CHAPTER {161-163}

****THE-ERROR-THEY-MADE (V)****

The first thing Harry wanted to know was how Crouch Jr. was still alive. It took him a bit to find the memories he was looking for as Crouch Jr. wasn't completely sane, so his Mind was a bit of a mess, but as soon as he started to view the memories, he felt his temper flare as he finally realized what truly transpired during his escape.

Apparently, Crouch Jr. was a crybaby who ended up begging for his mother to save him from his father when he was being sentenced to Azkaban for life in front of the Wizengamot. Lidia Crouch wasn't able to handle that and then she begged Crouch Sr. to save him as her last wish. Then one day, Crouch Sr. arrived at Azkaban along with his sick wife to visit their son and using his influence, he switched his son with his sick wife using Polyjuice.

Lidia Crouch died within a few hours and she was buried at the burial grounds of Azkaban while Crouch Jr. was placed under the Imperius Curse by his own father for the next thirteen years. Unfortunately, for Crouch Sr., his son managed to break free during the Quidditch World Cup and stole Ronald Weasley's Wand, which he later used to cast the Dark Mark at the Quidditch World Cup.

Then by some luck, Crouch Jr. was knocked out when he was struck by a Stunning Charm when he tried to escape through the forest, but later he was discovered by his father and once again, he was put under the Imperius Curse by his own father. Then sometime later, Peter Pettigrew arrived at his house with an ugly baby like thing and ambushed his father, breaking him from the Imperius Curse.

Harry almost burst out laughing when he realized that the baby like thing was none other than Voldemort… After that, Crouch Sr. was put under an Imperius Curse by Crouch Jr. before Voldemort finally revealed his grand plan to use the Triwizard Tournament to bring Harry Potter back to Britain and later kidnap him for some sort of Ritual.

Now, the Ritual was something Harry was really interested in, but unfortunately for him, Crouch Jr. didn't know anything about the Ritual…

Though he was certain that there was a person who knew everything about the Ritual. So, Harry decided to see where Voldemort was staying for the time being, but unfortunately for him, that particular piece of knowledge was being protected by some sort of Oath. Harry was certain that Crouch Jr. knew where his Master was staying, but it was simply impossible for him to divulge that information to anyone else.

Voldemort had opted to play it safe, just in case Crouch Jr. was captured and interrogated…

Either way, Harry had to admit, it was a really nice plan and anyone in his place would have fallen into the trap without even realizing what was truly happening… Crouch Jr. was given the responsibility to make sure that his name came out of the Goblet and he managed to carry out his task somewhat seamlessly by masquerading as Argus Filch, the caretaker of Hogwarts.

Currently, the real Argus Filch was stowed away inside a secret room Voldemort told him about and Crouch Jr. was also using the room to brew the Polyjuice Potion. Then there was something else Harry was curious about… He wondered how Crouch Jr. was able to fool Mrs Norris. It was something necessary, but he still wanted to know, just to sate his curiosity.

Harry discovered that he was right… Mrs Norris was way more smarter than a normal cat should be and he was sure that Mrs Norris wasn't a kneazle. Alas, Crouch Jr. also discovered that he decided to use real Argus Filch to keep the cat in line as Crouch Jr. discovered that there was a special bond between the cat and the Hogwarts' caretaker.

Now that all of his curiosities were sated, he decided to retreat from Crouch Jr.'s mind… Moments later, he pulled out Lucius' Wand and pointed it at Crouch Jr. "Imperio" Harry said and Crouch Jr.'s eyes glazed over as the Spell settled on him. After that, Harry raised his head to look at Nigel. "Let him speak" Harry ordered and Nigel simply removed the gag from Crouch Jr.'s mouth.

"Summon your house elf" Harry ordered.

"Winky" Crouch Jr. called out without missing a beat and moments later, the said creature arrived with a small pop beside Crouch Jr.

