusiasm and affability.

Soon, a ball of fire was flung into the room. This was the Death Eaters's attempt to silence the witnesses before fleeing.

But this flame also completely illuminated the entire room.

"No Crouch," Hermione, squinting, with absolute certainty.

William frowned and muttered, "He's definitely not here."

That's very strange.

When William pinpointed the hostages' location, on the map that had been enchanted with Tracking Charm... he saw not only the names of Harry, Ron, Malfoy, and Krum, but also Barty Crouch.

When William rushed into the house, he was busy putting out the fire and rescuing people, and the scene was somewhat chaotic.

When William didn't see Crouch afterward, he assumed Crouch had run away in the chaos.

After all, it would be incredibly shameful for a high-ranking official of the Ministry of Magic to be kidnapped by Death Eaters.

Looking back now, William realized he had been making some assumptions.

Crouch wasn't there before he rushed into the house! He didn't leave during the chaos!

William pondered for a moment, then confidently stated, "The map can't be wrong."

"There are only two possibilities," Hermione said softly, tilting her fair neck back.

"Crouch escaped even earlier, or rather..."

"He's the kidnapper!"

Crouch was the kidnapper, which is why William didn't see him in the room, but saw his name on the map.

William looked at Hermione, shook his head, and denied it, saying, "The first guess is fine, but the second one... there's no motive."

Who is Crouch? Why did he let the Death Eaters go?

That's just as unreliable as Harry suddenly switching sides with Voldemort.

This is a deep-seated hatred, and they are destined to be enemies.

Hermione wrinkled her nose, also finding the guess untenable.

Soon, the scene changed, and several more memories were added.

These memories were obtained by William from the principal.

From the beginning of Crouch's son's trial, to Crouch's wife publicly beating Crouch and crying her heart out, begging him to release her son; and later, to the scene of the two of them going to Azkaban for the last time.

The two looked at it three times before William rubbed his temples, went over it in his mind, and then looked up and said:

Hermione, have you noticed something strange?

"You mean Crouch's wife?" Hermione asked, sensing the implication.

"That's right," William said softly. "On the day of the trial, in front of so many officials, she cried and begged Crouch to release her son."

This shows that she loves her son very much.

But in Azkaban...

William paused, then continued, "The warden said her son might not last much longer, and only if Crouch donates money will he help find a healer at St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries."

"They might even... get his son out..."

"But his wife remained unmoved," Hermione continued. "Especially after Crouch refused, she didn't say a word... That's very strange."

"Yes, that's strange. It doesn't seem like a sign of loving your son, does it?"

How could a normal mother not react at all when she hears that her son might not last much longer and that her husband is refusing to pay money?

This mother, in particular, once beat her husband in front of all the officials, demanding that he release their son!

This is so out of character!

"Unless, she has found another way to get her son out," Hermione murmured.

"But her son died a month later, and she herself died from excessive grief..." She was somewhat confused.

At this point, the scenes from the Pensieve memory have reached their final stage:

Crouch and his wife walked out of the prison. Crouch, with a stern face, stiffly pulled his wife along.

His wife seemed frightened by their son and walked very fast.

Hermione stared at the image, seemingly realizing something, and suddenly said:

"William, did you notice that Mrs. Crouch looked very sad before she came in?"

But when they left, they seemed to show no reluctance whatsoever; they didn't even look back, and simply left.

William nodded slightly. Something did look a little off here.

Crouch's wife's various abnormalities; Crouch's abnormalities; the abnormalities at the kidnapping scene... all these images quickly replayed in their minds.

William and Hermione suddenly exchanged a glance and exclaimed simultaneously, "Barty Crouch Jr. Crouch. isn't dead!"

"Yes, that explains it!" Hermione said urgently.

"Mrs. Crouch switched her son out, so when Crouch refused to donate, his wife didn't react much."

Crouch rescued the Death Eaters's son, but imprisoned him.

The name seen on the map is also that of Barty Crouch Jr. Crouch Jr., Crouch's son.

They share the same name...

"That's right." William nodded. "It seems Bertha discovered this secret as well, and then Crouch cast a powerful Memory Charm on her."

"So what do we do next?"

William stood up, his face serious, and said, "Let's go, Hermione, we need to go to the Headmaster's Office. Minister Fudge is there too."

We have to tell them.

"But we have no evidence!" Hermione quickly said, "This is all deduction based on details..."

"No! Our words are the proof!" William looked at Hermione and smiled sweetly.

"Furthermore, I've come up with the most compelling evidence to prove our hypothesis... to prove that Crouch's son is still alive!"

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