There was a loud inhalation in the conference room. The wizard who had just asked his granddaughter about the discount on the new product slid directly from his chair to the ground. He stood up cursing, but no one paid attention to him. The room was like a vegetable market. Even Professor Marchbank looked at Dumbledore in surprise.

"Are you sure he is really back? Dumbledore, I mean...really back?" Amelia Bones said seriously under her monocle.

Dumbledore shook her head slightly, and Ms. Bones's stiff body relaxed, and her two thick eyebrows returned to the right position.

"So, we still have time to prepare." She breathed a sigh of relief.

"The premise is that we can't turn a blind eye and pretend that nothing happened."

"Enough, Dumbledore!" Fudge shouted loudly, his face turned purple and red, and his saliva flew, but he seemed to have noticed it at all, "Stop spreading the atmosphere of terror! There is no evidence that he is really back... or there is any sign of coming back!"

"The evidence is already under your nose, Fudge, you just need to lower your head and examine it calmly for a few seconds." Dumbledore said.

"Where?"

"Barty Crouch"

"Aha! I knew you were going to say that!" Fudge tugged at his collar roughly, his face and neck changed color because of anger, he stood up, the bowler hat in his hand was crushed by him, and he waved his arms excitedly. "Ladies and gentlemen, let me tell you about this so-called evidence, you will know how ridiculous it is"

The members of the Wizengamot stared, watching Fudge walking around in the conference room and talking loudly.

"Barty Crouch! I didn't want to say it, it involved a scandal, but the former director of the International Department of Magical Exchange and Cooperation committed a serious dereliction of duty twelve years ago, and got his damn Death Eater son out of prison, hiding it from everyone! Barty Crouch used Polyjuice Potion to switch his wife and son, and the Dementors didn't find it... I admit that there are loopholes in Azkaban, we are considering adding a thief-proof waterfall to wash away all spells and the effects of Polyjuice Potion"

Fudge suddenly stopped. With one hand tightly clutching his bowler hat and the other hand on the chair, he shouted, "Just think about how crazy his behavior is. He committed murder more than ten years ago. He is so... evil! Not much better than those Death Eaters."

"Cornelly," Amelia frowned, "Barty did something wrong, but according to his testimony, his wife was dying at the time, and Barty could not bear his wife's final plea..."

"Not only that!" Fudge interrupted her, "Barty Crouch committed more than one crime, he also drove his own son crazy with his own hands!"

The conference room was silent, with only Fudge's heavy breathing. He was like a dangerous gladiator. They were not in a room in the Ministry of Magic, but in an ancient arena. Fudge was always ready to fight anyone who dared to show up.

He met his destined opponent. Dumbledore crossed his hands on the table, looked at Fudge with interest, and whispered, "Strange point of view! Fudge, I am more and more interested in the ideas in your mind. I am all ears."

Fudge seemed to be annoyed by Dumbledore's calm expression. Then his voice became louder, as if he had used an amplification spell.

"I also have evidence, Dumbledore. If you choose to believe Barty Crouch, you have to believe everything he says. Is that right?" Fudge showed a strange smile on his face. He had made a lot of preparations for this day, and he spoke very smoothly at the moment.

His little eyes stared at Dumbledore, and Dumbledore looked at him without hesitation. Dumbledore's body seemed to radiate an indescribable power, and Fudge took the initiative to look away.

"The Imperius Curse... That's right, everyone. Have you ever thought about how Barty Crouch controlled his son? In order to avoid exposing his crimes and continue to climb up the Ministry of Magic, he cast the Imperius Curse himself and confined little Crouch under the Invisibility Cloak for twelve whole years!"

"He deserves it, that little Death Eater!" Professor Marchbanks said loudly, "He participated in torturing the Longbottom couple. It's a heinous crime. If it weren't for Felix," she quickly glanced at the side, "the poor couple would still be living in a daze in St. Mungo's."

