The flames were as arrogant as Crouch's smile.

His eyes and expression were twitching ferociously.

Harry looked at him from a distance, raised his wrist, checked the time, and waved his wand gently.

The giant steel snake pressed down, its body flat, like a train, rushing forward, crushing Crouch.

It was fierce and swift, the flames emptied out, the trees fell down, and from the snake's belly flowed hot, bright yellow molten gold like blood.

He jumped down, reached into the Sorting Hat in mid-air, and pulled out the snake-bone sword.

His eyes were fixed on the person hiding behind the flames.

Crouch's heart skipped a beat, his smile gradually froze, and the expression in his eyes slowly changed from ferociousness and jealousy to astonishment and disbelief.

Harry Potter didn't go to put out the fire immediately.

No time to think too much.

The giant snake wrapped in Fiendfyre was already charging over, and Harry also dropped from the sky, holding a sword.

Curse Harry?

Then I was hit by a giant snake...

And there is no guarantee that chanting a spell can cause harm to this person.

Crouch waved his wand, and the ground beneath his feet arched up, shooting him behind him like a slingshot, and the gathered part turned into a stone wall in the blink of an eye.

The giant snake rumbled forward, breaking the wall into pieces.

Harry landed lightly on the ground, shook his wand, and used his magic to peel away the fierce fire gathered around him. Without hesitation, he rushed towards Crouch.

"What's wrong with your expression?" Harry looked at him and whispered, "Why aren't you smiling?"

"Crouch, you are a handsome guy, you will look better if you smile more."

As he spoke, it did not affect the movements of his hands. He waved his sword, aiming at Crouch's fatal spot with every move.

Crouch dodged and waved his wand, casting as many spells as he could.

But those spells had little effect.

In terms of magic power, physical strength, and perception, he was far inferior to Harry.

"Are you surprised why I didn't go to put out the fire, but instead caught you first?" Harry stabbed with a sword and approached. Crouch was about to wave his wand and chant a spell to distance himself, but he suddenly stretched out his foot.

Caught off guard, his foot tripped as he retreated, and he stumbled to the ground.

Expelliarmus!

A red light shot out from Harry's other hand and hit Crouch's hand. The wand flew out, but Harry tilted his head and didn't catch it. It brushed past his ear and flew away, falling into the fierce fire. It exploded with a click and then burned to ashes.

Harry put his foot on his chest, raised his hand, and looked at the time again: "Fifty-three seconds, less than a minute."

"Do you understand now?"

He raised his wand high, and the magic power gathered in large and surging waves.

"All curses come to an end!"

The magic power rushed out, the tide surged out, and the wind pressed on all the fierce fires. They resisted stubbornly and wanted to continue devouring them, but the magic power cut off any fuel needed by the fierce fire, and they dissipated and extinguished with a puff.

Harry pulled another handful of seeds from his pocket and tossed them forward.

A wave of the magic wand.

The weather spell created a breeze that carried the seeds and drifted toward the scorched earth that had been burned by the fierce fire.

They land, take root, and sprout.

The scorched earth was still barren. When snowflakes fell, they immediately turned into steam and floated up with a hissing sound. But a little bit of green popped up, and it was no longer so lifeless and had some vitality.

Crouch stared at Harry and held his foot with one hand: "Potter, you are really excellent."

"Thank you for the compliment, Professor. Would you like to give me extra points?" Harry lowered his head and looked at him.

There was a rustling sound, and I could hear the sound of plants growing.

Crouch nodded with difficulty: "Of course, Gryffindor will get 20 points."

"I commend you for your excellent swordsmanship and your excellent spell-stopping skills."

He paused for a moment.

"But Potter, let's stop here." He laughed grimly again, and with a click, something was pulled open by him. After a ding, milky white, dazzling smoke poured out from under his robe.

There is no magic fluctuation.

In the thick fog, Crouch waved his hand and barely cast a wandless spell. The thunder explosion created a huge air wave, blowing Harry backwards.

Amid the explosion, Crouch snapped his fingers.

Right now.

"Lock Shadow, Lock Shape!" Harry chanted a spell while stepping back to lock the space. A huge amount of magic power surged, making this small space have a jelly-like texture.

He flicked his wand again.

The weather spell blew away the white fog.

Crouch was still lying on the ground, holding a house-elf in his hand.

"Professor, I have to praise you, it's really unexpected." Harry flicked his wand, and a used smoke bomb flew out from under his robe and fell into his hand. "Ordinary people's weapons, don't people like you look down on ordinary people the most?"

Crouch gritted his teeth.

The reaction is so quick?

One second, two seconds?

If I were just a little bit slower, I would be taken away by the Apparition.

