Chapter 425 "Loyal Barty"

In the dungeon, Barty Crouch Jr. was firmly bound to a chair. The clothes on his body smelled of decay. His beard almost covered half of his face, and his cheekbones were prominent. It looks like someone who hasn't eaten a meal for several years.

Because he has been locked in a dungeon without sunlight for many years, Barty's face is pale, and his hair is lifeless, like dead grass on the snow.

"Here comes your master, Barty Crouch Jr."

Barty's pupils trembled after the man in black said these words. He raised his head in disbelief and stretched his neck hard to see the person behind the man in black.

Voldemort, who was held in his arms, let out an eerie laugh. His voice was weak, but it was indeed the one Barty Jr. was familiar with.

"Barty..." The man in black stepped aside, and Voldemort was carried in front of Barty Jr.

Barty's eyes widened, and his eyes were full of great shock.

"Master, my respected master..." Barty murmured.

Voldemort made a hoarse sound before revealing his terrifying but weak form.

Barty's pupils trembled and asked, "Master, what happened?"

Voldemort replied coldly, "Barty. I am both happy and disappointed that you knew me. It means that you are still loyal. Even if your master temporarily loses part of his power, you can still remember and recognize me. This is much better than those traitors who say they are loyal."

"But my disappointment was..." Voldemort's voice turned cold, "How did you become so stupid? That kid named Sean Wallup pretended to be me. You were so naive to believe him? It makes me confused, sad, and angry."

"Where's that Barty I trusted? Where's that scheming, vengeful, cold, cruel Barty Crouch Jr.? You've fallen into the same side as those idiots."

Barty's mouth opened and closed, but no words came out.

The man in black glanced at him and said with a sneer, "Voldemort, your servant seems to be just listening to what he believes."

Barty lowered his head in silence, not knowing what he was thinking.

The man in black continued, "When we started to infiltrate the British Ministry of Magic, we found that someone took us one step ahead of us and took control of Barty Crouch, the new minister."

"I recall the commendable point from him. He uses the Imperius Curse very well. His father talks to so many people every day and attends various meetings every day. In this kind of situation, no one has discovered that the Imperius Curse has controlled him."

"I have to say that he is very good in the Imperius Curse, of course," the black-robed man laughed, "How can someone who can use the Imperius Curse on his father not know this?"

"But he saved us a lot of trouble. The task of controlling the minister went smoothly. After all, he was already under control."

"We quickly emptied other high-level members of the British Ministry of Magic by controlling, seizing power, or isolating them. It didn't take long for the entire British Ministry of Magic to belong to us."

"And then we found this Barty Crouch Jr."

The man in black floated to the side of Voldemort and Barty Jr. He looked at Voldemort's appearance and said mockingly, "This gentleman who controlled his father thought he was one of our own."

"After all, you've worked with us for so long, and it's only natural that you tell some things to your colleagues, and then?"

The man in black turned his head and glanced at Barty, "He thinks we are enemies; he thinks that the Returners just want to steal the achievements of his great master."

"This lunatic took the lives of three people with the Killing Curse when we were most relaxed, stunned at least five people, and blew up half the living room. If it wasn't for me, he could even escape unscathed that night."

As he said that, the black-robed man's voice grew stronger, "Do you know what he's going to do if you let him get away with it, Mr. Voldemort?"

"Go and run after his master, that Sean Wallup."

"His devotion to you is impressive, but it is a pity that he has chosen the wrong person for his allegiance. Sean pretends to be you and dominates the Death Eaters, Mr. Voldemort. Your servant is flawless, but he has completely taken Sean for the real you."

The black-robed man became firmer as he talked. Barty seemed to cause them a lot of trouble when he was about to escape. Moreover, they didn't seem to ask anything after they locked Barty for so long.

"We've imprisoned him for so long. We just haven't heard anything about him. He's as smelly and hard as an old spot in a bathroom. He thinks he's loyal to you and doing the best job, but what he's doing is against us, against your collaborators, Mr Voldemort."

"Occlumency, Veritaserum, he almost made trouble for the Returners. I even wanted to dig his brain directly."

The man in black said coldly, "If it wasn't for the consideration that he is the most loyal subordinate you need, this man should already be queuing in front of the gate of hell by now."

The man said a lot as if he was complaining. Of course, if this scene fell into the eyes of normal people, they would think that the black man was trying to be mad at Voldemort.

Voldemort raised his head slowly at this time; his wrinkled, baby-like, noseless face showed no expression, and it was impossible to see what he was thinking.

"It's just a small trouble," Voldemort said coldly at last.

The man in black laughed mockingly, "The small problem is over here, Mr. Voldemort. Take back your loyal servant."

Voldemort ignored him but turned to Barty, "Barty, look at me."

