Soon, the Crouch father and son were brought forward, and a new round of questioning began.
Percy, as the witness who discovered Crouch under the Imperius Curse, was also present.
"Percy Weasley, personal assistant to Director Crouch, led members of the Department of International Magical Cooperation to visit Crouch's home a few days ago."
Director Bones began questioning Percy about the process of discovering Crouch under the Imperius Curse.
"It was an accident." Facing such a grand setup, Percy was so nervous that sweat broke out on his forehead. "He was ill, and we wanted to visit him."
But Fudge's face was extremely displeased, and he said:
"Your words sound as if the Ministry of Magic has mistreated him!"
Percy's face turned pale, and he hurriedly defended himself:
"I'm not accusing the Ministry—"
Director Bones mediated their dispute and turned to interrogate Barty Jr., soon revealing the full story.
A tragic tale of father-son betrayal.
"My father only cared about power, he never loved me or treated me as his son."
Barty Jr. hung his head, a strange smile on his face:
"Everything I did was under his pressure—he sent me to Azkaban, he only loved his career."
His father glared at him incredulously, shouting in anger upon hearing his son's words:
"If I didn't treat you as my son, why would I agree to exchange you out of Azkaban?"
"Your mother endured the Dementors, died in your place, and you let us down!"
Barty Jr. stared at him fiercely, as if looking at a hated enemy rather than his father:
"Anything that tarnishes your reputation, you want to eliminate quickly. Judge me, show your fairness and justice, let me be consumed by Dementors—"
"You're not my father, killing you is my dream."
Old Barty's face seemed to be punched hard, his spine bent deeply, his face haggard:
"But... if I didn't treat you as my son, why would I bring you home? You became a Death Eater—"
"When you were young, I was always proud of you—"
Barty Jr. sneered and stopped looking at him, his gaze began to scan around, quickly fixing on Jane Yu:
"We're alike."
Jane Yu uttered a confused "Ah."
She felt she wasn't as twisted as him?
Nor did she have acting skills as good as Barty Jr.?
"You would be the master's most capable assistant, if not for the Polyjuice Potion... I planned to send you to the master after the third task."
Barty Jr. smiled, his gaze turned to Dumbledore, laughing as if seeing another Old Barty Crouch.
Case solved.
Jane Yu was still wondering how she got caught up in this mess!
Turns out she was being considered as a reserve Death Eater!
She felt herself getting angry again—
Sending someone off without even a word?
Is that polite?
Jane Yu furrowed her brow, thinking about how to extort some emotional damage compensation from him.
—Like Shining.
Since being released, she had been in a constant state of distress, and only by giving her continuous work could she stop from binge drinking.
The little elf occasionally called out Crouch sir... Crouch young master... unable to come out and work properly.
"Do you want to see Shining? She's been talking about you—"
Upon hearing Shining's name, Barty Jr. suddenly fell silent, the mad smile on his face disappeared.
"No." He said slowly, "She's with you... I've seen her... at school."
"This is good for her... She's your house-elf now."
He agreed too readily, Jane Yu was caught off guard.
She just asked if he wanted to meet, and he directly gave her the elf?
This person... is quite nice!
At least straightforward enough!
But Old Barty suddenly stood up, walked to his son who was tied up, seemingly making a decision:
"Since... since you want to do this, then do it."
He untied the rope binding his son's right hand, forcefully shoved his wand into his hand, aiming the tip at himself:
"Kill me, just say the spell—"
Barty Jr. looked deeply at him, the hatred in his eyes unabated, but he held the wand without moving.
"Kill me, since I've never fulfilled your wishes, if this is your wish—"
But Barty Jr. showed another smile, saying slowly:
"No, killing you might be too easy for you—"
He suddenly turned the wand towards his own chest:
"Avada—"
Exclamations rose from all directions, the wand in Barty Jr.'s hand was knocked away halfway through the spell, the interrogation room fell into chaos.
...
Both Crouch father and son went insane.
One suffered soul damage from the incomplete Killing Curse, the other overstimulated.
They became lifetime residents of St. Mungo's Hospital, their ward facing the Longbottoms.
Taken by Jane Yu to visit the two, Shining wept bitterly, throwing herself on Barty Jr. and crying out in anguish:
"Bad child! Young master is a bad child!"
She then held Mr. Crouch's hand, ignoring his muttering "My son is great" by the bedside, crying:
"Master! Sir! Mr. Crouch!"
After venting her emotions, Jane Yu asked her:
"What do you plan to do? If you want, you can stay here."
But Shining seemed even more anxious about her question, letting out a scream, as if she couldn't catch her breath:
"No, no! Young master said, Shining is your elf now—"
"You can do part-time, as long as you work well, there's no pressure." Jane Yu explained, "We're not in a master-servant relationship."
Shining's whole elf body trembled:
"No, no, Shining wants to take care of Miss Jane, that's what young master said, Shining is willing to take care of you!"
"If you don't have Shining, who will make your bed and tidy your clothes? Who will cook Chinese food for you?"
Jane Yu tilted her head, somewhat puzzled:
"I thought you'd be more willing to stay here."
A flash of hesitation appeared in Shining's eyes, but she quickly made a decision:
"If Miss Jane is willing to let Shining come to the hospital once a week... a month..."
Jane Yu quickly agreed and praised her work attitude:
"Work well, outside of working hours, you can certainly come here."
Shining cried out in joy:
"Miss Jane! Miss Jane is the best witch in the world!"
"Shining will definitely do better than Dobby! She'll be a good elf!"
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