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Chapter 249: Speculations about the man behind the scenes

"Huh? Professor McGonagall, didn't you agree with Dumbledore's idea just now?" Dracula came over and asked curiously, "Could it be that someone as upright as Professor McGonagall would lie to others?"

"I didn't lie!" Professor McGonagall's face turned a little red, and she looked a little guilty, "A little wizard like Potter, who is only fourteen years old, actually wants to participate in the same competition with those seventeen-year-old adult students..."

"The Goblet of Fire is certainly not that absurd, but those outsiders think that Hogwarts is using this method to gain an advantage!"

As Professor McGonagall spoke, her originally guilty mood gradually turned into anger:

"Merlin, Potter is in danger of death! If Professor Hicks hadn't brought it up, who would have thought that this was about the life and death of a fourteen-year-old child? They only know how to quibble over such trivial matters!"

"Minerva, calm down first." Dumbledore smiled and conjured a cup of hot water with his wand and handed it to Professor McGonagall. "After all, this is the first time that a school has produced two warriors. It is normal for Maxim and Karkaroff to have some emotions."

"As for whether someone really wants to kill Harry... I think so. It's obvious. The Goblet of Fire is a fair magical creation with powerful magic and strict rules. The name Harry spit out from the cup is definitely not something that can be explained by a prank between classmates. "

He turned his gaze to Dracula, "Professor Dracula, you seem to have some clues?"

"Yes." Dracula nodded gently, "A very good Confusion Spell, and found a way to most easily affect the Goblet of Fire..."

"The person who cast the spell on the Goblet of Fire changed part of the Goblet of Fire's cognition, making it recognize the original four magic schools as five - this is actually not complicated. The Ministry of Magic had already set it up once when Yin Famori joined. I guess that person's status in the Ministry of Magic is not low, and he can know how to change the rules of the Goblet of Fire. . "

"In my opinion, this matter is already very clear. The person who tampered with the Goblet of Fire is most likely the Director of the Department of International Magical Exchange and Cooperation, Mr. Barty Crouch."

Dracula had a playful smile on his face and stared into Dumbledore's eyes. "I suspected him as early as the Quidditch World Cup. He was too efficient in rushing to the Dark Mark."

"Not only that, an upright diplomat from the Ministry of Magic insisted on letting Potter participate in the semi-finals regardless of the protest of Headmaster Beauxbatons? Anyway, I think it's a bit strange."

Professor McGonagall had already opened her eyes wide, and a very incredible expression appeared on her face.

"How could this be... Mr. Crouch has always been the toughest resistance faction in the war against Voldemort more than a decade ago. How could he help Voldemort harm Potter today, more than a decade later?" She questioned.

"But Professor Dracula's judgment is also reasonable," Dumbledore thought for a moment, nodded slightly and said, "If Barty is under the Imperius Curse, then everything makes sense."

"No, he is not under the Imperius Curse." Dracula shook his head, "The time when Crouch explained the rules of the game to the warriors was enough for me to explore his mental state... Although his spirit does look very tired, there is indeed no sign of being controlled."

"If what Professor Dracula said is true, then the person who cast the spell on the Goblet of Fire would not be Barty..." Dumbledore's eyes condensed, and he changed his words and said, "I know Barty very well. He can't work for Voldemort."

"Albus, will someone use Polyjuice Potion to disguise as Mr. Crouch?" Professor McGonagall asked.

"There is a certain possibility. I will find out about this matter." Dumbledore said in a deep voice, "But, Professor Dracula, there is another question that is inconsistent with your inference..."

"After the welcome banquet last night, Barty and Bagman left the hall without stopping at all - he had no time to tamper with the rules of the Goblet of Fire."

"Yes, Crouch should not have had the opportunity to cast the Confusion Charm on the Goblet of Fire..." Professor McGonagall frowned tightly, "The Goblet of Fire was tightly sealed in the box before the banquet began."

"What if Crouch had already tampered with it when the Ministry of Magic changed the number of participating schools?" Dracula asked.

"That's not right... The rules of the Goblet of Fire were modified under the witness of almost all senior officials, and Crouch also had no chance to tamper with them." Professor McGonagall shook his head.

"Is that so..." Dracula finally fell silent.

If we judge by the time of the crime, Barty Crouch does have sufficient alibi...

"Don't be so pessimistic. In fact, we have other directions." Dumbledore's voice interrupted Dracula's thoughts, "In fact, there was someone watching over the Goblet of Fire all night yesterday. Maybe he has some clues to tell us?"

He looked at a portrait hanging on the wall next to him and smiled, "Miss Violet, can you help me call Mr. Argus Filch?"

The portrait on the wall was the Fat Lady's good friend. She was very excited to accept the principal's commission and ran to other portraits in the castle to find the Squib keeper.

"Mr. Filch, is he related to this matter?" Professor McGonagall looked a little confused.

"Ah, Minerva, I certainly won't feel comfortable letting students freely cross the age limit to register without anyone watching." Dumbledore smiled, "I asked Argus to help me look after the Goblet of Fire for one night."

"If there are little wizards who try to cheat and cross the age limit and are punished, he can also help send them to the school infirmary... The two little guys in front of the Weiss twins were sent to Madam Pomfrey by Argus."

Not long after, the janitor Filch came to the room in front of the hall with a bucket of water and a rag.

"The people are here, Mr. Headmaster!" Violet said happily on the wall.

"Thank you very much for your help, Miss Violet." Dumbledore smiled at the portrait, then looked at the door, "Oh, Argus, put down the rag first, don't work so hard. We have something to ask you."

He asked about what happened last night.

