Chapter 315: Sudden Death

Dumbledore was surprised to see Krum say this.

His eyes scanned Krum and Mike's faces, as if he wanted to see through their lies.

Being stared at by a master of Legilimency spells really made Mike feel stressed, and he unconsciously used the brain blocking spell.

However, Dumbledore did not seem to intend to use Legilimency on the two students. After looking at them twice, Dumbledore smiled and said:

"I am very happy that you can make friends in Hogwarts. This is exactly my original intention to restore the Triwizard Tournament. Then Mike, you should accompany Krum. In addition, I am sorry that Hagrid offended your headmaster just now. He didn't mean it. He was just a little reckless."

Hearing this, Krum still nodded expressionlessly.

Mike breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Krum deeply.

Judging from the attitude Krum showed when Karkaroff was beaten by Hagrid just now, the relationship between him and Karkaroff was not as good as others thought.

At least, Krum didn't have much respect for Karkaroff.

This was not surprising. First of all, Karkaroff's identity as a coward and a traitor was basically known to everyone. Such a person was really not respectable.

Secondly, Karkaroff and Krum had different values.

Although Krum was a pure-blood, he didn't have any pure-blood supremacy, otherwise he wouldn't have liked Hermione.

But Karkaroff was different. Although he had gotten rid of his identity as a Death Eater, he was still a pure-blood at heart, and the most stubborn one.

Mike would never believe that the relationship between these two people could be that good.

Perhaps the reason why Karkaroff was so good to Krum was simply because Krum's identity as a Quidditch star could help him get some attention.

Just as Dumbledore was talking to Mike and the others, Karkaroff, who was standing at the foot of the wall, saw Hagrid leave the ward and stood up.

"Dumbledore! That damn half-giant! You must expel him. He actually dared to attack the principal of a magic school!"

"I'm sorry, Hagrid is indeed too impulsive, but I don't think it's necessary to expel him yet."

"What did you say? You must expel him. Didn't you see him attacking me just now? I swear, he must have violent tendencies! It's irresponsible to let such a person stay in Hogwarts!" Karkaroff roared with a red face, "If you don't expel him, I will complain to the Ministry of Magic and ask them to put that damn half-giant in Azkaban!"

Hearing this, Mike's mouth curled up into a sarcastic smile.

Karkaroff just said that the Ministry of Magic is full of corruption and shady dealings. Now you have to rely on the Ministry of Magic to defend your rights?

Since you think that law enforcement agencies and the government are all a bunch of guys who are just sitting there doing nothing, why don't you handle this matter yourself?

As Mike thought about it, the sarcasm on his face became stronger.

Facing Karkaroff's nonsense, Dumbledore was speechless. He frowned and said impatiently:

"Maybe you should talk to Hagrid in person about this matter. Let me call Hagrid now. He should be very interested in discussing this matter with you."

"No! Don't call him over! I don't want to see that guy again in my life!"

Mike laughed out loud. Karkaroff's current appearance was really funny.

Dumbledore also shook his head and turned around to continue asking Krum about the situation at that time, but at this moment, a shrill scream came from the corridor outside the ward.

"Oh no! Mr. Crouch is dead!"

This was Bagman's voice, and everyone in the ward changed their faces when they heard it, even Karkaroff was no exception.

The referee and the contestant of the Triwizard Tournament died after a fight. Even Karkaroff, who was not very smart, realized the seriousness of the matter.

Not to mention that Crouch had another identity besides being the referee of the Triwizard Tournament, that is, a powerful official in the Ministry of Magic. The sudden death of such a person would shock the entire Ministry of Magic in Yingguo.

"Victor! Are you sure he attacked you first?"

Facing Karkaroff's anxious inquiry, Krum answered without hesitation:

"Of course, I used an armor to protect myself the whole time!"

"Can you guarantee it?"

"I can swear on my wand!"

"Huh! That's fine!" Karkaroff breathed a sigh of relief, "This is entirely the guy's own fault. Don't worry, Victor, I will take care of it all!"

Karkaroff was about to continue talking to Dumbledore about this matter, but when he turned around, he found that Mike and Dumbledore had already left the ward.

The special ward not far away was already full of people at this moment, and everyone was surrounding a white bed, and Crouch was lying on the bed.

Crouch looked really bad at the moment. He looked like he had been wandering outside for many days. The knees of his robe were torn and bloodstained. His face was also covered with scars, his beard was untidy, and his face was gray.

Mrs. Pomfret had not given up on rescuing Crouch. She and several students used various spells and strange potions on Crouch. Not far away, Dumbledore and others were watching all this nervously.

"No hope."

As Mrs. Pomfret, who was sweating profusely, said these three words, Dumbledore's eyebrows frowned more tightly, and his eyes narrowed, looking particularly terrible.

Bagman, who was beside him, had a light in his eyes and unconsciously showed a joyful smile on his face.

This joy was quickly suppressed by him, and replaced with an exaggerated expression of grief.

Although it was only a short moment, this scene was all seen by Mike.

"Ludo, what on earth is going on?"

"Woo, woo, I don't know. I just came in and Mr. Crouch started talking nonsense." Bagman wailed, "Then he suddenly screamed and stopped breathing! Oh! My poor man! How did you die like this?"

Dumbledore looked at Madam Pomfret with an inquiring look, and the other party nodded, proving that Bagman did not speak.

"What is he yelling?"

"Mr. Crouch has been saying that he wants to see you, and that he is sorry for you, for a person named Bertha and his son. In the end, he also said... he also said that Voldemort... the mysterious man is coming back!" A short girl covered her chest and said in shock, "He should be talking nonsense, right, principal? Didn't the mysterious man die a long time ago?"

