demon hunter at hogwarts

"That's not right."

This was Regulus's first words after returning to reality.

"Morfin couldn't remember what happened next. He only remembered that after he woke up the next day, he was lying on the ground alone, and Marvolo's ring, which he cherished most, was missing." Dumbledore said, "And little There is another ghost story in Hangleton Village: On a sunny summer morning, when the maid walked into the living room of Riddle House, she found that the three members of the Riddle family who lived here had died of exhaustion."

"A family of three?" Regulus couldn't help but ask doubtfully.

"It's Old Tom Riddle and his parents." Dumbledore explained, "After the elopement, it's impossible for Old Tom to be with that beautiful girl named Cecilia anymore, right? ? All in all, the Muggle police failed to find out the cause of death of the three of them, although the entire village of Little Hangleton believed that the gardener hired by the Riddle family was a major suspect."

"Because Avada Kedavra has no scars." Regulus snorted and said, "But the Aurors will definitely be able to tell that their deaths were caused by wizards. It just so happens that there is a guy with a criminal record living here. Nearby...this is really logical."

"When the Auror found Morfin, he proudly declared that he had been planning this matter for many years and finally seized the opportunity to break into Riddle House and kill these Muggles who had embarrassed him. ." Dumbledore followed Regulus's words and said, "Even before the trial was held, Morfin confessed all the details of the crime that only the murderer knew, and his wand was also confirmed to be the murder weapon that killed the Riddle family. . But the one thing he repeatedly said to the Auror was 'I lost his ring and he would kill me'."

Regulus stared at the pensieve without saying a word, as if he was thinking about something.

Dumbledore used his wand to retrieve the memory into the crystal bottle, closed the lid again, and said: "When Morfin was in Azkaban, he had been mourning the loss of the last heirloom of the Gaunt family. His spirit was very high. I almost collapsed, and when I found him, I had to use my most advanced Legilimency technology to extract this memory."

"what a pity."

"I quickly realized that he might be innocent and submitted an application to be released from Azkaban, but Morfin died before the Ministry of Magic's retrial process could begin." Dumbledore lamented He said, "As you said, it is indeed a pity."

"So the 16-year-old Dark Lord alone knocked out his adult uncle, killed his father with a stolen wand, then put false memories into Morfin's head, and finally took Marvolo's ring... ..." Regulus stretched his fingers, counting the things Voldemort had done, and sighed, "Look at our sixth graders... they can't even cast a decent silent spell."

"You can't compare ordinary students with the most terrifying dark wizard in history," Dumbledore smiled helplessly, "although I admit that Tom may be the most talented student I have ever seen."

"Didn't you see when he was in school that he might become the most terrifying dark wizard in history?" Regulus asked.

"I am not an omnipotent prophet." Dumbledore shook his head and said.

From the tone of the old principal, Regulus felt that he might not want to continue talking about this topic, so he also took out a bottle of memory from his pocket and said: "In that case, why don't we change things and take a look? New stuff I got.”

"This is..." Dumbledore looked at Regulus with questioning eyes.

"In fact, we can also wake her up and ask her to tell us what happened recently." Regulus pointed at Rita Skeeter and raised the corner of his mouth. , "But as you just said, reliving memories in this way is not only vivid in detail, but also accurate."

"Great, let's get started?" Dumbledore crossed his fingers, indicating that Regulus could pour the memories into the pensieve.

Soon the two of them entered their memories again. It was a night a few days ago. A strange beetle was flying quickly on the streets of London. There were very few pedestrians and no one noticed how untimely the beetle appeared.

The beetle soon flew outside a luxurious house, and there was a faint light in the house. For this house, it was too dark.

It climbed onto the windowsill and tried to get in through the crack in the window.

"This should be Barty Crouch's home," Dumbledore said seriously.

"That's what she told me." Regulus agreed.

There was only one candle lit in the dim room, and the candle flame flickered brightly and dimly.

Barty Crouch sat motionless on the sofa, his serious face hidden in the shadows, looking very scary.

The smell in the room cannot be smelled in someone else's memory.

Regulus remembered Rita once saying that the room smelled like a reptile house, and judging by the gloomy atmosphere, it was indeed true.

At this moment, a man walked into the room. He was wearing a hood and his back was facing the direction of the window sill where Rita was, so his face could not be seen clearly.

The man knelt down on one knee, brought a plate of food to Barty Crouch, and said softly: "Master, maybe we can use other candidates..."

"No, it must be him." A sharp and cold voice suddenly sounded, refuting the man's suggestion.

Barty Crouch didn't open his mouth, but the voice did come from him.

Upon hearing this, the expression on Regulus's face froze.

Because this voice is very familiar to him, and he will never admit the owner of the voice.

It was Voldemort.

He looked at Dumbledore beside him. The old headmaster's blue eyes were shining sharply, staring at Barty Crouch and the man.

"Master... He has been transferred now and is protected by the Loyalty Spell... But your body can't wait any longer. This body will soon be found to have problems..." the man said hesitantly.

"I have been waiting alone for so long. I don't care to wait another year or two, not to mention that I still have you faithfully by my side..." Voldemort said slowly. The man looked very excited, and his body lying on the ground was trembling slightly.

Valley</span> "...However, some friends obviously don't understand that it is very impolite to eavesdrop on other people's conversations privately - Avada Kedavra!" Voldemort suddenly raised his wand and pointed it directly in Rita's direction, A fatal curse was uttered.

But maybe it was Barty Crouch's own will that played a role. He raised his hand slightly and the green light did not hit the beetle Rita turned into. Instead, it shattered the glass, and Rita immediately flew away from there. go out.

The memory ends here.