"Avada Kedavra" Harry muttered while pointing Lucius' Wand at the house elf. The green beam struck the creature and the house elf slumped down on the floor, completely lifeless before she could even realize what was happening around her. Winky was extremely loyal to Crouch Jr., which made her an extremely dangerous threat in Harry's eyes, but he didn't want to cause her any unnecessary pain, so he decided to send her away as painlessly as he could.

"What did you learn?" Gellert asked, looking completely relaxed while Narcissa was trembling at the sight of someone getting killed by the Killing Curse right in front of her. Yes, it was a house elf, but it was still a living breathing creature and the boy killed her just like that…

Meanwhile, Lucius was also terrified out of his Mind. He had grown up hearing stories of Gellert Grindelwald, the man who brought Europe to its knees, was sitting right there, looking exactly like he looked decades ago… He didn't know what to think. He knew he was fucked. He never thought that Harry Potter could be so strong, anyone in his place would have thought the same… Alas, now, he was regretting his foolish actions.

"Quite a bit" Harry answered mysteriously before returning to the couch. "Gag him back" Harry ordered and Nigel followed the order without any hesitation. Then Harry turned toward Lucius and the man simply averted his gaze in fear… "Lucius, come here" Harry ordered, but Lucius simply whimpered and refused to move. Kenta, who was standing near Lucius kicked Lucius on the butt as hard as he could, making the man stumble forward.

Harry gave Kenta a grateful look before pointing the Wand in his hand toward Lucius and a stream of lightning came out from the tip of the Wand and struck Lucius. The man dropped to the ground while spasming violently… Lucius gritted his teeth as he started to feel his Mind blanking out as the lightning coursed through his body, but before he could completely black out, the pain stopped.

"I hope you have learned your lesson" Harry said in an amused tone before removing the man's left sleeve with a flick of his empty hand, revealing the Dark Mark for everyone to see. "Lucius, looks like your Master is returning, how does that make you feel?" Harry asked, looking amused. The way his eyes grew wide at the revelation was a sight. Then he turned toward Narcissa. "What about you, Narcissa?" Harry asked.

"...He is not my Master" Narcissa answered after hesitating for a bit.

"Good for you" Harry said with a nod of his nod. "If you were, then I would have to kill you" Harry stated, looking like he was stating facts. Narcissa felt relieved at the revelation and Harry decided to come back to her after he finished dealing with Lucius. "Lucius, I am not going to lie to you, I am going to kill you… From now on, I am going to make your life as miserable as possible, but the survival of your Family Legacy will depend on the way you behave" Harry revealed with a grin.

Lucius was in so much pain that he could barely look upward… His whole body was screaming in pain and he was so tired that he could just fall asleep, but the pain was preventing him from doing that… The words barely registered in his Mind before he hissed in pain when Harry grabbed his left arm and pulled at it. He screamed when he felt a searing sensation in his arm. He felt like his arm was being burned and after what felt like minutes, Harry finally released his arm.

Lucius stared at the spot where his Dark Mark used to be and he was horrified to find that his Dark Mark was replaced by another Mark… "Now, you won't be able to run off to Voldemort to save your ass" Harry said in an amused tone and those were the last things he heard before he finally passed out.

Then Harry's gaze finally shifted toward Narcissa, who was watching everything with a look of apprehension on her face… "Step forward, Narcissa" Harry called out softly and Narcissa felt her stomach drop at his words. She didn't want to be treated as Lucius so she stood up even though it was reluctant on her part. Her knees were shaking like thin twigs and her face was completely pale. She somehow managed to step forward and the dam finally broke down as tears started to roll down her cheeks.

"Harry, please…" Narcissa begged, but Harry simply gestured her to remain silent. He stood up and gently grabbed her left arm.

"There are two mistakes you made…" Harry said softly as he placed the tip of his Wand on her wrist, making her whimper fearfully. "First of all, I don't trust you" Harry said before the polite look on his face disappeared, only to be replaced by a look of fury. "And then your biggest mistake, you called my mother a 'Mudblood'" Harry hissed furiously and Narcissa squealed in pain as she felt herself getting branded like a common animal.

