I, Hogwarts Second Week

Dumbledore!

The greatest wizard in the world.

But little is known about his past.

Apart from the introduction in the chocolate frog picture, the little wizard knew very little about the principal.

Of course. Harry was sure Owen knew a lot.

Because it was he who revealed the entangled relationship between Dumbledore and Grindelwald.

Later he also wanted to write a personal biography of the principal.

The name has been decided, it's called "Winx Club - The Legendary Wizard Dumbledore and His Scandalous Boyfriend"

However, I heard that after the manuscript of this book was confiscated by Dumbledore, there was no further progress.

Owen has been aggrieved by this incident.

He said that the principal felt that he had reversed the relationship between offense and offense in the book.

But Irving has always emphasized that if he is an attacker, he will be dressed in purple, knit sweaters, and love to eat lemon sorbet. Do you blink your eyes?

In short, the little wizard was quite curious about Dumbledore's past.

Today I was able to get a glimpse into the principal's memory.

Wow!

It’s exciting just thinking about it!

"Probably." Ron pointed to an acquaintance not far away.

That was none other than Albus Dumbledore. And beside him was Moody.

The old headmaster at this time was almost the same as Dumbledore today.

The same gray beard and gray hair.

Harry followed Ron's gaze.

I couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed in my heart.

It seems that this is a recent memory of the principal!

Really - why not seventy years ago, in Godric's Hollow!

People just want to see Dumbledore when he was young, ahem - the kind that cannot be written about.

And Harry had disappointment written all over his face.

Ron was in high spirits.

The wizards who came and went passed right through their bodies, as if they were ghosts. It was really magical.

It was as if he had been removed from the world, watching everything that was happening as an absolute bystander.

This is a rare experience.

Plus - he's not a member of the Grindelwald fan club!

As a pure-blood wizard, the education he received since childhood prevented him from loving the legendary first-generation dark wizard.

Only wizards like Harry, Hermione, and Justin living in the Muggle world would be envious and fascinated by Grindelwald, the superstar who once dominated Europe in troubled times and fought against three continents by himself!

There was even a support group established.

This was something Ron couldn't understand and accept.

Then the three of them came to Professor Dumbledore's side in the memory world.

"Hey! This is really interesting!" Ron raised his hand and waved it in front of Dumbledore - no - in his head, and his hand went directly through the old headmaster's face, "I wouldn't dare do that outside!"

"Um?"

While he was playing, a sudden chill came from behind.

Ron turned his head stiffly, and then saw Hermione staring at him.

That expression - he had seen it often on Professor McGonagall's face.

Immediately, he quickly took his hand back.

"Just - experiment!" He smiled awkwardly, then stood aside obediently and said nothing.

Hermione didn't speak. She turned her head and followed Dumbledore's gaze to the past history that was happening in the trial hall.

The door at the corner of the dungeon opened, and three people walked in.

To be more precise, at least one of them is a human being, being held hostage by two dementors.

Even in their memories, when they saw the two dementors, they were associated with some unpleasant memories.

In fact, it's not just them either.

In the courtroom, except for Dumbledore, everyone else was more or less affected, with timidity on their faces.

Looking at the two dementors, two monsters with faces covered by hoods, they slowly walked towards the central armchair. Those death-like hands grasped the criminal's arm, and the poor guy almost fainted just looking at it.

They put him in a chained chair and walked out of the room.

Harry could feel that the moment the Dementor left the room, the people in the room came back to life as if they had been fished out of the water.

Then, the armchair's handles seemed to come to life, or became metal vines, binding the criminal's limbs.

"That's Karkaroff!" Harry recognized the panicked man at a glance.

Owen had compared this man to him when he was showing off to him that his grandmother was the principal of Durmstrang.

The shame of the headmaster, the pure waste, the former Death Eater who led Durmstrang to reverse progress, the benefactor of magic schools in other worlds (because of him, the rankings of other schools rose), etc.

It's not a good thing to say anyway.

He also deliberately found a briefing from the Daily Prophet more than ten years ago, which contained a photo of Karkaroff when he was in prison.

That photo was originally intended to be used by Owen to humiliate Durmstrang's little wizard - your headmaster was a prisoner.

It's a pity that it was useless in the end - before, he was afraid of being beaten by his grandfather, but now he is afraid of being beaten by his grandma. Hey, hey, he's so pitiful.

"Karkaroff? The traitor among the dark wizards, the pure waste, the former Death Eater who led Durmstrang to reverse progress, and the benefactor of magic schools in other worlds?" Ron opened his mouth, then The title belonging to that guy just blurted out.

There was a flash of disdain in his eyes.

After comparing the photos in his memory, he also recognized the person in front of him.

"Yes." Harry nodded, "Owen said that he may have died in that unknown corner. Voldemort is back, and he will definitely not let this traitor go."

"That's right." After Ron said that, there was a "dong dong dong" sound of the hammer being struck on the trial platform.

