A Conversation with Moody

"I believe I explained before that it is not easy to cast a spell on a powerful magical object…" Ivan frowned.

"But you can do it, can't you?" Moody said, cutting her off.

"I didn't tamper with the Goblet of Fire, and I can't help it if you doubt me!" Ivan glanced at the "golden antenna" on the table and did not answer directly.

Moody stared at him for a moment, then moved his gaze away, his words no longer as hard as before. "Of course, I would like to believe you myself! Otherwise, I would not be here telling you this! Dumbledore does not think you did it…"

Ivan breathed a sigh of relief. There was no way he could explain what had happened, and it would be troublesome if Moody kept asking questions.

"Now that you've identified three suspects, what are you going to do next?" Ivan continued.

Moody said confidently:

"I have tested Snape and Karkaroff over the past few days, and have not been able to get anything out of them, so next time I will go straight to Crouch!

He may not be in the castle right now, but he will definitely be back for the first match of the Triwizard Cup. At that time, I will ask him out alone to test him and find out where he has been all this time!"

"However, I have always believed in the need to prepare for the worst, and Barty Crouch is not an easy man to deal with, and I know what he's capable of. In the event of a confrontation, I may not be able to restrain him, so I will need a helper…" Moody added.

"I can help you if you need me!" Ivan said bluntly. He was worried that he would not be able to find a reason to test Crouch, but, unfortunately, Moody delivered the opportunity to him.

"It would be best if you were willing to help!" Moody was delighted, as Crouch's unusual status meant that Dumbledore would not approve of his investigation, which meant that he would not be able to get help from other professors in the castle.

As for Ivan's strength, he had already experienced it in his Defence Against the Dark Arts class. Even he could not easily subdue him.

"It's just…isn't Mr. Crouch your superior? Is it wise for us to question him like this?" Yvonne looked at Moody hesitantly.

"I'm not an Auror anymore, and he's not the Chief Executive!" Moody said, trying to be clever.

However, Yvonne doubted that Crouch, even if he was Moody's superior, would have the nerve to investigate him!

"Oh yes, there's something I forgot to show you!" Moody exclaimed, suddenly remembering something. He hurried to the corner of the office and opened one of the boxes, pulling out a piece of parchment with burnt corners.

"Recognise it?" Moody asked, handing Ivan the parchment.

"What?" Ivan asked, reaching out to take a look at the note the Goblet of Fire had spit out.

"Handwriting! I mean handwriting! You know what I mean…" Moody said impatiently.

Yvonne looked at the parchment again and saw that the handwriting was unique, and realised that Moody was trying to track down the mole by writing.

It must be said that Moody was observant enough to pick up on details that others would not have noticed, and he had not previously noticed that handwriting could be used to trace who was behind it.

"I'm sorry, but I've never seen anything like it either! I don't think it's anyone I know…" Yvonne searched her memory but could not recall anything.

Disappointed, Moody sighed and said, "I spent some time collecting all the students' names and comparing them, but nobody matched!"

The whole school?

Yvonne looked at Moody in surprise, wondering how he had managed to collect them…

Wait a minute… could it be the homework that he usually kept?!

Ivan's expression became very strange.

It was so convenient to be a professor, as Moody was able to get samples of all the students' handwriting just by giving them homework.

However, he was amazed that Moody was able to come up with such a good idea. If he hadn't been warned, he would never have guessed that his handwriting had been investigated.

"What about Crouch's writing? Did you confirm it?" Ivan asked.

"I saw his writing when I served under him, and it's in a very different style! But we can't rule out the possibility that he had it written in advance and then brought it over!" Moody growled.

Ivan nodded, meaning there was nothing they could do except hope to get information out of Crouch, which explained Moody's willingness to go after his former boss.

"Anyway, let's set the meeting with Crouch after the first match and I'll let you know when!" Moody said.

The conversation lasted the better part of an hour, and by the time Ivan came out of Moody's office, it was dawn.

Ivan, cold and hungry, rubbed his empty stomach and decided against going to the kitchen to find the house-elves. It was too late to bother them, so he decided to just have breakfast.

… .

Early in the morning, Ivan yawned after a quick nap and followed the group to the Great Hall for breakfast.

Harry was just as listless as he was.

Having witnessed the dragon's power and brutality the previous night, Harry was under so much pressure that he did not sleep well all night. In his dreams, he encountered the dragon, which breathed fire and swallowed him whole.

Hermione couldn't help but scream after hearing Harry's account of the night before. "Is the Ministry crazy? They want you to deal with—"

"Against a dragon!" Hermione said, forcing her voice down so that no one else could hear.

"Who knows? Maybe the Ministry thinks it's more exciting!" Ivan muttered as he wolfed down a large cream muffin.

"Exciting? It'll get you killed! Not many wizards are capable of subduing a dragon on their own…" Hermione looked furious.

"Well, what can we do? We can't change the game… let's figure out how to deal with them."

Harry's face was full of worry, and he had lost his appetite for food, flipping through How to Deal with Dangerous Creatures in an attempt to find a way out.

"How about a Stunning Charm? That's how Professor McGonagall subdued Norbert last time!" Hermione suggested.

"Dragons are very resistant to magic, and if Norbert hadn't been so young, the Stunning Spell wouldn't have worked! And you can't expect Harry to have Professor McGonagall's level of magic…" Ivan cautioned.