This was the biggest humiliation for her… The pain finally disappeared and Narcissa stared at her arm, which was now marred by a brand and she almost lost her footing as her head started to spin. Though, Harry didn't allow her to fall and he helped her to one of the couches… It took her minutes to finally calm down and Harry decided to give her all the time she needed to regain her bearings.

"Narcissa" Harry called, making her fearfully look at him. "There are a few things I cannot forgive and someone calling my mother a 'Mudblood' is one of them. You will be treated with utmost respect and now that you carry my Mark, you are one of my own, so I hope that there won't be a repeat of this incident" Harry explained calmly while looking straight into Narcissa's eyes. "Do you understand?" Harry asked and Narcissa frantically nodded her head.

"Good" Harry nodded his head in satisfaction.

'Boss, we have him' Harry received a message and it made him grin. He located his followers through the Mark and opened a portal for them, only for them to step through the portal with Crouch Sr. floating behind them.

"Place him beside him" Harry ordered and the group who went to kidnap Crouch Sr. quickly followed the order. Now, he could finally punish the Crouch duo, but before that, he needed to invite one more person to the show. So with a vicious grin on his face, he pulled out the Resurrection Stone from his robes…

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****THE-ERROR-THEY-MADE (VI)****

With this stunt of his, a lot of people were going to learn the existence of the Resurrection Stone, but every single one of them except for the Crouch duo carried the Sigil of the Lost, so he would be aware of their treacherous thoughts… Gellert noticed the Resurrection Stone and perked up, excited to see one of the Deathly Hallows in action. With a determined look on his face, Harry decided to summon Lidia Crouch.

His mother would have also done the same, so he could understand why Lidia did what she did, but that didn't mean he was going to forgive her… Leaving everything aside, Crouch Jr. was responsible for his Godmother's insanity, so by extension, Crouch Jr. was responsible for his horrible childhood. So, there was no way Crouch Jr. was going to have a painless or quick death… His fate was going to be most horrible.

Harry turned the Stone thrice in his hand, summoning the shade of Lidia Crouch. At her appearance, a few gasps were heard and Crouch Jr.'s eyes grew wide at the woman's appearance… The woman looked around in confusion before her gaze finally found her husband and her beloved son. This made her even more confused as the last thing she remembered was the ceiling of her son's Azkaban cell.

"What is happening?" She asked in confusion as he kept looking around.

"I am the one to blame" Harry said as he stepped forward, making the dead woman turn toward him. "First allow me to introduce myself, my name is Harry Potter" Harry introduced himself and the woman's eyes grew wide at the recognition. Harry didn't miss that and decided to continue, looking pleased. "Good. You recognize me. This makes it easier for me" Harry declared, sounding pleased with himself.

The rest of the occupants of the room were simply holding their breaths as they didn't know what else to do. A couple of Gellert's followers, who were quite close to Gellert during the War, were able to recognize the artifact Harry had used to summon Lidia Crouch as Gellert was obsessed with Deathly Hallows. Narcissa was also able to recognize the Resurrection Stone and she was left shell-shocked as she realized that the artifacts in that children's fairy tale were real.

"Then you can understand how displeased I was when I learned that your scum of a son was still alive and free" Harry growled angrily, making the woman stare at him in complete horror. She finally understood what was happening.

"Please, don't do this… Please he is my only son" The woman begged, but Harry looked at her with an indifferent look on his face. "He is my baby boy" The woman wailed before she threw herself at Harry's feet, but the woman simply passed through his feet. "He made a mistake… He was young and he simply made a mistake. Please forgive him" The woman continued to beg.

"I know he is important to you and I know how you begged your husband to save him, but thanks to your husband, my innocent Godfather had to spend more than a decade in that hell hole… Now, how is that fair?" Harry asked with a sneer and woke up Crouch Sr. with a wave of his hand. The man blinked before looking around. He tried to say something, but he froze when his gaze found his begging wife on the floor, who was supposed to be dead.

