Chapter 669
Arrest
Chapter 669 Arrest
"boom!"
The wooden door was flung open, and Filch limped in, then searched the room for quills and parchment.
Standing at the door, Wade reached out and touched the door frame, opening the wooden door that was about to close, and then glanced at Filch's office.
This wasn't his first time in this place. The small room was still as dark and cramped as before, but it was clean enough that there wasn't even a cobweb in the corner.
Wade had only been casually glancing at it, but suddenly his gaze sharpened slightly.
Clamped in the side of an ajar drawer was a dirty, scimitar-shaped red object. It looked like it had been squeezed hard, its outer shell badly deformed.
Wade knew that it was a crab leg being cleaned.
As he observed, the wooden door beside him closed gently again, finally shutting with a "click".
And next to Wade, there was already a pair of shallow footprints.
At this moment, Filch seemed to have finally found what he was looking for. He slammed the parchment on the table, gave Wade a malicious look, and said:
"Let me think, what should I punish you for... How about not using magic to clean the hallway? Or cleaning the toilets? I think that will definitely teach you a lesson..."
“What’s wrong with your cleaning crabs?” Wade asked abruptly.
Filch glanced at the drawer that wasn't closed properly, strode over, yanked it open with a bang, and slammed it shut!
The crab leg fell completely in this time.
Filch hunched over and said with disgust, "What latest cleaning puppet? It's all a scam! It cost me so many Galleons, and it couldn't even handle Peeves' chewing gum. It broke after only a few days!"
He walked over, pulled out a chair with great fanfare, sat down, and while writing down his recommended punishment for Wade, said in a sinister tone:
"Oh, so the puppet was your invention, wasn't it, Vader? Useless thing! My old methods still work better... cleaning fluid and steel wool, and the students crying and wailing while scrubbing the toilet, that's much better than any puppet..."
Veins throbbed on Wade's forehead, his anger surging within him, yet a smile appeared on his face.
Without a word, he swung his wand fiercely!
At the same moment, Filch, who was writing, twisted his body, and a magic wand emerged from under the table—
"Collapse!"
"Collapse!"
Their voices almost overlapped, and the light of their incantations collided in the air, shooting out and shattering the entire wall of the disciplinary register, with parchment fragments flying like a blizzard.
The chandelier overhead swayed, and most of the candlelight went out. In the flickering shadows, the two men simultaneously took a half-step back, a similar look of shock flashing in their eyes.
Filch never expected that Wade, as a student, would dare to suddenly attack the administrator; Wade also never expected that the person in front of him would be preparing to launch a sneak attack at that moment.
“That’s surprising.” Filch pointed his wand at Wade, revealing his gleaming white teeth, and grinned. “I thought you were a good student!”
Vader, wand in hand, sneered, "When did Mr. Filch learn magic?"
The administrator in front of me was still thin and hunched over, his cloudy eyes were bloodshot, and his brown robe was stained. He looked no different from before.
But above his head, the name is [Barty Crouch].
Without a doubt, this is the same Barty who escaped from Wade last time using the door key.
"Oh? So you also know—this guy is just a pathetic Squib? When did this kind of thing become an open secret?"
Little Barty, unaware of the connection between the two, and also unaware that Wade had discovered his identity, laughed mockingly:
"To be publicly insulted by such an incompetent fellow, who even has the power to punish wizards, is ridiculous...right? This is Hogwarts under Dumbledore's management; he always spoils some clowns so much that they don't know what respect is."
As he spoke, he moved his feet slowly, trying to find a moment when the boy opposite him relaxed.
Although it was clear from the two matches that Wade Gray was not the bookish type of alchemist, Barty realized in their face-to-face confrontation that the kid in front of him was excessively difficult to deal with, and had not revealed a single flaw.
He couldn't help feeling a little jealous.
I was quite good back then, but compared to Wade Gray, I seemed good but mediocre.
Barty remembered the last time he met "Harry Potter," and his terrifying fire magic.
—Could it be that he guessed wrong last time? Was that kid not some powerful wizard in disguise, but Harry Potter himself?
The legendary "savior" was not just Dumbledore and his ilk boasting, but was indeed incredibly capable.
Have all the young wizards of this new era evolved to this level? I can't believe it! They usually just look like ordinary students…
Little Barty didn't wait for Wade to reveal a weakness; instead, he himself recalled that fiery stream as hot as the sun and couldn't help but lose himself in thought for a moment.