"Oh! Do you want to know how Harry Potter threw his name into the Goblet of Fire?" Filch said a little excitedly, "I tell you, that mischievous boy from Gryffindor must have secretly thrown it in. I know he has an invisibility cloak that can hide from my eyes!"

"Argus, the invisibility cloak can't hide the age line!" Dumbledore corrected, "You just need to tell us what happened last night."

"Oh... okay, if you want to know." Filch seemed a little disappointed that he couldn't complain about the students, but out of respect for the headmaster, he still told what happened last night seriously:

"Not much happened last night-"

"Several seventh-year students threw their names in, and the cup didn't move; there were also two ignorant junior students who tried to sneak into the age line and grew a lot of white beards... I sent them to the school infirmary."

"Is that all?" Dumbledore asked.

"That's all, Headmaster," said Filch. "I mean, there's no point in looking at this Goblet of Fire. I failed to catch several Gryffindor kids sneaking out for a night stroll. Under normal circumstances, there would definitely be a few students in detention to help me with my work..."

"I see," Dumbledore nodded to Filch and let him leave the room. "Thank you, Argus."

"What do you think?" he asked Dracula and Professor McGonagall.

"His opinion is of little reference value. He's just a Squib, and any student can fool him." Dracula smiled and shook his head. "If I were the guy who wanted to tamper with the Goblet of Fire, I would definitely explore the surroundings first and easily find this guy who doesn't even have magic power."

"But according to Mr. Filch, he didn't see anything all night." Professor McGonagall said, "Even if the figure can be obscured by the Disillusionment Charm, the color change of the magical flame in the Goblet of Fire cannot be hidden, so..."

"So it is very likely that Filch took action when he sent the two students to the school infirmary." Dumbledore said, "Argus was not present throughout the whole process. The person who tampered with the Goblet of Fire may have cast the Confusion Charm while he was away."

"So after discussing for so long, we still haven't made any progress!" Dracula sneered.

"It's not easy to find someone lurking in the dark." Dumbledore sighed, "Oh? Severus, what do you think?"

Just then, Dumbledore was surprised to see that Snape, who had been sitting in his seat without saying a word from beginning to end, suddenly stood up.

"I don't have any opinion. I don't want to waste time here with you." Snape said coldly, "You might as well do something practical, such as adding a few more insurances to this game..."

"Mr. Principal, if you don't want the savior you have chosen to die in the semi-finals, then I suggest you find someone who is responsible for security to watch over the stadium... If you are too lazy to find one, it's okay, I just happen to be bored recently and can help you with this."

Dracula looked at Snape in surprise.

"Do you want to be Potter's security officer?" He asked with interest.

"I told you, I'm just bored and willing to act as a security guard!" Snape said angrily, "I'm doing this for the reputation of Hogwarts, not for that idiot Harry Potter!"

"Okay, okay, we get it." Dracula teased with a playful expression, "I really didn't expect you to have the potential to be a nanny."

"I told you, I'm not a security guard for Potter!" Snape roared with a gloomy face.

"Severus, with your emotional stability, it's hard for me to trust you with the safety of the game." Dumbledore said softly, "I'm afraid you won't care about the lives of others, but only care about..."

"Enough!" Snape interrupted Dumbledore, "In that case, you can find whoever you want, I want to see how you will end up if the warriors die in Hogwarts!"

After that, he flicked his sleeves, pushed open the door and strode out, his long black cloak fluttering behind him.

Dracula watched this scene, and his eyes gradually showed interest.

"Dumbledore, is there really a position like a safety officer in this game?" he asked.

"Originally there was no such position, but what Severus said makes sense. We should indeed add such a position." Dumbledore said thoughtfully, "Severus is very capable and was originally a very suitable candidate..."

"Unfortunately, his unfair behavior is too famous in Hogwarts. I am a little worried about the emotions of Maxim and Karkaroff."

"If that's the case..." Dracula suddenly raised his mouth.

He looked at Snape's distant back with a fluttering black cloak, and shouted to him loudly:

"Snape, I'll take the position of safety officer for you! Don't worry, with me here, those little guys will never have any problems."

Snape's footsteps paused.

Dracula saw that his tense shoulders suddenly drooped along with the fluttering cloak behind him, as if he relaxed a lot at once.

Then, he did not stop and walked out of the hall again.

...

After Halloween, there was less than a month left before the start of the first project.

The five warriors were basically trying to prepare for the upcoming competition, except for one of the youngest warriors...

Compared to the other four warriors, Harry had a very bad life.

Except for Hermione, who always believed that the semi-finals was very dangerous, almost no one in Gryffindor believed that he did not sign up, and complained why he did not tell them how to cross the age line;

Hufflepuff House had always had a good relationship with Gryffindor, but recently it has become visibly cold, and it is obvious that they think Harry stole Cedric's honor.

As for the Slytherin students, Harry could have imagined this a long time ago, and they did even more excessive-

After lunch one day, he and Hermione came to Snape's underground classroom for Potions class and found that the Slytherin students were waiting outside the classroom, and everyone had a large badge on the front of their robes.

The badges all had the same words printed on them, and the bright red letters shone brightly in the dim light of the underground corridor, as if they were on fire:

"Support Cedric Diggory -

The True Warrior of Hogwarts"

"Like it, Potter?" Malfoy said loudly when he saw Harry approaching, "They have other tricks - look!"

He pressed the badge hard against his chest, and the words on it disappeared, and then another line of words appeared, shining green:

"Potter Stinky Shit"

The Slytherins laughed strangely.

Each of them pressed their badges, and finally, the glaring words - Potter Stinky Shit - were flashing everywhere around Harry.

Harry felt that the days of being a warrior were terrible!