Chapter 378: The shocking truth

The conversation continued in the empty hallway.

"I don't blame him, but Barty Crouch's practices and concepts in other things are definitely beyond your imagination!" Sirius lowered his voice and said seriously, "Ivan, I don't know how much you know and what you want to do, but you have to know that Crouch is a hard and ruthless man, even more ruthless than his opponents, the Death Eaters who use dark magic. He advocated violence against violence and authorized the use of Unforgivable Curses against suspects."

"Yes, that has given him quite a following!" Mr. Weasley said uncomfortably, looking around and making sure no one was eavesdropping on their conversation. "At the time, a lot of people thought he was doing things right, and there were a lot of witches and wizards clamoring for him to take over as Minister of Magic. His own reputation had already far surpassed that of others in the Ministry. When Voldemort disappeared, it seemed like it was only a matter of time before he got the job."

"But the irony is..." Sirius smiled sternly. "At that time, Crouch's own son was captured. He was with a group of Death Eaters who managed to get out of Azkaban. Apparently they were trying to find Voldemort and return him to power."

The smile on his face didn't fade, staring at the heavy cubicle not far away. A slanted sign on the cubicle read, "AUROR HEADQUARTERS."

"Next, everyone should know!" Sirius continued, "You can imagine this was a real shock to the old man. He should have spent a little more time at home with his family, shouldn't he? He should have left the office early once in a while to hear from his own son."

"Yes!" Ivan nodded.

Not just Crouch, but everyone should know more about Batty Crouch Jr.

If Mr. Weasley and Sirius knew his true face and his position among the Death Eaters, they would be surprised.

"I've seen that boy, a coward who only knew how to cry, who looked very weak." Sirius recalled, "I was in Azkaban myself when they brought him in, and he was next to my cell. I remember him crying every day. When they arrested the boy, everyone with him was mortal. I can bet the poor man has been in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Maybe it's not as simple as you think!" Ivan said cautiously. "My findings show some very interesting information. He was locked up in Azkaban because he tortured the Longbottom couple with the Cruciatus Curse. I asked Professor Lupin to help me get in touch with witnesses to that incident..."

Ivan knew a lot. Mr. Weasley and Sirius were obviously very surprised.

"In general, Barty Crouch Jr. is not simple." Ivan concluded, retelling the information he had received.

"Maybe, but what does this mean?" Sirius said impatiently. "I saw the Dementors bring him in. I saw them through the iron bars of the cell door. He was nineteen at the most, and they put him in a cell next to me. At night, he screamed at his mother. But a few days later, he became silent, and remained silent all the time. In that ghost place, everyone was like that, only occasionally screaming in their sleep..."

"Everyone knows that after being locked in that place for a year, he died and paid for his crimes!" Mr. Weasley said hastily. "Well, we can't just stand here and talk about these things."

"Yeah, what you need to do now is write a letter to your parents!" Sirius patted Ivan on the shoulder, "Maybe you should write a letter to Remus too."

"Come on, what do you want to drink? I've got there..." said Mr. Weasley.

"Wait, there's more!" Ivan quickly raised his voice and shouted, "Barty Crouch Jr. might not be dead!"

Mr. Weasley and Sirius paused, their eyes fixed on the serious Ivan. There was a funny expression on their faces, with a strong desire to laugh, but they struggled to contain it.

"He must have died, right in front of me. I witnessed his death with my own eyes." Sirius said bitterly. "Since you want to know, then I'll tell you. He wasn't the only one. Most of them go mad there, and many stop eating at the end."

Sirius looked into Ivan's eyes, and his hoarse voice slowly described the past events.

"They lost the will to live. You could always tell when a death was coming, because the dementors sensed it, got excited." Sirius said, "That boy looked very ill when he arrived. Crouch being an important member of the Ministry, he and his wife were allowed a deathbed visit. He was carrying his wife in his arms and passed my cell. He died right there, apparently, shortly thereafter, from grief. Desperate, just like the boy. Crouch never came for his son's body. The dementors buried him outside the fortress. I saw them do it."

Ivan wanted to speak, but Sirius stopped him.

"Think it over, isn't it very sad?" his face wore a cruel smile. "Just when old Crouch thought he'd done it, he lost everything. One moment, a hero, about to become Minister of Magic... In the blink of an eye, his son was dead, his wife was dead, the family name was disgraced, and there was a great fall in his popularity."

"I remember the newspapers at the time, all reporting on this affair." Mr. Weasley added, "Once the boy died, people began to feel a little more sympathy for the son and began to wonder how a nice boy from a good family had gone so far astray. The conclusion was that his father never cared much for him. So Cornelius Fudge got the top job, and Crouch was shunted off to the Department of International Magical Cooperation."

"Well, after knowing all this, what is it that you're still questioning now?" Sirius asked Ivan. "I don't know how much information you have, but there's no doubt that Barty Crouch Jr. died."

"No, that's not the whole story. Barty Crouch may have gotten his son out of Azkaban!" Ivan gasped and decided to say it straight, "Depending on Barty Crouch's character and style of action, we can reason..."

"Reasoning?! This is ridiculous. I saw him die before I did, and you're here to reason with me." Sirius sighed and said in a loud tone, "Ivan, I think you've been under too much pressure lately..."

"It wasn't him who died, it was his mother!" said Ivan loudly. "When you saw that visit, Barty Crouch changed them."