Chapter 374 Dirty Blood (2 in 1)

The moment she saw Barty Jr, Assia's entire body froze.

There were seldom any students passing by at this corner of the stairs, and now they stood alone, just the two of them.

"Grrr, Professor Crouch."

She could only bow her head and call out the Professor's name, and then nothing more was done, let alone refuse.

Not to mention the already cowardly Assia, even a random pureblood student could only behave submissively in front of Barty Jr.

After he had finished speaking, he turned and walked towards his office.

And Assia could only follow him with a pale face.

The worst possible scenario had already crossed the girl's mind; it was a major breach of school rules in this Castle for either purebloods or half-bloods to have private contact with the enslaved Mudbloods, let alone Dumbledore's group during the Triwizard Tournament.

It hadn't been long since she had met Hermione and returned to the Castle, and now she was blocked in the middle of the path by Barty Junior, so Assia didn't see any other possibility.

Soon, in Barty Jr.'s office, Assia stood facing the Professor of Pureblood House's Charms class.

Compared to Snape's Deputy Headmaster's office, Barty Jr.'s Professor's office looked much more refined in contrast. In addition to books and materials that looked and felt precious, the bookcases held some porcelain and carvings with introspective colours and exquisite workmanship.

The floor is covered with soft cashmere carpets, and a magnificent crystal chandelier dangles from the ceiling.

Snape's office could well be called shabby compared to what Barty Jr. had here.

"I have heard that you have been getting close to those people at the edge of the Forbidden Forest lately?"

Barty Jr. asked casually as he looked down at the collected Charms assignments on his desk and picked up the parchment.

However, upon hearing his question, Assia's entire body trembled violently, her face had turned from pale to ghastly white, her two slim hands gripped the robe in front of her uneasily, even her breath was held back, and she couldn't utter a word.

"Don't be nervous, I can certainly understand why you did what you did, Floyd's kid and her group gives you a hard time and are bent on getting you out of school, and that Flint punk actually wants to use those girls to push you hard enough to get you to finally seek help from him, so he can control you better and play you around without having to worry about being responsible or fearing getting reprimanded as a result of his family knowing."

As she listened to Barty Jr's light-hearted account of the situation she was facing, there was not much desperation or nervousness on Assia's bleak face at this point, instead there was a gradual numbness.

A numbness to herself, to the future, to what she had been put through.

Barty Jr. casually marked an A on the assignment he was grading in his hand and then glanced up at the girl who stood there with her head hung low, as hollow as a rag doll that had no life in it.

"When it comes to such things, you yourself know that even if you finally give in and submit yourself to that waste of space Flint and get his temporary protection, it won't help at all, instead Floyd's jealousy will become even stronger and sooner or later the two of them will become a family, as they have been betrothed to each other since they were children. At that time, Flint will certainly not risk offending his other half to protect you anymore, and the best outcome for you and your parents at that time will be to lose all your jobs, properties and income in the magical world and become beggars in Knockturn Alley, and of course, the probable outcome is that there will be no more Konrad family in the British magical world in the future."

He put down those assignments in his hands and looked up.

"So you've actually chosen to endure Floyd's tortures, haven't you? No matter what you're about to go through, at least the only person who will bear the consequences, in the end, will be yourself without involving your family, a brave decision, truly brave, Konrad."

The gentle encouragement and acknowledgement made Assia's body tremble slightly, and instead of the deadly numbness caused by Barty Jr. talking through everything she had been through, she started to whimper, her eyes already red, and she looked at Barty in incredulity.

Barty's smile was so warm and friendly, like a spiritual mentor rescuing a lost girl.

"Pra… Professor Crouch."

Once again Assia's voice trembled as she called out Barty Jr.'s name, this time with hope in her voice.

She thought of Professor Greengrass, of the professors who had never shown their despise for the blood they were born with despite being purebloods.

The words of Barty Jr. sparked hope within her; perhaps all those rumours about Professor Crouch before were false?

Like the false rumours about Hermione and the other students, perhaps Professor Crouch was misunderstood and had never looked down on any half-blood students, but rather was as gentle and polite as he had always appeared to be, a professor who truly cared for each and every one of his students?

But the very next moment she raised her head in hope, something heavy hit her head hard!

The force was so great that Assia stumbled and almost fell to the ground, while the sharp stabbing pain from the top of her head continued to stimulate her back to consciousness from that blackened and almost disoriented daze.

"Bang!"

The heavy book that had smashed into Assia's head fell to the floor with a dull thud.

As Assia stared dumbly at Crouch, whose gentle smile still hadn't faded from his face, scarlet blood seeped through her pale blonde hair, trailing slowly down her forehead across her cheeks and finally converging in a bead on her chin.

"Why. Professor."

The girl could only ask the question, helpless and bewildered.

The smile on Barty Jr.'s face did not half diminish but rather grew more and more pleasant as if at the sight of such a change and reaction from Assia.

"Why? There is no why, Konrad. You are indeed very brave, but why did you end up accepting that mudblood's help when you had already made such a brave decision? If only you had refused her, this matter would soon have reached its best outcome, no? Flint would have given up his illusions about you, Floyd would have completed her revenge and kept her marriage, and you would have been dealt with as the most fundamental problem. Why did you end up with the illusion that you could still live and breathe safely? Thinking that little mudblood could save you?"

"Pop."