"Think I'm quick to react?" Harry dropped the thing and read Crouch's expression. "Professor, this really makes me sad. I thought you knew me very well. I thought you would have confidence in me."

"You actually feel that I can't react in such a long time?"

Crouch said nothing.

The house-elf huddled beside Crouch miserably, clutching his hand tightly, trying to use the meager magic power in his body, again and again, but to no avail.

"Professor, is there any other way?" Harry asked him.

Crouch remained silent.

"Fly around." Harry waved his wand and chanted a spell.

Molly often uses this spell to confiscate the prohibited items carried by George and Fred. It is a variation of the Flying Spell. It does not need to point to a specific target, but can make the items of the type you want fly out in front of you.

Crouch's robes were lifted.

All sorts of things flew out.

A pocket cast by the Traceless Stretching Charm was torn into pieces by Harry, and the things inside poured out all at once.

A few devil's ivy seeds, biting kale, and mandrake.

There were several bottles of colorful potions, some healing and some poisonous.

A Firebolt.

A few round grenades.

One of the bottles caught his attention. It was reinforced with layers of magic and had fine milky white dust surging inside. Harry raised his wand and the bottle fell into his hand.

A familiar breath and a cold touch.

It's hoarfrost.

"Have you found the Wild Hunt?" Harry looked at him and lowered his voice.

Crouch tilted his head and looked at the house-elf: "Guess?"

He couldn't meet Harry's eyes.

No one dared to look a wizard skilled in Legilimency in the eye.

Harry waved his wand, and a grenade twisted and deformed into a big hand. He grabbed Crouch's head and forced him to look at him. "Answer my question."

Eyes met.

Capture the mind and thoughts.

Harry didn't wait for his answer, peering into his mind.

Crouch's brain is filled with fictitious memories.

Voldemort is young and handsome. He is the headmaster of Hogwarts and the Minister of Magic. Barty Crouch is the professor of Dark Arts at Hogwarts. They live together in Hogwarts Castle.

Harry increased his magic power.

This is the protection of the brain's defense technique.

The only magic that could resist Legilimency was useful, but the trouble it caused Harry was limited to that small illusion.

Harry continued to peer.

He read about Crouch's childhood. His father, the real father, was busy and away from home all day, while his mother doted on him and spoiled him to do anything. When his father was not at home, he was undoubtedly happy, but as soon as his father came back, the false happiness would collapse. Old Crouch always looked down on his mother's doting on young Crouch, and every time he came back, he would scold her harshly.

Young Crouch thought that if he performed well, he would get his father's approval.

He had shown extraordinary excellence since the first grade and got twelve "O"s in the sixth grade, but old Crouch did not give him even a word of praise.

On the contrary, Voldemort was attracted by his talent and treated him kindly.

Harry read that Crouch had become a Death Eater.

Voldemort would reprimand him and correct his faults.

I will also praise him and reward his achievements.

The Death Eaters, Bellatrix, Karkaroff, and Rodolphus, all treated him like their brothers and sisters.

For the first time in his nearly twenty years of life, he felt at home.

Harry read about how miserable he was when he was imprisoned after Voldemort's first downfall, how much he missed his "home", and how much he hated his "parents" who bound and controlled him.

but……

Ever since three years ago, Crouch's memory has been missing, large areas of it missing, large areas of it blank, to the point that he has no memory of the past six months at all.

His memory began with him appearing at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. He was going to find Aragog, deliver the human flesh and ask about their recent situation.

The most critical.

How did he get here? Where is his hideout? What are Voldemort's remaining Horcruxes? His plan...

None of these things existed in his brain.

Harry looked away.

Crouch crawled on the ground, gasping for breath and laughing.

Harry waved his wand and the large hand grabbed the house-elf's head and twisted it so it was staring at him.

Capture the soul and read the thoughts.

Same way.

It was much easier to hack into the brain of a house-elf than Crouch's. It didn't know how to perform Occlumency, and everything was laid bare for Harry to see.

It is a house-elf at Hogwarts named "Kaka" and has worked in the kitchen for more than ten years.

But it also has large gaps in its memory.

After school starts, memories are cleared every night.

And... the memories of when little Barty Crouch stood on the edge of the Forbidden Forest had also disappeared, cleared away artificially.

"Potter, don't bother." Crouch said distortedly, "You can't know anything."

Harry said nothing, thinking about the long, long blank spaces.

Sometimes blank spaces are also clues.

Footsteps came from behind.

Harry looked back and saw Dumbledore and Hagrid.

"Harry, have you caught Crouch?" Dumbledore asked.

Harry said nothing and moved aside, exposing Crouch's figure to the two of them.