Crouch Returns Early

As Ivan was thinking about this, Moody suddenly stopped in his tracks, causing him to nearly crash into a wall.

Yvonne looked up angrily to question him, but Barty Crouch's office was right in front of her. They were there!

"Hold on to your wand, Harls!" Moody whispered as he put his hand on the doorknob.

Ivan nodded, readying himself before Moody's warning.

"Alohomora ~ (Allahomora opening)" Moody waved his wand, and the lock released itself with a sharp crack.

Moody pushed the door open cautiously, looking nervous, as if he expected someone to jump on him.

However, things were apparently not as bad as they seemed, and it was empty, as Moody had said. It seemed that the information was correct, and Crouch did go to discuss the game with Bagman.

Yvonne did not go in immediately, but glanced around.

The temporary office was not very spacious, being only half the size of a classroom, with a warm red carpet on the floor and a fire burning in the grate, evidence that Crouch had only recently left.

Moody's attention was immediately drawn to the walls, and he was relieved to see that there was no portrait.

However, Moody did not forget to cast a non-verbal spell on his wooden leg to make his steps quieter.

Yvonne followed him inside, and was the first to approach the central work table.

There were some documents scattered around the table, and a quill and ink bottle had been pushed to the corner of the table. In addition, there was a Daily Prophet!

Instead of reaching for it directly, Ivan adjusted his position so that he was facing the front and could see the contents of the newspaper.

However, when he saw the cover of the newspaper, he was stunned. This was not the latest edition of the Daily Prophet. He was sure he had seen it before!

Because it was about the Quidditch World Cup during the summer holidays, Sirius's large face was featured in the photo, along with news of the Dark Mark and Death Eaters gathering to set fire to the camp.

On the other side of the room, Moody was carefully turning the pages of a document, his brow furrowing from time to time.

Their actions alarmed the small creatures, and a foxtail sneaked out of a crack in the wall, accompanied by several snuffbox-like creatures.

Naturally, none of this escaped Moody's magical eyes. He stepped on them and caught one of them, who was still alive.

"Hey, looks like there's a serious lack of care here, or they wouldn't be so aggressive." Moody looked around the room, noting the chairs in the corners were covered in dust.

"Don't forget, Crouch has been out of school a lot these past few months, you told me so!" Ivan reminded him.

"Yes, but he's been back for days this time! And Crouch hasn't touched any of the papers on his desk that need to be signed…" Moody went on grimly. "And he certainly doesn't want people coming in at will! So the house-elves can't sort them out for him!"

As he listened to Moody, Ivan became increasingly convinced that Barty Crouch was Crouch Junior in disguise.

Crouch was, after all, not the head of the Department of Communication and Co-operation, so he was unable to deal with the documents, and was often absent from Hogwarts, presumably to see Lord Voldemort.

"What kind of person do you think doesn't have time to take care of their office, even if it's a Cleaning Charm?" Moody asked suddenly.

"Busy people? Like you? Or someone in a particularly bad mood?" Yvonne asked, distracted by her thoughts as she read the Daily Prophet.

"Could be either!" Moody said, nodding, and then noticed that Ivan seemed to have something else on his mind. "Well, forget about Miss Granger, Harls, we need to work!"

Ivan scowled at Moody, not bothering to explain, and pointed to the file in Moody's hand. "Won't Mr. Crouch find out when he gets back if you go through his things like that?"

"Do you think he's still got it in his head?" asked Moody, glancing at Ivan and turning the file upside down for him to see.

It was a document dated back several months, containing a bill that Crouch, as Director-General, was supposed to sign at the end with a yes or no sign, but there was not a word at the end, and it was past the deadline specified in the bill.

Yvonne took Moody's meaning, which suggested that Crouch had most likely never looked through the document, or had simply tossed it aside.

"What if that's exactly what he wants us to think?" retorted Ivan, who was not one to underestimate the anti-reconnaissance skills of a former Head of Department.

If the other party was a fake, they would be even more vigilant. An undercover spy who infiltrated the castle alone would be more cautious than anyone else!

"You're very careful!" Moody laughed, looking at Ivan with admiration.

"Then let's not forget to get these bearings later. If we don't find anything important this time, we'll have to get them back in place…"

Moody was about to continue when his expression changed, and his strange blue eye swivelled towards the door, his mouth opening and closing as if to say —

He's back early!

Ivan's face fell, and he became nervous. He was ninety-nine percent sure that Crouch was suspicious, but the problem was that they had not yet found any evidence that would point the right way, such as the bottle containing the Polyjuice Potion, or anything else that would identify Crouch.

He suddenly regretted not exposing the Marauder's Map to Moody, which would have prevented them from accurately tracking Crouch's movements and thus trapping him in the room.

This was clearly not the time to regret his decision. Ivan used the tactic that he had instantly thought of. He tapped his wand against his chest and vanished in a thin film.

Moody, on the other hand, used the Disillusionment Charm almost simultaneously, and the small room seemed empty again.

Ivan also noticed that the papers on the table had been tidied up, as if an invisible hand were toying with them, and that the dead Doxy had been trodden on by Moody.

A second later, there was the sound of the lock turning.

Ivan's nerves were on edge. They might be invisible, but the Disillusionment Charm was not as powerful as the Deathly Hallows Invisibility Cloak, which could be easily seen through by some skilled wizards.

Not to mention that they were standing right next to each other, and if they tried to sit down, they would bump into each other…

(PS: Don't make wild guesses, there's no Shuraba, and there's no such thing as a melodramatic Qiongyol plot, and they didn't just fall out over this small misunderstanding. I remember foreshadowing and prompting dozens of chapters ago. Seeing that you guys are really tired of making wild guesses, the angel really doesn't want to spoil the story…)