"I know." Fudge said impatiently, "I assure you, I don't sympathize with that Death Eater at all. My uncle died in the war, and I hate them as much as you do! I just want to tell you that Barty Crouch is crazy, and has been crazy for a long time. He is different from what you think. What will happen to a person who has used the Unforgivable Curse for twelve consecutive years? Huh?"

Felix looked at Fudge in surprise. He could actually think of this breakthrough. As for the effect, looking at those shocked wizards, it is clear that Barty Crouch's reputation is completely over, and no one will sympathize with him in the future.

But thinking about Dumbledore finding him yesterday, he knew that Dumbledore was also prepared.

"So you ask me what happened? This is a tragedy," Fudge said with a heavy expression. "The father abused his power for personal gain and used the Imperius Curse to control his own son for his own power. Finally, his son went crazy under the influence of the spell, crazy enough that he imagined there was another voice in his head and that the mysterious man was not dead yet. But in any case, he got rid of the control of the spell. On the contrary, he controlled his father!" "

The spell messed up Crouch Jr.'s brain. For the past six months, he pretended that he was under the command of the mysterious man, pretended that he was still serving the mysterious man, sneaked into Hogwarts, and tortured his father. All of this was his imagination."

Felix breathed a sigh of relief. He had a new understanding of Fudge's character. Fudge's resistance and stubbornness opened his eyes. Fudge's strategy was also very convincing. He first exposed Crouch's crimes, turned Crouch into a dangerous criminal, and found a basis for the rationality of Crouch's behavior. Although there were still many loopholes, it was already a qualified story. If he guessed correctly, Fudge would destroy all of Crouch's testimony.

"Barty Crouch is crazy!" Fudge said loudly, "He suffered severe torture when he reappeared, both mentally and physically!" He looked at Amelia Bones, "You know this, right?"

"Barty Crouch did suffer inhuman torture, but" Ms. Bones said cautiously.

"The people at St. Mungo's also confirmed his situation!" Fudge immediately looked at Dorothea Boreham, "Your... that therapist, he personally admitted that Barty Crouch was severely confused and had his memory tampered with!"

Ms. Boreham nodded slowly. Many members of the Wizengamot were convinced, with sighing expressions on their faces.

"This is the truth of the matter!" Fudge waved his hat, "There is no You-Know-Who! There is no war!" He put the hat on his head, smiled, and looked at Dumbledore.

Dumbledore also smiled, and even clapped his hands a few times, "Fudge, your story is all based on imagination..."

"So, you have evidence?" Fudge asked impatiently.

Dumbledore said calmly, "If the evidence you are looking for is seeing Voldemort standing in front of you," Fudge couldn't help but shrink when he heard the name. Dumbledore continued, "Then I don't have it, but I am happy to share some facts and my own speculation based on these facts."

"So you are also going to make up a story, Dumbledore? I'm very busy and I'm not interested in listening to this."

"I'm afraid not." Dumbledore said.

"What's wrong?" Fudge took a breath, as if Dumbledore was not talking, but took out his wand to threaten him.

"Fudge, please forgive me, I am the chief wizard of the Wizengamot. Although you are the Minister of Magic, according to procedures, you are just a member of the Wizengamot and must listen to me finish my words." Dumbledore said, and Fudge stared, as if he had been whipped.

Felix sat quietly in the chair and thought, if Dumbledore was going to tell all the secrets about Voldemort, he would never believe it. He was more inclined to believe that Dumbledore was going to give a warning, the question was, to what extent.

"Where should I start?" Dumbledore said softly, "On that night fourteen years ago, with the help of a traitor, Voldemort walked into the Potters' safe house and killed the Potters, but failed in front of the baby Harry Potter. His killing curse bounced off himself and he lost his power ever since

." "He's dead," Fudge said stiffly.

"Where's the body?" Dumbledore asked back.

"No one cares about this, Dumbledore!" Fudge said impatiently, "He's dead! Maybe he turned into ashes, or someone took the body away."