Harry stared at Crouch Sr. for a moment before narrowing his eyes… He was certain that the man was under the influence of Crouch Jr.'s Imperius Curse, but there were no obvious signs of such, but Crouch Jr. was showing obvious signs… Harry knew that he was still inexperienced when it came to the utilization of the Imperius Curse, but he didn't know that the difference would be so vast… He could force anyone to bend to his will thanks to his raw Magic, but he still lacked experience.

Harry decided to drop the matter for the time being and move on… He looked at his feet where Lidia Crouch was still begging at him to spare her son. "Your husband will be the first to join you" Harry said viciously before he turned toward Crouch Sr. and moments later, his head was engulfed by a sphere of water. "Free him" Harry said to the man standing behind Crouch Sr. and the man immediately freed Crouch Sr. from the bounds.

Crouch Sr. immediately shot up from his seat and started to struggle as he wanted to escape the sphere to save himself from drowning, but no matter what he did, he couldn't get rid of the sphere. The man continued to flail around before he finally started to swallow water, unable to hold his breath anymore… Crouch Sr. finally slumped down on the floor and continued to swallow water, but after a few more seconds, he finally stopped struggling as life left his body.

Lidia simply stared at the body of her lifeless husband in pure terror…

"You are a very cruel boy, Harry" Gellert said, looking amused at Harry's action.

"Only to my enemies" Harry agreed before he turned toward Kenta. "Wake him up" Harry said while pointing at Lucius. Lucius woke up with a gasp when Kenta cast the Renervate Charm on him. "Lucius, get me some Unicorn Blood from your cellar" Harry ordered as he tossed Lucius' Wand to Lucius so that the man could unlock his cellar. Thanks to the trip to Lucius' memory lane, Harry was aware of all of his secrets.

The man didn't move for a second, before a pain shot through his left arm… Lucius looked up only to find Harry glaring at him which promised even more pain if he didn't start moving… Lucius was proud and haughty, but he was no fool, so he started to move. He tapped the floor with his Wand, unlocking the cellar. After nearly half a minute, Lucius returned with a vial of Unicorn Blood from the cellar.

Harry took the vial from Lucius, who flinched a bit when Harry was near him, but Harry paid him no mind. "This is Unicorn Blood and I am going to feed this to your son" Harry said as he showed off the vial to Lidia. At the woman's confused look, Harry decided to elaborate. "You see, this blood was acquired by a poacher who slayed a unicorn to acquire this, which means, this blood is Cursed" Harry explained with a grin.

"This will prevent a person from dying, but at a terrible cost… It will be a Cursed existence. Your son will be in so much pain, he will be begging to die, but death won't come to him" Harry revealed with a grin, making Lidia stare at him with pure terror before it finally turned into a look of resignation and disgust.

"You are a monster!!" The woman snarled at him in anger and Harry simply smiled at her.

"I am what people like your son turned me into… So, don't blame me, blame yourself, your husband, and your son" Harry said while slowly approaching Crouch Jr., and when he was finally in front of Crouch Jr., Harry removed his gag and the bindings before holding out the vial to the man. "Drink this" Harry ordered and the man grabbed the vial and drank the potion while Lidia kept screaming at her son, in a futile attempt to stop him from drinking the blood.

After that, Harry told Nigel to stun Crouch Jr. and take him away before he told the other followers including Gellert to remove the corpse of Winky and Crouch Sr. Then, he turned toward Narcissa, who was intentionally looking away from him… It was clear that she was terrified out of her mind and he was the reason behind her terror. "Narcissa, you may leave. Have a nice night" He said and he decided to skip another threat or warning as it wasn't necessary.

The woman robotically stood up and left the room. "Lucius, you may leave too, but it goes without saying, do not try anything foolish or you won't like the results…" Harry warned the man, who gave him a fearful nod before scurrying out of the room with his tail between his legs… "The show is over, Mrs Crouch, you should leave too" Harry said and dismissed the shade of Lidia Crouch, but the woman wasn't paying attention to him.

