bioinnovel Chapter 360 The Real Plan
Chapter 360 The Real Plan
Chapter 360 The Real Plan
Generally speaking, a school motto is a concentrated reflection of a school's educational philosophy and academic characteristics.
For example, Oxford University's motto is "God is my light," and Cambridge University's motto is "This is the place of enlightenment and the source of wisdom."
There are also more practical ones, such as "diligence leads to excellence," "let all efforts win the crown," and "neither reckless nor timid."
Of course, there are also school mottoes that reflect the traditional glory of the Silly Baby Empire, such as: Scientific knowledge is the glory and guardian of the empire.
Hogwarts is still a school, and it naturally has a motto that is highly relevant to real-world applications.
The motto of Hogwarts is: Never tease a sleeping dragon.
That is, do not disturb the sleeping dragon.
Literally, it means warning students not to cause trouble for no reason, or they might get beaten up.
However, the school motto, which has great practical guiding significance, is regarded as nonsense by most students. Few people take it to heart, let alone abide by it.
Barty Crouch is a prime example; every time he enters or leaves Hogwarts, he is teasing the sleeping dragon, trying to awaken it.
Now, Barty Crouch has gotten his wish. The sleeping dragon has awakened, bared its sharp claws, and unleashed its thunderous fury.
Dumbledore's so-called temporary removal from office was a euphemism, a polite way of putting it.
In reality, upon being dismissed from their post, the dismissed person's personal freedom is restricted, and they are subject to internal review by the Ministry of Magic.
In this way, not only will Barty Crouch be unable to continue interfering in the Triwizard Tournament, but his secrets will also be exposed, and everything will be over.
Dumbledore's solution hit the nail on the head, precisely striking at Barty Crouch's Achilles' heel.
Now, what can Buddy Crouch do? What can he do to get out of this predicament?
We definitely can't win if we fight.
Belvina and Moody were right there; neither of them were pushovers, and neither was easy to deal with.
One is the highly skilled Black, and the other is the best Auror who can stop the Death Eater Nighthoof. He has little chance of winning against either of them.
What's more, Dumbledore is here too. He's a tough guy who can go toe-to-toe with Grindelwald, an old tough guy that even Voldemort couldn't beat, and the universally acknowledged greatest wizard.
No human being with a modicum of sense would choose to duel Dumbledore, Belvina, and Moody at the same time. That's not even a duel; it's suicide, pure free kill. Who could withstand a righteous gang beating from the three of them?
Running away is definitely not an option.
As is well known, it is not possible to Apparate at Hogwarts; one must first leave the school grounds to Apparate.
The distance from the principal's office to the school gate is long enough for Barty Crouch to make dozens of trips. Try running, and your legs will be broken!
It's almost impossible to leave using the Floo Network, as the fireplaces at Hogwarts are not usually connected to it.
Because of her special status, Belvina's fireplace was connected to the Floo Network, but Barty Crouch didn't know the exact location of her office, only that it was on the fifth floor.
By the time Barty Crouch found the fireplace connecting to the Floo Network, he had already been beaten so badly that his intestines were in disarray; he hadn't even produced green poop yet.
All I can say is that he's never eaten chives in his life.
He can't fight back, and he can't run away. Is death the only outcome for Barty Crouch?
Left with no other option, Barty Crouch had to pin his hopes on Cornelius Fudge, hoping the minister would reject Dumbledore's suggestion.
After all, Cornelius Fudge was the Minister of Magic, while Dumbledore was just the Headmaster of Hogwarts.
"Remove Black and Crouch from their posts?" Fudge said in a panic. "That's not right. They're not even suspects..."
Although the Black and Crouch families combined couldn't even make up five fingers, Fudge still didn't dare to dismiss them directly, as the minister was wary of the large pure-blood wizarding families behind them.
If you dare to dismiss Blake and Crouch today and restrict their freedom, will you dare to go door-to-door offering help tomorrow? Why is the Minister rebelling?
Connelly Fudge felt that his back wasn't strong enough and his spine wasn't in good shape, so he didn't want to take on this burden that was too big and too heavy.
"Could it be that Maxim? Could it be that she kidnapped Karkaroff?" Fudge's voice sounded somewhat embarrassed. "You know, Dumbledore, you must know everything about that woman."
You're sitting in your car when trouble comes knocking from the sky.
At this very moment, it's likely that Madame Maxim is unaware of Karkarov's disappearance!
"Cornelly, I think she's a very capable headmistress, an outstanding woman," Dumbledore said patiently. "And, by the way, her dancing is very graceful."
