Harry Potter: Glory Bows to Me

Draco looked at her firmly as well.

"Well, it can definitely change."

Although Amanta knew that what she and Draco said - changing the future - was obviously not the same thing.

But for some reason, after she said this, Draco seemed to be in a better mood again.

He restrained the sharpness that had just made Amanta feel a little strange, and returned to the relaxed and happy expression he had at the dinner party.

But Amanta had one final question.

The place she was in... well, she looked around a little, it was just an inconspicuous corner of the garden.

Even in the daytime, it is difficult to notice the presence of another person here.

She was extremely curious about this - how on earth did Draco find this place?

"So...how on earth did you find this place?"

Speaking of this, Draco coughed a few times in embarrassment.

"In fact, after I finally got rid of those girls, I couldn't find you during the whole dance... I thought you went back to your room first, so I went to your door, but there was no response after I knocked on the door - I thought, if you are inside and don't answer, it's not like your style."

"So I guessed you must still be out there, and I asked Dobby for help, and we searched the mansion together, but found nothing, so I went downstairs, and had just walked in the garden for a while when I saw your skirt shining..."

Amanta looked down.

"..."

Indeed, she had forgotten that she was still wearing a ball gown - her skirt and jewelry were covered with diamonds, and at night, with just a little light, they would reflect a dazzling luster at certain angles.

She touched her chest with lingering fear.

Fortunately, there were thick bushes blocking her way - otherwise it is possible that Barty Jr. and Winky would have killed her first or cast a forgetfulness spell on her.

At this point, Draco remembered what had just happened.

"By the way, why did you cover my mouth when I found you just now...what were you doing?"

"..."

Amanta almost forgot this crucial thing because of Draco's sudden appearance.

So she roughly recounted to him what had just happened and the conversation she had heard between Little Barty and Winky.

"What did you say?" Draco looked incredulous. "If I heard correctly, you mean... the house-elf named Winky called a man - Master Barty?"

Amanta nodded and confirmed, "Yes, and that man looks to be around thirty years old, about the same age as Snape."

Draco stroked his chin thoughtfully.

"Oh my god, I don't know how to tell you, this is amazing..."

"What's so magical?"

In fact, Amanta already knew what Draco was going to say.

But in order to hide the fact that she knew, she had to cooperate with Draco's performance.

Draco cleared his throat.

"Battie... I only know this name, Crouch and his son who died in Azkaban. They were both called this name."

"Of course it can't be old Batty. After all, we just met him at the dinner and his age doesn't match."

Amanta continued what he said.

Draco nodded in agreement and began to analyze it seriously.

"Yes, and judging from the name, it can't be Old Batty. And according to your description, that person is about thirty years old. If Young Batty is still alive, he should be about the same age."

"Still alive?"

Amanta was surprised.

Barty Jr.... Everyone thought he died in Azkaban, including Draco.

Amanta wasn't at all surprised by Draco's reaction, but she couldn't reveal that she knew about this.

"What? Little Barty died? But I did hear the house-elf calling him Master Barty..."

She had to pretend to be surprised - she was becoming more and more familiar with this kind of thing.

She almost admired her own acting skills——

Draco seemed pleased with her reaction.

"Yes, Crouch's son Barty Jr.... As far as I know, he died nine years ago. I heard that he stayed in Azkaban for too long, and his poor psychological and mental state caused his physical condition to deteriorate sharply."

Then, he explained it again in detail.

"Besides that, I also heard that, coincidentally, Crouch's wife also died at that time... But it might be because she was already seriously ill, and coupled with the double blow of losing her only son, they should not have any other children - if it is an illegitimate child, I have never heard of any rumor that Crouch has an illegitimate child."

Hmm... hearing Draco mention this, it would be bad if Draco thought that this man was another illegitimate child of Crouch or something.

First of all, we must not let Draco’s thoughts go astray.

Amanta tried to guide him, "Then the young Master Barty who was with Winky just now...could he be the little Barty who has passed away? But as far as I know, even in the wizarding world, there is no magic of resurrection from the dead - this is easy to guess, otherwise there would be no dead wizards at all."

"Could it be that he wasn't dead at all?" she asked.

"You mean... he escaped from prison? And was classified as dead in prison?" Draco frowned. "Impossible... First of all, according to records, there has never been a prison break in Azkaban."

After listening to Draco's words, Amanta silently complained in her heart: Little Barty is the first person in recorded history, and... there will be more in the future.

The next person to escape was Sirius Black, and then... even the Death Eaters escaped on a large scale collectively.

But at this time, everyone still had great confidence in the Ministry of Magic's ability to discipline and the security environment of Azkaban, so no one would doubt that Barty Jr. had successfully escaped from prison.

Draco was no exception.

“Just because it’s not recorded doesn’t mean it never happened,” she had to explain.

"If that's the case... this is really unbelievable." Draco frowned, "But his body was indeed taken away by the Ministry of Magic. Could it be that... someone pretended to be him, replaced him in prison, and finally died?"

Yes, Draco is very smart. He guessed it almost right so quickly -

She said directly what he said.

"Didn't you just say that? His mother died almost at the same time as him... Don't you think this is too much of a coincidence? Besides, even in the Muggle world, which has many mentally ill and psychologically ill patients, there are very few people who die directly due to mental and psychological conditions, and... all of this will never happen so quickly. Their bodies are always more tenacious than they think."