Barty twisted uncomfortably on the chair and raised his head slowly but didn't look at anyone present. His eyes wandered around, and he didn't know what he was thinking about.

"Barty, tell me, who is that man you swore allegiance to forever?"

Barty's lips twitched a few times, but the voice that came out was unusually firm, "Of course, it is the greatest Dark Lord, Voldemort. My life and my honor can only be dedicated to him."

Voldemort laughed, "This answer is satisfactory to me, Barty. You have done many stupid things, which is not like you at all, but I can give you another chance. Not because I am kind enough, but because you are loyal enough."

"Go and apologize to the Returners, and then, I allow you to continue to serve me and allow you to kiss my robe." Voldemort's voice was full of arrogance and pride when he said this.

"Really? Can I, master?" Barty still didn't dare to look directly but said lowly.

"Now is the moment when people are urgently needed, Barty. One mistake will not make me lose my trust in you. Although I am very disappointed in your ability to discern things, I will give you this chance to prove yourself again."

"That's really great..." Barty whimpered as if his benevolent master had moved him.

Voldemort stopped him, "Your crying makes me sick, Barty. Look at me; I will not allow my most trusted servant to become such a cowardly look."

"Yes, master!"

Voldemort glanced at the black-robed man.

"Come on, look at me, Barty," Voldemort's voice became illusory and bewitched, "Open your mind to me; I'll look at your memory; I'll look at what Sean Wallup did to you."

"Yes, master." Barty nodded.

He finally raised his head slowly. Voldemort got closer, and his eyes became illusory and deep. Barty's face was full of regret, remorse, and excitement, which satisfied Voldemort. Although he knew it was wrong, Voldemort knew that this was not a betrayal.

Wallup absorbed part of his soul, and his wand was also in his hands. With these and the unique spell in his memory, it was not difficult for that kid to imitate him. At that time, he was so weak that he didn't even dare to respond to the calls of the Death Eaters just to be on the safe side.

Under such circumstances, Sean took advantage of the situation. Although this made Voldemort angry and wanted to kill the idiots, he still maintained a certain degree of sanity.

But Barty's allegiance is enough for him. Everything can be easily solved as long as he can create a new body and restore his strength.

Thinking about it, Voldemort looked at Barty's face. He wanted to see what Sean did to make his passionate believers believe in him. However, his Legilimency did not enter Barty's mind. He was blocked.

Voldemort saw a mocking and grim face. The expression on Barty's face disappeared without a trace, and he spat hard directly at Voldemort. The saliva hit Voldemort's face, and he didn't even go mad but froze on the spot.

Voldemort flew into a rage, "Do you know what are you doing?!"

Voldemort just stretched out a finger, and a green light hit Barty. However, the green light was blocked, and it was the man in black who did it.

"We can't kill him. He has crucial information about Sean."

Voldemort shrieked, "You wretch! How dare you treat your master like this?!"

Barty laughed mockingly. He didn't even care about the green light passing by. He was just laughing crazily. Voldemort gradually calmed down, but his eyes were extremely cold. Barty smiled for a long time before recovering. He quickly stuck out his tongue and licked his lips with a distorted smile on his face.

"I told you from the first day you caught me I won't betray my master!"

Both Voldemort and the man in black were furious, wanting to kill him on the spot.

Barty was still mocking the two of them, "Pretending to be my master? You guys are very elaborate, and even the most fanatical believer like me can't see the flaws. But Sean Wallup is my real master, the great Voldemort has already found a new body."

"You can't be clearer about this. Do you still want me to emphasize it to you?"

"Idiots!" Barty laughed, "You won't get any useful information from me, even if you kill me!"

Voldemort's body was bobbing up and down, gasping for breath with anger, and even a look of disbelief was in his eyes because he couldn't understand what Sean did to convince Barty that he was the real Voldemort.

Barty still mocked them, "Don't use those stupid tricks in front of me. This is my huge dereliction of duty. The master will be very disappointed with me if I do something wrong, but I won't make any mistakes anymore."

"Silence!" Voldemort yelled angrily and grabbed his mouth. Although his mouth was still opening and closing, he could no longer make any sound.

The man in black walked outside. Voldemort was also carried and followed.

The dungeon was closed again, and the man in black looked at Voldemort, "Wallup has completely brainwashed Barty. He will not believe you."

Voldemort snorted coldly, "I might have to forcefully read his memory directly."

"Oh? Are you not worried about the lives of your capable subordinates?"

"That's an Idiot, what's the use of him?"

The man in black laughed, "Reading useful information is one thing, but you also want to see how Wallup brainwashed him, right?"

Voldemort didn't speak anymore, but the anger in his eyes couldn't be stopped.