Snape came over, holding a bottle of potion in his hand.

"Water of Life and Death." Crouch took a look and recognized it at a glance. "You're still using this on me?"

"The greatest white wizard."

"And the Heir of Gryffindor."

"You don't have confidence in your magic, and you think you can't lock me up?"

Harry responded, "This is a special potion, Mr. Crouch. I think you're going to love it."

Snape squatted down, pinched Crouch's chin, looked into his eyes, and was about to pour the potion in his hand into him.

"Wait." Harry stopped.

Snape paused.

Harry waved his wand and the cork popped out. He sniffed it gently. "Go on, Professor."

"Potter, it seems that your brain has really been polluted by the troll." Snape narrowed his eyes and said sarcastically, "Now that I'm the professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts, do you doubt that I can't even make a potion like the Water of Life and Death?"

Harry said nothing, just smiled contemptuously.

Snape sneered and continued to pinch Crouch's chin.

The two people looked at each other.

Didn't say anything.

Snape roughly poured the potion into his mouth. In the blink of an eye, Crouch fell asleep, and soon a painful expression appeared on his cheeks.

He snorted and turned away.

Harry left too.

Late at night, Crouch was suddenly awakened. There was no fireplace in the room. Although the magic was airtight, he still felt a chill that penetrated into his bones. In such a desolate and gloomy environment, a layer of sticky cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

"It seems that nightmares are not pleasant?" A dark shadow emerged from Crouch, opened his mouth, and spit out Snape's voice.

"What a novel potion." Crouch stared at the dark shadow, his tone vague.

I don’t know if this is a comment on the water of life and death that can give people nightmares.

Let me evaluate this dark stand-in.

Snape said impatiently: "There is no time for nonsense. In order to hide it from Potter, I sneaked in through the water of life and death. The effect will only last ten minutes."

"What do you want me to do now?"

Crouch glanced at the blackboard and asked, "Has my contract with Hogwarts really been cancelled?"

Snape responded: "I don't know."

"But that's Potter, and if he says so, I'm afraid it means it."

Crouch sighed: "Let me out, as long as I can get away from here, I can..."

"Crouch, have you been beaten stupid by Potter?" Snape interrupted him impatiently, "Or did I overestimate your willpower and feed you too much water of life and death, and it still hasn't made you sober? What nonsense are you talking about?"

"Can't you do it, Severus?" Crouch said softly.

Snape said firmly, "Of course I can't."

"Look at the magic in this classroom. I wouldn't have been able to sneak in without Potter bringing me in."

"Don't even think about breaking these spells. They were cast by Dumbledore and Potter together. Maybe I can break them in half an hour or an hour, but you can guess how long it will take Potter to get here?"

Speaking of this.

He paused for a moment. "Even if we find a way to quietly break the spells in the classroom, the seventh and eighth floors, as well as Gryffindor Tower and Ravenclaw Tower, have all been sealed off by Potter's magic. All house-elves are forbidden to enter or leave there, and the Disillusionment Charm, Invisibility Cloak, and other such things are also forbidden to be used."

"You can't get by."

Crouch sighed: "Potter is really sharp."

"His godfather is Sirius, a hound, so it's normal for him to have a hound's nose." Snape said with a sneer.

Crouch fell silent.

Snape continued to inquire: "What do you want me to do now?"

Crouch remained silent.

Snape's tone suddenly became sharp: "You still don't trust me, Crouch."

Crouch grinned. "How can I trust you, Severus?"

He wanted to raise his hands, but they were bound by magic and tied behind his back. He could only shake his head: "You are different from us."

"You used to be the Potions professor at Hogwarts, and now you are the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor."

"Dumbledore has vouched for you. You have your father's mark on you. The Ministry of Magic knows it, and so does the Wizengamot. But they all tolerate you and recognize your identity as a potion master."

He raised his head and looked at the dark shadow.

"I am as smart as you, maybe even smarter than you."

"Severus, we are all Slytherins."

Slytherin is neither Hufflepuff nor Gryffindor. They will not be so stupid or stubborn as to stick to the old ways. Self-preservation is the biggest creed of the Snake House.

Nothing is more important than personal gain.

Unless that thing can bring greater personal benefits.

Crouch is loyal to Voldemort, but he is not stupid. He knows himself, the Death Eaters, and his father's current situation very well. He has always been careful to avoid himself and his father being backstabbed by "loyal Death Eaters."

Voldemort was once powerful.

