Harry Potter: From Muggle Cousin to Conceptual Wizard

Chapter 48 Malfoy and Crouch: Their Secrets Revealed!

"If we want to verify this now, there's an even faster way: they'll deliver it to us in person!"

"You mean..."

"That's right!"

Dudley smiled slightly, clapped his hands twice, and called out, "Sparkling, Dobby!"

With two swish sounds, two small house-elves appeared in Dudley's bedroom.

"Young master, what are your orders?" x2

The two house-elves, dressed in tattered clothes, bowed to Dudley in unison.

"Tell us, what unspeakable secrets did your previous masters hold, about Voldemort and the Death Eaters!"

Dali asked seriously, his face stern.

"Huh? This... Dobby knows, but Dobby can't say! The previous master ordered Dobby not to say!"

Dobby's pointed ears drooped, his face full of struggle and difficulty, which quickly turned into guilt. "Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby! Dobby will punish himself severely!"

Dobby fell to his knees and slammed his head against the floor repeatedly.

"Alright! Stop banging your head, stand still for now!" Dali couldn't stand it anymore and ordered.

Dobby immediately stood up straight, tears of self-reproach still streaming down his face.

Although Dobby did not subjectively betray Lucius Malfoy, he had actually proven that there was something fishy going on with the Malfoy family.

At this moment, Brilliant also spoke up: "No, young master, the Crouch family I served before was very upright and had no connection with Mysterio or the Death Eaters."

She thought for a long time but couldn't find any relevant information in her memory.

“It seems the problem lies with Lucius, not Barty!” Dumbledore’s eyes gleamed, convinced he had discovered the truth.

“No, Dumbledore, you’re underestimating me. Barty Crouch’s involvement cannot be ruled out!” Dudley said bluntly.

“Oh? But…” Dumbledore had barely uttered the words when he realized the flaw in his statement and immediately fell silent.

Dudley then continued, asking Sparkle, "You've been thinking about this for a long time. Barty Crouch is a high-ranking official in the Ministry of Magic; he probably doesn't spend much time at home each day!"

“Yes, young master, Mr. Crouch didn’t get home until very late,” Sparkle replied.

"So, for the past ten years, who have you primarily served during the day? Was it Barty Crouch's wife, or his...son?"

Dudley's questions were asked in a step-by-step manner.

“Mr. Crouch’s wife died almost nine years ago, and his son was imprisoned in Azkaban. For the past ten years, I’ve mainly spent my days… for…”

As Shan Shan spoke, she hesitated. She realized that her daytime memories from the past ten years were quite blurry, with blank spaces in between.

Even more strangely, she remembers very clearly the memories of her previous owner, Barty Crouch Jr., before he went to prison.

"I forgot! Shining couldn't answer Master's question and let Master down! Waaaaah—"

"I can't answer Dudley's question," Flash said helplessly, and then she burst into tears.

"Alright, stop crying. I already know what I want to know. Now go downstairs and help my parents with some housework."

Dali waved his hand and let Shan Shan go.

Turning to Dumbledore, he said, "It seems that Mr. Barty Crouch's Oblivion Charm is not up to par!"

"Brilliant reasoning! Dudley! I didn't expect Lucius and Barty to be involved. But how can we find out their hidden secrets?"

If the commands carried out by house-elves are not revoked by their owners, their memories will instinctively resist the legicidal probing of other wizards.

Forcing an investigation will turn Dobby into a mentally disabled person. As for Gilgamesh, her memories have already been erased.

Dumbledore was in a rather troublesome situation; a pure-blood nobleman and a high-ranking official in the Ministry of Magic—it seemed he would have to resort to other methods.

“It’s not difficult, Dumbledore. In the current situation of the wizarding world, you are in control, and Voldemort is subservient.”

These two people are powerful and influential, and the three most likely reasons they might have something they don't want you to discover are:

First, they kept the Horcruxes safe for Voldemort; second, they harbored the Death Eaters who had not been exonerated; third, they sheltered Voldemort's main soul, who had fled.

Dudley dismissed Dobby as well, then analyzed logically and reasoned, "So, which category or types do you think Lucius and Batty fall into respectively?"

Dumbledore fell into thought, pacing back and forth as he analyzed: "Lucius fears Voldemort. If Voldemort's main spirit comes to force him, he will do all three things."

But if Voldemort's main spirit comes to my door to pressure me at this stage, both Voldemort and I should try to hide as much as possible and reduce our presence in the wizarding world. We shouldn't come to me with house-elves.

Therefore, Voldemort's main soul probably didn't go looking for Lucius. The most likely secret Lucius is hiding is the first scenario: when Voldemort was in power, he may have entrusted a Horcrux to Lucius for safekeeping!

This matter was extremely secretive and easy to conceal, which is why Lucius didn't take it too seriously and dared to take the initiative to send me gifts to curry favor.

As for Barty, it's unlikely to be either the first or third scenario. He openly opposed Voldemort and assisted in the arrest and trial of many Death Eaters, so it's impossible for him to side with Voldemort.

His condition doesn't seem to be under the Imperius Curse, and given that he erased a large amount of Gilgamesh's memories from the past ten years, the most likely answer is... Barty Crouch Jr. is not dead!

Bati faked his son's death to escape Azkaban! He's been imprisoned at home for years, cared for and looked after by Shining!

Dumbledore's analysis was very accurate. Ever since Dudley analyzed for him the story of Little Starpie faking his death and escaping, he had become much more sensitive to this kind of thing. Whenever he encountered someone who died suspiciously, he would think about whether they had faked their death.

Fortunately, he guessed correctly this time.

"Dumbledore, your reasoning is just as brilliant as mine," Dudley clapped his hands in praise.

"But there's something I don't understand. Barty sold Shiny to me, so who will continue to take care of his son? Could it be... that his son ran away?"

"Dumbledore suddenly guessed."

Upon hearing this, Dali's heart also grew heavy. He couldn't rule out this possibility. Although in the original story, Little Barty would have to wait another three years before he was free from Old Barty's control, the plot had now undergone a complete transformation.

This guy might actually escape ahead of time!

"That possibility cannot be ruled out, Dumbledore."

The only explanation I can think of is that Shining is too soft-hearted and easily manipulated by Little Barty. To prevent Shining from helping Little Barty escape, Barty simply sold Shining off, cutting off his son's hopes, and incidentally, to please you and ensure his future position remains unshaken.

"Or it's like what you said, that Little Barty has already escaped!" Dali analyzed.

"So what do we do now?" Dumbledore asked, already used to Dudley's advice.