"It's just a beautiful hope," Dumbledore shook his head and said, "I realized at the time that there was this possibility, that Voldemort was still surviving in some corner of the world, living a miserable life... but people are too eager to hear good news, too eager to restore order and embrace peace."

"Where's the evidence, Dumbledore? Where's the evidence?" Fudge said.

"Why can't you listen to him finish his words?" Professor Marchbank said loudly, "He wasn't so rude when you were talking!"

Fudge glared at her fiercely and muttered, "Well, I'd like to hear... any evidence..."

"Thank you, Griselda," Dumbledore smiled and thanked Professor Marchbank. He continued, "I didn't tell my guess. Maybe as Fudge said, he really turned into ashes and died. Although based on my understanding of him, this possibility is very low." "

One piece of evidence is the curse of the Defense Against the Dark Arts class that has been lingering over Hogwarts. It was still in effect in the second year after Voldemort's death. I felt even more uneasy. I took the initiative to collect evidence that he was still alive and paid attention to unusual sightings and legends..."

"It took me several years, and I finally found suspicious points in a Muggle newspaper." Dumbledore said, "Yes, I developed the habit of reading Muggle newspapers in those years, and I still keep it. I especially like the Sudoku games in them. Muggles say that it can prevent Alzheimer's disease."

Fudge looked at him with a dull expression, as if he had signs of old age.

"Let's get back to the point. I saw a news report about an expedition team in the newspaper. They heard about the horror legend in the Albanian forest. Some small animals and livestock died without any signs. Their behavior before death was very abnormal. An eight-year-old boy swore that he saw a snake reading a newspaper. The photo in the newspaper was moving."

"We all know what this means?" Dumbledore said, looking at the crowd.

In the crowd, Tiberius Ogden said dissatisfiedly, "Which stupid wizard threw the newspaper away after reading it?"

"This doesn't mean anything..." Fudge said stubbornly. "It may be an Animagus from another country, who happens to be a snake."

"I checked, they are possessed." Dumbledore said.

"What?"

"Possessed," Dumbledore repeated, "This doesn't mean anything. Maybe it's an evil spirit, but at the same time, I need to remind you that it could be someone who has lost his power. I continued to investigate in the forest... and found a big pit full of animal corpses, mostly rats and snakes. Of course, the number of snakes is the largest. I tried to solve this secret, and for a while I thought I saw a familiar figure. He was dilapidated and turned into a ghost. He flashed in front of me, but I never saw him again afterwards."

"You mean that thing... is he hiding from you?" Amelia Bones asked seriously.

"I think so," Dumbledore nodded slightly, "I persuaded several families nearby to move away from there, and asked the owner of the local wizard tavern to keep an eye on the movements of the ghost. More than ten years have passed. I got more information, and my guess became more firm."

"But if it is really that person, why didn't he come out, but wandered in the Albanian forest for more than ten years?" Amelia Bones asked.

"Yes! I want to know that, too."

"I'm afraid I can only make some guesses," said Dumbledore.

"Your guess is very valuable for reference." Ms. Bones said. Some wizards in the conference room nodded in agreement, while others kept shaking their heads.

"I think before I make a guess, I need to remind you that Voldemort has lost his power. He is weaker than ever, even more limited than what a ghost can do," said Dumbledore. "One of his flaws is that he can't suppress the thoughts that violently resist him for a long time, so he prefers to possess simple-minded animals, especially snakes. He has a special influence on snakes."

"Parseltongue." Ms. Bones said gloomily.

"Yes, perhaps in the first few years after he lost his power, he still hoped that the Death Eaters would find him and help him regain his power... but he was disappointed. He used fear to maintain his rule, and he was destined to have nothing after his failure," Dumbledore said softly, "Of course, the few people who were loyal to him were imprisoned in Azkaban."

"Barty Crouch, Lestranges!" said Ms. Bones.

Felix's heart moved. He was touched again. The first time was when he was talking to Neville. He thought of Azkaban and Dementors, but he didn't realize the problem. However, he overlooked a key point. Azkaban is a prison with all kinds of criminals.