She was left completely broken at the fate of her son and Harry was pleased with the way the night turned out to be…

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****THE-WORLD-MOVES-ON (I)****

~~Longbottom Hall~~

Amelia stepped through the fireplace before removing the soot from her robes with a flick of her Wand. "Madam Bonsey, please follow Norg. Mistress be waiting for you in the drawing hall" The Longbottom house elf, Norg arrived with a soft pop before declaring with a respectful bow. This wasn't the first time Amelia was visiting the Longbottom Hall, but she still decided to follow Norg's lead.

"Show me the way" Amelia urged the house elf to start moving. The Longbottoms were originally Vikings and their Viking Ancestry was clearly visible thanks to the decorations on the walls. After all, the Longbottoms were quite proud of their Ancestry. Amelia finally arrived in the drawing room with Norg leading her and found Augusta was already waiting for her. "Thank you, Norg" Amelia thanked the house elf before she started to make her way to where Augusta was sitting.

"Good evening, Amelia. Have a seat" Augusta offered and Amelia gave her a grateful smile before taking the offered seat. "Tea?" Augusta offered.

"Yes, two sugars please" Amelia requested and Augusta offered her a teacup after dropping two sugar cubes in the cup.

"So, what brings you to my Hall at this time, Amelia? Your messenger wasn't forthcoming" Augusta asked curiously as she picked up her own teacup and took a small sip.

Amelia pondered how to approach the topic for the next few seconds while gently stirring her teacup before she finally decided to rip off the bandaid without any fanfare. "Voldemort is alive" Amelia revealed as she intently stared at Augusta. The older woman choked at the revelation before she settled on glaring at Amelia.

"If that was a joke, I am not laughing" Augusta growled coldly while glaring at Amelia.

"That's good because I am not joking" Amelia retorted firmly.

Augusta didn't say anything and simply kept staring at Amelia for the next few moments. "Do you have any proof?" Augusta asked, looking somewhat apprehensive. To be honest, she still wanted the revelation to be a cruel joke, after all, the War was still horrible that they were still trying to forget the nightmare.

"Yes, I do…" With that, Amelia started to reveal everything they have discovered regarding Voldemort's survival. Amelia wasn't worried that Augusta might betray them, after all, the woman has lost almost everything to the madman, though Amelia was planning to get a Secrecy Oath from the old battle ax so that nobody could forcefully extract the information from her.

After Amelia finally finished her explanation, Augusta didn't say anything for the next couple of minutes and simply kept tapping her fingers on the table before the contemplative look on her face was finally replaced by a determined look. "Okay, how can I help?" Augusta asked with determination clear in her voice, making Amelia smile winningly…

<Line Break> (The Next Day)

~~Headmaster's Office, Hogwarts~~

Albus slumped down in his chair with an extremely tired look on his face. He wanted to revisit the memory of the duel, but he was so busy dealing with the aftermath that he was only able to return to his office a few minutes ago…

Last night before he could finish fixing the hall, the other Professors arrived at the scene, so he was forced to come up with a story to appease them, but before revealing anything to Filius Flitwick and Aurora Sinistra, who were the first to arrive at the scene, he decided to summon the rest of the staff as he didn't want to repeat the story more than once.

Though for whatever reason, Argus Filch failed to answer his summons and Albus also failed to reach the man, so a search was commenced, but they still failed to find the man. So, Albus was forced to use the map to locate Argus and Albus was surprised to find the man in a room he didn't even know existed in the first place.

After arriving in the room, Albus was surprised to find that someone had been using the room as a secret Potions lab and from the ingredients he found inside the room, he was able to deduce the Potion that was being brewed in this room… After looking around for nearly half an hour, Albus finally found Argus stuffed inside a trunk.

