Chapter 622
Old Barty Crouch
Chapter 622 Barty Crouch Sr.
"Calm down, calm down, dear Sibyl, I swear I never meant to deceive you. Merlin is my witness, I am also a poor victim!"
Bagman wiped the sweat from his forehead and said in a slick tone, "I was cheated too! They gave me the leprechaun's gold coins to bet with, but I ended up giving out real money, and I ended up losing a lot of money!"
He patted his waist to indicate that his purse was empty, without a penny.
"Liar!"
Trelawney's lips trembled as she said, "Why - why did you give me all the magical leprechaun coins? Not a single real Galleon! You must have done it on purpose! The Fates told me you were lying!"
“This is simply slander!”
Bagman's round face turned red. He said angrily: "As a senior official of the Ministry of Magic and the Director of the Department of Sports and Physical Education, would I covet your little money? You must be responsible for what you say! Otherwise, I..."
"Enough!" A cold voice suddenly interrupted.
Trelawney, who was originally trembling with fear because of Bagman's menacing attitude, sobbed, clutched her long shawl with both hands, and turned her head to look.
Barty Crouch Sr. strode out of the shadows, his eyes burning with cold fury.
"What else are you going to do? Ludo Bagman!"
Bagman's rosy face suddenly turned pale. He took a step back unconsciously and said:
"You don't understand the situation, Batty... Well, the situation between us is very complicated..."
"I don't think it's complicated!"
Old Barty said with disgust on his face. He took a step forward, approached Bagman, and asked in a cold voice:
"Look at me, Ludo! Did Professor Trelawney hand you her Galleons herself?"
Bagman's Adam's apple rolled as he stammered, "Well... it's true, but..."
"Shut up! Stop quibbling! As the Director of the Department of Sports and Games of the Ministry of Magic, you organized gambling in a world-class competition that you participated in organizing and personally presided over. This is an extremely bad and shameless violation of the law! You must face suspension and investigation!"
Barty Crouch's sharp eyes swept across Bagman's blue face and said mercilessly:
"Before that, you must return the principal that Professor Trelawney betted in full within 24 hours! This may reduce your guilt a little!"
Bagman's pupils contracted violently, and he screamed, "You can't do this! Barty, for Merlin's sake, we have worked together for so many years, do you really have to kill us all?"
"Now," Batty said expressionlessly, "you have 23 hours and 59 minutes to get the money ready!"
"Like I said, I've paid her back completely!" Bagman shouted, jumping up and down. "My purse is lighter than your handkerchief now. How can I pay her back?"
"No money? How could you be without money?" Trelawney hid behind old Barty and screamed in the same voice: "You have cheated so many Galleons from me alone!"
"I don't care whether what you said is true or not, but you still have 23 hours and 58 minutes."
Old Batty said: "In due time, your illegal acts will become a report and appear on the minister's desk!"
Bagman stamped his foot, threw his arms about, and strode away.
Trelawney breathed a sigh of relief and sat down on the bench beside her in a frustrated manner. Her glasses were covered with a layer of mist, and her fingers nervously rubbed the necklace. She asked worriedly:
"Will he...will he really pay me back? To be honest, I've approached him several times, but every time he tried to evade me..."
Barty Crouch Sr. turned to look at her and said, "Don't worry, I'll supervise him myself."
Seeing his stern expression, Trelawney shrank a little, but then, perhaps driven by greed, she boldly grabbed old Barty's sleeve and said tremblingly:
"Actually... I bet on all the results of the game, with the highest odds... I should have won... won 35,000 Galleons..." Old Barty took her hand away from his arm and said calmly: "Gambling is illegal, ma'am. As a professor--"
He glanced at the bushes and stone statues not far away and said meaningfully, "You should not let students see you indulging in gambling and trying to get something for nothing."
Trelawney's face suddenly turned as pale as Bagman's just now.
Old Batty nodded to her, then turned around and strode away.
Trelawney held her shawl tightly around her shoulders, feeling that she was shivering from the cold. She did not have the courage to look around to see if there were any students hiding. She looked up at the night sky, made an expression as if she were out of her body, and said vaguely:
“The gift that fate bestowed upon the Sky-Eye was intercepted by a despicable thief… Ah, I understand!”
She opened her arms and said with a hazy look:
"O all-knowing God, is this a test from you? Warn me not to use these eyes that spy on fate to indulge in worldly desires..."
As she spoke, she suddenly became choked with sobs, as if someone was choking her neck.
She sobbed and murmured, "I understand... I must listen to the revelation of the stars..."
Trelawney then walked hurriedly towards the North Tower.
After a while, Wade finally came out from behind the pillar.
It's not that he deliberately wanted to eavesdrop on the conversation. After listening to the beginning, Wade remembered the prophecy he used to fool Professor Trelawney last semester. He understood how it all happened, so he wanted to listen to the follow-up.
In the original book, Bagman cheated Fred and George out of their money, and it seemed that he never returned it in the end. Unexpectedly, now, it was Barty Crouch Sr. who came forward to solve the matter.
Even though he is no longer the Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, seeing how decisively, severely and ruthlessly he handled this matter, one can easily imagine what his demeanor was like when he was still in charge of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.
So people once believed in him and admired him, but when a stain appeared on him, they condemned him in unison.
As Wade was thinking, he heard a sudden rustling sound near the bushes.
Two students came out in a hurry, their ties askew and their scarves in their hands. They didn't know there were others nearby, and they ran away along the flowery path with red faces.
Vader: “…”
His eyes slowly turned to the bushes, rose garden, fountain and huge statue that were temporarily arranged in the courtyard, and he suddenly realized that this place looked quiet and deserted, but in fact it might be hiding many couples who were having a tryst.
He shook his head, not wanting to see anyone being intimate again, and turned to walk towards the castle.
There are still a few hours before bedtime, and with the time turner, I can get seven or eight hours. I might as well go back to the Room of Requirement and study alchemy for a while.
He walked slowly up the stairs to the second floor. The sounds from below were almost inaudible. The corridor was so quiet that even the sound of his footsteps was amplified several times. The echo sounded as if someone was following him.
Wade waved his wand lightly and cast a levitation spell on his boots. Then an invisible buoyancy seemed to appear under his feet, carrying him across the corridor and upstairs.
At first glance, it seemed as if Hogwarts had gained a new young ghost.
Wade arrived at the eighth floor of the castle and was about to cancel the levitation spell when he suddenly heard the sound of footsteps.
He subconsciously held his breath, leaned against the wall and looked over quietly, and saw a furtive figure wandering in front of the tapestry.
(End of this chapter)