The blood dripped out onto the clean white cashmere carpet, leaving a small spot of glaring blood-red.

Assia could no longer open her mouth in the face of Barty Jr.'s questioning, her gaze was as hollow and dead as a stone statue that had no life in it.

The experience of hope raised from despair and then shattered the very next second after it had risen was something no one could bear.

It was as desperate as falling into the abyss.

Barty stood up from his place, with wand in hand, he gingerly walked over to Assia.

He reached out his hand and gently stroked Assia's scarlet blood-stained face.

"What a poor child, Assia, to be tricked by that gang into thinking you can still escape your fate when all you have to do is resign yourself to it. See, they are the greatest scourge there is, the ones responsible for destabilising the magical world today, and the only thing that would be best for us would be to kill them all and send them off to Azkaban to be food for the dementors, wouldn't it?"

There was no emotion in Assia's eyes, and she just looked at him vacantly as if she had become mute in the face of Barty's words.

Barty Jr. withdrew his blood-stained hand, rubbing the sticky blood between the tips of his forefinger and thumb, then placed it at the tip of his nose and sniffed it, and his lips showed an undisguised sneer and contempt.

"What a dirty blood."

He waved his wand, and the scarlet between his fingers disappeared in an instant, and the next moment he raised it again and tapped it on Assia's forehead.

There was no incantation, nor one could feel any kind of change in Assia's entire being, but there was just an inexplicable feeling coming from the girl's body.

Barty Jr. moved closer to Assia and whispered in her ear.

"If you know that you are certain to die, you must want to give your most treasured possessions to your most precious friend, right? It's a good thing, young Konrad, it couldn't be better, and you can be bold enough to do it."

There was still no response from Assia, but Barty Jr. knew that the preparations he needed to make were completely done.

He tapped the girl's head with his wand anew, altering her memory after meeting him at the corner of the stairs, then sat back in his seat and continued to grade his students' assignments.

It wasn't until three or four minutes later that Assia came to her senses in that state where she looked like she had lost her soul, and the blood on her face had by now pretty much dried up.

"So you've reflected on your mistake? Konrad." Barty Jr. said without looking up.

Assia nodded with a small sob.

"I... I know I was wrong, Professor, and I have no right to come to you and accuse Miss Floyd of anything."

"You know you're wrong, so I won't give you any more punishment other than that, go to the school hospital wing and get that head wound healed."

"Go-Goodbye, Professor Crouch."

Assia bowed to Barty Jr. before leaving the office, and all that remained was the striking patch of scarlet on the cashmere carpet.

***

Jon had heeded Dumbledore's words and set aside half an hour every day after dinner to learn to dance from Rosier.

But to be honest, it wasn't just a matter of him resisting it, he really didn't have any amazing talent in it either.

"Watch your step, Professor Green, no need to be so formal, I wouldn't blame you for anything even if you stepped on me."

Jon knew of course that Rosier wouldn't blame him for it, but in any case, facing such an old lady now, Jon just couldn't bear to do anything disrespectful to her at all.

"I'm sorry, Professor Rosier, I feel like I haven't made much progress in a week of practice."

"You're just not skilled yet, no one is born knowing something and the same goes for dancing, there's still quite a bit of time before the Ball, don't apologise for that."

Rosier reassured.

"That's all the teaching we have for today, I should get back to my rest too."

Jon politely said goodnight to the Deputy Headmistress, and then the two parted from this Professor's Common Room.

It was still early and Jon had no intention of going to bed at this hour, there was nothing to do in the wagon, so he went to the front of the wagon's driver's seat to catch the evening breeze outside.

Hagrid wasn't here, he had his own room in the wagon when the wagon wasn't in action and wouldn't be in the driver's seat all the time.

So Jon occupied the wide seat he was sitting in all for himself, which for Hagrid would have been a normal bench, but for Jon, it perfectly well could have been called a bed.

And just as he was sitting on that 'bed', ready to look for Hagrid's private stash of snacks to add to his menu, a voice suddenly sounded not far from him.

"Mr Green, Master has finally sent Dobby to you, saying he wants to meet with you!"

Jon looked up and saw that Dobby was standing in a tree not far from the wagon, it looked like he had been there for some time and had been waiting for Jon to come out.

Hearing his words, interest rose in Jon's mind.

"What did he tell you to do?"

Dobby jumped down from the tree and proceeded to walk to the front of the wagon, and stood right in front of Jon.

"Master told Dobby to approach Mr Green when no one else was present, and then told Dobby to tell Mr Green that he would be waiting for Mr Green's visit with the young lord at the Hog's Head Inn in Hogsmeade on the last night of November."

Jon asked with interest.

"Are you sure it is The Hog's Head Inn?"

"Yes, Dobby remembered correctly, it is The Hog's Head Inn!"

Jon was sure Lucius was unaware of the relationship between the owner of the Hog's Head Inn and Dumbledore, that is, he didn't know that the place he had chosen was actually the enemy's home base?

"What makes him so sure I'll be there?" Jon then asked.

Dobby recalled for a moment before he said.

"Master said that he would use his original face to meet Mr Green on that occasion, which in itself would be a kind of concession and handing Mr Green leverage which Mr Green wouldn't possibly refuse as long as he is a smart man."

Jon couldn't help but laugh.

"Whether I'm a smart man or not is uncertain, but this master of yours, he's certainly a smart man or at least someone who's making himself look smart."

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