Blue flames flared to life in the fireplace at Silverhand Manor, and John stepped out of them.
Tommy was already waiting there, his face marked with anxiety.
"Where's Kim?" John asked as he entered the study.
"He went to the Ministry of Magic to negotiate," Tommy replied. John's return clearly gave him something to anchor himself to.
John nodded and asked, "Has Barty Crouch Sr. been here?"
"No," Tommy said. "Not since Amelia Bones was killed."
"Is that so?" The more John thought about it, the stranger it felt. "Has Barty shown any movement lately?"
"About that…" Tommy didn't have a clear answer.
But the most urgent issue at hand was the suspension of construction in the werewolf community.
John pondered for a moment before saying, "Go and stabilize the werewolf community."
"But the Ministry of Magic—"
"I'll deal with them."
John reassured Tommy.
Old Jack and the others still knew nothing about this, and Barty's motives felt unusually suspicious.
John walked into the Silverhand Garden.
"Who can tell me who Barty has met recently?"
As John asked the question, someone stepped out from among the flowers.
It was an unfamiliar Asian face.
"Tsk, you didn't even wait for me," Gus said as he emerged from a hidden path in the garden.
John glanced at the Asian wizard and asked, "Looks like you have a lead."
"Just call me Musashi," Musashi nodded. "Barty Crouch Sr. met with Pius Thicknesse at the Crouch family estate."
"Oh?" John wasn't surprised that Barty had met with Pius, but the fact that it happened at a private residence was far more intriguing.
"Seems Barty wanted to consult Pius's opinion, and didn't want this to reach the Ministry."
He stroked his chin, thinking. Barty's actions suggested he wanted a private discussion.
If that was the case, it made even less sense for him to make a move against John.
If he truly intended to act, he could have discussed it openly at the Ministry.
Pius, for all his slickness, was a smart man. He knew his rise depended on Johnny Silverhand and Barty's relationship, and it was highly unlikely he would instigate Barty into stabbing John in the back.
Seen this way, whether Barty truly intended to break with him was still very much in question.
"I need to pay a visit to the Crouch house and see our old friend."
Seeing the gardener focused on tending the flowers nearby, John asked, "Interested in coming along?"
Barty Jr. snipped away a row of rose branches.
...
With a member of the Crouch family present, entering the Crouch estate became easy.
The doors of the Crouch house were opened.
John stepped inside, immediately catching the strong scent of wood.
There was also a trace of dampness in the air. A wooden shield hung on the wall.
The shield was intact, showing no signs of forced entry.
The carved wooden dog was also unharmed, clearly not attacked inside the house.
However, in a desk drawer, John spotted Barty Crouch Sr.'s protective amulet.
"He didn't bring his amulet?"
Narrowing his eyes as he looked at the amulet in the drawer, John fell into thought.
Barty had been attacked before. The only person he would meet without even carrying his protective charm would be Pius.
At that moment, John noticed that Barty Jr. was standing at the doorway instead of coming in, his gaze fixed on the door.
John walked over to take a closer look. Along the edge of the door were four crescent-shaped marks, as if they had been pressed in hard by fingernails.
Lowering his gaze, he saw traces of something crawling across the floor.
A vivid image of a small emerald-green snake flashed through John's mind.
His pupils contracted as he said in a low voice, "Voldemort's people have been here."
That snake, the one that followed Bellatrix and appeared at the Crouch house, could only mean it had been invited inside.
And Barty had met with Pius.
And Pius…
Several possibilities flashed through John's mind.
Either someone had impersonated him, or Pius himself had been controlled.
Either way, Barty's situation didn't look good.
But the situation even worse was John's.
If Barty truly had been controlled, then any actions taken against John would leave him unable to storm the Ministry to confront him.
"Haah…"
John let out a sigh, then his tone shifted. "Good thing I left a door."
"Coming along?" John asked as he glanced at Barty Jr. again.
Barty Jr. replied coldly, "None of my business."
The relationship between father and son was still just as bad as ever.
John shrugged.
…
Inside the Ministry of Magic.
The fake Pius, posing as a senior Ministry official, was in the same office as Barty Crouch Sr.
"Your willpower is quite strong," he said, studying Barty with interest.
On the way here, Barty had actually managed to break free from the Imperius Curse once.
As expected of someone capable of becoming Minister for Magic, his mental resilience was indeed far beyond that of ordinary people.