Vader naturally didn't miss this opportunity, and with a quick and silent flick of his wand!
Little Barty jolted awake, rolling on the spot, his Ironclad Charm deflecting the red light at the last second. The chains on the wall suddenly sprang up, lunging at Wade like venomous snakes, while the cabinet in the corner flew through the air, smashing to pieces with a clang from the chains!
Amidst the fluttering parchment, Barty the Younger had already stood up, a malicious grin on his face. He pointed his wand at Vader and said in a hoarse voice, "Soul out—"
"boom!"
A beam of red light struck Little Barty from the side, sending the "administrator" flying. He crashed heavily into the iron frame by the wall and then clattered to the ground.
"A soul-stealing curse? You beast, you actually dared to use it!"
Sirius Black released the Disillusionment Charm, kicked the unconscious Barty twice in anger, and then waved his wand, sending out several ropes that bound Barty tightly.
Sirius said in an icy tone, "You bastard, when you wake up, go and make love with the Dementors!"
He still can't forget the pain the Dementors brought him, but the thought of his enemies being imprisoned in Azkaban makes Sirius feel a sense of satisfaction.
Vader had already picked up Barty's wand and put it in his own hand, then whispered, "Palmtops of the Eye!"
A silver-white eagle flew out, circled once, and then disappeared.
"Should we inform Dumbledore?" Sirius asked.
“Hmm.” Wade nodded and said, “Let’s look for it. The real Filch should still be in this house.”
Little Barty is a talented actor, but to perfectly portray a character, he must frequently refer to the information from the sample.
He pulled out the cabinets and drawers one by one, and when he reached a storage box in the corner, he finally saw the caretaker lying motionless inside.
Little Barty didn't expand the storage box much, and Filch was trapped inside, clearly having a very difficult time.
When Vader pulled him out, the old man could barely straighten his back. He was so dirty that it looked like he had rolled in a cesspool, and he smelled terrible. Vader used several cleansing spells, but he couldn't clean him completely.
Even though he was grimacing in pain, Filch still managed a toothless smile when he saw Wade appear on top of the box.
"I knew you would find out."
As the caretaker was laid down on the bed, he said smugly, "I deliberately didn't tell him that you were the one who cleaned the crabs for me—I didn't say a word about you!"
Looking at the trust in his eyes, Wade suddenly felt a little ashamed.
Before deducing that the killer was related to Filch, he hadn't noticed any recent changes in the administrators... In fact, like most of his classmates, Wade often overlooked Filch's existence.
But while lying in the box, Filch saw him as his only hope of recognizing him.
He suppressed the strange feeling in his heart, smiled, and said, "No wonder... he seemed to think that the cleaning crabs were mass-produced products. Didn't that guy use Legilimency on you?"
"Of course he tried to flip my head! But after all these years at Hogwarts, do you think I don't know? Legilimency and the Imperius Curse are things I can resist!"
Weak Filch, unable to contain his excitement, said with spittle flying, "He used a spell on me, and I was frantically trying to recall how I had messed with Harry Potter... oh, and other students, of course. Anyway, since he didn't ask you alone, I was able to hide that memory."
"That's amazing!" Wade exclaimed sincerely. "Even many powerful wizards couldn't do that."
"Haha... Luckily, he didn't take this old man seriously and didn't dig deeper..."
Filch said modestly, then suddenly remembered something and asked with concern, "By the way, my crabs..."
"boom!"
The door was pushed open forcefully once again, and Dumbledore stood in the doorway. After looking around the room, his cold expression softened.
"How are you all?" the principal asked as he entered the room. "Wade, Sirius, Argus?"
“We’re fine,” Sirius grinned. “It’s just that this imposter Filch might not wake up for a while.”
“Mr. Filch is a little weak,” Wade said. “I think he’ll probably be in the infirmary for a while.”
Dumbledore nodded and said softly, "Minerva, please take Mr. Filch to the infirmary."
“Okay.” Professor McGonagall walked in, causing Filch and his bed to float, then looked at Wade: “Grey, I think you might need to go too…”
“He’s staying, Minerva,” Dumbledore said. “I’ll send Wade over for a checkup later.”
“Alright…” Professor McGonagall glanced at Wade with some concern, then left with Filch.
Then Snape and Moody came in.
The Potions Professor first stared at Sirius for a few seconds before bending down to examine the fake Filch closely.
“Strange…” Moody murmured, “This guy…something’s not right…”
(End of this chapter)