At Sirius's request, Sherlock explained to everyone how he had discovered Harry's wand had been stolen as they left the box.
"All the doubts actually stem from something unusual. Think about it—at the Quidditch World Cup final, Barty Crouch Sr., as Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, went to great lengths to have his house-elf save him a seat. Yet until the match ended, he never showed up."
"Indeed, that doesn't fit Crouch's character," Sirius said thoughtfully, nodding.
"You know him?" Ron asked curiously. "You sound like you understand him quite well."
"Oh, I certainly know Crouch," Sirius shook his head and said softly. "He was the one who ordered me sent to Azkaban—without even a trial."
"What did you say?" Fred and George exclaimed simultaneously.
"You must be joking!" Ginny couldn't help but say.
"I'm not joking," Sirius said quietly. "Crouch used to be the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. You didn't know that, did you?"
Some nodded, others shook their heads.
Sirius didn't elaborate further but turned to Sherlock and asked, "However, just based on that alone, for you to conclude that someone was sitting next to that house-elf seems a bit too incredible, doesn't it?"
Sherlock shrugged. "Of course not, but it was enough to make me interested in the matter and put some of my attention on her—that was already sufficient. When all attention was focused on the match itself, I discovered someone took Harry's wand right from under my nose. It had to be either a Disillusionment Charm or an Invisibility Cloak. Either way, by doing this, he personally handed the criminal evidence to me."
"That simple?" Sirius found it somewhat unbelievable. It sounded far too easy.
"That simple." Sherlock nodded and looked at Harry, saying bluntly, "Speaking of which, you're the one who needs to be more careful, Harry—to let someone so easily take your wand."
Harry blushed with embarrassment at these words. Sherlock was absolutely right. To have his wand stolen without even noticing—if it weren't for his older brother figure Sherlock, who knows what Barty Crouch Jr. would have done with it?
Judging from the vicious look he'd just given Sherlock, this fellow was clearly no good person.
"Sirius, why don't you tell us about Barty and his son!" Ron couldn't help but say. "In a moment, you'll be going to the Ministry, and who knows when you'll be back."
"There's not much to tell," Sirius sighed. "Even though he personally sent me to Azkaban, I still consider him a remarkable wizard."
"Remarkable?" Sherlock became interested. "Tell us more."
"Yes, remarkable. He was not only magically powerful but also had a strong desire for power—which made him particularly prominent during the First Wizarding War. Simply put, someone like him would never be a supporter of Voldemort. He publicly declared his opposition to the Dark Arts more than once, but many who opposed the Dark Arts... Well, forget it, you wouldn't understand... you're all too young..."
"Don't do that! My dad does the same thing—every time he gets to the crucial moment, he uses that excuse!" Ron said indignantly. "Just try it and see if we can understand or not."
Sirius was amused by Ron's annoyed expression. "All right, I'll try. At least Sherlock will certainly understand."
"Hey—!" This time, Harry and Hermione also expressed their dissatisfaction.
Sirius laughed again. He was doing it on purpose, of course.
"When Voldemort's power was at its peak, bad news came every week—more deaths, more disappearances, more people being tortured... The Ministry of Magic was in complete chaos. They didn't know what to do and had to keep everything hidden from the Muggles.
Meanwhile, Muggles were dying too. Terror, tension, and chaos were everywhere... That was the situation—people who didn't experience it wouldn't understand. But looking back now, it's precisely in times like these that good people show their best qualities and bad people reveal their worst nature. As the old saying goes..."
Sirius sighed deeply and spoke a meaningful sentence: "The peak produces hypocritical followers; dusk witnesses devout believers."
Everyone looked at each other, feeling they understood somewhat.
"It's normal that you don't fully understand. As I just said, only those who've experienced it would know. During that time, you didn't know who was his supporter and who wasn't, didn't know who was working for him and who wasn't.
You knew he could control people completely, making them do terrible things unwillingly. You felt fear for yourself, your family, and your friends. It was during this time that Barty Crouch began to stand out. As he rose rapidly through the Ministry ranks, he adopted some very harsh measures to deal with Voldemort's supporters.
It was at his insistence that Aurors gained new powers—such as the right to kill, not just capture. Crouch believed in fighting violence with violence. He even allowed the use of Unforgivable Curses on suspects—which earned him the support of most Aurors.
I wasn't the only one handed directly to the Dementors without trial. Of course, at the time, I had no heart to defend myself, because I thought I had caused your parents' deaths, Harry..."
"However, in my view, Crouch was as ruthless and cold-blooded as many on the Dark side. You know, he had his own supporters—many people thought his way of handling things was right.
At that point in time, many wizards were loudly demanding he become Minister of Magic. After Voldemort disappeared, it seemed only a matter of time before Crouch took the top position. But then something very unfortunate happened..."
Sherlock raised an eyebrow and made the most reasonable deduction: "His son was discovered to be a Death Eater?"
Harry, Hermione, and Ron looked at Sherlock in surprise. Wasn't that quite a leap?
A cold smile appeared on Sirius's handsome face as he said slowly, "Perhaps yes, perhaps no. But it's an indisputable fact that Crouch's own son, Barty Crouch Jr., was found together with a group of Death Eaters who had escaped from Azkaban through smooth talk.