"Quiet!!!" Mr. Crouch, who was sitting in the middle of the courtroom, stood up.

"Igor Karkaroff," he said loudly.

There was a very oppressive majesty on his serious face.

This should be his most prosperous era.

Harry guessed.

Karkaroff's appearance immediately let him know when this memory occurred.

It should have been not long after Voldemort was defeated.

Regarding Crouch's life, the Daily Prophet reported in detail as early as last year when he took over as Minister of Magic.

Of course he knew that during this period, Crouch's tough attitude towards dark wizards helped him win the hearts of the people in the war that just ended. Everything was moving in the right direction, and the position of Minister of Magic beckoned to him.

But no one thought that an accident would severely damage his career!

"Karkaroff, you were taken out of Azkaban to testify to the Ministry of Magic." Crouch said seriously, waving his hand, "You told us that you had important information to report to us."

Hearing the sound, Karkaroff straightened his body as much as possible, although this would make the bindings on his body tighter.

"Yes, sir." Although his voice was full of fear, people could still hear the familiar glib tone, "I am willing to serve the Ministry of Magic. I know that the Ministry of Magic is searching for the remnants of the Dark Lord, and I am willing to do my best. to assist you”

He showed a flattering smirk, and his gray-headed face looked very funny.

Like a clown.

There were whispers in the room. Some wizards looked at Karkaroff with interest, while others looked at him with obvious distrust.

Harry and the three of them even heard a wizard behind them yell out: "Damn you bastard!"

Dumbledore had no clear reaction to Karkaroff's statement, and his face was expressionless.

But Mad-Eye Moody sitting on the other side of him was different. His expression was full of disgust.

Of course, at this time, Moody's face did not have so many scars, and both eyes were normal.

It seems that the battle that cost him an eye has not happened yet.

"Crouch is going to let him go," Moody whispered to Dumbledore. "They made a deal. It took me six months to catch him, and now he only needs to name other names. Rauch will let him go."

There was a sound of disapproval in his nose, "If you ask me, why not just put some Veritaserum in his mouth, ask why, and then throw it back to Azkaban!"

"The things he did are enough to give a dementor the kiss of death."

After listening to Moody's words, Harry and Ron standing aside immediately nodded in agreement.

In their view, even the methods proposed by Moody are a bit too friendly.

Why waste truth serum.

Owen would definitely direct Legilimency and then mercifully give him a green light.

However - Harry noticed that, like Dumbledore, Hermione's expression changed instantly after Moody mentioned the dementors.

"Ah, I forgot, you don't like Dementors, do you, Albus?" Moody asked with a sarcastic smile.

"Yes," Dumbledore said calmly, "I don't like it. I always feel that it is wrong for the Ministry of Magic to get involved with these monsters. Sooner or later we will suffer a loss, letting those monsters guard dark wizards. Besides, it is very inhumane ,even though."

Harry knew that Hermione felt the same way.

However, she did agree with the execution of dark wizards, but the method of execution, the Dementor's Kiss, was too cruel.

It is said that when the soul is extracted, people will recall the screams of the people they killed in this life.

In comparison, the Killing Curse is kinder.

"This kind of scum." Moody said with disgust, "Don't you know this guy? There are several Nordic pure-blood families standing behind him. Although they don't explicitly support the mysterious man, what they do behind the scenes is better than some food. The Dead Apostles are also cruel.

The International Federation of Wizards is tightly controlled by Rozier. They allow those families to grow bigger and then make profits from it. I really don’t understand. Do you, the president, just use your name? "

"You know, I'm not interested in power. They elected me, which is not what I want." Dumbledore said flatly.

"But if you don't take care of it, they will be aggressive. I" Moody wanted to continue to say something, but on the other side, Crouch had already banged the hammer.

He looked around, his eyes lingering on Dumbledore for a moment.

"Karkaroff, you said you knew some people's names." After a moment, he looked away, "Now, tell us."

"You have to know." Karkaroff said hurriedly, "That mysterious man has always been very secretive in his actions. He wants us, I mean his partisans. I deeply regret that I have been associated with them."

"Cut the nonsense," Moody said sarcastically, raising his voice.

"We never knew the names of all our accomplices, only he knew who we were."

"This move is wise, isn't it, Karkaroff? It can prevent people like you from betraying them all." Moody laughed wildly.

"Didn't you say you knew some people's names?" Mr. Crouch was a little irritated. He ignored Moody's taunt and continued to look at Karkaroff.

He knew very well in his heart that this guy was not worried about saying those names and causing Voldemort's followers to intercept and kill him. He was bargaining with him. He wanted more than freedom!

What a greedy guy! ! !

After understanding all this, Mr. Crouch's eyes became more disgusted.

He was able to kick Karkaroff out of Azkaban just to get a few names out of his mouth and expand his prestige.