Draco thought for a moment, "...You mean, he and Mrs. Crouch swapped identities, so...it was her mother who died in Azkaban?"

"It's just a guess - but a very likely guess."

Amanta shrugged.

"But... according to what you said, all of this can be explained." Draco nodded in admiration, "It makes perfect sense. If this is true, then he may be the first person to escape from Azkaban."

Amanta continued to speculate: "From their conversation, after he came out of Azkaban, old Barty had been asking this house-elf to monitor him and not let young Barty go out. But Winky couldn't disobey young Barty's orders. Young Barty insisted on coming here, so young Barty forced Winky to bring him here, or young Barty came out by himself, and then Winky followed."

"By the way, speaking of this matter... I remember you just said that Little Barty came here... to find Moody?"

Draco then remembered the most crucial factor in this conversation.

"Yes, he thought that Moody, who had hardly gone out since retirement, was suddenly willing to go to such a lively occasion this time. This must be because he had some clues about Voldemort." Amanta shook her head. "He was not wrong... Almost every question Moody asked Harry and me was about Voldemort."

Moody must have heard, obviously, that she and Harry were coming to the dinner.

And the reason he came to the dinner this time was to find out from her and Harry about Voldemort, and to find out their thoughts and positions.

Probably to determine which front they will be on in the future.

And she also acquiesced to Harry telling Moody the only thing about Voldemort - "Voldemort will come back one day."

But that's all.

Even if Barty Jr. fed Moody a pot of truth serum, Moody could only give these clues.

At most, it would help him confirm one thing - that his master really was not dead and might still be planning to come back.

As for what he wanted to know most - where Voldemort was, I'm afraid no one knows it except Peter Pettigrew.

But just in case, to prevent Moody, who is old and a little confused, from accidentally falling into the hands of Barty Jr. - after all, Barty Jr. is young and strong, and extremely good in all aspects, even as good as Moody.

In the original plot, Barty Jr. not only subdued Moody, but also pretended to be him - an experienced Auror, and served as the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts for an entire school year.

And it did so without arousing anyone's suspicion - not even Dumbledore.

When it comes to disguise, Barty Jr. is miles ahead of Quirrell.

From this perspective alone, it would be better for them to tell Moody about this first.

Even if Moody didn't want to believe what they said, at least it could give him a warning.

"So...what should we do now?"

Draco asked.

Amanta told him directly what he thought.

"If we look for Barty Jr. and Winky, I don't think we'll be able to find them. After all, they've been hiding for so many years, so they must be very skilled at this. So, why don't we go back to the ball, find Moody, and tell him about this directly."

"I hope Barty Jr. won't attack Moody directly." Draco said worriedly, "I'm just worried that they won't mess up the dinner...if something happens in Malfoy Manor, or someone gets into an accident."

Amanta nodded.

"If nothing unexpected happened, I don't think the situation you described would have happened. After all, in the eyes of everyone, Little Barty is still a deceased prisoner."

Little Barty went straight to the ball, and he must have thought of some way to disguise himself and sneak in.

I don’t know what means he will use to ambush the crowd.

Probably his usual Polyjuice Potion.

Since Barty Jr. was imprisoned in Azkaban at the age of nineteen, he has come into contact with very few people. If he wanted to disguise himself as someone, he would probably start with someone he is familiar with.

However... Barty Jr.'s disguise skills are so advanced that if he really wants to disguise himself as someone, people who are close to that person may not be able to recognize him.

Therefore, the safest option is to tell Moody about this matter directly.

Even if they couldn't prove that Barty Jr. was really still alive, it could at least serve as a reminder to Moody to be wary of this fanatical Death Eater who was believed to be dead.

Amanta and Draco quickly returned to the ball.

The party was already halfway through, and there were fewer men and women dancing on the dance floor than before, and quite a few drunk men and women were slumped on the sofas provided for guests to take a nap.

They looked over and didn't see Moody, but instead saw Harry and Luna still dancing on the dance floor.

Harry saw them too.

After seeing them, Harry lowered his head and said something to Luna. Luna nodded at Harry, and Harry walked towards them.

"Where have you been? It feels like I haven't seen you in a long time."

"It's a long story, Harry, have you seen Moody?" Amanta asked.

"Moody? What do you want to see him for? To be honest... he is such a strange guy that you can spot him in the crowd at a glance." Harry looked at Amanda strangely. "Didn't you notice that he was sitting nearby and staring at us while we were dancing?"

"Well, no..."

Amanta's face flushed slightly.

To her shame, when she was dancing just now, almost all her attention was on Draco and her own steps, and she ignored what was happening around her.

Even though Moody had been staring at them for so long...she didn't even notice.

Harry shrugged.

"Okay, but I haven't seen him for a while... I don't know when, but Luna and I got tired of dancing and went to rest on a nearby sofa. I wanted to chat with you, but I couldn't find you anywhere - then I realized that you and Moody were gone."

From what Harry said, Amanta had a guess, but she wasn't completely sure.

Moody had been watching them, and after they left the restaurant, he disappeared.

Could it be... that Moody was following her, or was it Draco?

If Moody was really following them, then... could he have already discovered Barty Jr. and Winky?