But now, in front of Potter and Dumbledore, he was also a weakling.

Weaklings were never worth following, especially by Slytherins.

And Snape...

In Crouch's eyes, he was a typical Slytherin.

As a half-blood, she was able to thrive in Slytherin, where pure-bloodism prevailed at the time, and even forged a friendship with Lucius Malfoy. After graduation, she joined the Death Eaters without stopping, and in less than a year, she gained her father's deep trust, almost second only to herself and Bellatrix.

And right after his father's downfall, he won Dumbledore's trust almost seamlessly, allowing the white wizard who hated evil to personally come forward to protect him and allow him to teach at Hogwarts.

This is the treatment that even his own father did not receive.

Crouch's impression of Snape...

Two-faced, fawning, sweet-talking, and deep-minded.

Crouch didn't dare to trust such a man who always pleases others.

Especially in the current situation.

The chariot, horse, bishop and pawn were all captured, the queen was dead and the king was forced into a corner.

The opponent has all the chariots, horses, elephants and soldiers, and even two queens.

General.

"Aren't you equally loyal to the Dark Lord?" Snape understood what Crouch meant and asked back.

Crouch puffed out his chest: "That's my father."

"You have not been very good at fulfilling your duties as a son to your real father," Snape taunted him.

"You mean Barty Crouch? He's not really a father." Crouch shook his head.

Snape replied softly: "The master once said that I am a Death Eater and I am destined to be a Death Eater forever."

"Things that are branded on the body will not lose their branding due to any other influence."

"Maybe Dumbledore will believe me."

"But Potter won't."

Crouch suddenly asked, "Do you want Potter to die?"

"Of course." Snape said without any hesitation, "I wish I could cut him into pieces!"

“There’s just no such opportunity.”

Crouch stared at the dark shadow and said nothing more.

"The most important thing, Crouch, is that you can only trust me now." Snape continued softly, "Can the friend you hide on the seventh floor, the eighth floor, or the Gryffindor Tower help you like I can?"

"Karkaroff?"

"still?"

Crouch shook his head: "Severus, you shouldn't ask too many questions that you shouldn't know."

"You should try to trust me." Snape said sarcastically, "To your only helper..."

Crouch interrupted him: "If you are loyal to your father, you can tolerate my doubts about you."

"The current situation is very unfavorable to my father."

"Be careful."

Snape said nothing more.

Crouch took a deep breath and lowered his voice: "Write a letter and send it to this address in Austria."

He whispered, uttering a string of odd syllables.

Protected by a spell of secrecy.

Snape remembered it, knew it by heart.

"Write it in the letter and tell them that they can take action now." Crouch paused and lowered his voice.

"They?" Snape asked. "Which them?"

"Just write it like this." Crouch didn't elaborate, just shook his head.

Snape wanted to ask more questions.

But ten minutes were up, the potion was gradually losing its effect, the dark shadow collapsed and turned into a pool of transparent liquid, wetting the floor, Crouch moved, aiming at the pool of water as much as possible, making it look like the person had to solve the problem on the spot because of mobility problems.

In the principal's office.

Snape let out a long breath and opened his eyes: "Crouch is very careful. He still suspects that I am not loyal to the Dark Lord."

"His suspicion is reasonable." Harry nodded.

Snape glanced at him. "He told me an address and asked me to write a letter and send it there. The content of the letter was to tell them that they could take action."

"They?" Dumbledore, like Snape, pronounced the word.

"Goblins, giants, and perhaps other dark creatures?" Harry waved his hands. "Oh, and the Wild Hunt."

"That's probably what they're referring to."

"Where is that address?"

Snape shook his head: "I can't tell you. There is a confidentiality spell, and the secret keeper is only Crouch."

"It looks like we'll have to track you down," Harry said, looking at Dumbledore. "Albus, are you going to follow Professor Snape, or should I?"

"You have to study hard, Harry." Dumbledore said with a serious face, "Slytherin is still the top house. If you don't work harder, Slytherin will take away the house cup this year."

Snape frowned: "Albus, I, the head of Slytherin, am still here, and you are so partial to Gryffindor..."

"Potter."

"Twenty points from Gryffindor for your disrespect for the professor."

Dumbledore refused to give in: "Severus, Harry helps Hogwarts solve the problem in the Forbidden Forest, Gryffindor gets thirty points."

"Then Gryffindor will deduct another twenty points because, Potter, I hate you." Snape responded to him.