v3 Chapter 224： busy crowd (2)

The end of the exam marks the end of the semester. When it comes to the end, everyone is caught in a state of coexistence of busyness and idleness.

The students are headed to Hogsmeade for a holiday, wanting to do some shopping before heading home to clear all the pocket money they've saved over the semester. The professors are working overtime to correct the test papers, trying to summarize the transcripts in the shortest time.

In particular, Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape, the two of them are simply inside the book. Because neither of them wants to be held back by the other.

Not only the professors, but Mr. Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts, was just as busy. Since the long talk with Tom that night, his life has been busy. There are more letters from the Ministry of Magic, and more things to deal with, and everything seems to be back to what it was when Fudge just took over.

Today he is visiting a heavyweight guest with Minister Burns of the Ministry of Magic. This guest, once a popular candidate for the Minister of Magic, still holds a pivotal position in the Ministry of Magic.

He was Barty Crouch, Director of International Magical Cooperation at the Ministry of Magic.

Dumbledore and Burns came to Barty Crouch's mansion. Looking at the mansion's stylish and elegant door, Burns couldn't help but sigh: "It's these old pure-blood families who are rich! This Zhuangzi can sell tens of thousands of Galleons."

For the wizarding upstart, taking over the estate of an established family is far more comfortable than finding a new home. The orderly inheritance of wizard manor ensures security and concealment, and the surrounding Muggles are also accustomed to their presence, which is an excellent place to live.

After Voldemort's comeback, he even made Malfoy Manor his home base. Coincidentally, the Order of the Phoenix also chose Black's house as its base. These are all because the Wizard Manor has its own unique advantages.

Therefore, the wizard manor is very easy to realize. It's just that no pure-blood family will sell their ancestral home.

Knock twice on the door, and it opens, and a house-elf flashes behind it. She was wrapped in a tea towel and, like the other house-elves, had big, long, bat-like ears.

"Hello, distinguished sir and madam," the elf asked sharply, "excuse me, why are you two here?"

Dumbledore spoke. He leaned down and said kindly: "I am Albus Dumbledore, and I came to visit Mr. Barty Crouch with the current Minister of Magic."

He and Burns had timed cleverly when Crouch was at home.

"Who?" There was a sound of footsteps behind the door, "Winky, get out of the way—" Then a person appeared in front of Dumbledore.

Crouch, who returned home, did not continue to wear a wizard's robe, but changed to a black nightgown, but his short gray hair remained undisturbed.

"Mr. Dumbledore? Minister Burns?" There was a hint of surprise in Crouch's eyes. He didn't understand why these two people suddenly came to his house.

"Excuse me," Dumbledore smiled, "I'm here for the big event next year... Can the two of us go in and sit?"

One is recognized as the strongest wizard in the magic world, and the other is the current Minister of Magic, and it is impossible for Barty Crouch to stop the two of them. So he could only get out of the way, and at the same time ordered his elf to make tea.

"Every time I go to the Ministry of Magic, I make a lot of noise. It's too much trouble for a centenarian..." Dumbledore explained to Crouch as he walked into Crouch's mansion. "I hope you don't mind..."

The reason was reasonable, and Crouch believed it.

"Of course not, this is a very important business, please come here - can we go to the study and talk?"

He took the initiative to lead the two to his study. At this time, a house-elf named Winky appeared at the door with a tray on which was a teapot, three teacups and a plate of cookies.

"Go, prepare dinner, make it a bit richer!" Crouch ordered.

"No, no," Dumbledore waved his hands again and again, "just to discuss the general matters, we can do the details - oh, butter cookies, that's great..."

Dumbledore developed a strong interest in cookies, which made Minister Burns look helpless next to him.

After tasting the Crouch's cookies, Dumbledore was full of praise. It wasn't until the third cookie was eaten that Crouch and Burns were both impatient that he got down to business.

"Next year's Triwizard Tournament, I have some ideas for the content of the project..."

...

The three had a heated discussion, which lasted for several hours.

"Okay, I think it's almost here today." Dumbledore stood up from his position, "I think the details behind, you young people must be better than me - the content of these three projects , or I got inspiration from a young friend."

"What a brilliant idea, this Triwizard Tournament will definitely go down in history." Crouch forced a smile on his face, he was very satisfied with the idea given by Dumbledore.

He glanced at the wall clock on the wall, "Is it actually this time? No, I must leave the two of you here for a meal—"

At this time, there was an abnormal noise in the corridor.

Dumbledore and Burns looked up together.

"Winky this clumsy fellow," Crouch frowned, "always in a hurry—"

"But isn't Winky cooking in the kitchen?" Dumbledore said indifferently, "Let's go and have a look, maybe some magical animal has strayed into your house I used to have it at home when I was a child. I don't know where a fire ash snake came in, it was a disaster..."

As he spoke, he walked towards the source of the noise, completely ignoring Crouch's obstruction. Looking at Dumbledore's determined look, Crouch's face turned pale, not even a trace of blood was left.

When Dumbledore pushed the door and entered, Crouch leaned against the wall weakly, as if his bones had been removed.

If an ordinary wizard discovered this secret, Crouch would definitely use the Oblivion Charm to solve the problem, but now the wizard opposite is Dumbledore...

Barty Crouch doesn't believe in the nonsense that "Dumbledore is old and confused", he thinks he can't fight back against Dumbledore.

He can only accept the arrangement of fate.

————

Today, I received a new batch of supplies from the community, including two kilograms of flour, some seasonings, toilet paper, and garbage bags. It's good. I didn't receive the same materials for the "3-15" party as people in other communities did.