Sitting at an angle across from Barty, the impostor held a nine-inch wand in his hand.
Barty Crouch Sr. sat like a wooden puppet, being directed to sign documents one after another.
The impostor leisurely surveyed the surroundings.
This office had been renovated in the Silverhand style, with an overall dark, subdued palette and several silver ornaments placed neatly atop the desk.
He casually picked one up, examining the delicate patterns etched into it.
His gaze drifted to the flickering flames in the fireplace.
The impostor stared at it.
The more he looked, the stranger it felt.
Rising from his chair, he walked over.
Just as he was about to reach the fireplace, a blinding white light erupted from within it.
In the next instant, the impostor felt the wand in his hand vanish, and something seemed to pierce straight through his neck.
When his vision returned, he stared fixedly at the person who had appeared before him.
He tried to grin, but with his own wand driven into his throat, all strength left his body and he collapsed.
John walked up to Barty Crouch Sr. and tapped his shoulder lightly with his wand.
Barty was instantly released from the Imperius Curse, shuddering as he came fully back to his senses.
Looking down, he saw that he had been in the middle of signing a treaty allowing giants to legally enter the country as protected magical creatures.
Cold sweat broke out all over him.
"John?" He looked up at John and asked his first question, "How did you get in?"
John paused for a moment, then said, "The Floo Network."
Pointing at the fireplace, John let out a light chuckle. "Don't tell me you forgot."
With that reminder, Barty Crouch Sr. remembered that he had opened an emergency connection between the Crouch estate and the Minister's office.
Still shaken, Barty burned the document to ashes, then looked grimly at the impostor, who was not yet dead.
"Who are you, and why did you control me?"
"Heh… heh… it's already too late."
The impostor clutched his throat, letting out a wheezing, air-leaking laugh.
He looked at John and laughed madly. "Too late!"
John seemed to realize something, his expression changing instantly.
"Johnny Silverhand!"
…
Johnny Silverhand Exclusive Shop.
Kim had gone to the Ministry of Magic, and Tommy had gone to the werewolf community.
At the moment, the Johnny Silverhand shop had no one in charge apart from the staff and security.
A group of people arrived, holding a seizure order signed by the Minister for Magic.
After verifying the seal and signature on the document, the employees were left at a loss.
A female Auror grabbed one of them by the hair and dragged them out, her voice filled with viciousness. "Can't you see this place has been sealed?"
Out of fear of the Ministry of Magic, the security guards could only withdraw for the time being.
Once everyone inside had been cleared out, the female Auror's face began to change.
A ruined, twisted face emerged.
Bellatrix.
A small emerald-green snake was coiled around her neck like a necklace.
The other Aurors revealed their true faces as well, each wearing a crazed expression as they began removing items from the Johnny Silverhand shop.
When they had taken almost everything, Bellatrix drew her wand and pointed it at the conspicuous Silverhand emblem.
The silver hand shattered, flames spreading outward from within.
"Kehehehe~~ Second King, do you like the gift I've prepared for you?"
It was a provocation.
A counterattack from the Dark Lord, newly returned.
By the time John arrived, the fire had already been extinguished.
His face was grim as he looked over the list of items that had been taken.
"Tom, you've really impressed me."
High-profile. Brazen.
It seemed Voldemort intended to reappear before everyone in the posture of the Dark Lord.
"After nearly a year of lying low, it looks like you've gathered enough strength."
John wasn't angry. Instead, he laughed softly, a chill flashing through his eyes.
He didn't dwell on the damage to Silverhand.
The fact that the other side had looted equipment and armed themselves proved that Voldemort had already made up his mind to attack Hogwarts.
That meant John could begin putting his own plan into motion.
He glanced at Barty Crouch Sr. beside him and said calmly, "Barty, this doesn't seem like a bad thing."
Barty thought John had been shaken too hard by the blow. Even Johnny Silverhand Specialty Shop had been burned down, and yet he was saying it wasn't a bad thing.
"The construction of the werewolf community is suspended. I'm going to prepare a generous gift for an old friend."
John chuckled softly. He had been worrying about not having an excuse to leave.
Now Voldemort had handed him one on a silver platter. He could take this opportunity to head to another country.
"As for the pure-blood families, I hope their hands within the Ministry of Magic can push this matter even higher."
John turned away. Behind him, the Johnny Silverhand shop was visibly repairing itself at a rapid pace.
It was time for him to return to Hogwarts.
~~~
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