The current state of affairs, ever since Millicent Bagnor publicly declared that she defended the rights of British wizards to indulge in pleasure, her career has been questioned by the Magic Federation.

Things go back to the night of October 31, 1981. After Voldemort's 'death' in Godric's Hollow, wizards all over the UK celebrated the victory of the war the next day. Naturally, many violations of the International Statute of Secrecy occurred. event.

What can Minister Millicent Bagnor do about these celebrating wizards? Let the Aurors arrest everyone?

Unless she wanted to be kicked out of the Ministry the next day.

She could only defend the fact that all British wizards were illegal, and this was condemned and questioned by the International Federation of Wizards.

In the past few months, Millicent Bagnor has been busy solving these illegal problems, and because during the war, the Aurors won the right to use the Unforgivable Curses on Death Eaters, which gave him prestige among the people. A certain peak was reached for a while.

Everyone knew that he would be the next Minister of Magic, it was a certainty.

Now as long as he can take another step forward!

Crouch's eyes flashed with fire.

He already saw a throne beckoning to him.

"Power is so addicting, no wonder it will fail in the end." Miss Granger, who was silent, suddenly said.

She and Owen would often discuss matters at the Ministry of Magic.

He seemed to enjoy telling her about power and the things behind it.

It was as if she could really become the Minister of Magic.

They had discussed the failure of Barty Crouch.

Her views at the time were the same as those reported in the Daily Prophet.

Crouch, who was famous for his opposition to Death Eaters, had his own son turn out to be a Death Eater, which led to a huge crisis in people's trust in him. In addition, he cruelly sent his son to Azkaban, which also made the public think that he was too cruel.

This resulted in him losing his position as Minister of Magic.

But Owen told her another reason.

A deeper reason.

To put it simply, there is only one decisive factor as to why Barty Crouch lost the opportunity to take over as Minister of Magic, and that is - the war is over.

And why he was able to regain a high position after Fudge's death was for the same reason - the war started again!

Yes - the fact that Barty Crouch Jr. is a Death Eater can only be said to be a trigger for public revulsion.

It does not decisively affect the outcome of the matter.

Because people's minds are like the Black Lake at Hogwarts.

Sometimes it's calm, sometimes there's an undercurrent

The end of the war was the direct cause that affected Barty Cratchit's prestige.

If you know a little bit about history, you will know that Churchill, the British Prime Minister during World War II, also lost the election because of the end of the war.

The reason is simple.

During wartime, people can tolerate tough foreign tactics and endless inquiries and inquiries, but once the war is over, these become a burden.

Barty Crouch failed to properly adjust his governing style, which led to his defeat.

Think about it - if the war was still going on at that time, even if he sent his son to Azkaban, people would only think that he was righteous and just and honest.

His son's matter will not reduce his prestige in people's hearts but will greatly strengthen it.

They would think that with a Minister of Magic who could send his own son to Azkaban even if his own son was a Death Eater, and with him leading the British magical society, they would definitely be able to defeat the dark wizards and judge those executioners fairly!

The real root cause of Barty Crouch's defeat.

It is institutional.

It is caused by the chaotic functional relationship between various departments of the Ministry of Magic and the inequality of power.

The reason is that the wizards have not established a complete set of power agencies for governance according to law, but simply established a management team that violently maintains the "Secrecy Act".

From a Muggle perspective, the Ministry of Magic has all kinds of imperfections, irrationality, and even absurdities.

But in fact, it is because we preconceptions that the Ministry of Magic is an agency similar to the Muggle government, a quasi-governmental department that leads wizards to prosperity.

But in fact, after carefully studying the seven departments under the Ministry of Magic, they are the Department of Enforcement of Magical Laws, the Department of Magical Accidents and Disasters, the Department for the Management and Control of Magical Creatures, the Department of International Magical Cooperation, the Department of Magical Transport, the Department of Magical Sports, and the Department of Mysterious Affairs. manage.

It is not difficult to find that the Ministry of Magic exists based on the Statute of Secrecy, and its focus is entirely on how to build a stable world and how to hide the magical world and various magical animals from Muggles.

It neither promotes the development of wizard magic nor reforms the wizarding magic economy. It wasn't even responsible for national defence, Aurors were not the military.

It was Gellert Grindelwald who actually founded the first wizard army.

This is why resistance to the Statute of Secrecy will inevitably lead to opposition from the Ministry of Magic around the world.

Because they exist precisely because of the Statute of Secrecy.

If there was no "Secrecy Act", there would be no need for them to exist.

This is why Irving is so hostile to the Statute of Secrecy.

Because as long as Miss Granger comes to power to reform the Ministry of Magic, she will completely destroy this simple team that originally existed to maintain the "Act of Secrecy".

She wanted to formally give the Ministry of Magic functions similar to those of the Muggle government. Its main purpose should be to benefit all British wizards and improve the living standards of wizards.

What she should be creating is a brand new magical world, rather than continuing to follow the wizard's rules.