He leaned back in his chair, looked up at the ceiling, and tried to think. Dumbledore's voice became the background sound, providing him with inspiration.

"Almost four years ago, Voldemort possessed a professor at Hogwarts and sneaked into the school to get the Philosopher's Stone hidden inside... In the end, Harry Potter and his friends stopped him... The Philosopher's Stone was also destroyed."

"More than a year ago, the war hero Peter Pettigrew, who was thought to be dead, reappeared. He and a Death Eater were later proved to be Crouch Jr. and were ordered to sneak into the school, but before they could launch the conspiracy, they were discovered by Harry Potter and his friends. The battle broke out on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Fortunately, Sirius Black, who was slandered as Voldemort's loyal servant at the time, and two school professors rescued them in time, so they survived..."

"Unfortunately, these people almost died at the hands of the out-of-control Dementors." Dumbledore said sternly, Fudge's eyes shrank, and Umbridge hid her head behind the documents. "Peter Pettigrew died that night, it was the kiss of the Dementors... Before he died, he suddenly repented and admitted that he was the traitor who betrayed the Potters. He also said something."

The conference room was silent, everyone held their breath and looked at Dumbledore.

Dumbledore repeated softly: "He said: He is coming back, the man who must not even be named is coming back, I did something wrong, forgive me"

"What!" Ms. Bones took a breath, she stared at Fudge in disbelief, "No one told me about this! You issued a gag order?"

Fudge hesitated, kept wiping his sweat, and finally he simply yelled, "What do you want me to do? Just impose martial law based on a meaningless word? Let the peace we have worked so hard to build over the years be destroyed in an instant?"

"Peace is not fake." Felix said with a smile, he finally thought it through.

Azkaban, dark wizards, Death Eaters... Voldemort, resurrection... Dumbledore must be added.

All this pieced together a guess. If Dumbledore had given Voldemort fatal injuries many times, if Voldemort had been extremely weak and had to rely on the help of others, he would have very limited options.

This person must be a Death Eater, fanatically loyal to Voldemort and agree with his ideas. Only in this way can he gain Voldemort's limited trust and get the honor of helping the "great Dark Lord" treat his injuries and even hold a resurrection ceremony.

If such a person is at large after the war, it is impossible for him to do nothing for more than ten years, so he must be imprisoned in Azkaban.

Then will he know more things, such as Horcruxes?

Of course, of course, Voldemort is extremely selfish and cannot tolerate the secret of the Horcruxes being known to others, even to his loyal servants who can sacrifice their lives for him. He may have used some kind of spell to keep the secret, and the Oblivion Charm or the Confusion Charm can achieve the purpose...

Fudge stared at Felix, his expression still stubborn.

"This year, the signs are even more obvious," Dumbledore said. "There have been several disappearances. Bertha Jorkins disappeared without a trace in Voldemort's last hiding place, and then a Muggle disappeared. His name is Frank Bryce, and he lives in the village where Voldemort's father was born. I read it in the newspaper, remember? I read Muggle newspapers... and Crouch, if he hadn't been rescued, he might have been a missing person again."

"Dumbledore, the things you mentioned are just speculation, maybe just coincidence!"

"I have a witness." Dumbledore said in a deep voice.

Fudge looked at him so quickly that he almost sprained his neck. Others also looked at Dumbledore. Fudge muttered, "You don't mean to say it's Barty Crouch, his testimony is not credible."

"What about his house-elf?" Dumbledore asked politely, waving his wand at the same time, and the figures of Winky and Dobby suddenly appeared in the office.

Winky's expression was still a little confused, but Dobby was more used to this kind of scene. He pulled Winky's hand, and the two bowed deeply and said sharply, "Hello, wizards and gentlemen."

Everyone stared at them not because of Dumbledore's magic, but because they were both wearing exquisite little clothes. They knew what this meant:

these were two free elves.