"Dumbledore!" Fudge cried out as if someone had stepped on his tail. "You know perfectly well that she's like Hagrid; they both have giant blood in their veins. They...they're dangerous! Very dangerous!"
Prejudice in people's hearts is a mountain.
Because of their giant blood, Hagrid and Maxim became dangerous individuals.
Madame Maxim was even suspected of being the kidnapper of Karkarov, despite having no knowledge of the matter.
"I trust Mrs. Maxime the same way I trust Hagrid. They are both good people and not dangerous at all," Dumbledore said. "Well—most of the time."
Perhaps thinking of Hagrid's obsession with giant monsters and his dangerous crossbreeding, Dumbledore added a slightly guilty remark.
While Fudge and Dumbledore were busy arguing about whether the Half-Giants were dangerous, Barty Crouch kept thinking of a way out.
After much thought, Barty Crouch still couldn't come up with a way out of the predicament; it seemed he was stuck at Hogwarts.
At this moment, Professor Moody started yelling at Fudge again, spitting all over the minister's face.
"We've already lost one headmaster, do you want another one to get hurt too?" Professor Moody roared. "Do you think the French Ministry of Magic is just for show?!"
Cornelius Fudge, who had been drooling, finally calmed down and remembered that Mrs. Maxime was the headmistress of Beauxbatons and that the French Ministry of Magic was behind her.
Although criticizing France is commonplace, who would dare to truly disregard France?
"Cornelly, it's just a temporary suspension," Dumbledore said calmly. "If we act quickly enough, we might find Karkaroff soon."
With his eyes closed, Barty Crouch had stopped thinking about how to break the deadlock. He was now absolutely certain that Karkaroff had been hidden away by Dumbledore and Belvina.
Igor Karkaroff's disappearance, and everything that happened today, was a pre-planned trap. Barty Crouch felt that he probably wouldn't be able to leave Hogwarts.
"But...but what about the International Department of Magical Cooperation if we dismiss both directors at once? What about the Triwizard Tournament?" Fudge said, his voice sounding even more embarrassed. "I'm under a lot of pressure, Dumbledore."
"How about this? We won't announce the dismissal to the public. We'll just say I invited Barty to visit the school," Dumbledore said. "As for the work of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, that'll just have to trouble Percy Weasley to run back and forth between the two places."
Hearing this compromise suggestion, Cornelius Fudge felt a little relieved, as long as he wasn't made the scapegoat.
Fudge felt a little relieved, but Barty Crouch was furious. Staying at the school as a guest was worse than being dismissed!
Once Dumbledore had you detained at the school, there was absolutely no room for maneuver.
"The Triwizard Tournament," Dumbledore sighed. "Cornelly, if we can't find Karkaroff soon, the tournament may not be able to continue."
Igor Karkarov's disappearance can be kept secret for a day, or even two, but it certainly can't be kept secret for three months.
"This—this—"
Fudge was frantic, like a cat on a hot tin roof. "I'll go back to the ministry and organize more people to search for Karkaroff nationwide. We're sure to find him!"
With that, Connelly Fudge turned to leave; the Triwizard Tournament had to continue and had to conclude successfully.
"Minister One One"
Barty Crouch quickly reached out to stop him, though he still wanted to struggle a little longer.
However, Barty Crouch was a step too slow, and Belvina silenced him with her actions.
"Minister, to prove my innocence, I am willing to accept the department's investigation," Belvina said. "During the investigation, my wand will be temporarily kept by the department."
As she spoke, Belvina pulled out her wand.
She held the wand by the tip and handed it to Cornelius Fudge.
Cornelius Fudge, who was about to leave, stood frozen in place, just looking at Belvina without reaching out to take the wand.
Seeing Belvina's high-profile demeanor, Barty Crouch felt a metallic taste in his mouth, and his eyelids twitched incessantly.
Belvina's actions were tantamount to putting Barty Crouch on the hot seat.
Both being pure-blood wizards and high-ranking officials in the Ministry of Magic, Black was able to calmly accept an internal investigation, so how could Crouch possibly refuse?
If you don't refuse, you'll have to stay at Hogwarts and suffer the torment of waiting for your true colors to be revealed; if you refuse, it means you're guilty, and guilt means there's a problem, so you can't let you go.
It's almost robber logic, but faced with an absolute advantage in numbers and force, even robber logic is something Barty Crouch has to grit his teeth and accept, unless he's prepared to fight to the death.
However, Barty Crouch could not accept a lose-lose situation. What would Voldemort do if he became the dead fish in the net?
It was precisely because Dumbledore knew this that he set this trap to lure Barty Crouch into it.
Now, it remains to be seen how long Barty Crouch can hold on.