"You don't have to be afraid, dear." Dumbledore comforted, "Even if he comes back, I will protect you."

Dumbledore's comfort obviously did not have the desired effect. The girl just nodded and lowered her head without saying anything, and there was still fear on her face.

Dumbledore sighed secretly when he saw this. The damage caused by Voldemort to the wizarding world in Yingguo was so great that even after more than ten years, people were still deeply afraid of him.

At this time, Mike next to him was thinking about another thing.

In the original book, Mr. Crouch also had an accident, but unlike now, Mr. Crouch did not lose, but went crazy.

And it was his filial son, Barty Crouch, who caused Mr. Crouch to go crazy.

Mr. Crouch may have discovered Barty's undercover identity, or Barty could not bear the hatred for his old father, so Barty arrested Crouch and tortured him severely.

But Mr. Crouch finally escaped and traveled to Hogwarts to report the news.

Mike had reason to believe that Barty was still responsible for Mr. Crouch's incident this time, but the person Barty pretended to be was not Moody. Mike had been looking for Barty for a long time, and combined with Ludo Bagman's smile just now, Ludo Bagman was most likely pretended by Barty.

Thinking of this, Mike's eyes became sharp. He looked at Dumbledore and said in a loud voice:

"Professor Dumbledore, I don't think Mr. Crouch's death was an accident, and the person who killed him was Ludo Bagman!"

As soon as these words came out, everyone in the ward showed a look of surprise, and Bagman even shouted.

"It's not me! Don't frame a good person?"

Bagman wanted to say something, but Dumbledore waved his hand to stop him.

"Why do you think so?" Dumbledore said.

"Just now, when Madam Pomfret announced Mr. Crouch's death, I found that Mr. Bagman smiled!" Mike said firmly, "And Mr. Bagman had just entered Mr. Crouch's room, and Mr. Crouch started to go crazy, and finally died directly. Don't you think this coincidence is strange?"

Hearing this, everyone in the ward looked at Bagman with a different look in their eyes. The girls who were originally standing next to Bagman screamed and ran away from Bagman.

Bagman stood at a loss in the suddenly empty space, opening his mouth to explain something, but nothing came out.

"Is that so? Bagman?"

Dumbledore squinted his eyes and took a step forward. From his changing address, it can be seen that he was really angry at the moment.

"I definitely didn't laugh! I know nothing about Mr. Crouch's death! It must be this fellow Townley who is slandering me..."

"You're lying!"

Bagman was interrupted by Mike halfway through his words.

"Principal Dumbledore, I know you are a master of Legilimency. I can let you check my memory. I did see a smile on Bagman's face just now!"

The eyes of the people around him changed when they looked at Mike. Some people who didn't believe Mike's words at first also believed it now.

You know, no one wants to let others look through their memories at will. Since Mike said such a thing, he couldn't be lying.

"You don't need to prove yourself with such behavior, Mike, I believe you."

Dumbledore said to Mike with a kind face, then turned around and put on a serious expression and said to Bagman:

"Come on, Bagman, what's going on?"

Bagman looked around, and there were suspicious eyes all around. Seeing this, Bagman's face suddenly became gloomy. After a while, he took a breath and said helplessly:

"Okay, I admit that I did laugh just now, but I definitely didn't kill Mr. Crouch!"

"Then why did you laugh?"

Faced with Dumbledore's questioning, Bagman hesitated and finally said:

"Because I owed him a large sum of money. It was during the Quidditch World Cup, and I was the banker and opened a special bet. But Krum lost the game, which caused me to owe a lot of money, and Crouch was one of my creditors.

You can ask the Weasley brothers about this matter, they are also my creditors.

He placed a large bet at the time, and I couldn't afford his bonus at all. During that time, I was hiding from them, but they finally found me. Fortunately, we finally negotiated for me to pay in installments, otherwise you might not see me now.

Now that Crouch is dead, his wife and children have long died, and there is no one at home, so I don't have to pay back the money I owe him.

Tell me, can I not laugh when encountering such a thing?"

The people around nodded in unison. It was indeed worth being happy to encounter such a thing, but the look they gave Bagman became more contemptuous.

Because a villain like Bagman who gloated over other people's misfortunes is just as bad.

Mike's brows furrowed. He was almost certain that Bagman was Barty Crouch Jr., but now the reason Bagman gave was reasonable, which made him doubt his guess again.

"Can you believe me now, Dumbledore?"

"I'm sorry, Bagman." Dumbledore said expressionlessly, "The truth of what you said needs to be verified, and it can't explain why Crouch died as soon as you entered the ward. So I have to temporarily restrict your freedom. Please cooperate with me and the Ministry of Magic in the investigation."

Bagman's face changed from black to blue, but in the end he lowered his head and said:

"Okay! You have the final say!"

Dumbledore nodded, turned around and said to the rest of the people in the ward:

"Everyone, go away. I have notified the Ministry of Magic to deal with this matter. I believe they will be here soon, so you don't have to worry too much. Mike, you go first. Of course, if you want to see Krum, you can go and accompany him more."

Mike didn't have time to accompany Krum. He agreed and followed the group without looking back.

Mike had just walked into the auditorium when a group of Aurors in uniform came from the entrance hall.

The students in the auditorium who didn't know what was going on all stared at the Aurors curiously, but the Aurors ignored them and went straight to the infirmary. The

ignored students looked at each other, and everyone's eyes were full of curiosity.