"It seems that our reporter has dug up a big news this time." Dumbledore stared at Rita Skeeter. The content of his words seemed to be a joke, but there was no smile on his face.

"She said that man... was another member of Crouch's family, and he chased her for a distance after that. But I couldn't dig out anything valuable. She didn't see the man's appearance." Gulus said regretfully, "There are actually Death Eaters who are willing to help the Dark Lord and control Barty Crouch, a senior official of the Ministry of Magic. No one in the Ministry of Magic has ever discovered it."

"Poor Barty..." Dumbledore sighed, "It's too late for me to save him now. They must have changed their hiding places after they were discovered."

Then, Dumbledore raised his wand and aimed a spell at Rita Skeeter. After a bright light flashed, Rita slowly opened her eyes.

"Where am I! What did you do to me? Don't kill me!" After waking up, Rita immediately screamed in terror, and the portraits of the principals hanging on the wall glared at her.

"Calm down! Miss Skeeter, we will not harm you." Dumbledore said slowly.

The words of the old principal seemed to have a calming power. Rita calmed down and realized that she was in a safe place. Her expression became calmer, but she was still groping for things everywhere on her body.

"Are you looking for this?" Regulus took out Rita's wand and threw it back to her.

"I originally planned to tell you some exclusive news, but after being treated so roughly, I'm afraid I have to change my mind." Rita adjusted her glasses that were crooked to one side and said to Dumbledore in a stern voice.

"It seems that you don't realize the seriousness of the matter, and you even want to rely on your information to exchange for some gold Galleons?" Regulus asked in disbelief, "After you were almost killed by that guy?"

Rita's face flushed slightly, but she had no intention of changing her words.

"I'm afraid I have no interest in your news." Dumbledore suddenly said, "I already have full knowledge of Barty Crouch's recent weird behavior, and there is no need to go through other channels."

Hearing this, Regulus suppressed a smile and looked at Dumbledore. The old headmaster winked at him subtly from an angle that Rita couldn't see.

Rita's expression froze. She didn't expect Dumbledore to reply like this at all. After being speechless for a while, she hesitated and said: "Actually, as...as he said, someone is chasing me, I think. Asking for your protection, now that my news is no longer important... I don't know what else I can get in return."

"Repay? I don't think so." Dumbledore said, "As long as you live honestly in the dormitory I provided for you for two months, you will not wander around in the restricted book area, and you will not try to dig into the privacy of teachers and students. , is the biggest reward, how about it? I remember we had a similar agreement a few years ago, and I’m glad you can always abide by it.”

"I don't seem to have any bargaining power," Rita said dejectedly.

"Then, the matter is settled." Dumbledore said happily, then raised his wand, and a large ornate bird-shaped Patronus erupted from the end of his wand and disappeared through the glass.

Five minutes later, Professor McGonagall, wearing pajamas with her hair still meticulously pulled into a bun, appeared at the door of the principal's office and looked at the combination in the room in surprise.

"Minerva, please take Miss Skeeter to find an unused office with a dormitory. She generously agreed to be a guest speaker in our school for a period of time, so that students can learn about things outside the school in advance." Deng Bullido said seriously in a business-like tone.

"Albus, you made such an important personnel change without discussing it with us..." Professor McGonagall looked up and down Rita Skeeter. Obviously, this upright Gryffindor Headmaster was very interested in Rita. ·Some of Skeeter's past actions were unsatisfactory.

"Miss Skeeter specially recommended herself for this position today and is willing to temporarily resign as a guest reporter at the Daily Prophet. I cannot refuse such a kindness." Dumbledore said with a smile.

"Since the principal said so...come with me." Professor McGonagall quickly understood what Dumbledore meant and led Rita Skeeter out of the office.

"Have you ever had an agreement?" Regulus asked easily after the door to the principal's office was closed again.

"About two or three years ago, when Rita was a guest speaker at the school, in order to expose the darkness and danger of Hogwarts, she went deep into the restricted book area of ​​the school..." Dumbledore said slowly, "I accidentally discovered A beetle that showed up in the library at an inappropriate time, and she has not registered this Animagus form with the Ministry of Magic... I promised not to reveal her identity, and she agreed not to report negative news about the school."

"That's it. No wonder she can get so much other people's privacy." Regulus stretched out, took out his pocket watch and glanced at the time, "It's so late, it's time to go back to bed, thank you for giving me today Told so many…interesting stories.”

"Promise me something." Regulus was about to open the door and leave when Dumbledore suddenly stopped him.

"Ok?"

"I hope you can stay at school and teach the students, at least to complete the courses for the second half of the school year. Okay?" Dumbledore said seriously, "Let me temporarily find a qualified Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Being a professor of art is not that easy."

"Listening to your tone, it sounds like I will leave the school immediately after I leave this door and go to the UK to find Barty Crouch and his 'friends'?" Regulus asked in return.

"I am indeed a little worried. Because this idea is too tempting, I even thought about it for a second." Dumbledore said, "If we really catch Voldemort, everything will be easy, and Now he is still weak and his magic power is not as good as before."

"The whereabouts were almost exposed. With the Dark Lord's caution, he is no longer at Crouch's house now, and he may even be in the body of a victim." Regulus shook his head and said, "Maybe it will be in the newspaper tomorrow. There will be such a message: 'Barty Crouch, the former Director of the International Cooperation Department of the Ministry of Magic, was found dead outside London. The cause of death is unknown. The Ministry of Magic is investigating the matter'..."

The old principal's eyes flashed with unknown meaning, and he listened quietly to Regulus' words.

"In short, I will definitely not track the whereabouts of the Dark Lord. I still have this self-knowledge. Please rest assured, that is something that my reckless brother would do."