They were said to be searching for Voldemort, trying to help him rise again. When young Crouch was sent to Azkaban, I was there myself, so I only learned these details after I escaped. But one thing I'm certain of—when young Crouch was arrested, the people with him were all Death Eaters. I'd stake my life on it.
Perhaps he was a Death Eater, perhaps he wasn't and just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I don't know the specifics. If you have time, you can ask Dumbledore—he participated in Barty's interrogation."
"So, Crouch Jr. was sent to Azkaban just like that?" Hermione asked quietly. "Didn't Crouch try to defend his son?"
"Defend? Crouch defend his son?" Sirius laughed coldly as if he'd heard a good joke.
"Hermione, it seems you still don't understand this man well enough. Anything that threatened his reputation was inevitably cast aside. His entire life was devoted to becoming Minister of Magic. Crouch's paternal love was expressed, at most, in allowing his son a trial. According to various accounts, this actually gave Crouch an excuse—a chance to demonstrate how impartial he was by sending his own son to Azkaban."
"He personally handed his own son over to the Dementors," Sherlock said thoughtfully. "But Mr. Weasley just said he should already be dead, meaning that in your understanding, he died in Azkaban?"
"Exactly," Sirius said gravely. "I saw the Dementors bring him in. I watched them through the bars of my cell door. He was nineteen at most. They threw him into a cell next to mine. In the evening, he screamed for his mother. But after a few days, he fell silent... They all fell silent eventually... only occasionally screaming in their sleep... A year later, he died."
"When young Crouch was in Azkaban, did his father ever come to see him?" Sherlock asked again.
"Yes," Sirius glanced at Sherlock. "Crouch was an important Ministry official at the time. He and his wife were permitted to visit their son before he died. That was also the last time I saw Barty Crouch before today. At the time, he was half-supporting, half-carrying his wife as they passed my cell.
After that visit, his wife died soon after—overcome by grief, she wasted away and died like that boy. Crouch didn't come to claim his son's body. The Dementors buried him outside the fortress. I watched them do it."
"Because of this, just when Crouch thought he'd succeeded, he lost everything. One moment a hero, confident of becoming Minister of Magic... the next moment, his son dead, his wife dead, his family's reputation tarnished.
After I escaped, I heard that his prestige in the public eye plummeted. After the boy died, people stopped focusing on how impartial he was and instead began sympathizing more with his son, asking questions like:
Why would a child from a good family end up on such a path? What kind of grievance would drive a young person to do such things? The conclusion they reached was that his father had never really cared about him. And so Cornelius Fudge took the top position, and Crouch was transferred laterally to the Department of International Magical Cooperation."
Silence.
A long silence.
As Sirius had said, after hearing about Barty Crouch and his son, they indeed didn't quite understand.
Just as Harry was about to say something, Sherlock said quietly, "I think I generally understand what happened now."
Harry then realized he wasn't surprised at all. He simply gave up and asked, "What happened?"
"First of all, Sirius, your title as the first person in history to escape from Azkaban can't be kept."
Sirius made a wry face.
"Sherlock!" Hermione chided. "This isn't the time for jokes!"
"I'm not joking," Sherlock said seriously. "Sirius, you only escaped last year. But based on your description, combined with my deduction, young Crouch should have left Azkaban over ten years ago."
"My description?" Sirius, being extremely intelligent himself, thought for a moment and understood: "You mean... Crouch's wife?"
"Exactly. The person who truly died in Azkaban wasn't young Crouch but his mother, Mrs. Crouch. Maternal love truly is great—no matter what her son had done, she was willing to die for him."
Everyone couldn't help but glance at Harry. As everyone knew, Harry's mother Lily had also died for Harry.
Sirius didn't wish to expand on this topic and continued, "So he wasn't completely without love for his son after all."
"He certainly valued his career highly, but I believe he wasn't without feelings for his family. Deep in his heart, he still loved his son and his wife," Sherlock said lightly. "I think Dumbledore would be very interested in this topic. He loves going on about love."
"Ha!" Sirius couldn't help but laugh. "Sherlock, it's not good to speak ill of people behind their backs."
"I'm not speaking ill—I'm just stating a fact. And even if he were standing right here, I'd say the same thing."
"What would you say to my face?"
With the familiar crack of Apparition and a gentle voice, the long-bearded old man wearing half-moon spectacles appeared before them. It was none other than Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
"Headmaster?"
"Sir?"
"Professor!"
When Dumbledore appeared, Harry, Hermione, and Ron were stunned.
Sirius smiled without speaking, while Sherlock simply continued the previous topic: "I said you would definitely be interested in the topic of Barty Crouch and his son because you love going on about love, sir."
The young people all looked at Sherlock with admiration. That's so you! So incredibly brave!
But to everyone's surprise, Dumbledore didn't deny it. "You're absolutely right, Sherlock. Love is the greatest emotion in this world. Whether it's those who love others or those who are loved by others, they are fortunate enough."
After finishing this somewhat convoluted statement, Dumbledore asked with some curiosity, "However, you don't seem surprised by my sudden appearance. Did you already deduce it?"
"Not before," Sherlock said honestly. "But after Sirius just finished talking about that matter, I knew you would definitely come. I just didn't expect it to be this quick."
"Arthur is more anxious than you imagined, Sherlock," Dumbledore maintained his smile. "I'll go with you to the Ministry in a moment."
Sherlock immediately understood. The Ministry's incompetent bureaucracy was about to cause trouble again! Dumbledore had come to back him up.
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