Chapter 377: Mr. Weasley's Office

The cold female voice sounded again. "Level Four, Department of Magical Creature Regulation and Control, incorporating Beasts, Beings and Spirits Divisions, Goblin Liaison Office and Pest Advisory Office."

The doors opened again, and three of the memos walked away.

But several more of the memos came closer, so that the light from the lamp on the ceiling flickered and flashed as they ran around them.

"Bye, kid!" Angus waved to Ivan and pointed to the large tin box that kept rattling. "If you're interested, you can come watch us deal with this guy any time. We'll probably dissect it and remove its wings and tail. That will definitely make you want to eat at noon."

They walked out and looked at Sirius's brooding gaze. Mr. Weasley seemed to want to comfort him with a few words, and Ivan also wanted to say something about Barty Crouch.

But there were still four wizards in the elevator, so they could only restrain themselves.

No one spoke; only the chiming of the elevator could be heard.

"Level Three, Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes, including the Accidental Magical Inversion Squad, the Dismemorizer Headquarters, and the Muggle Excuses Committee."

Everyone left the elevator on this floor except Mr. Weasley, Sirius, Ivan and a witch who was reading an extremely long piece of parchment lying on the floor. She didn't even raise her head. She had no energy or time to worry about her surroundings.

Ivan wondered if she was missing everything that was on the floor. The elevator rose again, and the remaining memos continued to fly around the lamp.

Then the door opened.

The voice announced, "Level Two, Magical Law Enforcement Department, including the Office Against the Misuse of Magic, Auror Headquarters, and Wizengamot Administrative Services."

"That's us!" said Mr. Weasley, and they all came out.

They were in an empty hallway filled with doors.

Outside a window was dark, a hurricane was blowing and a heavy rain was falling.

Ivan walked over to the window and was surprised to see that a wooden house had just been blown down by the wind in front of him.

"Those are enchanted windows; Magical Maintenance decides what weather we have every day. They're looking for a pay raise, so this damn hurricane has been blowing for over a month." Mr. Weasley explained, "Other than these days, it's sunny most of the time."

The magic was so wonderful that Ivan felt the slight fluctuation of magic.

If he could know the spell, he could create a small illusion to confuse the enemy, which would be invaluable for actual combat.

He thought about it for a while, and suddenly woke up. Now was not the time to study magic, he had to find a way to tell Barty Crouch Jr.'s story.

Mr. Weasley wanted to talk too. He looked around carefully, confirmed that no one was there, then lowered his voice to Sirius and said, "I need to talk to you. Why are you here today at the Ministry of Magic? And you also asked me to look after Harry during the summer vacations - what the hell is going on?"

"It's because I've fallen under a curse from Voldemort, Dumbledore and Sirius are going to find ways to break it for me during the upcoming summer vacations!" Ivan explained.

"What?!" Mr. Weasley shouted, and was very surprised. Then he realized that his voice was too loud. Fortunately, there was no one else around.

There was Auror HQ nearby, and all those Aurors were dispatched at that moment. Ivan and Sirius simply told what happened last night, and Mr. Weasley's face showed an inconceivable look, full of worry.

"A Voldemort curse!" he looked at Ivan's round blue-black snake bracelet. "Well.... with Dumbledore, there shouldn't be any problem."

There wasn't much confidence in his voice, and there was little hope that Ivan could break the Curse.

Though Dumbledore was powerful, Voldemort's notoriety and power were deeply engraved in people's hearts.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of Harry!" Mr. Weasley sighed. "You can settle down to break the curse. At the start of the World Cup, if you haven't returned, I'll go to his Muggle family and pick him up in person."

Sirius thanked him. In fact, Harry was the one he couldn't be sure about.

He had planned to spend more time with Harry on a trip during the summer vacations.

While he was at it, he went to the Dursleys and warned them not to bully Harry, but now it all fell apart.

But helping Ivan break the curse was obviously more urgent and important.

"Let's go inside. Don't stand here foolishly. Ivan has to write to his parents." Sirius said, "Dumbledore may be back at any moment."

"Hold on. We just saw a wizard on the level of the Department of International Magical Cooperation." Ivan said quickly, "I think..."

"You mean Barty Crouch?" Sirius' mouth sneered a little, "He certainly won't agree to enter the elevator. He despises having anything to do with the likes of me, even if he is alone in a space. By being acquitted I must have gained a great influence on public opinion. He should hate me to death now."

"Well, don't take it to heart, Sirius!" Mr. Weasley patted him on the shoulder. "You know, Barty Senior has always been like that..."

"Of course I know, in a way, he's a great wizard." Sirius said, "Of course, the lust for power is strong too."

"Yeah, I don't like him much, I think..." said Ivan, not knowing how to tell them what he knew.

"No one will fall in love with this guy, but it's undeniable that he's Voldemort's staunchest opponent." Sirius' face showed a strange look, and his eyes looked at Ivan in a complicated way. "Barty Crouch was always outspoken against the Dark Side. But then there were a lot of people who were against the Dark Side... Well, you wouldn't understand, there were too many things going on at the time. You're very smart, but you're still too young..."

"If you mean he condemned you without trial, and sent his son to Azkaban." Ivan narrowed his eyes and said, "In fact, I have carefully researched Mr. Crouch and I probably know more than you think."

"Ivan, you said you were investigating Barty?" Mr. Weasley looked nervous.

"Nothing can be hidden from you, I knew it!" Sirius's thin face showed a helpless smile. He didn't look surprised. "He sent me to Azkaban without a public trial. I don't blame him for that. It wasn't very nice, but I really needed a place to redeem myself. In a way, he was helping me!"

Sirius described what had happened in a casual voice, no emotion in his voice, as if it had nothing to do with him.