Even though Albus wanted answers from the man, he was in no condition to answer his questions, as he was not in good shape, so Albus ended up using Legilimency on the man as Albus was desperate for answers. Albus easily recognized Bart Crouch Jr. from the memories and after that, it was pretty easy to connect the dots, which led Albus to realize that Harry didn't kidnap Barty Crouch Sr., but he kidnapped Barty Crouch Jr., who was posing as Argus Filch for the past couple of months…

Though Albus couldn't help but wonder how Harry was able to discover the plot when he failed to discover the conspiracy within his domain, especially with the map in his possession…

Albus was broken out of his musings when Fawkes trilled loudly, in an attempt to motivate him. Albus smiled at his familiar… "Thank you, Fawkes, I needed that" Albus said softly as he decided to revisit the memories of the duel instead of taking a nap. He knew that dark times were ahead and if he wanted to beat both Tom and Hadrian, then he couldn't rest.

It was clear that both Tom and Hadrian were already making their moves and he would be damned if he found himself on the back foot for the second time. For the Greater Good of Wizarding Britain, he had to win… There was no other option…

'Gellert is also somewhere out there' Albus remembered sombrely as he wondered what his old friend was up to. He decided to add another name to the list of his enemies even though he didn't want to… 'For the Greater Good, the Light must win' Albus vowed internally as the fire of determination burned clear in his eyes.

He had told his staff that someone broke into Hogwarts and when the Wards informed him about the intruder, he confronted the intruder, so a fight broke out between them when the intruder refused to surrender and since the face of the intruder was covered, he wasn't able to recognize them. It was a hard sell, but for the time being, his staff was appeased.

Albus leaned on the table with a thoughtful look on his face… He wondered if he could use this incident to get rid of Nymphadora Tonks. He didn't like anyone interfering in his matters, especially when he believed Hogwarts to be his domain. Maybe, this will teach Amelia a lesson and he could always reach out to Nymphadora after she was arrested. If he could get her into the Order, it would be a huge boon.

With his mind made up, he decided to contact Cornelius…

~~Riddle Manor, Little Hangleton~~

Voldemort was certain that something was amiss… Barty had failed to send him a report last night and he was yet to send his report this morning… "Wormtail!" Voldemort hissed loudly, and after a couple of seconds, the cowardly man stumbled through the door before finally kneeling down in front of him. He wasn't pleased by the display of the cowardly man in the slightest, but Pettigrew was the only servant he had in his service at this moment.

To be honest, it was downright humiliating for him, but what other choice did he have?

"My Lord" The cowardly man stuttered out a greeting.

"Start collecting the Potion ingredients" Voldemort ordered, making Peter blink in confusion before he started to sputter.

"But what about the plan, My Lord?" Peter asked fearfully and Voldemort had to hold himself back from Cursing the man.

"Are you questioning me, Wormtail?" Voldemort asked with a dangerous edge in his voice and Peter immediately paled at the subtle threat.

"Of course not, My Lord!" Peter blurted out hurriedly. "I will start right away" He added fearfully before he scampered out of the room. Voldemort stared at the retreating back of his servant with distaste. A part of him wanted to send Peter to Hogwarts to check on Barty, but a part of him didn't want to risk it as Peter was his only available servant.

Nagini was amazing, but no matter how amazing of a creature she was, she couldn't brew a Potion even with his directions…

~~Harry's Room, Malfoy Manor~~

Harry stared at the Resurrection Stone in front of him with a bit of trepidation… Last night, he had a long and detailed discussion with his mother about if he should accept Hela's offer or not, which ended up in a long session of snogging, but they ultimately decided that Harry should accept the offer to learn from her.

So, after waking up today, the first thing Harry did was to fix the Wards and take control of them from Lucius and after he was done with that, he forced Lucius to free both Alef and Dobby. Both Lucius and Narcissa were surprised to find Dobby in his possession. After both Alef and Dobby were released, Harry bound both of them to himself before ordering Alef to work for Narcissa. He wasn't worried about getting betrayed as the Mark would inform him of such treachery.

Then Harry returned to his room so that he could contact Hela… He picked up the Resurrection Stone and started to think about Hela. Moments later, he found himself in the familiar wasteland of Hel… Harry looked around and found Hela sitting crossed-legged on the ground and her eyes snapped open when his gaze found her.

"I have decided to become your student" Harry revealed without wasting any time and Hela simply grinned at his words…

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